All is quiet, as the two adventurers are the only ones inside. Berc is sat up on a long table, being tended to by a pig in a red kimono, decorated with pink flowers all around. The pig wraps a clean, white linen cloth around his side, covering the kobold’s wound after applying fresh herbs.
Haya approaches the two once the pig has finished. “Now that you’re taken care of, maybe you’ll have more sense to be careful.”
“Does this mean I don’t get a kiss of comfort?” Berc starts with a smile.
“Don’t even dream of it,” Haya responds. “You think I’d fall for a careless crybaby?”
“I don’t know, it could happen.” Berc keeps his smile. His eyes are halfway closed to suggest seductiveness.
“You’re not my type. Forget it, Loverboy. Suggest something like that again, and you’ll be on your own the next time.”
“Man, you’re so cold… I was only trying to lighten the mood…”
The rabbit turns her head to the swine in the kimono. “We are grateful for your help. At what price do we owe your services?”
“You have no expense to worry,” says the pig. “I shall not charge you for my service.”
“What?!” Berc’s eyes are wide open. “It’s free?! Seriously?!”
Haya is not too surprised, however. She remains a defensive stance, sensing trouble ahead. “What kind of trick do you have in your sleeves? Are you Black Lotus?!”
“Why no,” the pig replies. “I have no interest with the Black Lotus clan, and I am not your enemy. I am but an inspired individual of yours. Hearing your name brings me enlightenment, Ronin Rabbit. I’m obliged to give you my services at no cost. Though, I’d be so kind to receive your help.”
“What kind of help? You’ve got some thugs robbing you or something?”
“Not at all. My concern is mainly my stock. You do know, my business relies on medicinal herbs, and my supplies are running dangerously low. I was expecting shipments, and yet, nothing had shown up for me. However, there are plenty of medicinal plants down by the river just a small journey from here, plentiful to pick and harvest.”
“What’s your point?”
“Truth is, I’m afraid to leave the healer’s hut to obtain them for my inventory. Also, bandits have been known to stalk the woods around the river. Could you be so kind to fetch me more herbs?”
“My skill involves the sword, not out picking herbs,” Haya tells him.
“Come on, Haya,” spurts Berc. “He helped me with my wound. Least we can do is return the favor.”
“If you do this for me, I will also pay a bit of extra in gold,” adds the pig.
“Hm…” Haya puts her paw on her chin, pondering her decision on this particular request. “It’s not the typical kind of task I normally pursue, yet we could use the coin. Okay, it’s a deal.”
“Thank you, Ronin Rabbit. I am grateful to employ your services. Do be careful out there; you and your apprentice.”
“I’m always careful, unlike him.”
Berc frowns. “Hey…”
***
The two allies venture out of town and descend the hill where it is situated on. As they travel down, Berc struggles to catch up, feeling the pain jolt as he rushes, as if he’s being poked by a knife every time he aggravates it. “Haya… wait… I can’t catch up that quickly… Can you slow down… please…?”
“My pace is fine,” the rabbit says without facing him. “It’s you who’s slow.”
“Listen… If you’re mad about the whole joke I made back there, I take it back… I didn’t mean to offend you… I’m sorry…” She doesn’t say anything else. “Still mad at me? Is it because of the whole situation with the thief? I apologize for that… I just wanted to impress you… Show you I care…”
Haya stops and faces him. “You just don’t get it, do you?! If you wanted to impress me, you could’ve helped me with fighting the thief alongside me. Same with the Black Lotus troops and the thugs in the mines with the kids!”
“You’re… still thinking about all of that…? You have a good memory…”
“You’re such a wimp and a coward! Useless! Why do I put up with you?!”
Berc just remains still, staring at her with a flat-mouth, yet feeling bad about himself. “I’m sorry… I know I’m not useful to you as a fighter… I never learned how to defend myself… There are other ways I can help, though…”
“What aide could you possibly give that benefits me?!” As he’s about to speak, she turns away. “Never mind, let’s just find this pig’s stupid herbs and be done with it.” She continues onward with the kobold tailing her. It doesn’t take them too long to reach the river at the foot of the slope, as the conversation has helped them make time pass quicker. “Okay… Where would these medicinal herbs be…?” She scans the ground, looking around at the various plants. “There are so many plants! Would’ve been nice if that swine gave us a description!” Haya notices Berc picking colorful flowers, random berries, and leaves. “What are you doing?! We’re supposed to be picking herbs, not pretty flowers!”
“Actually, these are medicinal herbs,” Berc tells her. He shows her the various kinds he has. “I found some dokudami, which are good for detox and infections, biwa for inflammation, as well as gobo, kaki to help with itchiness and swelling, shiso’s good for that, too, and kuzu which aides in headaches and colds. All of these can be brewed into tea to help with these ailments.”
Haya flinches and narrows one eye, stunned at the knowledge the kobold has presented her with. “How the heck do you know about these strange plants?!”
“I remember them from a book,” he says. “Got heavily into learning about plants and their uses.”
“You mean to tell me you lived in a cave your whole life, went out in the woods hungry and helpless, yet have knowledge on plants?!”
“Not just plants… I learned how to build interesting devices, make weapons, construct structures, and so forth.”
