I traversed the narrow path carefully. It had been four hours since I left my village. As I rounded the corner, I slipped on a patch off moss. I slid down the side of the cliff, and held onto a thatch of Needleberries. I ignored the stinging pain, and hoisted myself back onto the path.
I took a sap plant from my bag, and tore off a leaf. The sticky sap would slow the swelling. Placing it against my palm, I navigated slowly, until I saw the town.
The buildings were placed together two rows opposite from each other. I stocked up on potions, and more sap plants at the herb shop, and then proceeded to the blacksmith. It was time for a new weapon.
The shop smelled of oil, fire and iron. Several Felynes sharpened blades in the back. An unfinished Lacerator Blade lay hanging up from the ceiling. I had never seen so much weaponry in my life. Huge broadswords lined the walls, and katanas sit on specialized frames with the hilt traditionally facing north.
A large man approached me. "Do you have anything cheap, but strong?" I asked. I was on a budget if I was going to afford a new armor set.
"Well, this here katana is made with galvanized machalite" he replied. "The blade was sharpened with an Ioprey fang; its poison to touch." he continued. "How much?" I asked.
"Twelve hundred zenni" he replied. "I'll take it." I said, leaving him the money.
I rented a room at the Guild Hall that night. I put my Viper Bite in the item box, and locked it. I walked down into the main tavern. It was buzzing with activity. Some people toasted over flagons of ale, some sharpened weapons, and some scanned a large clipboard in the back for quests. One hunter loaded her bowgun up on ammunition.
A lone hunter sat at a table reading a slip of paper. "Slay a Zizami" it said across the top. A large broadsword lay leaned against the table beside him. "You need any help?" I asked showing him my paper. "Sure, but two people can't take down a Zizami" he pointed out. "We need some help; how about him?" he pointed to a tall hunter at the back of the tavern.
The hunter sat with a large bow strapped to his back, dipping several arrows in a thick, violet liquid. "I'll go talk to him" I said, walking over to the archer.
"Have you ever taken down a Zizami?" I asked. "Once or twice" he said in a stern tone. "So do you think you can help us?" I asked half expecting him to walk away.
"Sure, I can always use another trophy." He said smiling. "Great, we leave at noon." I said. "So is he in?" The other hunter asked. "Yes" I said. "He's in."
At high sunrise, our team of makeshift hunters set out for the desert. After a few hours, hunger took its tool on us. We stopped and set up camp on a small cliff overlooking the desert.
The skeleton of a monster they called Monoblos lay in the distance. "That is where the Zizami should be" said the archer. "They like to use large skulls as shells for protection."
After we ate, we went over the plan one more time. The archer would distract the Zizami while the blademaster and I climbed up the skull, and hit the weak spot.
It took approximately thirty minutes to make it to the skeleton. We kept our distance, not wanting to wake the monster prematurely. As we crept closer, something caught my eye.
Another group of hunters was coming this way. We ran over to them. "Have you seen a large crab-like monster called a Zizami? The lead hunter asked. Three other hunters stood behind him. Two had a pair of dual blades, and one had a large broadsword strapped to his back.
"We are looking for it also" I said to him. "It is supposedly in that skeleton back there" I pointed the huge pile of bones have sunken in the sand.
"Well, perhaps we can team up." He proposed. "Sounds good" I said. Before any more words could be exchanged the skull began to shift under the sand.
The Zizami erupted from the sand. The scene was immediately thrown into complete chaos. Hunters dashed around relaying orders to one another. Others just stood there in complete amazement at the edifice that had appeared.
I wandered around aimlessly in the mayhem trying to see what was going on. One hunter tackled me to the ground as a tremendous claw sweeped the top of his armor. "Thanks" I managed to gasp. "Don't mention it" he said.
An arrow flew by my head and straight into the crab's face. A fiery explosion knocked me back. "Sorry" called a grinning archer. I dove to the side as a claw jammed into the ground. I trusted my sword into its claw. The crab shook loose from the sand, nursing its wound.
"Get to the skull!" the swordsman called to me and two other hunters. I took the lead; sprinting under the beast, dodging the legs stumbling about, and hitting the ground. The two other hunters trailed behind; ducking under the pincers swiping at them.
Once we were in position, the other two hunters threw tow cables up and hooked them into the shell. I took a shot, over throwing, and apparently hitting it in the head. We started to climb.
Every five or so feet, my cable would wrench in the skull of the beast, causing it to wiggle about. Once I reached a place where I could stand, I looked upon the battle below. The archer skillfully dodged and ran, pumping arrow after arrow into the monster's face.
The swordsman sprinted from leg to leg, cleaving through them as he ran; his broadsword over his shoulder. Several other hunters dashed in to attack the head, and backed off to avoid injury.
The sight made me forget about my objective. "Watch out!" one hunter called from atop the skull. It was too late. A stray swiped caught me across the back, knocking me into the horn.
