Walking into the Guild felt different than it did days ago. Not entirely sure why, but it did. The air was heavy and the people were quiet. Like they felt something was on the horizon.
Really, it's no surprise.
After three whole days of prep, it was time for the hunting expedition.
Looking around Gales couldn't help but rub the side of his neck as he rolled his shoulder and took a breath. "Tensions so thick you could cut it with a knife." He muttered, before looking to Garm, noticing his Palamute's body was as stiff as a board. "You too huh." He muttered, reaching down to run his hand over the Palamute's fur before getting back to his feet and made a noise to tell his partner to follow.
"Hey Gales." Looking to the side he noticed Karma and his party were already seated, what could count as breakfast resting before them.
"Hey Karma." He replied, walking over. "Nox, Glade, Holland." He greeted, looking at their spread. "Eating breakfast."
"Can't work on an empty stomach." Glade stated as he patted a spot next to him as he called a Police over. "What'll it be?"
"A burger with Bullfango meat and scale lizard eggs, and kelbi cheese." Gales replied as he pulled out some coins and handed them to the Palico. "Also some Kibble for Garm."
"That's it?" Gales seemed to think for a moment before pulling out a few more coins.
"Coffee, make sure it's more kelbi milk and honey than coffee." Nox made a face as the Palico wandered off.
"You actually drink that stuff?"
"Only when there's anything other than coffee in it." Gales shrugged. "Can't stand it having it black." He admitted.
"It's an acquired taste." Holland admitted as he took a drink of his own coffee. "I find it helps wake me up."
"Truth be told I'd prefer a beer." Glade admitted.
"It's 8 in the morning."
"Well it's 8 at night somewhere." Glade countered as Nox shook his head and returned to his food.
"Anyway." Karma spoke up. "Were you able to get your hands on those things I told you about?"
"More or less." Gales admitted as he reached into his satchel and started rummaging around. "The flash, paint, and stink bombs were easy to get ahold of. "The vials? Not so much."
"Vials of what?"
"Boosters." Gales clarified, pulling out several vials of liquid. "Had to do a bit of digging to get my hands on the right herbs." He admitted, handing all but two of the vials to Karma before putting the other away. "The hard part came in the fact that the grounds outside are still pretty messed up from the bulls."
"No doubt." Holland muttered. "What were you able to get?"
"Adamant Seeds and Dash Extract." Gales admitted. "No Might Seeds or Nitroshrooms though."
"That's fine." Karma stated as he looked at the vials, noticing the different shades the liquid took as well as the identifying markers. He handed them to the three other members of his party, given that they were more likely to need them in the upcoming battle. "We'll just have to make do with what we got." He paused for a moment before looking at Gales. "Thanks for making these for me."
"Don't mention it." The feral eyed youth muttered as his food and Garm's kibble came. Without another word the pair started to eat, not so much as shoveling it down their throats and instead were more or less picking at it.
"Not that hungry?" Holland asked.
"I am it's just… ever get those days you just wanna take it slow?" Gales asked. "Just wanna savor the food."
"Yeah."Yeah, actually." Glade muttered. "Hate those days." He admitted. "Gives those 'last meal' sort of feel."
"Yeah…" Gales admitted as he took a bite from his food, before Garm nudged him. "So are you guys ready to head out?"
"Ready as we can be." Nox admitted.
"Supplies are stocked." Holland admitted
"Blades are sharp." Glade added.
"And bowguns loaded." Karma added. "All we can do now is just trust in our skills and hope for the best."
"Right." Gales muttered, reaching for his throat as he grabbed at his necklace. After a moment he let it go, his attention returning to his food as he returned to eating. For a moment they all just followed his example, enjoying their individual meals before the Guild Knights came out from the upper levels of the guild.
"Guess it's time to get going."
"Looks like it.
It's strange, not to mention a bit unnerving.
The sun has risen three times already, and still he'd yet to catch a glimpse of the one who has chosen to invade his territory.
