AN: Keep in mind that this is the prequel to "Kuraun Hunters!" and I will say that Disheartening Memories, isn't as good as the chapters in its sequel (due to not having as much experience).
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own creations, everything goes to their rightful owners. English also isn't my main language, but that shouldn't be an issue at the very least, hope you enjoy!
Blizzard Ishi-ryoku POV
"Alright, looks like I'm set and ready to head out."
Today I'm bringing my newly made Charge Blade along with me, I was planning on honing my skills with the weapon so I might as well use it more.
"Good luck boss!" A small cheery voice was heard underneath me.
I look down to my house keeper felyne. "Thank you Momo, I'll be back before dark." I recently received an invitation, specifically from an old friend.
"I swear, she wouldn't need my help if it wasn't for the fact she's so set on using the Hammer on a Deviljho."
My friend said we would meet up at the assembly and grab something to eat before we head off, I'm not complaining, It's been awhile since we had the chance to sit down and eat together.
'I'll have to say sorry to her before splitting ways once more...'
I pass a mirror and made sure I was presentable, my platinum hair glimmering as the sunlight poured through my window.
I also noticed dark bags underneath my azure eyes, mostly due to having nightmares for the past few days.
'Alright, time to move out, can't keep Jenny waiting.'
I soon see the entrance of the assembly as I walk through the large crowd of Dundorma's citizens.
As I step into the assembly my nose picks up the unpleasant odor of smoke and alcohol, I did manage to see who I was looking for luckily, she was looking at the quest board.
I walk towards the figure and sure enough, a huntress using a Shagaru Magala Hammer and unmistakable blonde hair was waiting for me.
"Hey, Jenny!" I call out to the huntress as I approach, Jenny turns around excitably upon hearing my voice and greets me with a smile in her usual energetic way.
"Hey, Blizzy! I'm so glad to see you again!" She jogs over to me and closes the distances between us in a flash.
"Likewise, " I responded as she gave me an awkward one arm hug, Jenny then leads me over to the quest board.
"Here the quest we're going to take." Jenny hands me over the piece of paper that said a Deviljho was spotted in the local ever-woods; quickly realizing G-Rank symbol.
"Alright, seems simple enough." I carefully fold the approved paper and store it in my side bag.
"Sweet! However, we're eating together before departing cause I'm starving!" She giggles lightly, which in turn causes me to shake my head in response to her energetic personality.
"Whoa, I just realized! Is that a new Charge blade?" She tries to reach out and grab it but I slap her hands away.
"Yes, and you shouldn't touch it." I scold the blonde who was now pouting.
"It's made from Shagaru parts, in other words, dangerous to touch, Jenny." A word that she seemed to never understand.
She just shrugs it off and laughs as we go and sit down at the first row tables, nearest to the quest manager.
"Serious as always! You never change Blizzy." Jenny caught the attention of the waiter, and so we ordered our food.
Small talk was kept alive between us, allowing us to catch up with one another, since its been around two months since I left the guild.
Soon enough we receive our meal and ate in silence, the sooner we finished, the more sun light we had for today's hunt.
"So, I heard the ride over to the Ever-woods will take around an hour," Jenny hands me over a whetstone as she says this. "Might as well polish your weapon while we wait!"
I nod and give her my thanks, we jump into the rented cart that was filled with hay, the reason was so that we could sit in it and rest peacefully as we wait for it to take us to the Ever-woods.
Soon after the cart started moving, I could sense Jenny's anxious aura, as if she wanted to speak about something forbidden.
"So like, the guild wants you to come back." Jenny suddenly says out of nowhere.
I stop my polishing and look back at her with confusion evident on my face.
"Why would they want me back?" I said back to her in a rather aggressive tone.
Jenny gives me a worried look, before speaking with a solemn face. "Cause we're worried about you, It's been awhile since you last went there. Everybody looks up to you as the second in command, losing you has taken a toll on everyone."
I stayed silent and allowed some time to carefully pick my words.
'Sure I was there when the guild was made, but that doesn't mean I'm more important than others.' Groups have always made me nervous, not because I put myself on a high pedestal, but because I'm afraid of messing up again.
-Memories of a young man dying before my eyes, flashes before me, the illusion was all too real and it made me feel nauseous.-
"Hey, I know what you're thinking; trust me, I been there," Jenny had reached out for my hand and held it in hers.
"But I know for a fact that being depressed won't change anything, you'll burn yourself out if you don't realize how much stress you're currently in." The usual energetic blonde had now been replaced with a person of wisdom and experience.
I look back up to Jenny chestnut colored eyes, they were filled with determination to bring me back, and in all honesty, I was going to come back after I had time to myself.
