The process of finishing the training of the younger people in the village went by quickly and easily. It was almost effortless to H'aanit, and after both of the youths lost under the power of her lore of the forest, she offered the commentary that she believed would help them most. Once they were gone, off to practice all that she had taught them, H'aanit remained where she was and scratched at the back of Linde's ears. The leopard purred and leaned into the huntress' grasp, her eyes falling shut from the serenity of the situation.
However, Linde perked up again a moment later, her tail flicking back and forth. H'aanit frowned at the sight, wondering what had caught her companion's attention. She heard footsteps from behind her, and when H'aanit turned, she saw a young girl standing before her.
"Huntress H'aanit!" the girl cried out as she slowed to a stop in front of the hunter and her partner. Her brown hair rustled as she stopped her dash, and she began to run her fingers through it gently.
H'aanit pulled her hand away from Linde slowly. "What is it?" she asked. There was something on edge about the girl's voice, and H'aanit found herself resisting the urge to reach for her bow and nock a few arrows. She was the one in charge of defense in the village, after all, and she wasn't about to slack on her duties after all this time.
"The headman sent me to find thee," the girl explained. "He said he must speaketh with thee right away!"
H'aanit nodded. "Then I will make haste. He is at home, I take it?" she questioned. In a way, H'aanit was relieved for the next chance to focus on her duties rather than the fact that she still missed Z'aanta terribly. She was willing to take this for what it was without a beat of hesitation.
"Yes! Follow me!" the girl cried out, her voice loud in her excitement. There was something else in her tone as well, though H'aanit struggled to fully judge what it was that had passed through the girl's mind with such an influence on her.
As the girl dashed off in the direction of the headman's home, H'aanit shifted her gaze down to Linde. "An urgent hunt, mayhap?" she prompted of her partner. As expected, Linde did not answer beyond a simple flick of her tail, and before long H'aanit was walking in the girl's footsteps towards the headman's home. She moved at a decent clip while still remaining slow enough to ensure that she didn't crash into anyone along the way.
The headman was standing outside his home, his expression dire and stony as he stared down at the ground below. He didn't even seem to notice that H'aanit had arrived, prompting her to speak first. "Headman. Ye wished to seen me?" she questioned of him even though she already knew the answer.
The headman nodded as he looked up from the grass. "Yes. A request hath comen in from the demesne of Lord Ciaran," the headman replied. "It would seem a beast hath strayed into his provincial forest." He glanced over in the direction of the young girl that had brought H'aanit to him in the first place, and he gave her a small nod to dismiss her. The girl smiled up at him before pivoting on her heel and dashing away to continue going about her daily business.
"And he will it gone," H'aanit concluded, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew loosely of Lord Ciaran, albeit not much. He was a noble with territory in the Woodlands. Supposedly, he had a manse near Victors Hollow and had a sway in the government within the nearby town of bustling activity. He also held territory closer to S'warkii, and if H'aanit had to guess, it was that nearby land that was giving Lord Ciaran so much trouble in the first place.
The headman nodded once more. "Just so. He asketh for our best hunter," he told H'aanit. "And while Master Z'aanta is off on the hunt, that meaneth thee."
H'aanit couldn't help but frown at the mention of Z'aanta. She knew that the headman was right, but it still bothered her in a quiet way that she was seeing traces of Z'aanta's prolonged absence every direction that she looked. It was because that day was the anniversary of Z'aanta's departure, she knew, but it bothered her regardless.
However, she didn't say any of this, not one for showing her emotions to others. Z'aanta was open and jubilant when it came to what he felt, but H'aanit had been his opposite for as long as anyone could remember, and this moment was far from being an exception to such a rule. "Understood," she told the headman simply.
"Always remember, H'aanit. Since times immemorial, ours has been a village of great hunters and huntresses," the headman began. "Yes, far and wide beyond the edges of the Darkwood, our home..."
H'aanit took a step forward and held one hand out to stop him. She had heard this tale at least two dozen times as well, and she could even quote its conclusion without missing a beat. "'The bards sangeth of our exploits, and all the realm lauded fair S'warkii as the home of the true hunter,'" H'aanit quoted. "Is that not how it went?"
