As I discovered later, there was a reason that there were creatures that I had never heard of. Ivalice B wasn't an exact copy, obviously, and such an anomaly as this dimension caused extreme alterations in biological terms.
Beasts that could walk in lava as if it was puddles of rainwater. Others that swam in the sand even more lithely and magnificently then the Sand-Sharks of the Urutan-Yensa Sandsea. Even gigantic and terrifying beasts that would put Yiazmat himself to shame in terms of size and power.
But more importantly, it was this first hunt that led to my new beginning here.
"Abraham!" I heard Fang call from the other side of the street.
She had a red-colored two-pronged spear strapped to her back, an instant answer the observation I had made of her clothes yesterday.
"Our client gave me the location of the mark exactly, and warned us that there was another group of hunters already after it. So, he's making it a contest. Whoever can bring back proof of the beast's death will receive the reward" She explained, and tossed an odd-looking contraption towards Vanille.
It was whitish colored, and it took me a moment to even conceive a possibility of what this thing could be.
Vanille waved it in an exaggerated fashion, and it "unsheathed". It was two antlers attached to the handle with a strong rope-like cord. Obviously it was meant to be used as a special kind of whip.
"Ready then? Let's go." I began leading my fellow hunters out of the city limits.
The Westersands were more-or-less the same as I remembered them. Of course, it was hard to truly map them; the storms often changed the landscape radically.
As the march went on, it was Fang mostly who was leading us. She was the only one who knew the mark's location, so I was demoted to the second in line position. Hopefully this beast wasn't too difficult.
"So, tell me about the Khezu. I've never heard of or seen one before." I broke the silence that had dominated the scalding trip.
"It's a pretty powerful, mid-sized Wyvern. It has grey skin that is generally electric-resistant and described as being flabby. Despite its lack of sight, it has a keen sense of smell, and therefore uses it to hunt. It can generate an electric field around its body, or can fire a sphere of pure lightning across the ground. It is also pretty stealthy, too." Fang gave me a general description of the beast, something which interested me greatly.
Apparently, it mostly lived in damp caves, cold environments, swamps, and occasionally the jungles of Rozzaria.
"…Lightning element…generally slow to anger…seems like a dangerous but predictable creature." I noted, and Fang nodded in assent.
"Yeah, it's remarkable for being pretty stupid sometimes, but it can be very cunning and sneaky when it comes to ambushes. Some can even climb on cave ceilings and hang upside down." She added.
"Look!" Vanille interrupted the conversation, and pointed to something over the ridge she was standing on.
I looked myself, and was momentarily awed.
A huge cave entrance stretch out in a small canyon before us. Stalagmites and stalactites towered over us like the fangs of a monster.
I also noticed the large camp spread out in front of it.
It appeared to be the temporary homes of several people, but only one person seemed to be present.
Fang gave me a small spyglass, and I used it to study the camp.
"It appears our competitors for the reward have beaten us here. I know weapon crates and cases when I see them." I sighed.
The only resident was a Hume. She had short, bright-blonde hair, and wore armor that I knew to be for surveillance and reconnaissance operatives.
What also briefly worried me was the scoped rifle she had on her shoulder.
"We'll have to move fast. I don't know if they play dirty, but I won't risk it. Hopefully she'll be reasonable enough to surrender and let us through." I shared my plan, and both Fang and Vanille agreed to it.
I slipped between the dunes and trees sparsely placed throughout the canyon, avoiding any possible detection as Fang and Vanille followed carefully.
Within minutes we had reached their camp without detection.
It was hesitantly that I showed myself to the Hume with my hands up.
"W-Whaaa!? How did you get this far?!" She stuttered, shifting her gun and pointing it directly at me.
"Listen…I've got a couple of friends behind me that are perfectly ready to kill you the minute I drop. If you let us into the cave without any problems, everybody can walk away with our lives none for the worse." I told her slowly and carefully, but she instantly panicked the moment I revealed that I had reinforcements.
Our only obstacle into the cave dropped her gun and fled into the caverns.
"Shit." I swore, and took off after her. I didn't know much about Khezus, but I knew if there was a monster still in here someone without a weapon would be an easy meal.
If only I had known, I would've hoped it would be a fate that kind.
I caught up to her in a large chamber that ended at a small underground pond full of fresh water.
"Please…! Don't hurt me!" She was still panicking, and nothing I said would calm her. My desperation to calm her hindered me from noticing the head silently descending to our level.
