Repurposed | Quirrel x Sheo x Nailsmith

Chapter Three: In Which The Nailsmith Visits The Lake of Unn

The Nailsmith woke up feeling fully rested for the first time since he left his hut. He sat up slowly, looking around his surroundings. He'd half expected the events of yesterday to have been a dream, but it clearly had not been. He looked for the Nailmaster, finding him asleep in his bed, his large back turned. A faint snore could be heard. The Nailsmith guessed Sheo had stayed up quite late working on his painting.

The canvas was in the same spot as the Nailsmith saw it last. He hesitantly walked up to it and saw that quite a lot of progress had been made on it. Although not complete, it could be mistaken to be. It was a painting of a lake, the greenery around it suggesting it was located in Greenpath, although The Nailsmith wasn't familiar with the location. The Nailsmith stared at the painting for longer than he would like to admit, but the art was so captivating he couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

He then made his way over to the wall where two of the large nails were propped up. As he stood right next to it, he realized the nails were taller than him. He wondered how these nails had been forged. Nails of this size would require a ridiculous amount of metal and should be too heavy to wield. The only way he could see a nail like this working would be if it was hollow on the inside, but that would be horrible for combat along with many other reasons. Without considering the consequences to his actions, The Nailsmith went to pick up one of the nails. As soon as the weight was directed towards him, he realized just how heavy the nail was, and there was no way he could support it. It toppled down before he could get out of it's path, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud.

The noise woke Sheo. He groggily sat up and searched for the source of the noise. When his eyes landed on The Nailsmith he quickly got up and rushed to his side.

"Oh my goodness! Nailsmith, are you alright?" Sheo had moved the nail off of The Nailsmith as if it weighed nothing more than a feather.

"Yeah, I'm fine," The Nailsmith said, wincing and rubbing his head. It knocked the wind out of him for sure, but he'd live.

Despite what he said, Sheo studied The Nailsmith carefully, looking for any injuries. When he was satisfied that there were none, he held out his hand to help The Nailsmith up. When he put his hand in his, Sheo easily lifted him up, catching The Nailsmith off guard yet again.

"Sorry I woke you," he said, feeling embarrassed. "I just wanted to take a closer look at your nails."

"Oh, these old things?" Sheo asked, picking up the nail to put it back. The Nailsmith still couldn't understand how he was doing it so easily, just how strong was this bug? "Why, they're so dusty I forget they're here. I'm afraid I don't know the details of how they were forged, but my master gifted them to me and my brothers while we were training under him."

"You make it look like it doesn't weigh anything," The Nailsmith muttered. "How do you use a nail that heavy?"

"A lot of training," Sheo said simply. "But let's not talk about that, how about I make you some breakfast?"

The Nailsmith didn't have time to object before the larger bug made his way to the kitchen. The cluttering of pots and pans filled the large home, and The Nailsmith was left to stand awkwardly in the center of it.

"Do you not like to talk about your time as a Nailmaster?" The Nailsmith didn't want to pry, but he really wanted to know as much as he could about Sheo's past. He'd heard and shared the rumors of Nailmasters throughout his whole life, he doubted he'd ever find himself in a position like this again.

"I like to keep that time of my life behind me," Sheo stated as he looked through his cabinets for something to make. "It doesn't do anyone any good to dwell on the past."