Chapter 1: Town of Gnawnia - First steps
Catherine Plankrun inched ever so slowly towards the looming castle. Under the sweltering hot sun, the distance between the castle and her seemed much longer than before. Under normal circumstances, this would have been unneeded. Indeed, if the day had been a normal day, a visit to the castle would be the further thing away from her mind.
However, today was no ordinary day. In the kingdom of Gnawnia, it had been declared that once every able-bodied youngster reaches the age of sixteen, they have to visit the King. There, he would then see if one were eligible enough to gain the power of the fabled Pied Piper that had once cleansed the kingdom of its rat infestation a long time ago. Catherine, being a Plankrun, is even more so obliged to follow the footsteps of her legendary ancestor.
Soon enough, the banners of the Gnawnia castle fluttered into view. Oaken double-barrel doors greeted her in all its majestic glory.
"Miss. Are you here for your inauguration?" The guard by the door asked.
Catherine nodded, and soon she was ushered through the doors into the hallway by the same guard.
"Surely you must make us all proud. The mice had been ruining all the items we had in our kingdom." The guard was surprisingly talkative, but Catherine was by then not processing anything at all. "Chairs, carpet, cupboards and even our clothes. I swear they are getting out of hand."
Before long, they both stopped in front of a golden door carved with the insignia of Gnawnia, the infamous Horn of the Piper, also known as the Hunter's Horn.
"Good luck." The guard good-naturedly said.
Catherine returned a light smile before she slipped through the crack he had opened for her into the Throne room. There, sat the King.
Instantly, Catherine bowed.
"Plankrun, right? It had been ages since my predecessor set your grandfather on his epic adventure as Gnawnia's first mouse hunter. Since then, many had followed in his footsteps and I myself is curious on how you would have progressed through the land." The King surprisingly had a light tenor voice. Catherine was expecting a low solemn one instead, all gruff and angry at the destruction the rodents are wrecking in his land.
All of a sudden, the King snapped his fingers, causing an attendant to appear behind Catherine, almost scaring her out of her skin. In her hands was the sleek Piper's Horn… No, it could not be it. The real one was an ancient relic. This is merely a replica with only a fraction of power the real horn holds. However, it would work just as fine.
"I don't need a test?" She wondered out loud.
The King merely chuckled. "Testing a Plankrun? I don't think there is a need to."
Under the knowing grin of the King, Catherine sheepishly accepted the Horn from the attendant, as well as the Hunter's badge depicting a mouse sitting atop a hill within a shield crest.
Just as she wore it over her left breast, a new voice rang out in the throne room.
"Ah, so that is my new adoptee? Howdy!"
Without even a chance to prepare herself, Catherine was roughly swerved around by a burly and plump knight who then began to shake her by her shoulders. "You are so petite, I thought you might just be blown away by the wind! Hohoho!"
"Larry, she is only sixteen." The King said in a matter-of-factly. "And her name is Catherine."
"But the fact she is the same height as me means she is suffering from mal-nutrition!" Larry declared. "Catherine? Larry here. Naturally the Cat must hunt the mouse, eh?"
Catherine blushed.
"Only you will admit that you are short." The King sighed, exasperated by the over-enthusiastic behavior of his prized knight.
It was awhile before Larry could be convinced to calm down and it took another moment for Catherine to regain back her senses. There and then, Larry produced a thin wooden slab from his pocket.
"So Plankrun, I would be your mentor from today onwards and that means I would be giving you this, a wooden base. It is the most basic of the bases but it would serve you just fine." He then fished out a bottle of super glue and several chunks of cheap cheddar cheese from another pocket, handing them over to Catherine.
"You would have to make do with these for now."
Noticing the distasteful look Catherine was giving him, Larry instantly defended, "Well, I would have given you better traps and cheese if I could, but somebody just do not have enough gold in his treasury to spare."
The sound of throat clearing echoed.
"But of course, with all the hunters we have to fund, it was no wonder." Larry hastily continued. "Now, you got your base, your bait and your trap, it is time you get your first mouse!"
With that, Catherine was ushered out of the throne room, leaving a livid King behind.
At the end of an isolated alley, just in front of a mouse hole in the wall, a wooden slab sat with tons of glue poured on top. Along with the glue was a piece of cheddar. In front of the simple trap, a girl stood with her horn in hand.
"You ready, girl?"
Catherine nodded in reply. Lifting the mouthpiece to her lips, she took a deep breath and blew. Her finger ran through the whole length of the horn as they attempt to produce different keys to make a simple soothing melody. It was not perfect, but it was definitely enough.
Just as the melody goes into crescendo, a tiny nose with trembling whiskers popped out from the mouse hole and it was not long before a tiny white mouse scurried around the wooden base, trying to find a way to the cheddar cheese without stepping on the unknown white substance. However, as the melody came closer and closer to the climax, the greater its desire slowly become, until the point where it could not restrain itself anymore. In an act of foolish bravado, the white mouse jumped right at the cheddar with careless abandon, successfully entrapping itself into the worst fate living flesh could ever meet – death by super glue. Or rather, it would still be alive until the point the hunter has to peel the mouse off the base.
That is not a pretty sight.
It was perhaps very obvious that Catherine Plankrun walked out of the alley 105 gold pieces richer.