Hunt 19: The Forest Assassin
It's been 3 days since Xross Blades left Zedept and Lyra's village. Zedept has been distant to everyone. Raylin and Link has been trying to get Zedept to talk but Zedept remains silent and Lyra won't tell them anything.
Forest: Sunset
Xross Blades is walking with Zedept in front and not talking. "I wonder what's up with him?" Link asks. "Same here. I've never seen him like this before." Raylin said. Raylin looks back at Lyra. "You've been with him the longest, any ideas?" Raylin asks. "Kind of." Lyra says as she looks down and towards the left. They arrive at a cave's entrance. "We're sleeping here tonight." Zedept said as he pulls out a tarp and covers the entrance.
They enter the cave and starts to make a fire pit. "I'm going to get some firewood." Zedept said and left the cave. After 3 minutes, "Ok Lyra, I know that you know what's going on with him so talk." Raylin said. Lyra sighs. "Ok, here it is." Lyra said and she explains the notebook entry from her dad about Zedept's birth. Raylin and Link are shocked from what they just heard. "I would've never guess that." Link said. Raylin remains silent.
Zedept returns after 20 minutes of Lyra telling Raylin and Link about the entry. "What?" Zedept asks as they look at him. "Nothing." Link said. Zedept sets up the fire. "There's enough here to last through the night so let's get some rest." Zedept said as he sits and leans against a wall with his Shikaiza next to him and he closes his eyes. "Guess we should follow." Lyra said and they went to sleep.
Cave: Late Night
Lyra wakes up and sees Zedept awake and staring at the fire. "You're up early." Lyra said as she goes and sits next to him. "I was never asleep to begin with." Zedept said. "Don't be mad at me but I told them about the notebook entry." Lyra said as she stares at the fire. Zedept remains silent. "Are you mad Zedept?" Lyra asks as she looks at him. "Not really but I was going to tell them when I was ready." Zedept said as he continues to stare at the fire.
"I'm sorry." Lyra said as she puts her chin on her knees. "It's ok." Zedept said as he places more wood into the fire. "Just don't let it ruin who you are." Lyra said as she places her left hand on Zedept's right hand. Zedept moves his hand. "If I was to disappear, I leave you in charge of Xross Blades." Zedept said. "Why do you say that?" Lyra asks. Zedept gets up and walks back over to where his greatsword is at without answering her.
"Get some sleep, we'll have a long day tomorrow." Zedept says and yawns as he falls asleep. Lyra looks at him. "Zedept, are you going to leave us to find your birthplace after we hunt Alatreon or are you going to truly disappear?" Lyra asks in her head before going back to bed.
Forest: Mid-Day
Xross Blades are walking through a forest clearing. "How much farther do we have to walk?" Link asks. "I don't know but quit complaining." Lyra said. Zedept suddenly stopped. "Why the sudden stop?" Raylin asks. Zedept is looking around and pulls out his greatsword. "We're being watched right now." Zedept said. Everyone pulls out their weapons and they get into a 'all their backs together' position. They all look around. Suddenly a black cat-like monster jumps down in front of Zedept. "What is that monster?" Link asks. "Careful, it's a Nargacuga. Its blades on its wing are sharp enough to cut through steel." Zedept said.
"Weaknesses?" Lyra asks. "Fire and thunder." Zedept said. Nargacuga roars and Zedept charges. Nargacuga dodges and jumps at Zedept. Zedept dodges and Lyra attacks but her weapon bounces off Nargacuga's left wing blade. Nargacuga swings its tail and Lyra dodges it. Explosions hit Nargacuga from Raylin's crag shots. Nargacuga raises its tail and spikes come flying out at everyone.
Zedept guards as the others dodge. Zedept pulls at a spike off his greatsword. "That was a close one." Zedept said as he tosses the spike aside. Raylin sets up for a fire barrage. "Raylin, look out!" Zedept yells. Raylin looks at the Nargacuga as it slams its tail right in front of Raylin. Raylin gets sent flying and hits a tree and falls. Link rushes over to her. "She's knocked out!" Link yells. "Protect her and find cover!" Lyra tells Link.
Link pulls Raylin to safety. "Zedept!" Lyra yells. Zedept looks over and sees Nargacuga coming at him but Zedept can't react in time. As Nargacuga is about to swing its left wing blade, Lyra jumps in the way and tries to block it but the wing blades slices Lyra from the below her right ear and towards her mouth while her long sword prevents the wing blade from cutting her head off. Zedept is shocked from what he just saw. Lyra falls onto her right knee. "Lyra!" Zedept said as he rushes to her front.
