V4E6: A Peace Disturbed
The township of Agrighol would be a glorified pitstop for the people passing through the train station were it not for its diverse and vibrant forests as well as its unusually fertile soil. Farming and foraging, along with tourism from the natural beauty of the place, were the main economic drive of Agrighol. This led to a hearty and wholesome populace who, despite being so far away from the main population centre of Mistral, were quite content and self-sufficient. If they couldn't make something themself, there usually was an artisan who could do the job for a high, but still fair price.
Hope walked down the cobblestone road of the old but lively town. He crossed another name off a list on his scroll with a sigh.
"No vacancies again..." he complained.
It's been three hours and he still hadn't found a place to stay the night. He groaned in annoyance as the name of the hotel that had to turn him away joined at least half a dozen others.
"I really don't want to sleep outside..."
Summer popped out of the ground, circling Hope like a moth to a flame.
"There are camping grounds, you could just camp and rent an air mattress."
Hope grimaced neutrally, not hating the idea.
"That's not a bad idea, but I'd rather have insulated walls. It's getting chilly."
"It is Autumn in Mistral."
As he wandered the sidewalk aimlessly, Hope noticed a lot of uncomfortable stares. He sighed, already having gotten more than a few in the last hours. He already knew he was hard to look at now but most people he interacted with would get over it quickly.
But that time, it did kind of hurt.
A father was having a walk with his daughter and they came across the Hero of Vale. The young girl retreated behind her father, whimpering in fear.
"Daddy, why is that man's face so scary?"
Hope flinched, his heart squeezing painfully. The father looked horrified at what his child had said.
"S-sweety, you can't just say things like that!"
Hope picked up the pace, holding his collar up to hide his face. The father reached out to him powerlessly but Hope left before he could apologize for his child's inadvertently cruel words. Hope sighed as he hid in an alleyway, stroking his scar. He felt Summer's arm hold him dearly in a motherly embrace.
"Children... Can say mean things they don't intend," she reassured.
Hope nodded.
"I know... It just... It still hurts."
A sudden scream alerted him of nearby skullduggery and Hope's switch flipped from moody and sad to Huntsman. He ran out just as a man wearing a bandana collided into his arm, sending the masked man to scrambling off the ground. Then three words reached his ears.
"THIEF!" a woman with a heavy accent shouted. "PURSE SNATCHER."
Hope sighed and prepared to give chase, but another person ran by. A young man, no older than sixteen with a field worker's tan, black hair and hazel eyes.
He already knew his name, but the woman once again beat him to the punch.
"OSCAR, YA DAFTY! DON'T!"
"STAY PUT, MA!" Oscar Pine yelled back in a thinner accent as he chased the thief. "I'LL CATCH THE BASTARD!"
Hope paused dramatically as he watched the scene unfold.
"Was that a fucking Irish accent?"
The thief bobbed and weaved his way out of the crowd and into the back alleys, the purse he snatched flogging around as he ran. Resounding steps followed him and the thief looked back to see a kid half his age running toward him. The man spat as he tried to shake the kid off by zig-zagging between different back alleys, but the young farm hand was persistent and surprisingly attentive. But he could tell the boy was young and inexperienced, not yet aware that low blows ruled over honesty. A pocket full of sand to the eyes made the young man groan in pain before colliding with a wall. The thief smirked as he lost the young man.
Oscar rubbed his eyes, his forehead red and bleeding slightly from a scratch he got when he ran head-first into a brick wall.
"Darn it!" he cussed. "Ma's purse..."
He felt a warm hand lay on his shoulder but through pained tears, the young farmhand couldn't see much. What he did see was the man holding out his hand.
"Thank you, sir..." Oscar said as he finally managed to rub the grains out of his eyes.
The man had a burn scar that ran from his left eye and down his cheek, probably reaching further down his neck and shoulder. The young man squirmed sympathetically, having seen one of his uncles having suffered a similar wound when a barn caught fire. His sympathy furthered once he saw the brace around his leg and his cane. The farmhand took the stranger's hand with a sad smile, trying his best to not lean too much into the scarred man for support.
"You're welcome..." Hope was about to call Oscar by his name but chose to hold back. "Looks like your thief is getting away..."
The young man sighed in self-disappointment.
