| Flying Innovation | ||
| Date Started: July 26th, 2024 Date Finished: Ongoing Next Role-Play: Timeline: XXXX, 1620 Setting: Paradise, Skypiea Characters Involved: Reed Roxanne, Astralon Zhephyr | ||
| Participants | ||
| User:ThereisGav | ||
Hearth in the Sky[]
10,000 meters above ground, there was a workshop nestled in the heart of Lovely Street. Smoke was churning from the top of the obnoxiously orange brick building. Skypieans actively walked the streets, going about their daily business as they would any other day. They poked their heads into the Dial Shops and assorted food stands, though none would dare walk into the sweltering door of the Vulcan Hearth if they could help it.
The two-story building stood as a relatively new addition to the main street of Skypiea, a freshly painted sign with its namesake creaking with the slight wind as it hung above the door. It was also painted with an obnoxious orange, with a small handprint burned into the left corner of the wood.
A sandy-haired teenage skypiean was the only one visiting the Vulcan Hearth today, having an appointment to pick up his father’s new cloud cutter. The young man only leaned in the double doors, already visibly sweating before even stepping inside. This forge had quite the unique flame, one that burned hotter than anywhere else in the world.
Behind the dainty counter covered in heat resistant plants, a young human woman with red orange hair was shoulder-deep in the dome shaped furnace, steadily arranging the coals into a neat surface with her bare hands. Leaning back out, she idly wiped the soot on her apron and moved to her workbench to fasten in the handles on the cloud cutting saw. The freshly tempered blade shone brightly in the light from the window, the girl giving it a few finishing touches before placing it in a carrying case for the skypiean.
The case was placed on the counter, the woman combing through a notepad for a brief moment before waving the kid inside.
“Here you are, Rei. Your father already paid me in advance. Be careful with that on the way home, it’s very sharp.”
Rei grimaced to himself as he entered the building, being surprised at the sheer heat emanating from behind the counter. It felt like his feathers were going to ignite. The boy hurriedly grabbed the case and moved for the door, kindly waving at her before leaving. He spoke sheepishly before making his departure.
“Thanks, Miss Roxie! My father wanted to thank you for the discount too…”
A warm smile grew on her face as she waved him off, shaking her head nonchalantly as she pushed off the counter.
“It’s nothing, kiddo. Your father really needed a new one, and I just so happened to have enough spare scrap to whip one up. Don’t worry about it.”
Roxanne watched the boy nod thankfully before seeing him off, spinning around and pulling out her notepad once again to draw a line through the family’s order. With that last entry complete, she realized she had finished her scheduled work for the day fairly early in the afternoon. It dawned on her soon after she had reserved this day to clean out the entire forge and organize all her tools.
A long groan exited her being as she flopped back into her chair behind the counter, quite dramatically at that. Roxanne had hoped to mess around with the new dials her captain had sent, but knew she couldn’t let herself wiggle out of cleaning and maintenance. It was a necessary evil to keep the greatest forge Skypiea had ever seen running smoothly, or at least she tried to convince herself. The fiery haired girl removed her tool belt and set it gently on the counter as she rose to her feet and got to work cleaning up.
Dling-Dling-Dling
"Don't overdo it, you don't need perfection in every inch of the workshop, it's the quality of what you offer that makes the difference. I brought you a good meal from a nearby restaurant, eat it before it gets cold ahahah" A voice was heard entering followed by the ringing of bells at the entrance.
It was Astralon Zhephyr, the vice captain of the Gryphon Pirates, his bright smile trying to lift Roxanne's weariness.
“Eh? Is that Zhephyr?” Roxie’s voice echoed from inside the large furnace, her upper half fully inside. The girl emerged from the large oven looking similar to a soot sprite, shaking her big tufts of red hair to clean it off. The blacksmith removed her loose toolbelt and tossed it into an adjacent chair as she approached. Roxanne walked up to the counter with a grin, leaning on it as she greeted her crewmate. A kindred warmth radiated off of her as per usual.
Her expression shifted to one of embarrassment as her stomach audibly rumbled, blinking as she propped her chin on her hand. “Guess uh…It’s been a while since I ate. Thank you! What brings you all the way over here? Wasn’t exactly expecting you. Is Liutas doing alright?”
“Certainly, the boss is engaged in a new project in Aetherius. Word has come that there is some suspicious movement in Shandora. You know that we need a peaceful environment here, and if it is not such, we are committed to making it so.” Zhephyr said as he sat down.
“There happens to be room for a small workshop there as well, there are good dial materials in the area and so you can also keep an eye on some ill-intentioned people. I have already taken care of permits and paperwork, people seem happy with our presence now that pirates are increasing in numbers. Do you want to take a look with me?” He asked, biting into an apple he had with him.
Roxanne's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm at the mention of a new project and work to be done outside the office. "Are you kidding? I've been dying in here, it's so boring now that everything's peaceful. It's making me feel like a law abiding citizen. I definitely want to join you." Taking a quick few bites of the meal he'd brought the smith went to the back wall. Plucking a comically large hammer off a rack, she slung it over her shoulder as she returned to the counter to keep picking at her meal.
"Haven't been over to Shandora in a while, I'd be happy to help check up on any nonsense going on down there."
