Chapter 04: The Hunt

Kami was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. She didn't have a lot of time, and she didn't think any amount of time would be enough. The faster and farther she ran the better - at least she could be far away from the others.

Kami knew they wouldn't hesitate to help her but this was not a fight they could win. This wasn't their fight, this was hers. This might very well be her final fight. Since she started out as a meister she had come to accept that one day that fight would come. That one day she wouldn't be able to run and she would have to see that fight through. She just made a promise to herself when that day came that she'd try to save her partner and any civilians she could. If she was honest she might not be able to manage it but she would try.

She was certainly not going to take her daughters and her wife to her final fight. She'd fight to get back to them with every last ounce of her strength.

She ran faster as started to hear the beating of hooves. Her heart felt like it was being crushed in a grip, the same sensation every animal felt when a predator was closing in.

The sky had darkened as if it was night. The howling was getting closer and closer.

As Kami was about to leap onto the next rooftop, one of the wolves jumped out the gap between buildings. Kami pulled back as more of the Hellhounds snarled out. They managed to cut her off. More began to descend from the sky.

Kami took a deep breath and pulled out two pistols. Kami made it a point to carry a variety of weapons - though she did manage to take them off when she got into her wedding dress. It bothered her to have to put them all back so soon.

"Aren't you going to run?" All the wolves seemed to project their master's voice.

"What's the point? I'm a fighter, not a runner. Even if I was, I couldn't outrun you. Leopards can't change their spots. I figure it's best to go with my strengths."

"Your odds are not that much better."

Kami sighed. "I know, but if I have to go out I might as well go out fighting."

There was a loud booming chuckle. "Far be it from me to tell you to fight your nature. Fight to your heart's content."

0000

"Okay, who is Erlking?" Black Star said, looking around. "And why does everyone have a weird look on their faces?"

"That's called hopelessness." Chris took a deep drink from a bottle. "Sorry to say it, but the blonde is as good as gone. She might already be gone."

Black Star glanced over to Maka who looked… yeah, hopeless was a good word for that.

"Dude, don't say something like that. Kami is super tough I'm sure she's beaten the guy up already."

"No," Excalibur said without a drop of his usual vigor. "Erlking is a hunter, the hunter. He is the leader of the Wild Hunt, a living storm of hellhounds. His sole purpose is to hunt down those he thinks will make a good game. He's hunted beings from across all the dimensions and realms."

"So? A hunter? Why is that so bad?"

"Over millennia he's only failed twice." Excalibur sighed and said, "A man known as Francis Drake led him into the heart of a harsh storm in the middle of the sea to lose him. The story goes he nearly drowned but Erlking lost him and gave up. And the other one was Arthur…."

"As in your old meister?" Soul asked him.

"Erlking chased him, he chased for hours. He used me to try and stay ahead of Erlking but it wasn't enough. No matter where we ran Erlking found us quickly. We ran and ran until the day ended. We were both beyond exhausted…"

"So how did you survive?"

"Exhausted, we fell to the ground and he was ready to finish it but the sun rose. He smiled and said he'd return one day when Arthur was better prey. He never got a chance, in less than a year Arthur died."

Meringue looked at the unconscious Nene and said, "Erlking has hunted many underworlds as well. The legends say that every soul he's hunted and captured he's turned into one of his hellhounds."

Ayumu realized something. "You mean those things that broke through the windows? Those things that shot out of the clouds? The things that make up the storm that is covering the city?"

The group looked out the window. Kid looked up and gasped, "Thousands… maybe millions."

He was using his soul perception and he saw countless souls swirling in the storm above them.

Maka looked up and much like Kid was using soul perception, her heart broke thinking her mother joining them.

Meringue continued, "Your mother knew this was not a battle she could win, she poisoned Naelgria so she wouldn't try to fight with her."

"Yeah, I can fix that." Chris and went to the open bar, where most people thought she was off to get a drink - and she did get a drink, but also brought back several bottles and a container. "You know why in all the time we fought together I never tried to poison her? Simple: poison is easy to treat."