"Son-of-a-Birch has guile, I'll give him that."
Hope snickered.
"Birch?"
Oscar blushed.
"Ma would rinse out me mouth with soap if I said bad words."
Hope shook his head in amusement with a chuckle.
"Oh dear..."
Hope turned around, waving him to follow.
"Come now, thief's getting away."
Oscar stared at the man in confusion.
"But, we don't know where he could be!" Oscar protested. "He disappeared into the alleyways!"
Hope smiled mysteriously as he looked into the alleyway, a line of ethereal rose petals lying on the floor neatly.
"Who said he disappeared?"
The thief slowed down as he stopped hearing hurried steps behind him. Coming to the Animan boonies had been the biggest mistake he could have made, but Torchwick and Junior's little enterprise had gone up in smoke along with half of Vale. Madame Malachite had no job for him either since she had enough informants at the moment, leaving him to, of all things, purse snatching and burglary. Low, downright pathetic, but it paid and he doesn't end up hungry.
Unfortunately, he just had to meddle with someone he shouldn't have.
The thief heard steps behind him, along with the tapping of a cane. He whipped his head around and came face to face with a man missing half of his face. He grimaced and took a step back, reaching for something under his coat.
"Hey, freakshow!" the thief yelled menacingly. "Clear off, if you don't want trouble!"
Hope said nothing, staring blankly at the man.
"Piss off! I'll bleed you dry!" the thief threatened.
Hope simply smirked as he began power walking towards the thief. The thief felt that something was off about Hope. Something felt wrong about the look in his dead eye and his cadence, like his obvious infirmity wouldn't stop him from pounding his face into mulch. Something sinister was hiding behind that blind orb, something incredibly angry. As the man in the blue coat approached, the thief noticed a slight limp in his walk. He smiled when he realized the cane wasn't just for show and just scoffed out a chuckle before dashing away.
"Freaking cripple!"
The thief smiled cruelly as he left Hope in the dust, zig-zagging between alleyways just to reinforce the point that the crippled seer could never find him. He stopped running once he was inside an empty alleyway and took out the purse. It rattled a lot, so the woman he stole it from was either an always-prepared worrywart or a hoarder. Either way, the bag itself was good quality and was, at least, worth the trouble of stealing it. As he opened the zipper and readied to pilfer his prize, he heard steps and the clacking of a cane on the cobblestone.
The thief whipped his head around and from the darkness of the alleyway emerged He called Hope.
The startled thief took a step back, incredulous.
"You again?!" he blurted. "How did you-"
Hope simply smiled as he held a finger to his mouth. The thief backed away further, the sinister feeling in his heart growing. That man wasn't normal, something was deeply, deeply wrong with him. He felt something cold run through him and a feeling of dread squeezed his heart. The thief ran, now devoid of his previous arrogance, having replaced it with fear. but no matter how hard he ran or how many times he switched alleyways at complete random, the cane toadding man always found him. Soon enough, his stamina drained almost completely and the thief had to stop to take a breath. The sound of the clanking cane returned, as did the scarred man. The thief backed away in fear, shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"S-stay back! Stay back, you bastard!"
The scarred man tilted his head with an evil smile, pointing around the thief with his gloved hand. The thief looked at where he was pointing but as he looked around, the feeling of dread completely took him over as he realized he was back at the alleyway where the scarred man first found him. The man had effectively corraled him back to their starting point without realizing it. The thief staggered back until he heard something coming from behind. As he turned around, the same boy that was chasing him earlier tackled him right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The thief coughed harshly as Oscar ripped the purse out of his hand.
"I got it!" Oscar shouted triumphantly.
The thief growled as he held the side of his stomach. Hope approached, walking past the man and towards Oscar, all while wearing a smug look.
"You did, boy." Hope praised. "Nice tackle."
The young farmhand rubbed his nose with an embarrassed smile.
"Oh, it was nothing, mister. I couldn't have done it without your help."
Hope nodded.
"True..."
Hope held out his fist, which Oscar stared at.
"Let's cut the difference and say we both did an awesome job."
Oscar beamed and bumped fist with the scarred seer. Summer swirled between the two, looking miffed.
"Hey! I'm the one who kept track of him!" She complained. "I helped the most!"
