/Capitol City/
"I'll be in Kamiya Village. My sick cousin was sent there for medical attention, and is about to leave. I'm gonna be there for a while."
"Alright, I'll come see you there after the test. Bye Li" I said to Lillia.
Zaine and I got on the boat. The Guild Knights are now going to bring us to the monster island. It was a fairly large ship, even though they're only transporting six hunters.
I sat down on a crate, looking at the sea. I took my helmet off and sighed as the ship depart. It's been a while since I've gone out to sea, so this will be a long trip for me.
"Troubled?" Someone asked. I looked to see Sir Creigh.
"No, sir. I was just thinking..."
"About the girl who was with you?"
"Yeah." I answered. After a few seconds of silence, I spoke up. "Also about my student. I went here and did not tell her about this advancement. I left her to train with a friend for a while."
"A student, huh? She's very lucky to have Eldridge Stranhard's son as a mentor." Sir Creigh said, sitting down on another crate. "Sometimes age determines how someone will learn. Most expert hunters start training at a very young age. How old is your student?"
"Um... She's actually a year younger than me."
"Hmm... She started late. But how's she keeping up?"
"Pretty good, sir. She's a fast learner, quick on her feet and knows what to do when things get tough. She's getting stronger every week. In a month or two, I'll try to help her become a High-Rank Hunter, the reason she started training."
"Well, I would love to see the results of how you trained her. I'll be sure to attend her High-Rank Advancement. I'll see what Eldridge's son can do."
I was silent for a while, thinking. I finally spoke up and said, "How do you know my father?"
"... He's actually an old teammate of mine. We were given a chance to work for the Guild, but he rejected it. Only I and our two former partners accepted. He became the guild-master of Sayuna not long after. Five years later, by the time I was placed in the Hunter's Council, I was notified of his death..." He looked at the open water and said. " If we only rejected the offer and stayed as a group, we could have slain that dragon, and he'd be alive today."
"... It is not your fault, sir. You did not know that the attack will happen. It is the twists and turns that life offers to every single one of us everyday. Do not blame yourself of the results of that event."
"... Hm... Words from your father. You're a good man, Jared. If possible, I want you to mentor my daughter, but alas, she already has a master."
"And who is her master?" I asked.
"... Don't know. She sends us letters but doesn't make any mention of her mentor. She's probably in a far away city by now, training to be the best."
/Moga Woods/
(Naira's POV)
"Quiet... It might hear us..." Diana whispered as we hid on the bushes. The three of us are hunting a Royal Ludroth. It turned around, and started walking near the water.
"... Wait for it... " Raycee said, holding her hand up. "... Now!"
We went out of hiding and ran to the leviathan. Raycee stayed down, firing arrows while in hiding. I went to it's left while Diana went for the right. The Royal Ludroth caught Diana's attention first after she wounded it's left hind leg. It tried to roll over her, but amazingly, she evaded it, unscathed. I took the opportunity to pin down it's foot to the ground with my sword as it got back up. It struggled to get the sword off, flailing around, preventing us from getting near it. Suddenly, one of Raycee's arrows pierced though it's spongy neck, making some water leak out.
"How're we gonna get to it?" I asked. "It won't let us-"
"Look out!" Diana shouted, tackling me down. I looked as a Ludroth nearly took a bite out of me. As we stand up, a group of Ludroth already surrounded the two of us. They all started moving towards us. Raycee is still hidden, observing from a distance. But suddenly, Janus appeared from behind us, chopping off a Ludroth's head.
"Hrgh, this Ludroth swarm's been bothering the gates to the village." He said, lifting his blood-covered great sword over his shoulder. "Need help?"
"Do we look like we don't need help?" Diana said, annoyed, as we back away from the approaching Ludroths.
With a smirk, Janus sliced a Ludroth in two, his sword letting out explosive flames. As he gets the attention of the swarm, I took the chance and pierced my blade through the Royal Ludroth's snout while Diana went for the tail. She chopped the tip of the tail off, making blood splatter around. I threw a small handheld explosive made by Dino and threw it at it's tail wound. It blew up, sending bits of the Royal Ludroth's tail. It fell down, apparantly dead.
Janus has already killed off most of the Ludroths, while the rest are dead, with arrows pierced through their bodies.
"How's the village?" asked Diana as she walk away from the dead Royal Ludroth. I took my blades off the beast as she did.
