Chapter 3 - Unsichtbar:

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know the last chapter was short… it was more of an in between chapter anyways. Just something put out while I was busy. But it's Spring Break now, so I can put out a real chapter! There's not much to go over from the last chapter, so let's jump right in! Please, enjoy!

XXX

Unsichtbar: Invisible

The trek into the Jurassic Frontier was short. Bherna was on a hillside overlooking the frontier, which made it a prime target for monster attacks. Or at least, it used to, until Bherna's defenses were erected. Namely, an abandoned basecamp not far from the gate leading to Bherna. Which Zim and his companions were just passing through.

The Jurassic Frontier had two basecamps, both of which were abandoned. One was a site within the frontier itself that had been erected when the first researchers were trying to study the local wildlife. It had been destroyed by a Glavenus not long after it had first been founded. The second basecamp was just outside of the frontier and had finished construction only a few days before Zim and his comrades had attacked Dundorma, driving the Hunters Guild away. It too was abandoned, but not destroyed.

Blast bounded into the frontier, taking the lead away from Zim. The black Palico led the others towards the Larinoths he had found on his patrol. "They're mewover here!" he exclaimed, skidding to a stop only a few moments later. Sure enough, several sauropod dinosaur-like bodies were lying dead in a small pool of shallow water. A river ran through the area, and the corpses were partially submerged in the deeper end of the stream.

"Those are definitely slaughtered Larinoths… what's so special about them?" Shiro asked, glaring at Blast. Clearly, she wasn't happy about being rushed out of the village for a possible false alarm.

"I don't think they were killed by monsters, nya," Blast explained as he padded over to the closest Larinoth. "Look at these slash marks! Too clean for a monster's claws or teeth."

"What about a Glavenus? It could make cuts that clean with its tail," Ruby spoke up. Zim ignored all three of them, however, as he approached the closest monster corpse and knelt down next to it.

"This wasn't done by a Glavenus," Zim muttered, extending his hand to trace one of the lacerations. "A Glavenus would've gone straight for the kill, lopping off their heads as quickly as possible."

"Then a Nargacuga maybe? Come on, there are dozens of different monster species! It's just a coincidence that these look like…"

"No… a Nargacuga wouldn't have done this either. These kills were made earlier this morning… a Narga only hunts at night. And besides, there are no teeth marks, there's no way a monster did this," Zim growled. "Look at the direction of the slashes… they're all cutting upwards. A Glavenus, a Narga, hell, even a Zinogre all would've slashed downwards. There's only one species who would attack upwards like this…"

"A human did this," Shiro finished with a sigh. "Or more likely, a group of them. Either this is just someone who hasn't gotten the memo, or this is a group of hunters looking to score."

"My guess is the latter. A lone human wouldn't have gone out of his way to hide his presence like this. Only a group of hunters would be this careful," Zim suggested.

"Why would the Hunter's Guild risk killing anything this close to Bherna?" Ruby asked, glancing out into the frontier. "Surely there's prey further out they could've hunted."

"Could be a trap," Shiro shrugged. "Could be just that they wrongly believed we'd immediately believe they weren't stupid enough to try something like this."

"Either way, it's undeniable proof that the Hunter's Guild is at the very least operating in the Jurassic Frontier," Zim growled. "And if it is a trap… they're still here."

"So what's our next move?" Ruby asked, looking over at Zim.

A devilish smirk spread across the young hybrid's face as he let the apex state loose, black mist rising up around his form as he did. "We spring the trap," he grinned.

XXX

The trail was quite difficult to pick up, actually. The hunters were likely wearing armor made from monsters, making it very difficult for Zim to pick up their scents, even in his apex state. It was only by chance that they stumbled upon a discarded whetstone in what Shiro had revealed the guild was going to call area eight. If they hadn't found it, they never would've been able to find the trap in area six.

Or at least, what they thought was a trap. In reality, Zim wasn't sure what to call it, other than stupid. Four hunters, and they were very clearly hunters, judging by their armor and weapons, were in the process of fighting a Rathian. They looked rather focused on the fight, and not on the four figures watching them from the shadows. If this was a trap, it was a very poor one.

