The sun rise is a beautiful thing, it might be why most early civilizations considered the sun to be an entity. A god of the skies, a herald of change, perhaps even the origin of all things, the origin of all life. At least the earliest human civilizations saw the sun that way. Dawn used to believe the sun was a god, as did his people, but after he became a hunter, he began seeing the sun for what it was.

Nothing more than a great ball of fire millions upon millions of miles away, and that it was no god at all; that it was not his loving creator. It was not a benevolent god that watched over him, and his people. No, it was just another part of nature, like himself, and everything else he once believed to be the work of gods.

He once considered the most powerful monsters to be gods, before coming to realize that they too were also mere parts of nature. Akantor, Ukanlos, even that Valtrax he fought in Lescatie were all just monsters, not gods, like their nicknames suggested they were. They weren't all powerful deities; they were just living things. There is only one monster that could fit the description of a god, and he doubted anyone would pledge themselves to such a hateful beast. The memory of the great beast sent shivers down his spine, but the gentle warmth from the sun was enough to calm him.

Dawn watched the sun rise with fascination, as Estrid happily slept against him; cradled in his arms with their legs tangled. His strange train of thought brought him full circle as he ran his unarmored fingers through her hair, 'Perhaps this Chief God is no different… and the Order are just crazy people, who think that mamono are ravenous bloodthirsty monsters… or… perhaps this Chief God is real, and is in truth the creator of all things… and that this Demon Lord everyone keeps talking about is in fact the metaphysical source of all evil in the world… I should ask Wilmarina later.'

"Estrid," he nudged, causing the minotaur's red eyes to flutter open, "it's morning."

"Five more minutes," she groaned, before nuzzling into his chest, "we got ple-enty of time."

"You said that five minutes ago.", Dawn grumbled, "Now wake up, we need to make this quick."

"Fine," she begrudged, as she began to rub the sleep from her eyes, "take off your armor… I want to be the one on top this time."

"What do you mea…", Dawn couldn't finish his thought as Estrid had already pushed him onto his back. Bare chested and with his pants down, Estrid got straight to work. She situated herself over face, and leaned over him to get a proper look at his slowly rising member. She grinned before taking it out from the hunter's underwear, and licked her lips in anticipation.

"Dawn," he could hear the giggly smile on her face, "I'm going to give you oral," she shook her ass to get his attention focused on her own sex, "while you pleasure me, got that?", Looking down, Dawn could only really see Estrid's bare underboob covering what felt like the minotaur's surprisingly gentle grip on his dick.

Blinking, the hunter wormed his arm around Estrid's leg and cautiously pressed a finger against her pink. The next thing he heard was a girlish squeal of delight, and then he felt the sudden caress of the mamono's tongue. He bucked and the next thing he knew that caress turned into a suction as Estrid took his lower head into her mouth.

"Holy shit!", Dawn bucked again, while accidentally pressing his finger into Estrid. Which then elicited a moan that travel from her throat to his cock, making the pleasure all the more intense. He was about to climax then and there, but Estrid wanted to make this last a little bit longer. She released him and pushed her vagina into his face, effectively moving from a blowjob to a handjob in an attempt to get Dawn to "hold it in".

"Lick it up, baby.", She swooned, "You're not comi… coming until I-I… I do."

She began grinding her hips into the hunter's face as he did as he was told. His tongue lashed out, the taste of her sex being something that he never believed he would ever taste. While it wasn't necessarily flavorful or particularly appetizing, it had an interestingly metallic flavor, but with a strong sweet aftertaste that seemed to linger on his tongue.

Moaning, Estrid fell back to blowing Dawn as her knees grew weak. She shuddered and began to tentatively nibble at the hunter's shaft as she pushed him further down her throat. Dawn all the while lapped at her sex as he felt his desire to finish pushing him to pleasure the mamono currently sitting on his face.

