Frack, lost my writing again, rats. Killed my writing mood til night, but I managed to get it out, so enjoy.

Few things here:

1. Almost 100 favorites, yay!

2.Almost up to the point that ends the first book. When that happens, I'll start going back and working on the past chapters for grammar and the like. On that note, PR's would be very helpful. I know some of you have dropped some to me before, so thank you.

3. As the first book comes to a close, it would be great to hear some in depth feedback about the story. Some of you have expressed likes and dislikes in the comments, and I appreciate it. I will not "improve" the RR version of the story beyond grammar and flow after the first 2-4 chapters, that'll be for the e-book version. That being said, I look to improve the quality of future chapters, so expect better writings to come as well. Personally, I'd be happy if only one person bought the book, but I digress,

4. You guys are great, thank you for reading.

Enjoy!

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The massive gate loomed in front of the duo as they approached Rostwood. It's portcullis and gate layers shown bright against the mid day sun. The two were large enough that five wagons could enter at a time, though the portcullis was always up and the gate itself had never been opened in front of Steel's eyes. Instead, a large mini gate within it was kept open, large enough to allow people to enter and leave at the same time.

Two guards were always stationed on either side, making sure nothing was amiss at the only entrance/exit to Rostwood. They looked up at the duo as they approached, warily crossing their polearms so as to stop them.

"Halt, who goes there?" One of them called out, "We do recognize you as visitors to the grassland this morning,"

"My name is Scout Steel, and I have important news for Captain Harkin." Steel replied, continuing his walk toward the entrance.

"Greeting Scout Steel. We have been expecting you for some time now. The captain has requested you visit him as soon as possible upon your return." The guard informed him.

"I'm heading over to him right now, lets go Hunie." As Steel walked into the gate, the guards bared their polearms in front of Hunie.

"Master!" She cried out. Steel whirled around.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked coldly.

Not taking their eyes off Hunie, one responded, "I'm sorry sir, but your...servant cannot be allowed into Rostwood without safety precautions."

Steel's eyes narrowed, "What kind of safety precautions do you refer too?"

"She will have to wait here until a mage comes to properly enslave her." The other guard said.

Steel exploded in rage upon hearing the guard's words. How dare they think to enslave Hunie!

Steel's eyes glowed silver as he growled, "She's mine!", and took and aggressive stance toward the guards. Startled by his posture, the two quickly took up defensive positions in front of him, sweating a little at the look he gave them.

"Sir, attacking your fellow guards will land you in prison, please reconsider." One of the guards pleaded

"That's right sir, its not worth fighting over a worthless slave, though I have no doubt she will do well in the slave market if that's what you are worried about."

Silver blew over Steel's vision as he lashed out at the guards, screaming in anger as he knocked his shield into them as hard as he could.

Silver clouded his mind until a large jolt knocked him into the wall. Groaning, he looked up groggily into the furious eyes of Captain Harkin. The captain stared down at Steel, waiting for his mind to catch back up.

"Son, I'm only going to give you one chance to explain, now start talking."

Confused, Steel looked over to see the two guards unconscious on the ground, and Hunie being surrounded by two other guards, most likely the inner gate guards.

"They...enslave...Hunie." Steel muttered out incoherently, still trying to cope with his sudden mindset.

Folding his arms, the captain considered Steel's words. He looked over at the rabbit girl who had been holding the boy back from killing the guards. She was obviously distraught, but had not fought back against him or his guards. She was staring worriedly over at Steel. His gaze lingered on the two guards who were sleeping in the dirt. He snorted, and put his hand on his chin.

"I think I understand the general idea." He finally declared. He looked down at Steel.

"Scout Steel." He barked, "As this is your first offense, I'll let you off with a warning. Do not do another crime in my city, or I'll throw you in the cell myself. Guards do not attack other guards unannounced and unprovoked."