Three days, and all he had succeeded in finding were the remnants of corpses - the signs of a brutish feast, as well as the tracks that disappear into the wilds.
Following them lead to nowhere, just to more brutalized corpses, scattered red, and piles of shit.
But the intruder could not be found.
Had they moved on?
No, it didn't feel as though that were the case.
Their stench still filtered throughout his territory…
Still, where were they?
How were they hiding from him?
A growl leaves the king of the skies.
He needed to find this threat soon.
His instincts were telling him as such.
'The wilds shouldn't be this quiet.' Gales realizes as he looks around, his attention turning left and right as he made a noise. "There's hardly any ambiance." He admits as he and the rest of the expedition continued walking on.
"Yeah…"Karma muttered as he looked elsewhere, his gaze trying to find something - anything that was capable of providing an ambiance. "It's should never be this quiet…"
"It's so weird…" Nox admitted. "It feels like this place has been cleared out." He admitted. "I don't even see a kelbi, let alone one of the bulls."
"Probably got turned into food." Holland muttered. "With how much a deviljho needs to eat just to acquire minimal energy… and with how many bulls are festing the area."
"It's probably going after them to keep its energy reserves up." Glade muttered putting a hand behind his head. "Probably the only good thing about this guy popping up." He stated. "Whether he's realizing it or not, he's helping with the infestation." The group fell silent as they continued to walk on. At least they continued walking till one of the Expedition leaders, the Guild Knights raised their hands and got the others to stop.
"What's going on?"
"Droppings." Karma realized, looking at the guild knight stare at a massive pile of dung just sitting in the middle of the road. They seemed to examine the dung pile for a moment as several members of the expedition either waved a hand in front of their noses or plugged them entirely.
"Swear, I'll never get used to how bad these things smell."
Yeah…"
"They belong to our World Eater though?"
One of the Guild Knights rolled up their sleeve and replaced their glove with one that seemed to be made of wool. Without a word they plunged the covered arm into the pile and seemed to search for something. What they found - what they pulled out was a skeleton - or at least part of one anyway. Not to mention a few strips of crushed and stained armor.
"We're on the right track." The Guild Knight muttered as she pulled off the shit covered glove and had it sealed away in a bag of hard leather. "Deviljho don't really chew their food." She admitted. "Come on, we don't want to lose the trail."
How many hours had it been?
Simplest answer was, 'more than a few'.
The sun looked like it had reached its apex not that long ago, and would soon start making its way toward the western horizon so that it might cloak the sky in radiant shades of burning orange.
That would take some time though.
For now the Hunting expedition was taking a much needed break so everyone could regain their strength and collect their wits.
Settling down, Gales took a moment to rest his blade as he looked around, taking a moment to examine the rest of the expedition group. Ten hunters in total,and two guild knights, just like Anya has said. They weren't able to call for any extra hunters, but had managed to recruit a handful of brave Felyne Comrades to help fill their ranks a bit.
"Will it be enough though?" Gales asked as he took a breath before feeling Garm nudge him before resting his head on his lap. Without a word, Gales started rubbing his head with a faint smile. "Let's hope things work out." He muttered as he used his free hand to reach for his water flask and took a drink from it. Garm's head suddenly turned to the right, his attention focusing on something in the distance as Gales followed his gaze. "What's up buddy?" He asked. "Smell something?" Garm made a noise as he got off his Hunter and started wandering off. "Garm?" Gales muttered, watching his partner walk to the edge of the makeshift camp before looking at something.
Without another word Gales picked himself and his Iron Sword up as he walked over to where Garm was standing. "Gales." Hearing his name Gales stopped for a moment to see Nox getting to his feet. "What's up, is something wrong?"
"Don't think so, but Garm's found something." Was all he said as he hurried over to his companion. And looked around. "What you find bud?" He asked, his attention turning to see nothing.
What he smelled though, that was a different story.
