Frontier Lineage

By Thomas A. Hawk

All characters appearing in this work belong to me, myself, and I, unless otherwise stated. Credit for the initial idea of this work goes to Kerashana. Monster Hunter belongs entirely to Capcom.

Chapter 6- The Last Straw

Gods above, I can't take much more of this.

All I want is to leave this place and go someplace else. I don't even care if it isn't where my initial destination was, I just need to get out. Every day there's been one absurd situation after another, each one piling on top of the last and making a giant tower of fuck-off that's just waiting to topple over onto me.

"Say, our food supply is running low because we throw a celebration every week that diminishes our supply. Mind hunting three herds of Aptonoth so we'll have food to survive another one? Oh, and this includes your meals too, so you can't say no."

"Hey, little Jimmy wants some wyvern eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Could you go and steal an egg from a Rath nest for him? We'll pay you with a thousand zenny if you do! But you have to split it up with every teammate you have, just so you know."

"Oh hey, we know you're in the bath, but can you go take care of this Great Jaggi that broke through the front gate? Oh, and you don't have time to suit up, it's an emergency."

Yeah, that all happened. Had to fight the damn thing wearing nothing but a towel and my small clothes. And my other companions weren't much better off. That'll make one hell of a story later on… Ugh, I'm starting to talk like a hunter now. I think I need to soap out my mouth…

The hunts jobs have been going well enough. Since our "great hero" Vince showed up, monsters have been dropping like flies. Newake has been thriving under our the hunters' efforts, and the community has been getting even bigger. There's a farm along the east wall now, about a dozen new houses on the north one, the southern docks have expanded to allow for some fishing vessels, and apparently the Guild is constructing an outpost on the west side. At least, that's the story.

The only real positive I can glean from all of this is that the lodging has gotten a few more upgrades as well. For one, my door got replaced (Kari and Vince broke it down three weeks ago to get me out of bed for some early morning "ice breakers"), and the rugs have all been replaced with better quality Arzuros fur ones. Mattresses have been replaced with new Ludroth sponge ones, lamps got replaced with glowstone crystals (still not clappers, much to my annoyance), and I got my door frame and window reinforced. No more rude intrusions of my personal space now, at least. But, just to be on the safe side, I got a nice couch that I strategically placed next to my door, so if I want assured privacy, I can push it a few feet over and voila, instant barricade.

And even after perfecting my little hideout, I still feel like there's something missing. What that is, I have no idea, but the room just seems… Emptier, for some reason. Which is odd, since my floor space has been reduced by almost twenty-five percent with that couch in here. Ah well, not like it matters. I've decided that the next boat that stops here is taking me out of this town.

I am done.

I'm done with hearing the same four phrases from all the inhabitants of this gods-forsaken town. I'm done having some perky huntress barge in on me when I'm trying to relax just to pull me into something I don't want to do. I'm done forcing myself to remember that there's a huntress living next door who can almost disappear at will. I'm done listening to that guy's tales of "grandeur".

Everyone else has been getting exactly what they want, and if I sound like a pissy little brat for saying that, than go ahead and call me that. Doesn't change the fact that nothing has gone my way the entire time I've been here. What should have been a stepping stone is quickly showing itself to be my tomb, since I'll probably die of old age before I escape here. If I escape here.

…

But… well, is there even a point in escaping? For once, I'm actually using this damn thing to divulge some personal thoughts… Not that I can help it, I suppose. I've spent almost three months in this village, and I actually kinda feel like I'm getting to know everyone. even if I still call the store owner by her title instead of her name (don't think I ever even heard a single one of the villagers' names, now that I think about it…), but I can still identify who's who. Couldn't do that where I lived. After Gramps died, I just booked it outta town. Left everything and everyone behind. Not that I'm looking back on that place: it was even worse than here.

To its credit, Newake isn't that bad. It's more of like… walking on a long path of hot coals, instead of the jagged spikes that were my hometown. If you weren't a hunter there, you were forced into it, whether you like it or not. Most people I knew when I was younger broke under the pressure and became hunters, but I never considered calling myself that, even after everything I was put through. I loathe that title, and all the implications behind it.

