Yeste's Blacksmith Adventure(Open to All)

[katasu]

Katasu sailed through the calm seas toward Yeste's Island. On Yeste's Island lives some of the more renowned blacksmiths of South Blue. Katasu had recently taken up the hobby of blacksmithing and has wanted to learn from the best. "Making swords is an amazing skill. I'd love to make my own blade, and cut down my adversary with my own creation." Katasu had said as land sprung upon the horizon.

Yeste's Island was quite big compared to what Katasu was used to. A small harbor had come into view, seemingly carved into the side of a mountain. Katasu docked and laid anchor. Disembarking from his vessel he noticed a small sign. It read, "Yeste City, Welcome." Katasu shrugged and went into town. For a port town Yeste's was quite lively. Citizens actively went about with there duties and such. Katasu stopped one of the more lazily looking characters and asked, "Where's the blacksmith shop?" the young robust man point and said,"most live in the mountains, you know where they have there resources and shit. If your needing any more information stop by at the pub. the barkeep basically knows everything about everything on this island." and before Katasu could say anything more, the man was off walking again, not in a hurry just off walking as if he had nary a worry in the world.

Katasu took his advice and went to the pub. It was a nice oaked structure that had been varnished with years of establishment. Inside was a lively crew, a missed crowd of everyday workers to what seemed to be a few pirates, and even some shady looking marines. Katasu made his way to the counter and ordered a bottle of rum. "Coming right up sir." said the barkeep, a middle aged man with white hair, but not with the typical white mustache to go along with the barkeep image. "Do you know about the blacksmiths, and where I can find one willing to teach me the trade?" Katasu asked while taking a swig of the rum. "If your looking for a blacksmith head to the mountain, you'll find one up there for sure. Now if your wanting directions your gonna needa spend a lil more at my bar first." said the barkeep with a smirk.

[Deleted]

As the Bartender attempted to get some more business out of the young man, the door jingled. Another teenage male, his silver hair topped with a flatcap, entered the bar, and looked around. "Well, Bugger this, We got lost. This isn't the Pirate market, right?" He sighs, and walks grumpily over to the bar. "What do ye have on tap, barkeep? Any Scotch? If not, a pint of some dark lager or other." He places a few Beri on the counter. After several seconds with no response from the barkeep, he looked up. "Don't have that either?"

The burly man shook his head. "I have both the beverages in question, but you look a bit young to be able to hold liquor." Bran sighed, and glared at the condescending old man. "First, I've lived in a pub my whole life." He raised a finger. "Second, I'm paying, give me my damn drink." He gestured to his coins. The man shrugged, and turned, grabbing a bottle and a small glass. As he readied the scotch, Bran glanced at his neighbor at the bar. He looked around at the small pub nostallgically. "Reminds me of Port Claire, back home. Smells different though. Well, anyway.." He turned back to grab his drink, as the Beris were swept up and counted. Taking a sip, he sighed appreciatively, then, swirling his glass, finished the sentence. "I'm Bran Winters. Nice to meet ya." His voice had a noticeable brogue, and a light baritone.

"So, what brings you here?" He looks completely oblivious to the fact that his ordering his drink had displayed the Jolly roger emblazoned on the back of his top, a purple smiley with a lightning bolt behind it. He pushed up his cap, revealing a pair of bright blue eyes, and a friendly grin. "Hopefully you aren't lost like we are. This is the South Blue, right? We didn't screw that up, I hope."

[katasu]

Katasu had sat through the whole scene of the barkeep and the new face on the scene, Bran Winters, lazily drinking his rum. "I'm Katasu Kurogane, and I'm trying to get this man to give me information on the blacksmiths that Yeste's Island is renowned for." Katasu said before finishing his rum. "This is indeed South Blue, you from where?" Katasu asked as he took notice of the man's jolly roger and the fact that he had mentioned something about a pirate's market.

The fact that Bran Winters being a pirate immediately registered in Katasu's mind. The jolly roger and pirate's market was enough proof of that. Katasu was a pirate hunter, but with no personal vendetta against pirates. It was simply a profession to put money in his pocket.

And so even though the man was a pirate Katasu had no problem with him, he hadn't seen a wanted poster of him, and Bran seemed a nice enough guy. As Katasu bought a round of rum for the two of them, Bran and himself, he asked, "What you doing around these parts?" as the words exited Katasu's mouth he already had the bottle meeting with his lips pouring the liquor down his gullet.

