The Termina Saga

Opening Theme: "One Unaffected by Hades" by Get in The Ring

Ending Theme: "Let It All Out of You" by FELT

The Hunters' Gathering Part I

Miles beyond the eastern walls of Doriado City lies the windy whispers of Dryad Forest. This blanket of verdant green and home to wildlife, some of which are native to only the east Miyabi nation, contains many Wynnian settlements for those who often commute to the city, yet still wish to remain following their nomadic customs and distance themselves from urban life.

The sun begins its setting transition to another breezy evening over one such settlement. At this time, the people are out of their flower-decorated tents, happily encircling a late bonfire. Men and women sit together over chairs and blankets with baskets of fruits and vegetables as well as woodcraft spits grilling wild game and crickets. The adults in casual work attire, feathery and patterned skirts, and hide-made accessories gather together either as couples or as close siblings sharing lively conversations. Most of their children on the other hand, freely run around, are in their handheld game devices, or playing Duel Monsters over the ground with old paper field mats.

Returning from his underground dueling just recently, Toma and two other men approach the dueling children while carrying a large coffin-sized container. "Gather around our proud young duelists!" And the children all chime merrily.

"Brother Toma's got a surprise!"

"What'd you get us Big bro!"

"I wanna see!"

Toma and the adults all laugh heartily at their uncontainable excitement. "Ease yourselves young ones. We have merely brought a few gifts as a means of sharing our newly earned riches with you. After all, we can't be the only ones who get to fully enjoy our night's expenses. Right!?" The people cheer with him. His nod to the other men marks that it was time to open the case.

The children all freeze with wish-fulfilled amazement. Inside were dozens of late old model DT Duel disks, booster boxes, and starter decks. Much against to Toma's safety they all charge, wasting no time in yanking out all of the contents. It creates a good laugh at first, but it wasn't long before some were getting into headed arguments on who gets what.

Eventually, the parents step in and split their children apart, with Toma and others deciding a properly equal distribution. The eldest would have the right to use a DT disk, starter decks and certain cards from the packs went to the youngest and to those who have no cards of their own. Some even agree to follow as duelist etiquette demands and play each other for packs on the line. The night was surely not without entertainment and cheers.

As much of the children's matches went on, Toma and a few others start to notice that some of the kids who have gone off to pick up things back at their homes haven't returned. Not wanting to interrupt the fun everyone else is having, Toma decides to get up from his squatting and check. Before he is able to leave however, a couple of the children who now return haste to him.

"Brother Toma can you come with us?"

"Where is everyone else?" Toma asks.

"The forest path entrance just by our tents."

Fright fills them, but Toma keeps his voice low enough for their huddle to hear as he prepares a scolding lecture. "By the Sacred Tree's mercy. Must we constantly remind you all to keep yourselves from there without supervision? The wolves certainly are not going to just stand and dismiss their time to hunt just because we are celebrating today!"

"We weren't playing there at all! Honest!"

"Well then why did-"

"The other kids just found some travelers who just stopped by, wanting to get directions."

Toma's eye squinches. "Travelers you say?"

"Yeah! They are all wearing hoods and have all these belts and big bags of metal stuff."

"Uh huh! Uh huh! And they were all widing them big, cushy, bwack bears with scawy, goldy eyes and owange dots!"

"Scary? They were the cutest things! I wanted to pet one!"

The adults find it odd that anyone would dare cross the forest this late. Travelers from the mother land make it a point to journey no later than noon. Gathering and hunts mainly occur at the start of dawn up until noon's near end. Certainly, no tourist would be so bold or foolish enough to traverse, lest they are willing to face stepping into carnivore territory or consume an unsuspectingly poisonous plant.

Toma asks further, "What else can you tell us about these, travelers?"

"Well…. Oh, yeah! There's a tall man with a super fancy duel disk too!"

"I can't bewieve it. But he was almost big, big, big as bwudder Toma!"

"Duel disk… Wait…" And then it hits him with a hammering dread, "Oh no…" Orange-spotted black bears are native to only one nation in the continent. A nation home to the forests grown from volcanic soil where they thrive. These so-called travelers are not here just for directions.

Toma tells a few to quickly arm themselves before they follow. Some bring over their disks in the slight chance a duel will decide things without too critical repercussions. They all make haste to the location, praying only that the rest of children are safe. Certainly no one would have so cold a heart as to lay a hand on mere children.

But, they are wrong. A multitude of screams erupt, stirring their fevering urgency. When they arrive, a sight that cements their fears greet them. Feral black bears are pinning their whimpering children hard over the blood-stained grass, already having struck them with large gashes and rabid bites. The only ones remaining healthy are the group of around two dozen tan-skin men in hooded cloaks standing by watching, with some even laughing out of morbid entertainment.

