4: Further Training In The Yii-Do Highlands

About an hour ago, Irvine had led each of them through another portion of the industrial structure to their quarters. They still hadn't had time to get a good look at the technology installed here, and they had begun to think that they probably never would. Their rooms were down a long passage way to the left of a crossroads inside a castle-like structure with only one floor, the north path leading to a forge and the right path leading to the dojo, full of dummy Tenkai soldiers and the like. All three were lined with torches, otherwise sight would be impossible.

Their rooms were all in order from left to right; Dante and Alexis at the very end of the hall, then Aaron, then April, then Ruby, then Yumi, Teiko and Ash, Eiji and Ichiro. When Irvine had said that they could distribute the rooms among themselves, Dante and Alexis had almost instantly called dibs on the double. There were other doubles, which Teiko and Ash and Eiji and Ichiro took, but the couple had seized this room because it was the only bedroom with a bed built for two people (the other doubles were two separate beds). Hearty meals had been placed in each of their rooms to allow them to regain strength lost in the Akura battle before retiring.

"Cozy," Alexis purred tiredly as she let Dante wrap his arms around her.

"Yeah, it is," Dante agreed with a slight chuckle directed toward how trivial the conversation was. Dante's blue eyes met with Alexis' emerald ones, and they kissed.

"Well...as much as I could stare at you all night...we should sleep. Something tells me we're gonna need it tomorrow. If the highlands here are anything like the ones we know...then I think we have a fairly solid idea of what to expect."

"Yeah."

A knock on the door was the prelude to April's abrupt entering of Aaron's room, which almost made him jump.

"Aaron, I brought you som-!" she stopped with a short gasp. The hunter was dressed in only his underwear. April blushed at both the sight and the fact that she had been so hasty as to not wait for him to let her in.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were-! That was really rude of me..." she groaned, abashed. As Aaron pulled some night clothes on, he shook his head dismissively and started toward April.

"No, it's fine. I don't mind, honestly," he said with a smile. He ran his fingers through his straight black hair, his plain black eyes returning April's gaze with warmness, and somewhat...fondness. "Besides, now you know to wait a bit before you barge in like that. Right?"

"Right," April said, nodding. She stared and smiled at him for a few moments. She had a bit of a soft spot for him, although she had never admitted it. His figure, his hair, his warm eyes and gentle voice. He wasn't really looking for a girlfriend, as far as she knew, but if he was...she wouldn't mind giving it a shot.

"Um, so...you were saying before..." Aaron said hesitantly, coaxing her into remembering what she'd barged in to tell him in the first place.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry!" she said, the pair of them laughing awkwardly under their breath. "I just came to say that...well...I know it's your birthday the day after tomorrow, and..." she stopped, blushing again.

"What is it? There's no need to be shy," he said reassuringly, still smiling.

"Well, uh...I...I got you a gift. It's only small, but...please take it..." she giggled bashfully, handing a delicately crafted knife. The main blade was jet black, but the silver embroidery along the edges were silver. The handle was simple iron wrapped in some bandage, which was greyed from the dirt it had collected in its lifetime. "It's just a combat knife. Cheaply made, but it's pretty strong, sharp and definitely durable. Aaron's face seem to light up just a little bit more as he ran his finger gently along the flat of the blade.

"Wow, that's really neat that you remembered my birthday. I'm sure others have too, but...we live in a pretty poor town in a pretty poor region. This must've really choked your wallet. Thanks alot," he said with genuine sincerity. He leaned in and kissed April on the cheek. She almost yelped, but she managed to hold it in, blushing an even brighter shade of vermillion and moving a few stray strands of her long, straight light brown hair out of her eyes.

"Goodnight, April," he said, smiling as he turned away, bound for the bed in the left corner of the room.

"Night," she replied meekly, barely able to speak, still recovering from the unexpected surprise as she shut the door quietly behind her.

Morning crept in through the gaps in the undrawn curtains next to Dante's and Alexis' bed. Dante's blue eyes snapped open. That was a strange thing about him; he would never rub his eyes or let them flutter open gently, they would simply snap open, as if his subconscious knew the exact hour, minute and second to awaken. A pleasant surprise was that, when his vision focused, Alexis' leafy green eyes were staring into his, waiting for him to wake, a smile sketched across her face.

"Hey, you," she giggled.

"Hey," he muttered back with a smile. As they leaned in to kiss, Alexis drew back sharply, sitting upright, her brow creased with alarm.

