Hello everyone! This is the first chapter of a story with a plot from one of my good friends. Sorry for such a short chapter. (Writing is so hard! ;u;) I hope you enjoy it!
The toy business was a tough place to be, and Mathias Kohler had sat himself right in the middle of it.. The economy was already terrible, and was declining fast. Mothers pulled their children screaming away from his store so that they could save up the money to eat. Surely all fine and good for them, but the dusty toys in the storefront weren't going to help him by just sitting there, collecting dust. The Dane hated to admit it, but he missed the sounds of the bell on the door,of children, of happiness. They were cheerful sounds, bright sounds, but he'd have to deal with their absence. Nobody walked in anymore.
He worked with his partner, Berwald. Berwald was a tall Swedish man. He could be really, really, REALLY creepy, but inside he just wanted to be loved. Not that Mathias would do that, of course. But seriously, someone had to get him a girlfriend. Soon.
Suddenly, Berwald called out to him from the back room. "Mat, we've g't a notice from the k'ng. Again." He sighed. "Th'rd time this week."
"What's it about?" Mathias asked with an annoyed grimace. Notices from the king were usually either royal inspections, burnings, or nonsensical royal jargon.
"W'tches."
"Ugh." The blond's hair, being an unnaturally bright shade as well as oddly spiky, led many to believe he was a warlock. Almost every time the king sent out the Hunters, the shop got ransacked. It was a you think the Hunters'll-" He was cut off as the door slammed open.
"Surrender, warlock! Hands up! You're covered on all sides, so don't even try to run!"
Speak of the devil.
That shouty one was Gilbert, Mathias' least favorite Hunter. Out of all the ones he'd met, Gilbert was the most arrogant, annoying, ruthless, and completely useless at actually finding witches. The only thing he was really good at was breaking things, and he was really good at that. So far he had broken thirty-four toys, two doors, the corner of the granite checkout counter, and a window. Yep, a window. The only real reason he was admitted to the team was that his brother, Ludwig, was on the royal guard. Ludwig had persuaded the king to let him join because Hunting was the easiest job, other than Sanitation, and his brother needed the benifits. Not to mention that nobody liked Sanitation. Nobody. It was a no-man's-land of sewage and... well, sewage.
The Dane flinched as Gilbert walked inside, expecting the customary greeting of one of his lackeys breaking something, but the inevitable shattering noise never came. Instead, the Hunter stepped up and hit Mathias in the stomach with the butt of his rifle. As he doubled over, the albino spoke.
"You'd better be at the burning tomorrow. We know you've been skipping them. Not coming means you're too ashamed to see your brethren die. We're on to you, Køhler. Blow it, and you're the next on the cross."
So that was what Ber meant by witches.