But the hunters I've met here… They aren't embittered people like the ones from my village. They laugh, they shout, they share stories… Well, okay, they're pretty much the same in that regard, but there's something… different about them. I feel like they're free in life, like they're doing exactly what they want to, and it's enjoyable to them. I can hardly understand it… Sure, it's impressive to fell a beast seven times your size, but why would you continually do something like that, knowing that every day could end with your untimely death? Is that what life is to them? Is that… fun?

…Bah, I don't even sound like myself anymore… These damned fools are messing with my head, trying to change me into something I'm not. I refuse to believe that after all this time striving to become what I want to be, I'll be swayed into hunting by a group of quirky misfits. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever…

Gods, what is happening to me?

Damien sighed in agitation as he tossed the journal onto the floor next to his bed, allowing himself to fall back onto the pillows behind him. He hated to admit it, but even he didn't know what to think right now. For years, he'd intended to become the exact opposite of a hunter, yet now, he felt like he was enjoying it.

Damien? Enjoy hunting? Those weren't meant to be in the same sentence, unless "does not" was placed between them. He had to deal with this issue fast, before he lost himself to this madness…

He had heard a week before that there was a small merchant vessel headed towards the village. It should arrive within the next few days, and it would remain for two days before shoving off to somewhere else. There were no leviathans sighted, and there weren't any predicted to appear for a while, so no Lagiacrus was going to smash his chance of escape to pieces this time. And, if one tried, he had upgraded his equipment to the point that he could easily take one down if it tried. The blue-eyed man glanced over at the mannequin he stored his hunting outfit on, glancing over the materials quickly, knowing what had gone into each.

The old suit of Yukumo armor was virtually unrecognizable from its old form now, most of it having been replaced or strengthed by the materials of the various monsters he had fought with the others. Instead of a black leather vest, there was a long sleeved Rathalos webbing shirt, underneath which was a layer of scales taken from Lagiacrus and Rathians. His long black pants had been strengthened with materials from Royal Ludroths, and instead of a pair of clogs for his feet, he now had thick bone-covered brown leather boots which offered better mobility and protection. The arms were bolstered by Machalite gauntlets, while his upper arms had a number of claws taken from various beasts to act as thin, yet strong pauldrons. His hat was probably the least changed bit of the entire suit, though it was lined with thin metal sheets to increase its defense. If nothing else, Damien could use it as a throwing weapon if it came to that.

Then, there was the matter of his long sword. Using a variety of claws, scales, and ores he had collected, the once plain silver blade had been transformed into one of a plethora of colors. Reds, blues, and greens faded into each other like gemstones, while the occasional black or tan spot dotted the flat of the blade. The edge was keener than ever, and was a pristine bronze color. The handle, while mostly unchanged, had been upgraded to accommodate a new design of long sword; there was a hollowed out section in the handle that a phial, much like the ones used in switch axes, could be fit into. These phials connected with the blade and imbued the weapon with any kind of element for a fixed period of time. The phials needed to recharge after about a dozen swings, and they weren't nearly as potent as a natural element in a weapon, but they were easy to swap out, and could help anyone adapt to any situation.

With this equipment, Damien was positive he would never need an upgrade again in his career. It had gotten him through the week, and he thought he might sell it off to help get him through the merchant lifestyle. He smirked at the idea of holding an auction for a bunch of hunters to buy the suit and weapon, knowing he could easily rake in countless zenny from some of the more fanatical hunters.

Yet, he hated to admit that he didn't really want to get rid of them. He'd ensured that the suit would fit perfectly, and had gone so far as to personally alter a few aspects of it to better suit his tastes. It had gotten to the point where he couldn't even refer to it as his grandfather's old suit. It was fully and truly his, as was the sword.

"Bah, I really need to stop thinking like this…" he sighed, pushing himself up from his bed. "Maybe I just need something to eat. Some food, and all the bad thoughts will go away. Easy as that."