"What's wrong?" Dante asked quickly, alarmed. Alexis had no time to answer, she quickly ran to the wooden pale in the far corner of the room, usually used for trash and the like, clasped its rim with both hands a violently vomited into it, horrible choking and retching noises echoing mildly around the inside of the pale for a few seconds. Dante quickly ran over and put his hands on her shoulder as she lifted her head up briefly, hyperventilating with distress. Before Dante could utter some words on reassurance and consolidation, Alexis' head dipped straight back into the bucket for another round of unpleasant yakking.

"It can't be...this can't be right...it can't..." she huffed to herself.

"What can't be? What are you talking about?" Dante asked hollowly, although he was painfully adamant about what the answer was.

"Dante...I...I think I'm pregnant."

The sentence was exactly what Dante had feared, and it was like a bullet to the head.

"No...What're we gonna do?" he exclaimed. Alexis looked at him with empty eyes; she had as much of an idea as he did. Suddenly, somebody rapped on the door.

"Guys, are you awake? C'mon, it's time to get up! We've got time for a quick breakfast, then we have to get going!" Teiko's voice boomed, slightly muffled from behind the wooden door. Dante looked about the place hurriedly, trying to think of a way to open the door without it looking suspicious. His head then whipped back to Alexis.

"Um, get back in bed, cough alot; you feel like shit and can't go anywhere," he hissed quietly. "Quick! Go!"

Alexis quickly picked herself up off the floor and clambered back into the bed, taking what was now well and truly the room's designated 'sick bucket' with her just in case. When she was comfortable, Dante rushed to the door and opened it.

"Hey. You get all that?" Teiko asked casually. Dante nodded affirmatively. Following the conditions of the haphazardly cobbled together lie, Alexis coughed heavily a few times, then pretended to be sick into the bucket again.

"Hey, is she okay?" Teiko asked, one eyebrow raised with concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, this time to Alexis herself.

"She's caught something. She's been vomiting on-and-off for the last...twenty minutes or so. She really won't be able to go anywhere," Dante answered on Alexis' behalf, while she coughed and spluttered a little more. Teiko took a brief moment to analyze the situation at hand.

"Well, we can't postpone the training, of course. She'll have to miss it," Teiko sighed frankly, apologetically.

"Maybe I should stay here and look after her..." Dante groaned unsurely.

"No, Dante, it's fine, you go. I'll be fine-!" she said, almost choking on the last word as she threw up into the sick bucket again, this time for real.

"She's right, Dante; you should come. We can get Ruby to look after her; she is our group's medic after all. Alexis'd be alot better off with Ruby tending to her than you," Teiko mused, almost didactically. Dante hesitated for a moment, then nodded, walking off with Teiko.

"C'mon, the others are in the barracks having breakfast."

As Teiko rushed down the hall, eager to chow down on what he hoped would be a nice chunk of gourmet steak, Dante took one last worried look at his apparently pregnant girlfriend, before following his friend away.

Dante sat quietly at the long, almost pew-like table, one of the many that filled the eating area of the barracks. He felt really guilty about lying to his friends, but he was sure it was for the best. After all, if word spread thta Alexis was pregnant, it would hardly gain much approval. Sex before marriage was frowned upon in Tarin; the region's populace felt that it promoted promiscuity and unfaithfulness, and so those who did conceive prior to marriage were generally shunned by the public, their friends; even one's own family would cast them out into the streets without so much as batting an eyelid.

Dante wouldn't let that happen to Alexis. Not to their child either.

In fact, he didn't really want a child, not right now. There was a special consumable liquid that had been recently discovered that could prevent a baby from being born and get rid of the foetus, the process having come to be known as 'abortion'. They could nip the foetus in the bud, no questions asked. But could he really condone taking a life that had yet to be even born? And even if entirely agreed with himself on that, what would Alexis think? He was as frightened as she was, and neither had any idea what to do. Not yet, at least.

His worrisome train of thought was derailed when a voice shot from across the table.

"You're really quiet, Dante; is something wrong?" Eiji asked, sitting one to the left of Ruby, who sat directly across from him, scooping up as much ramen as was possible. He looked down and noticed that he wasn't eating either, just twiddling the ramen strands round and round on the chopsticks. From the silver plate in the middle of the table, upon which various sauces and dressings were placed for their application, he saw his reflection. He looked depressed. His eyes were almost dead and he had dark circles under them. The same way one doesn't notice pain until they acknowledge the wound, gazing upon his tired appearance suddenly made the exhaustion written on his face take hold.

