Petals on The Moon || Reyna Ramirez-Arellano x Fem!OC

XLII

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Dear Diary,

"Reyna, Suki," Soledad began, "meet Chae-Won. She's the Master of the Forge right now."

A woman turned around, her black hair pulled sloppily into a low bun. She wore a red hairband and had soot splattered all over her face, which was surprisingly pretty. She had dark brown eyes and a round face that made her look gentle, but her body quickly betrayed that; five feet, seven inches of shredded muscles, scars, and blocky hands calloused over a thousand times. However, I noticed her wearing a golden wedding band.

"Master of the Forge?" Suki asked.

"I lead it, basically," Chae-Won said, shaking my hand. Suki leaned on one crutch and managed to shake her hand. "I've got some of the most experience, and they voted me in during the New Year."

Most experience? Her arm showed the hammer, Vulcan's symbol, and a solid ten lines, meaning she was retired. But this woman didn't seem very old. "Well, that's cool."

Suki was blunt again. "You don't look older than thirty."

Chae-Won smiled. "Suki, I'm turning forty-seven in September." Suki's jaw dropped dramatically, making Chae-Won release a hearty laugh. "I get that a lot."

"Nearly knocked me off my feet."

I snickered a bit, but Chae-Won and Soledad found this hilarious. She led the three of us further into the forge, which smelled like old fire and metal.

The forge was huge and complicated, with rows set up with tables littered with various tools. A few Romans loitered around, actively forming blueprints or planning with each other. One was bent over an anvil, taking his rage out with a hammer on a newly-forged sword. In the corner, a radio was playing old rock music- Free Bird, I think, but I wasn't fully certain.

In the back was a large desk with chaotic papers everywhere, various pieces of metal, old blueprints, and a small candle lit.

"Pink Sands," Suki said, pointing.

Chae-Won blinked. "Yeah, it's my favorite."

"Very large, very popular."

Chae-Won nodded absently. "Uh, yeah." She shook her head. "Anyways, we took your measurements while you were asleep, and were able to whip you up a temp. Basically, this is what you're gonna use to relearn walking."

"How is that gonna work?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Basically, Suki is missing an incredibly important part of her body," Chae-Won explained. From the wall, she dragged down a paper diagram of what looked to be a leg design. She hooked the bottom rope around a nail to keep it in place. "Suki's leg was amputated just below the knee, which means she can actually still bend her nub a tiny little bit."

Suki concentrated, then blinked. "Oh. It's very... light."

"Yes," Chae-Won said. "The way the prosthetic is gonna work- it'll hook around the top of your knee and part of your thigh, and it has a little pocket for your leg to slide into. When you walk now, the remainder of your leg is going to be manually moving the prosthetic. It'll be a huge workout, because when we normally walk, all the muscles in our legs work together to push our body weight. Now, though, you're missing the entire lower leg. You won't have your ankle and foot to help propel you, and the weight will be different, so you'll have to learn how to balance again."