A Hunters Game (Neptune x Phrincut)

[Neptune]

Participants:

@Phrincut: Brynjar Frodisson

 

@Neptune: Zoraelia Weir

[Phrincut]

  The morning sun rose over the floating island of Volatide, it's bountiful light rolling over the grassy plains, the sheer mountains crowning the bottomless chasm which the island floats over, and, of course, the city itself. Volatide is the central hub of the Hunters Association, where hunters from all over may come, trade stories, get a peak at any new experimental gadgets and tools, receive new and challenging quests, much more. This wouldn't be possible without the contributions of the people of Volatide, whom allowed the hunters of their guild hall to expand their hunting grounds and begin meeting other hunters guilds, which would not have been possible without the invention of airships. Volatide was where the Hunters Association began.

  The Hunters Association is the governing power behind the numerous guild halls which dot the realm of Deus, dictating where their hunters may hunt, what they may hunt, the quests they receive, and the payment they receive thereafter for their services. While indeed a lucrative profession to partake in, as well as necessary to preserve the fragile balance of animal ecosystems, the hunting of beasts of fantastical proportions is also a sport. As such, it's tradition to treat ones target with respect and reverence as they are hunting them, though if their target is considered a pest... they're free to ignore tradition. Every year, Volatide sees new up and coming young hunters and huntresses exiting their academy, armed with their four years of training and education and fresh new 1 Star Hunting Licenses, ready and eager to take on the hunting world. It's up to the senior hunters to mentor them and temper that excitement, lest they make a foolish mistake and get themselves seriously hurt, if not worst.

  It's that time of year again! Several dozen fresh-faced young hunters were being granted their starting licenses and assigned a mentor to help guide them through the first hurdles of their budding careers. They would learn the importance of preserving natures natural beauty, learn how to survive off of the land, how to locate the most profitable resource spots to gather from, and ultimately, how to track down and slay monsters of varying size and ability. They would learn what it meant to be a hunter. One such hunter had appeared somewhat late, as the ceremony had already ended and the new low-rank hunters were searching for their new masters. The hunter in question was a young man clad in tattered black leather armor, with a matching scarf wrapped over much of the top half of his face. He stood at a height of 6'4, with shaggy, unkempt snow white hair draped over his head and pale white skin. He had a 5 Star Hunting License on his person, placing him among the elite of the hunting world. Being so young, however, it was likely he'd get an apprentice his own age and he'd wondered if that would perhaps make things awkward between the two of them, him being their master... for now, however, he simply needed to wait for his new apprentice to approach him. He'd worry about the circumstances of their relationship later.

[Neptune]

Zoraelia had felt that sitting through the introduction ceremony to be a bit of a bore. And from the glances around her, she could tell from the expression of others that they felt the same way. She was eager to meet her new Master and learn what she could so that she could rise in ranks. She had waited for years to reach this moment, and she hoped that her new master would be willing to help her progress quickly. She was certainly eager to learn. The master that she had been assigned was someone by the name of Brynjar Frodisson. She had heard the name before. From what she had read, he was quite a young hunter with a father that was quite well known. This made her hopeful that he had a lot to teach her, although his youth was a little bit of a concern regarding the amount of experience he had. Even so, she expected that since he had been one of the five star hunters picked to have an apprentice, that he was more than marginally talented. 
 
As the ceremony came to a close, she watched as other young and eager hunters tracked down their own master. Her dark eyes scanned the room, but she at first saw no sign of Brynjar, much to her annoyance. She shifted a little, putting a hand on her hip as she ignored everyone in preference to looking for her master. That didn’t mean that others were ignoring her. She had a rather striking figure, standing at just under six foot, with a full and lush body. She wore skin tight trousers, with the left leg completely covered. The right stopped just below the top of her thigh, leaving a portion of her thigh bare except for a couple of leather straps. Her lower leg was covered in more of the trouser material up to just over her knee, connected to the rest through the leather straps. She wore knee high boots, with metal heels and metal caps on the front. Around her waist was a thick belt, with a decorative buckle that had a couple of decorative golden rings with feathers hanging from it. Her top was just as skin tight as her trousers, black in colour and left quite a large amount of cleavage. On her right shoulder, there was some leather padding while on the left she had a metal shoulder-guard. She had almost baggy white sleeves that tucked into arm guards that were made from a thick leather. A hood covered her black hair, with a small cloak that came down over her back with a piece of material that dangled down the side. Across her upper cheeks and nose bridge, was a dark warriors mark to complete her appearance.
 
