The clopping of hoofs as the horse pulled the small wagon forward filled the silence as I processed everything that was said.

'I'm going to become a hunter...' the realization bounced around in my mind. I know that this was my goal, but it felt so distant and unattainable until half an hour ago. Something I'd have to fight for, something to aspire to - I never imagined it would be as easy as some guy walking up to you and declaring you're gonna be one.

I wasn't entirely sure what my feelings were - on one hand I was happy that I'm not going to be stuck rotting inside a prison or have to scramble for food anymore, on the other hand... Rybrus wasn't exactly fitting my image of a hunter. I didn't even see a weapon anywhere on him! How could he be a hunter? What does he even hunt, paperwork? I still had many questions about this whole thing, and no idea how to even phrase them.

"So where are you taking me anyway?" I broke the silence after a minute or so of pondering what to ask first.

"Inwards, towards Eldorath, to the Lodge." His answer was simple and to the point. I did appreciate that for what it was worth - that he was actually answering my questions. Since we were going inwards, it meant I was getting further away from my home - though that wasn't too surprising. Ravensbrook is a frontier town near the edge of the world, far outwards from center of the Lands Inside.

Eldorath - that was the capital city at the center, I kept thinking about the name ever since Mom mentioned way back when that that's where we'd be going. I always wondered what it's like, is it maybe twice as large as Ravensbrook? Thrice? I'll have to wait and see. Though, his answer did prompt me to ask a follow-up question. "What lodge?"

"The Lodge. It's... basically the neutral ground between all of the separate orders of the Hunters organization." I saw him hesitate for a moment - he was clearly choosing his words carefully. "It belongs to the Hunter's Host - the primary leadership group. They're responsible for communicating with the Parliament." Right, the Parliament. The group of people who decided the laws and supervised the Vedas. "Generally speaking, they're a bit of a small group, as not that many are needed to organize activities and plans for the Hunters. We're not a particularly large organization, we're more of an elite force that responds to whatever is needed, plus most Hunters are quite independent after being handed their orders so a rigid organizational structure couldn't work anyway."

"I didn't even know that hunters were divided into groups like that..." I murmured, though he must have heard my complaint and responded.

"It's a common knowledge near Eldorath, but the further outwards you go the less obvious the distinctions are. People far out - away from the safety of the center - tend to only see the combat oriented hunter orders. Like the Protectors, or rarely Persecutors. Morana belonged to the Protectors. They're generally focused on seeking out torments and dealing with them as needed."

I nodded in response. "What about the persecutors?"

"When a hunter... loses their mind and gives in to Fate, someone has to go and deal with it." His voice shifted from neutral to bitter as he spoke. "They make sure that we remain in good standing with the peoples by enforcing the law and policing our actions." It was clear that there was more he didn't say, but I didn't press him for more information. After all, it appeared that whatever it was, it was personal for him.

"And what about you?" I changed the topic and pointed to the symbol of golden scales on his shoulder - and immediately paused when I re-read the text beneath the symbol. 'Fate is a choice. Fate is a choice.'

"Remembrance. Our duty is to learn, record and know the truth of things - especially when everyone else has forgotten. We generally work in the background and gather as much information as we can before reporting things as necessary to the appropriate order within the Hunters organization to handle whatever we discover."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I see. So, basically, we're heading to the Hunter's main base of operations, and you're a paperwork guy." I tried summarizing what he told me.

"Yeah, basically." He agreed.

Rybrus definitely didn't fit the image I had of what a hunter was, but at least he was pleasant to talk with. The sound of hooves clopping on the stone road filled the air again as we both watched the road ahead of us.

'I'm going to become a hunter!' I smiled to myself, feeling a little less anxious about it after the talk.

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"... And then she told me that I'm an idiot, can you believe it?!" He ranted on about one of his fellow Remembrancers with whom he used to work with. It was actually impressive how long he managed to complain about a single person he worked with for precisely a single week.

Rybrus started going off on tangents last evening - by the time we set up a small camp to rest for the night after the first day of travel - and he someone kept it up ever since. I don't understand how his voice didn't give in from talking so much. "Don't get me wrong, I know I can be a bit of a dumbass, but it's not my fault that she misplaced the paperwork! Things have places where they belong because otherwise you can't find them - but nooooo!" He waves his hands in the air in annoyance. "She just had to go ahead and re-invent the storage system because-" His voice suddenly shifted into a mockery of a bossy female tone. "-It's more optimal if you do it like this." He struck a sassy pose as he spoke, using his finger to point at the imaginary person he was arguing with.

I couldn't help but giggle a little a bit, even if the topic was getting quite exhausting. If nothing else, at least it helped pass the time. "Right, right, I get it. Don't touch Rybrus's notes under any circumstances." I assured him, already making plans to sneak into the wagon - where he kept a multitude books filled with notes and stories and everything else he wrote down - late at night and rearrange everything.

"See? You get it! It's not difficult!" He snapped his fingers and nodded at me with a wild grin on his face. I saw him open his mouth to get started on yet another tangent, when we were interrupted by someone coughing in front of us. The noise made me realize just how distracted and unfocused I got, as I never even noticed when the person walked in front of our wagon.

"This here's a toll road, you gotta pay to travel safely." The man who spoke was dressed in light armor with a sword by his hip and a shield at his back. There was no isignia denoting his affiliation to a town or a merc group - had to be a bandit of some sort. But what kind of idiot would try to rob Hunters?

"Bullshite, I passed through here not even a week ago." Rybrus called him out instantly - and tension took over the atmosphere. The man glanced to the side of the road towards some bushes and trees before focused back at the two of us. I followed his gaze, and didn't manage to spot anything, but the action put me on the edge anyway. 'Does he have backup?'

"Times change I suppose." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing. "That'll be three silvers for each of yous." I was getting quite annoyed with this guy. Blatant disregard for the laws is what lead to everything going wrong in Larton, and I've never even heard of any guards asking to be paid to let you pass through a road. A town? Sure, sometimes it was done, but a road?

I heard Rybrus groan and turned to reach for my sword - which I kept under the seat of the wagon just in case. However, he caught my hand and shook his head. A moment later, he tossed the six requested coins to side of the wagon and the man stood aside with a satisfied grin. "Thank ye, have a pleasant trip yer majesties."

Rybrus bid the horse to move forward again as I silently fumed in the seat near him. When I thought we were far enough, I turned to glare at him. "Why did you give them exactly what they want?!"

"What would you have me do? Fight? I'm not good at that. Besides what if there's more people? Finally-" he moved his finger and jammed it into my shoulder. "-You've never taken a life before." I opened my mouth to protest. "At least, not one you could reason with." He added quickly, and I shut my mouth again with a frown.

"And even if we fight and win, what then? Leave the corpses here? It would attract scavengers and predators who actually would be dangerous. What if one of them survived and reported us as hunters going crazy and murdering innocent people. You know that people overreact when it comes to us. No, the best thing here was to bite your tongue and pass by without causing a scene. Six silver isn't worth the effort."

My annoyance and anger at what happened turned into righteous indignation as he spoke further. "So you're just gonna let them walk all over you?!"

He looked me straight in the eyes - his expression serious. "Yes."

I hated how quiet the rest the day was.