I finished it! =D Well, sorta... it was getting really long so I ended it as quickly as possible. Also, there's a tiny bit of violence at the end, but I'm pretty sure it's Res-appropriate still. Eh, I don't think I'll win, but it was good motivation to write, at least. I seem to be getting a little better at it.
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The warmth of the morning sun shining its way through the treetops and illuminating the leaves and gras.ses below did not distract Adrian Norwalk from his mission. He did not even notice the luscious fruits hanging from nearly every tree, glowing with life, and far more beautiful (and far, far tastier) than gems. No, the young man did not even pause when a snow white stag, the desire of all hunters, ambled quietly by. He was on a mission. His first mission, to be precise. The one that, if successful, would land him with a secure and important job, but if not, well...let's just say he would have to hope the local tavern was hiring a new barkeep.
However, the faint cries for help stopped him in his tracks. A good Adventurer always helps civilians in distress, particularly the ones of the feminine persuasion. The owner of the cries indeed sounded quite female. After taking a tiny moment to pinpoint the exact direction of the sound with his sharp hearing, he dashed off without another moment's hesitation.
The soft gras.s in that direction quickly became interspersed with rocks, and the trees gradually thinned out. He recognized that he was likely nearing a cliff, and the source of whatever was distressing the unknown woman. The cries had stopped, and he realized why when he saw two pale hands clinging to the edge of the cliff for dear life; she was much more focused on holding on right then.
“I'm coming, miss, just hold on,” he shouted. Unsurprisingly, there was no reply (except for a few indistinct words that I shouldn't repeat, and he didn't hear). He deftly navigated the jumbled maze of rocks and made it to the edge in only a few seconds. A small face with large, grey-blue eyes peeped over the edge at him, and it appeared that she had already had some small success hauling herself back up without his help. However, she gladly accepted a hand getting the rest of the way there.
Once up, she dusted herself off briskly, as casually as though she hadn't in fact just been hanging on for dear life on a cliff's unforgiving edge. She was small, with a slight build. Very sensibly, she had on a long grey tunic and cream colored leggings which, despite her efforts at brushing off, still had flecks of greyish rock dust on them. Her tawny hair was bound up at the back of her neck in linen twine, although a few tendrils of the stuff seemed to be escaping the twine and getting in her eyes.
“Thank you good sir for your as.sistance,” she said politely, brushing back one of the loose strands of hair. “Is there any way I could repay you for your good deed?” The offer of help in exchange for help was, of course, only Proper.
“Well, that is appreciated, but all I'm really in need of right now is a good weapons bearer,” he replied. Refusing being repaid in any way from a Selfless Good Deed, was of course, also very Proper, and he had always felt that stating a reason instead of a flat out refusal was even more polite.
“Oh, that's fair enough,” she said calmly. “Where are you headed to?”
Taken off guard, he replied, “Caristo.”
“Oh, sure. That's not too far from here” she replied nonchalantly, tucking the last bit of hair behind her ear. “What business to you have there?”
“I'm uh, on a mission. To help people” he stuttered in surprise. “You're sure you want to help me?”
“Well, I said so, didn't I?” she answered cheerfully.
Unable to think of a polite way to send her on her way, Adrian had to accept. Deciding to change the subject, he asked her name.
“Laurel,” she said.
“Well, Laurel, I'm Adrian. May I inquire where you were originally headed?”
“I'm on a mission more or less,” she replied. “The mountain town I hail from is having, well, a bit of trouble with marauding Beasts. I'm hoping to find a good Adventurer or Hero, preferably one skilled with a bow.”
He frowned. “You're unfortunate enough to have flying Beasts?”
“Yes, it would seem that way. We never had them in the past, but there are obviously some now,” Laurel replied.
Glancing at the position of the sun, which was telling him that it was currently about 9:32, he asked “Well, if you're looking for a good hero, why are you bothering to be my weapons bearer? Also, shouldn't you be carrying a weapon of some sort yourself if you were been planning to travel alone across the countryside? It's not very safe these days.”