Chris mixed up a bunch of drinks and possibly two liquids not meant to be drunk. Before anyone could question it, she poured it down Nene's mouth.

Chris counted down, "3,2, 1-"

Nene jolted up and ran behind the altar and started to throw up.

"Yeah, been there sister." Chris went behind her and held her hair. "Just let it puke out the toxins. Make sure to drink plenty of water."

Nene coughed, "Where's Kami?"

Eu went to her side and hugged her.

Maka found herself looking at her unable to speak the words except, "…Erlking..."

"The Wild Hunt?"

Eu took off her gauntlet pooling a ball of purple light into her hand. She used her magic to try and heal Nene, the toxins were out of her then she could heal her.

"Why are you all giving up!" Black Star yelled out, "This is supposed to be a wedding, not a funeral?!"

"Black Star," Tsubaki said, trying to calm him down.

"You're acting like she's dead! That's Kami! That woman has never let me get a single hit on her! That one since she got back to this city has nearly died like a hundred times! She's like the only meister the Head Witch likes enough never to try to kill!"

The Head Witch nearby gave a half nod, half shrug.

"I'm actually upset that her own daughters have forgotten that!" Black Star turned to Maka and Eu and said, "Yeah, she left you behind to make sure you don't get hurt! Moms make sure they're kids don't get hurt! That doesn't mean she's going to die! That woman isn't going to die until I manage to get a hit in!"

The group had started to rally but the last bit kinda ruined it. Black Star fell to the ground as a double chop from Maka and Eu.

The Death glare the sisters gave him would have made Lord Death proud.

Maka opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by an explosion. Turning to the window they could see at a distance the top of a building erupting.

"Mama?" Maka let out.

"Y-you see?" Black Star groaned out, "Yeah, in the middle of all this she's the only one who would make that happen."

Maka clenched her fist, she mentally scolded herself for letting her mind go into the darkest outcome. She would also have some words with her mother for being stupid enough to run off on her own.

"Soul!" Maka reached out to him.

Soul smirked, reaching for her and transforming. Before anyone else could react Maka mounted the scythe, wings sprouting as they flew out the broken window.

Black Star groaned, "Tsubaki! Let's go we have to keep her out of trouble."

Tsubaki smirked realizing how ironic it was that Black Star was the one trying to keep Maka from trouble. She quickly transformed into a short sword and Black Star jumped out the window, leaping after the meister. Every once in a while a shadow tendril from the blade would shoot out, giving him an extra boost into the air.

"Oh!" Liz grumbled, she'd been cradling her babies but moved them over to where Marie and Stein were sitting. "Can you-"

"Go!" Marie understood her desires. "I'll protect them."

Maka and Soul were their families, they couldn't let her run off without backup.

"What are we waiting for! Let's get a move on."

Kid could only smile and held out his hands, and without so much as a command the Thompson sisters transformed and flew into his hands. Kid jumped outside, and with his new status as a full grim reaper came skull jets that let him fly through the air.

Eu tried to get up but started to wobble, and Ayumu rushed to her side to her stand.

Ayumu helped her sit back down next to Nene, "Relax, they can help you. You need to rest. Whenever you heal someone like that you get worn out. You can't follow them like this."

Excalibur sighed as he grabbed Eu's hand, saying, "She wasn't trying to follow, she was trying to stop them."

0000

Kami leaped off the crumbling rooftop. She hadn't expected the fairy king's battle cry to have enough power to topple buildings.

She tumbled onto the next rooftop but forced herself to get back up and run as the Hellhounds leaped behind her. She sprinted as fast she could, feeling the warm breath of one at the nape of her neck.

She spun around on her heel, her palm slamming into the creature's snout. A crackling sound was heard as her soul force rushed out. White flames consumed the dark beast as its shadow-like body was burned away, leaving a lone soul.

"That worked."

Kami stepped back as the remaining hounds began to circle her, now a bit timid to attack. Kami had the feeling her soul force might work on their shadowy bodies. They weren't really alive to start with, so she was doing them a favor.