"Dante?"

"I'm fine, it's nothing," he said, brushing his friend off. "I was just deep in thought."

"Alright then. Good to get all that heavy thinking out of the way now so you don't zone out when we face the next monster," he said, his sympathetic tone laced with so much sarcasm that his other friends chuckled at the remark. This seemed to snap Dante out of his gloomy thoughts, and he slowly began to eat.

April sat at the very end of the long table, where their table ended and another began on the other side of the divide through which pedestrians could travel. She, like Dante, ate slowly. She didn't have enough concentration to be able to eat at a normal pace; she was too busy wrestling with her brain for control over her eyes, which drifted to Aaron like magnets. No matter how many skirmishes she won, where she should look at something or someone else, she always found herself gazing into his eyes. Those glistening blue eyes... She could've sworn that no sea, ocean or sapphire could ever compare to the depth and warmth within them. And a large part of her wanted that depth and warmth to be only for her.

And then, suddenly, it happened.

As he looked back from the laughter, chuckling to himself as he prepared to down another mouthful of ramen (evidently the only food available as it was all that was being eaten by those around their table), his eyes snapped up and to the right (from her view) and bored straight into April's. She almost gasped and dropped her chopsticks into her bowl, but that would be, in her words, "totally not cool", so she forced her startled brain to "keep it cool". As their staring continued, the rest of the world seemed to dissolve around them.

Until it was all ruined as April's mouth fall slightly agape, allowing the half-consumed ramen within to tumble out. As the greasy strings slipped off of her lips, she fell back to earth, quickly shoving her mouth full of more ramen, blushing to herself. She watched Aaron grin to himself briefly, before he refocused his attention on his meal.

"What do you think we'll be facing today?" Ash asked, excited.

"I'll bet gold to gunlances its Pariapuria," Ichiro said wisely.

"No, no, no! Gurenzeburu, for sure!" Eiji disagreed. The two then squabbled for a few moments.

"Alright, fine! Let's bet on it!" Eiji challenged. "Fifty Zeni."

"You're on!" Ichiro said confidently.

"Pfft, you're both wrong; I bet it's a Doragyurosu," April cut in.

While the three of them squabbled, Ruby turned to Yumi, who sat next to her, eating quietly.

"How are you holding up?" she asked. She had tended to her cynical friend's injuries the night before, giving her more life powder and wrapping bandage around her midriff where the Akura Jebia had slammed her with its claw.

"I'm fine; chest hurts, but it's bearable. Thanks," she said, smiling thinly at her friend, eating all the while.

"Alright then, you should be fine now. I shouldn't need to give you any more medication."

"Well good, because if you think I'm chugging any more of that vile shit you've got another thing coming," Yumi said bluntly. After a pause, the pair of them laughed with each other.

Almost as if the timing was deliberate, Miyuki strolled in through a pair of wooden doors to the north west of the small eating area. It wasn't a quiet entrance either, thanks to her heavy Barioth X armour. It was as she drew close that Dante noticed the small arms dotted around her waist. She carried several small kunai, the blades of which were all made of the black, triangular claws of a Barioth. She also carried a combat knife with a blade that was literally a Barioth's orange saber tooth. Silence descended as she stood before them.

"We're leaving for the Highland soon. Be prepared; tardiness is unacceptable," she barked tonelessly, before turning on her heel and leaving the way she had entered.

A short silence followed before the friends started for their rooms to prepare for whatever lay ahead.

The hunters set out from the barracks at a mild walking pace, fast enough to get to where they needed to go (the Yii-Do Highlands wasn't terribly far away; in fact it was almost on the bastion's doorstep) but slow enough to finally be able to marvel at the industrial forest that was Yii-Do.

Dante, Aaron, Yumi and everybody else (except for Miyuki and Irvine, of course, who had probably seen this thing a thousand times before at many other bastions and keeps, if not only this one) gazed around in awe at the wood and steel, the army of contraptions that each had a vital role to play in the autonomy of the base. There were several watermills, lined up horizontally like dominoes, which in turn powered the huge metallurgy structures up ahead to the immediate northeast.