Hope brought his hands forward, setting his cane in front of him and catching Summer between himself and his walking aid. Hope pretended to stretch his hand while patting Summer's head in reality.
'Good job, luv.' Hope spoke through his mind. 'Bloody good job that was.'
Summer looked away as she blushed, pretending to not like the praise and physical affection.
"I'm not Ruby, you know..." she said, trying and failing to not be happy.
Hope grinned.
'Like daughter...'
As they celebrated, Hope heard a mechanical click and whipped around. The thief screamed as he lunged at Oscar, knife in hand. Hope pushed the farmhand away, sending him to the floor as the thief collided into him blade first. Oscar landed on his tailbone with a groan but as he saw the scene before him, his heart sank.
"MISTER!" he yelled.
A low, dark chuckle was heard and Hope grinned sinisterly. The thief shook in shock and fear as Hope held the knife's blade in his prosthetic hand.
"M-metal?!" the thief stuttered.
Hope smiled like an asshole.
"Aye, Metal."
Hope headbutted the thief, breaking his nose and making him fall to the ground. The thief held his nose with a pained complaint.
"My freaking nose!" the thief screamed in pain.
Hope snapped the knife in half in plain view of both Oscar and the thief.
"M-my knife!" the thief yelled in anguish.
Hope threw his cane up before catching it by the foot and slammed the head into the thief's jaw, sending him to the floor spinning and knocking him unconscious.
"Your consciousness." Hope added like a punchline.
Hoppe slammed his cane down and unconsciously posed dramatically, the wind blowing from the entrance of the alleyway flaring his coat. Oscar stared at the scene with stary eyes, the scumbag defeated as Hope stood heroically over his foe and ready to give him to the authorities.
"S-so cool!"
Hope blushed at the compliment despite his stoic expression, he still cringed on the inside.
'Why am I posing?! I must look like a right twat right now...'
Hope turned to Oscar and held out his hand.
"C'mon, let's get you back on your feet."
Oscar took Hope's hand and with a small grunt of effort, got off the ground. Hope squeezed the young man's hand, feeling little calluses on his palm, born of hard but honest work. Hope shook the hand he held.
"My name is Hope."
Oscar smiled wholesomely.
"Name's Oscar Pine, mister Hope!" he presented himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Hope smiled mysteriously but despite his playfulness, his smile was tainted with the sad knowledge of Oscar's destiny.
'I know, kid... I know...'
The deputy sheriff came quick as lightning once he had heard that someone was causing trouble. He groaned in annoyance as he came too late but his aggravation gave way to worry as the victim, one Erin Pine, recounted how her son ran to stop the thief and hadn't returned after losing him in the commotion. Erin herself, a powerful matronly sort with a face as beautiful as her curves were big, looked like she was about to have a panic attack. Her boy must mean a lot to her and the fact he hasn't yet returned made her worry grow into fear that the boy might have been hurt.
She didn't even want to think of a worse situation, for fear of completely breaking down.
A small crowd had formed around her. Despite the town being on the larger end, most people knew each other and were on friendly terms a lot of the time. Erin was the foremost nanny in town, almost like a second mother to a lot of the younger folk and an older sister to the working parents who were glad to have her to fill in for them when work got in the way of family. They weren't surprised that Oscar ran to apprehend the scumbag thief, seeing as he was Liam Pine's son, but seeing Erin like this just hurt.
The Deputy heard some strange murmuring as a gap in the crowd formed. suddenly, a young boy emerged from the crowd. Erin held her mouth as she recognized her son, tears flowing down her face.
"OSCAR!" she blubered as she buried her son in an embrace.
The young man felt his mother's arms crush his back and groaned.
"M-ma! Quit that!"
"Ya damned, dirty bastard son of mine!" she blubbered as she squeezed harder. "You have no idea how mortified I was!"
Oscar tapped on her shoulders urgently, non-verbally begging his mother to please stop smothering him. As she was killing her son with love, Erin noticed that Oscar had her purse. She let go of her boy and glared in shock at her stolen bag.
"Y-you got me purse back?"
Oscar nodded frantically, looking like he was about to bounce off the wall.
"I have!"
Oscar gave the purse back and to the woman's surprise, nothing was missing inside.
"Nothing's missing?" The matron pointed out.
