FanFiction:The Art of the Hunt/Season 1/Chapter 4 - The Study Guide

B rutus stood up from his workout bench, sweaty and breathing harder than usual. But he was unfazed, as this was the kind of thing he had prepared for ever since his twelfth birthday--when he enrolled in the school. It had been a bright and sunny day: he'd come prepared with his best clothes and his favorite toy sword. He made several friends that day, he remembered as he stretched and prepared to do some quick jogs around the block. It was a good day for memory: the start of the week, and their only preparatory test would be this Freiday. "I gotta stop being all sentimental and crap, and get this "study guide" outta the way," Thought Brutus to himself as he wiped his forehead with a slightly damp towel. The memories were clouding up his concentration. That was something that Brutus absolutely hated--even moreso when the memories were ones that he hadn't brought about himself intentionally.

As he walked up the stairs to his front yard, he heard a knock at the door. He grinned widely--it was the one person in the world he really did love. Ali had come over, just as she promised. Brutus's older sister, Aysa, who was his legal guardian ever since their parents drowned on the water five years ago, was gone--probably on some errantry in the town--and so they would be alone while they worked out together. Brutus, while he was a cruel, mean boy, enjoyed the company of Ali, if sometimes only because it gave him someone to talk to. He really was a lonesome person.

It started five years ago... At least, that's what he claims. It really started when his father became a sailor, and his mother a hunter: both are, of course, well-paying and time-consuming jobs, and so Brutus was given whatever he wanted, when he wanted it. At first, he was very generous, giving people in need various samples and shares of his own things; everyone loved him. Sometimes, he would bring things specifically so his peers wouldn't be left without amusement during breaktime.

But that all stopped when his parents died. Suddenly, he was left without the only actual love he had in his life, besides his sister and his best friend--a young girl by the name of Ali, whom he had known since he was twelve. However, they only got to meet on the weekends now, so he hadn't got to know any of her friends--and thus Calli and Katrina were unknown to him at the time. He didn't know them until he was sixteen--when he and Ali started dating. His parents, you see, died when he was fifteen; and he and Ali didn't start dating until he was sixteen. (Ali enrolled when Brutus did; however, Brutus, Calli, and Katrina didn't know about each other until Brutus's sixteenth birthday, in which him and Ali started dating. They enrolled when they were fourteen.)

He smiled as he finally pushed the memories off of his mind and opened the door for his girlfriend, Ali. The young girl happily smiled and hugged him. "I missed you, babe!" She cried out, hugging him tighter. Brutus relished this feeling for a few minutes before pulling away, smiling happily--actually happily--and jogging to the backdoor, where his backyard was, of course. Long ago, when his parents had still been alive, a large, well-cut field for outdoor activities had been set up, and still Brutus exercised there when he was upset or training. This was one such occasion.

The fit couple walked out the door and sprinted to the edge of the course, after a challenging phrase from Brutus: "You can't beat me, don't even try!" He said, laughing and taking off like a bolt from a crossbow. Ali smiled and followed suit, dashing after him with the speed of a stampeding Jaggi. As the young couple dashed through the wide, open field, the wind began to blow serenely, brushing the soft grass against their legs as they slowed down to a walk, growing closer to the running track. Ali, of course, thought it was terribly romantic--the wind, the grass rustling, and being around Brutus, whom she thought was terribly wonderful.

Brutus's attention, however, was focused elsewhere. The sun was suddenly blotted out, the shape blocking it casting a massive shadow across the ground. Ali took no notice, her eyes closed as she twirled listlessly in the grass. Had she taken notice, she probably would've been infuriated. Down flew Taka, mounted on a Yian Garuga. The massive bird wyvern alighted upon the track's beginning line, while a bewildered Brutus stood by dumbfounded. Ali finally lustfully opened her eyes, only to find her boyfriend and Taka staring one another down. She finally gathered her wits and walked over to Taka, raising her fist as if to punch the huge Bird Wyvern in its spike-adorned face. She was quite angry that Taka was intruding upon her and her boyfriend's privacy. "Not the smartest ever, is she?" Taka asked his bird wyvern, little to their knowledge. "Not in the slightest. I should bite her hand off, but alas, I will not." The bird wyvern replied with a grunt as it shoved its beak towards Ali's hand. The frightened young lady reached her hand back, looking over it suspiciously, as if the bird wyvern had done some mysterious damage to it without touching it. She had never seen a Yian Garuga.

"It's a Yian Garuga, Ali, and if I were you, I would stay still. This one's not one to mess around with prey," Taka said, patting it lovingly on the chest. "And what's your excuse for messing around with it?" Ali asked--partially with anger, partially with curiosity. "I can talk to creatures of all kinds, but especially monsters." Taka replied.

