Why hadn't he seen it before? Why hadn't he realized it? These were the questions on Dawn's mind. Everywhere he looked, he could see it, the lust in the mamonos' eyes. The monsters of this world are of an entirely different nature to the ones back home. While his eyes glazed over in thought, he had yet to notice that he and his party had entered through the city gate.
"Hey Dawn?"
Even now as his gaze washed over his surroundings, he could see the lust in the eyes of every mamono that passed by. Few if any, had a look of concentration on anything other than sexual desire, but even still, 'Why had I not seen it before?'
"Is he ok?"
"Don't know. He's been like this sense this morning."
His gaze moved to everything else. Wooden and stone buildings with signs that he could barely read. Women with strange features and humans went about their day, but some seemed to have notice the felynes beside him. They watched him with curious eyes, some even appeared confused as first. Men and women with white and red armor marched towards him, ushering the people aside.
'Yet, they live in harmony?', Dawn's world began to spiral, 'The Guild's vision realized, but…'
The men and women stopped before him and began to speak, but he didn't listen. Their armor was light and appeared to be mostly made from cloth. Iron pauldrons and breast plates made up for the actual armor. Shields and spears made for their weapons, and a short sword at their hip.
"Under orders of…"
He continued to drone them out as he observed the world in its new light. Ace nudged Dawn on his shoulder. He could hear Ace speak, probably asking him to say something, but he didn't listen. He could feel Ace climbing onto his back and knock his helmet with his paw.
"DAWN!"
"Yes.", His simple answer didn't seem to make him look any better.
"Talk to the nice people in armor please.", Ace said from his shoulder mount position.
"What did they say?", Dawn whispered to him, "I wasn't paying attention."
"We are under orders of Sir Nelius Reinhold to bring you and your companions to him.", One of the men stepped forward probably having heard their conversation, "You would do well to comply."
"Understood," Dawn gestured, "lead the way."
Ace still perched on Dawn's shoulders sat back in a mock piggyback position, "You're making us look bad, daydreaming like that."
"Sorry," Dawn followed the guards to what looked like Reinhold castle, "just have a lot on my mind."
Shizuka, who was slithering next to Dawn, looked away in embarrassment. Tatsuo and Mia sat atop her tail, "Why are you two sitting on me?"
"If Ace gets a ride, so do we.", Mia grinned.
Tatsuo shrugged, and then kicked back, puffing smoke from his pipe in relaxation, "Peer pressure."
"How old are you two?", Shizuka scolded.
"I'm twenty-two.", Mia smiled, not understanding Shizuka's question.
"Thirty-Five," he gave his own smile to Shizuka, "and I don't care."
People watched from the crowd in amazement and confusion as a pair of male mamono and a man from another world made their way to their leader's throne. Some of the mamono gave Shizuka a wink as they took in Dawn's physique.
-0-
Today was not a good day for Wilmarina. Having to follow her father around a monster infested city was one thing, but to have Mersé blabbering on and on about how much she hates being here didn't help. The monsters around her kept their distance, whether by fear or annoyance it didn't matter. As long as they kept their distance, she wouldn't have to fight anyone.
Her father talked to himself, making observations on the filthy monsters that surrounded them. The humans of Reinhold watched them as well, though unlike the mamono, they only showed contempt for The Order's 'diplomacy' party. They only had three heroes including herself and a handful of men. If the monsters wanted too, they could have easily overwhelmed them. Mersé, the leader of the Lescatie guard, glared at their surroundings, while Primera, the half-elf hero, cautiously observed how the people of Reinhold reacted to their presence. Wilmarina didn't know any of the soldiers that accompanied them besides Elt, who was situated behind her in their formation.
They were making their way to Castle Reinhold to try and reestablish some form of Order presence in the region. 'At least we might be able to save some of these people if this works out.', She looked on in pity at the human populace.
From her position behind her father, she could see what looked like a werecat in brass armor sitting atop the shoulders of a man in white fur and bone armor. The odd flow of blue light flowing beneath the cracks of the armor didn't reassure her. A strange monster, she had never seen before, followed beside him, with her own werecats relaxing on her tail. A werecat with distinctly male features in eastern clothing smoked a pipe as 'it' laid in comfort. The other, clearly female, werecat merely sat in silence taking in her surroundings.