"H-help! Someone h-h-h—help!"

"Waaa! It huuuurts!"

"Dada! M-mama!"

Toma lashes out, not willing to let this vile injustice continue any further, "Accursed Hiitan scum! Get your filthy hell-spawn beasts away from them!" The others with him load and charge with their crossbows, throwing knives, and slingshots in a frenzied rage. There was no choice of negotiation. No chance of a compromise. These heartless creatures who unwelcomingly trudge into their own home and spill the blood of their innocents without thought or remorse are no less than an enemy. Baring their teeth, they howl out a battle cry resembling a flock of raving vultures.

"Black-hearted devils!"

"Show them no mercy! Show them nature's wrath!"

"Recompense with your blood!"

Toma has no weapon in hand. He did not need to. Compared to most of them, he is a no different from a tempered gentle giant ready to twist their spines into brittle. Like so, he feasibly subdues three of the Hiitans into unconsciousness with just a swift mixture of technique and precise power strikes to their neck, temple, and solar plexus. The seconds when his foes would choke and throw-up their spit out of pain exhilarates him plenty to find the desire of taking on more.

Seeing their fellow kinsman's wrathful courage, they follow and engage their invaders. The Hiitans draw their own jagged edge knives, and brass knuckles, while few among them who possess fire arms take aim. The Wynnians prove formidable, as some like Toma are former war veterans. Upon spotting their raising guns, they skillfully dart their knives and wood-craft spikes at their trigger hands and barrels before subduing them.

After finishing the first few and with his group occupying the other Hiitans into scattering skirmishes, Toma rushes at the last foe in front of him. The man was the only obstacle left getting in his way from saving the children before they deal with the rest. "Time you answered to nature's judgment you devil!" he howls as he unleashes a focused chop. It would be a merciless blow that will surely suffocate one with enough force, and he would not hold back.

But it fails. "Whoa! Whoa! Hold it there, swamp monkeys!" The Hiitan steps and hard pincers down Toma's hands with his iron gauntlets before they can even touch him. "Any closer, and I'll move up our pets' scheduled playtime down straight to feeding time! Main course being their screaming swamp monkey heads." He clicks his tongue, which ignites the bears into a teeth-baring growl at the whimpering children. "So, what'll it be, huh!?"

This forces the other Wynnians into a stand down, unable to do anything else but stare at their hated enemies smirking faces and watch their young still suffering in their peril.

Toma struggles to break free. Even as big as he was, he could feel that this Hiitan's grip was almost crushing his muscles like metal chains coiling a hawk's wing. It is almost hard to believe he is even human. He spent years in the old wars, fighting these people, but never before has ever felt such strength even from the very race who worships its sole aspect. Just who is this man?

He unveils his face. With bright-fiery green eyes adjoining his devilish smile, he then introduces himself. Underneath the raggedy cloaks is a full-body mesh with many metal straps. Wearing them is a man with dark orange hair near Toma's height and mass. Out of all the aspects that burns into Toma's mind, however, the most astonishing is the brand scarring the dead center of this Hiitan's face. A sign of scars that are identical to that of the duelist he met not too long ago, Kageru Hinodama. "Y-you… you're-"

Finally, the still grinning Hiitan introduces himself. "The name's Daido Ikari. And as our boss demands, we, the Order of the High Avatar will be purging your filth from our newly earned lands. Your Aussian trash buddy, Rusty sends his regards by the way."

Meanwhile, a green and silver jet soars over a dry, stony range, crossing through the splitting grey clouds. The setting sun's rays beam from its back, flashing at a logo of a golden gryphon with the name Ayashi in brown text within its wing. Sitting solitary upon its blue leather seats is a none other than Albus Aldebrand in his lilac suit with gold linings that trace the figure of a dichromatic reptile.

The sullenness of his unblinking, violet eyes focuses over a silver-plated notebook where several applications cover the screen. His icy white fingers keep busy, typing and sending command prompts at a quick yet precise pace to manage it all, from his schedule, finances, news updates, and a confidential list of persons in the process of scrutiny. Only in between does he take breaks to sip off the Kara Kafé brand coffee in his side. When he does, he tries not to get caught multi-tasking as to not spill its heated contents to waste.

A chat program pops up to cut his alone time short. From the other end of ebb and flowing volume lines speaks the robotically altered voice of Rider. "Good afternoon Meister."

Albus's relaxed, familiar tone returns the greeting, "Well met Rider. I take it you bear informative news?"

