Small little intro! Unlike my first attempt, this story will (hopefully) be much more original. And we're going with Weiss this time!
Two Beowolves. Only two beasts roamed the area, yet it had warranted a Hunter being called in. The town's militia was ill-equipped to dispatch Grimm, and the residents, fearing for their lives, had demanded aid.
Weiss would spare them a lecture on the irony of their plight; panic would only draw more Grimm to their town.
Mild irritation was set aside and she presented herself to the town's mayor. Or the senior farmer, to be more exact – the residence was much too small for a proper mayor.
It was as the bill had been presented. A pair of Beowolves had been spotted on the outer edges of the fields, never quite approaching town, but being near enough to cause concern. It struck Weiss as amusing that the townsfolk offered to send someone to help her fight. Not amusing because she doubted their aid would be of any use – though she did question their preparedness.
Two Beowolves to the regular farmer was terrifying. They were faster than regular wolves, stronger, and killed indiscriminately. For a normal person it was a daunting task to kill one, never mind a pair.
For a Magi, it was so simple it was borderline dull.
She exited through the town's eastern gates and was shown the road to where the beasts had last been sighted. It wasn't hard to find them: it was still the middle of the day. As she'd been told they simply lingered about the farms, neither attacking nor leaving. The livestock was alive and well, which wasn't too unusual, as Grimm rarely killed other animals.
They preferred the taste of people. Unfortunately for them they wouldn't be having anything to eat, save a spell or two.
Weiss ducked between the posts of a wooden fence, drawing her weapon from her hip. The creatures hadn't noticed her just yet, at the far end of the field they were sharing. That would give her plenty of time to set up.
Weiss drew her fingertip across the ground at her feet, glowing blue, and carved a rune into the soft earth. She repeated the process twice more on either side, then started to approach the beasts. She reached the midway point when they finally lifted their heads, eyes red as blood staring back at her.
She stared back from beneath her white hood, eyes twinkling in excitement. Faced with a human at last they showed some life, bearing their fangs and howling. The sound carried well and met her ears, and, she imagined, terrified the townsfolk behind the walls.
The two Beowolves charged at her and Weiss turned and ran back. She wasn't faster than them – not without magic – but then she wasn't trying to outrun them.
She reached the fence again and spun on her heel, waving her hand through the air. The creatures never knew what hit them. The first stepped over a rune and caused a spire of rock to suddenly erupt, piercing its torso and lifting it high into the air. The second just made it past the runes, but she'd accounted for that, too.
Weiss stood still and held her weapon out, even if she never needed to raise it. A fireball smashed into the back of the Beowolf, singing its skin and knocking it to the dirt. Her final rune triggered, an ice-aspected rune, and a large icicle buried itself in the beast's skull.
Terrifying for regular people. Child's play for a Schnee.
The beasts were ignored as their bodies turned to smoke. Grimm never lingered after their deaths, they always just seemed to dissipate. The science behind it was unknown, and that irritated Weiss more than anything. She hated not understanding something. Her concern was no longer the fell beasts but the small buildings dotting the farms.
If people were out here still then she needed to make sure they were alive and well. Even if she doubted anyone would be left; if they didn't evacuate, they were likely eaten. Steeling herself for the worst, she checked the homes, barns, and even the outhouses. No signs of anyone within, meaning they had likely taken refuge inside the town. Good.
"Thank goodness they'd had the common sense to evacuate." Not everyone did. The walls of homes never provided the protection the walls of a town might.
Weiss stepped out of a home and had only just started back on the road when she heard another howl. She cast her gaze out to a field and saw a pool of black, a telltale sign of Grimm spawning. A handful of Beowolves and Creeps climbed from the ooze, but they were hardly the only ones. Another puddle formed in the opposite field, and with it, half a dozen Grimm emerged.
This job had just become much more interesting.
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"We can come up with more Lien if you'd like!"
"That won't be necessary, but thank you."
The farmer-turned-mayor paled and hung his head shamefully. Weiss sighed and raised her hands as a show of deference, smiling. "Really, it's alright. There were more Grimm than you'd expected. I'm fine, the town is safe, we really needn't do this."
"But… But Miss Schnee!" Weiss cringed hearing her name being used. "It would be an insult not to pay you! You killed twenty Grimm! We're… We're only paying for two! It's an affront!"
"Technically it was twenty-two…" But who was counting? She shook her head and smiled again, though it was now becoming strained. "You'll tell people what I've done, won't you?" The man nodded. "Then that's enough. It's worth more than all the Lien you could offer me."
