I apologize for the longer than normal wait. School has grabbed me by the balls and has really limited the time I have to write. That, and I've been spending more time with my lads recently. I'll attempt to be more consistent, but I wont be able to give exact dates. I can confirm that there will be weekly uploads, however. Unless of course something comes up, in which case I will let you all know if something does. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.
'Um... This is new.'
The Good Hunter, instead of reawakening in her own home, found herself inside a completely different room. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned, hell, even entered in at least ten months. There were small cobwebs in the corners of the room, and the room in general was just dusty. Although that door does look pretty familiar. It wasn't all that impressive looking, if she was being truly honest. Whoever lived here wasn't one for cleanliness. But then again, neither was she.
Looking around, she noticed there was a messy bed in a corner, with what looked like trash underneath it. There was a HUGE television that practically extended the length of the room, and it was connected to four, count em FOUR, video game consoles, two of which she had never seen. One was bulky and had white and green coloration, and the second was stark white and rather slim.
'Who would need so many damn game consoles? Don't people have anything else to do? Lazy sons of...'
Her thoughts trained off as she continued to look around. The rest of the room was rather barren. Aside from the thick layer of dust on everything, there was a bedside table with nothing on it but a lamp. There was also a dresser against the wall, and when she approached it she discovered it actually contained clothing. She pulled a garment out, and looked it over.
Her head began to pang in slight pain as she looked at it. Perhaps that was from the awful colors.
It was a rather strange garment. It seemed to be a thick coat with a hood attached to the neck. It was colored white and purple, and was soft to the touch. She liked the idea of the hood being attached to the coat itself, but it looked like it offered next to nothing in terms of actual protection, so she put it back in the dresser and closed it.
Moving away from that, she moved in the direction of a closet. However, she suddenly halted when she heard...Crying?
That's what it sounded like, anyway. And it was fairly obvious it was coming from outside the room, because it was heavily muffled and seemed to pass through the wall.
She would ignore it for now. It wasn't her problem. Better luck next time to the person who was currently bawling their eyes out.
Moving back over to the closet, she pulled the door open, and was met with dust flying into her face and helmet, she looked away for a moment as to not breathe in any particles, before turning back and looking inside. It was virtually barren, with the only thing inside being shoved in the corner. In fact, she would have missed it had it not flown over to her.
It was a rather large moth. And it seemed to be rather unhappy about The Good Hunter invading it's space, and it let her know by flying in her face in an attempt to intimidate her.
This, of course, resulted in failure for the moth and another kill for The Good Hunter. It was somewhat amusing though, to see such immense valor in the moth. If one could call it that.
Closing the closet, she noticed a small sliver of light seeping into the room through a window, which had been covered with blinds. Walking over, she pulled the blinds, light exploding into the room, causing her to cover her eyes for a few moments. Once her sight had adjusted, she looked out the window and was met with a very nice view of Planeptune. She was up very high, and to her left she could she a balcony on the same floor she was on.
'Huh... Looks like the Basilicom balco-'
She physically slapped herself for not figuring that out sooner. She was better than this!
So her new awakening point was this room in the Basilicom? Then that meant that the crying she heard earlier was probably that Nepgear girl, who probably didn't take too well to seeing her 'sister' blow her own brains out in the interest of saving time. Then again, it wasn't as if she cared about her.
She walked over to the door, turning the handle.
'...Locked?'
The door was locked. While a minor inconvenience at the most, she scowled at the method she normally used for this. There was no way more efficient, but it was an unholy waste of bull-
Oh. Right.
She backed up from the door, and dug into her pouch. Eventually, she founder herself toting a rather imposing weapon in the form of the Cannon. She smirked sadistically as she prepared to fire the weapon.
She put her hand over the lever...
She aimed at the door...
She pulled the lever...
*BOOM*
The sound of the Cannon firing effectively drowned out any other noise. The sound of the wooden door utterly shattering, the ball passing through a multitude of other things, even that infernal. goddamn. CRYING.
