Heroes of Dreamland, Book 6 1/2: The Last Sakuranoki (OLD)

...And A Not-So-Stellar Blacksmith

Inside the tent, it was kind of dark compared to the outside, so it took a moment for the two's eyes to adjust. Once they did, though, they were strangely relieved to discover that there appeared to be no one there. Only a fire in a temporary metal fireplace over on one side, a table with blacksmith tools carelessly strewn about it, and a folding metal chair with books stacked on it in one corner were to be seen inside the standard army shelter.

"Welp, I guess we should come back later," Tracker sighed and turned to go, but Cherry grabbed his arm and pulled him further into the tent, making him sigh again. This time, though, it was a a sigh of irritation rather than of barely-disguised relief.

Laughing nervously, Cherry flew up a little bit and settled on top of the stack of books, which was just the right size to serve as a seat to the little Fairy. "We'll wait, Tracker. I'm sure Mister Orion will be back soon."

"It's 'Private' Orion, not 'Mister,' dear," a voice muttered from between the blacksmith table and the tent's waterproof fabric wall, making both Cherry and Tracker jump. Even the sakuranoki, which Cherry was still cradling in her lap now, gave a bit of a shudder.

From behind the table appeared a yellow Star Warrior with piercing green eyes that glared studiously at each of them in turn, each time with a different sort of studiousness. He looked at Tracker with near-disdain, at the baby tree with aloof indifference, and at Cherry with a sort of mild curiosity. After he'd done this, he dusted his gloves against each other and questioned disinterestedly, "Well, what brings thee here, Fairy dear? It's not often the Fairy Forces deem me worthy of being paid a visit. I suppose ye have a shield or something that wants repairing, eh, dear?"

"And I suppose I'm chopped liver," Tracker muttered while Cherry couldn't help but blush a bit. The tree just shivered in an inobservable breeze again.

Clearing her throat, Cherry hopped off of the book stack and onto the ground. "Actually, I'm not with the Fairy Forces. I'm a civilian that's here to help out with... some things, and I was wondering if you could help me- I mean, us- forge a sword."

Continuing to ignore Tracker, Orion made a face of mild surprise. "A sword, love? That's a bit odd, I've never had a Fairy ask for a sword before... Typically they use only magic." Rolling his eyes, he muttered, "Us Star Warriors could use magic too, if that tyrant Stellar hadn't declared sorcery illegal among our kind."

"Tyrant?" Cherry wondered in pure surprise, while Tracker just snorted a bit and scoffed,

"As if you'd be able to use magic anyway. Magic is unpredictable and unreliable among creatures that aren't meant to use it. Teaching Star Warriors magic tricks would lose us the war for sure."

Shrugging, Orion deigned to acknowledge the other Star Warrior's existence with a flippant "Perhaps so." But after checking to make sure that Tracker was looking elsewhere, he winked at Cherry and made a blacksmith tool fly into his hand by way of a little cloud made of some sort of black fog. She jumped a bit in surprise, making him chuckle a little bit as he turned to a pail full of chunks of some sort of metal.

"Well, my dear, ye still haven't explained what ye want a sword for, or what kind of a sword ye want. Are ye thinking silver, perhaps a nice moonstone for the hilt? Should it be a longsword, or more on the dagger side of things?"

Shaking her head slowly, she explained, "No, we were thinking of a more... special kind of sword. We're trying to make a star sword. I was hoping for magic glass, maybe, and-"

"A star sword?" Orion interrupted dubiously in reply. "Aren't those only myths? And besides, how am I supposed to forge a star sword? Do I look like a Flame Person to thee, dear?"