My body was heavy. I couldn't move. My vision was starting to fade and all i could hear were my own thoughts. This is how it ends? I always figured it was going to come at the hands of someone I said something a little too cocky to. I could feel it pierce my skin and everything began to fade. Just before I blacked out, i could finally hear Kyuri's voice. She had been shouting from afar, but I couldn't understand her until now. "For cryin' out loud Shane! Its just a shot, quit being such a baby!"
Kyuri and I had been hunting for some time now and just moved to a higher ranking mission list. We were heading out to the Tundra to fight something called a 'Gigginox.' It was my first time fighting something with poisonous properties. The guild makes everyone get vaccinated before their first poisonous monster quest so you wont die (as fast (from the poison)). It was my first time getting a shot. I guess i could have handled myself a little better. "Good idea though Shane, Laying on the floor will circulate your blood throughout your body faster." She said giving me a thumbs up from the bench just outside the medical room. I had slid out of my chair and laid flat on my back in a sulking puddle of shame and tears.
"Its not so bad" Kyrui said, "They said that happens to a lot of people!" Punching me in the shoulder where i got my shot, I let out a wince. She was having way to much fun with this. We made our way to the Skyboat docks awaiting our transportation to the Tundra. It was the furthest from the city so we had some time to kill. "Ooh!" Exclaimed kyuri with little warning, startling me. "I made you a thingy! Close them eyes and prepare yourself for the best thing you've ever seeeeen~" I hate it when she does this. She means well, but her choice in gifts was.. strange. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy them, but when will I ever use a pair of tap shoes? "Oh boy" I said faking enthusiasm and covering my eyes. I could feel her pull my hands down in to the table with my palms up, my eyes were still closed. I could feel something warm, and made of cloth. "Open!" She said. Looking down, i saw a very poor made, and multi-colored scarf stitched together with a bright green string. It wasn't a straight edge, it was all jagged and.. Well pretty awful looking. "I made you a scarf! I didnt know what your favorite color was, so I just grabbed a whole bunch of them!" Picking up her hands to brush back her hair, I saw bandages and cuts all over her hands. It was from her making this herself for me. "Wow.. I just.." Looking down at it clenching in in my hands, "This is great Kyuri, thank you." I said with a smile wrapping it around my neck. There was still a needle in it, but i pretended nothing was wrong. She put so much thought into this just for me. I wasnt faking it anymore, I loved it. "Oh good!" She said reaching out to fix it around my neck, tugging the needle further into the back of my head. "Its gunna be cold up there and you're not used to it.. So i made you a goodie." "Thank you Kyuri, It means a lot." I said with a smile, trying not to black out at the thought of the cold steel probably pressing into my brain. "And my favorite color is purple." That was the one color absent from the scarf. "DAMNIT!" Kyuri barked throwing her hands up into the air. "Well look who it is." I heard a deep voice rumble from behind me. I hadnt noticed the whole table was covered in his shadow until now. I turned to see who could even cast such a large shadow. "Been a while.. Cuddle bunny."
Due to the difficulty of the mission given to us, the guild made us pair up with another member. And of course the person they chose was someone I've already been in a fight with.. They picked Siege. He seemed bigger than i remember.. but that could have just been his armor. It was a dark medal with a golden trim. I could see the handle of his sword peek above his head, scanning the rest of him, i noticed the blade went all the way down to his feet.. On both sides of his body. He had a Greatsword, Not many people could swing these around, but if anyone could, it would be Siege. "His name is Shane." Said Kyuri sounding kind of upset. "And who do you think you are?" "Names siege." He said in a monotone voice looking down at her. "The guild set me up with you two for this. Don't worry, I'm not pleased with their decision either." After a few moments of them staring at each other shooting dirty looks, i decided to say something. As soon as I took a breath to speak, they both directed their looks at me causing my words to die and fall out of my mouth without making any sound. "He better not be a dick the whole time," Said Kyrui, turning from the table and heading back to her room in a huff, "I need to get something I forgot." leaving me with Siege. Thanks buddy, your friendship means a lot to me too. He didnt stop staring at me. My mind went blank. Jeepers he was big. What can I talk about? Before I could even say anything, another large shadow cast itself over me. "How do you know that girl little man." An even deeper voice boomed from behind. I turned slowly to see a large bald man with a thick black beard. He was just as big, if not bigger than Siege. He wore a cut off shirt showing his massive tattooed arms. "Uh.. - I um. I-D-.. uh." I mumbled. Jeez where do these people come from? I looked like a little kid between the two giants. "I see you need to get your ass kicked." Siege grumbled. "Ill leave you to it." turning around and heading to the skydocks leaving this colossal man looking down at me. "If you're going to be in this group you need to be a team player!" I squeaked at him. His only response was a wave over his shoulder. I was about level with his stomach, looking up into his bright red eyes leering, what felt like, into my soul. "You got