Breakfast On A Bench

As usual Hunter was up before sunrise. It was his daily routine as usual and he began his morning ritual of exercises to keep his conditioning up. True he normally trained with the other guards but it was not as intense his his usual training so it was lacking as a main training but nice as a second one. As he was running around he saw the booths all round the quiet dark town that were set up for the Fall Festival, honoring Hoi. He then remembered it was today that he was off duty. This meant he would only train once today. He wondered if he should increase his work out but then decided to take an extra training. It was obvious his skills were unwavering even after being on the boat for two months. He was dedicated to his routine so that his skills would never weaken. He had a lot of motivation for living and used his skills to their fullest to do so.

After his training he made his way to the training grounds and using the crappy weapons he trained for an extra hour. He trained with the bow for speed and accuracy using only the moonlight to see. Once he was used to the flaws in the bow he was able to hit his targets within a five inch circle. This was far better than most of the archers using better bows and arrows. He could only imagine their expressions if he used his bow and arrows to train with. With his bow he could hit anything he wanted within range. Then he trained with the dull swords using his basic skills so not to let anyone know of his true skill. Of course his mastery of the basics was very high and even with a bent-dull sword, he could take down many foes. Then he practiced with the spear and sword swords as well. He imagined in his mind the enemies before him as he trained to improve his accuracy. Then he did his katas with and without the weapons as he envisioned fighting imaginary enemies.

Once he was satisfied with his workout he put up the equipment to show respect for the training grounds. This was a normal thing for him in the past during his training as an assassin. Ironically it also earned brownie points from the other soldiers to see a rookie cleaning up the grounds without being told to. If Hunter earned any anger from other recruits he didn't pay it any mind since he was not there to make friends or earn favors. Part of what kept the jealous types away from him was his marksmanship with a bow and decent skills with all the weapons. Picking a fight with him could prove fatal, especially if you were less skilled, so every now and then Hunter could hear the mumbling from a few trainees who could barely handle the training.

Once he was done he headed back to the barracks and washed up he put on some clean clothing. He had three identical sets of clothing for missions and two for sleeping. So he washed and dried them regularly to keep them in good condition. His mission clothing had a weave armor inside it along with a lot of pockets to hide his weapons, money and documents from thieves and enemies. He then dressed properly and meditated till the sun was up and he could smell the food from the stall workers. His ears perked up and his stomach growled a bit as he smiled and opened up his eyes. he stood up and adjusted his outfit before leaving the barracks and heading to the food stalls for breakfast. There he saw a few familiar faces and a lot of new ones. He purchased a few meat and vegetable skewers for breakfast so he could walk around and eat.

As he looked around he saw many busy people prepping for the festival. Some were building last minute things while others were delivering ingredients to the stalls. Everyone looked so happy to be a part of the festival. Hunter saw all types getting along for a change which was nice since many of them were on bad terms before that. He even saw some young beautiful women for once skipping around as they were busy. Hunter smiled as he watched them in the distance. It had been a long time since he had seen pretty women smile. True the holy woman was pretty, but he rarely saw her smile on the ship and it looked forced. It reminded him of his dead beloved as they seemed so carefree today. He missed that feeling of warmth he received from her. His dead beloved gave him love, fun, joy, warmth and a feeling of being needed and wanted by someone besides his duty. Of course she was very wild in the bedroom and had him under her thumb with her feminine wilds. He never once thought in his whole life he would receive such a blessing such as her. Then it was taken away by her very one father who saw his daughter as a mere tool to trade for power.

A tear rolled down his cheek as these feelings welled up again. He only cried when he thought of her. Using his sleeve he wiped it off and cleared his mind as he found a bench to sit on to watch everyone move about as he slowly ate his meal. It pained him to know such happiness was a brief and once in a lifetime experience since he lacked the courage to try it again. Love was a scary thing for him since he made him feel weak.

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