"Nope!" Oscar admitted proudly. "We made sure the bastard didn't get the chance to take anything!"
Both the deputy and Erin jolted at a certain detail.
"We?" The deputy repeated.
The crowd parted as a man carrying another man over his shoulder walked forward. The deputy's eyes bulged out of his sockets in recognition once he saw Hope's scarred face.
"Y-you're-"
The supposedly dead Hero of Vale looked at the deputy and held a finger to his mouth. The man froze but didn't say anything, obeying the silent order. The seer dropped the thief at the deputy's feet, the scumbag in question still unconscious. The crowd began to murmur about what happened even before Hope opened his mouth.
"Yes, we." Hope confirmed.
He turned to the mother of Oscar.
"Care to confirm?"
The woman looked down scornfully, recognizing the idiot who robbed her.
"That's the bastard alright!"
The deputy nodded and proceeded to arrest the ruffian. not that he needed to since he was already unconscious but he needed to stick to protocol. The crowd slowly dispersed, as only those who knew the Pines directly stayed to congratulate Oscar, who was all too happy to recount the event. Funnily enough, the boy didn't embellish anything and even recounted his less-than-stellar moments. Erin approached Hope, who stood aside to let Oscar have the spotlight. The matron bowed her head deeply.
"Thank you for keeping me boy safe, stranger."
Hope tipped an invisible hat.
"My pleasure, ma'am."
The older woman smiled as Oscar was getting chided by his school friends for getting hit with one of the oldest tricks in the books: Pocket sand.
"That boy's reckless sometimes. Sometimes, he gets into fights with school bullies or wrestles with farm animals... But he's me and me husband's most precious treasure."
Hope nodded quietly, his heart clenched in the claws of dread.
"That's wonderful..."
"I don't know what I would have done if he had been hurt..."
Hope clenched the front of his jacket, the dreadful feeling becoming worse.
'Fuck... If you love him so much then please, for the love of Heaven and Hell, stop raising fucking red flags!'
"I sincerely don't know what I can do to repay you." The matron continued.
Hope waved his hand dismissively.
"You don't owe me anything."
Erin stood firm.
"I insist! You kept me boy out of harm's way and from the way he tells it, you practically saved his life!"
Hope sighed, already guessing that Oscar's mother was going to be as pigheaded as he was. Summer floated over and whispered into his ear.
"Since we're looking for a place to stay, why don't we ask her to refer us to a good place?"
Hope nodded at the good idea since it killed two birds with one stone. Locals referring someone was always good for business and if that person is close with the owner, it could incur some discounts. Hope gets a place to sleep, and Erin fulfills the debt she believes she owes. It could work.
"I see... Then, could you help me with something?"
The woman stood to attention dutifully.
"I'm on my way to Mistral City but my train got attacked and is being repaired." He explained. "I need a place to stay but all the motels I've looked at are full."
She nodded in understanding.
"A place to stay, huh?"
"Aye, for a few days at least. A week at most."
Oscar's mother held her chin pensively, deep in thought.
"So you came from the train too, huh..."
She shrugged powerlessly.
"I know a few motel owners but they're on the more..."
"Overpriced bracket?" Hope sighed.
She nodded reluctantly, feeling sorry for talking behind her friends' backs.
"Sorry."
Hope frowned sourly, his shoulders dropping in defeat.
"not your fault. I'll just-"
"Why don't we invite him home?"
Both adults turned around, then down, to see an excited Oscar.
"We have a guest room that we aren't using." He added. "Might as well."
Erin nodded.
"That's not a bad shout, sweety."
She turned to the Hero of Vale.
"What says you?"
Hope looked aside, where an enthusiastic Summer nodded with two thumbs up. He shrugged.
"Better than camping." he quipped as he held out his hand. "I'll be in your care, miss?"
She took his hand with a warm, strong grip. Erin smiled motherly.
"Name's Erin Pine, Mother of this little rascal over there." She teased as she ruffled Oscar's hair with her other hand.
Oscar swiped the hand away, hurriedly straightening his hairdo. Hope smiled warmly at the exchange, a lonely feeling burgeoning in his heart.
"Hope."
"A pleasure to meet you, Mister Hope."
She waved him to follow.
"Now c'mon. I'll show you our little slice of the world."