However, this situation is different, I somewhat know of Jenny's past; so I can relate to her feelings a bit.
"Okay, I'll come back to the guild." Jenny lets out a sigh of relief upon hearing my words.
Sadly, I just said that in order to make her stop talking about the topic for now.
I soon realize my whetstone snaps in two as I was fighting with unpleasant thoughts.
"Haha, here." Jenny hands me a new one and I start polishing the axe portion of my Charge Blade.
"Man, polishing a Charge Blade must suck! My good old Hammer just needs to be round and have a few checkups with good old doctor Blacksmith!"
I nod in agreement. "Yea, you need to polish the sword and the axe in order to keep it in good conditions"
Jenny lets out a small chuckle. "Man, good thing we have a long road ahead of us."
She quickly gives me a sincere look of apology. "I'm going to take a nap, I just hate waiting."
I just wave my hand and dismissed her worries. "I really don't mind, I'll probably take a quick nap as well."
In reality, I was planning on staying awake for the rest of the trip and have some time to think things through.
Jenny nods in understanding and starts getting comfortable in the cart.
"Alright then, nighty night." She waves her hand in a sloppy manner and smiles as she closes her eyes.
"Good night, Jenny…" I look up and see the sun shining as bright as ever, I can't help but smile at the fact that she made me say that at this hour.
The teen was sleeping peacefully after a few seconds. "I hope everything will turn out okay," I mutter these words under my breath.
Without my companion to distract me, memories of my difficult past start to haunt me once more. I envy Jenny, the blonde had a dark history and yet she was able to hide any emotions of despair underneath a layer of happiness and false emotions.
I was always the observant one, I could somewhat guess when someone was not being honest by just staring into their eyes, Jenny was one of these so-called dishonest people.
When I closed my eyes, I could picture her chestnut eyes, they were always emotionless like a statue when talking about memories related to her childhood...
'Jenny's eyes remind me of myself...' I remember the mirror I stared into before departing, my eyes gave no emotion and I knew that it was true.
I just shrug these feelings away and decided it was best to leave them for another day, I receive too much stress these days, just because I been hunting for so long doesn't mean I'm perfect.
I look over to Jenny's and see her sleeping peaceful, with her small body moving up and down occasionally because of the cart wheels hitting a rock.
"..?" My eyebrows rise in confusion and curiosity, Jenny had a sad look on her face while she slept.
Most likely due to a nightmare related to any hellish memory us Hunters tend to develop over time.
Either that or she remembered the time that Beowulf – our so-called Guild-master – tried to sweet talk her into a date.
I look outwards of the cart and realize that we reached the outer layer of the Ever-woods, a huge lake with crystal clear water, and waterfalls here and there; the structures in the water are what mostly stand out in this area.
Most of them are statues are some kind of creature, but others are pillars and Man-made rocks of many different sizes.
The locals and on the map call this place, 'The lake of ancient memories'.
I reach out and shake Jenny's body gently, she starts mumbling something about Hammers in response to my attempt of waking her.
Shaking my head, I keep trying to wake her.
"Mmm-ugh, are we there yet?" Jenny woke up and started rubbing her eyes.
I hand her a container of water and nod. "Yup we reached the the lake, so might as well get ready"
Jenny takes the container and takes a drink "Sweet! Can't wait to hunt!" The blonde yells excitably.
"Looks like you never change either, just be careful." I start preparing my belongings.
Jenny just smiles and gives me a thumbs up. "No need to worry!"
'That's when I worry the most...' A sigh escapes my mouth but went unnoticed by the teen.
Finally reaching a complete stop, we start packing the things that we'll take with us.
The rest of the materials we won't need are left in a box at the camp site, the good thing about a quest in the Ever-woods is that we don't have a time limit, due to its vast size.
So the Guild sends us extra materials in order to survive a few nights before we call it quits and head back.
As for myself, I was waiting for Jenny to put on her Ukanlos armor, which didn't take her long as I heard armor clanking getting louder and louder.
"Well, I'm ready!" Jenny says this as her fist pumps the air.
"Likewise, let's head out." I gave out the order and we start walking out of the camp site and into the woods.
Only footsteps were heard as we walk through the forest trail in silence.
"So, got any plans?"I heard Jenny speak from behind.
I just shrug in response. "Just hit it till it dies."
"Awesome, just how I like it! I'm going to smash its skull wide open" I just shrug at her crazy and full of energy persona.
Looking up ahead, I spot some Aptonoths, but they were acting odd.
'The poor things are running from something' I concluded as I saw them panic.
"Hey, the Aptonoths are being chased by something." As I hear Jenny voiced out my thoughts.
