Alright so here's the next chapter, I'm posting this right before finals, while I should be studying, or writing final essays, so you all had better be thankful! I don't know how long until the next chapter'll be coming out, I get initiative randomly now, since reviews have all but vanished...

Elric woke first, aside from the crew. They'd already been up for hours, steadying the ship and ensuring that their descent today would be perfect. They worked for Elric the champion, everything they did for him was as perfect as could be.

His heightened senses, honed from years of hunting monsters (two official years, with a few training ones as well, not too many actually...), listened intently. Over the rushing wind, he could almost hear what seemed to be screaming, but from a long distance.

He shrugged, putting it down to nothing more than one of the illusions of high altitude flight.

He then headed into the kitchen, to ensure that the chef cooked enough for him and Xera to gorge themselves. That meant a lot of food.

En route, he was startled, as was everyone else, when the airship suddenly was jerked from the sky!

It didn't fall far, it was only a small jerk. But it sufficed to awaken anybody who was still asleep, as well as terrify anybody who wasn't.

Xera was launched clear from her bed, landing in a groaning heap on the other side of the room. She immediately left her room to share a few choice words with whoever had caused the bump.

Ryuhime was jolted out a pleasant dream involving herself and Xera (I'll leave the details to you, but I think you can guess what it was.). She too stood from her bed and left to find what happened.

Elric met them on their way to the captain's post. He was at a loss as well, nobody could come up with a reason for the jerk.

At that moment, one of the laborers from down below came racing up. He was very excited about something, so excited that it took them three tries to calm him down long enough to get the story from him.

"I found this waving in the wind behind us," He said, producing a long, thin rope, frayed and torn at one end. "This was attached to the sub-cabin support beam, the other end was just waving around, heading out the window."

"Any ideas?" The captain asked Elric.

"None from me, you two girls?" Elric asked, looked pointed at Xera.

Xera had been grinning slightly, already knowing exactly what had happened. "I don't know, why are you looking at me like that? Ryu could done something too! And if she did, I'm sure it would be worse than anything I'd come up with."

"I didn't do anything!" Ryuhime immediately protested.

"Okay?" Elric questioned. "I just wanted to know if you had any ideas about what it might have bee. No need to get so defensive. Sheesh."

"Were we attacked by a monster?" Xera asked, truly hoping the answer was yes.

She was not disappointed. Ryuhime took one look at the rope that the captain held in his hands and whistled. "Wow, we got attacked by a big monster. Good guess Xera."

"I was right? Awesome! How do you know?"

"The bite. Plus the fact that we're flying. That leads me to only one conclusion: an elder dragon."

"Okay, run that by me again..." Xera was lost.

But she wasn't alone. "Same here," The captain muttered.

"Even I can't follow her." Elric bemoaned.

"We're in the air correct." Ryuhime waited until all three of them nodded before continuing. "That automatically reduces the number of monsters that could have done it. And we know that it's a monster because the rope was bitten, without a doubt I'll say that.

"Look here," She held up the end of the rope that was torn. "Do you see how even this cut is? In the very middle are a few strands that show where the edge of some sharp object came together. If it had been a knife, those wouldn't be there, same with scissors. That leads to the monster conclusion.

"We're in midair, using a massive amount of force to keep ourselves aloft. What kind of monster has enough power to match that, plus more still to pull us in reverse?"

"An elder dragon!" Xera suggested.

"Yep." Ryuhime beamed at her. "None of the flying bird wyverns would've been able to do that. Plus, almost any flying monster, wouldn't have stopped at eating whatever was on the end of that rope, they'd have attacked the ship proper as well.

"So I'm thinking one of the land-based elder dragons, most likely either immense in size or readily able to jump. My guess would be a deviljho."

"Why a deviljho?" Xera inquired.

"Cause deviljho are more ravenous than any other monster, they'll attack anything if they get food out of it. They'll eat something they know is dangerous, or poisonous, just to get a bite to eat."

Elric nudged Xera as he said, "Sounds like a hunter I'm getting to know."

"Shut up." She replied.

The captain butted in, saying, "We'll be landing soon, it shouldn't be anything for us to land, but if a deviljho's in the area, we can't be sure. Deviljho have been known to go straight into Loc Lac before when they're really hungry."

Elric shuddered; he remembered that fiasco quite well. He still had nightmares about all the devastation.

"Let's head back to the common room to wait out our landfall." He suggested.

Ryuhime began to head back to her own room, but Xera grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

"B-but I'm not dressed!" She protested. It was true, when she was sleeping; Ryuhime removed the top portion of her basic clothing and replaced it with a loose shift.

"You were fine enough standing around with everybody else, so you're good for now. We have to make sure everybody's safe while we land, wouldn't want you to get hurt." Xera replied logically. Truth be told, it was a partial lie, she really just wanted to keep staring at her in the shift.

"Yeah, but that was different." Ryuhime protested.

"Nope, doesn't work like that." Xera pulled her into the room where Elric was now sprawled out over one of the couches.

