"Target spotted at two o'clock."
"What, really? Time sure flies."
"No, no. I mean it's over there."
"Oh." Spence stood up, stretching in preparation for the upcoming fight. "Could've just said."
"It sounds cooler if you say it that way." Jean mimicked his actions.
"Not a single part of this conversation matters." Isa stepped forward to the edge.
The group was standing atop a cliff overlooking the area. Their target, a Brute Tigrex, walked around below them, clueless.
"Ok, the mission begins now."
"Roger." "Sure thing."
Three hunters and monsters jumped onto the slope, descending towards the Tigrex.
Isa and Irontusk slid slightly ahead of the group, before suddenly disappearing from view. There was a hole in the path that they had all failed to notice until the two of them fell down it. The last thing they heard from her was a distant annoyed yell.
Tama veered to the left, the path sloped upwards. Using her bubbles, she continued to slide up the climb. Jean clung to her back excitedly. This left only two on the path. Storm picked up speed, preparing to attack. The slide was supposed to lead them right to the Tigrex.
With the overwhelming amount of speed they'd picked up, this was nowhere near the case. Spence and Storm shot right over, finally getting the Tigrex's attention. Refusing to give in, Storm readied himself to land on a nearby wall. The impact of the landing shook him up, but he jumped back towards the Tigrex without even a moment's hesitation.
At the same time, Tama lept from the highest point, hurtling through the air towards the Tigrex. Isa and Irontusk finally arrived after crashing through the tunnel.
The three arrows converged on a single point, in the same moment. All that was left was the attack.
It never arrived. The Tigrex roared as they drew close, completely cancelling out their momentum and sending every hunter flying through the air. The monsters were less dramatically affected, but still came to a halt.
Spence was the first to recover.
"Come on, that's just lame!"
Jean followed after him.
"You should've taken the attack like a real warrior. Now everything cool about that moment is wasted."
"Just what do you have to say for yourself?" Isa asked the Tigrex. In response, it roared once more.
"Yeah. Exactly what I thought you'd say."
They got ready to fight, charging forward. Before anything else happened, something crashed into view with a roar. A Rajang stood just above them in the same spot that the three had been just a few moments earlier.
"Hmm." Jean looked up. "We should run. Right now."
"What?" Isa asked. "It's just a monkey."
"Oh. You've never seen one before, have you? Ok, how's this? Imagine lightning striking the ocean. We're the fish nearby at the time. We don't have any way of fighting back against lightning. But we do have the choice of not being where it strikes."
Spence stepped forward, the choice of metaphor having provoked him.
"Did you forget already? As long as I'm wearing this armour, I don't plan on losing to anyone or anything. Running away just isn't our style. If it wants a fight, we're gonna give it one."
"I agree. I haven't got any reasons that sound as nice, but I don't want to run from this thing either. Besides, it's just standing there. We don't even know if it wants a fight."
Jean sighed.
"Oh, what the hell. I like your spirits. Let's die together."
"Huh?" Isa asked back.
"What?"
"Since when were we going to die?"
"Since the start, really. Happens to every living thing, y'know?"
"Not that, I mean just here. I didn't think you meant sticking with us for the rest of our lives."
"What? Are we not doing that now?"
"I mean, maybe? I haven't really thought about that stuff."
"I'd love it if we could stay together in sickness and health and all that other stuff, just so you know."
"Um, thanks. I don't know how to react to that properly so I'm changing subjects. Why are you acting like we're going to die to this monster?"
"Oh, that. Well just look." She pointed, finally getting Isa to turn back to the Tigrex. Or at least, where the Tigrex had been standing before she got distracted. In its place was the Rajang. That wasn't to say that the Tigrex had gone very far from the spot, just that it was no longer standing there. The reason being that the Rajang was currently swinging it around by the tail.
The Rajang spun, dragging it through the ground before flinging it into the air. In spite of its classification, the flying wyvern was unable to do much more in the air but flail around helplessly. Before it could return to solid ground, the Rajang fired a beam of electricity towards it.
This burnt into the mountain behind it.
Spence observed the fight calmly, lowering his right hand from his chin.
"I think we're probably screwed."
"It's somehow worse to hear you say it."
"What happened to not giving up?" Jean asked.
"That was before I saw a beam completely annihilate a wyvern."
"It wasn't complete annihilation. See, it's still intact over there. And over there as well. And I think I can even see some over there."
"Listen up, Jean." Spence crossed his arms.
"What?"
"I like my body like I like my coffee."
There were a few moments of silence before Jean realised he was waiting.
"And that is?"
"Not broken into multiple pieces."
"If you two don't stop making bad jokes I'm going to kill you before the monster does."
As if being challenged, the Rajang lept towards the group.
They split off. It targeted Irontusk first. She pulled up the earth in an attempt to block, but the mighty fists of the beast tore through even that without a problem. As her partner was hit, Isa retaliated by striking at its horns.
The Rajang took notice of this. As their lines of sight crossed, Isa felt an incredible sense of dread. The only intent the one in front of her had was destruction. It was born for the sole purpose of combat. And now, she was the next target in line for demolition.
Irontusk jumped back, trying to escape. The Rajang prepared to follow, but it got interrupted. Tama and Jean moved between them. She twisted around, releasing bubbles. Puzzled by these, the Rajang stared at them for a moment before attempting to jump through them. The bubbles popped as it ascended. When it reached the ground it failed to land properly, losing its balance and slipping.
The bubbles had taken effect. They prevented it from moving around properly, falling over constantly.
The group readied themselves to use this small advantage, but before they could get close it roared. Electricity sparked around it as the hairs on its back turned golden. The bubbles evaporated.
"Yeah, that figures."
Spence and Storm descended. He thrusted his glaive towards it as he fell through the air, piercing the Rajang's side, but was quickly thrown off. Unfaltering, he closed the distance again.
"Sorry, but I'm not gonna back down when it comes to lightning."
The Rajang attempted to crush the two with its punches, but they proved too swift to be caught. They simply continued to circle around it, landing the occasional hit.
Eventually, he made a mistake. The Rajang tried to punch out at the same time he attacked. His own attack collided with the monsters. In a battle of pure strength, the hunter was no match. He staggered back slightly, shaken up by the impact. Not missing this chance, the Rajang's other arm smashed him into the ground.
The earth cracked. Spence felt his consciousness barely hanging in there. The Rajang grabbed him and began to slam him around before throwing him in the air.
He felt like he recognised this from earlier. The sense of deja vu faded into a sense of incoming doom as the Rajang charged up. Death was staring up at him.
He aimed the rear end of the glaive he was just barely grasping onto towards the Rajang and boosted himself away. The beam of lightning filled the space he was occupying less than a moment before.
Spence fell awkwardly, landing in an area to the side, out of view.
Someone was waiting there. A small girl. She seemed to have been watching the Rajang before he landed there. This seemed overly familiar to him.
"Ah, so if we're following the same pattern as last time." He got up, seeing someone taking over the fight against the Rajang for the party. However, this time the rescuer was using a bow.
"Yeah, no, I'm good."
"What?" The girl asked.
"I've been through this one before. But I'm not the same guy I was back then. I'm not just gonna sit here and let him handle it while you talk about being weak or whatever."
"What?"
"Y'know. The whole, he's strong, I'm weak. That kinda thing."
"I didn't call you weak."
"No, not me."
"You're calling me weak?"
"Not really. I don't even know you. You're the one calling yourself weak."
"I'm not weak. I don't even know what you're talking about."
"The way it went last time, obviously."
"Last time? What was last time?"
"Uh, like. That first Deviljho fight."
"I've never fought one of those!"
"I wasn't saying you did."
