So here we are again. Oh how it's such a pleasure. It's time to begin again for 'Twin souls', and I feel up for this task now that I have a clean slate to fiddle around with. Most of the characters you have seen will be coming back, but better written than before (hopefully), with more believable interactions. All around, this is going to be a better version of my previous work and I hope you enjoy this one as much as the last one, despite it not being finished. That's what this is for. I'm going to wrap this up with a thank you to all of those that read the the previous story, and a thank you to those who did review. Enjoy this updated story.
I do not own Monster Hunter. All rights to CAPCOM.
'Twin Souls'
Chapter one
Sometimes I sit here and wonder how this all started. I look around me at all the people I've met, at those I've lost. I can't even remember all of their faces. Some have become fuzzy, despite how much time I've spent with them. Too many to remember clearly. Others are etched in stone, smiling and laughing together in my memories forever. Annoying each other and crying on each other shoulders. They're never going to leave me.
Every fight, every hunt. Some for fun, others from necessity tie this life of mine together. Every one of them; every person, every action, every slice of a blade, or boom of a bowgun has led to this. One final confrontation. I will grab my weapon and don my armor. I will fight. And I will win. I will open that door that others have failed to. But to for you to understand what I'm about to do, I have to go back. Right from square one. "Eh. Too much Edgar Allen Poe crap. Get up and fight," a voice snaps in my head. I smile. It's time to get going.
The Jaggi's head deflected off of the shield as Rika lifted it into the raptor-like monster's path. It let out an indignant chirp as it shook its orange and purple frilled head, trying to clear the stars from it's vision. But it did not get the chance, because with a final downward slice to its long skinny neck it found itself dead. "15," Rika muttered under her breath. She rolled to the left to avoid a much more thickset version of the jaggi, a jaggia, as it tried to knock her off of her feet. Swinging around with her sword made from the wyvern's fallen pack, the white haired huntress managed to land a cut parallel to the raptor-like monster's spine. Enraged, the jaggia clawed the ground with its hind legs, preparing to charge Rika again. Just as it was about to, an iron great sword descended from the sky and cracked down on it's spine, killing it instantly.
A purple haired huntress dressed in the steel and copper-colored plates of traditional basic hunter's armor glanced slyly at Rika. "15." She swung the great sword back behind her landing another hit on an unlucky jaggi. "16."
The white haired huntress grumbled in frustration. She swung her short sword once at an oncoming jaggi and killed it with one slash to the head. "16!" she shouted in triumph.
There was a shout from the edge of the arena. "Alright ladies. That's enough for today." A man of 53 years and a height of 6'2 leaned on the railing 10 feet above their heads. "for both of you, and 32 in total. Not a bad job."
The purple haired huntress slung the greatsword over her shoulder and harnessed it to her back while giving the man a thumbs up. "Thanks Mr. Thomas," She shouted up with a tired smile of her face. "It's good to know you actually pay attention." Rika nodded in agreement. it was their second year in the local hunters' academy and their first year 'Basic Hunting' teacher was an absolute tool. Mr. Thomas, their wizened second year teacher was much more kind, hardworking, and much more effective at teaching.
Mr. Thomas grinned down at them. "Both of you go clean up. I can smell you from here," he waved his hand in dismissal. "Blake and Simon! You guys are up next!" He yelled at the teens on the other side of the wall. With that, the gates to the mini arena opened, letting in a brown haired teen with short hair coming up in a coiffed spike in front. Standing at 5'10, he had blue eyes and a narrow nose, with high cheekbones and rounded jaw. Most of the girls in the school thought he was the hottest guy there. He was outfitted in the bulky purple set of a renopholos, carrying a sword and shield made from the pale green scales of ludroth, sea bering leviathans the size of a horse. The other boy also had brown hair, combed down and across his forehead. He stood at around 5'9. He had deep hazel eyes and a very filled out face with a small, slightly upturned refined nose. He was outfitted in the deep purple and white tuxedo styled armor made from the giant stinging bnahabra bug, with a pair of jaggie scale gauntlets on to protect his arms. On his left arm rested a towering checkered shield of a paladin, and a large collapsible lance was hooked to his back. He was just removing his glasses and putting in a pair of contact lenses.