Hope tried to shake off the melancholy of a past life that still haunted him and followed in the steps of the Pines. Summer hung from his shoulder, humming a pleasant tune that Hope recognized as Let's Just Live. Hope sang along as Summer gave a backing cadence.
"Let's just live~/Day by day, and not be conquered by our sorrows.
The past can't hold us down,/we must break free."
The sadness wanned as he and Summer sang, his old burden feeling ever so slightly lighter. He smiled as Summer joined him, herself unsure as to how she knew the lyrics to a song that didn't exist in this reality.
"Inside we're torn apart,/but time will mend our hearts.
Move onward, not there yet!/So let's just live!"
Erin and Oscar turned back as Hope kept singing to himself, almost mesmerized.
"That boy's some good pipes, in'he?" Erin commented quietly to her son.
Oscar nodded silently, surprised at Hope's multitude of talents.
A twenty-minute truck ride through the country roads led Hope and the Pines from town to a slightly remote but shocking large plot of land. A modest but sturdy and homey homestead welcomed them first, flanked by a large barn complex, no doubt for housing cows and other product animals like chickens, sheep and goats, if the faint clucking and bleating Hope heard, was any indication. There was another building that he didn't know the use of as well as a few grain silos close to a massive hangar, no doubt for all of the heavy machinery needed to keep this place running. It was a vast farming complex but not as vast as the massive fields of grain stretching the rest of the plot of land.
Erin parked inside of a small garage, where the final member of their family was tinkering with What Hope believed to be a drone of some kind. The man was built like a stick, but a very sturdy stick that spends entire days in the hot sun tending his crops and animals. He was thin but his muscles were wiry and sturdy. His fingers were big, almost sausage-like in their thickness, and stained with black oil. The man turned around and jumped off his stool, his large goggles falling around his neck and revealing his small forest-green eyes.
"Erin!" he shouted.
The man locked his wife in an embrace, lifting her off the ground, revealing the strength hidden in his thin frame. The Pine family's matron laughed heartily as her beloved held her up.
"Liam, you dork!" she shatised merrily. "Put me down, we have company."
Liam Pine let go of his wife and looked at the new arrival. As soon as he saw the cane in Hope's hand, the man went to help him out of the high-gait truck.
"Need some help, son?"
Hope smiled at the helpful and very Irish man.
"Much obliged, bruv."
Hope hopped out with the help of the Pine family patriarch before shaking the hand that helped him off the truck.
"Name's Hope."
"I'm Liam O. Pine. Pleased to make yer acquaintance, boyo."
"Likewise."
His hands were rugged and hard, clearly from the countless hours he'd spent dealing with machinery. It first appeared that his hands were slick with engine oil or something similar but judging from the dryness of his hands, they had been permanently tinted a blackish hue from some artificial dye or oil. Liam recoiled slightly after having taken Hope's hand in his.
"Ye have some armour under yer glove or something?"
Hope shook his head before removing his glove, showing his mechanical appendage. Both Liam and Oscar approached, the latter was joined by his mother in frowning sympathetically as the former stared in shock.
"That thing's an ancient piece o' junk." Liam bluntly blurted.
His wife gave him a smack at the back of his head.
"Liam!" she scolded. "That man lost an arm and you talk smack about his choice o' replacement?!"
"But it is!"
Hope nodded.
"Yeah, it's an outdated hunk o' garbage. Guy's right."
Liam pointed to the seer as he glared lightly at his wife.
"See?"
Erin rolled her eyes.
"That's still no excuse to be rude."
the married couple bickered amongst themselves as Oscar stared at the prosthetic.
"If you don't mind me asking... How did you..."
Hope nodded nonchalantly.
"I don't mind, but it's kind of a long story. For the time being, I'd rather see what kind of operation you guys are running. It looks expansive."
Liam rubbed his nose proudly.
"Oh, that? Nothing more than a marvel of modern engineering!"
Erin sighed as her eyes went to the back of her head.
"Oh Bloody Nora, there he goes..." she sighed.
Liam began shining as he wrapped one of his arms around Hope's shoulders.
"This little plot o' mine is one-of-a-kind, here in the Kingdom of Mistral. It's the first completely automated, autonomous farm in the entire kingdom, and the second in the whole o' Remnant!"
