//------------------------------// // Foreboding Nights part 2: The second day. // Story: Travels of a Hunter // by Reaper1543 //------------------------------// The next day around 6:30: I was sleeping peacefully in bed when the sun was starting to come up, unnaturally fast might I say, and shone upon the small town. Celestia’s warm sun signaled the start of a new day as it reached everywhere, literally. By some ungodly power the rays of sun somehow managed to come in through the tiniest crack in the curtains and landed directly on my eyes waking me from my slumber. “This is impossible.” I groaned myself as I shielded my eyes. “Can’t a tired man sleep in for once?” I asked rhetorically. “No.” came the simple answer from nowhere and everywhere at once. It sounded angelic and royal and more importantly, female. “Wow. That was…unexpected.” I said to myself as I climbed out of the bed ready to start my new day if the freaky voice wanted me to. I did the normal morning routine, you know all the important stuff. After I was ready I went down to the innkeeper to ask for some directions to the nearest restaurant, although I could get anything from the bag I wanted to try the local cuisine. Ms. Marshmallow was kind enough to point me towards a small family owned restaurant at the other side of the town/village…settlement. I thanked her and went on my way. As I walked through the settlement I saw that some of the guards were always keeping their eyes on me, guess mosshead really kept his words and set some guards at watching duty. Oh well, it’s not like I was planning to go on a rampage. I noticed that the buildings were mostly made out of wood and varied in styles. I also saw a huge building which I guessed was the town hall or something similar because it looked big enough to house at least 200 griffin, so you can guess how big that thing was. After around half an hour of going around aimlessly, mostly because I forgot where the place was, I gave up and asked a pony who was nearby. For my luck the mare pointed me to the restaurant and after another five minutes o was standing in front of it. It was a medium sized- building with some tables outside and more inside. I decided that just by looking at the building won’t get food in me so I walked in and I was immediately assaulted by the smells of multiple different kinds of food. I walked up to the counter and sat down on a chair and soon a griffin walked out of the back room, wearing an apron. “Good day, stranger. My name is Strong Wind and I am the owner and main chef of this restaurant. What can I bring for you?” I did a double-take. “Wait, wait wait! Aren’t you….you know…afraid of me?” I asked him and he just laughed. “Me? Afraid of you? HA! Fat chance, boy. I may not be a fighter but I am still a griffin.” and to make his point he just shoved me his razor sharp claws. I gulped and smiled awkwardly. “Okay, I can see that now. Name is Jack by the way, and what do you have?” I asked him and he just put a menu in front of me. I looked at it and saw that most of the food was inedible for me. I mean seriously, hay? Diamonds? Daisies? Man, is there anything I can eat?, so I turned to the only one who can answer that question, Strong Wind. “Sooooo….” I started out getting his attention “got anything edible to eat? Because let’s face it. I can’t eat most of these things that are on the menu.” I explained the situation to him and he tapped a claw on his beak, thinking of a solution. “Well, what do you eat?” he asked me, trying to gain some ideas of what to make. “Well…” I looked around to check if someone was nearby, luckily no one was there “I am an omnivore so anything from veggies to meat would be fine.” he nodded in response signaling that he got it. “Well Jack, I am sorry to say that other than these, I do not have anything else. But if you want to make a request then feel free to do so and I will try to make it.” he suggested and honestly, it was a very kind offer on his part and I was planning on taking it. “Say Strong Wind, do you know how to make grilled cheese sandwich?” I asked him and prayed to whatever god there existed in this world to let him know it. But to my luck… “I’m sorry Jack but I have never heard of this grilled cheese sandwich before.” ….this wasn’t the case and I slumped on the table and almost started to make the misery show when he continued. “But if you want, you can make it in my kitchen.” My ears perked up at this since this way I could actually make my beloved sandwich, “Really? I mean, wouldn’t it be strange for a chef to let a total stranger in his kitchen so the STRANGER would use it?” I asked him in hopes that he was really letting me do it. “Bah, nonsense. I can do what I want with this