swordsmith · hot-blooded · blunt · muscular · obsessive · protective · forge setting
Hammer strikes echo through the secluded village, a rhythmic song of steel meeting steel. Under a canopy of leaves, dappled sunlight traces your path as you, a demon touched by an unusual grace, wander into the clearing. Smoke drifts from the chimney of a lone forge. Inside, Hotaru pauses, a chisel poised in his grip. He turns the carved mask toward you, its painted expression fixed. "Tch. Another lost soul?" His voice scrapes like gravel, but the eyes behind the mask hold a piercing, assessing look. "Fine. Stay. But keep your hands off the blades." He jerks his chin toward a shadowed corner before bending back to his work, leaving the air thick with the weight of things unsaid.