The Girl in the Cloak

Crafting pt.1

Fa sat holding her favorite dagger in her hand. It moved along with the grain of the branch slowly, making sure it never bounced or wobbled away from the branch. The smooth strokes took away thin sheets of branch she held. The scraps of wood fell at her feet gently. It was almost beautiful in its simplicity. The wood looked like nothing at all as she continued shaving it away. Rain could see in Fa's eyes she had an idea of what was hidden within the branch itself. Rain watched every single stroke Fa made with intensity. Fa lifted the branch up and observed it closely. The branch had a dark bark and had a deep redwood inside with thin deep black stripes to it. The branch was longer than any weapon the girl had ever seen so she did not know what it was gonna be. Was it going to be a shaft of a spear or some type of poll arm, that's what made the most sense she thought. Rain held a piece of fruit on a stick over the fire as she watched Fa continue her project. The excitement was getting to be too much for Rain. She noticed that Luna and Storm were already asleep. She didn't understand how they could be sleeping with such a mystery right in front of there face. She began to eat the caramelized fruit as she watched. The wood shavings had started to pile up by Fas feet, the pile got large enough to reach her ankle. Fa had started to stick her tongue out ever so slightly. The level of focus she put into carving this object was more intense than anything Rain had ever seen. She began to speak.

"A true warrior can craft their own dream weapon, at least that is what my people believe. We are a warrior tribe, but crafters at the same time. The art of it is just as important as putting your soul into the object as well." She spoke but her eyes never came away from her blade and the branch. "They believe a weapon made this way will be able to do things that other weapons never will be. If I am able to maybe I can make something even better than the rainbow blade."

"Isn't the rainbow blade just amazing though. Could you really want something different?" Rain was surprised she thought Fa loved her rainbow blade.

"I do love the rainbow blade, but I didn't make it. It might not be as strong but it could be all mine. Could you imagine it? It could be like an extension of my own body." Fa looked so happy.

"Do you think I could ever make one for myself?" Rain asked.

"Do you want to start learning now?" Fa looked serious. The girl only nodded. In an instance, Fa snapped the branch. She tossed a full piece to the girl. "Grab your knife and do as I do." She continued shaving away at the branch she had.

"Did this ruin your project?" Rain asked.

"Of course not little kitten." Fa smiled big but still kept her eyes on the branch piece she had.

Hours passed as the two continued to shave away at their projects. The girl only had enough of the branch to carve a hilt, but what kind of blade would it become part of. Fa, on the other hand, was finally coming to the end of her project. She had created a longbow. The weapon was the most beautiful thing Rain had ever seen. Fa had engraved her tribal artwork into it. Then she took a black strap of leather and wrapped it around the thinnest point to make a handle. She then pulled a roll of spider silk from her pack. She started to weave it together until the silk made a very springy rope. She put two notches into the wood. Slowly she curved the bow while chanting something under her breath. She held the bow in a specific position for an hour, the entire time chanting the same words. Rain watched carefully as she did. It was confusing to her. When Fa finally stopped the wood was shaped into a beautiful long recurve bow. Her final step of the process was stringing the bow. It was done very quickly. She instantly turned and faced the girl with it. "This is my new bow. We need to name it." The girl looked at the bow in awe. She looked back to the hilt she had been making. She was newly inspired.