2018-11-11: Freedom
- Log: Freedom
- Cast: Shalune Amira, Lunata Croze
- Where: Granny's Junkyard, Elru
- Date: 11th November 2018
- Summary: Shalune and Lunata natter over the creation of Freiheit, a ludicrous new sword, and her personal freedom...
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
There's no doubt that this junkyard is the one that Shalune spent a year in. It might feel like a lifetime ago, but throughout the grounds there's obvious signs of the mechanic's presence - bits and pieces of unfinished prototypes or tests, or a series of hidey-holes and makeshift shelters still standing against the elements, often with the signs of a campfire underneath. There's also the way she moves naturally through the place, slipping through little gaps and between mountains of metal to find clearings of space beyond.
After a bout of searching for the right sort of materials, she's returned to the trailer to set up a thick metal slab to act as an anvil, and has been working there for some time on a special design. Not her own - of all people, this one's come from Lunata. Strange as it might be for the waitress to hand her a blueprint, it's only made Shalune more fired up than ever, determined to help out however she can.
Helping out has mostly involved a lot of sharpening at one end and a lot of welding at the other. Lunata's drawings were at least evocative enough to give the mechanic a good idea of what the final product should look like, and though she's never forged a sword before she's been able to find enough in the way of decommissioned Gear parts to get a good-sized blade out of one.
The other end--... well, she's not really sure if Lunata's plan will work, exactly, but the giddy thought of working together on something overrides most of her concerns, and her natural instincts when it comes to design help tunnel her vision down, breaking any issues she faces into pure building blocks of engineering.
So it's only when she steps back, panting with exertion and levering the thick mask up from her face, that she actually gets to really look at the final product and how it all fits together. "I'm done!" she cheers, catching her breath, and then blinks slowly as her eyes distort to blank circles. "U-um, I think? It looks right, but isn't this sorta just a chainsaw? Lunie?"
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata is spending some time after dinner towards the middle of the night in crafting; she's borrowed one of Granny's benches as she continues to tinker with making the Freiheit a reality that's... well, anything remotely approaching stable instead of just a ticking timebomb.
So far, it's something resembling the basics, which is two halves of a giant sword in the style of a grosses messer with a heavy, crushing end and fluting run along both its sides where the combustion engine so gracefully stolen from a spare part of the Rephaim has been plugged in. There's a cord starter embedded on the side, and a fuel tank.
"... I wanted to make it myself," Lunata comments for a moment. Even if that turned out to be an impossibility when Shalune pounced on the blueprints and helped her out! "Even if I'm not smart about machines like you... ...even if it's a pile of junk..."
A pause. "It'll be /my/ pile of junk."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune has had to be reminded to sit on her hands a little, but she's more or less managed to restrict herself to scavenging and welding. The former because she simply knows the junkyard better than Lunata, the second because she's aware that the blade is going to be taking a lot of stress under the other girl's design, and any structural problems are going to make themselves known real quickly.
She looks across for a moment, quietly apologetic at having fussed over Lunata so much. "A-aww... there's nothin' wrong with it being a pile of junk, take it from me," is the first thing the pink-haired girl proclaims with quiet pride as she wipes at her forehead; she wavers for a bit, then frowns to herself. "Besides, doesn't it feel like it looks right, like this? Having it be pristine feels like it would be kind of missing the point."
For a moment, she chews at her lip as she looks down at their prototype, humming in thought. "... leaks and ruptures are gonna be the biggest issue," she mutters quietly. "Fluting is gonna help, but there's only so much we can reinforce the tank. Too much and you might as well call it a club with a pointy handle instead." Hesitating, she firms up her expression. "Okay, so-- what do you need to do next, you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
I mean, let's be fair -- for all the drama Lunata's posting around wanting to make it her own pile of junk, she's kind of done her usual thing of diving headfirst into a project that's probably well past her own level of skill.
She scratches her head as Shalune cheers her up and says, "Ah, uh-- yeah, I guess so. I'm not going to make something that looks like it came out of the Zeboim era, after all."
A pause, as she comments on leaks and ruptures. "I guess my thought is that if it does fall apart, at its worst it'll just be a junky sword I can club people with, yeah..."
Wait, that's a feature?!
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
The mechanic pauses, and then grumps across at her companion. "... if that happened I'd be more worried about you probably ending up /on fire/," she stresses with a hand on her hip, and then juts her bottom lip out as she adds: "Again! I'm pretty sure there's only so many times you should burn your arm off, Lunie! And oil fires really suck!"
She sags for a moment with a deep sigh, but then picks herself back up to let out a much lighter one, a quiet smile crossing her face. "Anyway, you shouldn't be so down on yourself. It's not an idea I would have ever thought of, an' I dunno how well it'll work in practice, but you went in with a clear idea. That's a whole lot more than a lot of people, y'know? That's a whole lot more than /me/ sometimes," she adds as she scratches at her hair.