She walked through the shattered remains of the door, and saw that the door was enough to alter the trajectory of the cannonball, as it was currently lodged into a wall. To the left, she noticed a very familiar door, and next to it was that same brass label. 'Nepgear.'
She turned around to face the room she just came out of, and on the wall next to the now splintered and annihilated door, was that same piece of paper taped on. 'Neptune.'
Well, at least she knew where she was now.
And if she was still new to this world, she woud have been surprised to hear a shocked gasping coming from her left. She sighed and turned around to face it, being met with the sight of Nepgear holding a hand over her mouth, eyes red and puffy.
She didn't even get a word out before she did something rather unexpected. She was exptecing her to get immensely angry with her after what she just did, and she would brush it off as per usual.
What she got was a purple and white missile heading straight for her, which wrapped itself around her waist, before the sounds of muffled sobbing reached her ears. She felt her clothing get damp.
The Good Hunter didn't know how to respond to this at all. She did find it somewhat annoying and aggravating that this girl suddenly latched herself to her body and began to cry again. But on the other side of the coin, it felt...nice? She couldn't really describe it. Either way, she couldnt really spare time for this. So she began to just... Walk.
She walked past the dumbfounded Goddesses who stared at her simply dragging Nepgear around as she held a death grip on the girl's waist, and was being dragged behind her to top it all off.
Neptune didn't really care for her public image, nor was she one to care about what other people thought of her. Antagonizing words and insults usually bounced off her, unless they hit a particularly sore spot or the person was just that damn annoying.
It sounded like the Goddesses made to follow her, but someone must have stopped them due to the sudden halt in footsteps behind her. So she walked to the elevator with the girl hanging on to her like she was her lifeline. Once they got to the elevator, it sounded like the crying had stopped. But she did not let go. In fact, just as Neptune pressed the button for ground floor, the girl, with rather alarming speed, stood up and latched to her back and held on like a vice. It all happened in probably less than a second, and the sudden change threw The Good Hunter off guard. Her arms were suddenly clasped together and held around her chest, while the girls legs wrapped around her waist as she held on like a backpack. She could hear and feel the shaky breathing on her back, but chose to ignore it. She would let go eventually, and if not she would simply remove her with force. The door to the elevator opened, and she walked out. Ignoring the alarmed looks and spittering of the people in the room, she walked out of the Basilicom and onto the hexagon rail. Stepping aboard, she was given more curious and worried looks as she rode the thing to her destination, the girl on her back sniffling occasionally, but otherwise staying completely silent. She stepped off of the platform and onto the stairs, before reaching the ground and heading off to her residence.
The trip was relatively boring. Neither of them said a word to eachother, and the shocked and confused looks practically everyone threw her way quickly stopped being funny and got to be more of an annoyance. It gradually became more bearable the closer she got to her house, due to the fewer people in the area and with dusk coming down quickly. She turned and saw her house, before she walked towards it. She opened the front door and stepped inside. Once inside, she came to a sudden halt and narrowed her eyes.
Above her was the sound of footsteps. Light footsteps, but footsteps nonetheless. Had someone broken in to her house?
Well, she did need something to vent on. A burglar would be great for that.
She unsheathed her sword and rested it over her shoulder, before silently walking up the stairs. The girl on her back seemed none the wiser, as she made no effort to say anything or do anything. She might have even passed out on her back.
She saw that her bedroom door was wide open, so she stepped inside and looked around. She was met with the sight of someone stuffing her console into a large bag.
She was having none of it.
She dove over to the person, causing them to turn to face her from the sudden noise. She delivered a swift punch to the persons face with her free hand, before the let out a feminine scream and landed on their backside, dazed.
The Good Hunter grabbed them by the head, before she dragged them over to the wall and held them up so that their feet weren't touching the ground. She drew back her sword, and stabbed right through their waist, which passed through their entire body and lodged itself into the wall.
