Blackstone Foundry and Forge; Thursday [12/20].

[special_rabbit]

Hurrying down the stairs straight from her radio broadcast, Amaya's suspicions were immediately confirmed...in a way. From the cacaphony of destructive sounds to the abrupt cut-off in the power, she knew something was up with the Crumbler.

She didn't think she'd have suspected it was snowmen doing the damage, though, two of them, having somehow managed to bust through the barred door and were now busting through the Crumbler with gleeful abandon.

"Not on my watch, buddy!" Amaya shouted as she stomped down the stairs, grabbing the weed whacker from the weapons wall on her way. "You leave the Crumbler alone!"

Of course, with them being made of snow and all, a simple blow to the top of their head wasn't likely to do much, was it? And she couldn't crush their kneecaps when they didn't exactly have knees. They did have arms, though, and those arms were what was causing the problem, right? So a well-aimed swing of the weed whacker (hey, those arms were made of sticks, by the looks of them, so it still fell squarely in the realm of gardening and thus a proper use for the tool, if you asked her) knocked the arm off of one of them, and, while it went scrambling to retrieve it, she sent a boot through his head that she figured might buy her a little more time as she went to focus on the other one, just as he'd ripped a very important chain from the poor, sputtering, slowly dying Crumbler.

Bought her a little more time, too, to go find herself some flint and get the spark she needed to light the fire in the forge. It helped that, as soon as their arms were plopped back into place, most of their attention went right back to the Crumbler, which was quickly being disassembled with absolutely no care and bolts and nuts going everywhere, and Amaya tried not to groan over how long it was going to take her to get that all pieced together again. Of course, once the snowmen realized what Amaya was doing when she started yanking on the lever of the bellows to stoke the fire, their attentions clearly shifted, one going for the bellows, one going for her, but she'd had just enough time to get something going, just enough time to reach for a club, shove it in the fire, and then send the just-barely about to fire end of it straight into the snowman's torso. When his hands went to the big hole in his stomach in surprise, she took the opportunity to yank off those arms and tossed them into the fire, then gasped as the other snowman, grinning, managed to yank off the lever for the bellows.

"Oh, like I've only got the one!" she snorted, giving him a punch in the face that didn't seem to do much but surprise him for a second, but that was all she needed to move enough to give him a firm boot toward the faintly glowing forge. "It's hot enough already to deal with the likes of you, I'll bet."

Ahhh, nothing quite like starting your Thursday with squirrel notes and then manhandling snowmen toward a fire until they melted. Which was a little grim, if she thought about it for too long...so she wasn't going to think about it.

She was going to frown a little at those puddles, though (they hurt the Crumbler! This was entirely justified!), before going to get her second, smaller bellows to get the fire going a little more, something she was feeling very glad for when she turned around to inspect the damage on the Crumbler just in time to see another pair of snowmen walk in through the busted door, curious and eager to find trouble.

Well, if they were looking for trouble, they found it. "Alright, then, boys," said Amaya, shoving some nearby rods of metal into the embers of the forge to heat up and pulling on her gloves to make sure they were good and ready. "Let's dance."

The Forge was....open?

[[the post totes is. i imagine waves of snowmen trying to make sure the generator!Crumbler is 100% dead flowing in throughout the day, so please mod their presence or lack thereof as you see fit if you're coming by!]]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

Zack was a man on a mission, today. And weirdly enough, it wasn't even the mission that everyone else was probably on, today. Though that wasn't going to stop him from carving his way through snowmen to get here, either.

The great thing about Firaga was that it made very quick work of any snowmen he encountered, even if, grudgingly, he had Angeal's sword at his back again for the trip.

So, it was a fireball that heralded his arrival, leaving little more than a puddle where his boot fell a moment later, followed by a spin of an entirely too large sword, a serious nod of his head, and a moment taken to settle that sword on his back.

"Amaya," he greeted. "Hey. Snow monster troubles?"

