Chapter 22

Night was sitting at her desk writing in her journal in her pajamas while Salim was sitting next to Night's bedroll working on a few of his traps. She started drumming her fingers on the surface of the desk as she was lost in her thoughts that got Salim to look from his traps. He got up to his paws, walking over to the desk to jump up onto it. Seeing she was in deep thought that he sat next to her putting his paw on her forearm "Alina." She quickly came back from her thought to see Salim had his paw on her forearm that was drumming her fingers on the desk. "What's on your mind?" He asked her.

Night put her pen that was made from a Qurupeco feather down on the desk just to have it nearly roll off the desk just to have her caught it before it dropped onto the wooden floors. She placed the pen down again to feel the ship dipped down then back up. "It's about Saachi being a Monster-shifter. Before I met her I just wanted to kill every single monster I saw since they had killed and ate Malcolm and Avery. But now that I have met Saachi and now I'm starting to think that we are as worse as the monsters that we killed." She sighs as she looks at him putting her other hand onto his paw.

"Ah, you're still unsur..." he was about to continue but he was put on edge. A large monster was approaching the Arluq and it was coming fast. "Alina, get ready a monster is coming and quickly." Night got to her feet quickly and got changed into her armour. Putting the quill of arrows onto her lower back then putting her bow onto her back. She rushed to her door with Salim at toe to open it, as she took a step out she had to catch herself as the Arluq dipped down again.

She continued her way down the hallway when she heard Blue yell "MONSTER INCOMING!!!" She gets to Saachi and Blue's cabin and the door swings open with Saachi rushing out just behind her with her trusty sword and shield on.

As Saachi walked into the hunters sleeping chambers with her face still a bright shade of red still as she walked into hers and Blues cabin. After Sandstorm followed Saachi in, she closed the door behind them. Taking her chest armour off and hanging it up, placing her arms armour on the racking next to the chest armour. As she turned around to see the old palico was on the bed already out cold, she got herself behind the old palico, wrapped her arm around him to fall asleep. As an hour or two pass and they both get walked up when the bed just drops from them, and crashes back on to the bed. "This is why I hate traveling by ship, water or sand." Sandstorm let out a pissed off growl as he pulled himself up.

Saachi sat up after she crashed back onto the bed petting his head. "Oh Sandstorm. My old grumpy palico." She gave him a soft smile as he pawed her hand away.

"I'm not grumpy." He hissed back at her with a loud clash of thunder with flashes of lightning flashing through the window. Sandstorm jumped up and was on alert with Saachi going on alert too. "Saachi, a monster is close by." She did not wasted no time to get her armour back on, put her sword and shield on before she reached to grab on to the door as the ship dipped down.

"MONSTER INCOMING!!" She heard her lover yell from the deck. She quickly ran out of her cabin to see Night was in the hallway in between the four cabins in her gear and her bow at the ready with Salim tailing her. She ran out as Sandstorm stayed back.

As Saachi and Night both ran out of the hunter sleeping chamber to see The Man pick up the other members of the caravan and they hid in the hunters sleeping chambers hallway as the caravaneer was looking through his spyglass trying to get a sight on the monster. As he saw Saachi run past him to the middle of the deck, Blue was at the beck to the ship and Night ran to she was past Saachi and standing at the front of the ship. As the monster got closer with not one of the hunters or Salim able to see it, Saachi told the caravaneer. "Go to the rest of the caravan." As the monster got closer the three hunters looked since the Black Monster was using the dark clouds as it got closer and closer until it was on top of them. As the dark monster came diving onto the ship landing in between Night and Saachi. As it turns it's head to Saachi as it turns it's body goes with it. She quickly started to study the monster with the low light they had to see to the blinding flashing of lightning as they crack across the storm that she could see that it lacks eyes so it is using another sense. The nose that she can see is small so it's not using smell. She could hear the dark dragon let out a growl from it's through before it lunged at her. She quickly got her shield ready as the monster barreled into her. She was not expecting the force this monster had as she was knocked off her feet onto her back with the monster trying to smash her shield that was stopping it from locking it's jaws onto her neck. The monster was still trying to smash through the shield and she started to hear the shield start to crack just to see the crack down the back of it. "GET THIS OFF OF ME!!" She yelled as the Black Monster was still trying to get her.