Before the black-haired man could even get to his item chest, though, there was a trio of knocks at his door. He groaned silently before going to answer it, cracking the door open just enough to poke his head out and see who was calling.

"What."

"Door-busting shoulder charge of valor!"

"Wait, nonononono-!"

Though Damien tried to slam the door shut in time, he wasn't quick enough to stop the boisterous hunter from ramming his door open with a full body tackle, flinging the door wide open and knocking Dane back across the room with a grunt, face first onto his rug. The sheer force of the door hitting the wall shook the entire room, causing an old painting hanging on the wall to fall down, bounce off the couch, and land directly on the downed man's head.

"Oww…"

"My lady, the door has been opened," Vince stated, stepping aside as Kari entered his room, accompanied by Luna.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Vince," Kari replied with a short bow, clearly eating up the theatrics the other hunter employed so often. "And so we have entered the dark fortress of our most reluctant ally, Sir Damien Ulrick of Grumpyland! Will we be able to convince him to accompany us on another treacherous journey into the unknown?!"

"I guess we'll find out soon…" Luna said quietly, red-faced with embarrassment at joining in on her teammates' shenanigans, but also clearly enjoying herself.

"You are most correct, Lady Luna!" the bowgunner remarked enthusiastically. "But I have no doubt that we will be able to convince him to join us once more! For we are…"

"The Newake Hunting Squad!" the three shouted in unison, each of them striking a needlessly over the top 'hero' pose.

Okay, I know my journal is on the other side of the room and all, but not even the fabric of space-time is going to keep me from commenting on this bull shit. Seriously, what the hell has happened to my life? I just wanted to be a merchant, or even just a fucking stall keeper. Now I have to deal with a faux super hero squad?! Gods above, I might just go insane now and save myself the trouble.

"…Um… Vince, you didn't break him, did you?" Luna remarked, looking over the downed man somewhat worriedly. "It's been a couple minutes since we came in here, and he hasn't moved or replied since."

Just play dead, and maybe they'll go away… Just play dead, don't think, don't feel, just pretend to be a corpse. Find a happy place. A place with butterflies, and flowers, and coins, and steak, and nothing else.

"Maybe he needs some mouth to mouth CPR?"

"Ah, say no more, Lady Schritt! I happen to be trained in various forms of resuscitation, with that being one of many ways I can revive a fallen comrade! Now then, just allow me to grab this bag over here, and-"

"Hell no!" Damien shouted, pushing himself up and spinning around to face the others in the room. "I don't care if I'm actually dying or not, you will not do that to bring me back to life!"

"Well, looks like the suggestion works well enough!" Kari laughed, high-fiving Vince. "So, now that we've gotten you on your feet, how about you come along for today's hunt? There's a Barioth at the base of the mountain just waiting to be turned into new equipment!"

"Okay, first of all, does this qualify for 'getting me on my feet'? And also, no, I've got a few things to do around here."

"Oh, you know that isn't true, you grump! C'mon, how can we hope to fight the dangerous creatures of these lands without the great Dane's mighty long sword?"

"Do I have to bring up the whole 'context' thing again?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him mockingly.

"It isn't that bad, Damien… Is it really a big issue to go along on a hunt with us?" Luna asked, knocking her heels together awkwardly. "You always make it seem like a pain…"

"Come, friend! We have much need of your talents on this quest, and to leave without your blade at our sides would be to multiply the dangers of the world tenfold!" Vince remarked, rapping his knuckles against his steel chestplate.

"Urk… You people do not know when to let it rest," Damien grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Fine, whatever, I'll come along. For this last time, at least…"

"Huh? What was that last part, Dane?"

"Nothing… Nothing at all. Is Natch sitting this one out too?"

"Yeah, he'd come along more often if it weren't against the rules. Not that he's complaining though."