Estrid felt the subtle "thump, thump" rise in the hunter's member, and she happily took his entire length down her throat as the both of them climaxed. The hunter was sprayed with the sweet tasting girl-cum, while Estrid swallowed gulp after gulp of semen. After Dawn finished, she slid off of him, her breath horse, and her legs quaking, limp from the intense arousal running through her body.

Huffing Dawn took in greedy breaths of air as he wiped his face clean. He turned over to see that the minotaur wasn't fairing much better, and that she too was trying to catch her breath. She smiled at him, licked her lips, and brought both of their attention to Dawn's more than messy dick.

"I'll… clean that up… for you.", She flopped onto her side, and dragged herself over. Taking his slowly softening member in her hand she tentatively licked up the cum coating his head and shaft.

"Why are you… doing that?", Dawn propped himself on his elbows, while Estrid ignored the hunter's question in favor of cleaning.

Swirling her tongue around his dick head made his hands and feet curl with pleasure, "Do what?", She asked with a playful grin plastered across her face.

"Drink the…"

"Drink your cum?", She beamed, before giving his dick another suck. She only released him after a moment, the audible pop only made her even more giddy as she worked his shaft, "It's your Spirit Energy… though yours had a nice off taste to it."

"What do you mean by off taste? Wait a second," Dawn shook himself out of his delirious state, "isn't my Spirit Energy my soul?"

"It's more like your mana.", Estrid shrugged, "I don't know much about it, but it's what us mamono feed off of… Wanna go another round?"

'So, that's what the encyclopedia meant.', Dawn nodded, which incidentally gave Estrid the okay.

"Sir Hunter?!", The both of them froze in shock, Dawn turned to look behind him to see one of the Order Soldiers calling out to him, but it didn't seem like he had seen the pair yet.

The hunter shot up with his back to the tree, with Estrid following suite, but she was unfortunately still attached to his member. Dawn quickly threw on his gauntlets and helmet, and waved to the man with only his head and hands being in full view from behind the tree, "I'm over here!"

"Oh," the young soldier nodded, before he began advancing on their position, "Sir Hunter, I came to notify you that Hero Noscrim has asked for your presence! Please come with me, she said it was of great urgency!"

Heedless of the scenario, Estrid began to greedily swallow Dawn down to his base. Causing the hunter to shudder with pleasure as he tried to tell the boy off. Wavering, he said, "I'll join you in a minute! Don't come over here, I'm busy with something!"

"Busy?", The soldier asked, "Then I'll help you! Again, Hero Noscrim said she needed to speak with you immediately!"

"No!", Dawn felt his knees lock up as Estrid wrapped her arms around his waist, "It's something only hunters can do, so you won't be able to help me! Please return to Wilmarina, and tell her ah… tell her that I'll will join her shortly!"

"Oh… Okay sir!", The boy saluted before about phasing into a march in the direction of the clearing. Completely unaware of the fact that Dawn was currently painting Estrid's mouth and throat bright white.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Estrid!", Dawn whisper yelled, "You nearly got us caught!"

Swallowing the "Spirit Energy" in her mouth, Estrid happily swallowed the load, and gave Dawn a playful look. Seeing that the hunter was actually angry, she reverted to her usual glare, "Sorry, I was caught up in the moment, and couldn't help myself."

Sighing the hunter tiredly shook his head, "Can you pull the wagon with me in it? This is exhausting."

"Oh," her lust returned in force, "I could pull the wagon all the way to Reinhold and back… If I got another helping of course.", She affectionately rubbed his still throbbing member against her cheek.

Dawn stared down at her; his shock hidden behind his helmet's emotionless mask. His shoulders fell and he made a halfhearted gesture for her do as she wanted, before simply sliding down the tree as Estrid greedily sucked him dry. The only thing on his mind was the question of whether or not he would survive Shizuka if she realized Estrid got three rounds out of him.

"Estrid?"

"Yesh?", She slurped.

