On the side of a busy road within the walls of the Gentile Capital city, two monster hunters loitered outside a semi-popular bakery while they reflected on just how up a creek they were. Leaning against the window of the bakery, Valerie scanned the constantly shifting crowd, the sight of so many people mind boggling to witness. Samantha on the other hand, paid them no mind as she sat with her eyes closed in a crossed legged pose while munching on a bagel. The duo’s undeniably ragged appearance as well as their foul smell drew sympathy from passersby including the bakery owner who gifted burnt and unsellable products to the homeless girls. Contrary to popular opinion, there was not as many showers out in the wild as one might suspect which was why the pair stunk to high heaven. Not only that, but they were also broke, had nowhere to stay and lost in a city they didn’t know how to navigate. They could possibly survive by grifting or stealing what they needed but with so many eyewitnesses and guards they were bound to end up in custody. They briefly discussed leaving the city to camp out in the woods again but tossed out the idea, if they were to leave now, they would likely never get back in without the right documents.
“Damn that prince…”
Valerie muttered under her breath. He used the pair as bodyguards, meal tickets and worst of all an ego boost forcing them to listen to his endless tall tales. He didn’t waste a second in leaving them behind to fend for themselves in this human ant hill. She hated the monkey’s attitude, but it was the Maroch prince she should have despised from the beginning. He played a fool, a braggard, a chauvinist all the while secretly masterminding his way under their radar tricking them at every turn. It was without a doubt a complete overestimation of the prince’s cunning but in that moment whether his buffoonery was an act or not didn’t matter to her.
“Should have killed him when we had the chance… and his little pet too.”
Valerie was too busy stewing in her own resentment to pay any mind to the pedestrians giving her statement odd looks. These were Gentialians however and if something wasn’t their problem they had no reason to make it so. Samantha embodied this carefree attitude perfectly, there was no reason to worry in her mind as they would find a solution eventually. So instead, she busied herself relaxing and enjoying her meditative snack, the tangy taste melting on her tongue while the burnt sections added a satisfying crunch. James may not have been able to assist her in dulling the scary aura she unconsciously let out like a bad odour, but Maji unintentionally helped the shadow user. While at rest, the monkey would spend its time either leaping from tree to tree or in deep meditation, what it possibly thought on during such sessions was a secret none would ever learn (bananas, it thought about bananas). Although never truly invited to join in, Samantha wasn’t turned away when she sat beside and imitated the monster’s concentration techniques. The first few sessions ended as one might expect with the shadow user falling asleep or being unable to keep her focus. After numerous attempts however, she found herself able to maintain the meditative pose for a short few minutes until dipping into dreamland. Her curiosity bore fruits as she found the unsettling parts of her shadow aspect diminish over time while clearing her mind, only flaring back when she broke concentration or opened her eyes. If she could find a way to master the art of meditation, she may just be able to control her eery aura or find a method to turn it into a weapon.
She made for an odd sight, sat outside a bakery crossed legged and with a half-eaten bagel but at least she was a sight to behold. The people passing them capable of looking at the scary girl without a chill running down their spines. Enjoying her tasty snack and with nothing else to do, Samantha almost achieved a near nirvana sense of tranquillity that was unfortunately broken with the loud and defeated sigh of her friend. Opening her dark eyes, she watched Valerie hop off the bakery’s wall and pace around, a thoughtful if frustrated look strewn across her face. With the return of the crowd dispersing eery aura, the huntress had plenty of space to march around as she wracked her mind for an answer. She mumbled under her breath going back and forth on ideas before quickly shooting them down. Everything she thought of seemed to have more downsides for the pair than upsides. At last, she turned to Samantha her shoulders slumping and her face becoming crestfallen.
“I have to be honest, I don’t know what to do. This… this is what I wanted. To be HERE, to find other people and try to make something out of my life. It’s all I’ve wanted, for years I imagined being someplace with people with sights to see and things to do. But now that were finally here I just… I don’t know where to go, who to talk to. I… just don’t know…”
Admitting her own poor planning was hard enough, but with her friend relying on her as well Valerie was near crumbling from the pressure. She hated how she let Sikandar trick her, believing even if they didn’t get along, they could respect each other enough to not leave them high and dry. She had been dealt a harsh slap in the face by reality and didn’t know how to proceed. The huntress crouched down next to Samantha dropping her head into her hands utterly defeated. A soft hand patted her shoulder in an attempt to console the burdened girl.
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“There, there, you tried, and you failed. It happens.”
The consoling party was not very good at it. Her words were genuine however, she failed numerous times in her attempts to escape the mine but never gave in and she knew Valerie was not the sort to give in either. They just needed to find something or someone or maybe somewhere? They needed to not get bogged down was Samantha’s mentality as that helped no one but the bog. Finishing off her delicious bagel, she wondered if acquiring more would improve matters, always best to think on a full stomach or so she’d been told. The question was: how would she get those scrumptious treats? Perhaps more sympathy pleas? Or maybe she could learn how to make them herself? But where could she learn to do that?