“Never took kobolds for readers.”
“Well, my friends weren’t really into it as much as me. Whenever I was with them, we’d just pull pranks. When I wasn’t around them, I’d take to my passion in secret.” Rattling leaves cause the two to pause and turn their heads. The bushes vibrate to hint the forthcoming of another being. Berc motions closer to Haya out of fear while Haya has one paw on the handle of her katana. They’re about to come face-to-face with whatever’s behind the foliage, ready for the unexpected. That’s when the figure emerges from the leaves and lands on the ground before them. Its size is nothing compared to the rabbit and kobold. Coming into the light, it reveals itself to be a small creature with long, rabbit-like ears but looks mostly like a rat.
“What the?!” Haya relaxes her stance. “Are you kidding me?!”
Berc puts his hand on his chest and exhales in relief, smiling. “Oh well! It’s just a volebit. And for a second, I thought it was going to be something big and scary.” Another animal appears from behind the brush, scaring the little one away. This one, however, is triple the size of the vole-rabbit hybrid, and much more threatening. This next creature looks to be a mix of a panther and a wolf. It red eyes glare at the companions, who get back into their previous stances. “A wolanther! I spoke too soon…”
“You think?” Haya comments. The large predator pounces toward the two allies, causing them to scatter as a means of dodging. The large cat-wolf hybrid slowly approaches Berc. Just as it’s about to strike, Haya zooms in to kick it in its face. The animal then fixes itself on Haya, seeing she’s a threat. As it turns its body, its long tail smacks Berc into a tree, rending him unconscious. The impact of the kobold’s body triggers sticks to fall from the branch above. The beast swings at the rabbit, knocking her katana out of her paws, making her fight difficult. She uses her speed to evade attacks made by the giant animal. In an attempt to strike back, Haya performs flying kicks from bouncing off trees and quick punches. Every time she nears her katana and efforts to obtain it, it’s pushed further away by the animal.
When Berc comes to, he eyes the fight, seeing the rabbit struggle with every move she makes. “That thing… It’s so strong…” He notices the sticks on the ground in front of him. Their pointed ends sharpened from the impact of the terrain where they landed. Upon observing the sticks, some tall grass, and a smooth rock, as well as the beast, the kobold gets an idea. “I wonder…” He quickly moves to the materials and gets to work.
Meanwhile, Haya has made little progress in her quarrel with the predator. Stamina begins to wear down further, and every time she stops on a treetop for rest, the animal hits the trunk hard enough to knock her down. The pink bunny performs one more fly kick before landing on the ground and falling to her knees. The giant creature, peeved at her for hitting it, growls and snarls at her. Its red eyes glare and jaw opens wide, showing sharp teeth in preparedness to chomp on her. The moment is interrupted when a couple of stones hit the being’s head.
Upon turning around, Berc continues to toss rocks at it. “Hey! O-over here!” More stones hit its face and body, irritating the animal further. It turns its body to the kobold and charges toward him.
“Berc, you idiot!” Haya yells. “You’ll get yourself killed!” Berc remains in his place while the predator beelines straight for him. Closer, and closer, the cat-wolf hybrid comes, growling and drooling. When the beast is within ten feet of Berc, the kobold bolts out of the way, revealing a tree trunk adorned with spikey sticks tied to it. There is not time for the monster to change direction. So, it slams head-first into the spikes, letting out a loud yelp. Pulling out from the trap, blood appears around its head. It sets its eyes on Berc and growls. As the kobold slowly backs away, Haya sprints in and slashes at the animal with her katana, having retrieved it when the predator was busy with the kobold.
Injured and unable to make progress, the beast vacates the area and disappears into the wooded area further along the river.
Berc faces his companion. “Man, you regain stamina quicker than I thought.”
“Yeah, and unless you want to stick around and face another big one, I suggest we get out of here, now!” Haya grabs him by the arm.
***
Halfway up the hill back to the town, the two keep quiet. That is until Berc breaks the quiet. “Haya…” His first word causes her to stop. He does the same.
“I just wanted to say… I-”
“No,” the rabbit interrupts. “Not another word. You have surprised me today, Berc.”
“I-I did?”
She faces him. “Your trap against the wolanther isn’t anything I’ve seen before. Was that something you read from a book?”
“Somewhat… I’ve read about traps before… This spiked-tree one was out of my own head, though… Ideas come to me, and I put them into action when I have the materials.”
“You’ve learned about plants and how to make traps… How come you never learned how to fight from a tome? If you love reading, why didn’t you get combat skills from one?”
“I was afraid of hurting someone,” he says. “Myself included… I know I’d never be good with a blade… or any other weapon…”
“If you put enough practice into it, you’ll get be good at it. Takes time and effort. Hell, maybe I could teach you a couple of things to better yourself.” Berc smiles. “Now, let’s get these herbs to the pig and press on from all of this, shall we? I feel like we’ve wasted more time than planned.” She continues onward up the hill with Berc.
“Hey, Haya,” Berc starts. “What’s going to happen when we complete this quest? Are we staying in town for a hot meal?”
“You’re already worried about food?”
“Come on… We haven’t eaten anything all day… and I’m starving…”
“Perhaps we’ll pick up some chow afterwards… Perhaps…”
