Armed with a bow, arrows in a quiver and a small dagger I went out of my hometown of Alamenta in the far out region of the Order's land. We were really close to a demon realm and met a lot of monsters over time. To the point where the people of the town actually grew quite used to them.
My name is Amren. I'm the local huntsmen of Alamenta. I'm currently on the hunt for game in the nearby hills dressed in my green coat and a fur overcoat with a cowl made of a wolf's pelt. My hair was brown and admittedly relatively dirty. But hey, what can you do when you are out in the wild 90% of the time. I live in a cabin outside of the city walls, so luckily it's not that public. Could probably do with a bath again sometime though. The amount of dirt and sticks in my hair is starting to weigh on my head. It serves as good camouflage though.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, hunting. Anyways, I'm following the tracks of a deer that's run off into the wild. I checked the ground, putting my hand on it to see if I can feel any vibrations. But even when I focused, there wasn't any movement.
There are some tracks nearby. Hoofed ones. They're tiny enough to be those of a deer. The moisture of the earth shows that they are fresh so the deer can't have come too far. It might just be hiding.
I followed the tracks up the mountainside, my bow drawn and ready to shoot. The little hoofmarks led me to a brush with a few bushes surrounding it.
*rustle*
I smirked "Got you after all. Now just come out and let me get a straight shot." I picked up a small rock and tossed it into the brush and pulled back my bow again. I aimed at the bushes as the rock curved in the air and fell through the leaves.
I heard a small, dull impact.
"OW!" But instead of a deer running out of the brush, I heard the voice of a girl crying out. I cocked my head in confusion as I inspected the bushes closer.
And as I stick my face closer to it, another face pops up right in front of mine. And a large, singular eye stares at me. "Watch where you're throwing your rocks, human."
I step back in surprise unfastening my bow. A strange girl stepped out of the brush, dusting herself off as she cleans herself of the leaves and sticks.
She stands relatively tall, a slight bit taller than myself actually and definitely taller than any girls I know from Alamenta. She was dressed in pretty simple, stitched, leather clothing consisting of a short, ragged top and a light brown skirt. Her hair was short and red, bound into a short ponytail with ceremonial pearls as a hairband and her skin was in a light shade of blue. In the middle of her hair, on the top of her head, a single horn stood out on her along with her one, blue eye.
I exhaled in relief as I stopped being tense and holstered my bow. "Huh, a monster then. Not what I expected, but whatever. Name's Amren, nice to meet ya." I reached my hand out to the strange monster girl.
She cocked her head in confusion, even though her face was completely void of any reaction. "Curious. You don't seem to be scared seeing someone like me." She spoke in a mellow, calm tone.
"It's actually just as surprising to me that you're approaching a human as calm as this. I guess if you met any other people from the town, they'd probably actually be more weirded out. I've come across enough monsters in my time out here and Alamenta is starting to get used to your kind too. So, who are you anyways?"
She took a bow and introduced herself "I'm Rakali. I'm a cyclops of the Zalkan tribe up in the mountains and as it turns out, I could use your assistance."
I was slightly taken aback by her sudden request. "Wh...What would you need my help with? I'm just a hunter."
"But as you just noted, you know where the next town lies. I need to get there. Will you lead me?" She pleaded with me in her monotone, unshaken voice. She was really stoic and determined. Despite that, I saw no hostility or forcefulness in her words. It was actually kind of sweet. Not that I'd be particularly into monsters but... she had a certain charm to her.
"Well, I could help you. But I still have a job to do here. I need to track the deer that I was following." I explained to her as friendly as I could.
She looked back to the brush. "So this one is yours?" She grabbed into the thicket and pulled out the carcass of the deer. Honestly, I was surprised and kind of impressed.
"Wow, you killed that one yourself?"
She nodded calmly as if it was nothing out of the ordinary for her.
"But wait, I don't see any wounds on it. How did you kill it?"
"Hands." She said in monotone, as she raised her hands for show.
"*gulp* Well then. *Claps hands* Remind me not to mess with you then. Yeah, that's the one. Let me just gut it real quick, then we can move to my cabin and get you to Alamenta."
"I'm not in a hurry, whatever you need, you'll take the lead whenever you're ready, human."
"I already told you, my name is Amren. You don't need to refer to me as 'human'.
"I'm allowed to use your name?" She asked genuinely not having expected that.
"Of course, we're not royalty here." I laughed it off as I knelt down over the dead deer. I pull out my dagger which has seen quite some use over the years. It was rusted and dulled and didn't really have much use in a fight, but at least it was still good enough to gut the game I catch.
Or at least so I thought. "Goddammit, it doesn't go through." I cuss as my dagger doesn't penetrate the fur of the deer.
"Having trouble?" Rakali asked curiously. "Your blade is worn out. The make is not very good either, and it's not really fit to cut anything anymore."
"*sigh* Yeah, I noticed as much. Damn, how am I supposed to carry it with all these heavy insides?" I scratched my head.
Rakali on the other hand looked down at the deer thoughtlessly and reached her hand down to it. She grabbed its hind legs and threw the deer over her shoulder. "Like this maybe?"
My eyes widened in surprise as she hoisted the deer as if it was nothing. "Well... that works too. Think you'll be okay carrying it all the way down into the valley?"
"It's a trivial matter. I've carried large chunks of ore that were heavier than this animal."
"Okay then, follow me, cyclops."
"My name is Rakali."
"Yeah, I know, just wanted to show you how it feels to be called by your species."
"Not very nice." She answered plainly.
"See?" I chuckled, gaining a small, mellow smile from her. "Now come along, it's not far from here."
Leading the way, I reached my cabin with Rakali. I bound the deer to a rack to try and carve it up later. While I make sure the notches are tight enough to hold it, Rakali's eye darts across the room. It wasn't much. A moldy log cabin with a rack for meat, a rickety bed, a wardrobe and an iron bathtub in the corner of the room with a large, steaming bucket of water next to it.
