I always thought if I just make puppy dog eyes at Vulcan, I could get her to do anything. But when I told her I wanted to make a weapon, she got all serious and said no. She said I just wanted to play, and I wasn't taking it seriously, and I wouldn't learn it right. I even promised that if I didn't learn it right I wouldn't get to eat anything yummy, and she still said no. Not even wagging my tail worked. She was a like a rock, and I couldn't make her budge at all... —————————— Today... the little steel knife I just bought... broke... Vulcan says they used bad steel, and the forgework was suspect, so it would've snapped fast even if it wasn't me using it. I don't get it, the words just fly past me. Inside my head it's all empty, so empty I can't think of anything. ...... By the time I snap out of it, Vulcan's at work. She looks at me, stops what she's doing, and puts a big chunk of metal in the furnace. Then she pushes her hammer into my hands, and makes me hold it. The cloth on the handle is still sort of wet, and warm, and it's hard to get your hands off once you're holding on tight. But it's really heavy too. How does she swing it so much all the time? I want to ask her something or other... um... but she's staring at that metal chunk. It's all red now. Better not bother her. The furnace is kinda roasting the air. When she's not watching, I lightly tap my palm with the hammer, so I can imagine what it'd be like swinging it with all my strength. It's gotta hurt a lot. ...... After a while, Vulcan pulls the red-hot metal out from the furnace and puts it on the anvil, then takes the hand I'm holding the hammer in, and swings down with it. Thunk! My hand kinda hurts, and my ears are humming a little, but I'm super duper happy, so I don't mind it at all. Is this forging? Is Vulcan teaching me to forge? Am I gonna become an awesome blacksmith just like her?! ...... No, I can't do it... Even though she's been next to me all day teaching me what to do, all I made in the end was this metal... chunk? Strip? Sheet? The surface is all dented and bumpy, and there's no sharp edge. I can't beat up bad guys with it, just bonk them. Now I've wasted her good metal. She's gotta be really mad... She... gave me a little biscuit and said I did pretty well? Really? Am I good at this?! Heheh~ I think I'll keep it with my other baby weapons. Maybe it's not all that pretty. But it's my knife, and I made it. It's really strong, and really hard. It can clobber bad guys and shoot out super lightning! I love it~