It had been two days since Aran and Trent had returned from their hunt, and not in the best of conditions. Since then, Both Aurora and Arnold had volunteered to assist them on their next go. Arnold's weapon of choice was the hammer, and for this specific case, he was using a Pykrete punisher, an extremely powerful Ice hammer, which would in no doubt be very useful against their foe. And Arnold was a veteran Hunter, so he was already well prepared. Then there was Aurora, Arnold had visited the day before an dropped off some armor that was on loan from the guild. A set of Ivory Lagiacrus armor, Nobody knew how Arnold had chosen the right size, but it fit like a glove. yet at her own insistence, she didn't wear the helm. Arnold had the armor socketed with the proper decorations that the armor skills were still in effect. She also refused to exchange her weapon for a more orthodox one, she stuck with her three foot long silver blade, it looked so new that it could have been hung above a fireplace somewhere. Yet it had a deadly feeling when they got near it. So they didn't question it.
They had just left the house and went into town for the last hour before the hunt. Arnold had decided to Take Aurora for a tour around town, being her first time actually leaving the house since she recovered. Aran and trent decided to head into town to grab a bite before they left.
"Ahoy Trent! Going to give your hunt another go today eh?"
The guild girl, in her standard purple sailor uniform was standing behind the counter waving at the duo.
"let me guess, dragon head for Trent, and Heaven bread for Aran, both with Milk on the side?"
"gee how'd you guess? it's almost as if we always eat here." Trent replied sarcastically, resulting in a giggle from the Tender. "maybe!"
As soon as Trent looked away, the Tender Glared at Aran and whispered. "not a single fucking word, you hear me!"
All Aran could do was try not to laugh at the tiny tender in her uniform, so he gave her a quick thumbs up and went back to join Trent at their spot. After a few minutes, the tender came back with two trays of food. after setting them down she bowed curtly and muttered "come back the winners this time."
"Oh we will, we have help this time. Arnold and Aurora will be joining us." Trent spoke up between bites.
"Ooh Arnold! You guys will be unbeatable! And... Wait... Who's Aurora?"
"Ah my friend! I knew I would find you here." Arnold took the seat next to Trent laughing.
"Oh hey Arnold! I heard your going to help Trent and Aran on their quest!"
"Ah... Not exactly, I come here to play supervising role for Aurora!" Arnold pointed behind him to where Aurora was conversing with an elder hunter.
"well Ain't you a *hic* pretty face... cmere a sec..." Aurora took a step back as the drunk man fell out of his seat.
"Leave him, he got what he deserved, Old Prick..."
"Olivia, watch your language around special guest. Aurora, meet Olivia, the Guilds tender."
"Oh It's so nice to meet you! I haven't seen a huntress in such a long time!"
Olivia shook her hand vigorously with both of hers, nearly tearing Auroras arm off.
"Nice to meet you too... Please let go."
Olivia let go of her hand. "Is that your weapon? it's awfully small for a longsword... oh, is it a sword and shield? no... you don't have a shield?"
Olivia practically dragged Aurora off with her as She talked at her,"Help me..." Aurora whispered.
"Hey Olivia, we're set too leave soon, Why don't you get her a meal before we set off." Aran nodded to Aurora.
Olivia got Aurora a meal, the same thing as Aran, After quickly eating The cart arrived. After Lifting Aurora up into it, The rest of the group climbed in, and the cart departed for the desert ruins.
"Alright. The Diablos was just outside the ruins last time, that would be a good place to check first."
"The ruins? odd place for Diablos to nest, no?"
"actually it makes sense, They tunnel around a lot, so the loose sand by the ruins would make it a lot easier."
"you Really do have experience with monster's don't you?"
"Did you expect otherwise Trent?"
"Kinda."
The group stuck together as they made their way deeper into the heart of the desert, after Aran gave Aurora a quick lesson about how cool drinks worked, and her complaining about how the cold hurt her teeth for a short period. They arrived in front of the ruins.
"Well, it's not here. The oasis would be the next best bet, It's just to the east" Trent Pointed the way.
