Of Skates and Boards [Research]

[Hirosame]

Hiro walked into the Handy Wrench workshop, and sat down. It was hot out today. He had to walk a long way to get here, which bothered him. He had come up with an idea about getting around the city more easily, but was pained to realized that he hadn't come up with it already yet. Back in the other world, if he needed to get around the city without the help of his parents and their luxurious limousines and chauffeurs, he'd take his skateboard and travel around in his own way, at his own pace. Sure, he didn't live in the city, but whenever he went there, he'd always skate around. he vaguely remembered that his friends in school teased him about it, about not having enough money to afford personal chariots to carry him anywhere. While he never fully denied it, seeing as his family had more than enough money, his only response was that he 'just loved the feeling of being free.' This would always stop the argument before it even began. Being caught up inside some car going to someplace like a candy store was degrading. Why not go there, as if he were a normal kid? It would make more sense. And it was way more fun!

This was the entire reason he was here today, going to work on something like this on a hot day. He wanted to figure out some way to make travel easier for himself, the rest of Apocrypha, or even the entire player-base in Londinium. Of course, there would be people who preferred roller blades over skateboards, so he'd try to comply with making both for everybody. And, yes, there would also be people who only wanted to roll around in some kind of a scooter or whatever, but he wasn't going to make that. Not yet, at least. That kind of stuff was probably best left for later on, down the road. No pun intended. In any case, he needed to get to work soon enough on the skateboard. The roller blades would come later, since they weren't as important as a skateboard. The level of importance was based on Hiro's personal preference. Skateboards were always cooler than roller blades to him, and way more fun. They were also a lot sturdier than roller blades. He was one for stability, that was for sure.

Time to get started. Hiro had asked Saeko to cut up a few boards that were bent to a particular fashion not too long ago. She harassed him with questions and such to find out why she had to do this kind of thing. When he mentioned a skateboard, she seemed less than impressed. However, at the mentioning of roller blades as a possibility, Saeko was all for the creation of these things. She cut up a lot of the boards that Hiro requested, and left to go on find a mission. Hiro smirked, as he had created the quest itself, in order for Saeko to make a new friend along the way. Hiro remembered Caerbannog and how they both fought against Mayahuel, and figured that another Samurai would be perfect for Saeko to get into the swing of things. His dastardly plan was going into full effect, and when she was all done with the quest, and stormed back here to yell at him, he would have a pair of roller blades to calm her down. It was the perfect crime! He knew that it would work flawlessly, and began to get to work immediately. First up, the wheels.

Making the wheels first was probably the best idea, since he'd need at least twelve of them to make the board and blades roll. Maybe an extra set of eight, just to make sure that if he screwed up somewhere and he couldn't reuse the wheels, he'd have plenty of spares to choose from. He imagined that neither of them would be rather hard to make, since they were pretty simplistic machines. The only complexity to them was making the places below the board and foot for the wheels to turn without trouble. That would be the most difficult thing, and even that was fairly simplistic. So, to make the wheels he went. He had a bunch of large sheets of metal still in the workshop, which he had scavenged around for and brought back. He just needed to make smaller shapes out of them, and form them into wheels. Not too tough, but the perfect job for a monk. He got right to work on making the first set of wheels for the skateboard. After that would come the "handle bar" that would hold the wheels below the skateboard. He had objects already shaped out for that, which he had also found. Sure, he had to put in some extra labor to get it right, but it's totally worth it in the end.

With the first set of wheels nearing completion, he got to work on making the rest of them. Monotonous tasks always bothered Hiro, but not when there was an ultimate goal to them at the end. Not when it was something as awesome and totally rad as a skateboard. Roller blades would be cool, too, but skateboards were still better in his eyes. The utter drive of trying to get this to work was more than enough for him to make the wheels quickly and efficiently. The first ten were done, now it was time to make the other ten. Spares would be very important for the creation of this, as well as the roller blades. Having plenty of scrap metal was also very important. Making the wheels into perfect circles was tough, as it required him to keep a close eye on the size and shape of all the wheels, and keep them at uniform shapes and sizes. Okay, so maybe this was the toughest part. He'd been wrong about stuff before, anyways, so it wasn't that big of a surprise to him. He only hoped that Saeko would be gone long enough for him to finish this up without her coming back while he was still working. Praying that this would be the case, the last wheel was completed. Now it was time to make the board.

