Wow, long time no updates, huh. I hope that at least some of you read this, and wanna find out what's gonna happen next Feel free to leave a review if you'd like, it'd make me real happy!
Sorry for any grammar mistakes and such, English is my third language, and sometimes I can mix things up.
Prontera. Always noisy, always full of people, packed with merchants and traders, priests, knights and other folk, rushing about their daily duties. Morgan loved this place… not. Growing up in Payon, he was used to the quiet and calm routine, surrounded by deep forests and high mountains, the village seemed to have reached Zen centuries ago. Morgan missed his home, missed his family and friends, but he never regretted taking this journey and deciding to see the world.
Even if he didn't like this place, there was nothing to do about it; Prontera was the capital, and naturally, all the travelers always came here to brag about their adventures. Most of the guilds were located here, recruiting new members, and the rarest weapons and items, would always be on display, waiting for their future owners. When organ first arrived here, he was completely shocked, in a good way. In his entire life, he hasn't seen anything like this, the sight almost made him dizzy. While he was marveling at the beauty of this place, someone already pushed him, stepped on his foot, tried to steal his money (failed though, can't steal from someone who doesn't have anything in the first place) and made him learn the newest swearwords, when he accidentally bumped into a passing by blacksmith. This day was no exception.
Morgan was almost out of money, and sleeping under the stars this night, wasn't anything he was too eager about. Six months into his travels, he came across some things that he believed were worth a few thousand Zeny. He was just too tired to do anything today, he just wanted to rent a room and sleep. Disoriented and hungry, he was wondering about Prontera aimlessly, looking for some place to sell his stuff. Maybe if he was focusing on the street, and not on the events that took place a few days ago, he'd get there faster. But the image of the white haired guy , reaching out to bless him, refused to leave his mind. He really was moved by that action, and for some reason, wanted to see his face again. Perhaps he was feeling embarrassed for looking so weak in that smoky mine, pitiful enough for someone to waste their time on him. Or perhaps he just wanted to ask him, what was that thing that almost slashed him in two. It was strange.
Eyeing a white ribbon on some cute high priestess' back, he suddenly stopped dead in his track and didn't dare move: He heard a painfully familiar voice. Frantically looking around him, trying to find it's source, he almost knocked some merchant over. Not caring about what names she decided to call him at that moment, he finally saw the back of the man he was thinking about just a few seconds ago. And a few days before that, but that's not important. He just stood there and stared, not sure of what he was supposed to do or say.
-'' So I see that there's no time left to waste, and that particular scholar, you know the guy, yeah, he was being a pain in the ass all week, anyway, he is just standing there and..-''
Surrounded by two priests and a huge paladin, the champion waived his hands around, laughed and rambled on about something Morgan did not even try to begin to understand. His back was turned to Morgan, and for the longest time nobody seemed to notice him, until finally one of the priests tilted his head and pointed at the hunter, wondering if anybody knew who he was.
-''Sorry, can we help you? '' His eyes were blue and looked very kind, he was the shortest one of the group. Morgan snapped out of it, but for some reason was unable to say anything remotely relevant to the question addressed to him, and when the champion actually turned and looked at him, the only thing Morgan could do was squeeze out an unsure laugh and back away a little, looking really suspicious.
-''Um… you probably… haha, you most likely don't even remember but…'' He didn't understand why he wasn't able to use words that would make sense, and make him look a little bit less like a moron, and more like a sane person. He didn't dare look at anyone's face, and even had to stop mumbling and take a deep breath. Finally, he looked up at his face (he noticed that his eyes were emerald green, it looked kind of surreal and scary, it was probably the sun or something…) and smiled.
-''Thanks for what you did, I'd be really screwed if you weren't for you. …So um, yeah… Thanks!''
Completely red, for no apparent reason, shaking all over, Morgan hurried away, hoping that those people would forget what just happened and never think about it again. It was a good thing that Morgan was too consumed by his thoughts of shame, or he'd surely yelp at the feeling of someone squeezing his shoulder. Turning around to see what is holding him in place, his jaw almost dropped when he realized that the very same champion that Morgan tried to communicate with earlier, was standing right behind him, looking a bit confused, but smiling anyway.
-''Hey… you're that little guy from the mines, right?''
Disregarding the 'little' part of the sentence, Morgan nodded and put his hands into his pockets, unsure of what was supposed to be done right now.
-''Didn't recognize you at first, you know, it was quite smoky back there. But I'm glad to see that you're okay, didn't expect to meet anyone in that damned place!''
Morgan wondered if this guy would never stop smiling. His voice was pleasant and WHY THE HELL DID MORGAN THINK ABOUT ALL THIS RIGHT NOW. This guy was just… a guy. Morgan never felt uneasy around people, was always ready to communicate, happy to hang out, to learn from others. How come it was so hard to focus and NOT feel like he was going to faint any moment?
-''You don't talk much, do you? My name is Reece by the way, what's yours?''
Morgan had no idea why he was still talking to him, but decided to just go with the flow. Smiling back shyly, he decided to take the bull by the horns, maybe they can be good pals? Why not?
Half an hour later, they were already sitting on the benches of a small garden, just behind the western wall of the city. It was really calm there, and surprisingly, not many people visited that place. Morgan and Reece were talking to each other in a way like really good friends do, both surprised at how easy it was, just talking about irrelevant things.
Reece turned out to be a really fun guy, one of those that love to share their thoughts, and love to hear what others have to say. He was really interested in Payon, he'd never been there before, and Morgan made it sound so perfect, that he was tempted to visit the place. Their childhoods were so different, and both wanted to know more about each other. Morgan was interested about all the cities that Reece visited, he was quite a rich man, while Reece was interested in Morgan's humble adventures.
-''Wow, I've never thought that there's so many interesting places in Rune-Midgard… I envy you, you can travel anywhere with enough cash on your hands. I bet it's faster and safer as well…''
-''Are you kidding me? You're the one that's having all the adventures! Come on, who would actually walk the whole way from Geffen to Prontera? I'll tell you, only true adventurers! You should be proud! And seriously, what's that sound?''
Reece smiled smugly, and Morgan jumped up, suddenly realising that all this time, his stomach was rumbling, trying to get their attention. Now he felt how truly tired and hungry he was, that almost made him lose his balance. He sat back down on the bench, smiling goofily at Reece, who, on the other hand looked worried.
-'' Hey, how about I buy you something to eat? You look kinda hungry…''
Morgan felt like it was useless to resist, besides, he was in no mood to turn down food, especially from someone who can afford it.
-'' Sure… that would be awesome. Haven't eaten anything since this morning.''
And those were the final words that made Reece grab Morgan's hand and basically drag him back to the gates. Knowing Prontera like the back of his own hand, Reece made sure Morgan would not feel hungry for days, treating him to one of the best meals in the local tavern. Oh and after some brief persuading, he made sure that Morgan would get enough rest in Reece's own apartment. He just wouldn't risk leaving a drunk hunter in a hotel all on his own.