The first boy, Blake, waved to the girls as they passed, giving them his signature shit-eating grin and a wink. "Looking good Rika. No wonder you're ranked third in our year!" Rika grinned sheepishly and lowered her head, sporting a small blush of embarrassment.
Macie just grunted and turned her head away from the handsome teen. "I'm here too, jackass!" she growled.
Blake's grin shrunk a small amount. "How could I forget you, Miss Kegan? You are just as beautiful and strong as Rika." Macie said nothing as Rika and her continued on. 'She really can't stand him can she?' Rika thought to herself. Both girls continued towards the low lying locker room attached to the back of the hunting academy. Behind them they could hear Blake angrily threatening his partner. "Listen Becker, you better not get in my way or you will regret it."
Rika looked over her shoulder to see Simon shrugging, exasperated. "We're on the same team, Blake. Remember that."
Blake turned his head, lifting his nose to the sky. "Whatever. just don't be a burden."
Rika frowned. Blake was an asshole, and he proved it everyday. She sighed. How could she or any other girl in the academy like that guy in any way? He was never nice to anyone except his closest friends. He berated every hunter beneath him with a passion. He was an egotistical jerk, and yet every female within 200 yards found themselves feeling faint. She hated that so much. The only exception was Macie.
The two entered the locker area and began to strip the armor from their bodies. Both were covered in the sweat of exertion and the grime of the arena. Rika pulled off her jaggi hide cap and wiped her brow with the back of her gauntlet. Her hair fell from the top of her head and back into a wide single braid that came down to her waist. Macie did the same with the tiara styled headpiece of her hunter's armor, pushing her hair from her brow to the side, and her sideburns back behind her ears. "That guy is such a self-centered jerk," she growled, "I'm surprised someone hasn't fed him his teeth yet."
Rika shook her head. Macie could be too blind sometimes. "He may be mean to some people, but that doesn't make him a bad-"
"Oh come on Rika. He's a class A dick," her tall friend interrupted. "He goes around and berates and beats up people weaker than him, just so he can look tough." Macie began to angrily undo the straps on her gauntlets. "If he fell in a hole and broke his arms I'd tell him to climb out. He really needs to learn to be humble."
Rika sighed. 'There's no changing her mind sometimes.' Both teens continued to strip their armor off, also removing the layer of padded clothing underneath, and after a minute of silence shoved their equipment in separate lockers, hung their weapons on the wall, and stepped into the shower block. Taking a stall next to Macie's, Rika twisted the knob to 'warm' and turned around, letting the drops pound against her back. She felt the tension in her muscles melt away as the water flowed down her body, she felt a light sigh escaped her lips. After so much physical exercise, it felt nice to wind down like this. She ran her fingers through her hair pulling it up and back, letting it fall back down against her back. "Ah~. This is the life."
"Tell me about it," came the reply from the other stall. A yawn resonated through the room. "I could fall asleep from this." Macie leaned around the divider and handed Rika a bottle of shampoo. "I noticed you didn't bring any. You really need it, girl." She pinched her nose with her free hand. "You really stink."
Rika blushed. "Sh-shut up! It's not that bad!" She grabs her hair and takes a tentative sniff. "Is it?"
Macie bursts out laughing, quickly retreating behind the divider. "It is now! After that whole session I'm surprised no one fainted from the smell!" Rika stamped her foot. Despite her irritation, she uncapped the bottle and squirted some of the liquid into her hand and proceeded to wash her hair. After a few moments of washing, laughing, and joking, Macie dried off and left the block to get dressed. Rika decided to take a little more time to relax. Crossing her arms over her chest, she closed her bright orange eyes and leaned back. 'What a day. School lets out at 11:25 today. I still have to go get that upgrade for my soldier's dagger. And then after that, I have nothing to do. What do I do? Probably hang out with Macie.' Turning the water off, she wrapped herself in a towel and went back into the locker room to put on plain clothes and pack up her gear. She found Macie standing by the door leading back outside, whistling a rhythmless tune.
She glances over at me, the fluorescent light shining off of her deep blue eyes, filled with mirth. "You take a long time to wash yourself despite being 5' 's not even that much to scrub, shortie" Rika ignores her, causing Macie to smile widely. "Aw come on. I like you being fun-sized! You're so adorable!" She hugs the white haired girl against her chest. "Now come on," she says as she releases her, "Let's go see how Simon and that jerk are doing."