She adjusted the strap of her pack, which had been cutting into her shoulder. “Why, Adrian, I think that's the longest speech you've made since I met you. I actually did have a good weapon with me, a family heirloom. Unfortunately, I lost it over the cliff back there. I'm sure I'll get it back later. Also,” she said, tapping the hilt of a knife tucked in her boot, “I do have this as backup. It's not much, but it's some protection. All the more reason I should travel with someone. If you're headed to Caristo, there may be more Adventurers there. I'd like to make sure the one I find is a good one, so he or she won't just get themselves killed. The village can hold out for a long time against it, I don't want to be responsible for the death of an inexperienced Adventurer.”
“Oh. Well, if you're looking for a good Adventurer or Hero, it won't me me, then,” Adrian said somewhat glumly. “This is my first mission.”
Laurel shrugged, looking at his bow, which was slung over her shoulder. “I don't know. You could find out you're a great Adventurer. You seem to have a nice bow, at least,” she replied, tracing a pattern on the warm oak with her fingertip.
“Oh, thanks,” he replied. “It was my father's. Do you know how to use it?” he asked.
She frowned. “Unfortunately I don't. We've always raised birds of prey to aid us in hunting whatever small game there is to be caught. It's a whimsical tradition, but unfortunately a falcon can't exactly take down a Beast.”
“That's unfortunate. I think I can teach you, though,” Adrian replied.
She immediately perked up. “I would love to learn!”
“I can teach you the basics while we walk, but unfortunately you can't practice until we stop for the day,” he said, taking the bow from her. “First of all, you hold it like this...”
The walk went faster when traveling with a friendly companion, as they always do (whereas, if you are walking with a grumpy companion the walk goes slower and slower until finally, you're sure this village is where your grandmother lives who you haven't seen in years, it's okay if you go on ahead). Adrian taught Laurel the basics of archery, and then the two swapped stories. It seemed like it hadn't taken any time at all to reach the valley pas.s leading into Caristo.
“Careful,” he said, stopping her from taking another step forward into the canyon with his arm. “This pas.s can be pretty dangerous. Mostly, just human bandits, but as I've learned in my Current Adventure Events clas.s, there's starting to be Beasts here, too. Try to make as little noise as possible, and be very watchful, as I'm sure you've learned to be with all the Beasts around your village.”
She nodded and they both stepped carefully onto the clay and rocks composing the floor of the valley. They both watched the crags and boulders lying around the sides carefully for signs of movement, but saw none.
Relaxing a bit, Adrian whispered, “If we're lucky, we may not see any at all today. The gate at the other end of the pas.s has been ruptured somewhere, which is why Caristo's been having some problems.”
Suddenly, Laurel pointed forward, eyes wide. He started to ask for his bow, but she was already handing it to him along with an arrow. He quickly took aim and let it fly at the monsterous, red scaled Beast galloping towards them. To the dismay of both of them, though it flew true, it glanced off the armored side as easily as a raindrop off a window. Frantically, he let another arrow fly, to no avail. He dropped the bow and drew his sword, though he knew it probably wouldn't help him either.
“Run, Laurel!” Adrian yelled.
He didn't see whether she obeyed or not. The red Beast was already upon him, his sword pushed aside by it as easily as a harmless fly, its cruel claws sinking into his shoulder. It opened its mouth, letting loose a stream of foul-smelling breath, preparing to bite Adrian's throat. He shut his eyes, but did not cry out. Suddenly, it screamed, and fell backward in a spray of blue Beast blood stemming from its left eye. Adrian sat up, wiping blue blood from his face and saw Laurel picking up his bow, ready to shoot if it stirred. He reached forward and plucked her dagger from its eye, handing it to her.
“It's okay,” he said with surprising calm, now staunching the wounds in his shoulder with his cloak. “The light in its other eye's gone out, you see? It won't bother us any more.”
She shuddered, taking the dagger back carefully, as though it would bite her. She looked at the wounds with trepidation.
“Will you be all right, do you think?” she asked concernedly.
Peeling back the cloak a bit, he glanced at the wounds again.
“It looks like I will be. At any rate, I'm certainly better off than I would have been if it hadn't been for that dagger and excellent aim of yours. You know, I think you might be able to tackle those Beasts in your village yourself!”
Note: Edited to remove that '*censored*' thing that the Res forum does in harmless words like as.sistance.
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