Chapter 21 - The Monster Within
Sweat ran down Pinkie's face as she swung a small single blade through the air. In her off hand, she clutched another blade, shorter and thinner than it's cousin. Both weapon's had a streak of glowing blue struck through their core and they pulsated in her hands. She felt an odd connection to the Mercury Slicers. One she had not felt with the Longsword. She closed her eyes and focused on her movements as she danced across the open field, blades cutting through the air, the sound of rushing water heard in their wake. As she moved, she thought about what Luna had said as she presented the Dual Blades to her.
"These blades, and others like it, hold a secret for you, Pinkamena. In time, you will learn what that is. Right now, all they hold is a promise unfulfilled." The Guildmaster's voice was gentle. Far more gentle than it had been in the past. "Thou have earned these blades, Huntress. May they serve you well." and she had, once again, vanished in a flash of light.
The Huntress's mind returned to the present as she whirled seamlessly around the field. One swing chaining into the next, a thrust following that, with a whirling dance that took her off the ground. A smile spread across her face as she came to a stop, the blades held tightly in her hands. She looked around, searching for something to test her new weapon on, but the field was surprisingly devoid of life. A small sigh escaped her lips, and she made her way back into the village, humming a tune as she went.
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Wookie turned towards the Huntress as she descended the stairs into the center of the village.
"Good morning!" she called, a beaming smile spread across her face.
"Good morning, Pinkie. What are those and where did you get them?" he pointed at the Dual Blades at her sides.
"Luna brought them to me not long after we ran off the Ceadeus. I guess someone at the Guild must have killed it." Pinkie shrugged. "Looks like you got a new weapon, too." she raised an eyebrow, looking at the oddly shaped weapon in his hand. The handle of the weapon appeared to be constructed of bone, two horns protruded from the end of the 'L'-shaped bone, and a draw string dangled between them.
"I got it from Celestia. It's a Kelbi Bow. But...It feels more like a slingshot. And it shoots pellet instead of arrows." Wookie tossed the weapon into the air and caught it again. "I like it, but she said something weird after she gave it to me."
"Something along the lines of 'It holds a hidden power for you'."
"Yeah. Let me guess, Luna said the same thing to you when she gave you those?" Pinkie nodded. "Have you had a chance to test them out?" she shook her head. "Then, let's go talk to Lyra." The pair walked over to the liaison, who was asleep at her counter.
"Wakey wakey!" Pinkie poked the top of Lyra's head. The liaison sat up quickly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"What time is it?" she asked, looking around. "Isn't it too early for you two to be killing something."
"It's five o'clock somewhere, Lyra. What have you got for us?" Wookie asked, crossing his arms. The liaison dug through the drawer under her counter. She pulled out a piece of paper and scanned over it. Her brow furrowed as she read.
"This one is open, but it doesn't look...I've never seen a monster like this." Lyra slid the order across to them. The Hunters leaned in to look at the Hunt order.
"A...Brachydios? Did I say that right?" Pinkie asked as she looked up at Lyra, who shrugged.
"Like I said, first time I've seen a Hunt order for this creature. The Guild has almost no information on it." The liaison ran her fingers through her hair. "You guys could just wait for a bit for something new to come in."
"We'll take it." Wookie said, and the girls turned simultaneously and stared at him. "You got a better idea?" Pinkie opened and closed her mouth a few times, searching for protest. "We ran off an Elder Dragon and you're afraid of this thing?" She stared at him for a second and then grinned.
"Good point! Let's go!" she slammed the fee on the table and they made their way onto the boat.
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The Hunters jumped off the boat, once again finding themselves in the Volcanic area of the island. A gust of hot wind blew over the camp, and Pinkie immediately felt beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
"Any clue where to start looking?" Wookie asked, slinging his Kelbi Bow onto his back. Pinkie pulled a Psychoserum out of her item pouch and opened it, cringing at the smell before drinking it down in a few swallows. The Huntress had a look of disgust on her face.
"Gods, this stuff is terrible." she threw the empty bottle into the Guild chest before closing her eyes. "I think I pinpointed it." she sniffed the air and the pair started walking as Pinkie followed her heightened senses towards the monster. They each opened the Cool Drinks they brought, drinking them as they walked. The drinks worked against the sweltering heat as they got closer to the river of lava. The Hunters crested a hill and the monster came into view. It stood almost twenty feet tall, and sixty feet from head to tail. Their jaws fell open as the beast turned on them. Its hide was navy blue, at the end of its arms were large, club-like appendages that were almost as large as the Hunters. The Brachydios's tongue lolled out of its mouth and it licked each hand, covering them with a viscous, green slime before it began charging towards them, roaring.
