Author's Note: Ok, I'm sorry. I don't know if this story will ever be finished as I have lost the inspiration to continue. Most of the characters in this story don't even exist anymore, and the people who played them are asking for their newer characters in it instead. Considering how old this is, and the many updates iRO has had, most of the content wouldn't make any sense to newer players of RO. I'm sorry to those who have been eager to read more. I'm thinking about taking this story down and rebuilding the whole thing if time allows. I do thank everyone so much for their comments and reviews of this story. I am sorry that I didn't get it finished, but truth is, I had no idea where I really wanted to go with it.
Anyhow, I invite anyone to read what is there, but hope you know that it most likely will not be finished. Thanks again everyone.
"THAT'S IT?", came a yell from inside Prontera's bounty hunting headquarters that sits in the middle of the city. "You have got to be kidding me!"
"Nope, sorry miss. Your kills here aren't exactly on Midgard's most dangerous list," said the officer behind the counter. He leaned over looking over the items, shaking his head lightly at the annoyed, red headed, young Huntress in front of him. Sprawled out on the counter between them lies a small sack of random items, ranging from Jellopies to Decaying Nails, none of which was considered to be worth more than one hundred zenny a piece.
"But, but..." she stammered, thinking about the work she put into getting the small, but well worked for, load. Admittedly, it wasn't a lot. And looking over it again herself, she realized the man was right, though she never liked to admit something like that.
"Aww, forget it. Just give me my damn zenny," she huffed, picking up the sack and shoving it in the man's face. Looking a bit annoyed himself at her rude behavior, the officer took the bag and dropped the reward of a few thousand zenny carelessly on the counter in front of him.
"Here's a bit of advice," he sniffed, "stop taking on the small stuff and maybe you'll actually get something better."
"Whatever," she groaned, scooping up the scattered coins into her purse, then heading out the door, slamming it on the way out in frustration.
Outside, the sun shone down in her crystal blue eyes, making her wince at the bright, blazing afternoon sun light. She blinked a few times trying to bring the street into view.
As her eyes started to become adjusted, she glanced around at her busy surroundings. As usual, the streets of Prontera were packed. Everyone was running around in a crazy frenzy, trying to get what they needed from the many merchants and blacksmiths that lined the street's edges. Shouts of items for sale and pleas for items to buy were cried out, as clattering anvils suggested that blacksmiths were taking on jobs from the many random fighters for new and improved weapons.
Prontera was Rune-Midgard's capital city and easily the largest one. Every class could be seen here, either passing by, paying taxes, shopping, forging, or anything else imaginable. Its streets were always packed, from the southern entrance, leading all the way to the castle up north.
Prontera was also a prime city for attack. The war between humans and monsters was never-ending, thus strong monsters always made an attempt to attack the city under the lead and control of greater demons. Along with Prontera's main defense, the Prontera Chivalry, other fighters would always help when needed to keep the capital safe.
There have been only a few times in history where the city has been hit hard, but that only made it more secure in ages to come. Nowadays it was a peaceful city on average, thus keeping it busy with business and the likes.
The Huntress sighed, walking sulkily over to a nearby bench. Slipping her quiver and hunter bow off from her shoulder, she plopped herself down to assess her assets. She untied her coin purse and poured out the light contents into her hand. The sight made her grimace. "A lousy three thousand zenny," she sighed again, "just great..."
"Chisato! Hey Chisato! Are we rich?" came a small, squeaky voice from below the Huntress. Glancing over, she recognized the Poring it came from.
"Tsk, no Cornflakes, not even close. I'd say we're still in the poorhouse ... Wait. No. Even that's too good for us. Maybe the gutter, if we get lucky," Chisato replied grimly.
"Awww..." sighed the Poring, sounding disappointed.
Chisato sat back, outstretching her legs and crossing them together, resting her arms on either side of her across the bench and lifted her head to look up into the semi-cloudless sky. Her long red hair moved out of her face and lay back gently, blowing lightly in the breeze. She breathed in deeply, trying to clear her thoughts.
Cornflakes bounced up from the ground and landed with a squished plop next to her. "What's wrong?" he inquired, seeing she had a distant look on her face.
"It's time we start looking for bigger kills. This chump change I'm raking in just isn't cutting it anymore," she said, not bothering to look at him but keeping her gaze skyward.
"Ha, I've been telling you that all along! Don't I always say 'Chisato, let's go deeper into the pyramids,'" Cornflakes began in a sing song tone. "Chisato, let's try something harder than the graveyard at Glast Heim.' Which, by the way, I know you only hang out in there because there's always some Priest or Acolyte to help or heal you if you get hurt. Or how about 'Chisato, let's-'"
"All right!" she snapped, swinging her head down and around to look down at the Poring, agitated.
Cornflakes never knew when to keep his mouth shut. He was a little bugger and she let him know it. Always running his mouth at her despite he knew he'd get scolded. She knew he did it just to annoy her.
"But anyway," she began, moving her head back skyward, "we need to start thinking big, or else this is all we'll ever get."
Her gaze became glazed over as she was going deeper in thought, ignoring the busy sounds around her of shuffling feet, clanging hammers and armor, and the voices of the crowd.
The great Chisato Arkain. HA! The people back home in Alberta would laugh at her now if they saw her. She insisted to them she would become a great, rich and maybe even famous Huntress. This was going against her family that was made up mostly of Swordies, Knights and Crusaders, with the exception of the occasional clergy members and merchants. They'd tell her all the time that everyone would rather have a Knight or a Crusader fight by their side. They were more powerful, could stand up to greater foes, they raked in the money.
