"Ya got one more snake to find, boy, before I give you your pay," Old man Jenkins said, rocking in his chair as he watched a white-haired young man crawling on the ground.

"You sure it's just one more?" the man asked, popping his head up over a small rock wall. His hair was tied back to make a small ponytail that was about 3 inches long and he had a gold earring on his right ear.

"Yup, I'm sure, Lincoln!" Jenkins shouted, Lincoln rolling his eyes as he went back under the rock wall.

Getting back on all fours, Lincoln was looking at holes in the ground with leather gloves on. He was about to reach into another hole when he heard the sound of a rattle. Freezing at the sound, Lincoln slowly moved his head to come face-to-face with a very large Rattle Snake. It looked to be about 8 and a half feet long and 42 pounds.

'16 silver coins for this?' he thought to himself, reaching for his dagger that was attached at his hip.

"12, 13, 14, 15...and 16! And one pair of Reinforced Snake-Skin socks!" Jenkins said, handing Lincoln a small cloth back and a pair of socks. Lincoln took the cloth bag without hesitation, but he eyes the socks.

"Uh, that wasn't in the contract," Lincoln said, to which Jenkins poked at the bronze-plate necklace around Lincolns neck

"Kiddo, I've seen too many bronzers like yourself come and go. You're gonna need everything you can take," Jenkins said, still holding out the socks. Lincoln closed his eyes, taking the socks and putting them into his coat pocket. He wore a pair of brown pants with boots that have seen better days. He also wore two shirts with a loose, orange tie.

(Like this, just imagine an orange tie and no hood.)

"Have a nice day, Mr. Jenkins," Lincoln said with a slight bow.

"You too, kiddo. If ya ever need any of my scale-brand equipment, you know where to find me!" Jenkins said with a smile. Lincoln smiled back as he walked out the door of Jenkin's shop. Walking onto the main road, Lincoln took out a compass. After looking at it for a couple of seconds, he pointed to his left... and started to walk to the right. Putting his compass away, he started to jog. Slowing down and speeding up when he needed to, Lincoln managed to find a good jogging pace to keep at before he started talking.

"Hiya, the name's Lincoln Loud. I'm 23-years-old and I live alone. You're probably wondering what I'm doing," he said, looking directly at the 'viewer', "well, right now I'm running back into town to turn in my contract. Contracts are bounties people put up when they want something done, almost like a 'mission' or a 'quest'," he explained.

Lincoln then heard a carriage behind him and started running on the side of the road. The carriage driver waved at Lincoln, the latter doing the same before the carriage continued on its way.

"Anyways, we have a system of pay. Copper, silver, gold, platinum, and RTC or Rare Treasure Coins. 100 copper equals 1 silver and 100 silver equals 1 gold and so on... but then a single RTC is equal to 1000 platinum pieces, so it gets confusing sometimes. But how much is that? Well, put it like this, 5 silver is enough for a loaf of bread" Lincoln explained, but he stopped talking once he saw the Town Wall over the horizon. Picking up the pace, Lincoln went from a light jog to a sprint, quickly getting to the gate where people were lined up, trying to get in.

Slowing down, Lincoln took several deep breaths before he walked past the line and knocked on a wooden door inside the gate. The door cracked open to reveal a short man, only reaching up to Lincoln's waist, with a bushy, red beard, a large nose, and small beady brown eyes. He was covered in gold-plated armor, complete with a helmet.

"Hello, Mr. Ballor," Lincoln said, the short man looking up in his armor.

"Lincoln," the man replied, crossing his arms, "you got your pass?"

"Yup, right here," Lincoln pulled out a card from his pocket. Ballor grabbed the card and pulled out an ink pen. He made a small mark before handing it back to Lincoln.

"Have a nice day, ya wee brat," Ballor said, waving him goodbye

"You too ya drunken dwarf," Lincoln replied, walking away.

The white-haired boy made his way through the large, vast village, which should be considered a city. He smirked, smelling the fresh scent of grilled meat, and looked to his right to see a meat-stick stand. His stomach growled, but he stopped himself, looking at the pouch in his hand before gritting his teeth and continuing on his way.

Pretty soon, he made it to where he needed to be. A large house, with the sign 'Grizzled Salmons' on the front. But next to the door was a young boy with torn clothes, dirt all over his face, and a small metal cup. He was begging for some copper pieces.

"Change? Spare change?" the boy begged to people who walked by him. The boy tapped his cup as he continued to beg.

Lincoln sighed, pulling out his pouch and taking out 8 silver pieces. Walking to the boy, Lincoln dropped them into his cup.

"That should be enough for a warm meal, right?" Lincoln asked, to which the boy gave him a nod and quickly ran to buy himself some food. Looking down at what was left of his pay, he frowned, putting the pouch back in his pocket, and entered the building.

