Many Years Ago

In a small village nestled between some hills sits three children on a wooden fence. Two males and a female, the female sits between the two boys. 

The tallest one has feathers flapping up and down on the top of his head, and small feathers a nestle in his mix of black and white hair. 

"I'm gonna go to the city!" The girl starts. "I'm gonna go to my uncle's farm and help one of the cows give birth. I'm going all by myself, too! And once I'm done helping, I can go shopping in the city. My mom gave me some money. I wonder what I should buy. Is there anything you two want? I'll buy something for you?"

"No." One of the boys immediately responds. 

"Oh, I want a rabbit." The demi-human boy as he blinks his yellow bird-like eyes. "I like rabbits."

The girl smiles, and then turns to the second boy. "There must be something. I mean--"

The boy interrupts. "I told you, I don't want anything." He hops off the fence.

The girl frowns. "Why do you have to say it like that? I just wanted to buy you something since you've never been to the city..."

"Shut up! Just go to the city or wherever!"

The girl hops off the fence. "Why are you getting mad?"

"I'm not mad!" The boy shouts.

"Yes, you are!"

A teenage girl comes over. "Now, now."

"Sis..." The boy says.

The demi-human hops off the fence and walks over to his friends.

"You shouldn't be fighting." The boy's sister says.

"We're not fighting." The boy defends, and he looks to the redhead girl. "Right?"

"Y-Yeah..." The girl responds.

"But you two-" The demi-human boy starts, but the girl puts a hand over his mouth.

"Shhhh!"

The teenager leans down to her brother. "What happened?"

"It's nothing." The boy claims.

"Alright, then."

"Albitti!" A female voice yells from a building down the road. "Lunch time!"

Albitti smiles as he hoots. "I gotta go, see you guys later!"

Albitti runs away, but his head turns 180 degrees to face them as he runs. 

He enters his house to see his father at the table, writing something. His feather flaps are standing up. Then he sees his mother walking to the table with several dishes in her hand.

His mother's head spins around and smiles as she sees him. "Albitti, come let's eat!"

"YAY!" Albitti runs over and sits at the table with a smile.

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.

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In a dark room, with light barely shining through some curtains, a figure is seen laying in a bed. A soft snoring is heard as the blankets move up and down with their breathing.

Leather armor and chain mail lay on a table under the window. The feathers wing on the armor hand off the side of the table. Noticeable tears are cuts are visible in his armor. A curved sword and knife glint in the sunlight. 

On a nightstand next to the bed rests an undone white bandage. A soft purr is heard from the figure in the bed.

A small click is heard and the door to the room opens. And a female, in nothing but her lingerie, walks over to the curtains and opens them. 

Sunlight flows into the room, lighting it up. The room is mostly empty, except for the tables, bed and a wardrobe. The figure in the revealed to be Owl.

Cow Girl walks over to the side of the bed and leans over Owl's head. "Albitti, it's time to get up."

Owl grunts and sits up, his face nearly hitting Cow Girl's chest with a tired look on his face. He's wearing loose white clothing. A large scar runs horizontally across his face and through both his closed eyes. 

"I don't like mornings..." Owl sighs as he feels around for his bandage and grabs it after a few tries.  

"Come on, Albitti, get dressed and let's have breakfast!" Cow Girl bounces in excitement. 

Owl yawns then smiles. "Of course."

Cow Girl skips over to the entrance of the room. "Don't take too long!" She shuts the door.

Owl stretches his arms up, a large scar is seen on his left arm that starts at his left wrist and goes up his arm and under his shirt.

 Owl lets out a moan, before sliding out of bed. He puts a hand through his slightly short hair and a few small feathers fall to the ground, where several feathers of different sized rest.

Owl makes his way over to the wardrobe and opens it up.

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Owl puts his sword in its scabbard and then tugs on his armor. He lets out a satisfied purr and exits the room.

Blind Owl

Owl enters the dinning, where Cow Girl's Uncle, Cow Girl and Slayer already are sitting. Owl walks over and sits beside Uncle.

