The Final Stand [Opinions Welcome !!]

[kartharon]

The Final Stand

Original link to artwork : by josedesomb66 on Deviantart

As it has been for hundreds of years, men and women alike are trained to hunt down and rid the world of monsters. They were dubbed Monster Hunters, and their goal was to kill all the beasts that plagued this earth. Some were used for resources, others for food, and some just for sport. The Guild arose and began sending out missions for the young hunters, rewarding them with riches and goods. Many never thought twice as they stuck a blade through the heart of an Apotonoth or tore open the throat of a simple Jaggi.

And neither did Akilah. Until she met Naruga.

A simple hunter doing the jobs she was listed, she never expected to form a friendship with an unlikely ally.

Not in this era.

But she did. And now, it may cost Akilah her life.


This story is a fanfiction based upon the video games known as Monster Hunter. Set in the third generation of the games, I do not own anything of this story except for my own writing, my own character, and small changes not occuring in the game itself.

[kartharon]

CHAPTER ONE
Word Count: 853

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At this point, it didn’t matter that I was the daughter of one of the most famous tribe chiefs in history. It didn’t matter that my brother was one of the best fishermen the whole region. All that mattered was the fact that I had taken a job as a monster hunter. And that’s the reason that I was walking away from my family, and not a single one of them was attempting to stop me. Only Kalli, my best friend, had tried to keep from going, but even her futile attempts were halted when she was told if she continued, she could join me. Because as soon as my father discovered the profession I had decided to pursue he turned his back on me and anyone else that had supported my cause. Which was a small amount, and even they eventually turned around and walked in the opposite direction. We were one of the best fed cities in the region, so I couldn’t blame them. Soon after my father though, the elders voted me out of the tribe, setting my course for the next village down. Moga Village.

But, monster hunters weren’t the problem themselves, and in fact, most of them were actually rejoiced and worshipped. The problem was that, I, a female, had chosen to become one. Women’s one and only job was to stay at home and care for their husbands. There were two complications with that. One: No way in hell was I staying home all day in a hut cleaning and cooking. And two: I didn’t have a husband. Or a boyfriend. Or a crush for that matter.

Go figure.

It was if right from the day I was born, my main goal in life was hunt down every monster that lived near us. And that’s exactly what I did. At first, whenever I was just a kid and killing a few Kelbi or smaller Apotonoth, it wasn’t that big of a deal. My parents just blew it off as a childhood past time. They didn’t expect it to go any further. It didn’t become something more until my mother died in the claws of a Great Jaggi. As soon as she died, my father refused to let me go anywhere without him. He just expected me to follow his orders to stay cooped in the house 24/7.

Let’s just say that I didn’t have that much of a social life at that age.

But little did he know, every night I snuck out and attempted to track down that terrible creature who had devastated my family and left it in ruins. Only one night, when I did find the beast, I killed it off and came back to my home with several trophies. I knew it was going to be difficult to lie about my appearance as I appeared through the front entrance to an annoyed father, so I didn’t. I just told him the truth. And that’s when he decided that it would be best to send me away at seventeen to a lowly village down the river. I had only “officially” began hunting on my sixteenth birthday, but already I had taken down several Great Jaggis, including my mother’s killer, and one single Qurupeco that had strayed across my path. Only this gained me a bit of favoritism in the Guild, but I was still slightly put off due to my stature and gender.

And despite all this, it seemed that even Moga Village dismissed me as a person and the more beaten path that I had taken. That was, until the earthquake. Only then were they actually somewhat grateful for my help. It was still slightly disappointing though, knowing that everyone around you hated you for the way that you were. The only person I could actually consider a friend was Marcus, one of the best fishers in the Village. And that was because he respected me as a woman with a good personality, not as a woman who choose the wrong job and wasted her life. I mean, sure, the blacksmiths and the shop keepers were kind to me, but that’s only because, to them, I was just more business to keep their shops in shape. Inside their heads though, I knew that they despised me.

The only other people who actually appreciated me in some sort of way were the fishers and the Chief, and that’s because they viewed me as brave and outgoing for choosing a man’s job. And even that small amount of respect was more than any other being would be willing to give me.