As a few hounds gained a bit of courage and charged at her, and she pulled a blade from her coat and tossed it. The blade found its mark and struck into a hound's head. The creature hissed as its body began to unravel. Silently she thanked Nene, who'd insisted on using a bit of her power on all of Kami's weapons which meant they were especially effective against magical foes.

As more charged at her she flung the throwing knives at them making sure that each one counted - she didn't have an unlimited amount so she couldn't waste them. Soon as enough of them had been taken care of, she burst through them and leaped onto the next roof. She knew she was going to fight them but she was going to do in the middle of a group of them.

She pulled out a pistol from underneath her coat.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three shots and three of the hounds were peeled away. Nene had the power to undo magic and negate attacks, and when she first suggested using that powers on her bullets it seemed needless. But they saved her so many times now. It might have been her mindset, as she was used to treating weapons as living beings, so these weapons enchanted by Nene made her feel as if Nene was there.

She leaped off the roof and down to an alley below, where she felt safe. Of course, it helped that she knew the terrain and had a plan for falling down: she grabbed the flagpole on the wall and, using for momentum, she flung herself off and onto a nearby fire escape.

The hellhounds were a bit stunned by the action but that wasn't going to give her a huge lead, so she climbed down quickly and ran into the streets.

She was trying to take some control over the field - on the rooftop it was far too open and it gave them far too much space to attack. Forcing them to follow her through alleys and streets was the better bet, and they would be forced to follow closer together and thus be easier targets.

Though that would only help so much, seeing as she only had so many bullets and so many knives.

She ran and attacked the hellhounds that dared get close to her. By then most creatures would have fled, but no matter how many she tore apart they feared the power their master held more than anything Kami could do to any of them.

Thunder cracked in the air. The King was getting tired of the chase being led by his dogs. Kami found herself resting against a wall of an alley. She loaded her gun with the last few bullets she was out of throwing knives and she was running out things to do.

She held her side for a moment, one of the hellhounds for an instant managed to bite her. She managed to pull it off and kill it quickly but it had hurt and it was slowing her down. She'd like to think she'd done more damage to those bad doggies but she was starting to feel the cuts, bruises, and wounds getting to her.

Kami took a moment to steady her breath. It would be over soon and she was at least relieved no one she cared about was close by.

0000

"This was a bad idea!" Patty yelled as Maka collided with Kid.

The closer they got the stronger the winds had gotten.

"Ow. Ow. OW!" Black Star repeated as a huge ball of hail slammed into his face.

"Keep going!" Maka ordered - the winds batted her eyes but she could still sense her mother's soul.

Off in the distance, she could see her mother's soul and it was faltering. There were only so many things that could do that to a person, and Maka didn't like to think her mother was going through any of them.

Soul knew better than to try to argue. "Please tell me you have a plan."

Maka grit her teeth as she felt razor-like wind hit her. "Ugh, I've read some stories about Erlking. Fairy tales."

Liz huffed, even as a pistol she felt icy cold batter her metallic shell. "So, what? Wish upon a star? Ask fairy godmother for glass slippers?" Liz tried to joke.

"No," Maka replied, "the Original fairy tales were nothing like those movies. They were dark cautionary tales. People lost body parts, were turned to slaves until they died, tortured, burned alive or just killed because they did something wrong."

Even through the winds, they heard Liz gasp. Besides putting a dark tint to some of the few good memories she was now worried about telling those stories to her own babies.

"Yes, I've heard of those stories too," Kid stated. "The stories focusing on fairies stated they could be terrifying creatures. If you said the wrong thing or angered them they would curse you or turn your greatest fantasy into your worst nightmare. Or just dismember you and keep alive through it."

Maka nodded. "But as chaotic as they were, fairies obeyed rules - strange rules, but they couldn't break them."

At this point, Black Star was clinging to Kid as he said, "Okay how does that help here?"

"What Excalibur said?" Maka forced out, "How the night ended, and Arthur hadn't been caught. There is an old story about the Wild Hunt I read. Something in a textbook or the Grimm fairy tales said the only way to survive it was to outlast the hunt. That you just have to survive long enough that the next day starts, Erlking will let them go."

