10: The Emperor's New Pet

Dante ran as fast as he could through the deserted fort. The only noises were the heavy footfall of him and Shikimaru and the endless symphony of the roaring Jaganoto combined with steel upon rock. He panted heavily, struggling to keep up with the separatist in his burdensome Rathalos armour. He didn't have time to take it off, though. In tha time it would take him to do that Shikimaru would already be gone. In fact, he'd probably have to parkour across the fort to catch him. He was pretty good at being unpredictable; they'd been expecting a feeble, spoiled young man with an over-the-top security arrangement who'd be easy to kill, but instead they'd got a seemingly intelligent young man with superhuman strength (it took alot to take on a Guild soldier, and Shikimaru had just beaten two in less than a minute) and a Brute Wyvern for a pet and hardly any protection at all. Things had gone from picture-perfect to worst-case-scenario within about 30 seconds.

He was gonna catch this son of a bitch even if he had to fight a thousand Brute Wyverns.

As he darted down another sharp turn after the runaway emperor, he was forced to stop dead in place as a black kunai sliced into the ground before him. Seconds after, the familiar form of Shin Mei leapt acrobatically from the rooftop of one of the fort's small structures on the left side of the area, landing on his feet like a cat and retrieving his kunai from where it lay embedded in the dusty earth.

"Sorry, kiddo, but I've gotta do my job. "Duty to your country" and all that," the Tenkai general stated casually. He almost seemed to be complaining. Dante growled to himself and drew his sword, hunkering down into a menacing stance. He knew he had to get this over with quickly or he'd lose Shikimaru. He ran forth to attack. He blade sliced into the ninja garbs of Shin Mei...and the separatist turned to smoke before his eyes. Dante's eyes widened, knowing he had been deceived. Not long after, he felt the keen sting of a sharp kick to the head as Shin Mei attacked from behind without making a sound. "Please don't make this take any longer than it has to," he moaned with disdain.

"Fuck you," Dante snarled as he stumbled to his feet.

"Nah, I'd rather not; I don't swing that way," Shin Mei retorted almost gingerly. Dante wasn't sure whether he was being sarcastic or he really misunderstood the insult. He shook the thought from his mind and ran at Shin Mei once again. Yet again, he slashed into Shin Mei, and yet again he became smoke. He slashed out behind him in case the ninja attempted to ambush him a second time, but his Red Divine Flame simply fanned the air once again. Upon instinct, he slanted his head to the left, and a few seconds later a kunai whizzed past his face. Dante flung his sword out behind his back, and it made contact with some kind of metal. He turned to see a large glaive spinning through the air on its way back to Shin Mei. It was like a giant shuriken, bladed and deadly. No sooner than Shin Mei had retrieved his weapon had he flung it toward Dante once again, the razor blade becoming a round, deadly silver blur. Dante put his shield up to block the attack, but the defense was futile, the deadly weapon sliced vertically through the shield and pared it in two like butter, but still it didn't stop. It made contact with Dante's helm, tearing into the metal and into the skin on his face, slashing him from his left eyebrow down to his cheek, thankfully not gouging his eye out. He still cried out in shock, however. He pulled the weapon out of his helmet with a determined grunt and dropped itat his side, the blades that protruded from the centre stained with his blood. His helmet was ruined and wouldn't provide a great amount of protection with a gaping maw in it, so he pulled it off, exposing his windswept, dark brown hair and blue eyes beneath the intimidating Rathalos gaze of the headgear. As the helm began to roll away, he put his foot on it and slowly crushed it.

"Is this all you've got?" Shin Mei asked, disappointed. Dante stayed silent and glared at the separatist, somewhat angry. "I'm disappointed..." he continued, then trailed off upon the epiphany that he didn't know his opponent's name.

"Dante," Dante snarled.

"Right, Dante. As I was saying, Dante, I'm disappointed. I know I said I wanted this to be quick, but...wow. Are you sure the black ops department was wise in their decision to bring a ragtag group of outer region monster hunters into a warzone?"