"Then why are you- Ahh, I'm done! I'll show you that I'm not weak!"
She stormed off towards the Rajang, readying a bow of her own.
A short while earlier, the ones still fighting paused at the bow user's entrance. His face was covered by a helmet.
Fighting alongside him was a strange Kecha-Wacha. The two moved around the target as if dancing, landing hits and weaving out of the way of the devastating attacks.
With flame, water and claws the Kecha-Wacha wore the opponent down. The bow user had far less variety to offer, but his rapid shots provided a constant problem for the target.
The Rajang was caught inside their dance, unable to escape. No matter how it struck out, it was unable to find a means of retaliation. It was stuck in place, akin to being frozen in ice.
Something interrupted this entrapment. The girl burst onto the scene, getting ready to attack the Rajang.
"Sam, what are you-?"
"I'll prove it!"
The Rajang managed to break out while the hunter was distracted. The girl shot it with some arrows. Regarding the attack as nothing more than an annoyance, the Rajang made a careless attempt to swat her.
The girl had no time to react as it crashed down. Certain death loomed before her. The hunter managed to get her out of the way just in time, but took a hit from the Rajang in the process, knocking him away with a grunt.
The Kecha Wacha attacked the monster, but its attention remained focused on the two that were now downed.
The others tried to intervene, but were unable to reach in time. The hunter threw something towards the Rajang. It landed square in its face, but didn't appear to have any effect. That was only until the smell reached it a few moments later.
The Rajang jumped away after being hit with the dung bomb, apparently unable to stand the smell.
The entire group stopped. An awkward silence where no one moved followed.
"Do you need help getting up?" Isa asked the hunter on the ground.
"Thanks for the offer, but I should be fine."
The hunter tried to get up, but ended up falling.
Isa and Spence ran over to help him. The girl he'd just saved looked on from the side.
"Damn, worse than I thought. Here I was expecting to go right back after it. Hey, Demi. Can you just… carry me for a little bit?"
The Ash Kecha Wacha placed him on his back.
The hunter looked at them.
"Oh, I didn't notice. You use the same style as me. That's rare. Especially having a group use it. Last time I was in a group like that was… twenty something years ago, I think."
This comment caused a noticeable reaction of interest from all three of them.
"Hm. Maybe we should talk a bit more. Let's move somewhere more closed off first. Don't want to be here when that thing comes back."
"That Rajang was my target. It's been travelling around destroying anything it comes across. So I started tailing it. Suppose I should say sorry for getting in the way of your fight like that."
"Less we've gotta deal with stuff like that the better. So what about that group of monster taming hunters you mentioned before?"
"Hmm… I guess there really isn't that much worth noting about it. We didn't even have a name. But most of us there fought alongside monsters. There really wasn't too much of note about it. Why are you so interested in it?"
The twins paused. Spence was the one who spoke for them.
"We're just going to work that out quickly."
"What?"
The twins turned away, whispering to themselves. Jean joined the huddle, but was pushed away a few moments later.
"What should we do?" Spence asked. "I don't want to risk things going like last time we brought up that bastard to a stranger." He remembered being attacked with poison.
"I don't think he's lying about having been part of the group. But we still don't know if it's the same group that he used to be in."
"Maybe ask about Luke or Mary's parents? I think the captain had a parent who was a part of it as well. Maybe that won't get as much of a reaction out of him."
"Yeah, that could work. What were they called again?"
"...Ok, we need a new plan."
"He's already onto us knowing. Let's just… say that we're looking for someone who used to be part of a group like that, but not who."
"Hmm, yeah. Then we'll work it out for you. Ok, who's going?"
"I thought of it, so I'll do it."
"Good luck."
They turned back to face the hunter, who was still confused.
Isa began to speak. She struggled to get the words out. She continued fighting just to form a sentence.
Spence tensed up, sending silent encouragement. Irontusk also supported her. The rest were just incredibly confused.
Finally, she overcame her hesitation. She managed to speak.
"Was there a guy called Joseph Gilmore in that group?"
The twins had forgotten a very vital piece of information. Isa's very soul had a hatred of lies burnt into it. To the extent of preventing even half truths from being told.
The hunter was visibly surprised even with his face hidden by the helmet. He seemed to have recovered enough to stand back up.
"There's a name I haven't heard in quite some time. Yes, he was there. I owe a lot to him, despite everything."
This felt familiar to both of the twins. They could guess what was coming next.
"This might be a bit presumptuous, but are you related? The two of you look alot like him. Especially those eyes."
"Okay, yeah, so what?" Spence asked. "Just start shooting your poison or whatever off, we're ready this time!"
"What? Why would I do that?"
"Cause, y'know."
"I don't."
"It happened last time."
"I'm really not sure what you're talking about. I wasn't going to do anything like that. What comes first are introductions."
He removed his helmet, revealing white hair.
"I'm Terrence Gandor. I suppose we've already talked quite a bit, but this is where I say nice to meet you. Your father… I guess he was something like a mentor to me."
"Wow, that's…" Spence paused, trying to find the right words to follow up. "Significantly better than the response we got last time."
"What? Is that linked to that poison thing?"
Spence was about to explain but got cut off.
"You never told me you were looking for your dad!" Jean exclaimed. "Like, I thought something was up, but I never managed to find out. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Yeah, uh… I don't know. Guess it just never came up. Even though half of the point of this journey is that."
"Because it's a pain to explain things to you." Isa gave an answer in his place.
Jean gave an over the top reaction of surprise in response.
"But you said you loved me!"
"No I didn't?"
Terrence rubbed his hair.
"So why do you want to know about him? I can already make a guess, but it's better to ask just in case."
"We're looking for him. Cause he ditched us before we could even walk."
"Oh, so my guess was right on."
"Is that a regular thing he does? I was already shocked to find out we have cousins all of a sudden, I don't want the shock of finding out about half-siblings."
"No, I haven't heard of it. The reason I guessed that is because it's been about twenty years since I've heard from him. Maybe more. He's quite hard to find."
"Oh. So you've got no idea, either?"
"Absolutely none. Sorry."
The twins sighed.
"Well putting that aside, I don't think I got your names before."
The group collectively realised that Terrence was the only one there to have introduced himself.
Spence spun his glaive around for dramatic effect.
"Spencer Page." He pointed his glaive to the Tobi-Kadachi nearby. "And this here's my buddy, Storm."
Isa couldn't think of an entrance to match that.
"I'm Isabel Page. This is Irontusk."
She patted the Tetsucabra's horns.
The musician spun around, making a cute pose.
"I'm Jean!" The Mizutsune joined her in posing. "And that's Tama."
"Aren't you gonna include the Demonlord part?" Isa asked. "I thought you liked it."
"Yh, well. Y'know. Sometimes it fits and sometimes it doesn't."
Terrence thought for a moment.
"What, is this a whole gathering of the descendants of the whole group?"
"Huh?"
"I can only think of one person with a weird last name like that. You must be Ed's daughter, right?"
Jean didn't respond for a little while.
"Ehehe… you got me."
Terrence was somewhat confused by the twins being even more surprised than he was.
"Why didn't you bring that up before?" Spence asked.
"I guess it just never came up."
"Alright, you win this one."
"So, what? Are you a whole group of descendants of that old group?"
"No, not entirely. Well, some of us are. There's about three other than us. How many did you have in there?"
"Not counting monsters, about eighteen."
"Wow. That sounds like too many."
"It was fine."
"We've only got nine. Though it's weird that six of us are related."
Terrence looked to Jean. "Don't tell me you're looking for your dad, too."
"No. I know exactly where he is. Cult leaders aren't that difficult to find. I'm not sure if he knows who I am, though. I just found out that he was part of that group by coincidence. Then me and Tama went looking for more friends cause we were lonely."
