I'm up all night to get some

Quest:

It's a perfect night for sleep but Hohotaro is still wide awake staring at a distance, the boredom in his eyes clearly shows. On either him are two other Imuchakk, on his left have very tall Imuchakk with impossibly long limbs, and on the other side there's a slightly short plump Imuchakk. The two are having a very lively conversation while Hohotaro just is just resting his head on his hand trying to stay awake.

Hohotaro took a job on being a night guard. The contract runs for a total of 5 days. He took it because he felt that the pay was more than enough for a job that all you have to do is sit and watch for the entrance. But he didn't realize that it would be this boring. And to top it off he was with some very annoying characters.

"Right Hohotaro?" Hohotaro's silence was interrupted by the plump Imuchakk. "Rampaging Unicorn meat is better cooked than raw!" the plump Imuchakk stares at Hohotaro expecting an answer.

"Yeah yeah~ you're right... whatever you say Anibubu." Hohotaro answers dismissively.

"What are you saying Hohotaro!" The lanky man grabbed Hohotaro by the shoulders and turn Hohotaro towards him. "How can you taste the freshness of the Rampaging Unicorn if you defile it with fire?" the man shakes Hohootaro. "HOW??" Hohotaro's head whips back and forth.

Hohotaro is not one to lose quick to anger but somehow these two young adults seems to have the knack of getting on his nerves. He slowly reached for the arms holding his shoulders and gripped it so tight that you could almost hear bones giving in. With a gritted teeth that Hohotaro tries to put off as a smile he said. "Manunute Sir, with all due respect. I don't care about whether it's cooked or not just eat the damned thing!" with that Hohotaro stands up and head towards the entrance. "If you need me I'll be by the entrance."

Both Anibubu and Manunute was left speechless by Hohotaro's outburst and just stares at him as he walks away.

Hohotaro grasped his head as he walked away. He doesn't even know what has gotten into him. Maybe it's the lateness of the hour he just wants to go home and get some sleep. When Hohotaro arrived at the entrance he thinks he saw something at the distance. He squints his eyes to try to see it better.

It looked like a northern bear. Hohotaro immediately thought that at last something to do, without thinking he charged forward to the enemy. As he gets closer he noticed there were 4 more lurking in the shadows. Hohotaro was surprised, bears are not known to travel in packs. He tried to turn back but his path was already blocked by two more bears. Hohotaro staggers backward then a bear charges him from his side and pinned him to the ground.

The bear roared on top of him raising it's paw to maul Hohotaro. But before it can strike.

*tchuk*

A spear fashioned from a Rampaging Unicorn stabs through the bear on top of Hohotaro. It was thrown 2 meters away by just the momentum of the spear and Hohotaro was now able to move. He stood up and looked around.

*tchuk tchuk*

Two more spears came flying in and two more bears lay dead.

Manunute shouts from the direction the spears came from. "Hohotaro are you ok?"

Even before Hohotaro can answer came a thunderous *BOOM*. Anibubu came crashing to the ground the shock wave that comes from the impact unbalanced the 4 remaining bears. He then proceed to swing his Rampaging Unicorn Glaive in a wide arc managing to kill 3 more Bears.

"Hohotaro we're sorry, we're being annoying." Anibubu said.

Hohotaro looked down looking a bit guilty because he know that he should be the one apologizing for snapping at them. Hohotaro rushed towards the last bear he jumps with his left knee forward then at the last second brings down his right fist towards the last bear.

Hohotaro dusts himself and stand up. "Don't worry about it, after all we're comrades"

692/500
100/100

The second night of Hohotaro's guard duty was better than the first. He still want to sleep through it but he learned to tolerate the other two Imuchakk that was with him, Anibubu and Manunute. The two guards that was with him was rather strong, Hohotaro thought. They easily killed the bears that attacked Hohotaro on the first night.

Manunute and Anibubu as usual is having a heated debate while Hohotaro just relax a little farther away from them. From what Hohotaro can hear, they must be talking about who would win against their masters. Manunute and Anibubu came to a stalemate and approched Hohotaro.

