I Hunters 1: New Beginnings
Othello and Rafael strolled around the lake in a lighthearted manner. They were looking for any signs of a campfire or tent. It had been five days since the butcher left on the kelbi hunt that they ran away to avoid. They returned only to learn that he had not been back since, and were sent to find him. Othello was a rather large man, standing about six feet tall, and weighing around two hundred pounds. His hair was cut very short, and he had a scar across his cheek. He claims it was from betting money that he could not pay when he lost. He carried a large wooden club on his back. Rafael was also tall, standing a little shorter than Othello, but weighing about one hundred and sixty pounds. He was a guild receptionist back in Kokoto until the first Lao Shan Lung attack. He, like many others, was laid off after all the hunters left. So he moved to Ascaris, where he made a decent living farming and selling general goods. He carried two short blades, one viciously serrated, the other smooth and deadly, one on each leg.
They stopped in their tracks when they heard soft growls and snarls coming from the woods. As they drew closer, they spotted three blue, scaled creatures. They were fighting over something. As they drew nearer still, they realized what that something was. It was a huge, pink. armor-plated carcass. They were practically inside it, feasting on it's innards. On the ground near them, they spotted an obviously old, but well-made sword. The tip of it's blade was chipped and it's handle was bent. There was a light coating of blood caked on the whole blade. There were blood-stained shreds of cloth and leather all over the area. They sighed in unison when they realized what had become of the butcher they had left to go out alone.
Enraged, Othello drew his neandertholithic weapon off his leather-padded back and held it over his head, rushing the pack. Rafael was not far behind, each hand on a sword, prepared to draw. Othello neared the closest creature, which was behind the others, apparently waiting for it's turn. He slammed his club squarely into it's spine, and blood sprayed from it's mouth, showering it's friend's back ends. As they turned to the source of the ruckus, Rafael was almost upon the largest one. He took a jumping double stab for it's throat, but it had pulled back slightly, and only got a light cut. Rafael rolled as he landed, and smiled when he saw the result. All he would need was time now. Othello was beginning to tire. After missing six earth-shattering swings of that ridiculous weapon, who wouldn't be? Each time he swung, the creature would jump back, or to the side, and land a bite on his wrist. His bracer was wearing thin, and he feared the creature would soon pierce his skin, probably taking his hand quickly once it came off. So he had an idea. He held the club over his shoulder, like he was preparing another straight swing. He swung upwards and missed, for the creature had pulled back, and was now lunging at him. He used the force from his swing to continue spinning, though, and brought the club to the ground with an over-the-shoulder swing that shattered the creature's skull. Then, he heard Rafael scream, "Duck!". He decided to swing blindly behind him, but before he could even get the club ready, he was brought to the ground by a savage leap. His leather and iron helmet flew from his head, and the creature stood on his back, prepared to decapitate him. As it reared back for the killing blow, it collapsed. Othello rolled over and rose, finding an innumerable amount of small slashes all along the creature which gave it's hide a virtual coating of blood, along with a rather large gash in it's throat that had it's entire stomach soaked in blood. It growled weakly before it's brains were sent flying in all directions across the grass.
"Why did you decide to skip town! We should have just went on the kelbi hunt, you idiot!"
"You wanted to do it just as badly as I did! How was I supposed to know that this… DEMON was in the area?"
"What are we going to tell his family?"
"The truth."
"Oh, and it's called a Kut-Ku."
"Shut up."
They used one of Rafael's swords as a chisel as they cleaved the wyvern's beak from it's face. Othello carried the beak over his shoulder, while Rafael sliced off some of the plates and put them in his bag, along with a bloody boot and the sword they found. They began the long trek home.
"That was a nice swing you did back there."
"Thanks."
"Yup."
"HEY! If you were watching your fight and not mine, yours wouldn't have jumped on me!"
"..."
Sweat trickled down his face. It fell from his chin onto his blade, leaving a white stain running down the otherwise crimson blade. It rolled to the tip of one of the serrated edges, gathered for a second, and fell to the puddle below with a splash. Tigrex's eyes lit up and it's head shot upward, sniffing and listening intensely for it's assailant turned prey. It turned toward him and rushed faster than any bullet a bowgun could fire.
