Hi All
Was watching a documentary about PMC companies (Private Military Contractors) and this little idea popped into my head.
Don't think I'm going to do anything else with this but if anybody wants to springboard off of this then let me know.
Enjoy
"Pine?"
Oscar turned to face the direction of the voice calling his name. He saw a tall, broad blonde man at the end of the corridor holding a clipboard and looking unhappy with waiting.
He really didn't know why he agreed to come here. Well he knew why he was sitting here but he scrambled to think of the reason he actually applied for this job. He knew what he was good at and if he was being honest with himself he had reservations about doing this kind of work in the first place. Being a hunter was all well and good but doing this felt taboo to him, almost wrong.
"Pine?"
He broke out of his stupor to see the man standing in the corridor walking down toward the waiting room he was sitting in. He wasn't the only one here but with the looks from the others, trying to determine who was being called he knew that he might as well bite the bullet and get this over with.
"Pine if your here you better stand up."
"Yeah. Yeah I'm here."
The blonde man looked down at him and quickly looked him over. He noticed the small smile on his face. "Well come on Pine I don't have all day." And with that the man turned around and began walking back to where he came from.
He had no idea why he was here. He had a successful career as a hunter, granted it was only his first couple years but he was getting the hang of it slowly. He had heard the whispers about companies like the one he was currently in. Private run hunter teams that were financed by big money to carry out jobs that the official huntsman didn't have time to do or jobs that were seen as not worth it by the councils running them.
Rumours started circulating of Hunter Teams being funded by businesses with a lot of money in the circles he usually ran in. From those who were jealous of the supposed monetary gain these teams would get to those who saw it as everything a hunter was against. They would say that these people were killers and evil people, using tragedy to get ahead in life. Using the misery of others to further themselves.
Oscar at the time agreed with that line of thinking when he started. But as he grew he found the amount of times he heard of certified huntsman teams being unavailable to assist villages from grimm attacks rising as he heard of private teams stepping in to protect the people not only of mistral but the other kingdoms as well.
He soon found himself at a crossroads. Should he stay where he was and be told where and when to go help those in need or take the other way and potentially help way more people than he was currently. He brought this up with a couple older hunters he knew and was told the same thing he heard from others he asked. That these were not good people and they were a disgrace for profiteering of others.
Oscar was content to leave it there but there was an incident involving a village and private team that swayed him over. And now here he was about to interview for one of these so called 'evil' companies.
Oscar followed close behind trying to keep pace behind the man and soon found himself being directed into an office at the end of the hall.
"Take a seat kid."
Doing what he was told Oscar took a seat in front of the desk and took stock of the room he was in. Surprised wasn't something Oscar was expecting to feel as he looked around the room. He expected a clean, almost sterile office with barely anything resembling personality in it. But from the bookshelves full of as many different books as he could see to pictures littering the walls and desk in front of him Oscar felt bad in his original assumptions about the type of person this man was. He heard the door click shut and heard soft footsteps behind him cross the room.
"Something to drink?"
Oscar turned and saw the man holding a bottle of water out to him, while slowly walking back to his desk.
"Oh yeah, sure thank you."
"Don't mention it."
As the man sat down in front of him he picked up what looked like a small folder off his desk and began to read aloud.
"Oscar Pine?"
"Yes sir."
"23?"
"Yes sir"
"Certified Huntsman within the Kingdom of Mistral?"
"Yeah that's right"
"Says here you spent 5 years in the field? That true?"
"Well only half true sir. Most of the time I was tasked with village protection. Not many chances for active grimm hunts."
"Honest man, I like that. Record looks spotless Oscar, no infractions, no trouble with other huntsman, not even a bad thing to say about you. Now that tells me two things. One, this profile is actually legit or that its complete bullshit and missing some pages. Tell me Oscar, which one is it"
Oscar felt the stare of the man in front of him bore into his skull as he looked down at his feet.
"The reason I ask is this isn't the type of profile most people apply to us with. We get a few people who are legit but most have a lot of shady shit hidden in their profiles. You see this line of work tends to attract the wrong kind of men and women. And I for one don't want them here, but I don't get final say in the process. But for a man like you, a seemingly decent huntsman turns to a company like ours seems off. Why are you here Oscar."
Oscar looked back up at the man in front of him. He saw the deep blue of his eyes staring back at him, almost daring him to lie, daring him to bullshit his way like so many before him. Oscar opened the water bottle in his hand and looked off at the wall of photo's in the office.
Oscar looked back at the man. "You ever hear of a village called Ansel?"
The man nodded. "Yeah. I grew up there when I was a boy. Family used to live there too."
"It was attacked last year. Big horde of grimm was spotted by air coming straight for the town. The local mayor called for assistance in getting the village evacuated before the grimm arrived. The mayor wasn't getting anywhere fast with the council but they spotted a couple bullheads heading their way, turns out it was a couple private hunter teams saw the horde and made the decision to help. They arrived and started getting people out as fast as they could, but the horde was getting too close. They stayed behind while the bullheads got the civilians out. When the council sent their hunters out they were too late and found the village destroyed but the private teams held off for as long as possible, managed to hold off to get almost all of the locals out before they fell."
Oscar looked at the man in front of him, noticing the solemn look on his face.
"I know that story. They worked here, good people they were. A bit off the rails sometimes but had a good heart in them."
"Then you'll know what they said about them?"
The mans face hardened almost instantly. "Said good riddance, said my guys were expendable and only good for dying. Didn't have to be there but they did, and they died for it, for what? To be looked down upon by some holier than thou council huntsman? Those people were worth more than 30 of there huntsman."
"So after that I made a decision. I would rather work for the people willing to do something rather than a bureaucratic body who looks down at the sacrifices of others. So sir you asked my why I'm here. That's why."
The man looked at Oscar. He looked at him for what felt like hours before breaking into a small smile.
"That's a good answer Oscar. I think you're the kind of guy we are looking for round here."
Oscar started to smile back before the man started talking again.
"You good with a gun?"
"I can hold my own when I have to sir."
"Can you fight up close if the need arises?"
"Yes sir."
The man nodded to himself. "Good, that's good. Well that settles it, welcome aboard Oscar. Were going to run you through some tests for our sake to see where your at so if the need comes we can train you up to our standard. We'll get list for your gear and anything else you need written up so you can tell us what you'll need. If there is anything else you need, ask someone. Don't need you down gear cause you didn't ask for it.
"Yes sir."
"Stop calling me sir. You work here now Oscar."
"What do I call you?"
"The names Jaune. Come on Oscar, lets get you started shall we?"
So there we go.
As said above, don't really know if I can write anything else for this but let me know if you want to carry the idea forward and I'll let you have at it.
See you on the next upload
Ladel