"Shit! Move!" Wookie dove out of the way, Pinkie going in the opposite direction. The Brachydios punched the ground where they stood not a moment before, a pile of slime settled below the impact. Wookie rotated in place, drawing the Kelbi Bow and hammering the monster with a group of pellets. The Bracydios turned on him, its eyes focusing on the Hunter. The monster reared back to attack Wookie. Pinkie ran up behind the beast and slammed one of the blades into the back of its knee, throwing it off balance. It howled in pain, and swung its mace-like tail, which connected heavily with the Huntress, sending her sprawling across the ground. Pinkie got up as fast as she could, turning to face down their target, who was throttling through the air at her. She covered her face as one of the massive fists collided into her, coating her in a coat of slime. She hit the ground hard, the wind getting knocked out of her. She coughed as she rose shakily to her feet. She looked down at her armor, seeing the slime beginning to change color.
"Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Getitoff! Getitoff! Getitoff!" Pinkie flailed her arms as she ran around the area. "It's stiiiiiiiickyyyyyyy!"
"Roll!" Wookie yelled, but the advice came a bit too late. The slime had turned red and then detonated, sending the Huntress spiraling through the air. "Pinkie!" he watched her hit the ground with a dull thud. He could see smoke rising from her limp body. "Dammit..." he drew his bow again and held it, eyes narrowed. "Just need a clean shot..." the Brachydios barreled towards him. It opened its mouth to roar and Wookie let the loose the pellets. They shot into the monster's mouth and it staggered backwards, reeling in pain. Wookie looked back towards Pinkie, who still hadn't moved. "Looks like I'm on my own." He drew a breath and steadied himself. The brute wyvern turned and punched the ground with each step as it closed in on Wookie. The Hunter stood defiant, firing on the monster even as it rampaged toward him. The Brachydios slammed its fist into the ground one last time before dipping its head down then rearing it back, slamming the blunt horn on its head into Wookie's chest. He made a wide arc through the air, landing heavily on the ground. Fireworks exploded behind his eyes and he became disoriented. He looked over towards where Pinkie had been laying, but she was gone. "Ugh..." he held his head with his free hand as he stood up. The Brachydios let out an earth shattering roar, the normally blue shell of the monster became highlighted with yellow, its eyes glowed with an unbridled fury. "You're not so tough..." the monster charged towards him, and it reared back, preparing to strike the Hunter down. The brute wyvern was cut off as a sharp force struck the side of its head. The monster hit the ground hard as Pinkie landed on the ground in front of her partner. She looked different, though. Her hair was flat, her eyes glowed bright blue, and a purple aura crawled off her body.
"Nice to see you're in one piece." she had a second voice that overlayed her normal voice. She stalked towards their query, clutching a blade in each hand. The Brachydios recovered and raised an arm, swinging towards Pinkie. The ground exploded under the monster's fist, but the Huntress was gone. She rammed one of her blades into the soft skin at the back of the neck, between her foe's armored shell. Wookie stared at her, wondering to himself how she had moved so fast. He shook his head, drawing the bow and firing on the distracted monster. Pinkie held fast to the blade that was lodged into the back of the Brute Wyvern's neck and she struck hard into the back of its head. The joint onslaught sent the monster to the ground. Pinkie jumped off as the beast collapsed. The aura coming off her had grown in size since she attacked. She attached the blades to her sides, walking towards the monster as it got to its feet. The Brachydios shook its head, the yellow highlights disappearing from its carapace. Drool ran from the creature's maw and the glow had faded from its eyes. The brute's movements had slowed and it turned tail, taking off in the opposite direction. "Where do you think you're going?!" Pinkie sprinted after it, with Wookie following close behind, though he couldn't quite catch up with her.
They crossed over the river of lava, finding the Brachydios over the corpse of a Rhenopolos. It had struck the thick-shelled creature down with a crushing blow and bit down, taking a chunk out of the smaller herbivore's soft underbelly. The monster chewed slowly, trying to sate its hunger. Pinkie ran up and grabbed onto its ankle.
