Chotto Ippuku
Chapter 5: If at First You Don't Succeed…
He loved the feel of the steel of the armor, of the blade. He loved the heat rising from the fire that shaped his soon-to-be-masterpieces.
As the hammer punched another hole in the flimsy armor, Grats jumped, uttering a few words that would've made Mayu blush, had she been in the vicinity. The old man growled and kicked the armor, making his mood turn even more sour (and giving him a sore foot).
At the exact moment Sophia walked by, a suit of dented and hole-filled armor flew through the window and hit her in the head.
Either Grats chose to ignore this or simply didn't notice at all, but either way, he began anew, attempting to make a real steel beauty. He soon lost himself in the rhythmic pattern of creation and invention.
A while later, Sophia woke to the sound of another ruined armor shell flying through the window and landing right next to her. She breathed a sigh of relief and got up to go. Then the hammer came flying through the smashed window.
Meanwhile, Grats was stewing (quite literally, actually; he was next to the fire) over the fact that he could not do anything he tried to make turn out the way he wanted. Was it the steel? The temperature? The hammer?
No, he refused to believe any of this, failures be darned. He picked up a hammer from out of nowhere, held it up in a "hero pose," and promptly threw his back out.
Grats staggered over to the fireplace, got enough steel (taking him quite a few trips), and began anew. As he worked, he offered up various short prayers, and soon, something began to form.
Finally. It was finished. He looked it over, noting the smooth texture, the shine, the visible thickness, and no holes, cracks, or anything that would cause major problems later on.
He lifted it over his head (apparently his back was better for the time being and the purpose of the next part of the story) and rushed outside to show it off. The moment he walked out the door, the steel suit of armor promptly crumbled into 2,532,687 small pieces and 3 larger ones.
Kyone
5.11.05-6.26.05
I am really, really, really sorry for not getting this up sooner. I would have, but you know how crowded with work summer vacation is. I mean, seriously, it's, like, so busy, I can't even think. Okay, I lie. But I actually did type it up, as late as it was, and I did work hard.
And once again, I apologize for the continuous bashing of our poor Sophia. Really, I didn't want to, but the urge just overcame me. Okay, yeah, I'm lying. But if you like her, I did write a nice fanfic for her that's not bashing her. I actually pitied her enough to write a story about her. Yeah, it's true. Le gasp. So go read it.
And please review this load of junk as well.