Kuraun Hunters!

by Hikatokage

The sequel to -Disheartening Memories- Our beloved Hunters venture forward to unknown lands in order to solve a mysterious problem, they'll experience many hardships and situations that will test the bonds they forged with one another. Story contains: Romance, Friendship, Conflicts, Adventure, and Lore.

2. Chapter 2: The Thunderous Peak

AN: Glad this chapter got out when it did, I'm doing my best to get my original schedule back in place, it sadly got messed up when I posted the new arc (This story right here) after finishing -Disheartening Memories-

Alright, time for the disclaimer!

In no way do I claim the Monster Hunter Series as my own, all content goes to their rightful owner. Please support the original creators of Monster Hunter.

---

Blizzard's POV

I woke up a few hours after dawn, the sunlight creeping through my large window kept disturbing me as I laid on the large bed – naturally, I gave up on getting any more sleep and prepared myself for the day ahead of me.
It wasn't long till I step out of my room and into the hallway, I did walk over to Jenny's room and put my ear on the door frame, a few seconds of silence was enough to conclude that she was asleep.

As I quietly wondered down the hallway, I took the time to fully take in what has happened and where I was, it finally hit me that we were in Yselz, and resided in a rather large mansion of some sorts.

The place was also rather cozy and warm, built with dark wood – both wall and floor – and had few windows, most likely due to the rooms taking up a ton of space.

Seconds after reaching the staircases leading to the entrance, I could already hear a female voice shouting.
I decided to stop and wait in the shadows in order to not intrude the conversation just yet.

The female voice started shouting once more. "Lucas, you should have told us!" She didn't exactly sound angry, more like, excited.

"I know Mother, but if I told you both; none of you would have slept!" Lucas exclaims his reasoning.

'Ah, so he's talking with his parents.' I slowly start walking down the staircases.

A male voice responded to Lucas', who I assume is his father. "Lucas, your Mother is right, you should have told us. First impressions are important and we would have loved to greet your friends and welcome them personally."

Lucas was quick to answer with a careful tone. "I know, I ask for forgiveness and I'll introduce them all once they wake up. We had a long journey and they're all rather tired."

'Alright, that's enough eavesdropping.' I didn't want to come across as rude, but I was a rather overly cautious person.

As I walk into the dining room, I could see Lucas facing towards me and his parents sitting in front of him. "Not a problem my boy! We're just happy to see you and felt bad in not welcoming-" Lucas' Father notice his son's glance and caused him to turn around and face me.

"Good morning," I gave them a gentle bow as I greeted them.

Both adults were now observing me, Lucas notice my growing discomfort and stepped in – which I was grateful for.

"Ah, morning, Blizzard!" Lucas proceeded to stand up and went to stand next to me. "Father, Mother, I will like to introduce my Guild's Vice president; Blizzard Ishi'Ryoku."

Both of his parents stood up and went up to shake my hand. "Blizzy, this is my father; Richard Heart, and my mother; Rose Heart." Lucas kindly introduces them to me as we shook hands.

"It's an honor to meet you both, I'm deeply sorry for intruding your home," I told them sincerely.

Rose and Richard took the time to look at each other and then back at me, they both gave me a reassuring smile.

Richard was the first to speak. "The honor is ours, Lady Ryoku. You're more than welcome in this household, it's the least we can offer for protecting our son." He told me with a happy tone, while Rose was nodding in agreement.

"Please, let's us all sit-down and enjoy a cup of tea!" Rose clapped her hands once, which caught the attention of a nearby maid – who swiftly disappeared behind a door.

As Lucas started talking about how he met us, and how he sent letters to his parents explaining how much we've helped him in the past, I took the time to observe his parents.

Rose had a white coat and glasses, at first glance, she looked very young, but you could sense years of wisdom backing her up – she had bright crimson hair with blue eyes and was around my height, if not an inch or two taller than me.

As for Richard, he had dark red hair with gray eyes. Unlike his wife, he was wearing a brown coat and had bags underneath his eyes, his height was the same as Lucas – I could also tell the man was very observant.

I would sit here in silence, but Rose took me by surprise with what she said. "I must say, Blizzard, you're quite the attractive women, I feel jealous!"

It took me a few seconds to take in what she said. "Huh..?"

"M-Mother, please!" Lucas pleads in embarrassment.

"I only speak the truth!" Rose says with a smile as she clasped her hands.

"T-Thank you, ma'am. However, I don't think I deserve such compliments." I responded with embarrassment evident in my voice.

This backfired and made Rose continue teasing me. "Oh and she's modest! She's a cute one isn't she, Richard?"

'Now I understand why Lucas doesn't handle being teased, Rose is terrifying!' I was pleading for help with my eyes at this point.

"Please, dear, you'll scare-" Before Richard could stop his wife from torturing me, another savior comes into the dining room.

Jenny greets us from the doorway. "Morning everyone!"

A sigh of relief escapes my mouth as I turn to speak with Lucas, who was still embarrassed with what just happened. "Your Mother is rather colorful," I mutter as his parents were introducing themselves to our Deviljho.

"I'm so sorry, Vice." He apologizes. "My Mother is just very fond of young maidens."

"Even though I'm not exactly young..." I say under my breath.

It wasn't long till everyone was present at the table, many conversations about countless adventures and small topics were being talked about as we ate breakfast.

The flow of the conversation was interrupted as a maid handed over a letter to Richard.

"... Hmm, seems like I'll be heading to the castle." Richard excuses himself from the table and made way to leave. "I'll let King Kazan know of your arrival."

"Thank you, Father, but may I ask how long do you believe it will take for the king to assign a meeting," Lucas asked before Richard left the room.

"No more than a week, I can assure you that he'll let us know very soon." And with that, Richard left.

"You can take advantage of that!" Rose suddenly speaks, gaining everyone's attention. "Lucas, why don't you show your friends around Yselz. It is better than doing nothing here at this old house."

"Yea, that's a good idea. Hmm, what about the lake shore?" Lucas suggested.

"I wouldn't mind," I voiced out, which caused some of us to agree.

"We'll be checking out the kingdom, Wayland wants to see what type of blacksmiths are here," Aegis said.

"Oh, I just remembered that I can't swim!" Jenny started laughing nervously.

Lucas lets out a sigh. "You can build sand castles and destroy them with your hammer or something."

"My hammer isn't a toy, Lucas! And I'm not a little girl that can get distracted with sand." Jenny argued back.

I just pinch the bridge of my nose and sank into my chair. "Please, let's just go," I say out loud.

Rose let out a giggle before standing up. "I'll be excusing myself, if you need me, I'll be at my work office."

Lucas stood up suddenly. "Alright, I'll go ahead and make a picnic basket, just head out when you're ready – a path behind the house leads to the shoreline," He explained as he went into the kitchen.

---

After changing into something comfortable for swimming, I step out of my room and into the hallway – I stumbled upon Jenny, who was closing her door at the time.

Jenny had her hair neatly tied in a ponytail and was wearing shorts, a yellow shirt, and slippers. "I'm surprised you brought summer clothing, especially to a place that usually snows." My comment was enough to alert her.

"Oh! Hey, Liz, and yeah – I gotta be prepared for any occasion." The blonde smiles. "You're wearing almost the same thing as me anyways, except for the flats."

I shrug at Jenny's growing grin. "It's all I have, to be honest," I said sincerely.

"What's in the bag?" Jenny asked me while pointing to the side bag I was carrying.

"Towels and an extra set of clothing," I answer casually. "We should get going."

Few minutes of silence passed as we reached the main entrance and exit the villa, we took the path that Lucas had told us about and enjoyed the forest trail.

"I gotta admit, this place is beautiful." Jenny's eyes glittered as she said this.

The trees around us would shake as the wind blew by, this whole scenario reminded me of the day Raito and Momo came to the Guild – a relaxing melody would play every time the breeze shook the leaves around us, sunlight pouring onto the path ahead of us; giving all of our surrounding an illuminating aura.

It's also rather warm, the only exception was the cold breeze that would appear every now and then. It was a wonderful experience, to say the least, my worries would wash away with ease – even if it only stays that way for a split second.

Soon enough the path opens up and reveals a shoreline – that was between boulders and rocks – the area was that of a private beach. There was also a small cabin on top of the white sand, most likely for changing purposes.

"Amazing..." Jenny took the word right out of my mouth.

I grab Jenny's hand and pulled her onto the white sand. "Let's go test the water,"

"W-Wait, I can't swim!" Jenny reminds me as she resisted me.

I stop in my tracks and pondered for a bit. "Well, I can teach you if you want."

A smile appeared on her face upon hearing my offer. "That would be great,"

It was Jenny's turn to take the lead, as she ran towards the water – she quickly tossed her hammer aside and used the hilt to hang her belongings.

I followed her lead and ran after her, Jenny stopped running as her feet touched the water. "Is something wrong?" I asked as I stood next to her.

"Huh, the water is rather warm," Jenny muttered.