Running back outside and to the gated arena, they climb to the top of the walls and look down into the arena to see the two boys engaged with multiple Jaggi. Blake quickly slashed at the three jaggi in front of him with his yellow scaled sword, the Ludroth's Nail, trying to deter their offense, but obviously starting to get overwhelmed by the numbers, while Simon expertly jabbed at and blocked the jaggi with his lance as they tried to attack him. Both of them were steadily being forced further apart by the little bird wyverns to make them easier targets. Simon quickly fixed this by hunkering down and charging shield first through the hoard towards his partner. He stopped just short of Blake, sliding through the dirt and stabbing his lance into a jaggie that was coming up behind the sword and shield user. Blake stumbled forward away from the lance. "Watch it!" he shouted as he took another swing at a jaggi. It danced back out of his reach. Simon swung around and batted away another jaggi as it tried to jump at him. Another Jaggi jumped at him from behind, but Blake knocked it out of the air with a quick slash, following up with a shield bash putting the monster in a daze. Rika could see another jaggi trying to jump Blake from the side, and watched in horror as he ducked, letting the jaggi sail over him and consequently right onto the back of Simon. With a yelp, the weight threw the lance wielder off balance and knocked him to the ground. Instantly the jaggi descended upon his vulniberal back, tearing at his armor and sections of exposed flesh. Rika covered her mouth in shock. His pained yells pound inside of her ears, and she can do nothing but watch.
Mr. Thomas is shouting orders, grabbing a great sword he had leaning against the railing behind him. "Blake!" He kept yelling "Get the damn things off of him!"
Rika didn't want to watch but couldn't seem to draw her eyes away. She could see the writhing Simon beneath the mass of tails and claws, trying frantically to cover himself from the continuous assault. Blake seemed to be frozen at the sight of a fellow hunter being mauled.
But it seemed that someone had their head on straight. Running up the steps to the top of the wall, the person didn't even slow down as they vaulted over the railing and down into the arena. Rolling onto their feet, the figure seemed to be a male, probably a second year like them by the looks of him. Dressed in only a set of cargo shorts and a tee-shirt, he brandished a pair of metal swords. "Hey!" his voice came out loud and commanding, "Over here!"
Rika and Macie gasped in unison. "Is this guy nuts?!" the purple haired girl shouted. "He's not even in armor!" Rika could only stare at this boy, his posture set and confident. He looked so sure of himself, like he knew he wouldn't lose. Three of the jaggi looked up at him, like they were trying to comprehend why and where this newcomer showed up. The three backed up from Simon and proceeded to run at the boy with the duel swords. The first one jumped at him talons first, only to have him roll to the side. He immediately descended upon the bird wyvern with both blades, slicing and slashing it repeatedly until it fell over dead. Without even looking behind him, he managed to roll to the side to avoid a lunge from the second jaggi, punishing it with the same ferocity as the first. It managed to jump away from him, bleeding badly from many wounds along it's body. The third jaggi stopped it's charge and eyed him wearily. This one was smarter than the rest. It probably would have become a Great Jaggi, an alpha male if it had been left to thrive.
Rika knew it would call for help from the others. It was too smart not to. She worried greatly for the other teen. Just as she predicted, the jaggi called for help, attracting the attention of two jaggia and one jaggi who lumbered over to help. Now he faced a wounded jaggi, two unwounded jaggi, and two hulking jaggia, all under the command of an intelligent leader. All he had was a pair of swords and the cloths on his back. She could do nothing but watch and hope he would be alright. Movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention away from the boy for the moment. Mr. Thomas had jumped down into the arena as well and had charged the group of twelve jaggi still trying to eat Simon, who's struggling was growing weaker. With one giant slash of the jaggi bone greatsword, Mr. Thomas sent the pack flying off of the downed teen's back. Two died from the first slash, the others in varying degrees of ability. But all ten were able to walk, and the conclusion they drew was to overwhelm the man with numbers. The first jaggi to reach him was crushed under his blade, the second caught in the upswing and sent flying across the arena.
