SuperZombiePotatoe:

The little town of Ostlake. It was a simple town, built before the age of steam-power and always held that charm. Houses were built in the style of the older days, but some looked obviously upgraded to fit the times. Small steam carts hobbled along the mix of dirt and cobble roads as people passed by, doing their daily routine. The day was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky. The sun was high and everyone seemed to be in a chipper mood. However, that's what you'd expect from a small community like Ostlake. Sellers selling their ware. Woman gossiping in front of shop windows. Children running by laughing and tossing around a ball. It was peaceful, to say the least.

However, something was different about this day. Something was new on the streets of Ostlake. A dark skinned woman, with frizzed black hair, was moving onto a corner of the street. Trailing behind her was a small cart, similar to the size of a shopping cart. She had a belt of miscellaneous tool on her hip and was wearing an overall corset with a white, short sleeved button up under it. She looked very modern compared to the charm of the older town, but none-the-less, just as chipper as the others.

This was Clover Joresha, a traveling mechanic, and a fairly popular name among mechanics and engineers everywhere. She was stopping in this small town today to look for hidden talent, anyone she could learn from. You see, she has a dream of becoming the person to build the first ever aircraft. Blue prints have been passed around and models have been made, but no one has ever been able to fully create a working aircraft.

To Clover, it was her duty to learn any and all tricks that would help her in creating such a feat. Only the most knowledgeable and the ones who were willing to try everything would be able to create an aircraft. And Clover was willing to learn everything she could. As she moved through town, a small shop on the side of the road caught her eye. It was a simple toy shop, but if she knew anything, toys had a lot of work put into them. Especially the moving ones. She stepped toward it, pulling her cart along, and stopped outside the door. She locked down her cart and then pushed open the door.

"Hello...?" She called into the shop, "Is anyone here?"

It was always dim in the back room. Not for a lack of lighting or anything similar, but for the fact that the proprietor, one Daedalus Freight, preferred it that way. Having one light shining on his chosen project made it easier for it to focus on. There were always distractions lurking about, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to pull the young inventor away from his work. The "spotlight technique" seemed to work quite well... on most days. Today, a problem had presented itself that was to uncomfortable to ignore.

Daedalus darted about the back room, half shuffling, half hopping and leaning heavily on his cane. Occasionally he would stop to look under his desk or in a box or to peer at the shelves. I'm sure that there's a valuable lesson to be learned from this, he thought, rummaging through his supplier closet (to no avail). Ah, be mindful of your appendages. That or always keep a spare foot around in case of emergency. But, then there was the possibility of misplacing the spare aswell. Daedalus barely noticed the sound of the front door opening as he stood and pondered over the various lessons that could be learned. Nor did he notice the sound of footsteps over the wooden floor. It was voice that brought him out of his thoughts.

"Hello?" he called back, still slightly confused. When he regained himself he rushed towards the front, not wanting to lose a customer. He had parents to support after all. Poking his head through the curtains, he noticed a young lady whom he had never seen before. A tourist most likely, but that was not out of the ordinary. Quaint little Ostlake Town attracted many visitors seeking out peace and relaxation, which they found in abundance. This woman didn't look like she sought relaxation, though. There was a curious air about her.

Although he was aware of the customer, the thought of his missing foot never left Daedalus's mind. "Excuse me, just give me one minute," he said as his eyes shot about the shop. "Heh, I seem to have lost my... my..." His eyes fell on the shelf next to the counter. "Foot!" the inventor exclaimed and he hopped over to the shelf and removed the metal appendage. He could quite remember how it had gotten there, but now that he had found it Daedalu really didn't care. He had become quite fond of his prosthetics. "Just one more second," he said as he set about attaching it to his leg. Once all was as it should be, Daedalus flexed his foot, smiled and placed his hands flat on the counter.
"Right, I'm sorry about that," he said to the new comer,"Not the first time that's happened, but I never learn, you know? Mind tends to wander about. Never mind that now, how may I help you?"

Clover only heard one response to her call, but saw no body. She raised a brow and decided to wait until they could fully cater to her. As she waited, she examined the toys on the shelf. They were placed carefully and yet, messily at the same time. It reminded her of her work station when she was an apprentice. She picked one small wind up toy and turned it over in her hands a couple of times. They were well made. Very well made. Upon picking a few more up, each one had subtle differences about them. They weren't crafted as though in a factory, they were hand made. Carver and catered to with love and affection. Whoever worked here had some serious talent she'd like to learn about.