Hunters, on the other hand, were frowned upon. They were only good for trapping monsters and then cowardly killing them from a distance. Or they would steal your hard earned kills by hitting them from afar while hiding while you were stuck taking all the damage from it. "And," they would remind her daily, "traps and arrows don't come cheap. You'll spend all your earned zenny just buying more."
Her family mocked her relentlessly for her choice. Because of them, she grew to almost resent the Knight class. She had to remind herself constantly not to let them make her hate like that. Still, she found she avoided them when she could, and felt she had to prove she didn't need them. She could do it on her own just as well, if not better, than they could.
She felt her lips fall into a frown. Doubtful thoughts of whether she made the right choice started to invade her thoughts. 'Maybe they were right...,' she started to think to herself hopelessly, then stopped immediately and shook her head. 'No, no! I can't let them prove me wrong. I will do this. I will make a name for myself. I will not go back there letting them know I'm a failure. I will not give them the satisfaction of making them think they were right!' she thought, changing her look of self pity to that of determination.
"Hey, Chisato," she heard Cornflakes' voice breaking her train of thought. The Poring bounced over from her side to her lap, looking up at her with big, sad, sappy black eyes, "I'm hungry."
She sat up and looked down on him bewildered, "Again? You just ate! Geeze, Cornflakes, all you ever think about is food," she bellowed. She stared down on him hard, her eyes locked onto his still pleading sappy eyes until a sudden rumble interrupted the staring contest, making her sneer twist into a sheepish grin. The noise came from her own stomach.
"Well, it's either buy food and then go broke, or buy supplies and hope for something good to supply our pockets later," she said. Cornflakes made a screechy squeaky sound that could be interpreted as a whine.
"Umm, excuse me. Miss?" A soft spoken male voice beckoned from her side. She turned her head up to gaze upon a well built Knight. Chisato stared at him for a few moments, uneasy, finding that her hand was clinging onto her bow.
He was taller than her and more muscular, with armor covering majority of his body. The Kitty Headband he wore in his short, shaggy, silver hair didn't make for much of a helmet though. On his side, in a hilt, lay a Fire Claymore, showing he was also well armed. If he was there on unfriendly terms she wouldn't last long against him. The distance between them was small; his sword would have at her before she could even pull an arrow back to fire at him. Her distrust in Knights was a strong one.
Staying quiet, she observed his face. She then realized that the gentle stare from his silver eyes, that perfectly matched his hair, showed he probably wasn't much of a threat at all. The genuine smile on his lips backed up that fact. Though what could he want, she wondered.
"Erm, yes?" she said finally, feeling a bit awkward.
"Sorry, but I just happened to be close by and couldn't help overhearing your predicament. I thought this might help you," he said, holding out a gloved hand to her.
"What is it?" she inquired, cocking a puzzled brow at him.
"Just a few extra zenny I thought you could use," he smiled.
Chisato cringed. 'I'm a charity case now? Geeze, have I sunk this low?' she thought to herself. She shook her head, "No, sorry, I can't accept that," she said bluntly. Chisato didn't like to accept charity from anyone, and there was no way in hell she was going to accept it from a Knight.
Cornflakes began to bounce up and down on her lap. "What? Why not, why not!" he squeaked anxiously.
"Because," she said through gritted teeth, "the last thing I need is to hurt my pride even more by becoming a beggar."
"I understand," the Knight said nodding, moving his hand back to his side and slipping the contents from his hand back into the small pouch on his belt. "But, how about I give you the chance to earn it instead?"
"That depends," she said suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest. "So long as the job doesn't concern taking care of your personal wants and needs, if you know what I mean," she said, giving him a piercing stare that if he even thought about it he'd be in deep trouble.
"No no no, nothing like that," said the Knight, as a shade of pink invaded his cheeks. "Actually I'm looking for a party to accompany a friend of mine and myself for a hunt at Geffen Tower tomorrow. A Hunter would make a perfect addition to it. So, if you are interested, I can help pay for your supplies and throw in a bit extra for your services."
"Hmmmm...," she thought, moving her hand to her chin, rubbing it a bit and then looking down the antsy Poring on her lap. His sappy black eyes gave her a pleading look as if she didn't take this, he would soon burst.
"Yes, I guess I could do that," she said finally, looking back the Knight with a grin. The proposal was too tempting to pass up, she would be foolish to anyway. She wouldn't normally work for a Knight, but he seemed very nice, and she really needed the zenny. Desperate times called for desperate measures, she thought to herself. She could swallow her pride just this once, or else it would be the only thing she would be eating.
"Excellent," he said sounding pleased, as Cornflakes bounced around on her lap happily. He reached for his coin purse and poured out a nice sized pile of zenny into his hand. "This should pay for your supplies," he said as he reached out his hand to her awaiting one. "And by the way my dear, what's your name?"
"Chisato Arkain," she said as he placed the zenny into her hands, her eyes glittering with the shine of it in the sun. She didn't want to look greedy as she gazed upon the pile, and maneuvered swiftly to put the contents into her purse. "And you?"
"Aaogan Blaine," he nodded. "I shall meet you tomorrow at noon outside of Geffen Tower. Be sure to stock up on elemental arrows and as many traps as you can carry," he winked.
"Sure thing," she grinned, standing up to shake his hand as Cornflakes slid off her lap to the ground with a plop.
He shook her hand then proceeded on his way down the streets of Prontera, turning for one last moment to remind her to also get a good meal for herself and the Poring, before he eventually vanished into the crowd.