The Slayer

Chapter 4 - A Good day

Chapter Four

A Good Day

Waltz found his guild nearly a week later.

By the time he emerged from the wilderness, he was a mess. His white-blonde hair, which was once white blonde, was now a filthy sort of greyish-brownish colour. His skin, cheeks and arms and hands were smeared with mud, as where his clothes which were covered in grass stains and mud, thick mud which caked him from the knees down.

He emerged from the nearby woods, pulling twigs out of his hair as he approached the inn his guild had been staying in for the last few weeks.

It was a nice day at the moment, and there were several members of his guild scattered about outside the inn which was built in an open space, the town it belonged to was a stones throw away.

Leroy, the leader of the guild he was a part of, was sitting upon a bench reading a book in the sun.

He turned towards Waltz as he heard him approach, wearing a flat expression.

'Where have you been?' Leroy grumbled.

'Don't start' Waltz ordered him as he trudged forwards.

He stood beside the table which Leroy sat at, scratching furiously at his head, pulling from his shaggy hair a live mouse and tossing it aside, before falling forwards on his face and collapsing on the tabletop.

'Waltz.'

Waltz turned to Leroy, groaning dramatically and dribbling on the table.

'I'm getting fed up with this' Leroy scowled at him. 'Where do you keep going?'

'None of your business' Waltz moaned, the puddle of dribble around his mouth vastly growing.

'Ew' Leroy said, pulling his book away as the puddle of dribble seeped across the table and towards him. 'Stop that.'

'Is that Waltz?' called one of the other guild members. 'Hey guys! Waltz is back.'

Several of the guild members that were outside moved over to him, surrounding the table.

'Are you alright Waltz?' Tristan said leaning over him. 'You look terrible.'

Waltz rolled onto his back. A small squeak suddenly came from his person. A mouse suddenly appeared, climbing from beneath his shirt and scurrying away.

'Where did you go?' Kyle asked him.

'None of your business' Waltz moaned again.

'Oh' Barry said, covering his mouth with a hand. 'You smell terrible. Have you been wading through a bog?'

'Yeah' Waltz whimpered pathetically, lip quivering and eyes brimming with tears. 'Through woods and rivers and caves and swamps and sands and mountains and lakes and....'

'You should go and have a bath' Barry told him, as Waltz continued to list all the places he had gone through. 'A wash would make you feel better. Much better.' He paused, listening to Waltz as he continued to ramble on about all the horrible places he had been. 'There are women at the inn who are waiting for you' he added.

Waltz's eyes suddenly widened and he quickly closed his mouth.

He leapt up then, running at full speed to his room.

A moment later he re-emerged from the inn, looking like a newly polished coin. His hair which was short on the top and long at the bottom was now clean, and now returned to its original colour, white-blonde as it was supposed to be. His skin was bright pink where he had rubbed it raw, so hard to get the dirt off, and he now wore fresh new clothes.