"Where have you guys been?!"
Four teenagers are gathered in a table, two of them rapidly gobbling up everything served. It was a massive rectangular hall of polished basalt, with tables all over the place. And it was not only them that was there, for there was also people around their age, some eating, some taking quests from the counter, but all for preparation for Favi. It was the Guild, the huge building with five crimson pillars at its main entrance with its distinct three-pointed insignia at the front. Although people of other colors are intimidated at the bizarre architecture of the Crimson, it was a place of comfort for the red people because it reminds them of the dark embrace of the night as the iconic flag of the empire with its crimson chevron piercing through its black and white bands empowers their souls.
"Sorry Cherry, what happened was-" That was Celosia's chance to steal the massive chicken leg at his plate and of course, she devours it like bear who just went out of hibernation.
"Hey!"
Crabs, shrimps, lobsters, beef, almost everything you could ask for was already in her plate, but there was no chicken. "There was no chicken, see!"
Cherry slams the table with a stern face, resulting in a red wine spilling a bit in the middle section of her long toga just around her thighs, "Bloody hell, you two!" and then pouts, "We're in a public place. You're embarrassing us."
"Embarrassment or chicken, my choice is clear." Celosia points to Cherry with the bitten drumstick.
"We can't help it. We used so much art today."
"What for?"
"You see…"
"…"
"Oh no… Mr. Farmer."
They all grieve for a moment.
"But there was a huntress, you say?" Marcus, who was silent for a while, had his eyes lit up with enthusiasm through his thick curly black hair.
"Yeah. You were always interested in hunters, aren't you?" comments Chroma.
"People who travel all over the world, protecting citizens, training for years to learn all kinds of art of fighting, having knowledge of various forms of alchemy, chasing the most fearsome monsters in existence. So… so bloody cool!" Marcus kept talking with fervor about hunters, much like a child who tasted chocolates for the first time.
"Oh… here he goes again with his jabber." Feeling hopeless to discipline the group, Cherry just lets them go.
"Too bad, Marcus. The huntress that we saw was… a Pluvian."
Everyone went silent.
"Yeah. An affront to everything we know. Her skin is an appalling fusion of every hue out there. Her hair is just like a rainbow. Just the thought makes me so nauseated. Bloody motleys." The guild was filled with shocked gasps.
Sadly for Celosia, nobody but her cares about what she's rambling about. They were just concerned for her, for that motley was behind her.
"Motley… I haven't heard that in a long time." Celosia remains unfazed, faithful to her words as she sits still in her chair, her movements turn more refined.
She peers into her eyes and says, "You're just a huntress, you can't hurt me."
"True. Unlike your bigoted mouth, I have a moral code to follow." As if she was used to it, she brushes it off like nothing.
"Hmph."
"We're so sorry, Miss Huntress! Even though you saved our lives earlier… You ought to be grateful, Celosia!"
It was the first time they got a proper first look at a Pluvian, and a huntress Pluvian at that. It was obvious from her upright posture the years of experience far beyond their wildest imaginations, as if a cold wind chills their bodies just by being near her very presence. In her cotton clothes was also a bunch of stitch marks, and her belt unpolished unlike how a professional tailor might make them. Her skin covered in multiple scars, her face prominently featuring claw marks on her right cheek, and eye bags suggesting her numerous sleepless nights, she is not someone to be messed with. She was holding a tooth dagger so large that it must've come from a monster the size of the very building they're on, catching Marcus' attention.
"You're wondering about this dagger? Ah! It's from that wanker from the Yellow Mountains. Huge lad, but slow enough for me to get one of its tooths."
Everyone except Celosia is in utter awe. The Pluvian seats at an empty chair and places the dagger on the table. "Here, you can touch it." Marcus was so eager to touch the dagger that he got careless and cut his finger.
"Ack!" Celosia slams her fist on the table.
"I knew we shouldn't trust these goddamn Pluvians!" Like the smoke on a fire, Celosia's anger escapes. The huntress just facepalms.
"Children sure are dumb…" She grabs a pouch from her belt, "This drop of sap from a Ygg tree should immediately stop the bleeding." She lets a drop of the sap to Marcus' finger and sure enough, the bleeding stops.
"Next time, learn how to hold a dagger."
"Thank you so much, Miss Huntress!"
"I knew those potions came from a tree sap, though I never heard of a Ygg tree before."
"Ygg trees are native to the deep forests of the green people. I'm guessing from your salty friend here that most of you don't get out of the red lands, don't you?"
"We are a proud Empire and the people are proud of our heritage!"
Chroma secretly laughs embarrassingly at Celosia's words and switches his gaze to the Pluvian, "Anyways… Why are you here?"
"Yeah, how did you escape?? You should be in prison right now." Celosia interrogates her while eating her drumstick with a knife and fork, atypical of her.
"That reminds me… you," she points at Cherry, "you're the daughter of that commander, aren't you?"
"Y-yeah. Why?"
"And I'm assuming you four are together on this 'Favi' traveling-around-the-Crimson-Empire thing, yes?"
Somehow, Celosia started feeling sick.
"Yes?"
"I see. Your father told me to accompany you."
In unison, they all went "What?!" but each with a different reason.
"Dad?! Gosh, I wish he stopped treating me like a child!" Cherry fiddles with her hair out of frustration.
Celosia grabs Cherry by the shoulders, "Cherry! What is wrong with your father?! Asking a Pluvian for help?"
"Why did he ask for a huntress to escort us? I reckon the wyvern is more dangerous than I thought." Chroma wonders as he sips from his wine glass.
Marcus looks at the grand ceiling of the guild and gets lost in thought, "That means I can watch a huntress fight the whole journey? Awesome."
"Don't misunderstand me. I'm not particularly interested in you children. Your father promised me to take care of my moribund quetzodactyl. Poor lass. But more importantly…"
She then stands up and forcefully takes one of the quests posted on the quest board near their table at the entrance of the hall. She reads it to them.
"Urgent Request: A strange, rainbow-colored wyvern has been seen and terrorizing villages all over the Empire. Numerous Crimson hunters have fallen from the wyvern already, therefore only the finest hunters should take this quest. I, Dux Rosilva Vermillion, asks for the assistance of a hunter to slay the beast. I will personally reward anyone ******** coppers who brings its head."
She faces the group and declares, "I'll be taking this quest. And I'll accompany you too." Everyone felt shock and awe to this Pluvian who dared to take the most feared quest to be posted in the guild. Even Celosia was humbled for a bit.
"That much coppers will allow you to buy a small village!"
"Miss huntress, what should we call you?" asks Cherry, who felt defeated after hearing the two requests by her father leaving her no choice but to get babysitted.
"I'm Prism, That should be enough." Looking bored, she orders one glass of wine. "When do we start?"
Chroma informs Prism, "After noon. We'll go and get our stuff that we need except for Cherry, who has her stuff in the village near here." Chroma, Celosia, and Marcus stands and prepares to leave.
"I see. I'm gonna stay here with her then."
"Cherry, be careful." Celosia then whispers in Cherry's ear, "She might be a spy."
"I'm not a spy. For fuck's sake."
Chroma says farewell, Celosia just glares, and Marcus bows while smiling at Prism. Now, only Cherry and Prism remain on the table.
"Soooo… have you seen an actual cherry tree before?"
"Yeah. Those white flowering trees in that weird island with apples."
"No. Bloody. Way." A new flame has been ignited in Cherry's heart as her eyes grow wide.