"Owl, just in time!" Cow Girl smiles. "I just put the food down."

"It smells great, as usual." Uncle compliments. "Let's eat."

"Let's eat!" Cow Girl and Owl say together.

Owl grabs his spoon and starts to eat the porridge. Slayer slightly lifts up the face of his helmet and eats the food.

"Well? Is it good?" Cow Girl asks.

"Yeah." Slayer responds.

"It is very delicious!" Owl smiles as he eats another spoonful.

Slayer then takes out a bag of coins and sets it on the table. "Here. It's what I owe you for this month."

Uncle grabs the pouch and lifts it up and down a couple times. "It's pretty heavy. I guess being an adventurer is pretty lucrative." He holds up a coin.

"We've had a lot of work lately."

"I see. Say, um... Are you and Albitti going again today?"

"Yes." Slayer responds. "We're going to the guild. There's plenty of work there."

"I see." Uncle starts. "Don't push yourselves too hard."

"Yes, sir." 

Owl swallows his food. "Yes, Uncle." He drinks a glass of well water.

Cow Girl then speaks up. "Hey, I need to make some deliveries. We all should go together."

"That's a great idea." Owl right feather flap goes up, then back down.

"Actually, I'll ready a wagon for that." Uncle says.

"Oh, we'll be fine!" Cow Girl states. "You're too protective, Uncle!" She winks and flexes her arm. "I'm stronger than I look, you know."

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Owl sits on some supplies in a small cart as Cow Girl pushes it, with Goblin Slayer leading them.

Slayer slows down to walk beside Cow Girl. "Do you want me to take over?"

"Nope!" Cow Girl responds. "I'm fine."

"Okay. Thanks."

"It's nothing."

"You sure, I'm not too heavy?" Owl asks.

Cow Girl chuckles. "Albitti, you way like five pounds."

Owl shrugs his shoulders as a pulse fires out from him and washes over the nearby plains.

"How are things lately?" Cow Girl asks.

"There are more goblins." Slayer informs. 

"Really?"

"Far more than usual."

"Are you both busy?"

"Yeah."

Owl's end spins around in different directions a few times, as his feather flaps move up and down.

"You two do go out a lot more lately." Cow Girl states.

"Yeah." Slayer responds.

"Having more work is a good thing, though."

"No, it's bad."

"Is it?"

"It's better when there are no goblins."

Owl's head turns to the two. "I agree, if there were no goblins, then the world would be happy."

Cow Girl stays silent as the three approach the city.

"You're right." Cow Girl mutters.

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Inside the Adventurers Guild an old man is begging to Guild Girl at the counter.

"You gotta help me out!" The old man begs. "Li'l goblin critters done showed up in my village! They're dunna eat my cows an' burn my fields!"

Guild Girl gives her usual smile. "Ah, so you need an extermination. Please submit your form and payment. "

The old man pulls out a paper and a bag of coins. "Y-Yes'm. I got 'em right here." He sets the items on the counter.

Guild Girl grabs the form and reads it over. "Looks like your form is filled out correctly. I'll just confirm your payment now."

Guild Girl empties the bag of coins onto the counter.

Guild Girl begins to counter the coins. "Two, four, eight... Alright , it looks like it's all here. An adventurer will head out there for the extermination within a few days."

"Is it true that them li'l goblin critters rape woman and eat 'em?" The old man asks.

"There have indeed been cases like that."

A few minutes later the old man bows to Guild Girl and leaves. She then sits down in her seat and sighs as she puts her head on the counter.

"Another goblin-slaying request?" Another female receptionist asks. "That's the third one... What's the pay?" Guild Girl shows her a pinch hand sign, meaning very little pay. "That's going to rule out any experienced adventurer. Only newbies would..."

"There are a couple..." Guild Girl mutters. "They're always willing to take care of them..."

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.

Cow Girl finishes a delivery to a restaurant. Owl is still sitting in the cart, with Slayer standing beside it.

"Thank you again." The restaurant owner thanks Cow Girl.

"No problem!" Cow Girl responds. "Thank you."

