Disclaimers: All the characters in this fic is copyright of Karashi, if there are any similarities between my characters and actual characters, it is purely coincidental. NPC characters and the Game Ragnarok Online belong to the Creators of Ragnarok.
Lonely Road
by Karashi
Prologue:
A female merchant stands in front of a building in the
busy town of Prontera. Her days of traveling had been difficult, seemingly
overwhelming and above all... lonely. Hopefully all that will change today for
there had been an announcement of an opening in the Jaded Crimson guild. The
merchant brushed a few stray strands of her persimmon hued locks out of her
gray eyes, took a deep breath and entered the recruitment area.
Inside, the young woman was
stunned by the dozens of people vying for the available position. At the very
end of the room, she spied a hunter sitting at a desk. His cheek rested against
his palm, utter boredom evident in his yellow eyes as he listened to a pink
haired mage.
"Who is that?" the persimmoned
haired girl found herself wondering out loud.
"The members of Jaded Crimson
are too busy to have everyone present, so they assigned Irlan Hue to conduct
the interviews. Not a good sign..." a thief groaned.
"Why?" the female merchant
asked.
"That man enjoys laughing at
the expense of others." An archer shook her head.
Just then Irlan stood up.
"This is getting ridiculously
tiresome." Irlan complained, running his fingers through his dark blue hair "So
far, none of you louts are strong enough to be a guildmember. But I'm feeling generous
today," he grinned wolfishly, "I'll ask a randomly chosen person here a
question and if I like your answer, you'll be an official member of the Jaded
Crimson guild. Sounds fair, doesn't it?" and without waiting for a response,
Irlan pointed to a blonde female acolyte.
"You, what use would you be
for the guild?" Irlan sneered.
"I could offer my healing
services." She answered, her blue eyes wide and hopeful.
"I might as well buy myself
some red potions at the rate you acolytes charge for heals! Next! You, the
skinny swordie, what's the strongest monster you've managed to slay?"
"A savage sir." The swordsman
piped.
"A savage?" the hunter
smirked, "Are you sure it wasn't a savage babe? Come back when you've managed
to slay a stronger beast. Oh ho! How about you, miss merchant?"
The gray-eyed merchant blinked
in surprise, "The strongest creature I've slain? Well that would be-"
"That's not my question!"
Irlan snapped, "I wanted to ask your name."
"My name?" she squeaked,
"It's... Addy."
Irlan eyed her thoughtfully,
his brows knitting together as if in deep thought. Addy clutched her bag
tightly, thankful that no one knew how cold her hands were. The silence that
filled the room was deafening.
Then there was laughter...
loud, hard, mocking laughter.
And it was coming from Irlan,
"What sort of name is that?!"
he guffawed, "How unimaginative, how boring. Did you really think being known
as 'Addy' will get you in the guild? There are people with much more
interesting names, White Hazard, Devil Snare Bane, Forged pain, and they aren't
even good enough for the guild. So why don't you just go back to Alberta and
try your luck in that backwater town?"
"I'm wasting my time here." A deep voice loudly stated.
The merchant turned to the voice in curiosity, temporarily forgetting the
verbal barbs Irlan had hurled at her.
"What did you just say?" The
hunter demanded, his yellow eyes narrowing dangerously at a silver haired,
bright green-eyed priest.
"A guild that has a foul
mouthed and undesirable person such as yourself is not one I wish to be part
of." the priest responded.
"Perhaps you wish to settle
things in a battle, your honor." Irlan growled, the last word spoken with
malice rather than reverence.
"I do not bother with the
likes of you." The priest remarked uninterested and turned to leave. There came
an angry snarl from Irlan, and an arrow was fired, aimed straight for the
priest. Pandemonium broke loose as the applicants rushed out of the building.
Addy was roughly shoved to the sides and when she managed to gather her
bearings, she could only gasp at what she saw.
The silver haired priest
managed to avoid the arrow and with incredible speed, he bounded towards Irlan.
In the span of time it took for Irlan to restring his bow, the priest managed to
grab the arrogant hunter by the throat. The blue haired hunter was frightened
at the strength of the priest's grip, and more importantly at the fact that he
had difficulty in breathing.
"You picked the wrong priest
to attack. While my kind is known for healing abilities, there are a rare few
who choose to be hybrids. I happen to be one of them." The priest glowered, his
bright green eyes flashing menacingly. "You are lucky I do not stain my hands
with ilk, or I would have snapped your neck by now." With little else said, the
priest released his hold on an unconscious Irlan.
By this time, the building was
empty of people, save for Irlan, the priest and Addy. She watched the priest
walk towards the exit, and was surprised to see him stop. He locked his bright
green eyes on Addy, and she felt her face flush crimson.
"Are you hurt?" the priest
asked, his tone gentle.
Addy shook her head, her heart
beating madly in her chest.
"Good, we should leave this
place, word travels fast and his guildmates should be arriving shortly."
Nodding, Addy quickly followed
after the priest. She had expected him to walk away, and leave her behind as
most people often did. So it came as a surprise to the persimmoned haired girl
that the priest was still beside her even after they were at the outskirts of
Prontera.
In silence they traveled,
until they arrived at a fork in the road.
"Is this where we part ways?"
Addy asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.
"Only if you wish it so." He
answered casually. The merchant's gray eyes widened hopefully,
"No, I enjoy your company."
She blushed, "And may I know your name, sir?"
"Warse." He said simply. "And
if I heard correctly, you're Addy?"
It didn't appear to matter to
Addy that she wasn't accepted in the guild. For it seemed her days of
loneliness was to come to an end.