stupid in your ears?" He roared. "How do you know that girl?" "I uh." I stammered, gathering what little courage I had. "Her name is Kyuri and we've.. Uh.. been doing some things together." "What sort of things manchild? Adult things?" Leaning closer to me almost screaming, i could smell on his breath what smelled like the victim of the last persons head he bit off. "What? no!" I said falling back onto the tables bench, "We're partners-Well not partners, more just friends of opposite genders (Nice going buddy, way to dig a deeper hole)- Um, no more like- shes my lady friend who i do things with. (oh hey look, rock bottom. Looks like ill need a pickaxe to get deeper in this one)" The rest of the things I said just kind of fell out without thinking. It made a bad situation worse. The veins in his arms and neck began to bulge and pulse with his elevating heart rate. So this is how I die. I knew it would because of something dumb I said.. And I knew it would be from Kyuri. "You got a problem buddy?" A small voice peeped from behind the seven foot tall murder machine in my face. Shocked, her turned. It was Kyrui. Oh golly woman, nice work, you distract him and ill just run until my body stops working. "Stay out of this pipsqueak, dont make me use your arm bones as toothpicks!" He barked at her. Perfect. This is my chance to crawl under the table and pretend im somewhere else. I wonder if i could make my own split personality to escape into a fantasy world.. "Pft," She scoffed "You dont have the guts." "Oh I got half a mind to-" "BRING IT ON OLD MAN!" They were really getting into it now. I was horrified. the whole canteena was just staring at us. I saw kyrui's face change she was.. Smiling? She started to laugh, as well as the huge guy. "Hi papa!" She said jumping into the now open arms of the titan. "Hi babydoll! how have you been?" he said. "Shane! get out from there he was just kidding!" Her reassuring words didnt quite coax me out from my hiding place quite yet. "Howdoyado sir." I said sticking out my arm toward him from under the table. Reaching for me, he grabbed my arm and yanked me out and gave me a huge, bone crushing hug. "Oh come now boy, dont be a stranger! Little missy here told me all about you!" I can see where Kyuri got her strange personality. "Goof-fings i hopf" it was hard to talk with my face mashed into roughly four hundred pounds of pure muscle. "Great things! You seem like quite the catch. she said you were better looking thou-" A swift elbow to the kidney cut him off. "DAD. Seriously? Just. Shut. Up.." Turning a blushed face toward the docks, "Shall we depart then?" She said marching up to the stairs. "Now, I want to hear everything about you son" He said flipping me and dropping me to my feet draping his massive arm over my shoulders and pulling me close leading me to the skyboat. "Whats your favorite color? Whats that ink on your face for? Why are you the way you are? Whats that-" I blocked him out. I could tell i wouldnt get much of a chance to speak anyway.
Turns out Kyrui's dad was a Skyboat pilot for the guild. Specifically for the tundra, he said not many people wanted to fly out there because of the creatures, distance, and how cold it was. He made me sit on the steering wheel the whole time between his massive hands, bombarding me with personal questions. Sometimes too personal. Luckily for me, Kyrui often interrupted him by throwing whatever was closest to her at him. Siege just leaned against the mast with his eyes closed, smoking his pipe. he was very quiet and reserved. I finally got a chance to think my own thoughts when her dad asked how many kids we were going to have and Kyrui threw a barrel at him and started to yell at him. I knew nothing about Siege, I didnt even know if i could rely on him if things got hairy. I just need to be more careful, i thought. I dont know if he can even pull his own weight. Which is a lot.
Sporting my wonderfully awful scarf, I stepped into the snow for the first time in my life. It was cold.. But very pretty. The thick perfectly white snow covered everything except for the huge fire in the center of the camp. "Have fun!" Yelled her dad. "Especially you two." he said pointing and winking at me and kyuri. Her face turned bright red and she bent over quickly rolling a massive snowball. She held it over her head and lobbed it on the boat, covering him and more than half the deck of the boat. "Uh, is he okay? should we dig him out?" I asked. "Hes fine. C'mon, we're doing something" Kyrui said assuming authority of this mission. "Cmon jumbo, get the lead out!" She shouted at Siege. "Maybe you can talk to your little lap dog like that, but you better be careful with how you talk to me." He said walking past us. "Keep up. Its not my fault if you die."
"Man. Hes a huge buzzkill." whispered Kyuri to me. "Why couldn't we just do this.. its not like we cant handle this ourselves.." "Do you even know what a Giginox is? Asked Siege. He heard her whisper and stopped in his tracks. "A Gigganox is the alpha for every Giggi born in its respectable area. Its about fifty feet long and can spit a harsh toxin out of both ends. It has no eyes because of its dwelling in the darkest caves and has an organ that can allow it to find its prey just off of their body heat. it can climb up walls and spew out an egg sack of Giggi within ten seconds filling an area of Giggi within minutes. Not to mention they can empty a body of all fluids in seconds if not interrupted." Turing back to walk down the trail, taking a sip of a steaming beverage from his canteen. "So no, you cant handle this on your own. Im the only thing that can keep you alive."
"Well when you say it like THAT.. Wait for us!" Shouted Kyrui grabbing my hand and pulling me behind our large guide.
This isnt going to be easy is it..