"…Elder?"
"…..Elder?"
Flynn shook the small man by the shoulder, and he shook out of his trance, still sweating. He looked arond, seeming almost startled to find himself at the guild elders' meeting chamber.
"Elder, what do you propose we do about these two?"
He cast a scathing glare in Othello and Rafael's direction. They squirmed under his intense gaze.
"Let them decide for themselves, young Flynn. The most just judgment for a remorseful man is one cast upon himself."
Flynn picked his jaw up off the marble desk they were sitting at and regained his composure.
"Very Well. What do you scoundrels suggest we do?"
A soft snap was heard as Othello's white-knuckle grip on his wooden chair splintered one of the handles. Rafael was the first to speak.
"We hunt."
"W-w-w-WHA?" Othello cried, obviously surprised.
"I suggest that we be made the first hunters of Ascaris since the Great Hunter Exodus caused by the recent Lao Shan encroachment.", Rafael said calmly.
The elder fondled his beard, as he always did when in thought, and came to a conclusion.
"Very well. It is settled. You…potatoes…. two will be our…chicken…."
Othello zoned out and drool began to collect on his lower lip.
About an hour later, at the same table, Rafael and Othello were rummaging through a stack of papers and potraits.
"This one is awfully lean. Probably very agile."
"No, this one is much stronger! He'll be able to carry a massive weapon!"
"What about this one? He looks quite smart, his profile says he has the best aim in the village."
"No, he has a family to come back to. Let's take the big guy!"
"I think one lumbering oaf is eno-"
Rafael stopped dead mid-sentence with is jaw hanging to the table.
"So, I heard you boys were looking for a third hunter…."
Othello looked behind him to find why Rafael was drooling all over the prospective hunter profiles. She was drop-dead gorgeous. Her jet-black hair was cut short. She wore what some would call tattered rags, and others would call swim wear. Her outfit was by no means at all loose, and did nothing but flatter her already elegant frame.
"H-h-hu-h-hi.", Rafael managed to stammer before promptly running to the washroom totake care of his nosebleed.
"My name is Alexis. You can call me Lexi."
Othello stood to shake her hand, taking her attention off Rafael and his awkwardly flattering behavior.
"I'm Othello."
Sporting her sturdier, but still just as skimpy, new leather outfit, Alexis rolled to the side to dodge the velociprey's lunge. She landed rather gracefully in the arena's dirt, and used her momentum to get straight back to her feet. The unlucky velociprey screeched as she slammed it a crushing blow to the top of it's head with her fist.
A half hour after he disappeared in the recruitment room, Rafael joined Othello, who was in a spectator's tower of the Great Arena, watching Alexis in arena 2.
She sent it rolling along the grass, dead, with an uppercut. As another approached her from her left, she pulled back her right hand as if to punch it, but brutally slammed her left boot heel into it's throat as it reared back for a lunge. The crunch was audible from the tower. Rafael wiped his nose before Othello noticed the blood running down once more. As the final velociprey rushed her from behind, she pulled the light bowgun off her back and spun around simultaneously. It's charred remains landed ten feet away.
Rafael fell flat on his back, blood gushing from his nose. Othello sighed.
"How was it?"
"Fun", She managed to mutter between deep breaths.
"Care to explain how you pummeled a velociprey and broke another one's neck with a single kick? I mean, they were young, but JEEZ!", Othello inquired, still stunned at her performance.
Alexis rolled up one of her leather greaves to the knee, which revealed a steel shin-guard.
"I also have plating from my fist to my elbow. Why do you think I didn't carry a melee weapon? What kind of idiot fights with just a bowgun…"
Rafael leapt out of nowhere and banged her on the head with something. As she got up, Othello let out a hearty chuckle.
"I agree."
In red, was the word stamped on her forehead: HIRED.
Two weeks after her incident with Rafael, she stood beside the unlikely duo, just as taken back by the sheer beauty and magnitude of the forest as they were. It was at least three times the size of the forest at the bottom of the mountain, and probably much more dangerous. One would think that to find such a large forest, you'd have to go down the mountain, but it's actually slightly higher up than Ascaris, on the other side of the mountain. It was a seven-day hike, but the elder said it should only be five once the roads are learned.
