Hunting Wabbits

The Hunters' Guild.

A Lander-run organization that collects the needs of Yamato, sorts and organizes them, and allows adventurers to take them based on their skill level and past performance. Successful quests lead to promotion in ranks.

And, of course, getting paid!

If this sounds suspiciously like Adventurers are Yamato's gig economy, well... uh... er...

"I'm so excited!", exclaims a slightly-shorter-than-average Spriggan with a pixie-bob, wearing something that looks a cross between a nurse's uniform and a martial artist's gi, with a fantasy MMORPG flair to it. She is waiting in line, but leaps from foot to foot, barely able to contain her excitement as the line inches forward. "I've heard great reviews about this one, can't wait to try it myself!"

    Plip, plip, plip, plip...

    That's the noise that may - or may not be heard depending on the level of chatter or chaos from the line of adventurers, lined up to get their daily quests and sign up for more rigorous adventures. A sound belonging to a short-to average sized cait sith that enters from the main hall and makes her way over as far away from the line as possible before she takes a seat on a bench facing the waiting applicants. Perhaps alarmingly, her 'animal like' features consist of a particularly vicious and voracious species of monster that might draw her some unwanted attention.. The Evil Bun Buns. Of course, looking at her, it might be hard to hold it against her with how adorably her ears lop over the front of her head and her eyes stare back at whoever's observing her. Even the horn on her forehead is almost adorable in the way it's decorated and adorned. Her outfit resembles an Acolyte's gear.. but has been heavily customized to have more of an alchemist like appearance judging from how many extra pouches and tools she has in various places across her body.

    As she sits down, and unpacks her backpack to reveal a rather large slice of orange cake - shaped like a carrot, no less - the cait sith can't help but 'perk' those lop ears up slightly at the exclamation coming from the spriggan in line. That draws her eyes up to look across the room in silence for a few moments before she smiles at the girl's enthusaism for... whatever it is that she's about to undertake! ...Admitedly, most of her time lately had been spent as far away from quests and adventures as possible, so she really had no idea what could have the young spriggan so excited.

Another adventurer is assigned a quest, the line inches forward, another adventurer is welcome... the same process repeats over and over, until it is finally the Spriggan's turn. Her wings perk up when her turn comes, and she exclaims, "I would like to sign up for the Peko Race!", slamming her fist on the wooden surface that separates her from the mustachioed man handing out quests for the Hunter's Guild.

"...Uh...", the man hesitates.

"What? What excuse are you making up for not letting me sign up this time?" She asks, suddenly suspicious. "...Uhm... the Peko race is in a few weeks."

"Good! They always tell me I'm too late to sign up! So now I'm doing it well in advance enough?"

"And this is the Hunter's Guild..."

The Spriggan blinks. "...Is it?"

"It is."

She looks around, hand on her lips. Adventurers wearing badges. Quests. Lines.

"Oh."

Embarrassed silence as the two stare at each other.

"So, uh, what can I do for you?"

Uta snaps her attention away from her gaze having fallen on a specific bun-bun Cait Sith, and turns back to the Lander. "Oh, sorry. Can I have an orange cake shaped like a carrot?"

"...Madam, this is the -Hunter's Guild-", the man repeats, gritting his teeth.

"Is it?!", she asks.

"Trust me, it is, I work here."

"Oh."

Tense pause.

The Spriggan's gears are clearly turning. The Lander is dreading what's about to come out.

"Can I have a quest then?"

"Sure!", exclaims the Lander, who was ready to slam his face on the desk. "Here, You're an Emerald Hunter, aren't you?" "I am?" "YOU ARE!", the man hurries to explain, pointing at the badge Uta is wearing. "So you can take any quest up to that level. Here, have this one."

A sheet with some writing is slid towards Uta, and she looks down. She paces away from the line, unconvinced, while the Landare lets out a sigh of relief and begins to process the next Adventurer.

As she paces close to the Bun-Bun cait sith from earlier, she takes the sheet so close to her face her nose almost pokes through it, and mutters, "...where do I redeem this for cake?"

    "....Ah..." The Cait Sith comments, holding a small fork with a large bite of cake ready to poke into her mouth as she watches the scene unfold. It's stunning enough that she remains frozen in place with her mouth wide open until Uta starts to pace near her with the sheet, at which point the fork and cake are lowered to her plate.

"Ah, miss...?" She asks with a soft tone. "...Miss I think you're confused, though it might partially be my fault. You don't.. redeem that quest for cake, I brought this here to eat. It's my lunch..." She adds, before she raises one eyebrow slightly, then looks down at her plate again before she twitches her nose back and forth slightly in thought. A few more moments pass.

"I'd... I'd be happy to share with you though, if you're hungry. Truth be told this is my second slice today so, I can cut back a bit!" An offer she starts to make good on by fishing a second clean plate from her pack and starts to split her cake in half to transfer over to the empty plate, giving the slightly larger piece to the spriggan, just in case she was a bit more hungry.

"Me? Confused?" Uta asks, looking up abruptly from her sheet.

"...Yeah, that does sound like me," she admits, not without a hint of embarrassment, as she scratches her head.

There is some silence. There is some admiring of the cake. And then there's an attempt at sitting down on the bench, next to the bun-bun cait sith. "I mean, if it's no inconvenience..."

