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Deserted Island Area 6
Running, now that was a clever thought. Many would assume that the act was primarily used as a survival technique. One that is hard-wired into every living thing from the day it could walk, to the day which it had once again returned to the earth.
Now it was known that while most used it as an escape, others used it as distractions, like the small group of people running through the Jaggi's den. Three people, covered in magnificent armor, hurried to their destination. The youngest of the group dared a glance back and saw a Jaggi that stood over the rest. The beast's violet frill had markings that told her that is was the leader of the pack.
"We've got an Alpha!"
The veteran of the group dared a glance back as the frilled raptor tried to bite down on them. The man slowed down and unsheathed his Switch-Axe. The man swung the mighty weapon and in one motion, knocked the Great Jaggi aside as if it were a small insect. The beast and its pack halted for a mere moment before the Great reared up and let out a roar. By this time the man sheathed his weapon and had continued running. After he had met up with the group, the youngest again called out a warning.
"We've got Jaggia!"
The person in the front of the fleeing group let out a sound that was akin to someone who was in desperate need of air. She reached into the pack that she wore and produced a small barrel. The man running beside her gave a rather frightened expression.
"Laplace what are you doing!? A Barrel Bomb at this distance will harm us more than help!"
"And if I don't, we'll be dead anyway!"
Not wanting to hear any more of the man's concerns, Laplace struck the wick with her armored hand. A small sizzling came from the barrel as she tossed it over her head. The device hit the ground in front of the Great Jaggi, and detonated. The large reptile and its pack fell as the ground underneath them collapsed. The group began to run faster as the earth underneath them began to break apart as well. Laplace began laughing as she jumped and ran from the falling ground. The man next to her let out an exasperated cry.
"SEE!? THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T THROW BARREL BOMBS!"
"Oh, give it a rest Sieben, she did what she thought was best."
The man turned his head to the veteran and growled. The veteran just let out a hearty laugh as he jumped over a falling boulder. After a few terrifying moments the ground and the group halted. Smoke from the explosion billowed out of the hole. The youngest turned and scanned the area, she unsheathed her Heavy Bowgun and loaded a shot when she heard a distant roar. Laplace turned with a wicked smile as she drew her Dual Blades.
"Soga, how close do you think they are?"
The old man turned in the direction they were looking and waited for another roar to sound. He drew his Switch-Axe and shifted it into sword mode as Sieben reluctantly drew his sword and shield.
"I would say about a hundred feet away, give or take a few."
The team waited as the roars got closer, an eerie silence filling the air when the howling roars of the Great Jaggi stopped. Suddenly the youngest of the group pulled the trigger on the bowgun and launched a flaming bullet. The shot flew into the hole and smoke, after a few moments a flash shined through the smoke as the shot detonated. The light revealed the silhouettes of several Jaggi and Jaggia, the largest of the shadows stood still as the rest advanced.
"I can see six Jaggi and Jaggia, what about you Laplace?"
The girl smiled again as she quickly sheathed her blades, instead prompting to pull out another Barrel Bomb. As Sieben seemed ready to slip into another rant about Laplace's favorite trap, the girl enlarged the collapsed barrel and placed it before her.
"A large one? I thought you used your last on that horde of Giggi."
"Nope, saved one for just this occasion. Glad I did?"
Soga gave a slow nod as the youngest in the group again fired, this time hitting a Jaggi that had managed to escape the smoke. Sieben shifted his gaze between the rookie and the barrel bomb, a terrible thought crossing his mind.
"She will have to stay behind to detonate the explosive. None of us have any weapons with that kind of reach."
Soga frowned as the youngest stepped back while launching another volley of fire shots into the smoke. Laplace just turned to Sieben and slapped the back of his head.
"Do you honestly think I wouldn't compensate for that? I do have more small bombs."
"I thought it wasn't allowed for a Hunter to carry more than ten of each item?"
Laplace just laughed as she tossed the bomb into the air and caught it.
"When have you three ever known me to follow rules that I found boring?"
Soga smiled as he pulled the rookie away from the edge. She took one look at him and closed her gun and sheathed it. Sieben grimaced as the Great Jaggi burst from the smoke and began running in their direction. Laplace punched a hole in the lid of the larger bomb as she stuck the smaller one into the hole. With a nod from Soga, Laplace smiled and struck the wick, sparking it and starting the detonation countdown. The four then began to run, faster than they had when the Great Jaggi had started chasing them.
