Chapter 1: Prologue – Meet Cute

It all begins in a cabin in the woods.

The cabin is modest, clearly quite old, and has been added onto several times in its life. At the moment, a ringing sound is coming from the attached workshop, steady as the beat of a steel heart. Inside the workshop is a man. A man with rippling muscles, a man with a foot-long red beard, a man with fire in his gray eyes. A man named Coby.

Coby has lived here his entire life, ever since he can remember. Raised by his father after his mother died in childbirth, he grew up in this cabin, learning the trade of smithing from his father. His father had learned it from his father, who had learned it from his father, who had... well, you get the point. They'd been doing this for a while.

Such a long while, in fact, that blacksmithing wasn't really a trade that was necessary in the world that Coby lived. A world of sheet metal and aluminum, where a computer and a laser could draw a blade before Coby could warm up his forge. If you didn't care about quality, that is. And that's what Coby sold: quality. People paid exorbitant fees for hand-forged steel, and Coby was happy to oblige them. He had made something of a name for himself after a celebrity used one of his blades in a promotional piece for a film. Dubbed "The Dwarven Blacksmith" by the commenters of the internet, he had leaned fully into the persona, and now advertised his services online with dwarven theming.

In a corner of the workshop stood a camera and a small laptop. One of his clients had convinced him to start up a livestream of his work. Coby had told him that no one would want to watch him hit steel for hours on end, but apparently he had been wrong. It was a big hit, and he consistently had thousands of people sitting down to watch him smith. He didn't interact with the stream much, his work kept him busy, but he liked to wave to them every once in a while when he stopped to get a drink. It made the shop feel less... lonely.

Coby put the blade he was working on back into the forge and stepped over to his sink to get some water. He smiled as he saw the text chat scroll faster and faster as he drank. (From a wooden mug, of course. Gotta keep up that branding.) He couldn't read it from where he was, but he knew it was going to be some variation of "Hydrate or Die-drate!" He sold shirts with that slogan on them now. He waved to the camera.

A knock at the door. Coby turned his head in surprise. "Now who could that be?" he asked out loud. He ambled over to the door and slid it open. A woman stood in front of him. "Oh, uh... hello?"

"Hi there!" She smiled and held out her hand. "It's so great to finally meet you!" She was tall. Literally head and shoulders above Coby. Her dark black hair fell in large curls down her back. Her eyes were light blue and sparkled like gems.

He reached out and shook her hand automatically, noting with some surprise the calluses on her palm and fingers. "Finally meet me?"

Her eyes darted around nervously. "I'm Lily? I commissioned the Master Sword?"

"Oh, right! I'm so sorry, I forgot you said you were coming to pick it up yourself. I usually ship things out..." He chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, I figured since I live right in town, why bother with the shipping?"

They stood there in silence for a few seconds. The handshake had officially become awkward. Coby let go and Lily followed suit.

"Anyway, come on in, I'll show you the sword." He turned and made his way through the shop, stopping at a workbench and picking up the commission in its leather scabbard.

Lily bit her lip as she held out a trembling hand to grasp the hilt. As she held it, she began to sing. "Dadadada dadadada dadadada," she unsheathed the sword, "dadadada dadadada dadadada..." she held it aloft, straight above her head, "DA DA DA DA!"

Coby tried to contain his laughter. He didn't do a very good job of it.

"Sorry, I just always wanted to do that..." She lowered the sword sheepishly.

"No, no! It was really cute!" He glanced around conspiratorially. "Don't tell anyone, but I did the same thing when I finished it."

She snorted and held a hand up to her mouth. "No shit?"

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He smiled and nodded. "Yes shit."

"That's awesome." She rapped the sword with a knuckle. "Thank you so much for this. I've been wanting a decent Master Sword for my collection for years, but most of the ones you find online are, like... garbage tier. But this one..." She held the sword up, finding the point of balance.

Coby swelled with pride. "Your collection?"

"Yeah! I collect fantasy swords. Video games, manga, books, movies... They're all so beautiful, I just want to have them in real life!"

"Well, hey... if you find yourself in need of another one, just let me know. I really enjoyed forging the Blade of Evil's Bane. Made me feel... almost magical, in a way." He smiled.

She smiled back. "I definitely will!" She stepped forward for a moment before shaking her head. "Sorry, force of habit." She shrugged. "I'm a hugger."

"Oh. Well, that's alright with me, if you like." He held out his arms nervously. She smiled and embraced him. They held the hug for perhaps a bit too long, but neither seemed bothered by it.

"Sorry to hug and haul ass, but I've gotta go. I have some business to take care of, and I'm sure you need to get back to your forge."

He started and rushed over "Shit! Did I leave it too long?" He pulled the metal and looked it over carefully.

"Is it okay?" Lily approached cautiously, standing a fair distance away from the heat of the forge.

"It'll be fine, I'll just need to work it a bit more..." He brought it over to the anvil and picked up his hammer.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh no, you're fine." He began picking up his rhythm and shouted over the hammer blows. "I'd walk you to the door, but I have to work this! Come back any time!"

"Okay! Thanks again, Coby!" She waved to him and headed out, closing the door behind her.

"Goddamn... what a man..." Lily said to herself as she walked to her car.

"Goddamn... what a woman..." Coby muttered to himself as he pounded the steel into shape.

Unnoticed by him, the stream chat scrolled by at lightning speed.

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