"I want you to know that I care for you and Shizuka very much.", The sentence actually gave her pause, "But I would like to ask if you two could limit how often we do… this."

"Oh, Dawn.", Estrid pouted as she continued stroking, "That's not happening."

Estrid then proceed to take him down to his base uncaring for the hunter's current lack of stamina. Knowing full well that their little "payment" session will reach Shizuka, and that she will do everything in her power to get just as much out of the hunter as she was. Estrid liked Shizuka and considered her one of her friends, but she refused to be the second wife.

Dawn seized up, meaning he was about to let loose another load. She smiled and brought his cock out of her mouth to lather the head with licks and affection, before downing it to his base and swallowing the load in its entirety. She came back up, sloshing the viscous mana in her mouth, and stared down at the once again messy cock.

"Oh, I better clean that up! Don't want you meeting the heroes with a mess in your pants, now do we?", The hunter could only sigh in exhaustion as she latched back onto him.

"Just make it quick…"

"…Dawn?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

-0-

Lowen knew how to fly, quite well actually, she would even say that she was better than most when it came to flying. Her great brown, white wings could carry her on the high winds for days on end. She traveled faster than most of the dragons she has to deal with, and could shift her weight just enough to make a perfect ninety-degree turn midflight. So, why could she barely keep up with her new neighbors?

"Come now, Lowen," she found herself engulfed by Kushala's giant shadow, "if you can't keep up, just say so."

"I can keep up just fine, thank you very much!", She screamed back, trying to speak with him over the raging winds that ushered from his form.

After Pluck and Kushala's little bout, they had taken off for HER mountain with Pluck the victor. The Valstrax, she had learned, was stupidly durable despite the fact that he was thrown through nearly a dozen trees, and suffering from a fracture in his carapace. Kushala had been taken by surprise, and found himself dragged for nearly a mile, before that strange energy in Pluck's wings waned.

She could still remember it; the clap of thunder, followed by the flash of silver, red, and purple yanking Kushala off his feet, and unintentionally digging a trench with the Elder's stunned body. Kushala wasn't even given the chance to recover, before Pluck sent surge after surge of that horrifying red energy into Kushala still form.

In the end, it was an unexpectantly quick fight, with the younger of the two leaving the victor. What bothered her was that Kushala didn't seem any worse for wear. His armor like skin wasn't scratched, his massive wings were unmarked, and they were mostly responsible for the trench Pluck dug with the Elder's body. It was as if he was completely unharmed after their duel.

"Hey Kushala!", Lowen called.

"What is it?", With a flap of his massive wings, he lowered himself down to her level, and gave a teasing smirk, "Have you reconsidered our offer?"

"NO! I refuse to be carried!", She pointed to the nearby Pluck. Said Elder was flying far too fast to actually stay with them, so he opted to make circles around them. His shape looked more like a bright ball of red and purple, though he appeared to be angling himself just enough to give off the faint hint of silver.

"I wanted to know if you let Pluck win?!", Lowen asked, though Kushala could barely hear her.

Reaching out, Kushala pulled the griffon close, and forcibly held her by the waist, like one would hold a misbehaving child. She glared up at him, but Kushala had already willed his gales to carry them faster. Lowen scowled, "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes, it is," he rolled his eyes, "you can't fly as fast as we can.", Her frown only deepened, "There's no shame in it… you just ended up traveling with the Elders known for their flying.", His voiced lowered to a whisper, "And if you haven't noticed, you don't need to yell anymore."

"Fine," she huffed, "but don't tell anyone. This is embarrassing."

"Who would I tell? Pluck offered to fly you first, why would he care?", Kushala let loose another gust as the mentioned dragon changed course for the mountain.

Lowen's reddening cheeks confused the Elder, and the elbow to his stomach only added to the uncertainty, "Just answer the damn question!"

Chuckling, Kushala pulled her closer as he dove, before creating the air currents to send them higher, "I didn't."

