Strena Youngest Bounty Hunter Arc Part One
Strena's
First Hunt
Strena had lived with Zaryb for a year now. She still cried at
night, even-though she knew that she had to stop, but she could not
help it. She was five to six years old! She sometimes had to remind
herself of this. She even had to remind herself of her true name too.
She had to chant it every night when she wasn't out with her parents
murderer s he took on job after job. Meanwhile as she did this she
kept all the memories of her parents alive and she kept their faces
in her mind. She did this to alleviate her fear of losing all these
things.
She had spotted that her dark skin had become paler and there were
bags under her eyes as she woke up from nightmares of that night.
She had developed a more muscular frame but it was not as predominant
like Zaryb's and she still
looked like a normal child. Maybe one of those homeless children that
she sometimes saw, but still a child. She had developed tougher skin
and blisters. Her nails were all uneven and some had been cut,
clearly by using her own teeth.
It was on that day that had marked their murder that Zaryb came up to
her.
“Master Zaryb, are we going out on a hunt?” she asked.
He smiled an almost pleasant smile.
“No, today, instead of me
taking you,
you will be bringing
me.” he said.
Strene frowned.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked.
“Today we find out what you hat
leant over the past year. And this time it is you
that will me picking the job. And, over the course of the next couple
of months you will be picking five more jobs. This will lead you to
become a fully fledged bounty hunter. Just like I am.” he
explained.
“Then I'll get changed into my hunter's gear.” she said.
“Yes, and I think that you should pick a job, preferably a job that
is a low paying one. They're the easiest.” he said.
“Thank you.” she was as she got up.
She walked up to the board and as she looked at the jobs and she only
skimmed the board but then one almost jumped up at her. She snatched
it way before her rational part could respond and waked back. She
then showed him the the poster.
“'Rescuing the Princess Lorana from the evil
Stonim'...Interesting...Why would you pick that one?” he asked.
“I dunno it just felt right.” she said. “Plus, Lorana's my
friend so I wanna save her.”
“And how're you going to do this without being recognised?” he
asked.
She frowned.
Then his face changed to that face that she greeted when he killed
her parents.
“Because if you're recognised by
any one I will
kill them do you understand?” he said as his face softened
slightly. For a moment she went pale as she suddenly felt afraid for
her friend.
“Well, I thought about that. Why don't we go to a hair morpher to
dye my hair white and cut it and I'll no on as your illegitimate
son.” she said.
He smiled and nodded.
“Seems like a good plan.” he admitted.
She smiled as she finished. She then
washed and then changed and pack, just the way that she was taught.
She had made sure to pack the essentials and after several beatings,
she knew what they were. She then plated her hair the way Nigica had
shown her. She hoped that she would get back from her job soon. Then
again, she did say
that it was going to take some time to get this one done, after all
it did take her to a
far away kingdom.
“Ready?” he asked.
She showed him the strap of her bag.
“Did you pack the spare clothes?”
“Yes.”
“Some pots and pans?”
“Yes, and some food too!” she said with a part of her wanting to
show off. He gave her a look of pride.
“Good girl.”
“Boy, when we're on mission.” she said.
He smiled and nodded. He tossed a
coin to the cook. They then set off and then went to the hair
morphers and he cut and dyed her hair, which took longer than Strena
thought. When it was done she jumped as she looked in the mirror. She
really did look like
his child. She looked at him again, her face pale.
“He did a good job.” she said trying to cover her shock.
He smiled and paid the man. They then went on to the next ship and
then they came to the tropical kingdom that she always went to when
she was with her parents. They always told her that they wanted her
to marry Prince Neronah, Princess Lorama' younger brother, but
even-though she would have loved that, she knew that Zaryb had put an
end to those plans, and even-though they would have learnt by now
that she was taken, but it was all too clear that non could recognise
her. Which was good.
As she went on she had noticed that there were things that she had
noticed that were different. The first thing was that she noticed was
how, with her parents all of the soldiers would let her pass first or
move out of the way to let her pass or move the curtain out of the
way for her. Now they looked at her as if she was not worth the dirt
beneath their feet. They even snapped at her several times as she
bumped into then several times.
