Twenty-eight Cowhides

[ShadowedKitten]

Not sure if there's already a similar story to this, but here goes. It might not be too exact, but I'm trying. (Note that this is a fictional story)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"My daughter, I want you to kill twenty-eight cows today, and bring back the hides for me to bring to Al Kharid. I'm going to make them into leather armor. I would buy the hides myself, but they're so expensive for a family like us."

 

 

 

That was what my father said before he handed me a rusty bronze sword and a dusty wooden shield. It was about an hour before dawn, and he had awoken me to help feed the sheep and pigs we had. They were our only real source of money, as we weren't some of the richest people in Asgarnia.

 

 

 

We lived in a small, broken down house somewhere between Rimmington and Port Sarim. Goblins surrounded us every so often, and my father would go out with his good mithril longsword and fend them off. I'd watch from the cracked windows in our house as he would recieve blows and he would deal blows as well.

 

 

 

Any gold pieces he would recieve from the goblin deaths, he would keep and place in a small bag hidden under one of the creaky floorboards. Any meat he would cook. Any goblin mail he would throw into the corner until his next trip to Rimmington or Falador, where he would sell it.

 

 

 

I took an old apron, which I assumed had been a bright white at some time, and rubbed the dust off of the shield and sword, both of which had seen better days. Not that I could complain, after all, I knew we didn't have the money to afford anything much better.

 

 

 

My father had only a combat level of 26, and mine was only at about 16. We didn't have the time to train that often, and we didn't have a decent level of any other skills. My best level was level 20 fishing from catching shrimp each night to roast on a fire which my dad would create with his stack of logs from when he was well enough to do woodcutting. He had a level of 24 to show from his cutting efforts.

 

 

 

Rays of sun were reflecting upon the ocean by the time I was ready to go kill some cattle. I could see Karamja in the distance. The first boats were arriving to the dock, and I smiled.

 

 

 

I began my walk up to the crafter's guild. They wouldn't mind if I killed some of their cattle, my father went up there often and was never questioned. I made my way into Rimmington, where an elderly dwarf stood, a rune warhammer in his hand.

 

 

 

"You look like you need a better weapon," he said to me in a dry voice. "I have a spare adamant sword with me if you'd like it."

 

 

 

I refused, knowing I wasn't near experienced enough to handle a sword of that metal. I didn't dare touch my father's mithril sword, for the same fear flooded over me every time I'd spy it in the corner.

 

 

 

I continued north past the Cabbage field and didn't take too long to reach the fork in the road. I could see the air altar ahead of me within the trees, but I didn't bother going to explore it. Instead, I headed northwest until I saw the Crafting Guild.

 

 

 

A young woman was standing outside the door, completely covered in leather armor. "It's past dawn and they've still not opened the doors for me!" I noticed fresh blood spattered all over the armor, and I assumed she'd been killing cattle that morning. I nodded at her, and began walking over to the corral of cattle.

 

 

 

As I walked in, I saw a large cow grazing in front of me.

 

 

 

"Good," I thought to myself, "This will be an easy kill." I lunged forward, stabbing its shoulder with the sword. It took only a few stabs to kill the cow, and I began to skin it, leaving the remains for the birds and other crafters... if they wanted them. I saw the hobgoblins on the peninsula ahead of me. They smelled the meat and a few of them were trying to enter the water to steal the meat. I gasped and finished skinning the cow. The hide was soft and strong, and I placed it in my bag.

 

 

 

"Hey you!" A man screamed from behind me. He appeared to be a woodcutter with a combat level of 68 or so, but had the delicate hands of a crafter. I backed up, holding out the hide for him to take back.

 

 

 

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you didn't want me killing your cows..." I said, my voice trembling.

 

 

 

The man laughed, and pointed at the hobgoblins. "No, it's fine. The cows are here for their hides and meat. But the hobgoblins are hungry, it's past their breakfast time. Are you going to take that meat?"

 

 

 

I shook my head. "No, I only want the hides."

 

 

 

He smiled, and took a knife from his pocket. He cut the raw meat into pieces the size of his hand, and then threw them as far into the water as he could. The hobgoblins went crazy and rushed into the water for it, gobbling each piece up as they caught it.

 

 

 

I made a few more kills, getting a bit beat up in the process. The man kept cutting the remains into pieces and throwing them to the hobgoblins, and it wasn't long until I reached my fourteenth cowhide. The sun was hot, and I assumed it was noontime. The man had killed a few cows himself, but had kept his own cowhides.

 

 

 

He had set a few pieces of meat aside, and soon left the corral to grab a few logs and a tinderbox.

 

 

 

"I'm happy you decided to come to the guild today," he said as he returned. "It's not often non-crafters come and visit the cows."

 

 

 

He quickly started a fire and began cooking the beef over it. It smelled good, and I realized how hungry I was. He had made two large pieces, and I wondered if he could eat it all himself.

 

 

 

"Are you hungry for some beef?" He asked. "I made a piece for you. You don't have to accept it, but..."

 

 

 

I was hungry, but I shook my head. It didn't feel right accepting the beef, and he understood that. I found myself killing cows a lot faster after that, and it didn't take me longer than a few more hours to get up to twenty-eight hides.

 

 

 

As I finished, I thanked him for spending the day with me. He replied, "No problem, come back anytime." I smiled, and threw the hides over my shoulder before running back home.

 

 

 

Upon my arrival, my father smiled. "Twenty-eight cowhides, no more, no less?"

 

 

 

I nodded and placed them on the floor, where he immediatly took a knife to them, cleaning any remaining meat off them and sweeping it out of the house.

 

 

 

"Want me to catch some shrimp?" I asked him.

 

 

 

He shook his head, and grabbed the small net. "No thanks," he said, "I'm going to go catch them myself. It's about time I learn to fish anyway."

 

 

 

I nodded, and looked at the dusky sky.

 

 

 

Time had gone by so fast that day...

 

 

 

The End

[scott638]

that was awsome!!! but THE END? more like TO BE CONTINUED lol

[InkofDeath]

nice i liked it...although you could continue writing some more <.

[Anti]

=D> =D> =D>

 

 

 

Missing a conclusive ending, I wanna see an epic battle...

 

 

 

Or at least what happens to the cowhides. =P

[issy2]

Short and sweet, overall a very nice story. However, maybe you could try to use different words more often? You have a habit of repeating words several times in a paragraph.

 

 

 

Otherwise, very nice. You should think about continuing it.

[BrineShrimp]

I liked it :)

[rajjin]

wery nice done, keep writin please :mrgreen: =D> :thumbsup:

[saskiasnow]

as they say 'short but sweet', i liked it. informative and creative.......

 

 

 

keep it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

saskia snow

[helmker]

I liked the story. It was nice to read a story about runescape that didn't invole an epic battle or stuff of that matter. It was nice and simple.

[The_Nerd_of_Gondor]

Good points about this story : Cahracters not high leveled, it does not feature a party hat and/or abby wip, and it deals with a runescape family, something which, (if done at all) is usually not well done. 9/10

[swordrond]

I liked it, it was a short and pleasant read. You created a very interesting story without the need for warriors, great battles and monsters.

 

 

 

I really enjoyed it overall :D

[imaleber]

My father had only a combat level of 26, and mine was only at about 16. We didn't have the time to train that often, and we didn't have a decent level of any other skills. My best level was level 20 fishing from catching shrimp each night to roast on a fire which my dad would create with his stack of logs from when he was well enough to do woodcutting. He had a level of 24 to show from his cutting efforts.

 

 

 

That made me laugh in real life. Great story.