"Surprise!" she shouted, pulling hard and sending the Brachydios tumbling to the ground. Wookie stared, wide-eyed, at his partner. Pinkie wasted no time, drawing the Mercury Edges and closing in on the vulnerable monster. She rammed one of the blades up through the monster's bottom jaw, cutting cleanly through its tongue. She pulled the blade out and threw it across the ground. It clattered to a stop behind her. She grabbed the monster's bottom jaw with her free hand, putting her heel into its top jaw. She let out a yell as she ripped the Brachydios's jaw clean off. Its tongue flopped uselessly to the ground and it made a gargling noise as it tried to pull itself away. Pinkie smashed the creature's own jaw over the top of its head. It collapsed heavily to the ground, blood flowed from its mouth. The Huntress walked up and kicked it in the head. "Had enough?!" one voice still overlapping the other.
"Pinkie?" Wookie approached her slowly, his Bow still drawn. He wasn't sure if he was going to have to attack his partner.
"I've never felt better..." her voice sent chills down his spine. The mood was accented by the fact that a monster at least five times her size lay dead before her. She picked up the other blade, putting it at her side. She drew her carving knife and began carving parts off the dead monster. Wookie joined her, though he kept a wary eye towards her. As they walked back, he noticed the aura start to shrink, and had completely dissipated by the time they reached the camp.
"Okay...I gotta' address the Popo in the room. What the hell was that?" he asked her. "I don't know what's going on, but that was...Cruel."
"I don't know." Pinkie scratched the back of her head. "I somehow felt different." she looked at her hands. "Maybe this is what Luna meant."
"Well, you still seem to be in control of yourself when you're like that." He climbed onto the boat behind her. "My weapon didn't do anything cool. Mine is just a slingshot. Yours turns you into a horrible monster. That's way more useful..." Pinkie smirked.
"It'll happen eventually." she said as she waved to the Felyn manning the boat, and they set off for the village again.
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Wookie jumped off the boat and Pinkie followed close behind. As they walked up the dock, they were greeted by a panicked Lyra.
"Guys! Guys! Problem! Biiiiig problem!" she shouted, running up to them. "Guild...Under attack." she breathed heavily. "You have to go there." the pair of Hunters stood in stunned silence. "Now!!!" they both jumped when she yelled, getting back into the boat, which launched towards the mainland.
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As they disembarked on the mainland, their eyes fell upon the Guild. The main building had collapsed, smoke rising from the wreckage. The pair ran through the debris, looking around frantically. They saw other Hunters being tended to by the liaisons, others just lay deathly still. Pinkie felt sick as they made their way to the epicenter of the attack. A crater had formed where the damage had really started.
"Ah. We appear to have company." a voice echoed over the chaos. It was a voice that sent the Huntress's stomach into a series of flips that would make an acrobat jealous. "How nice of you to join us. I thought you were going to miss the downfall of your..." Alatreon paused. "Guild." the dragon's voice dripped with venom. Pinkie and Wookie descended into the crater, they were unable to make out everything from outside it. When they reached the bottom, they found themselves standing before the black dragon. Luna, badly hurt and her armor damaged, was on her knees to their right. Wookie rushed over to her, kneeling down and helping to support her.
"Help her." Luna coughed, spitting up a bit of blood. "Help my sister." she grabbed the front of Wookie's armor with one hand, pointing at the dragon's feet, where Celestia lay, motionless. Wookie looked over to Pinkie.
"What do we do?" he asked. "We can't stop that thing. And there's no way Luna can fight."
"Get her out of here. I'll..." Pinkie looked up at the dragon. "Slow him down? Maybe?" Wookie shook his head and got Luna to her feet.
"Where are you taking me? Let us go! We are not leaving without Celestia!" Luna struggled against him, but she was too weak to actually stop him. He got her up out of the crater and out of sight. Pinkie took a deep breath and stared up at Alatreon.
"So selfless...And what do you plan to do, little Huntress? I crushed your Guildmasters. What makes you think you have a chance?" Alatreon stood to full height, towering over her.
"Honestly? Nothing. I don't expect to live through this encounter." Pinkie said as she drew her weapons. "But, if I don't try, then I'm not much of a Hunter, am I?" she dug her feet into the ground, bracing herself.
"You're not going to be much of anything very soon..." the dragon said and let out a roar. Black and red lightning coated its claws and it barreled towards her. Pinkie rolled under Alatreon as he swung a claw coated in lightning towards her. She spun up to her feet and jumped immediately, avoiding the tail swipe that followed. She found her opening as Alatreon came back to the ground after the tail swipe. She struck at his tail, leaving deep cuts in the wake of her blades. He turned on her, snarling. "Insect!" he swung again, this time catching her on her left side. It sent her sliding along the ground. She pushed up onto her feet and watched as he took to the skies. He let out a roar as clouds gathered, lightning crackling through them. He slammed hard into Pinkie, lightning jumping up from his claws and tearing the air. He chuckled and took a step back, looking down at the indention he'd left. There was no blood, and no Pinkie.