[Deleted]

Bran leaned back in his seat, and looked over at his fellow patron. "I'm from Port Claire, in West Blue. So's my First Mate, Wherever she is. We were headed down here looking for crewmates. A two man crew isn't much of a crew." He takes another swallow of his drink. "So, we were headed down here to look around. Got a bit off course, though." Tapping the bar with a finger, he sighs. "It's feckin boring.... Can't wait to get to the Grand line."

Bran's a skinny fellow, but by no means scrawny. He sat on the bar stool casually, lending credence to his earlier claim of growing up in a pub. The fact that he could talk clearly after 2, and with the order, three glasses of scotch, likely meant he had been drinking for a while. He was around 17, but the silvery hair reminded you of a much older man, and his icy blue pupils gave him a rather frigid look, completely contrasting his warm, jolly personality.

As he chuckled a bit, he blinked, and a dawning realization spread over his face, which was ironically a bit red now from the drink. He put his face in his hand, and groaned. "Say, ya seen any Marines about?" He seemed a bit concerned. "Only, I don't think I ran down our Jolly Roger, and the boat is right in the open..." As he finished his words, the door swung open, and 4-5 marines, led by an ensign in the marine's famous coat, walked in. Bran sighed, not turning around. "Eliza's gonna kill me when I find her...."

[katasu]

Katasu was beginning to speak, when the door swung open and in walked the marines. "Eliza's gonna kill me when I find her...." Bran sighed. In all there was 5 marines. The man leading the group was a tall, broad man. He had a small goatee and looked to be in his mid 30's. In behind him marched his cohorts, in a line they stood behind they're leader. Every patron in the bar had stopped and was looking at the white coat of the marine, including Katasu. "Where's the pirate?" said the marine. His tone demanded an answer. No one spoke up, most went back to drinking, but Katasu just had to say something, "What pirate you looking for?"
The question for some reason ticked the marine off. Raising his voice the marine answered, "The only damn pirate dumb enough to leave his jolly roger up! The one with lightning bolts on it, that's the pirate I'm looking for!" Stepping forward a bit the marine continued,"You wouldn't happen to be that pirate would you?" Katasu smirked and turned back to the bar to grab his bottle of rum. Swirling back around Katasu had taken a big swig of the spirit. "I'm not the pirate but I believe the man your looking for is named Bran Winters. Or so I've been told." Katasu couldn't contain his amusement and let out a few chuckles.

By now the marines had made their way up to the bar. The Ensign was directly in front of Katasu, with the other four forming a semi circle behind the three men; Katasu, Bran, and their boss. "Any ideal where to find this Bran pirate... hmm sir?" said the marine in a tone that didn't set well with Katasu. Finishing the bottle, Katasu tossed it aside, almost hitting one of the lower ranked marines, and began, "One I do know where he is but for me to tell you would insult my new found friendship. Two, I really need my personal space if you wouldn't mind. And three..." Katasu paused and turned back to the bar before finishing,"you're starting to piss me off with your tone."

"So your friends with a pirate are you? Under rule 204 of the marine handbook that would make you an enemy of the world government, and I, fulfilling my duty as a marine, will be taking you in custody." the marine ensign said with a grin. Katasu had ignored the threat and had begin discussing with Bran, "Your going to the Grand Line? I myself have been wanting to go too. I'll make a name for myself there, and let the whole world realize what Iaido is." with a big smile on his face.

Just then the Ensign takes notice of the man sitting next to Katasu. His eyes wonder over to the man's back and immediately he realizes that the pirate, referred to as Bran Winters, is right in front of him. Veins begin to bulge out of the marines face and neck in frustration. "How long was y'all gonna keep quiet about this?" asked the leader to his underlings. "Do y'all like making a fool out of me? I'll have all of you sent back to being recruits!" yelled out the marine to his subordinates. "Take these two men into custody right away!" commanded the ensign in frustration. "Yes sir right away sir!" responded the four servants. "Looks like we've got a fight on our hands." Katasu spouted out while springing into action. "You get two and I'll get the other three?" Katasu asked with excitement.

One of the lowly marine seaman came at Katasu at full speed, ready to subdue his target and reap accolades from his peers and superior. In one swift movement Katasu's Ebony blade went from it's saya, into the stomach of his attacker, and then back into it's sheath. "Damn it! Still visible." Katasu said in a disappointing tone. The next seaman had pulled a gun. Katasu peered up at the man from his "Zen" stance. Katasu rapidly closed the distance between the two moving in a zigzag pattern. The seaman pulled the trigger, shooting at Katasu to no avail. Katasu had already gotten under the tip of the gun and was releasing an attack that sent the marine to the floor in anguish. "Perhaps you'd like a try?" Katasu asked the marine ensign. Smirking Katasu looked over his shoulder to see how Bran was handling his own.