The Great Jaggi had managed to get out of the hole and was standing were the group had stood not more that a few moments ago. It turned its head trying to catch their scent. A sound came across its right ear and it turned to face the object. It had seen that object before, and it knew that even if it had called to its pack to retreat, it was already too late.
The group ran as fast as they could manage down into the lower valley, that was until they heard the bomb go off. They stopped for a breath, but that is when they were swept up by the landslide they had caused. The only sounds were the shouts of the Hunters and the crazed laughter of Laplace.
Quest Failed!
Hunter Training Camp
"It was an easy hunting quest. How did you manage to screw that up?"
The team's Guild Receptionist stood in the doorway of the common room. The team members were all in separate chairs as they tried to remove pieces of debris from their armor. No one spoke as the girl at the door walked in, giving everyone around her an evil eye.
"I mean, come on! You are made up of great Hunters, how could a mission as easy as that be difficult?"
"Well Lyan, if Laplace didn't blow up the mountain we wouldn't have failed."
"And if you would stop worrying about everything, I could have thought of something less drastic, and boring."
As the two began to bicker Soga and Lyan started talking about the team member who was repairing Soga's Switch-Axe. The old man gave a small smile as she flew back when trying to forcibly pull a shard of rock from the changing mechanisms.
"How was she?"
"Who? Evangelion? She was alright, but I think that anymore time with Laplace and we might have another bomber on our hands."
Lyan's eyes narrowed as she shivered, a memory of when Laplace first discovered explosives came to her like the explosion of one of her bombs. She watched as the girl swapped the blade's mode and have it drop when she didn't expect the weight difference. Turning back to Soga she pulled out a paper from her satchel and handed it to him. He eyed it and her with curiosity before reading it.
"Do you think she is capable of doing this?"
"The Guild thinks so, and even if it has only been three months, she has been trained by one of the best."
"I haven't been the best in thirty years, but thanks anyway. Evangel, get over here!"
Evangelion shot up and ran to him, waiting next to Lyan for him to tell her what was happening. Soga began to laugh when he saw the nervous anticipation, as he got himself under control he handed her the letter. The young Hunter took the letter and began scanning over it, a look of confusion formed as she got to the end. After finishing she looked to Lyan and Soga, seemingly not sure of what to ask.
"I'm getting transferred?"
Hunter Camp Port
It had been two weeks since Evangelion got her letter from the Guild, and it had taken that long to try and stop Laplace from carrying out any threats against them. Sieben had tried to get the Guild to reconsider their decision, mostly trying to get a murderous Laplace off his back, but to no avail. Soga and Lyan had tried to reassure Evangelion that it was nothing to be concerned with, Soga told her that things like this happened all the time with Hunter groups.
She really didn't know what was going on, but she now found herself standing before the loading ramp of the Hunter's main ship. Laplace and Sieben were behind her as Lyan talked with the ship's captain about the extra stop he would need to make.
"Moga Island, do any of you know anything about it?"
"Well, not much. I do know that it is a small fishing village that has some problems with earthquakes recently."
Laplace pulled a small pack out from behind her and handed it to Evangel, who took it with a nod. Seiben turned back as he tried to find their fourth member.
"I wonder where Soga is, pretty sure he would want to be here for her farewell."
"And you would be right, I was just caught up with something."
The old man surprised them as he seemingly appeared out of thin air. Lyan finished talking with the captain and had returned to the group before anyone said or did anything. Evangelion stood there nervously as she waited for the ship to be loaded.
"Well, the captain is ready to take you to Moga Island, but a few stops will have to be made first."
"That's what we get for traveling on a trader."
The five held a conversation, trying to calm down each other as much as Evangelion. After some time had passed they all heard the captain yell for all who were leaving to come aboard. Evangelion turned as she placed her pack on her back and hooked her bowgun on top of it. She had only taken one step before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Stopping she turned to see Soga standing with a small parcel in his hand. She took it and looked up to him, Soga's only response was a large smile.