"Shut up."

"Oh, come now! You're onlw saying that because you know I'm right."

"I said SHUT UP!" Dante roared. Before Shin Mei had time to react, Dante had lobbed his sword at the general with the same speed and strength that Shin Mei had just thrown his glaive. Shin Mei simply stepped a little further to the right and allowed the crimson lade to continue on its course. embedding itself in a stone wall behind him, close to a sakura tree.

"Well, that wasn't a very smart move, now, was it?" Shin Mei said, as if he'd warned the teenager beforehand. "now you have no sword, no shield and no helmet. What is it you hope to accomplish by fighting a ninja with your bare hands?"

Dante had finally had enough of Shin Mei's prattle. He launched toward the man, eager to beat him senseless. Shin Mei simple sidestepped as he approached and stuck his leg out, tripping the boy up and causing him to fall face-down in the dirt. He walked over, crouched down and grabbed Dante by the hair and lifted him to his feet.

"You are a fool," Shin Mei hissed. He almost sounded like he cared about what was going on for once. "You have allowed yourself to be distracted by me and my taunts and you have allowed Emperor Shikimaru to escape. Go home, boy. This is not your war."

"Your people made it my war when you took my parents from me!" Dante cried, as if confessing to a murder. Shin Mei fell silent, and so did Dante. Shin Mei looked forward, the way Shikimaru had escaped and beyond, allowing his surroundings to become a blur, the way one does when in deep thought. Then, out of the blue, he let go of Dante, who fell to the floor with a defeated sigh and lay there. The Tenkai general sprinted away into the distance, the sound of his movements fading away within a matter of seconds.

Dante thought of his parents, his mother and father, who had both enlisted to join the Guild's armies to fight for a country embroiled in civil war against separatists who thought that they knew better than the government. A month later, when the bi-monthly death tolls were relayed around the country, both of his parents' names had been on the parchment. Luckily, he was fifteen at the time and was able to look after himself, but he had then moved in with Alexis (who was his girlfriend then as well), who'd also been orphaned the very same way a couple of months before, but it was still hard to put enough food on the table every night, even though they were hunters. Luckily, fortune had smiled upon them and they rose in the rankings, which meant more pay, but things were still hard. Orphaned children were nothing new in the outer regions even before the war with Tenkai, but it was still a terrible thing. He'd buried everything deep down inside until now, but all of his pain, rage and grief was boiling to the surface. All the walls he'd spent so long making were tumbling down, and tears were flowing from his eyes like an inexorable tide.

He curled himself up into a ball and cried.

"MOVE!" Miyuki roared, shoving the vulnerable Ash out of the way and placing her sword flat against her free hand and pressing it against the onrushing Jaganoto's head with all her might. Although the oncoming head-butt clashed with her blade (it was a miracle the sword didn't break), Miyuki herself was pushed back in the dirt a considerable couple of metres before grinding to a halt, sparks dancing around the point of contact between the Brute Wyvern's head and Miyuki's blade all the while. With gritted teeth and a lot of effort, she pushed the creatures head back. It growled in response, stumbling backward a couple of steps. It was then that the shock trap -set by Alexis- underneath its feet activated. Electricity coursed from the small black disk and into the monster, causing it to howl in pain, paralysis taking root and binding it in place. the pointed plates that made up its "scales" quivered violently, exposing the dark pink flesh beneath.

This was their chance.

Everybody surged forward at once, swamping the fearsome creature from all angles, hacking and slashing at it with their myriad weapons, aiming for the exposed flesh (although the plates on its back weren't standing right up, so it was difficult to reach the weak spots with larger weapons like longswords or switch axes). Ichiro was going wild, stabbing his Akura Vashimu dual blades into its flesh again and again and again, blood purting out and smearing the blades, his armour, even his face. He didn't seem to care. His face was fierce and determined but his eyes were alight with bloodlust and pleasure. As the shock trap expired, Ichiro's last stab into the creature made it scream in agony. Following this, it flailed about where it lay, knocking all of the hunters away, scattering them like leaves in the wind. As it lumbered to its feet, its eyes turned a menacing, nightmarish red, and it braced its body and roared so loud that those without any earplugs dropped their armaments and clamped their hands over their ears. As the bloodcurdling noise was projected from the Jaganoto, all of its plates stood up, making it look somewhat akin to a monstrous, demonic hedgehog, it's already intimidating figure now covered in jagged, triangular spines.

