1: Summons From The Guild
Dante sat up in his bed with a gasp, finally being allowed respite from his nightmare. His brow was slick with sweat; his body had clearly been restless as his mindenacted the twisted dream. Ignoring the pang of the cold midnight against his bare chest, he scanned the room feverishly, as if looking for an enemy in the shadows. He felt something salty and wet touch the corner of his lip. As he smoothed his finger across the source of irritation he realized that he'd been crying softly. He sharply turned his head in the nighttime darkness at the sound of a soft, carefree moan. It was only his girlfriend, Alexis, rolling over to lie on her stomach, her long ebony hair reaching over the bed covers to rest lazily upon them in an untidy mess. As Dante was about to make another attempt at peaceful sleep (which was likely to fail), Alexis slowly rose from her position, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She looked around sluggishly until her eyes found her boyfriend, sitting upright, sweating, his eyes alight with fear. She dragged herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders protectively from her place on the right side of the bed as he stared blankly ahead into the window at the foot of the bed, which let in the bleak, misty moonlight from the world outside.
"Another nightmare?" she asked softly, though she already knew the answer.
"Yeah. Always the same one; that strange monster…its fur-covered wings…its sharp talons pinning me down. It roars in my face, and then…and then…" Dante couldn't bring himself to finish, but Alexis knew exactly what he would've said. She kissed his cheek comfortingly, and gently pushed her hand down on his chest, motioning him to lie down.
"Just try and get some sleep. There's no need to be scared, I'm right here," she murmured tenderly, enveloping the distressed young man in her embrace, his head nuzzled deep in her arms, which curled around his back. She hummed an old lullaby and stroked the back of his head like a child until he fell asleep.
Morning. When he woke up, he was still in Alexis' embrace. He smiled, and carefully shrugged her off of him, wanting to get free and to wake her up. That was what was good about Alexis when it came to a hunt; she was a light sleeper, and easy to wake.
With a peaceful sigh she peeled her body from the bed as her eyes slowly flickered open, gazing upon her loved one, a sweet, simple smile sketched upon her face.
"What time is it?" she asked with wryness, still smiling, her senses returning quickly.
"Uh, about…nine, ten in the morning?" he replied unsurely.
"Then we've still got plenty of time," she purred playfully, wrapping her arms around his neck, tugging him back under the bed sheets and leaning in to kiss him tenderly at the same time.
Kairu was a small town on the outskirts of the region of Tarin, in the Guild-controlled country of Altus, the largest country in the known world and the central seat of Guild power. Although many people saw Chancellor Tojou to be in command, the de facto leader of the Guild, and therefore the known world, was Archminister Grimsley, although nobody ever really saw or heard much from him since the beginning of the war with the Separatist Province of Tenkai, a fairly large area of land which had incited civil war with Altus about ten years ago. Dante and Alexis had only been about five at the time, so they were too young to understand. But they did now, to a lesser extent; Tenkai apparently disagreed with the Guild policies and the way it was run, despite the fact that there hadn't been any form of protest directed at the Guild since the Reformation over two-hundred years ago. The Guild had been in peace talks with them for eleven years before that, so it was hardly surprising to the rest of the people of Altus when war was formally declared by Grimsley himself. However, a recent turn of the tide in Altus' favour was bringing the war to a close. One final push was all it would take to drive Tenkai over the edge.
As Dante and Alexis strolled past the walls of houses and miscellaneous stores that were situated on either side of them and toward the Guild Hall, the voice of Dante's best friend echoed from behind.
"Heeeeeeey! Wait for me!" Aaron yelled, running as fast as his Rathalos Soul G armour would allow. A huge Shiny Rathalos Sword G was strapped to his back. As he caught up with Alexis, who was clad in simple Steel+ armour and sported a Hi Ninja Sword G (which was, ironically, crafted in Tenkai) and Dante, who sported Rathalos+ armour and the Red Divine Flame, he smiled at the Guild Hall with anticipation.
"Do you know why we've been summoned by the Guild?" Dante asked, desperate for clarification, the trio all tucking their helmets under their arms to talk. A few days ago, he and Alexis had had a message delivered from the Guild (whom employed them) asking them to report to their local Guild Hall at twelve sharp. The thing that perplexed him so was that he had no idea why and neither did Alexis. But, clearly, Aaron had it figured out.
"Well…" Aaron replied unsurely, placing his hands on the back of his head absentmindedly (as he had been wont to do, for all the years Dante had known him), trying to figure out a way to explain what he wanted to say. "I don't know, per se, but I've got a feeling it's something to do with Tetsuya."
"Who?" Alexis jumped in.
"Uh, Tetsuya?" Aaron repeated, as if it was obvious. Dante and Alexis stared at him with blank innocence. Aaron let out a sigh of half-hearted exasperation.
