Vulcan, the Treasuresmith (Blacksmithing Post)

The Naraka Caves were just as 'charming' as ever to Asura as he moved through them. According to what he learned from Master Vidav, the elder of the Blood Vale Tigers, deep in the depths of the Naraka Caves, where the cave gave way to the heat of the molten lava buried deep there. Among this place, several of the formidable tigers spent time-- but one in particular caught Asura's attention.

Vulcan, the Treasuresmith. Curious as his own hobby of blacksmithing and forging of weapons, Vidav mentioned that this Vulcan also was a blacksmith and made tools for the use of the Blood Vale Tigers. In his haste, Asura left to find him, but forgot to listen to Vidav's warning about his... personality.

The journey deeper into the caves was much longer than Asura had when he first visited to meet Vidav. This time, he took the path that kept going down. With his Tengan eyes, he could not only see the path clearly or the direction he was heading, but also the heat source that lingered deep down in the mountain. It almost made Asura worry if the mountain he was in was an active volcano. The last thing the jungle needed was this thing blowing up.

As he moved onward, he soon noticed the soft glow of orange-red light from the caverns. He emerged from the tunnel and soon saw a series of elevated rock platforms, clung together by the structure of the caves-- and far below, was the pit of lava. It illuminated the cave clearly, the soft bubbles of molten rock continuing to give off extreme heat. It was so hot even Asura sweated, despite his immunity to extreme heat.

The paths that wound and crossed the large cavern were like bridges, connected to the walls by the rocks. On the bridge Asura had emerged on, several of them connected to another section of the cave that seemed to give of a small trail of smoke from holes in the rockside. Even more evident that someone was there, was the ringing of metal pounding metal that echoed through the cavern.

A smile came to Asura's face and he walked across the stone bridge to reach the forge.

The ringing grew louder, as did the sound of hissing heated metal. It reminded Asura of the forge near Iwa when he visited to make his sword. His approach to the cave was slow and quiet, but he soon reached the mouth of the cave and looked inside.

The forge was constructed into the cave. On the far wall, a small stream of lava traveled down a cut out of the wall, where it pooled and drained off to the lava pit far below where the cavern was suspended from. Holes, like windows, were sparce through the stone structure like swiss cheese, and allowed light to enter the area. Stone tables, metal anvil, they were all present in the room, including the grindstone needed to refine things. Even water, which was provided for cooling the heated metals. Many tools, chisel, hammer, sharp cutting tools, tongs-- all of which were hung on hooks around the room. It was either a forge, or a torture chamber-- which made it hard to tell when the place hung over a pit of lava...

... and finally, hammering away, was the large, hulking orange beast that stood on two legs. Growls came with each pound of his hammer as he worked. The creature was massive, almost twice as tall as Asura was, or probably any regular human. Muscled bulged from his body, and his thick striped fur almost looked like fire by the orange color. Each smash of his hammer onto another anvil caused sparks to light up the cavern as he focused, intense on his work. A thick bushy tail flicked through the air softly as he raised up a molten hot blade and looked at it carefully.

"Purrrr-fect..." the tiger growled and lowered it down to a nearby water pool where it hissed and began to cool.

Slowly, Asura approached. The tiger smith was clearly a big fellow, and last thing Asura wanted to do startle him. He waited till the tiger had put the blade to be cooled, but he then went to the next object. He began to pound his large hammer-- that looked like a two-handed weapon with just 1 massive paw.

"Um... Excuse me---?"

The massive creature roared in surprise and turned, his hammer raised high. He reared his head to reveal his intimidating tiger-like face as he looked, spotting Asura in his sight.

"WHat the?!" the tiger growled, surprise in his tone. "How the hell did you get here?!"

Asura blinked as the hulking tiger loomed over him. Asura felt rather small in comparison, and gulped. "Um.... I walked down here."

