Witchblood hunt1 pt1- A Fateful Wednesday

I’ve been hearing things in my sleep lately. I keep hearing muffled voices screaming in fear and pain, and crying for their loved ones. I hear the sound of things burning. But I can’t see any of this happen, all I see is black. The sounds grew louder in my head with each passing second, and it frightened me as the dream endures. (No…no; why can’t I wake up? I want to end this! I want to make this dream stop!)

“*Gasp!*” My eyes finally flew open, and I’m relieved from the nightmare. I breathed heavy breaths while I wipe the sweat off my face.
“Are you okay, Nate?” My twin sister asked me leaning over my bedside, “You don’t look very okay.”
“Yeah,” I replied back, “I just had another bad dream.”
“Wow, this would be the second bad dream you had in a row.” She sayed with concern, her cat-like ears folded flat over her head. “But whatever, get up, it’s morning!” She instantly got over me with a cheerful demeanor. I don’t see how she can be so happy about the morning, maybe it’s because I’ve usually preferred to sleep in. Without hesitation, she opened my window blinds, and the morning light poured into my room within an instant.
“Gagh!” I thought I was about to go blind from the sudden brightness, so I shielded my face.
“I’ll meet you down stairs!” She excitedly ran out of my room. I slowly tried to get out of my bed. My head felt heavy and pounded hard non-stop. I gently caressed my head in my hand, hoping that’ll stop the pounding,
(Taylor’s right, this is the second bad dream I’ve had recently.) I thought to myself. (But I don’t think this one was like the last one. I think the last one actually was just a bad dream; this one felt more…real.) I put on my clothes and head down stairs.
I got down stairs, and I looked around the room. The stone room was barely lit by the opened window in the kitchen area. Strands of hay and grass covered the floor in an even, thin layer.
“Nate, we’re in here!” My sister shouted from the kitchen. I walked to the kitchen, and I saw Taylor sitting unstill at the table and my dad preparing a basket of some kind.
“Good morning, son.” He happily said to me. His hazel eyes don’t have the vanity or blood thirst in them that most other Lion-kin do. His facial hair fully connected to his messy mane. “You don’t look too good, son. Are you sick?”
“No, he had another bad dream last night!” Taylor blurted out. “I found him this morning covered in sweat and breathing weird and everything!”
“Shut up, Taylor!” I shouted at her harshly.
“You had another bad dream last night?” Dad asked me. “You’re probably not having enough sleep each night. You do look a little tired.”
“I’m fine. Honestly. Anyways, dad, what’s with the basket?” I ask him as I point at the basket of bread.
“Oh, that; I planned on going over to the guild in Steady River today to give it to the Guildmaster as appreciation for their service-”
“No way, you’re going to the guild today? I want to go, too!” I reacted with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to go to a guild!”
“Can I come too?” Taylor asked with the same excitement I had.
“Don’t worry, you two; you both can come.” Dad happily replied.
“Yay-!” Both Taylor and I jumped up in the air with joy.

Dad finished preparing the bread basket, and we headed outside. The morning light burst with extreme radiance as I headed out the door, and I’m presented with the flowing plains of the Northern Pride Village. To the north of the village is Steady River, the city where we’re going to; and to the south, the nearby woodlands where the Lion-kin villagers hunt for food. Dad saddled up the horse and we head out for Steady River.
“Hey dad, I forgot to ask you something-“I suddenly realized as we galloped out of the village, “where was mom this morning?”
“She left to go hunt for dinner tonight; she probably won’t be back until after we get back.”
“Have you ever been to this guild before, dad?” Taylor asked.
“Oh, yes, I used to work there as a messenger when I was younger. In fact, that’s where I met your mother, kids.”
“You met mom there?” I restated his statement, then bombarded him with questions of my own. “What was the guild like? Was it nice?”
“It was okay, I guess. I can’t really say anything bad about it. I’ve been to better guilds when I was a messenger, and I’ve been to worse.” He told me. “But this guild is especially famous. It’s one of the six major monster hunting guilds.”
“Monster…hunting-?” I felt a sudden spark of curiosity run down my back when he mentioned it.
“Yes, monster hunting; there are creatures in this world, creatures unlike humans or Beast-kin. Some of these monsters are feral, only killing and eating on instinct like any other animal. But some monsters are intellectually human or beyond human. The monster hunting guilds would want nothing more than to protect humanity and its allies from them.”
“So what does the guild in Steady River hunt?” I ask.
“If I remember correctly, the guild Witchblood in Steady River hunts witches. But I don’t know for sure, I didn’t actually hunt any of the monsters; that was your mother’s job.”
“That’s so cool!” I shouted with thrill. “Someday, I want to join a guild like that so I can hunt monsters, and be famous, and make our family rich!”
“I hope you do, son. I know you’ll make us proud someday.” Dad happily replied. “Taylor, honey, are you okay? You’ve been quiet for a while.” He averted to my sister who’s sitting in front of him. Taylor isn’t really talkative when she rides a horse. Neither is she stable.
“Yes, daddy, I’m okay.” She replied back.
“Okay, honey. Just making sure you’re okay.” After that, the rest of the trip had been quiet. No one desired to say another word.

