My Curse

After the incident with the Black Talon Group, Alana had hurried to prepare the special requests that the Guild Master had assigned for Mr. Wolf. She had been working with the Outlander for a few weeks now and she felt pretty certain she understood the bounty hunter better than anyone. Her confidence only grew when Mr. Wolf praised her diligence and would occasionally provide tips and tricks on how to do her job more efficiently without going against the regulations.

As far as Alana was concerned, being the personal handler of Richard Wolf, the up-and-coming veteran adventurer that everyone relied on had been a blessing from the Gods!

The receptionist took a ledger where she kept the records of Mr. Wolf’s completed jobs - 100% completion rate, and the reports regarding any oddities on the requests - that incident with the 87 orc warband was not the first, unfortunately. It was clear that the Guild Master and the Outlander were working together to gather information and evidence about someone else’s wrongdoings.

Once she arrived at the Guild Master’s office, Alana knocked on the door and walked inside. The Guild Master had just finished explaining a special request to Mr. Wolf who was reading the documents with his usual cold gaze and those odd magic circles that appeared over his ear from time to time. After he reviewed them, he nodded at the Guild Master who had to leave the room for a moment to gather some confidential details for him.

Left alone with the Outlander, Alana felt at ease and sat down at the same time when the Bounty Hunter sat heavily with a sigh. As usual, he took off his hat and lit a cigarette.

“You’ve been quite busy as of late, Mr. Wolf.” Alana smiled warmly at the rugged adventurer. He nodded at her compliment, but he still looked quite worn out. “I take it the Guild Master has explained the next request for you?”

“Yeah…” She was used to his laconic responses, but this time it felt even heavier than before.

Unsure of how to continue the conversation, Alana felt a little awkward. She had so many questions regarding the Outlander: He had been to one thousand worlds, seen millions of different people and lived longer than anyone she’d ever heard before! But he didn’t look at all thrilled or excited about these incredible things he’d done! She had to ask…

“Umm… Mr. Wolf, is it alright if I ask you a… personal question?” Alana blushed a bit as she looked down.

The Bounty Hunter, surprised by the inquiry, stared at her in mild disbelief and then smirked a bit.

“Miss Ali, I’m flattered, but I ain’t the right fella for you… besides, a pretty lady like you deserves someone better.”

Suddenly realizing what Mr. Wolf was suggesting, Alana's embarrassment exploded as her head steamed up.

“Nononononono! Th-That’s not what I meant! No! I… I just wanted to ask about… your World Traveling adventures.” She had to take several breaths to control herself and regain her composure.

“Ah… so that’s what you’re curious about.” The sudden change in his voice and his shift in demeanor suddenly troubled Alana. “I guess we have been working together for a while now. Shouldn’t be a problem. Ask away.”

Suddenly feeling a bit excited, Alana leaned forward to take a good look at Mr. Wolf’s expressions. As usual, the Bounty Hunter’s poker face was unreadable.

“So… you’ve traveled through one thousand worlds, you must’ve met thousands of different cultures, races and countries right?” Unable to control her excitement, Alana’s smile widened.

“Sure did. And every world offered something new… to a certain point.” Wolf’s response wasn’t really what Alana was expecting - he looked detached and bored for some reason.

“Ummm… when we met, you spoke the ancient High Elf language, did you learn it during your travels?”

“Oh yes… I got really close to the royal family of an elven kingdom in… which one was it…?” Mr. Wolf scratched his stubbled chin for a moment. “Must’ve been on world #89. What’s funny though is that in every world I’ve visited, the elven communities are very much the same… at least those who stick to their ancient traditions. I guess the God of the Elves wanted to keep ‘em the same in every world… kinda lazy, but I get it.”

Alana was suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the explanation. Mr. Wolf was speaking of matters that were certainly above the understanding of simple beings who’ve only lived in one world and lived one lifetime.

“You seem to have a high opinion of the Elves, Mr. Wolf. I take it you’ve adventured with them in your travels.”

“I always had a soft spot for the Elves, no matter which world they were from. Their sense of community and strength is something I’ve enjoyed over the centuries. I’m hoping to find an elven community soon… they’ve always been great allies and noble companions to have.” For a moment, Alana noticed that Mr. Wolf’s eyes had a sad glint in them… almost like he was staring into the eyes of someone that wasn’t there.