'Now that I'm paying attention, she's right...' I look up at the sunny day, which explained why the water wasn't cold in any way. 'The weather is rather weird here, cold at night but hot during the day, almost like a desert.'

"So, how will this training work?" Jenny's question pulled me out of my trance.

"Well, first let's go a bit deeper," I tell her as I carefully walk forward.

Jenny follows me, she was focusing on her footing so she didn't trip into the water. Soon enough the water reaches our hips, and I gesture her to stop.

"This should be enough."

"Oh, good, I thought I would really drown today." Jenny was a bit shaken from the water that was covering half her body.

"Don't worry, I'll be right here with you," I tell her as I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Yea, I'm glad... I would have had a heart attack by now." Jenny smiles with her sarcastic tone of voice.

I grin and tighten my grip on her shoulder. "Oh, there's one thing we need to do for this training." As I say this, I grab her hip with my other hand.

"Whoa, easy on the hold. What are you doing anyways?" Jenny asked in confusion.

"I need to see how you panic!" Jenny let out a confused yelp as I flung her to the deeper part of the lake.

"I'M GOING TO DIE!" Jenny yells as she flew through the air and landed into the water a few feet away from me.

As I watched Jenny sink into the water slowly, I start swimming to her location – just in case she forgets how to float.

The bubbles where Jenny sunk like a rock stopped appearing.

'Don't tell me she didn't know how to float in the first place...' I felt a cold sweat going down my neck.

Luckily a blond hair girl resurfaces while waving her arms into the air like a crazy woman.

"HELP! HELP! HELP! HEL-!" Jenny gets cut off as she sinks again.

'Seems like she's jumping from the ground underwater, maybe I should aid her...' I start swimming a bit faster.

Jenny appears once more. "PLEASE HELP ME!" She stayed above water longer this time.

"Take a deep breath!" I yell back at her.

"FUCK YOUR DEEP BREATH AND HELP ME!" She yells back a bit angrier, but it looks like she was floating now.

I soon reach the spot where Jenny was doggy paddling in order to keep herself above water. Once I'm in range of her hands she clings to me like a felyne and doesn't let go, which sadly makes me almost drown.

"J-Jenny! We'll both drown at this rate, calm down!" I yell at her as I try to keep us above water, but she keeps on panicking and tries to get on top of my head.

"I'm too young to die! I have a whole life ahead of me!" She doesn't listen to me as she starts flailing around.

I get a hold of her and smack her on the head – it made her go limp for a bit.

"CALM DOWN!" I yell at her as I float in an awkward position, Jenny was sitting on my stomach - using it as a boat.

She rubs her head as she sits on my torso. "Ow, that actually hurt." She states out the obvious.

A loud sigh escapes my mouth as I lay back in the water. "We'll take a break."

...

"Well, that kinda worked differently then what I was expecting... But you sort of learned how to float." I tell her as I pat her head that was using my lap as a pillow.

"J-Just, don't do that ever again..." Jenny pleads as she closes her eyes.

"If you want, we can practice on holding your breath?" I suggest, but Jenny groans.

"No more water." She mutters as she puts her arm above her eyes.

"Hey!" I hear a male voice approaching us – It was Raito, who was walking towards us while waving his arm.

He was wearing shorts and a shirt, also he had his longsword with him, which didn't surprise me at all. The man takes Arashi everywhere, it's like an extra limb to him.

"Hello, Raito." I greet him as he gets close to us.

"Whoa, the lake sure is amazing! I never had the chance to relax in one." Raito says this as he takes in the view. "Um, what happened to Jenny?" He looks down at the almost asleep Jenny.

"Let's just say she a bit tired from 'swimming'," I explain while tapping Jenny's forehead in order to see if she was still alive, to which she responded with a groan. "Also, must you always have Arashi with you?" I ask the swordmaster.

"Of course I must. What would happen if we get attacked and I can't protect you?" Raito says this with a matter of fact tone.

"Raito, I told you countless times that I do not require protection..."

"I owe you a great debt Ryoku. For saving my village, I shall protect you with my life." Raito bows.

I sigh and decide to give up on convincing him to stop, Jenny started giggling and decided to sit back up and look at the shore.

"Where's Lucas?" She asked Raito while looking back at the road we came from.

"He'll be here soon enough, don't worry," Raito answers her as he sits down next to us.

"So what's with Blizzy saving a village?" Jenny asks in order to break the silence.

"Uh, it's a rather long story..." I explain.

"well, it'll keep my mind off the fact that I'm starving, so I wouldn't mind," Jenny says as she stands up and gestures us to move over to the shade under a tree.

---

As we sit down in the shade, Lucas happens to arrive with the picnic basket he was preparing earlier and joins us, he was just in time to hear the story. Everyone started grabbing their food – especially Jenny – as we sat in a circle.

I start telling the story as everyone begun eating their food in silence. "This takes place a month after I ran away from the guild, I was at Val'Habar when a young boy ran into the hall."

What I didn't tell my friends was that during these times, I wasn't exactly stable on how I thought, dark memories would constantly eat away at my sanity and cause many emotional problems – only Raito knows of this, and I believe I would like to keep it that way.

-One year ago, at Val'Habar guild-

Like always, the guild was a ruckus, full of energy, laughter, and talking. As for myself, I was staring at the quest board, looking for a harvest tour quest.

'I can't find a single harvest tour quest, I hate finding popular quests these days.' I sigh to myself as I look over the board for most likely the third time.

I was planning on going out and mine for some minerals, just to spend some time alone in the wild and think about what to do next. Unfortunately, the harvest tour is a very popular quest for charm searchers, ore miners, and gathering groups. This has made it almost impossible for me to find one today, so I been stuck here waiting all day.

'I might as well pick something else for today.' I search over the board in order to find the highest paying quest on the board. 'Whoa, a golden Rathian...' I see the piece of paper with the golden queen printed on it.

The payment was amazing, enough for me to get a brand new charge blade.
When I was going to reach out and take the paper, a male voice boomed over the entire guild.

"Help, I'm begging you!" The male voice shouts at the Questatrix.

I look over to a man who yelled at our guild's Questratrix, sure enough, a teen with brown hair and in a coat was begging at the counter.

The guild starts quieting down as they notice the commotion.

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't help you unless there's a reward for the hunters." The lady explains to the guy.

"I told you, my village can't pay something we don't have! We just need help from a hunter!" The lad shouts, his voice almost cracking in the process. He seemed to be on the verge of tears and is even more desperate than before.

"W-Well sir, hunters don't accept quests that don't have a decent reward. They won't risk their lives for free, hunters are sellswords."

"Aren't hunters suppose to be heroes!? Why wouldn't they risk their lives in order to protect others, that's their job!" The teen exclaims.

"Welcome to the real world, buddy." A hunter nearby mutters, gaining a few chuckles from the others.

I look back at the quest board and saw the quest that I was going to take in order to get a new charge blade.

I reach out to take it but I stop myself... 'I'm going to regret this, aren't I?' I look back at the counter and see a large hunter in Akantor armor approach the lad.

"I'm sorry sir, but there's nothing we can do to help, please leave." He tells the smaller man in a serious tone.

I sigh and start walking towards the commotion. "Step down," I command the HR7 Hunter.

He turns to my voice, most likely annoyed from the order, but upon realizing who it was, he backed down without hesitation.

"Of course, lady Ryoku..." He apologizes as he joins the group of hunters observing the 'show'.

Now that I'm close to the man who started all of this commotion. "Do you really not have any money?" I ask him dead in the eye.

The last thing we needed was a trickster acting desperate in order to not pay the funds. The brunette , however, didn't answer right away, as he was unsure who he was talking to.

"Blizzard Ishi'Ryoku, hunter rank G-3." I introduce myself as I offer a handshake.

"O-Oh! My name is Yen, nice to meet you..." He takes my hand and shakes it rather weakly.

"Would you kindly answer my previous question?" I repeat myself as I let go of his hand.

"Yes, I don't have any money on me, I'm sorry." Yen looks down in shame.

"You do realize that all the hunters here are mostly rookies... They might be hunters, but they need the money from these quests." I tell him as I rise his face with my gloved hand, his eyes were moist, on the verge of tears.

I realize that he had a young face, most likely younger than Jenny - he had light brown eyes and pale skin.

"Yes, I realize just now, how cruel the world is..." He mutters as he avoids eye contact.

I bite my lips for a bit, before releasing his face. "Very well, normally you would have to wait for a headhunter of the guild in order to have a slight 'chance' of getting help for free." I look towards the Questatrix and nodded.

"O-Of c-course ma'am!" She responded a bit off guard and ran off to get something.

"Lucky for you, I'm the only headhunter in this hall that isn't out on a quest." I look back at Yen.

"D-does that mean you'll help!?" He looks back at me with hopeful eyes.

"Just remember, not all hunters are sellswords, some do protect those who can't protect themselves without a second thought, even if it means risking their lives. Just don't always count for such a thing to happen every time you have problems." I answer his doubts.