Rika followed the body with her eyes all the way back to the other boy in the arena, and noticed that he had already taken the wounded jaggi, the dumb fresh jaggi and a jaggia. The alpha was nervously clawing the ground, trying to decide something. After a second, the jaggi turned and ran for the cages at the edge of the arena. The jaggia turned in surprise at her pack mate running, only to fall to a flurry of blades. Shocked, Rika stared at the boy, wondering how he came out of that fight unscathed. He didn't even look like he broke a sweat. Now with half of the jaggi dead, it seemed simple. Blake had broken out of his stupor and had begun fight the other half of the pack with Mr. Thomas. With three hunters in the arena, the pack was quickly demolished. With the dust settled and the monsters dead, Mr. Thomas and the boy tended to Simon's wounds. The jaggi had just torn through the back of his armor and started ripping flesh when Mr. Thomas got the pack off of him. Though the damage was not too severe, Rika did not want to get close and see it for herself. Instead she turned to Macie, only to find her staring at something, or rather someone. Blake was trying to sneak off to the locker room but was quickly stopped by Mr. Thomas' commanding voice. "Mr. Fae, I would like to speak with you in private please."
Blake nodded nervously while the boy carried Simon is off to the nurse, giving him sips of a green healing potion along the way. Rika Watched as Mr. Thomas briskly walked away with Blake in tow. "What a coward," Macie spat out. Without another word, she began to walk away. Rika turned to follow, throwing one last look at the retreating forms of her unknown classmate and the wounded Simon.
It was 11:30 and the bell had only rung 5 minutes ago, dismissing the students. Many still lingered in the halls, picking up books and gear while making plans for the weekend. Rika was among them as she tried to find Macie. 'Where is she? Darn it Macie!' She pouted as she continued to scan the flowing crowd and pockets of students by the lockers. She heard a familiar voice over the din "He took me aside to see if I was ok. Silly old man, of course I was ok, just worried for my partner." Rika lowers her head as she walked by a group of concerned looking students surrounding Blake. She tried not to be noticed in the taller crowd, but her hair gave her away.
"Hey Rika!" he called out. "Want to hang out this weekend with us?"
'And by 'us' you mean yourself,' she thought bitterly. On the outside she was much less resentful. Keeping her head down to hide her blushing face, she kept walking as she replied, turning around for the briefest second. "U-uh s-sorry Blake, but I h-have chores to do most of the weekend."
She couldn't see his face when he replied. "Aw, that sucks. Some other time then." Blake returned to talking to his group, but Rika could still feel people's' eyes on her.
"What does he want with her? She's so short."
"But she's adorable. And look at her boobs! How can they be so big when she's that small?"
"They're probably fake. But just look at her! She's so natural!"
"Look at that hair! How does she keep so much hair so neat and tidy?"
Despite being the most popular girl in school and friends with most of these students, she never liked anyone commenting on her appearance whether it was positive or not. Clutching her books tighter, she shut her eyes and shook her head. 'Focus Rika,' she thought to herself, 'You still have to find Macie.' Resuming her search, she scanned once again but found no trace of her best friend. "Hey Cecilia," she called to a passing blonde girl, "Have you seen Macie?"
Cecilia shrugged. "Sorry, haven't seen her." Rika huffed. Why was she so difficult to find? Having made it almost to the front doors without spotting her, Rika turned back into the school. As she was turning around, someone bumped into her, knocking her books and papers out of her arms and to the ground. She gasped in surprise when she came to face the blue shirted boy from the arena. He immediately swooped down and started to collect papers.
"Sorry," he quickly apologized. After a moment of shock, Rika gained control of herself.
She crouched down to help. "No no, it's fine. I wasn't paying attention." Collecting her papers, she stood back up, grabbing the books from his outstretched hand. She took this time to study his face. A messy mop of dark brown hair rested on the top of his head, swooped to the side to keep it out of his eyes. His hair came down over his ears on the side and midway down his neck in the back. He had and angular jaw; not too sharp and chiseled,but still defined. He had a medium sized defined nose under a startling pair of light grey eyes. He look amazingly tall despite being crouched down, probably 5'10, over most of the second year students by an inch or two.
He turned his head back down the hall. "What?" he questioned. Only then did Rika notice the silence. Every pair of eye was on them, and she could see Blake advancing towards them.