"They don't seem to be paying attention to us…" Shiro deadpanned. "Some trap this is…"

"Trap or not, we cannot let them kill that Rathian," Zim growled, cracking his neck as he stepped from the shadows. "We'll catch them off-guard, and hopefully that Rathian will give us a hand…"

"She'll probably fly away the moment she can," Ruby rolled her eyes as she pulled her bow off her back and nocked an arrow. Blast readied his katana, though it was barely large enough to be a wakizashi to a full-sized human. Shiro pulled her longsword off her back and readied it.

"Let's go," Zim hissed as he crouched down a bit, and began creeping towards the hunters. His companions followed behind him, being as stealthy as they could, though Shiro's armor clanked and clunked with each step. The large grasslands of area six was very poorly covered, but the hunters were far too busy with the Rathian to notice.

Finally, Zim and his comrades got close enough to the group of hunters to launch their surprise attack. The hybrid leapt from the tall grass and raced towards the closest hunter, letting out a frightening roar as he did. "Rajang!" one of the hunters cried out, immediately dropping to the ground, expecting to be blasted with an energy beam.

There were four hunters in total, all male. The hunter who had just cried out and dropped to the ground was wielding a bowgun. His light armor and prone stance made him easy prey for Ruby's bow, who quickly picked him off with an accurate shot directly into his neck. He let out a gurgled cry, convulsing on the ground, but he did not get up.

The two furthest hunters away from Zim's position were both using longswords and were wearing matching armor. Siblings, most likely. Shiro raced towards the two of them, her Seregios longsword drawn and ready. Blast followed behind her, drawing a horn from his pouch, and holding it up to his lips, ready to buff the white-haired woman when she engaged the two hunters farthest from Zim.

The moment the two longsword wielding hunters broke off contact from the Rathian and turned to engage Shiro, the green wyvern flapped her wings and took off. She had no interest in sticking around, or even finding out what the hell was even going on. She just wanted to go back to her hatchlings.

The fourth hunter had ran the moment he spotted Zim. He was wearing some type of brown plate armor and was carrying a switch axe on his back. Clearly, he recognized Zim and his companions, and knew how dangerous they were. He had no intention of fighting them, but Zim wasn't about to let him get away.

The hybrid raced after the hunter at full speed. The hunter must've used a dash juice or something for stamina, because he wasn't slowing down. But it wouldn't matter in the end, he was wearing heavy armor, and Zim wasn't. The hybrid would catch up eventually, it was only a matter of time.

The hunter must've realized this before he made it out of what the guild was going to call area six, as he turned around and drew his switch axe directly into sword mode. The hunter let out a war cry and swung his weapon at Zim. Only for the sharp blade to spark against the hybrid's skin, as if it was grating against steel, before being completely deflected.

"Even with natural mind's eye, you can't hurt me," Zim managed a smirk, before cocking his fist back, and letting it fly at a vicious speed. His fist slammed into the hunter's chest, denting the plate armor from the force of the blow, and causing the human to collapse onto the ground, gasping for air.

The hybrid didn't hesitate in slamming his foot down on the hunter's helmet, crushing it in a single stomp. Blood burst from the hunter's helmet, staining the earth beneath him, as well as Zim's armored boot. But the hybrid simply ignored it, as he turned to make sure the other hunters had been dealt with.

Shiro had easily dealt with the two longsword siblings, bisecting both of them with the roundslash finisher of her spirit combo. She sheathed her Seregios longsword in a single smooth motion, before letting out a soft sigh. "That wasn't much of a trap…" she grumbled.

"No… and we didn't leave any alive to question," Ruby grunted in return, walking over to the hunter she had killed, and retrieving her arrow. "Though I suppose that's not a bad thing."

"We already gathered all the information we needed. I'm going to go back to Dundorma and inform Malakai… he'll provide us with the troops we need-" Zim started to say, but he was cut off before he could finish. Because his chest burst open with two large slash marks in the shape of an X, his blood immediately pouring out of the wounds.

