estoria | Weapons Testing For Fun And Profit (But Mostly For Fun)

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darin altway

Weapons Testing For Fun And Profit (But Mostly For Fun) | [OPEN]

Who: Darin Altway

forgeabettertomorrow & anyone who wants to have fun testing experimental weapons!
When: IC: 8/13 | OOC: 7/27
Where: Outside of the Spoon Smithy after business hours!
What: Ever since Darin's arrived in Cerealia, he's seen all kinds of fantastic things. He's been documenting them in a notebook and in his spare time, he's come up with a few prototype weapons! Come test them out!
Rating/Warning: There's no way any of these weapons will work or will be especially effective. Hilarity will ensue.

[So maybe you're on your way home from work and you see a sign posted directing you to the spoon smithy. Or maybe you just got home and you see a flyer tacked to your door directing you, once more, to the spoon smithy. Or maybe you are home and the aforementioned flyer gets crammed haphazardly into your mail slot. Guess where it's directing you? The spoon smithy! Regardless, they all look like this: ]

Hey you! Yeah, the one reading this! I know what you're thinking: 'How did the flyer know I was reading this?' Because you're still reading out of curiosity, that's how! And you're wondering what the point is! Well, you know what else has points? Weapons! That's right! You know, Cerealia's a dangerous place...and no one knows what's going to happen next. Wouldn't you want to be on the forefront of weapons research so that you can better prepare yourself for the next incident that arises? If so, come on down to the spoon smithy after business hours where you can help test the latest innovations by Master Blacksmith Darin Altway, whose hammer and expertise in the field of weaponry are legendary! He's got some amazing prototypes that need testing and he can't think of anyone better to do it! Seriously! So come on down, test some weapons, have some fun, and have a few snacks! Disclaimer: There will be no snacks.

[Kind of hard to pass up this opportunity, am I right?]

-TEST I- HOOKSHOT

[Ever since he had the chance to use one in ViViD, Darin's been attempting to make the digital weapon a reality. After a few weeks, it seems he's finally succeeded! The test area is full of all kinds of targets and patches of grating that the user can grapple on to. However, the torque and speed of the hookshot varies since it's been calibrated specifically to Darin's weight, strength, and build. You might find yourself hurdling through the air much faster. Or not at all. That piece of grating might be rocketing towards you. Try and hook onto an item or a training dummy? You might end up pulverizing it completely!]

-TEST II- BEAM SABER

[This stylish looking saber is sleek and sexy. There's a concealed button on the hilt that, once pressed, activates the industrial cutting laser embedded in the guard. Voila! Instant beam saber! There's training dummies and all sorts of debris scattered around this test area for you to cut into. However, the laser might not be the most stable thing. Swinging around something like this might cause some structural damage. And overheating. Also, the length of the blade is determined by how hard the button is pressed. Press it too hard and...well, you can imagine, can't you?]

-TEST III- BAT'LETH

[Darin saw this in a space travel sim in ViViD and he basically fell in love with it. He has no idea how it's supposed to be used in battle, but doesn't it just look super sweet? There are training dummies all over the place here and there's even a second Bat'leth in case you bring a sparring partner! Or want to challenge Darin directly. These are razor sharp though so make sure to put on the special armor that Darin forged to go with the set! Luckily, the armor is strong enough to withstand direct strikes of this fearsome weapon]

-TEST IV- RAILGUN

[HAHAHAHA WHAT? OKAY, so this is an arm mounted railgun that somehow found its way into the testing area. It is by no means stable. Darin got drunk one night and thought this was a really cool idea guys seriously. The design in his sketchbook literally reads: 'Pull trigger, annihilation comes out.' Feel free to try it at your own risk. It's going to explode.]

-WILDCARD- PICK YOUR POISON

[Swordchucks, yo. Got an idea for a terrible weapon? Feel free to make a prompt for it! Or just berate the idiot for sponsoring a weapon testing session and not having the decency to leave cookies.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Veronica hadn't been interested in weapons to begin with (though she had a gun of her own) but had come here to the spoon smithy because she recognized Darin's name.

That and her curiosity was difficult to deny. Some day this will get her in trouble.

The hookshot is different enough from anything she's ever seen that she gravitates to it first. And hey, she's familiar with shooting at targets. It can't be that different.

