ATTRIBUTES

STR

8

DEX

7

TGH

6+1

SPD

5+2

FRT

7

STA

4+3

INT

10

LCK

9

FINALIZE SELECTION?

(this cannot be undone)

CONGRATULATIONS!

You are now a level 3 in the HUNTER class!

ALISTAIR GRAY

Level

3

Human

Hunter

Progress 580/1000

“Mmhm,” I murmured with a smile as I looked over the sea of sevens in my Attributes before putting my phone back in my pocket, “you enjoy that as much as I do?”

“Enjoy what?” Nolan asked bewilderedly without taking his eyes off the road, his social brain having apparently taken a little nap while I got my level up out of the way.

“Having uniformity in your stats,” I explained, “I don’t know why, but I find it beyond satisfying.”

“Eh, I’ve always found it hard to see ‘em as more than just numbers,” Nolan replied, shrugging and grabbing his thermos from the cup holder, “haven’t got anything against folk who are in it for the grind, as hollow as I think it is, but I’ve been known to sit on a level up for weeks at a time.”

“Haven’t you been audited a bunch of times as well?” I asked amusedly before watching the giant mass of hair damn near down the entire thermos, “And how aren’t you not constantly on the toilet?”

“Huh?” Nolan said, tilting his head in confusion, before looking at the thermos and realizing what I meant, “Oh, heh, no, this is soup.”

Needless to say, I struggled to process that.

“Why are you drinking soup?” I eventually managed to get out, unable to shake my baffled expression or astounded tone.

“I didn’t have breakfast,” Nolan replied matter-of-factly, “speaking of, I might just drop you off out front of the diner.”

“Don’t want to come say hi to Gwen?” I asked, only just noticing that we were about twenty seconds out of town, “Must’ve been a while since you last saw her.”

“I do,” Nolan said, nodding enthusiastically, “but I need me something greasy and eggy.”

“They do eggs at the diner.” I chuckled.

“They don’t do eggs on a muffin.” Nolan replied.

“I am almost certain they do.” I scoffed as we pulled up in front of the diner.

“Not with waffles and chocolate sprinkles they won’t,” Nolan said, shaking his head, “must’ve asked a dozen times and they always tell me I’m ridiculous and that they won’t do it.”

“What are you-oh…” I trailed off as I realized what he was telling me, “You have it all on the one thing, don’t you?”

“It’s a Minnesota Surprise.” Nolan practically drooled.

“It’s diabetes on a bun,” I corrected, climbing out of the truck, “have fun with your death burger.”

“Have fun with your… your…” Nolan stammered before giving up, “Have fun with Gwen.”

“I will,” I replied, waving him off, “see you in a few.”

Uncharacteristically eager for his breakfast, the Sasquatch had already driven off towards the drive-through before saying a proper goodbye.

Actually, may not have been uncharacteristic.

It wasn’t like I’d spent many mornings hanging out with the guy, in fact I’d spent more time with him in the past few days than in the couple of weeks before getting hit with the rollback.

‘Could he have been talking about me?’ I thought to myself as I made my way into the diner, ‘Was I-Hell, am I focusing too much on the grind?’

I’d have probably thought myself in circles for a while longer if I hadn’t spotted the back of a familiar yet distinctly new head at a booth near the edge of the diner.

Her hair was still braided out the wazoo, complete with beads, rings, and a couple other colorful decorations, but in the time since I’d last seen her she’d seemingly gone ahead and sprouted a pair of long wolf-like ears from the top of her head.

Drawing nearer, I noticed them twitch, dissuading me from my brief assumption that they were some kind of ironic fashion statement and confirming my sister had, in fact, taken the first steps of the wolf path.

“Allie!” she called out affectionately as she turned to face me, “And here I was star-”

“Jesus fuck.” I quietly blurted out, earning me a brief surprised look from the waitress behind the counter, my sister’s eyes having traded the walnut color of our father’s for the yellowy brown of a wolf’s.

“Heh, knew that’d get you,” Gwen chortled, following me with her eyes as I came around to sit across from her and her half-eaten plate of bacon, “awesome, huh?”

