this one is mine

Usagi · 01-12-2022, 10:54 PM

Well, he had wandered quite a ways away from his brother now. Usagi figured he’d drift a little further south on the strange continent, not only to find wolves to spar with and creatures to track, hunt, and kill, but also to survey the land itself. The weather here was blistering hot, unsurprising given it was summer, but it was still a scorching extreme compared to his homeland’s mild tempered warmth. The flop-eared wolf scowled even deeper than usual as the sun burned his charcoal back, the uncomfortable heat burning into his pelt. He growled, cursing under his breath in his native tongue as he trudged across the flatlands, the burning inescapable even as he looked about for some sign of life. Damn, where was a stream or pond when you needed one? His tongue felt as if it was going to dry up and shrivel like a raisin. After a few moments of heated meandering, the male saw his efforts to be fruitful; a small pool, lush with what was the remainder of a rainstorm a few days before, sat like a beacon in his midst. Trotting over, the koi wolf lapped the liquid to his fill, and when he was finished, he swiped a tongue over his lips and took a good look at his surroundings.

He squinted as he saw the plateau ahead of him. There were several strange objects scattered about, and as he decided to approach the tree-less landscape, he tilted his head in curiosity and a bit of awe - though he didn’t dare show it. It was an entire battlefield, remenants strewn about and long forgotten in the slow crawling passage of time. His brother would’ve taken one gander at the scene and though might’ve said something nice about it, wouldn’t care to give it another glance. To Usagi, battle-ready and one for combat, he couldn’t help but be drawn to the scenery. Curious, his hot temper quelled as he poked a rusty helmet here, or sniffed a broken shield there. It was only after examining the remenants that a lightbulb went off in his head. Say..were there any swords? He didn’t have much formal training in fixing up blades back home, but he learned a thing or two from the swordmakers and crafters who’d let him observe as a child. He was confident he knew enough about blades to bring one back to its former glory.

Finally, after a long, vast while of searching and keeping chartruse eyes glues to the uneven terrain, the male spotted the perfect sword. His gaze lingered on it for a second; it was a decent size, well-balance by the looked of it. It laid on the ground, flat, not stabbed into the earth like some of the other swords. He picked up the worn, rotten hilt in his jaws to briefly test it - well-balanced, no doubt. Dropping it gingerly back on the ground, he cringed at the crumbly, sandpapery texture of the peeled, sunbleached leather wrappings that once reinforced the now bare and splintered wooden hilt. The crossguard was of the same metal as the blade itself, strong and well reinforced. Whoever constructed it made it perfect for battle of any kind. Usagi quickly glanced around for what he’d need to fix the sword. The blade was incredibly dull, the edges chipped slightly. The hilt needed the most work, and he needed leather for it. Then a good rock to sharpen the blade with..this would take a while.

The koi wolf set up a makeshift camp by the plateau and the little pool, ensuring he’d make a little sword crafting station of sorts. Rudimentary and bone-bare at best, but it would do nicely. He set off to gather first a flat rock, wide and slab-like. He searched and searched for a good few hours until he lifted one from the earth, dragging it back to his camp and dropping it with a grunt. That would be his table on which the sword could rest on while he played around with the hilt repair. The hilt..he needed a hide for that. He sighed. That meant he had to kill a rabbit most likely. It was the only creature he knew that’d roam these bare parts, and had enough skin on its bones for this construction. This land stripped him of his mannerisms and strict morals, go figure. With a sigh, he tracked a rather large hare that came all this way, leaping forward and crunching down on its little neck with his jaws. The rabbit’s skin was peeled carefully with tooth and a flint-type stone for slicing, the meat went towards a much-needed meal for him. Allowing the hide to sit and dry, he cured the hide by giving it a brief wash and then drying it over a rather small, pathetic fire he’d hastily tossed together with dry sticks and a few bits of rabbit fluff for kindling. Still, it did its job. The hide stretched over a wooden plank he’d set over the fire with two small boulders on either side to prop it up. Whatever you had to do to cure leather, he did something like that. In his own Usagi way.

With the rabbit leather drying, Usagi set his focus on cleaning and sharpening the sword’s blade. It was double-edged and tapered into a sharper triangular tip, a stark contrast to Iga’s elegant, angular swords. Ah, well. It would do nicely. He learned a thing or two about sword handling and usage in combat, and it was formidable. After he set it on the slab at an angle, he grabbed a smooth stone in one paw and dragged it methodically over each side of the blade, over and over. It smoothed out the knicks, and soon, when he grabbed it in his jaws and swung it at a sparse brush, it sliced through the dry foliage like it was a mere cloud. Polishing the blade with a piece of the rabbit pelt, he’d brought it to an eye-blinding sheen. With the leather now cured to his satisfaction, he set to work peeling the pelt in just the right places, making sure to rid it of any excess fur. The dark brown hide had a healthy shine to it, and he carefully wrapped the long strip he’d made around a newly enforced hilt core, fastening it with a sharp but small knot and carefully hovering the hilt over a flame to permanently seal it. With burnt rabbit fat (what little of it he could harvest from the poor creature), he used it to polish and protect the leather hilt from getting cracked or worn. The process would have to be repeated every once in a while, but now he was satisfied. He’d even found a sheath that fitted the sword, but luckily he didn’t need to kill another rabbit to restore its leather. With a good cleaning, he had a beautiful sheath and an exhilirating sword. He stepped back to marvel at the sharp, shiny weapon. A small smirk alighted his lips at his accomplishment. Look out world - he just made his battles that much scarier for his enemies.

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this one is mine

solo fighting seasonal

Usagi