"So how did you end up joining us?" Isa asked.
"Same way you ended up meeting the others. It's, uh…" She paused. "Fate. Y'know. That stuff. It's responsible for everything weird."
Every onlooker gave her a tired stare.
"Well, I should get to introducing my side. This is Demi. He's been my partner for a while. And this is my apprentice-"
"Sam Greenthorne."
After having stayed quiet this entire time, the bow girl announced herself with the most dominant voice she could muster.
"Wow, that's a dramatic surname." Jean commented with either no self-awareness at all or all the self-awareness in the world.
"Aren't you way too young to be a hunter?" Spence asked.
"...You calling me weak again?"
"No."
"I mean, you kinda were." Pointed out Jean. "Not directly, but it felt like it was implied."
"Not to me."
"Death of the author."
"Don't kill me?"
"Wait, again?" Isa interrupted. "I can't remember him doing that the first time."
"It was when I first met him. When he crashed in. I don't even know why, he just instantly called me weak."
Isa stared at him.
"So while the rest of us were fighting for our lives you were getting into an argument with a kid?"
"I'm not a kid. I'm already fifteen."
Isa paused.
"Why were you arguing with a kid?"
"It was pattern recognition."
"What?"
He didn't really feel like explaining, so he looked for an exit.
"Isn't fifteen way too young to be a hunter?"
"Yeah." Terrence explained. "This is more like training. I don't really think it's a good idea, but if I told her no to being a hunter she'd just run into a fight on her own, so I'd say it's preferable to that."
"That's incredibly weird." Isa turned to Sam. "What's your problem, little woman?"
"Now you're calling me weak too?"
"What? I was commenting on your height. That's a normal thing to do when you're taller than someone."
"See?" Spence asked. "No matter what you say."
"But only when you imply it." Jean added.
"You just have to be careful with what you say. Any little thing can make her switch into attack mode."
"I'm not that bad."
"You completely are. I can't believe you'd still run into danger even against a Rajang." Terrence got back up. "Look, you-"
He stopped himself.
"My right arm's supposed to be pointing at you right now."
"We've got a doctor." Spence told him. "She probably knows how to fix that."
"I'd be in your debt."
Sam watched on from the side.
"Yeah. It's broken. You've got pretty weak bones."
"That's kinda harsh." Luke told Zara.
"No, she's right. Physical strength has always been far from my thing."
The group had brought him back to Valrag at around the same time everyone else was returning. After some explanation, he got treated by Zara.
"So which of you are related to the old group?"
He looked to Luke first.
"You must be… No, it's hard to tell."
"Both my parents were a part of it."
"...Zach and Lyra? That's kinda surprising."
"Is it?"
"Yeah. At least it was, I guess a lot of things can change. You look like both, but I guess you take after her more."
"I know that."
"And this is…"
He looked at Mary.
"Callum's daughter."
"Oh. Couldn't have guessed."
"I take after my mother as well."
His eyes finally settled on Judah.
"I don't think you'll be able to guess, so I'll just tell you. I'm Alexandra's son. Adopted."
"Yeah, I couldn't see it happening any other way. But there's still something familiar about you. Maybe it's the presence?"
"Thanks?"
"So what have they been up to, anyway?"
"They're all still hunters." Luke explained. "Mostly the same as they always were. But Alexandra… well, she still keeps in contact. But she's mostly busy leading the Knights of the Wolf."
"That elite group? Wow. I guess it makes sense considering the theme, but I never would've guessed. Though it does make sense."
He looked to Judah, who looked down.
"I could've joined it. But it felt too awkward. Like I'm still not ready. So that's why I left with just Titan."
Judah wasn't sure why he had said this, it was just a momentary impulse. The others were hearing it for the first time.
"Well, it's cooler that way. Right?" Terrence asked back without missing a beat. "Doing your own thing can help you grow more than being stuck inside her shadow."
"Y-yeah. Thanks."
"If you're gonna say stuff like that then let me do the same already."
"You're still training. I'm amazed you can say that after today."
"It's because of today that I'm saying it."
Isa finally perked up.
"Oh, yeah. We forgot to introduce her. This is Sam, the girl he's training. She's way too young to be a hunter. Isn't that weird?"
"It's not weird." Sam argued.
"She's right, it isn't." Mary looked to Isa. "We got training like that as well."
"Damn, so we're the only ones who are behind." Spence thought aloud.
"Nah, I never had any either." Said Fen.
"I got some training too, though it's not like it amounted to much." Zara remembered her frustrations. "I don't think crazy stuff like taking on Rajangs is very normal for a hunter-in-training."
Judah stared at nothing.
"Speak for yourself here."
The rest stared at him in a mostly concerned silence.
"If you need to talk I'm more than willing to listen. But I think I'll be heading back. I need some rest."
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask until now." Spence had taken the entire conversation just to form a single thought. "What are you gonna do about the Rajang?"
"By the time I'm back in fighting shape it'll be long gone. I'll just have to give up and hope that someone else can catch up to it before it does much more damage."
"You're just giving up after all that? We spent so long going after it. That's stupid."
"And going after a dangerous target when you're not in top shape would be even stupider. Trust me, this is the best course of action."
Sam stared at him, trying to find an argument. She spun in the other direction too quickly, causing something to fall out of her bag.
It was a book. Laura crouched down.
"Monster Soul: Heart Fighters? What's that?"
"Ah, yeah. I've heard of it." Luke tried to recall. "It's that one really long running series of novels about girls getting magic powers. Something like that."
"Isn't that for little kids?" Zara asked. She felt an intimidating presence a moment later.
"It's not just for kids! Heart Fighters can be enjoyed by anyone. In fact, it should be enjoyed by everyone. If you can't understand the beauty of how the girls get the most enjoyment possible out of everything they can, even things we usually take for granted, you've got no taste. Really, it'd be a stretch to define you as human if you can't understand."
Isa kept moving her head closer with each second of her explanation, forcing Zara to lean back to get away. She reached her limit and collapsed to the ground.
"O-okay. If you say so."
"Ah, now I remember." Fen broke the silence brought on by Isa's rant by thinking aloud.. "My sisters used to be really into that."
"Huh?" Jean asked, getting uncomfortably close. "You never said you have those."
"Why would I have to? It's not that weird."
"But you never said."
"And why would I need to bring it up?"
"Because I want to know."
"Why?"
Their conversation continued, the rest ignoring it.
"Hmm. Still doesn't really seem like my kind of thing." Laura said, despite no one asking.
"Nah, you should still try it." Spence told her. "It's real manly stuff."
"Are you sure? That doesn't sound right."
Isa finally took a break from singing the praises of the book series to look around.
"Hey, where'd the bow users go?"
"Sam ran off pretty much instantly after the book's title got read aloud." Explained Luke. "And Terrence went after her."
Isa grabbed the book, then put it in her bag before grabbing her brother and the musician.
"Ok, let's go find her."
"But why are you bringing us?" Spence asked.
"Feel like it."
As she was the strongest of the three, they had no choice but to resign themselves to being dragged away.
Slightly away from the outpost, Sam fired at some targets. About every two in three shots would connect.
Her frustration spurred her to keep trying, but held her back. The more she fired, the more she kept missing.
"Oh, spotted her." Jean looked down from above.
The three jumped down, taking Sam by surprise.
"How did you even- what do you want?"
"To talk."
"About?"
"This." She handed her the book.
Sam blushed.
"This is just- it's a book I've had for a while, okay? I just happened to still have it with me. It's been in that bag for years, I just never took it out. I don't read that stuff any more."
"This is this year's version, though."