The hybrid's eyes opened wide with surprise as he stumbled backwards. He tripped on something, landing on his back. He let out a ragged cough as more blood poured from his wound and began dripping from the side of his mouth. It had been quite awhile since something had managed to cut him… but what had done this?

Progress to Ruby's explosion: 99%

Ruby let out a scream of frustration as she began firing arrows in random directions, hoping to hit something. She hadn't seen what had attacked Zim, only that he was on the ground bleeding, something had managed to cut through his apex-enhanced skin. She turned in a different direction and began firing arrows off once more, hoping to hit whatever it was that had the gall to attack them.

Shiro was a bit more methodical in her analysis of the situation. Although Ruby had believed she had simply just not seen what had attacked Zim, Shiro knew better. Whatever it had been, it couldn't be seen. Which meant they were likely dealing with an invisible enemy of some sort. "Calm down, Ruby dear… blind firing will net us nothing," the white-haired woman suggested as she drew her sword from her back, her eyes narrowed as she tried to pick out a shifting shadow or a slight glimmer that might give away her enemy's position.

Ruby grinded her teeth against each other, but ultimately complied to Shiro's demand. She let out a sigh and turned around, an arrow still nocked in her bow, but she didn't loose it. Blast, who had rushed to Zim's side, ignored the two females who were intensely scanning the area for threats.

With more of the frenzy than usual pumping through her veins, it was Ruby who saw the tall grass move ever so slightly first. "There!" she roared as she fired her arrow in that direction. The arrow came to a stop in midair, but it didn't sound like it had hit anything.

Shiro, who could now see where their adversary stood, raised her longsword, and brought it down in a brutal overhead swing, hoping to bifurcate whoever it was standing in front of them. She barely had time to register her blade stopping in midair, however, before the arrow Ruby had fired was jammed into her neck, causing her black blood to seep down the shaft of the arrow.

But that didn't stop the white-haired woman from kicking out in front of her. A dull thud sounded throughout the area, signaling that she had managed to hit something, but it didn't go flying like she had hoped it would. Whatever she had hit only skidded a few inches from where it had been standing.

Shiro's eyes widened as she felt something grabbing onto her leg, before lifting her up, and slamming her down on the ground. The arrow drove deeper into the white-haired woman's neck, more of her black ooze spilling from the wound.

Ruby, however, who had been paying attention, noticed a faint human-like outline standing over Shiro. So she nocked another arrow and fired it at the outline, aiming for where the head should be. The arrow connected, causing the outline to take a step forward, but it didn't go down. The arrow had hit its mark, but it wasn't a kill shot.

Oh shit, Ruby muttered, not daring to mutter those words aloud while Shiro was still conscious. The outline seemed to turn around, pulling the arrow out of its skull as it did. Maybe it was wearing a helmet, maybe it just didn't penetrate far enough into its skull to kill it. But whatever the case, the outline raced towards Ruby's position, the only thing giving it away was the way the light barely glimmered off of it, and the slight rustling of grass as it ran towards the brown-haired girl.

Ruby, panicking slightly, began rapidly firing arrows at the outline, hoping to kill it, or just deter it. Neither plan was successful, however, as the outline deflected the arrows with what Ruby believed to be partially invisible dual blades. Knowing her melee skills to be lacking, Ruby began backing up, continuing to fire as she did. She couldn't let the outline reach her.

But it looked to be for naught, as the outline continued to advance at a rapid pace, before eventually reaching the brown-haired girl. Ruby was unable to do anything but flinch away as the outline raised what she believed to be dual blades, and brought them down on the former hunter.

Ruby's eyes remained clenched shut for several moments, before she slowly opened them upon realizing she hadn't been impaled. And for good reason. Standing protectively in front of her was Zim, with two giant holes in his chest. But he seemed unfazed.

In fact, he seemed quite livid. The hybrid reached out and grabbed onto the arms of the outline, before wrenching the blades out of its hands. The moment the dual blades left the outline's hands, they became visible in Zim's chest. Ruby couldn't quite identify the pair of weapons, but they looked at least G-rank.

