Wildlands: A Hunter's Life

Jane tilted her head and looked at Seth and back at Evelin.
"Huh you mean you aren't star crossed lovers? " She grabbed her chin and began thinking for a moment
"Just from the sound of her, and seeing she doesn't have a weapon i assumed she was the hunter who lost her weapon. A noblewoman deciding to escape the boring family life and try her hand hiding as a hunter... Hmmm Oh well. I figured you were her brave knight who had saved her, cornered and helpless she was about to accept when you swooped in and took her to safety. Enchanted by her beauty you decided to remain by her side till the day she is willing to wed you, untill then you are her loyal guard and protector.... Maybe i've read one too many romance novels...ah AH!"
Jane seemed to suddenly realize the huge assumption she made about the two strangers she was about to hunt with.
"Ahaha, well uhh we all packed? Everyone go what they need? Haaa...."
Jane quickly began changing the subject, she checked her supplies and was ready to go.
"The contract stated the general area but i'm betting you two know exactly where you dropped the weapon, want to meet at base camp or head straight for the weapon?"

 

As Soarael dosed off he didn't notice that Jane was leaving. Reaching over to his side he grabbed onto a Twig, pulled out his dagger, and began carving it into an arrow. though he didn't need any he wanted to stay sharp on arrow making. Letting out a sigh he looked up towards the sky again and noticed the sun was going to set soon, standing up, he picked up his equipment and began walking towards the guild hall. Since he never put away his dagger he started marking trees so he could create a new path for everyone to follow.

"Things used to be so simple." Soarael said out loud though no one was around him. "I know the people of the council don't trust me. I only gained my ambassador status because of what I am, aside from my skill." Soarael shook his head to try and blank the thoughts out. Finally before he reached the guild hall he carved onto the tree. "Welcome to the guild." walking up to the doors he opened them. he smiled towards everyone, and waved.

"Back for the night, I hope everyone is enjoying their days!" Soarael said before he started making his way to a place to sleep.

 

I felt my face go red as Jane explained her thoughts. Casting a furtive glance at Seth I saw that he was a little distraught over it too. Quickly looking away I managed to catch the last of what Jane was saying.

"It's getting late, wouldn't it be better to wait for daylight? Also," I looked to the ground in shame, "I-uh I don't have a weapon to use right now."

 

Seth gave Jane that look you give someone when you realize they might be a crazy person.
"...Riiight."
It was obvious that they wanted to change the subject as soon as possible.
"Uh-huh. So we're just gonna glaze over that whole thing, is that the idea?"
He gave an approving nod.
"Okay, I'm good with that, no complaints here."
He laughed and gave a quick glance to Evelin.
"But seriously, how crazy would that be if you really were a noblewoman turned hunter? I mean, what are the odds of that? It really would be something out of a romance novel."
There was an awkward pause, then he cleared his throat.
"I mean, uh...not that I read romance novels or anything. I don't get into girly stuff like that. I only do macho stuff like chopping wood...and fishing. You know, man hobbies."
He clapped his hands together and looked to Jane with a wide smile.
"So yeah, you were saying something about meeting at the base camp? Sounds great! Let's do that, in fact, let's do that right now.

 

"What, you don't like romance at all?" I asked Seth with feigned offense. "Such a big burly hunter, always out alone on hunts. Return to the wife and kids with a hunk of monster meat, maybe stick around for the nightly activities before going back out? What's your weapon's name?"

I was teasing him just a little bit to relieve the awkwardness of the situation.

 

"Okay, lets go then!" Jane motioned for Seth and Evelin to follow her. The group set out back to the edge of the forest and hills are bordering on the flooded plains, Jane found the open grounds and began making a base camp. She set up a fire and tent while pulling out a map of the area, she studied it and found the cave mentioned. To be sure she turned to Seth and Evelin.
"This the place ya? Come on let's head, the sooner we can get the weapon the stronger we get and the easier this hunt will be"
Pulling her Greatsword out she began sharpening it while waiting for the others response.

 

Seth rolled his eyes, brushing off Evelin's teasing.
"Big, burly Hunter, huh? Tell that to all the guys who kept making fun of me for being too small to be a "real" hunter. And what do they know, anyhow? Just because I don't have biceps the size of a small house...I've got these handy little things called "agility" and "technique," which those guys wouldn't know the first thing about. It's all in the kill count and I beat them by a mile, baby!"
With a slightly smug laugh, he finally got around to answering he last question, motioning to his sword.
"Well, I haven't given it a real name, but I like to call it The Undertaker 'cause it's put more monsters in the ground than I can count."

Seth gave the map a quick look and nodded.
"That's the one, alright."
He looked to Jane and nodded.
"I'm ready if you are. I figure the sooner we get there, the better. Call me crazy, but I don't trust that old man...he might end up sending someone else after us and I'm not about to let them take center stage from us!"
He then looked to Evelin, motioning for her to come over.
"How about you, Evvie? You ready to go?"

