AN: I know this week has been one with a lot of anxiety so I hope maybe this story can take your minds off it for a while. Don't worry though, as far as this story arc goes things are going to turn out alright. I plan on two more story arcs after this one before moving into the final part of this series. So continue on and I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 10: Missing

Rain leaned back n her chair far enough to sneak a look through the window into the meeting hut only for Alistair to swat her lightly on the arm.

"Would you quit that? Stop being nosy," Alistair hissed at her.

"They've been talking for nearly two hours! I just want to see how things are going," Rain responded feigning a wounded look in return. Alistair was unmoved and frowned at her until Rain sat back down in her seat properly.

"Oh fine then. I wish they would make a decision though," Rain said with a sigh.

"I'm not exactly pleased to be sitting around doing nothing either but the village elders are trying to take their time and make the best decision for everyone. Calling a hunter out is the best method but that could easily take over a week for the message to arrive and a hunter to get here. By then the monster could either be long gone or it could already be too late because it attacked someone," Alistair reminded her.

"And no one seems to know what it is. That doesn't help either. A little more information could go a long way towards figuring out the best thing to do," Rain added as a couple voices rose in volume before a quieter voice interjected to calm things down.

"How are you holding up?" Rain asked softly, wrapping an arm around Alistair's shoulders as she spoke. Alistair curled into her and shook her head. Normally public displays of affection between them still made Rain uncomfortable but at the moment they were relatively alone. Plus her heart was still pounding a bit from that surprise encounter in the forest. This was as much for her own reassurance as Alistair's.

"Trying not to think about how I could have handled it so much better if I was still a hunter and had a weapon on me to defend both of us with," Alistair answered.

"How's that going for you so far?" Rain asked.

"Not well I'm afraid. I know this was for the best but its times like this that make me feel useless all over again," she said honestly.

"Well I'm just glad that we're both safe and that you're here with me now," Rain murmured and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Alistair smiled at that and relaxed a bit more.

"I should try and focus more on that. We made it back here safely and we know to be more careful the next time we go out. Not everyone has had that chance after coming across a monster while unarmed," Alistair admitted. "I'm still going to need my lotion when I get home though. I can already feel myself getting more and more stressed out the longer we sit here," she confessed.

"I'll give you a backrub with it when we get back and you can sleep off the stress while I go back out to play nice with Akairo and Ginouji some more," Rain offered her.

"Mmm, you say the sweetest things to me," Alistair said with a teasing smile.

"I try," Rain responded with more then a little satisfaction.

The lotion in question had cannabis oil in it. During the early stages of her treatment Alistair would smoke the leaves so it would get into her system and work faster to help her deal with stress and anxiety. Now that she was progressing and better able to cope with her symptoms her doctor had eased up on some of her medications and switched things around a bit. The first change had been a small bottle of concentrated cannabis oil that Alistair could ingest with a drop or two each day but she couldn't stand the taste. Then they tried it in edible snacks but that didn't work well enough. Now they were using a lotion mix that could be absorbed into the skin and that had been working well so far.

Rain perked up as the sounds of agreement finally drifted through the window. She jumped in surprise as the door swung open and one of the elders walked out. She couldn't stop her body from tensing up and she knew Alistair could feel it. Rain pulled her arm back as Alistair she sat up straight and then stood up from her chair. Rain followed her feeling uncomfortable and ashamed of herself for reacting like that even after months of being married to Alistair.

"Were you able to come to a decision?" Alistair asked him. The elder didn't seem phased by the two of them but still Rain found it difficult to stand there without fidgeting.

"We have. There is a scholar in the area who has spent much of his life studying wyverns. We will call and ask for his help in determining what this creature is. He has a good reputation and many of us have heard positive things about his expertise. We'll also send in a request to the Guild office in Tanzia and have them send someone out here for protection. I don't want to expose any of the village beasts to danger if we don't have to," he explained.

"Thank you for letting us know. We'll be sure not to wander out of the village alone in the meantime," Alistair said gratefully.

"That would be appreciated. We will let the rest of the village know to do the same until this matter is resolved. We'll make sure to have an extra watch around the village borders as well," he added. Someone inside called out to him and he glanced back. "Excuse me I have to go. Thank you for bringing this to our attention," he told them before nodding to each of them and returning inside.