Zim rammed his knee into the outline's stomach, before punching it hard across the face, causing the outline to lose its balance and fall onto the ground. It seemed to be stunned for the moment, and in that moment, whatever sort of invisibility it was using vanished.

Before them was a girl… or maybe a woman, it was tough to tell. Her black hair was set in two braids off to the side of her head, jutting out of holes in the side of her helmet. Speaking of her helmet, she seemed to be wearing the female version of the Nargacuga armor, a set that Malakai quite enjoyed wearing.

Zim took a step towards the stunned girl, but she quickly recovered from her temporary concussion and pushed herself off the ground. She shook her head a few times, before striking a fighting stance. "Who are you?" the hybrid asked, glaring at the female, but he didn't strike a stance.

The girl didn't reply, as she leapt forward, twisting in the air to gather as much momentum as possible, before punching Zim as hard as she could. The hybrid didn't flinch from the right hook, his head not even snapping back. Zim returned fire nearly instantly, his own fist flying towards the girl's face, hoping to stun her again.

But the girl dodged out of the way with ease, turning and twisting her body to gather her momentum again. Zim leaned back slightly, letting her fist fly past his face. But he missed the smirk that spread across her face as blades extended from her arm. The blades… or spines, Zim couldn't tell the difference, sparked against his face as they failed to do any damage. But he was forced to lean further back to prevent them from hitting his eyes… even if they didn't damage them, he didn't want to feel the spines scratching against his sensitive eyes.

The girl took this opportunity to shove the hybrid over, as leaning so far back had thrown him off balance. Zim's back hit the ground, forcing a grunt from his mouth. The mysterious woman dropped down and grabbed ahold of one of her swords that were still stuck in the hybrid's chest. The hybrid let out a loud roar, rolling away from her before she could retrieve both of her swords.

He bounced up onto his feet, the hole in his chest already closing. Deciding that the other sword in his chest was preventing him from fighting at full strength, he pulled it out of his chest and tossed it behind him. He had no idea how the blades managed to penetrate his skin, but his high-speed regeneration wouldn't let him die just yet.

The two glared at each other, the holes on Zim's chest slowly closing. Whatever those blades were coated with, they were slowing down his regeneration, but not stopping it. The girl let out a soft growl, striking yet another stance… before vanishing.

The hybrid's eyes widened, and his nostrils flared, trying to pick up her scent, but to no avail. Her scent was too weak, or it was too muddied by everything around him that he couldn't smell her. He wasn't sure if she ran… or if she was preparing a sneak attack.

His answer came only a moment later, as he felt something rake across his back, slicing into his spine. He stumbled forward, but quickly whirled around to slam his fist into her stomach. His back stung something fierce, but it wasn't enough to completely immobilize him.

The force of the blow launched the invisible girl across the area, becoming visible again once she landed. Zim smirked as he watched her struggle to her feet. Clearly that hit took a lot out of her. She glared at him for a moment, before turning to run. "Hey!" Zim roared as he made to chase after her, but he only ended up stumbling to the ground. His spine hadn't finished repairing yet.

Ruby, who had been on the sidelines, choosing not to get in the hybrid's way, watched the girl run. Letting out an annoyed hiss, Ruby ran over to the sword the girl was leaving behind, and picked it up. "Don't forget your sword!" she roared as loud as she could, throwing it at the fleeing female just as she turned invisible.

The blade flew true, slamming into the girl's leg. The female became visible again as she hit the ground once more, letting out a scream of pain. The sword had sunk deep into her thigh, cutting through her bone. The girl growled and groaned as she tugged the sword free, before putting it on her back with its partner.

"Don't let her get away," Zim ordered as he stood up, his back fully healed. He stalked towards the girl, who began limping away desperately, turning invisible once more as she did. But the hybrid didn't stop in his pursuit, following the blood splatters left behind by the invisible woman.

He followed her towards the edge of the area, before suddenly pausing, his eyes widening. Ruby raced to catch up with him, a concerned expression on her face. "What's wrong?" she asked as the frenzy faded from her voice. She had calmed down slightly.