"H-huh? You must be mistaken or something. Come on, there's now way you could really believe I still read-"
"Are you acting like reading Heart Fighters is something to be ashamed of, you little brat? Apologise to all the Heart Fighters in history!"
"I-I'm sorry. Wait, do you happen to like it?"
"Of course I do! What kind of person wouldn't? They wouldn't be a person at that point, and they especially wouldn't be after I'm done with them."
For once, Sam seemed intimidated. She backed off.
"Sorry, I was just- Y'know. Embarrassed what people might think about me still reading it. I just can't stop liking it."
"You shouldn't."
"You can give the whole aggressive fan act a rest now." Jean told her.
"Act?"
Sam sighed.
"Fine, you finally got me."
The rest were confused, not having cared about whether or not she liked it nearly as much as she did.
"They're so inspiring to me. Seeing them always do their best no matter the circumstances, no matter what's against them, that's nothing but what I aspire to."
Isa closed the distance in less than an instant.
"You totally get it! I'm glad that someone else here finally understands."
"Wait, I initially thought you just came to make fun of me, but that's clearly not it. What did you come here for?"
"Oh, yeah. I just wanted to return it."
"...Thanks? I was expecting something other than that."
Isa handed the book back.
"Now that that's out of the way…"
Sam braced herself.
"Mind if I borrow it?"
"Huh?"
"Y'know. Take something for a bit."
"I know what it means, I'm just confused."
"Well, I've been travelling around for the last year or so. Which meant I hadn't gotten this one yet. I wanna read it so badly I feel like I could die any moment now. I promise it'll be back the second I'm done with it, and no later."
"I get that too. But why did you spend so long looking for me to give the book back, just so you could borrow it?"
"Heheh. A true fan such as yourself should already know, right?" She made an overly cute pose, with her right finger resting on her cheek. "If everyone's hearts are open, anything can happen."
The remainder of the group was silent, except for Jean nodding in approval.
"What are you talking about?"
"You don't recognise it? It's Heart Club's line from the final battle of High Roller Heart Fighters."
"Never heard of that one."
"It's the sixth best, though!"
"I only read the current year's one."
"I'm amazed you can even consider yourself a fan."
Spence looked completely clueless.
"You read that one too! Back me up here."
"I have never once claimed to have a working memory."
"So what were you doing anyway?"
"Training. Because I'm still too weak."
She continued to fire the shots, her mind slightly clearer than before.
"While you're here, I've been meaning to ask."
"About what?" Jean asked.
"Terrence keeps telling me I'm not ready yet, but I've gotta get there as soon as possible. How did you manage to tame those monsters you fight with?"
"Oh, that?"
Isa contemplated it for a moment.
"If I had to say, we manage to work together cause we're similar."
"Huh?"
"Well me and Irontusk have our similarities. Him and Storm have that lightning affinity thing going on. And Jean…"
Jean performed an unnecessary spin.
"Yeah, exactly. Me and Tama are totally alike. That's why I can fight with her."
"That doesn't help me at all, though."
"You can't rush it." Spence told her. "You've just got to wait until it feels right."
"And what if it never does?"
"That's your problem."
"Shut up."
"It'll happen eventually, if it's meant to." Isa took over. "Just think of it like… destined souls converging."
Sam stared at her, seeming shocked.
"That's… just taken from the start of the book! You copied part of the first chapter pretty much word for word! Why did you come all this way to ask to borrow it if you already started reading it?"
Isa looked away in embarrassment.
They continued to help her with training for a while, before deciding to leave. Terrence appeared around that time, taking her with him to make sure she didn't run off again.
"Why are you giving me that look?" Zara asked, sitting across from her two roommates.
Jean countered her question with another question. "You said earlier that Heart Fighters was just for kids, didn't you?"
"Look, I don't want to go through that again. I'm sorry. Can we just leave it there?"
"No."
"Why?"
"You have to understand."
"I don't really care that much."
"You will."
"I doubt that."
Jean was increasingly struggling to hold Isa back from getting aggressive again.
"You either come read the new one with us, or I let her go."
"Getting people to read things by threatening them into it isn't a good method at all."
"But it's one that's going to work, isn't it?"
"...Yeah. Okay, let's get this over with."
The face of the girl who had to be held back from attacking just a moment ago immediately relaxed.
"I'm so glad that you're finally opening your mind up."
"Whatever it takes to not get killed."
Destined souls are always pulled together by the gravity of fate.
The powerful, fiery, Heart Tigrex. Partnered with the speedy, withdrawn, Heart Nargacuga.
The two of them fought against enemies from another dimension, fusing souls from the human and worlds together to create their minions.
The enemy's forces included the fated four, as well as a rival to the girls. After much fighting, she ended up becoming their ally. The noble, coldhearted, Heart Barioth was the team's last addition.
Together the three of them went on to save both worlds, and even the dimension their enemies came from, by overlapping their souls to create a laser capable of annihilating the galaxy-sized enemy leader.
"Wow, that was a lot. But I think I get it now." Zara looked over. "Why are you crying?"
"Cause, it's all just so… yeah!"
"I can't really say I feel the same way, but I sorta get it."
"Heart Tigrex… She really learnt to do her best. She's just like me. In some ways."
"I was more of a fan of Heart Nargacuga."
"I liked Heart Barioth the most." Jean added.
"She barely got any time in the story, though. She only joined right at the end."
"That's not important. The entire time they spent reaching her was."
"Well, I guess."
"Besides, more importantly than her importance, villains turning into heroes like that are always good regardless of anything else."
Isa dried her eyes.
"I'd say it's my twelfth favourite overall."
"Huh? That low?"
"What? That's pretty high."
"It's in twentieth place for me." Jean added.
"How many of these are there?"
"Enough."
"Wow, it got late." Isa looked at how the sun was about to rise. "Really, really late."
"Cool. Time to not get enough sleep." Zara flopped down.
Jean dramatically threw herself to the ground.
Isa laid down, trying to get to sleep. After a few minutes, her eyes snapped open again. She started to get back up.
"Where are you going?" Zara asked.
"I told the bow girl that I'd return it the second I'm done."
"Ok, so return it when the sun's properly up."
"No, I said the second. If I wait that long it won't be a second."
"Isn't it a figure of speech?"
"But it wouldn't be true if I put it off."
"What difference does it make? I'm pretty sure she's not dying that badly to get it back that she needs it now."
"It's not about whether she needs it."
"Then what does it matter?"
"It matters to me. Besides, I wanna know what she thought of this one. I didn't ask earlier cause I was scared of getting spoiled."
Isa left, seemingly too tired or too stubborn to see sense.
She stumbled around before finding where Terrence and Sam were staying.
Demi slept just outside.
Carefully, Isa slipped in. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. With utmost quietness, she surveyed her surroundings.
She could've just left it there and disappeared into the dawn. But something felt off, something was missing. She continued to silently can the room to the best of her ability.
"Where the hell is she!?"
After her attempts to spot the girl ended in failure, she unintentionally yelled out in frustration.
Terrence was awoken by this, looking over at her with irritation.
"What is going on?"
"I came to return the book, but Sam's missing."
Terrence snapped into a state of alertness pretty much instantly.
"Okay, let's go."
"She's not anywhere around here."
The entire group had been woken up to look for her, to no avail.
Terrence raised his hand to his chin in thought.
"She took her bow with her. Since she's not where she was training before, she's probably out there planning to fight something. I don't really want it to be true, but the most likely target is the Rajang."
He got on Demi's back.
"Thanks for helping me look for her, but I'll handle it alone from here. She's my apprentice. If she's stupid enough to do things like this then I've got to be the one to fix it."
"But your arm still isn't good." Spence pointed out.
"Ah, yeah. I'll work something out."
Demi took off before the rest could get any more words in.
