03 - Walk in the Park

In this chapter it continues to Cain and Vella completing their task from the sanctuary. They move to deal with things and Cain reveals a small amount of his back story. A VERY small amount.

Chapter 3: Walk in the Park

After what seemed like ages of walking, Vella broke the silence as expected.

“For what you call a 'short walk' this seems to be taking awhile Cain.”, she said condescendingly. As she said this her eyes were closed and her arms were up and rested partially behind her head.

Without even skipping a beat, he retorted back to her: “Would you prefer we walk to a major city for our next assignment?”. His eyes were fixated on her, awaiting a response.

“Eh, It just seems all so boring to kill an hour to walk somewhere to wrap up a job in 5 minutes and head home. Let's be honest Cain we could do this blindfolded.”, she said.

There was a period of silence after this. She was again, right on all accounts. Rather than acknowledge this however, he had an entirely different idea to redirect her attention.

"Vella, do you know why range is an important technique for slimes?”

This question seemed to catch her completely off guard. She didn't even know how to quite respond at first. She knew that he was trying to test her as usual however. Cain always did this sort of thing just before taking on a job, seeing how Vella almost always forgets her studies. For a Ranger of her skill, it was a wonder how the hell she managed to get there without book smarts. She was a purely instinctual character in every way.

“Uh.... Aren't swords like, terrible against those things?”, she said while trying to think of the answer.

“You're halfway there.”

“Man, I don't know this crap. Just tell me the answer”, she said as her face shrunk into a state of failure.

“They're acidic. Melee users tend to suffer wear and tear unless they know ways to avoid it. In my case, enhancement seems to work just fine.”

“You know... I think I remember reading that somewhere now that you mention it.”

Cain raised an eyebrow, saying: “It was one of the things we went over not even 2 weeks ago as a reminder. Slimes are far more common around spring time.”
“Oooohhh..... yeah, I passed the hell out like a baby during that shout out. Best nap I've had in weeks.”

Cain sighed in response to this.

“Sometimes you are truly hopeless....”

As a snappy remark, Vella immediately said, “Yeah but you love having me around, don't lie.”

Cain fell silent. Having her around was indeed a blessing. Independence is a golden thing, but not all the time however. Sometimes it just feels right to have someone who would always be there, no matter how much of a pain in the a*s that they are.

In light of this thought, his mind was interrupted by a nudge to his shoulder. He turned to his left to realize that it was Vella, grabbing his attention. Instinctively he looked off in the direction she was facing and caught sight of their objective. There was a small farm in the distance. In all honesty there was no guarantee this was exactly what they were looking for, however it was in the Skandi fields east of Denerim. The place is crawling with slimes on a regular day, nevermind in the spring. People rarely settle down in these parts. It made Cain question why there was a farm out here in the first place come to mention it.

“Strange though. I'm used to seeing these fields flat for miles out. This location leaves a lot of blind spots and I can't see a den anywhere”, Vella opened.

“We'll speak to the requisitioner first and move from there.”, Cain replied in a concise fashion.

She was right however. The area was hardly level, and seemed like a terrible spot to build a farm. The more they dug down to it, the more incompetent the place felt.

Nearing the farm they realized there was an old man leaned up along the fence facing away from them. Cain of course had approached the man, attempting to make noise of his presence so he didn't startle the man.

When this failed, he spoke up: “Excuse me sir, Did you post this job up in the sanctuary for clearing a slime den?” He said this respectfully and confident. It took a short while but there was a pause before he received an answer.

“No, I didn't”

This answer confused them. Thinking for a moment, Vella then asked: “Then... who-”

“My daughter. She posted it. She's not here at the moment if you need her.”

“That won't be necessary sir.” Cain said in response. “I only need some direction towards this den. The land is rather... difficult to make an assessment.”

After a short pause, the man took his hands off of the fence and faced Cain. Judging by features, he had to easily be at least 65. This man looked like he'd been around the block at least 5 times. It's no wonder this job was available on the board to be honest.

“You will find it a short ways to the south from here” he said pointing. “Just over that hill there. They make it difficult around night time by destroying the plants.”

Vella interjected with: “Ah great, more walkin-”

Cain cut her off abruptly, saying: “Thank you for the guidance. We will take care of it from here.”, before making his way towards the hill with Vella.

They had finally reached their destination, and then they both had caught sight of the den, just beneath the hill on the opposite side. They both got low and watched for a moment. Vella loosed her bow and knocked an arrow like lightning, preparing her shot.

“I'll charge in at first, then you cover me afterwards. After that it should be simple enough to figure it out alright?” Cain confirmed with Vella.

