Snakes, Swords, and Stabbings, Oh My!

[Unknown Eldritch]

It was an abnormally warm day in Iron country, with clear skies and the sun shining down on all of the inhabitants, though most foreigners would likely still see the weather as being colder than they are used to. It seems as though everybody was trying to take advantage of the weather, with the market packed to the brim with all sorts of people who were buying, selling, and browsing everything that was available, the shouting of merchants echoing out over the bustle of the crowds. However, in one particular corner of the market the shouting was more than just advertising sales, as Muramasa Fudo could be seen having a... disagreement with a tall, burly man with short dark hair who glaring at him furiously.

Fudo stared coldly at the man before him, a local blacksmith by the name of Kintaro. Many of the blacksmiths in the area disliked him for one reason or another, and Kintaro was one of the more outspoken detractors of his craftsmanship, frequently spreading rumors about him. Fudo preferred to avoid him if possible, but he had just made a rather large purchase, buying the last of steel bars when Kintaro arrived, shouting about how the "Counterfeit Smith" as he liked to call Fudo would never be able to utilize the steel he purchased, and he should just hand it over to a "superior" blacksmith.

The man had been ranting for several minutes at this point and Fudo's patience was starting to wear thin, so he cut off Kintaro mid-sentence. "Enough, we both know that you just hate me because with nothing more than hard work, I managed to reach the level of skill that you needed to practically sell yourself into servitude to learn from your 'master'. Just shut up already so I can get on with my day and continue avoiding you, you useless, unskilled, fat-fingered pig who couldn't forge a decent blade to save your life." As he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence, before he could see Kintaro grow visibly red, puffing himself up with anger and opening his mouth to continue yelling. 'How troublesome.'

[Zao]

A hooded man, perhaps not as uncommon these days after the way, slowly mingled through the crowded streets as he reached up with his blacked skinned hands to rub the outside of his biceps. Yes, it was a warm day by Iron country standards but to Ken who had become truly part serpent due to the King serpent's chakra it was still a bit to chilly for his own tastes. He had separated from his normal duo of traveling companions, not of need but more so want to be away from Fuhen and his abrasive and intrusive personality that lacked the normal boundaries. They had come to recruit more lost samurai to their cause, well mainly Fuhen's as currently Ken was looking for exceptional allies while his comrades looked to try to save their 'world' and their 'homeland'. For him it was more about gaining the level of strength to enact the revenge that darkened his heart and soul placing him on a path that perhaps there was no return from.

In their travels his own personal blades, crafted as a young man as a part of ascending to adult hood within his own family had become worn and some even broken completely. With the short distance to this part of Iron country and words from locals they had passed this was the place to find a good smith to have conduct repairs or in the case of some of his blades produce new ones. Ken had specific things he was looking for and was always a picky person about most things, even more so with his weapons that defined him as a fighter. Only his first impression wasn't the best as instead of people working it was a large man yelling out insults at some young kid, one who reminded him of his lost brother. Just because the boy held a faintly similar appearance to his younger brother Ken found himself drawn over into crowd step by step. Under his robe he felt the coiled body of his white viper companion snuggling up to him for warm shift a bit as the forge area that had a handful of smitheries was warmer than any other place in town.

'He has some spunk for just a young kid...' Finally the young blacksmith seemed to explode back at the older man who had been talking down to him the entire time, no longer able to hold his compose at being berated by the other man and it caused the serpent man to smirk as he closed the distance between himself and the duo finally slipping out from the mass and approached from behind Fudo as the other man seemed prepared to lash back out at him, the dark skinned fingers of the right hand with almost claw like finger nails fell lightly upon the boy's left shoulder. The action itself enough to break the thought process of the old man who shot a glare towards Ken as if saying 'who the fuck are you'. A hateful gaze met the gaze of a true predator, the man unleashing an invisible force of his killing intent as his [Fear of One's Own End] technique was used upon the man who was locked eye-to-eye with the crimson serpent like eyes of the Apostle of the Snake King.