But at this point, I guess I really didn’t care what the others thought of my job, because as long as I was scooping in money that I needed to survive, I was content with my life. Money didn’t come easily, but at least it came. For example, right now, I’m pinned underneath a Great Jaggi’s claws with a rank rotten meat smell being blown in my face. And this is what brings in my cash.

[kartharon]

CHAPTER TWO
Word Count: 2,512

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Jamming my sword into the ground, I whipped out a black cloth from my pocket and began cleaning of the blood splattered across my face with disgust. Long claw marks were embedded into my shoulders and arms, where the Great Jaggi had kept me pinned to the ground. Not only that, but I’m sure that there were a few additional wounds and bruises scattered along my body, including the long gash on my cheek. I had already cleaned off the carcass of the giant beast in front of me, getting at least two of its fangs that were still in good condition, three screamers, and the decent part of its frill. Not only that, but I had some of its meat stored in my bag that hadn’t been cut open or ruined by my attacks. Although the meat was bitter, it would sell well to some of the fishers to use as bait for Ludroths.

And speak of the Devil; I’m pretty sure that’s Marcus. His silhouette was easy to recognize, as he was the tallest man in the village, as well as the best built. Standing at 6’ 4”, he towered over all of us, and I had to strain my neck to look up at him, as I was nearly a foot shorter than him.

“Well if it isn’t Akilah Kabira. You wouldn’t happen to be willing to let me buy that carcass of your hands, now would you?”

Glancing over at him, I grinned ear to ear, ditching my shield to run over and embrace him in a hug. My second favorite person in the village, next to Junior, Marcus was the best fisherman in the village and frequently went away on trips off into the ocean to hunt down many of the sea creatures. The only unfortunate result of these trips was the chance that he may never return. Frequently, the Lagiacrus attacked the ships of the fishermen in an attempt to keep them from killing anymore of the monsters, even though that’s what brought in the village income.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind at all, unless of course you expect me to haul this all the way back to camp by myself.”

A gruff laugh escaped his throat as he pulled back from my hold and smiled down at me, scrunching up his nose at the stench of meat filling the air slowly, and just merely shook his head. “I can’t believe you would condemn me to such physical labor.” But instead of actually seeming mad, he gave me a smirk and leaned down to pick up my shield, slowly filling the indentions with the slices of meat I had lain out neatly. What meat was leftover we gathered up in his pouch, which I carried due to his full hands. Later, on the travel back we could throw them to the Jaggis or the Ludroth swimming in the lake.

“And so what brings you out here in the first place, Miss Kabira? I thought you had already returned from your hunting trip this morning? Surely you didn’t come out here on request of the Guild. Again.”

His playful tone was far from condescending, but I knew that he somewhat frowned upon my affiliation with the guild. They had always been quite a sneaky group, and were known to steal everything out from under young hunters, including myself. They just used us as exterminators, our fatalities didn’t matter. But as long as I was getting paid, I would risk my life on my own time, because if I didn’t, I would end up dead either way. So it was better if I almost died on the job making money than dying at home without any income starving to death. “Well, as you should know, I went ahead and talked to that one chick and the Guild just sent in a quick request right when I got back, so I decided to go ahead and hunt down this guy. I got quite a lot out of it, so it wasn’t that difficult.” And yet even as I said this, I watched his gaze flick over to my wounds quickly, and instead of grimacing or arguing, he just shook his head with a small smile.

“I have told you you’re crazy, haven’t I?”

I met his words with a small laugh, but simply continued my trek forwards, adjusting the strap of his pouch and my sword, balancing them precariously on my back, making sure the leftover meat wouldn’t spill out of the pack. We weren’t that far from camp, we just had to cross over into Sector Two and then make our way up the trail to our destination.