"Do you see that?", Mersé elbowed her, "That man has a monster sitting on his shoulders. What a degenerate."
The other Order soldiers snicked in agreement, but remained quiet as to not disturb Father Noscrim. Elt tried getting a better view of the man, and noticed something she didn't.
"That monster doesn't look like a girl."
Looking closer as the monster in question. She couldn't see anything that remotely pointed towards the mamono being female. Mersé took another look herself, "Yeah that thing looks more like a boy than a girl."
"So, the rumor about those male mamono in Reinhold were true?", Primera added.
The Order soldiers continued to follow the Priest to the castle, and had eventually began walking beside the anomalies in question. Now that she had a better look at them, the werecat riding atop the man's shoulders, and the one smoking on the monster's tail were definitely male. The Order soldiers silently stared at them in a mix of horror and fascination.
The orange werecat look down on them from his vantage point, and started pulling on the man's helmet crest in their direction.
"What is it?", His rough voice came out.
"We gotta bunch of yahoos staring at us.", The definitely male werecat said, turning the man's head to look at them.
The man merely glanced at them, "What of them?"
Yahoos? The monster called them yahoos, she had never been called something so, so, so disrespectful before, and then just as easily dismissed. If she had to be honest it was kind of refreshing. Though Mersé and Primera didn't seem to agree with her sentiment.
"How dare you!", Came the half-elf.
"You've seen better punk?!", The leader of the Order guard puffed her chest out in aggression.
The man who she just now realized was about a foot and a half taller than all of them, and carried a great sword just as large. Remained silent, trying his best to ignore the rowdier Order heroes.
"How about we all calm down.", Wilmarina brought her hands up in warning to both sides, though the man and werecat had yet to say anything.
The werecat now perched on the man's right shoulder blew a raspberry to the ire of both of the heroes. Wilmarina cursed her luck as the heroes grew enraged with the little bastard.
While the werecat childishly giggled from his perch, he didn't notice that the man had moved to knock him off his shoulders. The clang from the monsters impact with the ground seemed to somewhat satisfy The Order heroes anger. Mersé and Primera both turned away with smirk across their faces.
Wilmarina gave the giant a silent thank you as her friends reveled in their petty victory. The giant gave her a slight nod in welcome.
The fluffy lamia, having watched the man knock the werecat off his shoulder, tried knocking her own passengers off herself as well. To her displeasure, it failed as the werecats merely had to get a stronger grip to stay on. The orange werecat smirked, and took his place on the edge of the monster's tail as well. Wilmarina almost felt sympathy for the strange monster.
-0-
Dawn didn't know what to make of these people. They, for the most part appeared human, and didn't have any standout characteristic that made them different from the people he met so far. However, their hatred for the mamono became evident whenever one of them came too close. The soldiers would ready their spears and the women he 'talked' to would get into a combat stance.
He didn't know these people, but he could already tell he was going to have problems with them in the future. The, Wilmarina, girl if he heard right was apparently a 'hero', which probably meant she was of high standing. 'She so young. Too young to be a warrior of any kind.', His gaze turned to the other women.
Ace had antagonized the, Mersé, woman as well as, the partial wyvernian, Primera. Both appeared to be warriors, though the term hero seemed to be thrown around quiet often with these people.
Wilmarina seemed at least hesitant to attack any of the mamono, so perhaps they could be reasoned with. If not, he'd just have to make sure to avoid them later on.
"Halt," the castle guard stepped forward, "I'm going to need all of you to leave you're weapons at the gate."
Dawn stood before the castle's entrance. An extravagant mansion surrounded by stone walls, with white and red guards patrolling the premises. Trimmed hedges and healthy gardens made up the castle grounds. It was beautiful to say the least.
"Sure," Dawn unsheathed his great sword. Seemingly startling the soldiers near him as the monster slaying weapon was presented to the guard, "be careful with it."
The guard nodded, grabbing the great sword by the hilt only to crumble beneath the weight. He would have been crushed if Dawn hadn't grabbed the weapon out of the man's hands. Drawing even more attention his way.
Everyone else handed over their weapons, but the soldiers kept the swords at their hips. The 'heroes' on the other hand didn't seem too eager to comply.
"What do you mean by hand over our weapons?", Mersé stepped forward, halberd in hand.