"Get ready..." I warn her of the incoming danger.
The stampede ran pass us, and soon the forest went back to silence.
"..." The tension was building up as my eyes searched the surrounding area.
All of a sudden the ground shakes and the earth splits in half between Jenny and me.
"What the-!?" Jenny's voice was cut off as we roll out of the alarming danger.
I turn around and stand my ground, there it was, Deviljho the Brute Wyvern.
Brute wyverns usually have strong legs and long tails, but really short arms. The only Brute wyvern with decent length arms is the Brachydios, who in this case, can use them for offense and defense.
"Looks like we found Mr. Deviljho! Or how I like to call him, 'The walking Pickle!'"
I ignore Jenny and stare right at the Devil's eye as a sign of challenging him. "Time to hunt."
I take out my Charge blade in its sword and shield form and maintain a defensive stance, having my right leg forward along with my right arm holding up the shield; meanwhile, my left foot planted on the ground behind me along with my left arm holding my blade.
The Deviljho lets out a powerful roar, said screech was strong enough to make me hide behind my shield in order to avoid my ears getting damaged.
Jenny, on the other hand, was wearing earplugs, which gave her the perfect opportunity to strike.
"HEY! Ya ugly pickle! Shut up and let out a cry of pain instead!" Jenny runs up to the creature and slams her hammer on its leg two times and does a powerful Rock-Thrower. The Deviljho does indeed let out a cry of pain but also falls down on its side, blessing an opening to those around it.
Taking full advantage of this situation, I dash to the Brute Wyvern's face.
The monster, upon seeing me starts biting furiously at the air near me.
I hold my left arm back and wait for the blade to charge up, soon enough I feel the heat emitting from the blade.
I react to this signal and slash its face with two powerful blows; one as an uppercut and the other one as a vertical slash, I follow up with a spin and land a third horizontal blow across its eye.
My blade had cut deep enough to leaves a scar on the Deviljho's left eye.
The creature showed signs of standing up, however, I wasn't done just yet.
The previous spin attack if perform correctly leads up to one last hit, I thrust the part of the shield where the blade goes, into the monster's mouth and pulled the trigger.
The explosion sent Deviljho's head reeling backwards, the brute quickly used the momentum for a lung attack that I saw coming a mile away, a graceful dodge was enough to position myself back to safety.
"Nice Job, Blizzard!" Jenny runs up to the Deviljho who's now a few feet away from me.
The large brute was clearly in pain… But at the same time, I can see the Deviljho changing colors.
"Jenny! It's entering Rage mode! Get out of there!" The blonde stops in her tracks and starts running towards me.
The Deviljho lets out a furious roar, It's back had swollen up and turned red, scars it had gotten from previous fights started glowing a dark crimson red.
It was evident what the creature was going for after taking a few steps back.
"Jenny, get behind me!" I run as fast as possible to get her behind my shield before it's too late, I can see the Deviljho putting its head at ground level and opening its mouth.
Everything happened so fast, I managed to get Jenny behind my shield but right at the same time, felt a powerful force hitting against it.
A dark cloud of draconic discharge had a direct impact with my shield. "Hang in there!" Jenny held my hips in order to maintain our footing.
The Deviljho stops and roars in anger, but little did it know the situation it put itself in.
"The most common thing about a brute wyvern? They are completely stupid." I grin as I could feel my shield absorbing the energy.
Jenny laughs in agreement. "Ready? Your shield is glowing, so I assume its ready for some destructive attacks."
I nod and start putting my blade into the shield in order summon its axe mode.
"Yo, I got a plan! It might sound crazy but you gotta trust me!" Jenny gives me a smug smile and starts explaining the plan…
"You're completely nuts and stupid," I respond to her idea.
Jenny just gives me a thumbs up and nods. "Yes, I am. I'm also damn proud of it! Just hurry up and do it, the Deviljho is charging right at us!"
I turn immediately and what Jenny said was right, the brute was charging at us, earth shaking underneath the weight of its steps.
'Ugh, whatever, don't blame me if you get killed' There wasn't any time to second guess this plan.
Following the plan, I plant my axe into the ground behind me, Jenny then stands on the dull part of my weapon, while also grabbing my shoulder with one hand and carving knife in the other.
"NOW!" At her command, I muster all my might and swing the axe over my head.
Right before sending Jenny flying towards the Deviljho, I had to pull the trigger, this made an explosion at the base of the axe where she was standing. Causing Jenny to fly at high speeds and high enough to land on the Deviljho's back.
Jenny then stabs the Carving Knife as deep as possible into its back before she slips off.
"Ahaha! I got you now ya ugly pickle!" I stand there in shock as I see Jenny mount the monster.
