Well its me again (duh who else would it be?) didn't really feel up to writing in the last couple of days, guess I was just feeling a little off eh? No worries though, as promised this chapter follows Ravens team, since I shoved 3 new characters in in only one chapter I thought it best that we get to know them a little better. Enough Author babble, on with the story.
Raven hacked another branch out of his way, it wasn't actually in his way he just felt the need to hack something. How could Mei do this? She disobeyed orders again and now that other group knew his whole team by name and sight, this was supposed to be a covert mission, go in, grab the goods and go out again and nobody would even notice. Raven stopped slightly the sound of laughter seemed to be carried on the wind. Lucky for him those other hunters weren't too bright, god alone knows what might have happened had they recognized Magus, was that bounty still standing? Or had they given up? Raven stopped again as a face that practically sparkled with idiotic happiness smiled up at him.
"What do you want now Mei?" Raven asked in a tired tone of voice
"Well I found this plant and it didn't look very pretty but I picked it anyway, and do you know what?"
"What" sighed Raven
"It smells really nice!" Mei Lung was practically beaming with happiness "Here smell some"
Raven sniffed the plant out of pure courtesy, it did actually smell quite pleasant.
"That's very nice Mei, why don't you see if you can find more plants that smell nice?" Mei smiled brightly and jogged off, presumably to look for more plants
What was it with that girl? How on ragol did someone so obviously missing the plot make it as a hunter? Still truth be told he preferred her to his other traveling companions, Magus, he was a strange one, more than likely he would stab a small animal, then nurse it back to health, for a contract killer he seemed strangely kind hearted, possibly the most polite assassin Raven had ever met, then there was Mery, androids were supposed to be superior to humans in almost every way weren't they? So why did this one fight like a girl and think like a brick? They would have returned him for production defects but he didn't even HAVE a production number, still he was practically immortal, he had died at least 5 times to date. Raven sighed, why could he never have a normal team? How was he supposed to work with a group of misfits?
"Raven?" This time it was Magus
"What do you want murderer"
"The correct term is assassin, and I haven't killed anyone, at least not on purpose" Magus added the last as an afterthought "But I was just wondering something"
"That being?" Raven was tired of these stupid questions, even Mei's interruptions were more sensible
"We are going to be walking through a known dragon den correct?" said Magus
"Yes we are" replied Raven "Now if that's all"
"Well do you really think the four of us could take down a fully grown dragon?"
Raven stopped, this was the first intelligent question Magus had asked all day "We can do it" he said confidently "After all, the first hunters could fight a dragon one on one and not break a sweat"
"We are not the first hunters, we are a small team of inexperienced hunters who are wandering around on possibly the least friendly rock in the galaxy"
Raven drew his saber "You see this?" he said, holding it mere inches from magus' face, Magus nodded slowly
"Well this says I'm a hunter, and as a hunter I am obliged to finish any job I set out to do, regardless of odds, regardless of danger, I haven't failed a client yet, and I'll be damned if I start today."
Mei popped up between the two hunters "Hey Magus, hey Raven umm Mery told me to tell you guys something, umm but I forgot what it was"
Raven sighed, he had sent Mery ahead on scout duty, and Mei was acting as a go between, upon reflection a bad idea, it was decided early on that Mei was useless for anything except maybe combat.
"Well remember then" he said through grated teeth, Magus was peculiarly silent
"ohhhh I remember now" Mei hopped from one foot to the other "umm umm he said uhhh oh yeah, he can see the dome up ahead!"
Was this good news or bad? The central dome was where the dragons lived, it was also the most heavily infested monsters nest in the whole forest, well it wasn't like they had a choice.
"Did I do good? Was I a good messenger?" Mei looked anxious
"Yes Mei you did your job perfectly" Raven said with a half smile Magus was still silent, and now inspecting his shoes it appeared. As Mei Lung danced round the pair, jumping and skipping, Raven decided it was best to talk to Magus
"Magus, you've been here before, what can we expect?"