"I do kinda miss scratching his ears on the way back from hunts…" Luna murmured, drawing questioning glances from Damien and Vince. "What? I like cats…"

"Nothing personal to the race of Felynes themselves, but I do much prefer the companionship of canines to them," Vince remarked. "Though they may not often leave the homes they live in, they are a staunch companion during rainy nights and… and… Gods, I miss Lord Barky the Third…"

"Aww, there there, big guy, it'll be okay," Kari reassured, giving the hunter a comforting hug as a few tears came to his eyes. Damien just rolled his eyes at the sight; Vince was a big talker, but he had proven himself to be a huge softie too, but only when it came to his old dog, the color yellow, and canned nulberries. Why the last two meant anything sentimentally, he had no idea, and he figured it was best to not pry too deeply for that information.

"Alright, enough of this already. Just let me get my gear on and we can head out, alright?"

"Okay!"

Damien glanced awkwardly between the other three hunters, who remained glued to their spots as they waited for him.

"…By 'let me get my gear on', I meant 'wait out in the hall so I can change in privacy'!"

"Ugh, you are no fun at all," the bowgunner sighed. "Alright, c'mon team. Let's let King Grumpypants get himself ready."

"Thank you very much."

"Kari, break left and blast its other wing with some crag shots! Vince, back her up!"

"Not a scratch shall land upon her!"

Damien jumped to the side as the saber-toothed beast lunged at him, slashing his blade across its side as he did so. Upon landing, he found himself sliding across a thin patch of ice on the ground, but fortunately a small snow drift kept him from losing balance. He watched as Vince and Kari moved around to the beast's opposite side, the bowgunner firing a few rounds at the spikes lining the wyvern's forearm. The creature swiftly twisted its body around and whipped its tail at the huntress, but the lance wielder immediately stepped in and hefted his large shield up, deflecting the blow and causing the Barioth's tail to ricochet up into the air above them. A moment later, the shots Kari had fired detonated, cracking and breaking the spikes lining its wing and causing it to topple onto its side.

"Vince, Luna, bash its head in!" the long sword user called, twisting the handle of his long sword and ejecting a small, dimly lit, electric-blue capsule from the hilt. He caught the tube in midair, pocketed it, and replaced it with a blazing red one which glowed much more intensely than the spent phial from before. Almost immediately, fire element ran through the blade of his long sword, causing a few sections to glow a bright orange from the energy it transmitted. "Kari, get that shock trap set up! I'll get the tail!"

"Will do, Mr. Tactician!"

As the other hunters moved to do what he had said, Damien ran towards the long appendage trailing behind the downed beast, hefting his long sword as he did. With a short yell, he brought the blade down on lash, his strike aimed directly between two of the thicker plates lining the back of the tail. There was a flare of fire as the strike connected, and a spray of blood as steel met flesh. The Barioth would have howled in pain if the other two hunters hadn't been busy striking its head with their shields, causing it to howl in pain from the repeated impacts to the head. At this rate, they might knock out the large creature for long enough to inflict substantial damage to it, and with Kari's trap nearly set, the hunt was almost in the bag.

Another few swings later, and Damien found his blade severing the tail fully, causing the large wyvern to stumble forward with a pained roar. As the beast dizzily turned to face the hunters, the long sword user pulled his hat free from his back and threw it directly at the beast's head, striking it directly between the eyes. The hard metal plates let out a resounding ring as they met bone, causing the snow wyvern to flinch from the impact. Luna and Vince took advantage of this moment to slam their shields into its head again, knocking it onto its side once more, this time directly onto the trap Kari had set.

"Now! Bring it down!"

"In my sights!" Kari called, loading a high-powered cluster round into her bowgun and firing it directly into the beast's chest, causing its torso to erupt into a ball of flames. "Bulls-eye!"

"Here we go…!" Luna said, racing towards the monster's back and dealing a heavy spin slash to its back with her Rathalos short sword. "Easy as pie…"

"This is the part where I stab you horribly! Almighty revolving twister strike!" Vince shouted, twirling his lance around once to build up momentum before driving it deep into the Barioth's side. "Nothing can stop Vince's judgment!"