A little while later, the three head up to the Adventurers Guild and wait in a line, since its quiet busy today.

"I'm going to get a signature at the reception desk." Cow Girl informs.

"Alright." Slayer responds.

Slayer and Owl head off to the side.

Up at the front an adventurer with a large spear, is flirting with Guild Girl. "So this troll was bearing down on me, but I swing at it like this and dodge its attack just in the nick of time."

"I see. Well done, sir." Guild Girl responds, not giving in to the flirting. "I am very aware that trolls are powerful foes. I faced a troll with just a single spear. Don't you think I'm amazing?" He wipes back his hair.

"Indeed. If you're feeling tired,-" Guild Girl holds up a potion. "I'd recommend a stamina potion." She smiles.

"I'll take one."

Guild Girl notices Slayer and Owl walk next to a small table. Owl's ear flaps move up and down, separately. She lets out a happy gasp and Spearman notices and looks back. 

"The Goblin Slayer and The Owl..." Spearman mutters.

A few look towards the two and start muttering about them.

"That's him?"

"The armored one's a werido who only accepts goblin-slaying quests, right? At least the other helps people around the city, a few call him a Blind Saint."

A Female Knight talks to her partner, who has a large sword resting beside him. "They're a silver rank, just like us? If all they hunt are weak monsters, who knows if they can even handle bigger prey? Guess they'll let anyone be silver these days."

Her partner glances at her. "Leave them be. We'll never have to deal with the two of them."

The Spearman's partner, Witch, glances at Owl and Slayer, and lets out a little giggle.

"Look at Goblin Slayer. I've never seen such filthy armor. And what's with The Owl's armor, its in bad disrepair."

Cow Girl listens to people berate her two friends as she looks at them. Owl's ear flaps slowly fall down and rest, though he has no visible emotion but a smile.

"Even our equipment is better that theirs."

"Be nice, The Owl helps out a lot around the city, despite being blind."

A loud slam is heard and everyone looks to the counter to see Guild Girl with a stack of papers. "Good morning, everyone!" She calls out. "It's time to post all the quests available this morning."

"That's what we've been waiting for!" Nearly everyone cheers.

Guild Girl puts all the board and people begin looking over them.

"Dragons! Is there one for dragon slaying? I need to gain some more experience points by doing heroic feats."

"Don't even try it. You don't have the right equipment. Just settle for taking out some bandits. The pay isn't bad, either."

An adventurer pair look over quests, a male and female.

"Quests for porcelain ranks... don't pay very much. I don't want to just clean ditches..." The male says.

"You can't be too picky." The female says.

The male points to a quest. "Hey, how about this one? Goblin Slaying. That seems made for rookies."

"No way. You heard the Guild Girl. We need to start with the sewers."

Spearman pushes on the female Knights Partner, Heavy Warrior. "I can't see! Get out of my way!

"Stop it." Heavy Warrior calmly responds. "Don't push!" He elbows Spearman to the ground.

"We're taking this quest." Female Knight informs. "Look somewhere else."

"There's no way to talk to the best on the frontier." Spearman states.

Witch just giggles as she watches her party member antics, as she smokes from a Kiseru.

"Come, now, everyone." Guild Girl calls out. "You mustn't fight."

Cow Girl glances over to her friends, and notices them not moving. 'So they're really not going to look at the quests... I guess he did say that there's no need to rush, since no one likes goblin-slaying.'

Priestess walks up to Goblin Slayer and Owl, and gives them a bow. "Hello."

"Hey." Slayer turns to her.

"Oh, hello." Owl smiles as his head spins to her.

 "A-About the other day..." Priestess starts. "I still think destroying a cave with flammable liquid is going to far."

"What's your point?" Slayer asks. "It's a far better option than letting the Goblins live."

"Shouldn't you think more about consequences? You might cause an avalanche doing that."

"The Goblins are a bigger problem."

"Y-Yes, but... What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't think that way."

"I see."

"Don't you understand?" Priestess asks.