"Soo... we gonna kill this thing or what?"
"Got to find it first, you oaf."
A cool, gentle breeze swept through the trees, ever so gently placing a dead leaf into Othello's mouth. He momentarily panicked and tripped over a root. Looking around, he couldn't help but wonder why more people didn't visit the forest. There were trees higher than Lao Shan was rumored to be, with trunks so wide that the three of them could not hug it. Protruding roots and saplings made it a bit tricky to navigate through quickly, and would make this place a death trap at night. He shook off the awe and jogged to catch up with the others. As he did, he thought he saw a streak blue of pass in the distance. It was probably just a bird.
"Don't you guys find this strange, that we're hunting an alpha rapt-"
"Velocidrome, Lexi"
"Whatever, but I think it's strange that the leader's in the area and we haven't spotted a single one.."
The sound of dry leaves crunching was heard briefly in the distance, followed by a barely audible growl. Othello was the first to ready his weapon. It was almost the same ridiculous club that he carried on his first quest with Rafael, but when he pushed a button, about a dozen 5-inch steel spikes jutted out of holes all around it, making it even more fearsome. Rafael, inspired by Alexis's gear, sported chrome steel from his shoulder to his fist on his left arm, and had what used to be his first short sword strung around his waist. It had been at the Blacksmith's for the whole two weeks, soaking in and being treated with various poisons. It was now a viciously poisonous blade named Sparky. Alexis was still decked out on each limb with steel, but she now carried a massive bowgun on her back. It was mostly metal, but had some parts made of a flagrantly pink, scaly material.
The gang stood in silence, back to back to back, waiting for any sign of movement.
VOP s'sixelA
Rafael's joking demeanor vanished. Othello snapped out of his perpatual dote, it was amazing how fast people change when the situation calls for it. I heard more leaves crunch to my left, and saw a brief flash of blue on black in the distance. Heard growl coming from my right. Dead ahead was another one, crouching and staring me dead in the face.
"I got three", I said.
"eight"
"four"
I drew my Kut Ku Cannon off my back slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements. I fired the round I had loaded in advance into a tree trunk, about 15 feet directly above the velociprey in front of me. Thanks to my silencer, you never would have known I had fired anything, except for the recoil knocking me into Rafael and Othello, knocking Rafael over with me. As the three I saw, as well as about nine others behind them and most of those spotted by Rafael charged, the silver shell that my gun had planted in the tree, which I named "The purge shot" exploded. It was a high pressure capsule filled with innumerable metal spikes, all soaked in monster fluid. Its discharge sent needles everywhere. They simply jammed into my and Rafael's leather armor, and fell to the ground harmlessly. Othello's iron armor simply deflected them with a spark or downright shattered them.
"What was that supposed to do, make them angry?", Rafael cried as the velociprey got closer, covered in needles that did nothing but blind a few of them in one eye. As the first one got within striking distance it came to a skidding stop with it's beak buried in the ground. The rest of it's body fell to the ground, eyes bleeding. Rafael stood, eyes wide open, as they began shrieking, vomiting, and farting out their organs all around us.
Othello almost empathized with them. "Dang.", he said as he reared back for a swing.
Phew, good thing that Purge Shot worked, or we could have been in a lot of trouble. I have to make some more of those when I get back, I told myself.
I ducked as Othello batted a velociprey out of the air and into my direction. Hearing it growl, I knew that the one to my left was going to jump. I jumped too, meeting it's jaw with a cast-iron knee. My knee won, and it landed about three feet from Rafael, who was pulling his sword out of one's skull. I landed on another prey's head, getting even more nasty stuff all over the grass.
I looked to my left and Othello was having a field day. Every swing sent two or more velociprey skyward, spines shattered. What I found funny was that one of the prey had gotten stuck on a spike in the club, and was actually adding weight to the already destructive weapon, as well as getting it's brains beaten out.