"This has gone on long enough," Damien snarled, racing towards the beast's head as it weakly tried to push itself away. With all the wounds it had sustained, along with the shock trap Kari had placed earlier, it had no hope of escaping his attack. He swung his blade upwards before reaching the wyvern, allowing the weight of the blade to pull himself skyward. He twisted around once in midair before bringing his sword down in a swift descending slash, slicing clean through the Barioth's skull in one blow and finishing the heavily wounded monster off.

The hunter pushed himself up and swung his sword once to flick the blood off its edge before sheathing the blade. He frowned as he noticed a large splatter of crimson liquid on his chest armor, and tried to wipe it away with his gloved hands.

"Ugh, I got blood all over my shirt… Great, now I'll have to clean this again…"

"And yet another beast has fallen thanks to our impeccable teamwork!" the grey-eyed hunter boasted, planting his boot on the carcass' head triumphantly. "Excellent job, my friends!"

"Haha! I'd say it's thanks to Lord Grumpypants' quick strategizing!" Kari grinned, patting Damien on the back with a largely unnecessary amount of force. "Seriously, hunts go by in a flash when he's working that brain of his!"

"It really isn't that hard to come up with a plan, you know. Any of you could easily do the same," Damien sighed, crossing his arms as he looked at the fallen beast. He wouldn't admit it to them, but he was pretty impressed with how everything had come together. He always had been a quick thinker, after all.

"Well, you do manage to put plans together really fast… You should take a little credit, at least…" Luna remarked meekly. "Not that I'm insisting you do, but… well, you know… right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Let's just carve the thing and get out of here. I'm freezing my arse off here."

"And so, Mr. Tactician has reverted to his alternate persona of Sir Grumpypants!" the bowgunner smirked, again diving into her theatrical form of speaking. "Will he ever be freed from this dreadful curse of persistent negativity?!"

"No matter what it takes, we shall ensure our comrade is cured of his ailment post-haste!" Vince shouted, joining in on Kari's act. "For we members of the Newake Hunting Squad never leave our friends behind, not when they are in need of assistance!"

"Go team!" Luna added enthusiastically: almost too enthusiastically, judging by her usual shyness, but Vince's arrival had helped her grow more accustomed to these sorts of things, so she was becoming a bit more open with the others.

"You idiots can continue telling your great saga on the way back to the village," Damien frowned. "Come on, chop chop. Let's carve this thing and head back."

"Jeez, you really are no fun at all."

As the others went to carving the Barioth's carcass, Damien walked over to where his wide-brimmed hat had landed, brushing the snow off of it before setting it on his head again. He glanced over at the hunters talking amongst themselves as their carving knives removed furs and shells from the beast, all of them swapping tales and jokes between themselves. Though he tried not to, Damien couldn't help but afford the tiniest smile at the sight, though he quickly wiped it away before any of them could see it.

No, no… I can't. I'm not staying. This… this isn't for me…

"Heeeeey, Damien! Mind if I come in?" Kari asked, knocking on the hunter's door repeatedly. He always made it a habit of shutting himself in his room after hunts for whatever reason, which was one of the things she wanted to know about him. She knew almost everything about Vince and Luna already, since they had been talking so much, yet despite knowing him the longest, Dane was the biggest mystery of the group.

"Not now, I'm busy!" he replied with a rather harsh tone.

"You're always busy! Come on, I just wanna talk!"

"Oddly enough, I don't. Try again some other time!"

"What could you possibly be doing that keeps you busy every single minute you aren't doing something with the rest of us?!"

"Does it matter?"

"Why do you think I'm asking, Mr. Grumpy Face?"

"Woman, you are getting on my nerves! I already said I'm busy, so let's just leave it at that, kapeesh?"

Kari sighed to herself and took a step back from the long sword user's door, crossing her arms in thought.

Let's see… How can I get him out, or how can I get in? He closed off the air ducts last week, so that's a no-go, the door and window was reinforced, and we can't dig another hole underneath his room without risking damage to the building, so… Oh, wait! Duh, the answer was right there the whole time!

