A/N: This is all typed at ungodly hours in the morning, so apologies for any typos (like the horrible one in the last chapter).
Back at the cart, Galix silently chewed on the ration that Elequinn had provided him with as he stared at the entrance of the forest nearby. It wasn't his first time that he was about enter that particular area, but the man always felt unsafe when venturing into the wilderness.
He always had this feeling that one day a monster could suddenly pounce on him from behind or even above, taking his life before he even knew what happened. After all, in a thick forest, the entire environment would be working against him.
"And now I have this to worry about," Galix sighed as he looked at his wounded left leg, "as if I really needed to be a liability on Elly."
A high pitched howl sounded in the distance, the sound carried by the wind that was ruffling Galix's black hair. The Gargwa in front of the man suddenly perked up from its sleep, its elongated neck twisting as the Bird Wyvern looked around in confusion.
"Ah, crap," easily recognizing the sound of a Great Jaggi from personal experience, Galix opened his weapon casing immediately, gripping his bow tightly and looking cautiously at the tall grass surrounding him. It was a bad position to be in, and the hunter knew it in his heart. "Stuck in the middle of a clearing, with grass blocking our vision everywhere…looks like we're sitting ducks."
Another howl rung through the air, this time sounding a lot nearer than the first. The Gargwa moved closer to Galix as it let out a terrified squawk, sensing the presence of its predators in the air. The hunter himself felt similarly on edge, though he did his best to compose himself as he petted the flightless bird with his free hand.
Those who use the weapons and the armor he forges will face an untimely death.
Galix grimaced as he was suddenly reminded of Elequinn's words. His blue eyes looked at the bow he was holding – stray pieces of leaves picked up by the wind and thrown in his direction were sliced cleanly into two as they touched its limbs, a testament to just how sharp they were.
"Cursed or not, you're all I got."
Reaching into his weapon casing once more, Galix unzipped a small compartment in it and took out a pair of goggles, their lens a dull gray in color. Brushing aside his messy fringe, the hunter strapped them tightly on to his head.
The goggles prevented his hair from falling in front of his face as they normally would, and the man's piercing gaze scanned the area as he readied his quiver beside him.
A sudden rustling in front of him caused the hunter to instantly nock an arrow, pulling back the string of his bow hard as he pointed the tip of the projectile towards where the sound had come from.
"Come on, then. Show me your ugly face and let's tango."
The grass began to shake violently – whatever was approaching was drawing close. His vision unhampered by the glare of the sun thanks to the goggles he was wearing, Galix steadied his breathing and tightened his grip on his bow.
"Come on!"
As if in response to his cry, something darted out from the grass, moving quickly towards the cart. However, it was hardly the purple Bird Wyvern that he had been expecting. Instead, what emerged from the bushes was a familiar looking girl with her hair dyed an eye-catching aquamarine, and a large firefly hovering beside her.
"What the hell?" Galix blinked in bewilderment as he recognized Elequinn sprinting towards him. Lowering his weapon, the man gave his friend a look of confusion as she stopped right beside the Gargwa, leaning against the fat herbivore for support. The insect that had been flying beside her also perched itself on the creature, making itself comfortable amongst the soft feathers.
"J-Jaggi," the girl paused as she swallowed down huge quantities of air through her mouth, her breathing ragged and unsteady, "chasing me."
"Shit," turning towards the direction where Elequinn had emerged from the grass, Galix prepared his bow once more. The sound of many pattering feet approaching made the hunter frown. He had nearly forgotten – Great Jaggis never hunted alone. "This isn't good. Why'd you even bring them here?"
"I-" Elequinn paused midsentence as she looked at her friend, then sheepishly turned her gaze towards the ground, "I was worried you'd be in trouble, so…"
"So you brought them here, to where your crippled teammate is," Galix let out a groan, "come on Elly, you can do better than that."
"Hey, I was just worried you were being mauled to death by an Arzuros or something while I was gone," the girl's breathing was stabilizing as she spoke, "you don't have to be rude."
The first of many Jaggis leapt out of the bushes in front of the two friends, interrupting their conversation with a shrill cry. Without hesitation, Galix fired the arrow he had been preparing towards the small Bird Wyvern.
The projectile struck true, brutally impaling the creature's body and sending it flying back into the tall grass behind it. Another Jaggi quickly emerged to take its place however, and more soon appeared, gradually flooding the clearing as they closed in on the hunters.