Further northeast of there, the teenagers witnessed the smoke billowing from towers as tall as any king of old's, made of pure, obsidian Noctalite, a new ore that had recently been unearthed in the mines of the Arken region. There were three of them, far enough to be able to witness them without having to crane one's neck to the sky but still close enough to cast it's imposing shadow over the party. They were broad at the base, but they grew more pinched the further up they were built. There were short, pike-like spikes that jutted out at regular intervals, continuing all the way up, appearing almost like spines. At the peaks of the towers, there were six tall, flat, blade like spikes that curved inwardly. It was from there that the black smoke billowed through a pallet of square, blackened iron mesh (it couldn't possibly be seen from there but the teens had stood atop the peak of such a tower before and knew it well), through which could be seen the fires of industry and the sparks that flew from hammered metal, on every level from the very top to the very bottom. The smoke that wafted from the tower at this time was just the leftover from the periodic expulsion of fumes, whenever the six bladed pillars pulled backward and came to rest against the towers walls and smoke and ash and embers were exhumed. These towers were all forges, and as such they had been aptly (although unimaginatively) dubbed Forge Towers.

These towers had always unnerved Dante somewhat, as their blackness, and cruel, barbed appearance seemed out of place amidst the browns of wood and the grays of stone, but then again, it was made of a brand new material; of course it was going to look misplaced.

They turned their gaze opposite to the west, where there were windmills and bakeries for preparing bread, next to which were a series of abattoirs and butcher stores where meat and rations would be prepared, often filled with Aptonoth and Kelbi meat, but sometimes, according to what they'd learned about military outposts, they would get occasional shipments of Rhenoplos meat, as well as pork to break the monotony, such imports being the only occasions where autonomy was not the case.

As the hunters observed all this, it was clear that one side was about food production and the other about armour and weapons, as well as mining (how else would they have come across the Noctalite?). The city was a giant factory that fueled-they estimated-around three thousand men. It was certainly impressive, and was a perfect example of the Guild's might.

After what felt like a day staring at the structures of the place, the Dante and co. were roused from their awe by the deft, surly feminine voice of Miyuki.

"Come; your next trial awaits."

The Yii-Do Highlands didn't look that far different from any other highland in the land. Rocks and cliffs, at the end of the day were only rocks and cliffs after all.

Dante and friends all stood peering down over the edge of a precipitous cliff face, not white like cliffs of chalk, but simply rocky and mountainous, with a huge gorge in the middle where the mountain had split apart from its other half long ago, becoming a simple-but still just as dangerous-highland. It was U-shaped: Dante and the others stood on a large patch of even ground, but further ahead there was a gap in the rocks that lead through the rocky pass to the other side of the highland, in the middle of which was a small waterfall, which emptied into a small pool below, ahead of which was a thick jungle (where the air was no doubt thick and humid compared to the pleasant, breezy climate up on the rocks), around which lay brush and muddy sand, where Dante and co. could see a small pack of Aptonoth, no more than four or five, lapping up some water. Suddenly, they were pushed aside when a Barroth came galumphing up to them, barging them out of the way, snorting and grunting and it slammed it's brutish body into the wet mud and rolled around like a pig. Three of the Aptonoths left quickly, but looked back with contempt, while the other two simply moved to the far left side, which was more beneficial to them than the middle as there was a conveniently placed patch of brush there to munch on as they drank deeply from the pool.

Silence descended as the Barroth righted itself and left. Then, out of the water rose the head and neck of a Plesioth, which hissed triumphantly before clamping it's jaws down like a vice on of the Aptonoth's necks. The herbivore yelped and roared hoarsely, it's stumpy legs scrambling meekly against the soggy sand before Plesioth dragged its head and its quarry back into the depths with naught but a ripple of water. The other Aptonoth quickly fled. The lake was far too small for the Plesioth to be dwelling in...it most likely lived in a larger lake, but there was a hole- a former cave, before it was flooded- that water had broken in through from behind the rock wall, and that was big enough for a Plesioth to slide it's body through and back out again.

Such a sudden death was what awaited the hunters, if they dropped their guard. Witnessing the spectacle had served as a cutting reminder of just how stark reality was.

"Attention all," Irvine said, not particularly forcefully, but the subtleness of his voice was a suitable replacement for Miyuki's disciplined, choppy commands. Miyuki stood beside him even now. Dante couldn't see either of their faces, but sensed that Irvine had a sharp, beady gaze, but not as harsh as Miyuki's, who he imagined to be the firm sneering glance a teacher might give a pupil when they catch them talking in their lesson.

When Irvine was sure that they were all paying attention, he continued.

