Everything around me wakes up to start the day, meanwhile I just wish to go to sleep. Soon though, there should be a village near the entrance to the woods, I hope it's big enough to have an inn. Normally I wouldn't be so worn out, but when you have to spend the whole night with increased vigilance, the energy burns out all the quicker. And not even a bowl of acai berries will keep you awake. I tried that before, so I know first hand.
I yawn and stretch in my seat. I feel a bit cramped from spending a lot of time in an uncomfortable position last night. I start to daydream about soaking in a hot, steamy herbal bath, when my horse neighs and stops in it's path. I look around, but there seems to be nothing threatening at all, however I learned not to underestimate signs like that. Feeling a bit uneasy myself, I hold on to my crossbow just in case and nudge the horse to proceed, but at a slower pace.
A few feet further I can hear a rustle and notice that something's moving through the bushes toward the path. It's too big to be a rabbit or a fox... My horse stops and I aim with the crossbow in front of me. If anything comes out and decides to attack me, I'm ready to shoot.
As soon as I think that, the mysterious thing leaps out of the bushes, startling my horse while at it. It neighs loud and rears up, throwing me off balance. It happens so sudden I shout and accidentally fire the bolt which lodges itself in the ground right at the feet of whatever just came out. I hear a scream and a thud followed by a rattle. Once I calm my horse and take a good look in front of me, I see a youth sitting on the path, staring at me with terror in his eyes and a bundle of twigs and sticks is scattered around him. He's a simple villager, judging from the plain brownish pants and white shirt and dark colored vest. He must've been gathering some firewood and we ended up scaring each other. Before I can react, he yelps and runs away, disappearing behind the bushes on the other side of the path. Oh shit. He probably thinks I'm a bandit or something...
People always tell me I look scary when I don't get enough sleep. "As if you'd murder an entire family and burn their house dowm" was the comparison my friend once made. Good grief, not even a bandit looks that scary. The poor dude might think I'm the Devil himself.
"Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" I shout in his direction and get off my horse. I doubt he's still around, so the least I can do is to gather his sticks and set them aside, maybe he'll come back to get them later.
I groan as I pick them one by one. What a pain in the ass, I think as I grab my bolt lodged nearby. I put the firewood together in a bundle tying it with a piece of rope, and leave it there against a tree. I look up, and I see the youth staring at me from behind a tree. I raise my arms and apologize for the trouble one more time.
"It's alright." I hear in response as he comes out of his hiding, hobbling towards me. We clear the misunderstanding and apparently the lil guy injuried his foot as he was running away from me. I ask him to sit down while I approach my horse and grab my bag with first aid stuff inside. "What is it boy?" I mumble to my horse and pat it on the neck, as it seems nervous. Maybe it didn't cool off from the sudden encounter yet. Though I quickly understood that wasn't the case.
Once I crouch near the young villager and touch his ankle, I feel a sudden tingling in my chest. I freeze as I know what that means. There's something dangerous about that person in front of me. I don't know what yet, but the vibe I get indicates evil intentions towards me. I hold my breath as one thought flashes through my mind. What if he's the beast...?
I snap out of it when he asks me about the leg in a worried tone. I look up at him, and honestly I'd never tell he might be hiding something dark if not for that hunch. If anybody would ask, I'd describe him as a short guy with a cute face, probably looking much younger than he is. I examine his ankle and mumble that it's sprained, then proceed to treat it. My movements are a little stiff as I can't stop thinking about the bad vibes. I even start to doubt myself that maybe I am just too tired and my exhausted body is playing tricks on me. I wish I was right with that assumption.
"What's your name?" I ask to break the awkward silence, in which he replies his name is Jun. "I'm Juto." I introduce myself. "I'm a hunter, see?" I sweep my cape to the side, revealing my crossbow attached to my belt. I think I saw a little twitch of his eyebrow. "What do you hunt?" he asks.
"Monsters. By the way... do you happen to know something about a beast around here... killing people... eating their hearts...?" I glance at him. He says that he heard the rumors, but he never saw anything suspicious around here. He sums it up as a fairy tale for naughty children, to prevent them going to the forest at night.
"Well, I thought I'll stop by and see for myself..." I grab my weapon and shove it closer to the youth, he shifts nervously and I continue "...see if I can make some coin by shooting a bolt right between it's eyes... Pew!" I pretend to fire somewhere to the left. "No monster has a chance against the enchanted bolts. See how it glows?" I pick one and let him have a good look at it. The head of the bolt glows stronger and I could swear I saw a strange gleam in his eyes. He's visibly uncomfortable and asks me to put it back, apparently he's afraid of weapons.
Yeah, sweat it you little shit! I don't know who or what you are, but there's definitely something wrong with you. Maybe you're even the heart eater itself. I could've finish him off right here and now... if I had my full strength that is. But I learned in my experience that I should never take on an enemy with my stamina being this low. And there's one more thing that bugs me. I don't know what his intentions are. The vibes that I feel are the only hint that something's off, and if not for that I wouldn't be able to tell otherwise. He looks human, he can speak my language and he doesn't show malicious intent, at least on the outside. If he truly wanted to attack me, he'd do it without hesitating, but he's waiting for something. That means he's an intelligent being, capable of deceiving and cunning, and in that case, I have my rules.
I don't attack first, until I'm certain that this person isn't just an unfortunate soul being cursed or possessed by something evil. In that case it's my duty to help them without causing too much harm. They're suffering already as it is. And I hate pointless killing if there's a way to save someone. Scars from the past do that to you... you gotta learn from your mistakes...
...and alright, I admit. He's too fucking cute to kill.
Damn it!
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