Yen smiles and bows while thanking me countless times, I felt a bit embarrassed and told him to stop.

The quest-worker returns with my request and I look back at the group of hunters watching the spectacular with smiles on their faces.

"Alright, everyone back to work! I'll be gone for a few days so please behave and follow the Guild's rules and instructions!" I tell them all, which they responded with cheers and nods.

I walk up to the counter. "Here you go, lady Ryoku." she hands me the paper that approves of taking an airship.

I nod and thank her as I look back at Yen. "Mind if you tell me where your village is?" I ask him.

"Up north from here, in the mountain region, known as the thunderous peak." He tells me in a monotone and clear voice.

My eyes went wide and I turned to walk towards a table. 'Thunderous peak? What in the world is a village doing there!?' I yell inside my head.

"That far? Did you walk the entire way here?" I ask him a bit concerned about his health now.

"Yeah... Took me two entire days and one night to get here, without rest." Yen tells me as he follows closely behind.

I stop walking and Yen bumps into me, as he's apologizing, I turn to face him.

"Are you hungry?" I ask him kindly.

-One meal later-

"I never ate this much in weeks!" Yen exclaims happily as he follows me closely behind.

'I swear he ate more than Jenny does when she's grumpy...'

"How could I ever repay you, lady Ryoku?" Yen asked me with the tone of voice that said he would fulfill any request.

"Start by calling me Blizzy," I respond as I see our ride.

"V-Very well, Blizzy." He says with a bit of hesitation.

We get on the airship and I explain to the captain were we are heading, he was a bit shock at first, but happily agreed to take us. The vessel was small, with two benches on each side and the captain at the back, these vessels are suited for fast and short distance travel.

Yen decides to lay down on his bench but quickly falls asleep after a few minutes of talking.
Apparently, his town has been receiving countless abnormal thunderstorms. At first, I was skeptical since that's what the thunderous peak is famous for, but he then told me that the thunder strikes were crimson red.
Not only that, his village holds a legendary blade that acts like a lightning rod, which protects the village from regular thunder strikes, however, the crimson thunders have ignored the blade and struck the village directly for a week now.
I luckily was wearing my Silver Rathalos coat and a customize Lagiacrus longsword that's meant to be sturdy and sharp, for more power. I lean back on the airship's rails and decided to close my eyes and catch a nap before we arrived.

...

"Lizzy... Wake up, the captain said we've arrived." A voice wakes me up from my nap.

I look around and see that Yen is still asleep and the captain is humming quietly to himself.

'Who's voice was that?' I asked myself, I shrug it off and noticed that we've indeed arrived.

I take a deep breath and decide to wake up Yen, who gets up reluctantly but sits up anyways while rubbing his eyes.

We land a few feet above the foot of the mountain.

"I'm sorry, but this vessel can't handle lighting storms. This is as high as I can take both of you, I'll be at the nearest village waiting for your return." The captain explains as we hop off the airship.

The Vessel slowly turns and heads off to a small village in the distance...

I turn to look at the mountain ahead of us. "Mind leading the way?" I ask Yen, who nods and starts walking.

Currently, the path we were taking was just covered in grass and a bit of snow, but I can see that up ahead, it's completely covered in snow. Not only that, but the peak is covered in a black cloud...

"Is the village up there? In that cloud?" I ask Yen who was walking at a fast pace up the hill.

"Yea, it's been like that for an entire week." Yen responded with a bit of sorrow in his voice.

We decided to pick up the pace and soon enough, the trail gets covered in snow. As we hike in silence, I start hearing the ringing of bells.

"What's that ringing?" I voice out my confusion.

"They help us find the path in case of blizzards or harsh storms." He explains.

As for the bell trick, I wasn't new to it. Back in pokke, we used the same technique in order to not get lost.

"If we follow the sound, we'll be right on track to the entrance of the village." Yen says before going silent in order to maintain his stamina.

After a couple of minutes, Yen stops and points ahead.

"See that cave? That's the entrance." Yen states out as he points to a nearby tunnel.

Upon entering the cave I notice that it was not natural at all. "This place was man-made wasn't it," I speak out my thoughts, which got responded with a yes.

"The cave was built by our ancestors, They realized how dangerous the mountain was and decided to build a safe path inside of the old volcano." Yen explains as we walk.

'So this mountain is a dormant volcano.' I thought to myself.

The place was lit up by torches and the floor was rather smooth.

"It took them four-hundred years to build it correctly without any flaws." Yen says with pride.

A very smart tactic if I must say so myself. Not only are they dodging the elements of the outside world, but I'm sure it increases the travel speed by a great amount.

"Careful. This staircase leads up to the village but it also leads down to the foot of the mountain." He tells me while taking a left turn and starts heading up a spiral staircase.

The entire thing was hollow on the inside, most likely the throat of the volcano with built in stone staircases crafted on its inner walls.

I look down and stare at the dark abyss. 'This type of fall would kill anyone...' I shake the dark thoughts away and turn to see Yen lighting up a torch.

"Stay close, and watch your step." Yen starts walking up the stairs and I follow suit.

"I think I know why it took them four-hundred years now..." I mutter.

Yen laughs in response and says that he is proud of being a part of their bloodline.

"Was there an entrance at the foot of the volcano?" I ask as I once again, stare down at the abyss.

"Yea but it has been sealed off. Only the Arashi family has the permission of opening it from the inside." Yen's voice echoed around us.

"Arashi?" I repeat the name a bit confused.

"Yup! It's the name of the first tribe leader AND our sacred blade that watches over us." Yen speaks with pride evident in his voice.

"Ah, is that name important to you?" I ask him.

"It sure is! It's my last name after all!" Yen responded. "My Brother is the current prince or chief of the tribe, his currently twenty, which is five years older than me."

"I see, and about the blade – can it truly protect an entire village?" I decided to ask him after looking up and realizing we had a long climb ahead of us.

"Pretty much! It acts like a lightning rod and a power generator, it absorbs the power of thunder strikes and uses that energy to attract more, keeping the village safe during storms."

He stays quiet for a bit, collecting his words before continuing.

"Sadly, It can't fully protect us against the crimson thunder. It can only protect a small radius which we call the holy shrine." He said with a bit of sorrow in his voice.

"Are you sure these thunder strikes aren't just dragon blight attacks?" Chances are that it was a Stygian Zinogre.

"Positive. We know how dragon blight looks like, our tribe has fought countless Zinogres and Stygian Zinogres." Yen counters my statement without hesitation.

He was right... This mountain is indeed famous for having both Zinogre species so close to each other. I also have no right to judge him since I have yet to see said thunderstrikes myself.

'However, what in the world has the ability to generate Crimson Thunderstrikes... Why does it sound so familiar?' I let my mind race with different answers, but none of them were clear.

"Also, unlike dragon blight, these crimson thunders cause instant death." Yen explains with pain evident in his voice.

He most likely remembered an unfortunate event, so I decide to remain quiet and let our footsteps speak of our presence. After a few minutes of silence, I decided to reassure him of why I was here.

"I'll make sure to save your village... Even if it means losing my life."

"Yea, and for that, I'm really grateful." He turns and smiles before continuing to walk up the stairs quietly.

Around half an hour later, a loud rumble shakes our surroundings.

"We're almost there!" Yen shouts as he picks up the pace.

'I hope we aren't too late.' I did my best to keep up with Yen as we reached the summit.

The staircase ends and we catch our breath before another loud but even more powerful roar of a thunderstrike interrupts us.

"Damn it... It's gotten worse!" Yen breaks into a jog after putting the torch on a handle."We need to hurry!" He shouts while sprinting ahead, I take a deep breath before running into a full sprint.

Yen was ahead of me, he tackles a wooden door open; revealing a village in distress.

The village to our horror was in complete ruins, It was inside a dormant volcano's mouth on top of some sort of inner plateau.
It was completely protected from the harsh cold winds, but the main problem was the roof – it was completely open, allowing the storm to barrage countless electrical discharges against the village.

"Blizzy, there's the shrine! We'll be safe once we reach it!" Yen yells as we run next to each other towards a large building at the center of the village.

The shrine was giving off a golden gentle light and was completely unharmed from the chaos.

Upon reaching the entrance – Yen quickly opens the door allowed us to enter.
A young maiden in traditional clothing yelps in surprise but quickly realizes who it is.

"Ah, Yen! You've returned!" She cheers happily.

Yen, however, doesn't stop and runs ahead.

"Brother, I have returned!" Yen runs down a golden carpet, leading to what seems to be a golden glowing statue of a dragon's head, one could also see a glowing blade resting on top of said statue.

"Excuse me, are you the hunter?" The young maiden gets my attention.

"Ah, yes, I'm here to help your village," I answer her.

The maiden quickly gives me a wide smile and gestures to look up ahead. "Lord Raito is waiting for you!" She says this as I now realize that Yen was talking to a tall man in front of the statue.

