she took wing under a Blacksmith of her lands, an old man apon a hill outside of her hometown, the Old Man was angry, crotchety, Old and senile.... but he was Wise and Patient, he did not judge others by their gender, race nor circumstance, he judged them by their spirit.
Pauft was determined not to have her future chosen by others, she would not be forced to marry a man she did not know, everyday, for 2 months, she walked barefoot to the man's home up on the hill, her feet were bloody and broken everyday, she did this until the old man, after knocking on the door for 3 hours everyday, finally let her inside, she spoke to him, a request he was amused at.
she wanted to create a blade, and for the old man to teach her to fight with it.
the old man laughed, this woman, mistreated and almost starving, had come up with bloodied feet for 2 months, to ask for that? her spirit was willing, far over willing, but would her body follow was what the old man wondered. and so, a deal was struck.
he would teach her how to fight, and she must make her own sword, but she would have to do any task he said.
She was to awake every morning, long before sunrise, wear on her back many heavy metals, and run barefoot. she would only return once the sun rose, just to continue another rigorous exercise, a very strong metal slab was placed between 2 blocks of metal, she was given a massive hammer that she could barley lift, and was told to make a dent within the metal slab, when she had made a sufficient dent, she was allowed to eat the first meal of the day.
next, since the old man was far too old to blacksmith anymore, he told her what to do, and she would do the blacksmithing, it was hard for her, but she persisted for the years, her determination unknown to the old man, what had made this woman, stand even against the scolding coals of a forge, and the physical stress of all these activities, and keep going.
finally, after the 4 years of this, the Old Man could teach her no more of blacksmithing, she knew all he did.
her determination even made the old man begin blacksmithing himself once again. now, the old man told her
"now, you create your own sword. i will provide only the tools, but you must provide the material, and forge it yourself. it will be YOUR sword, so it will be forged by YOUR hand"
Pauft looked in awe at the old man, 3 weeks past since that day, the old man everyday smithing again, but Pauft had left 3 weeks ago, she returned, bringing in a cart all on her own, with no animal to pull, strange silver-like rocks, a rare metal, the old man stood in wonder, but sat down outside of the forge once she begun moving the stones into the forge, he watched her, to see how she would create her blade.
hours were spent hammering away, molted metal pulled from the forge, placed on the anvil, hammer, fold, turn, hammer, fold turn, this repeated 100 times, before more metal came from the forge, and the process repeated, her blade was thin at first, short too, but as more metal was added, till all the stone was gone, the blade looked normal, but was quite long for a Japanese sword, she wrapped its metal hilt with bandages, and tied the string to the end. her blade from the hilt was twisted so (like the pic), from the heat of the forge during its forging, which is also how it got it's blue colour (when metal is tempered to 590 degrees or more, it changes to a dark blue/cyan like colour), she named it Kaiyō, after the blue of the oceans.
the old man, greatly amused by her master craftsmanship, roared in laughter, an amazing blade had been made, no, born. the blade felt alive, but this could've just been his senile mind. now he would teach her how to fight.
for the next 2 years, Pauft was taught the old man's sword style, never tiring day after day, whilst she still forged with the old man, she trained along side him too, using the back of Sea, they sparred, and after the 2 years, Pauft created her own style, a way to adapt her style to many foes, but her main style, was to hold the blade backwards.
1 year passed, the people of the town had found out about Pauft, and sought to stamp out this 'symbol' of rebellion. the town gathered all their samurais, and sent them up the hill towards the old mans home. Pauft, determined to fight, had a realisation..... the old man....
he could not fight, nor defend himself, and if the townspeople actually found her here, they would kill him, saddened, she quickly took her belongings, which was only her clothing, and her sword, and ran.
she traveled for another year, she knew not where she went, but she had boarded many boats, walked many lands, and fought many battles, bandits or warriors seeking challenge... after all her travels, she arrived in a far off land...
