Post by Bianca Sabbato on Dec 22, 2020 23:00:20 GMT -5
I told myself that I would stop doing this for a while, thinking that I should focus more on increasing the intensity of my training at Haven.
And, on a related note. I still needed to get the necessary permission to participate in more most dangerous missions from the board. All of this so I could continue becoming more powerful, growing stronger at a more consistent rate than now...
I told myself that, but I kept coming here, wasting hours on end that I could have used to train my combat skills.
Either that or looking for someone able to repair my weapon. After it broke during the events of the White Nights Festival. (Even if deep inside, I knew Nereida had been smashed too hard in too many places for it to be something more than wishful thinking on my part)
Well, at least It wasn’t all a waste of time. I was slowly becoming better at tracking and starting to gain a broader sense of familiarity concerning the city. In part from traveling in and out of town. And also thanks to the vast amount of time I spent scouting this place lately.
And now. I found myself in the outskirts of the Ground district again. Well, I call them outskirts, but it was safe to say I was deep enough into the wilderness to even stop considering them a part of Mistral in and out of themselves.
I had received a message from one of the local lumberjacks, who had gotten my number from a mutual friend. Apparently, they reported sightings of grimm stalking the nearby camps. Big, shadowy creatures running between the trees, enormous claw marks and traces all around, the usual.
The lumbermen were getting uneasy, and if you knew grimm, you could tell that this would only mean they’d attract even more grimm towards their camps. So I had been tasked with culling the population or, in case they had any particularly powerful creature commanding them, to take it down as soon as possible.
So there I was. And as I said, it was a hassle. But someone had to do it. And the few huntsmen still active in Mistral already had their hands full of work in the frontier towns. Or taking care of more pressing matters than a handful of independent woodsman here in Ground.
And it was not as if they had either enough proof or enough money to push for their concerns to appear in the general mission board. So their best chance was to ask around until someone appeared that could do something.
I wasn’t sure if I was that person, but I could, at least, try and see if I could do the job. Most of the truly dangerous grimm didn't wander so close to the capital, after all. So, worst-case scenario, I could retreat and come back with reinforcements to clean things up nicely.
It was still winter in Mistral. But the snow had subsided a couple days ago. So I would manage to withstand the cold with merely a tunic a little longer than usual, a white cape with a hood, and some long socks and sandals.
Besides that, I carried a simple spear from the armory and two dust grenades strapped to my hip. I was struggling to get used to this particular weapon design, but I would manage for now. The explosives were something I still hadn’t had the occasion of using, but I guess that was a good thing in and out of itself.
I had encountered the odd beowulf or so during the last couple of hours. But nothing that would indicate something out of the ordinary about their population. Just the grimm being grimm, sometimes straggles strayed from their packs for a quick pass to a population center and eventually went back to their wandering groups.
I was about to call it a day for now when a lonely figure in the distance caught my attention.
It was clearly a man, not small, nor overly tall. He seemed to be well built, and his silhouette suggested he had some kind of weapon at his side. This would have usually put me on guard, thinking he could be some kind of bandit or robber...
But honestly, who goes out in the middle of nowhere to steal from someone? Lest of all on this cold weather. Not only that, but I couldn’t shake the sensation that his face looked oddly familiar even from afar, like someone I had seen in passing on the recent days.
Welp. The last time I sneaked onto someone in a situation like this, it ended badly, so I decided to begin openly walking towards him. Even sending a small wave in his direction as soon as I was close enough for him to notice me.
I would have reached him eventually, if not for an alarming sight that caught my attention for a moment.
Coming from the side, close enough for the man to notice already. A single beowulf drew near, His sharp fangs glimmering in the midday light and a predatory glint on its eyes.
I unsheathed my spear and started running towards him, intent on assisting him, just in case the beast proved too overwhelming for him. But he was far away enough that it would still be about a solid minute or so before I managed to reach him and the grimm.
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