Xera threw herself into one of the massively cushioned chairs while Ryuhime immediately placed herself at Xera's feet.

Elric again only shook his head at their antics.

The descent finished with relatively little problems. A line snapped, but it wasn't that important and they were able to fly through it.

Elric led them to another window. Looking out through it, they were awed by their first vision of Loc Lac. It was a massive, expansive city that spread for a good several miles in any directions. At its very center stood a massive pillar devoted to the thrill of monster hunting.

Shops, statues, massive buildings whose purpose nobody who didn't work there knew, houses, all of them were strewn through the city, filling the massive city almost to the brim. Walking through the streets it could be easily identified that there were several thousand people all walking to their destinations.

To Ryuhime and Xera though, that was several thousand more people than they'd ever seen in one place before. Their village wasn't even one of the larger ones; it was actually pretty small and secluded.

Xera handled the massive amounts of people with relative ease; she didn't easily become intimidated by anything, but Ryuhime couldn't handle it well. She was already frightened of it, and they weren't even hunting an actual monster yet!

"Um, wow, that's a lot of people…" She said timidly.

"A lot of competition you mean." Was Xera's answer.

"It's a huge city; chances are we'll probably never see any of them." Elric comforted them.

"Okay…" Ryuhime gave in. She couldn't exactly go back to her secluded little home anymore anyway, so she was stuck.

"Come on, we're going hunting." Elric led the way off of the ship. "Leave your stuff behind, the crew will bring it to my house."

"Wait, you're taking us hunting right now?" Ryuhime was incredulous.

"I told you as soon as we landed. We landed didn't we?"

"Well yeah I guess so…"

Elric led them to a tavern and told them to sit at one of the tables. "Stay here while I go get our quest." He ordered.

Ryuhime was already starting to feel awkward, people were staring at her. Well, not exactly her, more at her chest. She felt uncomfortable with all the guys in the room bringing unwanted attention to her breasts. Not only the guys were staring at them though, although they were the ones with lust in their eyes.

Many of the females were staring too, either in desire, wishing that they had breasts as full and round as Ryuhime's, or in disgust that she would walk around in the bare minimum amount of armor with mounds that bountiful.

Xera was on edge too. She was used to herself being the center of attention, that she was used to, but with everybody staring at her Ryuhime, she felt uncomfortable as well. Her hands clenched as a wellspring of aggression opened up within her, but she held back. Elric had told her to stay there, so she didn't want to leave and punch somebody out.

Elric made remarkable time on his return, coming back with a piece of paper in his hand. "Here we go: gypceros." He slapped the page down in front of them.

"In an unstable environment." Ryuhime read.

"Why does that concern us?" Xera inquired.

"It doesn't, we'll be fine, trust me." Elric tried to make them overlook that fact.

"It means that we'll be hunting a gypceros, but at the same time, another monster could be hunting us." Ryuhime explained to Xera. She'd already told Xera about the environment definitions before, but she wouldn't tell Xera that and embarrass her.

"Let's go then people." Elric told them as he turned to walk out of the tavern. He spun a quick pirouette and headed back to the table. "Right after we eat!"

They called a serving girl over to take their orders and they all came up with combinations to try out. Elric was very certain in his choice, while Ryuhime was very reserved. She only ordered things that she knew for certain from prior experiences tasted good to her palate. Xera was quite imaginative in her choices: tough meat and popo tongue.

All of their foods came out rather quickly, brought to them by a team of three felynes.

Xera dug immediately into her food, tearing it apart with gusto. Ryuhime was eating with more calm and grace. Elric seemed to find a nexus between the two, devouring his meal with speed, but not as much so as Xera.

When all three had finished, they set out to hunt the gypceros.

They arrived in the jungle with only their supplies. Elric had disdained most of his, keeping only his longsword and armor by his side, or at least, that's what he had told the girls.

"It's only a gypceros, they aren't too dangerous after all."

Ryuhime was well stocked; both with extra supplies from the first hunt (the iodrome) and more that she'd bought in preparation for this hunt.

Xera was more of Elric's attitude, although she had admitted to having a few health potions on her person, then dared either of them to try and find.

Elric had immediately volunteered, and Ryuhime had wanted to, but she was too scared to actually do so. Elric got slapped for his troubles.

"Xera!" Elric said loudly, turning and pointing at her. "Where should we go to find the gypceros?"

"How would I know?" She responded. "I kill, other people find them for me."

"Nope, today you find it. We're both following your lead."

"We might be here a long time…" Xera set out into the heavily wooded areas, both not knowing the terrain, as well as not having a clue about the gypceros's habits.

Elric followed her diligently, just like a puppy, a deadly, infinitely powerful puppy, but a puppy none-the-less. Ryuhime looked around, curious as to what she'd find looking around the area.

She got more than she bargained for though. While she was digging through the roots of a tree, the other two went on ahead.

She knew they would, but she didn't think that it would take her as long as it did. When she turned back around, expecting to see them only a little ways ahead, they had already moved beyond her line of sight.