While small and not yet fully developed, the Jaggis still possessed sharp fangs and claws capable of delivering some nasty wounds if they made contact with flesh. Both hunters were aware of this, and neither one truly wanted to get into this fight if it was avoidable. Unfortunately, the Bird Wyverns continued to edge towards them, closing the distance one step at a time as they displayed their frills threateningly.
"I count twelve," Galix's blue eyes were focused on the creatures as he nocked another arrow, waiting for a chance to impale several of them in one shot. Seeing what he was doing however, the Bird Wyverns spread themselves apart, causing the hunter to click his tongue in annoyance. "Clever."
"I guess that means we take six each?" Elequinn clenched her fists as she readied herself. It was her first time fighting an actual carnivorous monster for real, but the girl was quite confident in the power of her gloves, given that they had proven to be capable of easily penetrating solid steel.
"I'd take them all on if it wasn't for my leg," Galix sniffed, "hold on – where's their boss?"
A loud howl from the grass beside the cart made the two friends turn to their right in alarm, just in time to see the leader of the Jaggis snarling at them triumphantly from the bushes.
"A flank?"
It was all the monster allowed Galix to say before it launched its attack, throwing its entire body towards the cart that the hunter was on and causing it to flip over.
Sent flying by the attack, Galix gritted his teeth as he braced for impact, dropping his weapon and placing his arms in front of his face to protect it. The hunter hit the ground a few meters away, letting out a cry of anguish from the pain as his unprotected left leg scraped against the floor. The goggles he was wearing managed to protect his eyes from the dust and dirt kicked up from the fall, but it hardly stopped them from staining his face brown.
"Galix!"
Elequinn screamed her friend's name as she leapt out of the way, the wooden cart crashing down on where she had been standing moments before. The Gargwa beside her was too slow to avoid the impact however, and it let out one final squawk of terror before being crushed.
John was much speedier than the herbivore though, and managed to take flight in time to avoid the attack. The firefly's abdomen lit up aggressively once again, then stopped as he landed himself on the overturned cart, tilting his head slightly as his black eyes observed the scenario unfolding before him.
As she attempted to run to her friend's aid, the Great Jaggi stepped in between them, a cunning glint in its red eyes as it issued an order to its minions with another howl. The Jaggis reacted immediately, a small group of them running towards the now helpless Galix lying on the floor.
This thing…it's not fooling around.
Elequinn gulped as she stared at the Bird Wyverns around her, their leader growling at her as its frills flared up. With one attack, the Great Jaggi had proven to the girl that armor could only do much in a real hunt.
This isn't training. I might die.
Her fists clenching up from the tension, the metallic bracelets around Elequinn's glowed a soft purple, as though they were sensing their wielder's will to fight.
Taking advantage of the fact that the beasts were still sizing her up, the girl took a deep breath and assessed the situation.
Galix said there were twelve. This thing just sent three to him so…
The solution was simple, and required no overthinking on her part. She had to eliminate the remaining nine, as well as their leader standing before her.
The Great Jaggi let out a snarl as a signal of attack, and Elequinn quickly entered a combat stance as she turned towards the Bird Wyvern. Instead of tackling her head on however, the creature merely stood its ground and stared at the huntress.
A moment later, something struck the girl in her back, causing her to wince as she turned around to find the Jaggis attacking her with their barbed tails. Thankfully, the armor on her back absorbed much of their blows, reducing them to nothing more than minor annoyances.
"You little-"
Her sentence was cut short as Elequinn remembered the real threat in front of her, and turned back to face the Great Jaggi just in time to receive a brutal swipe from the much thicker tail of the Jaggis' leader.
Her chest plate took the brunt of the attack, but the blow was still sufficient enough to send the girl flying. Landing on her back and grimacing in pain, Elequinn quickly picked herself up, steadying her wobbling feet just in time to dive away and avoid a full body tackle by the Great Jaggi.
Knowing that she couldn't possibly stay on the defensive forever, Elequinn glared at the Jaggis cheering their leader on in the distance. It irked her as she saw how similar the creatures acted to a jeering crowd, hooting at the combatants as they struggled in a fight to the death.
With adrenaline surging through her body, the huntress let out a battle cry as she charged towards the pink Bird Wyverns, thrusting her arms forward as soon as she got within range.
There was a satisfying crack as her knuckles connected with the head of one of the creatures, sending it flying as it spat out blood from its mouth. She wasn't quite done yet however, and Elequinn quickly pounced onto the fallen beast and aimed for its head with her fists, pounding the creature's face into a fine red mist.