The bowgunner smirked as she pulled a small kit from her sidebag and pulled a pair of pins out from it. She immediately set to work on the lock, and after only a few short moments, she had shifted the tumblers out of the way and unlocked the door.

"Thank you for the lockpick training, Dad," she giggled, putting the small box away and pushing open the door. "Knock knock, comin' in! What're you up to, Da-"

Her voice cut out as her eyes landed on the black-haired hunter, currently in the process of packing almost everything he owned into his item chest. All the materials he had collected, a few of the decorations made in town, even his armor and weapon were stuffed into the box. It almost looked like he was… moving.

"Kari, how the hell did you get that door open?! I locked it, and I have the only key!"

"Lockpicking, duh! More importantly, what're you doing? I didn't see an eviction notice on your door, so as far as I know you're just trying to get into another room under my nose. Not bad, but you'll have to do better than that to outsmart me!"

"You picked the-?! Dammit Kari, why must you always find some way of sneaking in here?"

"Stop trying to change the subject! Why're you packing up?"

"Because… because I'm leaving. I'm leaving, and that's final."

"…What?! Leaving?! What's this all about?!"

"You mean aside from the group of insane people who keep breaking into my room and the Felyne who steals all my provisions?!"

"You could have told us you didn't enjoy that," Kari pouted, narrowing her gaze at the hunter.

"I did! Numerous times!" Damien retorted with a huff. "Not like any of you hunters would've listened anyways…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That none of you listen to me? What else could it mean?!"

"No, I mean what do you mean by 'you hunters'? You're a hunter too, Dane! We all are! Why do you keep trying to shove that title off of yourself?"

"…Don't call me that."

"What, a hunter? Why not?" she asked, taking on a sarcastic tone. " It's what you are, isn't it? Hunter hunter hunter hunter HUNTER."

"SHUT UP!"

The sudden ferocity that the man's voice contained was enough to make the huntress catch her breath in surprise. His entire expression had shifted from his usual irritated look to one of pure, unbridled rage. She had never seen him look like this, but she was certain that if looks could kill, the entire building would've burst into flames on the spot.

"You don't know a thing about what that means to me! You know nothing! I am not a hunter, and I never will be!"

"What the heck has gotten into you all of a sudden, Dane?! Of course you're a hunter: all of us have seen you move out there, and you've got a lot of skill! You've got the scars to prove that you've been through a bunch of hunts!"

"Oh, so that's all that matters, huh? Ability and battle wounds? Not how you got there in the first place? Let me tell you something, for me, being a hunter means being put through hell and back just to get a meal in the morning. It means waking up at the crack of dawn to a hot fire poker to ribs or a whip to the back. Morning drills consisted entirely of live weapons training, and if you got struck once, the overseers made sure you felt it twice as badly. You have no clue what it's like to have jagged, rusty metal dragged through your arm just for missing a parry!

"They'd throw us into cages unarmed with savage beasts just to see if we knew how to dodge attacks. You get hit, you were lucky if the Jaggis got to you first, since the people tore you apart ten times worse than some beasts ever could. They redoubled training until the dead of night, withheld meals from us, forced us to fend for ourselves in the middle of nowhere when we were too young to even hold a short sword!

"And do you want to know the best fucking part?! The fact that my own Grandfather is the entire reason I was forced into all of that! I never had a single choice in my life until the day he finally kicked the bucket. Nothing aside from 'live or die'. I never wanted to be a hunter, not a single day in my life!

"So, while you and your merry bunch of wackos might think that being a hunter is all tavern fights and glory hogging, it isn't. To me, being a hunter is a scar that'll never heal," he hissed, pointing to the scar on his jaw. "It's a past that I wish had never happened, a life that I never wanted, and an experience that will haunt me for the rest of my life. No amount of 'hot spring bonding' will ever fix that damage."

"D..Damien, I… I had no idea…" Kari said, completely taken aback by the man's rant. She had always just assumed it was in his nature to be a bit grumpy towards everyone; not once had it crossed her mind that there could be something worse below the surface of it all. "Then… All those scars…?"