Before I knew it, the horn creaked, and cracked off. I hit the ground heavily. The horn landed inches from my head, sticking into the ground. "The horn is off" I called the group up front. It took three hunters to lift the mighty spike, and carry it away.
I got up, and traversed the shell again; digging my feet into every nook and cranny I could find. After the longest five minutes of my life, I reached the head. I took a firm hold of the tow cable, and heaved backwards as hard as I could.
The Zizami shrieked and reared up; its legs flailing helplessly through the air. Seizing their chance, hunters with dual swords flung themselves at its stomach; shredding at the soft under shell with a fury of slashes, so fast, I had trouble keeping up.
After a solid minute of slashing and stabbing, and tired hunters back off. The Zizami slammed back to the ground, bucking me meters in the air, and into the ground. The sheer force of the landing knocked the very breath from me.
I looked around, my lungs desperate for air. My vision had been blurred from the hit. I doubled over, choking and gasping when I saw several hunters run towards the crab's outstretched left claw. "Get back" I gasped. "Stop. Please." My rasping words were to quiet to save them. With a mighty swing, the claw slammed to the ground, scattering the hunters.
They landed in a heap, some landed yards away from the attack. Even through my blurred, dizzy vision, I could see some were dead. Others lay there, moaning; injured, but still alive. I got up, and stumbled around a bit, my lungs slowly filling with air, and my vision returning to me.
"Get down!" a voice shouted. I threw myself to the ground, as another arrow whizzed threw the air, hitting its mark with a loud explosion. The force threw me back out of the way of a claw landing on my previous spot.
Several hunters rushed in, and attached tow cables to the Zizami's front. Through all of their combined efforts, the beast began to slide forwards. Its legs anchored to the ground, sending the hunters tumbling off balance.
They regained control, as a hunter with blade the size of two men rushed in, and attacked the crab's face with a series of powerful, deafening blows, wielding the blade with surprising speed.
"Back up!" I shouted to a group of approaching hunters. As they obeyed, a sickening pink tentacle shot forth from the Zizami's mouth, devouring their weapons from their very hands.
One more step, and they would have suffered the same fate. I got out of the way, as a hunter in bulky, iron armor approached. His bowgun folded up, he loaded shot after shot into a large chamber.
He flipped up the front of the gun, and the barrel clicked into place. He knelt, firing a swirling missile-like round at the monster's head. The sheer kick from the shot sent him sliding back several feet.
As the round hit, the explosion caused the crab to stumble back, hundreds of smaller bombs then rained forth from the original; buffeting the Zizami with crippling force.
A hunter in light battle armor rushed under the monster, and thrust a large pike in its stomach repeatedly. He ducked as a scuttling leg swung over him. He ran out just in time; the Zizami's huge body fell to the ground.
We cautiously made our way to the body, weapons drawn. As I walked closer, the pink tentacle shot out of the mouth again, grabbing my leg. The clicking teeth around it conformed to my armor.
I felt myself being dragged towards the monster's open mouth. Thousands of sharp teeth awaited me. The monster salivated as I was dragged helplessly closer to my demise.
I started swing my katana blindly, whirling, and whipping it through the air as hard as I could. One hit severed the tentacle, and it released my leg. When I swung, the chambers containing poison on the blade busted, spilling the thick, violet liquid all over the tentacle as it retreated back in the Zizami's mouth.
After a minute, the beast began scuttling around aimlessly, tipping over, and stumbling around. The poison was taking its toll. I ran under the monster, dodging the huge legs that were hitting the ground, some knocked me on my back.
When I reached the under shell, I jammed my sword into its stomach, and ran. I sprinted as fast as I could across the monster's width, my blade, still in the monster, slashed and tore at the soft shell as I ran, leaving a trail of mixed poison and blood.
I reached the other side of the monster, and pulled my blade out of its stomach, my now it had sunk to almost its full length. I dove out of the way of the swiping legs and claws. I had dropped my katana under its stomach. I sprinted back, grabbing my sword, and falling backwards in time for a tremendous pincer to pierce the ground front of me. I turned and ran, slashing at the legs and claws as I went. Deep violet fluids left contrails of where my blade had swung.
I stumbled and turned around as I hit the ground. The monster's legs swiped and hit whatever they could find to keep standing, but the poison had already reached the beast's heart.
With a dying shriek, the mighty Zizami fell to the ground lifeless. A victory cry echoed across the immediate area from the hunters. Zizami was dead. I started climbing all over the dead body, carving claws, shells, and whatever else I could find.
The sun was setting. I stood on top of the huge beast. I could see for miles at this height. I raised my sword, and yelled to the sky. Many hunters followed in unison.
That night all of the hunters returned to our camp on the desert cliff, and we ate, and shared stories of one another's adventures, showing off the parts that we had carved from the battle against the Zizami. This was a hunt I will never forget.
The End