As the clash of thunder road over Blue drew his Light Bowgun and fired some normal ammo off into the black monster that was attacking his partner, as Night drew her Bow out, notching an arrow into the bowline. Firing off the arrow into the monster's head with the arrow just bounced off the hard scales. As the monster felt the arrow hit its head it looked up and turned it's head to Night letting Saachi go. Give Saachi enough time to get out from it as it charges at Night ramming its side into the Arluq's mass. She put her bow away as the monster came running by and quickly got out of the way as she pulled out one of her obsidian arrows, stabbed it into the monster's shoulder and held on as she was taken for a ride on the ship's deck. She used the deck of the ship as the monster was trying to get her and the arrow off of it swung her onto it's back. As the arrow got deeper into the monster that some of the small scales shattered into fine dust covering Night and a small part of the deck.

The monster was letting out aggressive growls as it came to a stop and stood on its hind legs whipping its body around, it turned to the mass of the ship and ran straight at it head on just to turn it's body to run into the mass sending Night flying off it's back. She quickly fired her grappling hook and hooked back onto the monster, zipping back onto the monster's back with her hunting knife out. As she landed onto the back she stabbed her knife into its hard scales that lined the back of the monster's spine breaking a few off, as they dissolved into fine dust before they could hit the deck. As Night was stabbing the monster she had seen two sticky ammo stuck to the monster head just to have them blow up with two big bangs leaving her ears ringing. She held on as the monster took the opportunity to try and get her off again as it swung one of its front legs so that it was getting itself up on its hind legs. It opened one of its massive wings, digging one of the claws that was hard to see that was on its wing went into her left forearm. The monster launches Night off it's back again but she grapples hook onto the ship mass instead of grappling onto the monster and swon up to land on the yardarm, firing off three arrows as she landed with a crackle of lightning behind her as the arrows left her fingers.

As the arrows all hit their target as the monster looked up to Night as it knew she was up there. It stood up on its hind legs as its front ones were on the mass as it tried to figure out how to get her that the dark monster left itself open for Saachi to run in and plunged her sword into the monster's lower stomach making the monster roar in pain and quickly went for her again. As she pulled out her sword the monster turned around and smoked her with its tail. With the force of the impact on her shield as she blocked it made the shield break off her arm as she was sent flying landing on the wet deck with a hard thud. She was pulling herself up just to be forced down onto the deck again then she felt its fangs pierce through her upper leg just missing her aorta. She felt the fangs dig deeper into her leg as she gripped her teeth. Her body was lifted off the deck as she was thrown around, Saachi reached for her hunting knife to free herself from the monster's jaw. As she was able to grab hold of something on the monster's head, stabbing the jaw she managed to break one of the scaled like fangs that covered the front to the jaws. As the monster dropped Saachi it spread its massive wings as it let out multiple roars before taking off back into the sky.

As the monster took off the Caravaneer ran onto the deck of the Arluq and straight up to Saachi as Night was pulling Saachi to her feet to see that she was favoring her one leg by putting all her weight onto her other leg. "Are alright Kinder Hunter?" He asked as ran over to them, Night walked over to Blue and started yelling at him. Saachi and the Caravaneer both watch as the two yell at each other with Salim and Glenn both trying to stop the hunters before Saachi speaks up.

