//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 - The Life Of One... 
// Story: Not Just A Bug 2 : Not Just One 
// by Bringiton6611 
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"Where are we even going?!" Luo shout's from in front of me.

"No clue! Just keep moving!" I shout back to her, firing back at the hunters hot on our tail.

Arrows and magic are shooting past us every second. It's a good thing that these fuckers have the aim of stormtroopers. They can't aim for shit.

Well, neither can I right now. I'm taking shots at them every so often, but without time to properly aim, I miss as bad as they do. 

"You can't run forever!" One of the hunters shout.

"Just shut the fuck up already!" I kindly reply to him. He responded back with an bolt from his crossbow landing in a tree I pass by.

It seems like the shit has hit the fan pretty fast, huh?

"Guys! Turn left up here!" I yell to the two changelings in front of me. "It's denser there than here! We have a better chance of losing them!"

Without saying anything, the two changelings suddenly took a sharp turn left, me following closely behind.

"They're taking a left! Don't lose them!"

We run a few more seconds, then I pull both Luo and Sean to the side and down in the thick brush.

"We can't stay bunched up like this. It'll be better if we split for now."

"Where are we supposed to go?" Sean asked from beside.

"Just head East from here. Leave signs for us to follow, like a stick sticking up, or a pile of rocks. Something to let us know that you've been there and okay."

"I don't know if I can do this..." Luo said from her spot. Great.

"You can stay with Seam if you want, but I'm going alone. I'll hopefully see you both later."

With nods from the changelings, I break off from the pack in what I think is East... I'll find my bearings later. Right now, I just need to get out of this alive. Compared to the shit I went through back when it was just me and Thorax, I think I can do just that.

Think is the keyword there.

I take about 15 steps and turn to where I came from. Luo and Sean aren't there anymore. Whether they stayed together or split up, I don't know. I guess I'll find out later.

I look down at my recently acquired crossbow. Assuming video game logic is in play, I can get away with quite kills if need be. Let's see.... There's the bolt that's already in the thing... and there're 6 more bolts in the quiver. 7 bolts. I know I can count now.

Okay, back on track. I peak over the dense brush and scan my surroundings. Hunters are here, obviously. They're pretty spread out. It could make sneaking past them (or killing them) easier.

I start moving again, being mindful of keeping my head down.

"Hey! You see anything?!"

"No, it's thick as fuck here! Plus the sun's going down, so that's not helping either!"

"Just keep looking, they can't be far!"

I sneak another quick peak above the brush.

"One, two, three, four, five... six... seven, eight, nine... ten..."

There's fucking twelve hunters. Fantastic.

Just as I finish that thought, I hear hoofsteps coming toward me.

...

There's about to be eleven.





I pull my blade out of the hunter's neck as he falls limp. That makes five down, and opens up a clear path out of this area.

None of these hunters had a crossbow with them, which is surprising to me. You think with all these hunters and all those times I've been shot at by them, you would think that at least one of them would have one.

Whatever, It's not like I need two of them. More bolts would be nice, since I've used two of them already. One broke (somehow) and the other I didn't want to risk getting spotted trying to get it back, so I left it.

But I shouldn't have to worry about that too much. I need to move and find Sean and Luo, wherever the hell they are.

I crouch walk some more away from the hunters before fully standing up again. Damn, staying crouched for that long takes its toll on your legs. Especially if you're not used to doing it... I should start working out. I'm sure the Crystal Empire has a gym or something, and if It doesn't.... I'll figure something out. It's not that ha- wait a damn second.

I back pedal a few steps and see a pile of rocks. What's special about a pile of rocks? Nothing. But this pile of rocks is a special pile of rocks, because they're shaped in a circle.

According to my knowledge, that's not normal for rocks to do that. Sean or Luo, or both for that matter, must come through here. 

I'll find out soon I-

"Don't move asshole."

...well shit. It doesn't take much to figure out what's happening.