'They said they'd formed a party with someone about a month ago, but...' Cow Girl says in thought. 'I guess it was with a girl.'

"Also, couldn't we use something... different... to cover our scent?" Priestess asks.

"Do you remember what time we're attacking?" Owl asks as he spins his body to face her.

"E-Either early morning or early evening..."

"Now, why do we do that."

"Because early evening for goblins is early morning for us."

Owl gives a few small claps. "Yup. So their mid day, or middle of the night for us, they are the most guarded."

"Next." Slayer continues on for Owl. "What are the steps to approach them?

"Um, if possible, light a fire and smoke them out, because it's dangerous inside their nests." Priestess answers.

"Correct."

Slayer and Owl give Priestess questions about goblins for some time, until there's nearly no one left at the quest board.

"The only time we enter a nest is when there's no other way, we don't have time, or we're certain we can kill them all." Slayer states. "Alright."

"Huh?" Priestess questions.

The three head over to Guild Girl at the receptionist desk. 

"Oh, good morning, Goblin Slayer, Owl." Guild Girl greets.

"Good morning." Owl gives a small bow.

"Goblins." Slayer starts. "Are there any quests?"

"Ah, yes, goblin-slaying." Guild Girl starts. "We have three quests. Once if from a river village in the west, one is a small nest in the southern forest, and one... I guess you could call it an old fort. It's a mountain castle in the mountains to the north."

"They've settled there?" Owl tilts his head.

"Yes, and there have already been some casualties. The younger sister of the one who put up the request was kidnapped, and a wandering adventurer who went to find her hasn't come back yet."

"It's too late for them, then." Slayer states. "But I can't let the goblins live. If I take them out now, there shouldn't be further casualties."

"We'll be counting on you two, then, Goblin Slayer, Owl." Guild Girl gives a small bow.

"One question. Did anyone else take a goblin-slaying quest?"

"Yes, a party of rookies accepted one. They took the request from the river village."

"Rookies?" Owl questions. "What was their party like?"

Guild Girl hums as she flips a page from a stack of papers she's holding. "One warrior, one wizard, and one priest. They're all porcelain-ranked."

Owl let's out a little chirp. "Not a bad balance."

"If it's the three who were in the lobby earlier, they won't be able to handle it!" Priestess states. "Even my party had four members..."

"I explained that to them, but..." Guild Girl informs.

"We can't leave them alone! We have to go save them."

"Do as you please." Slayer says to Priestess.

"Huh?" Priestess looks up at Slayer.

"I'm going to destroy the mountain castle in the north."

"Owl?" Priestess calls out.

"There are only three people I truly trust, and Slayer is one of them." Owl states. "So I must stick with him."

"Y-You're both just going to abandon them?" Priestess asks.

"If you want to go save them, we are not stopping you." 

"But that means you two will be facing a horde of goblins by yourselves."

Guild Girl watches the three bicker on.

"We've done that many times." Slayer states.

"Honestly, I can never get through either of you." Priestess complains.

"Are you coming?"

"Yes!"

After everything is settled Slayer and Owl head over to Cow Girl, who's been patiently waiting at a nearby near the quest board.

Cow Girl stands up as her two friends approach. 

"We're going." Slayer informs.

"Huh? O-Okay." Cow Girl nods. "Be careful."

"Please be safe on the way home." Owl asks.

Slayer and Owl head for the door, Priestess bows to Cow Girl, who bows in response back. Then Priestess follows after her two party members.

The three leave.

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.

Cow Girl lays in bed as moonlight shines through her window.

'They didn't come back that day.'

Then another night Guild girl stares up at the red and green moons.

 'Or the next day... I wonder if they're still fighting.'

Uncle walks outside. "You're going to have a hard day tomorrow if you stay up too late." He says to his niece. 

"Yeah." Cow Girl responds. "I'll go to bed after I wait a little longer."

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In the abandoned fortress the goblins dance as they watch someone burn at a stake. Outside the fortress a little ways from it, a guard sits on a ruined part of a building while chewing on a small bone. 

