Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The odd hunter (open)

It nodded lots. ''Chirrp!'' It replied, eyes lit up a bit. ''Chhirlia chaunts cho cheak chuum..an.'' They replied. ''Chather chin't cheach chirrlia.'' Frowning. How on earth did this crossbreed become a hunter even though it clearly struggled to pronounce things with it'd forked tounge? Perhaps they just had to hope whoever listened understood Chirpspeak, a language usually spoke by birds.

Well the first part of that was readily understood, though likely any passing people would give them a strange look. Sterling sighed.

"That forked tongue is gonna cause you all sorts of trouble," he murmured. "But you should probably be able to speak okay even so. Let's start with the alphabet."

He couldn't believe he was doing this. Perhaps he might have made a good father at one time, but he'd purposely never pursued the idea--for fear of losing whatever family he'd made, or worse, leaving them unprotected should he die instead.

''Chirrpbet?'' They asked, looking puzzled with theor head side ways. ''Chirrabet?...'' They hissed, still puzzled. ''Chhats a chirrpet?'' Snorting a bit. Passing hunters stared, while others just laugh hard at the thing chirping nonsense.

Sterling sighed. "A, ah, apple. B, buh, banana... That's the alphabet. Well the letters, A and B, are. The others are words used by stringing such letters together and..." He rubbed his face. Was he really trying to teach this creature how to talk. "How about this, I'll say something, you repeat it. Does that work better? Yes or no?"

''Chirrs.'' They replied, nodding, then growled a hunter that poked them with a sword and left a bruise.

"Was that a yes?" Sterling asked and then glared at the passing Hunter. "Hey, back off!" He waited until the Hunter was gone before he turned back to Korilana. "Learn this much at least: Yes. No.

''Chirres?'' They replied, nodding. ''Chirp.'' Afterwards. They still couldn't get it right, but slid their wing membranes into their arms so hunters would stop staring. The crowds came and went, but then a group recognized Sterling and hollered at him loudly.

Sterling flinched as he heard his familiar nickname being used. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before turning to regard the group.

"My name. Is. Sterling. What do you want?" He glared at the group. "I'm a little busy, if you couldn't tell."

''Your talking to that weirdo hunter, Silver. People say their mom was a wyvern, and others say their dad was a hunter that fell in love. No wonder their parents abandoned them!'' One said, laughing obnoxiously loud. ''Hunters are supposed to kill what they catch, duuh.'' Kori flinched, but tried their best to ignore the talk.

Sterling scowled at them. "If you know what's good for you, you'll go hunt down some Weres. I'll take care of this one."

He motioned for Korilana to follow him, away from the general public and their views that everything not human should be destroyed--whether or not it was actually harming anything never entered the equation.

"Sorry about that. Some Hunters are stupid and join just to kill things."

They nodded nervously. They had only joined to avoid getting killed. Hunters that saw them would report back saying they had seen an odd crossbreed that was incapable of speaking. They'd scare away new hunters without much though, usually by accident. The pink reptile eye usually gave away that they weren't normal.

''Chirrlia chialaas cheen chiirralled cha chutant...Chirrp..Cherven cha chirreak...'' They said sadly, head hanging. Hated, it did, for only being able to chirp and growl. Called a freak, even a mutant at some points. But the only thing it was good at was injuring Weres. And eating sheep.

Sterling blinked and missed about half of whatever the creature was saying. "Uh, can you rephrase that?" He had gathered the basics, that it was upset and probably didn't have the best life in the world, but hey, it was still alive and also a Hunter at that.

''Chirrlia chas cheen chirraled a chutant...Chirrp..Cheven cha freak...'' They tried saying. At least a few words had came out correctly, though they stil had their head drooped a bit.

Sterling's face twitched. "A freak? That's uncalled for. But many people are close-minded, unfortunately. It just means we need to work harder to get them to accept us."

He wasn't sure why he lumped himself in with Korilana. He wasn't a freak outwardly. Just the fact that his blood ran with silver in it, meant he wasn't quite normal.

''Ches...Chir freak...'' They said, flinching. Sure, having talons, a tail, and wings were bothersome. But they were human, with maybe a bit of dragon abilities. Even if the other hunters thought of it as a failure since Weres could easily detect the creature. ''Chu chas chirreard of che?''

Sterling sighed. "Well, yes and no. I was told there was a well-renowned hunter in these parts, and then the name Korilana Larvonte came up. I just assumed it--you--were human though. Not a, er, crossbreed. Mix. Uh, you know what I mean."

Softly, almost imperceptibly, he added, "I'm not exactly 100% human myself."

''Churrr chot?'' It asked, head tilted. Yes, it was well-known. Mainly because few had seen it up close and able to hear it's name. Its mom had been killed had by hunters, obviously. When she had been killed, hunters finding the body would end up going missing. It only had been that faithful day they first found the crossbreed attacking. ''Chat churr cou chheen?''

Sterling shrugged. "My mother was turned into a werewolf just before she had me. They thought I would be a werewolf too, so they took...preventative measures." He rubbed the crook of his left arm. "My nickname Silver has more truth to it than I care to think about."

Kori snorted. ''Chilver?'' They asked. ''Chumand killed chy chom....''

Sterling shrugged. "I'm not sure. My father seemed to think she was still alive--that she hung around only long enough to have me--and then she vanished. He never remarried, and then when I was twelve or fourteen, he ran off and I've yet to hear from him since. I assume now that he's dead. Hunters don't live long."