Manunute asked Hohotaro. "Where did you learn how to fight?"

Now that Manunute mentioned it, Hohotaro realized that he didn't have a teacher.

"I don't have one, Ruririko, my friend is the one who have a teacher, I just do sparring bouts with her now and again so I managed to learn how to fight." Hohotaro answered. "So I guess I just make up fighting techniques as I go."

"My master is very famous." Anibubu declared, "He's the one that teaches fighting for most of the warriors here. He uses a spear so I also use a spear. Spear is the most famous weapon you know."

"Being famous doesn't mean stronger." Manunute objects, "Our family have this." Manunute extends his arm, it's very long but also relatively thin for an Imuchakk arm. "We don't have enough strength to stab, but we are very good at throwing. My teacher is my father, me showed me how to use my arms like a spring to throw better."

"How about you Hohotaro? What is that?" Manunute points at Hohotaro's hook swords that is hanging on his waist.

"You mean this?" Hohotaro unsheathes his swords and held it up. "I don't really know I just thought it looked cool."

Hohotaro remembered seeing the Hook Sword in his Grandfather's storehouse. When he asked his grandfather about what it is, instead of telling him, his grandfather picked it up and showed him. Hohotaro was mesmerized by that scene. His eyes was glued at the weapon, it moved gracefully like flowing water, but at times it becomes as steady as a rock. He tried to mimic what he saw that day but it was just a distant memory.

"Mhmm, It does looked cool but javelin is way cooler." Manunute said proudly.

"Hah!" Scoffs Anibubu. "Your weapon is so short and thin, just like your junk! Unlike mine that's long and thick and strong!" Anibubu slowly bring his clenched fist upward as he describes his spear.

"Heh." Manunute grins. "I did notice that. You must be overcompensating for something hehe~..." Manunute laughs as he pokes Anibubu's belly.

Anibubu's face puffs up more than usual and turned bright tomato red. "Why you..." Manunute slinks away and Anibubu chased after him.

Becuse of this converstion Hohotaro remembers that his grandfather just disappeared. It was never really clear whether he was killed, captured or just missing. Maybe... just maybe if he could rebuild his grandfather's Trading Company someone would approach him that knew his grandfather and what really happened to him. Just wishful thinking on Hohotaro's part.

The 2nd night went by without any incident.

539/500
100/100

Third day of the guard duty comes. Hohotaro was starting to enjoy the company of the two guards. He's even taking part of the conversation. Maybe Hohotaro is starting to become accustomed to being awake at night. He's not even listening to some of the stories, he just thought that the two of them was very fun to be with so he started to just laugh at anything.

As they were having a hearty laugh Hohotaro heard a low growl.

"Wait did you hear that?" He looked around and tries to focus on the sound. "I can hear some growling."

Manunute laughs. "You must be hearing this fatty's tummy" Manunute rubs Anibubu's stomach. "it always does that."

Anibubu slaps Manunute's hand. "Shhh... Hohotaro's right, it's not me this time." Anibubu looks around, he stares at a darkened alley not far from where they are.

"Oh no... No! No! No!" Anibubu raced towards the alley in a panic, Hohotaro never seen Anibubu like this before.

Hohotaro and Manunute managed to catch up to Anibubu, there they saw countless wolves. They are thin and drooling, they seem to be feasting on something. There was an overturned barrel that's full of different kinds of food, from fish, to steak, to jerky, Hohotaro can see that the wolves are really enjoying their meal. But he felt something ominous, Hohotaro looked toward Anibubu and his face has changed from the perpetually smiling face to a face full of rage with veins popping out of his neck. He can also see a bright glow as Anibubu took his weapon out.

Anibubu breathes heavily in rage "Nobody... touches... my... FOOD!!!" Anibubu charges and slams his glaive to the ground.