...that her weight is very much less than Darin's isn't a thought that immediately occurs to her as she contemplates doing something incredibly dangerous.

Someone please come and stop her...or at least offer to catch her.]

[Darin spots Veronica and trots over with a wide smile on his face.]

Veronica! You came!

Gonna give the hookshot a try? I gotta warn you, it's got some kick to it. Trust me, when I had this thing in ViViD it yanked me all over the place!

[He retires to a grate he'd set up...about four stories up...with a target on it.]

Want to try and see if you can hit it?

[The warning definitely isn't effective, if the way the brightness in her eyes doesn't even so much as dim is any indication.]

Yes!

[Darin no]

The aiming is like with a gun? Or is it different?

[She's still picking it up though.]

Yeah...! Here, like this.

[He helps her fit her hand into the slot where the grip and the trigger is, then stands behind her and helps her aim.]

When you pull the trigger, it's going to launch the hook and the chain. I don't have the targets anchored securely, so if you manage to hook it, it'll pull the target at you instead of the other way around.

[We all know that's not how this is going to happen.]

Think you can handle it?

I will try my best.

[It feels very different from a gun in her hand, but Veronica is nothing if not enthusiastic, allowing Darin to help her aim and taking note of where he points her, ensuring that she would be able to do the same later without any more help.

But she's light in comparison to Darin, and though her aim is true and her arm is steady...well...

The feeling is actually remarkably similar to flying with the help of Kaoru's psychokinesis. Though the end result of that had never been crashing at full speed into the grating above her, barely having the time to react before her hand is jostled free from its grip on the hookshot and she's falling.]

[THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.]

V-VERONICA!!

[Darin leaps over the rack that the hookshot was resting on and positions himself under her to make a daring--]

[Nope, nevermind. He tripped. And she's going to land right on his head.]

[At least his head broke her fall?]

[Landing on his head is incredibly uncomfortable (probably just about as uncomfortable as it is for him) and Veronica falls to the side, coughing, every single part of her aching.

She'll notice she hurt him after, but right now she's not really in a position to notice much of anything.]

[He groans and rolls over to face her.]

V...Veronica...! Hey..! Hey, are you alright...?!

[He gingerly rolls her onto her back and leans over her.]

Oh man, please tell me you're okay...!

[She's as okay as a princess without any special powers of regeneration or protection can be after falling onto someone's head. Which is to say that she'll probably eventually be fine, but right now everything is pain even as she does her best to turn to him.]

I-

[Veronica coughs again.]

I think...I think I am fine? [But she's not really qualified to make this call....]

Oh geez...come on, let me take you into my workshop and patch you up...

[Gingerly, Darin scoops up Veronica and carries her inside, setting her down gently on a chair.]

Where does it hurt?

[For someone who just had a person land on his head, he's surprisingly fine.]

[She's too winded to even enjoy being carried around (something that has happened exactly never because her guard Rida probably counted that as Being Too Familiar With The Princess), carefully holding on to his shirt, only letting go as he sets her down.

She has more than a few scrapes on her shoulders, hands, and knees and she'd probably bruise later, but she got off pretty easily, all things considered.]

I...It hurts in more than one place, actually. I am very sorry. [For worrying him.]

What about you? Are you all right?

What, me? I'm fine. I've get a head made of mithril.

[He knocks on it. He's totally fine!]

But come on, I gotta check you out. Where's it hurt the most?

[He starts by checking her forearms and her ankles and shins.]

What...is mithril?

[It says a lot about how jarring the fall has been that she just asks that without even pausing to think, holding her arms out obediently, her expression going blank in shock at the long scrape down one arm.]

And...I suppose here? [Veronica holds her arm out to him and gingerly tries to lift an ankle, wincing. It isn't broken by any means, but it is painful and probably sprained.]

It's a really hard, super rare metal.

If I had some, I could make some of the most impressive armor and weapons you've ever seen...but hey! Don't worry about that now!

[He looks at the scrape.]

Yikes...alright...

[He runs over to his workstation and returns with a first aid kit, which he quickly pops open.]

Let's take care of that scrape first...

[He takes a bottle of rubbing alcohol out and takes a clean cloth.]