The headman laughed and shook his head. "Have I told it that many times? Long-winded tales, my dear..." he remarked.
"Are the vice of an old man, yes," H'aanit finished for him. "As for the hunt, I am ready when needed." H'aanit had learned to be prepared for a battle at a moment's notice. The monsters that lived in the area occasionally grew confident enough to launch attacks on S'warkii, and as the secondary heir to the Darkwood lore, H'aanit had to be prepared at every moment possible. She refused to slack off in her vow to Z'aanta that she would defend the village with everything he had, especially not on the one year anniversary of his departure for the great hunt.
"Excellent. Lord Ciaran's messenger awaiteth inside. He will telleth thee all thou needst to know," the headman explained. He gestured to the nearby door to his house to show H'aanit that it was fine for her to enter.
H'aanit nodded firmly. "I will speake to him at once," she assured him. She turned toward the building, one hand reaching out toward the knob.
"H'aanit," came the voice of the headman just before she could enter the building. She turned to look at him over one shoulder. "Prithee doe naught Master Z'aanta would thee not."
H'aanit gave him one final nod before she turned away once more. "Thanke ye," she said simply. A moment later, she opened the door and walked inside, Linde ever on her heels.
There was a single man waiting inside. He was sitting at the table in the entryway, his hands cupped around a mug of water that the headman had no doubt prepared for him. H'aanit slid into the seat across from the man quickly, and Linde settled down near her feet. The snow leopard's head remained perked up as she watched at the man silently. The man stared down at Linde before his gaze returned to H'aanit. He didn't ask questions regarding the snow leopard once he realized that H'aanit was unbothered by Linde's presence, instead taking this as his cue to get down to business.
"My apologies for the urgency of the matter, but monsters pay little heed to the convenience of men," the herald began. He looked down for a moment, and his hat threatened to slip free of his disheveled hair that was no doubt left as such a mess thanks to the winds surrounding S'warkii.
"I am here to serve. Tellen me more about this beast," H'aanit instructed of him.
"Your quarry is to be a fearsome beast that has wandered into the Whisperwood from the gods know where," the messenger told her.
"A monster that hath strayed from its home..." H'aanit murmured to herself, one hand rising to cup at her cheek. This was hardly anything out of the ordinary. Ecosystems were fragile things, and all it took was one action out of the ordinary for the balance to be destroyed. If this beast had come to the territory from its previous home, then it would undoubtedly cause a fuss as an invasive species, especially if it showed itself to be a predator to the other occupants of the forest.
"Aye. Just this morning, a merchant and an injured companion fetched up at our manor in frightful state," the herald continued, his voice shaking just slightly from the recollection. If H'aanit had to guess, the messenger had witnessed this incident at the time, and that was the primary reason that it upset him to such a degree. "As one man told it-the other was in no condition to speak-their caravan had been waylaid by the beast, and they were the only survivors."
"How doth thou knowen this creature was responsible?" H'aanit questioned, never one to leave gaps in any story that she was being presented with.
"Lord Ciaran's scholars were called upon to investigate the matter," the messenger told her. "From the merchant's testimony, they concluded the men were attacked by a savage beast known as a ghisarma."
H'aanit paused at these words. She had heard of ghisarmas in the past, and she knew that they did not belong anywhere near the Whisperwood. In fact, they were hardly fit to be found in the region of S'warkii or anywhere near to it. They were beasts native to the darkened woods near Victors Hollow, trees that all people were cautioned to avoid at all costs. The shadowy area was threatening at best and deadly at worst. The ghisarma would have had to travel quite a ways to arrive in the area of the Whisperwood, though H'aanit supposed that at times, it was impossible to stop a beast once it had set its mind on something.
"I have hearde of this creature. Its baleful roar would make it an unlikely fit for the tranquil Whisperwood," H'aanit commented with a frown.