"This is the highland of the island of Yii-Do. It might look benign from here, but I assure you it is no such thing. As you may have seen, an assortment of monsters stalk these lands, preying on smaller creatures: Plesioth. Barroth. Daimyo Hermitaur. All of these will chew you up and spit you out if you-"

He stopped seamlessly, without so much as uttering the next word, his eagle eyes transfixed on Eiji and Ichiro whispering away in the middle of the nucleated group of friends. Dante probably figured that they were arguing over their earlier bet.

"Don't exercise caution," Irvine said, enunciating each word, his voice a little louder and sterner so as to get the Akura Twins' attention. The pair of them fell silent immediately under the dour gaze of Irvine's Rukodiora helm. Irvine once again continued without fault. "Now, onto business. Your next opponent is a Flying Wyvern. Some of you may be familiar with it, some of you may not. But I promise you that after today, you will all know this creature better than you know your own mothers." Irvine momentarily regretted such a conditional comparison. Most of them, if not all of them (which was in fact the case) probably didn't even have mothers (or fathers). At least, not anymore. Nevertheless, it mattered very little in the grand scheme of things. "Good luck," he added with finality.

Irvine and Miyuki drew back swiftly, turning thier backs on Dante and his comrades, dissapearing back behind the rock face from whcih they had reached this rocky plateau. It was not long before the teenage warriors understood exactly why.

A loud screech echoed from above. Dante, Aaron and the others all drew their weapons and looked up in front of them to see the front half of a cruel, nasty-looking Gurenzeburu crawling over the rocky, jagged wall that separated their large natural arena from the way back to the bastion, the creature using its wings to crawl across the moss and weed-covered stone, before leaping from above to slam to the ground in front of them. The Gurenzeburu's left eye was ruined, nothing but crude scratches and dried bloodstains remaining. Its body was covered in the scars of old lacerations, and there was holes in the webbing of its wings, much like the dragons of old. In one small place it was even missing some scales, red raw flesh exposed to the crisp highland air. It had a huge gash on the left side of its face, crossing over both of its jaws, history of the Flying Wyvern attempting to eat the wrong hunter. It one remaining eye sneered at them. The contempt and malice emanating from the creature was almost palpable. It had clearly been crossed far too many times.

"Impossible," April gasped quietly to herself. She knew for a fact that this was no imprisoned monster, consigned to the labours of the Yii-Do arena for the rest of its days. This particular Gurenzeburu was wild, and dangerous, the threat doubled- maybe even tripled- by its apparent abundance of experience. If the scars, cuts and wounds that covered its body were anything to go by, it had clearly survived many a hunt and claimed many a hunter.

"What is it?" Aaron asked, overhearing the musing of the girl who stood adjacent to him.

"Oh, nothing," she said, but Aaron could tell by her ever so slightly agape mouth and her briefly dead eyes that she was lying. This wasn't the time or the place; he would ask her later.

Ash, looking straight at it as it scanned them all for weaknesses, could tell without a shadow of a doubt that this fight was going to be far from easy.

Without warning, the Barbarian Wyvern leapt forward and plunged its deadly horn into the earth with all its might. Everybody managed to get out of the way in time, and Teiko even managed to slice the horn with his sword inadvertently as he ran out of the way, although, when a creature has suffered laceration after laceration on countless boxed in training sessions, a small nip from a stray blade would barely faze it. It narrowed its eye with smug, sly satisfaction as it saw Yumi, April, Eiji and Ash sprint around it to the right. A bunch of greenhorns, it thought with delight. They have no idea what's in store for them.

As the four of them ran, it rotated its head, horn still stuck tight in the ground, to the right, intent of showing, April, Yumi, Eiji and Ash the price of inexperience. However, the monster was about to realise that they weren't as foolish as they seemed.

