A Normal Trip To Explore...

[rukio 8924]

It was a now average day for Emerilla, clean the house, cook a small meal, and perhaps go socialize. Days like these were pleasant in her mind, a chance to relax and enjoy the smaller aspects of life. As a monster hunter however, Em had an undeniable urge to be off, hunting and exploring the lands. This urge was calling to her, and staring out of the window, Em felt its presence even more. The sky was clear enough, and Em decided that she would set off and go for perhaps a day or two.  

 

Switching from her dress to her monster hunting clothes, Em headed back downstairs. After several moments of thinking, she decided what to do. Writing a short note, she placed it on the table where she knew Drake would be able to see it and so not worry if she was not home when he returned. Grabbing her sword, she placed it in the sheath at her side and was off.

 

The cool air was refreshing to Em, who had stayed inside as of late. She headed down the path towards Salvus, aiming to go to the mountains  to the west of Kingston. The trip was rather calm, with few travelers walking past her on their own routes. Em smiled as she looked up, studying the sky. The sun was only up halfway, and so she knew she would have plenty of time to reach her destination. Slowing her pace slightly, Em decided to enjoy the scenery, to study the details of her surroundings and keep mental notes of places she could perhaps hunt at later.

 

The sun was nearly beginning to set by the time Em reached her destination. This did not concern her, and Em spent most of the remaining daylight setting up her tent and a small fire as her father had taught her in her teen years. The monsters would be out soon, and so Em began to grow more and more cautious. Often in the past she had heard of monster hunters who had dropped their guard and were attacked. While she was a bit uneasy, Em was still confident in her abilities to handle the monsters if they tried to sneak up on her.

 

The sun finally set, and a couple of skeletons had began to come out of hiding. Em could hear them from somewhere nearby, behind and to the left of her. Unsheathing her sword, Em turned to make her approach. The closest spotted her, and quickly turned. With a lunge, Em slashed downwards with her sword, quickly putting an end to the skeleton. The second was nearby and so Em hunched down, waiting until she heard it and was certain of where it was.

 

A zombie's moan came from the right of Em now, and it was closer than she had expected. Quickly rising to her feet, she turned to strike at the zombie, knowing them to be easier prey than a skeleton who had superb aim with a bow. The zombie was closer than she had originally thought she heard however, and the sword caught the zombie's arms. This did nothing to slow it however, and it continued to approach. Stabbing out, Em caught it by the shoulder blade. The zombie continued to approach, and soon overpowered Em. She lost her balance, stumbling back. The zombie continued its attack, and Em attempted to pull her sword from it's shoulder. This did not help with reclaiming her balance, and Em went to stumble back yet again. Only something was different this time. This time there was no solid ground behind her.

 

With a cry of fear, Em fell backwards, off of the mountain. The zombie fell as well, and both crashed to the ground. Landing on her side, Em gasped in pain. Looking up, she was horrified to see how far down she had fallen. The world was a bit blurry, and she found it hard to think. Natural instinct set in, and she looked around for her sword. It was nearby, still buried in the now unmoving zombie's shoulder. Trying to stand, Em was met with a burning pain. Grimacing, she slowly dragged her useless leg to the zombie, pulling the sword out.

 

The true darkness of the night had began....

 

 

Day Two:

 

Morning found Em still there, holding her sword. Tired, her head began to droop, herself having struggled to stay awake through the pain and night, in case of monsters appearing. Murmuring a quiet prayer to the Creator in thanks, Em began to glance around. The fall had not been as far as she had thought, though it was still quite a distance. Rubbing her eyes, she looked towards the pond that was behind her.

 

Hesitating, Em began to wonder if it would be wiser to try to get back to her food and supplies or stay down here, where she would have water. After a long internal debate, she bit her lower lip. From higher up she would have shelter, food, and possibly a fire if she could start one again. Looking at her limp, useless leg, she frowned. There was only one way...

 

Em began to slowly pull herself towards the side of the slope. Finally reaching it, she paused to catch her breath. She knew her leg was broken, there was no doubting it. Grimacing, she quietly hoped her plan would work. Without further thought, in case it should discourage her, Em drove her sword downwards, into the soil. Using her free hand, she pulled herself upwards, then pulled the sword out. For a moment she debated whether it would be easier to use both hands, but upon continuing up and glancing down, Em decided she was glad of the 'anchor' that she could cling to should she lose her grip.

 

Almost to the top, so close to where she fell from, and she felt her arm give out. For one horrifying moment, Em felt herself begin to fall back to where she had worked so long on climbing up. Panicking, Em quickly planted her working foot into the ground behind and below her. The broken leg ached horribly, and Em bit her lower lip to keep from crying out. Summoning the last of her strength, Em finally managed to pull herself back up to her campsite.

 

The fire had burned out some time during the night, Em knew it would. The tent seemed to have been untouched however, which was quite a relief to her. Looking up at the sky, she noticed that the sun was three fourths of the way through the sky. Sighing, Em slowly managed to get to the tent. Pain and worries filled her mind, and it was all Em could do to push them aside for several minutes. Eventually, she cleared her mind enough to think straight.

 

Her leg was unmovable, that much Em knew. For the first time, she wished she knew how to set bones. Her father had once tried to teach her, Em recalled with regret. She had been fifteen, and too distracted by an abnormal tree's growth to pay attention as he had helped the traveler. Sighing, she knew there was no reason to dwell on such things, it would not help her. A faint smile crossed her face as she recalled one thing, that her owl would come to find her by the next morning.

 

"Did I remember to bring paper?" She asked no one, thinking aloud.

 

Looking around the tent, she recalled that she had not brought any paper, she hadn't planned to be away long enough to use it. Her smile faded slightly, yet was still present. Remaining optimistic, Em reminded herself that her owl would be coming soon enough, and that she would somehow get a message to someone. Satisfied with this thought, Em allowed herself to finally drift off to sleep.

 

 

((I wrote this as this is the only character who's disappearance I felt needed to be explained while I am away for an...uncertain amount of time. Yet it appears to have turned more into a developing story. Oh well.))

[Moot 1719]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.