"Part of the swarm's near the entrance... But Dino's taking care of them. Probably..."
"Well, we better head on back...he might need some help."Raycee said, after coming out of hiding. "Janus, don't give me that look."
"What look?" He asked, putting his greatsword onto his back.
"You know, that 'you like him, don't you?' look."
"I wasn't... Wait... Why's it getting dark?"
We looked at the sky as thick black clouds start to appear. We heard some monsters from afar in an atempt to flee. From something...
"The sailors said that there's no storm this time of the year..." Raycee recalled. "What's going on?"
A powerful wind blew. It scattered leaves around as the darkness grew. I looked at Diana. "... Raycee, get Dino and tell him to get as many hunting supplies you two can carry back here." She commanded.
"Aye." Raycee saluted and ran to the village's direction.
"Naira, get out of here, evacuate the villagers if you can."
"But... Diana I-"
"Go." Janus said, pushing me back. He and Diana readied their weapons as it start to rain. "Diana and I can handle this."
With slight hesitation, I did as they told me and ran to the same direction Raycee went. The rain grew stronger and it became windier. It is now close to being pitch-black. I went straight on and got to the village gate. There, a bunch of dead Ludroth lay, probably the ones Dino killed.
The whole village is in panic. I did all I could to help them get on their boats. It took a while for the storm is getting stronger. Damn, I thought. What's happening?
(Jared's POV)
"No... This isn't possible..."
"What happened here?"
"The island guards, where are they?"
"This is madness... What could have done this?"
The crew are all shocked of what we are looking at; the whole island is now a wasteland, full of flames and ashes. We stood in awe and fear, wondering what could have done such a thing.
"What are we to do, Sir Creigh?" asked a sailor.
"... Head for the nearest island." Sir Creigh ordered the sailors. "Whatever did this musn't have gotten far." He then went to the main deck and took the wheel. "We must find it and discover what is the cause of all this destruction. All hands on deck! We sail for the Oceanic Archipelago!"
"Yes sir!" All the crew replied and started turning the ship to the west. Ropes are flying and the sail are in full speed.
"Hunters," Sir Creigh said to us, the six hunters on board. "When we get a chance to land on an island, evacuate anyone you see. The knights and I will handle this."
Right after that, Clancy spoke up, saying "Sir Creigh, we want to help. My partner and I will aid you in slaying whatever creature did this." We were quiet for a while. Sir Creigh is probably thinking of a plan right now.
"Clancy." Lance said, holding onto his shoulder. "We must do as Sir Creigh said. We will get anyone there out."
(Diana's POV)
Janus, Raycee, Dino and I stand paralyzed with fear as a large black dragon appear in front of us. It had a wingspan larger than that of the Kushala Daora, horns that resemble that of the White Fatalis and a crystal-like horn on the center of it's head. It stood on all fours, each claw bigger than a Congalala's. It has a thick spiked shell that covered it's body, head, tail and some parts of it's legs. It's eyes are of the same color of it's crystal horn; white. It roared, making the rain fall faster and stronger, and the wind pushing us back with it's might.
The strong wind weakened and we were able to make our move. "Guys," I said, dashing to it's right. "We don't have to kill it." the dragon scratched the air, sending a concentrated gust of wind towards me. I dodged it barely and the wind scratched my armor, damaging it. "Just...repel it. We can't take on something like this..."
Dino, wielding Dante's Switch Axe, aimed for it's back while Janus went to the left. Raycee ran far from the dragon, firing arrows from a distance.
"A wind-user is no match for me." Janus said as he starts to swing his greatsword. He aimed for it's left front leg, but it had no effect. His sword was only trapped by it's hard scales. "What the...?"
All of a sudden, the dragon's eyes and horn changed color. It glowed and is now blue. It opened it's mouth and blasted Janus with a powerful stream of water. It sent him flying, crashing him on the stone cliff.
"Janus!" Dino shouted as Janus fell unconscious. He switched his axe into sword form and tried to cut the dragon's tail, but it turned to him and it's eyes and horn changed color again, this time orange. It breathed out flames similar to an Agnaktor's heat beam and sweeped it, trying to burn Dino. He managed to avoid it, but his left arm was burned, destroying his gauntlet from the shoulder to his hand. Dino fell down, pained by his burnt limb.
I took a step back as the dragon change it's crystal again. It turned into a darkish-red. It's mouth sparked with the same dragon flames of a Deviljho's as the beast face me. I stepped back more, unable to do anything, fear running inside me.
