Hunter's Perspective

I happily strolled through the many stalls of the market, looking around curiously for anything that might catch my eyes. Edric seemed pretty tired today for some reason, but I wouldn't question it. Some people just have tired days, and I want to enjoy my non-tired day. "Oh look at this Hunter, isn't it beautiful?" Raine spoke and walked over to a silk cloth shop. I followed them and watched as they picked up a beautifully embroidered red silk binder with golden detailing. "It's very lovely." I commented and reached out to feel the soft looking material. The silky substance practically fell through my fingers like water, it was so soft and smooth. It flowed through the air like a flag in the wind, and its coloring drew my eyes all over. "You should try it, I think you would like it." Raine suggested boldly and dangled the silky clothing in front of me. I tilted my head and stared with furrowed brows. I'd never tried on a binder before, or even thought of wearing one. "Doesn't it hurt? Like.. aren't those tight?" I asked and scratched my arm out of habit. Raine shook their head and placed the silk in my hands. "You can make it as tight or loose as you want, it's sort of like... hmm.. Like the drawstrings on sweatpants, they're very adjustable." They explained and pulled out their coin purse.

I stared at the silk cloth in thought, completely unaware that Raine was buying it before I could even decide if I wanted it. "I think it would look nice on you." Edric added, appearing beside me from the crowd. I looked up at the pine haired boy and held out the silky substance to him. "Have you ever tried one on?" I asked curiously and watched as he pawed at the soft cloth. "Not really, the closest thing I've ever done to that is put on Emira's bra so she would chase me down." He snorted and grinned as he reminisced. I cracked a smile as well and shook my head. "Maybe we can both try it on or something, it seems interesting." I suggested genuinely. He nodded and stared at the cloth a bit. He started to look back and forth between the colors and my complexion. "I don't know, I'm not sure it really goes with your style. I bet you'll still look beautiful anyways though." He added quickly and nervously smiled.

I rolled my eyes and snatched his glasses from his silly face. "You're a big dork." I hummed and held the glasses far away from him. He squinted slightly like a confused bird and huffed. "You- glasses thief- I can barely see the shape of your face without those-." He pouted and attempted desperately to get them back. I laughed and bumped into the stall as he pursued me. "Good, now you can't say this beautiful clothing doesn't 'go with my complexion'." I stated playfully and heard him grumble spitefully in reply. I giggled like a schoolboy and ran away with his glasses in clutch, quickly followed by the near blind boy who desperately needed his glasses back. It was very easy to get through the crowd with my small frame, I was like a cat weaving through a fence. Edric being the clumsy boy that he was had a lot harder of a time catching up to me. I could hear him yelling in frustration before he went silent.

I turned back to where I thought he might be, and was unpleasantly surprised by the glasses being swiped from my grip. Edric carefully placed them back on his face and crossed his arms. "What a punk." He huffed snootily. I couldn't help but laugh like a child at the fun I was having. His tense expression softened as he watched me. "I'm sorry- really- it's just funny messing with you." I snorted and tried to calm down. He simply looked at me with fond eyes and a sweet smile. "I don't mind.. You're having fun, so am I." He brushed it off. I nodded and grinned at him. "I certainly am having fun, way more than in the castle." I stated proudly and looked around. "Oh, did we run too far from Raine?" I asked while searching the horde of people for them. My eyes eventually spotted their unique mint hair, and slowly recognized all of their features. They were looking around for where we had run off to. "C'mon, let's get back." I said and tugged on his wrist. Edric lightened my tight grip on his skin and guided my hand into his. Kinda sweaty, but to be fair I also have sweaty palms way too often.

"Couldn't we spend some time just the two of us?" He suggested sheepishly. He had such a shy and kind smile on his face, and his eyes avoided me like the plague as he spoke. I didn't quite understand why he said that, we were already having a lot of fun with Raine watching us. "Why do you say that?" I asked innocently and tugged in his pale, clammy hand. He glanced at me for a moment before shaking his head. "Nevermind, let's get back to Raine before they get worried." He stated and walked with me through the pushy crowd. It was much harder to go against the flow and work our way back to Raine. "There you are, did you have fun?" Raine asked with their dimpled smile. I nodded happily and squeezed Edric's hand. "But I'm happier being safe with you." I told them matter-of-factly. They chuckled quietly and ruffled my already messy hair. "Of course." They responded and looked around for more to buy. I didn't care much about the fashion, I just wanted to spend time with my favorite people. Of course, not including Rascal, who was taking a big fat seed fueled nap at home.