"It's just proc…", The guard was cut off as another 'hero' cut in.
"I don't see why we should hand over our weapons to you.", Primera said, "You humans aren't the most trustworthy types."
His opinion of these people was only getting worse by the second.
"We can keep our swords, right?", Wilmarina asked. Getting a nod from the guard she turned to her fellow 'heroes', "We can still defend ourselves. I don't think we have anything to worry about."
The two of them huffed before begrudgingly shoving their weapons into the guards hands.
"You m-may proceed."
While the rest of the soldiers slowly surrendered their weapons, Dawn took the chance to ask Shizuka what she knew, "Who are these people?"
"They're The Order of the Chief God," she whispered, which drew eyes from the people in question, "they hate mamono, and want to protect humanity from the Demon Lord."
"I thought you said the Demon Lord wasn't interested in expanding her territory?", Dawn whispered back, getting a couple of glares thrown his way.
"I'll tell you later.", Shizuka shrunk beneath the gaze of The Order heroes.
Sighing to himself, Dawn pressed forward and into the castle itself.
The castle's inside was fairly homely in comparison to its outside. It had wooden floors and walls with humble halls devoid of art. What stood out however was the consistent flow of people entering and leaving the building. Some appeared to be hauling building materials as well.
The Order soldiers and his party of mamono followed him in, though the monster-hating humans kept their distance. The heroes made a formation around their leader, Father Noscrim, if he heard correctly. The elderly old man's eyes drifted around the castle in frustration as if he had been here before.
The throne room had two thrones, both occupied by Reinhold's leaders. A man with long brown hair and beard wearing a red royal robe, and a vampire that bared an uncanny resemblance to Marsha Wicker. The man appeared exasperated, rubbing his temples in annoyance, and the woman looked down upon him and the rest of the guest with disdain.
"Hello, I am…", Dawn began, but was cut off as Noscrim stepped forward.
"Nelius!", The elderly priest roared, "What do you think you're doing?! Ruling beside a monster? Have you no shame?"
"Hello to you to Noscrim", Reinhold sighed, "and hello Wilmarina I hope you didn't have a rough time coming here."
"Greetings Uncle Nelius," Wilmarina hesitantly replied, "I would also like to know why you are working with the monsters.", She glared at the vampire, "And who she is?"
"You were sent here to kill the monsters!", Noscrim stomped, "Not join them in their degeneracy."
"It's a long story," Nelius sighed as he had known this was going to happen. His attention shifted to the hunter standing next to Wilmarina, with his arms crossed, "please reintroduce yourself sir. I would ask Noscrim to apologize for his rudeness, but you could guess how well that would go."
"My name is Dawn", He stepped forward and glanced at the priest over his shoulder, "I am the acting representative of the Hunter's Guild, and I am required by guild regulation to notify foreign powers of guild activity."
"I see," he gestured to the mamono behind him, "rumors have gone round that a man clad in fur and bone with a group of mamono had slain the beast in the forest. I'm guessing, that was you?"
"Yes, we took care of the monster."
"Then you have my thanks.", He paused recognizing the felynes laying on Shizuka's tail, "And those would be the male mamono, Marsha wrote about."
Tatsuo and Ace, still laying on Shizuka's tail stared at the man. Tatsuo decided he'd rather not get involved and laid back down. Ace however wanted to assert himself, "Is that going to be a problem? Pal."
"No, it is not," Nelius sat up, "but I will need to speak with you, Dawn of the Hunter's Guild, at another time. As you can see, I have guests that need attending to." He gave a dismissive wave, "You can go. I will have my guards fetch you at another time."
-0-
"Mia can you read that for me?", Tatsuo asked.
"It says the horse is worth fifty gold," Mia answered, "you guys really need to learn to read."
"Eh," Ace shrugged, "Dawns learning, I don't see why we should bother."
The werecats were currently looking for a replacement for the aptonoth. Tatsuo had twenty gold pieces and so far, they had yet to find anything they could actually buy. The bustle of the city market didn't bother the feylnes, but Mia was still adjusting to the chaos.
"So, the, Great Ace Palico, won't bother with learning to read, nyah.", Tatsuo teased.
"Shut your trap," Ace snapped, "I just don't see why 'we' need too, when Dawn is the only one doing the reading."