Moga Woods was separated into Sectors, and each Sector was dubbed with certain monsters. For example, Sector One held the caves of Kelbi and the crossway for Apotonoth. Sectors Five and Six were the home of the nests of all the Jaggi. Sector Twelve was the gathering point for Ludroth, as well as the nests of eggs. Sector Two held a few Apotonoth, but they all steered clear of the encampment. The scents of a lot of the larger monsters, Rathias and Barioths, were used around the barriers of the pathways and around the edges of the camp to keep out the monsters. Without it, all the supplies we had stored there would be raided and all our work would be wasted. Repairing it after the earthquake had taken quite a lot after all, and we weren’t exactly up for another fix.

The familiar bellow of an Apotonoth warned me that we were back in Sector Two, so I glanced up, grateful that we were so close. My feet ached even though the walk had been so short; I was always used to being able to take short breaks down by the waterfalls or around a lot of the caves, but Marcus liked getting the job finished, so he never stopped short unless it was an emergency. And sadly, there were no emergencies.

“Worn out so quickly lazy bones?” His words startled me from the deep recesses of my mind, yet I just rolled my eyes and giggled quickly.

“Sorry that I’m not used to your long legs, Marcus.” Winking in his direction, my gaze quickly shot from him to the giant Apotonoth we were coming up on. It easily outstood Marcus on all four legs, and as it lumbered by my feet shook, almost as if the earthquake was happening all over again. Apotonoth were gorgeous and very humble creatures, taking their time with their strolls, never startled out of their peace of mind unless one of their own was attacked. Then, they made the choice between fight or flight, and only then did they actually show any sort of emotion. For example, although this one had three additional members of its family grazing nearby, it did nothing to us, nor did it show us a second glance. They were simply the calmest monsters you could come across.

Which is why it didn’t take me long to notice the fear that instantly alit its irises. I barely heard Marcus yell at me before we were fleeing at a dead sprint, outright racing away from the giant monster that had landed inside of Sector Two, breathing right down our necks. Marcus had dumped the meat out of the shield in his hands, and threw it back to me. Catching it in a expertise manner, I realized that he honestly had no former battle training besides that required for the fishermen, and that was very little experience.

Not enough to allow him to survive this fight.

Spinning around, I yanked my sword out of my sheath and sliced it through the air, a deadly trail of poison lingering in the air. The monster, a giant Nargacuga, stopped in its tracks, letting out a fierce roar at the gleam of my weapon. I refused to stand down though, although fear seeped through my pores, and instead took a menacing step forwards, letting out my own yell. I had learned that with some of the larger monsters if you showed your superiority, they would sometimes leave in fear of attack. This one didn’t seem to be energetic on leaving though, letting loose an even louder bellow than before. I was aware of Marcus behind me, who was crouched down, but still ready to leap up and defend me if need be.

But this time, something was different about the giant flying wyvern. It’s attempts at frightening me were weak and even half-assed to say the least. It wasn’t actually trying to scare me; in fact, it seemed more like it was just being around out of pure curiosity. Weird, considering the regular species’ behavior. Not that I would know though, as I had never encountered a beast of this ferocity before, and truly, I was scared out of my wits at the moment, and I wasn’t any closer to calming down than before. I didn’t know how to react to this.

So I did the opposite of what I should have.

I simply sheathed my sword, slung my shield over my shoulder, and turned my back on the dragon, walking straight past Marcus and up the path leading to camp. Without a second glance, I literally heard Marcus’ jaw drop as he scrambled up off the ground and raced after me, the fear practically visible as he attempted to stay in front of me.

“Are you freaking crazy, Akilah?! You could get us killed!” But even as he said this, I could see in his eyes that only fear lit them, not anger. And he knew that it wouldn’t follow us, as it hadn’t taken a step since I turned away, only surprise vibrating off of its scales. That didn’t stop Marcus from sending back glances though, making sure that it was for sure going to stick to one place.

“I can’t believe you could just turn your back on a monster! You should know better than that! What if it decides we look like a delicious afternoon snack?! I can’t believe you! You could have just…”

His voice droned on in the background, though I simply managed to ignore him, blocking out everything except for my own thoughts. Eventually, once we were out of sight of the creature, still standing stock still in the same place, and Marcus stopped his shouting long enough to walk and think to himself, giving me the chance to actually glance over and evaluate his emotion. He merely looked confused, just as I felt. What was up with that Nargacuga? Why had it just ignored us? No monster I had ever encountered ever acted that way. To put it simply, it was weird. If monsters like that started showing any signs of intelligence, we hunters didn’t stand a chance.

