Forged in Fire [Private]

The midday sun was beating on two men tied to a rope. Their ragged clothing did nothing to cover the cuts that were evidently acquired recently as it still drips. In front of them was a man who pulled on the rope, leading the weakly men to a village just over yonder of the man's view. One of them pleaded to be let go, with promises of not doing "it" again. Further making the excuse that had they known what the building was and what was in it, they wouldn't have tried. The man angrily pulled on the rope, tugging on them as if to walk faster, yet the man himself bore no emotion. At least, none that people can see.

30 minutes passed and the trio arrived in a tavern within the mountain village. The people within looked up to see who it was, and were unalarmed upon seeing who it was. The man by the bar, quickly ran over to take the rope from him while the man took off his hood, revealing his bearded face and white hair. "Take these two to the sheriff, I caught them looting the guild hall. The bodies of their associates are still there too." the man said, coldly, his fury being contained. "You got it Leo." the bartender replied as he dragged them off.  All the while they  pleaded to the bartender the same excuses they had as Leo was dragging them earlier.

Leo then took a quick scan of the area, looking for a place to sit down. As he scanned, he caught a glimpse of Nymara and Lucky. Though not being personally acquainted, Leo knows of them by being observant in the guild hall, and he doesn't really know anything about them outside their names, appearance and being members of Fairy Tail.

Leo spotted a chair by the side of the bar and proceeded to take seat there. The barmaid immediately placed on his table a slice of stake with assorted greens and vegetables on the side along with a cup of wine that she had poured for him and left the bottle afterwards. After politely thanking the barmaid, he subtly pulled out an enormous bag of jewels and handed it to the barmaid. "Make sure those two get everything they want here." he whispered to her, to which she was rightly confused about. "Do you know them?" she asked. With a sigh and a smile, Leo replied "Let's just say they're family. Don't let them know it's from me." The girl still didn't know what it meant, but Leo was a regular in the tavern and she wanted no trouble so she simply followed.

As he was eating, Leo was asked a question by one of the patrons, "So what were they looting in the old building?" After he had chewed and swallowed his delicious food, Leo calmly replied. "They were looting it for relics, raw materials and weapons. Infinity Hydra had an impressive arsenal, among them are these blueprints for a fire sword I took from their leader." he then pulled out a large scroll, containing the methods and techniques to craft a sword that held intense flames. The person who asked nodded his head as he was rightly impressed and said "thank you for protecting the village and safeguarding the hall from looters. We still don't have the men or the training to properly guard it ourselves." to which Leo simply raised his cup towards him and drank its contents with one gulp.

WC: 587
Leo: 587
Thread: 1,510
@Nymara

Perhaps deep down, Leo had known talking as quietly as they can would have been impossible given that Nymara was a dragon slayer. Although he doesn't know what kind, in his experience, only slayers have the bond between them and exceeds. However, he also forgot how brash and... lively they could be. Honestly he couldn't believe he was surprised himself given most of whom he had met in his life shared similar qualities.

On his seat, head down and quiet, he would be approached by the said pair. As luck would have it, the slayer was interested in the blueprints he had placed upon the table. Under his hood, the old man would chuckle at how fate would play its hand in making two mages of Fairy Tail meet. "No matter, lad." he said softly from under his cloaked visage but not soon after, he would raise his head slowly to meet them eye-to-eye as one must do in respect to other people. Something he thought he could share with a member of his family. "My name is Leo. It's nice to meet you both." he continued, in the same tone he had used earlier, with his lips slightly curling up for a small smile at the end of his sentence.

Leo would then reach out for the furled scroll on the table, to untie it and reveal its contents. A picture of finished two-handed sword could be seen on the corner, fashioning bright hues of red, black and gold. In the middle of the large scroll, was a blue paper that had been drawn on with white lines, detailing every single part of the weapon in the picture. At its side, a list of materials required to make the weapon. "The mages then called it Flameheart. Mostly because scales, and blood of a fire dragon were used to make this. Dragons have been commonplace before, and these weapons helped defend oneself from them." Leo said, leaning forward to point out the different materials of the weapon. "Scales and blood to resist and hold fire. The scales would also pad Steel-alloyed dragon claws that helps cut through even diamonds as well as giving its draconic look." He then looked down as he gazed upon the prints. It truly was a marvelous weapon, that would have been dangerous in the wrong hands. Dragons may not have been commonplace in this day and age as he has yet to see one organically and the ones that accompanied Elysium certainly did not count, there are certainly other ways to make this weapon, or even a better version of it.

"I was about to put this in my personal archive. Weapons such as these are dangerous in the wrong hands." he said, finally airing out the thoughts of concern he had.

WC: 467
Leo: 1,054
Thread: 2,561
@Nymara

Despite his numerous doubts of letting a weapon such as this be known, Leo still quite enjoyed talking about a weapon he had a hand in making. Pride, love, and joy all went to every weapon he had made due to being raised by a family of smiths. It brought even more joy that young people of the current age still hold interest for his antiquated craft. For while some would simply use guns, and ever growing complex magics, a simple stab in the heart with a good blade seemed to be at the back of people's minds and such sentiments made the old man simply sit back and chuckle beneath the hood and his breath as he listened to the back and forth between slayer and exceed. Some things just stays the same, it seems.

However, when it came time to address the ultimate fate of the designs, Nymara reacted exactly as Leo expected. The push back along with volunteering herself to be the bearer of Flameheart was easily foreseeable given some... connections... the two had. Leo mused at the situation. Perhaps it was indeed fate that brought them together, a chance to give back to the Fairy Tail of now. Leo looked deep into the young lady's eyes and rubbed the beard on his chin with two fingers, assessing the possibilities of Slayer and sword while a question was posed the swordsmith's way.

While the answer was the old man himself as evidenced by appropriately inscribing his "Dragonbane" signature at the lower right corner of the prints, he wasn't about to reveal himself to the world quite just yet. He still believed he had to lay low to keep people around him safe. Yet the mind of an old man is prone to nostalgia and reminisce. He put his hand down from his chin on to the table, placing his rugged but gentle hands on the prints, leaving just a bit of space between the two, from which he'd open a small right and let slide the hilt of Skyheart, another dragon forged weapon of his making. He savored the moment, remembering his life and work for a appropriately brief moment before putting his ReQuipped weapon back to his rift and replied right after. "An... old friend of mine..." glimpsing slightly to his signature below.

Back to the matter of whether or not Nymara should possess the weapon, Leo remembered that the original Flameheart was wild. The sword was intense and cannot be easily controlled, a trait attributable to a dragon's prideful nature. You'd have to earn its respect through power, determination, and discipline and Leo only assuming she had two thirds of those at this point... but... wanting to arm Fairies would permit the young lady a chance to prove she does in a subtle test. "You're a good lass, Nymara, but I don't know you." he said seriously, perfectly hiding the fact that he does know her. "I'm not sure if the weapon would be safe in your hands. So I must decline." he continued, grabbing the scroll from the table and putting it back to his pack before standing up to leave. He turned around and thanked the bartender as he paid him and headed for the door quickly. "I must take my leave, excuse me." he said politely as he left. His eyes shifted back as far as they could, hoping Nymara to follow him to his next destination which was a fire lizard's cave to show the first requirement he'd like to test: determination.

WC: 591
Leo: 1,645
Thread: 4,166
@Nymara