To the Tunes Under the Moon - A Goldric Fic

Chapter 1

A cold wind blows through the window, the result of living so high up in the Emperor's Castle. Hunter rubs his eyes and takes out a new candle to light up. He's awake. Again.

Over his meagre desk are piles upon piles of open books about wild magic. He's flipped through each one hundreds of times in fear of having missed something.

A red cardinal bird hops upon the pages. "Move it, palisman." Hunter growls, swatting them away. They chirp and flutter onto Hunter's shoulder, where he begrudgingly lets them stay.

"I suppose I should give you a name." He murmurs, flipping a page. "What did that human call you? Little Rascal?"

The palisman chirps in response. "Alright then. Rascal it is." Hunter yawns and rubs his eyes again. "What do you think, Rascal? A cure through wild magic?" Skimming through a paragraph, Hunter pushes the book aside with a groan. "I've read this book ten times already. I just need to know more, I need more books." He muses. Rascal peers at him with their good eye before gliding down onto the book. They peck at the paper before gripping it with their beak and pulling it over to the next page.

Hunter waves them off. "I've read this before. Certain plants are able to hold more magic than others, bla bla bla, sadly none of them are able to grow on the Boiling Isles-" Rascal nips Hunter's thumb. "Ow! What is it?" He rubs his hand as Rascal pecks at a certain paragraph.

Hunter slides the book closer to him. "Certain plants are able to absorb and store wild magic," He reads aloud. "Usually they can't grow in the harsh climates of the Boiling Isles, but the Knee allows them to thrive due to the amount of natural wild magic there." Hunter rereads the sentence just to make sure, and stares at the picture accompanying it.

A chuckle exits his mouth. "Rascal, you're a little genius!" He scoops up the palisman which promptly shrieks when Hunter squeezes them too tight.

"Oop, sorry." He immediately lets go. "I've really got to stop doing that. But anyway!"

Hunter gets up and hurries around his room to gather his belongings. He hasn't been to the Knee as the 'Golden Guard' so his usual armour isn't suited for the chilly climate. But his training outfit is.

"I have pretty small jobs lined up tomorrow, so once that's all done, we're heading to the Knee." He cheers to himself. "Well, I am." Rascal chirps and flies on top of Hunter's wardrobe, where their makeshift nest is. "You're going to have to hide. Oh man, Uncle is going to be so happy once I bring it back." Hunter brings out the outfit and remembers that he probably should get to bed.

"And if he isn't happy?" Hunter jumps under his blankets and frowns. "If he isn't happy... then..." He shakes his head. "No, he'll be happy. What could go wrong, anyway?" With that, he blows out the last candle and falls asleep.

*****

"Are you kidding me?" Hunter shrieks as the lavender haired girl wraps him with abomination slime. He's pulled back against the cave wall, which is encrusted with ice. "I'm the Golden Guard! You can't do this! Emperor Belos will-"

"Will what?" There was something crazy about the way her eyes glint. "I'm getting that ingredient, Golden Guard." She hisses. "Can you guys keep watch?" Two witches with matching green hair and smirks look up.

"Sure, sure." The guy says, running his eyes up and down Hunter, who shrivels back.

"Come on, kid." The Owl Lady says, putting a hand onto the girl's shoulder.
"Ooh, ooh, can I explode the keeper?" A strange demon on her back says without moving his mouth.

"There's no monster, King." The pair bicker as they leave the chamber, with the lavender haired girl still stony-faced.

"So you're the Golden Guard, huh?" The female twin says, raising a brow at Hunter.