"Now, this is just something to commemorate the occasion. I would prefer you open it when you get to the island though."
Nodding Evangel turned and dashed onto the boat as the rest of the team waved. It was only a few minutes before the boat began sliding out of its docking. When the boat had finally disappeared into the horizon Laplace turned to Lyan with a bemused expression, the rest of the group turned to her in confusion.
"What is so funny Laplace?"
"I just remembered which receptionist was stationed at the island."
"Who?"
"Lyan's little sister."
And then the entire group gave a collective gulp. Laplace just fell over backwards laughing.
Moga Village
The village elder glanced up at the massive vessel that slowly docked itself upon his city's shores. Inhaling the smoke from his pipe he took note of the ship's damaged exterior. Several children ran past him as a girl dressed in a red and white dress chased after them, it only took a few moments for this to become tiresome, so he called out to the girl.
"Nana, stop scaring the children and come here."
The girl stopped and quickly turned around before joining the sitting man. The elder pointed towards the ship as the ramp fell and landed on the dock. Nana looked over the damaged vessel, especially taking note of the massive hole in the side.
"What happened to it?"
"I don't have the slightest idea, all I know is that it landed in that condition."
During their conversation Evangelion and the captain of the ship walked out, the Hunter trying to learn the layout of the place where she would be staying. The captain dropped a massive chest onto the ground and turned to her.
"Well this is your stop. Try and keep this place in one piece, will ya?"
"I believe you should worry about your boat more than a trading village."
Agreeing with her the captain nodded and walked off to speak with a Fish Monger. Evangelion was about to pick up her chest and walk to the house of the village elder, but she was stopped by a rather large, and quite heavy, book being pushed into her face. Staggering backwards she met the gaze of a girl wearing red and white, she was followed closely by and elderly man smoking a pipe..
"Hello, my name is Nana. If you are the hunter we sent for, I am pleased to announce that I will be your liaison to the Guild."
"I am the elder of this village, now before you get to introducing yourself, what happened to the boat?"
Evangelion gave a shudder as she prepared to answer that question, causing both Nana and the village elder to stare at her in concern.
"Was it that traumatic of an experience for you?"
"Yeah," Evangel nodded, "a Plesioth."
"Hip Check?"
"Yes. It was on an island three miles away."
The elder gave a chuckle as he inhaled once again, Nana however burst out laughing. Evangelion frowned, but she stayed quiet until the girl calmed down.
"What is so funny?"
"Well, its just that I have never heard of someone having that bad of luck before. Your job here hasn't even started and you met with the fury of a high rank monster? Next you'll probably have to defeat something like an Elder Dragon."
Evangelion gulped, that was something no one dared to do, that was something that the guild had G-Rank armies to handle. However, knowing her luck, she might as well go up against one of them.
"Sorry, but why did you ask for my help again?"
Before either of the two could answer, the city began to rumble as an earthquake began to let loose its fury. Some of the buildings shook violently as people started running all over the place, trying with all their might to try and avoid some of the smaller collapsing structures. As soon as the quake had made itself known, it stopped. Evangelion looked around the immediate area to see if anyone was needing her assistance. After noting that all of the villagers seemed fine, she returned her attention to the elder and Nana.
"That, Hunter, is why we called you here. There is a beast, the Lagiacrus, who seemed to have moved into our forest."
"It is what is causing the earthquakes! Ruins everybody's day."
Evangelion raised an eyebrow, how they knew which of the thousands of Wyverns was causing them this much trouble was actually confusing.
"Well Hunter, you've stood around long enough. Let Nana show you to your quarters while I try and find Junior."
With that, the elder walked off as Nana took her hand, a crazed smile forming on the girl's face.
"What's with that smile?"
"Oh, I just thought of all the 'Fun' you will have when you begin working."
For some reason, how Nana said the word fun, made Evangel more uneasy than she already was.
And that was the first chapter to my new Monster Hunter story! I hope you've enjoyed!
I apologize if you were expecting a longer read, the chapters will get longer I promise.
I will have detailed explanations about the four hunters in the next chapter, whenever that is published. This won't be a regular update sadly, I have other stories that I have to get to before this one, but I will not take long in updating this one.
And thus begins Evangelion's mission through the Moga Islands!
Have a nice day!
