Getting a little spit and polish...

​To start at the beginning of this story, click here.

Hewy entered the potter's shop, not for the last time did he wonder how a potter was going to help him with his 'look'.  He noticed the cave was extremely warm and wanted to compliment the potter for keeping it so nice and toasty when he spied a doorway in the back of the cave opened.  He could see various ovens and fires glowing red with heat  behind it.

As Hewy  continued to look for the potter, he spied different pieces of pottery in all sizes and colors encircling the space he was standing in.  Then a small Gahnome appeared from somewhere in the shop rushing from shelf to shelf and pointing to the pottery.

"Whatchaneed?  Wegottalotsofstuff.  Youbuywesell," she said.  It took Hewy a minute to realize what she was saying, it was all so fast and without any spaces.  As he paused trying to piece it out, the Gahnome continued as she pointed towards the exit, "Gotslotstodo, soifyouain'tbuying, outsie."

As the Gahnome started to turn and scurry away (scurry is the only term Hewy could think of since she moved so fast), Hewy knew that he would need to speak quickly or lose his chance.  "I have been sent here and was told you could help me get a new look," he told her.  For the first time the Gahnome stopped and stared at him.  It was an analytical type of stare, one that when the starer is done, you feel as if you have been taken apart piece-by-piece and examined with nothing left to hide.

"Ihavenotdonethisbefore - butIcouldtry," the Gahnome snapped with her quick decision to help Hewy.  "Drinkthis, Iwillgettapaints."  She handed Hewy a cup of hot chocolate (how she had it to give to him he still doesn't know - but it did taste good), turned and disappeared to the back of the pottery shop. 

"I wonder where she is going?"  ​As Hewy sat drinking his hot chocolate, pondering his problem, his cup caught his attention.  It was a ceramic cup that had been clay at one time (like himself) that was now a different color.  Maybe that was his answer.  When the Gahnome returned, she was carrying several bottles of colored powder paint, a brush, and a small trowel.  She then started to tell Hewy, (in her rapid fire speech), about the special paint that was applied to clay and then fired in a kiln to make it permanently stick.  This was the answer to his problem and since trolls don’t mind a little heat, he made a deal with the potter to color him up.

After several hours of being painted and then warmed up in the kiln (to Hewy it was the best sauna experience he had had in a long time), the results were astonishing.  He now had a new look, a little more split and polish appearance, and did not appear so drab anymore.  ​But was he done?

He felt heady with his new look but was this enough?  Shouldn't he have some type of sign to capture this fire ritual he just experienced?  Maybe even a tattoo?