“I’ve been wondering, ummm… what’s it like to travel to another world?” Alana changed the subject as she came to notice that Mr. Wolf’s body language showed signs of becoming defensive.

The Bounty Hunter took a deep breath and sighed heavily, followed by a puff from his cigarette. He closed his eyes for a moment as he reminisced.

“It’s different… every time it’s a different experience and it always depends on the medium being used.” He opened his eyes and stared at the ground for several seconds… as if lost in the memory. “Sometimes it feels like your soul’s been ripped from your body… other times it felt like being born again… then there are times it's more like someone just opened up a door and you were out and about a completely different room in a huge mansion… it’s hard to explain.”

Alana caught the way Mr. Wolf’s expressions and his gaze were changing. She was getting worried she might’ve touched on topics that might trigger something negative in his mind.

“Well… I suppose getting transported to one thousand worlds must’ve been pretty hard on you, Mr. Wolf. But thankfully you’ve lived long enough to see it through! Thanks to your gift of immortality, you’ve been able to meet so many people, gone to so many adventurers! I wish I had the chance to travel to another world.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, girl…” Richard’s sudden rebuke startled Alana. The look in Mr. Wolf’s eyes scared her as they were lost… staring at something or someone that wasn’t there. His breathing became labored and his hands had a slight shake to them.

“M-Mr…Wolf?”

“You think traveling to different worlds is such a great thing? You think being immortal is a blessing? You have no f**ckin’ idea what you’re talking about, Alana.” The sudden aggressive tone in his voice scared Alana. “Every world had friends, families and loved ones I had to leave behind… over and over again… with no going back for them. Every time I had to travel to another world I had to start all over again… find allies, find friends, find love… only to lose it all again at the end, then rinse and repeat.”

Mr. Wolf closed his eyes as he lit another cigarette and took a deep drag from it. This seemed to calm him down a bit. Alana, on the other hand, held her hands to her mouth as she realized that these questions had seriously triggered some deep seated trauma in him.

“You called it the ‘gift of immortality’? You’ve only lived for roughly fifty years, Alana… you haven’t seen what a century does to people…” Wolf’s face suddenly turned to a mask of pain. “Every person I’ve ever cared for, every ally that fought alongside me… every woman I’ve ever loved… is dead and dust by now… I can’t even visit their graves… I don’t know if they are remembered… or maybe I'm the only person in all creation that even knows they existed… not a blessing, Alana. It’s a curse. My Curse…”

Tears had formed in Alana’s eyes when she heard of the heavy loss that weighed in Richard’s life. She had been too naive to think anyone would live through the things he had and come out unscathed and without regrets. When she thought about it, the more it hurt her as well…

One thousand worlds… how many people that he cared about had been left behind?

One thousand years… he was right… more than likely all those people were probably dead and forgotten.

Was this the burden of all World Travelers? To leave behind all you ever knew and all you ever cared about for the sake of a world that’s nothing like yours and for people who’ll never know who you are or what you did for them.

Elves understand the burden of a long life. The oldest known elf in this world was said to have lived six hundred years. But humans are not ready to accept this reality. They only live as much as sixty years in this world. Their lives are remarkably short.

But Richard Wolf had to endure what no other human could ever possibly understand…

“I… I’m so sorry, Mr. Wolf… I… I didn’t mean to make you think about such painful memories.” Alana bowed her head in deep apology and added in the elven language. ~I promise I won’t pry ever again into your past.~

Recovering from the flashbacks of his long journey, Richard tried to relax and nodded at Alana. He also spoke in the elven tongue to get his point across.

~It’s alright, Alana. I’m just… a bit touchy about these things. It’s not been a pleasant journey for me, so I often forget others don’t see things the way I do. If you keep the questions to a minimum, I’ll answer them for you. Deal?~

Alana’s tearful eyes turned to look at the apologetic World Traveler who offered his hand to her. Sniffling a bit and smiling as well, Alana took his hand and shook it.

“You got yourself a deal, Mr. Wolf.”

Just then, the Guild Master came into the office. He looked at the receptionist blowing her nose and washing her tears away while the Outlander was chain-smoking in his office again and making a mess of his ashtray.

“What are you two up to now?” He asked the Outlander.

“Just a lil’ history lesson… and a cautionary tale. That’s all.”