"Okay," Alexis said as she gazed upon the beast, "I think it's pretty safe to say that we pissed it off. Big time."

As if to actively support this statement, the Jaganoto leapt forward at April, rearing its pointy head back, poised to strike any moment now. Luckily, Aaron was on hand and scooped his newfound love interest out of the way just as the Brute Wyvern slammed its horn into the dirt with brutal aggression. Chunks of soil and clay sprayed out in all directions, not damaging in any way but certainly forcing home the destructive potential of an enraged monster. As it pulled its head back out, it swiped at Ash and Ruby, who were preparing to attack from behind, with its massive tail. The two girls cried out as their delicate bodies bounced off of the ground several times before finally coming to a stop.

"Leave my sister alone, you...!" Teiko growled, but never finished the sentence upon realising the futility of spewing insults at a monster. He simply raised his sword aloft in a display of courage and charged at the creature, roaring all the way, feeling invincible as usual.

"Not again..." Ash groaned as she sat up on the floor with Ruby, the pair of them watching with dismay and exasperation. "Typical big bro. Sometimes I wonder if how big his hero complex really is."

"You should count yourself lucky he's not an egotist. Well, not a huge one, but hey, nobody's perfect," Ruby said, struggling to fit the words together, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, least of all Teiko!" Ash chuckled. She appreciated that her brother wanted to protect her, it was just that he wasn't very good at it. They watched as the Jaganoto swatted Teiko away like a fly with one of its stubby arms, then got up to rejoin the fight, shaking their heads as they built up a run.

"Damn, this thing's one tough bastard!" Alexis complained as she desperately tried to damage the creature. It's rock-hard armouring was too tough even for her Hi Ninja Blade + and each time she struck the beast she got nothing but yellow sparks and a jolt of recoil in return. Finally, having had enough of failure, she tensed her muscles with anger and adrenaline, focused on the creatures lower leg and slammed her blade down on it again and again, endlessly, her growling growing louder as she failed even more.

"Take this, you piece of shit!" she shrieked, and with one final mighty blow she tore into the rock and cut a deep gash in the flesh beneath. The Jaganoto yowled in pain and lashed out at Alexis with its wounded leg. The force of the blow hit her stomach full-on and she crashed against a tree trunk, hitting her head and falling unconscious. As the Jaganoto turned and prepared to attack another hunter, it stopped and perked its head up attentively at the sound of a strange kind of flute. It must have been some kind of siggal that the monster had been trained to recognise as an order to retreat, as it almost immediately bounded back out of the tear in the courtyard wall it itself had made, storming off away as fast as its wounded leg would carry it.

Silence descended and the wildlife orchestra of hooting owls, chirping crickets and buzzing flies began their symphony. The fires in the fort, whether intentionally lit or caused as the hunters had fought their way through the fort, crackled in the background like an encore. Nobody was really sure when to break the silence.

After a very long minute, Yumi spoke.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," she grumbled with a hint of sarcasm, sheathing her weapon with disappointment.

"Oh my god, what about the soldiers that were with us before? Where did they go?" Ash cut in, alarm etched onto her face.

"Dead, bonnie lass," Thain answered, sort of solemnly. "We Guildsmen might be augmented by that serum they give us, but we ain't invincible, and lemme tell ye, those silver ones, the imperial honour guards, they're a tough bunch o' bastards, I tell ye now. It doesn't surprise me that we've suffered casualties against foes like them."

"Aw, too bad..." Ash trailed off. Suddenly, Irvine gasped and looked up from where they stared into space.