"Um, guys?" She called. She didn't want to shout, she might attract some monster, but she was alone, and started to get scared.

"Guys!" She called out louder. She was really starting to get distressed with her isolation.

She didn't realize it, but her voice triggered a response in the forest around her.

A bulldrome and his family heard her. Taking to their natural territorial instincts, they turned toward the sound of her voice angrily. They charged, but she heard them grunting long before she was in any danger. She flipped her switchaxe open into blade form and stood her ground as they charged.

When the first one reached her, she waited until the absolute last moment before she threw herself to the side. As she dodged, she swung her blade in a horizontal arc, slamming it into the brute's side. Not that that did much. Her blade barely penetrated the thick hide of the bullfango. The next attack she put her blade directly in the way of the creature. It slammed into the blade and continued pushing. She pushed the tip of the blade down, lifting the handle and dug it into the ground.

The bullfango continued its charge, pushing her back a few paces. The blade did an admiral job of stopping the beast, forcing it to a standstill, where it eventually became unable to move her back any farther.

Another one was aiming to strike her from the side, but she'd already accounted for flanking techniques by them. She adjusted her feet to make her balance perfect. It would be a close shot.

An instant before she was attacked, she flung herself backwards. It was a narrow dodge, but she made it. The two bullfangos ended up charging into one another knocking them both to ground.

She pulled back and stabbed forward with her weapon, activating her weapon's ability. The blade jumped wildly in her hand, blasting energy forward at the creatures, smashing raw power into them. They fled away from her, panting from the exertion and pain.

"Please keep running; I don't want to kill you." Ryuhime begged when they turned back toward her.

They didn't listen, choosing to race back at her.

She swept the blade in another horizontal arch, hitting the first hard and driving it into the other. They both fell, but immediately rolled back to their feet.

"C'mon, just leave me alone, I really don't wanna kill you." She begged yet again.

And yet again, they ignored her, charging right back at her. She stabbed forward as one ran at her. It impaled itself on the end of her blade, using enough inertial force to smash its skull open.

"Oh my god!" Ryuhime freaked. She was a hunter, but she honestly hated actually hurting the monsters, she preferred to capture them when she could. She would kill them when necessary, but these guys weren't even mentioned on the hunt list. They didn't need to die, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let them kill her.

She felt sick over her unneeded killing, and her legs grew wobbly. "Please?" She asked again.

The other ones looked to the bulldrome, only two bullfangos were left, and their leader, which was more than enough danger, but Ryuhime'd already calculated it out. She knew exactly how they would charge, and how she'd have to react. She was prepared.

But their deference to the bulldrome surprised her. Although all bullfango usually deferred to bulldromes, they also usually would attack until an intruder was no longer a threat. So, being cautious, she examined the bulldrome thoroughly.

He was large, and to judge solely based off of the tusk size, it was a he, she was careful to avoid looking for confirmation. She didn't need to know its gender to know that it was dangerous.

This one also had tusks that were really large, further evidence for the male diagnosis, but the right tusk was nearly half a foot larger than the other. So he's right dominant, and old. That means confident, but also cautious. She thought to herself.

She also saw his eyes just before he narrowed them to slits. They looked normal, but his left was off-center, not by much, but it was enough. So he was partially blind on that side. When he narrowed them, his right eye was kept open more, while the left was nearly shut completely, confirming her thoughts.

So she was prepared for his charge, and charge he did. He went all-out trying to gore her, A cloud of dust and dirt shot up into the air after him.

Ryuhime waited as long as she could, then dove forward and to the left, just rolling under his tusk. The beast continued, charging over her, and she rolled back to her feet. She hit the thing on its hind with the broad side of the blade, hoping to anger him enough to make him continue running and leave the area. She knew that once he was gone, his pack would flee as well. For the moment, they were just sitting by the sidelines, content with letting their alpha handle her.

He grunted and altered his direction. Ryuhime was reminded of some of the assholes she'd gone out with before. Just because she'd never taken an interest in anybody didn't mean she didn't date. She didn't want to be seen as a freak, especially by Xera, so she accepted somebody's offer once upon a blue moon. But she'd only ever gone out with three guys, and two turned out to be terrible people. The third wasn't too bad, but she hadn't had a true interest in him. She was only interested in Xera.

All that passed back through Ryuhime's mind in an instant, all derived from the bulldrome's grunting. She remembered the pain of those relationships, physical and mental, but tried pushing past it. Tears quickly filled her eyes, so she blinked quickly, trying to clear them enough to see.

By this time, the bulldrome had already begun to attack her again. She knew already that she wouldn't be able to dodge. She'd spent too much time in her memories, and now she had made a mistake in her calculations.

She swung wildly, panic starting to set in as all of her careful plans went to naught in her fright. Her blade barely made a scratch in the bulldrome's thick hide. And then he was upon her, knocking her to the ground and goring her deeply in the side with his tusk. He continued in his rush, trampling her underneath him as well.

As he passed over her, he got her hard in the temple with his hind hoof. Ryuhime was knocked out cold, her last image that of him turning around again and charging her again...