"By the Five…" The Hunter muttered covering his nose and mouth as he tried not to gag. "What is that smell?" He didn't get an answer. "It's not carrion." He grumbled as he looked around before his attention turned to the dirt beneath his feet..
What he found revealed itself to be a mound of sorts, the kind that certain insects are known to build.
It wasn't necessarily big; well, not as big as it could be, but that didn't change the fact that it stunk to high hell.
"What the hell?" Gales grumbled as he crouched down to het a better look at the insect mound his eyes narrowing as he saw a collection of ants just spread out around it.
They weren't moving.
"They're dead." The youth muttered looking at Garm. The Canyne just seemed to paw at his nose before backing away and blowing a current of air forward. Without a word Gales just stared at the mound before reaching for his carving knife and used it to poke the mound infront of him.
A hand grabbed his own as a voice called out. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Looking to the side, he noticed that Thorn was with him, pulling his knife arm back as she stared at the mound.
"Thorn?" The girl in question didn't say anything, instead just staring at the mound for a moment before making a face. "What's going on?"
"A gas vent must have formed under this thing." She grumbled before starting to reach into her pouch for something.
"A gas vent?" Gales muttered as he just stared at the girl next to him. "You mean that thing we talked about earlier?"
"That's right." Thorn muttered as she pulled out some cloth and tied it around her face. A second later she pulled out a flask of sorts and set it aside. A moment later she got to work, practically destroying the mound and causing Gales to gag at the sudden spell that was released before she started pouring the contents of her flask into the exposed soil.
"What are you pouring?"
"Prokarcoat." She stated. "It's an adhesive created by the guild's Alchemists, helps seal up cracks, it's mostly used for repairing small structures, but we can also use it to seal up the crack in the soil and stop the vents from spewing gas." She explained as she finished pouring the liquid and took a moment to cover it with the displaced soil she had left behind. "That should do it." She stated getting to her feet as she pulled off the cloth covering her face. "Now we just need to let the smell dissipate."
"Right…" Gales grumbled, still gagging as he shook his head and waved a hand in front of his face. "So… this is why you were looking for the Vents earlier?" Gales asked. "You're sealing them up."
"It's one of my duties." Thorn stated as she started walking back towards their expedition group.
"One of them?" Thorn didn't bother looking back as she responded.
"One of them." She muttered, continuing on her way. Gales just scratched his head before looking back at Garm who just returned the look. Without another word he started trotting back towards the group with Gales following close behind. For a moment though he couldn't help look back at the location where the mound had once been and made a face.
"Hey Gales." Glade called out. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm good." The youth muttered as he settled down next to Glade and the others.
"Saw Thorn follow after you, what happened?" Nox asked.
"Nothing much." Gales remarked with a shrug. "Found an insect mound that stunk to high hell, and Thorn decided to seal it up."
"Was it covering a toxic vent?" Holland asked as Gales looked at the other teen and nodded his head.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Seen her do something similar before." Holland admitted.
"So she's done this before?" Holland just nodded his head.
"Yeah, she's well known for looking for gas vents and sealing them up." Glade admitted. "Not too sure as to why, but she does it regardless."
"I see…" Gales muttered as he looked over to where Thorn was to see her sharpening her longsword. "I wonder why."
"Only she knows, and she doesn't tell people why." Holland muttered as the Guild Knights made themselves known.
"Alright, break time is over, time to get back on the trail." One of them stated as the Hunters got to their feet and started gathering up their things.
"Well, you heard the Guild Knights…" Gales muttered as he sighed to himself and took a breath. "Time to get a move on." He muttered as a sound ripped through the wilds and the nearby birds scattered. "Huh?"
"That sound…" Karma muttered. "That was…"
"Yeah." One of the other Hunter's muttered. "That's our quarry."
"Sounds close." Thorn grumbled.
"We should hurry!" One of the Guild Knights shouted. "Before it gets too far away
