Silence between them didn't stop the many guards from sharing looks, the sheer energy of the standoff unnerving them. Although they were still speaking, the killing intent oozing out of Ronin makes each of the ones nearby know just how outclassed they are even in his current state.

"I won't ask twice: who are you to the Claw Tribe? If you give me a stupid answer, I'll cut that fucking head of yours off before you can draw that crossbow."

With his sword out, the threat isn't an idle one; despite the differences in their physical states, both of them had seen what the other was capable of. The distance between them and the circumstances meant that Ronin could kill him in an instant. It was the first time since coming to the Land of Stagnation that he truly felt himself in position to make demands. He can't afford to let it slip by without gaining something.

The wolfman doesn't give way to any form of weakness. He merely growls.

"Name Kotouf. Carry out job for Claw Tribe. Mercenary in City of Passage."

Ronin doesn't lower his sword. He takes the sheath and tosses it to the servant of the workshop. The man jumps at the object clattering to the ground, raising his hands in a panic.

"W-Wait, don't kill me! I'm not-"

"Shut up," Ronin interrupts him, keeping his gaze on the wolfman for a moment before he finally lowers the sword and turns to face the coward. "You said you'd work with me? Fine. Get it done and I will pay you when I return. You can keep it until then, but if I return and you sold it or lost it, I'll kill everyone in this workshop before they can get here to stop me."

The Londer Butcher knew that getting any leads on Hazard here is pointless now; the wolfman's arrival wasn't completely unexpected, but their scuffle had negated all of his efforts to drive up more rumors of hunting Hazard. At the moment, further delay would just drag both of them into the Claw Tribe's ire. His attention turns back to the wolfman, slipping his sword into his belt before walking past him.

"Kotouf, right? Let's go."

The wolfman growls in what he assumes is agreement, both of the two leaving the workshop and making their way through Tent Town for a while before Ronin turns them down an alleyway between two ruined buildings. It had someone sleeping against one of the walls, but a quick kick from the human gets them up and scampering away. There wasn't any true privacy in places like this, but alleyways with dead ends like this at least gave you a place you could defend yourself if attacked. Instinct tells Ronin that this is the only sort of place he wants to be if speaking to the wolfman.

He enters and quickly seats himself on a particularly large chunk of ruined wall, his sword dangling off the side and resting an elbow in the gap of his sheath and body.

The wolfman moves to the opposite wall of the alleyway, crossing his arms and turning his head toward the street.

"Human smart. If hunt Hazard-"

"Don't change the subject. I did say you'd pay me back with any information on Hazard, but I need to know more about your supposed mercenary work for the Claw Tribe."

The two glare at each other for a moment, Kotouf clearly not pleased at being interrupted. However that displeasure is replaced as fast as it appears, his snarl twisting into a smirk.

"Kotouf help humans, humans give Kotouf money and food. Mercenary."

Simple mercenary work is one thing, but the Blood Hazing and all that bullshit had proved a lot of rumors and knowledge he had heard about the Land of Stagnation. For starters, he had already encountered or had his life thrown into shit by two tribes: the Blood and Wildfang. Ronin's hand drifts up and rubs his neck, remembering the woman and the conman as clear as he saw them the other night. If the Claw Tribe took an active interest in him, it would only make things harder unless he joined them. Right now, he needs to know everything he can.

"So you work as a mercenary," he says whilst lowering his hand back down to rest on his leg. "Could I do that?"

His wolf companion scoffs. It makes Ronin scowl.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kotouf turns his gaze toward the main street and sighs. "Really have to say it? You Londel: Claw Tribe led by duskers."

Ronin's past already haunts him in his dreams and mind but now it's plaguing him in the real world. His eyes shift to the road as well, eyeing up a larger fellow as he walks past.

"I'm working for Gleam to kill Hazard. Who is she?"

"Dangerous," Kotouf replies. "Not leader. Important."

This is just confirmation of what he already knew from meeting the woman; she clearly wasn't the leader of the Claw Tribe, but her part in it must be valuable if she was running businesses and hiring loners for hitjobs. A warrior's word is important to uphold in his nation and as long as he breathes he wants to set the record straight on what really happened. The only way to do that is to succeed here... and this woman, for better or worse, is his way in.

