A/N: The Lateness of this update brought to you by EndWalker. Please direct any and all complaints to the offices of Square Enix.
[X] [Yosuke] "It's alright Chie, we're friends right?"
[X] [Mato] "Fun? We almost died!"
"Fun? We almost died!"
As if that could have killed us…
"We-" you catch yourself, "I could barely hurt it."
Well maybe if we'd fought seriously… Rock's mental voice is mulish and you can practically see the furrow in her brow in your mind's eye. A translucent card floating above your palm amidst pale blue flames flashes into your mind and then vanishes just as quickly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The mental words don't quite come out with the heat you intended, and no response is forthcoming before the white light whisks you away, back to the real world at last. The sky beyond the store's windows is just starting to darken as you reconvene with the rest of the group, the afternoon slowly turning to evening overhead.
Monday, April 18th, 2011 - Evening - Inaba Shopping District
Back here the tiredness is even more apparent, leaving you feeling wrung out like you just ran a whole basketball game and very hungry. A sentiment echoed by the growling of Chie's stomach next to you.
"Not a word Trashamura."
"I wasn't going to say anything…" The look of innocence on Yosuke's face is as feigned as they come but Chie lets it go.
"Let's get something to eat." Narukami suggests reasonably as he looks at the two of them, though Yosuke quickly holds up a finger.
"If we're going again in a hurry then we need to go by Daidara-oyaji's first, before he shuts down for the night." Chie makes a noise of distress but can't bring herself to refute the point immediately, looking between her friends indecisively.
"Ooh that's not fair at all… Damnit."
Yu looked between the two of them, then looked to Mato. "We might need to take a day off the investigation anyways. At least until you're armed again."
"If fixing the sword'll take more than a day then we could always go in without her tomorrow." You want to object that you could go in unarmed but that idea doesn't sit right and Shooter refuses to chime in.
"No chance I earned your sword today?"
A resounding silence in that space at the back of your mind is the only answer you receive.
"How about you take her to Daidara and see how long it'll take to fix it. I'll take Chie to get food, and we'll meet up at the restaurant once you're done?" Narukami offers and after a couple glances back and forth, all of you nod. Hopefully this blacksmith won't take too long to deal with. "Then let's go."
"Right!"
You disperse quickly, heading out the main doors and onto the main shopping street with Chie and Narukami heading one way while you follow Yosuke in the opposite direction. Some people are out and about, but at this hour most are making their way home, immersed in their own little worlds and paying the two of you no mind. As he sets a brisk and eager pace, forcing you to lengthen your stride in order to keep up until he turns sharply into an old storefront and pulls the door open, giving you just enough time to read 'Daidara Metalworks' from the sign before you step inside.
The interior of the shop smells of iron and smoke, soft lighting reflecting off rack upon rack of weapons. Axes, spears, swords, and other weapons you have no name for in all shapes and sizes. A forge glows in the back, casting the figure at the counter into shadow until he raises his head, revealing an old and wrinkled face marred by two long lines of scar tissue that intersect at the bridge of his nose. His red hair shockingly bright for his apparent age as he regards the two of you.
"Hanamura."
"Daidara-Oyaji, s'up?"
"Hmph," he makes a disgruntled noise and turns his gaze to you, a certain sharpness in it seeming to almost look through you and bringing the itch in your right eye back with a vengeance. "And you don't look like any of the friends he's told me about..."
For a moment you swear that the warm light permeating the shop changes for a moment, cast back by a pale blue glow. For a moment you see your face reflected in the dark eyes of the blacksmith, blue fire burning gently as your right eye glows from within.
He blinks, the moment passes, and the old man grunts at you. "Huh, and you are?"
"Kuroi Mato."
There's another presence in your voice as you speak, a reverb that hides just under your tone and then vanishes an instant later. Your Other Self retreating into the back of your mind once more. Daidara gives no reaction besides holding your gaze for a minute longer yet you can't shake the sense he saw and heard something of what you felt even as he finally breaks the tension.
"So, what have you brought me today?"
Yosuke, looking slightly wide-eyed, reaches into his bag and brings forth the two halves of your short blade, drawing a frown from the blacksmith as he lays them out. The clink of the sundered metal meeting the table heralds a silence as Daidara regards the damage, opens his mouth, then closes it again as he runs a finger against the break. His eyes regard the nervous teen for a moment, then shift to you slowly, before returning to the sword again.
"Hm..."
The sound he makes is deeply thoughtful.
"We brought some extra material to do a repair, good scrap, you know?" Yosuke breaks the ensuing silence with a nervous chuckle as he unloads the black metal that remained of the knight. The blacksmith grunts, but takes another minute before putting down the sword and picking up one of the metal chunks, running callused fingers over it.
"Wouldn't need more than one of these for repair." He replies after another long and thoughtful silence before his gaze turns to you again. "Unless you've got something more in mind?"
"If it won't take too-" Daidara's gaze shifts again and Yosuke's mouth snaps shut with an audible 'click' of teeth coming together.
The old man pins him with that stare for a few seconds to drive his point home before returning his attention to you.
"It's obvious this blade wasn't suited to you. Anything I can make with this metal should be a sight stronger, but if there's more to it than that..." He trails off.