"It would help you read signs," Mia suggested, leaning against the stall, "unless you want little old' me with you at all times."
Ace gave an uncomfortable laugh before turning to the shop owner, "Do you got anything for twenty gold?"
"No," The man merely glared down at the felyne, "if you don't have the gold, leave. You're holding up the line."
"Okay," Ace about phased, "to the next stall."
"Hey," Mia followed behind him, "I thought you were okay with me being with you."
"Mia," Tatsuo stepped in, placing a paw on her shoulder, "maybe you should give Ace a little space. You have been clinging to him since you met."
"Why?", Mia turned to the older felyne, "We're partners now, so why can't I be with him."
"I'm just saying that maybe you should give him some personal space.", Tatsuo gently explained.
"Shizuka follows Dawn wherever he goes, why can't I do the same with Ace?"
"Shizuka is helping him research at the library. She is not clinging to him at every chance she gets.", He reprimanded.
"This place looks promising.", Ace exclaimed.
They stood before a large wooden building with clouded windows and a sign with bovine horns at the top. Signs plastered beside the door, with what Ace believed to be names and numbers running along them.
"Mia what does it say?"
"It says Amelia's Minotaur Rental & Services."
"What's a minotaur?", Ace asked.
"Me.", A bell jingled behind them.
The werecats turned to the feminine voice behind them. There stood a mamono in work overalls that covered her obnoxiously large breast her fur covered legs. She had a pair of horn sticking out from the top of her head with a pair of cow ears hanging beneath them. She had white hair with blue stripes. A long white cow tail swung lazily by her hoofs. She smiled down at the shorter mamono.
"I'm Amelia," she beamed, "I'm the holstaur that owns this shop."
"Oh, uh… do you guys… do you gals pull wagons or… something.", Ace asked awkwardly.
"That we do," she opened the door, "c'mon in, the girls should already be inside."
The inside of the shop looked more like a barn than an actual market building. It gave the werecats a faint cozy feeling as the only light sources came from the windows along the back wall. A number of holstaurs relaxed in the back, talking amongst themselves. As well as a pair of larger mamono that stood nearby, both held large heavy axes on their shoulders. They appeared relatively similar to the holstaur, but they had brown fur and muscles that lined their bodies. They glared down at the werecats.
Amelia took her place behind the shop counter and asked with a smile, "How can we service you today?"
Ace hesitantly stepped forward, making sure to keep an eye on the potentially aggressive monsters to his right, "We need someone who can pull a wagon."
"Yes, how big.", she started going through her roster.
"Its large enough to house a bunyip, a human, and three werecats.", He paused thinking, "Oh, and a small canteen is being drawn behind it."
The holstaur took a second to visualize their situation, "We got a couple of girls who could pull it. How much do you have?"
"Twenty.", Tatsuo answered, shaking the sack of gold.
"Ah," she puckered her lips and ground out a strained smile, "we only have one girl who would take that, but she can be…"
She glanced in the direction of the minotaurs, and pointed to a door behind them, "she can be rough with the clients."
"What do you mean?", Ace's ear flattened against his head, 'I can barely deal with one girl. I don't need another hounding me.'
"I mean she takes her pay in," Amelia hesitated, not wanting to scare off potential clients, "sexual activity."
"Uh… how much?", Tatsuo bravely asked.
"Once every three days.", The halstaur whispered the next part, "She is known for… breaking the clients."
Tatsuo's own ears flattened against his head as well, "But she'll pull the wagon without paying her gold, right?"
"Yes, just", she contemplated on whether or not what she was doing was considered cruel, 'these boys are too small', "just make sure you boys can handle her."
Ace carefully stepped up to the minotaurs in front of the door. They glared down at him, though he could make out a sprinkle of pity. They stepped aside; one gave him a thumbs up, the other gave him a half-hearted salute.
He heard a faint, "you can do it," from behind him. It was probably Mia.
For the first time in his life, Ace felt sweat run down his face and neck as he reached out for the doorknob. Only for the door to wrench itself open on its own. Another minotaur stood in the doorway; she towered over the felyne before her. She stood taller than both of the minotaur guards, and had a much darker fur color as well. Red eyes glared down at Ace from the darkness.
The eyes blinked in surprise before returning to their glare, "What do you want?"
"We need someone to pull our wagon," he pulled his helmet over his face, "and we're poor."