Shaking her worry away, she pumps her fists. "Anyway, it's just a matter of practice. So I'll help teach you a little more than I have been, I promise."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata rather predictably tries to pipe up about the time Ifrit nearly turned her into a cinder, before Shalune rather smartly intercepts her as she points out there's only so many times that should happen! "I'll, uh, wear fireproof gloves. ... that exists, right? We'll put a Crest on it."
Which isn't how anything works.
"... you kinda bumble your way into something workable, though. I'm pretty sure you operate better whan you /don't/ have a clear idea what you're going to do, because at that point you're getting restrained by common sense," Lunata points out.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Ha~ah..." Shalune theatrically laments as she once again has to wonder how she became the more sensible one out of the two - but she does perk up at Lunata's first suggestion. "Um-- well, to be honest, you'd probably want some kinda gloves anyway. Last time I tried to crank an engine by myself, my hands got real sore real quickly."
She pauses and glances across at the waitress, not exactly certain if that last part was a compliment or not; in the end, outed as Mechanic Player Two, she can only snicker softly under her breath. "Yeah, but along the way I bumble my way into a whole lot of unworkable stuff too. Or just make a ton of little revisions - how often have I changed stuff in my staff, at this point?"
Looking over at the workbench and the weapon set on it, her smile is quiet. "I'm a little jealous you just-- had an idea and ran with it instantly. --but proud, too! However it works out!" she amends and reamends quickly as she pumps her fists.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata holds her own gloves up, which have been thoroughly battered at this point. They're fingerless gloves that she first procured from the Yggdrasil crew as part of the getup that they operate under. "I might need something thicker... these are really beat up. Still kinda want to keep the fingerless bit though."
She bobs her head and raises her eyebrows, saying, "Yeah, but you don't let something as base as having a clear idea get to you. It's like when we camp -- sure, we have the idea of going /somewhere/, but it isn't like we plan to pass this specific brook and climb this specific hill to get to some campsite at the end."
She scratches her head. "Actually... what if--"
She rummages and uncovers Meredin's earrings. "You think we can add this in there and add some juice?"
lunie the problem isn't that it doesn't have enough juice
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Looking at the gloves, Shalune frowns in quiet thought. "H-hmm... yeah, probably. If nothing else, you're probably going to feel the engine through the hilt, so it might really help to have something that'll absorb the shock. It'll feel like-- um--" she falters a moment. "--like holding onto a running blender, but more." She only nods to the fingerless part; she's got a suspicion that Lunata just wants them that way because it looks cool, but then she'd be the first to agree there.
Flustering a little, she sulks in response to the other girl's second point. "Mmm. I'm not sayin' either way is bad, I'm just impressed is all! Don't be down on yourself, okay? I'm sure we can make this work, however that might end up. Ah, is the weight and balance okay? I guess it's all for nothing if you can't actually swing it."
She'd originally been determined to go along with Lunata's plans no matter what, but she visibly blanches at the sight of Meredin's gem. "No!--" she blurts, and then manages to temper herself. "I-I mean-- that's definitely a final boss moment, Lunie! I mean, you /could/, but you'd probably just blow everything up! I mean--"
Trapped without a way to explain it that won't make Lunata go 'cooooool...', she just hinges her jaw shut and looks quietly terrified.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
oh my god how did you know it was entirely because it looks cool, thinks Lunata, bearer of the world's most transparent brain pattern ever.
"... I'll probably be okay on that front. Don't have freakish strength for nothing, and that comes with a decent grip," Lunata at least comments on how it'll be completely unbalanced. Gloves are gonna help her hold onto it, but keeping it under control'll be a manner of arm strength and balance... and that's something she can manage as part of her technique.
"I've been... pretty down on myself I guess," Lunata scratches her head. "I know, I know. Also uh--"
She pauses for a moment as she hefts the sword up -- with just one arm! -- and slings it over her shoulder. Coool...?
"... it's a bit heavier than the Orochi-Agito, but that's a given. It's fine, I wanted something with heft on it anyway. Got to thinking... I'm a lowbrow girl, flowers and poetry such never really was my thing, right?"
She waves the panic on Meredin's gem away, though. "I know, I know, uh--" A pause. "I'll just keep this for emergency situations. Maybe I can use it as a bullet?"
That's even /worse/, lunie
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
The mechanic is quiet for a moment, and a little more subdued - and when she talks it's with a quiet smile, and perhaps for once she gets to actually sound like the elder of the two. "... it'll still feel better if you wear something comfortable. 'Freakish strength' doesn't mean you need to be enduring stuff you don't have to for no reason," she lectures with a sympathetic tone, but also a sternly raised finger; she holds the position for a moment, then slips forwards to sneak a hug onto Lunata.