It wasn't until he was gone that Rain was able to relax.

"You okay?" Alistair asked gently.

"Not really. I still hate that my first reaction is always to tense up and pull away like that," Rain muttered to herself.

"We've both got things we don't like about ourselves. I know I do no matter how many times you reassure me. As long as we learn to stick together instead of letting it pull us apart we'll be fine," Alistair reminded her.

"I know. Thank you," Rain said gratefully.

"Any time. Now let's get back to my babies so I can check on them before you give me that backrub you promised. If there's going to be a monster wandering around then I want to make sure Ginouji and Akairo know what to do if they run into it," Alistair pointed out.

Akairo did his best to remain still and remember the lessons mother had taught them. Some monsters hunted by sight and some by smell. Some were like Quake, the big horned monster mother had known ever since she was little, hunted by sound. He was old now and his eyes weren't that good anymore, but his hearing was better then any other monster Akairo knew about.

The ground trembled as Quake came closer, stopping just a few trees away. He sniffed the ground and shook his head before moving on. Akairo held back a delighted hum and instead lifted his head up as Quake shrieked and shuffled back off towards the road. That meant he gave up although Akairo thought that he wasn't trying very hard and just wanted to nap some more.

Jumping up to his feet, Akairo darted after him. Now Quake turned around as he heard the sound of smaller feet hurrying to catch up. He snorted in acknowledgement and yawned before heading to the other side of the road and laying down to nap in the sun.

Mother and Rain had met a strange monster the other day and were worried that it might come back. So Rain was making sure they would be able to stay safe and find their way home if they ended up lost or had to run away from the monster. Ginouji always knew where he was, but she had been teaching him to look at the stars and sun to find his way home. Akairo didn't know if he was very good at it yet but he wanted to learn. He wanted to be able to find his way home like brother did.

Today though Ginouji had wanted to sleep instead so Akairo came by with Rain himself. They hadn't gone very far and Akairo could still hear voices talking from the big open fields whenever the wind stopped blowing.

Looking up at the sky, Akairo saw that the sun was starting to go down towards the ocean way off in the distance. They had walked out here with the mountains on the left and the water on the right so to get back...

Akairo shifted his weight back and forth as he thought. The sun would need to be on his left? And a little bit behind him. If he kept walking forward like that then he would get back to where Rain was sitting, right?

He jumped in surprise as Quake suddenly shot back up to his feet, whirling around and calling to him sharply. Akairo hurried over to him. Mother had taught him and brother how important it was to come back right away or to obey her commands if there was danger around. Quake lowered his head and sniffed him over before lifting his head again and looking around.

Was it the winged monster mother and Rain had seen?

Quake shrieked and slammed his tail on the ground in warning as a strange growl drifted through the trees. Akairo peeked out from around his legs and saw a dark shape with bright edges crouched in the trees. He could also see the moment it jumped up.

"Hit!" Akairo called out in warning but Quake was already moving. His eyes may not be as good but he could hear every moment the monster made. Quake spun around on one foot and his tail slammed into the winged monster knocking it away and making it crash into a tree.

Quake turned and hissed at him urgently, nudging him away. Akairo hesitated but obeyed, running off in the direction he thought Rain was. He looked back and saw Quake charging with his head down and slamming into the monster, lifting it up and throwing it aside. Now it didn't seem as ready to fight and fought to get away as Quake roared and hit it again in the head with his tail. Akairo stumbled on a rock and turned back to pay attention to where he was going.

"Akairo right here!"

He heard Rain's voice and swung his head around looking for her. He saw her running up to the road and sighed in relief and raced over to her. She threw her arms around him tightly. He was happy to know that he had found his way back even though she wasn't that far away.

"Oh thank you, thank you! I saw heard Quake fighting and thought you might have gotten hurt. Are you okay?" Rain asked as she stroked him all over.

"Kay. Im siff. No urt," Akairo told her as he wiggled around as proof that he was safe and unharmed. Rain still hugged him tightly and kissed him on the head. He felt bad for the way he had treated her before. Rain cared about him too and it wasn't nice to get upset like that because mom couldn't spend as much time with him and Ginouji as before. Mother was much better now and much happier thanks to Rain's help.

