Hunter's Beginning (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  “That’s just it, they are right. How can I become a Hunter when every little thing I do wrong is blown out of proportion and ultimately turned against me… okay, maybe shooting Master West in the ass was not a… little thing, but still, if I was a boy, do you think they would be in there having this discussion.”

  “Probably not, they would have thrown you out already.”

  “Really?” She asked.

  “How should I know? I didn’t write the guild laws.”

  “Quitting would probably look better than being thrown out anyway.”

  “I’m not too sure about that.”

  “Think about it, would you prefer to hire someone who quit the academy, say for personal reasons, or someone who was thrown out of the academy for an attempted assassination of a staff member.”

  “What do I do?” Daniel asked.

  “What do you mean what do you do?”

  “I mean, where do I work? If I worked for the assassin’s guild and I was hired then that’s one thing, if I worked for the merchants guild then it’s an entirely different story.”

  “No it’s not. You can keep the reasons that you’ve quit to yourself, you can’t very well keep the reason why you got expelled from the academy a secret.”

  “Oh, so you’re talking about lying, living a false life. Is that what you really want?”

  She never answered the question as a noise from the corner of the room caught her attention. Vesper had returned and climbed up the side of the dresser to sit upon the small ebony box.

  “Where have you been?” She demanded. She was a little annoyed with the yarrow, not being there when she needed him the most.

  -Out.-

  “Yeah, I figured that much.” She replied. “Roaming around the kitchen looking for food again no doubt.”

  -Fat man’s room.-

  “Kile, are you okay?” Daniel asked. There was a definite note of concern in his voice.

  “Fat man’s room.” She replied.

  “I think I should probably get somebody.” Daniel said as he started to get to his feet.

  -Want to help Kile, went to fat man’s room, listened.-

  “Wait a minute.” She said a she waived Daniel to sit back down without looking at him. “What do you mean fat man’s room?” She asked Vesper.

  The yarrow leapt from the top of the dresser to the bottom of her bed and scurried up to sit in front of her.

  -Loud fat man, noisy, yells a lot –

  “Oblum… you were in Oblum’s office. You heard them arguing? What did they say… who was there?”

  -Loud fat man-

  “Yeah, I got Oblum, who else?”

  -Tall, mean man.-

  “Tall mean man?”

  There was a lot of them at the academy, there was Boraro, West, even Voreing although she didn’t know why he would be there.

  “Kile, I think I better get Master Bealer, you seem a little… confused.”

  “Daniel, sit down and be quiet for a moment please.”

  It may have been the way she said it, but Daniel quickly took his seat and watched her nervously. Normally she wouldn’t try carrying on a conversation with Vesper while he was there, of course there was that time after the Winter’s feast, but Daniel never brought it up and she was quite happy to pretend it never happened, although she was sure it was always in the back of his mind, but right now she needed to know what had gone on in that office.

  “Vesper, can you show me?” She asked. He had showed her the sights of the compound, why not this?

  -Show you.-

  Kile closed her eyes and tried to relax, it was a bit more difficult knowing that Daniel was watching. She quickly fell into her edge, as Vesper gave her the rodent’s eye view of Oblum office.

  She couldn’t tell where in the office she was, but never having been in the office did hinder her ability to locate any reference points. She was on the floor that much was clear. There were huge wooden pillars on either side of her, it took her a while to realize these were the legs of a chair. From her vantage point, she was looking up at the side of a desk and at the large fat man that Vesper descried accurately. Oblum was standing, red faced, clenching the infamous green fletched bolt in his hand. He slammed it on the desk, knocking over a few books in the process, one of which came very close to flattening Vesper, who retreated back further under the chair. Boraro was standing beside Oblum with a wide grin on his face. If he was happy then she was in trouble. West was also standing off to one side, but then the man couldn’t sit very comfortably after the wound he received. There were a few other people in the room, but Kile couldn’t see who they were from where she was, all she knew was that they were all wearing boots and had legs.

  “She’s out of here. She’s been trouble from day one.” Oblum shouted as he took his seat behind the desk and disappeared from Vesper’s sight, but she could still hear the fat man breathing hard.

  “If we intend to carry on a serious discussion, then we mustn’t exaggerate.” Someone said from the far right corner of the room. Kile never heard that voice before, so she wasn’t sure if he was on her side or not.

  “It was an accident, clear and simple. You can’t make something more out of this to suit your own agenda.”

  That was a woman’s voice, which could only mean Erin Silvia was at the academy, at least Kile knew that Erin would stand up for her, or at least she hoped so.

  “I’m not too sure about that.” Boraro said as he stepped forward. “There is definitely a violent streak in that girl, she has Orseen blood. I’ve seen her during combat training. If we give her the opportunity and the skills, there’s no telling what she is capable of doing. I said it from the beginning; she is just not suited to be a Hunter.”

  “That’s just it isn’t it, you never wanted her to be a Hunter in the first place. It’s not because of some fictitious violent streak, it’s because she’s a farm girl of Orseen decent from one of the lesser provinces. It’s this damn elitist club all over again.” Erin replied.