"But he only really hit you once," Lowen gawked, "and you don't even look hurt!"

"Ah, I see.", Kushala leaned down to look at the mamono, a new sense of understanding in his eye, "You see, Lowen, when two 'monsters' war… we do so in a quickly and simple manner. We strike each other with all we have, and whoever hits harder is dubbed the victor, and will receives the spoils of war. Be it territory, prey, or a mate we settle our disputes in a quick and purposeful duel as to not kill our own. Putting ourselves through a prolonged and ultimately unnecessary battle that would in the end… ruin us. Our lesser kin on the other hand, just war and war and war until there's nothing left of their rival; they're stupid that way."

"So, Pluck won the power struggle?", She received a nod, "Would you have won if the duel was longer?"

"Perhaps… perhaps not.", He shrugged, though he made sure that Lowen was tightly secured in his arms beforehand.

"What's that supposed to mean?", She asked, though she didn't intend for the hostility in her tone.

"I'm old, Lowen, you should know what that means.", Kushala snarked.

Lowen rolled her eyes, but decided to actually take a closer look at the Elder. He was handsome, like Pluck, but there was a distinct crinkle near his eye and eye socket. As if the metal that made up his purple metal carapace was wrinkled from age, despite the quality and texture that gave his 'skin' a distinctly youthful, healthy look. His features are sharp, though there was a particular smoothness to them that gave off the impression that his scales would either cut or sooth her with touch alone.

"You don't look all that old if you ask me.", Lowen peered, "How old are you in anyways?"

Humming to himself as her mountain finally came into view, he decided to feed her curiosity, "I don't know what old actually looks like for your kind… our kind, but my age manifests itself in the webbing beneath my skin."

"Webbing?"

"Yes, my body has three layers.", They began to close the distance to Lowen's mountain, so Kushala started pulling skyward to follow Pluck's burning tail, "My internals, my webbing, and then my skin. The webbing is what my next skin comes from, and is essentially my next body after shedding… As my closer kin and myself age, our webbing hardens, and will eventually cause what the humans refer to as lockjaw across the entirety of our bodies."

"Lockjaw?", Kushala could actually hear the fear in her voice.

"It is a disease spread by an infection from rusty metals.", Lowen nodded as she slowly began to understand what the end of life actually was for Kushala, "So, after enough time has passed, my closer kin and myself will lock up, and then… we will die."

"What happens after?", They landed atop the mountain peak, "Does a banshee come to soothe you, and help guide your soul to the afterlife?"

"Banshee?", Kushala's confused expression alone told her everything, "I can't say I have ever heard of a ban-shee before, but once our bodies lock up, we become little more than statues… And we will remain that way, until our shells eventually become but dust in the wind. A fitting end for the steel dragons, don't you think?"

"That sounds horrible.", Lowen shuddered at the thought, "You said you were old right? How far are you from… you know…"

"Well, I don't have the easiest time moving my… claws… hands, and my tail is feeling rather stiff," Kushala looked to his wings next giving Lowen a terrible sensation in her own, "and my wings feel a little tough, but that could just be from the way I slept last night… I'd say I have about five or so years to go... give or take two years depending on how charitable you're feeling."

"You're dying?", Lowen felt a chill run her spine, before turning to see the source of it. A banshee watched them from afar, staring at Kushala with longing, and a melancholic expression marring her beautiful features. The soft sound of crying washed over them. Suppressing the shudder, she turned back to the now resting Elder, "Do you see her?!"

"See what?", Kushala scanned the mountain top, "When did that female get here?"

"She's here for you, right?", Lowne blinked, "Wait you can't hear her?"

"I only hear the movement of the breeze… and the occasional whisper of your gods.", He shrugged.

"The what?", Lowen wasn't able to interrogate Kushala further, before Pluck stepped in. Seemingly unaware of their conversation, and holding his head high as pride in his victory came to the front.

