Within Castle Walls
Track002:
Present…
Amethyst eyes scanned the terrain below through his goggles, "Hey I see something!"
"What is it?" The blonde asked, flying beside him on his pegasus.
"A batch of cock-a-doodle-bombs."
Satoshi frowned, "How many?"
"There's five to seven, manageable enough."
The blue haired boy looked through for a moment, "Easy enough, let's go then."
The four of the swooped down and landed a bit away from the demons which were huddled together and peeping to one another. Dark smirked and pushed his goggles onto his forehead, "This seems like a good batch."
"To kill." Krad finished for him.
"Yup." Then he blinked as a sudden thought struck him, "Hey Krad…"
"Yea?"
"Since when?"
Golden eyes blinked as he set down his bow and arrows, "Since when what?"
"Since when did you start liking me?"
Krad gave him a funny look through his golden bangs, "Is this really the time to be asking that?"
"Yes." Dark replied stubbornly.
The blonde sighed and flipped his daggers a couple times before sealing them in his hilt, those were all he needed for the job, "Fine, I guess it was when…you told me, as I recall the exact words 'suck it up and live with it, there's no point in being someone else because of an excuse like that.'"
"Wasn't that when…"
"Yea, that was when we met."
He shot his friend a bubbly smile, "You still remember! I'm so happy!"
"Whatever, Daisuke, care to start us off?"
The redhead nodded and got his bow ready, "I don't understand why you don't do this."
"Your aim's better."
"No it's not you liar."
The blonde gave a shrug, "Dark, remember, don't mess around this time. Last time, one almost exploded…"
"I know, I know."
Daisuke frowned and turned his attention to his friend for a moment, "And don't toss them around when we're finished."
"I know! I learn from my mistakes!"
Satoshi scoffed, "No you don't, if you did then they wouldn't have almost exploded."
"Almost! But they didn't!"
"Because Krad sliced it up into itty bitty tiny insignificantly puny pieces. And we didn't get the money for it because of you, it's all your fault!"
Dark huffed, "Fine, I'm not bringing to the corpse to the town then."
Blue eyes narrowed as he glared sharply at the other hunter, "You won't, I assure you, these aren't as big as Rotadergs, me and Daisuke will handle them."
Amethyst eyes blinked before he snorted, "Fine, be that way, Daisuke…"
The redhead nodded and got ready to fire, "Be careful, especially you, Dark."
"Yea, yea…they just look so puffy…I couldn't help it."
The archer shot the first arrow striking the first cock-a-doodle-bomb right in the brain, it slumped over dead while the others looked shaken as they turned to face them, beaks opened and ticking. Krad smirked and embedded his dagger between one of the demons' eyes. "Two down…five to go."
He looked over to see that the other two had struck three down, he turned around and killed another one. Golden eyes darted over to the last one who looked it was hyperventilating, ticking faster and faster, he was about to run to it before it had the chance to explode but an arrow beat him to it and killed the last one.
The blonde let out a small sigh of relief, it would've been nothing more than a mess if that one had exploded, "Nice shot Daisuke!" He called out and kneeled by one to cut out its heart to ensure that it was harmless while the others did the same. After all the hearts were removed excluding one, since Satoshi was dragging it back towards his griffin, he sighed and stared at his blades covered in blood, he sighed and sheathed them.
Dark walked over with a sack full of cock-a-doodle-bomb hearts, "Here, I'm not carrying this."
"Not that we'd let you…" Krad took it from the boy and passed it to the redhead, "You're carrying it."
"Why me?"
"Because next time there's something too big for you two to carry, it'll be my turn."
"True…" The redhead took the sack without further complaints.
Krad looked over at Dark, "See? He doesn't make a big fuss about carrying things."
"Well he didn't have green blood dripping all over him…" Dark retorted.
Daisuke and Satoshi looked over, "No, we have red blood dripping all over us."
They all got onto their rides, "Where to next?"
"The nearest town."
And they were off.
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"Daisuke! Wel-come!"
"Mio-san!" The redhead greeted her cheerfully.
"What did you destroy this time?"
"Seven cock-a-doodle-bombs."
The blonde beamed, "Congrats! You just earned yourself 7 gin and 14 kin! I'll give you an extra one." She winked, "Shh, don't tell anyone."
The other three just stood around as they were ignored, Daisuke blinked, "No I couldn't…"
"Just take it! And set the corpsesdown by the door when you head out, I'll dispose of them after!"
"Thank you!"
"No problem! Be careful now! Bye bye!" The girl called after them.
On the way down the road Dark gave the redhead a nudge, "Looks like someone's popular."
The redhead blinked, "Me? No way!"