[special_rabbit]

"Now that's one heck of an entrance," Amaya complimented once the faint bit of impressed awe had passed. "You maybe want to shoot one of those fireballs into the forge for me? Having trouble keeping it stoked when every five seconds, I've got another one coming through the door to keep picking at the Crumbler.

"She's already dead, you monsters!" she called out into the snow. "Now you're just trying to rub it in!"

[puppy_fair]

"Can do," Zack agreed, making his way in and throwing another fireball right into that forge, yeah. "Can't stick around for very long, though. I was mostly checking to see how you're holding up, and if maybe you've finished that sword I asked you for, yet? Bad timing, I know..."

[special_rabbit]

Mmmmm. Yeah, that was much better. Amaya grinned with satisfaction at the new life in the forge; this would make it much easier to help maintain a good heat from here on in.

"Thanks for that," she said. "And it's interesting timing, really, since it is finished, and I was actually planning on seeking you out to deliver it before all this," she flung an irritated hand at the whole mess that didn't really need to be named, "happened. You watch the door, I'll go grab it."

And, just like that, she fell easily into her work. Perhaps a little more easily now, because it was a whole lot better than thinking about what had happened to poor Missus Crumbler for a little bit.

"I just hope it's to your liking," she said, finding it easily and carefully removing the wrap she'd put around it. "I didn't stray too far from the original design, if I'm honest. It's a good, solid design, really, seemed a shame to alter it too much, especially if that's what's familiar." She carefully handed it over, hilt out, for him to take as she described some of the work she'd done. "Just a bit more surface on the hilt, mostly, to make room for four of those materia slots, two on each side of the hilt, flanking the blade, almost, should keep everything real nice and balanced. And then two more here, see, on the blade itself, down by the hilt, where they won't be in the way. Just on the one side of the blade, though, but since it's a symmetrical design, they shouldn't throw things off too much no matter which way to wield it."

[puppy_fair]

Zack looked over the sword as she presented it, a little smile pulling at his lips as he reached to take it, checking how it felt in his hand. Familiar, like the old SOLDIER swords, but sturdier - that was good. He'd gone through SOLDIER-issue weapons like they were candy up until he'd been given Angeal's sword.

"This is good," he said, appreciatively. "This is very good. Exactly what I need, I think."

A quick spin in his hand. Striking a stance, and then giving a satisfied nod as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few materia spheres, slotting them into place before turning toward an incoming snowman and unleashing another Firaga, just to test it. Worked just fine, and he smiled a little more.

"Exactly what I need. Thank you, Amaya."

[special_rabbit]

"Pleasure's all mine," Amaya assured him with a nod, finding it impossible not to grin a little at the little show. If he posed like that any time she handed him a new blade, she'd be more than happy to keep making more. "But, so help me, if it's not something else entirely to see one of my blade doing something like that. One of these days, I might need to bother you about how to get these old hands on some of those shinies for myself."

[puppy_fair]

Zack glanced at her thoughtfully at that.

"I mean... I have spares. Low-level ones that I don't use. I was saving them to strengthen the other ones I have, but if you'd like to play around with a few, that can be arranged," he noted. "They're kind of everywhere back home, and they don't get much use around here."

He considered the blade, and glanced at Amaya, and smiled crookedly.

"You did such a good job on this, I'm willing to pay in materia for it."

[special_rabbit]

"Oooh," said Amaya, "a barter! I'm always up for a barter, as long as you're not some shady little gnome trying to dupe me into a general store when I think I'm getting a blacksmith's shop."

Yes, it all turned out well in the end, but that one was always going to rub Amaya like a pointy rock stuck in her boot.

"Money around here's so complicated, anyway; it's a far cry from the nice simplicity of a few shiny gold coins. But I'd love some of those little baubles if you've got 'em. Seems a fair trade to me!"

[puppy_fair]

"Great," Zack said, smiling brightly. "They aren't quite as strong as the one I'm throwing these fireballs around with, but they can be. They get stronger the more they're used."

He considered the sword in his hand, and then pulled the buster sword from his back, sheathing the new one there instead. The buster sword got propped up against the wall so that he could free his hands up for a rummage through his impressively deep pockets.