He brought Hope closer.
"Why, you an investor?" he smiled greedily. "Cause this is just the beginning o' my endeavour to modernize Mistral's farming technology."
He rubbed his thumb and index together.
"I already got the patent for all my automated equipment and in a few years' time, I'll have refined the blueprints to mass produce cheaply."
Hope looked over to his workbench and could see all of the design documents that had been meticulously worked on and modified, as well as a few prototype drones that lined a tablet above the desk. All proof that he was serious and that he was constantly iterating and improving his work. Hope's professional acumen and college degree in business management screamed at him to immediately buy stocks in the elder Pine's endeavour but he shook his head reluctantly.
"Whilst I AM interested in your business now that you've shown me some of it, that's not why I'm here."
Liam gave Hope some space.
"Alright then!" he clapped his hands together. "Let's chat around a spot o' coffee then!"
...
The interior of the Pine household's kitchen felt like a time capsule from a less advanced era. Old wallpaper clinging to the wood-panelled wall, a large gas stove with soot black kettles and pots, a wooden counter covered in old cuts from hand-sharpened knives. The counter was beige with a green tartan top and the floor was checkered.
'This place is so 1970's, James May might make a tangent about it.'
Liam sat in silence simmering in quiet anger, having just learned from his wife how Hope met them.
"Fracking reprobate..." He sighed in frustration. "Ever since the Fall o' Vale, scumbags like them have been popping out o' the woodwork."
He groaned.
"Refuges have been pouring in and they keep bringing those bastards along."
His wife hit him in the leg.
"Liam, bloody heck!"
Hope nodded sadly.
"Even in desperate times, there will be those who take advantage of those who just want to live their lives, or just survive."
Oscar rubbed his arm, his free hand cradling a hot chocolate.
"You sound like you've seen your fair share of bad stuff."
Hope snorted.
"Oh yes, I've seen some serious shit in my time."
Erin coughed conspicuously, glaring at him. Hope paused then looked at Liam and Oscar, who both winced.
"Bless you..." Hope staggered out, already guessing what her problem was.
Oscar cleared his throat.
"A-anyways. Where are you from, mister Hope?" he queried. "You said that you came here by train, so did you come from the city?"
Hope shook his head.
"I came from Vale originally, but I am on my way to Mistral to..."
He paused, looking for words that wouldn't make them uncomfortable or make them believe he might actually be some kind of hitman.
"Investigate some huntsmen-related problems."
Oscar's eyes lit up.
"Are you a huntsman?"
Hope pulled out his old Beacon Student ID, letting it speak for him. Oscar's eyes began to sparkle.
"So you are!"
Hope chuckled as he tossed him his scroll.
"No, actually."
"Huh?"
He pointed at the entrance year on his card and Oscar's heart fell, his enthusiasm dying along with his voice.
"Oh..."
Hope leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
"I was a first year when Beacon fell."
Liam nodded in understanding, stoic in contrast to his significant other. Erin looked to him pityingly, staring at his facial scar. She reached for it but caught herself just as she was about to touch his face. Hope smiled sadly.
"Sight for sore eyes, aye?" he admitted as he held his scar, almost hiding it.
Hope held up his mechanical hand and crossed his legs, revealing his medical brace.
"Eye's not the only thing I lost. That day... Will live on in infamy."
A thousand yards separated his stare from the Pines. Somehow, they knew that it wasn't his first time having seen that kind of horror. But to their surprise, a genuine, proud smile appeared on his face.
"Our boys and girls are still holding the line to this day, both Huntsmen and civies. They're doing god's work and I can't help but smile at the knowledge they won't back down until either Death comes or their city is freed from evil."
Oscar and Erin smiled, glad that their guest of honour was so optimistic. In a way, it eased their hearts to know that their neighbours overseas were still fighting and going strong despite the atrocity that was levelled at them. Liam, who had yet to speak on the matter, held his chin pensively.
"How's the food situation over there?" he questioned. "I heard their agricultural sector was in tatters from the fall."
Hope shook his head.
"An exaggeration, for the most part. It's true that the Vale Minister of Agriculture got turned into Grimm chow, but the bureaucrat wasn't a farmer." He explained. "The community stuck to themselves for the most part and they've been chugging along despite the Grimms and power grid problems."