She remained silent, watching the male werecat cower before her. She grabbed his helmet and forced the palico to look at her, "You're too small."
"No, no, no," he waved his hands in panic, "not me, we, wah, we have someone who can take care of payment!"
"Then, where is he?", She growled out.
"We'll go get him! We'll bring him here and you can judge him!"
"Fine.", She released the palico and closed the door.
"We'll come back later!", Ace ran out of the shop with a terrified Tatsuo and a surprisingly calm Mia in tow.
The mamono watched the werecats flee with a look of sympathy. Amelia knocked on the door to the minotaur's room.
"Are you doing okay?", she asked.
"No…", a voice whispered back, "and you building me up as some kind of man-eater didn't help either."
"We have to do that," Amelia sighed, "you've earned that reputation."
"…I know."
-0-
"So, where should we start?", Shizuka asked the librarian.
The old women pointed to the third isle behind them, "You'll find a Monster Girl Encyclopedia over there." She smiled, "Take it if you like, you saved my grandson from the beast of the forest. It's the least I can do."
"Thank you.", Dawn gently shook the elder's hand and made his way to the isle.
"You got a good catch there, young lady.", The old women said before going back to her desk.
"He's not my…", Shizuka stopped herself when she realized the old women was already gone, 'well not yet anyway.'
Sighing, Shizuka followed after Dawn, and found him flipping through the encyclopedia. The book had a brown covering with a golden etching of its name on the front and joint. He continued to flip from page to page.
"This will do.", He said to himself.
"Is that all you needed?", She asked, slithering up to him.
"Yes, but a map would be helpful.", He closed the encyclopedia and looked to her.
Shizuka, like himself, has been acting differently since this morning. She had a metaphorical skip in her step he hadn't seen before. 'It probably has something to do with what happened last night.'
"I know the way to the travel shop," she grabbed his hand, "follow me."
The bunyip uncharacteristically dragged the hunter with her through the city. Mamono and humans alike watched in amusement as the two made their way to the eastern city gate. A couple of guards took note of the two, and followed after them.
"We're here.", Shizuka beamed.
Dawn slowed down just enough to keep himself from colliding with the mamono, and came to a halt in front of a rundown building. It was more of a shack than it was a store.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, I know the owner.", Shizuka slithered up to the door, "He's just really lazy and doesn't take care of the building."
Stepping inside, Dawn could already tell the owner's laziness didn't translate to the interior. Maps and traveling equipment hung from the walls in an orderly fashion, as well as an empty table that was centered perfectly in the middle of the room. The change in atmosphere was so drastic that he almost believed he stepped into the wrong building.
"Hello there?", A middle-aged man said from behind the counter.
"How are you doing Mr. Isaac?", Shizuka slithered up to the counter.
"Oh, I'm just getting old," he peered at the hunter, "I take it that mans the hunter?"
"How do you know who I am?"
"Word travels fast in the city son," Isaac chucked, "especially when a man in strange armor followed by male mamono are involved."
Isaac started placing more equipment onto the counter and started sorting through them, "What can I do for ya?"
'I suppose the people of this world are doing my job for me.', He looked out a clouded window to see a couple people peering in. Though once they were noticed they quickly disappeared, 'Everyone around the world will know of the guild in a month at this pace.'
"I need a map of the world, and some general supplies.", Dawn placed ten gold coins onto the counter.
"That'll get your map and some basic gear.", The store owner placed a map on the counter as well as two rolls of climbing rope, a crate of empty bottles, and a lantern.
"Is there anything specific you need, or will these do?"
"No, but I would rather have oil instead of the lantern."
"Let me see if I can get that for you."
Shizuka watched the exchange with a smile plastered across her face. She knew Mr. Isaac since she was a little girl, the man was always grouchy whenever someone came into his store for the first time. Yet, with Dawn, he could already tell there was something different about him.
To her, Dawn as well as Ace and Tatsuo had this odd otherworldly nature to them, 'Maybe it's because they did come from another world.'
Dawn could have easily killed her in retrospect, but he had chosen to question her instead. Ace wasn't much different, while he was occasionally annoying and overconfident, he still clearly cared about things other than himself. Tatsuo despite his lax personality still went out of his way to help others, 'He even went out of his way to convince Dawn that he should go with Ace and Mia. Was he trying to get me alone with him?'
