Roxas' POV
"Hey! Remember when ya asked what my favorite part of my job was?" Ven asked me. We were in the training clearing messing around with some weird fishing gun.
"Yeah. What about it?"
"We're goin'mermaid huntin'. And my fave thing tends to be helpful with that. It's also how we're gettin' there."
"Huh." I looked at him, plain out confused.
"Might as well show ya." He pulled two slim boards out from behind a log. He handed one to me, "Give it a spin."
I took the board. How're we gettin' there on a snowboards? I strapped the board to my feet. He's nuts. It's a metal snowboard. It ain't any good for this time of year. I jumped when parts of the board lit up light blue. It didn't go back down.
Ven's face lit up. "Ya doubted me, didn't ya? Lean forward, and shift yo' weight to yo' back foot." I did as he said. I started going up. Ven joined me quickly. "Now balance the weight." The board leveled beneath me. "Lets get goin'." He went off to the east, I followed.
Our destination was the mouth of a large cave. A girl with green hair, freckles splashed across her cheekbones and hazel eyes was waiting for us. She was wearing the slayer cap tilted to the side, her hair in low pigtails, a white blouse, a business jacket, a loose tie, and faded jeans tucked into cowgirl boots.
Ven landed smoothly, I tried to do the same but ended up upside down. Both Ven and cowgirl boots started laughing. I undid the straps, landed on my back, and the caught the board.
"Hey Hazel, long time, no see. How's it been going?" So cowgirl boots' name's Hazel.
Hazel replied with a thick southern accent, Ven and I had a light accent, but hers was something else, "Y'all know, lassoin' cattle, beatin' up a monster here and there, tendin' the farm, and dealin' with 'em public school teacha's."
"Same here, except that I don't own cattle, and instead of public, it's boardin'. Anyway, this is my lil' bro, Roxas. Roxas, this is Hazel."
"Well nice meetin' ya Roxas! Me and Ven took a couple of missions together when we were ten."
"Right back at ya'." I said.
"So, this is yo' first mermaid hunt, right?"
"Yeah."
"Don't worry. It's just like fishin' for killin' octopi, or man-eating sharks. It's even kinda fun!"
"OK..." Didn't need that.
I noticed a coiled rope at her side and another that had a metal snakeskin look with blades at the ends on her other hip. And this girl grew up lassoin' cattle, possibly bulls too. Better not get on her bad side. Hazel took me out of my thoughts and started talking about mission details.
"The VHO is puttin' assassins and slayuhs on missions 'cause the empi'uh's havin' vamps and other freakies workin' and hidin' out togetha'. Since there are three slayuhs on this team we'll be havin' three assassins on the team wit' us. Now, don't ask me who they are, 'cause I don't know."
Ven handed me that fish gun thing. "When ya' shoot inta' the water wit' this, it doesn't slow down or go a different direction. Use it for the ones ya can't get outta the water."
"K." I leaned against the wall, "Shouldn't the assassins be here by now?"
Ven looked at his watch, "Yeah, ten minutes ago."
Hazel looked around at the forest surrounding us. "Is that them?" she said, pointing to a pickup truck coming towards us.
"I think so." The truck came to a stop. A man stepped out. He had really tan skin, blue eyes and brown hair. What he was wearing had a cowboy theme to it. His weapon(s): a rifle strapped to his back, two hand machine guns on either side of his belt, and was practically covered in ammo.
Then a man that looked of Japanese origin and had a biker theme stepped out, followed by ninja looking five year old that I assumed was his daughter. The biker had a katana while the kid had what looked like a weird, oversized shuriken.
The biker guy stepped forward, "You guys the slayers that we're working with?"
"Yeah."
"Good, I'm Jack, the cowboy over there is Roy, and the kid is my daughter Yuffie."
Roy looked us over, "Nobody told me that we was gonna be workin wit a bunch a teens." He didn't look pleased.
Ven seemed to ignore the comment, "I'm Ven. This is Hazel and my lil' brother Roxas." Jack smiled. "Can we get this mission started?" We all started into the cave.
"What's in this cave other than vampires?" Yuffie asked.
"Mermaids." I answered.
"I don't see any water." she replied, obviously wanting to see the fishy people. "What's that metal thing you're carrying?"
"It's a hoverboard."
"Why do you have a hoverboard?"
"While y'all are goin' after vampires, Ven, Hazel, and I are gonna be over the water."
"Oh." the cave opened up into a large cavern. Large, deep pools of water were scattered throughout. "I found the water." I smiled. Ven started attaching the hoverboard to his feet and me and Hazel did the same.
"Lets get started." Ven said as he flew to the nearest pool. Keyblade in one hand, free hand skimming the surface. He suddenly went up, mermaid shooting out of the water after him. He went upside down, sliced her in two, and was upright again.
The assassins went off in search of vamps. Ven came back to us. "Hazel, the best way to attract mermaids is human blood right? You go on these types of missions a lot more than me."
"Yeah, just drop a little bit on the water, and they'll be attracted to it like ants to a rottin' carcass." Ant thing very true, but very gross. I felt something slimy wrap around my ankle.
I screamed. My ankle was pulled into the water, and dragged me in further and further. Why didn't I finish strapping in? I started kicking. Hazel and Ven grabbed onto me and were trying to pull me away. I gasped. Blood started flowing into the water. I started to be pulled in both directions even harder. It was getting harder to breath since Hazel's arms tightened around my chest. Ven let go with one hand and grabbed his gun. He took careful aim and fired. The hand let go and I heard an earsplitting shriek sounded. I shot out of the water. Hazel and Ven checked my ankle while I caught my breath.
They finished and helped me up. Ven told me the report on it, "Ya cut it on the mermaids teeth. They have this acid in their saliva that eats skin and tissue when in a wound. I put some stuff on it that freezes the acid and kills the pain in the wound, but it only works for a couple hours. So we're gonna have ta finish up quick. Other than that it's pretty minor." He handed me a knife, "When yo' over the water, cut a gash in yo' arm and let a couple drops into the water, stay up high, and shoot. Do that over each pool."
I nodded and strapped myself in tightly. We all went to separate pools. I winced as the knife cut through my skin. Too far. The knife went up to the middle of my palm before I pulled it out. I watched as some drops fell to the water. I quickly put the knife away and pulled out the gun. The water underneath me was crazy with mermaids. I started shooting.
"Well that works quick." I said as I flew to the next pool. Something grabbed my board. The thing caused me to flip. The knife fell out of my pocket and created a gash starting from the inside of my forearm and ending at the back of my hand. "Shit!" Then I saw what pulled me down, "Oh fuck no."
He was scratching my arms like crazy, letting the blood drip into his mouth. I was about to summon my keyblades, but Roy's bullets were faster. "So it's not just the fact yo' covered in yo' own blood, ya also have a seal on ya. Crazy." He went back to the vampires, and me, Hazel, and Ven went through pools.
When we finished, we found that mermaids weren't the only water freakies in here. "What is that thing?" Ven yelled. It was heading towards the assassins, who were too busy with the vampires. The thing saw us and shot out lightning, busting my board's circuits. I fell to the ground with a thud. This thing shoots lightning? Then pain shot up through my leg. My hours are up. Just great. I'm covered in my own blood and still bleeding, acid is kicking in in my ankle, and this thing shoots lightning. I bit back the pain, summoned my keyblades, and rushed it. The blades went through the head and its middle. I looked back at it, only to see it regenerate. "What the fu-"
Ven and Hazel slashed the arms off, only to see them grow back. "The thing's made outta seaweed!" I tried to rush it again, but it knocked me away with its arm, creating a gash on my forehead.
The assassins chased a pureblood out into the sunlight. "Listen, we gotta get outta here! We don't have a chance." Hazel shouted when it got a good swipe at her face. Ven pulled me onto his board. We all rushed out into the sunlight. The thing didn't follow.
Hazel grabbed her lasso, caught the pureblood's neck in it, flew over a high branch and back down. When she was in Roy's reach he grabbed the rope and lay her against the tree. Jack started undoing the straps while Roy tied the rope around a tree.
Ven was already out of his straps. Yuffie had her head buried into my shirt, despite it being wet with blood. My hand rested on her back, trying to calm her down and stay awake.
Namine's POV
I was hiding under Roxas' bed, waiting for him to get back. His tenth mission, and I wanted to surprise him. The door clicked. I smiled when I saw it was him, but it quickly went away when I noticed the bandages on both his arms and his head, and that he was limping.
He opened the fridge and grabbed a sandwich, then climbed into his bed. I crawled out from under his bed. He kind of jumped when he saw me. "Roxy, what happened?"
Acacia: Sorry I took so long. I was shut off from the internet. Anyway, we will be seeing more of Hazel. Reviews please! :)