"Kushala," the younger of the elders commanded, "find me something to eat. Circling you two on the way here has given me quite the appetite."

"As you command," Kushala mocked, "oh great and powerful fledgling."

Kushala pushed himself off the ground, and took flight after a few flaps of his wings. Wind ushering forth from his scales as he fell through the cloud floor not far below. The faint breeze gave the griffon a relaxing spray of rainwater as the world below was bathed in a fresh rainstorm.

Looking to Pluck, she asked, "Did you know that Kushala was dying?"

"Yes, I did.", Pluck lazily laid himself down, letting his wings rest against the rough mountain top as satisfaction swept over him.

Sitting down beside him, she knocked his shoulder, and growled, "They why are you forcing him to fetch your food? Shouldn't we be taking care of him… You know, make him feel comfortable before he leaves us?"

"Why would we do that?", The look on Pluck's face only added to her fury. He was legitimately confused as to why they should be taking care of their dying companion.

"Because he doesn't have that long to live!", Lowen grabbed him by his helmet like crest, and forced him to look her in the eye, "And that is what mamono do; take care of their old, dying friends!"

"First off," Pluck brushed her claws aside, "what's a friend? Second, Kushala isn't whatever this friend thing is; he is my rival at best, and my enemy at worst."

"You can't seriously tell me that you don't know what a friend is!", Lowen was furious. The look Pluck gave her only fueled the fire, "A friend is someone you care about… you know, someone you actively like to be around."

A quiet moment passed between the two; Pluck, who was struggling to understand Lowen, and Lowen, who was just too shocked by the Elder's confusion to even continue to berate him.

"So," Pluck considered her words carefully, "you would be my friend, then?"

Having expected the dragon to say something stupid, Lowen was taken aback by the curiosity in his tone. And then she actually processed what he said, 'He thinks I'm his… friend… I've never had a friend before.'

She swallowed her anger, "Yes, we are friends."

"Is that good?"

'It's like I'm talking to a kid… Wait a second!', Lowen moved closer to Pluck, "How old are you?!"

"About," Pluck thought to himself, trying to remember how many times he had seen winter. Tapping his chin with a nod, he turned to Lowen, "fifty winters old I think, but I might have missed one or two now that I'm thinking about it."

'He's been alone for that long… longer than I have.', Lowen's expression fell, but a sense of resolve overcame her. A bright beautiful smile spread across her cheeks as she pulled Pluck into an embrace, "Well as your friend… You should trust me when I tell you 'Kushala is your friend,' and that we should make sure he lives a happy rest of his life, right."

"Hmm," Pluck nodded, "okay, I will trust you. But I did win the duel, so will I have to release Kushala from his end of the deal?"

Kushala landed with a heavy thud as he dropped a relatively large buck before them. He sighed before taking a seat on the other side of the dear. He leaned forward in a slouched crisscross as he took notice of the odd hug Lowen was giving Pluck. The old Elder recognized it as a human act of affection, "Are you two hugging?"

Pluck quirked a brow, and turned to Lowen, "Do friends hug?"

"Yes, we're hugging, Pluck.", She deadpanned.

"Then yes we are hugging.", Pluck nodded.

Lowen pushed off of him with a huff, 'I'm going to kill this stupid dragon.', She sighed as she got to her feet, and turned away from them to go get her cooking supplies, "I'll prepare dinner!"

-0-

Mersé Dascaros is a warrior, a hero of the Order, a leader of men, and the head captain of the Lescatie guard. She was not however a woman, a damsel, or anything in between. So, why did she have to ask herself the simple question that no one wanted to answer her over and over again, 'Why is everyone acting strangely around me, today?'

"Hero Noscrim is ready for you, mam.", One of the soldiers said upon finding her, "But I would suggest letting us escort you, mam… if you don't mind."

