Do You Want An Apple?
A young man walked up to the counter in the Gathering Hall where the details of every Guild sponsored assignment were taken care of. He watched as Niasha, the girl in charge of hunters ranked one through three, shuffled through stacks of papers, wrote in various ledgers, and pushed her blond hair out of her eyes.
"I'll be with you in a moment." she said in an authoritative voice, without looking up.
He smiled, "Take your time." he said, "I'm not in a hurry."
His strong, friendly sounding voice and patient manner made the girl look up. He wore a simple brown shirt, that was stretched by his broad shoulders, a pair of blue pants, and brown leather boots. Long brown hair hung over his soft, brown eyes. Eyes that often showed compassion for children orphaned by the death of parents who had been hunters, yet still burned with hatred for the monsters responsible. He looked back at her, following her eyes as they probed his body.
"No armor?" she said finally.
"I stopped at home first." he smiled again. "Told you I wasn't in a hurry."
"Ah, I see, down to business, what can I do for you?"
"I would like to report a completed assignment." he stated with mock pride.
Naisha turned around and pulled a leather bound book off the shelf behind her and opened it. " Your were supposed to kill the bulldrome bothering miners in the mountains, am I correct?"
The hunter nodded.
"Then will have to ask that you show proof of your..."
Before she had time to complete her sentence, he had placed the giant snout of a bulldrome on the counter in front of her. She jumped back, and giggled.
"Couldn't you have carved something like a tusk, or something else less creepy?"
The hunter smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. Naisha gestured for him to take back the giant pigs nose, and proceeded to make marks in the book. When she had finished, she walked into the back room and returned with a small bag made from the stomach of a kelbi. She slowly untied the strings and counted out the equivalent of 600z represented by coins of varing individual value, and pushed them across the counter to the eager hunter, who scraped them into a similar pouch on his belt.
"Thanks, don't know what I'd do without you." the young man smiled.
Naisha glowed.. "No problem, I am always happy to pass out the Guilds money to hardworking hunters such as yourself."
He walked toward the door, and turned his head as Niasha called to him, "Make sure to take on another quest very soon, the monsters won't kill themselves!"
The wooden floor of the guild hall creeked with every step as continued his walk out the door. Throughout his time as a hunter, he became aware of which ones creaked and which ones didn't. He knew the Gathering Hall like the back of his hand. As he neared the end of the path a small pig ran up to him and grunted. Since he was not trying to get anyplace fast, he knelt down and scratched it between its ears, eliciting a squeal of delight from the pink animal. He stood up and started to walk away, but the pig bumped into his leg, obviously ready for another scratching, and knocked him into another man, and the two of them fell to the ground, in a shower of curses, and semi-liquid dirt.
"Daedrich!" he exclaimed as he recognized who he had collided with.
"Rip! Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you since our last hunt!" observed Daedrich. "That was a Giadrome, I'm thinkin'. Am I right? Dang, that was a while ago." The dark skinned man gave Rip a hard slap on the back. "How're you doin'?"
"Eh... fine I guess. Just finished up a bulldrome assignment today, nothing impressive, just a quick hunt to pay the bills"
"Thats great man. Hey, I'll catch you later, I have to collect some overdue bounty." The man bounded up the path to the Gathering Hall.
Rip waved, and walked in the direction of the market. The Market was a busy, noise filled place. An orchestra of screaming children, persistent vendors, and disgruntled Aptonoth filled the air every day, giving it a tense atmosphere. Off to Rip's right, an old woman hired out the services of felynes from a pack on her back. Feeling particularly ornery, Rip pulled some felvine from his pouch and tossed it to the felynes, smirking as they fought for the delectable treat. He soon felt guilty, and apoligized to the old woman and threw her a coin and kept walking. Eventually he heard the unmistakable sound of punches, and grunting, as two men fought in front of a fruit stand. He walked over, and asked a woman who observed from a safe distance, cowering inside her pink robes.
"What set them off?" he asked recognizing two brothers, grown men, who were always getting in arguments over stupid things.
The woman scowled. "The usual. The younger one makes a stupid comment, and the older one punches him. Nothing new."
Rip walked into the middle of the fight, and bashed their heads together, leaving them dazed. "What the hell are you doin?" he asked.
The oldest one started to stand up, but Rip made a fist, and he sat back down again.
"You think you're so bad ass, well.... you're not." he said for lack of anything better to say. He walked past the woman he had talked to, hearing her say; "That was profound" , to which his reply was, "I know right?"
Deciding that his day had had enough activity so far, he slowly walked over to an apple tree and sat down with his back leaned up against the trunk, and sighed.
"You too huh?" said an attractive female voice from the other side of the tree.
Rip raised an eyebrow, surprised, having not known that anyone else was near. "If you mean tired, yes. If not, explain."
He heard the owner of the voice stand up, and soon she was standing in front of him staring down at him with shiny eyes full of adventure like an untamed horse.
"No silly. What I meant is, is this your spot?"
Rip raised his other eyebrow.
"You know, the place where you come to get away from it all, and think?"
What the heck? muttered Rip to himself. "Uhh... yeah actually it is."
"Great! We can share it now, and get away together!" She paused and held out a hand. "I'm Lily."