The rest of the Jaggis hissed spitefully at her, though they kept their distance from the girl, afraid that they may suffer the same fate as the one she was mutilating. As she noticed the Great Jaggi moving towards her however, Elequinn quickly got up and increased the distance between them.
The monster stopped as it saw what the huntress had done to its kin. Though its body was intact, the head of the Jaggi that had suffered her wrath was now little more than a horrifying mess of organs and bone.
"You okay there, Elly?" Galix's voice called out from behind her. "Might want to pick that arrow beside you up."
Seeing that her opponent was distracted, the girl glanced at her friend, feeling a rush of relief as she saw him surrounded by the corpses of the Jaggi that had been sent to attack him. In his arms was one of the arrows that had been scattered all over the floor when the cart was knocked over, its tip shining red from the blood of the monsters it had slashed through.
"Yeah," Elequinn nodded as she followed her friend's advice, bending down and grabbing one of the arrows near her feet. As she held it in her hands, she saw that the arrowhead was a pale blue in color, a tint similar to that of Galix's bow. "Thank-"
"Look out!"
Galix's warning came just in time, and Elequinn turned to find the Great Jaggi lunging towards her with its jaws agape. The girl reacted instinctively, pointing the sharp tip of the arrow she was holding at the beast's muzzle.
At that point, time seemed to slow down for the huntress. She could feel her sweat trickling down her back and forehead as she stared at the monster, seeing its rows of razor sharp yellow teeth moving towards her in slow motion.
She saw the white fur on its head and back swaying slightly in the breeze, and the same wind made her feel cold as ice when it made contact with her skin.
Her teal eyes met with the angry red ones of the Bird Wyvern, and for a moment, Elequinn felt like she saw something other than blinding hatred swirling in its pupils. It was only a brief flash, but the girl knew exactly what it was the beast before her was feeling as it finally realized that its attack was destined for failure.
Fear.
The next instant, Elequinn found herself struggling to maintain her grip on the arrow as the Great Jaggi impaled itself upon the tip, its momentum causing it to continue moving forward. Her hands giving out a second later, the girl lurched to one side as the Bird Wyvern staggered forward for a few more steps before finally collapsing onto the floor.
The Jaggis in the distance all turned completely silent the moment their leader fell, gazing at his slayer with loathe in their eyes. A moment later, they started to scatter one by one, running off in disorientation into the tall grass surrounding the area.
Now that there were no longer any monsters in sight, Elequinn looked at her friend in disbelief of what had just happened. Moving closer to the corpse of the Great Jaggi, the girl's eyes widened as she saw that the arrow had successfully managed to penetrate the creature's skull.
"How?"
Galix, who was now lying on his back, simply laughed in reply.
"At least they got the part about Mideus forging powerful equipment right," the man toned down his laughter as he continued, "but seriously, from now on, we stick together. You got that?"
"Yeah," Elequinn muttered quietly in response as she folded her arms, her face turning red as she was reminded that the whole situation occurred due to her concern for Galix's safety. "I guess."
With the wooden cart toppled over and Galix's condition rendering him unable to help Elequinn turn it back upright, the two soon found themselves taking shelter from the midday sun under the shade of the forest trees nearby.
"I think that's the last of it," Elequinn passed the fully loaded quiver in her arms to her friend, "taking that last one out from the Great Jaggi was horrible."
"I'm the one that has to wash them later anyway," sighing, Galix took his arrows and placed them beside him. "Now then, we seem to be stuck in a bit of a dilemma. Without the Gargwa, we'd take much longer to get to our destination. And that's with me actually being able to walk."
"Poor bird," the girl shook her head sadly as she recalled the frightened cry the herbivore had made moments before its death, "I hope he's in a better place now."
"I wish he was still here, so I wouldn't have to think so hard about our next move," looking at his left leg with a vexed expression, Galix let out another sigh as he pressed one of his hands against his forehead. A sudden buzzing sound caused him to look up, and the man's eyes lit up as he saw John darting around in the air above him. "John, come here for a moment."
At his call, the firefly swooped down, landing on Galix's open palm.
"Tell Aria we're in need of assistance. Send something that can get us to Hope fast."
The insect seemed to nod as it took to the air, this time ascending much higher into the sky than usual before heading off.
"I would assume Hope is the endpoint of our journey," Elequinn looked at her friend with one eyebrow raised, "but did you seriously just ask an insect to convey a message? Besides, what can this Aria girl actually do that would help us in our current situation?"
"You'd be surprised, Elly," Galix had a playful glint in his eyes as he leaned back against the trunk of the tree he was resting on, "wait and see."