I nod and start walking down the carpet towards Yen and this so called, Raito. I felt the stare of hundreds of people as I walked towards the two males, I now realized that the entire village was sitting in this sacred shrine.

Yen notices me as I approach them and gestures towards me with his hand, while Raito observes me from head to toe before smiling in gratitude.

"Ah, you must be the hunter my brother was speaking of – Blizzard Ishi'Ryoku, if I'm correct?" The elder of the two speaks.

"Yes, you're correct. Who do I have the honor of speaking with?" I ask the man.

"Arashi Raito, tribe leader of this village and keeper of its holy relic," Raito responded loud and clear.

Unlike his brother, Raito had black hair and blue eyes. He was taller than me and was apparently a year older than me as well. He was wearing a very traditional looking black coat with white plated armor in vital areas, and light clothing everywhere else.

Also, now that I'm close to this 'holy relic', I realized that the roof above it was completely open, and there were holes around the statue. This was obviously meant to allow the thunder strikes to hit the blade, and the rain to fall into the holes – which would then be led out of the shrine.

'Somewhat reminds me of a fountain...' However, before I could observe further, Raito draws my attention with a question.

"Tell me, Huntress, are you afraid of thunder?"

"No," I responded back in a heartbeat.

"Then, after seeing the situation we are in, will you help us?" Raito questions me one last time.

"Of course, but I need an explanation," I answer back.

---

"Let me get this straight." I collect my words, as I sat in front of Raito. "Your people have lived peacefully for generations, but this storm has been looming above this village for an entire week, causing countless deaths," I repeat the words that I was told in order to process the situation in my mind.

"Correct," Raito confirms.

"Your village tried waiting out the storm, but your plan backfired and now the village is low on food and medical supplies," I say as I look back at the villagers behind me.

Some nod and others look down or avoid my gaze. 'Fear.., there is nothing but fear among these people.'

"Sadly yes... Our food supply at this rate will run out in two days or so." Raito sighs after saying this.

"Your the leader of this village, correct? What would YOU do in this situation if I wasn't here." I question Raito with a serious tone.

"I would leave this mountain at once and never look back in my decision." He says with confidence in his voice.

"Then why haven't you? A regular hunter would evacuate this place and claim their reward, leaving without another word," I state while staring at his eyes.

"Because, I have faith, and so does everyone in this village," Raito said with a confident smile and without breaking eye contact.

"Huh, 'Faith' is such a naive word." I let out a loud sigh "But, in this situation... I admire every single one of you." I say as I stand up. "Raito, if you have any ideas on what is causing the problem, speak now and lead me to it," I command the tribe leader with a determined tone.

Raito stands up and clasps his hand with a smile. "I indeed have an idea, but it's dangerous without the protection of Arashi." He says.

"We don't have much time."

Raito thinks for a bit. "The mountain next to ours is forbidden. Countless elder dragons have made a nest on it and would destroy the first villages time after time. Soon they moved out and made their home on this dormant volcano. " He explains calmly.

"So I'm not the only one who believes an elder dragon is causing this?" I voice out.

"Indeed, you're not the only one, everyone in this shrine are full-bloods – which attracts unwanted attention." Raito answers.

I gasp in surprise. 'E-Everyone!?' I look back in shock at the countless villagers waiting to be saved.

I have never seen so many full-bloods in one area – without a doubt, it would attract monsters, however, the volcano and its storms protected them from any danger except for the current situation.

"Are you a full-blood as well, lady Ryoku?" Raito's question made me turn back to him.

"Y-Yes, I'm indeed a full-blood."

"Good, since only full-blooded are allowed to enter the forbidden village by tradition." He states quietly. "The first founders of this tribe were outcasted by the so-called normal ones, and ever since - only those of our kind have permission to enter these mountains."

'Normal ones? What could he mean..?' It didn't matter at the moment, so I decided to move on.

However, I was still a bit shock by the fact that Raito and his village are full-bloods who the guild has yet to monitor over. Full-bloods have been bred over, and over since the beginning of their existence, but this village isn't even on the map.

'When two families merge, the descendants grow stronger.' That is what the Guild says, and they think that is enough to justify what they're doing.

I can't let the guild know of this village, they will use their DNA structure in order to make stronger pairs. Especially if theirs have never been touched with the world, making them very unique.

"I have a declaration, I'll help your village." Small cheers and clapping start appearing. "BUT!" I shout and the room goes quiet.

"You shall not talk about this mountain ever again nor of your existence of ever being here. It's for the best of everyone's future if you wish to truly be free." I speak clearly.

Everyone went quiet until Raito speaks up. "I have to agree with our dear friend here. Depending on the situation, as the leader, I have decided that we leave this place and avoid any more hardships." He speaks clearly with a tone that speaks of leadership and wisdom.

Raito turns to me with a smile. "Very well - Lady Ryoku and I, will leave and check on the forbidden village. While I'm away, Yen will be in charge." Raito commands.

"W-Wait what? I'm in charge?!" Yen shouts in confusion somewhere in the back of the large room.

"Aye, brother, you must learn to be a leader at your age. If I were to fall in battle, you would take my place." Raito laughs a bit before continuing. "I also need someone to keep everyone calm. It only makes sense that someone from the Arashi line would take up such a role."

"I'll do my best!" Yen replies.

"Follow me Ryoku, we'll take the back entrance." Raito gestures to follow.

There was apparently another section of this shrine, but the floor was covered in make-shift beds and maidens healing the wounded.

"Medical, rest and food center, it was necessary to put everyone in this shrine for protection." Raito quickly explains as we walk by.

Now that Raito's back is facing towards me, I noticed that his black coat had golden symbols of ancient names - they were written around one larger name, that spelled out Raito.

'I wonder if those are all the names of the previous leaders...'

We soon reach the exit and find ourselves outside, just in time to hear a thunder hit Arashi behind us.

"Best to hurry." Raito states and we start jogging over to another cave entrance.

...

We were now in an older looking man-made cave. "Alright, we can slow down our pace now," Raito says before walking side by side with me. "There's a stone bridge up ahead, we'll use it in order to reach the other mountain."

An awkward silence appears as we walk.

Luckily we soon reach the bridge. "Alright, the wind is heavy here. So watch your step and don't let go of that rope." Raito says as he gestures me to go first.

When I step out of the shelter of the cave, the wind made sure to almost blast me off my feet, I luckily grab the rope in time.

'T-That was too close.' I regain my composure before continuing to walk slowly.

"I gotcha!" Raito stands right behind me and holds my shoulder, combining our weight and keeping us planted a bit easier.

We march slowly to the other side and safely entered another dark cave. I start grooming my messy hair as we take a small break, while Raito searches for a torch.

Raito calls out to me. "Ah, found one - time to move, Ryoku."

I follow suit as Raito lights up the torch and continues walking ahead. Soon enough we find another staircase leading up the mountain. 'Gods, my legs are killing me after the first set of stairs.'

"So..." Raito decided to break the silence.

He's definitely less talkative than his brother, but then again I was questioning Yen for the entire trip about the situation. There isn't much to talk about with a guy you just met.

"Yes?" I decide to help him break the ice.

"Mind if I ask what your last name means? Last names in our village are really special to us, so we like to know the meaning of them whenever we hear a new one." Raito explains himself for asking such a thing.

"Ah, I see. Well for starters, you been saying my last name completely wrong. Its Ishi'Ryoku, not Ryoku or Ishi alone," I tell him.

"Ah, I'm deeply sorry! I didn't know..." He scratches his head in embarrassment with his free hand.

"It's fine, I'm used to people calling me Ryoku anyways," I shrug it off since it really doesn't bother me. "But to answer your original question, my last name means Willpower."

"Wow, that's indeed lovely." He compliments me.

"Thank you."

"Do you wish to learn about my last name?" Raito offers.

"Sure, if you don't mind." I was sincerely curious.

"Of course I don't, I have great pride in it, after all. Arashi was the name of a great hunter, who lead a group of people to safety from a hoard of Zinogre. He fought all of them and came back alive in order to watch over the village and create a safe heaven for them."

My eyes widen. "That's rather impressive..."

Raito nods. "Over the years, Arashi grew old and passed down his blade to his son. Soon after, his son fought off a great Elder dragon that could control storms in its wake."

Raito looks back at me to make sure I was alright, before continuing to march ahead.

"After slaying the Dragon with the blade, people of the village decorated it with the materials of the beast. However, they were not expecting the blade to attract lightning storms and nor did they expect it to absorb thunderstrikes. The blade fused itself with the materials of the Elder dragon after countless times of heating and cooling off due to the rain and thunder."

Raito takes a deep breath before continuing.

"The rest is history, that's how the legendary Arashi of Fulmination was born. Its other name is Tempest of Violent thunders." Raito finally concludes.

"So your last name...?" I sum up the courage to ask him, for I fear he got a bit off track, but it was indeed an interesting story.

"Haha, sorry, there aren't many people who which I can tell them my ancestor's story. Everyone back in the village knows of it, you're the first one I get to tell." Raito explains himself for getting carried away. "Anyways, my last name means storm or harsh winds."