"I said," Blake repeated, "don't you think you should apologize?"
The boy shrugged. "I already did. But whatever." He turned back to Rika, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry again for knocking into you."
Shaking her head she replied, "No it was my fault. Did you hear that Blake?" She leaned to look past the boy. "It was my fault."
Blake continued forward, completely ignoring Rika. "You know what?" He got nose to nose with the other boy, "I don't like your tone." The other boy's face remained neutral. Gesturing to the small crowd that had not cleared out, a confident smile adorning his face, he addressed them "What should I do with him?"
Eyes narrowing, Rika realized that this confrontation was only partly about this boy running into her. It was once again Blake trying to inflate his ego. And it made him seem all the more attractive, if anyone was dumb enough. 'Blake, you jerk,' she shouted in the confines of her head, 'what are you thinking? Is this any way to pay back what he did for you?'
Blake could obviously not hear her thoughts, only listening to the shouts of shock and anger from the other students. Some seem exasperated, though at Blake or the boy, she couldn't tell. The group Blake was talking with before seemed ready to start a riot. "Kick his head in, Blake!" one shouted.
"Beat him to Hell!"
"Show him who's the number one!"
"Are you Goddamn stupid?" another person shouted.
Blake's face reddened at that. "Alright then," He turned back to Rika and the boy. Glancing to the now indignant shorter huntress, Blake smirked. "After I'm done with this punk, hows about a date, Rika?"
Rika scowled indignantly "No way, you jerk. You're being really rude today." Blake flinched, worryingly glancing around at the crowd. 'That one must have hurt his ego,' Rika thought smugly. The two boys faced off for a few seconds before the unnamed teen shook his head. The next thing he said set it off.
"There's no need for violence." He paused "Or to be a prick," he added under his breath.
Blake's face twisted in anger, flinging his right fist forward. The other teen just leaned to the side, letting the fist fly past his ear. Blake could barely register the miss before the other teen swept his legs out from under him. Stepping back, the blue shirted boy set down his books and notes and gently pushed them back towards the door with his foot. "If you really want to do this."
Getting up from the floor, Blake growled and threw another right. The other boy simply ducked, delivering two swift and powerful jabs to Blake's midsection. In response, Blake tried to swing his hand down and hit him with the bottom of his fist,but his adversary had already retreated from his reach. Frustrated, Blake ran forward, faking a left jab then following up with a haymaker. Lifting his arm in the way, the other boy blocked the hit, stepped in and swung his elbow. Blake managed to step back just in time, avoiding the hit. The crowd cheered as the fight went on, but Rika could only worry that someone was going to get hurt.'Why do you have to be like this, Blake?'
Blake went in for another left jab, only for his opponent to dodge to the side, grab his arm, and drag him forward, headbutting Blake in the nose. Blake's friends stopped cheering, watching the most popular and thought to be toughest boy in the academy getting beaten this badly. Dazed, Blake stumbled backward holding his nose. The other boy raised his fists in a defensive stance. "It's not broken," he nodded towards his aggressor. Shaking his head, Blake roared, charging forward in a mad dash and tackled the other teen at his waist. Having planted himself firmly, the boy barely budged. He simply started striking quickly with his knees until Blake let go.
The air left Blake's lungs as he hit the ground with a thump. The crowd was silent, staring with mixed reactions at the scene before them. Soon enough, they resumed what they were doing, with Blake's group coming forward to help him. The other boy turned around, walked passed Blake, only pausing to grab his books. Rika stared after him in wonder. Who was this guy? She felt a tap on her , she found herself face-to-face with the person she had been trying to find this entire time. "How ya doin' Rika?" Her purple haired bane asked.
Rika frowned, hunching her shoulders. "Darn it Macie! I've been looking everywhere for you! If I could have found you any time sooner, this would have never happened." Her voice rose as she spoke, attracting the attention of some passers-by.
Macie stood back up to full height putting one hand on her waist, scratching the back of her head with the other. "Well sorry there, Snowflake, but things seem to be going well to me." She smiled wickedly as she pointed to the group surrounding Blake, who was just getting back on his feet, nursing a severe wound to his pride. "He done kicked the living shit out of the asshat there. I say he did us all a favor!" Blake glared over his shoulder at Maice. The girl simply shrugged. "So, do you have a date now?"