"... it's okay. There's been a /lot/ to be down on ourselves about," she admits, before drawing in a breath and dancing a couple of steps back to offer a encouraging smile. "But, you did it, right? You came up with this, and it's built and all, and now we just gotta test it out and refine it a bit. You can't name it if you don't have pride in it," she points out solemnly.
Watching as Lunata easily hefts the blade upwards, Shalune can't help but let out a quiet 'wah!' of amazement. On reflection, she'd probably be the first to admit her tendency to seriously blush over flowers-and-poetry Lunata, especially given the way the mechanic has gazed at some of her fancier moves... but then grapple-and-dive Lunata seems really cool as well, as far as she's concerned. "I think both Lunatas are pretty great," she admits with a wink. "It's all up to what you feel's best."
Carefully, quietly, she does her best to slink around any more mention of the gem. ... because it's really not like Lunata would follow her warnings if push absolutely came to shove.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata pauses for a moment, and nods very slowly as she thinks for a moment how as much as she makes comment on how confusing it is she's become the most reasonable of the trio... seeing that growth and maturity is appealing. "That's true," as she hugs her-- carefully, since she's got the blade still slung over her.
"Test it out... yeah." A look towards the blade. "Freiheit. It, uh, means freedom, I think, in some dead language somewhere. I looked it up from Matilda's gun, Freischutz. ... my freedom. My rebellion. You know?"
She grins just for a moment and says, "I think that's best. C'mon, if we're gonna test it out, why don't we go camping? I'll go chop firewood with this."
Camping... in the Ellurian wasteland...
Can this still be called laid-back camping?
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Thankfully, Shalune is wearing her coat, so it's not like bumping into a blade is going to do much to her outside of maybe get a smudge of oil on her to join the rest. She's less careful - while she doesn't completely bowl Lunata over as she might other times, the hug is still heartfelt and warm as ever.
"'Freiheit'... it sounds cool," Shalune agrees, then levels a grin at the sword. "Nice to meet you! Play nice for Lunie, okay? If you ever start to feel rough, I'll make sure you're running perfect in no time." Has she ever-- talked to a creation in front of Lunata before? Perhaps she's offering a little glimpse of her own rituals to Lunata now that the waitress has built something herself, or-- well, more likely it's just Shalune being Shalune.
Later, in a moment to herself, Shalune will pause and start to let her mind wander around the topic of the Wheel. If there is a way to pull Lunata out of the cycle, it's probably going to be with Ge Ramda, and hopefully not Ge Ramtos, and probably in the depths of Rujm el-Hiri if she's gonna make any guess at all. Any more than that, any her thoughts start to go in appropriately empty circles...
... but at the same time, all her curiosity and concern aside, she's genuinely happy to see that resolve on Lunata's face, and she meets it with a bright smile and a charmed noise. "Ohh-- I found a really nice mountain view when I was last around here, and it wasn't even near any of the patrol routes. Um, hmm, but it might be kinda tricky finding it again, and we're gonna need some serious blankets to hold out up there..."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata's gotten to wearing sleeveless shirts and vests recently underneath her jacket, in particular to get her arms to be relatively free as she shoots swords and swings shotguns (yes, like that). She pats Shalune on her head and says, "Hey, how come I'm the less responsible one of us two?" she whines.
She's... putting that whole topic of Ge Ramda, Ge Ramtos and the Wheel aside for now. Perhaps the focus on her own independence and rebellion to it is allowing her to feel like she has any kind of agency to it. And she knows that confidence is going to be important.
"Yeah, show me -- show me where you've camped here before on your own... I want you to share it with me. So that I'll know what you saw too."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Fu, fu, fu," chimes Shalune as she steps back, hands behind her back. "I've been preparing for this day for years! When I left for Elru, that was the day I started storing up all my Responsible Power, ready to unleash it all in one giant burst that would eclipse the Croze and Barber Power...!" she crows, and then shoots an impish grin at Lunata. "Then I found out you'd both started doing my job for me anyways," she finishes, her tongue stuck out of her mouth for a moment.
She does at least pause, and smile. "I'm, um, really proud. I don't think I woulda thought about something like this, if I were in your shoes. I think that makes you pretty strong, if you ask me, and I don't just mean heaving a sword back an' forth."
Pausing, she draws in and lets out a breath. "... okay! I'll bring my toolbox just in case somethin' happens, and-- hmm, I think I've got some maps around of where the patrol routes are, so we can avoid them..." she starts to natter almost to herself.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata looks terribly skeptical for a moment like she has to look up at the pot tracker and read 'Shalune Responsible', who's the close relative of 'Kim Possible'...?
"Pff....." Lunata brushes her head for a moment. "Even if you didn't think of it, think about the other things you have made. Little Dipper, the shotstaff, all kinds of amazing and honestly better things."
She nods and goes, "I'll go fetch supplies and pack my bag," as she sets the Freiheit down and wanders off. It was... nice to just think about camping for the next little while...