*KnockKNOCK KnockKNOCK*
"Wooahh man, it's too early for all that" Steve gurgled from his bed
Pucks eyes shot open, he quickly sat up and scanned his surroundings. "That wasn't a dream... I really did die.."
*KNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCK*
"That's gotta be for you man" Steve groaned as he sloshed in a rolling over action
Puck got out of bed and went to open the door, standing there with a big smile on his bearded face was Andre, the eight limbed bear man.
"Hello Sunshine! I hope you're not planning to hunt in the nude HaHA!" Andre bellowed
"Oh! Sorry!" Puck realized he was still in the buff "now how do I put my armor back on..." As Puck the thought went through his head armor suddenly began materializing across his body
"That's a neat trick! I had to make my shirt, wasn't reborn with fancy armor like you, Heh!" Andre tugged at the collar of his (pretty well made) red flannel shirt.
"Hey that's a nice shirt, you really made that here?" Puck was genuinely impressed with the craftsmanship
"Oh yeah, it took a few weeks, but there's no lack of resources here, just some tedious work. Having a few extra hands helped ha!" Andre said, holding his upper four arms outstretched, wiggling his fingers and claws in a jazz hands motion
"I'll bet" Puck raised an eyebrow "So what's the plan?"
"We're going hunting" Andre said with a sly grin
"Say what!?" Steve yelled "I thought only seniors got to hunt?"
"Yeah that's been the case for as long as I've been around, but Master said this guys different, and I need to get ingredients anyway, so we're going hunting" Andre explained "Don't worry, I'll have your roommate back in one piece by the end of the day" he chuckled
"What exactly are we hunting?" Puck asked
"You remember that drumstick you demolished last night? We're hunting that, garrabirds. I hope you're as durable as Gahorem made you out to be, these guys don't go down without a fight. Are you ready?" Andre said coolly in his bass filled voice
"I mean I guess so, all I've got is this armor" Puck shrugged
"Then let's roll!" Andre patted Puck on the back, ushering him into the hall.
As they reached the courtyard Puck saw Master Gahorem standing in the grass, talking to a beautiful floating lady "Sha!" He shouted
Gahorem and Sha looked up to see Puck running towards them, waving his hand "Puck, dear! I'm so glad you're alright! Gahorem was just telling me of your exploits, it seems you've made quite an impression! Are you about to begin your training then?" Sha gestured to Andre
"Miss Sha, you're as lovely as ever" Andre crooned lovingly at her
"Oh Andre! Do behave yourself!" Sha blushed
"Ah, Yes Sha, Puck is about to go hunting with Andre as a training exercise" Gahorem interjected
"Excuse me? Isn't it a bit soon for him to be hunting? He's not even been here for 24 hours yet! You can't be serious, he needs to be trained up first, of course." Sha spouted in a huff
"Now now Goddess, Puck has displayed some rather.. advanced skills in his time here already, I do not think basic training with the juniors in the courtyard is going to teach him very much. No, I've decided to give him to Andre so that he can gain some hands on experience, he'll need it, you can't deny that." Gahorem explained calmly
Sha sighed deeply "huff, Fine I suppose you're right. He was very impressive when we met momentarily yesterday" she smiled warmly "Right then, mister Andre, I expect you'll keep Puck safe on this trip, yes?"
"Of course my love! He's in my numerous capable hands" Andre waved his arms wide and flexed real hard, his muscles pumped and he almost doubled in size as he struck a pose, flashing a smile and winking at Sha
"Very good sir Andre" she giggled
"Come on now Puck, we've got a long day ahead of us!" Andre patted him on the back to shuffle him forward, the pair walked out of the temple and into the snowy mountain air.
As they walked down the trail, Puck couldn't help but marvel at the gorgeous scenery. The entrance to the temple was situated where two massive peaks joined high above their respective bases, the trail out of the temple followed a winding path downward, with snow covered trees and jutting crags rising up on either side.
"Keep your wits about you laddy, you're never truly alone in this werld. Especially out away from other people. The wild places are where the monsters roam." Andre said seriously as they walked steadily down the stony path
"Don't you do this a lot? What sort of monsters are around where we're going? I'll be much better help if I have an idea of what we're working with." Puck reasoned
"I like you more and more Puck, you're right." Andre laughed heartily "Well, I don't usually see much along the way we're heading, until we reach the Big Flat, that's where the garrabird nest. But there are stronger things out there that seem to go wherever they want. We lost Marigold a few months ago to one of those." Andre grimaced "It was a great big nasty toad. We'd been gathering herbs in the forests off the path, the four of us, when the beast came crashing through the top of the trees, it must've weighed 8 tons the basterd. It took one look at Marigold and snapped him up with his grubby tongue, and then it leapt away, it was gone, and we've no' seen hide nor hair of Mari since. He was a good man, Mari, but these things happen here. That's why I've gotta get stronger, I'm the one that does the snappin eh!" Andre pounded his chest with a growl
"Wow man, I'm sorry about your friend, I guess I just have to be ready for anything then. Nothing new, I guess." Puck was chilled by Andres story, but he was no stranger to dangerous situations, and he wouldn't balk at this challenge. He did hope he didn't run into that toad though, it sounded a bit out of his league at the moment.
"Yes I suppose you're right" Andre laughed lightly
They walked for hours without seeing or hearing anything other than the trees rustling in the chill wind. As they rounded a rocky bend they suddenly found themselves staring down a steep hill that ended in a huge flatland covered in thick, sand colored grass. As they descended the slope Puck realized the grass was over ten feet tall, and almost impenetrably thick. He also noticed some grass towards the center of the landmass shake violently, suddenly, a massive crested birds head popped above the talk grass, it was covered in dark, emerald feathers, and it's black beak was almost a meter long, a foot from top to bottom, with several vicious serrations along the length. It looked incredibly pissed that it had visitors, its glare was fixed on Andre. Puck guessed Andre must have come here before, maybe the bird he'd had for dinner was this beasts friend, he felt a little bad for the terrifying beast, but only for a moment. No sooner had the garrabird laid eyes on the pair of intruders, it quickly sunk into the thick grass, and Puck could see it breaking in a path towards them at breakneck speed.
"Prepare yourself! The big ones coming!" Andre boomed with a wide, crazed, smile. He let out a guttural roar, like a bear, with each human hand he pulled out a small hatchet off his waist, his bear arms below were held wide with foot long claws splayed wide. He was truly a fearsome sight to behold.
Puck, seeing Andres blazing display, took a battle stance of his own that he'd pieced together from different martial arts he'd picked throughout his time as a soldier. His body was slightly leaned back, his head tilted forward, hands held loosely on bent arms, knees relaxed, he swayed slightly, ready to move at any moment. His combat style was based on reaction, when they moved, he moved, and he was faster. He was excited to see what this new body could do with the skills he'd learned in his past life. Martial arts were something he'd not practiced in over 20 years before he'd died, his aging body hadn't been able to do what it used to, when he swayed his joints would creak and ache, his grandkids used to laugh and laugh though when he'd put on a show of it for them. But with this new, unfathomably strong body, perhaps he could pick up his training where he'd left off all those years ago. It was as good a time as any to put those skills to the test anyway, he thought.
The garrabird burst out of the grass with a scraping stop, it's massive talons dug grooves in the ground to halt its progression completely. It was shaped like an ostrich, but with a much thicker, more muscular neck and body, it towered above them and the grass at 4 meters tall, making itself look as large and imposing as it possible could, and it was terrifying. Suddenly it bent its long legs, and shot forward, slamming its skull directly into Andre's torso like a cannonball. Andre was sent flying back up the slope they'd come down and crashed into a rock wall, the bird immediately turned its attention towards Puck, and sprinted in his direction.
Just as the massive bird reached him, Puck shifted his weight and dropped to the left, as he dodged, the bird spun around and glared angrily at him, then it furiously snapped its gnarly beak at his neck. Puck dropped to the right, narrowly avoiding the sharp maw, he swung his knuckles up in a whipping motion, they cracked on the bottom of the birds beak. The creatures beak slammed shut and cracks struck throughout the length of it, the bird cawed out in agony, scrambling backward to get away from this now terrifying, tiny skeletal armored man. Puck didn't chase it though, he just stood up straight and smiled, he was having a lot of fun getting back into the swing of things.
*SHNNNNK* *CRACKK*
Andre had jumped down the hillside and landed on the garrabirds back, driving his axes and claws deep into the beast, killing it instantly. He jumped off his prize, sheathed his axes, and threw the bird over his shoulder. He looked back at Puck with a great smile "You fought well! As soon as I was on my feet after this fella knocked me to kingdom come I leapt off the hill to get to ye, by the time I realized you didn't need me help it was too late. But man that was some fancy footwork! And that little slap thing ye did! These beasts maws are harder'n steel laddy, you've quite a strike on ye there!" He beamed
"Oh you saw all that? Yeah it's just a little something I'd worked on a long time ago, it's good to get to practice again." Puck said with a smirk
"Can't wait to see how you come along in a few months, next time we'll hunt something bigger" Andre said with a sly grin "We'd best be gettin back I suppose, bit of a walk, and I've got to prepare this mighty bird for the evening feast eh?"
"Oh my god I can't wait, I almost forgotten about your cooking" Puck said with stars in his eyes
"Baha! That's me boy!" Andre laughed
The pair merrily made their way back up to the temple, sharing stories of their past lives along the way. As they neared the front gates of the temple they saw Sha waiting to meet them.
"I see the expedition was successful! Fantastic dears!" She beamed at them
"Milady, what a blessing to be graced by your presence a second time today" Andre said with a bow
"It's always a pleasure Andre" Sha purred "but I do need to steal Puck away from you for now, I hope you won't mind?"
"Of course not milady! He's all yours" Andre said, shoving Puck towards the floating goddess. He took his leave, carrying the garrabird on his back into the temple.
"Ack! Ok yeah, sure, what can I do for you?" Puck stumbled forward
"It's time you find your weapon dear! We're going to the Treasury" she said excitedly "I dare say, this is always my favourite part" she giggled, clapping her hands lightly with a bounce
"Oh awesome! Let's go! Will it be a long trip to get there?" Puck asked
"Not at all dear! Give me your hand" She held out an elegant hand towards Puck, he grabbed it gently, and immediately felt space distort around him. A moment later the space popped back to normal, they were now on a small beach that was up against a sheer cliff face, at the base of the cliff there was a large stone door.
"And here we are!" Sha said triumphantly