But...
"Fire!" someone yelled out. Then, a harpoon was shot to the dragon, but it didn't do a thing. It turned as some Guild Knights start to appear. Some ran to Janus and Dino, aiding them of their injuries, while some went to me and Raycee, taking us away.
"We will handle this..." A Guild Knight told me. He took us behind them as Lancers form a shield-wall with their lances, Rampart. The knights loaded their movable Ballista with normal Ballista shots as the dragon roar. The other knights, carrying normal swords and large kiteshields, stood behind the lancers.
(Jared's POV)
"People of Moga, hurry, onto our ship!" Branden said, leading the villagers into the boat. Lance and Zaine are going through the homes, looking for anyone still inside.
Guild Knights appear, Janus, Dino, Raycee and Diana with them. They were brought onto the ship.
"Diana!" I shouted, running to her. She looked at me and stood up, embracing me. "What attacked you? What monster is it?" I asked.
"... I... I don't know..." Diana said, afraid. "It was too powerful... It nearly took us out in one blow..."
I looked at Janus and Dino, both fainted, Raycee tending on Dino's wound. I looked around the ship, at the villagers seeking refuge and back to Diana. "Where's Naira?"
Diana looked around as well and said, "I thought you already rescued her. I did tell her to help evacuate the villagers."
"Damn!" I cursed, jumping off the ship. I ran to Moga Wood's, leaving the village.
Lyla Dragonsong caught up to me and said, "I'm coming with you, you'll need help."
(Naira's POV)
"Hrgh... " I slowly got up, rubbing the back of my head. On my way to the village, the powerful wind sent me crashing to a tree. I fainted for a while, recently waking up. Now, I'm. In a small cave, seeing Dora infront of me.
"Naira, nya!" she excitedly said when I awoke. She was with Misty and Laura, apparently guarding me while I was out.
"Are you alright, nya?" Misty asked, while Laura look outside. "We saw Guild Knights around the island. They were going to the dragon's location. We have to get back to Moga."
"Dragon? What Dragon?"
"The one that caused this storm, meow." Dora answered.
"... We must hurry then." I said and got up. I slowly walked out of the cave, with the Felynes supporting me. We appear to be on a different part of the woods, somewhere I haven't been to. It seems to be the seep forest, bit I can't. See it clearly because of the weather and darkness.
All of a sudden, as we walk back to the village, something got the cats' attention. It must be a wyvern. But every other monster fled from the woods, what would decide to stay on this gruesome weather?
I finally caught sight of the wyvern. A Hypnocatrice. I tried to grab my swords, only to find them gone. The Felynes were about to attack when;
"Wait!" I shouted, stopping them. The Hypnocatrice only stood there, looking at me. I slowly approached it, trying to see it a bit more. I saw that it was missing one of the feathers on it's back. My right hand is now touching it's beak. It did not react, accepting my action. "I remember you... You were the Hypnocatrice I fought with back in Turin."
The bird wyvern only let out growl-like purrs as I continue petting it. "Why are you here?' I asked.
The Hypnocatrice then stepped back, limping it's left foot. I got down, examining it's leg. "There it is." I said, catching sight on a piece of wood, embedded onto it's left knee. I took hold of it and sighed. "This might hurt a bit..." Right after that, I yanked the small driftwood off of the wyvern. It howled in pain, but eventually settled down. It turned to me and rubbed it's head to me, apparently grateful.
"Can you help us?" I asked. "We have to get to the village and help our friends."
The Hypnocatrice nodded and turned around. I got on it's back, holding on as the cats do the same. The bird wyvern flew off, with us riding behind it.
It flew southeast. The wind helped us, as it blow where we fly, but the rain and darkness became a bother. After a few minutes, we were now over Moga Village. A Guild Ship was there, with a few hunters guarding it. Diana and the others are onboard with the villagers. I asked the Hypnocatrice to land.
"Naira!" Diana called out after she saw me. I hopped off the bird wyvern and ran to Diana.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Guild Knights. Jared and Zaine are also here. They've come to help us."
"Jared?" I asked. "Where is he?"
"He went looking for you and-"
"What?!" I exclaimed. I ran back to the Hypnocatrice and got on.
"Where are you going?!" Raycee asked. "It's dangerous to go back to the woods!"
Without answering, we flew off.