"I think I'm starting to work out where Sam gets her stupidity from." Isa looked up.
"So what now?" Jean asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Let's get going. More of us searching is better than less."
Sam was running somewhere.
Towards something, from something, it didn't matter which. She was simply running.
Frustration, incompetence, naivete. It all boiled up inside her, driving her body forward.
She didn't want to be like this. She knew it was her fault that he got hurt and had to give up. The only way for the feelings in her chest to subside was to fix her mistake.
In the end, he didn't even properly get angry at her. That frustrated her even more. She couldn't even be hated for her mistake. Maybe this would finally get a reaction out of him.
The running continued, getting either closer or farther away. What she cursed wasn't her own weakness, but others seeing her as weak. That was why she desired strength.
It was a mad, fervent, wish. But it was the only one she could cling to.
"Found you."
She finally approached her target. The mighty Rajang turned to her, completely dwarfing her in size. Fear ran through her mind. She could tell that her life could be snuffed out with a single mistake. Even so, her inability to stand those eyes looking down on her drove her to take a step forward.
She drew her bow and quickly fired the first shot.
"We're ending this here."
Those words were self-assurance as much as they were a challenge.
The Rajang roared, forcing her to cover her ears, before bursting forwards. She threw herself to the side, narrowly avoiding the punch which went on to cleave through part of the wall behind her.
As she turned, Sam bombarded the target with arrows.
She was fast, but somewhat lacking in accuracy, especially when emotional. Therefore, the most optimal position for her offence was near to the Rajang. Conversely, it was the most dangerous position to be in.
She continued to pelt it with attacks. The fear of death was almost crushing her as she barely evaded punch after punch.
The Rajang twisted its entire body for the sole purpose of crushing its challenger.
As she kept fighting, she felt that she wasn't on equal terms at all. She experienced the same emotions of a mosquito under attack from a swatter.
But, even a mosquito can kill a person under the right conditions. The poison her arrows were coated in finally took effect, giving her a slight advantage.
"What's next? I'd like to just switch to power coating, but I'm going to need as many status effects as I can to win this. Next comes paralysis."
Sam tried switching coatings, but in that moment the Rajang's aggressiveness suddenly spiked up. It attacked with even greater rage than before, the consecutive punches ripping through the air.
They grazed her, but she managed to retaliate by stabbing at it with an arrow in her hands. Following the end of its attack, the Rajang roared, knocking her away.
"It's okay, it's okay. Just close the distance again. I-"
Sam found herself unable to move properly.
"Did I already overexert myself? Come on."
The Rajang roared once more, its back turning golden.
"Come on! Come on! The real fight's only just beginning! Get moving! It's pathetic to lose when it's only just getting serious! I won't accept it!"
The Rajang began to charge up. A beam was about to follow.
"Haha… of course. Of course it turned out like this. That's just perfect, isn't it?"
A sudden attack from the side hit her, pushing her out of the way. The figure that had collided into her glided out of the way of the beam. It landed and someone jumped off its back.
A white-haired man stood between her and the Rajang. The Rajang's face contorted with anticipation, recognising him as the one who had injured it before.
"You should probably start running."
"What?"
"You heard me. Start running. I can't keep you safe and fight it at the same time like this. I'm not even sure if I can beat it. So get going."
In her foolishness, she made a fatal error. But she was saved by her teacher. She'd just have to leave everything to him and learn for next time. That was part of growing up.
"I don't want that."
"What?"
Sam walked towards him and Demi.
"I don't want to be saved! I don't want to be pushed out of this fight! Stop cleaning up my mistakes for me, I want to be the one to fix them!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I already know it's stupid! But I don't care, I want to fight too!"
The Rajang launched itself through the air, tearing the two of them apart. As it missed, it stuck its fist into the ground to turn itself, launching itself back in the direction of the two.
Demi jumped into the air, slashing it with his claws as it went past.
"My arm's in no shape to fire like this. All I can do is rely on Demi. But as long as she escapes it's-" He turned his head, switching from his inner thoughts to yelling. "Why the hell aren't you running yet!?"
"I said I was gonna fight! I'll take it down or die trying!"
"The latter is a lot more likely!" He went back to thinking as Demi drew the Rajang's attention. "Damnit, what do I do here? At this rate she probably will end up dying. Just ordering her won't work. I could leave Demi here to distract it and drag her away, but how far would I have to go to make sure she's not in danger? I'd be too worried about his safety. Knock her out and take her? No, I already know that she's too good at dodging for that to be easy."
He finally settled on something.
"Ok. Demi. You take her. I'll stay back."
The Kecha-Wacha looked at him with concern.
"It'll be fine. I've got a plan, so-"
"Thank you for waiting!" A voice came from above, catching the attention of everyone below.
There was a group standing atop a cliff overlooking the area.
Isabel stepped forwards confidently.
"The iron demon frog of the deep! Heart Tetsucabra!"
Jean followed, striking a pose with her arms crossed.
"The bewitching bubbles of the devious fox! Heart Mizutsune!"
Spence went last, making a peace sign over his left eye.
"Sparks come together to form the lightning that tears through all! Heart Tobi-Kadachi!"
In sync, the three of them yelled.
"Monster Soul Heart Fighters!"
No one below could properly make out what any of them were saying, hearing only vague mumblings. Painfully unaware of this, the three of them smiled confidently, as though they'd just made a great impression.
Getting slightly annoyed at having its time wasted, the Rajang fired a blast of electricity in their direction. They scrambled out of the way, beginning to slide down to where the rest were.
Recognising this situation from before, they nodded to each other before picking up speed.
Isa and Irontusk fell down a conveniently placed hole leading directly to the Rajang. Tama rode upwards and jumped down, while Storm jumped across and back towards the target.
The three attacks converged once more, the Rajang successfully caught in the middle, dealing what seemed to be the first serious hit against it.
The six of them backed off as the Rajang reeled in pain, seeming completely shocked that it worked.
"Thus, we shall call this move the triple pincer!" Jean smiled to herself as she declared this. Her allies nodded, the group lacking a voice of reason to point out that pincers only have two points.
"Ok, now you three can get running." Spence told Terrence, Demi and Sam.
"Were you not listening?"
"No, we just got here."
"I don't want to be saved!"
"Oh, my mistake."
"What? That's it?" Terrence asked. "Help me out, she won't listen to me."
"Nah, I get it. Some things you just gotta do once you've set your mind to it. This is one of them for her, right?" He turned to Sam. "It'll probably recover from the daze we left it in in a few seconds. If you've got any plans to throw out, now's the time."
The rest seemed stunned by this. Isa sighed.
"Well, he stole all my thunder here. I was going to tell you pretty much the same thing."
"I was totally also going to do that." Jean reassured the girl. "For sure, that was my plan as well. I just missed my chance."
"I know that she's willing, but I still can't see this as a good idea."
"Yeah, I agree. It's pretty stupid of her. But being able to make your own stupid decisions is a good thing, isn't it? Don't you have any memories of doing the same at her age?"
Terrence recalled days long past, admitting defeat.
"Back when I did it, I was more than willing to retreat after getting pulled out of danger."
"That just means that I'm braver than you."
"Don't push it. Okay, fine. Let's do this. But if you get yourself killed I'm going to kill you."
"The stuntime on the Rajang was a lot longer than expected. But really, what I said before still stands. Any plans? I haven't got anything other than just hitting it really hard."
"Same as we always do, isn't it?"
"Yeah, when you put it like that."
"I've got something." Terrence told them. "You're gonna have to follow it exactly, though."
The Rajang finally regained its focus, tearing towards the group without bothering to take another moment to get adjusted. Its fist connected with nothing, all of them scattering out of the way.