The messenger nodded. "His lordship is most anxious to protect his subjects, needless to say," he told her. H'aanit knew that the Whisperwood was not far from the actual territory that Lord Ciaran looked after, and it would not be out of the realm of possibility for the ghisarma to break free of the trees and ravage anything that dared to stand in its path. It had nearly eviscerated an entire merchant caravan, and it was far from impossible to believe that it was capable of doing the same to an entire town. "He seeks the help of the most capable hunter in this village. And so, in Master Z'aanta's absence, we turn to you. What say you, H'aanit? Will you free our fair province of this unholy menace?"
"Tellen thy lord that I shan't faile him," H'aanit replied with a firm nod. She rose to her feet, and Linde did so as well. H'aanit began to move for the door, off to prepare for the hunt to come, when she was ultimately interrupted.
"There is a dignity about you that Master Z'aanta lacks-but I see you share his passion for your calling," the messenger remarked, still firmly glued to his seat in the headman's home. "I hope you will continue to inherit only his better qualities."
H'aanit paused and turned in his direction. "Master is a fine teacher. He showeth by example what a hunter oughteth and oughteth not to doen," she told the man simply. With how long Z'aanta had been away, H'aanit even found herself missing his habits of gambling and immaturity. They had brought her and many others trouble in the past, but she still wished that she could speak with him even just briefly. His single letter was no longer sufficient, and it hadn't been for a long time.
The herald was ignorant to her internal plight however, and he simply threw his head back in laughter. "Well said!" he agreed. "It would seem we are in safe hands indeed."
H'aanit nodded firmly. "Yes, thou art," she assured the man. From there, she pushed the door of the house open and walked out, Linde trailing ever behind her.
H'aanit had learned to be prepared for a hunt at a moment's notice. As such, she already had her bow and axe on hand, though she was lacking in healing supplies. She had given out her last few grapes to the youths of the village after she had finished the day's round of training. They had gotten injured beyond what H'aanit initially anticipated primarily because of their inexperience and youthful overconfidence, prompting H'aanit to offer up her last few healing grapes to give them the chance to recover at a much faster clip.
Luckily for her, it wouldn't be difficult for her to buy a few supplies. From there, all that mattered was getting to the Whisperwood and taking care of the ghisarma. The beast had disturbed the natural balance of the forest, and that was hardly something that H'aanit was going to allow it the chance to get away with. She was taking up the mantle as the primary hunter of the village, and she fully intended to show that this was something she was more than capable of doing. She had a job to fulfill and a duty to uphold.
S'warkii was a small village tucked away within the trees, and if Alfyn didn't know better, he wouldn't have even noticed that it was there. It was more discreet than even Clearbrook, though it was much larger than his hometown. S'warkii was still small, but compared to Clearbrook, it might as well have been the largest cities on Orsterra. Everything was fashioned together in a way that made the village seem so perfectly put-together that it didn't even seem real. It was more like something out of a fairy tale in Alfyn's opinion, and he was immediately entranced by its beauty.
"What exactly are we looking for here?" Therion questioned, shifting his gaze over to Ophilia. He had taken to crossing his arms, undoubtedly an instinctual motion that would limit the ability of the rest of the world to notice the fact that the fool's bangle was still jingling around beneath the fabric of his shirt.
Ophilia didn't openly respond. She was too busy silently scanning the area, undoubtedly on the lookout for whatever it was that had pushed them in this direction. Alfyn had heard her say that it was a woman, though that was hardly descriptive enough to help Alfyn aid in the search. The rest of the group appeared to have joined her in looking around as well even if they weren't entirely sure what Ophilia was looking for in the first place. Alfyn simply shoved his hands in his pockets and looked over at the cleric patiently as a small wind blew through the area, rustling the hair resting at the base of his neck.
When Ophilia finally stopped her scan of the area, her eyes were locked squarely on a huntress who was, quite frankly, the tallest woman that Alfyn had ever seen. His eyes went wide in simple shock at how overwhelmingly powerful she seemed to be. Everything about her screamed strength, and she was undoubtedly one of the most potent fighters within the village. In fact, Alfyn wouldn't have been surprised if she was one of the strongest battlers ever known to Orsterra.