"I mind.", Was her quick reply. She slowly got to her feet, making sure to keep her injured arm in its sling as she did so. She sent a glare her soldiers way, after finding that most of them were now sporting a worried expression.

She cracked her neck with her free hand, before taking ahold of her halberd. Having to force the soldiers aside when she made her way to Wilmarina's organizing circle. From what she can tell; the only people who were present was the hunter, Primera, the three princess heroes, and Wilmarina herself.

Stalking up to them, Mersé began to overhear their current topic: Reinhold. From she could tell, only the hunter, Primera, and Wilmarina believed the best course of action was to make for the neutral territory, while the princesses believed that they should make for Order territory immediately. Mersé sighed, 'I'm going to have to break the tie, aren't I?'

"Reinhold is the safest kingdom nearby, and the mamono won't be an issue.", The hunter argued.

The eldest princess was the first to object, "You expect us to travel in heathen lands? Are you mad, or are you just that dull, Hunter?!"

"Your highness," Wilmarina reasoned, "I know it is not ideal, but if we head to Reinhold; we could resupply, and head to the neighboring Order nation to the north…"

"By resupply, you mean stock up on corrupted goods!", The second princess shot back, "We should just head straight to Polove, and then to the neighboring Order territory. We can't chance heading into that Demon Realm!"

"It is not a Demon Realm," Primera spat, "the air is too clean, and the mamono don't openly copulate in the streets. I don't like the idea of going there either, but if we are going to save your people, human, then we need to resupply in Reinhold to keep them alive. Or do you care so little for your people…"

"Of course, the half-breed would want to head into the monster infested land!", The last and most unkempt of the princesses accused, "I knew you would betray us, elf!"

"Ah, shut your trap!", Mersé limped into the circle, "If Concerto wanted us dead, she would have killed us when she had the chance!", She gave her half-elf friend a wry smirk, "Besides, we need to travel with the hunter anyways… need to meet with this Hunter's Guild of his! And Polove is a shithole desert, your royal highass, if you want to kill us just do it now, and save the monsters the trouble, damnit!"

"How dare you… FINE, so be it!", The eldest princess grumbled, "We the princesses of Lescatie will travel to Polove, while you fools drag the refugees through that damned kingdom!"

"Then this meeting is settled," Wilmarina sighed, "The royal heroes will make for Polove, while the rest of us head for Reinhold to ensure their safety."

"You've doomed these people, Dascaros," the second princess growled, "when you lead these poor people through that Demon Realm, I hope you realize how much of a vulgar wretch you are, and that your awful character is responsible for the deaths of what remains of Lescatie."

"Keep telling yourself that, your royal highass.", Mersé mocked, "I hope you enjoy the sunburn on your flawless skin… Oh, the humanity! The princess is mildly irritated, we must cast ourselves into the sun!"

"That happened one time, Dascaros!"

"ENOUGH!", The hunter roared.

The Order heroes turned to the hunter, the man that had said the least throughout the meeting, but was the main reason for the discourse in the first place. The princesses glared at the foreigner, warry of the man from another world, the man that traveled with monsters, and the man that could single handedly repel dragons without a blessing from the gods. He was an anomaly to say the least, and his mere presence seemed to disturb them due to that fact alone.

While Primera, Mersé, and Wilmarina watched him with uncertainty and interest. He had either fought along side them, or had saved them in the last couple of days. Primera still believed him to be nothing, but another human with extraordinary strength; meaning she saw him as another idiot but with bigger than usual muscles. Wilmarina saw a man with incredible abilities, and a man that could perhaps help her in her quest to defeat the Demon Lord. And Mersé, well Mersé saw the fool that thought fighting dragons on his own was a good idea, though she also saw the man that saved her life.

She grimaced, 'Still need to repay that debt, don't I?'

"We still have one last thing to discuss.", The hunter calmly started, "A friend of mine, the felyne chef, Tatsuo was assaulted by two heroes yesterday. He told me to leave these two women with a warning rather than issue the proper punishment due to your people not knowing the laws of the Guild… He told me it was the eldest of the princesses of Lescatie and Mersé that struck him."

