okay. finally. rene's vision story.

lets recap: rene is born, abandoned, and placed into the fontaine foster care system. they struggle to fit in with their peers, and behavioral issues cause them to frequently move homes. rene is extremely isolated and frustrated and runs away at 10

so rene is on the streets for 2 years. because theyre literally a level above tot their nights are frequently spent hungry, injured, or awake. not fun!

one thing that's persistent: rene is still incredibly lonely!

BUT they find its more preferable to have that sense of independence and to know its their own choice to feel that way. the feeling of being alienated from their peers and Knowing them but never Understanding them is not a good feeling

they spend a lot of time questioning. thinking. wondering. learning

one of the only other things that drive them are their hobby of collecting and tinkering. so during this time rene picks up a lot of practical skills. they encounter a lot more scrap and discarded metals in the countryside. they find the ruins of a clockwork meka and fashion an arm for themselves but it does not fit them whatsoever... better than nothing they suppose. itd suck to be hit with it

while out in the country side one day, rene finds a capsized boat washing up on shore. imagine this: rusty, covered in seaweed, has huge holes on it where metal plates fell off, and smells slightly better than a sewer. well! it is the biggest find rene has so far. they use it as shelter

i have a scene in my head where rene is sitting under their boat when a certain captain approaches. i'd imagine she said and asked a lot, but rene really just wanted her to stop blocking the sunlight so they could work. this probably repeated for several days until elvira convinces rene to become her apprentice. 

they accept because of one reason in their head, and it's to learn skills for machinery only

well. they learn a lot more than that actually! so their apprenticeship is going well for a couple months. it's a lot of watching and cleaning and helping, and for a change, rene does not have to worry about much at all because their master is weird and her brain is probably turning to dust. 

THEN! they have to forge for the first time.

because they're just starting the project is simple: a hook

they're a little hesitant but they have their funky gloves, apron, all that! its going well until rene removes the hook from the furnace and something (a vision) is dangling off of it.

i need you to imagine this: the vision is hotter than anything around it. its not melting, but the vision is so fucking hot that it is glowing brighter than the furnace itself. also! it's melting the end of the tongs

so rene thrusts it back in, almost has it fall on the floor, and ends up dropping it on the anvil. in the process, the vision's heat manages to burn through part of their glove and the skin on their wrist

so! that was rene's second experience with fire and it was only a little less injurious than the last

when the vision cools enough for the element to be visible, rene makes a dry joke about burning everything down. no one laughs. and that was that

that day, rene left having created three things from that lesson.... oooo

anyway. yeah

new vision