This might sting a little, but it's going to make sure the scrape is clean.

[With a surprisingly gentle touch, he takes her hand and presses the cloth to the scrape, dabbing lightly.]

I'm really sorry about this, Veronica...this is all my fault.

[Even as a child she'd never been the type that tripped over their own feet, so she's unprepared for the sting of the alcohol and has to press her lips together tightly to keep from making a sound and worrying him despite how gentle he is as he cleans her wounds. She can appreciate the gentleness though, and tries her best to keep still, her fingers flexing just a bit with every dab.]

It is not your fault. [As far as she was aware, anyway.]

Do not apologize to me, Darin.

[She knows he tried to help her and that alone is more than enough.]

Are you kidding? You got hurt because of me. I think I know what happened and...

Look, I'm responsible, alright?

[Once he's done, he pulls out the cloth bandages and wraps the injury slowly. And when he's done, he ties it off neatly.]

I'm just...glad I was there to break your fall.

But you could not have known at the time.

[Neither of them is to blame, as far as she was concerned.]

...Thank you, though. For trying to help me. I am glad that you were not hurt in the process.

You need to start worrying about yourself a little more, you know that?

[After he finishes treating her, he stands and holds his hand out to her.]

Think you can walk...? If not, I'll hold you up and walk you back home.

[She stops, for once not really knowing what she should say when he tells her that she should worry about herself more. First and foremost, she's always been a princess of Zerestria. She thought of herself as belonging to the country, that all she did was for it's sake. That she should worry about her own well-being had never once crossed her mind. Then when she's been taken to Holly Heights and gained independence, it was her friends that she worried about first before anything else. And now, she had so many other things and people to care about. Her own self never figures into the equation even once.]

I...did not know that.

[A frown on her face as she thinks about what he said, she tries to stand on her uninjured leg first, gingerly placing the sprained ankle on the ground and then immediately withdrawing and taking his hand.]

...Thank you.

[Despite his rough and calloused hands from years of working in the forge, Darin is surprisingly gentle with her. Seeing that she's having a hard time standing on her sprained ankle, he guides her hand to link up with his arm. You now your own personal escort, Veronica!]

[He starts walking her home slowly, taking note of her expression.]

What's on your mind? I didn't mean to scold you or anything.

Trust me, I know what it's like to care more about others than yourself.

[Having a personal escort is so familiar to her that she doesn't question it at all, taking his arm and allowing him to help her. (That, and she knows her own limits and that her ankle isn't going to get better if she insists on doing things herself this one time.)

But she looks up at him when he speaks, eyes wide before she looks down, obviously worried.]

I did not think you were scolding me. I am not...

[Another moment of silence and she goes forward because what else is she supposed to do?]

I suppose it is because I am not used to it. That I could be in danger or that I could hurt myself...I truly have never thought of it. I have always thought...that if I could help, that surely...

[It sounds naive when she thinks it. It's not like wanting to help made her invincible in any way. And for the first time, she understands why it is that Rida and Adel worry.]

"That surely, it would be worth whatever happens." Right?

[He offers her a smile.]

I think that way too. And I realize it's totally hypocritical of me to say this but...as great as that is, thinking that way will only hurt the people who care about you more.

I mean...I almost had a heart attack when I thought you got hurt!

I...see. I did not think of that. I have always belonged to Zerestria. I lived for the sake of my country. I never thought that I could hurt others because I did not take care of myself.

[Nonetheless, she resolves to (even if it may not come to anything). The last thing she wants to do is hurt the people who care about her.]

...You are all right now? I apologize for scaring you. Thank you, for worrying about me.

[He laughs.]

Trust me, Veronica, it takes a lot to put me out of commission. Call it a...'special ability.'

Either way, from the sound of it, it sounds like Zerestria is lucky to have you. What did you do before you came here? You talk like a soldier I used to know.

I did not...do anything. I did not have responsibilities. I had no duties other than to marry Eugene.

[And now that she really thinks about it...even her learning after she left the Rakedonia Monastery had been discouraged. Even Eugene had told her: it would have been better if you were a fool.]

Although I am happy to hear that you are unhurt. Who is the soldier that you used to know? A friend of yours, perhaps?

TEST I

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