"The Kurenai scum has survived our attack," Rider replies in a stern, almost perturbed tone.

"So, he did." Thinking, Albus leans back with his long, auburn hair on his seat, and takes another sip of coffee. "I did warn you not to take him lightly. The bodies of these Kurenai-born soldiers have been greatly attuned for survival."

"I'll concede that the boy shows considerable prowess in both martial ability and dueling, but don't you think you may be overestimating him? As long as his ignorance to what our battle involves continues to persist he poses hardly any threat to our mission."

"And that is the fault of your arrogance, Rider. Now that Castelle has come into contact with him, it's only a matter time before he is well-informed. I myself have erred the same during my execution of… the previous Flamvell user. Carelessly believing he had been incinerated in the crossfire of my attack was a grave mistake."

"Are you sure that carelessness was not due to some attachment?"

Albus merely scoffs at the claim and goes to finish his beverage without answering.

He figures that he would not get a straight answer at this time and returns to the main topic. "Regardless of what it may have been in the past, the only reason he even breathes is due to the interference of Castelle… Not to mention her wretched pet doll."

Albus notes a hint of fury when he mentions this doll. "The Wynnian who calls herself Ivy." Confirming her identity, he opens up a folder with only fragments of gathered information. "She is the owner of that so-called Traptrix series, right?"

Rider's voice tempers, "Please do not grant that she-witch the label of our people. She has no right uphold it."

"I too harbor a distaste for the thought of fighting against one's own race. But, alas. Every side will have its share of dissidents. Project Possessor was much a sin of Miyabi and the other regions to be blamed for, as it was for Kurenai."

The suggestion he is hinting at bewilders him. "You suspect this insurgent to be a subject of that hellish project as well? Preposterous. All other byproducts from the mother land should had been exterminated by our hand. What's more, the sole true clan branded with the spirit of Miyabi is under the dominance of one of our own. The glyphs that have been deciphered so far certainly showed no vision of anything even remotely resembling those Traptrix creatures."

Albus pulls down his collar to reveal the violently slashed brands of flame and water marking his neck. "It is possible that she may been sent to either Kurenai or Aoi to be experimented and is among the last of their runaway subjects. After all, cross-melding with races was not uncommon once the AoJ began raids on those facilities."

Rider tries hard at connecting it all, but the rush of what were once considered improbabilities overwhelm him.

He tucks his collar back in. "Of course, we cannot make too many assumptions. As for your last report, you mentioned her partaking the duel while you were occupied with Castelle. How does her skill match up?"

Rider finally boils down, only to turn to the side with a clear display of regret. "That witch…" He freezes briefly as if a slight chill was gripping him in the inside. "She is frightening. As shameful as it was, retreat was our only option."

He could not believe what he was hearing. "Frightening you say? Even more so than High Lady Noel's own daughter?"

"Between the two of you, … I'm not even certain who would survive. Castelle was no doubt formidable for the little time the Gishki have awakened. Even then, she faced me with great caution. But this Ivy… She almost seemed to be toying with me."

"You; A duelist considered among the few great heroes during the Worm invasion years ago?" He inwardly breathes out of stress. "If that is the case, it seems this girl is our biggest worry amongst Castelle's ranks. Until we figure out more, making any offensive moves on her would be tantamount to pointless suicide."

The sound of metal shrieks from across his speakers. He could already tell that it was from Rider slamming his gauntlets onto a hard surface. "Bah! Curses! This is the most opportune time to strike down the Kurenai devil and her while they are still in the midst of gaining power. Veterans we are of the old war passed, yet here we stand cowering at the thought of a mere traitor."

"Ease yourself Rider. Deep down we should've figured that neither Adelia, let alone Lady Noel would ever allow their weaknesses unaccounted for." A notification pops on his notebook screen. "We'll leave it at that for now. There is no point in dwelling over it. Our careless streak shall be corrected with future tasks. Starting now."

"Has any of that lot of Kurenai scum been found yet?"

"Yes. The chemical and shell casing scans you have sent to my scouting team have allowed us to get some tracking on this extremist group's movements." He emails out a screenshot of a zoomed in map displaying a forest.

Rider immediately recognizes the area as that of Dryad Forest and the fury within him ignites. "These unwelcomed plagues have the audacity to not just step foot on the only utopian landmark of peace, but even DARE lay a finger on my people once more!? I will see to it they are thoroughly purged! This I swear by the Sacred Tree!"

"Then prepare to engage."

"With pleasure. They are not far." He readies to cut and leave.

"And what of Valier and Tamer?"