"huh? Oh" Magus seemed a bit out of it as usual "well last I saw there was a major colony of boomas a couple of hildebears and a pack of wolves"
"So nothing to worry about then?" Said Raven, gallows humour being his forte
"We could do with some help, I mean really do with it, a full platoon of soldiers perhaps?" Magus had been convinced that this job was suicide right from the beginning.
"Why don't we ask those four from earlier for help? They were nice" said Mei, still skipping around
"No!" said Raven hotly "Team Valiant doesn't need anybodies help" his tone turned a little more gentle "Now go and get Mery please, we're having a meeting" Mei skipped off humming to herself leaving Raven alone with Magus
"Magus I really need to ask you something"
"Sure Raven, go ahead, I may not answer but you can ask"
"Why don't you get over the whole thing with Mei?"
"Excuse me?" asked Magus incredulously "What are you talking about?"
"Please Magus, its obvious and its pathetic, the only reason Mei herself hasn't noticed is because she never notices anything that isn't brightly coloured."
"Honestly Raven I have no idea what you are talking about" Magus protested his innocence
"Every time she comes within a few meters of you, you stop talking and stare at the floor, only an idiot develops a personal relationship with a team mate, any one of us could die today or tomorrow" Ravens words held a twist of bitterness
"Really I never noticed I was like that, I swear" Magus was still on the defensive
"Fine all I'm saying is try to be more proffesional"
"Oh, act like an unfeeling machine you mean?" Magus was starting to get annoyed
Raven nodded "Exactly, feelings get in the way, that's why we're better hunters than that idiot team Crimson runs"
"You know you've called him an idiot an awful lot recently, is there maybe a rivalry between you two?
It was Ravens turn to take the defensive "Me? Rivals with that pathetic excuse for a leader? Don't make me laugh"
"No danger of that happening" muttered Magus, at this point Mei and Mery reappeared
"Found him" Mei announced triumphantly
"You said there was a meeting? We've met, now I need to go back to scouting" Mery turned around to walk away
"Get back here" shouted Raven "Sit down, we are planning what to do next"
"Oh why didn't you say we were having a council?" asked Mery, sitting himself down in a circle with the other three
"Right" said Raven authoritatively "Ahead of us is a heavy nest of monsters, we have no idea how many, but we do know it will be dangerous, we need a plan"
"Okay" said Mei "I have a plan" there was a groan from Raven and Magus, Mery had stopped paying attention and was now playing with his fingers. "The way I see it, we need to have one person designated as a spotter, keeping an eye out for new threats, I suggest that person be me, because I can hit things from a distance, we need 2 people actually fighting the monsters, that should be Raven and Mery, Magus? You should be picking off lone monsters and supporting Raven and Mery, but also using resta to make sure nobody gets badly hurt, umm at least that what I think we should do" Raven and Magus looked at Mei in extreme shock, since when did she even know big words? Let alone be an expert strategist, Mery was not looking shocked, he wasn't paying attention
"Finger goes up, finger goes down, hand goes left, hand goes right, huh? What were you guys talking about again?"
Magus barely restrained himself from throttling the idiot android, before remembering it wouldn't have worked anyway.
"Mei has come up with a tactic that may result in us NOT getting killed, and you weren't listening?" Magus kept his temper just beneath the surface
Mery shrugged "I wouldn't have died anyway, my entire memory is backed up on pioneers data banks, it would be inserted into a blank android"
"So you wouldn't care that the rest of us had all died?"
"Of course not, I haven't saved my data since meeting you, so I would have no memory of you 3 at all, I wouldn't care in the least"
Magus gave up keeping his temper under control and struck Mery round the head with a resounding blow. "Damn android, aren't they supposed to protect human life?"