"That being said." He gazed sideways at the two down guards, "These two idiots should no better than to deny passage to your friend. That kind of racism is frowned upon here in the frontier, though it is common in the capital. Considering their fresh from the capital, I'll have to have a word with them later, especially since many of our natives would throw them under the carriage if they talked like that in public."

"Report to my office when you've recovered, and bring your friend with you, I want to hear her story." He turned on his heels and marched back into the city, followed by the two inner gate guards, who flashed him a wink as they passed.

Hunie ran to him, kneeling down to wipe his head.

"Master, are you all right?" She asked concerned.

He chuckled, "Yeah Hunie, I'm good. What happened though?"

She shook her head, "I'm not sure Master, you got very angry, and the light seemed to bend around you. Then you started hitting those guards around, and I held you back until that scary guy showed up and knocked you into the wall."

"The light bent around me."

"Muu, well, more like a fluid silver thing?" She waved her hands in the air, "I'm not quite sure Master."

Steel checked his notifications, but the only thing that popped up was an acknowledgement of Milna's Blessing activating.

"What the heck? Is there a violent part to this blessing?" He wondered. He checked the info box, but parts were still missing from the description.

"Guess that's a mystery for another day." He noted the incident in his mind, then got up with the help of Hunie. Together, they entered the gate, this time with no one to stop them.

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Steel led Hunie through the guard house lobby floor to the stairs. They received a few cursory looks, but most of the guard were too caught up eating their food and checking the job board. Steel noticed a few more players intermingled with the guard.

'Good, it's nice to see some people are interested.' He thought.

Delivering his knock filled with MANLY GUSTO, he entered upon hearing the captain's loud "Enter!". Captain Harkin was sitting at his desk, his hand folded in front of him, waiting patiently for them. He put on a smile as the two entered and sat down.

"Scout Steel, it is good to see you again." He began, "While I apologize for the way the fresh recruits acted, I do have to ask, is she a danger to my city?"

"No sir, she is not." Steel declared definitely.

"Oh good, that's a relief. Tell me miss, who are you and where are you from?"

Hunie jumped at his words, clearly uncomfortable being under the man's gaze, "Muu, Hunie is Hunie." She said meekly, her speech reverting to her primitive tongue due to her nervousness.

"Come again?"

Hunie cleared her throat, got up, and curtsied to the captain, saying, "Greetings sir, this one is the devoted servant of sir Steel here. He rescued me from dire circumstances, and have sworn myself to his cause. You may address me as Maid Hunie."

Harkin raised an eyebrow at Steel, "One mission in and you already scored a maid to serve you? Geez kid, you are unbelievable." He shook his head ruefully. "I assume these "dire circumstances" are private as well Miss Hunie?"

She nodded.

Sighing, Harking shook his head, "Well alright then, feel free to walk this city. I must warn you though, many still possess the views the other major cities have on non-humans, so watch yourself out there. Slave-traders also pass through here on occasion, so do not travel by yourself at night."

Steel nodded, remembering the muggers who had attacked him before. Hadn't one of them offered to sell him as a slave before? He made a mental note to keep an eye out,

"By the way captain, did Mary get home safe?" He asked, failing to notice Hunie's ears twitch at the name.

Harkin barked a laugh, "She did, but she was well and truly pissed to be taken away from you so suddenly. I advise you visit her soon before she, er, makes a mess at the tower." Harkin recalled his conversation with Mary, and how he had had to swear to her to not reveal her identity to Steel. His hair still smelled a little singed from the threatening fireballs over his head.

"Thank you for the help on that one sir." Steel nodded toward the captain, "A delicate girl like her would have had a hard time out in the wilderness."

'Delicate my ass' Harkin thought.

"So Scout Steel, did you find the lair?" He asked eagerly.

