Arn ordinarily greatly enjoyed puzzles, but fitting four ichor slicked six-foot corpses into a wheelbarrow was a horse of a different color. After a good ten minutes of slarn flopping everywhere except the wheelbarrow, Arn was covered in dirt, ichor and blood, and had long exhausted his supply of curses. Walking – very slowly – into town with the wheelbarrow, however, Arn’s mood steadily improved. Slarn were a hated nuisance that were very difficult to hunt – bringing four into the village should put a stop to the jokes for good!

As he entered the village humming, Arn waved and greeted everyone he saw. “Afternoon Mister Chambers! Apologize for my appearance but I did bag four slarn!” Strangely, no one stopped to talk, but he did get many nods and waives. Smiling, Arn saw his friend Deon with most of the village teens coming out of the local inn, The Wandering Gull. Arn carefully put the wheelbarrow down and shouted an enthusiastic greeting across the street, “Morning all! If you’re still hungry I have plenty of slarn!” The group paused, looked at Arn, and jaws dropped.

Deon grinned and asked, “Arn, what in the Hells? You look like a zombie slarn! And why is your crotch soaked in blood!” Most of the group started giggling, but one of the younger girls, Lichelle covered her mouth with her hand and dry heaved to the side.

Arn looked down at his blood-stained crotch in horror. “Um, well, you know the thigh bleeds a lot.” Recovering his mojo, Arn added, “quite an epic battle with these four, thought I was a gonner!” Talia snickered, “looks more like you finally lost your virginity. Congratulations!” As the group exploded in renewed laughter, Arn realized he had already lost, picked up the wheelbarrow to head to the Tannery.

The Tanner’s fourteen year-old daughter Nina spotted Arn and put her gardening aside. “Arn! Are you ok?” Arn smiled; the two months he spent learning leatherworking from Nina’s father Jorn was easily one of his best memories from Amber Pastures. Nina was a ray of sunshine, and her father was a fantastic teacher, but ultimately the work had just taken stamina he didn’t have. Arn said “I’m right as rain Nina. The slarn weren’t a lot of fun, but it got done. I’m hoping your dad will give me good coin for them.”

“Dad is working out of town, but I can help you with that Arn! Let me take a look see.” Nina walked over and looked him up and down, “Senna didn’t charge you too much for healing I hope?” Arn smiled. “I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to talk with you recently, it has been so crazy since I got my class. But I regenerate! No healers for me!”

Nina grinned and said, “great! Then I don’t have to feel bad about dad’s prices! Ha!” She poked through the corpses, “ok, four adults, three with pretty much intact hides, I can give you eight silver for those, but the one that is chopped up pretty bad, I’m sorry, but I can only give you five for that one, so twenty-nine total. Pretty amazing for a morning’s work though, right! If you don’t mind bringing them around the back I’ll meet you with the silver. Would you like a drink?” Arn held up his gore covered hands and explained, “best I just drop them and take a bath. Or maybe just go back out hunting. I’m not fool enough to think I’ll manage to avoid taking another beating. It seems to be a specialty.”

Nina stomped her foot. “Don’t be ridiculous! Go home, take your bath, and I’ll meet you at the inn with your silver. I’ll buy your lunch. Dad will understand when he hears what the slarn did to you.” Arn hesitated. He liked Nina, and having lunch with her was no hardship, but the prospect of possibly seeing Talia and the others was another issue. “Nina…” Nina interrupted, “going back inside now! Dump the slarn out back! See you soon!”

On the way home, Arn began to think. He had always viewed Nina as something akin to a little sister. The prospect of romance had never even occurred to Arn given the age difference, the fact that she was tiny for her age and his own undesirability. But now he started to wonder.

At home, Arn bathed thoroughly and put on the only half decent set of clothing that he hadn’t wrecked over the last two weeks, figuring he could just take it off when he got back to the lake. Arn nervously fussed with his hair. Stop being silly. She is 14, a tiny little thing, and just being nice in any event. But…I do look totally different; good even. If I were to come back in two years with money…” Arn shut down the pointless line of thought. A quick lunch, then hunt the patchy-scaled bastard that nearly took my nuts.

By the time he walked though the doors of the inn, Arn was humming to himself. There was no denying that Nina was special, why shouldn’t he see what could be?