The man wanted to argue further but he'd enough wit to take a deal when given one. The corpses of Grimm had littered the fields like fallen leaves on a forest floor. More pay might be required, but Weiss hadn't the heart to pinch these people for all they owned.
Besides… The fighting hadn't come without cost to the townsfolk. She had a suspicion they would be less inclined to pay her more when they saw the state of their fields. A byproduct of the battle, and unavoidable, but it would still take quite a lot of time to till the fields again.
Her heart might have been in the right place, but as Weiss sat in the town's inn and weighed her coinpurse in her hand, she felt the slightest twinge of regret. She'd tried to distance herself from the Schnee name and come across as a 'Hunter of the people'. Doing so meant people loved to bring her on as she was more personable than others like her.
And they could hire her for next to nothing. Being generous was nice and all, but it hardly paid her dues or filled her stomach. The Lien counted to a thousand, which wasn't much. Enough to put herself up in the inn for the evening, enjoy a few hot meals, and perhaps restock supplies. Hooray for generosity.
Weiss had just ordered herself a meal when she overheard a group of men speaking. It sounded like pointless banter, right up until she noticed they were speaking about her. And not just the job she'd done.
"The Schnee girl? Aye, I saw her."
"What'd ya think? Not bad on the eyes, eh?"
Weiss tried to ignore the banter and put her money back in its place. "Not that, ya twit. I'm talkin' about the girl's ears! You notice 'em?" The room felt a slight bit cooler suddenly.
"Nuh-uh, what about them?"
"They're pointed! Gabe says he saw 'em too when she came through the gates! Girl's a damn Ydran!"
"A Schnee? Thought they were all pureblood?"
"Looks like her mother couldn't keep her legs shut!"
The off-color comments were bad enough, but the laughter did it for her. Weiss stood and pushed her chair out, marching over to the table across the room. The men noticed, and it was hard not to, as they stared at the Magi in shock. Had they seriously not known she was there?
"Would you gentlemen remind repeating what you just said?"
None were willing. She pulled down her hood and let her hair fall loose, revealing her ears. "Does my being a halfling have any bearing on my ability as a Hunter?"
"N-Not at all, Miss Schnee! We were just sayin' that – "
"Weiss. My name is Weiss. I am not nobility, so Weiss is fine." The men exchanged glances and remained silent. Either too uncomfortable or too meek to speak in her presence.
"We didn't think you were here, m-miss!"
"And that excuses it? Because I'm not here you can gossip about me?" People were wont to gossip, she knew this. She also knew the nature of her birth and the details surrounding it was common knowledge by now.
Pureblooded Schnee were always Muran. No mixing, no half-breeds, always pure. That they would sire a child such as her – a hybrid of sorts – was unimaginable.
The men's gossip had been innocent enough and didn't deserve her scorn. Or maybe it did, she didn't know. Like children scolded by their parent they said nothing more, casting their gazes down into their mugs.
"Mind your tongues in the future. Please." Weiss turned and sat at her table once more, pulling the hood tightly around herself. It didn't matter she was a halfling, it shouldn't matter. In any normal family it wouldn't have. She'd have been accepted regardless, and no one would have batted an eye.
But she was a Schnee. A stain on an otherwise unblemished family tree. Her name was a boon and a curse both.
The men resumed their chatter and she noticed her name inexplicably struck from conversation. It would be so nice to go somewhere without people discussing her. The fact she was very clearly not Muran like her family was public knowledge, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant to be spoken about. Or, gods forbid, being asked about it. That never went over well.
Wherever she went she was either a Schnee or a halfling. Never simply "Weiss". Was it too much to ask to simply be herself? Always her family, or her race, and never simply her. She'd change that though. Enough jobs taken and she'd eventually make a name for herself. Her own reputation, not that which she'd inherited.
Her food finally arrived and she carefully sampled the stew. It was flavorless, but hearty and it would fill her stomach. After that it would be off to wherever they decided to send her. Until then? Nothing to do but sit and wait.
It was still early midday when she left the inn again. The men had long since left before her and, she hoped, that would be the end of the chatter for today. Of course, she still needed to go to the shop to buy supplies. And, Weiss acknowledged with a sigh, shopkeepers sure did love gossip.
Short intro is short! Going to be following Weiss, obviously, trying to stand out on her own! Will she do it? How will she do it? Why am I asking you when I have the outline in front of me? We'll see!