"Let's go. We need to get back somewhere safe while Quake chases that monster off," Rain told him. Another angry roar came from Quake and Akairo looked back to see dust flying everywhere.

"Fin mmma? Noji? Mmmmake siff?" Akairo asked her. No that wasn't the right word. "Chik siff?" he tried again.

"Yeah, we'll find your mom and Ginouji and check that they're both safe as well," Rain said. She stood up and they both hurried back to safety.

Amai held on tightly to the saddle as Raiden raced through the forest. His electricity was building to the point where she was starting to seriously worry. Sure she had been on his back when he let loose with some electric attacks before but never when he was fully charged. Not even close to it. Her clothing was made to repel electricity to a certain extent but she had never exactly been willing to test just how far that protection went.

Looks like I might be finding out today, Amai thought as Raiden jumped over a boulder. He was a lot faster and far more agile then his growing size and stocky frame would suggest. Thankfully he loved to run so building up his stamina had been the easiest part of his training.

"It's coming around from the left!"

Amai raised her arm up to show that she had heard the warning. She wasn't sure who said it but she gave Raiden a warning signal to watch his left just as the deviljho smashed through a tree roaring and throwing spit everywhere. Raiden dodged and turned around letting out a burst of electricity that made the devlijho stop and stumbled back a few steps. Baburu slithered out from his hiding spot and Amai watched in fascination as he reared back and shot a beam of water towards the deviljho making it roar and stumbled to the ground, slipping and crashing on its side due to the now muddy ground.

Obake, Kuro's malfestio, swooped in from above and hovered there in the air.

"Cover your ears!" Kuro shouted to them from Obake's back. Amai hurried to plug her ears while Baburu, with Shiro on his back, quickly ran out of the way.

Obake's chest swelled and he let out wave of sound that rang through the forest. Amai could immediately feel the effects as her body loosened and her eyes started to drop. Raiden swayed and shook his head to try and fight off the sudden urge to sleep.

The deviljho had rolled over and was trying to get up when it got hit by the sound beam. Now it grunted and shook its head trying to ignore the effects of the sound. Deviljho were notoriously stubborn but also easy to distract making for a strange contradiction in behavior. They had been known to chase prey that looked weak for days once they spotted a potential meal but they would also abandon a chase rather quickly if it thought a monster was tougher then itself. Bigger deviljho were known for cannibalism after all so sometimes it paid to back off. If they could prove that they weren't worth the trouble of chasing down for a meal then it would try and find something else to chew on instead.

Obake had given them an opening and they couldn't waste it. Amai slapped her face to wake herself up and kicked Raiden in the side to get his attention. He snorted and blinked rapidly with a start before growling and shaking himself all over.

"There you go! Now hit him with everything you've got!" Amai ordered. Raiden lifted his head up in a howl and charged forward. She could feel the buzz of electricity around him increasing and saw it crackling around her as he ran up and body slammed the deviljho at full speed. It was too drowsy and disorientated from Obake's attack to resist and went crashing back down to the forest floor again.

Raiden's jaws gripped a chunk of the deviljho's neck before letting out an explosion of electricity. It was so powerful the light blinded Amai and she had to throw and arm across her eyes to block out the blinding glare. Thunder roared in her ears as the smell of burning flesh made Amai gag violently.

Amai felt Raiden backing up but couldn't see past the white spots in her vision. She felt it when Raiden's body perked up the way he always did when someone was calling him or when something got his attention. Amai gave him the signal to go and he hesitated briefly before turning and picking his pace up into a run. She could only assume that he was following Shiro and Baburu because she sure couldn't make anything out and her ears were ringing painfully. It was impossible to tell how far they traveled before Raiden came to a stop. He crouched down the way he always did to let her off and Amai fumbled in the saddle a bit before slipping down his side to the ground.

At least her vision was starting to come back although it was only around the edges of her vision and it was still incredibly blurry. Her ears were still ringing and Amai touched the sides of her head but didn't feel any blood so her eardrums were still intact at least. She felt hands on her shoulders and let herself be guided a few steps until they pushed her to sit down. Once she was seated she heard a muffled voice next to her.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Amai shouted only to realize almost immediately that she was probably the only one affected like this. She made a mental note to craft some ear plugs and shaded goggles and add them to her equipment as soon as possible.