She knew one thing for sure though: She didn't want to leave them. They were going back to Wicker after today, all she could do was hope that her mother allowed her to leave with them afterwards. 'I could always sneak away and join them if she doesn't.', She lightly slapped her face, 'What am I thinking?'
They left the shop soon after; Dawn placed the newly acquired map into his tool pouch and lassoed the rest of the items to the crate of bottles with one of the ropes.
"Dawn can I ask you a question?", Shizuka leaned closer to him.
"Yes, but I have a question of my own if you're willing?", He turned to her.
"Why did you become a hunter?"
Dawn slowed down, and eventually came to a halt in the street. He didn't appear angry or overtly effected, he seemed to be in a similar trance he was in that morning.
"I became a hunter, because I wanted to be powerful."
She didn't expect him to be power hungry, "You wanted power?"
"No," he started walking again, "I have always admired the monsters of my world."
They came to an intersection, to their right was the main gate where he could see their werecats waiting for them, and to their left was the road to Castle Reinhold. City guards were making their way to them.
"I wanted their strength, and…", he paused, "I wanted to surpass them."
"So, you became a hunter to challenge monsters?"
"I know it sounds selfish, but I never wanted to cause any harm. I just," he paused again looking for the right words, "I became a hunter to become a part of nature. It's a hunter's purpose to act as nature's safeguard."
"DAWN!", Ace's voice yelled out.
"We'll continue this later."
The two of them made their way to the werecats, while the werecats ran up to them.
"Dawn!", Ace said again, "we got someone who can pull the wagon, but…"
"Someone?", Shizuka asked.
"What's the problem?", Dawn added.
"We could only find one place that had an offer," Ace scratched the back of his neck, "It's just that it's a mamono that will be pulling the wagon, and…"
"What is it?", Dawn placed the crate on the ground and crossed his arms.
"She's really horny and take payment in sex!", Mia whisper yelled.
"…"
"…So, you whored me out?"
"I'm sorry," Ace had pulled his helmet over his eyes, "we weren't allowed to set up a canteen for Tatsuo to cook, and there was literally nothing we could buy with twenty gold!"
"She didn't seem that bad," Mia stepped in again, "she just needs someone to take care of her needs."
"What are you talking about?!", Ace yelled at her, "She looked like she was going to eat me!"
"Both of you!", Tatsuo grabbed them both by the scruff of their neck, "Calm down."
Tatsuo shook the two werecats before turning to Dawn, "She was the only one we could find."
"No," Shizuka crossed her arms and shook her head, "I can pull the wagon. We don't need that minotaur to pull us."
"Shizuka.", she turned to Dawn.
"I'm stronger than you," he said flatly, "I couldn't pull the wagon, at least not for long."
Shizuka deflated, this wasn't going her way at all.
"Hunter," a group of guards came up to them, "Sir Reinhold is ready for you."
-0-
"Explain yourself!", Father Noscrim bellowed.
Wilmarina watched as her father was practically killing himself yelling at the new Sir Reinhold. She would've tried to stop him at this point, but this was one of those times she just had to be a 'Hero'. A Hero, at this point she didn't even know if she wanted to be one anymore.
"Noscrim," Nelius sighed, "I've already told you, mamono aren't what the church say they are."
"That," Father Noscrim pointed an accusing finger at the vampire, "that monster has warped your mind. You are but a puppet to her whim."
"I've had enough of this," the vampire scowled, "can we not just send them away?"
"Please dear," Nelius placed one his hands on hers, "have patience."
The priest watched in horror as the vampire seemed to calm at the touch of Nelius, "You, you, you…"
The old man fainted.
"Now that your father seemed to have tired himself out. Why don't we actually get down to business."
"Uncle Nelius," Wilmarina began, "you were sent here five years ago, and we hadn't heard from you since. What happened?"
"I failed.", was his brief reply.
"Then how are you the leader of Reinhold? Why did you change your name?"
"All leaders of Reinhold must take the surname," he stood up from his modest throne, "guards take Father Noscrim to one of the guest rooms. Wilmarina will you and your companions walk with me."
Not seeing much of a choice in the matter Wilmarina followed after Nelius and the vampire. Primera looked to Mersé and Elt, she looked back to her 'leader' and followed after her. Mersé sighed in annoyance before ordering The Order soldiers to follow as well.