The first to reapproach it were Spence and Storm.
"Hey, remember us? I said I wasn't going to back down when it comes to lightning, now I'm here to prove it."
He and Storm landed simultaneous attacks, but seemed to barely gain the Rajang's attention. Its eyes wandered, finally spotting the Kecha-Wacha flapping its wings slightly above the ground.
It lurched forwards, leaving its attackers behind.
"Ah, come on! You could at least pay a little attention!" Spence yelled at the Rajang.
"And you could pay attention to the plan I thought of!" Terrence yelled at him in turn.
"Ah, yeah. Sorry. Just couldn't stop ourselves from fighting it. Cause it's right there."
"You can hurt it all you want in a moment. First comes disorientation."
As he spoke, the Rajang jumped towards them. Terrence used his left hand to chuck a flash bomb towards it. It burst at the last possible second, directly in front of the creature's eyes.
Blinded, the Rajang missed the jump attack. It crashed into the ground nearby. As it landed, it felt a strange sensation. Several bubbles popped against it in quick succession. Those bubbles coated it, causing it to lose balance.
The Rajang was in a state of disorientation, as a result of losing its vision and now being unable to properly control its movement. This prevented the perfect opportunity.
It heard the sound of footsteps closing in, but was unable to work out where from. The rest stepped in.
The plan to weaken the monster by blinding it and making it slippery had been a success. Now followed the second part of the plan. Simply overwhelming it with attacks.
Spence led the way, striking at the creature's side. Isa readied her hammer swing before landing a relatively devastating strike to the creature's head. Jean swung for the same spot. Sam pelted it with arrows from close-range like before.
They continued to batter the beast.
The distraction would only last for a few moments, so they had to make the most of them. They maximised the potential of those few seconds of carnage to the best of their abilities.
After countless attacks from both hunters and monsters were landed, the Rajang started to get its senses. Finally recognising the bubbles coating it, it went with the same tactic as before. Electricity began to surge across its body. Isa was the first to sense its intent. She backed off and the others followed. It exploded with a roar, destroying the surrounding ground.
"Ok, what's next?" Terrence thought. "If it could work out how to get rid of the bubbles, then it's not so stupid that the same tactic will work twice. Still, it seems to need to use that move to get rid of them, so they can at least work to stop its attacks for a moment. First, let's-"
Having these thoughts took less than a second, but before he could finish them Isa went back on the attack. She recklessly swung for the Rajang's head once more.
"What are you-"
The Rajang was knocked down instantly.
"W-what?"
"I thought it was almost there. Come on, what are you waiting for? We've got a time extension on the damage dealing phase!"
Without much hesitation, the attacks resumed. Jean spun her horn around, playing a song to empower her allies.
An endless flurry of attacks assaulted the downed monster. It managed to shake its attackers off and jump away, surveying the situation.
"Okay, that was good." Terrence spoke to the rest. "We should almost have it. It seems to only be interested in targeting Demi and me, so we'll keep flying around to distract it."
As if to spite him, the Rajang charged directly for Isa.
Taken by surprise, they lacked the time to block. It punched Irontusk out of the way before aiming for the hunter. She narrowly avoided being crushed by a fist slammed into the ground, but instead of lifting its fist and trying again the Rajang instead started to pull. Part of the ground was lifted up with her still standing on it.
She was left with her jaw agape as she ascended, completely unable to defend. The fanged beast readied itself to leap directly at her. Storm zipped between them, grabbing Isa and then flinging himself away shortly before the Rajang struck.
Storm returned to Spence's side. Isa caught her breath.
Without even giving itself or any of the others time to recover, the Rajang went on the attack again. It was aiming for them.
Spence and Storm dashed forward to intercept it, simultaneously landing strikes at the creature's side. In the space of a few seconds, numerous attacks followed, finally getting a reaction from their target.
As its eyes turned, Spence felt that something was off. These were not the eyes of one looking at an enemy. It felt more like it was viewing a pest. They could tell at that moment that it was completely uninterested in them.
Spence gritted his teeth. In frustration, the two attacked with an increased intensity. The Rajang stuck its arms out, catching both of them by surprise. One arm for each. The Rajang dragged its catches through the ground in a circle before flinging them away, completely losing interest once they left its line of sight.
By the time it finally reached Isa, Irontusk had returned. She got between them, shielding a punch by using pulled up earth.
Demi flew in above them, Terrence attempted to get the monster's attention by slashing at it. His actions bore little fruit. It remained solely focused. Even as the others went to attack it, the beast's only interest was her.
"What's going on here? I thought it was only interested in trying to kill me, but now it's completely lost interest. Though that's abnormal for a Rajang anyway. It must have some logic-"
"It's attacking whoever it thinks the strongest here is!" Sam abruptly yelled out.
"What?" Isa asked back before getting knocked away by a full force monkey punch.
Terrence's head perked up.
"That's… definitely it. Good job."
Sam seemed more surprised than anyone had been at her announcement.
"Wait, I got it right? Really?"
"Yes, I just told you that. We don't know if it's right for certain, but it seems the most likely."
"Can you get to how this matters?" Isa yelled, trying to keep herself from being grabbed.
Uninvolved in the fight, Jean and Tama sat there and watched her dance.
Terrence nodded to Sam. Enthusiastically, she began to explain.
"Back when Terrence fought against it, he and Demi completely shut down its movement. That's why this time it instantly went for him and Demi. But either because Terrence barely attacked it this time or because of you knocking it down, it's only interested in attacking you now. It could be both, now that I think about it."
The Rajang was stopped from attacking by a kick from above. Spence landed on its head, driving it into the ground from the force.
"Thanks, bow girl. You just made my goal here a lot clearer. All I've got to do to prove that I'm strong enough is get it to try to kill me."
No one else responded, but they seemed to reach the mental consensus that that was an overly cool way of saying something stupid.
The Rajang got back up and threw him off. Storm caught up, which Spence took as an opportunity to quickly rejoin the fight by grabbing onto him as he flew by. The fur on Storm's back stood up as he drew closer. He abruptly stopped and began to slowly walk towards his target. Spence dropped from his back and readied his weapon in turn.
A few seconds passed.
As though they were being fired from a gun, the two simultaneously shot forwards. Spence went left while Storm went right, tearing through. As he went past, Spence hit the ground to vault himself into the air. He swung his glaive around wildly as he went past. Storm jumped onto a nearby wall, pausing momentarily to let his partner get out of the way before leaping off to slam his tail into the Rajang.
Isa suddenly bashed into the Rajang.
"Huh? What are you doing here? It's targeting you!"
"I don't remember asking you to save me!"
"Huh? Since when was I doing this to save you?"
"What?"
"I'm doing this to get its attention. I don't care that it's targeting you, I just care that it's not targeting me. I've gotta prove that I'm stronger than you."
She was at first taken aback, then she seemed to get annoyed.
"That's so stupid! I'm going to make sure it doesn't hit you just to prove I'm stronger!"
"Not if I get hit first!"
"You're getting sidetracked!" Terrence yelled to try getting them to snap out of it, but his words went completely ignored.
The twins and their monsters fought fiercely, trying to outdo the other pair in damage. They managed to overwhelm it with their attacks.
Both stopped at around the same time to catch their breath. The Rajang finally got back up, glaring at them.
It went to punch Spence. As he failed to avoid the punch he began laughing at his sister in victory.
Her irritation spiked up.
"What are you doing, idiot? Don't kill him! Get back here and kill me instead!"
The Rajang was incredibly confused.
"Stop! This isn't right! You've got to cut it out!"
A tearful Jean made her entrance, slamming her hunting horn down on the Rajang.
The twins stopped completely, frozen with shock.