"The blood is gone…" he muttered, kneeling down to take a closer look at the grass.

"What? That wound was deep, there's no way it's done bleeding!" Ruby exclaimed.

Zim let go of the apex state, the black mist around his body fading as he returned to normal. "She must have regenerated, somehow," he sighed. "We're not going to be able to track her or catch her."

"Then what are we going to do?" Ruby asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Where's Shiro?" the hybrid responded, before turning around just in time to see the white-haired woman sit up and pull the arrow from her neck.

Shiro looked over at the two of them, the wound closing on her neck as she tossed the arrow away. "Sorry about that, she took me by surprise," she chuckled before pushing herself off the ground and making her way over to her son.

"Care to explain why we were fighting an invisible woman with regeneration abilities?" Zim growled, ignoring the white-haired woman's apology.

"Regeneration, really?" Shiro asked, a look of interest crossing her face. The hybrid only glared at her. "Hey, don't look at me… I have no idea who that was, or why she was invisible."

"Now why don't I believe you?" Ruby growled, drawing another arrow from her quiver. "Maybe I should put another arrow through your neck, then you'll think about talking."

"No need to resort to violence… besides, it wouldn't do you much good anyways," Shiro shrugged. "I honestly have no idea who or what she was, but I'm certainly curious."

"Well, then you have some research to do, then," Zim sighed, putting a hand on Ruby's arm, forcing her to lower her arrow. "Change of plans… Shiro and I are both going to Dundorma. We'll warn Malakai about the Hunter's Guild's presence here, and he'll send an army… Shiro will figure out what we're up against while he prepares is troops. Ruby, you and Blast will stay here and protect Bherna. Keep up consistent patrols, and if you spot that girl again, don't engage."

"Got it… what about you?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you going to be doing?"

"That's none of your business."

XXX

The Rathian who had managed to escape the hunters beat her wings harder to send her higher into the air. She flew as fast as she could away from the scene of her attack. Goddamn hunters… she grumbled internally as she climbed even higher into the sky, paranoid about being shot down by some type of human weapon.

She knew first hand how dangerous those hunters could be. After all, it had only been a few months since they had taken her mate from her and their hatchlings. She had thought she had been lucky when she managed to escape them then, though the loss of her faithful mate meant that she'd have to find a new one next breeding season. Although she had nightmares about the hunters coming for her, she had only thought they were just that… nightmares.

But the events of today had been all too real. She had gone out hunting for her hatchlings, the weather was nice, and the sun was shining… it was a perfect day for hunting. But when she had spotted the hunters approaching her with weapons drawn, she froze in fear. At first, she had thought it was another nightmare, but that illusion had been shattered the moment the first blade cut through her scales.

She had tried to run, but they wouldn't let her. Throwing their infernal flashing devices every time she had so much lifted off the ground. She was forced to stay and fight, though it wasn't much of a fight. Even as a powerful wyvern with a fiery breath and poisonous tail, the four hunters were faster, more agile, and seemed to know her moves before she made them.

It was a losing fight and she thought for sure she was going to die, leaving her hatchlings all alone. But somehow, she was saved… by more humans. It was an odd feeling. She wasn't sure why the two groups of humans were fighting, but she was grateful for whatever petty squabble they had with each other. Because it meant she was able to escape the hunters' grasp once again. A rare feat, even amongst the most powerful of monsters.

I'll have to be more careful in the future, she sighed to herself, before looking down at the ground. She realized that she had never managed to catch anything for her hatchlings, and she didn't want them complaining all night with their loud wails. So she figured she could catch something small for them before she went back.

She was so focused on the ground, trying to spot a Kelbi or maybe a Jaggi, that she missed something flying right at her. Unfortunately, she noticed it far too late, only looking up when the sound it was making became louder than the wind rushing past her face. She only had a second to realize that something big was about to crash into her, before she was actually hit.

She felt the scales on her back break and one of her wings tear, before she began losing altitude. She dropped out of the sky like a box of rocks, her other wing tearing open as she tried to slow her descent. She hit the ground at a frightening speed, shattering nearly every bone in her body.