He took his first step inside and saw a whole bunch of different people. He saw some orcs, a few dwarves, a gnome, a couple of elves, and the rest were filled with humans, like him. Walking through the giant crowd, he stopped at the bar and tossed 2 silver coins onto the counter.

"Just a mug of beer, please," Lincoln asked, looking up at the barmaid. She was wearing a purple jacket that showed her mid-riff and shorts with sneakers.

"You look like shit, Linc," she said, grabbing a mug and pouring some beer into it.

"I literally just got out of a snake pit from Old Man Jenkins place, I'm gonna look like shit, Ronnie," Lincoln stated, grabbing the mug from Ronnie before she even had the chance to set it down.

"Hey, don't get smart with me," Ronnie smacked the back of Lincoln's head, but he didn't even flinch as he simply jugged the mug and its entirety. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Lincoln felt someone tug on his cloak.

He looked down to see a half-ling.

"Lincoln Loud?" the half-ling asked

"Yes?"

"Guild Master wants to talk with you," the half-ling pointed to the office door on the second floor, causing Lincoln to sigh in frustration.

"*Sigh* This can't be good," Lincoln mumbled, putting the rest of his pay on the counter, "I'll take a bottle to go, Ronnie,"

"What kind?" Ronnie asked

"Whatever is the hardest stuff that this can buy," Lincoln answered, walking away.

Later:

Lincoln sat down in the chair across from the Guild Master. He was an old man with a handlebar mustache, grey and balding hair, and was quite widely built with tanned skin. The old man wore a flannel shirt with blue jeans and seemed a bit concerned.

"Well, what's this about?" Lincoln asked

"Lincoln... *sigh* how long have you been with us?" the Guild Master asked

"About 4 months,"

"I see... Lincoln, you know the economy is doing downhill, right?"

"Yeah, I know, I see it every time I walk outside," Lincoln crossed his arms, "but let me take a guess, Rick... you're letting me go?"

"Yes... I'm afraid I am," Rick said with sadness. He looked Lincoln in the eye as the young man threw his hands up in the air, got out of his chair, and walked to the door of the office. But before Lincoln touched the doorknob, he felt a rush of wind on the back of his head and a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not gonna leave you high-and-dry, buck-wheat, you know that," Rick said as Lincoln turned around to face him. Rick pulled out a card, handing it to Lincoln, the latter looked at the card before taking it.

Lincoln inspected the card. It was a basic business card, except for one key feature. The back of the card had a symbol on it. A black bear with what seemed to be breathing fire.

"It's a new guild. They just started 2 months ago. I think you would be a good fit for it," Rick watched Lincoln put the card into his own pocket and walk away without another word.

2 Minutes Later:

Lincoln walked back to the bar and saw Ronnie holding a bottle of Tequila in her hand.

"So, how did it go?" she asked/

"Well... I'm laid off... again," Lincoln said, taking the bottle from her hand and walking away, "I'll see you back at the complex, Ronnie... but here's hoping that I'm not evicted from my apartment tonight," Lincoln pulled the top off the Tequila bottle and took a couple of mouthfuls before he walked out of the Guild in a buzzed fit of anger.

Ronnie frowned, leaning on the counter as she poured herself a shot. "Here's to you, Linc... and I was hoping we'd be able to go out tonight," she whispered before getting back to work.

That Night:

Lincoln sat on his broken couch, watching his old TV, which sat on a cardboard box.

He was flipping through channels until he just turned the TV off altogether. He stared up at the ceiling, closed his eyes, got up off the couch, opened a window, and let out a shout.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN-IT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He then started taking off his boots and kicking them, tossed his empty bottle into the nearby trashcan, and made his way to his bathroom.

Getting undressed, Lincoln turned on the water in the shower and waited for it to get hot... half-an-hour went by before he realized that there was no hot water. He took a cold shower instead, making sure to wash everything.

After getting out, he dried himself off and got into some casual wear. An orange t-shirt with sweat pants and socks. He stood in front of the mirror of his bathroom. It was cracked to the point it was almost gonna shatter. But he just sighed, looking down at the sink when he heard a pair of wings flapping by. Lincoln felt something land on his head and he looked up to see a bat.

"Fangs?" Lincoln said, "But if... oh no," Lincoln closed his eyes and looked up at the mirror. His reflection was no longer there, as it was replaced with a woman who had black hair, pale, skin, blue eyes, and wore a red dress.

"Hello, Lincoln," the woman in the mirror said plainly.

"Hello, Lucy," Lincoln replied, turning around to see his sister standing right behind him, "didn't expect to see you in red, you actually look good."

[Alright, something that I've worked on for a while, sorta my early Christmas present to myself. Hope you all enjoyed it and please call me out on any changes that need to be made]