Ophilia walked over to the woman quickly. H'aanit had finished her business at the shop of the town and was on her way in the direction of the Whisperwood, though she stopped walking when she saw Ophilia appear before her. H'aanit raised an eyebrow in Ophilia's direction, clearly awaiting an answer and an explanation for what was happening. Instead, Ophilia simply cleared her throat and smiled gently. It seemed that she knew even less about what to do with the huntress compared to even her experiences with Therion. "Hello," Ophilia greeted casually.
"Who mighteth thou be?" H'aanit asked, giving a brief glance over the rest of the party. She had clearly caught onto the fact that they were not from S'warkii. As H'aanit's gaze fell upon Alfyn, he felt like he was going to melt into the ground. She was so serious that it was almost nauseating to see. Alfyn gave her a nervous smile that seemed to be at risk of falling apart at the seams, but he did his best to seem composed regardless.
"My name is Ophilia," the cleric greeted with a bow of her head. "This is the rest of my traveling company. We're moving through town before we set our sights elsewhere. What would your name be?"
The huntress continued to silently analyze Ophilia's actions for a long moment before she relaxed ever so slightly. "Thou may call me H'aanit. I am a hunter of S'warkii, off to resolven a conflict through the hunt," she replied, her voice still solemn and even. "Is there something thou requires of me?"
Ophilia hesitated at those words, seemingly struggling in full to phrase what she wanted to get across. Luckily for her, Primrose came to her rescue, stepping in front of Ophilia with a charming smile that tasted a lot like a lie spreading across her lips. "We would like to join you on your quest, if you would have us," Primrose told H'aanit simply. "We know how to fight, and if you're in search of assistance, we would be more than happy to provide it."
Ophilia's expression was overcome with relief at Primrose's interference, though H'aanit either didn't notice or was choosing to not openly acknowledge it. "Thine intentions remain unclear. If thou truly wishes to joineth the hunt however, I will not protest. We depart at once," she told the group. There was something about her gaze that still caught Alfyn off guard, though he didn't vocalize anything about it. Instead, he simply swallowed dryly and nodded.
H'aanit began to walk away soon afterward, and Ophilia gave Primrose a quick glance of gratitude before trailing after her. The rest of the group followed in the wake of H'aanit and Ophilia's departure, Alfyn included. He had a feeling that H'aanit was the woman that Ophilia had been trying so desperately to find, and Alfyn was glad that they had been able to help her reach such a goal. He still didn't entirely understand what was going through Ophilia's head to begin with, but he supposed that he would figure it out soon enough. Ophilia wasn't going to be able to remain cryptic and detached forever, after all.
H'aanit was a stoic woman, but beneath that, there was kindness.
That was Primrose's initial theory, at the very least. Her skills in comprehending others had come in handy before, and they were certainly offering her valuable information about the solemn huntress that the group had temporarily teamed up with. Temporarily seemed to be a lie from the start though; Ophilia seemed silently set on having H'aanit join the rest of the group permanently as they continued their adventure, though Primrose still wasn't entirely certain as to if that was going to happen. It didn't seem as if H'aanit had much of a reason to leave S'warkii behind.
H'aanit had explained her story simply enough. She was a huntress and the current defender of the village. Her master had left on an important mission a year prior, and she was the one left behind to take care of her people. The mission in question would have the group facing off against a ghisarma, a terrifying beast that had the ability to slaughter all in its path.
Primrose secretly preferred this though. She was glad to be fighting against monsters rather than men, though she supposed that there was always the potential for humans to be the real beasts all along. She had seen and heard more than enough of dreadful humans as of late, and that was when she set aside her grief regarding Yusufa's death. The constant activity and motion had left Primrose with minimal abilities to take a deep breath and recognize all that had happened. The night of Yusufa's death, she had done all that she could to ensure that her friend rested well, but ever since then, life had presented itself with convenient distractions to keep her from thinking. It was as if Sunshade was a lifetime ago while S'warkii was the only present that she had ever known.
