Sharpen the Steel

While the pair of mentor and student worked on their respective weapons beside one another, filling the armory with the metallic singing of stones on steel, Artorias kept his keen gaze Fern, watching how she moved her paws as she sharpened the sword. She began a bit unevenly, as was expected for someone new to the practice, but with every stroke of the whetstone she became more and more sure of herself. With time, Fern had sharpened one edge of the sword to a wicked point, all without cutting herself in the process. He nodded his approval when Fern checked the edge and was satisfied with her work. It was a decent honing for her first time. She'd improve with practice and time, of this the Aegis had no doubt. "Good. Keep going until all the sides are sharpened to your liking," he instructed her as he finished up his second edge and turned his sword about to work on the opposite edge of the blade. They talked while they worked, and when the gray monochrome girl smiled and expressed her earnest joy at being a part of the Hallows, a smile spread across Artorias' muzzle. "Good, I'm very glad to hear that," he said, then blinked in surprise and turned to look at Fern as if to discern whether she was being serious or not. He chuckled and grinned while he shook his head. "No, he didn't tell me that. I suppose congratulations are in order, future sister-in-law." He snickered again, then asked, "So when's the wedding? I'm assuming you'll need an officiant if you want the whole ceremony." He supposed if Rudy and Fern were serious about getting married, they'd want a wedding ceremony, which means he'd be officiating for the first time ever for his brother.

Artorias had moved on to the last edge of his sword, listening to the smooth scrape of the river stone on the blade. Damascus steel always seemed to produce more resonant sounds to regular steel, almost as if the blade was actually singing its praises to its thoughtful owner. Fern speaks up again, and Artorias turned the closest obsidian ear towards her to catch her words while he hums to acknowledge he'd heard her. She asked about a gift for Rudy's birthday, a question that made Artorias purse his lips in pensive thought for a minute. "Rudy has never been really big on possessions. You probably guessed that when you saw how bare his room was." He chuckled and checked the edges of his sword before setting it aside until Fern caught up so they could move to the next step together. He turned his focus back to his apprentice and ran a paw pad over the edge she'd honed with a nod. "Good. Now do the other side and then we'll move on." While Fern worked, Artorias thought some more about her question. "If you want to give him something, how about an accessory? Something he could wear all the time to remind him of you. Maybe something you make, or something with a special meaning behind it." He thought about the armlet Briar had made for him, the black leather band around his foreleg studded with fire opals that matched his eyes. "Or you could do something nice for him. Plan a day trip, take him on a special hunt or something. Rudy does love a good hunt."

Once Fern had finished honing the other side of her blade and was satisfied with her work, Artorias picked up one of the rags and passed it to her, picking up another for himself and sliding the pot of oil closer to them. "Once you finish sharpening your sword, we're going to clean the blade. First, you rub the length of it down on all sides with a dry cloth." He paused his instructions to demonstrate on his sword, polishing the fine Damascus steel free of any blemishes or marks. "Then you dampen it with some oil and wipe everything. The blade, the crossguard, especially the leather around the grip. It keeps it from drying out and cracking." Artorias carefully dipped the rag into the oil and began to wipe down every part of his sword, making the steel shine in the fire's light and keeping the leather on the grip supple. He took extra care to polish the topaz stones around the crossguard, knowing how much effort Briar had gone through to get them for him when she'd had his sword repaired.

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