The ground cracks and shakes and an explosion erupts 15 meters around where Anibubu's glaive meets the earth. The wolves that was caught within the explosion got thrown back from the epicenter and crashed to the sides of the buildings. Not one wolf that were hit by the attack survived.

Manunute scratched his head. "Not again..."

Hohotaro was a little speechless, Anibubu was stronger than he thought, and maybe so is Manunute.

Anibubu looked at his stash and started eating. With each bite he bawled more and more.

Manunute pats his friend's back trying to comfort him. "There there..." he then turns to Hohotaro. "He's going to be like this for a while, could you kill the remaining wolves?"

Still dazed by the weirdness of the things happening around him, Hohotaro looked around in search for the remaining wolves. He saw one and without even unsheathing his sword he raised his hand and parried the wolf's bite then countered with a knee on it's underbelly. He then saw another one looking very scared and trying to run away. He rushed towards it and tackled the wolf and kick it's back while it's laying on the ground. He looked around for signs of other wolves but he saw nothing, that must be all of them.

Hohotaro then returned to where Anibubu and Manunute was but they were not there anymore. He looked for them and found them back at the campfire they made and Anibubu was back to laughing like nothing happened. Hohotaro just scratched his head, smiles and just accepts the absurdity of it and returned with the group.

The third day of the watch ended.

556/500

80/100

Abilities:

Day four of the night guard duty the night is quiet, very quiet. Hohotaro, Manunute and Anibubu just laying quietly staring at the night sky. Crickets chirping along with the crackle of the burning wood sets the music of the night.

Hohotaro extends his hand towards the sky. "Do you guys like this job?" he asked his two companions.

Manunute and Anibubu looked at each other then looked at Hohotaro.

Manunute put his hand on the back of his head . "What are you talking about? Hanging out with your friends, taking it easy, having fun and getting paid while doing it. Sounds like a great job to me."

Anibubu nodded.

"No, that's not what I meant." Hohotaro sits up. "Are you satisfied with staying like this for the rest of your lives? Don't you want to be someone greater? Amass countless fortune, rule a kingdom or maybe change the world?"

"Haha" Anibubu laughs. "Those dreams are not for me."

"We had a dream once." Manunute interrupts Anibubu. "When we we're little we wanted to travel the world. Well not really, I guess all we wanted was to get away from this place. We are outcasts, maybe you haven't notice but we don't really look like an Imuchakk. Some even go as far as call us beast from the Dungeon. Sometimes I feel like I do want to be those beasts. At least they are feared and respected rather than being mocked and ridiculed." Manunute sighed.

"Do you know why we like working as night guards?" Manunute asked.

Before Hohotaro can answer Monanatu continued "Because there are less people out at night. When we go out during the day we always get stares and whispers at least when we're on night duty most of the people are already asleep or passed out drunk."

Anibubu also sits up. "Yeah Hohotaro, we're freaks all we can do is stay here and not bother anyone else. And that's fine."

Hohotaro stood up looking a little frustrated, and faced Mananatu and Anibubu. Hohotaro scratches his head. "Man you guys are such a downer."

He kneel down put his hands on Mananatu and Anibubu's shoulder.

"Am I your friend?" Asked Hohotaro.

Manunute and Anibubu nods.

"Does my words mean anything to you?" he continues.

Again the two of them nods.

"Well then." Hohotaro slaps their shoulder and stands up straight. "Believe me when I say, both of you are the one of the best and strongest Imuchakk warrior I've ever met."

"You say that you don't have dreams?" Hohotaro turned his back towards Manunute and Anibubu and points at his back. "Just follow me and I'll take you to places you've never even dreamed of. I'll make your dreams my dream. And if you became tired of following." Hohotaro points at the ground next to him. "You are more than welcome to stand beside me to follow dreams of your own." Hohotaro shoulder shakes and he clenches his fist. "Just don't let people who don't even know you say..." Hohotaro voice cracks. "Don't let what they say define you." He then takes a deep breath.

"So..." Hohotaro look back at Manunute and Anibubu. "Do we have a deal?" Hohotaro smiles brightly and shows a thumbs up.