"Missed me." the Huntress's voice came from his left, and he began to turn before being met full-force with her right hand blade. She clutched it backwards as she punched Alatreon in the face. The dragon staggered a bit, then rounded on her. She landed heavily on the ground. The purple aura began to crawl off of her body into the air. Alatreon chuckled again.
"How nice. Killing you may actually take longer than I thought. You've already beaten Celestia's time." bolts of lightning struck the ground around him as he approached her.
"Actually," Pinkie spoke, her voice doubled again. "You may want to rethink your strategy." she pointed. Alatreon turned his head, seeing Wookie standing at the lip of the crater. The dragon scoffed and was going to say something before he noticed that Hunters had lined the crater, all aiming Bows or Bowguns at him. The dragon snarled and a black cloud rose up around him, concealing him and Pinkie. "Running away?!" Pinkie shouted. "Not as tough when there are more of us!"
"Call it a...Tactical retreat. Next time, Huntress, you won't be so lucky." and the cloud lifted, leaving Pinkie alone in the crater. The Huntress sheathed her weapons and walked over to Celestia. She gently rolled the Guildmaster onto her back, and Alatreon's statement was confirmed. She was no longer with them. The breastplate of her armor had been shattered, and the clothing beneath was soaked through with blood. Pinkie slowly closed her eyes, staying completely silent. Wookie came down into the crater next, and Luna slid down behind him.
"She didn't make it, did she?" he asked his partner. Pinkie shook her head and his eyes fell to the ground. Luna ran up and dropped to her knees next to her sister. Her arm was in a sling, and there was a bandage wrapped around her forehead and over her left eye.
"Celestia." Luna's voice quivered as she placed a hand on her sister's arm. She felt the last bit of heat drain from Celestia's body. She closed her eyes, fighting back tears as other Hunters gathered around, trying to get a look at what was happening. Taking a deep breath, Luna got quickly to her feet. "Twilight Sparkle!" her voice boomed over the cacophony. The purple-haired liaison stepped forward. "Clear the other Hunters out of here. Not you two." the Guildmaster pointed at Pinkie and Wookie, who had started to walk away. After Twilight had managed to get everyone headed back to the port, she returned.
"They're going home to their families, Guildmaster Luna." Twilight spoke, her voice sounding strained. "I'm...I'm so sorry."
"It is not your fault, Twilight. No one is to blame for this catastrophe." Luna spoke as evenly as she could. "We will take care of laying our sister to rest. Meanwhile, you three will return to Moga Village."
"What?! I am not going to leave the Gui-" Twilight's protest was cut short as Luna raised a hand to silence her.
"You will do as I say, Twilight. You and Lyra will be in charge of sending the Hunters out. If we let this stop us, then we're just as weak as that monster claimed." she spoke with finality. Twilight didn't attempt to argue further. "Pinkamena. Wookie Love." the pair of Hunters stood up straighter when she addressed them. "You will resume your Hunting as normal. When I receive word of Alatreon's whereabouts, I will have Lyra inform you." Luna placed her free hand on Pinkie's shoulder as they nodded. "This is far from over."
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Ugh...That G-Rank Green Plesioth was a big roadblock when we got to it. I'm not looking forward to writing about that one. XD
G-rank plesio? not much of a challenge, glad to see pinkie with dual blades, DUAL BLADERS RULE!
I recently started using them for the first time and I love them. I've also learned that different monsters are harder for different people. For some reason, Plesioth is my bane. Gigginox used to be, but that was before we had to hunt so many of them. I'm sure I'd be better at fighting Plesioths if I took them time, I just don't enjoy the fight. Zins and Styg Zins are probably my favorite monsters to fight.
seriously though luna should send them to pokke to train, maybe if pinkie kills a tigrex, akantor, narucougra, teostra, lunastra, kushala daeora, yamatsukami, kirin, fatalis, white fatalis and crimson fatalis, she'll be fully ready for altereon. (sorry if any of these are mispelled)
also they are gonna need 2 more people for altereon, thats a 4 person monster.
More characters are coming in the next few chapters, for sure.
3824774 at the moment the querpeko (I know I spelled that wrong) is my bane as I just cant beat the damn thing
Uh... That's 'quarry', not 'query'. Two very different things.
I'm oddly reminded of the intro to Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams.(starting at around 4:37, really, but the real action starts slightly earlier).