"Hang on... Something doesn't seem right..." Aurora glanced side to side
Arnold stood in the entryway to the ruins "She's right, There is blood on Pillars, not human."
"That's the Diablos's blood alright. we clipped her wings pretty badly."
Aurora backed up quickly "That's not what's bothering me. it's this..." On the side of the pillar there was a large chunk missing, and running down the pillar was a weird liquid sizzling as it dripped down. "deviljho saliva..."
"And what exactly does that mean Monster Detective?"
"shut up Trent, and I'm guessing that after you guys botched your quest, a deviljho migrated here, and being the ugly gluttons they are, It took advantage of the Diablos wounds and attacked it. After a battle that didn't last very long, the Diablos fled into the ruins, escaping the deviljhos last bite by a pillars worth."
"I could not have said any better myself. except for one thing." Arnold stepped forward."However you forget one thing young girl."
""and what's that Arnold?"
"that the Deviljho is attracted to anything that is bleeding." He reached out and rubbed Auroras neck, showing that her cut had reopened slightly "and that the same Deviljho that attacked Our prey, now thinks of you as it's prey."
Sure enough, a deafening roar could be heard from the path behind them, and a surprisingly small Deviljho caught glimpse of them. Aurora acted before anyone else could, she brought out her blade and bashed the chomped out Pillar with the hilt of her blade. breaking the pillar, and In turn caused the arch it was holding up to crumble in the entrance, blocking off the monsters entrance, however, It also blocked Aurora outside with it.
"Stupid Girl! What have you done!" Arnold Freaked out as he pulled Trent and Aran into the ruins "You are going to get yourself Killed"
"I don't see what other choice we have, If It's after a small piece of prey, It'll give chase. And If I run into the ruins, He'll follow us there."
"She's right, Arnold, We can't fight both a Black Diablos and a Deviljho in a confined space." Trent pulled Arnold Back into the ruins
"I'll drive him off, hurry up and find the Diablos!" Aurora ran diagonally towards the Deviljho keeping her distance. Aran Nodded and ran into the ruins after Trent and Arnold. Running down the stairs He caught up with them.
"Do you think she'll be alright?"
"Arnold Thinks That she will be just fine! But for now we must do our part and Kill Our prey before she becomes Prey herself!"
After running around for a few minutes, they reached the bottom of what seemed to be a labyrinth of staircases, they found a Diablos, It's scales so dark it could barely be seen in the darkness of the ruins, It was laying on the ground, Judging by the way it was laying, it's wing had been injured beyond use, and It's horn was broken, and most importantly, It was asleep.
"shh..." Aran whispered as he circled the beast. "I'll cut his tail"
"Arnold Smashes You!" Arnold Charged at the Black Diablos and brought his Hammer down on Her other horn Smashing it into Pieces that clattered on the old stone floor
"That works too, Attack!" Trent Leapt in from the side and swung his switch-axe down at the monsters neck, Getting flung back as The monster rose to it's feet. Roaring so loudly that bit's of the ruins vibrated above it.
"Ugh..." Aran circled the beast looking for one of the cracks in it's scales that the deviljho may have caused. He found one right underneath her wing, With a single thrust he forced it through He could hear it touch bone as It stopped. For some reason, he found the sound disturbing. Yet he thrust another four times until it wouldn't go any further.
"Even after a deviljho attack, It's still putting up a lot of fight..." Aran, circled around and caught the whetstone that trent passed him, Hiding behind a pillar nearby, He sharpened the point of his lance to it's full potential. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arnold swing his hammer with so much force that He could hear His Hammer creak on impact. It was good to have him here with them, Otherwise they still would have had difficulties with the Diablos... He stood out from behind the pillar Just in time to feel the entire ruin shake for a short period of time.
"W-What the hell!" trent had fallen from his stance behind the wyverns leg. and by the looks of it, the Wyvern was just as confused as he was.