The snarl of the tiger was clear, his eyes sharp on him and teeth showing. "Why... are you here in my forge, you little pest! What in the world is a human doing here?" the tiger demanded.

"Eh, i take it you don't get out much?" Asura commented and rubbed the back of his neck. "I am allied with your tribe. DOn't you know? "

"EH?" THe tiger growled. He loomed closer and sniffed the air around Asura. The boy didn't move but allowed the tiger to examine him. After a moment, he brought up his head. "So it seems... still, a little shit like you... Why are you here?" he demanded and shouldered his hammer.

This time, Asura was a bit more nervous as the tiger demanded an answer. "Um... well I like to do blacksmithing in my spare time. I'm pretty good at it-- and I learned of you, who does blacksmithing in the mountain. I thought I'd meet you and see your workshop... If you don't mind?"

"You? A blacksmith?" the tiger asked and looked at the boy with a stern look. He bore his eyes into Asura, as if to evaluate him as if he was a piece of metal he work with...

The intense stare of the tiger made Asura uncomfortable... till the big guy finally let out a growl-- which was actually a bellowing laugh. "HAHAHAHA! You?! A runt like you? Please! This is a man's workplace, and I don't have time for little shits like you." the tiger said. "Now run along and stay out of my way. This is no place for kids."

The reply from the tiger caused Asura's body to tense up. "Hey now wait a freaking second! I'm 20 years old, damn it. And I have made swords and gear before, so you can't just dismiss me as some brat!" he shouted.

The tiger looked over his shoulder. "You still here? I just did dismiss you, now get lost or I'll string you up like one of my pieces. I got work to do." he growled and rose his hammer to start his work again.

Asura's eyes narrowed at the blacksmith tiger and he still pressed his advance. He walked around the anvil, where he saw the giant tiger hammering away at a glowing axe. "Hey, I am not some amateur. I am a skilled shinobi, and I have done forging work before. " The tiger just kept hammering, and now trying to ignore the red headed human. Irritated, Asura took out his SHinkou sword and held it directly in front of the tiger's line of sight. "See!? This is not shotty workmanship!"

He stopped after his last impact with his hammer and looked at the sword. He lowered his hammer and took the sword from Asura's hand. The tiger's gaze was entranced on the sword as he pulled it free from his sheath briefly to see the chakrinium metal it was made of, along with the ruby structure made in it. "Hmm... interesting. Very interesting..." he purred.

"I told you!" Asura said proudly, his sword having been a most valued tool in his battles. "It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"I'm amazed a piece of shit like this hasn't broken yet?" Vulcan growled, "What shotty workmanship."

"WHAT?!" Asura screamed, which echoed across the cavern. "Did all this heat bake your brain with your fur and all?! That's a Grade A chakra blade!"

"I'm surprised this glorified toothpick is even still in tact. Meh..." The tiger then tossed the sword behind him, aimed towards one of the holes that dropped into the lava pool.

"WHAAA!" Asura jumped and grabbed the sword right over the hole. He flipped as he held tight to his sword and caught his breath from the scare. "You jerk! That's my favorite sword! What the hell is your problem?!"

"Come back when you made something half-decent. Now get lost, runt. I am trying to work," he replied.

Asura's blood boiled furious as he secured his sword back to his hip. Then his gaze came to the rack of finished weapons A mischievious look crossed Asura's face as he glanced at the working VUlcan. He crept up to the rack and picked up one of the small daggers. "You call my work shotty, but yours look rather plain if you ask me. Who the hell you making this for?"

The tiger stopped mid hammer at the question, and he turned. "What...?"

"I mean, come on. All the tigers say your a brilliant smith and so far all I see are these dull pieces. Come on, show more style and pride for your work." He tossed the dagger away on the floor, just as Vulcan tried with his sword.

As it clattered, the tiger turned to him. "Hey! Get the fuck away from my work space!" he growled. Like a true tiger, he charged to try and claw at Asura for his offense.

