As our brave hunters continue to gather the beasts of legend…they stop by Cropdale in the Leaflands on their way to Crackridge. As they entered, a familiar scent crossed the noses of some of the members.

"Meat!" they all said as they stormed the meat vendor's stall.

"Yeah…should have known that was gonna happen." Jexi said.

"Blech…" Ochette said not liking the taste of her meat.

"Not to your liking?" Natsu said as some of the guys laughed as they ate the meat.

"This tastes weird." Ochette pointed out.

"Unfortunately that's what happens when it gets old. Takes a number of herbs just to cover up the smell. We can't get anything fresher." the vendor said.

"Yeah you can. Just take one down yourself." Natsu said.

"Are you crazy? Only hunters with nerves of steel and not much common sense could…" the vendor said as the meat lovers ran towards the forest.

"And she said the magic words…" Weiss said. "Come on. We better go to make sure they don't kill themselves." she said as they headed on after them.


At that same time, the apothecary Castti as well as the Shining Hope Squad were also in said forest in Cropdale, gathering up herbs and plants before they go across the sea to Winterbloom.

"Good thinking, restocking your herb supply before we head to Winterbloom, Castti." Hope said.

"It never hurts to be prepared. You never know what we'll encounter in the Winterlands, other than extreme cold." Castti said. "Also.. with what I remembered about that toxic rain, I might need as many herbs as I can."

"Let's save the speculations until after you've remembered everything, okay?" Catra said.

"Do you think we should also hurry it up, too? I've heard there are these giant boars that live around here that don't take well to trespassers." Leanne said.

"Cmon Leanne, we haven't seen a Duorduor yet. Besides, who'd be crazy enough to try and find one of those things?" Flamberge asked.

"Yah!" a voice cried out as Ochette jumped out of the brush and pounced on Catra.

"Hey, what the?!" Catra said.

"Hey guys! I caught a wild cat. Are they tasty?" Ochette asked as the group emerged from the brush.

"Nah…don't hunt that. She's not edible…and too sour." Dan said.

"Seriously, Dan?!" Catra asked.

"He's just saying what everyone else is…" Jexi said before seeing Hope. "Hope?!"

"Jexi?!" Hope said.

"Wait, you know these guys?" Ochette asked.

'

"Yeah…good friends of ours." Jexi said. "We've been through a lot together."

"Yeah, and we're definitely not food. Now could you please get off me before I do something I'll regret, like …" Catra said.

"Sit!" Ochette said as Catra sat down as Ochette fed her some jerky. "Good kitty."

"What just happened…?" Catra said.

"Guess she has a way with animals." Vashyron said. "Who is she?"

"This is Ochette. A hunter from Toto'Haha." Jexi said. "She's also a Beastling."

"A demi human subrace huh? Explains the ears and tail." Sabo said.

"She shouldn't be running around so carelessly." Castti said.

"Sure. Whatever you say, ma." Ochette said.

"What?" Castti asked.

"I think you sounded like her mother just now." Frosta said.

"Oh." Castti realized. "Anyway…it's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Castti. An apothecary."

"Oh so this is the one you're traveling with." Jexi said.

"Yeah, she's got retrograde amnesia, and we're helping her find her lost memories." Hope said. "We've only got a few pieces right now, but we're headed to Winterbloom to find some more."

"Wha'tre you guys up to with your accompaniment?" Kaibara asked.

"We're helping Ochette find 3 Creatures of Legend. So far we only have 1, an offspring of the previous sea legend." Alear said. "We were headed to Crackridge to locate the second Creature, Tera."

"But you guys took a little detour because you wanted to take a lunch break right? Lemme guess, you smelled meat in the air?" Hope asked.

"Some of them did. We were just…" Jexi said. "Hey, isn't this forest a little…too quiet?"

"Now that you mention it, we've been herb gathering for awhile, and we haven't run across any wild beasts or monsters at all." Adora said. "Something's wrong here."

"We should team up and…" Zephyr began before footsteps were heard as a large boar was coming their way.

"Hey, that must be one of the famous Duorduor." Ochette said.

"It doesn't look too happy…" Bow said.

"You're correct Bow, it seems quite agitated." Castti said.

"Easy now…what's gotten into you?" Ochette said as it charged as the group jumped.

"Not good. It's in real pain. We need to take it down." Chopper said.

"Sorry Duorsy, but this is gonna hurt a bit!" Ochette said.

The duorduor charged again, and the group avoided it. Flamberge then drew her sword and slashed at the beast in a burning wave, capitalizing on its weakness to fire. Bow followed up and nailed it with an arrow right to its side. It regained its composure before charging once more.

"Fire Dragon's Claw/ Fire Fist!" both Natsu and Sabo called out as both of them landed flaming strikes on the Duorduor, taking it down to the ground.

That was when the duorduor started snorting a bit, staying still.

"Translation, please?" Lei K asked.

"It's injured." Chopper said as he listened to the birds too. "Begone humans. Hurt not the duorduor." he translated.

"He knows what the animals are saying?" Castti asked.

"Of course he does, he's an animal himself. And he's also a first rate doctor." Gemini said.

"I see… perhaps he and I could treat this beast then?" Castti asked.

"Right. He still needs help." Chopper said as they got to patching the beast up as it spoke. "He's saying he's sorry for what happened. He only attacked cause some terrifying monster was in the woods. He's also on edge cause a while back, some humans and their gremlin went and attacked one of his friends."

"A monster? Wonder what it was." Ochette said.

"Something dangerous if it spooks this big guy." Vashyron said.

"We'd better keep an eye out for this monster. It may come back." Hope said. "But first, why don't we eat before we get back on the road?"


It was later that evening that the group set up camp as a feast was prepared as they chatted and partied a bit.

"It's been a long time since it was just the two of us doing stuff like this, huh Jexi?" Hope asked. "Brings back memories. Me, being the inexperienced guy that I was, teaming up with you and sharing good, bad and awkward times."

"I remember it more as the random guy who could not take a hint." Jexi smirked.

"Hey, I improved overtime though. And you've come to see me as a trusted comrade." Hope said. "I'll tell you, sometimes I can't believe all the stuff we've been through together."

"I'll admit, you stuck around much longer than I thought. Even after being beaten down all those times, you still got back up." Jexi said.

"And here I am now, with you, with my own team and each of us having our own reps." Hope said. "With all that happened to us since we met… I don't ever regret coming to find you back then. You helped me become more than just who I was back then, Jexi. I'm grateful to you for that."

"And I'm glad you're my friend." Jexi said. "You know…there was this nice camping spot further south from this town. When everyone is done, we should meet up there and swap our stories."

"Sounds good to me." Hope smiled. "Good luck on your search for the other two Creatures of Legend."

"Good luck restoring her memory." Jexi said.

With that, the two groups bid their farewells and parted ways, continuing their paths to help their traveler companions.