"So, what if I did?", Said princess stepped forward, "Gah, it doesn't matter. Just give me your warning, and I'll swear it won't happen again."

The hunter nodded, before rearing back a closed fist, and striking the princess across the jaw with all of his strength. Shocking not only the other royalty, but also the three heroes that stood by him. While Wilmarina and Primera gawked, Mersé wore an impressed grin across her face. The mere sight of the bratty royalty on the ground, spitting up teeth, was good enough to let her die happy then and there.

"The punishment for unjustly harming a Guild member or associate is immediate execution.", He calmly added, "If I had it my way, then you wouldn't be breathing right now… Commit such a crime again, and I will personally issue the punishment myself… Am I understood?"

Teary eyed and bloody mouthed the princess got to her feet, and ran with her sisters following shortly after. Mersé could see the eldest swallowing the entirety of the rare regeneration potion. She knew such a potion could fix her teeth, but she also knew that the pain caused by such a potion was more than just excruciating to use.

"Mersé," she turned to find the hunter staring down at her, a slightly softer look of murder in his eyes, "I was made aware that you attempted to strangle Tatsuo, but it due to a misunderstanding… Considering your condition and the situation, I will let you off with a stern warning, rather than a promise. Do you understand the consequences if you commit such a crime in the future?"

She grinned, "Oh, don't you worry, Hunter, about that, but I don't want special treatment."

"Dascaros, are you insane!", The half-elf interjected.

"No, I just want to be treated fairly.", Mersé grinned, "Now come on, Hunter, have at it!", He shrugged and raised a fist in preparation, "Oh, and can you not aim for my face or my arm? I don't like using those regen potions."

"Okay?", Dawn shrugged once more, before slamming his fist into the warrior's stomach with significantly less strength, but she didn't need to know that. Causing Mersé to fall to her knees with bile coming up her throat, though she managed to keep herself from vomiting up her stomach. She would remain there for a moment, while the hunter observed her reaction. She looked up at him and grinned.

"You are a strange, strange woman, Mersé Dascaros.", He reached out a hand to help her up, which she graciously took. A pained breath escaping her lungs as she rose to her feet.

"I am a warrior, Hunter!", She grinned, "If I were a woman, I wouldn't be standing right now."

"Mersé I would recommend not asking Dawn to do something that stupid again!", Wilmarina reprimanded, "Regardless… Dawn where can I find Sasha? I need to see her."

"She's in the wagon," the young hero was about to head to the only actual transportation they had, but was stopped by the hunter, "just don't be loud. The refugees will panic if you do."

"Understood.", Wilmarina nodded, before taking her leave.

Primera glared at the hunter, but chose to leave as well. Mounting her horse and choosing to ignore the stares of the soldiers who had seen the hunter sucker punch their princess. Seeing that none of the heroes were interested in reprimanding him, they supposed it was a part of the meeting. Though the horrific screams of the eldest princess were more than enough to frighten the men into not asking any questions.

"So," Mersé gathered herself, "your name's Dawn, right?"

"Yes, it is Miss Dascaros," Dawn sighed, "do you need anything else, or can I go back to my own business? As you might be able to tell, I haven't gotten the best sleep recently."

"No, no," Mersé shook her head, as she picked her halberd off the floor, "I just wanted to tell you that I owe you one for the help back in Lescatie, and that I misjudged you."

"What do you mean?", He tiredly asked.

"I thought you were some degenerate idiot, who fiddled with monsters in your free time.", She grinned, "I was wrong… You're a badass with a knack for monster slaying, and you just don't give a flying shit about what people think of you, like me!"

"That… is also inaccurate.", Dawn yawned, before electing to investigate the rest of the camp. Leaving a confused and baffled Mersé to watch him tiredly wander around the clearing.