"I never got a single scar from a monster. Not any that weren't human, at least."

"Oh gods…"

"Feh, not like I ever told you anything anyways," he muttered, turning back to his item chest and continuing his packing. "Just get out of here and let me be."

"Damien, I-!"

"I have nothing else to say. Leave."

The huntress, despite wishing to stay there and apologize for what she had said, knew that there would be no getting through to him when he was like this. With a short sigh, she backed out of the room, shutting the door quietly as she left.

"Sorry about all of that…" she murmured, sulking back to her room.

Yeah, so what if I blew up on her? She asked for it.

Frankly, I'm sick of this place. They've all been trying to corrupt me and show me that hunting is some kind of sport instead of the maelstrom of despair it is for me. Well, looks like I got the message across. That boat will be leaving tomorrow, and I'm getting onboard first thing in the morning. I'm leaving this place, and no one will stop me.

I. Am. Done.

Author Notes: Please review! Well, seems things have definitely taken a spin from the comedic nature of this tale, huh? You thought Damien was a hardass for fun, didn't you? He has the most depth as a character out of the cast (given, it is his story), so the others won't have the same amount of backstory as him. Not to say they don't have backstory... I've dropped a few subtle hints at their backgrounds throughout, though I do wonder if you'll catch those things! I also had the last present-day scene take place from Kari's point of view, solely to help improve the impact of Damien's backstory. Needless to say, after writing all of this from his perspective, it was a bit jarring for me.

While I was writing the Barioth fight, I came to the realization that I really like using that particular monster as a 'boss creature' in my stories. Two appeared in Remembrance, one of them being responsible for York's scar in The Hunter's Oath, and I have one slated to appear in The Master Corps too. Gotta love that saber cat... If you noticed, I had all the characters spout a one-liner before landing their final attacks on the Barioth too, along with a sort of 'end quote' as well. These (as well as many other things as of late) were inspired by FE: Awakening's critical hit cut-ins, many of which are extremely bad ass. Probably my favorite one is "Pick a god and pray!" Shame I almost never hear it, since the associated character isn't very useful... Still, I might end up using these later on too, so watch out for them.

Hoo boy... I can't even name a single inspiration for the Newake Hunting Squad bit. Mostly because it is a common trope (almost to the same extent as the hot spring episode), but there are a few important bits among the craziness of the cast. Still, it seems Vince is contagious! Even Luna is getting in on it! Will it spread further?! ...Hah, action teams.

So, I'll bet a good number of you have seen dashboardgecko and I's collab work, After Life! That's the secret project he and I have been working on for the past few months, and also part of the reason my own writing has slowed somewhat (mostly college, but eh). If you haven't seen it yet, check it out in The Lost Civilization: DLC! Chapter two is coming soon!

Now, as for my own writing, I am happy to say that TMC 18 has been drafting and is being edited as we speak. So, for those of you concerned with whether or not I am continuing it (shout out to the first person that comes to mind at this though, Mr. Guest from Somewhere on the Internet), do not fear! Wes' story is still coming along just fine! ...Slowly, but fine!

I finally, finally got Hyrule Warriors and Smash Bros Wii U for Christmas, which is certain to suck some of my time away, but if you wish to add me online, pm me and we can exchange friend codes! I actually have a few one shots planned that may focus on these games, so somewhere down the line I might post some side stories for your viewing pleasure. Oh, the ideas I have...

Playing: Hyrule Warriors, SSB4 (both versions now!), Assassin's Creed Unity

Reading: The Lost Civilization: DLC, A History of Weapons: Crossbows, Caltrops, Catapults, & Lots of Other Things that Can Seriously Mess You Up by John O'Bryan

Watching: My T.V. screen as I cut swaths through legions of the forces of darkness in Hyrule Warriors

Listening to: Avenged Sevenfold, Rise Against, the pure awesomeness that is HW's soundtrack as I do the aforementioned swath-cutting