"I'm only talking about Shikimaru Tetsuya, leader of the Separatist Province of Tenkai!"Aaron exclaimed. "Geez, don't you guys know anything about Tenkai?"
Aaron was right, they really shouldn't have been so riddled; Shikimaru Tetsuya was the self-appointed emperor of Tenkai and the rebellious region's general, although he often kept his hands clean, instead formulating the strategies for his soldiers to follow rather than doing the dirt himself. This wasn't cowardice; he had never fled a fight on the sparse occasions in which he was challenged, but other than that he stayed behind the scenes. He was a shrewd man, and an excellent tactician. It was this keen mind that kept the Guild on their toes, even though Tenkai was on the brink of defeat.
Of course, the village's mind had been on other things far more important than Tenkai. Recently, a strange and virulent contagion had taken hold, one that threatened Altus' entire populace. They called it the "Mad Dragon Virus", mainly for the detrimental effect it had on certain monsters such as Elder Dragons, certain Pseudowyverns and most Flying Wyverns. Its effect on monsters was extremely adverse to those it had on a human; a human would simply grow frail and weak before slowly dying, whereas monsters would survive the infection, and their eyes would turn purple and dark, varicose veins would sprawl across their hides. They would also gain insanely brutal strength but at the same time driving them utterly insane (hence the "Mad"). The monsters that were seen to be affected by the Mad Dragon Virus then had "Mad" added to the beginning of their name when referred to by hunters, but the Guild simply stamped the contracts for the hunting of a Mad monster with a purple biohazard symbol.
That was the strange thing about the Mad Dragon Virus; it wasn't something that you just caught with the season or the area, like a cold, or influenza. It seeped into your system through any wound or cut you may have sustained, no matter how minute. The Village Elder's son had caught it when an infected monster wounded him, and the Elder herself had caught it when she cut herself and her son was nearby. The only way to avoid the disease was to not cut yourself. Of course, since this was difficult for hunters, it was often they who were affected most. As a result, villages with high concentrations of the Mad Dragon Virus were quickly running low on hunters to protect their village, and attacks from small monsters such as Jaggi, Baggi and Furogi as well as larger monsters such as Tigrex were becoming a lot more common. Kairu had suffered no such attacks, as it was only a small outlying village with nothing much that these carnivorous Wyverns might want, but even still, it feared such an event and warned hunters constantly to stay safe.
Dante, Alexis and Aaron had reached the door to the Guild Hall at last. Aaron swung the door open slowly, and a wall of noise greeted them, different from the relative quiet of Kairu proper. The chattering of hunters both leaving and returning from a hunt, as well as the drunken laughter of those gathered around the bar and the quiet (compared to the noise around them) undertone of the hunters who sat at tables eating, was enough to wake up the village, startling the still slightly groggy Dante.
"You're still tired?" Aaron said, raising an eyebrow theatrically at his friend. "…Did you two have sex?" he asked bluntly, with a hint of mischief. Alexis blushed ever so slightly.
"Ahhh, so you did! Well, good for you. Just…try not to overpopulate the village, 'kay?" he said wryly, laughing to himself briefly. Then, Dante spotted some of their friends, standing by the bar. Only a couple of them were actually drinking, though. One was female, dressed in Uragaan armour with a Crimsonwall upon her back, another, also female, clad in Gurenzeburu armour, wielding its corresponding hammer, another pair-one male, one female- sported Gogomoa armour; the male wielded a sword and shield while the female bore a longsword, both of which were also crafted from Gogomoa materials. The last two were both male; one donned Akura Vashimu armour and dual swords while the other was clad in Akura Jebia armour and dual swords.
"Hey guys!" Alexis exclaimed, causing the group of friends to look up from their respective conversations, exclamations of surprise and happiness blurted out from each of them.
"Long time no see, Teiko, Ash," Dante said, smiling at the two Gogomoa-armoured hunters.
"Yeah, we kinda got stuck in Jonton; the monster we'd been sent to hunt was, in fact, a Mad Barioth. Damn thing nearly killed Ash here. No wonder the client didn't say what the target was; poor guy must've known nobody'd help him if he said the creature was Mad. I don't understand how the request was even given a grant if it didn't have the biohazard stamp on it," Teiko explained matter-of-factly. Ash hit him on the shoulder.
"Hey, it nearly killed you too!" Ash complained as she ran her fingers through her silvery hair, annoyed at being made to look so helpless.
"Shut up, sis…!" Teiko hissed out of the corner of his mouth. Dante giggled at the pair. Tekio and Ash were brother and sister, and as a result were always competing with each other to be a better hunter. Teiko would be better than Ash, but his reckless bravado often got him into trouble, so overall, Ash was slightly "better", if only in the intelligence sense.
"ALEXIS!" the girls in Uragaan and Gurenzeburu armours squealed excitedly, rushing over to hug their erstwhile friend.
"APRIL! RUBY!" Alexis squealed back, all three of the girls squeezing the life out of each other as they hugged.