“Yeah, ha…” I laughed humorlessly, unable to look away from her eyes, before shaking the shock off and smiling, “Sorry, just a bit… I missed you.”

“Missed you too, bud,” Gwen said before sliding over to the wall and putting her boots up on her seat, “you heard from mom?”

I shook my head, “You?”

“Way we left things, I don’t think she’d be in much of a chatty mood,” Gwen replied while picking something out of her sharp teeth with her thick pinkie claw, revealing her furry forearms, “‘specially not with all… this.”

“It is a lot to take in,” I agreed, jutting my chin towards her arms, “stuck like that?”

“This?” Gwen asked, running her fingers through the soft-looking brown coat, “Nah, it’s just a pain to shave. Went through three sets of clippers before I gave up.”

“I’ll get you some shears for Christmas.” I joked.

“Fuck you,” Gwen laughed, “anyway, how you been? It’s going to sound crazy, but I heard you were going to Prestige soon?”

“I’m level three, actually,” I replied, the words clearly triggering something in Gwen’s brain, “how about you?”

“Not bad, not bad,” Gwen said, happy for the conversational shift, “pushing level twenty after the incident put me back to square one, taking jobs as I see ‘em. That’s actually what got me to give in and go wolf path.”

“Figured you don’t have to worry about your appearance if you’re killing monsters?” I said with a smirk.

“Again, fuck you,” Gwen replied, “but seriously though, won’t be long ‘til I’m fur all over, rockin’ a snout, and able to transform into a proper beast.”

“Not worried about how the town’ll react?” I asked.

“You shitting me?” Gwen scoffed, “Anyone wants to start shit, they’re going to find out real fast that I don’t fuck around.”

“S’pose if anyone’s going to go wolf ‘round here, you’ve got the best chance of holding your own.” I remarked approvingly as I briefly flashed back to a memory of her stomping the absolute shit out of a cracked out Ghoul that tried to grab her after school, “So this what you brought me into town for? Get a look at you before you go full Balto?”

“Balto? Really?” Gwen huffed, “For real though, wanted to see if you were interested in a job. It’s local… ish.”

“How ish?” I asked concernedly, knowing ‘ish’ could mean anything from in the diner to in the same state.

“Steel mill,” Gwen clarified, “been tracking a pack for a while, found out they’re planning a little ‘rebirthing’ ceremony out there with a couple girls they nabbed.”

“A pack?” I seethed, “Don’t know if Liz and Millie’ll be down with that.”

“Relax,” Gwen said, waving me off, “anything bigger than two is called a ‘pack’, and what we’re looking at here are four bitch ass cultists who are trying to do some forceful recruitment. Not to mention we kind of need those girly-friends of yours.”

“Why?” I asked before realizing, “Gwen, no.”

“C’mon, they’ll be fine.” Gwen dismissed amusedly.

“I’m not letting you use ‘em as bait.” I replied forcefully.

“It’s not like we’re going to chain them to a post,” Gwen scoffed as if it made it magically better, “they’ll be there running and gunning right alongside us, they’ll just also have the added benefit of setting the furry fucks on edge.”

“I…” I trailed off, “Fine, you’re more than welcome to ask, but I guarantee-”

“They already said yes,” Gwen interjected, flashing me a toothy grin, “but I’m glad you’re okay with it.”

“‘Okay’s a strong word for it,” I muttered disapprovingly, “what about you? As you said, it’ll set the furry fucks on edge.”

“Few minutes in the van with them and I’ll be fine,” Gwen explained, “not that I like the comparison, but it’s a bit like letting a dog sniff the back of your hand before you touch it.”

“That how you got bit?” I lightheartedly jabbed.

“Not cool,” Gwen grumbled after a few moments of trying to come up with a better comeback, “anyway, point is that by the time we get to the mill we should all be used to each other’s scents.”

“And if you aren’t?” I asked.

“Then you’ll probably die in a violent car crash slash Vamp-Werewolf showdown,” Gwen replied, “not a bad way to go for a level three.”

“I’d prefer not to go out at all, but when you put it like that…” I scoffed sarcastically, “Tell me honestly though, do you think we’ll be able to pull this off as a bunch of level threes?”