She let out a low groan as she rolled over onto her back, blood dribbling from the side of her mouth. She was alive… somehow. She felt her high-speed regeneration starting to kick in, repairing what it could. She would be immobilized for some time, though her wings could take weeks to fully heal.

A loud thump caused her to crane her neck as best she could to see what had made the sound. It was a dragon… of some sort. It was large, but only slightly larger than her, and a silver color. Bursting from the tips of its wings was a red energy she almost didn't recognize, but once she did, she felt her heart drop and dread pool in her stomach.

Dragon energy… she realized. Although she had never seen a monster such as this, she immediately recognized how dangerous it was. The Rathian didn't actually classify monsters like humans did, but she knew that dragon energy typically only emanated from an older, more ancient breed of monster. What humans called Elder Dragons.

"Terribly sorry about that… I didn't see you there," the elder dragon admitted as he carefully stepped towards the Rathian. His voice was deep, and unmistakably male.

"You… you didn't see me?!" the Rathian snarled, fire crackling in her mouth as she prepared a fireball. She doubted it would so much as scratch the elder before her, but maybe it would scare him off.

"Well… I was going too fast to stop by the time I did," he chuckled, not at all scared by the fire in the Rathian's maw. "My name is Val… what's yours?"

The Rathian grinded her teeth together, unsure if she should actually reply. He did almost kill her, after all. "My name is Rachel…" the Rathian grumbled reluctantly.

"A human name? How quaint," Val chuckled, stepping a bit closer to the Rathian. "Speaking of humans… have you seen any recently?"

"Humans?! Yeah, I've seen a few. Four bastards who tried to hunt me," Rachel snarled, spitting the word 'humans' hard enough that tongues of flames leapt from her mouth.

"Really," Val asked, though it sounded more sarcastic than an actual question. "Did you happen to spot any humans that… didn't quite seem so? Perhaps one with black mist swirling around its body?"

Rachel cocked her head at that question. Why is he so interested? she wondered internally. "Uh… I'm not sure…" she trailed off.

"Think harder," he requested, narrowing his blue eyes at her.

"Well… I was saved from the four hunters by three humans and a Palico… they leapt from the bushes and ambushed the hunters. One of them… might have had black mist around him, but I didn't get a good look," she admitted.

"Hmm…" he hummed. "Well, I think you did probably see the human I'm looking for. Do you know how long ago this was?"

"Uh… a little while ago, I don't know," she shrugged.

"Damn it, woman, you have a human name, so I assume you can tell time like they can. How long ago?"

"Twenty… minutes… I think."

"Wonderful, I missed him," he growled, before turning around and taking a few steps away.

"Wait, are you just going to leave me here?!" Rachel protested, struggling slightly so she could continue to look at him.

"You'll recover," Val grunted as he pressed his wings against his body, the dragon energy becoming more volatile. An odd sound echoed through the area, but Rachel couldn't quite place it.

"Hey! You crashed into me on accident, the least… the least you could do is help me back to my hatchlings!" the Rathian cried out before the elder dragon could take off. "You said you missed him anyways…"

Val paused, before letting out an annoyed sigh. He turned back around and stalked over to her, his wings still pressed against his back, the dragon energy building up and continuing to make that loud sound she didn't recognize. "Fine, I'll take you back to your hatchlings," he grunted, before flipping her over onto her stomach. "But then we're even."

XXX

Ah, lots of fun things about this chapter. Specifically two characters. The girl, and Val. Firstly, the girl… why can she turn invisible and regenerate? Why was she attacking Zim? She seemed to be wearing hunter's armor… does that make her a hunter? If so, who is she?

Secondly, Val. I'm sure you all recognize him from the dream sequence in chapter one. Though I doubt any of you were expecting him to show up again so soon. And I'm sure you all recognize his species by now. Though I do wonder what he wants with Zim…

Two very important questions are posed in this chapter, and I'm curious if any of you can answer them before the next chapter is posted. The story is getting more and more interesting by the minute! Stay tuned until next time!