"Do you know what the nature of monsters… mamono are, Wilmarina?", Nelius asked.
Wilmarina stared at the vampire for a moment and asked, "Something tells me, you think whatever I'm going to say is wrong."
Nelius smirked before turning to the vampire, "Why don't you explain it to them, Verona."
The vampire glanced at them; she still had that same disgusted look in her eyes whenever she looked at them.
"A mamono desires a human man to call their own," she started, "this desire, if not restrained, will cause them to lash out and attack human men."
"Sounds like you monsters are pretty weak," Mersé said, "your kind go around raping men and women whenever you get the chance."
"The wild mamono that live by your borders don't know any better.", Verona gaze softened before hardening, "If your people at the very least tried to educate them, perhaps they would be more civilized."
"That's impossible," Primera challenged, "monsters don't listen to reason. They just do as they please."
"You're walking through a mixed species city, and talking to a vampire.", Nelius looked back at The Order soldiers, "And if I might add, you have yet to be attacked in anyway."
They were in fact walking through the streets of Reinhold. Mamono and humans alike watched from afar, though their gazes weren't as scornful as they were before.
"That still doesn't explain why we haven't heard from you," Wilmarina asked, "we thought you were dead."
"I was a prisoner at the beginning," he came to a halt before a fountain and sat on its edge, "but as time went on Verona took me into her service, and the rest is history."
"So, she enslaved you, and you fell in love with her," Wilmarina glared at the vampire, "maybe she did brainwash you."
"Yet, I am king of Reinhold," he held his hands aloft.
"What are you trying to tell us Uncle?"
"I want to open trade between Lescatie and Reinhold to further monster and human relations."
Wilmarina looked around her. People and monsters alike went about their business as usual; men weren't being dragged out into the street and violated; women weren't being transformed into twisted versions of themselves. It was peaceful, that was only way she could have described it, peaceful.
"I will have to ask my father what he thinks of your proposal."
"No, no, no," Nelius stood back up, "I want you to speak of this to King Castor, he would be the only one capable of making headway."
Wilmarina looked to her fellow heroes for direction. Mersé shrugged dispassionately and Primera didn't seem to care either.
"Doesn't really matter to me. The king will just shoot it down, and send us to take the city again.", Mersé said stretching her back.
"I for once concur with Dascaros, it doesn't matter.", The half-elf added.
"Fine," Wilmarina turned back to Nelius, "we'll deliver your proposal to King Castor."
The thumping of paw steps drew everyone's attention as the werecats that had followed the hunter came barreling down the street and toward the city gate. The orange male appeared terrified, and was running on all fours. The werecat in eastern style clothing followed after, also on all fours. The only one that was running normally was the female, who had to strain herself to keep up.
Nelius hummed to himself before turning back to Wilmarina, "You and your people can stay at the castle for tonight. Don't worry there aren't any mamono, living in the castle besides Verona."
Wilmarina nodded in thanks and left with the other Order soldiers in tow.
Nelius snapped his fingers and one of the guards came before him and saluted, "Have the hunter come see me at the castle."
"Yes sir."
-0-
A red comet shot across the soon to be night sky. Its burning tail followed after it, drawing the attention of the people of Reinhold. They watched on thinking it to be some kind of shooting star. The children made wishes and the lovers joined together as the red star shot across the sky.
Dawn knew this monster. He could only guess that it had accidentally rocketed through a rift in the sky at some point. From his viewpoint at Castle Reinhold, he watched as the elder dragon soared into the distance.
"Beautiful isn't it?", the new King asked.
"It is," Dawn answered, 'I hope it doesn't cause any problems.'
"But were not here to admire the sky," Nelius leaded against the balcony, "tell me of your guild, hunter."
"What do you want to know?"
"Your purpose here?", Nelius turned back to the comet, "I want to know what your people will do once they know of the mamono, or the rest of us."
"I couldn't tell you," Dawn shrugged watching the comet pass over the mountains in the distance, "but you won't have to worry about wanton violence."
"And of the monsters?"
"The bigger ones are territorial," the comet had disappeared over the horizon, "but they won't generally seek out conflict, I would say it is best to repel them."
"What of that… Nerscylla?", Nelius pushed himself off the balcony, "That beast ate my people."