"Whoa!" Yumi cried out, bringing her switch axe to bear and swinging it like a bat at the oncoming attack. The Great Demonbind G's blade cut a fairly sizeable gash into the Gurenzeburu's head, causing it to shriek and recoil. However, it did this not out of raw pain, but to ride Yumi's blow. By the time Yumi realised what she'd opened herself up to, it was too late. She was shoved off her feet and thrown high into the air, along with pieces of uprooted earth and weeds, by the action of the creature's recoil, the horn acting like a shovel. The Barbarian Wyvern sneered and hissed as it thwacked Yumi away with a forceful whip of its tail, sending the girl flying into the rock wall and collapsing with a pained grunt, her switch axe barely within her reach, though he hadn't the strength to grasp it, or even to get up. The incredible strength of the blow, combined with the force of hitting the wall and falling to the ground was more than enough to make anybody's strength leave them, but in Yumi's case, her chest injury from where the Akura Jebia had slammed it's pincer into her abdomen had begun to throb and ache again, and gritting her teeth and screwing her eyes shut was all she could so not to cry. Every time she tried to open her eyes, her head throbbed like she's been kicked by a horse and her vision was blurry and shaky, as if she were looking through a telescope held by someone with an unsteady hand. Luck really isn't on my side these days. First the damn Jebia, now this shit, she thought with contempt, Biding her time until she could gather some strength. Until then, she allowed unconsciousness to veil her within the folds of its pitch black silence.

"Yumi!" April cried out, making a dash toward her fallen friend, hammer in tow. The Gurenzeburu, which was currently in the process of snapping its jaws at Ash and flicking Eiji and Ichiro away with its tail, glanced behind it to where April was dashing for the creatures first victim. It made a gesture with its eye and lips somewhat akin to a malicious smile, before it hulked its body around, swiveling in a deliberately slovenly fashion so as to knock everybody over at once, which it did. It then noticed something else about April. She wore a large, jagged piece of blue, scaly skin, which was threaded through a piece of string and hung on her waist like a battle trophy, along with a couple of small, sharp teeth. The Gurenzeburu slowly scanned its mouth with its tongue. It was missing two teeth. It also glanced behind at the patch of raw flesh that was exposed upon its back, that had bled for half a day and had smarted like a vespoid's sting ever since.

The monster had met this girl before. Oh, how it hated her. And that fact that her clothing was made of its kind only served to add to its hatred.

It roared, roared so loud that Dante, Aaron, Teiko, Ash, Ruby, Eiji and Ichiro all had to clamp their hands against the sides of their heads. April, who had been taken by surprise, cried aloud and fell to her knees, then pressed her ears with her hands, dropping her weapon. Now the Gurenzeburu had its chance. It quickly sprinted over and bashed into April with the side of its head, sending her rolling across the floor and coming to a slump against the wall, next to the unconscious Yumi. It kicked Yumi to the side and out of the way with its right foot before it closed April in with the floods of its wings, as it were a bird allowing its hatchlings to nuzzle against its breast. But what it had planned was something far more sinister. It stared into the now fearful (doubly so, as she recognised the monster as much as the monster did her) eyes of the girl who had pulled out his teeth and ripped his hide. Perhaps even some of these old wounds were hers, but it couldn't be sure, and it its rage, it didn't care. She would pay for each and every one of them.

April cried out in terror and pain as the Barbarian Wyvern folded and its left wing and pulled it back, then thrust the golden, pointed stub into her shoulder. One! the creature counted to itself. It then brought its right leg up and stomped on the girl's chest, hard enough for it to hurt, but not enough to kill her or break any of her fragile bones. The pain was moderate at most but it was excruciating to April, the pain amplified by the stab wound in her shoulder. She cried out again, too closed in (the monster's pointy head was millimetres away from embedding itself into the wall. In fact, it occasionally scraped against it, the flakes of stone and dirt falling onto April and the monster) to be able to do. Two! the Gurenzeburu spat, even though the victim of its eagerly-awaited revenge couldn't even hear it. Suddenly, as it opened its jaws wide in preparation to chomp into April's leg, it screeched with pain and drew back, flapping its wings like a chicken as something short, small and very, very sharp pierced its flesh and scraped against its bone. Then it felt the sharp thing slide out and back in, each time painful, again and again and again.

Behind it, Aaron was screaming aloud as he clung onto the creatures back, holding one of Eiji's Akura Jebia dual blades and stabbing the red patch of raw skin on the Flying Wyvern's back continuously. Finally, he gripped it so tight that (assuming one could see his knuckles under his armour) his knuckles turned white, and thrust it into the red, bloodied flesh with all his might, He left something hard chip away before he was flung off the creature's back as it flailed about in pain. A red mist has descended over its eyes and it was no longer aware of its surroundings only the pain in its back and the chipped piece of bone. But there was no respite from the pain as the other hunters had ganged up on it, hacking and slicing away in the monster's body with their myriad weapons. Finally, it felt another surge of pain from a fresh wound on its leg and that was the final straw. If I can't have the girl, I'll claim another. But I'm not leaving here-or dying here- without a kill! It thought.