Now full-on crying, Jean yelled at them both.
"I'm the only one allowed to say things that stupid! You're both undermining my gimmick!"
Their shock didn't seem to fade.
"Huh? What's up?"
The Rajang rose up from the crater Jean's attack had left it in. It tried to crush her, but Tama pushed her out of the way. The Rajang was now solely focused on Jean.
She climbed onto Tama's back, who was able to gracefully weave around the Rajang's attacks.
A sudden attack came from above the three. Something seemed to drop, followed immediately by a blast.
Sam had thrown down bombs from above, before detonating them with an arrow shot. The combined blast shook the Rajang more than any attack before it.
She landed just in front of it, making sure she had the Rajang's attention.
"Hey. That one powerful enough for you?"
It apparently was, as the Rajang roared. It began to attempt to crush her.
Terrence was the first to try interfering, yelling at her to not be stupid as he jumped from Demi's back and hit the ground running. Even so, she continued to dodge around the Rajang's attacks and occasionally striking back.
It took a moment for him to notice what she was planning. The rest got ready to intercept the Rajang, but he silently signalled for them to stop and watch.
"Alright. I'm trusting you not to die."
Sam didn't hear his request, but she seemed to accept it regardless.
She continued dodging while moving away. She felt as though she completely understood her opponent's mind, every punch clear a full second before it was realised. The Rajang continued to slow down, losing energy.
The dance with death continued, before Sam came to a stop. The Rajang stopped in turn, just a short distance away.
"What's wrong? You scared? Just one more step and you'll have me."
The challenge finally got a response out of it. The Rajang charged forwards, aiming to close the distance in an instant. Instead, it felt itself falling.
A pitfall trap that had been placed down earlier finally became useful. The Rajang began to thrash around. It would only hold the beast for a few seconds, at best.
Those few seconds were more than enough time for Sam's plan, however. Barely avoiding another punch, she dropped a tranquiliser bomb. Before the Rajang could respond, another connected. The creature's previous wounds finally caught up with it as it fell into a deep sleep.
The hunters stopped, catching their breath.
"Aw, look at it now." Spence noted.
"So peaceful you wouldn't think it was rampaging around until a few moments ago. Well, that's enough of that. Time to get started."
She drew her weapon. Spence and Jean did the same, stepping towards the creature.
"Wait!" Sam jumped between them. "It's already captured, isn't it?"
Isa cocked her head slightly, in confusion.
"Yeah, but unless you wanna call someone all the way out here to cart it away there's not much point. We don't really capture stuff out here. We usually just carve it up on-site."
"Oh, so that's how it works. But still… let's not kill it, okay?"
"What?"
Sam looked around sheepishly.
"You remember how I understood it earlier, don't you?"
Isa shook her hammer around in a circle, signalling for her to continue.
"I have this feeling that I'm right about it. The reason it was travelling around fighting everything it came across was because it wanted to prove its own strength. That's the reason why it was only interested in fighting what it thought was the strongest here during this fight. When I finally got its full attention, it felt like I really understood it."
"Ok, that's a lot. But what's your point?"
"I can't just kill it after that."
Spence started walking forwards.
"Don't worry, you won't have to."
Sam pushed him away.
"I wanna fight alongside it!"
Sam was expecting the others to be impressed. Instead, she seemed to only receive responses of shock and a little bit of horror.
"I knew you were crazy already… but this is a new one." Spence remarked with a painful lack of self-awareness.
"Ok, fine. You don't get it. But surely my now-trusting mentor will-"
Sam turned, seeing Terrence look even more horrified than the rest.
"Where did I go wrong? My apprentice is a complete idiot."
"Come on, you told me you and Demi met pretty much doing the exact same thing!"
"That was completely different. I've known Demi for almost thirty years and he's never once broken any of my arms. I've known that Rajang for a day and it's already broken one."
"That's being really nitpicky."
Terrence sighed.
"Are you serious about this?"
Sam looked back unfalteringly.
"Then I'll let you. You've only got one try, though. If it looks like it's about to attack you, then I'm intervening. Got it?"
"Are you sure?" Jean asked.
"I've got a feeling that it was because I stopped her from doing anything that she had this outburst. So, I guess the best way to avoid Sam putting herself in danger again is to indulge her on things like this. To an adult like me, it seems stupid. But I think Isabel had a point. I'm sure that if I was in her shoes, that stupidity would seem more important than the entire world. So it'd be wrong to not allow it."
"Wow, that's… a lot."
"I'm allowing it in moderation, though. That Rajang even thinks about trying to punch you and I'm immediately ending it."
"Alright, I get it."
As the Rajang's senses slowly returned, the first thing it took note of was the girl standing before it. The same one from earlier. The one who had managed to defeat it. Confusion as to why it was still alive was the first thought that it formed.
"H-hey. It's been a while. Or has it? Maybe not for you. I think I'm getting distracted. I'm Sam Greenthorne. Nice to meet you."
The Rajang was too confused to do anything.
Sam turned to the others.
"What am I supposed to say here? Give me some ideas."
The best they could all manage was a shrug, not having put much thought into what they said to their partners back when recruiting them.
"Argh, fine then. Thanks for all the help. I'll just say the first thing that pops into my head." She turned back to the Rajang. "Um I uh like I- I think I get you, so you wanna fight things together?"
The Rajang didn't move, only increasing her nervousness. She felt like she was about to be crushed by the pressure, but some inspiration appeared in her head.
"I get it! I totally do! You don't want to be seen as weak, do you? That's why you're going around fighting. I'm completely the same way. That's why I challenged you. We're both idiots who have to fight. But that's dangerous. I almost died to you, I'm pretty sure that if I can't convince you you're going to die to my mentor over there. So… what if we fought together?"
Feeling more confident, she decided to keep it going.
"If our souls can overlap like that, then I'm sure they'll become stronger than anything. So let's fight together."
She took a few steps back, now getting slightly embarrassed.
The Rajang stared at her, as if peering into her soul.
"I guess I don't have a way of knowing whether you accept or not. Okay, if you don't want to fight with me, then just run off or something. But if you are, then…"
She stuck out her right arm, clenched into a fist.
"Fist bump. You know what that is, right? You punch my hand. But gently. If you do it like you're in a fight then it's bad, so doing it softly is a sign of peace. That should be enough."
The Rajang pulled its fist back. She braced herself. Its fist gently collided with hers. Sam was in shock for a few moments, before her mouth widened into a smile. Relief swept through her, at the same time it hit everyone else.
"I'm shocked that worked." Terrence thought aloud, watching her jump around.
The others stepped out of hiding, surprising the Rajang.
"Hey, that was totally out of the end of Monster Soul." Isa complained. "Like, word for word."
"You did the same thing earlier. Wait, go back a bit, you already finished it? I just gave it to you."
"I couldn't help myself."
"Got it. Well, still. That means you know how good the scene where Heart Tigrex says that was. That's the reason why it's my favourite, actually. Without that, I don't think I'd have found the confidence to pull this off. Heh. That's how much it means to me, even if I'm a little embarrassed to admit it."
"Hm." Isa reflected on the young girl's tender confession. "Well of course you'd be impressed by that when you haven't even read any of the good ones."
"Anti-elitism dynamic kick!"
Jean performed a handstand while landing a kick to Isa's face in response to her words.
They returned to the outpost, getting responses of extreme shock from the rest of the group upon seeing the Rajang she was now partnered with.
A few hours passed.
"So, what's your plan from here?" Terrence asked.
"I think Fen's almost at rank fifty, so we should be leaving soon."
"Got it. I've never been further in than this zone, but I've heard enough about what it's like. You all ready for Death Mountain?"
"What?"
