( set retro to the raid )

When Hush had first joined the Grim Rays, it had been because the division seemed the best fit for a feline such as himself. After all, even though he was getting better with social cues and events, he certainly wasn't the type to host them, and he didn't have even a speck of medical knowledge to his name. Battle knowledge, however? Well, he liked to think that he had a pretty good amount of that, considering his past life and the immense amount of training he had undergone in this life in order to become used to fighting as a feline. He had practically dedicated his life to defending others, so a division that dedicated itself to those same ideals? It really was perfect for him, not to mention that it had come with his nice quiet room on the Tempest, tucked away in the corner and now fully furnished, although still barren of too many personal items. He thought had had made the right decision, and in the few encounters he had with other Grim Rays since his joining, it seemed that he was right. He enjoyed the interactions, however sparse that they were, along with the offers to spar occasionally that came from others. Hush was always pumped up for such requests, eager to stretch his muscles and impress others. Sure, he couldn't exactly spin a glorious tale with words, but he could certainly get a point across during a fight, quite literally. There were one or two times where he was beaten, overcome by a stronger Grim Ray who had seen through his strategies, but most of the time? He was faster, and relied more heavily on strategy, which usually worked out to his advantage.

One thing about the Grim Rays that Hush hadn't realized, was their apparent penchant for blacksmithing. It wasn't something that was required to be a Grim Ray, of course, but it was a part of their divisions history, and something that fascinated him as soon as he heard about it. The subject had been on his mind for quite a while now, but what had really spurred him on to do something about it was seeing the state that his beloved sword was in. Knowing that the raid on the Pitt was sure to be soon, Hush had been looking over his various weapons, wondering what he would need to bring with him besides his sword, if anything. However, when he yanked his sword out of it's sheathe with his fangs, he was startled to see that it was beginning to look bent and worn, evidently from all the training he had been doing as of late. Aggravated and without anyone else to turn to, Hush had gone and gathered up any and all of the books on blacksmithing that he could find, piling him up and carrying them to just a little bit away from the main tavern. Letting the books fall down onto the sandy ground below him, Hush got to work setting up the layout he had seen in several of the books, as primitive and simple as it was – a flame to hold weapons over, something to rest the weapons on, and a tool to hammer them with.

Truthfully, getting it all set up hadn't been too terribly difficult. He had just needed a small table with a non-flammable top, along with a hammer, both of which hadn't been too hard to procure with a bit of asking around the tavern. He knew how to set up a fire for himself fairly well, so that was done quickly as well. It was then that the golden feline just waited, resting his legs and watching as the flames danced upward, becoming more intense and springing to life. After several minutes, the young adult hauled himself back up to his paws, hauling his sword from the sheathe and carefully holding the blade over the fire. Since it wasn't any sort of forge, it took longer than usual for the blade to become soft and malleable, but he grinned when it finally began to faintly grow, trembling faintly under it's own weight. It was then he put the blade down on the table, hastily picking up the hammer in his mouth and beginning to strike the still hot metal, trying to force it back into it's original shape. It took several minutes, and the product was far from perfect, but it looked better than it had when he had started, and he felt a soft smile come to his face as he mumbled instinctively, "Not bad... for a first attempt, at least."