Chapter 4: The Other Ones

Somewhere at the 5th floor of the tower, A trio of hunters, led by a Lancer were busy fighting a pack of Velociprey that have taken residence there. The party consisted of a lancer, a dual blade user and an archer.

"Get behind me!" shouted the lancer. The archer nodded and immediately hid behind the lance user. Using the shield as a cover, he fired shots at any approaching Velociprey.

"Where the heck is Cass?!"

"I don't know! But for now, just stick with the plan!"

"Damnit Cass, where are you?!"

To make matter's worse, more Velociprey popped out from openings in the walls. They were practically surrounded.

"Shit, my shield won't be able to guard against this many." The Velocipreys moved closer. Suddenly, one of the Velociprey leapt at them. Mid-leap an arrow hit the raptor straight in its chest. It drops to the ground, dead. The Velocipreys looked at their dead pack member and backed off a bit.

"I reckon that won't hold them off for long. Pretty soon, they will try again."

"We might die here…"

"Don't say that. Have faith in Cass."

"Also, it just me or did their numbers increased?"

"Ah damn…"

"If we're going to die then might as well make most of it eh?"

"Agree." Using one free hand, the lancer takes out some gunpowder. Just as they were about to light the fuse…

"Cass?!"

"Cass?! Where?" The lancer lifts his head. The first thing he sees is the bodies of the Velociprey thrown everywhere. In the midst of the chaos was a dual blades user. She was dressed in full bodied Alloy armor.

"What is she doing?"

"I don't know. Looks pretty cool though."
The dual blade user was rapidly spinning the blades in a circular motion. She moved back and forth between each Velociprey, blades spinning and cutting through flesh and bone. She was like a tornado, cutting through the monsters rapidly. By the time she was finished, all that's left of the pack of Velociprey were sliced up, decapitated bits and pieces of the once mighty raptor pack. Sheathing her blades, she approached her hunting partners.

"Sorry I'm late. Ran into a bit of a problem with the shortcut you assigned me."

"WE NEARLY FUCKIN DIED! WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG?!" screamed the lancer.

"Geez, I said I'm sorry Lance." The lancer whose name was apparently Lance stomped away to carve the bodies of some of the Velociprey.

The archer approached the dual blade user. "Cassandra…Took you long enough." The archer wasn't as furious as Lance. He was a calm, collected man.

"Hey, Sid." She greeted him. They bumped fists.

"By the way, just out of curiosity. What did you do before? What was that move?"

Cassandra looked at him and grinned. "Oh, that? It was something I've just discovered during my training. When I showed the move to the Guild, they told me it was something called a hunter art. They said only hunters who unlock their hidden bla, bla, bla and all that bullshit. I don't how I did it, but I've been meaning to figure it out when I have the time."

"I see…"

"Hey guys, we better get a move on. I heard some commotion just above us. Let's investigate it." He ushered them to follow. They followed Lance through a large opening in the stone wall. They walked until they are greeted with a long, binding staircase that led to the top of the tower. Slowly, they trudged their way to the top.

6th floor

"How many floors does this tower consist of?" asked Cassandra.

"If I remember, I'd say about eight?" replied Lance.

"Ah, okay."

"We're here."

Arriving at the end of the staircase, in front of them was a large foggy opening. Pillars and stone walls lined the area.

"I heard the commotion came from this floor…Wonder what it is?"

"Hey what's that?" Cassandra pointed at something. Turning their heads towards the direction she was pointing at, they were greeted with an odd sight.

"Are they…"

"No, that's impossible…"
"Hunters…"
"Are they fighting?"

"Well that's odd."

Just some meters away from them, were two hunters engaged in what looked like a fight to the death. One of the hunters, a hunter in Rathalos armor was dragging his sword on the ground, as sparks flew from the friction created. The Rathalos hunter was running towards his opponent, a huntress clad in Barioth armor. She was wielding a long sword and was in a battle-ready stance. The trio of hunters watched in awe as the Longsword huntress skillfully evades the swing from the Greatsword and retaliates with a powerful kick to the back of the Rathalos hunter. The impact of the kick sent the Greatsword hunter rolling on the floor. The huntress then leaps into the air and prepares to deliver the killing blow with a eaping downwards slash. To her surprise, the Greatsword hunter rolls in the nick of time and gets back up on his feet, sword in one hand.

"Oh no, they're actually going to kill each other."

"Hey, Lance, we should stop them."

"I agree! C'mon guys!"
The three of them rushed towards the two combatants in an attempt to break the fight before things turn ugly.

"HEY! STOP!" the three of them shouted. The two hunters ignored them and continued their brawl.

"CEASE ALL FIGHTING!" shouted Lance. He was ignored again.

Sid sighed, "They're not listening."

"What shall we do?" said a worried Cassandra. "If we don't do something, they might end up killing each other."

"Approaching them is also too risky. We wouldn't want to get caught in the middle of their fight. I fear for the worst if we were to try to get close." Lance sat down on the stone floor. "Might as well watch them slaughter each other…"

"No! We can't let them! They are hunters, not murderers."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Silence befalls upon them as they think of how to break up the two combatants.

A grin appeared on Sid's face. "I think I might have an idea…"

"Why. Won't. You. Just. Die!" shouted Siegfried as he swings his sword at Eris. She skillfully evades the swing. "Stop moving and let me hit you!" He swings again, this time a wide, circular slash. Eris gracefully leaps over the swing and retaliates with slash to Siegfried's shoulder. However, to her surprise, the sword bounces off Siegfried's shoulder plating. Eris jumps back, confused as to why her swing didn't even faze him.

"W-what?!"

"AGHHH!" Siegfried rushes again. He leaps into the air and brings his sword down at Eris. She rolls sideways and immediately retaliates with another swing, this time aiming for Siegfried's head. She swings down…

"Impressive. I was certain you wouldn't have been able to react in time due to the weight of the sword you carry."

Siegfried has just managed to block the swing with his sword. "Heh, I still got a few tricks up my sleeve." Eris could sense a smirk behind his helmet. "Besides…" He forcefully pushed her back, causing her to stumble onto the floor, dropping her sword.

"It's only a matter of time before you run out of energy. Thanks to the dash juice I drank before, I still have plenty of energy left to keep me going." Siegfried crossed his arms. "Well, have you given up? I'm feeling quite generous today so if you surrender, I'll let you live…in exchange for all your belongings of course." He approached Eris and held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?" Eris looks at Siegfried before nodding and proceeding to grab his hand. 'Well that was easy enough.' Before Siegfried could react, she swung him over her head and slammed him hard onto the stone floor.

"B-itch…" He croaked, as pain spread throughout his body.

"Never turn your back towards an enemy. Guess they never thought you that at Hunter School."

"You…will p-pay for this…"

"Sounds to me like you're the one who's given up…damn plebeian. Now then…" She picks up her sword points the tip at Siegfried's throat. "It's time to meet your maker."

"Why you- "An arrow whizzes past them, just centimeters away from their faces.

"If you both value your life, then I suggest you both stop fighting and listen to us."

The two of them turned their heads to the source of the voice. Standing in front of them, bow drawn was a hunter clad in Rathian Gunner Armor. Standing beside him was a lance user wearing Barroth armor and a female huntress clad in Alloy armor. "Bout time you stopped. We were getting worried that you might actually kill each other."

The archer drew his bow. "In about three seconds, I can shoot down one of you and have enough time to draw another arrow and fire it immediately. Now then, you have about a minute to talk. Explain yourselves."