"I should go and split them up before it gets worse." She said as she gave a sigh. She was about to limp over until the caravaneer's pet falcon screeched as it saw something heading to the ship. She turned to see the dark dragon was heading for them again, as it was about to attack the Arluq Saachi and the Caravaneer saw another ship came sailing near the Arluq ramming the monster into the ruff wave making it fly away. The wave made the two ships ram sides with each other and with what was going on she saw an arm in front of her. She grabs onto the arm locking her hand around the forearm when she looks to see who the arm belongs to to see it was her rival, the white hair dual blade hunter. She turned her head and yelled to everyone "Get onto the Ace Commander's Ship!" With that everyone but the hunters jumped on, after the Caravan jumped ship Blue then jumped over to the other ship just leaving Night and Saachi. "Night go, I will jump after you!" Saachi yelled at Night as the storm was booming again.

Night nodded her head. "Alright!" She yielded to be heard before she jumped over just missing the ship but was pulled up onto the deck by the young Ace Cadet. As the ships lifted up from a wave hitting them, the two masses crashed into each other, and the Arluq mass broke into pieces. But with the crash of thunder drowning the noise out that no one saw a good size piece of the mass heading for the back of Saachi's head until it hit her.

As she felt the mass hit her, her eyes just rolled to the back of her head as she lost her grip on the Ace Commander forearm falling into the Raging Sea unconscious. Everyone could hear the Guildmarm scream as she just saw it happen "DOODLE!!" Everyone ran to the edge of the ship to see her sink into the water as the waves rolled over her body. Blue started to take off his weapons as fast as he could so he could jump in after her but he was stopped by the Ace Gunner since the Ace Commander has already dived into the water. It was a good few minutes when the Commander's head popped out of the water, handing Saachi's unconscious body in his arms. As he saw the Arluq was heading for them, taking a breath in and going under the water until the ships gave him some room to pop his head out again.

The Ace Lancer threw a thick rope down to him so the Commander could wrap it around them to be pulled up. The rope landed next to the Commander and he started to tie it on, as the Ace Lancer acted as an anchor to pull them up. When the Commander got the rope that was tired around himself and Saachi's body gave a hard tug to tell The Lancer to pull them out. Once the Ace Lancer felt the hard tugged and started pulling back pulling them out of the water and to the deck of their ship where Commander got the rope off of them laying Saachi on the deck. As Saachi laid on the deck she looked so lifeless as she lay on the deck. The Commander put his index and middle fingers along Saachi's neck to get a pulse. "I'm not getting a pulse, Adian gave me a hand to remove her chest place." The whole caravan was all watching and as they got her chest plate off the Ace Commander started to perform CPR on her with the Cadet holding his fingers to the side of her neck. A few moments pass with no sign of life coming from her, he tilts her head back and plunges her nose performing mouth to mouth then back to CPR again. As he was coming to the end of the time to revive her, he was starting to think that she was gone until she coughed out some water. As they saw her cough water out the Commander and the Cadet locked each one of their arms around her arm and knee rolling her onto her side letting her cough out all the water out of her. "Jones, brings her to one of the spare cabins, where she and her hunting party can stay for now. The rest of the caravan can sleep in the other one." He told him as he pulled himself up to do his watch again.

The Lancer nodded his head, walked up and picked Saachi up in his arms to head to the cabin. He stopped next to Night as she stood with her eyes widened and her mouth was slightly gap open as she was staring into space as she was staring Saachis' way. "Can you grab her weapons for me?" After asking he saw that she was fixated in a trance that he held Saachi with one arm and put his other hand onto her shoulder as he shook her shoulder trying to break her out of the trance.

She looked at him and nodded her head still with the look on her face. "Yes." She quickly said as she rushed away from the scene to retrieve the weapons. The Ace lancer looked over his shoulder to the Cadet when it looked like the two were talking to each other then used his head and pointed to Night as she walked away. The cadet ran to catch up to Night as she had already left. Some time passed after the Ace Lancer brought Saachi into a fine size cabin with four beds with blankets folded on them. The Lancer laid her down in one of the pre-made beds that was made from the Ace Gunner Nania, Blue sat down next to her in a chair holding her hand as she was laid on the bed still. Night and the Ace Cadet walked in holding Saachi's weapons as the Ace Lancer was walking out of the spare cabin.