Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 20

Willow was hugging him. He let her, as he tried to breathe. She was protecting him from all the other people who were trying to pat him on the back or hug him. The roar was still echoing in his ears from everyone yelling and shouting all at once. Somehow, he was near the doors to the outside, and then he was outside.

The crowd continued to jostle and push him down the street, and at sometime Willow disappeared. He stopped trying to keep track of who was shaking his hand, or who was in his face. His bag mystically appeared in his arms, and he slipped it on, tightening the straps automatically. Then Max was there. But before he could say anything, Trudy showed up, too.

“Let’s go to Bob’s!” shouted Trudy over the noise, and Max nodded, grabbing Xun by the shoulder, and propelled him through the crowd. The way they moved through the crowd made Xun realize, this was a normal occurrence!

Breathing hard, they reached the cafeteria just as it was getting dark outside. Max pulled him inside, and they proceeded to a door that was unmarked. Xun remembered it from the last time they were there, but gazed over at the food confused as to why they weren’t grabbing any?

Trudy opened the door, and they followed her down a set of stairs. The lighting was very interesting, coming from little glass bulbs all in a line. Xun was familiar with electricity, but it was very rare. Normally, people wouldn’t use it for fear of Slavers seeing it from a distance. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a large room with several round tables scattered around. Women dressed very nicely were moving around talking to people who were sitting at the tables. On one wall, there was a counter with seats, and behind it stood a large man. Along the wall behind the man was a mirror that took up the whole wall, and glass shelves with all sorts of colored bottles.

Max pulled Xun over to the counter, where he was pushed into a chair. Trudy sat next to Max and the man came over to them. He was holding a glass and was rubbing it with a white towel. Max wondered how dirty the glass was for him to have to rub it so much, maybe if he used some water it would get clean easier?

“Max! Trudy! What a pŀėȧsurė to see you two again. And a guest? This wouldn’t be the newcomer Xun? I’m guessing he did well in the fight?” The man smiled warmly at Xun, who was still feeling uncomfortable from the huge crowd. How could he know so much???

Max grinned really wide and said, “Hey, Bob! Never can get anything past you. I suppose you heard about the bet we had going to?”

Bob just chuckled, his bald head shining in the dim lighting as he set the glass down and wiped the counter with his white towel.

“I want my usual, and treat Joe, Smith and Jackson whenever they make it here tonight, too. Max said he would be paying for tonight!” Trudy laughed softly in the quiet atmosphere.

Max hung his head, then started to chuckle. “It’s true, I’m paying. Those guys did a great job sparring with Xun, here. I’ll take my usual as well, and give me a supper platter.”

He glanced over at Xun with a twinkle in his eye, “And since this is Xun’s first time, get him something easy and a supper platter, too. He’s probably worked up quite an appetite!”

Bob nodded and went to work. Xun watched him in amazement as he poured and mixed three drinks and set them before each of them. Trudy sipped on hers like it was the best thing in the world, where Max slammed his down like he was dying of thirst. Picking up his drink, it was hard to tell what color it was in the dim light. Xun smelled it, and could pick up sweet fruits and another smell he had never encountered before. Taking a small sip, he set it down. It tasted delicious, but he could tell it was poisoned. Why would anyone want to drink something like that?

Bob saw him and seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. He immediately took the drink, poured it out, and started making another. Xun watched curiously, wondering what he was doing.

The next drink looked nothing like the last. It was thick and cool to the touch. As he brought it to his lips, he was amazed to find it was sweet and slushy, like snow in the winter. The taste was milky, like from a cow or goat, and he loved it. As he began to swallow a large drink, he suddenly remembered when he was very little, getting a massive headache after eating some snow, and his dad laughed at him instead of soothing him. Holding the mix in his mouth as it melted, he swallowed a little at a time, and then enjoyed the next bit by bit.

He lost track of time, as he enjoyed the shake, then suddenly one of the well-dressed women were laying huge plates in front of him and Max. Max sighed in delight and began to eat the food immediately. Xun studied the food, some of which he didn’t recognize. Remembering the stomach issues he had before, he ate only what he recognized, then tested the other things on the platter in very small quantities. The things that tasted good, he ate only a little of. There was so much food on the platter, he felt bad not finishing it, but decided he didn’t have a prayer finishing all of it anyways.

“Don’t worry about the leftovers,” said Bob with a wink. “They won’t be wasted.”

Xun nodded, wondering how he knew what he was thinking. He liked Bob, but he was a little weird. As Bob turned to see to another person farther down the counter, Xun was surprised to see the mark on the edge of his ear.