[Deleted]

As the group of grunts moved over to Katasu, Bran slowly eased off his stool, leaning against the counter. He appeared to still be seated, and focused on his drink. He grinned, and braced himself, as his foot underwent an unnoticed change. He adjusted his flatcap, his back still angled away from the Marines, and waited. He tried not to wince as his aquaintance announced his name, then smiled a little. He'd probably be getting a Bounty here for this little incident. He adjusted his purloined gauntlet.

When he was finally noticed, and the ensign ordered his capture, the closest marine, a cigar smoking, rather tan man with blond hair and sunglasses walked up, placing a hand on his shoulder and reaching back with a fist. This proved to be a bad idea. Bran straightened, and spun on the spot, his hands held out. His right hand snatched the cigar from the man's mouth. The shocked marine would likely have violently objected to his cigar being stolen, however, Bran's left hand, the one encased in a metal glove, followed along the rotation of his body, this time with the arm fully extended.

The gauntleted fist cracked into the man's temple, and he folded like a bad card player, tumbling to one side. Bran grinned, as the patrons stared at him, astonished. He brought two fingers up to the cigar, as they changed, and pressed them together. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the second Marine get stabbed. The small shower of sparks caused the smoldering stub to flare up again, a column of smoke trailing up from it as Bran raised his head, giving the ensign an rather bloodthirsty smirk. "Mahahaha! Nice ta meet ya, mate! I'm Bran Winters, Captain of the Blitzkrieg Pirates, and that flag? It was nae bloody stupidity... It was a signal I was lookin for a brawl!" His right fist warped, a spinning, conical drill replacing his hand. "Thanks fa volunteering!"

He dashed across the room, his fist swinging wide, and brought his drill down just as the ensign, fumbling with the sheathe, managed to swing his sword in front of him. The two metal objects clashed with a horrendous screeching sound. Bran and the sailor stared at each other for a long second, before the marine pulled his sword back, and the Pirate began raining a flurry of spinning metal blows towards his head, the man barely able to block. Bran grinned around the cigar, and yelled breifly over his shoulder, "DIBS ON THIS ONE, MATE!"

[katasu]

Bran Winters was doing an excellent job dismissing the fodder. He had even taken his victim's cigar for his own, which had left Katasu amused. Suddenly Bran dashed across the room and his fist had been replaced by a drill. Katasu was stunned by what he saw. Was it possible that this Bran winters had a devil fruit ability? Katasu had heard something about the mysterious fruit that gives the consumers powers, but he hadn't ever witnessed a user with his own eyes.

Bran was pressuring the ensign, pushing him back and onto the defensive. Bran had called out calling "dibs" on the marine. Katasu smirled smugly and said,"That'll do, a swordsman of his caliber isn't worth my time." The fight between Bran and the ensign continued, but Katasu had lost interest in it. It was one sided in Katasu opinion and not really enjoyable. Katasu went back to the bar, after having, possibly, paralyzing his gun wielding victim by crashing his saya into his spinal column. "So barkeep about my initial question?" The barkeep had a clothe covered hand inside of a drinking glass, probably cleaning it dry before the fight broke out. An astonished look was worn by the barkeep as he snapped back to reality at Katasu's voice. "Well it's true that Yeste is known for it's blacksmiths, but the thing is... blacksmiths aren't usually the type to teach others their trade. Blacksmiths make a fortune from their work, and so the fewer the better if you ask them."

The barkeep had stopped to clear his throat and while at it placed the glass onto the counter. Planting his arms on the lamented surface of his bar the barkeep continued,"But I do know of one blacksmith that might be willing to teach you a thing or two..." "Really? Where is he?" Katasu said cutting of the man. "He's in the mountains, like all other blacksmiths here on Yeste." continued the informer with a look of annoyance on his face. "Just go north from here, up the closest mountain and in a cave you should find a house. This is where the blacksmith lives." the barkeep wrapped up.

Katasu was excited about finally having a lead to him pursuing his interest in blacksmith-ing. "So up the closest mountain and into a cave." Katasu repeated to himself. Katasu raised out of his seat, tipped the barkeep and walked pass the brawl between the pirate and the marine and reached the door before asking,"So Bran if your done playing would you like to come with me up the mountain? I'm gonna learn to blacksmith, perhaps I could make you a new gauntlet in time?" Katasu said with a sense of pride. Although Bran had no clue that even if he did accept Katasu's offer for a new gauntlet, it was likely never to be made, and Katasu was more than likely not going to master blacksmith-ing, but then again blacksmith-ing could be another hobby of Katasu's that tends to stick, like his love for Iaido.

[Deleted]

Bran vaguely nodded as the ensign continued parrying his blows, then kicked out suddenly at his foot, ducking low as he swept at his leg. The man yelped as he stumbled forward, looking up in time to be greeted with a metal-coated fist to his face. The man slumped over, landing facefirst on the ground. Bran turned, looking rather bored, and nodded. "Sure, I'll tag along. Don't want to leave you alone, when these guys wake up, we're probably going to have another fight when they tell their friends. " He nodded at the unconcious or bleeding Marines.

He squatted down, as he continued. "Point of order, though. The gauntlet's a trophy, nicked it off a guard in Toria. So don't bother, I wouldn't use it. Speaking of trophies...." He finished removing the man's coat, and folding it, hung it over his arm and stuck his hands in his pocket. "Let's go, shall we?" He swung the door open, and stepped out into the sunlight. After looking around, he motioned to Katasu to follow, and headed towards the mountain in the distance.

As they walked out of town, Bran turned, curiosity written all over his face. "So, why do you want to find a Blacksmith?"

[katasu]

"So that thing's your trohpy now too?" asked as the pirate looted the marine of his jacket and proceeded to leave the establishment. Following him out Katasu answered,"I wanna find a blacksmith so I can learn the trade. See a while ago I started pondering making a blade of not only of the highest quality, but also one that would benefit the most from my Iaido fighting style." With the explanation to his motives fully expressed, Katasu took lead and headed toward the closest mountain.

The duo passed the city limits and reached the base of the mountain. Luckily for the two the mountain had a winding path up. Trees covered most of the mountain, the mountain was a luck one with plenty of vegetation. The sun shown down onto the two men as they trekked up their path. Katasu had taken notice of a particular species of tree. He had never seen it before on his travels, but the appeal of something to eat was too much. He hadn't eaten since he arrived at the island, and with the drinking he had been doing Katasu was fiercely hungry. "Do you think those things are good to eat?" Katasu asked his travelling companion. Before Bran even had a chance to answer, Katasu was at the tree picking the light violet colored fruit. They were quite large and hung low on the branches of the tree. Their appearance similar to those of a honey dew melon, except for color. Katasu had picked for before returning to the upward journey. "This one's for you." Katasu had said handing one of the strange fruit to Bran.

With his hands full with 3 of the small melon like fruit Katasu bent his neck to furiously attack the one at the top of the stack. A pale yellow inside was torn apart by Katasu's teeth. Gulping down the flesh of the fruit Katasu's hunger was satisfied. "I'll save these two for later." Katasu stated putting the two other fruits into his carrying bag on his back. Wiping his face Katasu looked to his left, and there he saw a cave.

Bran and Katasu wondered over to the cave's mouth and peered inside. "It's pitch black in there." Katasu spoke as he took notice of the emptiness of light within the cave. Katasu shrugged as he stepped foot into the cave. Wandering deeper and deeper into the depths of darkness Katasu soon found a speck of light. A unseen smile appeared on Katasu's face as he rushed a bit so that he was illuminated by the light.

In front of his eyes was, what he believed, the house of the blacksmith that the barkeep had mentioned. It was a beautiful house, magnificent if compared to houses in the previous city. Behind the house was a fenced area that seemed to be a garden from what Katasu could perceive. "Hope he'll teach me." Katasu said to Bran as he knocked upon the door. Feet shuffled and the door swung open. In the door stood a man of over 6 feet and built like a sturdy horse. Muscles bulged from his chest and arms, and soot stained his tanned skin. "Ah, people." said the man. "What do I owe the pleasure of company too?" the man finished with a stone like face, but a hint of gentleness in his voice.

"I've come to learn the art of blacksmith-ing." Katasu said as he slightly bowed at the waist. "An apprentice!?" the man asked a bit astonished. "Yes, I suppose one could call it that, although I wish not to be an apprentice for too long." Katasu said as he returned to his normal posture and met the man's eyes. They were dark like charcoal. "And you?" the blacksmith asked as he gestured toward Bran.

[anarchyarcher]

Eliza was not in a good mood as she stalked through the town looking for Bran. She had a black cloth tightly balled in her fist, and the look on her face made those ahead of her to get out of her way like waves around the bow of a ship.

"I swear," she muttered as she almost shoved a man out of the way, "I'll kill him the next time he makes a mistake like this."

-{ }- -{ }- -{ }- -{ }- -{ }-

The swordswoman had elected to near the ship when they had landed on the island, to make sure it didn't get stolen. Not that she had told Bran this as he just walked off into town. She had hung up a hammock between the main mast and one of the ship's railings out of some spare canvas, and was taking a catnap in the warm sun when it happened.

Three marines had stealthily made their way up the gangplank towards her, as Eliza yawned and stretched her arms. She didn't even notice them, not until they had gotten up onto the deck and were preparing to knock her out.

Her sword was leaning up against the mast - as it dug into her side in the hammock - and as one of the marines stepped forwards his sword collided with it. The rapier clattered to the deck, making Eliza jolt upright. The hammock decided it did not appreciate the sudden movement, and dumped her own onto the deck - under the swipe of another guard who had tried to slash at her.

from where she lay on the deck, Eliza saw a blade flash down at her as another marine took a swing, just in time to roll out of the way and snatch her sword from where it lay. Avoiding a couple more blows, she grabbed at one of the taut lines of the ratlines and hauled herself just out of reach. As the marines made to follow her, the swordwoman almost laughed aloud.

'Oh this is just too easy!' she giggled, alighting in the crows nest.

Eliza took a momentary breather to glance down the opposite ratlines and catch sight of one of the marines climbing up that way.

'Oop, I spoke too soon.'

When the first of the marines made it up the way she had climbed, Eliza awarded him with a solid whack to the head with her sheathed sword. He crumbled, almost taking out his fellow sailor behind him. The marine splashed down into the water with a fair sized splash.

'One down, two to go!' she mentally cheered.

As Eliza silently congratulated herself, a hand shot up behind her and grabbed her leg. Her glee quickly turned to fear as the marine that had come up behind her pulled her leg out from under her and she tipped out over the deck. While falling in the water would just stun her, a fall to the deck could seriously injure or kill her. Right as this thought crossed her mind, she passed the crows nest on her headfirst plummet towards the deck.

-{ }- -{ }- -{ }- -{ }- -{ }-

Eliza shook her head, clearing away the mistakes of a few minutes ago from her mind.

"I'm gonna kill you Bran..." she muttered, squeezing the Jolly Roger tighter in her fist.

[Deleted]

Bran shivered, and then sneezed. He swore he could feel someone talking about him... Oh god. Elizabeth had probably found out about his "mistake." He chose to let that pass for now, she wasn't here after all, and focused on the burly man in front of him. "Nah, mate. I'm just a pirate. Got into a tussel with a few marines and didn't want this fellow taking the heat for the fire I poured oil on." He leaned back against the wall of the cave, and looked at the ensign's coat. "Hmmmm.... Hey, Oyaji, do you know anyone around here that can dye cloth?" The man scowled a little at the name, but nodded slowly regardless. "Aye, my wife can dye it for yah, sew it too if need be. " Bran followed his directions, and, climbing a rope ladder, found himself on a well hidden porch above the cave mouth.

As he scrambled up onto the ledge, he considered going back and finding Eliza, then dismissed the idea. "She'll be able to find us, I'm sure she'll hear about the brawl and put two and two together." He knocked on the door, and a minute later, an older women opened it, looking curious. "And who are you?" Bran's grin nearly split his head in half. "Just a passerbye. Oyaji's working with a friend on Blacksmithing. I think. I wanted to know if I could get something dyed?" The old women brightened, and shortly thereafter, Bran was pushing the coat around in one of the dye tubs, as the women directed him absentmindedly from the side, where she was examining the back of his jacket, and carefully copying the design.

Once the coat was fully recolored, Bran hung it carefully on a rack to dry, dug out some Beri that he insisted on giving the kindly Blacksmith's wife for her help, and headed back out. He slid down the ladder, and, barechested, having forgotten his shirt and jacket back up at the house, poked his head into the cave where the Blacksmith and Katasu were. Staying around would probably have been wise, though. The women had been staring at the emblem for a while, and despite the lack of a skull, her gut was telling her that the smiley and lightning bolt were a Jolly Roger. The coat she was dyeing, that was a marine's coat, wasn't it? It belonged to that officer in the village, the one that was just a tad short....

