Yoru fell on her knees, had reached the frontier of the swamp. The ground was solid, still dry but soon it would become a mess of mud. It was dusk, the sun was setting on the horizon and a cold breeze was flowing through the huntress´ armor. She was lucky, the cool drink the chief cat gave her was enough to reach this place and no monster attacked her on the way. But, for every creature in the world, the night was another world and the swamp was no different. More creatures lurked in the night and without company or good sight it would be hard to detect a monster in the darkness. Right now, however, Yoru was content with what she had achieved and the new possibilities the weapon brought. ``I better find shelter inside a cave, it rains a lot at night…´´ the huntress mumbled stretching her arms and then grabbed the heavy sword again, she would need a pretty good night to regain her strength and relax her muscles. Every fiber of her arms was tired and stirred, yet she had to carry the weapon along for a bit more. Gray was right, anyone would be extremely exhausted just carrying this blade, she had to make several pauses along the way to rest and the fact she had a limited time to reach the swamp made the pauses even more precious.
(Old Desert)
Elvis stopped walking and looked back, the sun was setting and the sky was a mixture of red and orange. ``We better make a camp´´ he said to the others, ``Why? There is still light and its colder´´ Rick argued, `` Are you mad?! At night the desert is cold, very VERY COLD´´ the medic answered. ``We can´t stop now, the sword made a clear trail and we might lose it by morning´´ Derek kept walking, forcing the duo to follow. ``How cold it is?´´ Rick asked, ``So cold you need a hot drink to keep yourself warm´´ the other hunter answered. `` Did we bring any?´´ the rubber knight asked, ``I spent mine returning to the village, didn´t have time to buy more. And you?´´ he asked. ``Spent mine on the Old Swamp on the way back´´ Rick answered. Derek stopped walking, he looked at the trail, at the sun and then back at the trail. ``What happened?´´ Rick asked coming closer to his friend, `I am thinking´´ the red hunter answered rubbing his chin. ``What´s the probability that it will rain at the Swanp?´´ Derek asked his companions, ``Very high´´ Rick answered, ``And how do you know this?´´ Elvis asked quite surprised that Rick knew something useful, ``I hunted many Gypceros there, I know how that wet place works´´ the rubber knight answered. ``So she is going to search for a place to stay, right?´´ the red knight asked. ``Yeah, but…´´ Rick stopped, ``But what?´´ Derek insisted. ``Do I tell him or not? Man! I want to rest but if he finds out I am dead´´ the rubber knight tensed.
``So…?´´ the leader turned back and crossed his arms, ``To hell with it!´´ Rick rubbed his head in anguish, ``What´s wrong with you?!´´ Elvis shouted startled. The rubber knight groaned and then sighed, ``At night, many fungus create a toxin that if in contact with water, creates a poisonous mist. Since the area is already flooded, much of the swamp will be covered.´´ Rick answered, the medic hunter understood why the man was having a hard time. ``This means that…´´ Derek´s eyes widened, ``I hope she finds a safe place´´ Elvis spoke, ``Or lots and lots of antidote´´ Rick completed.
(Old Swamp)
Coughing, coughing and more coughing. When someone says the forest is another world at night, they should exchange the world "forest" with "swamp". Murky, wet and with a fog veil during the day and mostly dry and poisonous during night. What caused such change in this place? This was something the huntress couldn´t answer. It has been three hours since the sun has fully set and half an hour since the rain stopped. The air was humid and so many poison filled fogs sprouted around the place.
Yoru used one of her tatters of clothing and tied it around her head to act as a mask, but this wasn´t the only problem. Visibility was very poor, she could barely see three meters far with the purple mist around her and the poison was slowly entering her mask. To slow down the poisoning process, she took deep breaths and then held the air the most she could before moving into another fog filled area, but sometimes it took several minutes to reach another open area. The huntress had inhaled too much mist by now and the toxin was already taking effect.
Fortunately, the mushrooms that lived around the Swamp produced weak toxins which takes several hours to fully kill a person. On the other side, Yoru had to stay the entire night in this place, meaning that she HAD to find an antidote herb before morning. This meant she had to search the herb and this means going through the poisonous fog several times. Then, she had to search for a dry place, maybe a cave, and finally consume the antidote herb. Even so, though not known to the huntress, a common antidote should be mixed with a blue mushroom(a catalyst) to avoid the possibility of the herb not functioning as intended. ``I need to *cough* find that herb *cough*…´´ she said under her "mask".
Meanwhile, the trio of hunters reached the borders of the swamp. They were greeted by a dense fog that stood on their way. ``This is weird´´ Derek said looking at the sides, ``I never saw something like this, even at night´´ Rick rubbed his chin. ``What do we do? We can´t enter the fog without poisoning ourselves´´ Elvis remarked, ``I will go, alone´´ Rick said abruptly making the other hunters turn their attention to the rubber knight. ``You can´t go there, you will die before finding her´´ Derek argued, ``And you don´t even have herbs with you´´ Elvis added. ``It is MY fault she fled the village, it is my responsibility to bring her back´´ the rubber knight answered. ``Will alone won´t save you! It is also …´´ Derek argued but his rival interrupted him, ``Stop blaming yourself!´´ Rick shouted pointing his indicator finger at his friend, ``Besides, it was because of your will alone that we crossed the swamp, the desert and searched the entire jungle for three months! If it isn´t will alone that moved you, what is it?!´´ Rick shouted.