"Then send for me if another comes," Dawn crossed his arms and shifted his full attention to Nelius, "it's my world's monster. I'll take care of it."
Silence passed over them. The two men watched the sun slowly set in the horizon. Hunter and King took to the comfortable quiet. Though a question still rang through Dawn's mind.
"Who are you?"
Nelius remained silent for a second longer contemplating his question.
"I was once a hero of The Order", the King sighed, "I came to Reinhold to take it back from the Demon Realm."
"Was Reinhold a part of The Order at some point?"
"Yes," Nelius looked off to west, the direction to Lescatie, "It was at first a city of The Order. Thirty years ago, it had belonged to Druella, daughter of the Demon Lord, and leader of the Extremist Faction."
"And how did you come to be the king?"
"Wicker, Marsha Wicker, took pity on me and my men," he smiled, "told Verona to take us into her service. I think you can guess the rest."
"I see."
"What of you?", Nelius asked, "What do think of our monsters?"
"I think they're trying to take my virginity."
Nelius merely smirked at the hunter. The smirk turned into a laugh as he realized the hunter wasn't joking. Dawn sighed before taking his leave, the laughter of Nelius echoed throughout the castle all the while.
-0-
Shizuka didn't like this, she didn't like this one bit. The minotaur's resting glare past over her and everything else around her. The mamono before her held a ridiculously large hammer over her shoulder, and was tapping her hoof in impatience. She wore little more than leather straps to cover her pale skin.
"Where is he?", She had a surprisingly quiet voice.
"Dawn's talking with King Reinhold." Mia answered with a smile.
"…Why?"
Shizuka gave the minotaur a quizzical look, "You do know that you're going to be travelling with people from another world, right?"
"No.", The minotaur's glare softened in her confusion.
"You 'talked' to MALE mamono earlier today," Shizuka leaned closer to her, "does that ring any bells?"
"They were male?", she turned her gaze to the felynes, who had made a considerable distance between themselves and her, "I thought I was just seeing things."
"Yeah, they're definitely boys," Mia nudged the minotaur, "are your eyes bad or something?"
"I spend a lot of time in my room," she looked back Mia, "It's not very bright in there."
"Maybe spending some time outside will do your eyes some good?", Mia tried and failed to put an arm around the taller monster's shoulder, "I'm sure you'll enjoy all the scenery. Just don't ask them to explain how they do things."
Footsteps drew the mamonos' attention as the lone figure of the hunter made his way to the main city gate. His armor made him stick out of the slowly dwindling crowd.
"Are you the hunter?", The minotaur moved out of Mia's embrace.
"Yes, I am," he reached out for a handshake, "I take it you're the minotaur."
She hesitated, staring at the outstretched hand. Her glare returned and she took his hand. The handshake was awkward to say the least. She shook his hand with so little strength that he had to apply more force to get her to squeeze back.
"Well…", He squeezed her hand again.
"What?", She lifted her glare from their hands.
"Are you going to shake my hand?"
And like that she began to violently shake his arm. If he were a normal human, she would have dislocated his arm in three different ways. He, lucky enough, was not a normal human, and only felt a minor ache run along his arm. She let go, her glare turning to a look of concern as she watched the hunter shake the pain from his arm.
Shizuka clenched her claws in fear that the monster had broken Dawn's arm.
"A little less strength next time, but I think you'll do.", The hunter hid his pain, "What's your name?"
Her glare rested on the man in front of her. She had never met a man who could potentially match her strength before. She opened her mouth to answer him, but she stopped herself. She closed her red eyes, and tried to collect herself.
"My name is Estrid," she stared at his visor, "Estrid Daniels. Can I see your face?"
Dawn slowly removed his helmet, and gave her a slightly disoriented expression.
Estrid's eyes scrutinized every part of his face, until she locked onto his eyes. She saw her own staring back and quickly looked away, "You will do… I'm ready to go."
"Good," he turned to the rest of the party, "let's get back to the wagon.", He addressed Estrid, "We'll be leaving for Wicker first thing after breakfast."
"Understood."
AN: So this should make up the last of the main characters I wanted to add. I had the idea of this story in my head for a while now, but as I actually started writing it a lot of my original ideas got pushed back so I could establish the setting and characters.
Criticism is much appreciated.