"This ghisarma thing..." came the voice of Tressa, prompting Primrose to turn in her direction. The young merchant's voice was shaking, though she was doing her best to shove the fear aside in the name of outward bravery. "You said that it slaughtered an entire merchant caravan, right? Are we sure that it's safe for us to even be fighting it in the first place?"
"The ghisarma is a dangerous beast, and it belongeth not in this part of the forest," H'aanit told Tressa, not even turning her head over her shoulder to address the younger girl. "Its presence disrupteth the balance of the land, and it must be hunted to restoren peace."
"The Whisperwood seems to be a pretty dark place," Alfyn remarked with a whistle that barely managed to push itself out among the tension of his distressed smile. "Maybe that's why the ghisarma decided to come here. Not many people would want to travel through this part of the forest, huh?"
"I believe that the Whisperwood has occasionally been used as a trade route," Cyrus told him. "That would certainly explain why there were merchants here to begin with. The ghisarma is not meant to be here though... I recall doing some brief research on the beasts. They are weakened by thunder magic and are regularly found in the area near Victors Hollow. This dark companion of ours has strayed quite far from its regular domain."
"Precisely," H'aanit nodded simply. "The natural balance of the forest is at riske under the ghisarma's power. Many creatures of the land, not simply men, can see harme because of the beast. Caution is prudent for all as we pressen onward."
Primrose nodded to herself. The path to the Whisperwood had grown darker since they initially set out from S'warkii even if they had yet to arrive at their destination. The Ember glowed dutifully from its place in Ophilia's Lanthorn. H'aanit hadn't yet asked about it, though Primrose suspected that it was only a matter of time. There was quite a bit that she had to be caught up on, though Primrose knew that she was far from innocent in such a manner.
Primrose saw something rustling out of the corner of her eye, and she reached for her dagger on instinct. She had learned to believe that if something was messing around in a bush, it was undoubtedly a monster, and she wasn't about to drop her guard yet. She was about to pivot in the direction of the beast to dispatch of their would-be assailant, but she was ultimately interrupted by H'aanit doing something in a similar vein.
H'aanit had nocked an arrow on her bow, and in the blink of an eye, she sent an attack flying. Her accuracy was perfect, and the beast hidden inside the bushes let out a shrill shriek of pain before the rustling came to a halt. From there, about four other monsters broke free of their hiding places, undoubtedly seeking to avenge their fallen companion, but H'aanit was already prepared, reaching for her axe to fend them off.
Primrose whispered a spell of dark magic under her breath, stunning the monster closest to her. Therion rushed toward it soon afterward, his dagger outstretched threateningly. The creatures were green and brown for the most part, easily blending in with the surroundings of the darkened Woodlands, but the travelers were still doing their best to fight back in the limited lighting from the overhead sky and the Ember in Ophilia's grasp.
Cyrus snapped his fingers before releasing an attack of fiery magic in the direction of two of the monsters. The creatures were forced backward by a few feet, leaving a perfect gap in their defenses for Olberic to rush forward and slash his blade sideways at both of them. Ophilia followed up on Cyrus' strike with a single blast of thunder magic that felled one of the beasts. Alfyn followed up with his axe to defeat the second of the creatures.
Primrose glanced in the direction of the two monsters that remained. Tressa had hit one of them with a blast of wind magic to push it backward, and H'aanit was still fighting with the beast that had rushed at her. Alfyn moved in Tressa's direction with his axe shining in the limited light, and he dealt a single blow that sent the creature to the ground. Primrose used a single attack of dark magic to ensure that the creature wouldn't be causing any other problems.
H'aanit, on the other hand, had turned her attention toward her quarry. The beast had suffered significant damages and was struggling to stand. H'aanit closed her eyes and whispered something beneath her breath, and the beast ran off in the opposite direction. She watched as the monster left the scene behind, her gaze locked squarely on the bush that the creature had been consumed by. All eyes were on her in confusion, searching for an explanation as to why she had let the creature escape after it had lashed out.
"What was that all about?" Tressa questioned, using her bold confidence to her advantage as she walked over in H'aanit's direction. She was still holding tightly to her spear to make sure that she was defended in case of another attack against the team.