Raito was prideful of his name and its background, however, his name made me stop in my tracks – and soon my heart felt heavy. Raito – unaware of how I felt – kept walking, the light source got dimmer and it soon left me in the shadows.

"S-storm..." I repeat his name. "T-they both have black hair, an encouraging smile..." I start breathing rapidly.

"Ryoku?!" An echo reaches my ears.

"C-Calm down Blizzard... He's not your brother, they might be similar but their eyes are not the same. He is not your brother." I start whispering to myself as I try to calm down.

A light gets closer and closer to me and so does the voice calling out my name.

I put on a mask and showed Raito a brave fake face, but upon looking up, I saw a young man with brown eyes and black messy hair with his usual carefree smile.
I can feel my legs shaking and I shut my eyes for a few seconds, before opening them up to see a very worried Raito.

"Hey, are you okay?" He questions me, his voice full of concern.

"Yea, I'm just out of breath... You have a lovely last name." I decide to drag the subject away from my health as much as possible.

"Ah, thank you, but if you want, we can take a break." Raito offers as he gestures me to sit down.

"No, It's fine, I can keep going," I tell him with a low tone.

"Ah, is that so... Well, I'm taking a break then! I'm really tired, I haven't hike like this in awhile!" Raito laughs as he sits down and starts massaging his legs.

I stare at the man with a dumbfounded face. 'He's lying... He just lied in order to force me to rest and there's nothing I can do about it.'

A sigh escapes my mouth and I sit down in order to calm myself – I started grooming my hair with my fingers just to distract myself.

After a couple of minutes, my breathing went back to normal and I was able to control my emotions once more.
I look back at Raito who was sitting behind me on a higher step, he was currently staring at the wall and looked bored out of his mind.

"Ready?" I ask him a bit timidly.

"Huh..? Oh, right!" He stands up and grabs the torch he put on a wall hanger awhile ago.

We continued to march up the stairs in silence, however, this time it was peaceful between us – I had more respect for the man.

---

"We have arrived." Raito suddenly speaks up.

Upon entering the small hallway, the wind started howling throughout the cave – and an exit was visible up ahead.

Whatever is out there, it's causing all of this pain and suffering, it's my duty as a hunter to protect those in danger. Defend those who can't protect themselves against the injustice of this world.

Raito and I stared at each other for a bit, and with one final nod – we left the protection of this ancient the cave only lead into an old shrine, which gave us the opportunity to check the surrounding radius undetected.

Exiting the cave only lead into an old shrine, which gave us the opportunity to check the surrounding radius undetected.

'We should find a window,' The shrine had holes and many faulty structure errors due to the harsh weathers it has endured over the years – even now, harsh rain was down pouring outside and into the building.

"Follow me," Raito points to a hole in the wall. "Oh, and to be honest, this rain isn't normal." He quickly adds.

"Yea, I feel like we're inside a hurricane." Right when I approached Raito, a sudden roar was heard in the distance.

We both froze on the spot. "What in the world." Raito mutters.

"Shh, it most likely doesn't see us yet." I hurry over to the hole in the wall and started scanning the area.

The large plateau barely had any remanents of buildings left, there was already countless puddles of water and a few patches of grass – I could see a ballista nearby a boulder, along with a few trees on the edges; which will probably protect us from falling off the mountain.

'It's not on the ground..,' I stare at the ominous clouds in the sky, they were completely unnatural. 'Where is it?'

Another roar was heard, and at the same time – I spot a figure flying out of the clouds.

It was a large creature who looked like it was swimming through the air instead of flying, the entire body was white – which was covered in countless fins that stretched along all four of its limbs – the head was small compared to the rest of its body, but it was adorned with two large golden horns.

"Amatsu..!" I curse under my breath as the situation just got way worse.

Raito stands next to me and peeks out the hole himself before holding his breath in shock.

"We have to head back and warn the village, It's most likely looking for them," Raito whispers with worry in his voice.

...

"Alright everyone, watch your step!" Raito ordered the villagers down into the exit.

"Yen, make sure everyone is safe. There should be enough water and food, make sure to give everyone a tiny bit – enough to survive. I'll come back after taking out Amatsu and will open the seal." Raito explains to his brother.

"Alright, just make sure to come back!" Yen punches his brother shoulder as he grins.

Raito teases him back by patting his head. "No need to worry, kiddo."

Yen then turns to face me. "Um... Please keep him safe, he never hunts anything besides Zinogres." Yen told me as the final villager goes down the spiral stairs.

"I promise, he'll come back alive," I reassure him with a fake smile. 'I'll do my utmost best to keep him alive.'

"Truly... I can't express how grateful I am, everything you have done for me and this village. Only true heroes would ever do such a thing." Yen said with teary eyes before rubbing them off and started walking down the staircase illuminated by hundreds of torches.

"Alright, they will all be safe down there. The ruins have more space than the actual village and it's where we store most of our back up food." Raito draws my attention and we start walking towards the shrine. "We just need to go and pick up Arashi."

We rush over to the shrine, doing our best to avoid getting hit by unexpected thunderstrikes.

Once we entered the shrine and reached the sacred blade, Raito pulled out white bandages with weird black markings.

"This will be the first time Arashi has ever been awoken ever since the day it killed that dragon..." Raito mutters as he leaps towards the statue and gets on top.

He starts covering the sword with the bandages.
As Raito did this feat, the light in the shrine grew dimmer and dimmer, until its was almost completely pitch dark.
The blade was no longer showing any signs of attracting electricity, nor was it glowing with its unique golden aura.

As the swordmaster pulls the blade out of the statue with ease, I can't help but be a bit confused as to how those simple bandages controlled the sword with ease.

"We don't want one million thunder strikes attacking all at once now do we." He tells me with a grin as he noticed my confusion. "These bandages allow me to control the blade's energy source with ease, I have never wielded the blade, but I have trained all my life for such a moment."

"How can bandages do such a thing?" I question him.

"Honestly? We have no clue, these things are as old as the blade. Let's just say that the bandages are made out of skin or tissue from the same Elder dragon Arashi's son took out." He shrugs and sheathed the blade on his waist. "Sad how this sword would only see the battlefield once again when the village is in grave danger, yet, I have always longed to use it."

"That's the sad truth behind almost any weapon," I said without thinking.

Raito nods. "Aye, you speak the truth."

Now that I can actually see Arashi without being blinded, I notice that it had the shape of a normal katana, but this ancient relic had a powerful aura around it – as if an ancient dragon was walking alongside us.

"Set?" Raito asked me one last time.

"Yup, let's take out that Elder-dragon," I answer him with no hesitation.

...

Upon reaching the old shrine in the forbidden village we decide to rest up and recover our stamina.

"Raito, you really don't have to fight. I can take on this dragon alone, your tribe needs you." Regret was starting to fill up my mind.

"And miss out the opportunity to actually be a true leader? Sorry, Ryoku, but I decline your offer," Raito says with confidence, and was almost a bit offended. "Not doing this would bring shame to my name, I was born to protect all of my people – just like the first leader."

Flashbacks of my Brother crosses my mind, but they failed to shake me this time.

"Right... The longer we delay this, the more everyone will worry." I say this as I stand up and look for the exit.

"Heh, you remind me of an ancient folklore," Raito states as he stands up and follows me.

"How so?" I question him as I hear the roars of Amatsu and the tempest raging outside.

"It says that a true queen would fight for those that a king could not defend. Protecting those she fights for as if they were her children, for little to no reason whatsoever." Raito ends the conversation by unsheathing Arashi.

'I must admit, his culture is vastly different from mine.' I watch as he swings the blade, a shock wave of electricity appears and destroys the wall ahead of us.

"Let's go!" Raito runs out of the shrine.

I run after him. 'This time, things will be different!'

The wind howls with anger, rain starts pouring down faster, I thought it was going to get worse – but it all suddenly stops – the skies opens up and reveals the sun.

"Hey, thank you, for giving us hope. You really are a hero to them." Raito tells me as we stand next to each, looking at the Elder dragon who was judging us from the heavens.

The great Amatsu, Elder-dragon of storms – was now descending from the skies with the sun behind it.

Amatsu was now gently flying towards us, waiting for us to move. The air pressure was enormous, it felt as if I was standing with a boulder on top of my shoulders as the dragon hovered near the ground.

I decided to reply to Raito's previous statement. "I'm no hero, I'm simply just a human."

Amatsu lets out a strong roar – the sound was similar to that of bells and a leviathan roaring underwater – The Elder caused the skies to darken and the storm to rage on with full force once again.

I dash forward towards the Elder, trying to cause it to make the first move. Amatsu doesn't react to my presence and simply dodges out of my way with grace as if the air itself didn't exist.

'Darn it...' I look back at Raito who was patiently standing still.

Lighting strikes in the distance and the rain started obscuring my vision.

