Caught by a Hunter

Chapter 5

The next day Alderoth really tried to make a bow, but his attempts to make one were... Pathetic. Pitiful. Miserable. The list was endless and did not get any better. Maybe he really wasn't fit to be a hunter either? Was he really not capable of doing even this on his own?

Alderoth shook his head quickly. No! He refused to give up just yet! He could practically see Hassian's smug face in his mind when he even thought of just giving up and he knew he had to try harder.

When he finally didn't know what else to do, he followed the noises coming from the blacksmith's shop, stepping inside. The place was hot and the harsh noise of a hammer hitting metal almost made Alderoth jump. He looked at Sifuu who seemed to be making something that looked like a shovel.

"Hey there!" the woman smiled when seeing him coming closer and she lowered the piece of metal in a bucket of water. There was a lot of sizzling and smoke. "You don't usually visit here, Alderoth. Something wrong?" Sifuu asked as she put away the hammer for now.

"Well, I was hoping that maybe I could ask for some help?" Alderoth said and he was just trying to stay away from anything that might burn him.

"Sure! What is it that's bothering you?" Sifuu smiled and she placed the shovel in a furnace. "I hope you don't mind talking while I'm working, Badruu needs this shovel back as soon as possible so I'm kinda in a hurry."

"No it's fine."

"Does your problem have something to do with Hassian?"

Alderoth didn't even know what to say as he was staring at the blacksmith who laughed when seeing his surprised face.

"It was easy to guess", Sifuu said amused. "Hassian actually came back to the house the other night, he usually stays in his campsite in Bahari Bay so I was a bit surprised. He told me what Tau did, that little rascal can sometimes be such a pain."

"He didn't mean to destroy my garden", Alderoth said. "I'm not mad."

"That's great. Hassian was a bit worried, though. I hope the apology he prepared was okay?"

"Yeah, nothing wrong with that", Alderoth assured. "It was very thoughtful. But... You and Hassian...?"

"Wait what? I haven't told you yet?" Sifuu asked and she looked at Alderoth. "I thought I had mentioned it for sure! He's my son", she smiled while pulling down a handle of huge bellows. Suddenly it felt like the air was filled with sparks and the metal in the furnace quickly started to turn bright.

"O-oh..." Alderoth said and now he wasn't sure if he should ask Sifuu's help.

"Don't worry about it though, I know it's not easy to get even close enough to talk with my boy but he is a good young man I can assure you. It does seem like for some reason he has noticed you", Sifuu smiled when leaning against the anvil. "He even prepared that box with all the stuff and everything. It might be a lot to ask but it would really make me happy if you could be his friend. He doesn't really have any close friends. Yeah, he would say he has Tau but I mean someone who can actually talk with him, you know?"

"I guess..." Alderoth murmured while thinking about how their conversation with Hassian had gone. Now he felt a bit guilty... Asking help from Sifuu did not seem like a good idea anymore, it would feel like cheating. And he definitely did not want Hassian to hear about this!

"Give it some time. Even I have troubles talking with him, but I guess it's because... Nah, that's not important now", Sifuu said, shaking her head. "Anyway, what was it that you needed help with? Something broken? You need something new? I can do pretty much anything you might need!"