"Are... okay?"

The voice was extremely faint and Amai knew she had to be missing a few words. Rather then shout back she just gave a thumbs up. She felt a strong pat on the back before someone spoke to her again. It had to be Shiro judging from what she could hear of the voice. Just perfect. A hot guy finally pays attention to her and she can't even enjoy it.

"You... will... fine in... hours... days," he assured her. She'd be fine in a few hours to a few days. At least that's what she hoped he said. Better then nothing at least. Amai nodded and closed her eyes. She should probably cover them for a while and rest. There was a gentle nudge and she smiled as she felt Raiden's bump her shoulder. She reached over until she felt him and rubbed him affectionately and cooed assurances in a voice that she hoped was a more normal volume. She didn't want him to worry.

She touched Shiro's arm when she felt him starting to pull away.

"What happened to the deviljho?" Amai asked starting out in a yell before remembering she didn't need to shout.

"Stunned... ran... didn't... safe now," he tried to tell her. So they had stunned but not killed it and then it ran? No, he was probably trying to say that they had run away while it was stunned. That made more sense. At least they seemed to be safe now.

She just hoped that Marcus and Grimm had gotten away and made it safely back to the Guild School. Deviljho could be dissuaded from attacking but if there was one thing she knew about deviljho it was that they were also capable of holding a grudge for a very, very long time.

Akairo closed his eyes in relief and relaxed as Ginouji stood over him protectively. The scare of meeting that monster had made him really sleepy. Akairo wasn't able to stop worrying until they got back and he saw mother and Ginouji standing there looking around. As soon as mother saw him she ran up letting him know how happy she was to see him.

He opened his eyes and looked over to see mother and Rain holding each other tightly as well. A lot of others were standing around talking. They must have heard the noise and come out to see what it was. Some were gathering weapons and getting ready to go out. They didn't look like hunters. Not like mother was and they didn't walk the same way she still did either. Akairo didn't think they would be able to scare the monster off at all.

"Cake siff?" Ginouji asked him quietly. He wanted to know if Quake had made it out safely as well but neither of them could say his name properly yet. Akairo glanced around to make sure no one was listening before he replied.

"Fit big one. Hit ard. Eem urt. Cake onger," Akairo explained to him. Quake had fought the strange monster and hit him hard, hard enough to hurt it. Quake tossed it around like Raiden tossed his rope toys around when he played with them. That meant he was stronger right? So why wasn't he back yet? Was he chasing it off?

"Smell bad," Akairo said emphasizing the words. He was quietly pleased that he managed to say it properly. He wanted to talk the way mother and Rain did so he practiced a lot with Ginouji and Jasper. Ginouji hummed and bobbed his head.

"Bad sssmell. Mmma an Rrrain smell ame," Ginouji agreed.

"Not as ong," Akairo corrected him. Mother and Rain had smelled the same way when they came back but just faintly. Now it was much stronger. Strong enough that Akairo could smell it on himself now. He didn't like it and he didn't trust it.

"Ake baff? Et it off?" Ginouji asked with a pointed snort. A bath might help get rid of the smell and the strange itching sensation on his body.

Mother and Rain were standing together watching the others go out with their weapons. Akairo nudged mother's leg and she bent down to talk to him.

"Big one smell bad. Aake baff? Et it off?" Akairo asked hopefully adding in a concerned cry for emphasis.

"They must be talking about that strange... dust the monster was letting off from under its wings. They aren't exactly small anymore but I still don't like the idea of that stuff clinging to their scales or getting in their lungs and irritating them. Especially if the smell bothers them enough to ask about it like this," Rain said sounding worried. Mother bobbed her head in agreement and rubbed her hands over him in concern.

"I think giving them a bath is a good idea too. We aren't going to be learning anything else soon anyway until the village scouts patrol the area and bring Quake back," mother said. She looked back around before turning to him and standing up.

"Okay you two lets give you a bath and get that bad smell off you," she said and Akairo growled happily. He and Ginouji never turned down a good bath. It made his scales feel all nice and clean.

Akairo stopped to look back in the direction he had come from. He hoped Quake was okay. He didn't know what this bad smell was but he didn't like it at all.