But, my thoughts were quickly cut away as it seemed that the camp suddenly appeared in front of us. It seemed that Marcus was startled as well, and both of us made our way over to the shelter near the water ruins. I plopped down first, laying my pack out next to me and beginning to sort through the supplies. It seemed that we had both had silently agreed to stay the night at the encampment, as the sun was slowly beginning to set on the horizon. Killing the Great Jaggi had taken up most of my day, and I had lingered in the Woods much longer than I normally preferred, so it wasn’t surprising that we probably wouldn’t make it back to the village until after dark, and neither of us wanted to stray in the night with a Nargacuga roaming around.

Separating my contents into separate piles, I examined each object closely, counting up everything before neatly placing them back in their assigned pouches. It contained a few extra things such as my bug net, a collapsible harpoon, a few jarred bugs, and plenty of green herbs and blue mushrooms I could use to make potions later on. Besides that, it was just the packages of meat and prizes of the kill. Marcus’ pouch held about the same as mine, minus the net and prizes, so we ended up pulling out a BBQ Spit from the travel box kept at camp for hunters and roasting up a few chunks of the meat to snack on.

During the wait for the meat to cook, we both gathered our own thoughts, knowing a time for discussion needed to happen before we both exploded with all the questions. He beat me to it first, but the same question emerged from his mouth that had lingered in my mind.

“What was that?”

He knew I didn’t have an answer, but it relieved some sort of stress on the both of us now that the question was out in open air. “I honestly don’t know. I just… Something seemed different about it as soon as I saw it. I knew it wasn’t going to attack. Almost like it had just told me it wasn’t going to. It was weird.” Trying to think of it myself, I honestly didn’t understand why this had happened. Or how. “It’s almost like it was curious about us. Like it was inspecting us or something. But besides that, what in the hell is a Nargacuga doing out here in the Woods anyways? The never come around here. The most we see any more are the Rathias and Rathalos pairs and a Qurepeco every now and then. But not a Naruga.”

He merely nodded his head in reply, his eyes lost in distant thought. Everything that we could say had been said, so neither of us said another word to each other, just eating the freshly cooked meat, packing our supplies and storing them, and finding our way to the bed under the shelter. Only then did we exchange a choice of words, just to say goodnight and state which side of the bed we each wanted. I preferred the side closer to the wall, just as it was warmer than the side facing the open air. The opening we covered with a long sheet kept for cold nights, but I still didn’t trust being near the entrance with the Naruga around. Although it hadn’t attacked us earlier, that might not stop it from tracking us at night and poaching us in our sleep.

Although I had no romantic interest in Marcus, I found myself curling up in his arms as we both lay down, treasuring his strong embrace and grateful for his kindness towards me. We couldn’t tell anyone else about what had happened, because no one would believe us. An encounter with a Naruga and returning without any wounds to show it would be met with scoffs of anger and disbelief. So at least someone understood.

But, my thoughts were soon blacked out by soft clouds of white, and as soon as I rested my head against his warm chest, my mind spiraled down into a deep black of unconsciousness.

[kartharon]

CHAPTER THREE
Word Count: 3,922

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I awoke to the crackling of flames and found myself tangled up in the sheets of the bed alone. The curtains on the entrance had been drawn back and tied, and deep beams of sunlight had found their way to my face, piercing my eyelids and forcing me to awaken whether I wanted to or not. Muffled voices reached my ears, so I let out a long yawn and pulled myself outside into the light.

My ears were invaded with the songs of birds in the treetops, and deep off into the Woods came the echoes of Apotonoth and Kelbi as the monsters made their way into the morning as well.

Looks like I wasn’t the only one who despised mornings.

Following the scent of meat, I made my way over to the ruins, seeing the forms of Junior and Marcus hovering by the flames. They both had smiles plastered on their faces, eyes alight with teasing humor as they fired jokes back and forth at one another. At times their lips turned into serious thin lines, but eventually, they curved back up into a delighted joking once again. Shuffling over to them, I stretched my arms above me and let out another yawn before plopping down on one of the empty spaces on the rock next to Marcus.

