The Crafter and The Slug

The sounds of metal hitting metal rang out in a rhythmic beat from inside a workshop that was situated behind a nice two-story house. In the shop was a man in his mid-thirties hammering away at what looks like a kunai. Wiping his brow of sweat the man stretched his back.

Zach: "Man these anime fans sure keep me in business. The amount of money they spend on these handcrafted weapons is ridiculous. Maybe I should start a twitch account and stream my work like Broxh."

With a shrug, I went back to shaping the metal. I'm hoping that I can finish this piece before the end of the day. A new bar had opened up in my little rundown town and I wanted to check it out. I had just finished hammering all the edges straight and brought the kunai over to the belt grinder to give it an edge and smooth the metal out to a polished finish.

Before we continue I'd like to introduce myself! My name is Zach Briggs and I'm 30 years old. I like to say that I'm 6 feet tall but in reality, I'm only 5' 11". I've got a little beer belly but other than a little paunch I'm pretty solid everywhere else. It's just like that all the crafting I learned over the years works most of my body out. I can't run marathons but I sure can beat some metal for 10 hours straight if need be. I've let my hair and beard grow out recently. My hair color is brown and is down to my neck, I usually keep it in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. My beard is also brown, and it's well a beard, chicks dig it.

I started smithing back when I was 10 years old, it was something my father passed down to me before he passed. From then on I started to spread my wings by the age of 16 I had become a master smith with the American Bladesmith Society. After that, I started to spread my wings and get into more crafting activities. I went on to learn how to tan leather and work it and learned how to work on fabric at the same time with them being so similar. Then to round it all out I learned a bit about carpentry, it's pretty therapeutic.

In the last couple of years, I started to get more current with the times, and going with my building and creating nature I started to learn to program. My prized creation is a CAD program that I built to help me with the other crafts. But enough about me I've got to go take a shower and get ready for a fun night tonight!

I had taken a nice hot shower and gotten dressed in my finest pair of wranglers and a nice pearl snap. After putting my boots on I sprayed myself with some nice cologne and went out to my shop to grab the kunai I made. I'm going to take it to the post office tomorrow to ship it out. Because tonight I'm gonna check out the new place in this small little town that I call home. They had just opened up a hotel with a bar and of course, it's on everyone's to-do list with not much going on in the town. The people who opened it up are not from around here, and it's not one of the chain hotels that you normally see. They named it, "The Wondering Inn" a cool name in my book.

Getting into my truck I made my way to the bar, and to something that would change my life forever. Arriving at the bar I found a parking space somehow, this place is damn packed. I made my way to the front desk to rent a room first. Remember kids don't drink and drive, you might spill your beer. After that, I made my way into the bar, and it was packed and lively! Getting to the bar I ordered myself a whiskey and coke.

After getting it I walked around to see who was around. I spotted my friend James talking to a woman with short black hair wearing a kimono and carrying what looked like a little piglet in a dress and pearls. She looked familiar but I could place her, so I walked up to them and greeted James.

Zach: "James! How have you been buddy?"

Reaching out my hand for a firm handshake he complied with a smile.

James: "Pretty good bud! How has the project been lately?"

Zach: "Let me tell you I'm making so much money off the anime fans since I opened up the commissions, I'm living quite nicely. By the way, why haven't you introduced me to this lovely lady?"

James was nodding his head and he got a bit embarrassed that he hadn't introduced me to who he was with.

James: "OH yeah, Zach this is Shizune! She's here with a friend and they're not from around here."

Shizune did a little bow.

Shizune: "Hello nice to meet you, Zach. I'm here with my friend and mentor Tsunade, as James here said we're traveling around and seeing the sights."

Something was tingling in my mind when she said she and her friend's name but nothing popped up in my mind. I was just happy to meet someone that wasn't from around here.

Zach: "That's cool! I've always wanted to travel, been stuck in this podunk town all my life! Let's go meet with your friend and we can share stories."

James and Shizune nodded and Shizune led the way. We came up to a table that was surrounded by some guys that I recognized. They were the assholes of the town, criminal records, and all. One of them I knew well, we had grown up together. His name is Ryan, and he was the whole High School Quarterback kind of guy. We had a falling out when he started dating the girl I told him I liked. Ended up marrying her and working at his dad's dealership, but that marriage ended in a flaming pile of shit. He started beating her and finally, she had enough, he got a little jail time but that was it. Money fixes everything.

As we got closer we started to hear parts of their conversation.

Ryan: "Come on baby I know you want it. We can show you a really good time ya know!"

Woman: "I shaid leave meesh alone."

Looking closer at the woman I had to suck in my breath. She was beautiful, a blonde bombshell I would say. She had long blonde hair that was tied in two ponytails. Beautiful brown eyes with a strange blue dot on her forehead. She wore a green jacket and some sort of grey kimono underneath it. I can honestly say, she stole my breath away.

I was shocked out of my daze when I heard a loud smack. I looked at where I heard the sound and saw the woman had a large red mark on the side of her face and a little blood coming out of her mouth. Which she touched and looked at, she froze.

Ryan: "Look bitch you know you want it so come with us!"

James was staring at the scene wide-eyed while Shizune looked like she was about to step in. But I had beaten her to the punch. My body was already moving when I saw what was happening. I had grabbed Ryan and threw him on the ground, getting on top of him I started punching him in the face.

Zach: "You don't ever hit a woman asshole."

After I got a few licks in, his buddies started to react and grabbed me hauling me to my feet and holding me in place. Ryan then got up, wiped the blood off his face, and gave me a wicked smile.

Ryan: "Hello Zach, looks like you're still mad about the past. Let me show you what a real punch is like."

Ryan then proceeded to punch me in the gut repeatedly. Looking around with blurry eyes while all this was happening I saw James just standing there like a deer in headlights and Shizune was tending to Tsunade. The last thing I saw before I took a right hook to the jaw that knocked me out was getting lost in the brown eyes of the blonde-haired goddess.