A little blood got on my face when I round-house kicked the prey in front of me in the face, my shin snapping it's beak clean off. I raised my hand to block something that was rushing toward the back of my head, and what i deflected was a severed velociprey head. Rafael really knew how to work that blade. As I watched him dance between the velociprey, pummeling and slicing them to oblivion, his lean frame became frighteningly obvious under his leather armor. I blushed, thinking I would definitely ask him out later if we made it out of here. Then a wrenching pain in my left arm shook my whole body. I felt like I was floating, then everything went black.
"Crap, Raf, DUCK!", Othello screamed.
Just as he did, Alexis's limp body flew over his head and crashed into a tree behind him. As Rafael ran to help her, Othello looked to see what sent her flying, and met eyes with an absolutely monstrous velociprey. It stood at at least five feet at the hip, and it's tail alone looked to be as long as he was tall. He flinched, almost swallowed by fear, then holstered his club and high tailed it over to Rafael, yelling to get his attention as the beast bounded after him. Rafael, with fire in his eyes, gently put Alexis's crushed arm down, and threw his blade at the monster. It jammed into it's thigh mid-flight, and knocked the beast clean out of the air.
"Thanks", Othello breathed, trying to regain his composure. There were still six more velociprey, as well as the now-injured Velocidrome to take care of. The Velocidrome knocked it's head when it fell and quickly scrambled back to it's feet, placing weight only on one leg. Sparky was jammed into it's leg to the hilt. Rafael, still enraged, rushed it, grabbing a velociprey on the in the way by the neck, spun it around, and chucked it at it's leader. His steel gauntlet crushed it's windpipe and killed it instantly, and it slammed into another, breaking it's neck. Othello, not far behind, batted away a prey that was about to leap on him from behind. As Rafael neared the 'drome, it let out a guttural roar, sending spit and blood to shower Rafael. He leapt at the beast, jumping to the left of it's gaping mouth, and grabbed it's crest with both hands. He pulled his body towards it's head with all his might, and brought his knee directly into it's eye. Without even landing, he wrapped his plated arm around it's neck and used the momentum from his flying knee to bring it to the ground in a solid choke-hold. As Othello wiped the blood off his face from the final velociprey in sight, he looked over and probably would have laughed if the situation was not so dire. His friend lay on the ground, with his torso on top of a Velocidrome twice his size, holding it in a choke-hold so hard that it was bleeding from the mouth. In truth, that was the poison's doing, but it didn't stop Rafael from taking credit for it later.
"Where the heck did it get that black eye from?", he thought as he rushed toward his comrade, ready to end the fight with one overhead swing. He raised it over his head as he ran, and he heard Rafael scream "Duck!". He pushed the button on his club's handle, and the flying velociprey skewered itself on his club. As Othello prepared to end the battle, the Velocidrome wrapped it's claw around Rafael's leg, and tore him from off of it's neck and sent him flying across the dirt. It then sprung to it's feet, and attempted to limp away. Othello promptly slammed his club into it's side, making Rafael's sword disappear inside it's leg. It screeched in agony, falling to the ground and flailing like a fish. Rafael seemingly fell from the sky with an indignant roar and his plated fist forward, half his forearm disappearing into the creature's skull cavity. Blinded by blood and held in place by the creature's skull, Rafael was unable to defend himself against the final velociprey he spotted while his fist was barreling towards the velocidrome's face. He was reassured by what sounded like a gunshot and a simultaneous screech, followed by a thud and a weak groan. He used his right hand to wipe the blood, and saw the broken velociprey at the roots of a tree, blood oozing from every opening. He tore his hand from the monster's skull and raced back to Alexis's side.
"She woke up on the second day of the hike back to the village. Her arm looks pretty bad. Get some help!", Rafael said to the man who had come outside of the village to meet them when he saw them on the horizon. The man darted back inside, yelling for help. The entire village came storming through the gates, scooping the three of them up and carrying them to the Elder's hut.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Monster Hunter. These characters, however, are mine.
If you have anything you'd like to see improved, or even if you just have criticism to give, please leave a review!
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Hunter.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you think you can help to better my story, or even if you just want to give some input.
