Variance of The Pure One

A Hunter's Tale is the story of a bounty hunter hired by the Host of Radiance, a group of angels that worship the divnity Radiance, to claim Variance's head.

It was late in the evening, the sun was setting, a tall, muscular, brutish orc, wearing a light chain mail, armed with a heavy morning star mace dragged himself inside the bustling tavern, it was peak time and the tavern was teeming with all kinds of creatures. The orc was exhausted by the encounter he had with his target, he kept on replaying the journey that brought him to her over and over in his mind, from searching for clues of her presence to finally meeting her...

"Hey Grobork how ya doing ma' orc?" a scratchy reptilian voice caught his attention, it's a voice he recognized, he looked down to his side at the source of the voice, there was a kobold greeting him with a sly yet friendly smile.
"Hello Braco" the orc replied, his voice was deep and rough, tired and experienced "I'm doing just fine... I'll need extra booze after today" he told to his kobold friend, walking together to the bar counter, the two ordered their usual intoxicating nectar, with the exception that Grobork doubled this time.

"daaaammmn! you weren't kidding were ya?" Braco snickered "what happened to shake you so much ma' boy?" he asked with mostly curiosity rather than concern for his orcish friend.
"You remember when I told you that I took that hunt from that bunch of angels?" the kobold nods at his question "ye-ye- I r'member- oh- didja find that fallen angel? didja- like- captured her? I wanna see her! I heard they do be a delight for tha eyes!" Braco stated licking his lips in anticipation.
The orc chuckled at his friend's exaggerated reaction, was the kobold genuine or he wanted to cheer him up? it didn't matter to him "yeah I suppose she was kinda pretty, a bit small for my tastes, no muscles at all" Grobork playfully stated, then sighed remembering what happened once again "that whole ordeal was a... weird journey" the kobold attentively listens to the orc, he loves hearing about his adventures afterall...

(Grobork is narrating)
That bunch of angels, my clients, they kept looking down at me... typical angels am I right? at least they told me a place from where to start searching, that she was a fallen angel, that she stole something from them and for that she deserved to be executed, then they began giving me a bunch of faith talk that I, honestly, couldn't care less... They told me of her appearence, that she mostly hid her angelic features, but always had a blindfold on her eyes.
I felt a rush of confidence when they told me my target was blind and they didn't need her alive, I thought it was going be easy, oh, I how wrong I was... anyway, I made my usual preparation and began looking for her.

I first went to the small village my clients told me, it's not too far from here but it's on a mountain, quite high in altitude, but I was prepared for the cold and had an extra warm coat under the armor. When I reached the village it was snowing, colder than I expected, it was a human village and they were very wary of my presence, soon a group of what I could assume to be warriors confronted me.

The bravest of them stepped closer to me "Who are you orc? why are you here?"
"Greetings humans, I mean no harm, I'm simply looking for someone, if you answer my questions I'll leave" as I spoke to them I could feel their hostile gaze on me, heh, how could I blame them? if someone twice as tall as me came to my home with a heavy mace I'd be quite suspicious and wary too.
They spoke between themselves in their native language. Then the bravest one looked up at me "very well orc, we'll escort you to our village chief, but we will have to be present at your meeting"
I didn't expect them to bring me to their chief... but talking as the snow fell upon us wasn't exactly comfortable. I agreed to them and they led me inside a moderately large structure, there was a large table on the center, at the opposite side an elderly woman was sitting, the bravest one moved to her side and whispered something in their native language, while the other soldiers were still around me.
The elder woman, whom I suppose was the village chief, spoke "Greetings outsider... for who are you looking for exactly?" she asked direct to the point. I liked that.
"I'm looking for a woman, blond hair, black blindfold on her eyes, may have had angel-like features..." as I spoke the men around me seemed to light up, they knew something.
The village chief spoke "ah yes... I know of who you are talking about, she was here few days ago, my son, Drust, brough her here" she hints at the bravest one, he spoke "I brought her here because my mother was severely ill and she offered to help me".
I was somewhat surprised by his statement "what did she ask for in exchange?" I asked with curiosity.
"nothing" Drust replied, the chief continues "she was so... kind and asked nothing in return, no matter how much I insisted haha... in the end I convinced her to take some of our delicacies, her frame was quite delicate and I thought she needed to put some meat on her bones".
I stifled a chuckle "could you tell me where she went? do you know?"
the woman looked up at me with a serious look "why do you need to know?" she clearly saw how much armed I was.
"my daughter is sick and I heard of an angel woman with a blindfold that could cure her" of course I lied, a half lie at least, if I was to tell that I wanted to kill someone that so kindly helped them, they'd never tell me.

The bravest one and the village chief spoke to themselves in their native language, I was feeling nervous, I was sure they knew where she went, but did they trust me enough to tell me?

After few, seemingly interminable, seconds Drust spoke "she went East from here, she said to be heading closer to the Demon Realm."
Then the elderly village chief continued "please... don't make us regret telling you, she is such a gentle soul and... the world needs this kind of individuals".
I gave them a cold, firm nod "I won't. Thank you for the help. Now I'll leave just as promised."
I turned around and left the mountain village, heading east towards the Demon Realm borders.