Soul mused, "That's great-"

"But that's a just a story," Maka continued. "Until Excalibur said it I didn't hear about anyone making it work."

Soul asked, "So, does your mom know this fact? Because if she does then why did she run off on her own? It sounds like she'd have a much better chance if she stayed with us. Why did she run away?"

"She's just being stubborn." Maka pushed forward as winds continued.

"So that's where you got it from?" Soul murmured to himself.

0000

In her hand was a small fan which had once belonged to her mother; it was supposed to be her 'something old' for the wedding. It wasn't an ordinary fan - in fact, it was a bit magical. Kami clapped the fan closed and it glowed and stretched, turning into a katana. It was her mother's sword, just some old relic made to help carry a sword much easier.

Kami carried it around both as a reminder of her mother and a weapon she might need. Gripping the sword, she felt blood slowly seeping out of cuts all over her body. She looked up at the sky, winds whipping dark clouds all around.

She couldn't escape the eye of the storm, for all the hellhounds she had managed to kill there were still countless more.

She hated the idea of dying alone, but they were playing with her and just tiring her out to catch her, if someone else came with her they would have killed them right away to hunt her easier.

A hellhound lunged at her from her hiding spot, and Kami sliced off its head quickly.

She could already hear more coming, and rushed out of her hiding spot as quickly as she could. She ran out of the alley and stopped as she reached a fountain at the center of the square.

Standing by the waters was Erlking on his horse.

He applauded her. "Well done warrior. It's rare that any of my prey manage to take out my hounds - maybe if they are lucky, one or two - but you," he smiled sincerely to her, saying, "never has anyone killed so many as you."

The hounds gathered around them.

"I'm glad I didn't disappoint." Kami smiled.

"You certainly have not. There are few true warriors in the age, and you are special. You have seen so much. You even managed to retain your soul - many warriors lose themselves through battles, but you've struggled to retain your humanity through it all."

"Know yourself, know who you want to be and let that guide you."

He chuckled before his voice boomed across the square to say, "How has that worked for you?"

"Really?" Kami shook her head, "I don't know. I've killed a lot since I was a kid. Sure those were killers, but yeah killing shouldn't be easy. You shouldn't find killing anything easy, you give up too much of yourself if you let it become easy." She looked at the sword. "My mom tried to explain it to me once. I didn't listen and had to learn it for myself. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to have a peaceful life. But then again I managed to save a lot of people too. It's been hard but maybe it was worth it. In the end, I'm a fighter - I'm going to fight."

Kami called up every ounce of power in her being as she gripped the sword.

"You fight as I must hunt. We are slaves to our natures. I commend you for that insight, the hunt will soon be over."

Erlking reached to his side and started to pull out his own sword.

Kami rushed at him, sword drawn and ready to take her chance. The hellhounds rushed at her and she slashed at them as quickly as she could. Their bodies were torn apart by her blade, but many tore into her as well.

She felt the sword cut through the paw of one of the hounds and she jumped off the head of another. She saw Erlking - he was so close - and she swung her sword to finish it.

0000

The winds died down and Maka and the others jostled all of a sudden but quickly managed to get down.

They collapsed to the ground, and as they looked up they were all stunned.

Erlking on his mount had a sword driven through Kami. Her final attack and battle with the hounds lasted only the few seconds it took for the fairy king to pull out his sword.

"A fraction of a second more and you might have been able to land the blow." Erlking glanced to the side to where Kami's trembling hand held the sword so close to his neck. "Never has someone tried to kill me and actually come close. You have my respect - few have that passion and drive. I choose well with this prey. The woman that killed Morgan La Fey was truly wonderous. I think you will make a wonderful hound."

Kami's sword fell to the ground with a clatter.

The winds spun around them as all the hounds howled, swirling around the king and his trophy. They were consumed in shadows and then they were all gone.

Maka and the others looked appalled. Maka just stared, her heart felt like it had stopped and her breath was caught in her throat.

Her mother was gone.