Hey Everyone.
So last time, Night Raid survived the attack of Stylish's (not so) stylish minions, Chelsea and Susanno got introduced, we got to see Chelsea join the 'I'll cut it Off' crew along with some bonding between her and Tatsuni…hmmm what else…oh, and the average daily food consumption is around 30 large Danger Beasts and 30 giant Fish.
So, without further ado,
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Chapter 8, Danger Beast, Danger Beast, Danger Bea…OH SHIT ITS ESDEATH!
Tatsuni was busy in the workshop, grinding away the forge scale at the new throwing knives she had forged recently, when she heard a knock on the door.
"Tatsuni." She turned her head to look at the entrance, seeing Susanno standing there. "Food is ready."
Tatsuni nodded. "Thanks." She said. "I'll be there in a minute."
He nodded and left.
Sighing, she placed the unfinished knife onto the table next to the grindstone, before grabbing a nearby towel and wiping the sweat of her face.
A few minutes later
"Ah, look what the cat dragged in." Lubb said as Leone entered the Mess Hall, followed shortly by Tatsuni.
"Very funny." Tatsuni said.
Tatsuni then went over to her seat, on the far side of the table from where Lubb and Akame sat, the former for reasons of her not wanting him to perv on her again, and the latter because Akame has a habit of eating other people's food…hence why she sits next to Chelsea and Mine.
"How are the knives coming along?" Chelsea asked.
"Another week and I should have all three bracers of throwing knives finished as well as the two Blood Iron Combat knives Lubb has asked me to forge." She answered.
"I am still amazed that Blood Iron can be this useful in the first place." Chelsea admitted.
Mine gave a very noble-lady-like laugh. "So, there IS something that you don't know that I do? Uwa-ha-ha…"
"Need I remind you, Mine, that you were in her shoes as well when I first joined Night Raid, right?" Tatsuni asked, hiding her smirk by putting food in her mouth, smiling widely when the taste assaulted her taste buds.
"Geh…" Mine had no retort to that.
"Anyway, Blood Iron is commonly used in my village for tools and weapons since we live in the province where the majority of that metal is mined." Tatsuni said. "The governor and his son are good people, but due to the tax quotas imposed by the Prime Minister, the taxes in our region are harsher than most. It is likely that the money I send to the village is barely covering the monthly tax that is collected there, alongside the usual Governor's tithe of Blood Iron tools and utensils."
"Wait a minute…how come we have never heard of this before?" Lubb asked.
"Remember I said that the level of Danger Beast required in the Process affects the outcome?" Tatsuni asked. Everyone listening in nodded. "Well, we only have low level Danger Beasts in our area, heck, our dogs are capable of chasing them off, they are that weak." Tatsuni took another bite and chewed and swallowed before continuing. "The Blood Iron we get from that is off the same hardness as pure iron, unusable for weapons and armour, but for hoes and shovels, it gets the job done with a reduced cost."
"How did you get your first sword then?" Najenda asked.
"One day, about a year before I left for the Capital, long before I finished my tutelage as a blacksmith and warrior, our Village was attacked by a medium sized danger beast, an Evil Bird variant if I remember correctly. It drove off most of our livestock and everyone capable was mobilised to deal with it." Tatsuni explained. "I had just finished forging a sword at the time, using Blood Iron. We also had a stockpile of picks, axes and scythes we were planning on finishing. We used that Evil Bird for that after finally capturing it."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
After Lunch was finished, Najenda got everyone's attention.
"Now, I am sure that by now you have all heard about those new Danger Beasts attacking humans all around the Capital?" Najenda asked. Everyone nodded.
"Last I heard of them, they had attacked a Hunter and his pregnant Wife a ways out in the wilderness. He was one of our informants as well." Lubbock said.
"I overheard some of the Imperial Officers at the local Tavern talking about how it took an entire unit of grunts just to kill one of those things, and it was only when a Teigu user intervened that the rest of the group started running." Leone added. "They never said who this Teigu User was or what the Teigu was.
"Whilst browsing the market in the nearby town, I heard some of the merchants talking about how they were afraid to travel at night since that is apparently when the Beasts are most active." Mine spoke up, with Chelsea adding her own two pence.
"I also heard that, though I also overheard a group of mercenaries talking about an encounter they had with these Danger Beasts. They appeared better trained and equipped than Imperial Soldiers, close to Captain level I'd recon, each of them." She rolled the lolly around in her mouth for a bit, gathering her thoughts. "From what I gathered, they encountered the Danger Beasts near the mountains to the South West of the Capital, about a day's travel on foot along the road."
Najenda sighed, before looking at Tatsuni. "Tatsuni. You, Lubb, Leone and Akame head over to the mountains. Split up into groups of two and see if you can find anything."
"Will do, Boss/Najenda." The 4 mentioned people spoke up.
"Seems like your knives will have to wait for a bit, Lubb." Tatsuni said.