"Pfft..." Manunute stiffled a laugh. "Hahaha where did that come from?" Manunute laughs wiping the tears from his eye.

"Yeah Hohotaro that was so bad! What was that thumbs up at the end!" Anibubu also laughs teary eyed and rolling on the ground.

Hohotaro blushes and scratched his head. "Haha yeah... SHUT UP!!" Hohotaro kicks snow on Manunute and Anibubu's face.

The 4th night ended without more incident.

608/500
80/100

"Hey! It's your last day right Hohotaro?" Manunute put his arms around Hohotaro's shoulder. "Want to do something fun since it's your last day, eh?" Manunute's eyebrows raise and falls quickly.

Anibubu also put his arms around Hohotaro on the other side. "Something fun? Oh I know! Let's hunt a bear and make a barbecue!" Anibubu drools as he was imagining a barbecued bear feast.

"Haha... yeah. Fun." Hohotaro slowly steps away from under their arms before Anibubu's spit cover his shoulder. "What else do you have in mind Manunute? I'm up for having some fun."

"Hehehe! I'm glad you asked!" Manunute grins and reached back on his back pouch. "Ta-da~!" Manunute  is holding a bunch of sticks about 150cm long in front of Hohotaro.

"Huh? Am I suppose to see something here?" Hohotaro looks at the sticks a little puzzled. "Those looks like... sticks..."

"Oh that! Yes yes! That's fun!" Anibubu bounces left and right in excitement.

Manatutu explained "We call this drop and take sticks. We drop the sticks." Manatutu crouch down and drops the sticks and it forms into a bunch on the ground. "And then you take the sticks one at a time in a way that no other sticks move. Fun right?"

"Hahhh..." Hohotaro put his palm on his face and sighs. "You guys..." Hohotaro taps Mananatu's shoulder who was carefully picking up a stick from the bunch. "I have something I more fun I want to do. Follow me." Hohotaro smiles and motion for the two to follow him.

Manunute and Anibubu follows Hohotaro as he heads back to the village. Manunute and Anibubu was a little uneasy, they always just stay on the outside of the city right near the entrance but now they're going in the middle of it.

Hohotaro stops at a rather large Hut that looks like a viking longhouse. It have fire raging in front of the four entrance and music and laughter can be heard inside.

Anibubu grabs Hohotaro's shoulder. "I don't think this is a good idea."

Hohotaro just gave Anibubu a thumbs up and said "Just follow me."

Once they reached inside they are met with a large boom of greetings. They were asked to sit down and given mead to join the party. Manunute and Anibubu were at first a little uneasy but as time goes on they got comfortable and started talking and laughing to along with everybody.

Anibubu was stuffing his face with anything he can grab while Manunute was telling stories and laughing with other Imuchakk warrior in the long house.

At one point there was a drunken imuchakk warrior that was challenging everyone for a fight. Hohotaro took up the challenge and they started to have a fist fight. The drunken Imuchakk Warrior is just flailing his arms around he's clearly been knocked out for the night. Hohotaro expertly parried the blows, he gave the drunken warrior about two chance to attack him and Hohotaro just parried each one of them. And with a flourish Hohotaro winds up his fist and plants it right below the Warrior's jaw. Everyone roared with cheer and the even continue at that high not for a little while.

At the end of the event Hohotaro, Manunute and Anibubu returned to their post.

"How was it?" asked Hohotaro.

"It was so much fun!" Exclaimed Anibubu. "I haven't eaten that much in forever!"

"Hehehe yeah... I made a lot of new friends over there." Remarked Manunute with a wide smile on his face.

"See, the world isn't so bad if you try to get out of your comfort zone once in a while."  Hohotaro smiles. "That's just a taste of what will happen when you stick with me haha! There will be more adventures to come and more fun to be had! I promise you that." With that Hohotaro was knocked out cold.

The 5th night finally ended.

651/500
50/100

Abilities: