The crash of a hammer resounded through the village in the low hours of the morning. The hammer repeatedly crashing against the heated metal, bending it into shape as the smith continued to work away.
With a sigh, the smith removed his face mask, reviling his golden blonde hair as hi tainted blue eyes stared at the piece of armour on the end of the tongs. Turning slightly, the blonde dumped the armour piece into the cooling water, steam exploding on impact as he held the armour still.
As it cooled, the blonde lifted it free form the bucket, staring at the azure blue scales that made up the armoured shoulder piece. With a sigh, Glenn moved towards the welding table, playing the still cooling shoulder piece down as he stared at the other aspects of his new armour.
It had been a week since the battle with Ceadous, the blonde having recovered a few days before as a message form the guild came to them. With the success of the hunt, both Sean and Glenn were promoted to HR 6 while Junko was promoted to HR 8.
With the news came new quest for them, one of them was currently being used to craft Glenn's new set of armour. Two days ago, the free of them had set out to hunt the lightning wolf, zinogre. The fight had been interesting to say the least, the wolf channelling lightning through it limbs, smacking Sean across the clearing in the forest.
But with the Lagiacrus scales absorbing the lightning, Sean was able to fight on even ground with the wolf, keeping it distracted as Junko shot at the lightning conducting spikes on its back. Since it was distract by both armoured hunters, and un-armoured Glenn had his chance to finish the fight, his thunder clap descending through the wolfs horned head as he leapt from the cliff overlooking the clearing.
Not his proudest moment when his blade killed the beast, its body toppling over and landing on him, trapping him between its spikes and the cold hard ground. But the monster was dead, its body intact so Glenn had more than enough materials to create the armour for himself.
And Junko was ecstatic that Glenn was going to wear the same armour as her.
Something that greatly confused the blonde. Oh well.
Coming back to the present, Glenn placed the tongs down on the table, grabbing the leather straps and bolts he would use to attach everything together. As he grabbed the main part of the blue scaled chest plate, Glenn cast a glance at the horned helmet he would wear, its sharp V like visor staring back at him as the two curved Zinogre horns jetted out form the top of its head.
It seemed he would still fight monster in the coming days, something that did surprise him as he started work on the chest plate. Outside the forge, Junko stood, her armoured hand just inches away from pushing the door open.
And yet she couldn't move forward.
The usually eccentric bipolar girl continued to stare at the door that lay between her and the boy she was crushing on. And she couldn't even go and talk to him, what kind of god was she if she couldn't talk to one little mortal.
A cute mortal her mind added in an afterthought.
As her frustration grew, Junko huffed, turning away from the door as she tried to drag the courage she usually had when fighting monster to go and talk to that stupid idiotic blonde. Only to find it not their as she glanced back at the door.
"This is so depressing" she mumbled leaning against the door frame. In the last week she had been avoiding the blonde unless they were on a quest, and it just made her more depressed that she couldn't talk to him.
And angered her that he wouldn't talk to her either.
"So, still can't talk to him huh" an amused voice spoke up as Junko yelped in surprise. She glared at the blue hunter standing before her, his arms crossed over his armoured chest as he titled his helmed head slightly.
"This doesn't concern you" Junko huffed as she glared at him. "Just talk to him already, it's driving me crazy watching you avoid him, and to be honest Glenn's going to take it the wrong way if you keep avoiding him" Sean explained as he turned away from her.
"But...what if he doesn't like me back" Junko whispered as she gripped the end of her armoured skirt. "Then you'll know it wouldn't work, or you could try and make him like you, either way you have to talk to him" Sean added as he walked away, going to look at the quest the guild had delivered this morning.
"Fine, it's not like Glenn couldn't like me, I'm a god!" Junko boasted as she turned to the door, her hand going to pull it open. Only for it to fly open on her own, someone stepping out of the forge, colliding with the confused pinkette.
As they hit the ground, Junko blinked in confusion as she felt something pressed against her lips. Her bright blue eyes opened to stared into tainted blue, both teens blinking as heated blushed grew across their cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit anyone, I'm sorry!" Glenn cried out as he leaped away form Junko, his eyes shut as he waited for the girl to punch him. Junko on the other had stayed on the ground, her mind racing as she realised Glenn had kissed her.
He may of did it by accident but she didn't care.
"Yo-you kissed me" Junko mumbled rising to her feet as Glenn cracked a wary eye open. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, it was an accident" Glenn said defensively. "You'll take reasonability for this right?" she questioned, making Glenn further confused as she hadn't hit him yet.
"Responsibility?" he questioned as Junko nodded to herself, her armours crossed under her armoured top. "You cause this so you will take responsibility for it" Junko explained proudly as she smiled at him.
"Ugh...okay" Glenn replied unsure of where this was going. "Good, I'll be waiting at dust tonight" Junko finished walking away with a victorious smile on her face.
Glenn on the other hand was utterly confused as to what had happened in the last few minutes. Letting his shoulders lump forward, Glenn grabbed his fallen helmet as he placed it over his head. "Sean will know what to do" he mumbled moving to find the black haired teen.
What the hell was he going to do for Junko at dusk anyway?
"A Diablo's was spotted outside the canyons, heading towards a Barroth nest...that doesn't sound good" Sean mumbled as he looked over the quest they were sent by the guild. "Both those monsters aren't affected by lightning, and the hardened scaled make the Katana's less likely to hurt them, and we'll need to stock up on explosives shots for Junko" Sean mumbled as he envisioned how the fight would turn out.
"If it was just a Diablo's we could kill it, but a Barroth would split our team...we need a fourth member" he mumbled, thinking about the empty spot on their hunter team. Before he could think more on the subject, A new figure walked up to him.
The Zinogre armoured hunter stopping just in front of the teen as Sean raised an eyebrow under his helmet. "Can I help you?" he asked, wondering if there was a new hunter added to protect the village.
"Yes I need your help Sean" the person said in a familiar voice. "Glenn, you finished the armour already?" Sean asked in disbelief, how long was the blonde working on that armour. "I spent the last three hours on it, just finished attaching all of the pieces together" Glenn replied as he glanced at the spiked gauntlets adoring his armours.
The plated blue scales running all over his body, high plates attached to a pair oof blue leathered short that were attached to his armoured boots. His chest plate finished with golden spikes from the Zinogre's lightning conductors, making vicious shoulder plates as well as a spiked spine going down the back of the armour.
"For your first armour you made yourself, it's really good" Sean commented as he placed the quest back on the board in front of him. "So what do you need?" he asked as the wolf armoured teen shifted nervously.
"I don't know what to do, Junko said I need to take responsibility for accidently kissing her, and she said she would be waiting at dust tonight, I don't know what to do" Glenn explained quickly, thanking the elder dragons that he was wearing his helmet to hide his blush.
Sean sat there for what seems like hour's staring at the nervously shifting blonde in front of him.
And then...he burst out laughing, falling off his chair as he rolled across the wooden planks, clutching his stomach as he roared in laughter. Glenn could only stare down at the more experienced hunter, his eyebrow twitching under his helmet as he wondered where his sword was.
He was going to murder the bastard for taking amusement out of his problem.
Minutes later, Sean climbed back into his chair, breathing heavily as he regained his control over his laughter. "I...I can't believe how dense you are" Sean mumbled through his giggles, Glenn glared at him, his armour sparking slightly in response to his anger.
"Just, just meet Junko tonight, don't wear armour, I'll set out some nice clothes, and have the cat ready a meal for both of you" Sean explained as he leaned back, thanking the elder dragons for Glenn being there.
He hadn't laughed that much in ages.
"So what do you think I should do?" Glenn asked as he sat on the edge of a cliff. A soft snort echoed behind him as the Zinogre armoured teen nodded. "I don't even know what Junko's doing, why would she want to meet me tonight, is she going to shot me, is that why I'm not allowed to wear armour?" Glenn questioned as he got another snort in reply.
"I know I don't understand her either, and I haven't really talked to her since we came back from killing Ceadous" Glenn mumbled as a small jet of flames scotched his gauntlet. "What do you know about girls cracked beak?" he asked, patting the scared Rathalos on the nose.
Cracked beak only looked at him oddly titling its head to the side as if asking if the blonde was as stupid as he thought. "No need to be a dick" Glenn grumbled as the Rathalos smacked the teen on the back of the head.
"What?" he asked as cracked beak gave him a deep panned look, well as best as it could anyway. "Okay I killed your mate, no need to keep making me feel guilty" Glenn grumbled as cracked beak nudged him lightly.
"I don't know how trying to mate with Junko would help me, she doesn't like me" Glenn replied as the Rathalos snorted in amusement. "What, what do you know?" he asked as the beats turned away, inwardly chuckling as Glenn tried to get a straight answer out of him.
Maybe helping this blonde was a good idea in the end, his human drama was fun to hear about at least.
Later that night, Glenn stood, dressed in a dark blue vest and matching trousers. Sean had set them out for him, telling him to wear them while Glenn wondered if he was going to his execution in such nice clothes.
Sean then pushed the blonde out towards the forest entrance, telling him to go to the cliff that over looked the ocean beside the village, and not to come back until he had satisfied Junko. Whatever that meant?
As he arrived at the cliff, Glenn paused when he noticed a table set out, a set of candles decorating the clothed table as the chef cat stood, smiling as he held out two cooked meals. The sound of foot steps behind him drew the blondes attention.
And took his breath away at the sight before him.
Junko stood, her normal confidence replaced with a nervous teenage girl as Glenn stared at her. His eyes trailing down the dark blue dress that matched her eyes, her pink hair done up in a single pony tail as a pain of bangs framed her pale face.
"Ho-how do I look?" she stuttered bringing the blonde back to reality as a blush crept across his face. "You-you look beautiful" he admitted nervously as Junko smiled, approaching the table. Glenn moved, pulling a chair out for her as Junko thanked him as she sat down.
Just at the tree line, Sean smiled as he leant against the tree, watching the two nervous teens dine in the moon light. Beside him, Cha-Cha stood with a violin, where the little guy got one he had no idea. "Let's set the mood" Sean said as Cha-Cha started to play a soft melody that carried softly in the wind.
Junko's ears perked up as she heard the song, Glenn glancing towards the trees as he tried to find the source of it. His eyes instead caught the sight of cracked beak peering over the trees, glaring at the blonde as he pointed one of his clawed wing towards the pinkette opposite him.
The blonde looked lost as cracked beak lowered his head in annoyance trying to figure out a way to tell the human to do something right for once. With a snort of annoyance, the Rathalos brought its hands together, pointing between the two of them before waving its head with the soft music.
Glenn only blinked as he turned to Junko, the girl humming to the melody playing around them as he glanced back at the dancing Rathalos. Having an idea pop in his head, Glenn slowly stood, gathering the pinkette's attention.
"Care to dance?" he asked bowing to the girl as Junko stared at him in surprise. A soft smile soon crossed her face as she expected his hand, rising to her feet as Glenn wrapped his arms around her waist.
As she encircled his neck, cracked beak sighed in relief as the blonde finally got what he was saying, glancing down to see the leviathan armoured teen brining a guitar into play as the Shakalaka picked up volume of his part.
Smiling to himself, the large dragon softly howled to the wind, its voice carrying over the music, others of its kind joining in as the two bright haired teens danced in their own little world.
"I didn't think you could put all this together, just for me" Junko spoke as she and Glenn swayed to the music around them. "I...ugh, I had help" Glenn replied as her caught the girls beautiful bright blue eyes.
"Its still sweet of you, we don't get many chances to relax in this job" Junko admitted as she rested her head on his chest, not seeing the blush deepening across the blonde cheeks as he held her. "Hay Junko" Glenn spoke softly as the girl hummed in acknowledgement.
"Wha-what did you say before we left to fight Ceadous" he asked nervously as the girl stiffened from his words. "I...I said I confessed to you" she mumbled into his chest, her face reddening as Glenn blushed harder.
"I...ugh...I" Glenn fumbled to find words that just wouldn't come to him. The soft laughter from Junko gathered his attention as he looked down to see her giggling into his chest. "You're so stupid some times" she mumbled looking up as bright blue met tainted blue.
"Huh?" he questioned as the girl smirked leaning forward as she closed the distance between them.
Sean smiled as he and Cha-Cha slowly retreated from the scene his eyes catching cracked beak watching over the two as he nodded to the red dragon. Those two could have their night together, their missions would pick up in the morning.
And the letter that the caravan-ers in the east sent the guild was worrying enough. Some new monster had emerged, and he would need to finish building his team before they set out to those lands.
Casting a glance towards the volcano, Sean knew where their quest would lead them in the end. He could only hope they were prepared to face the impossible again.
