Forge Three - (Audio/Action)

[bullhorned]

Bloody fairies never manage to get things right, do they?

[Like many, Gendry received his boon two days ago, but he hasn't gotten any closer to making proper use of it. Oh sure, walking back and forth through a set of mirrors is a jolly experience, but it's a pain in the ass if they're both in the same room. Though he won't deny he did have a bit of fun setting them across each other and walking through the portal over and over. But! That's not what he'd wanted!]

Seems if you want something decent, you've got to be specific. Seven hells... [He has no choice! He must do the unthinkable:] Stiles, you still about?

[Yes. He must ask STILES for help. That most dreaded of occurrences! Sure, there might be other people who could teleport him from Cothromach to Troichean Beinn in a blink of the eye. But those are other people and Gendry's faith in other people is roughly equivalent to his faith in this war ending amicably. If he's called a suspicious bastard, then it is a one hundred perfect accurate description of him.

But the locket is still in his hand and he realizes he's addressing both courts at large. Damn.]

... just, be careful about your boons, eh? The fairies like to be stingy, if you let them. [There. He's done the community at large a favor.]


[At the Cothromach]

backdated to 26th
When Gendry wasn't in his room messing about with a set of magic mirrors, he was hard at work at one of the forges. Though he wasn't officially apprenticing at any of the shops, one of the master smiths had agreed to hire Gendry on while he was in the city. So that meant keeping busy as he hammered tirelessly at some new sword. His Shard ached as he drew on its power to give superhuman blows. It was hard work and the sword wouldn't even be his, but he now knew enough about dwarven magic that he could finally give his uncle a good and strong sword. This is what he'd been doing ever since the battle had ended and he'd at last turned his work to other projects. This item was now nearly done and by evening, after he'd honed it to a razor's edge, he would find his uncle's home in the Cothromach to come knocking.

27th
After his message on the lockets, Gendry left to be at his normal routine. He was living in the Keeper's tower now and so he would eat his first and last meals of the day there. Other hours would see him in the market, working at one of the forges earning his wages by small commissions of tools or shoeing horses. Hardly work for an apprentice of Bordan Gret, but he did not seem to mind this simpler work. For those looking to find him or simply anyone in the city looking for goods, he was an easy man to find. His grumbling about boons aside, he was in as good a mood as he could be expected to be in.

Comments

[aliased]

He was right. She hadn't wanted him to go back each time he did. And now he could travel between both keeps easily. It hit her then, a smug expression on her face. "You're right."

[bullhorned]

"Don't be too happy," he went on as he began to grow particularly smug in turn. "That means you'll be getting your cat returned to you soon."

The poor cat had been left in Troichean Beinn when Gendry went to the Samhain. He had asked a fellow apprentice to look after the cat, but that had been only for a few days. Instead it had been over a month now and though Gendry jested now, he felt a peculiar worry that the cat might have since run away or worse.

[aliased]

Arya made a face at that, although she honestly didn't mind the cat that much. But she preferred not to have the cat. In the end, she was responsible for the damned thing. "Maybe Wenda would rather say there."

[bullhorned]

"Mayhaps she does. Shame I won't be asking." Arya would have to suffer the cat again, once the mirrors were positioned correctly. That was her boon and he would have nothing to do with it.

[aliased]

"She doesn't help around the forge?" Arya already knew the answer was no.

[bullhorned]

"She's not allowed near," he said scathingly. "No one likes the scent of burnt cat."

[aliased]

"Did you let her get burned?" Arya actually might sound concerned for a moment. Maybe.

[bullhorned]

"Only a few times," he lied casually. Then he innocently asked: "Cats don't really need their tails, do they?"

[aliased]

Another attempt to shove him through the mirror happened then, her laughter proof that she didn't believe him one bit. Gendry wasn't cruel after all.

[aliased]

Another attempt to shove him through the mirror happened then, her laughter proof that she didn't believe him one bit. Gendry wasn't cruel after all. And with the likelihood of her attempt to fail, she asked after-- "Can I use the mirrors? Once they are in place?"

[bullhorned]

Gendry let himself be pushed through so that he arrived on the other side of the room, twisting about even as he did so. He was grinning when he came around the other side, as they made for a rather fun game when arranged like this. Not quite enough to keep them side by side like this, but still amusing. "Why? I didn't think you much liked it there?"

[aliased]

She grinned triumphant now that it worked, turning towards the other mirror as he came out the other side. "I don't." But that didn't mean she wouldn't come visit him sometimes. She got bored and lonely during the day sometimes. And someday, she thought darkly, they might need to use those mirrors to escape, quickly.

[bullhorned]

He thought about it as he gave his chin a thoughtful stroke. "You'd need a key. I had a mind to keep them locked up tight."

Gendry had heard Sansa's concerns about the fairy ring and so he reckoned that such a doorway should be kept secure. Certainly if Sansa was concerned, the dwarves might have their own concerns at some shardholder maintaining a portal into their city. It wasn't safe.

[aliased]

Arya stood up straighter, giving him a reassuring nod. "I wouldn't give it to anyone. I could wear it around my neck. Or put it around Nymeria's."

[bullhorned]

"Nymeria's neck," he agreed. Arya might be scrappy, but gods help the person who tried to get at the neck of a direwolf. "Aye, fine. I'll have a second key made for you. Better to have a spare, Master Mott always said."

[aliased]

Arya nodded, thinking already of how to get a hold of a scrap of leather for her direwolf's neck. She looked quite content with this idea, of being important enough to hold a key to something so important as this. She looked towards the mirrors one last time before racing through one with a laugh, coming out the other side still laughing.

She looked at him as she came to a stop in front of him. "I'm going to go find something to tie it to Nymeria's neck. But later we should try throwing a ball through it." Like the strangest game of catch.

[bullhorned]

He laughed just as she did, still marveling at the madness of the magic he had been given. The thought of playing a game with it seemed stupid, but he could not deny his curiosity.

"Mayhaps we could set on the floor." Gendry didn't know what that would do, but he was terribly curious to find out.

[aliased]

Arya's eyes widened at the idea. "Yes. I wonder if it would work. I will find a ball too." And probably other things to test out.

[bullhorned]

"Well be on with it!" He said with a cheeky grin. "I've called Stiles, so it won't be long til one is gone!"

[aliased]

"I'll hurry," she grinned right back before racing out the door to find the ball first, deciding the strap for Nymeria can wait.

[bullhorned]

While she went, Gendry stayed. There was little in his room that he ever did inside by sleep, but he had at least ways to spend his time. So while he waited to see if either Arya or Stiles would show up first, he plucked up his bull helmet and spent his time polishing it until it gleamed nearly as brilliant as the two mirrors did.