He breathes with uncertainty. "I still have reservations about having them take part. Compassion still dulls their judgment too much for my easiness. Though progressing swiftly, their training with the Spirit Drive system isn't fully finished either."

"Some things are quicker learned through rough experience over rehearsal. We need as many skilled duelists as we can muster, even more so now that we have that Ivy to deal with in the near future."

"If that is your command Meister, so it shall be. I will brief them on route to the target area."

Albus nods. "Good. I will see you shortly."

"Godspeed." And their transmission cuts.

Figuring that his destination was still several minutes away and having done more than enough for his quota, Albus decides to wait. From across the jet's window he silently gazes at the sun setting beneath the orange, rock-filled mountains. The fading beauty of it descending into the evening's transition fills him with a nostalgic sense of awe. Not too long does it take to remind him of a certain someone.

The minute fades, and a snapping thought turns his attention back to his sleeping notebook. He powers it back on. With mouse pointer hovering over the recycle bin, he clicks right, almost ready to fully erase the contents. The highlighted empty option clicks with his cold, hardening resolve. One final prompt asks if he is fully certain.

Are you sure you wish permanently to erase all contents in the Recycle Bin? Don't go crying when it's all gone. Yes/No

He tells himself he does. That he is ready to forget. That it was best he should for the sake of his mission. What right has he to even think of what he has done now? What would it possibly change? All he needs is just one effortless tap of a button to bury the memories in whatever way and be done with it.

But in the end, he hesitates, and instead immediately double clicks it open.

Inside was a folder with the label My Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring. He drags it out of the bin and opens it. The numerous photos in its stores start to break his calm composure to a heart-wrenching somberness. With forehead seeking rest on both palms, he longingly utters the name of the one it was addressing.

"Akane…"

15 years ago.

He remembers a fond memory of her wish. The wish she had been holding on to since they were young. The wish that manages to steer her through the years of stepping on battlefield after battlefield.

"What do you say Al? You and I, a pair of hideous half-breeds against the world?" Akane's peach-colored fist aims over Albus's head, expecting to meet his half-way.

The smile she gleams brightens his view, as if he was staring up to the sun rise over the night. He gazes at her eyes of scarlet, finding nothing short of jolly sincerity. But his hands stay over the grass, and he looks away to the grey clouds.

The gesture near disappoints her. "Come on Al…"

As much as he wants to see the visions of grandeur and peace laying beneath her innocent naivety, he just could not believe it possible. "For decades, every nation in this vicious continent had seen nothing but bloodshed. The lands of Aoi and Miyabi all want to keep to themselves, keep everyone else away."

"And both Kurenai and Kurogane seek to take it all, going as far as to force themselves through everyone else to do so. I know."

"Yes. Having a common enemy won't do anything but suspend attention to that reality. When we AoJ finish our fight to defend our homes, who is to say we won't simply resume the old war for this continent's resources again. Do you really think you can simply toss away a deep-rooted cycle of history just like that with a flip of a switch?"

"Not with that sourpuss attitude, silly." His words as always, carry a stinging cold bluntness to which she could not help but only giggle. Harsh as they may seem, she still deeply appreciates his honesty. "The Allies of Justice simply need to keep at it. Fight all invaders and bad apples trying to bully each other and show it off so that everyone gets to see how great a team our people can be."

With that, Albus gets up. He raises his arms to guard and stances himself to challenge her. "Show me your resolve."

"Oh?" It was rather sudden, but she does not complain. With an energized grin, she readies herself similarly. "Alright. You asked for it!"

Standing across from each other beside the edge of a glimmering spring, the two then spar. Akane rushes to Albus who was preparing to counter. Her flurry of chops, punches, and kicks collide with his parries and counter hits. The two are initially even, but Albus would gradually wear her down and land more blows, knocking her down several times within minutes.

They continue on and on for hours until the dawn came. Albus's blows hardly got softer and the amount of paralyzing connections continue to increase several folds. But no matter how many times she would suffer through it, she would simply spring up and strike back just as even quicker and harder. It came to a point where all the fatigue and bruises were taking their toll on the both of them.

Albus could not believe it. Even as the both of them are near breathless, aching all over, and drenching in sweat she remains undeterred. "Why? Why are you so adamant about this? And for people who shun us half-breeds, especially for the fact that we carry this infernal Hiitan blood in our very veins."

Even while panting hard, she answers resolutely, "Hiitan…. Wynnian…. Aussian. Erian. Does it even matter? In the end, it's just a bunch of people who haven't tried understanding each other," She takes a breath to finally compose herself. "Whew. I don't know about you, but I sure don't wanna spend the rest of my life worrying and fighting about pointless things like that."