Amatsu curls up mid-air and begun absorbing the air around us. "Careful!" I shout as I run to take cover behind a large rock.

'How are we going to break its defense. An elder dragon doesn't mess around with hunters, nor does it fight to the death unless it really needs to.' I reflect on my knowledge as I try to figure out a way to obscure Amatsu's senses.

A burst of wind passes through the sides of the boulder I was using to shield myself – I took a deep breath, and leaped over the boulder.

The wind caused me to run slower than usual, luckily Raito was distracting the dragon by just standing there in front of it with bravery. Amatsu didn't take the bait and floated away from the man – it flew straight into my blade as I landed an overhead slash on its underbelly.

Amatsu lets out a cry but quickly reacts by doing a back flip, successfully allowing it to get behind me – it then uses its front fins to try and slap me away but I managed to roll out of its range.

"Ryoku, duck!" I instantly hit the ground as I heard Raito.

A powerful thunderstrike was heard and Amatsu cried in pain.

I look up and saw that the Elder was now hovering dangerously close to the ground, electricity was sparking around its body – it was in an elemental prison.

"Now your chance!" Raito yells as he runs up ahead.

I dash forward with my blade near my side - ready to strike.

Raito and I send out barrages of attacks onto the fallen Elder with both longswords, attacking side by side in sync. We were both aiming at Amatsu's neck, trying to destroy its scales before it regained the strength to fly.

Amatsu growls and does a quick spin on the ground – it knocked both Raito and me to the ground a few feet away.

The Elder-Dragon proceeds to fly into the air and started absorbing the rain around it.

Raito and I roll out of the way in opposite directions from each other.

Completely focusing on getting back to safety, I could feel my alarms going off as Amatsu shot out a beam of pressurized water – the beam was strong enough to cut through the ground and send rocks flying in all directions.
I quickly turn with pure reflexes and sliced a rock in half - that was otherwise going to hit me - unfortunately, a second rock caught me off guard and hit my arm. The force was so great, that it caused my arm to cramp up and almost made me drop my weapon.

Amatsu floats down insanely fast while spinning, causing twisters to appear around it.

Another loud thunder strike is heard behind me as I run for cover but the cry of Amatsu did not appear – instead, the creature flew passed me and went straight for Raito.

'Great, the thing learned how to dodge Arashi's elemental attacks.' I stop running and turn to make sure Raito was alright.
He was currently dodging the Amatsu's physical attacks, but he managed to counter a few, causing Amatsu to retreat to the heavens.

I look around for the ballista I saw the first time we came here, thinking that it might have ammo left in it – or at the very least, boxes of ammo nearby.

"BLIZZARD!" Raito's shout of desperation was enough to make me dodge to the left without thinking.

The next best thing I could do was covering my head with my arms, as I felt a force push me back midair. Small needles – that I could only assume were rocks – were hitting my body as I got tossed aside due to the water beam's intense power.

I slowly get back up. 'I would had been cut in half if Raito didn't alert me.., I need to focus!' A familiar warm liquid was already creeping down my forehead.

Amatsu had once again started attacking Raito.

Being this far away from my ally and seeing him get attack puts me on edge... Bad memories start pouring back into my mind and clouded my senses slowly.

I shrug it off quickly. 'No... If I just stand here, history will repeat itself!' I charge forward with all my strength towards Raito who had his back turned to me.

"Raito don't move!" I shout but Raito turns around in confusion.

"Wha-!?" I stomp on his face and leaped onto Amatsu's head.

Amatsu, however, did not like this at all and decided to fly into the clouds at full force in order to shake me off.

"Y-your not going to get rid of me that easily!" I yell as I hold one horn between my armpit and use my now free hand to take out my carving knife.

Amatsu flew through the black clouds and went above the harsh storm, we were in the blue open sky with the sun blazing at full might.
The air was at this point too thin, I could barely breathe. I hug one of the horns and decided to regain my stamina as Amatsu stood in the air, waiting for me to choke or freeze to death.

'Too bad for you, the cold won't kill me anytime soon..!' With what little strength I had left, I stab the carving knife into its skull.

Amatsu did a screeching roar before flying back down at full speed.

'I won't allow it!' As I shouted mentally, I twisted the knife – causing the Elder to backflip without warning.

The sudden urge of passing out was frightening, my grip loosen up and I was dangerously close to falling off – but something kept me going, whatever it was, it was enough to make me twist the knife one final time; I could hear the skull cracking and Amatsu started falling.

I let myself fall from its head, and landed on the cold hard ground a few feet away from the fallen Elder. 'I'm going to feel that one tomorrow...' I ignore the pain and got up on my feet.

Raito was already taking advantage of the situation and started preparing an attack.

Arashi was surrounded with electricity, creating a blade made out of pure energy.
Raito let out a shout and slashed through both Amatsu's golden horns – The strike was strong enough to cut both of them clean off, making the Elder dragon wake up violently - it proceeded to fly away from us.

"Are you alright?" Raito runs to me and helps me stand up straight.

"Y-yea... Just out of breath." I look up towards Amatsu who was flying in circles up above.

The air suddenly shifts, powering the wind around us and lowering the amount of rain that was previously pouring down. Thunder rumbles and Amatsu roars, summoning twisters around the summit and changing the skies to a dark crimson red.

"Amatsu entered its rage form, it won't be fleeing until there's a victor," I tell Raito so he can prepare himself for what's to come.

"This is starting to be a pain in the ass." Raito laughs as he places Arashi on his shoulder.

Amatsu flew back down at greater speed than before. The chest, horns, and eyes shined with a faint golden luminescence – it now also had red veins standing out on its wings membranes.

It taunted us with a growl.

I look back to Raito who was staring the Elder dragon with a confident smile on his face.

"You remind me of someone very dear to me," I tell him as I look back at Amatsu who was now starting to curl up, absorbing the air once more as the sound of bells rings through the air.

"Heh, I can say the same about you!"

"But you're not them!" We say in unison as we dash forward.

The following events happened in mere seconds, Amatsu summoned multiple twisters in all directions – forcing me to dodge in an awkward matter – Raito got caught by the harsh wind and got carried to the other side of the summit.
Before I kept running, I looked back to see if he was alright – luckily he planted his blade into the ground before falling off the edge.
An alarm sets off in my head and I dodged to the right – allowing me to avoid getting hit by a beam of water – I kept running towards the Elder, ready to strike it down.

I summoned a strong Final-Slash aimed at Amatsu's head after performing a tumble – the Elder reacts in time and trades with its front fin. We collided and the force was strong enough to send me flying backwards.

The damage has been done, a silver aura was dancing around my Heaven's Thunder – while Amatsu was roaring in both anger and pain.

Before I could recover from the exchange, the storm dragon summoned another beam – I barely had time to dodge out of the way and landed awkwardly on my left knee, however, the attack wasn't aimed at me.

The sound of a large boulder collapsing was heard; my head turns around in time to see that Raito was forced to dodge out of the way and get separated from me.
This was a fatal mistake for me – turning around to see if the man was alright, gave Amatsu the opportunity to charge at me and ram me with its broken horns into an old building.

Amatsu let out a victorious roar before flying away.

I laid there in great pain, shards of broken wood had pierced through my limbs – everything around me was blurry, which gave me a good indication that I bumped my head pretty hard.

'I'm close to fainting...' With a grunt, I force myself to sit up, breathing was extremely painful. 'I think I broke a few ribs..!' The pain started kicking in.

My hands shakily reach in my bag and took out a mega potion – I gingerly open the lid and drank it all. A cold sensation washes over my entire body and I could feel the pain disappearing slowly.

'We need to end this before the medicine wears off..,' I got up on my feet and got out of this old building.

The Elder was flying around the summit in circles, waiting for us to return to the fight so it could end our lives. The wind was blowing in the same direction Amatsu was flying – it was getting harder to breathe and the wind was draining my stamina, I could barely stand on my feet at this point.

"Ryoku!" I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Oh gods, are you alright?"

Raito was surprised upon seeing my cuts and bruises. "Don't worry, this is normal."

"Are you sure-" Raito was cut off when a thunderous roar was heard, followed by countless crimson thunderstrikes.

We both stare at the sky, even Amatsu was doing it best to dodge out of the way.

'Why would Amatsu be the caused of these thunder attacks..? Even now in front of my eyes, the Elder seems to be afraid of them.'

I knew the answer, but I didn't want to say it – not right now or ever. "We need to kill it fast,"

"Right, I'll cover you!" Raito shouts.

Amatsu barely dodged a thunderstrike – it decides to fly down and hover close to the ground out of pure fear.

Raito and I charge forward – we both aimed at its neck, however, Amatsu was smart enough to always avoid Raito's blade, while blocking my attacks with its broken horns. With a roar, the Elder did a backflip and performed a spinning charge – which in turn summoned a vortex that threw both of us off our feet.

As I was getting up, I heard the sound of a bell behind me. 'SHIT!' I felt something hit my spine as I got sent flying forwards.