Finally, after what felt like forever, our horse frolicked into Steady River: the large city was lined with magic shop after magic shop, selling knick-knacks and practical magic. People of all species busily commuted the streets. The sound of metallic banging came from the nearby Blacksmith. Merchant stands perfectly filled the spaces where a regular shop can’t be put. Taylor and I gazed at the city in full awe.
“Do you like the city, kids?” Dad askd me as we pass through the streets. “This is your guys’ first time through the city, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, totally; this place is awesome!” I answer back with amazement. “Where is the guild at? I want to see what it looks like!”
“It’s not in this area, this is the market area; the guild is located in the east residential district. Do you see that big building? Out in the horizon over there?” He pointed outward to his left.
“Yeah, is that it?”
“That’s it. That’s Guild Witchblood.” I do see the big building out in the horizon, but it’s barely visible. As we got closer to the guild, I could see its details a whole lot better. The big, castle-like building had its cracked stone walls covered in moss and algae. The guild was surrounded by several other smaller buildings, one of which is owned by their private blacksmith. The watchtowers looked as if they could pierce the sky. We stopped our horse at one of the nearby stables and approached the castle by foot. We drew closer to the entrance, when suddenly-
“Halt!!” We were stopped by the guards who were blocking off the entrance. “State your business, visitor.”
“I’m here to bring the Guildmaster a bread basket.”
“Guildmaster Frost isn’t expecting a delivery.” One of the guards snapped at him.
“It’s a token of appreciation, to him from the Northern Lion-kin.”
“We’re sorry,” the other guard apologized, “but Guildmaster Frost cannot be seen today. He is investigating important matters and cannot be disturbed by visitors. But we will send a servant to bring it to him for you.”
“As long as it gets to him, that’s fine.” Dad handed over the basket to the guard and heads back to the stable with Taylor and I.
“That was it?” I asked him in angry disappointment. “I wanted to see the inside!”
“Sorry, Nate, I know how much you wanted to see the inside; but there’s nothing I can do if the guards won’t let us in.”
“Punch the guards in the face and then force your way in! That’s what I would do!”
“Don’t be stupid, Nathaniel! We must do what the guards say.”
“Grrgh-” I growled at him under my breath.
“Don’t you growl at me!” He angrily saddled Taylor and I back onto the horse. He took a second to calm down and regain his composure. “Look, we can’t go into the guild right now. Maybe we can go to the guild next time.” He drove the horse out of the stable and we returned to the village. But I kept think to myself, how soon will “next time” come?

During dinner time mom, dad, Taylor, and I were having rabbit and cabbage stew. The brew was hot enough where I could feel the warmth through my wooden bowl. I’ve always liked mom’s rabbit stew!
“So, honey, how was your hunt?” Dad said to mom.
“Oh, it was terrible. I couldn’t find one deer all day. I’m a terrible hunter.” She always acted like this when dad asked her about her hunts; it wouldn’t matter if she hunted every animal into extinction, if she couldn’t find the animal she was hunting for, she’ll think she’s terrible at it. Something told me she originally planned on making deer stew.
“Oh, come on honey,” dad tried to cheer her up. “You’re not terrible. Stop beating yourself up over it.”
“Anyways, how was your day, honey?” Mom says to dad.
“It was alright. I went to Witchblood with the kids to give the Guildmaster a bread basket.”
“Oh, really; how was that?”
“The big, scary guards wouldn’t let us in.” Taylor pouts. “But they took our basket anyways.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Did you enjoy your trip to the guild, Nate?”
“Yeah, it was okay, I guess. I was a little mad when they didn’t let us in the guild though. I wanted to see inside it.”
“Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. But the guild is pretty nice on the inside; the guildmaster always takes good care of it.” She sympathized with me.
“I believe you, mom; because tomorrow, I’m going to join Guild Witchblood!” I nearly jumped out of my chair with joy! But mom almost choked on a hunk of rabbit meat when she heard my news.
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!!” She yelled at me when her throat cleared. “You only going inside the guild I can deal with, but I forbid you from joining the guild!”
“Why not?! It’s been my dream to join a guild! I wanted to join so I can go on adventures and make our family rich! Besides, dad said you both worked at Witchblood when you were younger, so why are you so against it?!” Suddenly tears trickled down mom’s face. She tries desperately to fight back the tears.
“Yes, it’s true that your father and I met at the guild. But before I met him, my twin sister accompanied me. We both worked as witch hunters, and were good at it. But one day, she took a job request to hunt a witch, and I never saw her again.” She sobbed uncontrollably again, and she dropped her head on the table and hid behind her arms. “I was so devastated; I was on the brink of ending myself because of it. I don’t want to lose you or Taylor like your Aunt Samantha. It would be too much for me to bear.”
“Mom, I promise that I won’t end up like Aunt-!” in a split-second, I felt dad’s massive punch contacted my face and it threw me well out of my chair and onto the floor.
“Stop upsetting your mother!” Dad angrily shouted at me. “You’re causing her a lot of pain right now!” My vision started to blur as more and more tears swelled up in my eyes. Dad helped my sorrowful mom from the table and walked her to their room. “Both of you go to bed now. I’ll explain to you your punishment tomorrow, Nathaniel.” Taylor ran from the table to help me up. She gently grabbed hold of me and tried to heave me up. But I angrily shrugged her away.
“Get off of me.” I growled at her while I tried to fight back the tears.
“Daddy said we have to go to bed now.”
“I heard what he fucking said.” I got up to my feet and stumbled my way up to my room.

I lay in bed, the pain in my cheek is the only thing keeping me awake and the only thing I can focus on. I tossed and turned to keep from feeling the ache, but it hurt too much.
“I wasn’t trying to upset mom. I only wanted to join the guild. I’m getting sick and tired of village life; I want to see the world. I want to fight monsters and help my family. I just…want to…help.” At that point, I must’ve cried myself to sleep. I couldn’t feel the pain in my cheek anymore, my tears stopped running, and the calm washed over me like the night washed over the day.