She remembered that the streets were clean but she could see the
rubbish on the ground and the beggars with animal skulls used as
bowls sat here and there. She could even see the bloated dead animals
with a swarm of flies over them and the dung.
Everything that she did not like
but she knew that she had
to see. It helped her see the things from a different angle. This
also made her wonder what else did her parents or her class hide her
eyes from? What else did she now know or see? What other things did
she see through rose coloured glasses because of her being a
princess?
She then found a couple of guards
and walked over to them. Zaryb followed her and looked around. Strena
spotted that people were giving him a dirty look then looked at her
with a subtle contempt and the quickly looked away. It was all too
clear that they did not recognise her and probably did
think that she really was his child! Even-though it was a good thing
that they did but she did not like that one bit.
“Hey, urm could-” she felt a fist in her gut.
“Kid get away from here.”
She clutched her stomach. She had to get over her sudden shock at the
fact that one of the guards had pampered her a year and a half ago
had just hit her. She got up.
“Sorry, I just wanted to know where Stonim was.” she muttered.
They looked at each-other and laughed.
“You planning on rescuing her?”
“Well I wouldn't if I were you!”
“Why?”
“'Cause most likely than not 'e sold her to 'im.”
“Who?”
“The king o' course!”
“No-that can't be true, he doted over her!” she cried.
“Unlikely!” they laughed as they walked away.
She walked back. Zaryb raised his eyebrow.
“Got what you needed?”
“Hardly.” she said.
“Thought not.” he then turned. “Come on!”
“You mean that you know where he is?” she asked.
“Yup. In fact I've had several interactions with him.” he said as
his face went completely pale despite the cheery tone to his voice.
She, still clutching her gut followed him. He let them to a river
where there was an island in the centre with a tower built like the
high towers of the west where she had been living. Clearly telling
her that he was from there and not a native of the country.
“Cone on!” he sang as he took out a canoe with two holes at the
top. They both fit in and he paddled over to the island. They then
walked to the front door a and opened it as she walked in.
“Why are we doing things this way? What if he had booby trapped the
entire building?” she asked.
“Not his style.” he told her.
She frowned as she walked over to the stairs she looked at the rusty
bannister. She placed her hand on it and pushed down on it. Seeing
that it was safe she walked up to the top.
“Why did you do that?” Zaryb asked.
“The bannister was rusty and I didn't know if the rust had eaten
away the metal.” she said.
He looked down and nodded, she could see that he was clearly
impressed as they walked up higher and higher and higher. It almost
took then forever just to get to the top where she saw her friend
tied up above their heads. She was about to reach out to get her down
and see if she was alright, but Zaryb placed his hand on her shoulder
as a reminder of what he had told her. She nodded and lowered her
tone.
“Are you alright?” she asked, trying to sound like a boy.
She looked down and shook her head and let out a muffled scream.
“We'll have you down soon!” she called.
“Will you!” cam a voice behind her. She jumped only to see that
the one stood behind her was none other than Stonim! She jumped back
and took up the nearest weapon ad pointed it at him. Only to realise
that it was nothing but a book.
“I have to say Zarry, I heard that you had taken in a child
apprentice but this it ridiculous! She's barely old enough to even
give me a good fight and yet you're already making her into a bounty
hunter like yourself. What next? Is she going to become an assassin
before she's old enough to have her first crush?” he mocked.
“Mock me all you want, just let my apprentice dispatch of you.”
he said. “After all I have trained her well, regardless of how much
she need to grow up and improve.”
Stonim laughed at that.
“Oh Zarry!”
Strena ran up to him and swung the spine into his gut and closed it
as he hit him again across his face and dug the other corner into his
throat so hard that the cuts on them flowed freely with blood. Yet as
he looked at her he let out a loud and absurd laugh.
“Why! So it is
her! Do you know how many people in the Sand planed are looking for
you?” he asked.
Her eyes widened in shock as she glanced over at Zaryb, whose face
had changed into that face that had killed her parents. She gulped
with dread knowing exactly what that meant.
“Good girl!” he said as he took out several small knives and
threw every single one. Fearing for her life, Strena quickly pulled
her friend down and covered her with her body to stop her from having
a drop of Stonim's blood on her as he brutally killed him like he did
her parents.
They soon took her home and collected their bounty and were back
home.
Comments
Post a Comment