  “Okay, fine, I’ll say it, the Hunter’s guild has lost its reputation over the years, and we cannot keep having every mother’s son enrolled here just because they pass some damn entry examination. We have to be more selective of who we allow in and who we allow to graduate. Every Hunter out there is a representative of this guild. If we start sending out peasants and farmers and… her kind, what image does that send to the people? How much faith will they have in the guild? There was a time when the title of Hunter stood for something.”

  “Yeah, it stood for integrity, honesty, trust, what do you want it to stand for?” Erin asked

  “All I’m saying is how do you have trust in a Hunter who was a… a farmer or a peasant or a…?”

  “A female?” Erin finished.

  “Yeah, okay, a female. How can you trust a Hunter who’s a female or worse yet an Orseen?”

  “I’m not sure when the connection between status and honesty was made. In my opinion I would be more inclined to have faith in a peasant than a nobleman.” The voice from the corner of the room added.

  “It’s more than just honesty; a Hunter has to deal with people from all walks of life. Do you really think a lord is going to listen to a peasant?”

  “So what your saying is, in order to be an effective Hunter, you have to have a pedigree, you have to have… status, social standing… money.” Erin replied with a note of contempt.

  “Exactly.” Boraro exclaimed.

  “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way.”

  That voice came from just above Vesper’s head, another voice she recognized, but what was Master Adams doing there.

  “According the guild laws set down by the guild centuries ago, status, race, religion, nationality and even sex have no bearing on who becomes a Hunter. The peasant and the Lord are seen as equal, something that we have failed to accomplish.” Master Adams finished.

  “And what’s that suppose to mean?” Oblum asked.

  “It means that
we have gone out of our way to make life miserable for this child based upon the fact that she doesn’t fit with your ideals of what a Hunter should be, and with the other hand we have allowed certain undesirable element into the academy simply because of their… social status.”

  “That is outrageous, and I will not have my reputation or the reputation of this academy sullied by those words.” Oblum said, rising from his chair, his purple face peering over the top of the desk once again.

  “I don’t think Master Adams meant anything like that Sir Oblum.” Erin replied as she tried to calm the big man down.

  “On the contrary, that is exactly what I am implying. She may be a peasant's daughter, she may even have Orseen blood, a simple farm girl from some place that none of us would have heard of and probably wouldn’t know if we passed through one day, but she’s far from foolish. She knows.”

  “Knows what?” Erin asked.

  “Knows that she’s not wanted here.”

  “If what you say is true.” The voice from the corner replied. “Then why stay? What would she gain from staying in a place that does not want her? A place that brings her so much misery? An organization that truly does not want her to become a part of it?”

  “It’s simple Folkstaff, she wants to be a Hunter, and in my opinion, she’s the only one out of these new recruits that shows any true promise.”

  “Oh come on.” Boraro said, throwing his hands up, “The only reason she’s here is because certain members of the guild want her here. It’s some kind of publicity stunt or something.”

  “Is that your vote then Adams, you wish for her to stay?” Erin asked.

  “If it means anything, then yes, I would vote for her to stay.” Adams answered.

  “Regrettably it’s not up to Master Adams.” Oblum replied “This matter is too grave to be solved within the academy. It will have to be brought before the council.”

  “Are you serious?” Erin asked. “It was just an accident; you really want to take this as far as a trial.”

  “Nobody said anything about a trial. They will come and investigate the allegations, and if they feel it warrants going further, then yes, it will go to a trial. It’s out of my hands Erin. When the council heard what happened… they were concerned.”

  “Why would the council be concerned over something like this?”

  There was a long drawn out pause before Oblum answered her questions.

  “You’ll probably find out about this at the gathering, but there’s been trouble along the western border, and we’ve lost a few Hunters. The council believes that there may be a plot to bring down the guild.”

  “And they think Kile’s apart of that plot?”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me.” Boraro added.

  Oblum raised his hand to silence the Weapons master.

  “Any aggressive activity against a Hunter or the guild in general will be suspect.”

  “That’s ridiculous, this wasn’t an aggressive act… it was a simple accident.”

  “Ridiculous as it may be, cadet Veller is to be kept in confinement until the council can weigh all the evidence. If she is innocent of an aggressive act, then it will be determined whether or not she should be expelled from the academy.”

  “And when is this to occur?” Erin asked.

  “The council members should be here within a couple of days for the gathering. Until then she will be kept in her room with a guard on the door.”

  “You can’t do this Oblum.”

  “I’m sorry Erin, it's out of my hands, there is one other thing… you can’t have any interaction with the… with Cadet Veller.”

  “Why? Does the council think I’m in on the plot as well?”

  “It’s for your own good and for hers as well.” Oblum replied.

  “What does the Guild Master think about this?” She asked.

  “As of right now, we haven’t been able to get a hold of him.”

  “No surprise there.” Boraro commented and was again silenced by Oblum’s hand.

  “Maybe someone should go and find him.” Erin said as she pushed passed Boraro and stormed out the door.