Zoraelia was beginning to get a little annoyed when she felt a little pressure from the leather pad on her right shoulder. She turned her head to look to her faithful companion, Athene. He was a light coloured owl, with piercing green eyes and a plate of armour that covered his chest. His more prominent feature though, were the two long feathers that swept up from his eyes, making it appear as if he had extremely long ears. He had his head turned towards one of the figures, a young male with unkept, snow-white hair. He was the only hunter without an apprentice hovering over him. She turned in his direction, observing him for a few moments. He was a lot more handsome than she thought he would be. In fact, she found him very pleasing on the eyes, and wondered what he would look like in action. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips before she approached him, “I assume you are Brynjar Frodisson? I am Zoraelia Weir, your new apprentice.” She introduced herself in a rich, vibrant voice. She then inclined her head towards Athene, who was watching Brynjar with unblinking eyes, “And this is Athene, my companion.”

[Phrincut]

  One could consider his late arrival to be very unprofessional... and it is... but hunters of the association aren't generally concerned with punctuality. Murray, the retired hunter who currently heads the association, felt that a certain amount of unprofessionalism was needed to help maintain an air of comradery among the hunters of the association. Young Zoraelia would come to understand soon enough.Speaking of... 

  As Brynjar scanned the room, he caught sight of the young woman approaching him. She was the only person in the room not hovering over a senior hunter, so he figured she was to be his new apprentice. And the first thought that popped into his head was, 'Wow... she's pretty. Really pretty.' And this was a problem. A hunter shouldn't find him/herself becoming attracted to their master/apprentice. This was exactly what he was afraid would happen. He'd be mentoring a woman his age. A woman at her most vibrant and fertile. A beautiful young woman in her prime. Part of him wondered what she was even doing here. She could cruise through life easily with her looks alone. But he wouldn't offend her by actually asking her that question. He regarded the pretty young woman and placed a hand on his hip. "I am indeed Brynjar Frodisson. A pleasure to meet you, Zoraelia." He said to her in a low, soothing tone. He then turned his attention t her owl companion and smiled, digging into his pack and pulling out a piece of jerky for the avian. "I suppose I'm gonna be training you too, huh?" The hunter said with a hearty chuckle.

[Neptune]

Zoraelia smiled a little when he spoke. His voice matched well with his looks. She liked a man with a low, soothing voice. She hated men with high pitched voices, or ones that were pretty meek sounding. This man sounded self-assured and confident, a fact that she found very attractive. While she was worried about his age and experience, she was beginning to like her new Master. She watched as he dug out some meet and offered it to Athene, who tilted his head as he considered the offering before leaning towards and delicately prying it from Brynjar’s fingers before swallowing it whole.
 
Zoraelia chuckled a little before saying, “Yes. You will. I’ve had him for a few years, and he wants to learn to hunt alongside me. While he’s not good at bringing actual animals down, he’s very good at tracking, especially at night.” She reached up and scratched underneath Athene’s chin, causing the owl’s feathers to puff out a little in pleasure before ruffling his wings and letting out a soft, hooting sound. Zoraelia then turned her attention back to Brynjar, not being shy about him see her check him out from top to bottom. She then gave him a sly smile as she asked, “So what now, Master?” She asked.