Amethyst eyes twinkled as he snorted, "No…I meant I was popular, you're becoming a ladies man aren't you, Dai-chan." That earned him a glare from Satoshi, he cleared his throat and corrected himself, "Umm…okay, maybe not ladies man, more like…just man…yea…" He ran up and caught up to Krad to avoid the blue haired boy's glare.
The blonde blinked and looked over to the commotion at the pub, "Wonder what's going on…"
Dark smirked, "That's why you walk in and find out!" And then he ran into the pub, a minute later he came back out, "It's been raining…the swamp's getting active."
"With what?"
"At the moment? There's a centipie on the loose." The three stared at him in silence, "…what?"
"A centipie? We haven't dealt with one since…last season!"
Krad paused, "Daisuke…that was only a couple months ago."
"Only?"
"I get the feeling I said the wrong thing…"
Dark grinned, "You were wrong! You were actually wrong!"
The blonde didn't answer, Satoshi frowned, "Are we taking up this job?"
"Yes!" The violet haired boy voiced without a second thought.
"Sure why not…"
Daisuke grimaced, "I suppose…"
"Let's get going then, before it gets dark and before it moves."
The group of demon hunters hurried out of the town and onto their own demons and flew off, landing outside of the swamp Dark shivered, "I hate the swamp."
The blonde wrinkled his nose, "It smells like dead things."
"…like the things and people that have been killed here."
He glared at his friend, "Exactly, since when have you gotten so smart, Dark? With any luck, the centipie might see you as appetizing and gobble you up."
"That's cruel Krad, you'll miss me a dreadful lot once I'm gone, I promise you that. I bet it'd rather eat people with bright colored clothes anyways. You or Daisuke I suspect, don't worry, I'll mourn over your death for weeks."
Krad sneered and cut down the vines in his path, "I hate this place…"
The redhead nodded in agreement, "Remember last time you cut down those vines…?"
"Don't remind me…having corpses of dead demon hunters fall on you doesn't help ease the anxiety."
Satoshi raised a brow, "I doubt it would…neither would looking into the water."
The blonde paled visibly, "Great…now I think I'm going to be sick…"
Even Dark put a hand to his stomach and winced at the mention of it, "It's disgusting how their bodies are preserved…"
Daisuke ran and caught up to the blonde, "Whatever, let's not talk about that…I'd hate to be here on Volarch day…"
Satoshi shuddered, "Let's not think about all these corpses and how they'd raise from the dead for the night…"
"Satoshi!"
Suddenly, they heard a scream and picked up their pace, careful not to fall into the water, Krad spoke up, "At least it's in the…cleansed area of the swamp."
"That puddle of water? How can it live there?"
"Well at least there aren't bodies floating around in it!"
Dark paused, "Good point…"
When they reached the clearing, the four of them stood there, feet rooted on the ground, "Oh my god…" Krad muttered under his breath.
Daisuke looked away in disgust as the other three watched a demon hunter get devoured by the demon, his limp body snapped into an impossible angle as the demon continued to munch on him. They looked at the ground to see his weapons, there had been more than one there, an archer and a swordsman, both dead. Dark flinched as the sound of bones crunching was heard and the monster let out a low growl of satisfaction.
The blonde gulped, he was feeling nauseous already, "Let's just get this over with…"
Daisuke nodded shakily and drew his bow with shaky hands, he took careful and fired it, watching it hit the centipie right in between one of its body joints. It let out a howl and looked over at the four with an angry glare.
Dark took a deep breath and watched it charge at them, the top third of its body coming out of the water, this one hadn't matured yet, it had yet to reach its full size and was heading straight for them. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the blonde flip backwards as it charged at him and landed on the beast, he silently swore under his breath, "Shit…I didn't mean it when I said it was attracted to bright colors…"
Krad embedded his daggers between the head and first body segment, it hollered loudly and tried to fling him off. Luckily, his blades had been buried into the joint securely and he was able to hold on, he looked at the other three wondering what was taking them so long.
The two sword wielders took the cue to attack, slicing open its belly as it flailed about trying to get the blonde off. When Krad saw that the stomach had been successfully penetrated he retrieved his daggers and leapt straight up off the head, the demon looked up and roared at the blonde who now had a bow in his hands and shot an arrow down its throat killing it instantly then diving into the pool. It wasn't that deep but deep enough for him to not hit his head.
Dark grinned, "That wasn't that bad…it was just a baby, way faster than I thought. I don't get how those two guys couldn't handle this little guy..."
The blonde could feel the water splashing about as the demon fell, but he could detect that something was wrong. That one hadn't matured yet so the parent should still be…his thought were cut off when something went rushing towards him. Golden eyes widened as a demon came swimming towards him at rapid speed.