The Barbarian Wyvern roared with ire and loathing, before unleashed a torrent of high-pressure water from its mouth, then flailing its head about recklessly like an unattended hosepipe, into commotion, the hunters retreated before they were either blasted by water and accidentally whacked by a stray limb. However, it was too late for Eiji, was impaled by the Gurenzeburu's pike-like horn, coughing up blood to add to the splashes of it that already stained the desert-brown earth below. Finally, the Gurenzeburu stopped its endless flow of water, and stood still, although at an angle, his wounded leg giving way a little, the blood from his severely wounded back and cut leg mixing with that of Eiji's. Finally, the Gurenzeburu lifted its head aloft and screeched at the midday sun triumphantly. Then, it flicked its head upward some more and caught the armoured corpse, now limp and lifeless, between its jaws, holding it three like a dog with a stuffed toy for a moment for using its tongue to pull the body into its waiting jaws in its entirety, chewing it up and reducing it to nothing more than mush in but a few seconds. A gulp followed, and it was over. The Gurenzeburu turned to face the remaining hunters, who stare on in horror, too shocked to even cry out. The monster grinned at them, baring its bloodstained teeth, before taking flight and swooping off into the distance, over the rocks and out of sight.

An age passed, in which nobody said a word. The only sounds were that of April's whimpering and crying, her wounds still hurting, and that of Ichiro, who sniffed and blinked back tears.

Yumi had seen it all. She had woken up just in time to watch the Gurenzeburu's grim display of bitter triumph, how it'd impaled Eiji right through the chest, then shook him loose and swallowed him hole. While she was no stranger to the death of friends, the free prize that came with the hunting profession, Eiji's sudden and untimely end had rocked her almost as much as it had the others, and the image of the Barbarian Wyvern's bloodstained teeth shaped into a crude grin would stay with her forever. She decided she might as well try to get to her feet now. She grunted softly as she pulled herself up, hauling her switch axe up with her leaning on it. She stood for barely a second before she her legs buckled and she gave way.

Yumi's cry awoke the others from their sordid silence. Ruby and Teiko ran over to help Yumi. As Dante watched the two run over, he admired Yumi as a hunter. She was never too brash or reckless (like Teiko) and most of all, she was clearly very resilient to take such a beating in such a short space of time, from both a hulking Carapaceon like the Akura Jebia and a vicious (and in this case extremely savvy and battle-hardened) Flying Wyvern like the Gurenzeburu. Such traits were handy to have in battle.

Aaron, his best friend, had also followed Ruby and Teiko, not to help ash but to help April, who had been badly wounded by the monster and was clearly traumatised by both her injuries and witnessing the death of a good friend who, not a two hours ago, had been sitting next to her (or one away from her, she couldn't remember) squabbling with her and his closest friend about which monster they would be facing today. They had placed a bet on it. Fifty Zeni.

And the great irony was that Eiji would have been a hundred Zeni richer if he was still around to collect.

And it was then that the black arms opened wide to catch the barely conscious teenage girl in their embrace. She felt as cold as ice but her shoulder burned like fire, and her eyelids were like slabs of heavy stone, which she was holding up with all her strength, what little of it remained. All she wanted to do- all she had the strength to do- right now was to let go and let the stone walls fall.

And it was then that she felt herself being scooped up off of the ground in somebody's arms. She couldn't tell who it was, though. They were just a black shadow to her. All was shadow in a world of dreary gray. She heard the person's voice calling to her, though it sounded a thousand miles away.

"Hold on, April..."

The rest became muffled noise as she let the darkness envelop her.

Meanwhile, Yumi had been helped to her feet by Teiko and Ruby. She stayed silent, not feeling the need to say something. She didn't feel it was necessary either. The silence said more than enough, and the blood, tears and sniffles of her friends spoke for themselves. She had tried to carry her Great Demonbind G, but Ruby had insisted that she not. "Doctor's orders", as they say. She had ignored Ruby and dragged it along, but in the end she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness again and Teiko had slowly taken it off her. He carried it over his shoulder even now.

She didn't like it one bit. She hated having to rely on others to help her, to do things for her, to save her skin. Above all, she couldn't stand people who couldn't stand on their own two feet. And that, ironically, was just what she couldn't do. Hypocrisy at its finest. Although she told herself that it wasn't her fault, she felt the doubt in her mind creeping up on her, whispering in her ear. If only I hadn't fallen for that trick, if I only I had been faster, If only...

