Gate: War of Two Worlds Shorts

Tales of the Clanless - Common Ground

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--- Alnus Community ---

May 20th, 2026

A lone hooded figure makes her way down a now lone road. Alnus, usually buzzing with the laughter of children and the commotions of everyday life, is now silent as the sun has yet broken the Dunes Mountains. Too early for most folk to be up and about but it didn't stop this lone figure with her ears propping out from her hood. Malena, filled with excitement, is heading towards the main entrance into Alnus to head for a hunt. Since she and her companions arrived in Alnus, there really hasn't been a need to practice their skills, but she couldn't have hers dulling.

Malena wore a cloak that covered most of her body, leaving mostly her ears and face visible. With her traditional hunting armor underneath, she would surely draw the attention of others. As she moves, nearing her destination, she stops to look behind to see if her companions were keeping up only to realize she was by herself.

"Oh, right," she says to herself with a hint of sadness in her tone. Before Alnus, her companions and her would always spend all the time together, especially for early hunting trips. She wishes her companions could have joined her but they were each busy with their own distractions. Aldon is looking forward to seeing the new Elven nation, Sebille volunteering at the school, while Kryuune and Nelia are wanting to look at a new sweets shop that is making a grand opening. Malena just grins, glad that everyone has found something to smile about once more.

As she nears the exit, she notices a small shop with interesting items for sale. She approaches the stand outside, displaying weapons of varying sizes and uses. Intrigued, she leans over, carefully examining the throwing daggers. One with an exotic design etched on the handle really stood out to her as she imagined the different uses the weapon could be useful for. From the window she could see more items inside that peaked her interest.

'No harm in just taking a look,' she thinks to herself as she opens the door to enter.

She quickly goes through the aisles but the longer she looks, the more she feels eyes staring at her; the shopkeeper has been keeping an eye on her as soon as she entered. He watches her intently as she strolls but it was an all too familiar feeling, especially with her being a Warrior Bunny. Warrior Bunnies were looked down upon, seen as a barbaric race, and it only got worse as they were conquered. Now they were mostly seen as a slave race, one primarily used for either protection or pleasure.

Normally, Malena would've taken her business elsewhere but she couldn't blame the owner this time with how she was dressed. She hadn't really seen much of that same discrimination as she made her home in Alnus. However, here, she wore a cloak that covered most of her body and head; only her ears were visible as they protruded from holes on top of her hood. 'Being cautious is only natural in this case,' she thinks to herself.

As Malena continues to browse the items here, she can hear the door open once more but she didn't turn around as she minded her own business. One of her ears slightly turns to face the entrance as she can hear a set of footsteps approaching her. Malena is still facing forward not turning to look at the person as she picks up a type of throwing dagger on display. The unknown person stood there, hesitantly trying to get her attention but it would be Malena who would break this awkward silence.

"Do you need something?" Malena asks sternly as she turns to face the stranger. She raises an eyebrow as she sees a silver-haired warrior bunny with ruby eyes standing in front of her.

— — a few minutes earlier — —