[Phrincut]

  To see a companion animal show it's pleasure was always something that warmed Brynjar's heart. He'd hoped that himself and Athene could become friends after accepting his offering. And as for Zoraelia... she spoke with the confidence and grace of a young noble woman, yet lacked the arrogance often associated with the title. As she checked him out, the experienced hunter couldn't help but eye up her gorgeously fit body from top to bottom. Like her, he wasn't being very subtle about it. There was no denying it. She was a sight to behold. A feast for the eyes. 

  having gotten a nice eye-full of his beautiful new apprentice, he'd turned his eyes back to hers and folded his arms. "I'm taking you out for lunch. Part of being a big game hunter is having an equally big appetite. You'll need the stamina to keep up with your prey... and I'd like to get to know you and Athene better. What better way to do that then over a hot meal, hm?" He told the young woman with a smile before turning his back to her and exiting the building.

[Neptune]

Her smile widened a little more when she noticed his wandering gaze across her body, feeling pleased with the reaction. This could make things extremely interesting between them. She was not going to be shy about admitting to herself that she found her new Master very attractive, and was delighted when he seemed to be showing the same kind of interesting. The fact that they were supposed to have a professional Master and Apprentice relationship only made it seem a lot more interesting. She was a woman that liked excitement in her life, which was part of the reason she was here in the first place. She wasn’t content with sitting around being a house wife. She wanted action and adventure. Thus far she was certainly getting what she had been hoping for.
 
Her tongue licked gently at the corner of her lips as he mentioned about food, “Oh, yes… I certainly have a big appetite and I think I will do well in the stamina department.” She responded, not entirely talking about the food. She wondered if he would click onto the double meaning. A part of her hoped that he would become flustered, because it would make it even more fun in the future to flirt with him. But she doubted that such a confident young man would. He would either not notice, or flirt right back. She knew which of the two she would prefer. As if knowing his companion, Athene let out a soft, resigned sounding hoot. Zoraelia chuckled a little before she followed Brynjar from the building. She was glad to get away from all the others, to be somewhat alone with this rather dashing new Master, “So what exactly are we going to go and eat?” She asked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes as she matched him stride for stride.

[Phrincut]

Goddess, she was going to make this difficult for him. No way she didn't say all of that intentionally. Brynjar kept his stride as they walked side by side, saying to her, "Kebabs. You like Kebabs, right?" Naturally, he didn't wait for an answer and simply guided her away from the academy so they could be alone with one another... a very appealing prospect, in all honesty.

Soon, the two were wandering down a vacant alleyway. There were private shop owners here that kept the alley clear of garbage so that any customers they happen to attract aren't deterred by any filth at their doorstep. The two approached a small grill, the scent of roasting flesh in the air. "Mmh... I love that scent... c'mon. I'm starving." Brynjar exclaimed as he walked into the shop ahead of her.

[Neptune]

“Kebabs, hmm?” Zoraelia hummed softly as she considered his suggestion. She did quite like kebabs and she was pleased that he had such a good taste in food. Her mouth was already watering at the thought of the well cooked meats and accompaniments. Athane hooted softly, his claws digging slightly into her padded shoulder as he was clearly interested in the thought of a good meal. The two of them followed Brynjar away from the academy, curious as to where he was taking them. When he started down an alleyway, she paused as she glanced around. Just where was he taking them? The alleyway was unexpectedly clear of any rubbish or debris, as if someone came through and cleaned on a regular occasion. 
 
More curious than ever, Zoraelia followed Brynjar down the alleyway, her steps echoing almost hauntingly around her. The scent of cooking meat began to slowly fill the air, and Athane seemed to perk up even more, his eyes wide and intense. When her new Master came to a stop, she looked up at the small and hidden shop. It looked rather unremarkable however there was nothing unremarkable about the smells that emanate from it. She watched as Brynjar disappeared inside, before she followed him inside. Athana hooted in her ear softly as the warmth of the shop overwhelmed them, causing her to have to pause as her eyes adjusted to the dimmer interior of the shop. It wasn’t large from what she could see of it, and it had a very warm and comfortable interior that was quite welcoming. She didn’t completely relax, but she felt more at ease in this establishment. It wasn’t that crowded, either, with only a couple of other people occupying tables.