"Yes sir, we did." Steel took out his map and walked the captain through his journey, leaving out the part about Hunie's transformation. He outlined the best path to the wolf lair, and cautioned the Trap Plants that were in the area. Hunie's new form had allowed them to pass by the plants, since her senses were stronger, but a large group of guards would undoubtedly fall prey to a few on the direct route. The captain listened to Steel's story, interjecting to ask a question on the encounters and state of the forest on occasion. Eventually, the captain nodded and put his hands on the table.

"Your work has been invaluable in this endeavor Scout Steel. I would love to give you a reward now, but all our resources will be going into this expedition, so the rewards will have to wait until after. Still, come back in a few days time, and I make sure you are part of the fun." He grinned at Steel, "Who knows, you may even increase your reward through your efforts in this endeavor."

"Go now, return in 2 days, take this time to prepare yourself. And take your shield to Bob, it looks like it's taken a hell of a beating."

Thanking the captain, Steel and Hunie left his office and the guard house, pausing to stretch their limbs outside.

"So Master, where are we off to next?" Hunie asked curiously.

"Well Hunie, I have to go turn in the food we picked up in the forest, which also doubles at your chance to try some delicious human food."" He winked at her.

Her ears bounced up and down with her body, making some other parts bounce quite nicely as well. "That sounds exciting Master! Lets go!"

As Hunie practically dragged Steel down the road, he couldn't help but wonder if he had forgotten something. Something about an oath? He'd remember it later.

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The trip through the city was the slowest Steel had experienced so far, but this was because of Hunie's inate curiosity at everything she saw. She stopped at almost every stall to admire the contents, drooled at every restaurant and food stall, and tried to climb a few buildings to "get a better view". It was exhausting work, and Steel was very pleased to finally get to the Adventurer's Guild.

"Is this it Master, is this the place?" Hunie asked for the 40th time.

"Yes Hunie, this is the place." He said relived.

"Yay! Food!" Hunie rushed inside before Steel could do anything else. Chuckling, Steel followed close behind, after taking a minute to catch his breath. He was distracted almost immediately by shouting and the sounds of flying pots coming from the interior.

"Ah crap." Steel remembered his oath to never let those two meet.

He rushed inside to find an interesting scene. Patrons were cowering under their tables, their food in their labs, as pots and pans flew through the air, struck down by knives and other utensils. On one side, Hunie was barring her teeth, holding a pot lid as a shield, an aura of a huge demon rabbit behind her. On the other side, Mema stood with a butcher knife in one hand, a skinning knife in the other, with a large Hanako demon aura behind her. The demon seemed to be holding it's own sense of cooking tools, and the rabbit was staring on in fear at the drooling demon. Steel blinked, and the image was gone.

Hunie noticed his entrance, "Master! Help me, this scary lady wants to eat me!"

Mema looked over, "Ah Steel! Good to see you there. Hurry, there's a large delicious rabbit over there, help me catch it for the crockpot tonight." A little drool seemed to be inching from her mouth.

"Hunie's not food! Hunie is a Hungry Bunny!" Hunie roared across the room, her ears giving away her fear.

"Really? In that case, you'll make a delicious stew, just hold still a moment." Mema ran at Hunie, who ran behind Steel and used his body to hide, her ears poking over his shoulders.

"Wait a moment Mema." Steel backed away from the cook slowly, "Hunie is my sla.....maid, so please don't eat her."

"Fueee! Master, you were going to call Hunie a slave weren't you?" A noisy voice protested behind him, "Stupid Master, Hunie's not a slave." Thankfully, her punches weren't imbued with her skill this time, feeling like message hits in his back.

"So that rabbit is yours Steel? A maid you say.....hmm...yes, I can see that now." Mema bowed to Hunie, "I'm sorry miss, I didn't notice you were a beast-woman, for some reason I thought you were a large rabbit." She shook her head, muttering, "Very strange, I could have sworn..."

"Cough, well, good to see you again Mema." Steel changed the subject quickly, "I brought some things from the forest for you to look at."

She brightened, "Well why didn't you say so in the first place, come on back and I'll see if you brought me anything good."

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Phew, got it done.