It was simply a grey piece of flesh that could extend to amazing lengths. It had no eyes, and only possessed a red mouth with several razor-like teeth, perfect for catching something and swallowing it whole, without even chewing it.
I realized it too late, and was unable to even warn her. Instead of closing around her head it caught her by the leg and ascended, carrying its screaming prey with it. I sent several blasts of fire magick towards the black ceiling, but nothing was there. It had already made its exit deeper into the caves. Her screams of pain were still echoing through the cavern.
Fang and Vanille finally caught up to me, both of them breathing hard.
"She got taken by it. We'd better find it while we can still hear her screams, or we'll get picked off in the darkness." I explained, and sprinted off towards the only tunnel entrance available, my two companions close behind.
After several minutes of running, we were rewarded with an intersection. Two pathways beckoned to us, and neither gave a hint of being the one we needed to traverse. Her screams were closer, but we couldn't pinpoint it.
"Damn. We'll take right for about ten minutes, and if we don't get anything we'll come back and hit the left." I spoke quickly, and took off down the right tunnel. Fang and Vanille were close behind, and they were capable of matching my speed for the time being.
"Well, then. I think we've got something." Fang commented as we reached the end. In front of us, a sizable expanse of cavern was the nest of our mark. The kidnapped woman was lying on the ground, still moaning in pain. The Khezu, on the other hand, was examining her slowly. The sound of it utilizing its powerful sense of smell echoed through the cavern, and somehow I had the feeling it wasn't going to eat her. But the feeling that told me that she was in mortal danger was just as strong.
I prepared to attack, but Fang stopped me.
"Look." She quietly explained and pointed.
The wyvern evidently had made some sort of decision, and carefully grasped the folds of her pants. And then it began to pull. Not too harshly, but just enough to remove them.
She was too exhausted to do anything but struggle feebly as her lower undergarments were revealed.
"What are we waiting for—oh shit." I realized just in time. I had noticed similar behavior in other marks I'd hunted before.
Some wyverns and monsters didn't breed the conventional way; they instead had parasitic larva that they usually implanted inside a host.
Most chose larger beasts, due to their relative ignorance of smaller monsters.
But occasionally, a Hume or other sentient being had the misfortune of being the bearer of its children. As a result, human hosts died quickly.
She tried to crawl away, but it was far too late for that.
It settled down awkwardly, pressing against her face-down body forcefully but carefully. A sudden jerk that both sent a twitch throughout both their bodies signaled the beginning of her doom. Evidently its victim found new energy, as she began screaming at an even louder octave of pain and agony.
Fang slowly and quietly prepared her spear, the two folded prongs sliding into a lethally sharp position. Before I could question her, she slipped off into the darkness. Vanille shrugged at me when I gave her a quizzical glance.
"Goddamn it." I swore and drew my swords, preparing to attack.
Just as it finished raping her, a crimson streak flashed across the cave. Fang's spear imbedded itself in the Khezu's side, causing it to scream in pain and rage.
The Pulsian herself sped across the cavern, and Fang retrieved her spear with a sickening twist that splattered the floor and her with light blue goopy blood.
I took it as a signal to make my violent entrance along with Vanille.
"Umbral Slash!" My swords began glowing with dark energy as I sent a purple-hued blast towards it. The resulting explosion cost the beast its balance, which sent several hundred pounds of wyvern flying across the ground.
"Jump!" Fang leapt into the air with an impossible jump, slamming her weapon with immense force into its vulnerable body.
However, with a shudder the Khezu's entire body arced with electricity just before her attack landed. Her spear was thrown to the side, and Fang was slammed into a wall.
"Vanille! Keep it busy!" I ordered her as I urgently rushed to her side.
"Fire!" I heard Vanille launch several spells towards the beast, and the resulting screams of rage attested to her accuracy and general effectiveness in magickal power. I reached her without any resistance and checked her pulse. Alive, thank whatever gods there may be.
"…Ugh…I…took a…pretty big hit…didn't I…?" Fang chuckled, and clutched her stomach in pain. Blood was pouring from an open wound just below her breasts, and she was covered in scratches and burns (though it appeared her clothes had more-or-less protected her).
"Stay down. We'll take care of it." I ordered her, and she nodded with another cough. Another scream and explosion alerted me to the fact that Vanille was definitely in need of assistance.