"Dante! I sent him after Shikimaru. We have to find him," he said.

"The rest of you go. I'll stay here and tend to Alexis. I am the resident medic, after all," Ruby stated. Immediately, the others sprinted off through the broken wall in search of their friend.

"Mother?"

The boy called out to his mother, who was walking toward the village exit. She was dressed in the valiant red and gold of the Guild, like a male soldier's uniform, but with the red and gold material arranged like an elaborate poncho as opposed to mere decoration, as well as a knee-length red skirt with a gold trim. and there was a fancy-looking open-back wooden carriage lined with expensive metals and being drawn by a massive, hunkering Bulldrome. Another, person, a man, was also dressed in a Guild military uniform and was waitng on the back of the carriage. The woman turned around, smiling at her son. She was beautiful, with soft skin that lacked an wrinkles at all, gorgeous, wavy golden hair that was down to her shoulders, ruby red lips and two mesmerising eyes as blue as the sky. The boy also noted the deep gold leather attached to her waist with a belt, the hilt of a sword protruding from it. He preferred to ignore the golden scabbard- he knew all to well what was concealed beneath its surface and he had no desire to see it. The woman walked over to the boy, a teenager, who was almost her height.

"Yes, darling?"

"Why are you going? Why are both of you going? If what they say is true..." He stopped, his eyes twitching as he tried not to express too much emotion. He looked down at the floor, anger creasing his brow. The woman placed a gentle hand on the boy's face and slowly turned his head to face her again.

"Dante, look at me," she said with the tenderness only a mother could provide.

"I don't wan't you both to die. I don't want to be another outer region orphan!" he said weakly, his voice breaking. Dante's mother wrapped her arms around her son's neck and let him cry for a little onto her chest. She kissed his head lovingly and ran her hand though his hair. She, too, knew the risks of singing up for the war effort. The chances of her making it back alive were slim.

"I know. You won't be. I promise. Even if your father and I..." she stopped to rethink her wording. "Even if we don't make it back, you've got Alexis. She loves you, Dante. I'm a woman, I can tell. No matter what the outcome of this is, you won't end up on the streets. You won't. I guarantee it."

A moment of silence passed.

"I've got to go now, honey," she said with regret. She slowly moved away from her son, their fingers parting slowly. She climbed onto the back of the carriage with her husband, who said nothing. He'd already said his goodbyes and judging by the look on his face and the pain in his eyes he'd break if he said anything further. "Always remember that we love you very much," she said, trying her best to smile.

Dante watched as the Bulldrome pulled the carriage away from the village and to whatever lay beyond, his face a gaunt mask of fear and sadness.

"...Nte...ke up...Ante...Dante, wake up!"

Dante's eyes snapped open. He was back in Fort Ryu, his friends crowded around him. Those whose faces he could see were fraught with worry. The pain from where Shin Mei's glaive had sliced his skin began to set in once more, and as he put up his right palm to hold it against his face, he saw that it was slick with blood, and so was the earth beneath. Well, perhaps "slick" was over-exaggerating. He wasn't going to bleed to death, but he was still bleeding and the wound hurt. He must've been concussed, too, to have blacked out .

"What happened?" Irvine asked slowly, with care, not rushing him.

"It was...Shin Mei, he...he got in...in the way..." Dante murmured. His vision was hazy, his head felt like lead and everything he said came out as in a slur. Sound was becoming fuzzy, too.

"So Shikimaru escaped..." Irvine muttered with dismay. He sighed sadly. "It is my fault; It was foolish to send Dante after him alone. I should have known he'd have a failsafe of some sort. I just wasn't expecting a huge Brute Wyvern to attack us and a ninja master to attack Dante. We had the end of the war in our sights...and I let it slip away."

"...So what do we do now?" April asked hauntingly, genuinely worried about the situation. The tide of the war, Dante's injuries, all of it was too much.

"I...I don't know, April. I don't know. But we can start by going home."