"We all knew that Mery was defective when we hired him on, just repair him and we'll get going towards the dome" Raven got to his feet and leant against a tree "I guess we'll find out if Mei knows what she is talking about soon enough"
Mei was currently involved in chasing a butterfly "Hey guys it's getting away, I want it" she said jumping after the insect
Magus looked up from his repair work on Mery "We're all doomed" he said cheerfully
Raven continued to lean against his tree, maybe they were all doomed, but that wasn't anything for Raven to worry about, he had never failed a mission yet, so things had to go right on this one
Next chapter kinda messes around with time a little, it occurs at pretty much the same time this one does, try not to get confused, I will do stuff like this from time to time, it all makes sense later
Raven hacked another branch out of his way, it wasn't actually in his way he just felt the need to hack something. How could Mei do this? She disobeyed orders again and now that other group knew his whole team by name and sight, this was supposed to be a covert mission, go in, grab the goods and go out again and nobody would even notice. Raven stopped slightly the sound of laughter seemed to be carried on the wind. Lucky for him those other hunters weren't too bright, god alone knows what might have happened had they recognized Magus, was that bounty still standing? Or had they given up? Raven stopped again as a face that practically sparkled with idiotic happiness smiled up at him.
"What do you want now Mei?" Raven asked in a tired tone of voice
"Well I found this plant and it didn't look very pretty but I picked it anyway, and do you know what?"
"What" sighed Raven
"It smells really nice!" Mei Lung was practically beaming with happiness "Here smell some"
Raven sniffed the plant out of pure courtesy, it did actually smell quite pleasant.
"That's very nice Mei, why don't you see if you can find more plants that smell nice?" Mei smiled brightly and jogged off, presumably to look for more plants
What was it with that girl? How on ragol did someone so obviously missing the plot make it as a hunter? Still truth be told he preferred her to his other traveling companions, Magus, he was a strange one, more than likely he would stab a small animal, then nurse it back to health, for a contract killer he seemed strangely kind hearted, possibly the most polite assassin Raven had ever met, then there was Mery, androids were supposed to be superior to humans in almost every way weren't they? So why did this one fight like a girl and think like a brick? They would have returned him for production defects but he didn't even HAVE a production number, still he was practically immortal, he had died at least 5 times to date. Raven sighed, why could he never have a normal team? How was he supposed to work with a group of misfits?
"Raven?" This time it was Magus
"What do you want murderer"
"The correct term is assassin, and I haven't killed anyone, at least not on purpose" Magus added the last as an afterthought "But I was just wondering something"
"That being?" Raven was tired of these stupid questions, even Mei's interruptions were more sensible
"We are going to be walking through a known dragon den correct?" said Magus
"Yes we are" replied Raven "Now if that's all"
"Well do you really think the four of us could take down a fully grown dragon?"
Raven stopped, this was the first intelligent question Magus had asked all day "We can do it" he said confidently "After all, the first hunters could fight a dragon one on one and not break a sweat"
"We are not the first hunters, we are a small team of inexperienced hunters who are wandering around on possibly the least friendly rock in the galaxy"
Raven drew his saber "You see this?" he said, holding it mere inches from magus' face, Magus nodded slowly
"Well this says I'm a hunter, and as a hunter I am obliged to finish any job I set out to do, regardless of odds, regardless of danger, I haven't failed a client yet, and I'll be damned if I start today."
Mei popped up between the two hunters "Hey Magus, hey Raven umm Mery told me to tell you guys something, umm but I forgot what it was"
Raven sighed, he had sent Mery ahead on scout duty, and Mei was acting as a go between, upon reflection a bad idea, it was decided early on that Mei was useless for anything except maybe combat.
"Well remember then" he said through grated teeth, Magus was peculiarly silent
"ohhhh I remember now" Mei hopped from one foot to the other "umm umm he said uhhh oh yeah, he can see the dome up ahead!"
Was this good news or bad? The central dome was where the dragons lived, it was also the most heavily infested monsters nest in the whole forest, well it wasn't like they had a choice.
"Did I do good? Was I a good messenger?" Mei looked anxious
"Yes Mei you did your job perfectly" Raven said with a half smile Magus was still silent, and now inspecting his shoes it appeared. As Mei Lung danced round the pair, jumping and skipping, Raven decided it was best to talk to Magus
"Magus, you've been here before, what can we expect?"
"huh? Oh" Magus seemed a bit out of it as usual "well last I saw there was a major colony of boomas a couple of hildebears and a pack of wolves"
"So nothing to worry about then?" Said Raven, gallows humour being his forte
"We could do with some help, I mean really do with it, a full platoon of soldiers perhaps?" Magus had been convinced that this job was suicide right from the beginning.