Just as he was near, Asura jumped away with his speed-- and evaded the claw swipe. He jumped to the other side of the workshop, and looked over at the grindstone. "Ooh nice materials here. You at least got a good set up to make everything." Asura said, "So where is all the real goods your kind brags about you."

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY WORKSHOP!" the tiger roared and pounced for Asura!

The game of cat and mouse continued for a bit, with Asura jumping around to examine the workshop, and the larger, angry man-tiger chased after him. Asura would poke around at the workshop, it had everything he could need to make his weapons and items again-- if he could convince the angry tiger from not killing him and giving him a chance.

This went on for about 10 minutes as the tiger chased Asura, who just was a touch faster than him. "You little brat! When I get my claws on you, i'll turn you into my next workbench!"

"Not really into that. But come on," Asura stopped joking and glared at the tiger. "Look, the reason I came down here was because I wanted to use your workshop to make better weapons. Can't we work together, please?"

"Suuure, we can work on something." The tiger said and crept closer. "How about I use you to make a set of armor out of your RIBCAGE!!" The tiger roared and lunged for Asura.

The human shinobi quickly jumped up and landed on the ceiling, using his chakra to have his footing cling to the wall. "Come on, please stop! Look, I can be of great help to you. And I wanna work with you. So can't we make a deal?"

"Why the hell would I want you in my workshop, you monkey!?" Vulcan roared.

"First off-- I seen the monkeys. Trust me, I'm much better company," Asura commented, remembering a certain idiot who summoned Monkeys. "Second, I am not some amatuer. I have done some work. See for yourself," Asura reached for the back of his belt and drew out a few scrolls. He tossed them down to Vulcan, which clattered and opened up on the floor.

Inside the scrolls, were series of blue prints for not only the sword he made, but of other gear and inventions he made in his spare time. The tiger looked down at the plans and raised a brow. Though the cat was still furious of the intrusion, the designs did appeal to him.

"NIce pictures, for a rookie... so what is your point?" Vulcan growled and looked back up to Asura. "If you had these, why not make the gear."

"I'm a rogue ninja. I didn't have the luxury to make a forge or work at one. I was constantly on the move." Asura said as he hung from the ceiling. "So why not we make a deal? I will help you with your work, and you let me use your workshop. Hell, I bet together we can come up with some awesome stuff."

"Hah... why the hell would I trust you in my workshop? I otta just rip your head off for the Rakshasa Warriors," he growled.

Asura sighed and rolled his eyes. "You do realize I am in good graces with both Boss Byakko and Lord Vidav. Do you really wanna answer to them for killing their ally?"

The tiger stopped and had a shocked look on his face with that bit of news. However, Asura held no real issue with Vulcan now and slowly calmed himself down. "Look, we can work together on both our projects. Please? Besides, consider me... your apprentice? Right, Master Vulcan?"

The tiger stopped and slowly eased up the muscles in his shoulders. "Hmm. An apprentice. That is an amusing idea. " he purred as he scratched his whiskers.

With that, Asura swung himself over and let go of the chakra in his feet, to fall on the ground with a swift bound. "Okay, then. Do we have a deal?" he asked.

The tiger looked to Asura, then to his drawings on the ground. "Hmm... alright. But don't think I'll let you have your choice of my stash of materials. I keep the real stuff for later. Right now, why don't you show me what you have. YOu finally impress me, then I'll let you work in my forge, squirt. "

Asura frowned. Vidav was right. The guy really was a piece of work. Still, Asura picked up the scrolls that fell on the ground and showed Vulcan what he had done.

Though the opinions of the big tiger didn't change, it was true he was a master of his craft. He showed Asura what parts could be improved on, and what to do to fix his work. Asura had the talent to make the weapons, but no tutorage-- but now that changed as Vulcan reluctantly aided Asura to learn how to properly make quality weapons.

To be continued...

(THread End) Created items in approval section.