restaurant and there are no customers here. But in an hour or so the townsfolk will come in so if you want to finish eating by then, then I suggest that you do it fast.” “Thanks, say, do you have any oven?” and now that I have said that I realized just how stupid this question was. Strong Wind looked like I just insulted his pride, which I probably did. “My dear boy, just what do you think I am? A third-rate charlatan?” aaaaaand now he started to rage. Damn I hope I didn’t bust my chance. “Sorry Strong Wind, sometimes I speak without actually thinking ahead so you will have to forgive my stupidity. Can I still use your kitchen please?” he seemed to be deep in thought so I decided to use a secret weapon that every canine could use. The dreaded puppy dog eyes. That’s right, those eyes. I could already see his resolve breaking down into nothingness as the magic of the eyes did its job. “Please, please, please, please let me use iiiiit.”…. yeah I’m pretty desperate at the moment if I go even this far. After minutes of persuasion Strong finally gave in and nodded. “Fine, fine you can use it. Just don’t try to blow it up all right?” he warned me as he led into the kitchen which was pretty damn impressive. It had everything in it that a restaurant kitchen needed. I went to the refrigerator and opened it to find everything I needed for my little breakfast, damn I really have to work for it don’t I? But oh well I think it’s worth it. While I was working on it Strong Wind was watching me closely, either for making sure I do nothing against his kitchen or he was curious about the food. “Would you care to try it Strong Wind? Unless you don’t like cheese of course.” I asked him and he ‘hmmm’-ed in thought. “Well, why not? It’s not every day that one gets to try foreign cuisine after all. Especially here, where we don’t get many foreign visitors.” I nodded and set to make him some as well. When I was finished I motioned for him to follow me and we went back to the customer part of the building and sat down to eat it. Oh good god I missed this stuff sooo much, I would have paid everything for this to eat anytime I want. Surprisingly Strong liked the grilled cheese sandwich too, this was obvious seeing how he ate the whole thing in rapid speed after one bite. “My goodness Jack. I have to say that this is some delicious food. I have never eaten anything even remotely similar to this. What did you say its name is?” “Grilled Cheese sandwich. And yes, these are really delicious and you can eat it almost anytime.” I said to him as I finished my part of the breakfast. I pulled out the coin bag to pay him for the food when he held up a talon. “No Jack, there is no need to pay for it. It’s on the house and I have to thank you for showing me this fantastic treat.” wow that’s a very generous offer from him. “Thank you but are you sure that I shouldn’t pay? I mean I DID you your kitchen and your ingredients.” I tried to pay for him because it just didn’t feel right for me to not pay for it. “Bah! Don’t bother with that Jack. It wasn’t much and to be honest with you the food was more than worth the price. But say, what will you do now?” he asked me and I thought about it. “Well, I originally came to Trot because Lightning said she needed some stuff, so I have to go shopping. But I want to get some extra bits so I need a job for the day. And tomorrow I would head back to Lightning after I finished the shopping part. But why do you ask?” I asked him and he smirked. “Because my dear friend, I think I have a solution to your job problem. You see I have a waitress who helps me out with the customers, but she got sick the other day and I need someone to hand out the dishes. Would you do that for me? I would pay you for the day and it would be a great help for me.” well, this would certainly ease my mind but there is a slight problem. “Not that I’m not grateful that you thought about me…but wouldn’t the customers be scared of me? I mean I’m pretty sure that I am an unfamiliar sight and people fear the unknown.” he stroked his…chin? Beak? I don’t know, in thought. “Yes, you certainly raise a valid point but don’t worry. Here in Trot we aren’t that afraid of strangers so I’m sure that there won’t be that much problem.” “Yea, aren’t afraid of me eh? Then maybe you should say that to Iron Law.” as soon as I mentioned that name his face fell. “Ugh, what did he do again?” he asked me. Something tells me that Iron Will isn’t well liked around here. “Oh nothing much, just threatened me as soon as I set foot in the town.” by this point Strong Wind had facepalmed..or is it faceclaw for him? No matter, he did it and that was enough. “Why am I not surprised? I have to ask for forgiveness Jack. He can be a