Terrence looked to the rest of the group, who were just as confused.
"You never heard about it? It divides here and the third zone. No way to get there without crossing through. It's considered the first real challenge around here. The ones who can give up there are the fortunate ones. I was raised in a place similar to that and even I don't think I'd be comfortable up there."
"Still no idea, sorry."
"Ah, wait a minute." Zara whispered, making sure Judah didn't hear. "You think this is why Lotus was so harsh on us? Y'know, to make sure his beloved's group is ready to take the real challenge on."
"What a sweet guy." Spence remarked in response.
"Wait. Do any of you even know anybody who's been past that point?"
"Only my mother and the rest of her group." Judah replied.
"That would explain why. I doubt it could even come close to beginning to faze her. Certainly nothing that she'd bother talking about."
"You know her well, don't you?"
"I trained under her for a little bit back when I was young, so you have my full sympathy for what you've been through."
Judah's eyes watered slightly, having finally found someone that had experienced the same pain as himself after all these years.
Terrence felt a bit awkward, considering that he'd only been there for about a week in comparison to Judah's years. So he decided to find a way out.
"Well, moving on. I've got another question. Have you got some more room in that group of yours?"
"Well, we never had a hard limit on the number of members, so- wait. Are you asking if-"
"Yeah. What else?"
Sam responded with a "Huh?", just as surprised as the members of the group. "We're really joining?"
"What? That a problem? You seemed to be getting along pretty well with them."
"No, it isn't that. I'm just kinda shocked."
"Well, I do have to apologise. I won't be good as anything other than dead weight for a little while because of this arm of mine, but my hunter rank should be high enough to get you further without having to grind."
"That'd be great!" Isa leant forward.
"Glad to hear it. I've probably got as much of an interest in seeing your goal fulfilled as you do."
"Ok, then sure. We'd be glad to have both of you join."
"Thanks. Though we can't join just yet. I've got a little business to take care of on the outside first. It'll take maybe a week or two to get there and back. Don't worry about us, you might as well just keep moving on. We'll catch up eventually."
"Then why did you ask now?" Laura asked.
"Better to make sure now then make a trip all the way back for potentially nothing. Well, better start getting ready. Sam, be polite and say farewell to each of them."
"But we'll see them again soon."
"Better to keep up good relations, then."
Not able to find an argument, she did as she was told. As the group dispersed, Terrence signalled to the twins to get their attention.
"I just want to bring up one last thing before we go." He looked to Spence. "Earlier, you mentioned something about a person shooting poison. I wanted to ask about that?"
"What, so you already know about aura?"
"That was blunt. But yes, I was about to ask if it was that. It seems like I don't have to waste time explaining. I'm curious, so can you tell me what happened?"
The two of them recounted their encounter with Apollo. His sudden anger at their eyes. His venom. And that masked man at the end.
"So that's why you reacted like that when I brought up the eyes thing. Sorry, my bad."
"It's not like you could've known."
"Yeah, but still."
"So do you recognise that guy?"
"I've met a lot of aura users, but never one like that. But after hearing all that, it's definitely for the best that I stick with you."
"Then do you know what he was talking about?"
"Not a clue. Never met the guy, have I? But I can guess."
"So-"
"Stop bombarding him with all these questions." Isa shut her brother up. "Just let him talk."
"If I'm right, then it's a long story to explain it. The type that could take years to tell. And the type that it isn't particularly fun to tell. I doubt that the others have heard it from their parents, so I'm going to save most of it for when I'm back and give you the short version now. Your father used to be an aura user like them."
Instantly, their eyes widened, but the story wasn't done.
"At one point, he was made into something like a ruler for those aura users. With the goal of destroying all monsters in the world."
"What?" Isa asked.
"I swear this'll make ever so slightly more sense when you get the full version, just bear with it."
"I was a part of that group too, regrettably. But in the end, the members of our hunting group who were still normal humans managed to finally make us see sense. He gave up on that throne without ever having accomplished anything for them. But if I had to guess any cause for why an aura user would want revenge, it'd probably have to do with that."
"Could just be that he pissed the guy off for something unrelated. Seemed like a pretty personal grudge to me. I have a feeling it's just his style to accumulate grudges against himself."
Terrence paused.
"You don't have a high opinion of him at all."
"Isn't it obvious? How would I? He didn't even stick around long enough for us to remember him."
"Just commenting. I think it's more than understandable to be angry at a parent for that, no matter their reasons. But still."
Terrence paused, taking a deep breath as he reflected.
"That man is an idiot. In his attempts to save others, he just ended up hurting them more. I still can't say that I can forgive him even after all this time. But, I don't think he's a bad person. We'll have to find him in order to find out, but I can't believe that he left you just for no reason."
"What good does that do us?"
"It doesn't. I just said that you're free to be mad no matter what his reason were. I'm just saying my own theory. But I really should be going now."
He started walking away.
"You'll return, right?"
"Yeah. That's a promise. I can't just miss out on this."
Both twins nodded as he walked away. As they returned to the rest of the group, they heard some commotion. A new urgent quest had just been posted. A dangerous one.
Terrence and Sam walked back towards the start of the first zone. It had been a few hours now, the sun starting to set.
"So why couldn't we just join then? I can't remember any business you have out here."
"Gotta check in with some old friends about a few things before I can head back. That's all."
"About what?"
"Adult stuff."
"That's boring."
"It is. That's why it's adult stuff. But you shouldn't focus on that, you've got something vital to be working on before we return."
"What?"
"Why, of course… the Rajang's name!"
"Ah! You're totally right! So much happened that it slipped my mind. I'll get right on that."
They set up a camp for the night as the sun faded away. Sam murmured to herself in her sleep, still going through potential names.
Terrence smiled at this, before his expression shifted. He stepped outside the tent, taking in the night. The Rajang was fast asleep outside, but Demi stood at the ready, joining Terrence.
"So? How long are you going to keep badly hiding for? Get out here already."
No response. He drew his bow and shot at a nearby tree. Finally, something emerged.
A relaxed man, with hair that reached down to his back. His expression remained neutral.
"Wow, that's some scary perception. But I suppose it's no wonder when you've been a hunter for this long. How long ago did you notice?"
"From the start. But I wasn't going to do anything while she was still awake. What do you want? I can already guess, but I'd prefer a peaceful resolution here."
"Ah, well. You know. The usual. Can't say anything."
The man flicked his hands. Footsteps drew close, surrounding them.
"Do you mean that you can't say, or you're stopping me from saying anything?"
"Who knows? Bit of both, maybe."
Terrence sighed.
"So I was right, then. That's quite a shame."
"Not entirely, but I think that you made the best guess you could from the perspective of someone completely uninvolved. But that's the point, right there. You have no involvement in this. Your time's already long since passed. This story doesn't have a need for you. So I'm here to forcefully keep you out of it."
Terrence bow still drawn, he aimed it at the man.
"I'm still giving you the choice to surrender, just so you know. I'm not much of a fan of violence."
"That isn't an option in the slightest, sadly."
"That's a shame."
"Are you possibly scared?"
"Of course not. What do I have to be afraid of? I made a promise to return to help those kids out. That means that I absolutely can't die, no matter what, until I can fulfil it."
The relaxed man finally smiled. At his signal, the footsteps began to get closer.
TO BE CONTINUED
I did it again. I wrote another large one. The largest to date by a pretty large margin, in fact.
I don't think I've mentioned this before in an author's comment, but in the gap between G and FG I started watching Precure every week. I still haven't watched that many of them, but I love it a lot. By this point I'm in a state where if I don't watch at least one episode every two weeks I enter kill mode.
A chapter like this was in the cards from near the beginning, but I doubt it would even slightly resemble its current form without that love being present.