The Village in the Valley
When they awoke, the sun was high in the sky over their beautiful valley. Sunlight glimmering through the Waterfalls constant misty spray as it cascaded into the great lake upon which their village was founded.
Tanima Village was a beautiful, quiet little village that rested in the middle of Tanima Lake. It was constructed on a system of bridges and boats, with a large central bridge that stretched from the center of the village to the shore. The people of Tanima were all peaceful people, most grew crops in the fertile soils along the shores of the lake, while others sailed to-and-fro on little fishing boats, catching great amounts of the fresh water fish, abundant, in the glistening lake.
Sieg and Geistel made their way up to the gate at the entrance of the village.
"Who goes there?," called a voice from atop the gate "What business do you have here?"
"Oh just open up the gate you old coot, you know who we are," Sieg laughed, "We're too tired for this Lionel!" A head poked out over the top of the gate and flashed a bright smile.
"So another successful hunt ey boys?" called Lionel, the old man who was in charge of watching the gate, "You know when I was your age I would do it in half the time, with my carving knife!"
"You're full of it old man," Geistel chuckled. "Everyone knows you've never touched a blade in your life!" The old man slowly rose the wooden gate. Sieg and Geistel walked across the threshold and started their way down the central bridge, calling back behind them "We brought an undamaged King's Frill this time!" The old man smiled to himself at this as he lowered the gate back into place.
Reaching the end of the long bridge, they stopped to look around.
"Should we report immediately to the Guild?" asked Sieg. Geistel nodded, and they both made their way across the criss-crossing maze of bridges from boat to boat until they finally reached the large boat that the Hunters Guild had established as a base. Sieg approached the receptionist at the desk. "Siegmund and Geistel reporting a sucessful hunt." the receptionist behind the desk smiled and directed them to the back room, where the captain of the Tanima Hunters Guild Branch was waiting for them.
"I'm glad to find you boys made it back in one piece! You're the best hunters we've got here, hell, you're the only active hunters we've got!," he said, bursting into laughter, "Anyways, do you have anything to report?"
"Sir, you may not think much of it," Sieg started, "but I'm afraid the Jaggi are getting more aggressive." Geistel nodded. "The Jaggi themselves attacked us in much larger numbers, and even waited for us to seperate before they tried to attack us. The Great Jaggi led me into a clearing where he and his minions attempted to surround me. Had it not been for Geistel, I might have been in real danger."
"That is disturbing news indeed... I will have some of my men look into this." the Captain frowned. He turned around and looked out his window at the thick valley foliage across the lake. "You are dismissed"
Sieg and Geistel stepped out onto the deck of the Guild Ship and looked around them at the peaceful village. A fishermen on a small fishing canoe passed by and waved heartily to the pair. He was on his way to the village market, where fishermen and farmers gathered to sell their products. The man offered the two a ride, but they politely declined. As the fisherman continued on his way, the two hunters shook hands and parted ways, each heading for their respective homes.
Sieg lived on a small boat-house on the very south side of the village. As he made his way across the many bridges, he stopped to watch a small boat slowly approach the dock. When it came to a stop, laughter and screams erupted from the boat, as little faces and heads peeked out the window to see him. Soon a short little old lady emerged from the boat, and escorted the children to a large building atop the largest of all the boats in the village. It was the Tanima Village Children School. He smiled to himself and continued on his way.
Upon reaching his home, Sieg ducked into the curtained doorway, entering the small house. He looked around him with a quiet sigh. He approached his armor trunk, set down his trusted lance beside it, and began to slowly take off his Alloy Armor.
"Masterrrr, would you like some assistance with your armor, nya?" asked a small orange striped felyne, "I would be delighted to help Masterrr"
"Thank you Fleur, but I think I've got it." replied Sieg.
"Nyaa, yes masterr, if there's anything I can do jussst ask!" the small cat purred, and with that curled into a ball at the foot of the small mat Sieg slept on. Sieg smiled and pulled off his helmet, revealing Raven Black, shoulder-length hair, with messy bangs in the front. He had lightly tanned skin, and his face was strikingly handsome. Once he finished removing the rest of his armor, he pulled his issued Guild Uniform out of the Armor box and put it on. Closing the box and bidding Fleur good night he ducked back through the door and started on his way to the Village Market.
Geistel scanned the crowd for signs of his friend. He was miserable, he hated squeezing into the uncomfortable formal Guild Uniform, but today was a special day. Today was the day Geistel and Sieg would be recognized as a legitimate Hunting Team, with the right to make their own decisions, choose their own missions. Today was the day they had waited for their whole life.
"Hey Geistel! Over here man!" Sieg called to him, making his way through the crowd to his partner. "What do you wanna do until sun down?"
"I was hoping perhaps we could visit the armorer? I've collected a great number of materials and would like to see what I could do with them" he replied, and with that they set off towards the east corner of the village market where the black smith kept his shop. Along the way they stopped at many stalls, buying small trinkets, and some simply to strike up a conversation with the traders running them. Once they finally reached the black smith, they found him tinkering away at his anvil. A short little man, with pointed ears and a long beard that cascaded down his body.
"Aye, old man! It's your favorite customers!" called Sieg joyfully. The old man looked up and grinned at the approaching men. The old man was only ever happy when he could put his skills to the test on Hunter Equipment, but in the peaceful village of Tanima, his requests usually consisted of fixing farm equipment, or fishing hooks.
"About time you boys came back! I've been itching to test out my new hammer! It's made of pure Malachite Ore!" he crooned, "These valley bumpkins expect me to use it on their rakes and hoes, but that would be an insult! Come, come, what do you have for me today?" Geistel approached him and unloaded his pouch onto the anvil.
"I was hoping you could forge me a Rugged Great Sword," Geistel requested, "with all the Great Jaggi's we've been hunting, I've got more than enough!". The old man looked over the materials closely.
"These are good, very good, excellent eye for quality you have their young man" the old man nodded, holding a Jaggi Scale up to the fading sunlight, "Most muscle heads like yourself just go slicing up every little piece they can, and when they bring it to me, it's damaged beyond use." Geistel rose a questioning eyebrow.
"Yes, yes of course I'll do it, come back at the end of the day and I'll have it ready for you!" the old man nodded, "that reminds me... isn't tonight you two's Graduation ceremony?"