Aurora was having a hard time keeping up with the Deviljho, despite it's smaller size than most Deviljho, it was just as strong. She rolled under the Beasts maw and swung at it's belly for a few quick hits, but from the looks of it She wasn't hurting it all too much. As she ran out from under the beast It swung it's tail out at her and swept her off her feet before jumping onto her and pinning her down with it's oddly shaped foot.
"Gyagh! Gross!" Aurora squealed as The deviljho drooled on her. It bent down to bite at her armor but was stopped with a wide swing of Auroras sword, leaving a significant scratch along it's face, finally some sort of indication that she was hurting the beast! With another swing to the leg the beast got of off her. Rolling backwards and back onto her feet Aurora rested her hand onto her neck, the cut was bleeding a bit worse, and that was only encouraging the Monster in front of her.
"Agh! Ow!" She quickly ripped off the Ivory Lagiacrus chest plate that she was wearing, It had been soaked through with drool, and the corrosive substance had started to burn her skin.
"Now you've pissed me off!" Aurora grabbed her Lagaicruz Arms and tossed them off to the side before taking off her pendent and placing it on the back of her hand, where a strange mark that she kept hidden began to glow.
"Sorry Mother... But I can't hold back anymore!" Her vision began to swirl between colors as she picked up her blade again, Tis time, instead of shining it's normal silver, cackled with an electric current, Yet the blade didn't shock her, It simply flowed through her, as could be seen by the small arcs of electricity flowing between locks of her hair, before fizzling out at the ends beneath her shoulders. She swung her blade at the monster from a distance. Sending an arc of lightning at the beast, upon collision the Lightning flashed and a massive crack of thunder filled her ears, causing some of the pillars behind her to shake.
"You won't leave alive..."
Once the tremor stopped, All four beings in the room regained their balance.
"Something must have happened outside!" Aran shouted.
Then there was a loud crack heard above them, the ceiling had given way, and a large chunk of stone was falling right towards them.
"Look out!" No point in warning the others though, They were already well aware of the imminent doom that could befall them. Aran pulled Trent behind a pillar with him as the ground shook from the Collision of the stone and the ground. looking out from behind the pillar, Aran saw that Arnold had the same thought he had, getting behind a pillar across from his own, And from the looks of it, The stone had not only fallen on the Black Diablos, But It had finished her off, There was no movement in the pile of stone, and upon closer inspection, it was in fact, dead to the world.
"Well that works, But I eel like we didn't really do much of the work, between a Deviljho attack and the roof caving in. This victory seems hollow..." Aran said lamentably.
"Aran come on! we still have the Deviljho to chase off. We finished our prey, now we have to rescue Aurora from being Prey!" Trent yelled as He and Arnold ran up the stairs from which they had came. The route ws remembered if only through Muscle, and the Sounds of Battle could be heard through the wall, and was that... Thunder? It sounded Like a thunderstorm had rollen in during the short time they were in the ruins, shoving the few scales they were able to recover from the Diablos in their pockets. They ran up the last set of stairs into the open. To their Greatest surprise, not only was there No Thunderstorm, There wasn't a single cloud to be seen, and standing in front of Them was A deviljho that was too wounded to stand. barely holding onto life. and standing In front of that. Was Aurora, but something seemed Unusual, She had her weapon drawn, and it felt so electrically charged that if they took another step it culd have shocked them, and her hair, while still blonde, Was literally moving with the electric charges.
"Aurora!" They Shouted, but she didn't turn or acknowledge them at all. She just walked up to the Deviljho that was infront of her and spoke.
"No Mercy..." Her voice carried with a creepy echo. And She didn't seem like herself. She Lifted her sword into the air and threw it straight up. "No Mercy!"
The Blade spun in the Air for a few moments before a flash of Lightning Blinded the three of them. They couldn't see a thing, The only sense they still had was hearing, and all they could hear was the sound of ripping flesh, and It was stomach churning, Once the light Faded, Aurora was leaning against the cliff side, Breathing heavily, Her blade sharp end first in the sand, The deviljho was beside her, and It's head had been seperated clean from It's body, and It layed several feet to the other Side of Aurora.
"Did... Did I overdo it?" She asked with a weak smile.