19th of Cylus, Arc 721
Prae's therapist had recommended that he do something with his hands, create something tangible instead of destroying.
He wasn't sure that this was what Hong had had in mind. But Prae couldn't just ignore the war happening around him, as much as he might like to.
And fates, wasn't that just his luck, that he would walk right out of one war into another? There was a part of him that hated it, that wanted the world to simply calm down for a while and let him rest. But there was a larger, deeper part of him that was relieved to have something, anything to do. Contradictory as it was, it felt like being at war made him feel more at ease; fighting was something he was accustomed to, and he knew how to act and feel and behave.
Hmm.
Perhaps that was something to bring up in therapy.
Still, however he felt about it, the war was here, and people needed help. When the fighting came, if it came, Prae would be right there on the front lines, but until then, there were more mundane tasks to be done.
Shifting his grip on the hammer in his hand, Prae brought it down again and again on the short length of metal between his tongs, rotating it with every strike. As he did, the sharpened point of the nail began to take shape, narrowing and lengthening with every clang of metal against metal.
Swords, shields and daggers were all very well and good, but things like nails and pots were what really kept an army afloat. Not that Scalvoris had much of an army, at least by Prae's standards, but still. These small, seemingly unimportant things were what needed doing, and there was something soothing to Prae about it all; the rhythm of his hammer falls vibrating through his hands and ears, the knowledge that he was making something that might later become part of a ship or a house or a wagon, the sense of anonymity he got from working in the crowded forge.
Prae was one of nearly a dozen volunteer blacksmiths, and for once, barely stood out, save for his height. He'd chosen to suppress his mutations to keep from attracting attention, his suspicion spark soothing the others until he looked almost normal again, save for the tail wrapped around his waist.
"Behind." Someone called from the side, and Prae stepped closer to his anvil to let a human pass through. It was a little troublesome, working with so many people in close proximity, but given his size, Prae found that most humans detoured around him, unless they needed to get to a forge in a hurry. Stepping back after the man left, Prae resumed his hammering, only to find that his metal had cooled too much. Luckily, Prae had snagged an anvil near one of the coal forges, so all he needed to do was set down his hammer plunge the nail into the flames, and wait.
Gauging the temperature of metal by sight was a lot harder than doing it by attunement, but Prae's attunement spark was far too busy Soothing his other sparks to help him here, so Prae was learning to do it the normal way. Too much heat and the metal might burn, too little and it wouldn't move. The latter was preferable and less permanent though, so Prae erred on the side of caution, pulling out the metal to test with his hammer as it grew hotter and hotter. It meant taking longer than he otherwise might have, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Prae's therapist had recommended that he do something with his hands, create something tangible instead of destroying.
He wasn't sure that this was what Hong had had in mind. But Prae couldn't just ignore the war happening around him, as much as he might like to.
And fates, wasn't that just his luck, that he would walk right out of one war into another? There was a part of him that hated it, that wanted the world to simply calm down for a while and let him rest. But there was a larger, deeper part of him that was relieved to have something, anything to do. Contradictory as it was, it felt like being at war made him feel more at ease; fighting was something he was accustomed to, and he knew how to act and feel and behave.
Hmm.
Perhaps that was something to bring up in therapy.
Still, however he felt about it, the war was here, and people needed help. When the fighting came, if it came, Prae would be right there on the front lines, but until then, there were more mundane tasks to be done.
Shifting his grip on the hammer in his hand, Prae brought it down again and again on the short length of metal between his tongs, rotating it with every strike. As he did, the sharpened point of the nail began to take shape, narrowing and lengthening with every clang of metal against metal.
Swords, shields and daggers were all very well and good, but things like nails and pots were what really kept an army afloat. Not that Scalvoris had much of an army, at least by Prae's standards, but still. These small, seemingly unimportant things were what needed doing, and there was something soothing to Prae about it all; the rhythm of his hammer falls vibrating through his hands and ears, the knowledge that he was making something that might later become part of a ship or a house or a wagon, the sense of anonymity he got from working in the crowded forge.
Prae was one of nearly a dozen volunteer blacksmiths, and for once, barely stood out, save for his height. He'd chosen to suppress his mutations to keep from attracting attention, his suspicion spark soothing the others until he looked almost normal again, save for the tail wrapped around his waist.
"Behind." Someone called from the side, and Prae stepped closer to his anvil to let a human pass through. It was a little troublesome, working with so many people in close proximity, but given his size, Prae found that most humans detoured around him, unless they needed to get to a forge in a hurry. Stepping back after the man left, Prae resumed his hammering, only to find that his metal had cooled too much. Luckily, Prae had snagged an anvil near one of the coal forges, so all he needed to do was set down his hammer plunge the nail into the flames, and wait.
Gauging the temperature of metal by sight was a lot harder than doing it by attunement, but Prae's attunement spark was far too busy Soothing his other sparks to help him here, so Prae was learning to do it the normal way. Too much heat and the metal might burn, too little and it wouldn't move. The latter was preferable and less permanent though, so Prae erred on the side of caution, pulling out the metal to test with his hammer as it grew hotter and hotter. It meant taking longer than he otherwise might have, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
