Diary of a Hunter

by The Restless Drifter

In my travels, I've seen some pretty strange things, but the events of the past few hours put them all to shame. Although, I'm not sure which one to pick out as strangest. The being attacked by a horde of undead, or meeting the group they call the Shepherds. A telling of Awakening from the point of view of an OC, told through a series of journal entries.

May 19th

1524

It truly is amazing how quickly things can take a turn that a person doesn't expect. You could be dirt poor one minute and then find out you're the long lost son of a very rich nobleman. That friendly man you met at the tavern who bought you drinks last night might've slipped something into said drink and then dragged you outside and took everything but the clothes off your back. Or you could heading out of Ylisstol on a high-paying job you recently got hired for and then get attacked out of nowhere by a group of undead warriors.

Now, I've been all over the place. I've seen a lot of things, many of those things were unexplainable to someone of my particular intellectual capabilities. I leave those kinds of things to mages and scholars with too much time on their hands. But undead warriors that melt into purple smoke when they die? That takes the cake.

Like I said before, I was on the road north out of Ylisstol. I had just gotten hired for a very high-paying job. Well, most of my jobs are high-paying, considering my services aren't exactly cheap. But I'm getting off topic.

Sounds of battle came to my ears, a sound that was rather unusual this close to Ylisstol. I just figured that some mercenary group and gotten into a turf war with some other mercenary group. It had become a rather common occurrence in these past few years, what with Plegian brigands constantly putting Ylissean villagers out of their homes.

But imagine my surprise when I found Prince Chrom and his regiment of elite fighters, the Shepherds, I think they're called, in full combat with a group of walking corpses.

Now, anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not the friendliest of people. In fact, most of time, I'm just downright mean. As a bounty hunter, it's a reputation I have to maintain in order to keep my business successful. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to stand by and watch whilst a thrown together group of warriors take on a legion of undead, so I quickened my pace and made my over to them.

I reached them when there was a slight lull in the fighting. The Prince, a young man dressed in blue armor, maybe twenty-one, with blue hair, was speaking with another man of about the same age, except he had white hair and a Plegian cloak. This instantly put me on guard. I mean, here was the Prince of Ylisse, having what seemed to be a tactical discussion with a man who wore a robe from a country that had basically sworn to bring death to everyone who called Ylisse home, the Prince included.

While I stood there like an idiot, the two men finally noticed me. They asked me who I was, what I was doing there, if I could stay and help them, that sort of thing. That I can understand. I stood there, answered their questions, and offered to help them out. But that was before I found out that the man in the cloak, whose name I found was Robin, was actually the Shepherd's tactician, as of barely two days before! And apparently, "Robin" had been found lying unconscious in the middle of a field, and with amnesia! The Prince must be a special kind of stupid! An opinion I had no problems letting His Royal Blueness know. And if the brick wall that was his retainer hadn't walked up sometime during the conversation, I probably would've cuffed him upside the head. I'm not going to lie, I saw the man's skill with a lance, and I'd rather not do anything to incur his wrath. On the bright side, Frederick, that's his name, seemed to agree with me about "Robin." Although, I doubt someone who wears a suit under his armor would have said it like I did.

I would've withdrawn my offer for help right then and there if I didn't have a conscience. The stupid thing. It always seems to throw me into situations that can get me killed. I mean, that's kind of part of being a bounty hunter, anyway, but it's still not something I'd like to happen more than it needs to.

After a brief argument, I stayed around to help them out. But only if "Robin" was in my line of vision at all times. The man seemed friendly enough, but I've been taken for a ride too many times to trust someone with that kind of backstory. I'm still mentally smacking the Royal Idiot on the head.

Much is I distrust him, "Robin" seems to have knack for tactics, however. He had us wait on the opposite end of a bridge and waited for the Risen, as I found out they were called, to cross and bottleneck themselves into their own death. Or re-death, I guess.

After the battle, I was cleaning my sword when I was approached by the Prince. Apparently, he liked the way I fought and wanted to hire me. Frankly, I don't see why. I'm an adequate swordsman, but I'm nothing special. But he clearly wasn't trying to hire me because of my pretty face or my winning personality. I told him I would think about it. As I mentioned before, I had an expensive job I was already hired for, but fighting for the Shepherds offers a steady income, something that isn't too easy to get in my line of work. He seemed to accept my response, but then invited me to travel with them. His reasoning? Safety in numbers with the Risen wandering about. How sweet. The Royal Idiot is worried about the safety one of his subjects. Still, it makes sense. We were both headed toward Regna Ferox, and I wasn't too keen on travelling alone with the undead hordes still wandering about. So, I accepted the offer of the spare tent. Not sure if I'll take the job, but I'll just see what these next few weeks bring.

Casper

Well, there's my first chapter to my first story. I hope it is to the liking of the wonderful people of Fanfiction who felt my story worthy for their reading! Criticisms are welcomed and appreciated!

-The Restless Drifter