[1049 Words]

[Hirosame]

Skateboard time! Now things were going to progress a lot quicker. His idea of moving around quicker in the heat of the city on a skateboard was more than enough drive to get him moving. Not to mention how he loved to roll around on one back when he was younger, and even into his early adulthood. But, it wasn't time to think about the past. Now, it was time to think about moving ahead on a board with wheels underneath. Hiro began to fasten the wheels onto the "handle bar" objects that he had found while he was scavenging for materials not too long ago. On a skateboard, this is known as a Truck. It was what held the wheels to the board. The place where the Truck and Deck (board) connected was called the Riser, which was held in by screws into the top. The Grip tape, where one would put their feet, was already placed onto the board, using new sandpaper that Hiro had borrowed from Renai when he left his stuff here at the Handy Wrench. Lucky him! This would prove to be extremely useful.

The Grip tape didn't take long at all to make and apply. Hiro taped down the sandpaper onto the sides and top of the Deck, and carefully ripped along the bottom. He then glued the loose sides onto the bottom of the Deck, and put another thin plate of plywood underneath it, and attached it with screws, so that the Deck was all nice and uniform. On the bottom of the Deck, he put a logo for Apocrypha on the bottom, with Solstice and Asterial Age logos on the ends of the board, and "Apocrypha" spelled in between the two logos. It was pretty sweet, really. He loved it immediately. Maybe these would sell a lot better than he had hoped, and could gain some extra money from making custom images on the bottom. It would benefit Apocrypha pretty well, opening up a skate shop. Hell, maybe even other guilds would order these from Apocrypha, and get their own kind of guild logo on the bottom. He would be more than happy to share with the other guilds, if this were the case. Moving around more effectively in the city would benefit everyone. Plus, who wouldn't want to roll around on a skateboard?

With that thought in mind, he began putting in the final screws to the board Deck, attaching the two Trucks onto the bottom. He felt that he should go right ahead and test it out right now, but there was still some fine tuning he needed to do. Taking a screwdriver, he twisted the wheel caps to make sure they were on tight. Really tight. As tight as they could be. It wouldn't serve to have the wheels fall off during a ride, or have them collapse in the same situation. But there would need to be a way to replace the wheels, should they break or get too many dents. So, he tightened the wheel caps so that he would need to use a Sigil of Strength to loosen the wheel cap, just so people don't mess around with his work. A Monk with a Sigil of Strength has got to be the strongest possible combination there is in this world, save for end-game bosses. He doubted that a guardian would be able to undo the wheel caps at this point, and smiled at his completed work. Holding it up a bit from the desk, he weighed it. It felt heavy enough, but it was balanced. He put it on the ground nearby, looking at it longingly. He wanted to go out right now, but he needed to finish the roller blades before Saeko got back.

These wouldn't be quite as tough, since the wheels were attached by a metal rail that could be detached. He started to put the wheels with the rails, and criss-crossed the metal rails, so that they would hold the wheels but provide enough room to keep the boot from touching the wheels. He found a pair of boots, in Saeko's size shoe, and decided to use those as the base from which the blades would be created from. The rails would be attached to the bottom of these boots, and would hold the wheels in a single line, as roller blades were known for. Hiro screwed the rails and wheels together for the first set, and screwed in the wheel caps. On each of the wheels was a small Asterial Age logo on one side, and a Solstice logo on the other, making one side Asterial Age and the other Solstice. Product placement was an awesome thing, especially when it sponsored your own creations. Hiro was more than happy with how the first one came out to being, and did the same with the other set.

He screwed up one of the wheels, and had to get a replacement. Having misaligned the logos on the wheels on one of the sockets was ugly and he felt bad doing it. So, he took a spare and replaced it, making the necessary adjustments. The roller blades were fully functional, and ready to be tested. The skateboard was nearby him, still, which he smiled childishly at. He couldn't really wait to get onto the streets with these, and hopefully Saeko would appreciate the work that he had done to prepare the two mechanisms for both of them. It was almost time to make their presence known, but first he would need to get into contact with the swordswoman. He figured that the quest she was on by now was almost over, so he went ahead and initiated the telepathy call system to her. Boy, she would probably be pretty angry with him after what he pulled on her, to get her on a quest with someone she didn't know. Perhaps Caer was more than cool with it, though. He could only hope that that was the situation, as he prepared his ears for the incoming onslaught of shouts and screams from his female friend.