Thinking of a custom order?
You touch the broken blade thoughtfully, "it would take longer though. He'll have to melt this down first."
It won't match up.
"Or will it?"
I wonder...
Your eye is itching slightly again but you ignore it, thinking over the unspoken offer as the Blacksmith patiently awaits your answer.
-------
[ ] [Weapon] Just ask him to reforge the broken sword. That should be the fastest and least expensive option.
[ ] [Weapon] Ask him to make a new weapon from the materials based on one of the existing pieces in the shop. It'll take a day and a good chunk of the metal.
-[ ] [Weapon] Write In Weapon Type
[ ] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
-------
Your decision made, you leave the broken sword and metal scraps with Daidara before heading back out into the gathering dusk and making your way towards the far end of the district. A quick glance at your cellphone tells you that you have three unread messages and that it's only been fifteen minutes since you stepped into Daidara Metalworks yet the streets are already so much emptier, leaving you to make your way down the roads in relative silence.
As you unlock your phone and check the message headers to see Yomi's name on the topmost thread, you catch Yosuke glancing at you out of the corner of your eye. Visibly dithering as though he wants to ask you something but can't work up the nerve to speak.
-------
[ ] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[ ] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
[ ] [Walk] Just walk quietly, between the TV World and meeting that intense old man, you just want to eat and sleep at this point.
[x] [Weapon] Ask him to make a new weapon from the materials based on one of the existing pieces in the shop. It'll take a day and a good chunk of the metal.
-[x] [Weapon] Tonfas, which are able to be wielded standard, reverse, and hook grip
[x] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
Side Note: A certain madman has nominated this quest for SV User's Choice awards this year. So if you want to support their insanity, check out the link?
I doubt I'll make it into the top five, especially with a very narrow window remaining to submit nominations, but hell... It's worth trying right?
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
Do things right or not at all.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
It makes no sense for Mato to use unfamiliar weapons, especially if she relies mainly on instinct in battle.
For a moment you swear that the warm light permeating the shop changes for a moment, cast back by a pale blue glow. For a moment you see your face reflected in the dark eyes of the blacksmith, blue fire burning gently as your right eye glows from within.
He blinks, the moment passes, and the old man grunts at you. "Huh, and you are?"
Well that's extremely weird. I'm going to assume this guy saw something, though hard to say what, and he definitely didn't didn't see it with his fully conscious mind, but something was there.
Admittedly this might be another Persona thing I don't know about.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
Maybe not the best choice, but it's a tough call. We do have a kidnapping victim to save, and that's probably on something of a time table, so two days isn't great. But, if the sword broke the first time, it's reasonable to assume a quick reforge isn't going to hold up any better, and having to stop and go back again to get a replacement is worse.
I could be swayed into doing a faster, somewhat tougher costom job, as I don't think even this sword is going to stay with us the whole quest, but it'd be pretty great for the current crisis.
[X] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
Face to face conversation with a person we're working with to save a kidnapping victim is more important then texting. Yomi already got a lot of attention.
Alright, no invisitext in the update, so with that being checked, who is it this time? The Persona?
Also, the old man had some kind of sixth sense or out and out spirit sight in canon as well, so no surprise he saw something with Mato.
What exactly he saw though is probably different... Persona users wear their power, mantles of spirits worn by mortal frames, but Mato is closer to being a spirit unto herself than anything else.
Face to face conversation with a person we're working with to save a kidnapping victim is more important then texting. Yomi already got a lot of attention.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
. But, if the sword broke the first time, it's reasonable to assume a quick reforge isn't going to hold up any better, and having to stop and go back again to get a replacement is worse.
He's going to reinforce whatever he makes with that metal we got. It'll be more durable going forward no matter what it is. More suited to us is another question entirely.
Ah. Well in that case, faster is better. Making a better weapon is something for when we don't have such a pressing concern as a kidnapping. Cheaper is also kinda nice, but I'm not clear much money matters here.
[X] [Weapon] Just ask him to reforge the broken sword. That should be the fastest and least expensive option.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[X] [Weapon] Just ask him to reforge the broken sword. That should be the fastest and least expensive option. [X] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
[X] [Weapon] Just ask him to reforge the broken sword. That should be the fastest and least expensive option.
[X] [Walk] Answer your messages, you shouldn't leave Yomi hanging.
Right now speed is key. We can get a fancy weapon later, for now we just want to get a new sword.
[X] [Weapon] Just ask him to reforge the broken sword. That should be the fastest and least expensive option.
[X] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
[X] [Weapon] Do a Custom Order, describe Black Rock Shooter's Sword to him. It will take at least two days to complete and almost all the collected metal. [X] [Walk] You suspect Yosuke isn't going to work up the nerve before you get to the restaurant. Give him a little push and ask what's up.
Honestly? I would be a bit surprised if we got all the way up to the boss on our next dungeon dive, and we know we have until the weather gets foggy to rescue our target; 2 days shouldn't be a problem, and hey, maybe more incentive to check out how our Persona handles.
Similarly... the messages have waited this long, they can probably wait until Mato's home, at least. Yosuke on the other hand... reticence is kinda an in-the-moment thing, and we won't necessarily have the opportunity to dig whatever this is out of him some other time.