"That… What you want is-"

"Freedom Albus. That's what I want… A free land with no running. No fear. No unimportant hidden agendas butting their ways and troubling all the good folk in every part of this land who don't deserve it. I wanna see the rest of this earth, hear the breeze, cross over the cold waters, and brave through the fires when I please."

He sees a gleam in her eyes again. A warm gleam of longing affection. "Akane…"

"I want to see it all. Share those fun experiences with many sorts of the different people that make it all the less lonely." A whistling breeze follows with her guard lowering as she rests her arms behind her. Standing relaxed, she tilts her head in a girlish manner and asks him again, "So... How about it Al? Are you up for it?"

An announcement over the intercom drags him back to the present. "Sir Aldebrand. We are approaching Hijiri air space bordering Doriado City. Estimated arrival in less than one hour."

A holographic window flashes from the seat in front of him to confirm it. The scenery is now that of the thickets of forest trees from Dryad Forest covering much of the surface, and mountain ranges lining it across the horizon. Further beyond that sits an enormous tower piercing the atmospheric barrier; a mark of Doriado City. But, this view would not leave him without a call to action, for upon looking by the surrounding area miles just from to the city, he saw multiple clouds of smoke rising from the surface. Whoever this Hiitan group was, they are already there wreaking havoc. He and Rider need to arrive and swiftly before nothing would remain.

"Savage curs," he remarks in disgust.

Readying himself for the landing, he snaps his notebook closed and stores it in its bag. From under his seat, he pulls out a briefcase carrying his well-secure deck box and detached pieces of the new DT duel disk. But, that was not all, underneath this surface layer is an extra compartment. Inside is his folded reinforced bodysuit like that of his fellow hunters, and a half-mask. With these he begins to arm himself for the nearing operation.

"Time to put these dogs down."

(AN: Back on track finally! This chapter took a while, since I had to write it TWICE. My previous laptop fell to the random blue screen of death, thus I lost everything else I had on file for this story, definitely will start using google drive more. On top of all that, there is my personal drama regarding expenses, getting a job (a point that was slowly crippling me into depression for almost 4 months), and some ordeals with my current ex friend and ex roommate. On the upside, I got a new gaming laptop, and have been working on the touch ups. Everything is gradually resolving and I'm finally getting stable income for the time being. Things are turning up better gradually, and… Well. I'm happy.

But enough about me for now, as for the MAJOR changes, I have decided to switch to full on present tense in my writing as you may have likely noticed. I have been getting much appreciated feedback from MoA and TLA as always (love you peeps!) and I have noticed that I have a much much easier time flowing sentences in my head with said tense, so yeah. That's how it's gonna be from now on. The previous chapters are also getting this overhaul and I will be touching up on details I feel lacking or rushed, so I guess feel free to reread those and let me know.

I'm glad to have gotten to this point, since those sudden urges to redo everything still come up. Don't worry, I've been overcoming them thanks to all the touch ups I've been doing. I plan on finishing this one way or another and it sure as hell ain't taking my lifetime to do it. I certainly ain't waiting till this stupid but fun card game has like 13 different summoning methods till I finish. The pieces in the storyboard are falling in place, and they are all beginning to meet each other. I and I'm sure everyone else needed a short break from Kageru taking spotlight and needed a bit of insight on everyone else. I certainly can't wait to showcase more of the Tribal Hunters especially. And will do so in part dos. Again, as since I've had to redo this chapter, and been burnt out as part of it still needs work and is beefy on its own right, there will be a part 2. Expect a duel by the way. Something to be excited for. Huzzah!

As always, thanks to all my readers and all to those who have recently (and yes, remained) favers and followers. Please continue to post your feedback, and any and all criticism. That good stuff motivates me to pump these updates more and more and improve whatever way I can to keep it all the more enjoyable. I am about 4/5 done with part 2 and around 3/5s done with the following chapter, so hopefully that won't take as long to bring out. Of course, I got some new games coming up that I've been hyping up like Blazblue Crosstag, MH World on Steam, Code Vein, and Soul Calibur 6 so that might take some of my free time initially. We'll see.

Shout outs. MoA and TLA as always for your reviews. That list will surely expand when I get more substantial feedback from other readers.

Lastly, again, if anyone is willing to beta, it's all up for grabs. I would definitely appreciate that, and it would only help me get the improvements/tweaks I need done to get these chapters out all the quicker. And for those who have been supportive, I'll be checking back to experiencing and getting inspired by your awesome stories as well. Expect more activity from me now. That's all. See you guys next time on the Saga. Stay awesome.)