I kept on walking for a couple of days, as I got closer to the Demon Realm border I could notice the presence of demons, few of them tried to attack me and I easily dispatched of them with my mace, I didn't even wonder on why they attacked me, demons are like that, but what made me perplexed was why most of them didn't attack me, they weren't friendly, no, they were wary of my presence but didn't preemptively
attack.

Anyway, I didn't spend too much time thinking about their behaviour around me, I still had to find where my target went... as I kept on walking I realized that my surroundings were familiar, I knew this place, it was surprisingly close to the village I lived.
At that point I thought about visiting my friends and family, a little break couldn't hurt and I was worried about my daughter, she was sick with Corruption Blight, it's not incurable but still deadly, unfortunately no priest was willing to help an orc, that's why I took that mission from the angels, they promised to try and heal my daughter's sickness if I was to kill that fallen angel.

And so I pressed on, deviating from my path to reach my home village, once I reached it I greeted my friends, my wife rushed up to me with a huge smile on her face.
"Grobork! y-you're back!" her tone was sweet and warm as I remember it, she hugged me tightly.
"yes my love, I figured I'd surprise you with a visit!" I hugged her back with affection, she looked up at me, her red eyes lucid with tears.
"my husband... I have something to... no, you must see it" I was surprised and sightly concerned, but filled with curiosity nontheless.
She grabbed my hand and led me to our home, I noticed Rana, my daughter, wasn't sick on her bed.
"where is Rana?" my wife just smiled at me and brought me to the back garden. I couldn't believe what I saw next.

My daughter was running around, smiling happily, her tiny hands clinging on someone "haha! I got you! your turn to catch me now".
The stranger smiled down at her "hehe... yes you got me! now it's my turn!".
The stranger... I knew that stranger, blonde hair, a halo, a single white wing, but most importantly a blindfold on her eyes.
That stranger was my target. I was confused and conflicted.

"Rana! come back here!" I roared, she looked at me "daddyyy!" she rushed and hugged me tightly, I noticed that the purple pustules on her skin were gone, she was healed from that cursed sickness, I hugged her back, I could feel tears of joy filling up my eyes.
The target stepped close to us, she smiled gently, I gave her a brief glance, then looked at Rana "princess... what about you go inside with mother? I need to talk with your... friend" she smiled and nodded "okay daddy!" she then went inside, leaving the target and me alone.

"is... is she your daunter?... you... you did a wonderful job raising her... she has such pure emotions and... still so blissfully innocent- a-ah! I don't mean it in a bad way of course!..." my target initiated, she... to say that she looked up at me would be wrong since she was blind, but she tilted her head up, as if exactly knowing where to look, her voice was soft and shy.
"yes she is my daughter" I replied her with a cold tone, mostly buying time, not knowing what to do or how to act, I knew I had to grab my mace and... complete the job... but to what purpose? Rana already healed and would I kill her just for money?
"did you heal Rana?" she nodded "yes... uhm... the Corruption had tainted her and... I felt like... she needed help... y-your wife told me how much you tried to get help from priests but none would... help... so I... offered to help her" her tone was shy, almost intimidated, as if she could feel how much I repressed my emotions, locking them in a steel box inside my heart. "uhm... m-my name is Variance... i... I'm a wanderer"
"I know who you are Variance, I know what you did, I know of your past" her smile faded a little, she averted her blind gaze
"i... I understand... then... maybe... we should at least... go out the village?" I was surprised by her words, of course taking her life in front of my family wasn't my plan, but why was she so willing? I was wary of her still, was she going to fight me?
I nodded, as if she could see me, but as I did she nodded back and spoke "o-okay then... lead the way..." her reaction only made me even more tense, she could clearly see me in some way.

I led her out of the village, closer to the Demon Realm borders.
Once I found an isolated spot I stopped, she walked in front of me, I looked down at her, her expression was neutral.
"if t-that's what you... really... think is right... I-I'm ready..." Variance spoke with a thread of voice, I could feel her fear.
I raised my mace up.
Then swung it down.

"why didn't you run away goddamit!" I was angry. I purpusefully crashed the mace just beside her, leaving a quite big crater.
"i... I knew you... wouldn't do it... i... I can feel it... Grobork" her tone wasn't mocking, nor confident, her voice was still barely whispered, filled with fear.
"just- just go!... and don't come back" I was angry, but with myself mostly, Variance stepped closer to me, her delicate hand resting on my arm "thank you..." I felt like she wanted to say something more but desisted, instead slowly walking away towards the Demon Realm.

And so our ways parted.

(back to the Tavern)
"d-damn pal! that's- sheesh! I get why ya needed extra booze!" Braco told his orcish friend with a sympathetic tone "didja tell the clients? what did they say?" he stood silent, chugging down more alcohol before speaking up.
"no... I didn't say anything to them yet, I still have to report my findings" he told his kobold friend "I... I'm not even sure what to tell them... in truth I'm a bit scared for my family" he sighs heavily "but I don't have any remorse, it doesn't matter what I did back then...".
Braco changed topic, now talking about silly and lighthearted stories, he knows his friend needs to take his mind off that.