little…” he trailed off and I decided to help him. “Stuck-up? Stupid? Racist? Pick your choice.” generous aren’t i? “I would say overzealous and maybe a bit paranoid but he means good. He just wants to protect everyone in town. So please excuse him for any inconvenience. And what do you say to my offer? Will you be the waiter for the day, Jack?” he held out his talon and after some consideration I shook it with a smile on my face. “You got yourself a deal there sir. When do I start?” “Hahaha I like that attitude, but please don’t call me sir. It makes me feel old. And as for your question, as soon as I wake up Evelyn.” now that was interesting. “Evelyn? Who is she?” I asked him and he turned to me with a serene smile. “She is my daughter. Actually she needs to go to school soon so she needs to wake up. And I guess she will be hungry so could you make one of those sandwiches for her? I think she would like them as well.” he asked me and I just nodded. “Certainly. It would be my pleasure to make it. Go wake her up then while I start on it.” Strong Wind nodded and walked away while I went back into the kitchen to make the breakfast for Evelyn. Fifteen minutes later Strong Wind came back with a smaller griffin. While Strong was around my chest height, the smaller one, obviously his daughter, was around at my waist height. She looked at me warily but with a touch of curiosity and unlike her father, who had a brownish fur on the feline part, Evelyn’s had an orange like shade. With bright turquoise colored eyes that burned with energy and a spark of life that was good to see in every eye. She slowly walked towards me, her father watching her with a proud smile, happy that his daughter is not afraid of the stranger. “Papa? Who is this?” she asked him with a curious tone and her father walked next to me. “This here Evelyn is Jack. He will help papa today in the restaurant okay?” he softly explained to her while she stepped in front of me. I crouched down so I would be at her eye level. To her credit she didn’t look all that scared, instead she had the curiosity and innocence that only a child could have. “Hey there little one,” I started in a friendly tone so as not to frighten her “What’s your name? I’m Jack, Jack Daniel.” I smiled to her and she smiled in return. “Nice to meet you Mister Jack. I’m Evelyn!” I visibly blanched at the Mister title but luckily Evelyn didn’t noticed it but Strong Wind did and chuckled letting me know that he won’t let it live down. Oh joy.”Your eyes are funny.” she pointed out and her father immediately rebuked her. “Evelyn!: That’s not very nice of you. Say sorry for Mister Jack here.” damn that griffin. Evelyn meanwhile had her eyes on the floor in shame. Deciding to help the bundle of joy I ruffled her feathers like one would ruffle someone’s hair and said. “There is nothing wrong Sir,” I paid back for the earlier jab ”she was merely stating a fact. But my eyes are like these because of something that’s called heterochromia. It’s the condition when one’s eyes or hair are of different color.” but seeing as she was still sad I decided to cheer her up. “Come on Evelyn, I would like to give you something.” Standing up I motioned the small girl to follow me and I led her to a small table and told her to wait there. Walking back into the kitchen I took the food that I prepared for her and proceeded to present it to her. “Now Evelyn, your father asked me to make this breakfast to you since he liked it. I hope it will be as tasty for you as it was for him.” I watched as like her father, she took a tentative bite out of the sandwich then like some kind race flag went down she started to gobble down the poor sandwich. Minutes later nothing remained of the unfortunate breakfast. I watched with satisfaction as she finished it and let out relieved sigh as she liked it. “I take it that you liked it Evelyn?” I asked with a chuckle and she nodded so fast and so rapidly that it hurt just to watch it. “I’m glad that you liked it that much.” “Can I get some more, Mister?” she asked me and I was about to answer when my new employer cut in. “Now, now Evelyn, shouldn’t you be ready to go somewhere else?” he asked her and for a minute you could almost hear the gears in her head turning when she finally realized just what her father had been implying. “Oh right! I need to go to school. Gotta hurry then. By papa, by Mister Jack!” and with that she ran back somewhere, presumably her room to get her various school equipments and then darted out of the building. With her gone I turned back to my temporary boss. “So…what do we do now?” I asked him and he turned back to me. “Now we wait for the customers.” and with that my day started. A/n: This is part 2 of three. Enjoy.