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After Teja showed an armorless Baze around the forge, explaining where he liked his tools to be returned after use, Baze got straight to work. He knew Teja would be off in Gotland for three days, so Baze figured he'd forgo sleep--like he'd forgone his armor--and forge as many parts as possible for his lightbow, so he wouldn't have to ask Teja to use the forge again.

Baze is happily working with aluminum and a tiny bit of steel. The former metal is soft, and barely requires any heat at all; if he's not careful to keep an eye on the aluminum, it'll melt on him. A long day follows as Baze cheerfully practices the basics of the blacksmith's age-old craft: bending, flattening, twisting, tapering, and upsetting--driving the bar into the anvil by striking the cold end, transforming the hot end into a bulbous shape.

Baze breaks his fast on the second day, and takes stock. He's forged a plate of steel to cut a two-piece trigger mechanism from, a strap of aluminum to make a front frame for a sight, an aluminum alloy rear ring--to complete the sight--and the two pieces of the prod, or bow, also made out of aluminum.

Next up are the remaining bigger aluminum pieces: the forestock, and shoulder extension. It's after sundown. He should sleep. But he's only halfway done, so he rationalizes staying up for a few more hours. After all, he's only missed one night of sleep; clearly he's just getting old to be this tired.

Baze turns to the forge basin, and blows on the coals. He tries not to breathe in the faint, yellow-green, sulfurous smoke. With a yawn, he adds more fuel, and the smoke nearly disappears. The center of the coal mound reddens like a light, and a few moments later, a bright yellow flame jumps from the fuel. A ghostly blue glow takes shape above it, hovering like a living thing. Gleefully, Baze turns the air on "full blast," and watches the coals turn yellow-white. He picks up a piece of aluminum in his tongs, and starts softening it in the forge.

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At some stage, a man comes walking into the Forge, talking as he enters.

"Hello, Teja, do you have -- oops, you're not Teja. Where is he?"

"Teja's in Gotland. I'm Baze Malbus," he says, keeping an eye on the warming aluminum.

"May the Force of othsrs be with you. Who might you be?"

"What force?" the man says, slightly confused. "And I'm Ragnar Lothbrok."

"The Force is an energy field that binds and surrounds all things," Baze says, watching the aluminum turn white-hot. He used to say the Force binds and surrounds all living things, but Chirrut can clearly sense it, and he's dead.

"All is as the Force wills."

Edited 2017-12-31 23:37 (UTC)

"Oh, there was that amazing marksman who shot fire; he talked about the Force," Ragnar says.

Baze takes the metal piece out of the fire and brings it over to the anvil to bang on it with a hammer.

"That would be Chirrut. He's my best friend. We grew up together, and died together."

"He is astonishing, your friend!" Ragnar says.

Baze laughs softly, flattening the aluminum against the anvil.

"He is. I'm glad someone thinks so. He can be a real pain in the butt sometimes, though; he's stubborn as all get out. It's how he managed to become such a good shot, over protest."

"Why should he not train to shoot his light-bow?" Ragnar says.

Baze blinks at Ragnar, pausing in the shaping of the forestock.

"Because he's blind."

"Erm," Ragnar says. "Oh. That."

"You didn't know he was blind?" Baze says, fixing Ragnar with an incredulous look.

"Excuse me very much," Ragnar says, "but he shot targets with fiery arrows and hit them all. It's not what I'd have expected a blind man's weapon to be."

"Sorry," Baze relents, resisting the urge to rub the back of his neck, as he's wearing rubber gloves and that would feel odd. He continues shaping the aluminum into a cone.

"He listens to the repulsors--what makes the targets fly."

"He's very good at it," Ragnar says. "Even without knowing that he's blind, I found his aim admirable."

Baze gently taps the aluminum cone with the hammer.

"He is. He once shot down a ship flying at fast speeds around our heads, in the pouring rain and surrounded by echoing rocks."

"In your world, ships fly?" Ragnar says, fascinated. "I heard that there are flying machines in other worlds, and in the future of ours, but ships?"

"Yes, they do," Baze says, flattening the top of the cone.

"Now, I really need to get this work done. Thanks for stopping by, Ragnar. May the Force of others be with you."

"I was coming in to get a sword Teja made for me," Ragnar says. "Can you tell him I took it with me, and will pay when I next see him? And do you know where it is?"

"I can tell him, but I have no idea where it is," Baze says, striking the soft metal with the hammer.

"You'll have to come back and ask him when he returns."

"I will," Ragnar nods. "I think he can go for ten days at the most; when did he leave?"

"Two days ago, I believe," Baze says, giving the cone another couple of taps.

"Thanks," Ragnar says. "I'll be here a few days more anyway, as I want to wait for Ganymede, who is raising my daughter who died of a fever, in my world, but has come back alive here."

Only in Milliways...

"I'll find Teja. Good luck with your work and, erm, my the Force of Others be with you."

Life with Athelstan has taught Ragnar curiosity and respect for different faiths, something his sons will, unfortunately, never quite get.

"Thank you. May the Force of others be with you as well," Baze says, submerging the cone in water.

Ragnar nods, and then leaves the forge.