Hope smirked cruelly.
"Besides, the minister himself was widely disliked by the actual farmers for his attempted changes. You know, stuff like centralized farming and buying their lands from under them under centralization pretenses."
Liam spat on the floor in disgust.
"Good riddance!"
Erin glared at her husband, who withered under her stare.
"Clean that up, ya dafty."
"Yesma'am,sorryma'am," he mumbled as he left the table to fetch a mop.
Hope chuckled.
"But yes, we don't have everything we wish we could have, but we're getting by." He looked over knowingly at Liam, who was cleaning his mess. "But we do tend to appreciate those who are more than willing to help with our equipment and infrastructure needs."
Liam glanced at him with a raised brow as he mopped the floor.
"The Grimms are so annoying," Hope continued. "invading our fields so that we need to have guards posted up all the time. More often the not, the farmers have to do it themselves because of outbreaks taking the guards away to plug them up..."
He smiled predatorily, like a mysterious stranger making you an offer you can't refuse.
"If only we had some well-made automated farming equipment made by a distinguished genius to do the job for our poor farmers... That way, they could focus on keeping the fields safe whilst not affecting productivity and maybe even increase output."
Liam blinked before a wide, greedy smile appeared on his face. He sat back down after putting the mop away, rubbing his nose.
"Well, that sounds like a conundrum... I have been looking for investors but I guess I could lease a few o' me finished prototypes for a fair price... You know, for humanitarian purposes."
Both men chuckled suspiciously, understanding the other on a sinfully deep level.
"I'll see if I can get you into contacts with the farmer co-op, i know a few people who know a lot of people."
The elder pine grinned widely.
"It would be my pleasure."
The two men shook hands as Erin left the table to get the refilled carafe. She filled Hope's mug back up and he lifted it, nodding.
"Much appreciated, Luv."
She nodded back to him as she gave her husband a refill. Oscar leaned forward as his mother put on an apron.
"If it's not too insensitive to ask... How was life at Beacon?" He cringed. "Before... You know."
Hope smiled like an old man reliving an old memory. It had been over a year since he came to Remnant, and yet it felt like twenty. Time had just flown by despite the many trials and tribulations. He regaled the young farmhands with stories of his strange sojourn at Beacon. The reluctant entrance, the friends he'd made along the way, the pissants he got expelled and the explosive ambush at the docks. Oscar became more and more entranced with his story, looking like a child in front of a T.V. where awesome cartoon robots beat the ever-loving crap out of each other.
"Awesome..." Oscar exclaimed.
Hope nodded, though reluctantly.
"It's not an easy occupation, hell, I'd go as far as to say you shouldn't become one unless you have nerves of steel, a stubborn streak and a talent for violence. It's far from glamorous, at least the real contract."
"Real contracts?" Erin queried as she sharpened her kitchen knives with a honing rod. "You mean there are fake contracts or something?"
Hope half-nodded.
"I say real, contracts that aren't glorified escort quests."
"Escort?"
"Politicians and rich bigwigs will hire out Huntsmen as personal guards. It's well paid and the living conditions are lavish but I can't imagine how soul-crushing and mind-numbing dealing with those yuppy types for days if not weeks on end must be like..."
Hope paused.
'Actually, I know exactly how soul-crushing and mind-numbing it is...' he thought.
He sighed.
"Those types of requests are looked down on by most Huntsmen as not real contracts. It's seen as bitch work to make money easily and make political connections."
"I mean, it sounds like a good thing," Erin argued.
Hope blew raspberries.
"Pragmatically, it's damned useful to have a dust magnate or a high-level politician in your pocket but kind of goes against the romanticized vision of Huntsmen, of these neutral Grimm slayers who live and breathe to kick monster ass instead of, you know, dawdling with some mayor or governor."
Oscar nodded.
"That's true. I didn't even know these types of contracts even existed."
Hope shrugged.
"It's easy dosh."
The conversation went on, though it was mostly Oscar asking about Huntsmen. The young lad seemed to have a fascination with the profession, even with the regular doses of cold reality Hope had to inject. Even with all the sad revelations, Oscar's appreciation and genuine passion made Hope smile. As they chatted, Erin cooked up a quick snack for everyone.