"Was there anything in particular you were in the market for? The fire ones are good for right now, but there's lightning and ice, too. Or barrier spells. Or healing ones..."

Or things like Gravity or Jump...

Zack had a lot of Materia detritus floating around those pockets that he'd been meaning to clear out for a while now.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya was trying very hard not to let herself get too distracted by your beautiful, big, ridiculous sword, Zack, but it was a challenge.

She did snort a little at the idea of getting much use out of an ice materia, what with everything going on, but, around this place, it might come in handy as soon as next week.

"Makes sense to stick with elements, doesn't it?" she mused. "Fire, ice, lightning. Not a bad start."

She...may be particularly excited about lightning.

Electricty was still really exciting, okay?

[puppy_fair]

"One of each, then," Zack agreed, pulling one of each from his pocket, inspecting them to be sure, and then holding them out for Amaya. "And I can pay the rest in dollars or gil, whichever you prefer."

A beat.

"Gil is gold coin from home," he added.

[special_rabbit]

And Amaya cradled the materia in her hand with a faint grin, rolling them around a little. "And they get stronger the more you use 'em, you say?"

Oh, they were going to get so much use.

"And dollars is probably best, really." With a faint sigh for this strange, strange gold-less currency.

[puppy_fair]

"They'll get stronger," Zack confirmed as he pulled out his wallet and started counting out cash. "There's an upper limit, but once they reach it, they'll go ahead and drop another low-strength one that you can make stronger, too." He leaned his head back, smirking faintly. "An enterprising weaponsmith might go ahead and keep the low-level one for herself and sell the maxed-out parent materia at a profit, knowing that she's the only one around with the ability to create more."

Don't mind him. He'd been stuck on the island for nearly two years now with nothing to do with himself for much of that time but overthink random scenarios that he himself would never bother to put into motion.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya sort of blinked at Zack for a moment before blinking at the new shinies in her palm.

"I think," she said mildly, "you should probably just go ahead and put that cash right away again, Zack. If what you're telling me is true, these three'll wind up covering the cost of what's left and more in good time."

[puppy_fair]

Zack paused, blinking down at the money in his hand, and then back up at Amaya.

"If you're sure..."

Really, the Fire alone would be Firaga in no time, just from fending off snowmen around here, right?

"Then can I ask you another small favor?" He glanced at the buster sword for a second, and then looked back at her. "I need somewhere safe to keep that while I'm away. I've got some business to do back home."

[special_rabbit]

It was only Amaya's sheer professionalism that held her back from cutting off Zack with an eager agreement the moment he glanced at that beautiful hunk of obscenely bulky metal. The grin on her face was a little harder to hold back, but at least by the time he finished the request, she was able to offer a somewhat more casual shrug.

"I mean, sure, I think I could do that for you. Makes sense, right? Keeping a weapon in a weapon shop, where it'll be in the hands of someone who can make sure its well taken care of in the meantime."

[puppy_fair]

"I can't think of anyone on the island who'll do a better job of it," Zack replied, smiling crookedly. "It's seen a bit of use, it's got some wear and tear on it, " but not rust, never rust, as much as Angeal had insisted that it was a possibility, too, "but it's a good sword. I'd rather it be here than sitting in a closet in an empty apartment for... who knows how long."

And even that was an improvement on 'sticking out of the ground in a flower patch in a church, as a memorial.'

They'd broken his timeline so badly.

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina was out and about and having a blast!

"Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina stuck her head in hopefully. "Do you, like, have a torch????????????????????"

Sure, Nina had fire magic, but she'd have a lot of fun waving a torch at some of the monsters today too and her bookbelt… well… wasn't the weapon for this.

[special_rabbit]

And that was one heck of an entrance, too, though, sorry, Nina, Amaya was slightly less impressed by that one.

The request, at least, she could fully appreciate. "Well, sure," she said, "several! How many did you need?"

She hadn't been out of the shop, between keeping the forge going and keeping the snowmonsters off the Crumbler, but she had a pretty strong feeling that sticking with just one would wind up an exercise in frustration.