Deviljho is putting up quite the fight, shaking and tossing around, it roars and spins trying its hardest to knock out the Konchu on its back.
'Actually, I think Jenny would be worst then a Konchu.' I allow myself to smile a bit.
I observe as the Deviljho finally stops in order to catch its breath, Jenny starts stabbing the spinal core of the creature.
'..!' I noticed Deviljho's right knee bending.
I run towards the knee and swing my axe while also pulling the charge trigger, – Charge Phials started flying outwards – It hits the knee and causes an explosion.
'I only have 3 more charge phials.' I re-position myself as the brute wyvern started falling under its own weight, Jenny falls off as it fell and landed near me.
"Alright! Let's get that head!" Jenny runs ahead as I walk slowly towards the head.
"On it… This axe isn't exactly light…" I mutter a bit annoyed.
Jenny lands a full basic combo, as I sent a phial flying towards it head with a side strike; using the momentum to swing my axe around me twice.
Before the second phial ran out, the second swing was fast enough to get a free strike onto its head.
'That makes 3 Explosions… Right, time to end this!' I grit my teeth as I lift my weapon.
"Alright! Time for the finisher Liz!" Jenny gets ready to do an Earth-Shaker, as I pull my axe behind my head and start charging the last Phial.
This made it enter into super-mode, making the charge unstable but stronger.
I slam the axe as hard as possible onto the Deviljho's skull and Jenny lands the Earth-Shaker attack dead on.
We then roll to our sides before the phials explode, in a second before Deviljho got back onto its feet, the phials exploded and daze him into a KO state
Jenny and I continued our barrage of attacks again, switching to my sword and shield form, I went for my basic slashes in order to fill up the phials again.
Jenny starts the Cyclone attack, using her body as a pole, she managed to land all five spin attacks and the strong finisher at the sixth spin.
The Deviljho starts getting up but loses its rage mode, it switches to its hunger state, but a Deviljho gets more dangerous in this phase; the saliva that it starts drooling is enough to burn through armor with ease.
It suddenly flings itself forward in order to try and bite my head off, quick reactions allowed me to shield the attack, but it sent me stumbling backwards in the process.
Jenny lands a quick Rock Thrower on its underbelly and draws its attention.
"HEY LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!" She rolls to the left and dodges the Deviljho's attempt of stomping her.
I sheath my weapon and I run towards the Deviljho.
"I got your back!" I grab the hilt of my weapon, however, I summon its axe form and deliver a draw attack on its wounded leg.
The axe sinks into the muscle like nothing, I pull the trigger and it releases a charge phial inside of the Deviljho leg.
The wound open up drastically, full view of its bone and internal muscles were visible.
Deviljho lets out a roar of pain and spins around at full speed, it hits me with the lowered tail and sends me flying a couple of feet.
The grip on my weapon loosens, causing me to drop my Charge-Blade mid-way.
"D-damn it, I should have seen that coming!" I scold myself as Deviljho glares at me with indescribable amounts of anger.
Entering rage mode it instantly starts taking in deep breaths, I could only close my eyes and brace myself.
"I got you!" I felt Jenny tackle me to the ground and shielded me with her body.
It wasn't enough to fully protect us.
The pain we felt was terrible, fire and electricity striking you at the same time is the only way I could ever describe it.
I could feel it burning me inside out and paralyzing my lower body, the area that was thankfully slightly protected by my leggings.
The attack soon stopped and I could hear something limping away. "It's getting a-away..." I whispered weakly.
I hear coughing next to me and I can see Jenny getting up.
Her Ukanlos armor might be bulky, but it doesn't resist Dragon-Element all that well.
"ugh, that hurt like hell…" Jenny struggles to keep herself up, while I can't do anything.
I lost my weapon and I can't feel my legs, I just need time to rest…
"Liz, drink this." Jenny was taking out a jar with green liquid, a mega potion.
"T-Thank you, I can barely feel my legs." I take the jar gingerly and start drinking the substance inside, I could feel my bruises disappearing along with some cuts.
"Hey, let's just camp for the night, we'll chase it down tomorrow." I agreed with her suggestion...
AN: Let me describe these two characters a bit, I plan on giving brief descriptions at the end of the chapter when it comes to newly introduce characters, so without further ado:
Blizzard Ishi'ryoku:
20 years old
Height: 5'11
Azure colored eyes.
White/platinum colored hair.
Pale skin tone.
Jenny:
18 years old.
Height: 5'5
Chestnut colored eyes.
Blonde hair.
White Peach skin tone.
(Jenny was made by a very close friend of mine, who is also writing her POV of this story, their story isn't public yet.)