The victim let out a bone chilling scream of agony as they gripped the blade and began to frantically kick their legs, as if they were trying to alleviate some of the insane pain surging through them. The Good Hunter drew a throwing knife, and was about to play darts with the thief, when...
A blinding light flashed behind her, causing her to suddenly shut her eyes.
It was only for a moment, but when she opened them she saw a delicate, yes strong hand grasping her right wrist, stopping her from throwing the knife. She turned to see the Goddess in her transformed state, with a scared, distraught face. She must have dismounted at some point, and The Good Hunter was far too occupied to notice.
"That's enough... Don't kill her. I wont let you." She said, somewhat surprising The Good Hunter. That's when she noticed something else in her eyes...
It was small. Something that you generally wouldn't notice unless you looked very closely, but was there nevertheless.
It was conflict. It was being practically drowned by everything else, but it was there.
Had the girl finally reached her breaking point?
The Good Hunter let out an amused huff, before begrudgingly stowing her throwing knife and gripping her sword, pulling it out of the wall and the girl, watching as she fell to the floor with a heavy thud. It looked like she was trying to reach for... something on her pouch, but couldnt reach it. The Goddess let out a relieved sigh, and walked over to the girl. She seemed to actually be tending to her.
'What a foolish girl. Her generosity will bite her in the ass later.' Thought The Good Hunter, who walked over to her console, before something hit her.
How would she move it?
She looked around the box, seeing the black cables that sprouted from the back of it, which seemingly led to the television. She moved over to it, and saw the cables end with thick bulky ends into the televison.
She attempted to pull on the things, and they did come out rather easily. She set them by the console, before grabbing everything and dropping it into her pouch. It was then that she looked over to the Goddess, who was helping the robber up.
'Strange... Where did their wound go?'
The stab wound was completely healed and gone, without a trace of it ever existing. The Good Hunter walked over to the thief, and put her blade up to her neck. The Goddess shouted in protest at this.
"Im not going to kill it..." She said. The Goddess looked unsure for a few seconds, but sighed in resignation, and backed off slightly. She still looked ready to pounce at any given moment, however.
"Now... Any reason you got it in your head that coming into my home would be a fine idea?" Questioned The Good Hunter, blade unwavering.
"...Sometimes, I like to come to this district to loot old houses. I had no idea that someone had started living here, honest."
The Good Hunter scowled under her helmet. She really wanted to kill this person, but then again, a certain person was stopping her. She looked the the Goddess, who frowned and shool her head no. The Good Hunter quietly growled, before sheathing her blade.
"Get the fuck out of here before I do it anyway." The Good Hunter snapped, gesturing to the door. The thief wasted no time in getting up and bolting for the door.
"...I cant allow this anymore, Neptune." The Goddess suddenly spoke, a mix of emotions lining her voice.
"Hm?" The Good Hunter turned to face the Goddess, who wore a determined and confident look.
'This is new...' The Good Hunter thought.
"I know that... where you came from wasn't the most forgiving or happy place. And im so, terribly sorry you had to go through the things you did. But you cant just go kill mode on a person like that! It's just something you cant do!" She said.
She wasn't really expecting her to ever raise her voice against her like that. Ever since she had met Nepgear, she was usually a sad, crying mess. Now?
'Guess she must have had it.'
"...Whatever. If it helps you sleep, I'll try not to grind up the people that attack me or wrong me." Said The Good Hunter, a small dab of sarcasm leaking from her voice. The Goddess sighed, before light overtook the room again and she returned to her normal form.
The Good Hunter left the building, somewhat irked that the thief left the door wide open.
'Hopefully the next time I see that girl, I'll be alone.'
The Goddess was slightly behind, so she ran up to the side of The Good Hunter, who she stole glances at every once in a while.
"...You got taller." She commented, trying to start a conversation.