"Meh. A few days of extra wait won't hurt." Lubb waived her off.
"Mine and Chelsea. I want you to continue gathering intelligence from the Town. And for goodness sake, please try to get along." Najenda said, clenching her mechanical fist just for good measure.
A few days later
"Chelsea sent word." Tatsuni said, a falcon perched on her arm eating the piece of meat Tatsuni had given it. "Apparently, the some members of the Jaegers just passed through the town, heading for the mountains as well, apparently planning on beginning their search in the north."
"Just great." Lubb groused. "Can't we leave this job to them then?"
"The Boss has given us this duty." Akame said, carefully wiping the cleaning agent of her blade. "Anyway, for today, Tatsuni, you and Lubb head over to the mountain directly north of us, the one with the flat top, Leone and I will head over to the mountain to the east."
"Sounds good. Tomorrow, we rotate, yes?" Tatsuni asked. Akame nodded.
Later that night
Cicadas? Check.
Clear skies? Check.
Mountain air? Check.
Danger Beasts? None what so bloody ever.
Esdeath? Nowhere in sight.
Verdict: "This is a nice place for a date." Tatsuni mused.
"We can make this one." Lubb commented with a teasing voice.
"Nah. You and Najenda are already an Item. I doubt she'd appreciate you courting another without her consent." Tatsuni waved him off. "Besides, you're not my type."
"Ouch." Lubb fake grimaced. "A man can dream though."
"And a woman can't?" Tatsuni smirked.
It was one of those rare times where the two of them bantered with each other without it becoming to perverse, only friend-building.
After a while, Tatsuni turned to face the cliff on their right. "I will head up to the summit, see if I can see anything."
"Be careful. With the Jeagers in the mountains, your Ex may be there as well." Lubb said.
"I will be sure to give her your regards if we do see each other." She returned, before activating Incursio and running up the cliff.
Just as she disappeared, Lubb sensed motion from the wires he had laid on their way up. Something else was approaching the summit very fast.
A few mintes later Tatsuni arrived at the summit and, seeing that there were no Danger Beasts in sight, deactivated Incursio and began looking around the landscape.
Suddenly, the ground behind her erupted in a cloud of smoke and she a pair of glowing red eyes.
"I don't know who you are, but you have the utmost bad fortune of facing me right no…" she heard a chilling voice say.
Tatsuni recognized both the voice and the person and was silently cursing whatever divine being that had a hand to play in this quote "BULLSHIT!" end quote.
"Tatsuni!?" the voice instantly went from freezing cold and murderous to that of a schoolgirl in love. Yup, it was the once, the only, the bitch, the Ice Queen, Esdeath.
"Darling, I have found you at…" Esdeath was interrupted when a swarm of Lizard Type Danger Beasts emerged from hiding, feeling something threaten their territory.
'NOW they emerge? Better get out of here whilst they keep Esdeath occupied.' Tatsuni thought.
No sooner had she thought that, the Danger Beasts were slaughtered by Esdeath, who spoke out loud. "I am having a heartfelt and loving reunion here. Don't annoy me."
'Well, there goes that plan…' Tatsuni deadpanned in her head. 'And heartfelt my ass.'
"Now, where were we?" Esdeath said, turning to Tatsuni. Tatsuni swore she saw a glint of love in Esdeath's eyes…only a glint, because she almost missed it over the bloodlust and sadistic gleam in her eyes.
'Well, it was nice knowing you, world.' Tatsuni said in her head.
Fortunately for Tatsuni, Esdeath sensed a new presence arrive at the summit, causing her to go all 'Protect Tatsuni at all cost' mode…unfortunately, Tatsuni's plan B of 'getting the hell away from there whilst Esdeath was distracted' failed when Esdeath grabbed her hand and pulled her behind her.
"I hadn't expected to have been found so easily." A man wearing a yellow cloak said, walking out from behind a boulder. "Nothing less from the Empire's best."
"Who are you? Tell us and I may just let you off easy with a light torture." Esdeath warned.
The man just grinned, before pulling out a strange device. "Sorry, but I'll have you take care of some things for me. Teigu Shambhala, activate" he said as a purple emblem appeared underneath Esdeath and Tatsuni.
Next thing those two knew, they were on the island in the middle of the Ocean.
Some days later
"Come on, Tatsuni. What was your trip to paradise like?" Lubb asked. It's been a few days since Tatsuni disappeared and reappeared the next day, out of breath and royally freaked out. All she said was that she had been sent to a Tropical Island in Hell…and left it at that.
"Over my dead body will I tell you, pervert." Tatsuni growled out.
"Oh, don't be such a prude, Tatsuni." Leone said, cheeks red from all the alcohol she had drunk already.
#SMASH#
Leone found herself wide awake and short off breath when Tatsuni punched her in the stomach.