At this, they both laughed. "Right, and I can talk to the ocean and cry with it, too," exclaimed Brutus, after mixing some sailor's slurs into his laughter-speech beforehand. Ali was on her knees, doubled over with laughing pains. Taka was instantly infuriated. Taking the reins of the situation, he pointed his beast towards Ali, directing one foot to step but a few inches from the young girl. The thud of the massive, clawed appendage snapped her back to her senses, and she sprawled backwards in surprise and blind fear. Taka laughed and hopped off of his mount.

"Sorry. The administrators sent me to the various senior student's houses to deliver these," Taka said, producing a letter from a leather bag slung leisurely over his back, "Letters of Acceptance to Official Training, if I remember correctly. The only way to pass the test. Kind of surprised that I got accepted. But anyway, there you go," Taka finished, climbing back atop the Bird Wyvern and guiding it to liftoff. "Also," he yelled back at them, "Don't have too much fun! It'd be a shame for a pregnancy to ruin Ali's chances." Taka shouted as he flew almost out of earshot--and still far enough away that Brutus didn't quite understand what he said.

The couple opened their letters and read them, muttering on the words as they sat with their backs against a shady tree. The wind had died down to a gentle breeze now, and the envelopes were laid safely in a hollow of the tree. Brutus smiled as he read the words: "YOU HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED INTO THE TRAINING GUILD. GRADUATION TO HUNTER GUILD TRAINING TO BEGIN ON THE MORROW." Ali and him both felt success trailing through their veins, empowering them and filling them with confidence. Brutus kissed Ali lustfully and passionately, and jumped up quickly, taking in the feelings and embracing the area. No neighbors for two miles either way; Brutus and his older sister lived in an area where there were plains and forests abundant, since the mountains opened up in a sort of valley system. Perfect for privacy. And to top it all off, Brutus's older sister wasn't to be home until tomorrow--she was off to her best friend's marriage in Loc-Lac--and so it was just him and Ali at the house. No one else.

The young, energetic couple couldn't help themselves.

Calli and Katrina, who was still at her house, jumped up and down as they read the letters. Katrina, of course, had been upset by Taka's arrival, and was about to grab her Jhen Cannon to shoot his bird; but luckily, they flew off before Katrina lost her temper. These letters completely improved her mood. She hugged Calli and they ran outside, not even coming to a conscious decision to do so, but jogging to downtown Tanjia to get a celebratory drink.

Noami and Reia were sitting on their porch (they were old enough to be without guardians, and they lived with one another), holding hands and kissing, when Taka arrived. He took no notice and instead simply smiled and said loudly from his perch on a huge tree in their front yard, "Here's your acceptance letters, one apiece! Have fun!" And, flying off, laughed with perverse glee.

Gamor was found hoeing his family garden while his mom shouted at him to stop talking to that "trashy bitch, nothing but trouble ingrate," -- Referencing Yuki, who he had developed a burning love for -- which thoroughly angered Gamor. He was glad that Taka stopped by and delivered the letter. It not only gave Gamor an excuse to leave the house after he had finished hoeing the garden, it lightened his mood in itself.

Yuki and Jeren were on their way by Aptobus to the Marina, where Jeren's best friend was returning from the foreign wars being fought in Minegarde. Monster wars, apparently, where the monsters of the country had been tamed by evil-minded individuals and set against the citizens, and Moga had sent troops to aid the failing land. Jeren's best friend, who had previously dropped out of Tanjia Hunter's Academy, was a lieutenant in the army now, and was returning home on leave. Luckily, Taka caught them both just before they reached the gate; he gave them their letters and, with a tip of his hat to the lovely Yuki, flew away.

Inside each letter were three sheets of parchment: one, the acceptance letter. Inside was contained the details of acceptance and what needed to be done to ascertain their place in next week's Final Test. The next was a very long, lightweight booklet on which was printed maps for every Main Locale and guides on various hunting behavior and lingo.

The third was a three-page written study guide, complete with situational tests and written answer questions. Each of the aspiring hunters would sit down later that night, using the cool lantern-light as their only illumination, and take this study guide's self-test, reading over the answer facts many, many times before going to sleep. Their last chance to prove themselves to the guild.

All of the students, aspiring for greatness. All of them, wishing the best on themselves and others. All hopeful.

All happy.

All ready.

All confident.

... All naive, unsure, and blind of the future. ...

To be continued in: FanFiction:The Art of the Hunt/Season 1/Chapter 5 - The Field