“Well speak of the Diablo and the Diablo shall appear. Good morning sleeping beauty.”

I simply shrugged off Marcus’ words, not exactly paying attention enough to actually hear them and decipher their meaning, and instead greedily reached forwards to snatch a piece of stray meat from the Spit, nearly burning off my fingers as I held it. Tossing it quickly in my mouth, I ignored the searing pain and chewed it up, swallowing it with a famished gulp before glancing at the two boys who were struggling to contain their laughter.

“What? I’m hungry. Don’t judge me.” And with that being said, I grabbed another piece, trying to desperately fill my snarling stomach, not even taking in my surroundings until I had eaten my fill and found that I was content. It didn’t take much to make this girl hungry, and the whole saying “A way to a man’s heart is through is stomach,” didn’t just count for men. I was in the same boat.

“Well, Princess Grubby, as Marcus and I were just discussing, some of the hunters found the tracks of a Naruga this morning.” Instantly, I was snapped out of my trance and my eyes shot up to Marcus, not even attempting to hide the hurt of betrayal. He glanced away, his cheeks flushed over with red, too coward to even look at me. I didn’t want anyone knowing about our experience, and even though I trusted Junior, I was afraid that they were going to kill the Naruga. Which I shouldn’t have been worried about at all.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, they are sly as a fox and simply disappeared off of our charts, even after painting it twice. It’s a sneaky little beast, and dad- err, the Chief wants us investigating it. That monster is huge, and we don’t get them often enough for this to be normal. In fact, we don’t even get them at all.”

Meeting his somewhat curious gaze I raised my chin and gave him a menacing glare. “So what? What do you want us to do about it?” As soon as I said it, I regretted it, feeling Marcus stiffen beside me and glance down at me in confusion. Junior on the other hand merely laughed.

“Well, you are the best hunter in the whole Village. Chief wants it gone, and he’s counting on you to track it down. The Guild will even be offering a reward if you can trap it and take care of it. We don’t want it killing off all our meat after all.” At his words, my muscles instantly locked up, stiffening to the point of where I could hardly even move. Let alone reply. Instead I merely nodded, regretting the fact that I had accused Marcus of telling Junior what had happened last night. He had no idea.

Before I could stop myself, the words slipped out of my mouth and entered the silent air. “You can count on me to find it. I won’t let it out of my sight.” I meant everything I said, and mentally swore to keep the promise. I hadn’t said that I would deal with the “problem,” I simply meant that I would find the beast. I needed to find out why it acted this way, and to do that, I needed to hunt it down.

His gaze was filled with approval and he smiled, dipping his head with respect towards me. “I knew we could count on you. None of the other hunters were willing to fight it. We’ll give you 24 hours to prepare for the hunt, but then you have three days. Marcus has the option to tag along, though he may be needed with the fishermen out on the ocean. We do need trade for the Argosy, and they will be arriving within a week.” So, with a wink, he rose from his spot near the fire and began to walk away from us, turning back only to say, “I believe in you.” And with that, he was gone, disappearing down the path and around the shelter before I could even react. I looked up at Marcus apologetically, but he was rising as well, glancing down at me to give a small smirk.

“He’s right, you know.” Glaring up at him with his words, I thought he meant the killing of the Naruga, but his next sentence cast my gaze down, realizing what he actually meant. “We do need more fish for the Argosy, and if we don’t go out soon, we won’t make it back in time. So, I won’t be going with you. I’ll leave tomorrow and at least stick around to help you prepare.”

I was grateful that he actually cared and found myself embracing him in a hug. The feelings that strung through the air visible were unidentifiable, but I knew at that moment that he and I both had an idea that this may be the last time we saw each other. The danger of facing a Naruga at my skill level would most likely leave me dead, so to at least accept my fate somewhat helped the nervous shocks in my stomach. We packed without a word, setting the camp up to look like it had when we had first come. We threw dirt over the hot coals, made the bed, tied back the curtain, and set up the travel boxes according to how they had been. When we were finished, we still had nothing left to say, so we quickly made our way back to the Village, killing a few Kelbi along the way just out of pure amusement.

