U4: The Space Wanderers

Chapter 9: Forging the Past

After a few moments strolling through town, Sighlan was able spot the local blacksmith. Standing outside a tattered-up building was a large, burly man with scars all over his face and a metal plate covering one of his eyes. "Hey Torgal, guess who's back!?" The blacksmith turned around and squinted at Sighlan. His face then lit up and then he immediately rushed in for a big hug. "Ah hah, Cousin Si! How'ya been, what's it going, y'all doing alright?"

Sighlan pat his back as he put her back down. "Nice to see ya too! Dirken and I have been doing alright. We even got a couple new recruits to our team!" Torgal gave out a hearty laugh. "Glad you guys are doing great. So, what brings ya here?" She grabbed her lazer pistol and a small cylindrical object. "My gun needs more juice, and my sword ran out of power. Mind if ya give 'em a fix?" Torgal nodded and grabbed Sighlan's weapons.

He hooked the lazer pistol to a machine that had a glowing orb in the middle, with energy from said orb being siphoned into the gun. After doing that, he went to the other side of the room and started fiddling with the sword hilt. Torgal pulled out a gem that was attached at one end of the hilt, and dipped the hilt itself into a bath of molten steel to strengthen it. He then walked over to Sighlan with the gem. "Alright, you remember this part, Si?" Sighlan cracked her knuckles and begrudgingly put her hand out. "Eeyup..." 

Torgal pulled a needle from his pocket and gently pricked one of Sighlan's fingers. Applying some pressure, a couple drops of blood dripped onto the gem, causing it to glow a glistening shade of red. He then walked back over to the steel bath and carefully pulled out the hilt, dipping it in a stream of water flowing through the shop. Once the hilt was cooled off, he stuck the gem back in and gave it back to Sighlan. "Alright, give it a whirl!" With a flick of her wrist, A burst of energy erupted from the hilt, creating a blade made of flames.

"Woah, this feels as good as new! Thanks cuz, how much do I owe ya?" Torgal shook his head with a smile. "It's on the house. My smithy is your smithy, Si! By the way, what've you guys been doing over the past decade since y'all left? Must be exciting exploring distant solar systems." Sighlan sat down on a nearby stool and started recounting her memories. "Well, it was around the time where Dirken and I graduated at the Ballex Academy of Engineering & Astrophysics. If you remember, for a while we used the Ultimatum to deliver stuff between our system's planets, back and forth. About a year after that, we actually got a delivery job from the Ballex capital to a the next solar system over. It felt nice doing long-distant deliveries like that, so we thought we'd make our dinky business from planetary to intergalactic. We had to fight a few thugs, thieves and warriors here and there, but other than that it's been pretty nice."

Torgal chuckled as he wiped the soot off his hands. "Heh, glad everything's cool with y'all. I just hope somebody deals with those weird stretchy guys. That poor Hallah kid's been doing it by herself ever since her sisters disappeared. Hmmm... maybe now that you guys are back, how about your team help her out? I'm sure you're more than capable, especially now that your weapons have been finely turned by yours truly!" He then handed Sighlan her fully-charged lazer pistol. "Huh... I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a fifth person on the team, but we're headed toward's Ballex next. Who's gonna protect the town if Hallah's not here?"

"No need for worrying, ever since those soldiers came, I have been tinkering with some stuff in secret..." Torgal moved some books on a nearby shelf, revealing a button. Once he pressed it, a large shelf full of sharp weapons rose from the floor of the shop. "I have noticed that those aliens seem to be easily injured when struck with sharp objects, so I've been making a stock of swords, spears, axes, and other various blades made from the sharpest materials on Shri. If an emergency were to happen, I have enough weapons for everyone in this town to use and then some! So yeah, we can take care of ourselves for now, but you do need to take Hallah with you so you can help get her sisters back and take care of those soldiers."

Sighlan nodded at Torgal. "Sounds like a plan. I'll just need to talk to her about it first, just so that we're on the same page. Well, nice to see you again after so long, but I gotta wrangle up my crew and start heading out. Just promise me that you and everyone around here will still be here next time I visit." Torgal gave a big smile and two thumbs up. "You can count on us, and we'll count on you guys!"

After walking through the town, Sighlan was able to meet back up with the kids. "Ah hey, good thing this town is small, easy to find y'all. Though... where's Dirken?" Goddard pondered for a second before remembering. "Oh, I think I saw him go over there." He pointed at the town restaurant. "Aw jeez, he's gonna eat that place out of it's menu. I'll get him in a sec, Hallah, I need to talk to you." Hallah turned her head towards Sighlan. "What's up, something wrong?" 

"No, but I was talking to Torgal, and he said it'd be best that you join us in the meanwhile. At least until we find your sisters." Hallah was surprised at what Sighlan had said. "Wait, you want to help me find my sisters? Are you sure, I know for a fact they're not on this planet anymore, and this place needs a protector." Sighlan gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Torgal has everything covered. Plus, after we're done at Ballex, we're gonna take a short detour. If your sisters are anywhere, they're most likely on the fourth planet."

"Hold up... fourth planet?" said a confused Hallah. "Yup, there's a fourth planet in our solar system, and I know for a fact that it's connect to those Elastians. So, you wanna be our fifth space wanderer?" After a short pause, Hallah shook Sighlan's hand. "I'll do it! For my sisters, and the sake of this planet." Goddard and Xanny smiled at the prospect of another crew member. "Alright kids, let's tear Dirken from this food joint and start heading out to Ballex!"