His brain was sent into such an intense panic as he was greeted with hallucinogenic visions of his own death at the hands of a giant fanged serpent. Not only seeing these visions but also feel phantom physical pains of the damage perceived themselves to suffer during these hallucinations caused the man to become so overwhelmed that he passed out in the middle of the street. "What an annoying fellow. So, do you have any skill, kid?" As if the man collapsing and falling onto his back didn't even happened the man with a half smile looked down at the young man before removing his hand and questioned him about his skill. Why he had even interfered in the squabble was something he was questioning himself at this point, perhaps it was just the thought of past memories that convinced him to act out of the norm. Either way, he still needed a blacksmith to do some work and the other one was passed out and getting carried away by a couple guys leaving only Ken with Fudo currently as the crowd was strangely quiet in that moment.

[Unknown Eldritch]

Fudo couldn't help but blink in confusion, glancing at his shoulder and spotting a set of dark fingers with a set of wicked nails resting casually upon it. Fudo stared at the hand in confusion for several long seconds, beginning to turn his head to get a look at the owner of said hand, only to glance back in Kintaro's direction upon hearing the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, his vision being met with the sight of Kintaro unconscious on the ground, pale, shuddering, and already pouring sweat. The blacksmith's amber eyes took in the unconscious form of Kintaro before turning to the individual who seemed to be the most likely cause of what had just happened.

Fudo's gaze quickly landed on the now revealed man, taking in his bizarre appearance. A tall man with pale skin, crimson eyes, and long, untamed black hair, the person would already be considered fairly unique in terms of appearance, but the strangeness was amplified by the man's other unique features. With his sharp teeth, wide array of piercings and tattoos, long, curved nails, and incredibly thin frame, the man's form evoked the image of something not quite human. Regardless, the man's attention turned fully onto Fudo as he retracted his hand, asking a question about his skills.

"Ah, well, I suppose? If you're talking about smithing, I'm decent at it, though there are plenty of other smiths around here better than me in general. Though, if you're looking for swords or knives I can certainly do my best. I might not be the best smith out there, but I like to think that I am fairly skilled in my specialty." Fudo quickly shook off the shock of the taller man's appearance, instinctively switching over to a mindset better suited for weapon-crafting as he coldly shrugged off Kintaro's collapse, not seeing any point in paying the man any more mind than necessary.

"I appreciate the help, he likely would have kept ranting for a while so you saved me a solid ten, maybe fifteen minutes there. Like I said, if you're looking to have a blade forged I'd be happy to help, though if you need something else I'd be more than happy to point you in the right direction." As he spoke, Fudo's amber eyes wandered slightly, unintentionally observing the other man's own eyes. Something about the man's presence brought about a sense of deja-vu... He had never seen the man before, he was certain of that much, but he could have sworn that the aura that the man seemed to emit was flipping a familiar switch in his mind.

[Zao]

'Hmm...knives he says...' The thought silently lingered in his own mind, allowing the young boy to continue to speak without interrupting him. To be honest with himself the man really hadn't thought the boy to have any skill just the situation was to familiar for him to simply step away. Perhaps the White Snake King's gene's didn't have as much influence over him as he once thought. Taking a step back to move out of the boy's personal space, Ken's ear's perked up a bit at the sound of swords and knives being his specialty...but how good could a kid be? "That man wasn't worth anyone's time." Ken quickly dismissed the gratitude of the young smith as though it was simply something that needed to be done, attempting to say that he didn't do it because of Fudo's situation but more so that he didn't like they guy's face.

"My blades have become rather damaged in my travel, some even past the point of repair..." His voice seemed to trail off a bit as his crimson snake-like eyes shifted from the body down to his right thigh now as the hand moved in unison with the eyes. In a fluid motion two large fighting kunai was pulled with a single finger put through the finger loop of either. The stead fast blades had been at the man's side even during his rebellion against the Leaf village as its shinobi pushed deeper and deeper into Dragon country, but in the end him and those like him had not been able to stand up against the sheer fighting force of a Great shinobi village and had been forced to flee. His control despite the claw like finger nails was obvious as they spun around once after being quickly drawn before being firmly grasped in the dark skinned hand now. "...please see"

The man then extended his hand palm upwards out towards the young blacksmith a unfolding the clenched fingers to reveal one blade that was missing about two inches of the end while the other had little edge left and had two large cracks running through it. He offered for Fudo to take and examine them. His blades had been forged with a decent amount of skill, but in truth he was no blacksmith so they were without a doubt filled with flaws and imperfections that a good blacksmith would have noticed and fixed during the initial forging process. He needed better weapons as his own strength and speed improved in order for him to keep up with the shinobi who were his ultimate targets. "What do you think? If you have the skill, I have the money."