Setting the heavy weapon down on it's head she grabbed a cloth to wipe the extra soot from her face. The weight of the hammer had nearly splintered the floor when she set it down, her only reaction being a quick embarrassed glance downward. Orange irises shifted back towards Zhephyr expectantly as Roxanne gave him an excited look. As usual, her enthusiasm was electric and quite unmatched.
But before the two left for their destination Zhephyr approached the large hammer taken from Roxanne and went to put it back without initially giving any explanation. Meanwhile a new customer entered, “Excuse me, my jet dial skates are a bit old, I could use some new ones but I think it's time to think about the family to move around comfortably, I heard that Liutas brought in a cloud bike expert, is a three-seater possible?”
Zhephyr, who had become an expert in dealing with customers by going around all the Liutas workshops, spoke first, “Dearest, today is your lucky day, Roxanne here is just the right person for your request, just think that she built the Liutas ship, you know? Someone like the boss would be able to make a masterpiece by himself and yet he wanted the help of this great expert!!! A three-seater is certainly possible and available for imminent use, please this way, I leave it in good hands.” He said as he started the customer toward the brand-new cloud bikes.
“Finish with him and close, there is a surprise outside, don't take hammers heheh!” Zhephyr whispered to Roxanne, waiting for her at the exit.
"No hammer...?" The shipwright mumbled to herself as she watched him put it back. Roxanne blinked and gave Zhephyr a confused look before spinning around to greet the new customer. Her crewmate's words caused her to blush and beam with pride, casually grabbing her toolbelt again as she moved over to the cloud bikes. The day was certainly catching up with her, but that did little to dampen her mood.
"Oh stop...He could have managed without me, I'm just glad I got to work on it. Luckily for you I just got some three seater kits in the mail, should only take a few minutes for me to have it ready to go."
Roxie spent a few quick minutes unscrewing seats and replacing them to give ample space for three. With her hands moving hastily as a pit crew, she finished quickly and stood up to get the customer checked out. Once he had paid, she opened the large garage door tucked away near the cloud bikes.
Waving the customer and his new bike off with a grin, she lowered the pulley to close the door up. "Oookay. That should be it for today. One second!"
Taking the time to completely lock up the building, she cleaned herself up and returned to her crewmate at the door. Reminded of his previous words, she tilted her head at him as she opened the door to leave. "Oh yeah, you said you had a surprise for me?"
"Yes and tadaaaaaa, a brand new Tetra-Infinite Dial hammer, Liutas sent it with the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, a Gale Infinite Dial for both impact and acceleration, it has a transformator inside so it can switch from one option to the other, a Thunder Infinite Dial and a Blaze Infinite Dial to add variety in you attacks." Zhephyr explained quite pridefully.
Roxie’s eyes began to sparkle as she grabbed the handle, scooping the heavy weapon up and letting it settle into her hands. It felt perfect, and tears quickly welled and began to steam off her cheeks as she set it down. The blacksmith wasn’t really used to getting gifts, only giving them.
The girl threw her arms around Zephyr’s neck as she hugged him, trying to keep herself together as much as she could. The girl nearly wailed as she spoke. “Thank you guys! It’s so perfect!”
"Ahahah glad you liked it, now, time to reach Shandora, it feels like a battle will take place, don't overdo it, that weapon is still new to you." Zhephyr said with a happy face that suddenly became serious.
"But of course i want you to shine, prove that you are worth to stay in this crew, gotcha?"
"Course. I'll try not to light the clouds on fire, but I can't promise anything." Roxanne grinned slightly as she raised the hammer over her shoulder, signaling that she was ready to go.
A drop of sweat ran down Zhephyr's forehead as he thought about the eventuality that Roxanne would not be able to control his attacks. “You know...a word of advice, usually the captain always attacks upward to minimize damage on the ground. Enemies in the air have little chance of movement and are open to stronger attacks, try doing that too so we'll be sure not to have to rebuild Shandora Ahahahah.” He said as a precaution and set off with Roxanne toward the "City of Gold".
Red Gold[]
After a short trip aboard Zhephyr's special Jet motorcycle, the two arrived in Shandora, everything seemed normal, there were even a few people on adventure or sightseeing to admire old ruins. Liutas had asked to put in a small store at his entrance so that he could both expand his presence on the island and act as an anti-criminal lookout zone.
“Here we are, it looks quiet outside, we have to venture inside to find out if these rumors are true and...” Zhephyr did not have time to finish his sentence that an injured tourist walked past him shouting incessantly.
“HEEEEEELPPPP, PIRATEEEES INSIDE!!!”
“Roxie, I think there is no need for further confirmation, we must hurry. GENTLEMEN PAY ATTENTION, WE HAVE HAD REPORTS OF PIRATES WITH BAD INTENTIONS, WE ARE ZHEPHYR AND CERTAINLY THE HERE KNOWN ROXANNE OF THE GRYPHON PIRATES. WE WILL TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM, WE ONLY ASK THAT YOU EVACUATE THE PLACE CAREFULLY AND ACCOMPANY THIS GENTLEMAN TO THE NURSE'S OFFICE THANK YOU.” Zhephyr explained aloud giving a very quick first aid to the injured gentleman.