“Come packing silver and I don’t see why not,” Gwen said with a shrug, “don’t be a slave to the levels, Allie, they’re just there to keep you in check.”

“And alive.” I pointed out.

“And alive to a certain degree, yes,” Gwen begrudgingly agreed, “but just because you’re a low level doesn’t magically mean you can’t aim, right? Or swing an axe?”

It took me a moment longer than it should’ve to realize one of the girls had probably told Gwen about the axe, “Valid point, but still, don’t want to finally be getting into the groove of things only to be ripped limb-from-limb.”

“I get that, I do, but believe me when I say I wouldn’t have come to you with this if I thought you couldn’t handle it,” Gwen said with a sincerity that was unicorn-grade rare on her, “for all your faults, you’re one Hell of a hunter.”

“Thank you?” I replied with a confused smile, wondering just how many faults I had, “So, I guess we’re doing this.”

“As long as you don’t bitch out, yeah,” Gwen chuckled, grabbing and tossing a piece of bacon into her waiting mouth, “and who knows, maybe after this job I’ll hang around for a while?”

“Well if that isn’t the icing on the cake,” I said, unable to hide my genuine glee at the thought of having her around, “and you haven’t even told me what the payout is yet.”

“Two grand between the three of you,” Gwen replied as her taste for bacon took over and she started absolutely ravaging her plate, “plus… I don’t know, couple thousand in XP? It’s not a ‘proper’ job and y’all are tag-alongs. Should push you into level five, six, somewhere around there.”

“That’ll be a relief,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes, “it’s been tough with Liz and Millie.”

“Arguing?” Gwen got out past her third piece of undoubtedly at least room temperature bacon, “Because given your situation, I’d probably want to keep ‘em as happy as possible.”

“No arguing,” I clarified amusedly, “but happy? Eh, I’m not so sure. Been stuck inside on account of their level, and ‘inside’ has meant a hole in the ground because of our housing situation.”

“Minecraft or Hobbit?” Gwen asked.

“More Doomsday Preppers,” I countered, losing some of my jovialness as I thought about the girls awake and bored in that dingy hole, “construction on a new place starts soon though. Today, hopefully.”

“Then what’s there to be worried about?” Gwen laughed, “It’d be one thing if y’all planned on living like that for a few more months or something, but if you’re a few days away from a proper roof? I wouldn’t worry.”

“You know me, it’s what I do.” I half-joked as Gwen finished off her bacon, “Guess I’d better get some sleep, huh?”

“That would be in your best interests, yes,” Gwen agreed, shuffling out of her seat, her fluffy tail somehow surprising me, “grab some silver ammo as well while you’re in town. I would, but I reckon it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to ease everyone into all this before walking into a gun shop.”

“A wise decision,” I replied, getting up and giving my sister the first hug we’d shared in a painfully long while, “it was good to see you.”

“Likewise,” Gwen said, hugging me a little tighter as she did before forcing us to break apart, “mind if we save the mushy shit for another time though? I don’t know why, but crying makes my eyeballs feel like they’re on fire.”

“That sounds pleasant,” I said through my teeth, “but yeah, I’m happy to do a proper catchup later.”

“Good,” Gwen sighed thankfully before clapping me on the shoulder, “go on then, get yourself some shut-eye, breakfast too.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” I replied as I stepped around Gwen and she sat back down, only then remembering I’d intended to eat at the diner, “talk soon.”

“I’d hope so,” Gwen laughed, “see you tonight. Around six good?”

“Good a time as any.” I said with a nod, “See you.”

Have to say, despite the fact that we hadn’t talked about much in the realm of ‘real talk’, I was happy with the reunion and the way it played out.

Got a job out of it, got to see Gwen, and I got a fresh reminder that outside our little town there were bat-like Vamps, perma-semi-wolf Werewolves, and more that I honestly had never seen outside of the internet.

It wasn’t like I saw her as a freak or anything, it was just weird realizing that even with how chill our town was with people from all walks of life, anyone not outwardly human-looking felt worried about getting blasted, including folk who’d grown up in Darlingwood.

Then I stepped outside and saw Frytown and kind of zoned out all that stuff.

Man’s got to eat after all.