"Hang on a second, where's Yumi?!" Alexis asked, worried. Yumi was her best friend, and an accomplished hunter. "Don't tell me…that Mad Barioth killed her?!"
"No, no, no! Don't get so wound up!" April said, taking a swing of ale from Teiko's cup while he wasn't looking. Ruby and Alexis giggled at this as she talked. "She's just doing something. Oh, look! Here she comes now."
Ruby and Alexis both turned to the entrance with April to see a slender girl in Jhen Mohran armour and armed with a switch axe, the Great Demonbind G, strolling in. Her hair was black, tied back into a neat bun, her armour covered with small, barely noticeable bloodstains. She stopped when she laid eyes on Alexis.
"Alexis?" Yumi called out.
"Yumi?" Alexis replied.
"ALEXIS!" Yumi shouted.
"YUMI!" Alexis shouted back, and the two ran to cuddle each other, giggling immaturely as packs of teenage girls were wont to do. "When you weren't here I thought that Mad Barioth had killed you!"
"Oh, you heard about that, huh? Yeah, well…no disease-ridden, oversized cat is gonna get the better of Yumi!" she huffed boastfully, her friends laughing at her amusing display of pride. "Still, we're all extremely lucky that no-one was wounded in that fight. We'd have been infected otherwise…" Yumi said seriously, trailing away, pausing to think with dread about what might've been.
"Oh, cheer up, Yumi; nobody was hurt and that's that. We're all fine!" Ruby said cheerily.
"Yeah, until the next hunt. What if the next one turns out to be Mad as well? Do you think lightning won't strike in the same place twice?" Yumi snapped. Ruby looked down, abashed.
"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Alexis asked. "Relax! I know it's difficult, the infection and all…but nobody was hurt. Sure, next time you might not be so lucky, but don't think about that. Live in the now!" Alexis smiled, and Yumi managed a smile in return, once again returning to enjoy her reunion with her best friend. After all, Yumi, along with Ruby, April, Teiko, Ash and the Akura Twins, as they were known around the village, hadn't seen Dante, Aaron or Alexis in a month; Jonton was a city in Tsutoko, one of the inner regions of Altus, and it took a long time to travel there and back to and from an outlying village like Kairu in an outer region like Tarin.
Aaron had missed Eiji and Ichiro (or the Akura Twins, as they had been dubbed by the villagers). As they talked, Dante, Teiko and Ash came up beside them and joined in.
"Teiko, Ash," Aaron said, smiling as he nodded, acknowledging the siblings. Teiko nodded back while Ash smiled girlishly.
"Long time no see, Eiji, Ichiro. I heard about the Mad Barioth. Tough times, huh?" Dante said.
"Damn right," Eiji said, twirling one of his Akura Vashimu dual swords absentmindedly. "Damn thing nearly fucking killed us. To be honest, I don't think we'd all have made back alive if it wasn't for Ash. She was the one who saw the damned thing about to ambush us in the first place, as well as saving April and l from the monster on several occasions. We owe you one, Ash." "Aww, that's alright; it's no biggy," Ash chirped, smiling still.
"Oh, looky here; I think we're about to find out why we're here," Ichiro murmured with anticipation, pointing to the back entrance, where two Guild soldiers (as could be seen by their red and gold attire) walked in beside a female hunter dressed in Barioth X armour and bearing its respective sword and shield and a male hunter bearing Rukodiora armour, a Rukodiora-crafted rapier hanging from a scabbard attached to the right side of his hip. He had no shield to accompany it, however.
"Oh my god…whatever we've been summoned for, it must be pretty darn important," Yumi said seriously as she, Alexis, April and Ruby joined their friends in gazing upon the spectacle. "That guy's from the military higher-ups; only the real high-ranking officers, the generals and field marshals and colonels and stuff wear armour other than the Guild uniform. And since he's wearing Rukodiora gear…it must mean he's part of the black ops department. Whatever we're gonna be asked to do, I'll bet gold to gunlances it's real hush-hush."
The ten hunters watched as the four strangers approached them. Despite the fact that there was a high-ranking officer from the Guild in their midst, the other occupants of the Guild Hall barely took any notice at all. The foursome stopped in front of them, the two Guild officers standing slightly behind while the Barioth-armoured hunter and the high-ranking officer stood prominent, both of their faces hidden from view beneath their helms.
"Greetings," the Rukodiora-clad man said. His voice was formal and polite, with the tone of a fairly young man, perhaps later twenties or early thirties, and sounded ever-so-slightly tinny from beneath his helmet. "I am General Irvine, commanding officer of the black operations department within the Guild military." Irvine pointed to the woman adjacent to him. This is Miyuki, an elite hunter and agent of the Guild. We have come here to summon you to spearhead the operation in which we will assassinate Emperor Shikimaru Tetsuya and bring an end to the war with Tenkai."