I took a detour through the farm to pick up an order I had set a while back, parting with Marcus at the entrance with one final embrace. I would surely see him before I left tomorrow, but just for the benefit of the doubt, we acted as if we wouldn’t and merely made a clean break. Watching his retreating form was difficult, but I managed past it with an emotionless face and no sense of feeling.

Composing the inside of me was much more difficult though, yet I somehow pulled through and managed to make my way through the opening leading to my destination. I met the small man who led the farm with a handshake, meeting up with the Felyne assigned to my work, who went by the name of Lindell. He offered me around twenty blue mushrooms and an additional twelve honey, which I found I would need for the trip into the Woods. It wouldn’t hurt to have as many potions with me as I could hold, as I figured I would need them for the long trek and capture of the beast.

As Lindell pulled out the final herbs from the ground to give to me, his somewhat gravelly voice met my ears. “So, I hear that you’re going after a Nargacuga.” Although it was just his attempt at mere small talk, I heard the hidden meaning within it and glanced down at him sharply. It was obvious that this cat didn’t believe I could manage it, so I simply raised my chin and shook my head, not even offering a reply. It wasn’t a shock that word had been around so quickly, but the fact that even the Felyne were discussing it irritated me. Did no one believe that I could manage this trip?

Simply taking my goods from him, I gave a somewhat curt nod before escaping, not even offering a thank you, instead just handing over the money I owed and stiffly walking away. I shouldn’t have been upset that everyone thought that I wasn’t ready to kill the Naruga, because they were right. I wasn’t ready at all. But, I wasn’t going to kill it. And I think that’s why I was so upset.

Who knows? I’m a girl. We have really confusing feelings.

As I walked down the stairs that led to the Village, I realized that almost everyone was gathered around something. Marcus was nowhere to be found, though all the other fishermen were gathered with the Fish Mongress, meaning that something was up. As I tried to quietly sneak down the stairs, I missed a step and ended up letting out a half-squeal, half-yell, alerting every one of my presences.

The Chief pushed through the crowd and slowly walked over to where I had halted, at the end of the stairs, watching me with a small smile. I wanted to ask what was going on, but before I could speak, he opened his mouth and turned back to the crowd.

“As many of you may have heard, a Nargacuga has recently entered our neck of the woods. Many of you have never seen a Narga before, let alone have one in our area, but it seems that something has driven this beast from the Swamp to our location. Now, the problem will soon be fixed, as one of our hunters, Akilah, has volunteered to hunt down this beast and rid our village of its presence.”

Many cheers went up from the crowd and grateful gazes were cast towards me, so I attempted to at least look somewhat proud, even though I was feeling the exact opposite inside of me. I saw a few of the elders shaking their heads and muttering curses, but I merely broadened my smile and took a step forwards into the outstretched arm of the Chief, feeling like a fighter who had just won the championships. It was all just a show, because many of the Village knew that I would not come back alive. This was merely their attempt to bring some sort of hope into the lives of everyone.

But then, above the shouts of praise, one single voice called me out. And what do you know, it was Jyoti. Merely locking my eyes with her own, I was quite aware of how everyone quieted as she stepped forwards, glaring daggers at me as she spoke.
“Why are we entrusting our lives with her? She doesn’t even have enough experience to take down a Barroth, let alone a Nargacuga. She won’t stand a chance, and as soon as it kills her, it will kill all of us.”

Her words were met with the approving gazes of the elders and the uncertain whispers of the others. She did have a point though. What use was I once the Narga killed me off? Nothing would stop it from trampling the camp. But, surprisingly, one all too familiar faces stepped forwards.

“Who else is going to do it? All the other hunters are too chicken to even kill a Great Jaggi, and at least she offered herself up. It’s her decision isn’t it? And I know for sure that she at least has a small chance of killing that creature. Unless of course you think you’re tough enough to get out there and handle it yourself.”