"Leone has a point though, Tatsuni." Najenda said, smoking again, as Susanno was out shopping for supplies with Mine. As a prank, Tatsuni and Chelsea had managed to convince Susanno that smoking is bad for one's health. Ever since then whenever Najenda lit a cigarette, he'd grab it and extinguish it, claiming that it was bad for her health…and to stop making a mess.
Even to this day, everyone but Tatsuni and Chelsea had pegged it on Susanno's OCD.
"I…" Tatsuni began, but was suddenly grabbed by the hand by Chelsea.
"She's probably not going to speak in front of a crowd. Let me try getting her to talk." The auburn haired girl said.
She dragged Tatsuni down to the Forge, where Chelsea sat down on Tatsuni's workbench whilst Tatsuni hesitantly sat down next to the forge, which was currently cold.
"Now, what really happened out there, Tatsuni?" Chelsea asked, all semblance of joking aside.
Tatsuni sighed before beginning to recount her time in Hell.
After arriving on the Island, she and Esdeath explored for a bit, trying to decide on what to do, with Esdeath actually, contrary to every and all expectations, taught Tatsuni a lot of things about surviving in Nature, more so than she already knew.
It was during this time that they encountered a pair of giant creatures that strongly resembled the Titan that Stylish transformed into, though Esdeath had no difficulty in squashing one of the giants using an Icecube the size of a Football Stadium, whilst Tatsuni used the ice bridge Esdeath made when trying to impale the second Giant to reach it's head and cut of the head of the human imbedded there.
Tatsuni sighed.
"After that, my lessons on determining which plants were edible and which were poisonous continued until late afternoon, at which point Esdeath began being a 'little' handsy in her approach." She covered her chest, feeling the phantom effects of Esdeath's ministrations.
"Guess I'll have to remedy that." Chelsea said with a sly smirk, rolling her lollipop around. "But first, what else happened?"
Tatsuni continued, explaining that in the evening, a flying manta passed over the island and Esdeath took off after it, intending on taming it and having it fly them back to the Empire. Less than 20 seconds passed when Tatsuni noticed that the place they first arrived at was lowing Pink and had the same emblem as when they were sent there.
Calling out to Esdeath, Tatsuni walked into the Circle and immediately donned Incursio, before using it's invisibility to hide her presence.
"After that, I returned to Camp, and the rest you already know." She ended off with a sigh, before squeaking when Chelsea suddenly appeared in front of her, her Teigu in hand. "What are you doing?"
"Call it the Chelsea Special." Chelsea said. "Time to get you to overcome your fear of that bitch…and have some fun whilst I am at it."
Tatsuni blinked…and in that time, Chelsea transformed herself into Esdeath.
With the rest of Night Raid
"Think Chelsea will manage to get her to talk?" Lubb asked.
"Doubt it." Mine said. "Tatsuni can be more stubborn than a mule."
Just then there was a scared shriek coming from the forge.
"Sounds like she is getting Tatsuni to talk right now." Najenda commented, drawing on her cigarette before it was snatched out of her mouth.
"No smoking. It is not good for your health and it makes a mess." Susanno said, making Najenda pout. She had hoped that he would have been out longer.
Another shriek was heard, followed by a "Where are you putting those…" which was cut of by a further shriek. "COLD!"
"Well…whatever Chelsea is doing, Tatsuni deserves it…damn big tits of hers…" Mine growled out.
Leone belched, before laughing heartedly. "You are just jealous that she has something there."
"Shut the fuck up, Leone." Mine screeched.
Back in the Forge
"Oh calm down, will you." Chelsea said.
"You are just doing this because you like my Tits, don't you?" Tatsuni said, shielding her chest with her arms from Chelsea, who had changed her appearance, now looking like herself, but with Esdeath's uniform.
"But you are enjoying this as much as I am, aren't you?" Chelsea smirked.
" " Tatsuni didn't give a comment, before giving Chelsea a grin that unsettled her. "Alright, I admit I like it, but Payback is due."
Back topside
Everyone turned their heads when they heard Chelsea shriek in surprise.
"Sounds like Tatsuni is getting revenge." Lubb said, wanting to go down and see what was going on…had Najenda not chained him to her chair with her artificial arm.
…
AND DONE!
I know that many of you will be on my case about this chapter, saying that it was too rushed towards the end, but honestly, it is because I had been constantly hitting blocks over the course of writing this chapter.
What I mean is this: The part where Esdeath and Tatsuni are on the Island was constantly being changed one way or another and eventually, the entire section just became to rigid for my taste.
Like seriously, I almost ended up turning it into a borderline MA chapter because Esdeath somehow failed to keep her hormones in check and…and I am not finishing that sentence.
The part between Chelsea and Tatsuni is a hands-on-clothes scenario that survived from the early drafts for the chapter, though more toned down.
Anyway, please R&R. if you have any ideas of stuff to add, feel free to PM me.