Snippet #2327996

There were only two constant noises that stopped the small village from being completely silent. The first was the constant, rhythmic pounding of the rain on the rooftops of the several buildings. Everyone was resting inside their homes, to either stay dry or stay warm. Even though it was still in the middle of the day, the heavy rain and grey sky meant there was little warmth to be given by the sun.

Most of the families were gathered around the fireplaces of their home, where the children were playing with their toys and parents conversed and relaxed. There was not much work to be done today anyways, so the people just enjoyed the day off they were given. About the only activity that could be seen outside was the occasional critter roaming the streets in search of food, or a person here or there travelling between homes.

The only other person outside, enjoying the rain and creating the one other noticeable noise was a man; relaxed in a chair on his porch and running a whetstone along the edge of a hand axe. He had his legs resting on the railing of his porch, and was leaning back as he continued his work. He had recently had to reshape the hand-axe after a particular encounter with a group of bandits. Or atleast he assumed that's what they were, judging by what the family who gave him the job said. Didn't really matter though, as Ralo was just happy enough to be paid for the job.

The axe had ended up chipped when Ralo had tried to drive the axe through a bandits shoulder. It had caught the metal shoulder plate the man had been wearing, and though it deflected off and slid into a gap between the shoulder plate and the bandits neck, it still broke a rather noticeable piece of the axe's head. It was actually rather annoying, considering the bandit had given Ralo a free hit. The bandit had assumed that because Ralo was covered in a hefty amount of bandages, that he'd have an easy fight. It was entertaining for Ralo to look into the man's shocked face as he slowly fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from his neck wound. The look on his friends' faces was also hilarious at his death, and the look only got better when an axe became wedged in another bandit's face after being thrown by the bandaged man. A bit of fighting later, the rest of the bandits were dead, and now Ralo had an axe that he needed to fix.

Ralo looked over the axe, sighing in boredom before he set the axe and stone down before placing his hands behind his head, yawning. It'd been a while since he had done anything truly fun; sure the little bandit thing was somewhat entertaining it was hardly the best thing he'd ever done. It was times like these that he missed serving in the Triad military. There was always something to be done during his service, especially being stationed along the borders of the Badlands. There was always a fight to be had, with all kinds of races. Sometimes it was Dwarves, Orcs, Elves, and even sometimes human rebels. He smiled some at the memories. Good times, good times. Well except for the part where he was set on fire, that part was not as fun as the rest.

"Mr. Orion!!" Ralo blinked, looking towards the slashing sound of someone running through the rain soaked roads. He saw a young woman coming towards him quickly, prompting him to lower his feet so he could sit up and see better.

"Yup?" He simply asked while leaning down to pick up his axe. He knew he shouldn't be getting his hopes up, as he figured this was hardly going to be anything exciting.

She stopped on his porch, stopping to catch her breath. Her pants were covered in mud, more than likely because she had been running for quite awhile. "S-sorry to..." she paused for a breath before standing up straight, looking at him. "My family...we need your help. My little brother wandered off into the woods, and though my father won't admit it, we really need help; your the one most people seem to go to for things like this, so...yeah..." She said while watching him.

Ralo groaned, closing his eyes and letting his head drop back. "Fuck...better than fucking sitting around I guess." Ralo mumbled while leaning over and picking up his axe. He looked at her, attaching the axe to his belt. "Wait here." He simply stated while turning to head into his house. The young woman stood there, rubbing her arms while shivering some, having gotten drenched from walking through the storm. It was a few minutes later that he walked back out, with a heavy jacket on. She couldn't see the knife that he had sheathed on his belt, nor the axe now with the jacket covering them both. He then looked at her, sighing, "Lead the way. And make it quick, amabo te."

"A-Amabo...te?" She asked

"Lead the damn way already!" He suddenly shouted, causing the young woman to jump.

"o-ok!" She stammered before turning and running off, Ralo following not far behind.