The Goblin then stops and stands up as it notices something in the distance. it leans in for a closer look and spots Slayer. Owl and Priestess sneaking out of some bushes.

'How would you feel if your home was raided by monsters...' Owl's voice is heard. 'Yes, if your home was suddenly attacked by monsters one day.'

A memory plays of a village on fire as goblins run around, killing the men and trying to kidnap the women.

'They think they own everything and will kill your friends, kill your family, and plunder the rest of the village.'

In the present Priestess readies an special arrow, by trying to light it on fire.

'Another example would be if you watched your father be killed right in front of you, by getting his head smashed in by a club. Then watch as them attack your mother and watch them play with her, before dragging them off.'

A young own watches a scene in horror as blood splatter on his face, tears fall from his eyes.

In the present Priestess lights the arrow on fire.

'Let's say you watch all this happen, then the goblins find you and torture you for fun. Their blades entering your upper left thigh, your lower right leg. Your right shoulder, slice open your left arm....'

In the present Priestess prepares several fire arrows.

A young Owl lays on the ground with several heavy bleeding wounds, blood pools under him. He looks to the side and sees his father's corpse with several swords in his back as his head is smashed in. Brain matter and goo drips off the wall next to the body.

He then glances towards the door and sees his mother reaching a hand out to him, screaming, as she's dragged out the door, leaving a blood streak on the floor.

'Having all that be the last thing you see, before your eyesight is lost forever...'

Owl looks up to see a goblin bring a sword down onto him.

'You would hold a great hatred for them... wouldn't you?'

Back in the present, Slayer readies a bow with a flaming arrow.

'You would brew that hatred for a long time, then once you get your chance. You would take it all out on them...'

Slayer pulls back the bowstring and aims the arrow up towards the forest. Owl stands right beside him.

'By hunting everyone last one to extinction.'

A smile slowly grows on Owl's face, as he feels the heat of the arrow on his face.

'There will be days you're successful and days you fail. You'll try to figure out how to kill them next time. You'll ponder this for days and months, letting it eat you up inside. You'll create hundreds of ideas to torture a goblin to death. And when you do that, you'll find great enjoyment in it.'

Slayer releases the first arrow. His arrow strikes true and a bit of an old try that surrounds the fortress catches on fire.

'You'll even find out that the cries of the children are more enjoyable, than the adults. Cause those children, if left alive, will only do worse than the beings that gave them life. They'll kidnap more women, kill more men, and eat more children. They'll end the lives of young adventurers whose lives are still ahead of them. Cause death is more parable then what they do to the woman.'

Slayer lets lose another flaming arrow, and another, and another.

'Only fools think that goblins are easy prey, a single one may be. But goblins together are smart, they learn, and gain experience.  They continue to grow and become stronger. They may even gain powerful and rare goblins.'

Slayer let's lose another arrow.

'They don't give me nightmares... I am what gives the goblin's nightmares.'

Slayer let's lose another flaming arrow as the forest is complete ablaze.

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Cow Girl continues to stare up at the moons.

"He's one matter, but you need to remember..." Her Uncle starts. "I let him stay here because he pays, but you shouldn't get involved with him. Not even Albetti, he's only here because he can't live by himself, but he does make a living. I know you all were childhood friends, but no matter how they were in the past... Truth is, right now... They've completely lost it. You realize that, too, don't you?"

Cow Girl smiles. "Still... I'm going to wait a little longer."

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Owl sadistically smiles as the screams of burning Goblin's reach him. Until a rock strikes him in the head. Owl's head snaps slightly back, before he growls and brings a hand up and chants something before swiping his hand.

A large golden spear flies from his hand and blows the goblin that hits him, into nothing but a red mist. 

A bit of blood falls from Owl's head, but he shows no pain on his face, only anger.

The group heads up to the entrance, where they kill several goblins trying to escape.

Slayer lets lose an arrow and it pierces a goblin through the eye. "That makes five." He readies another arrow. "They'll be here any minute."

Owl takes out his curves sword.

"R-Right." Priestess responds.

Smoke pours out the entrance to the fortress as the fire grows within it.