Finally a man from the back entered the room. She quickly placed down the toy and watched him hobble out. He was carrying a cane, but he didn't look much younger than she did. She examined him, finally letting her eyes rest on the obvious reason. His legs were made of scrap metal pulled together to move, somehow. She stared at them for a while longer before he exclaimed that he had found his foot. She waited for him to put it on before stepping toward him. When she realized she was still staring at this legs, she snapped her head up to look him in the eye and chuckled softly.

"I'm sorry for staring," She said, "I'm sure people do that all the time. It's just... I was looking at the craftsman ship and trying to figure out how you made them work," She laughed again and shook her head, "I'm Clover Joresha, a travelling mechanic/engineer. I've been traveling all of Noerine to learn as much as I possibly can about engineering and mechanics, So I can be the first one to build the working airship."

Clover smiled at him. He was a few inches taller than she, with much lighter skin, and rather thin messy hair. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes moving down to his legs again. They were obviously pulled together by sheer luck. The metal was old and parts were rusted. She bit her lip and furrowed her brow. A slender finger raised and pointed to them. "You know... I could probably build you a new pair.... with your help of course!"

Daedalus smiled and waved a hand dismissively. After his unfortunate accident, Daedalus hand been on the other end of countless stares, more so after he built his prosthetics. While many of them were filled with pity, most were curious and for good reason. No one at the the time could believe that a 12 year old had built himself a pair of legs from scratch. They had to see it to believe it, so whenever he was out and about with his father, Daedalus was constantly questioned about them. And Daedalus was always happy to enlighten them. People were curious after all. The residents of Ostlake Town were well informed about Daedalus's prosthetics by now, but now and again, he was questioned by a tourist passing through, though most were too polite to say anything and just stared.

"Yes," he said lightly, "I do get that reaction quite often, but it's no trouble really." He glanced quickly at his legs before continuing."Well, to cut a long story short, I was involved in an accident when I was younger that robbed me of my legs... Well, bits of them, hehe. Anyway, we didn't have a lot of money for good prosthetics, so the only solution was for me to make some for myself! There's not a lot intricate details. Actually, they're very much like proper prosthetics, only with a few alterations to suit my needs. I don't need a lot of fancy things, just enough for walking and running and the occasional jumping"

Daedalus found that he was rambling and shrugged. He had the tendancy to do that, especially when it concerned his legs. If given the opportunity, Daedalus would've told the entire story from start to finish, as he was quite fond of telling tales aswell. But, this was a customer after all and he didn't want to bore her.

"An engineer, you say?" said Daedalus, his interest perked,"Well, we don't get a lot of those around here. Mostly tourists and fishermen." He stuck his hand out towards the newcomer."Very nice to meet you, Clover. I'm Daedalus Freight. You can call me DD, though. For some reason people find my full name to be a bit tedious, but what can you do."

Leaning on the counter while he listened to Clover talk about the purpose of her visit. And his interest was perked even more. Daedalus had always wondered about travelling as many do, but it was the word airship that had caught his attention. "Have you? Well that's just fascinating... and a bit of a coincidence, to tell you the truth." He held up his hand, as if to tell Clover to wait a while, and they scampered into the back room. Rummaging could be heard and after a few minutes, Daedalus returned with a small model of an airship.

"You see, I'm quite interested in them myself," he said and set the little model down on the counter,"I've made two or three models, for the heck of it. And while they can get of the ground, they can never stay in the air long enough. I don't know what it is and have no idea how to find out. What you're doing is clever, research and all. I'd be happy to impart a bit of knowledge on a fellow enthusiast!"

But then, Daedalus noticed the concerned look that decorated Clover's face and followed her eyes towards his legs. Oh dear, he thought to himself. If Clover was an engineer, then she was probably worrying over the fact that his legs looked a bit... worn down. And he was right, of course. Truthfully, his legs were quite sturdy , even if they looked like they could fall apart in the next second. Daedalus had taken every precaution to make sure that they were in good working condition. In fact, he was so fond of them, that he hadn't let anyone else tinker with them. He waved his hands in front of him. "Oh, that's very kind of you, but..." He stumbled for words. How could he say no without sounding fussy? "Well, these are quite reliable. They've never given me a problem in... what... thirteen years. And, I am quite fond of them, so I don't think I'll be getting a new pair anytime soon. Plus, I've just serviced them." Daedalus stamped his leg on the floor to back up what he just said. But, seeing that Clover still looked interested, he tried another tactic.

"So, how long will you be in Ostlake for, Clover," he said quickly,"Have you a place to stay?"