 

Evvie!? My mind reeled for a moment at his sudden familiarity. To get back at him I tried to think of something to call him in return... but Seth, Seth, you can't do anything clever with that name.

"I'm ready, let's go get my gear back."

 

"Let's head out then, the sooner you get your gear the better. Just to be on the save side stick close to one of us till you get your lance back" Putting her sword away Jane got up and began heading to the cave

As she did however she heard a snap of a twig and turned instantly drawing her greatsword and moving in front of Evelin using it as a sheild. After a few seconds she stopped using it as a sheild and readied her stance to investigate what the sound was.
"Blasted Jaggi, though i cleared all of you out, seems one though it could sneak up on us."
Jane walked over to the sound sword draw ready to strike if she found anything.

!roll d20 #jane finds something; d20 #jane sees nothing

 

Seth drew his sword when the tiger appeared, looking confident with a wry grin on his face as he took a close look at the beast.
"Well, this just got interesting. Hey there, kitty. Did you come out to play?"
He stepped forward to confront the tiger, staring him down without a hint of fear in his eyes. He took an aggressive posture, but he wasn't going to make the first move. He was standing his ground and trying to make the tiger back down through intimidation and sheer force of will.
"Calm down, big guy. I know you don't really wanna fight."
No matter how fearsome the tiger looked, Seth matched his gaze, hoping that he would lose the will to fight.


!roll d20 #Seth intimidates the tiger, forcing him to back down; d20 #Seth fails to intimidate the tiger

 

The tiger launched itself out of the foliage with a loud roar. Instinctively I ducked as the massive creature flew over my head, something wet hit my face as it sailed by. Turning around I saw it bear its teeth and growl at me. Though I hadn't been a hunter for very long, I still had my wits about me even in the face of the unexpected. My hand dug through my bomb bag reaching for the first one I could find. I gripped one when all of a sudden Riiiiiiisnap! and the bag fell from around my shoulder to the ground, spilling the orbs and cylinders everywhere. The bomb i had been holding bounced to stop at my foot.

Knowing I couldn't pick any of them up before the tiger had those hot jaws around my throat, the piercing agony as it bit down crushing my neck and mixes it's saliva into my blood as I would eventually end up inside of its stomach. Jane put herself between me and the tiger in that moment, her armored back and big sword taking me from the brink of imagined death and into a place of safety.

My pride kicked up in the back of my mind, AGAIN! YET AGAIN! Why do I keep having to rely on others to take care of me? Isn't that what I took those lessons for behind Father's back?

I stood close behind Jane, peering out around her shoulders at the tiger as Seth stepped forward and gave it a commanding look. The tiger seemed to relax, but I couldn't be sure. I hadn't been around any live tigers before.

 

Seth had to shake the baffled look off of his face before he responded, sounding more than a little indignant.
"So your tiger comes over here looking to eat us for lunch and all of a sudden, we're the bad guys? How do you figure that?"
He sheathed his sword and continued, though he still kept his hand on its hilt just in case things took a turn for the worse.
"Well, if you really must know, we're Hunters and we're out here on a job. There's a couple of Giggi...Gig...really big, mean-looking monsters out here that could really cause some trouble if they're left alone. We're gonna make sure that doesn't happen."
He then motions to Evelin.
"Also, we need to get her weapon back. Long story."
Matching the mysterious girl's gaze, Seth had a few questions of his own.
"Our turn. What are you doing out here and why does it seem like you're looking for a fight? It's not gonna come to that, right?"

 

"Gigginox, large but flat wyverns that consume most everything in their path. The pose a great threat if left unchecked, not only to the forest but traders and people of my village" She pulled out a small copy of the monster compendium and showed a drawing of the beasts. It was then it struck Jane, what the woman had said. "Wait you live out here? By your self or did a settlement pop up in at the edge of the Forest and hills region? If so you guys need to let the villages or guild know, living out here on your own would be incredibly dangerous" Jane extended our her hand then spoke again to the woman "We can help you out after we finish hunting if you would like, I'm Jane...kinda forgot to introduce myself earlier but any who, what do you say miss.... hmmm now that i think on it you didn't introduce yourself either"

 

Seeing that Mila wasn't a threat-- though he was still suspicious of the tiger-- Seth relaxed his stance and took a few steps closer as the two girls talked. He shot a quick "I'm watching you" look to Fele before turning his attention to Mila with a friendly smile.
"The name's Seth, nice to meet you. If this forest is your home then sorry for barging in, we're just passing through.
He pulled out a map and pointed to the cave that he and Evelin were at earlier.
"See, this is where we need to get to. We saw the Gigginox fighting each other and ran for it since we, uh...weren't exactly in a position to fight back at the time. But we're ready for round two, baby!"
He flashed a confident smirk and continued.
"So...you really live all the way out here with just Fele? That sounds kinda...lonely."
He motioned towards the general direction of the cave.
"You wanna come hunting with us? You're worried about the forest and we're worried about those things getting, well, just about anywhere, so it makes sense for us to work together. What do you say? It should be a fun time."