Satoshi frowned, "Why hasn't Krad surfaced yet?"
The violet haired boy too frowned, cutting off the head with one of his swords, "Yea…what's taking him, you don't think something happened to him do you?"
Suddenly the current on the lake began to change, the blue haired boy stood up, "There's something there."
Krad swam some distance before the demon had caught up to him, out of surprise he let out his breath and took in some water, choking a bit. He let out the rest of his breath when something sharp pierced his leg and began to drag him upwards. Pulling out one of his daggers, he stabbed it into the nose of it, it let our a shriek and began to zigzag up, increasing in speed. He clutched onto his dagger tightly not wanting to have his leg ripped off.
Dark stood up and stared at the water, "Something's coming up…and its got Krad!"
Golden eyes blinked a couple times as he finally reached the surface, he coughed a few times and filled his lungs with sweet sweet air, of course his leg was still clamped in the demon's jaw and in terrible pain. He winced and kicked down at its sharp teeth with his free leg, it thrashed about making him slide a bit, he bit back a scream as searing pain shot up his leg.
Satoshi bit his lip, "We can't get him while it's in the water…"
"Damnit! We have to get him! Daisuke!" The redhead nodded and took out three arrows, firing them all at once, they zinged through the air and hit the demon in the stomach, all three of them. It hissed and shook about even more violently. "Keep shooting!"
Krad panted as he drew out his other dagger and sliced open the demon's gums, it let out another hiss of pain and bit harder causing him to groan in pain. Then more arrows were shot and he managed to get his dagger to cut across its eye causing it to go blind in one eye. It tried to shake him off without letting go of his leg, the blonde hissed feeling blood run down his leg.
Daisuke frowned and got out his silver tipped arrow and shot it, it went up the back of the demon's head, right up the scales and into its skull, it shrieked and fell over thrashing, letting the blonde go. Krad hit the water with a splash, Dark's eyes widened as he watched his friend fall. "Krad!"
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Cock-a-doodle-bombs:
Chick-like minor demons, has the appearance of a yellow fluff ball with small black eyes and a beak along with short legs, it's got no wings therefore can't do much besides walk around and peck at things off the ground. They usually travel in batches of 4-8; the cock-a-doodle-bomb's body is mainly made up of its heart which acts as a bomb. When frightened, it will automatically start ticking away and before it explodes, it makes a loud 'cock-a-doodle-boom' thus earning it its name. The only way to kill them without having them blow up would be to slice or shoot their brain and nothing but the brain, but even when dead, the cock-a-doodle-bomb's heart can still be triggered by a hard impact, making them, very dangerous. After they're killed the heart is usually made into explosives and sold in markets.
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Centipies:
Powerful swamp monsters with the body of a large centipede, the head is one similar to a dragon's only flatter and less majestic. The body when matured can go up to half a mile long, it preys on anythingthat can fit into its mouth, it usually lives underwater but can go on land when it has to. It's equipped with a large tail to propel through the water at immense speed and 700-1000 legs on its body, the scales on its body are nearly impossible to penetrate except for the area between sections of the body and the stomach. The young usually stay with its father while the mother simply leaves after it's born, it'll stay with its parent until it's old enough to fend for itself, then the father will simply fight it off and force it out of its territory, seeing its own young as an intruder. The only way to kill it would be to slit open its stomach or to get the head and neck. The scales can be turned into powerful armour and shields.
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Nya
Here's the next chapter! Tomorrow's Halloween :D So I'll update something tomorrow :) Yes Hio Mio's another demon head collector person thingy... Thanks to Koway Oceshia for being the first reviewer :D Hakudoshi-chanfor being second and Zy-chan for being third! XD
And to answer some questions to answer...this is like a quiz that I know all the answers to...or that I could make up an answer and it'd still be right! XD
(Koway Oceshia) Yes Risa can cook...I know it seems queer but oh well, someone needs to be able to cook in that town... >.>
(Hakudoshi-chan) The information/descriptions for the demons, I just make them up, you know they're like those strange little creatures that just float in my head so I decided to make up names for them and put them in as demons XD Then I just make up a description of how the look like and stuff to explain...what they are :)
(Daishi) The demon head collector peoples things collect the heads or bodies (demon hunters are required to bring the wholecorpse thingwhen possible) and send them off to people who use the corpse thingermabob and turn it into something useful :D Like...a rotaderg's tail could be turned into a whip/weapon thing...I kinda suck at explaining but oh well XP
Anymore questions, just ask and I'll try my best to answer them XD Thank yous to everyone else who reviewed! X3 And thanks for r&r-ing...that's not a word is it? >.>