“You know exactly what to say in these situations. I couldn't agree more.”

She finalized her agreement with a nod, and instantly, Cain was sprinting towards the den. There were 4 total, and upon recognizing this Cain unsheathed his blade, holding it at the ready behind him as he moved swiftly. He was leaning forward at a sharp degree as he descended the hill. It was almost a wonder how he didn't tumble halfway down.

Nearing the den, he brough his left hand over to his blade which seemed to engulf it in a kindling fire. He then proceeded to strike the slime with an upheaval, destroying it instantly in flames. Immediately afterwards, Vella loosed an arrow into the nearby slime, making it liquidize¹ in response the arrow wound.

At this point, only 2 remained, and they were very aware of Cain's presence. They bounced towards him in pursuit, ready to attack. They both leapt towards him, where Cain had shown his superior agility. He countered the first slime by waving his sword towards it, cleaving straight down and eliminated it. As the second one neared itself a sudden arrow brushed right over Cain's shoulder and pegged the slime head on.

Cain stood straight up in a relaxed pose. He didn't sheath his sword quite yet, seeing how he still needed to investigate the den. He signaled Vella towards him to follow at a distance.

Slime dens are always relatively shallow in depth. They resemble small cave dwellings of dirt and rock. It's a rarity for them to exceed the size of your average kitchen. Upon looking in, Cain saw that there was one more slime that was a bit larger than the rest. Vella took the initiative and shot straight at it. It was difficult to notice if the slime was even affected by the projectile as it passed through it seamlessly. This had alerted the slime and it proceeded to charge towards them. Cain re-ignited his blade and returned a reckless advance of his own. With a twirl of his sword and a flick of the wrist he used the enhancement to have a blast of heat on it as well. With the additional power behind this strike the slime was cut clean through, and both halved fell to the floor and liquidized. The job was then complete.

*******************************************************************************************************************************

“The den has been cleared sir. You won't have anymore slime trouble.”

The old geezer paused for a long while before he responded.

“It's a good thing you came when you did. I was fearing I would have to move somewhere else if this continued.” He said.

Vella's mind decided to slip off somewhere else out of boredom. She wasn't one for retaining her attention to back stories, let alone from old men.

“This was a special place to my wife. She's gone now, but this was a special place for her. We lived her for many years. When she passed, I renovated this building to support a farm. I'm sure you can see that this isn't exactly the best place to build one, but I don't think I'm ready to leave just yet. No matter the struggle.”

This made Cain draw together an answer to previous questions. It all came together at that point really. He simply sat there thinking for a moment.

“I'm glad we were of service to you, although I do have one request.”, replied Cain.

“And what would that be young man?”

“We just need a signature of someone confirming we had done our jobs on the document. If you would sign this I would be most appreciative.”

“I would be happy to sign it. Let me just find a pen...”

And on that note, the man found his pen, signed the sheet, and they made their way back towards Denerim. All the while Cain thought to himself, he decided to free associate for but only a moment.

“Call it silly if you will, but that man opened my eyes to something.”

Vella perked her ears like a cat in response to this statement, looking at him as if telling him to continue on with it.

“That man, despite his age still chooses to struggle each day to live just so that he can fulfill the wishes of someone else, even in their absence.”, Cain continued.

“Yea..... so?”, Velle replied in a sung out tone.

“It reminds me that there are people out there that aren't that different. It reminds me that I'm not alone.”, he said almost philosophically.

Confused, Vella then asked: “Man I have no idea what the hell you mean. Can't you explain that a little better?”

Cain then closed his eyes and went serious. Replying: “Maybe I'll explain at a later date.”

She exclaimed in response: “Aww man! Come on you can't do that to me! After all this time knowing you, you're going to open up a little bit about yourself and leave off on a cliff hanger?! What the hell!!!”

As they neared Denerim's walls, they were completely unaware of the fact that they actually had a set of eyes on them in the distance. A dark silhouette of a woman with black hair hung in the distance, watching them vigilantly. And just like that, she walked off, leaving the outskirts of Denerim. Where she was headed? Who knows. The identity of this character will remain to be a mystery for some time, but remember this! On that note I conclude this chapter. Stay up to date, for the next few chapters will introduce a few badass characters! :3

1 - “This is how slimes 'die' so to speak. They are purely magical entities formed from the muck often found in swamps and caves, making them a sickly green color. Once the entity is disrupted enough from any external elements, the magic behind it's existence fades, returning the muck to it's former glory. They are hardly a threat, however they are quite acidic and can cause bodily harm if not careful.”

Author's Note

Usual notes, spot any spelling and grammar errors then be sure to TEAR it apart :D