Rip hauled himself to his feet, and took her small hand in his, and gave it a gentle shake, making a small gasp escape her thin lips. "My name is Rip." he said with a crooked smile. He let go of her hand and looked over her shoulder to where the fight had been moments ago, noticing that everything was back to normal.
"You want an apple?" Lily asked reaching up and plucking one of the precious fruits from the tree's branches.
Rip shook his head. He liked this girl. She was active, and alert, and had a nice air about her. She would be a great partner on a hunt. Lily frowned and took a bite of the apple, and threw the rest on the ground. She quickly started a new conversation, choosing a topic that made Rip think that she had read his mind. "I fight with dual swords, I prefer my encounters to be up close instead of hiding behind rocks, and firing an occasional shot every few minutes. How bout you? What do you fight with?"
Rip came to his sense and replied."I am the proud owner of a Ravager Blade Plus. I too prefer an upfront battle to hiding behind rocks." he said sitting down again, only to be jerked to his feet again by Lily.
"Hey pal, if we are goin to go on a hunt together, you gotta get ready. No sitting down now, or during the hunt."
"Who said anything about a hunt?"
"Well, I did but I felt you would agree once the idea sunk in for a little bit." She flicked the hair out of her eyes, and gave him a look. "Has it sunk in yet? Look, the sun is setting. If you are going to be ready by tomorrow, I suggest you leave now, and rest later. I want to see your handsome face at the Gathering Hall tomorrow bright and early."
Lily took off down the road with light footsteps, humming to herself, not once turning back to look at the young man she left behind who was shaking his head and smiling. If he was going to hunt tomorrow, he was going to have to get some rest. He rolled his eyes, wondering why he hadn't put his foot down and said knew the answer well. Hunting with her would be an experience he did not want to miss, as strange at it might be, he felt he should go through with it. Kicking a fallen apple across the ground he made his way home, watching as vendors closed their stalls, and others headed home. Tomorrow would be a big day.
Rip awoke to the unmelodious sound of a crow in the tree outside his bedroom window, and sat up thinking he was on a hunt, and prepared himself to fend off a dangerous beast. Finding himself safe at home in his bed, he relaxed, taking time to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and stretched his muscular limbs until the joints cracked. He heard giggling, and rubbed his eyes again as he watched Lily tip toe into the room.
"Going somewhere?" Lily asked, noticing that he was on the edge of the bed. She tossed an apple at the half awake hunter. Miraculously he caught it, giving it a confused look.
"Thanks?" he said sarcastically.
"I made you breakfast." she said matter-of-factly as she left the room. Rip perked up.
"What is it?" he asked, hopeful for a meal cooked by someone other than himself. He had eked by on his own cooking for so long, that anything to give him a break from it was a welcome change.
"You're holding it." she stated poking her head back in to see his disappointed face. "I'm sorry," she said, a frown coming to rest on her usually beaming features. "I really was going to make you breakfast, but your pantry is empty. The only thing I found was this cute little piglet looking for crumbs. You didn't tell me you liked animals!" The pig walked into the room as she spoke, and investigated a stack of blankets in the corner.
Rip groaned recognizing it as the one he had petted the day before. Great. Noticing the apple in his hand he tossed it at the pig, who accepted it as though it were a gift from the gods.
"What is it with you and apples anyway?" he said more to himself than her. But she heard him and laughed musically, carrying the still eating the pig out of the room. Rip shook his head and stood up. "How did you even get in? Weren't the doors locked?" As soon as he said it, he wondered why he had. He was just going to have to get used to surprises while spending time with her.
"I told your neighbors i was here to clean for you, and that I had forgot my key. They showed me where you keep yours. Under the mat? Can you get anymore obvious?" she walked over to him, and put her arms around his waist giving him a hug. "It's fine. Your secret is safe with me." she pulled herslef closer, and pulled away quickly. "Well, I think its about time we left. Get your armor on big guy."
Lily left the room, and Rip put on his full kut-ku armor, and heaved his greatsword into its sheath on his back. It was now or never. He met her in his front yard sitting on a bench throwing stones into a pond that, due to neglect had gotten scummy.
"Nice threads!" exclaimed the female hunter, as he walked out."Pink is definitely your color."
"Thanks." Rip slid his arm around her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "Glad you like it. So what kind of hunt did you have in mind?"
Lily pursed her lips, and looked off into the distance letting him know she was thinking. The two started walking to the Gathering Hall, and began to talk as they did so, ignoring the beautiful signs showed morning was officially there. Birds flew around aimlessly, and the sun peaked over the edge of the trees to spy on the little village, and give light to its awakening population.
"I was thinking we take on a Yian kut-ku, but you seem to have vanquished more of those than I care to know, so we can pick something else."
Rip shook his head. "That sounds great, our first hunt together should be relatively easy since we are not familiar with how the other person will act in a fight."
"It's settled then." smiled Lily. "A kut-ku it is."
So sorry for the slow first chapter. The next chapter is where the action starts. I felt like the characters needed to develope a relationship as the readers read, rather than drop them in the middle of something that they don't know how it began. Next Chapter will be up soon. As for this one, I hope you will leave reviews as you see fit. I welcome any criticism, as I prefer to see my faults so I can fix them. Hope there is some interest.