She blinked, before she began hobbling after him, "Hey, wait up! What did I get wrong? Was it the flying shit part?!"

-0-

Wilmarina rushed past the confused refugees, and Order soldiers with little interest in speaking with any of them. Her sole goal at this moment was to find Sasha Fullmoon, find out why she had worked with the Demon Lord's Forth born, and understand why her idol had betrayed the Order. Anyone that tried to reach out to her was met with the burning glare of a young hero on a mission, and so she made it passed the cautious guards and into the wagon without delay.

The first thing that came to mind was shock, the next was horror, and the last feeling to come to mind was the utter chaos that surrounded her. For she had stumbled upon not just Sasha comforting a crying Mimil, not just a random unknown hellhound resting against the wagon wall, not just an orange werecat cooing over a greenworm, and not just a little over a dozen monster children playing alongside human children, but she had also stumbled upon Elt and Francesca holding each other at the far wall of the hunter's wagon.

She blinked once, then twice, then thrice before simply turning to Sasha with a glare a thousand times hotter than the sun. Though such intensity was short lived as her gaze fell on the little girls playing amongst themselves, and along side the human children she had come to know over the years. The fire died entirely when her glare fell on Elt and Francesca, her childhood friends.

"Wilmarina?", Elt's hushed response didn't soothe her turmoil, "What are you doing? Did Dawn say you could come in here? Did anyone follow you?"

The young hero fell to her knees, uncaring of the consequences, and silently watched the wagon's inhabitants take in her sudden arrival. Francesca was the next to respond, though she did so in a way Wilmarina could not fully understand.

The dejected forth born princess of Lescatie sat down beside the hero, and embraced her in a tearful display of affection. Wilmarina didn't understand why, but it felt right, it felt right to be embraced by her. It was as if she lost a piece of herself long ago, and had found it once again after such a long painful time. Tears welled up in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around the princess, and returned the hug. Letting the nostalgia for days long gone come back to her as she was cradled in the princess's arms.

Sasha finally took notice, "Wilmarina dear? Are you okay?"

The young woman pulled the princess closer to herself as her tears strained eyes fell on the veteran hero. She shook her head, and stayed there in the loving embrace of someone she once knew. The soft whispers from Francesca being the only thing she could properly understand at the moment.

She said, "Wilmarina, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Shuddering the young hero squeezed the princess, and allowed herself to be swallowed up in the purple curls of Francesca's hair. She cried, "I'm sorry… I didn't see you… I just couldn't see you… Forgive me… Please forgive me…"

Elt settled beside them, a look of worry on his face, and an uncertain air about him. He moved to reach out to Wilmarina, and found himself pulled into their hug. Unsure of what was going on, Elt remembered back to when Sasha had comforted him after the loss of his mother, and so he did as she would have. He pulled them close, and allowed the two of them to quietly grieve over something he could only barely remember.

The male werecat rolled his eyes, and continued to play with the greenworm in his lap. Not particularly interested in the group hug, or just about anything else for that matter. Too fascinated by the bug mamono's adorable babbling to pay them any mind. Though Mia was more than happy to enjoy the sight of three long lost friends finally reuniting. While Tatsuo took another puff of his pipe to help him relax as the children continued to play.

AN: Alright I went ahead and started working on this chapter a little earlier than usual as I'm going to be going on a road trip with my brother and I didn't think I would feel up to writing afterwards. So here is the chapter a couple of days early.

I would like to add that this story is not a lemon fic, but that the sex scenes play a role in the overall plot. Considering that mamono are metaphorical / occasionally literally sex machines. I felt that it would make sense to include them as part of the overarching story. Does that mean that you guys will see every sex scene that occurs in the story, no. It just means that they will be there to further the relationships of the characters, and display the MGE side of the story for what it is.

Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, feel free to tell me your thoughts, and I hope all of you continue to enjoy the story moving forward.