2 – Kobold stole my dinner!
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The sun was just beginning to set when the duo had finished getting camp ready. Though it was sweltering hot, Britt had constructed a small fire pit in the center of the clearing. The extra heat only made things more uncomfortable, but they'd need the flame if they wanted to cook Bela's bear. There was more than enough meat on it for the both of them, given that the beast outweighed the two put together. Bela had busied herself with gutting and butchering the animal while Britt had gone to search for firewood.

Once again, Britt was stuck with the rookie job. But he wasn't about to argue with the lady who had just wrestled a monster bear to death.

Sat on his knees in the dirt, Britt poked at the fire with a stick. Half of it had been buried with flat stones, which two slabs of bear meat rested on. The smoke that rose up had a delicious smell to it, which the sizzling sounds only added to. Bela had wanted to cook the meat on a stick, right above the fire, like marshmallows or sausages, but she had agreed to go along with his method. It'd get less burnt that way.

Bringing the stick around, he turned the pieces of meat over, then straightened himself up. Bela was a few yards away, leaning up against a tree with her arms folded. She was tapping her foot over and over impatiently. What was she so anxious for, Britt wondered? The food?

"Should be about done." he said. Bela looked over at him, but the boredom didn't fade from her face. She walked up and picked her dinner right off the hot stones. If she had burned herself, she wasn't giving him any indication. Raising it to her lips, she took a nibble.

"How is it?" Britt asked, using the stick he had to slide his piece off onto a thick green leaf. He had cleaned it off with a little water, and it seemed like it'd make for a good plate.

"Fine." she eyed him with an expression he couldn't quite figure out, then let out a heavy yawn. Taking a much bigger bite out of her hunk of bear, she spoke through noisy chews.

"When are we going to bed?" she asked.

"We're not." Britt answered simply.

She rose an eyebrow and swallowed. "What do you mean we're not?"

"Why would we?" Britt snorted. "We're at our destination."

"And?"

"And this is a kobold hunt." 

There was a brief pause.

"And...?"

"And kobolds only come out in the dead of night." Britt said that as if he was talking to a five year old, as if the details of a kobold hunt were elementary level knowledge. His irritation was bare in his tone.

"If we're not sleeping, then what's with the stupid tent?" she asked incredulously, pointing behind him. The tent was just behind his back.

"Cause we've got to wait a few hours for the kobolds to come out, and I'm not staying out here with the mosquitoes." said Britt. "This was all in the briefing. Did you even bother to read it?"

Bela blinked. "The what?"

Britt was honestly shocked, but he didn't know if he should be. Really, it just figured. It was unlikely this strange woman could even read.

"The... there's a sheet of paper they have you read with information about a quest before accepting it. It should've had several paragraphs on kobold behavior." he shook his head. His prior irritation had been replaced with confusion, and a bit of curiosity too. "How many quests have you been on?"

"Dunno."

"What's the highest ranked quest you've been on, then?"

"Dunno."

"What's your rank?" he asked. "Can... can you read? Do you know how?"

"Shut up!" she yelled this time, punctuating her words with a big chomp out of her piece of bear. Her teeth ripped skin and meat as she continued. "Who cares? Why are you asking so many questions?"

"I'm just amazed you've gotten this far with..." Britt's voice faltered as he noticed the woman's burning glare. How to put this nicely? "Well, so little."

Bela paused, then turned her head to the side. She spat a bit of gristle out onto the dirt, and Britt didn't bother to hide his disgust.

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us." she said dismissively.

Britt stood up, barely even registering that he did. "What's that supposed to mean?" he jabbed a finger at her.

She took a few menacing steps towards him. The woman might've had a good head on him, but he wasn't going to let himself be intimidated.

"I don't know." she growled. "You tell me, you're the one who said it in the first place."

Britt felt his hands ball up into fists. He had given this lady a taste of his abilities back in the mess hall... but if she tried to throw hands, he wasn't gonna go easy. She was steeling herself too... but before a second fight could break out between the two, a shrill laughter caught both their attention.

"Keki-keki-keki-keki-keki!"

At the same time, they spun around to see a diminutive, hunched over creature snatching up the uneaten slab of bear meat Britt had left near the fire. It was a strange-looking little monster - humanoid in figure, but clearly reptilian, with deep red scales, sharp yellow predator eyes, and a crude loincloth tied around its waist. Raptor tail flicking from side to side, it ran off into the woods while the two adventurers were still stunned.

"What was that?" Bela asked, voice softer than usual.

"A kobold!" Britt said, raising his hands up. Cyclones of wind formed around them as he called upon his magical power. "And it's got my dinner!"

He started to take off after it, but one of Bela's thick arms blocked his path.

"Wait." she said, eyebrows knitting together. "I thought you said they only came out late at night!"

"Well..."

"Let me guess, didn't read the briefing?" she folded her arms across her chest. Britt's face went a little red, and he suddenly found it hard to look the woman in the eye.

"It must've smelled the food... or something!" he said, stammering for an explanation. "I'm a 4-star adventurer, I don't need to read the damn briefing! Let's just go get that thing!"

Lucky for him, Bela's urge to smack him was outweighed by her urge to smack some monsters around. She took after him as he ran into the dense jungle.


 

 

 

Not sure if I'm happy with the pacing here, I might write a prequel chapter that covers their first meeting and fight. I feel like I need to establish Britt's magic better. So, that might be what's up next. Hope you guys like the chapter!

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