I couldn’t have been anymore grateful for Junior at that point in time, and I found myself taking a hesitant step forwards, clearing my throat so I could speak to the crowd myself. Even Jyoti stopped her muttering long enough to allow me to speak.

“Junior’s right. If I’m the only one willing to risk my life for this Village, so be it. Anything from here on out is my fault alone. But if you believe for one second that I’m going to let everyone down, you’re dead wrong. I may not be up to par to fight this beast, but you can know that I will sure as hell try.” At this point, I had everyone’s attention and all gazes were locked on me, but I wasn’t finished yet. I had to address the one thing that everyone had locked deep in the back of their minds. “I know that many of you haven’t trusted me as a monster hunter, just because of the fact that I am a woman, but just because my gender isn’t the strongest or the smartest, I have the same amount of willpower. And I know that I will complete this job, whether it end with my death or not. I’m not about to let any of you believe that just because my job isn’t the most common I will drop out and give up. I am going to go out there, find that Nargacuga, and I am going to kill it with my own hands. I will not let you down.”

Those words had been meant to convince myself of what I was saying, but it had definitely grabbed hold of these people’s attention. At first, only silence greeted the end of my speech, but slowly, people began shouting my name loudly, making me realize that my accusations from before were wrong. These people did believe in me. And they were willing to hear me out. Even the elders had stopped and were slowly nodding, giving me looks of approval, that, though nearly hard to see, were visible all the same.

The Chief eventually calmed the crowd, thanking me for my service to the Village and sending me into my home with wishes of luck and good fortune. The Chief had believed what I said and knew that I would kill the creature, but he also knew that I wouldn’t return. I was going to die out there on that field, and I merely accepted that fact and greeted it with open arms. If my last breath was spent defending this harmless people, that’s the way I wanted to go down. Not as a hero, but as a defender.

I had somehow found my way to my home, sitting down on my bed with a thump, grimacing as I rubbed my temples and tried to ignore the fact that tomorrow morning I would be hunting something I never imagined I would have the opportunity to see.

“Excuse me Miss Kabira, but Miss Jyoti Aamir is here to see you.” I glanced up to see Chamberlyne (my Felyne ‘servant’ per say) standing hesitantly by the door, her eyes frightened by the next most frightening beast standing outside of my home. I waved her away quickly and stood, opening the door and looking into the brown eyes of my enemy.

“What a lovely surprise. It’s so nice to see you Jyoti.” I laced my voice with as much sarcasm as I could muster, not giving her the satisfaction to let her see what I had just been feeling moments earlier. We had been rivals ever since I arrived in the Village. The only reason is because I received the attention of Marcus day to day, the man of which she had been in love with since the beginning of their lives. It wasn’t my fault that she was as stuck-up as could be. But even though I had no feelings towards Marcus and he had none towards me, she still took the time to try to make everything about my life a living Hell. And most of the time, she succeeded.

“Oh trust me Akilah, I don’t want to see you any less than you like seeing me. But I am merely reporting a message from your beloved Marcus.” Her sneer made me want to raise a palm to her face, but I refused to show any signs of discomfort and leaned against the doorway to listen to the message. “He has requested that you meet him at the docks before sunrise tomorrow. He and the Fleet are leaving on a fishing trip tomorrow.”

I wasn’t surprised that it had come to this, but I just simply nodded, the next few words coming out of my mouth without actually meaning for them to. “Looks like a get a few precious moments alone with my Beloved after all. I’m sure that he’ll be missing me desperately while I’m gone.” I couldn’t help it. They just came out with my concern and filled the air, making her scowl and flick her somewhat pained expression in my direction. Without another word, she spun around and left, making sure to slam the door in my face before she left my presence.

Chamberlyne merely giggled behind my back, giving a gleeful laugh at my approach to the woman I had despised for so long. “Oh master, you’re so funny when you’re angry.” I turned and smiled at her, just shaking my head before slouching over to my bed again, finding myself in the same position as before. But instead of being lazy and moping in my own depression, I pulled myself over to my “Inventory Box” as I had so lovingly dubbed it. Placing everything from my pack still on my back into the box. I would sort out everything in the morning, but I needed room for when I went to the stand to buy supplies.