[1020 Words]

[Hirosame]

Saeko was less than happy with Hiro, after she figured out what was going on. But, when Hiro mentioned that he had something waiting for her, she supposed that she might as well go ahead and check it out, just to see why he kicked her away to do something so pointless and bland for so long. Sure, Saeko had fun playing around with Caerbannog, but she would have liked to hang around and wait for the roller blades to be finished, so she could try them out. But, maybe they were done now? She strutted her way over to the workshop where Hiro was, basically expecting the blades to be done by now. She was gone for at least an hour and a half, which was more than enough time for the monk to make the things he said he was going to make. Hiro had just enough time to finish making the roller blades look nice for Saeko, before she barged into the workshop, with an expectantly happy gaze on her face. "Well? Is it done?" Saeko demanded, as she walked further into the workshop. When she saw the blades, her eyes lit up brightly, and she put her hands in front of her mouth.

Hiro nodded and chuckled a bit, handing the blades to Saeko, which she cheerfully began to put on. "Lemme know how it fits, Saeko." He walked over to his skateboard, and picked it up. He felt the weight of it again, and then placed it on the ground. He stood on top of the deck, and scooted himself forward a little bit, and the wheels carried him to the wall safely. There didn't seem to be any bumps or dents in the wheels, which was only a good thing to have done. He looked over at Saeko, kicking the board up for him to grab onto with his dominant hand. She had the roller blades on her feet, but it looked like she was having trouble getting up and moving. He walked over and held her hand as she got up, and let Hiro cart her around a little. "How does it feel? The boots too tight? How about the wheels?" He asked Saeko. She looked at him with a deep red face, and a massive frown. She then turned her head, and responded. "The boots fit fine, and there's no bumps that I can feel from the wheels." She was embarrassed, because he was holding her hand.

He let go of her hand, and let her move around a bit on her own, before smirking and picking up the board. "Wanna go test them out?" He asked her, as he started to walk towards the door. Saeko nodded vigorously, and started to slowly skate to the door, and both left the workshop. Hiro hopped onto the board, and began to lightly kick himself over to the street. People looked at the two with weird, yet astounded looks, as they looked at one another. "Let's race to the bar I like. You know the place. Last one there buys!" Saeko exclaimed. Hiro nodded in agreement, and got into a ready position with the skateboard just below his feet. Saeko counted down from 3, and on go, they would go. "3..." Saeko began, lowering her body. Hiro did basically the same, and waited a little longer. "2..." Both were ready to rock, and they were ready to have a ton of fun with this. "1..." It was almost time. Hiro put his right leg back behind himself, while Saeko put her left leg behind. "GO!"

The two of them kicked off with great force, and both started heading down the street. They knew enough about their own methods of transport to weave in between people as they went along. The course would take them straight to a large plaza, where they would need to head off to the right, and then down a long hill. At the base of the hill was a large market area, and to the left would be another street that would take them to the bar that Saeko loved so much. Hiro wished that it wasn't so dang far from the workshop, which was basically where he lived until Apocrypha could get their own guild home, but it was a nice enough place to be. Hiro and Saeko both reached the first turn here, and rocketed past people, heading towards the hill. Saeko was laughing and crying out with joy as they continued. Hiro was just having fun in his own, quiet way. He was honestly more worried about the board and blades. If Saeko fell over due to his own faulty work, he'd never hear the end of it. He didn't care if he lost the race, either. All he wanted was for the board and blades to work, and for Saeko to have some fun.

They reached the hill, and Hiro did an ollie into the air, and landed with the wheels on the decline of the hill. Luckily, it was all paved over, so there wouldn't be any problems with getting down the hill. The only thing he had to worry about was people along the way. Since this hill wasn't very steep, and it lead right to the heart of the city, it was a rather busy street. Hiro and Saeko managed to get around people easily, using their prior knowledge of the board and roller blades from the other world to get around. The reached the bottom of the hill, and they entered the market area. Both of them began to swerve to the left. It was neck and neck. No clear winner yet! But, ultimately, Saeko had won. As promised, Hiro offered to pay for the drinks, and put the roller blades and skateboard into his inventory. They sat down in the bar, and ordered a few drinks, as Saeko cheerfully explained how much fun it was to ride on roller blades again. They had a booth, but they only used one side. Saeko didn't even realize that she was getting closer and closer to Hiro every minute, until they both turned to look to one another, and almost kissed due to how close they were. Blushing violently, Saeko turned away. At the end of the day, however, Hiro carried Saeko up that hill on his back. She got white-girl wasted. The moon shone brightly overhead, as Hiro concluded his day of construction. Ten out of ten, totally worth it.

[1087 Words]