[katasu]

Bran had left to go get his jacket dyed by the blacksmiths wife while Katasu and the blacksmith made their way into the house. The inside was plain, having only the essentials of a house. The kitchen was composed of only a fridge, sink, and stove. A living room with only a couch and lamp went along with the kitchen. "This isn't my real house so please excuse the interior." said the blacksmith as he motioned for Katasu to follow him out through the back door. As the two made it out the door Bran showed up and followed them.

In the back yard was a magnificent garden, much larger than the portion Katasu had seen earlier. "How do the plants grow in this dark cave?" Katasu asked as he took a look at green leaves of the plants. Smiling the blacksmith answered, “I’ve got lights in the ceiling of this cave. I turn them for eight hours a day and that's all these plants need. Now forget about those plants and come here." Katasu did as the man said and followed him over to the left side of his 'backyard'. A small passageway seemed to be carved into the side of the cave. A narrow tunnel led back to a faint glowing light. "Do you want to know my secrets to success?" the blacksmith asked. Katasu shrugged and answered, “I was just hoping to learn the basics, but yeah sure I guess." "Well come along, I'll show you both at once." the blacksmith said as he slid his way into the passageway.

Katasu followed the man, a few meters and they were at their destination. A large room was hollowed out. In the room were your blacksmithing tools. An anvil was placed against the wall and next to a lava forge. Hammers and tongs were racked on the wall, in reaching distance of the anvil and hanging above a pool of water that appeared to be from a stream that flowed into the room. "This here's my secret boy." the blacksmith said grinning and gesturing toward the pool of lava. "Most forges use coal but me, I use lava." the man said with a hearty laugh. "I don't get what's special about having lava." Katasu said unimpressed. He was a bit disappointed to be truthful. He had wanted to learn the traditional way of blacksmithing, the way that used a coal powered forge.

The blacksmith almost lost it when Katasu had spoken. "What's special about using lava!?" the man's hands flew up in a grand gesture. Bringing them back down, the man grabbed an iron rod and began to work. "Let me educate you on this special process of mines."

The iron rod quickly heated to a malleable state. Gripping the iron with a par of tongs the blacksmith swiftly moved the metal from the lava pool onto the anvil. He then began to rain down blows from a hammer, flattening the piece of iron. Having gotten the iron semi flatten, the blacksmith dipped it into the water, back into the lava, and then onto the anvil again. He repeated the process four times before he was satisfied. The iron had been completely transformed into a thin, sharp blade.

"See here boy?" the man asked as Katasu peered over the man's shoulder. "With a coal forge this process would have taken a much longer time, hours perhaps, and the blade would be more brittle than this one. With the heat of the lava, my tempering is top notch." the blacksmith took a breath before continuing, “It’s still not done yet, much to thin to do real combat, I'll have to make 2 more of these blades and then craft them into one. That's where the real skill lies. Most blacksmiths simply fold the iron back onto itself to create layers of metal. I don't. It's not easy to taper the blades with my process but that's where my lava comes into play. With a normal coal forge I wouldn't be able to get all the layers malleable and so my tapering would suffer."

Katasu sat through the man's speech and at the end off it he had become to appreciate the special process of the blacksmithing forging techniques. "I see, so your blades the best of Yeste's huh." Katasu more or less stated as the blacksmith held up the finish product of his labor. The blacksmith was slightly embarrassed by Katasu's claims. "I suppose that's a man opinion." the man said as he left th blade on the anvil and lead everyone back to his house. There they sat and the man finished explaining the basis of blacksmithing to Katasu. "Blacksmithing isn't exactly a cheap thing to do. One must buy the necessary tools, and then the materials too. There's a blacksmith shop in town if you'd like to buy some stuff."

"Oh and my wife's probably done with the dying now. It's been over two hours since you've went up there." the man said. Katasu was surprised by the claim. How did this man know it had been two hours since they had started? Katasu had no idea of how much time had passed since they went to the forging room. Katasu thanked the man for allowing him to watch a master at work, and learn from him. "Thank you for the knowledge, I'll accompany my companion to get his jacket and return back to town now. Perhaps you'll hear my name one day, as a great swordsman and blacksmith." Katasu had said the last part with a wide smile on his face.

Bran and Katasu proceeded to leave the man's house and out of the cave. Katasu fell back as Bran took the leading role. "So why did you get that coat dyed anyways?" Katasu asked curiously.