"Drop your shit. All of it."

I comply, not really having any other options.

"Don't do anything stupid. I'm sure you wouldn't want to die slowly." One of the hunters said with a laugh.

Wow, like actually fuck these guys.

"Get the boss over here."

...Boss? Great...

A few seconds later, a hunter steps forward. But what's different about this one, is that he has a necklace around his neck. A necklace that appears to made up of changeling horns.

"You can change back now." He speaks in a deep voice.

"Pardon?" I reply back, oddly calm for the deep shit I appear to be in.

"Your disguise?"

...My dis.... ooooooooooooohh....

"Don't have one."

"I'm sorry, you don't?"

"Nope."

He stares at me for a few seconds before nodding over to one of the other hunters, who proceeds to shoot me with a spell of some kind.

AND HOLY FUCK IT'S MAKING ME FEEL WEIRD!

Eventually, the effects of the spell wear off, and the hunters look at me in confusion.

"Wait, what? How do you still have your disguise on?"

"Maybe it's because I'm not a changeling and don't have one?"

"...Well, regardless of if you are one or not, you've been helping those fuckers. You've also killed some of my men. That doesn't fly well with me or any of us. So, here's what's going to happen..."

I was planning on paying attention to the bitch, but something caught my eye to my right. I swear that hunter just winked at me.

"Hey! Dipshit!" I look back at the leader of the group. "You might want to listen."

"Why can't we just kill him now?"

"Because he killed a lot of our guys. He doesn't des-"

"Boss!" A hunter said

"What!?"

"We found one the others!" A pair of hunters come out of the brush with Luo, a loaded crossbow pressed against her head.

"Why hello there." The leader says to Luo before turning his head to the rest of his group and nodding to Luo. He turned to address the hunter beside me. "Make sure he doesn't try anything. We're going to see what this one knows."

The hunter nods as the rest of them walk to Luo.

We sit in silence for a few moments before the hunter beside me speaks. "When I say now, find a weapon to fight with."

"What? What are y-"

I stop talking when the hunters eyes flash solid blue for a second.

Sean.

I nod to him and quickly scan the area around me for something to fight with. The best thing I see is a branch. I guess I can use that to get a better weapon from the hunters.

Sean walks by me and shouts at the hunters around Luo. "HEY!" He then charges his horn with a spell to fire. 

"NOW!"

I spring to my feet and grab the branch by me and immediately charge at the hunters. I swing the branch once I'm close enough and it connects with a hunter's head, causing him to go down. Before the other's can charge me, Sean fires a spell, which hits the ground near the others, causing a bright light to flash. Luo then jumped in and bucked a hunter in the ass. 

While they're causing their scene, I take my chance and dive for the hunter's knife. I manage to grab it, but by this time, he's recovered and grabbed it too. We're now engaged in a retard fight. Why do I called it that? Take a guess... It's not hard.

I soon manage to get the upper hand on him and slam his hoof against a nearby rock, causing him to release his hold of the knife. I act fast and use my upper hand to thrust the knife into the hunters head. He immediately freezes and goes limp.

Now that that's taken care of-

"David!"

Oh for fucks sake.

I look up and Sean's fighting at least 4 hunters at once.

And he's losing.

"I could use some help!" He shouts to me.

I'm about to rush over to him, but something else catches my eye.

A hunter is running straight for Luo, who is busy fighting her own hunter. She doesn't know he's rushing her.

I glance at a crossbow that belonged to the hunter I just killed. I pick it up and I'm about to aim for the hunter rushing Luo, when I see a hunter aiming another crossbow. This one however, is pointed in Sean's direction, who is too busy to notice.

Fuck...

I only have one shot, and I can't help them both.

I fire at Luo's hunter, Sean will most likely die.

I fire at Sean's hunter, Luo will most likely die.

Damn, they aren't making this easy.


----(Help Sean)----(Help Luo)----