The Good Hunter "Hmph" 'd in response, which for some reason got a small giggle from the girl.
'Wasn't she just on my ass for almost killing a person?..."
The girls walked down the street, eventually reentering the more populated area of the city. Nepgear seemed to be having a mental war with herself, as she was constantly narrowing her eyes at nothing, shaking her head etc.
Eventually, she formulated a question.
"Uhm... Sis?"
The Good Hunter sighed in annoyance. She really did not like to be called that, even if it was true. (Which she vehemently denied.) But if she didn't start responding to it, Kos knows how long she'll nag and call her it anyway. It would drive her to suicide more than a few times if she didn't bite the bullet on this one and suck it up.
"...What."
The Girl seemed actually surprised she got a response, but a smile quickly formed on her face.
"Can we hold hands back to the Basili-"
"No."
She looked to the ground dejectedly, with an "Aw..."
Line Break
After the pair returned to the Basilicom, they began to process of 'hooking up' the console to the large television in the living room. The Good Hunter had next to no knowledge of the technology, aside from knowing that cords had to be inserted into the television to work. So she opted to let the Goddess do it, while she retired to the kitchen, feeling hungry.
She threw open the cold metal cabinet, and was met with some sort of smoke to the face. Inside the box was a wide variety of what looked like fruits, vegetables and some meats. However, one thing caught her eye.
It was on the top shelf next to the milk. It was fairly small, and almost bowl shaped. It was creme at the base and a layer of brown crowned it. Taking it, she realised it was covered in a thin layer of paper, with the words 'Ge-Ge' on it.
Ge-Ge? Was that the name of the food?
Tearing it off, she removed the thing from its package. It was jiggly and soft, but also firm in some way. She removed her headgear, placing it on the table behind her. She tore a piece off of the main body, and placed it in her mouth.
It was the single best thing she had ever tasted.
She couldn't even describe it. It wad simply amazing.
The taste was so incredibly foreign, but so very familiar as well.
"Uhm... Neptune, I finished setting up your game-" The Good Hunter turned to face Nepgear, who had just entered the room. She had a surprised expression at first, but it then turned into a soft smile.
"...That was mine, you know." She said, slowly walking over. The Good Hunter then turned away and quickly shoved the entire thing in her mouth. If the Goddess dared to take this from her, she would kill something. She wouldn't lose somethint that tasted as good as this.
"Well, I guess you still have a strangely powerful love for pudding." She commented. "If you want to play your game, it's set up in the living room."
The Good Hunter gave light nod as she chewed, eventually swallowing.
'Pudding, is it? I'll have to see about buying more.' She thought as she left the room, entering the living room. She saw it was empty, and the people that were still at the Basilicom(Compa, IF, Noire, Nepgear and Histoire), were on the balcony.
She started up the console, and started Devil's Spirits. She checked the balcony again whilst the game loaded, and saw Histoire looking at her, then the game on the screen. She looked back between the two for a few moments, as if connecting the dots on something. Before she could see her do anything, The Good Hunter turned back to the screen, and selected 'Continue.'
'Today is the day you meet your end, Frostskulker.'
Deep Virtua Forest, Ten minutes later.
A horrible, abhorrent monster was currently enjoying a meal consisting of a foolish human that thought it could best it. This world was... different. The humans here weren't the same as the normal ones. Their hides were not ones it had seen before. They were far more colorful and repulsive. Their weapons were also strange, but seemed to be only slightly less deadly than the ones the normal Humans usually held. Well, it didn't really matter. As long as it had food to eat, it was fine. And they tasted pretty much the same, despite the fact these ones were softer in some capacity.
That was when it heard a roar. It sounded primal and rage filled, but also from incredibly far away.
"GOD FUCKING DAMN YOOOUUU!!!"
Whatever made that sound, it very obviously wasn't happy. It was amusing to the monster as it continued to eat.
Other creatures suffering was pretty funny.