After many hours of picking through all sorts of different clothes and jewelry and shoes, I had more than enough clothing to try on and keep in my wardrobe for a long while. As we flew back to Raine's sweet little cottage, I just kept thanking them over and over again for getting all of these things for me. "It's really okay Hunter, I want you to feel beautiful and at home with me." Raine assured me and giggled slightly at my eccentricity. "I can't help it, I just feel so grateful." I said with an embarrassingly red face. They shook their head and kept a warm smile on their face. As we neared the house, Raine started to seem concerned and slowed down quite a lot. "The lights seem to be turned off.. Maybe Lee left to go somewhere?" They thought out loud and neared the front door. They pulled out their keys and stared worriedly at the drawn curtains as they messed with the lock. "It won't budge, it feels like something is clogging the key hole." They stated and leaned down. They attempted to force the handle to release the locking mechanism, but it seemed very tightly sealed up. I guess we know it won't be broken into so easily.

"Hm.. This is very suspicious, I hope nothing strange has happened while I was gone. Maybe the back door to the kitchen is unlocked." They suggested hopefully. I was starting to feel queasy and nervous, the high of having a good shopping trip was wearing off at this new challenge. I followed with Edric to the back door and watched as Raine again failed to unlock the jammed key hole. They tried the door handle, which did very easily give in. They peered in slightly, and immediately slammed the door shut. They seemed incredibly repulsed and disgusted, frantically trying to not gag reflexively. It was definitely not successful, so now we had an adult making a mess on the ground and shaking very violently. This of course made every alarm in my head sound loudly, whatever could be responsible for that reaction was something I did not want to see. "What- what's wrong?" I asked nervously and scratched my neck pretty aggressively.

Raine had to take a bit to compose themselves enough to speak, and shook their head harshly. "Don't go in there." They warned me and Edric. I moved away from the door and looked at my companion for any source of stress relief, but he also seemed very freaked out about the whole thing. "Should I call my dad..?" Edric asked and pulled out his scroll from his pocket. "Yes, yes, most definitely." Raine responded and avoided even looking at the door. I carefully approached them and offered a hug to help calm them down. I also needed it, my legs were so shaky from fear. Raine hugged me tightly and sighed. "It will be okay Hunter, but please don't look in there. You especially do not need to see that." They whispered and took deep breaths. I closed my eyes and tried my best to relax in this tense state, breathing in their pleasant flowery scent. I trusted that they could handle it.

After taking time to calm down and wait for Alador to show up, I was feeling a lot better and was sitting in the grass in Raine's lap. Raine was distracting me by letting me braid some of their beautiful hair. "You're so pretty Raine." I mumbled and finished another braid in their hair. Raine kissed my hand and smiled fondly. "You're so sweet Hunter." They hummed and let go of my hand. I got comfortable in their arms and looked over at the house. "Is my uncle okay? Do you think so?" I asked with a bit of worry. Raine rubbed my back and hushed me. "Shh.. Let's not talk about it now, okay?" They told me and I nodded. I really hope my uncle is okay, even if he is a really terrible person. Alador approached the house with a concerned expression and stood in front of Raine and I. "What's going on, bard?" Alador asked suspiciously and squinted his eyes.

He was clearly annoyed and worried about what might me going on. "Erm... It's best if we discuss it privately." Raine told him. I scrambled out of their lap and ran over to Edric to get comfort. Edric allowed me to hug his arm as tightly as I needed. I watched as Raine whispered to Alador very quietly so we couldn't hear a thing. Alador's expression shifted to deep concern as he listened, and then he pulled away as if he refused to listen more. "I'll take care of it okay? Keep the kids out here." Alador instructed them and walked into the house. The light turned on, but the curtains still hid whatever occurred inside. I purposefully kept myself from peeking inside, because I trusted that Raine knew I shouldn't see what was happening. "Are you alright? You're awfully quiet." Edric commented and rubbed my shoulder. I nodded slowly and waited eagerly for that abomination specialist to return. It was an awkward and eery silence as I waited with my nerves in a bunch.

After a while, he opened the door and brushed off his dirty hands on his pants. He quickly closed it before anything could be seen. His clothing had a lot of what seemed like grayish green goo, as well as blood. His hands were absolutely soaked in whatever that stuff was. This did absolutely nothing to alleviate my concerns. "It's taken care of for now, I'm sure it'll be fine. Come on, help me with this Raine." He scoffed and dragged the squeamish witch into the house. After a bit more waiting, Raine opened the door and grabbed my hand. "Okay, you can look, but please try to stay calm and take lots of deep breaths."