"The lore of the forest presenteth me with the strength to callen upon beasts in battle," H'aanit explained. "If thou hath need of him, he will returnen. Such skills could proven useful in the battle against the ghisarma." She didn't elaborate beyond that, and Primrose assumed that H'aanit was referring to the Darkwood lore that H'aanit had mentioned in passing when speaking of the mission at hand. Apparently, it was one of the reasons that H'aanit had been selected for this mission on top of her natural strength.
H'aanit kept walking without any hesitation after that, and Primrose couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips. H'aanit was a powerful fighter, and there was no way that anyone could even come close to denying such a fact. If Primrose was being honest, she found H'aanit to be one of the most impressive battlers that she had ever crossed paths with. It seemed as if the huntress was simply full of surprises, and Primrose couldn't help but feel as if that was something she needed more than she was willing to admit openly to the rest of the group.
Primrose kept one eye on H'aanit as their journey continued. A bitter voice in the back of her mind reminded her that she had found Yusufa to be full of surprises to the end as well, and something in Primrose's stomach twisted with sudden, dreadful brutality. Primrose had seen more than enough bloodshed in her time, but she couldn't seem to shake the image of Yusufa's death from her mind. Once again, she felt as if there was blood crusted beneath her fingertips even though she knew better than to know that was the truth. Primrose stared at her hands in the most nonchalant way that she could manage, though she knew that Therion was staring at her. She could feel his piercing gaze from nearby, but Primrose didn't have the nerve to turn around and face him. All of a sudden, the wind of the woods seemed all too similar to the winds of grief and sorrow that had blown into her life the moment that Helgenish reached for his knife.
Primrose had never been the type to put down roots. She didn't want to slip into anything that would hurt her in the long term, especially when she was concentrated on such an important mission as avenging her father by murdering his killers. Even so, her own precautions hadn't been able to save her from the overwhelming grief that had come with Yusufa's death. Yusufa's murder had been her fault in the first place, hadn't it? This was what happened when she allowed herself to get attached. No matter how interesting she found H'aanit or anyone else to be, she couldn't fall into that trap ever again. She had made that mistake once already, she refused to allow history to repeat itself.
Despite these thoughts though, Primrose knew that there was something inside of her that was shifting. She felt something akin to care toward the rest of the group as well, and that wasn't something that she could deny. She hadn't expected to grow close with them so soon, but she couldn't outrun the fact of the matter. She was getting attached once again, and Primrose found herself making a mental note to resolve this issue before it could grow worse. It would be best for everyone that way.
The Woodlands continued to sprawl before Primrose in an endless cycle, but she didn't notice it until after H'aanit held up a hand to stop everyone. They were on the edge of the Whisperwood, it seemed. In other words, they were getting closer to their destination. Primrose did her best to shove all thoughts of grief, attachment, and fear to the back of her mind. After all, she had another mission to focus on, and she couldn't get distracted, even if the distractions were people themselves.
H'aanit's chapter is another one that's surprisingly light on dialogue. Alfyn's remains the story with the least dialogue, but hers is a close second to that. As such, we get more time with the full team together, and that's fine with me. After all, the group is finally complete with her arrival, and it's going to be that way for the rest of the story. Hell to the yeah!
Ophilia's halfway divine encounters once again pushed the group's dynamic toward accepting one new person. I promise that there will be an explanation for this provided soon enough, more specifically after the end of the first chapters. Things are going to be fun after that since there's much more room for creative freedom. I'm looking forward to seeing the team spread out a bit more in a sense. After all, there's no other routine of people coming in halfway into the chapter, so that will make things much easier to manage.
I do have one little update on this story outside of the content: I've decided that this story is going to be receiving Thursday updates after H'aanit's chapter one ends. From there, I'm going to have to divide my attention, and I'm going to give this story its full attention in the first half of the week so that it can be updated on Thursday. Updates will be weird for two more chapters before then, so... Woohoo.
Anyways, I'm going to end things off here. Next time, we'll continue H'aanit's chapter one once more. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed. Feedback is always appreciated. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital