[Mkguild] Partrol I

[Jack Moore]

AN: I've been working forever on this. A special thanks to Chris O'Kane for
letting me use Misha.

Patrol
Nights in March are usually ice cold. This one definitely didn't feel it.
Berlitz sweated through his rabbit skinned cap. The quaking light of the
torches blocked all figures in half the fire. Berlitz could see the dirt
and grime on his own skin, splotches of black against the pale white. He
swallowed.
"Something wrong?" Saphir asked. "You're shaking Berl." Berlitz clenched
his leather glove covered fists. "You're scared things are going to go
wrong aren't you?" He sighed and nodded. "I was scared myself on my first
hunt."
Saphir was a few years older then Berlitz and noticeably thinner. He had
black hair he kept cropped thin. Saphir's green eyes always seemed to be
laughing.
"How did you deal with your fear?" Saphir smirked, his half smile lighting
up the darkness. The bow on Berlitz back felt heavy as stone. His sweat
soaked legs dragged through the mire.
"I just hunted." Saphir said. "On a hunt it can overwhelm your fears. In
that moment, that rush you don't know if you'll live or die."
"I don't see how this helps." Berlitz said, now with a grin.
"Let me finish. The thing is, you wouldn't expect it but it's amazing the
first time on your hunt when you're in danger. When some great big beastie
can actually kill you?" Saphir laughed. "Then you put an arrow through its
eye."
"And if I can't?" Berlitz asked. "What if I'm too slow or I can't level an
arrow or if I fire it into the ground."
"Then that's why we hunt in groups." Saphir said. "Wolves have the right
idea here. They hunt in packs, the club does too." Berlitz nodded.
Eight figures marched through the woods right now, each one in shades of
black. Magic allowed their leader to see clearly in the dark.

They moved without fear through the woods. Maybe someone would spot them.
Tonight was not the night of the hunt, which would be tomorrow. Let people
see them now, they'd forget by tomorrow.
All but one of the group carried bows with special non-lethal arrows.
Berlitz also carried a net as the primarily net bearer. There was a
secondary net bearer but he didn't know who that was.
Using a net was generally regarded as dirty; it took the thrill out of
hunting a clever prey. There was no glory in stabbing a caged animal. But
there is also no glory in being gored.
They weren't supposed to carry weapons on this expedition. Berl had a knife
with him though. 'I am not going to die on this hunt.'
The man at the front of the line was the Hunt Leader. He would direct the
hunt as it went and would hopefully keep Berlitz alive when this was all
said and done. He was an older man with a weary face and gray eyes.
A look in his eyes could be seen in all of the other hunters. A kind of
iron stiffness, it was a hardness that developed in time. Even in Saphir
Berlitz could see it developing.
'Do I want to be like them though?' Berlitz dropped his head. 'I don't even
know I want to be out here.' He was so tired but he kept marching with the
rest of them. 'This is my purpose this is my destiny.' So they all said,
over and over.
This was all crap and Berlitz new it was. His destiny was unknown to
everyone but the gods. Yet despite this he marched with the other men in
their cloaks and dark leather. Six torches flicked in the dark and created
a line of light.
"It's cold out here." Berlitz mumbled. "Why am I sweating so much?"
"Nothing is going to go wrong." Saphir promised. "The cold...well can't do
much about that. Still March kid."
"Yeah..." I'm sweating because I know this is wrong. The leather around his
body felt like lead. Memories shifted through his head, two coalescing
streams for and against his course of action.
Every few feet there would be a snap or a crack caused by Berlitz breaking
a twig as he walked. The others were completely, almost inhumanly mute. In
time they promised he would be like them but that was impossible.
No way would he be able to hunt like the others. Berlitz didn't want to be
like that. 'So why am I still here?'
Their leader held up a gloved first. The other seven came to a stop,
crowding behind him. The leader pointed out to a clearing of trees. They
continued on until they reached the edge of the thick wood. The hunt leader
turned to face them.
"What do you see?" Over his head was a hood, in the darkness it was a black
portal. Berlitz swallowed and glanced over the leader's shoulder.
>From where they stood on a hill they looked out onto a valley. Little
lights dotted the ground, fires and candles in windows. In the distance
stood a castle, massive and forbearing. In front of it rose a town, with
walls and no doubt thousands of living breathing souls.
"This will be our most dangerous hunt by far." The leader said. "What you
see before you is Metamor Keep."
"We're all cursed." Berlitz mumbled.
"Not yet youth." The leader said. "But this place will be our greatest
challenge. The people of Metamor are cursed. Some of them are no longer
human, they will be our targets."
"What about the humans sir?" One of the hunters named Rubius asked.
"They can be disarmed but must not be wounded." The leader said. "The
animals may be wounded but not killed, if you wound them they must be left
alive."
"That means we've only got one chance!" Berlitz stammered.
"We're the absolute best or are supposed to be. In a red hunt you should
only need one arrow to take a life. Consider this a test run." The leader
said. "And if things become difficult that is why you Hunter Berlitz are
our net bearer."
"I really wish I wasn't." Berlitz mumbled.
"The net will only be used in the event of an emergency for a quick
escape." The leader said. "Gentlemen, the hunt is happening. We may all be
killed but we will die in a moment of greatness. Our names will be recorded
in the Golden Hall forever. Are you ready to become eternal?"
"Yes sir!" They all said. Six of the voices were strong but Berlitz barely
managed to get the words out.
'I'd rather die of old age.' Berlitz bit his lip.

"Tonight will not be our hunt night but very soon." The leader said. "We
know these woods from our scouts reports but actually hunting in them is
very different. Tomorrow we will gain first hand knowledge of these woods,
we will observe these people. The night after that will be our hunt."

"Yes sir!" The leader nodded.

"Prepare to make camp. We have a busy day ahead of us."
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