If only.

The doubts squeezed her mind like a snake, hissing pessimism and negativity in her ear. All she could do was blame herself for her current state. Then, she reached the crushing epiphany her conscience had been slow-walking her to.

If only I hadn't gotten myself knocked out, I could've saved Eiji.

She knew it was a stupid thought and that, even if she had been able to wake up in time, it would've made little -if any- difference. But even so, the doubt was there.

All she wanted to do now was crawl under a rock and wait for it to all go away.

It was that exact moment that Irvine and Miyuki came strutting calmly round the corner they had left behind a few minutes ago, although it felt like half a day had passed. It was then that Ichiro finally snapped.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! IF YOU HAD STAYED, YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM, JUST LIKE YOU SAVED TEIKO FROM THE JEBIA! YOU BASTARDS!" he screamed. And then all of his strength left him and he sank to his knees, bowed his head and began to cry, letting the tears for his closest friend fall freely. Irvine and Miyuki simply stopped at the curve of the bend in the narrow, rocky pass, apathetic and impassive, waiting coldly and calmly while the Vashimu-clad boy who knelt before them cried to himself. After about ten to twenty seconds, Miyuki spoke.

"Don't blame us. This was your test. You signed up for this. You took the risk. Not me, not Irvine, you. All of you," she said calmly, as cool as ice, fitting for one clad in Barioth X armour. As Ichiro snapped to his feet and balled his hands into fists, he stopped, let his hands become impassive again and drew back, looking down to the ground at an angle, hsi brow creased with the strain of keeping back further tears. Miyuki was right and he knew it. They were monster hunters. They knew damn well what they were getting into when they signed up for this.

But that didn't mean it doesn't hurt to see your closest friends die. Especially when there wasn't even anything left of them to bury. Ichiro didn't even have anything of Eiji's to remember him by; the Gurenzeburu had eaten him, dual blades and all. The only thing that was left was blood on the earth, which was still scarred by a miniscule ditch where the Flying Wyvern had slid his murderous horn through the dirt.

"I am sorry for your loss. But we must return now. These two girls need rest and medical attention as soon as possible," Irvine said with calm solemnity.

Slowly, slowly, he and Miyuki turned and left the way they had come mere minutes ago, and slowly, slowly, with lead in their hearts and blood on their hands (and various other places from when they had mob rushed the creature), they followed behind like a funeral procession, death and grief weighing heavy on their consciences.

Putrid meatsacks. Always getting away, always squirming and writhing and struggling and worming.

How the Akura Jebia despised humans. Especially those humans, the ones who had hurt it today, and killed its friend.

Last night, when everybody was sound asleep and all was quiet, it had climbed all the way back up the chasm from whnce it fell, stabbing its pincers into the stone wall, edging its way back up until it had fianlly reached the surface of the Yii-Do arena again. There, it had eaten and regenerated its tail. While they were only closely related, that Akura Vashimu had been his only friend in this prison. He had felt a tinge of sadness at leavign him behind. But then he had thought that,with the recent battle, that perhaps the Vashimu would think its friend had been slain. Perhaps that would lead it to attempt escape and join him in freedom. Who knew?

But the Akura Jebia was free. Free to avenge himself, and the treatment of his fellow Akura.

When it had finished, it had let itself fall back into the water far below. There, it had found a tunnel, barred by metal bars. It's strong pincers had made light work of that, though, and it had swam through the tunnel, and had come to a large body of water, maybe a lake. The Jebia hadn't know. It hadn't cared. It only cared about those humans now. It had ignored the Plesioth swimming about, and swam through another, smaller hole in the stone. It was cramped, but when the Jebia had tucked its legs in it managed to squeeze through.

Then, when it had scuttled onto the dry land and the jungle that had lay ahead of it, it had heard the roar of a Wyvern overhead, it scampered into the thick brush, but as it peered form the darkness, it saw the very hunters that had wounded it and slain its friend. It had watched as they fought with the Gurenzeburu. It had watched as the monster killed one of them and fled. It had watched as they despaired and were lead away by two other humans.

It had seen everything.

It followed them as they had walked away behind the rocky passes. It had stealthily climbed up and peered down at them, only daring to peek its eyes above the rocks. It had heard the words "Gigginox", "cave" and "tomorrow".

It then stayed hidden until it was sure they were gone. Then it had slunk away, safe in the knowledge that it knew where they would be.

It knew where and when to strike.