It makes him sick thinking that she had him by the belt so utterly.

"Well, it's too late to regret it now. She already made me sign a contract. I don't care who they might be now: Hazard dies. If you're just a mercenary... what about working with me?"

The mutt chuckles and finally looks back to him.

"Human hire Kotouf?"

The look of amusement makes Ronin sick, especially given that it's at his expense. He puts on a rather vicious snarl and raises a palm.

"You owe me, remember? This is making us even. I helped you complete whatever job you had with that fucktoy boyfriend or whatever you had, so now you help me kill Hazard. The way you were asking me earlier made it obvious you wanted in without even knowing I'd been hired. Am I wrong?"

Kotouf lets his smile dim only slightly, keeping his eyes on the smaller human. Despite their differences, the battle in the plains had at least shown each of them what the other was capable of. Right now, Ronin's skill were being weighed against the dangers of the job. This mercenary is, after all, a loner just like him trying to make a living.

"No. Human right. I-"

"Call me Ronin," he interrupts, pointing his finger at the mutt and narrowing his eyes. "You keep calling me human and it's getting on my nerves. I stopped calling you wolfman and mutt, didn't I?"

That makes Kotouf's smile completely vanish before he turns his gaze back to the alley's exit with a dissatisfied grumble.

"Ronin correct. Kotouf want kill Hazard. Hazard kill mate few years back."

His mate being killed is shocking only for a moment before Ronin recalls that monsterfolk like the wolfman would likely be omitted from the rules placed on the Land of Stagnation. If he had any ancestry connected to the Blue Pillar, it would've meant mating would even possibly prove fruitful. Finding love in a brutal land like this would be a challenge but not impossible.

"I see. I am sorry to hear that."

His words earn him the first look of confusion he'd seen from the wolfman yet. Ronin isn't like the majority of people sent here despite how boorish he can be. His life as a noble shaped him to be respectful... and it was his duty that guided his sword into bringing him here. He stands up and walks closer to Kotouf, his unflinching eyes setting on him whilst wearing a resolved and grim look.

"Kotouf, you must know where Hazard is. Leading me to him is enough to pay back your debt, but I wouldn't be opposed to you joining me in killing him. The Claw Tribe will look the other way so long as we keep things quiet or out of the way enough. This will be your best shot at killing Hazard."

Kotouf stays quiet. It makes Ronin angry enough to grab the wolfman's wrist and force him to look at him.

"Do you understand me? If you were wronged and care for your mate then now is the time to act. Take me to Hazard."

"... Fine."

His single word is the only answer Ronin needs. Releasing Kotouf, he turns his attention to the the street with a relieved sigh. He needed breaks like this if he was ever going to pull himself out of this funk. Gleam had fed him and let him gather some of his strength, but the state of his blade and body are still too diminished to last long beyond the City of Passage. If he wants to have any hope of surviving or even escaping, he needs to start somewhere.

A mercenary for the Claw Tribe is, unfortunately, the best he can do. Kotouf pulls away from the wall and starts walking with a dismissive swing of his tail.

"Follow Kotouf. No talk."

Ronin follows but makes sure to roll his eyes at his temporary partner's words.

"Yeah, I get it. It's not my first time working with you, remember?"

The walk through Tent Town after that is long but uneventful. The people who bumped into him before now got out of the way as Kotouf led them, giving a wide berth for the duo to pass anytime the streets narrowed too much. Familiar sights of enforcers bled away and more common thugs came into view, yet none dared approach the wolfman and swordsman. The way both carry themselves betrays their effectiveness at a glance and few carried a blade of decent quality or a crossbow without having the ability to take them.

Ruins slowly bleed away into a mixture of tents and old wooden housing, each of these new buildings made from remains of ships that crashed or were abandoned at the shore. No doubt plenty of work went into carrying these from the beach to the City of Passage, but it isn't any of Ronin's concern.

"This Plankville," Kotouf growls back to him. "City of Passage... dangerous place."

Ronin said nothing but looks at one of the larger buildings ahead. A mashup of a galleon's captain quarters and various hulls and scrap, put together in a mocking imitation of the mansions found in foreign nations.

"Smart to look for shops. Hazard does enforce territory... but live here."