"Triple Slash" I prepared my attack as I sped towards the monster, but I was taken off guard. A sphere of pure lightning formed at its mouth and it fired them like a gun. The sphere split into three smaller ones that slammed into me like a cannonball. I slammed into the ground, forming a small crater as the Khezu approached me. With a leisurely movement it stepped on me with a powerful foot and held me down, preventing me from even being able to move.
Vanille's attacks were the least of the monster's concerns, and it opened its fang-lined mouth in anticipation.
"C'mon, you ugly bastard. Do it already." I taunted impatiently, and it began to close its jaws around my head.
However, the sickly thud of something moving at several thousand miles per hour hitting flesh gave me pause.
The Khezu had frozen in place, albeit briefly. A nice helping of goopy lifeblood poured out on me.
It staggered back (letting go of me in the process) and let out a pained scream. Someone had put a bullet directly in the side of its head.
Taking advantage of the situation, I grasped my swords hastily.
"Execution." I whispered simply as I seemingly phased from in front of it to behind it. My goop-covered blades attested to what happened next.
It fell apart, having been bisected by my final attack. Wyvern guts spilled out upon the rocky surface, and the goopy blood of the Khezu flooded the area around the two pieces. The smell of wyvern blood choked the air.
I cleaned my blades off on the corpse and wiped my face as Vanille approached, helping a wounded Fang along.
But what had my utmost attention were the two figures approached from the other side of the cavern. Both were definitely women.
The first had short but extremely bright dark red hair, if that was possible. She wore dark grey cargo pants like the original woman from earlier, but wore older boots, a brown weathered bomber jacket with a white shirt underneath that seemed to show a flag design of some kind. She also wore fingerless gloves, a pocket on the side appeared to be filled with small grenades, and the bomber jacket had an advanced armband covered with electronic buttons and a screen on her right arm.
The other wore a darker outfit, and was definitely less outlandish. She had short black hair that was neatly combed to the sides, an advanced gas mask that covered the lower part of her face (a notable feature of which was two glowing bright blue bulb-like inhalers on each side), a simple dark blue zippered jacket that had grey lines pointing vertically every inch or so, gloves, a pair of dark blue cargo pants that seemed to be filled with medical equipment of some sort, and simple black combat boots.
The first woman had a scoped rifle on her shoulder, one much more advanced than the one the unfortunate victim had on her, and the other carried a small pistol along with a large grey metal case.
"Who the fuck are these wankers?" The flamboyant one demanded, hefting the rifle threateningly.
"I could ask you the same." I replied evenly.
"Don't recognize any of them, but they're definitely skilled hunters." The other studied us thoughtfully.
"My name is Abraham, the wounded one is Fang, and the younger woman is Vanille." I introduced myself after a long pause in which the first woman glared at me. Finally the second motioned for her to get out of the way.
"Damn it, Sienna." The first swore as the second examined the victim. During the fight the Khezu larva, or whelps as I later learned, had already eaten their way out and escaped. Her stomach was torn open, and she was covered in mud and dirt from the filth of the cave. As I offered the first woman my coat to cover her naked body (she still wore her torso armor, but it didn't make sense to call her half-naked) out of respect and modesty. It was grudgingly that my offer was accepted.
"My name's Christine, but people call me Four Eyes. That's Marissa, but everyone calls her Tweed." Christine stood after a long silence of respect towards their fallen friend.
"Her name was Sienna Fowler, but everyone called her Party Girl. Long story of how she got the nickname, but we'd fought and travelled with her for almost ten years." Tweed whispered darkly, and stood to face me.
"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to drive her in here. Trust me when I say that I went in after her the moment she panicked." I apologized as honestly as I could.
Without a word, Tweed simply picked up the body gently and carried it towards the exit. I retrieved the Khezu's heart as the proof of the beast's demise.
None of us spoke a word as Christine and Tweed dug a grave for Sienna.
As Christine finished the last of the grave, Marissa removed the last of her armor and buried their fallen comrade.
We simply stood there, unable to really do or say anything about it.
I whispered my own words of prayer towards her grave, honoring her grave.
It was then I vowed never to forget her.
Thank you for reading my latest update. As a reminder, OC bios will be open for submission when the next update has been submitted.
Remember to PM me any bios, as per rules.
Anyway, I'd like to take a moment to remember September 11, 2001.
Although the victims of this terrible tragedy may never recover, we must remember to live on for those people who will never be given the chance to do more in life.
Thank you.