Priestess starts to chant. "O merciful Earth Mother, please protect us, the weak, with the powers of the earth. Protection!"

A barrier forms at the entrance of of the fortress, with only one goblin getting out before it forms, and trapping the rest inside.

The lone goblin that made it out looks back at the barrier, before turning to run. Only to get an arrow between the eyes.

"I'd heard that you'd been granted a new miracle." Slayer starts, as the goblin's body falls to the ground. "That's six.Thanks to that, we took care of them pretty quickly."

"T-To think that I'd be using Protection, the new miracle the merciful Earth Mother bestowed upon me, like this." Priestess states.

"Hey, I'd never thought the Supreme Lord would grant me miracles, but he did." Owl informs. "And I use the three I have all the time. Even though I can only use them five times a day."

The three watch the goblins inside bang against the barrier.

Slayer speaks up. "They might have a back door or an alternate escape route. Don't let down your guard."

"I'm amazed you could even think of that." Priestess states and she looks at Slayer and Owl, the flames shining on them.

"Imagination is a powerful weapon." Owl states. "Those that don't have it are the first to die."

"Like the ones who dove in before?" Priestess asks.

Owl nods as his feather flaps go up. "Exactly."

Priestess falls to her knees, then brings her hands together and starts to pray.

Priestess' barrier falls and many charred goblin fall out of the entrance. 

'Why does the Supreme Lord give me these miracle?' Owl questions in thought. 'Is it out of pity? Is he making fun of me? Or is is something else?'

Rain starts to pour down onto them, not bothering either of the three.

"Now we don't have to put out the fire." Slayer says. 

"At least my wound will get clean now, and my bandage." Owl states as the blood on his face washes off int he rain.

"Once it goes out, we're going to hunt down any survivors and kill them. I won't let a single one survive."

Slayer begins to walk off, Owl's head turns towards Slayer's direction before his body follows suit. Then Owl walks in Slayer's direction.

Rain continues to pour as Owl spins around and slices the heads of several goblins off. 

Then we see him reach into his armor and grabs his knife, and throw it to the side. A goblin that was fleeing falls to the ground with a knife sticking out of its head.

Owl walks towards the goblin he just killed and rips the knife out of its head. He wipes the blood off and sticks the knife back under his armor, before counting on.

Then we see Owl rake his sharp claws across the neck of a goblin. It falls to the ground clutching at its neck, which blood profusely shoots out of.

Owl grabs the head of a nearby goblin and slams it into a tree repeatedly. Owl frowns as blood splatters onto his face as he keeps smashing the goblins head against the tree until he feels his hand go through the goblins skull.

Owl takes his hand out of the goblin and its body falls to the ground. Owl flicks his hand and brain matter and goo fall to the ground.

Slayer, Owl and Priestess finally regroup after a while of hunting.

Owl's head is tilted up to the sky as his face shows no emotion. The feathers in his hair are matted to his head. The wings on his armor feel heavy. Owl's bandage slowly comes undone and falls off his head.

Owl reaches both his hands out and the dirty white bandage falls into them. Owl remains still for several seconds, before clutching the bandage. 

His scared eyes remain up towards the crying sky.

"As I figured, it's hard to act more like a silver." Slayer mutters as he watches dark smoke plume to the sly.

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Guild Girl slams a small stack of papers on the counter. "Good morning, everyone! It's time to post all the quests available this morning."

"That's what we've been waiting for!" Everyone cheers.

The door to the guild opens and Guild Girl spots Slayer and Owl, with his bandage clean on tied around his head, enter.

Guild Girl smiles in happiness as her eyes light up.

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Slayer and Owl return home as the sun reaches its peak. They move past Uncle, who's tending to the cows, and he spares them a glance. 

They reach the house and Cow Girl opens a window and spots them. "Welcome back."

"Yeah." Slayer responds, and Owl nods.

"Are either of you hungry? Want me to make you something?"

"Please." Owl asks.

"I'll make you two something extra delicious!"

"Thank you."

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11-25-2023

4614 words