"Why don't we ask those four from earlier for help? They were nice" said Mei, still skipping around
"No!" said Raven hotly "Team Valiant doesn't need anybodies help" his tone turned a little more gentle "Now go and get Mery please, we're having a meeting" Mei skipped off humming to herself leaving Raven alone with Magus
"Magus I really need to ask you something"
"Sure Raven, go ahead, I may not answer but you can ask"
"Why don't you get over the whole thing with Mei?"
"Excuse me?" asked Magus incredulously "What are you talking about?"
"Please Magus, its obvious and its pathetic, the only reason Mei herself hasn't noticed is because she never notices anything that isn't brightly coloured."
"Honestly Raven I have no idea what you are talking about" Magus protested his innocence
"Every time she comes within a few meters of you, you stop talking and stare at the floor, only an idiot develops a personal relationship with a team mate, any one of us could die today or tomorrow" Ravens words held a twist of bitterness
"Really I never noticed I was like that, I swear" Magus was still on the defensive
"Fine all I'm saying is try to be more proffesional"
"Oh, act like an unfeeling machine you mean?" Magus was starting to get annoyed
Raven nodded "Exactly, feelings get in the way, that's why we're better hunters than that idiot team Crimson runs"
"You know you've called him an idiot an awful lot recently, is there maybe a rivalry between you two?
It was Ravens turn to take the defensive "Me? Rivals with that pathetic excuse for a leader? Don't make me laugh"
"No danger of that happening" muttered Magus, at this point Mei and Mery reappeared
"Found him" Mei announced triumphantly
"You said there was a meeting? We've met, now I need to go back to scouting" Mery turned around to walk away
"Get back here" shouted Raven "Sit down, we are planning what to do next"
"Oh why didn't you say we were having a council?" asked Mery, sitting himself down in a circle with the other three
"Right" said Raven authoritatively "Ahead of us is a heavy nest of monsters, we have no idea how many, but we do know it will be dangerous, we need a plan"
"Okay" said Mei "I have a plan" there was a groan from Raven and Magus, Mery had stopped paying attention and was now playing with his fingers. "The way I see it, we need to have one person designated as a spotter, keeping an eye out for new threats, I suggest that person be me, because I can hit things from a distance, we need 2 people actually fighting the monsters, that should be Raven and Mery, Magus? You should be picking off lone monsters and supporting Raven and Mery, but also using resta to make sure nobody gets badly hurt, umm at least that what I think we should do" Raven and Magus looked at Mei in extreme shock, since when did she even know big words? Let alone be an expert strategist, Mery was not looking shocked, he wasn't paying attention
"Finger goes up, finger goes down, hand goes left, hand goes right, huh? What were you guys talking about again?"
Magus barely restrained himself from throttling the idiot android, before remembering it wouldn't have worked anyway.
"Mei has come up with a tactic that may result in us NOT getting killed, and you weren't listening?" Magus kept his temper just beneath the surface
Mery shrugged "I wouldn't have died anyway, my entire memory is backed up on pioneers data banks, it would be inserted into a blank android"
"So you wouldn't care that the rest of us had all died?"
"Of course not, I haven't saved my data since meeting you, so I would have no memory of you 3 at all, I wouldn't care in the least"
Magus gave up keeping his temper under control and struck Mery round the head with a resounding blow. "Damn android, aren't they supposed to protect human life?"
"We all knew that Mery was defective when we hired him on, just repair him and we'll get going towards the dome" Raven got to his feet and leant against a tree "I guess we'll find out if Mei knows what she is talking about soon enough"
Mei was currently involved in chasing a butterfly "Hey guys it's getting away, I want it" she said jumping after the insect
Magus looked up from his repair work on Mery "We're all doomed" he said cheerfully
Raven continued to lean against his tree, maybe they were all doomed, but that wasn't anything for Raven to worry about, he had never failed a mission yet, so things had to go right on this one
Next chapter kinda messes around with time a little, it occurs at pretty much the same time this one does, try not to get confused, I will do stuff like this from time to time, it all makes sense later