Rika blushed. "Wh-what? Why!?" Macie laughed loudly, placing her hands on her stomach. Rika just stamped her foot and turned her head, lifting her nose in the air. "He was too busy fighting for me to ask anything like that."
Macie crossed her arms, shaking her head. "You're so hopeless. Go catch up to him. Maybe even get his name? Or a number?" Only then did Rika realize that she didn't even know the boy's name. She quickly took off after him, leaving her friend behind in the hall. Macie blinked, wide eyed. "Damn," she muttered, "Never knew she was that fast." A smirk crossed her face. "Or that she was that interested in any boy." Sticking her hands in her pockets, she whistled softly to herself as she followed slowly behind her friend.
Huffing along, Rika tried to spot the teen but in a crowd of about 300 students leaving the academy, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Stopping for a moment, she bent over and breathed in as much oxygen as she could. "Ugh, where are you?" She asked to the crowd in general. Resting only for a moment, she continued her search, running into a few more of her friends as she ran along. "Did you see a brown haired boy in a dark blue t-shirt walk by?" The group shook their heads. "Oh well then. Thanks!" She called as she waded back into the mass of students. She kicked herself mentally. 'Why didn't I ask him before? And why did I run off without Macie? Now I have to find her again too!' Not paying attention to where she was going, she bumped right into the back of a student in front of her. Jarred by the sudden stop, she fell back on her butt, letting out a small 'oof' as she hit the ground. Looking up, she found herself looking right into those unnerving grey eyes again. Frozen, with her heart thumping in her ears, she could see his mouth move, but couldn't hear what he was saying. It felt like an eternity before she could move again. "Wh-what?" She stuttered shyly.
The teen remained a neutral expression. "I asked," He repeated, "If this is going to be a regular thing with you now?" Rika could feel a blush flood her face.
Standing up, she brushed the dirt and dust off of herself. "Sorry! Again! Uh, I really didn't see you there!" She shouted in nervousness as she lowered her face, trying to hide the redness in her cheeks. 'Smooth one, Rika,' she chided herself. "S-so, I uh, never got a chance to ask, but do I, uh, know you from somewhere?"
The boy raised a single eyebrow as he looked down at her. "Yeah," he sounded slightly surprised, "I'm in most of your classes." He sighed as looked back at the academy entrance. "Though I'm not really that surprised. No one pays that much attention to me. And I'm fine with that." He looked back down at her. She inwardly shied away. 'This guy is kind of weird.' She steeled herself. 'I still haven't even introduced myself. And I need to find out what his name is.' Standing up straight, she tucked her books against her chest and stuck a hand out.
"I've never introduced myself properly. My name is Rika. It's nice to meet you…" The boy looked down at her hand for a second. She could feel herself sweating. 'He's really weird.'
After a moment, he took her hand in a firm grip and shook it. "Kodah." He let go of her hand. "I know who you are," he remarked. "Number three in the class, and the most popular girl amongst the rest of our grade." Rika blushed. "Could you keep your fan-boy club off of me please?"
Rika's blushed worsened, and a frown marred her face. "Hey!" She shouted angrily, "It's not my fault they're all just a load of jerks! And I don't control them" Angrily turning away, she started to stalk off. Remembering that she wanted to say something else, she turned back around. With a frown on her face she shouted to him. "Hey!" She blinked. He was already walking away. "W-wait!" she called after him. Stopping in his tracks, he looked over his shoulder, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. Finally catching up, Rika looked him straight in his eyes. "Would you want to meet up with me and my friend Macie for the academy's Sunday Hunt this weekend?" The puzzled expression remained on his face.
The staring match continued for what felt like an eternity. Kodah ended it with a blink and a shrug. "Sure," replied the brown haired hunter.
For some reason, Rika was very flustered. "Okay then!" She shouted after his retreating form. "6:00 A.M, here!" Without looking back, Kodah waved his hand in affirmation. Rika bit the inside of her cheek. 'What's up with me today?' She thought as she watched his retreating from. 'I hope I don't regret this.'
Thank you for reading the first chapter in my updated story. I hope you come back to read the second chapter, and whatever else I put up. Thank you again to those that have stuck around waiting for me to do something, and thank you to any new readers who follow this.
