http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6N_XXK6cns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKf5Cc2EGv0

Right… The things I do for love. I’ve done things like cross the swirling rapids, stand up to half the town.. And even kill a bear, for my darling Clarissa. But now I don’t know what I can do..
So the first thing you are wondering is probably what I could be talking about. Next you probably want to know who we are. I can remember what led up to this, how I ended up all the way out here instead of with her.

Who we are is simple. No matter what I do, or what people think of me.. I am first, and primarily, a hunter. I was born three years after the veld war, in a town built around a lucin garrison. I grew up in the woods, before he died my father taught me how to take care of myself. He taught me how to shoot, and how to move in the forest with speed and silence. He taught me how to make a good bow and fletch good arrows. He taught me what to do with the kills, how to make crude things like good boots or a coat with the leather and the pelts, and how to cook the meat into something worth eating. He taught me to paint to let my emotions free when I was troubled, he taught me how to collect the paints from the flowers that grew around my feet. He taught me how to deal with people, and how to trade what extra I had for what else I needed. He taught me how to live my life. Then I met Clarissa, my beautiful love. I knew at once when I saw her dance that she was the one, we spent much time together in the forests, and then we were eventually married. She works at a clinic, and when she gets home she teaches me things about healing, but I think the important thing she taught me is how to love. With these simple happy things, I led my life content, doing the same things every day, moving through the woods, hunting, painting, and loving. And it was perfect.

If it was so perfect.. You probably want to know what the nether happened. It was a perfect day at first, like most others. I was walking down the same wilderness path with the love of my life right in front of me. “Slow down Clarissa!” I called out, laughing. I was fast, I knew these woods. But this is what I got for loving a capable dancer. She could twirl circles around me. “Not a chance Merc! You’ll have to catch me this time!” She giggled out as she disappeared into the shrubs ahead. I slung my longbow over my shoulder and started running after her, we had enough food for the day anyways. Three decent sized squirrels. For the moment I had to hunt a far more elusive target. I grinned wildly and vaulted over the logs, crashed through the brush, while she simply danced in and out of the path, treating every obstacle like nothing at all. She blended in well with the forest, a graceful footstep and a simple brown dress fit well here, her constant vibrant giggling and flowing red hair however, did not. She laughed and moved closer and closer to the middle of the forest, stopping just long enough for me to catch up and jump into her, bringing us both crashing down into the familiar green brush. She looked up at me with dark green eyes I always found myself lost in, and pulled me in for a kiss. I could feel the rush of euphoria at the warm parting of her lips, feel the tingle of her gentle hands on the back of my neck, and smell the slight scent of lavender drift up from the ground where we lie together. I blinked, looking over the very familiar area she had led me to. The rushing of the rapids below the hill we stood atop flooding into my ears like a wondrous thunder. “You let me catch you.” I said with a smirk. She nodded with that energy she always has. “You know I can’t resist dragging you here.” She said with the slightest of a blush while idly picking a lavender flower from the ground. She always led, and I was happy to follow. She was the one with the vibrancy and the energy. I just smiled and enjoyed the journey, never good with affection on my own. Her eyes went wide with a sort of excitement as she silently pointed over my shoulder. I knew the expression. Good dinner, I thought, as I pulled my bow off my shoulder and notched an arrow silently, turning to face a young lamb that had wondered away from its group, looking over at us strange creatures, probably never having seen something like us before. I released the arrow and it soared through the air to pierce the creature’s neck. “Perfect for stew...” I said with a warm smile to my love, who followed me with her constant energy as I walked over to sling the kill over my shoulders.

After spending the entirety of the morning hunting, we made our way back home, to our small fishing town. I could see the fortress in the distance, an eyesore testament to the lucin’s arrogance. The smug bastards occupied the town as some sort of a defensive position, because of all the water, and called themselves our protectors. It couldn’t be helped though, I had no business complaining. In the end it was the lucin garrison and the insignificance of our town that kept us safe from the chaos of the civil wars. Clarissa never stopped complaining about the lucins though, the things she’d say about them always worry me, for her safety. I found my way to the small home I shared with her, she moved ahead of me to open the door. As soon as I had set my bow, quiver, and hatchet away, I found the ring I kept on the mantle under one of my paintings and slid it on my finger with a smile. She never took hers off, didn’t have to. It fit her finger well and she never lost it. Our home was just three rooms, a small bedroom, a sort of living room that shared space with the kitchen, and a room with a washbasin to clean up in. It was modest, but neither of us have very high tastes. I crossed to the kitchen area and began setting a fire in the stove, while she skinned the pelts from the kills and diced the meat into a bowl. We had traded one squirrel for soap on our way home, and another for some bread, leaving one squirrel and the lamb for us. It was a typical afternoon making our next meal. Together we cooked up a good lamb stew and smoked the rest of the meat so we could store it. We ate with our shared smiles, talking and laughing as we always did.. My life was perfect, really. After the meal she went off to, meet her friends in their dance group, and I stayed home, fletching more arrows, working on a bow I was making for a friend, and attending to the pelt of a large wolf that died attacking me, which was now going to be my new coat. I spent my time generally handling all the things we needed as hunters. We worked together like that, and built upon each other, and there was nothing better.

The hour grew late, and I finished the wolf skin coat, beginning to worry for my Clarissa. I grabbed my things and went out to look for her, the cool night breeze brushing over me as I made the walk to the building she and her friends made music and danced in. It was surrounded by lucin soldiers. I broke into a jog, trying to get into the building and find my love.. But one of the older lucins stopped me. “Stop, what is your business here?” He demanded. I looked up at the taller man, a fierce rage growing in the pit of my stomach at the highborn stench of him. “What is yours!?” I yelled. “The people working here have been found to be collaborating with the xitians, and are thus just as vile. They have been taken prisoner and will be executed for their crimes. Now what does it matter to you?” He barked, setting a hand on my shoulder to hold me there. My eyes spread wide with panic at his words, I could tell he sensed my incredible fear. I couldn’t bear to lose her. “Are you kidding?! My wife was in there!! She’s not a collaborator!” The man tightened his grip on my shoulder, his gaze going cold. “Wife huh? Then you are under arrest for the probability of aiding a collaborator.” This bastard was on a witch hunt.. Without thinking I swung my elbow into his jaw, forcing him off of me and running as fast as I could.

I never stopped running since that night.. My life has been nothing but a blur since. I found out later that apparently some of the shows they were throwing at her dances made jests at the lucin’s expense, and a higher ranking one got offended.. I tried to find her several times, had hope that maybe she was alive.. But there was no trace. Not hints. No clues. I kept running for two years, somehow eventually ending up on a ship.. I’m not even really sure where it’s taking me.