"...Mac and cheese?" Summer blurted in confusion. "It's half past three! Why is she giving you that as an afternoon snack?!"
Hope parsed the deliciously crunchy and golden breadcrumb crust and found that amidst the cheesy bechamel and al dente elbow macaroni were bits of roasted meat.
'It's got steak in it too...' Hope noted mentally.
"WHAT?!"
Hope shrugged before politely but voraciously digging in, seeing as he had skipped lunch altogether. It was quite good, if really heavy for an afternoon snack. Not that the other Pines noticed or cared to. If this was indicative of their lives, then it must have been quite active to burn all those calories. Especially the thin and wiry Liam.
...
"So that was a massive lie."
Hope gently petted one of the Pine's cows as Summer stared at all of the complex machinery the animal was hooked up to. It was some kind of overdesigned milking machine but also another function that Hope wasn't privy to. At least the cows looked happy to be there, the fluffy and fat beasts that they were. They reminded Hope of Wagyu cows from Japan, who were regularly massaged and bathed with the finest of shampoos.
'What makes you say that?' he asked in his mind.
"EVERYTHING IS AUTOMATED!" she exclaimed. "The crop duster's a drone, every tractor works without input! Nothing is done by hand!"
'And that's a lie how?'
She groaned.
"Never mind..."
The cow he was petting leaned into his hand, mooing gently.
"Easy, Luv." he cooed. "I'm not going anywhere fast."
Another cow tried to push the one Hope was petting, obviously jealous at not receiving Hope's affection.
"Hey hey hey!" he scolded. "Don't push!"
The other cow exhaled through her nostrils in jealous anger as the first cow looked at her smugly. Hope began petting the other cow with his off-hand, the animal sighing pleasantly.
"See? No need to get angry!"
Oscar whistled as he passed by, a diagnostic tablet in hand.
"You're pretty good with animals, Mister Hope."
Hope hummed inquisitively.
"What makes you say that?"
"Yoko and Mami don't really like being approached by anyone but me and Ma, let alone petted. My Da still can't and he raised them since they were born!"
Hope paused, recognizing both of those references and chuckling inwardly. he shrugged as he rubbed behind Mami's ears
"I always had an easy time dealing with animals," he said. "I mean, I used to teach tricks to stray cats and dogs and they never complained."
"Talk about animal magnetism..." Summer quipped.
Oscar smiled, trying to hold down a chuckle.
"You sure you don't want to help out Da again?"
Hope wanted to flip him off but Yoko pushed her head into his hand, herself wanting ear rubs too.
"I rarely make the same mistake twice."
"C'mon, we'll let you use the truck to move the hay bales this time!"
"Fuck off."
Oscar giggled, his crystalline voice reminding Hope that he was still so young. Oscar couldn't be any older than fifteen and even if he was, puberty was having a hard time trying to make him into an adult. Hope's mood took a downturn.
"Oscar?"
"Yes?" the youth inquired.
"Are you happy with your lot in life?"
Oscar stopped tapping on the tablet and looked at the ceiling, thinking.
"Well, I always have something to do. If I'm not at school, I'm helping Ma and Da. If I have free time, I hang out with me school friends. Life gets slow sometimes, you know, being in the boonies and all."
Despite his arguably derisive words, he smiled.
"Life could be a bit more exciting, but I'm fine with the way things are. I have loving parents, funny friends and a trade I love!"
He looked back at the seer and his dazzling smile made Hope's heart sink.
"I wouldn't have it any other way!"
The seer nodded quietly, his hands lowering, much to the disappointment of the cows. Hope didn't say anything else, his hands having clenched into fists.
"I see..." He finally said.
Hope walked away.
"I'll be in the guest room," he announced. "Take it easy, Oscar."
Oscar finally noticed Hope's saddened voice despite his turned back.
"I-is something wrong, mister Hope?" he asked.
Hope's head dropped.
"There is... But it's not your fault."
"Oh! I see." Oscar's worry washed away at the confirmation. "Well, if there's anything you need, you just have to ask!"
Hope nodded, looking miserable.
"You're a good kid, Oscar." he began mumbling. "Too good for your fate..."
V4E6 - END!
NEXT ON PLAYLIST: V4E7 - PLAY?
