Chapter 31 - 31 Nora

Chapter 31: Chapter 31 Nora

What the fu---

The same violent thudding came again. This time, from the girl's sides.

The disturbance was followed by the sound of two slashes which came in quick succession. An even wider opening formed on her side, and from it emerged the poking heads of two mean looking men.

Nexus watched curiously as the three of them hacked their way out of the thickets. He now understood why he had initially misread the situation. Obviously there was no beast. Just men, and a girl- wrapped head to shin in grey, black, brown and white fur.

Seriously, was it fur season with these guys?

More and more of them began to pour through, until there were at least two dozen people standing before him.

No one said a word. There was not even the faint rustling of trees. All the usually chatty wildlife seemed to have gone mute. As if anticipating a showdown.

A very delicate calm prevailed as both groups stood on either side, eyeing each other suspiciously, occassionally stealing glances at the prize in Nexus' hand, and gawking at him in surprise.

Finally, after a stretch of uncomfortable pause, the girl with the cute face finally addressed Nexus and Crystal;

"Fellow hunters," she began; "We did not mean to intrude. I was under the impression that we were the only hunters guild in the area."

Her voice contrasted sharply to her face. She sounded forceful, yet tempered. Like a diplomat who was also used to authority.

Brazely, she took three steps forward, towards Nexus, seperating herself from her group without a trace of fear. No one dared to stop her. And Nexus took note of that.

"I'm Nora," she said, "And you are?"

Nexus and Crystal did not say a word.

Some gruff voice barked impatiently; "DIDN'T YOU HEAR THE LADY!!!?"

"At ease Grimwald," she answered with a note of irritation; "We're not here for conflict."

She faced Nexus.

"Apologies for that. I see that you've somehow managed to catch the Lightning Fox. You must be veterans."

Nexus shrugged, and spoke for the first time; "If you don't mind lady–"

"It's Nora."

"–we would like to be on our way."

"As is your right. However," she took another step closer, "before you leave, I would like to make you an offer for that which is in your hand right now."

Nexus lifted the fox; "You mean this?"

"Well, I certainly wasn't referring to the sword in your other hand. So, yes, the Lightning Fox. How much do you want for it? "

Her tone, suddenly more business-like, went down by a few octaves;

"I will give you a thousand gold pieces-" she pointed; "For it."

Nexus raised an eyebrow.

She quickly countered; "Fine, two thousand gold coins- for part of the fur."

Nexus stared at her so long, she had to say;

"Listen, I know you're probably looking to sell it off to the highest bidder and make a killing off it–"

The Nora girl took a step even closer, and felt Crystal's gaze burn into her with an incandescent luminosity;

"–but before you do that, I just need a little bit of its fur. It's really important to me. Of course, I'm not asking you to simply give me for free. I will compensate you well enough for the amount."

She repeated the amount again for posterity's sake;

"TWO THOUSAND GOLD PIECES- for the fur."

Nexus was more amused than shook.

Everything was happening too fast. One minute, he was worried about catching the fox, the next minute, he was surrounded by a group of hunters whose leader was a beatuiful girl?

Overhead, a couple of bats shrieked out in the open air, shattering the peace of the forest.

Nexus mentally called himself to order, re-aligning himself with the present.

Two thousand gold pieces? That sounded like Spring break and more. This Nora girl obviously wanted it badly.

Nexus was intrigued. But not intrigued enough to want to incur any more drama. Hunters were bad news. He could almost feel Crystal breathing it down his ears. His right shoulder tensed as he lifted the Lightning Fox up. Nora's eyes furtively tailed his every movement, watching for any kind of sign, trying to hide the mesmerized look in her eyes.

"So, this is what you want?"

She nodded, searching his gaze.

But Nexus did not have that ambitious streak in his eyes that was common with most hunters. Really, he did not give a damn about this creature or its worth. Nora's lungs swelled with concern when she finally deciphered the look in his eyes- boredom, apathy. Her gut twisted cautiously within her. That was evidence of a psychopath. And Nexus' next action all but confirmed her fears.

Without warning whatsoever, he let go of his sword and tore a handful of fur from the fox's body.

Nora could have sworn she saw a tear form in the creature's eye.

"Here," he stretched out his hand to her, "Take it."

Nora was suspicious. So, she said; "Hold on, while I go and make arrangements for the gold."

"There's no need for that. You can have it."

The white orbs in her eye sockets, shimmered under the western sun;

"You don't want the gold?" she asked unbelievably.

"I don't need it. And I certainly have no need of this." he said, gesturing to the fur; "Go on, take it. It's all yours."

Nora hesitated, but it was only for a moment. The next moment saw her arm stretching out to receive his offer with an open palm. She held it in her hand, as though it was gold, looking up at Nexus, and back at it again and again.

"You have no idea what this means to me. I've been chasing this for a long time now. Thank you- stranger."

Carried away by the depth of her gratitude, he found himself saying; "You can call me Nexus."

Nora smiled. Crystal cringed. And the Lightning Fox's face tightened further in a grimace.

Nora barked at her crew, summoning one of her men to come take the fur from her. And dispersed half of them to take it back to town, while the others remained. Her gaze returned to Nexus, and caught a glimpse of the poor fox's face. She laughed;

"I don't think our mutual friend quite appreciated the fur you snatched from him. Look at his face, he doesn't seem to be having the best time right now."

"Yeah, I kind of overdid it didn't I?"

Nora joked; "You think? Look at his face. I'd kill to hear what he's thinking right now."

"Probably something homicidal, and maybe mixed with a little racial slur against the human race."

Nora burst out laughing. Nexus laughed as well. Only Crystal was not laughing.

The Lightning Fox did not look like it appreciated the humor as well. Nexus had very crudely uprooted strands of fur from its body. And in no small meagre quantities either. Pain was evidently shooting through its body. It was hurt. But then again, thanks to Nexus' rune paper, it could not even move a single muscle to react, or yelp, or even itch.

Hanging by its neck, and dangling from Nexus' firm grip, all the Lightning Fox could do was remain limp, and glare at Nexus with all the pain and vitriol it could summon to its face.

Nexus, Nora, and the remaining guys kept laughing at the funny look on the creature's face.

"HA-HAHAH-HAHA–" Nora tried to speak in between breaths; "It-just-keeps getting-better-"

She swallowed a lungful of air; "Please, put it out of its misery before I die from laughter!"

Nexus chuckled. That had been his plan all along. After all, he had completed his mission already.

So, in one swift movement, much to the shock of everyone, he suddenly let go of the fox after peeling off the rune paper.

The laughter from the small crowd died a sudden, and unnatural death. A solemn, almost mournful silence descended on the clearing. Every single face stared at him in astonishment- they could not believe he had just done that! Nora's eyes in particular were round with shock, thinking about how right she was- he was definitely a psychopath!

But no one present was more surprised than the Lightning Fox.

The creature was so surprised, it did not bolt immediately. On all fours, it cocked its head at Nexus, shooting Nexus a puzzled look, and staring at him deeply, as if searching for something. For a moment, the group watched the exchange with apt curiousness, expecting something unexpected.