I landed face first onto the muddy ground, the pain wasn't over – Amatsu slams its tail on me. An agonizing yelp of pain escapes my mouth as I barely remained conscious.

A familiar voice rings in my head as I fought back the crushing weight. "Hey! Don't give up, things might look bad – but a monster will always have it worse!"

"Release her at once!" Raito shouts as he stabs Amatsu's illuminating chest with Arashi.

The Elder loosens the tail enough for me to escape – I force my body to stand up and charge at the dragon with pure hatred.

"I'll make sure you suffer!"

I dance around Amatsu's graceful movements, using the wind to my advantage and abusing its patterns in order to gain momentum behind my steps and attacks.

"Don't forget about me!" A loud roar of thunder pierced the air, the thunderbolt missed me by an inch and hit the Elder's head.

I followed up with a spirit combo, electricity was flowing around my body as my Heaven's Thunder awoken its true power.
Amatsu blocks the incoming Final-Slash with its front fin, unfortunately for Amatsu, my blade cuts it clean off.

A loud roar of pain was heard as the dragon retreated back to the safety of the clouds.

My blade was glowing a faint goldish color – second stage of the spirit gauge.

"Ryoku, prepare yourself!" Raito runs up to me and points at the sky with his sword – it was now that I notice his blade glowing a light blue.

Shaking the thought away was my only option, for now, my eyes scan the heavens until they spot a certain area that was being sucked in – as if something behind it was charging a devastating attack. "Split up! It's about to summon the Grand Vortex Beam!"

Raito and I ran in opposite directions, the entire field freezes in time as the skies open up and revealed an Amatsu charging up its strongest attack.
Everything was being absorbed into its power, even the rain had disappeared – all of this was happening so fast – the sound of a bell chimed while an enormous beam sliced the earth in two.
A second bell was heard, and the earth shook under its might, the ground underneath my feet erupted and sent me flying upwards as the beam narrowly missed me – the third bell rang as it summoned forth the tempest, everything went back to normal and the skies darken once more.

I got up on my feet and started running towards Raito – the ground was sliced up, forcing me to jump over the ravines Amatsu had created with its sheer power.

The sound of many bells started ringing once more, Amatsu was curled up at the center, and its wind was pulling me towards it.

'C-Crap, I can't fight it,' My light weighted body was working against me this time.

"I gotcha!" Raito appeared out of nowhere and wrapped an arm around my waist, his other hand was holding onto Arashi – which was planted in the ground.

I nod in gratitude and followed his example by stabbing the ground with my own sword, locking both of us in place.
The wind was starting to increase in strength with every second, it cost us a great amount of energy to not let go of our weapons.

Even if our lives were in danger, it was truly astonishing to see Amatsu summon a gigantic hurricane that ate the sky. The elder was unaffected by this power as it flew into it and stared us down from the center of its creation.

"It is resting! Now's your chance Raito!" I summon some electricity – which got absorbed by Arashi.

"You have my gratitude!" Raito pulls the blade out of the ground as the wind died down – an arrow of light pierced through the air, the thunderbolt struck Amatsu straight in the chest, causing it to fall to the ground.

The Elder was struggling to get up – sadly for it, we were already upon it and started our spirit combo.

Raito and I took turns in striking the same spot, blow after blow, our blades were in complete sync as we entered the final stage of our spirit gauges.

Two blades, one crimson red, the other was a violet color – they stood next to each and prepared the final chain of attacks.

'For every hit, the longsword gets,' They activated the spirit combo with a strong draw attack.
The second spirit attack was next, a horizontal slash – followed by a diagonal. Both warriors stood on opposite sides of each other, Amatsu neck was marked with death upon losing its scales and revealing its flesh.

'The blade shall grow stronger, and should the user and blade taste blood,' Both blademasters performed an overhead slash. The light surrounding the blades got absorbed, both swords got engulfed in a black aura as their masters prepared the final strike.

'While also finding the courage to end the life of a superior being – the blade shall cut through anything.' The Final-Slash sliced through anything in its path, the sound of air and raindrops being cut in two was heard, the sound of bone crushing rang in their ears as both weapons were sheathed.

Amatsu drops and its body goes limp.

The skies start clearing up and the harsh storm disappears completely, revealing a beautiful blue sky with a rainbow.

I take a deep breath and fall onto my knees. My blade was glowing a crimson red but soon fades to nothing after it sensed that I have given up on fighting.

Raito who was limping a bit - and was using Arashi as a walking stick - was now approaching me. "Man, that thing almost got us a few times." His joke brought a smile to my face, mostly because I was rather relieved to see him alive.

I decide to question him one last time before I passed out. "Can you carry one hundred and thirty pounds?" I ask him with a light smile.

"In these conditions? Sorry, but I can't even carry myself." Raito lets out a small chuckle.

"Hrrg... Fine, we'll just walk next to each other." I force myself to stand.

We both use each other as support in order to walk down the mountain and get back to the villagers who were waiting for our return.

...

Soon enough we reach Raito's people, who were waiting for our arrival. All of them were shocked to see the condition we were in, but happy to hear that the issue has been resolved.

The mysterious crimson thunder soon disappeared shortly after Amatsu's death.

Raito decided to still follow his idea of leaving the mountain, hoping to give his village an easier life. In the next following days, I took my time in recovering and helping them construct their new village next to an already existing one – one famous for their countless Moofahs.

It wasn't long till the day for my departure had finally arrived.

"Thank you, Ryoku. Truly my village owes you so much." Raito expresses his gratitude in front of the entire tribe.

"It was nothing, I was just doing my job." I smile gently as I stood in front of the airship.

"You're truly admirable, however, I heard hunters enjoy having a reward after a risky quest." Raito grins as he says this and steps forward. "I have decided to come along with you on your adventure, as your personal bodyguard."

"Decline." I start getting on the airship.

"Whoa! Not so fast now, I'm dead serious. The least I can do for our savior is offer them my protection. This is my destiny as one of the Arashi members, and I would like to be remembered for generations to come, just like my ancestors." He quickly explains as he grabs me by the arm and looks me right in the eye.

For the longest time, we stare into one another, looking for any signs of doubt. I let out a deep sigh before gesturing him to get on the ship.

"I swear, if you ever start crying about this decision, I'll personally throw you off a cliff," I tell the man, I cover my mouth as I realized what I just said.

"Wow, I didn't think you had a sharp tongue," Raito laughs as he enters the small vessel.

I look back at the villagers - Yen stood in front of them all, everyone had smiles and were waving.
I get off the ship and made way to Yen, who looked confused at first but walks towards me after realizing I had something to say.

Yen was the one who helped me heal up during the days I was recovering and also helped me fit in with the village, so I had to tell him how thankful I was.

"I assume your brother has already said goodbye to everyone." I decide to break the ice with a small and obvious topic.

"Yea, I'll be the 'hidden' leader for the time being. Just make sure he comes back safely, he can be sometimes of an air head, but he's a very nice guy." Yen says with a smile.

"Honestly, I don't know how this will work out," I sigh as I shake my head.

"Don't worry, he has Arashi and should be able to pull his weight," Yen looks back at his brother who waves with a smile. "I hope..." Yen mutters.

I fake a smile for the sake of everyone watching.

"Thank you." I hug Yen as a sign of gratitude for what he has done for everyone.

He fought the elements of the outside world in order to find help for them, he will be a great leader and I know that Raito also agrees.

I let go of the young boy who was blushing and pat him on the head before going back on the airship.

Raito had a smug smile on his face as I got back on the vessel, I decided to ignore him and wave at the people down below as the airship started ascending – countless goodbyes, cheers, and good luck were said.

But one voice stood above them all...

"KICK SOME ASS BOTH OF YOU!" Yen shouted from the top of his lungs as they grew smaller and smaller.

Soon enough, we could no longer see them.

"Heh, I'll be lying if I said I wasn't nervous," Raito said next to me. "Oh, and I was thinking, since I'm devoting my life to protect you, does that make you my princess or something?" He chuckles with a grin.

"Please, stop... Before I throw you off for real." I mutter.

---

It was near sunset once I finished telling the story to my friends.

Raito was leaning on a tree with a grin on his face. "Good times, good times..." He mutters to himself.

"That sounded so cool!" Jenny exclaims happily.

"Truly, a tale of legend." Lucas compliments me.

"Well, I guess it was an interesting tale... But sadly I met the man that most likely annoys me on a day to day basis." I glare at Raito.

Raito had a smirk on his face. "Hey, you know I'm just joking around."

I just sigh as I listen to Jenny question. "Did you ever go back and visit the village?" She said in a rather serious tone.

"Not really... I haven't had the time, but I'm pretty sure they're all okay." I respond.

"Hmm, I see." Jenny grew rather quiet as she pondered on something.

"Well, it's getting late and we should all go back to the villa." Lucas starts standing up while shaking his clothes to get rid of any grains sand.

We all agree and start getting up as well.