I had a check-off list hanging off the chest for major and minor missions, showing the things I would most likely need along the way. I had nearly everything I needed, just a few extra things that I could easily buy from the shopkeeper remained. I left Chamberlyne with instructions not to let anyone else in, and gave her a few simple tasks to complete while I went around and exchanged goods.

First stop was the shop, where I went ahead and sold off all of my prizes from the Great Jaggi kill, as well as the Kelbi Horns Marcus and I had managed to snag on the trip back. I went ahead and bought two fishing poles, figuring that if I at least got bored, I could always fish. But besides that, only the other few simplicities I needed I went ahead and bought, such as a few of the stun bombs, traps, and antidotes I didn’t already have stored in my box. Soon afterwards, I went ahead and visited the Fish Mongress, Ranata, figuring that I could at least see how the fishermen were. I hadn’t seen them since after the whole “gathering” thing, so I figured that they were preparing for the trip they were about to take.

“Afternoon Akilah. And what brings you over here to my wonderful place of establishment?” Grinning I slid down next to her on the large tarp she had her fish lain out on, making sure I avoided the giant cleaver she was using to chop open the sea creatures.

“Just curious as to where the boys went off to. I heard that they were setting off tomorrow, but I haven’t seen them around since the meeting.”

Swinging down the giant blade with a thump, she stopped the fish head that was slowly rolling towards me before replying. “Far as I know, they all headed out into the Woods to get the rest of that carcass you and Marcus left out yesterday. It’ll probably be bad by now, but we can at least use the rotten meat for bait on the ship. Speaking of which, here’s the money from Marcus for the supplies.”

Her outstretched hand held much more money than I deserved for the small kill, so I merely shook my head and pushed her hand away. “I don’t need that, just go ahead and let Marcus know it’s on me.”

“Oh no hun, he told me to make sure that you took it. That boy cares about you way too much to slim down on payments.” She refused to back down, leveling her gaze with mine and pushing her hand out again. I merely slid the coins into my pockets, only doing so that she would just leave it be. I swore to give the money back tomorrow when I saw Marcus, being sure that I would slide it into his pockets before he noticed. I didn’t take more than I needed, and this was definitely much more than that kill deserved.

“Well, thank you Renata. I’m going to make sure to get that boy back though.” A small laugh escaped my lips as I said it, and she merely laughed along with me, knowing that I would somehow sneak it back to its source. I was sitting in silence, watching as she carefully gut the fish and used the cleaver to cut them up into slices to put them out for sale.

“You know, Akilah, there are still a few of us that believe in you. And I’m one of them. You’ll go out there, get rid of that monster, and come back alive.” I figured that she was speaking about herself and the rest of the village, but her next sentence surprised me. “If you don’t, I’m not entirely sure that Marcus will be able to survive.” And then I did what I had been doing a lot lately. I froze up in shock. Marcus was just a friend… Wasn’t he? We had been that way from the start. But I never had meant for it to be something more. Had I?

“I’m sure that I’d have difficulty without him too.” My words were strangled and somewhat forced as I tried to sort out my feelings. It was so confusing, so I pulled myself up, pushing out a false yawn to make an excuse to get out of there. “I think I’m going to go ahead and take a nap or something. Yesterday is still wearing on me. Nice seeing you Renata.”

“And nice seeing you Akilah. See you when you get back.” Her gaze followed mine with some sort of hidden understanding, but I didn’t linger long enough to decipher its meaning, escaping to my house. When I entered, the potions I had requested for Chamberlyne to make were sitting on the table by my bed, though she herself was seemingly nowhere. I didn’t have time to concentrate on that though, and instead I walked over and curled up on my bed. The headache that already pained me just increased with the warring emotions, so I found myself drifting in and out of unconsciousness,

My last lingering thought before I slipped into dreams of my fate was a fleeting glimpse of Marcus, walking away and leaving me alone.

[kartharon]

Bump~

[piggyy]

wow! sound really good already

[kartharon]

Thank you very much.