“Whgh dooughn we ho ho a ibaeae!”
She tried to say, flecks of pastry flying out from her filled cheeks.
“…What?”
Valerie responded, not even trying to decipher that garbled mess of a sentence. Samantha forcibly swallowed her half-chewed bagel almost choking in the process. Taking a few breaths to make sure nothing came back up, she repeated herself.
“Why don’t we go to a library!”
Samantha remembered how Papa would reminisce about his youth when comparing himself to the Mine born children. He would lovingly recall the many days he spent in his towns local library reading book after book under the watchful eye of the well-educated and encouraging librarian. Many of the skills, stories and wisdom he accumulated over the years could be attributed to his days between those dusty shelves. Of any establishment Samantha knew, which was not many, the idealized version of a library where anyone was free to come and go as they pleased seemed like their best bet. It wasn’t much, but it was a destination and maybe the staff would be of assistance to the girls and if not setting fire to the place might cheer them up. Valerie turned the idea over in her head, not the arson that was something the shadow user kept to herself. While James was not a font of literary knowledge, he did also affirm the importance of a good library and made many promises to take his niece to one which he never intended to fulfil. Slowly rising back up, the huntress decided they had no better option and there was no harm in trying. Offering a hand to her genius friend, the two stood side by side and looked out at the city with renewed energy. That is until Samantha asked yet another important question.
“Say, what does a library look like?”
“…BOLLOCKS!”
Came the Valerie’s immediate reply catching a few bystanders off guard. They then spent a half hour mindlessly wondering the streets and asking confused locals for any information on the nearest library. Their enquiries eventually led the duo to stand in front of the dingiest and most run-down building to still operate a business. ‘Albert’s Books’ wouldn’t win any awards for catchy names, but it certainly got the message across to anyone but the illiterate pair. Out of everyone they interviewed, well Valerie interviewed and Samantha scared, this was the only library within the district according to an elderly couple who weren’t even sure it still existed having visited as children. The huntress was apprehensive to enter the building worried that the old folk’s recommendation could be another lie and the building itself was actually a den of debauchery or a front for some criminal organization. Samantha held no such reservations, walking up to the building and entering through the creaky unlocked entrance.
While the outside had been a dilapidated and worn-down mess of timber and brick the inside was well maintained and organized, if a tad small. Sturdy rows of bookcases lined the buildings four walls and took up most of the available floor space creating a maze of shelves with meticulously cleaned dust free tomes. Samantha marvelled at the sight while Valerie cautiously looked around the dimly lit hovel making sure there was no hidden attackers or secret traps. Libraries were widely known in the animal kingdom to be the most vicious and patient of predators after all. Caring not for any would be attackers, the shadow user announced her presence to the hardcovers.
“Heeeeeello? Is anyone here?”
Her companion resisted the urge to strangle the loudmouth, settling instead for a furious stare that went unnoticed. A thump from behind a bookshelf alerted the duo to a third entity in the vacant library. From around a corner a chubby man waddled out adjusting his glasses and looking his latest clientele over. He was old, very old from the two’s assessment, older than even four- or five-time grandfather Dale McDale. His age and rotund figure weren’t the only defining features as not a single hair graced his head, bar a bushy moustache and pair of equally thick eyebrows. He wore a well-fitting brown business suit with ink stains set into the shirt underneath that were many years older than the trees that made up the books and shelves themselves. Most interesting of all, the man was an Elf or shared attributes with elves as he had a set of pointed ears adorning his sharp angled face. Analysing the duo in turn, the elf librarian adopted a jolly smile and beckoned them in with a voice that could warm the coldest heart.
“Welcome, welcome. It has been an age since a pair of youthful spirits crossed into my domain. My name is Albert Woodpen, please make yourselves at home and I will be with you shortly.”
Turning away, Albert made to leave and return with warm refreshments, excited to host new faces for the first time in ages. His retreat was halted when the smallest newcomer made her own unique introduction.
“Hi, my names Samantha, I have the aspect of shadow and this is Valerie, she mmMMMM-“
She was cut off by Valerie clasping her friends mouth shut yet again before she revealed all their secrets. For the first time, the huntress was thankful for the bustling streets if only because it meant there were too many people for Samantha to personally introduce herself to. Slowly rotating his head back, Albert tried to stare at the smaller of the two finding his eyes unable to focus or simply refusing to obey. His ears twitched and voice dropped to a whisper.
“The… the what?”
Valerie clenched her jaw while Samantha struggled to breath under the iron grip.
“Bollocks.”
She cursed, believing whole heartedly her time within the Capital would turn her into a true cussing aficionado.