Sharpen the Steel

Artorias was not kept waiting long before Fern appeared in the blacksmith, having just enough time to gather their materials before he saw her trotting in eagerly to greet him. He regarded her with a stoic smile and noticed the sword still slung across her back, proud that she was keeping true to her training, even when he wasn't watching. "Good morning, Fern," he greeted her in return, then gestured to the simple steel sword in the black leather scabbard on the workbench beside him and in front of her. "Today, we're going to be honing some steel together. I've picked out a sword for you to practice with today until you earn yours. Keeping your sword well-maintained and sharp is as important as keeping yourself fed and rested. A weapon not cared for is as useful as a drop in the ocean." Artorias waited while Fern got herself situated beside him before proceeding with the nuances of their lesson.

"Go ahead and unsheathe the sword and lay it out on the bench." Once Fern had done so, Artorias slid Embershard closer to him and began pointing out the different parts of the sword to her. "Every part of a sword needs to be maintained, not just the blade, but the crossguard, tang, grip, and pommel too. If any of these parts fall into disrepair or break, you run the risk of hurting yourself or destroying your weapon entirely." Artorias reached over to grab one of the smooth river whetstones, showing it off to Fern. "This is a whetstone. It's used for sharpening steel. You'll want to find the smoothest side to the stone, then run it smoothly down the edge of the blade, keeping a constant pressure all the way down." Artorias demonstrated on his sword slowly for his apprentice to observe. He took the whetstone in his paw and the grip in his other, then pressed the stone to the blade right by the crossguard and ran it in a slow, smooth stroke from grip to tip. He repeated this a couple of times for Fern to see.

"You repeat this as many times as you need to sharpen the edge. You'll know you're done when you can run a paw pad along the edge slowly and not feel any nicks or burs." The Aegis then very carefully ran a rough paw pad slowly along the edge he had just sharpened, feeling the edge smooth all the way from start to end. "Be very careful not to cut yourself. You're just feeling for any imperfections on the edge of the blade, so don't press into it. When you've finished one side, you do the other." Artorias flipped Embershard over and repeated the sharpening process on the opposite side of the steel he'd just done. "These swords are double-edged, which means we'll need to sharpen all four sides. Go ahead, you give it a try." He gestured with his muzzle to the sword and the second whetstone on the workbench, keeping a close eye on Fern while she did her work to observe her and answer any questions she might have.

He was quiet for some time while he let Fern get used to the sharpening process, speaking only once he felt she was getting comfortable with the weapon. "Still loving the Hallows? Still happy to be here?" he asked her, turning a warm glance her way. While it was his responsibility as Aegis to keep all his wolves safe, his other priority was making sure his wolves were happy and content living here. If any of them had any concerns or problems, Art hoped they would feel comfortable coming to him to voice them.

WC: 616
Total: 1568 / 1500

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Argent"