I was wrong, but given my knowledge of the City of Passage it was smarter to try and dredge for him over there. But seeing it now, it's likely he would have just sent others to trick and delay me.

Cutter or not, Ronin hadn't thought too far ahead despite his improved state. The way things work here is very different from how Londelia ran, even down to the tactics criminals use. The wolfman slows as they approach the large housing and the doors, a pair of guards eyeing both of them despite their considerable distance. Ronin slips out from behind Kotouf, turning his gaze to the larger wolf.

"Is this the place?"

Kotouf nods. Ronin turns as one of the thugs starts approaching from the gate. He was clad in a mix of leather and junk metal imitations of armor. It was an ineffective armor worn by thugs who fought equally inexperienced morons.

"You! What are you thinking standing around here!? Get lost you pair of mutts!"

Kotouf chuckles. "Ronin still want kill Hazard... mind if Kotouf kill this one?"

The thug looks at him and reaches for a hatchet on his waist, but the moment he grabs the handle Ronin draws and swings his sword whilst walking forward. He passes the thug whilst his hand falls to the ground, severed with a clean divet that danced between his wrist bones and the lip of his leather vambrace. His scream alerts the other guard but more importantly terrifies him into fumbling for his sword. The crowd in the street breaks as screams echo around, but none as loud as his second swing cutting the other guard shoulder-to-hip. His corpse crumbles while Kotouf grabs his maimed friend by both arms, pulling him apart in a horrifying display of sheer strength.

"Suit yourself," Ronin finally sighs. He kicks the door open to the sight of multiple gangmembers stumbling to their feet with all sorts of weapons and different states of readiness. "The only one I need is Hazard. The rest are just fodder."

One of the men yells and charges, immediately silencing as a crossbow bolt tears through his vulnerable throat. He crashes to the floor in front of Ronin as two more charge in. The swordsman's red eyes dance across the targets as he hears his mind pulling on the years of training he underwent.

Up and to the right. Cut.

Ronin jumps onto the still-squirming man's back and kicks himself up onto the back of a sofa inside the room, pulling his sword close to his body and rolling to the opposite side of it from his attackers. The moment he lands on his side, he kicks the sofa as hard as he can; the furniture slides as if it's weightless, slamming into the first and knocking him over. A third man charges close to him with a spear, but as he thrusts it Ronin simply cuts the shaft and watches the spearhead clatter to the ground. His attacker stumbles with the shift in balance and Ronin turns the blade in his hand to quickly backswing and sever his ankles.

He falls onto Ronin just in time to shield him from an arrow shot by one of the more back-located men. The swordsman rolls him off and rolls himself onto his knees as the duo clambers over the couch and swing their weapons at him. The first one he reacts to is a sword; Ronin parries the half-assed swing and grabs his wrist, squeezing with enough strength the man drops it. His friend with a mace swings at him but a quick tug pulls the first thug in between them.

"Slow," he sighs, knowing his critique is lost in the sound of battle. "None of you are Hazard."

Ronin hacks the neck of the man he's holding, wedging his blade halfway through it before drawing it out and releasing him. The mace comes again but he steps out of its path and grabs his sword in both hands, curving his blade angle and driving it back up to sever the mace-wielder's arm. His blade's poor state makes it almost saw through the last two inches of bone and flesh, splattering the ceiling with far more blood than the neck-height strike moments before.

"BKLFUCK MY AHRM!"

The man's bewildered speech amused him, Ronin simply smirking at the weakness before Kotouf fires his second bolt into the man's hip. The archer in the back of the room screamed and ran up the stairs to the next floor as more of the gangmembers start pouring from the side halls of the estate.

As the wolfman enters the room and clicks another bolt into place, Ronin strides past the falling man and between Kotouf and the reinforcements. Undoubtedly more would be coming. The sheer carnage of their first few kills made the front room look quite terrible, but the amount of bodies could only pile up until they killed Hazard.

"I'll cut, you shoot." Ronin slid his blade along the couch with two slow swipes, at least somewhat cleaning the blade of gore. "Once we find Hazard, though, you're on your own while I kill him."

A grunt is the only answer he gets and needs, Ronin ensuring his sword is firmly in both hands.

"We got work to do, so I might as well start cutting."