Zedept sees the wound with blood flowing out of it and Lyra's right eye shut. Zedept looks at Lyra's long sword and sees that Nargacuga's blade cut through half of it. Zedept takes Lyra to where Link and Raylin are at. "I can still hunt." Lyra said in pain. "No, stay here." Zedept said. Lyra looks at Zedept and sees the shock in his eyes. "Alright, I'll stay." Lyra said. "Thank you." Zedept said. "I'll look after them." Link said. Zedept nods and looks over towards Raylin. Zedept takes her ammo pouch and her bowgun.
"Are you going to duel wield with a bowgun?" Lyra asks while still in pain. Zedept holds the bowgun under his armpit and loads it with his right hand. "Yeah, her clust shots and her wyvern fire shots are going to help." Zedept said as he stands up with his greatsword in his left hand and Raylin's bowgun in his right.
Nargacuga roars and Zedept fires a few clust shots at Nargacuga and they hit. Nargacuga falls over. Zedept reloads and runs to Nargacuga's right side and fires a barrage of fire shots. Nargacuga gets back up and slams its tail on Zedept but Zedept swings his greatsword and cuts its tail off right below the spikes.
As Nargacuga is distracted by the pain of its tail being cut off, Zedept slashes at its chest and makes an opening. Lyra and Link watch as Zedept hunts the Nargacuga. "He's incredible." Link said. "I've never seen him this intense before." Lyra said painfully. Nargacuga goes to bite Zedept but Zedept blocks with his Shikaiza.
As Nargacuga bites down on Zedept's greatsword, "This is it." Zedept said and shoves Raylin's bowgun into the opening on Nargacuga's chest. Zedept fires a high power wyvern fire shot. Powerful enough to blast through Nargacuga's chest and out its back. Nargacuga roars in pain. Zedept pulls out the bowgun and points it at Nargacuga's face and fires a second wyvern fire shot and kills the Nargacuga. Zedept pants hard and falls on his butt.
Link goes over to Zedept. "That was awesome." Link said. "How's the girls?" Zedept ask exhausted. "Raylin is still knocked out and Lyra just passed out." Link said. Suddenly a group of 3 hunters appear. "Is everyone alright?" A male hunter asks. Zedept and Link looks over and sees 1 male and 2 females. "We have one knocked out and one with a slash on her face." Zedept said as he stands back up. The male sends the 2 females that are with him to get Raylin and Lyra. "How about you 2?" The male asks. "I'm fine." Link said. "Exhausted." Zedept said. The 2 females return carrying Raylin and Lyra.
"We have injured here." A female in shoulder length messy pink hair carrying Raylin said. "Let's take them back to the village." The female with long brown hair said. "Yeah." The male with short black hair said. Zedept takes Lyra's long sword while Link takes Raylin's bowgun and follows the group of hunters back to their village.
Forest Village
Zedept and Link arrives at a village. "Take them to the medic house." The male said. The females nod and takes Raylin and Lyra to the medic house. "Does your village have a leader or elder?" Zedept asks. "Yes, an elder." The male answers. "May I speak with your elder?" Zedept asks. "Of course." The male said. Zedept and Link follows the male to a house. "Link, stay out here." Zedept said. "Ok." Link said. Zedept enters with the male. "Elder, there's a hunter who wants to speak with you." The male said. "I will see this hunter." An old male said. "You may enter hunter." The male said.
Zedept walks into the room and places his Shikaiza on the wall and sits on his knees. "Thank you for seeing me Elder." Zedept said as he bows a little. "Of course young hunter." The elder said. "2 of my friends were injured in a hunt against a Nargacuga, I'm willing to pay for assistance for them." Zedept said. "I'm happy to help traveling hunters and you don't have to worry about paying us." The elder said. "Thank you kindly." Zedept said.
"You and your friends can board at our medic house until they recover." The elder said. "I appreciate your kindness." Zedept said. "You are welcome, please rest up during your stay." The elder said. "Thank you, I'll go to my friends now." Zedept said. "Of course." The elder said. Zedept leaves and is escorted to the medic house with Link.
4 Days Later
Raylin has woken up and Lyra's right side of her face is bandaged up. "Ok, we're going to remove the bandages now." A female doctor said. She removes the bandages and reveals a scar where the slash from Nargacuga is at. "How does it look?" Lyra asks. "Not too bad." Raylin said. "You'll have a scar from now on." Link said. Lyra looks at Zedept. "You're alive and that's what matters the most." Zedept said.
"The people here even fixed the slash mark that was on your long sword." Raylin said. "That's good, don't need it breaking in a middle of a hunt." Lyra said. "Thank you for everything." Zedept said. "Happy to help." The female doctor said. "How far are we from Juravante?" Link asks. "About a 3 day walk to the east." The female doctor said. "Thank you, now we must leave." Zedept said. "Take care." The female doctor said. Xross Blades then left the village and continued towards Juravante.