I was walking at the back of the group along with Raito, it was rather easy to sense that he had something to say – or rather, I knew him very well and it was obvious to me.

Jenny and Lucas were arguing up ahead, so they wouldn't notice our conversation. "Something on your mind?"

"Well, I wanted to tell you something – I'm fully aware that I reminded you of your brother, but I never said who, you, reminded me of."

I tilt my head in response. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to,"

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I did," Raito let out a chuckle. "The storm took many lives, among them were my parents and a very close friend of mine. She lost her life upon shielding Yen from a falling building, I guess her cold – but secretly overprotected personality is similar to yours."

"Ah, but you soon realized that I wasn't her,"

Raito puts both of his hands behind his head. "Well yeah, you both look completely different – plus she would've allowed me to leave the village without a word."

"Sorry, I was a difficult person back then, I have no idea how you managed to handle me all this time."

Raito chuckles. "I can say the same about myself,"

"Yeah, but you annoy me on purpose in order to keep my mind busy, my past self, had little to no sanity left." Those words came out with shame, I was angry at myself for being such a brat.

"Hey now, don't beat yourself up; if I were in your shoes, I probably would have felt the same way."

I suddenly realize something. "Your way of speaking has changed completely,"

Raito happily changes the topic and humors me. "Yes, it has and I can only blame you guys."

...

It wasn't long till we reached the household, we all went up to our rooms and got ready for dinner. I was the last one to arrive at the dining hall, or so I thought at first glance. Jenny didn't appear for dinner, which was rather odd considering how much she loved to eat.
After our meal, I decided to check up on her and see what was wrong – since it has been two hours since I last saw her.

I knock on the door, hoping to find Jenny in her room.

A few seconds passed, but soon enough, I hear footsteps. The door opens and our energetic blonde peaks her head out.

"Yes, Blizzy?"

"Ah, there you are. You suddenly disappeared and I was worried, is everything okay?" I ask her as she stares blankly towards my direction.

"Huh? Oh um, yeah I'm perfectly fine." Jenny responded a bit distant as if she wasn't paying attention at all.

"Then where did you run off after we left the lake," I question her once more.

"I went out for a small walk, that's all." She said casually.

"Jenny, you can't fool me any longer, I been noticing your attitude changing even if it's subtle. For crying out loud you missed dinner today." I suddenly feel disappointed in her for not trusting me.

"D-Don't worry about me, truly I'm fine..." She responded with hesitation.

"Ah, is that so?" I narrow my eyes and gave her a firm nod. "Very well, goodnight then." I turn towards my room, but Jenny stops me before I reached my door.

"Blizzy, wait..." She sighs before continuing. "Truth is, I'm not alright. After you told that story, memories of my childhood started haunting me." She responded in a low tone while staring at the floor, her blonde hair was covering her eyes.

"Jenny..." I mutter under my breath as my eyes soften.

"But, I've settled myself and... I guess calmed myself down." She said with a lot of doubt evident in her voice.

"If you want, we can talk in private." I walk over to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Y-yea I would like that, come inside."

As I entered her room, I notice it was bit messy – there was a lot of hammer parts scattered around.

"You can sit down on the bed or anywhere else..." Jenny said nervously.

"Jenny, if you wish to not speak of this, I fully understand and I'll leave without a word..." I remind her that she wasn't being forced into this situation.

"Well since you shared plenty of your backstory, it's only fair that I share some of my childhood," Jenny replies as she sits next to me on the large bed.

I sat in silence and waited for her to speak, in no way was I going to rush her – talking about past traumas felt like stabbing yourself with a knife.

"I've already told you about my parents being dead. I never once, told you why or how..." Jenny starts talking slowly and carefully – as to not hurt herself in any way possible.

I close my eyes in order to take everything in and avoid things getting more awkward or uncomfortable.

"I never really talked about my childhood or my mother in general, now that I think about it." She mutters in realization.

A sigh escapes her mouth before finally telling me what happened. "Well, truth is, I lost my mother when I was around two months old. My Father told me that she died when trying to protect me against a wild Arzuros during a camping trip... Zeox, my father, managed to kill off the Arzuros, but my mother didn't make it – she passed away before she received any type of medical treatment."

I could tell she was holding back her emotions, every word she said was causing a lot of distress, it felt like I was staring into a mirror – a mirror that showed my past self – I wanted to help her as much as I could, just like Raito helped me.

I open my eyes as I give her a reassuring gaze.

"Your story at the lake reminded me of all of this due to the thunderstorm. You see, I'm very afraid of anything related to electricity if its out of our control, the reason being because my Father died to a Zinogre. The whole ordeal was random and happened without warning. There was no preparation, evacuate or anything!" Jenny grips her knees in anger.

"A pack of Zinogres decided to assault our village and murder everyone they could find. While Father and other hunters tried to fight off the monsters, I stood in the ruins of my home hiding in fear..."

Jenny's eyes start to tear up but she simply rubs them and continues.

"Suddenly a Zinogre showed up and found me... I was in shock and couldn't move a muscle, the Zinogre took advantage of this and shot an electrical ball at me."

This made me feel angry, just hearing people in danger was enough to make my blood boil.

"However, before the attack could reach me, Father leap in the way and took the blow. He had sacrificed his entire lower torso for the sake of my life, it also bought enough time for the other hunters to arrive and save me. Unfortunately, the damage was done and Father passed away later that evening." Jenny said with a shaky voice, she was dangerously close to crying.

I rub her back gently to show that I was there for her and she responded with a small smile before continuing.

"After all of that, I just remember that I felt like an outcast, spending most of my time alone and never meeting new people. I had only started meeting new hunters that I could call friends till I got to Val'Habar and met you guys. Even if I seem completely different as I describe myself, it's only because I prefer to show off my happiness rather than my sorrow... I always have a smile on my face for the sake of others."

"But you're happy with us, right?" I whisper gently.

"I do enjoy being in the Guild, truly I do! It makes me forget about my past, however, you getting dangerously ill has reminded me of how fragile everything is – how everything won't ever be perfect like I want it to." Jenny looks down and stays quiet.

Something told me to hug her out of instinct, I held her in my arms and told her everything was going to be alright – how everything in this world is never determined, but that also allowed us to forge it how we want it to be.

Jenny started crying, finally breaking the dam that has been holding back a river of sadness.

Minutes pass and Jenny barely starts to calm down into normal tears and light sobs.

It was my turn to speak. "You know, I'm not used to helping others like this," I whisper as I rub her head gently. "But, faking a smile is the worse thing you could possibly do...They're never true to one's emotions and only bring pain, I speak from experience."

She didn't say anything, so I decided to continue talking.

"However, I do know that I will always be there for you – I'll never abandon you, or ever be ashamed of being friends with you. Jenny, you and the others are like family to me, and I care deeply for every single one of you - even if I never show it, so promise me to never smile unless you mean it." I tell her in the most gentle way possible.

Jenny grips my back a bit harder but nods slowly while still having her face buried into my chest.

I lost track of how long we were in that position, but Jenny ended up falling asleep so I tucked her in bed before returning to my dorm without another word.
Upon entering my room and closing the door behind me, I drop on my knees and let my forehead hit the wooden floor.

Yes, I was the leader of this group – and yes, I was the strongest in said group. However, this didn't mean that I didn't have my own faults and moments of panic.
My mental state was exhausted, and I know very well that I can't protect everyone. At the very least I can encourage them all to move forward, lead them the way, and be there for them at all times.

"M-Meowster?" I hear Momo's light footsteps.

I sit on my knees and gave her a smile. "Sorry, I'm just really tired."

"Okai, nya." Momo went underneath the bed again.

'Sometimes the little girl inside of me wants to cry, but she also reminds me of how powerful I am, even if my memories are painful – they are what crafted me to who I am today – I don't regret any of them, I'm almost grateful even, because with their help - I know I can make happier ones.'

With a final sigh and a single tear dropping off of my cheek, I head to bed and let myself drift from my worries for now.

---

AN: Long chapter heh, well this is the length I'll be aiming at for every future chapter - let us see how long I can keep it up. (Especially since I post once a week.)

Character Introduction:

Richard Heart

Hair color: Dark red.
Eye color: Grey.
Height: 6'4
Skin tone: Pale
Age: 44

Rose Heart

Hair color: Bright crimson red.
Eye color: Sky blue.
Height: 6'0
Skin tone: Pale
Age: ?

Yen Arashi

Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Blue
Height: 5'5
Skin tone: Light
Age: 16 (15 during the story telling.)

Alright, I'll be adding a new segment, each Hunter has their own personal traits that work like in-game skills. Since skills are no longer tied with armor in my story - I'll be adding them via personality and what weapons that Hunter uses the most, or rather, what they've mastered.

We'll start with Blizzard Ishi'Ryoku:

Brutality - Origin: MH4U

Focus

Evasion+1

Marathon Runner

Snow Seraph - This skill was made by me and its meant to be a personal trait for Blizzard: The skill gives the user ColdBlooded and Divine Blessing.