Derek was left speechless, his mouth slightly open. ``But still, you won´t survive the poison´´ Elvis said, Rick turned to the hunter. ``I have been poisoned several times in my life, I kinda of created a little resistance against toxins and that's includes the poisonous mushrooms. With luck, my body will resist several minutes before I get infected and despite the poor visibility, I think I can find my way to an area where I know there are blue herbs´´ the rubber knight explained. ``But still, there must be something we can do´´ Elvis protested since the red hunter was still speechless. ``Do you know a song that boosts resistance against poison?´´ Rick asked, ``Yes, but it is very long and only lasts ten minutes. It just boosts your resistance, it doesn´t mean you are immune ´´ Elvis answered. ``Good enough for me, start playing it´´ the rubber knight smiled under his helm, even though his friend couldn´t see it. ``Are you sure about this?´´ Derek finally spoke, ``Of course I am!´´ Rick moved his arms, warming up as Elvis moved his hunting horn in different positions, playing a bellowing song. ``Elvis, can´t you play the horn while we are inside the swamp?´´ Derek asked, ``Do you really think I will be able to hold this thing upwards for an hour or so?´´ Elvis grunted moving the weapon to a diagonal position. Derek looked at the man, he moved the horn to a new position after a few seconds several, it was clear that even with his strength Elvis couldn´t do that for extended periods of time(not considering the ill effects of the poison).
``I am finished´´ Elvis said breathing heavily, the hardest wasn´t the song length but the many movements he had to do with the horn. ``Okay, see you later´´ Rick waved as he rushed towards the fog, ``Do came back alive, your fool!´´ Derek shouted as his rival disappeared through the mist. After a few moments of silence a thought crossed Elvis´ mind, ``What we do now?´´ he asked the red hunter. Derek grabbed a whetstone from a pouch attached on his belt and proceeded to sharp his greatsword. ``We wait for their return, we should mount the camp meanwhile´´ the red hunter answered. ``Now that I think about it, Rick was carrying the backpack with the tent´´ Elvis said tense. ``Oh no, that fool! That is what we get when we rush things!´´ Derek looked at purple fog.
(One hour later)
Yoru sat on the rocky ground of a cave, she coughed a lot. ``Why it always have to be a cave?´´ she thought. An air current came from inside the cave, keeping the poisonous fog outside and since the place was dry no fungus could be found. Her eyes weighed like a Lao Shan Lung and her body tingled in an odd way. ``Maybe just a little rest…´´ she mumbled as she let the sword on the wall and closed her eyes. The huntress felt her body getting hotter, probably because of a fever but she didn´t care about it, she needed rest to continue her journey, after all…
Someone shook her body gently, Yoru mumbled , the same person shook again but this time stronger, no result. ``Wake up!´´ the person shouted, the huntress felt something hit her cheek and she finally opened her eyes. A man wearing a large helm with the visor up greeted her as she became aware of her surroundings. The hunter worn a large purple armor and a hammer and a backpack could be spotted on his back. ``Who are you and why did you hit me?!´´ Yoru shouted feeling a small boost of adrenaline before coughing again. ``Good, you are still alive´´ the man sighed walking back and searching for something on his backpack. Feeling uneasy by the lack of answer, Yoru grabbed the hilt of the sword and used it as support, her eyes were narrowed as she prepared to lift the blade. ``Whoa! I am not a monster, you know?!´´ Rick said tense waving his arms, ``Who are you? Tell me!´´ she insisted. ``Rick! My name is Rick! Can you please let that sword alone?´´ the rubber knight asked, ``Derek sent you to bring me back, didn´t he?!´´ she shouted at the man. ``Well, yeah. He is…´´´Rck stopped when he saw Yoru holding the sword with both hands and pointing at his neck, her hands trembled with effort since the blade was too heavy and her breaths were heavy and irregular. Rick noticed the white eye and wounded shoulder. ``You won´t take me back! No after everything he forced me to do!´´ Yoru shouted but then started coughing, it got worse and she let the sword fall on the ground. Rick watched as the huntress fell on her knees and coughed more.
``I brought antidote herbs. Here, take them´´ Rick said grabbing a bunch from his backpack, he found them after some time searching through the fog and even used a few to test and cure himself. Yoru looked disgusted at the hand, her eyes were weary and tired. ``I refuse your mercy´´ she turned her head to the side. ``Eat them for heaven´s sake! If you don´t, you will die!´´ the rubber knight insisted. ``I don´t care!´´ she answered staring at he man. ``What are trying to accomplish?! If you don´t accept my help you…´´ Rick started, ``…I will never be strong enough to return!´´ Yoru finished. ``What?´´ Rick asked surprised. ``If I return, they will laugh at me! Dam Derek for lying to me!´´ she coughed, ``Dam it all the kelbi in the world!´´ the huntress finished holding her belly.
Rick gasped, is that how she felt towards his friend? All this hatred focused on an innocent? Heavens, why did he had to open his mouth in that fateful day? If he wasn´t out searching in the jungle, he could have stopped the huntress. All this time, while the others lived inside Kokoto, with warm food, bed, home and friends she fought monsters alone, day and night, hunted her own food and resisted until now. All this happened because of a simple commentary and the influence of a bastard 6 star hunter. When he returns to the village, Ignavus will taste his wrath. Noticing the huntress debilitated state, Rick debated on what he would say to make Yoru eat the herbs.
``I am Derek´s friend. At the same day he found you, he sent me to the jungle to investigate what kind of monster attacked you. If you eat the herbs, I will tell what I discovered´´ Rick answered. "Well…that is a nice argument" he thought proudly of himself. Yoru blinked many times, she remembered Derek mentioning he sent a friend to investigate, but was he telling the truth at the time? Wasn´t he the one who spread the lies about her near death experience? Rick claims he is his friend , was that true? There is only one way to find out.
``Fine…´´ she said irritated as she grabbed the bunch of blue herbs, ``But if I discover you are lying, I will hunt you down to the ends of the world and tear you limb from limb´´ Yoru stared at Rick with a death glare before munching the herbs. ``She is scary´´ Rick trembled.