  “I guess that’s the end of the meeting.” Folkstaff replied as he rose from his seat in the corner and walked passed Vesper’s hiding place. Kile had wished she could have gotten a better view of the Hunter, but all she could tell was that he wore a pair of light tanned boots. Boraro and West followed Folkstaff out of the office, leaving only Master Adams and Sir Oblum.

  “Rafael, I want you to set a watch on Veller’s door. She is to have no visitors and she is not to leave, you will also arrange for meals to be taken to her by the kitchen staff.”

  “Yes, of course sir. The guard… should it be one of our own?” Adams asked.

  “No, get a guard from the city watch, the last thing we need is to get the Son’s of Terrabin involved… and Rafael, make sure they understand that she is not a dangerous criminal.”

  “Of course sir, I hope it was worth it.”

  Kile broke the connection with Vesper and stared at the yarrow for a while longer. This was a lot worse than she actually thought, they weren’t treating this like a simple accident, they were treating this like a crime. If she is found guilty of an aggressive act toward another Hunter, even if West wasn’t technically a Hunter, she could be facing some serious charges.

  “Kile, are you alright?” Daniel asked.

  “Its going before the council… it might go to a… a trail or something.”

  “What is?”

  “The whole crossbow incident, they think I may be connected to some plot to bring down the guild.”

  “Oh come on, that’s ridiculous.”

  “That's what Erin said.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Vesper showed me. According to Oblum there have been some problems along the western boarder and they lost Hunters. The council believes that there is a plot to bring down the guild and my little… accident has raised some suspicions.”

  “And you got all this from a yarrow?” Daniel asked as he eyed the rodent.

  “It’s a bit hard to explain, and I don’t have much time. Master Adams will be here shortly with a guard to post outside my door.”

  She wasn’t sure how long it took for Vesper to get back to her, or how long it took for him to relay the entire conversation to her, but she was sure that Master Adams had enough time to employ a guard from the city watch and would already be on his way.

  “Look I don’t want to tell you that I think you’re being paranoid, but you’re being paranoid. The guild wouldn’t go as far as that, is it possible that you just… imagined it all. Maybe…”

  A knocking on the door stopped Daniel in mid sentence and Kile pulled herself from her bed. He was earlier than she had expected as she opened the door to let a somber Master Adams in, but he did not come alone. A tall man in light armor wearing the colors of Azintar stood just outside in the hallway.

  “Cadet Leary, I did not expect to see you here.” Adams said upon seeing Daniel standing off to the side of the room.

  “Sorry sir, it's just that I…”

  “No need to explain.” He said holding up his hand then turning to Kile who waited for his verdict. “Cadet Veller. I’m sorry to tell you that the entire matter has been passed to the council. In two days time there will be a review of the evidence, if they feel that there is any chance that this wasn’t an accident, it will go to trial. If you’re found innocent of any aggressive action they will still have to determine if you’ll be allowed to stay at the academy or be expelled.”

  Even though she knew what he was going to say, the words still stunned her. As long as she was listening into the conversation, it didn’t feel like they were talking about her. Now there was no doubt who it was directed at.

  “Sir. You said if they find her innocent. What if they find her guilty?” Daniel asked.

  “I seriously doubt it will come to that.” Master Adams replied, although Kile could
tell that he was worried about it. “The real issue here is that although you will more than likely be found innocent of an aggressive action, the likelihood that you will be allowed to remain at the academy is slim. It’s just… not good publicity.”

  “Yes, but if she’s innocent of an aggressive act, surely they will let her stay.”

  “Unfortunately there are still the lesser charges of carelessness or incompetence. Normally it would warrant a simple punishment, but under the circumstances, I’m afraid that expulsion may be their only option.”

  Either way it was over. Her chances of becoming a Hunter were gone. She had almost made it through one year and now they were telling her that there was no chance of her staying.

  “Isn’t there anything we can do?” Daniel asked.

  “I wish there was, the reality of the situation is that it will come down to personal testimony as there is a lack of any real evidence.”

  “Which means I’m as good as gone… either way.” She said.

  With Boraro and half the cadets never wanting her here in the first place, personal testimony wouldn’t be very positive. They would say anything to get rid of her, even Boraro claimed that she had a violent streak, what more would an aggressive action require.

  “Do you think Erin will find Master Latherby?” She asked.

  “I really don’t know. Guild Master Latherby has a way of disappearing when you need him the most, but also a way of appearing when you least expect it. If anyone can put a stop to this before it get out of hand, it’s him, if anyone can find him, it’s Erin.” Adams said, then stopped and looked at her curiously.

  “How did you know that Erin Silvia was going to look for Guild Master Latherby?” He asked. “I never mentioned it and she only made the decision about an hour ago.”

  “Lucky guess?” Kile replied.

  “You also didn’t seem very surprised when I came in here, or when I told you what the committee had decided.”

  “A very lucky guess?”

  Adams looked over to Daniels who held his hands up.

  “Don’t look at me sir. I was here the whole time.”

  “Yes, very well… let’s hope your luck holds out.” Adams replied as he motioned for Daniel to leave the room. “I am sorry about this Kile, I wish it could turn out better.” He said as he closed the door.