Another glance at the cake. No, -you're- coveting that cake.

"I mean, given how much exercise we Adventurers get while we go take care of quests, two slices are easily burned. One thing one cannot deny is that we get a lot of exercises in all of those dungeons, and as a medical professional- oh, wait, I forgot to introduce myself!" She bows her head. "Uta Furore, Aerialist. At your service!"

And, of course, while making the obligatory reluctant noises and gestures, she ends up accepting the cake.

Real Food(tm) is still a scarce resource.

    "Ahah... Well I don't really do as much adventuring these days, i'm afraid.. Sure I still go out in the field to gather ingredients, and I was trained to fight, but... Honestly I can't remember the last time I set foot in a dungeon, myself." the Cait Sith replies before she slowly leans back, placing a finger against her chin as she listens to Uta's introduction.

"Shiroibara Natsume" A pause. "Alchemist by trade, although I... suppose I do have training as a thaumaturge, as well." She trails off there for a moment.

"Sorry, anyway... Yes, it's nice to meet you!" Natsume replies before she places the cake plate in Uta's grasp, then sits back down and atkes a fresh bite of her own that makes her eyes light up and her floppy lop ears perk ever so slightly while swaying back and forth. "So, you're a doctor and adventurer? ... We might benefit from knowing each other! You see, alot of my research is towards perfecting potions, and creating new concoctions using - ahhhh... ...we'll just say 'unorthodox' methods for breaking down and combining ingredients."

There is the slightest twitch in Uta's eye as Shirobara refers to her as a 'doctor'. "Nurse," Uta hurries to correct, before inhaling deeply, and resuming her wide smile. "And I would be more than glad to cooperate with you! You're an alchemist, you say? I was looking for someone like you. You see, before this whole thing with the Palace Lands, I was running the Royal Society for the Appreciation and Study of Gelatinous Creatures, which involved a research facility on slimes. I've always been fascinated by how they can mutate their properties, and I had been looking into potential assistance from an alchemist for determining how they do that, and if we can exploit such polymoprhic capabilities for the production of ingredients, not to mention unlocking transformative properties of matter and biological tissue in this world which might lead to potential applications in the medical field. Just imagine if- Oh, sorry, sorry, I got carried away. Anyway. Cooperation. Yes, yes, I'd love to. Anyone who uses the word 'unorthodox', especially to describe their own modus operandi, is immediately my friend."

A pause. Cut cake. Pick up bit with chopsticks (what? You don't have emergency chopsticks?). Stuff bit into mouth. Chew. Ecstasy. MMMMM-mmmm.

Swallow.

"...That said, I would love to take you on quests if you so desire. I really need to go to the Hunters' Guild and get a quest one of these days." She looks up and away, lost in thought, eyes crossed slightly, as she trails off, "I keep forgetting..."

"....Note to self... Attempt to isolate any herbal remedies or combination of previous successful brews that might help one focus.. or improve short term memory..." Natsume mutters to herself while resting her fork against her chin in a thoughtful expression. Closing her eyes in thought, it's only a matter of moments before a small bubble-like expression expands from her nose and contracts slowly before poping a few seconds later which startles her back awake.

"Ah, right, sorry! ... Wait you... Study Aquaeous Gellatona and their applications for medicinal uses?!" The look on her face just lights up at that realization before her mouth opens wide to stuff the last large bite of cake away, with vigorous chewing and a powerful swallow as she hops up from her seat.

"Me too! Infact, I've been capturing and training many varieties of wild "Slimes" for my research into how their properties can aid the alchemical process and even help with mass production of certain in-demand items!"

O_O

No words can express the massive popping open of Uta's eyes at the recent revelation.

"A KINDRED SOUL!", she exclaims. "THERE IS ANOTHER ONE!"

She scrambles through her menu, and sends Shiroibara a friend invite. "We should definitely compare methods, notes, equipment, and specimens. HOW DID WE NOT HEAR OF EACH OTHER UNTIL NOW?!", she exclaims, barely able to contain the excitement, and uncertain of what to do at this point, she stuffs more cake in her face.

Chewing, swallowing. Uncertainty about what to do. More face stuffing.

"I fear I will not be able to show the full laboratory given how it's been evacuated, but I can show you my specimens that are currently relocated at the menagerie in the tower of Aincrad. The people of Scale have been kind enough to take them in. I'm currently helping them as a monster veterinarian. And work as a nurse in the clinic of Tolbana. But! Once this war is over and we can reclaim my lab at the peko fort..."

Lots and lots and lots of shop talk is bound to ensue, at this point...

The friend request is accepted almost fluidly as Natsume sits back down. "Scale..." Her thoughts cloud for a moment, unsure how she feels about that, before she quietly shakes her head. "It's nice of them to look after you in your time of need.. I don't think i've ever ventured far into Aincrad at all... Nor am I sure if I ever really want too, if I'm honest."

"Anyway.. We do indeed have quite a bit to talk about! You're more than welcome to come visit my shop, and i'm certain my friends wouldn't object to seeing another adventurer who doesn't want to just splat them for being close by...!"

    From there, the conversation would likely devolve into a constant back and forth of what slimes are cutest, have the best properties for absorbtion, or taste the most like raspberries if licked.