The griffon, he had come to realize, laid beside him that night. He watched her sleep for a time, not for any particular reason, he just laid on his side, and watched the creature beside him sleep. She was a heavy sleeper too, didn't even budge when he poked her stomach with his claw, or even responded when he let out a venty sigh.
He shifted his focus to the sky around him, taking in its vacant blue and the morning star shining down on his domain. He watched in interest as the clouds below seemed to push and pull with the current of the wind. A gentle breeze flowed through and around his scales.
It was peaceful at 'his' summit, it was always peaceful wherever he made his nest, he even enjoyed the fact that there weren't any of those annoying, small wyverns scavenging off of his old prey. He closed his blue, orange eyes and simply let the world go by.
Or, at least, he would have if a storm cloud hadn't suddenly appeared over the horizon. It was a violent one at that, he didn't like the fact that it was heading his direction either. He slowly picked his himself off of his side, and lazily moved to perch himself at the edge of the cliff. The storm was gathering the clouds that made up the floor of his domain, and was steadily growing in size with the added mass.
The shape of one of his kin took form beneath the raging storm below. He was not in the mood for a challenger, he was not in the mood for a rival, he was most certainly not in the mood for one of his invasive kin to waltz in and ruin his tranquil territory. Perhaps he could scare them off before they ever made themselves nice and comfortable. Then again, they might see that as a challenge, and just start bothering him immediately. He sighed, "I already have one pest. I don't need anoth…"
'Did I just speak like a human?', That was deeply concerning, but he had other problems that needed attending too. With an inhale of the wind, and a flash of Dragon fire he rocketed off in the direction of the oncoming storm. Becoming more aware of the purple energy flowing though his exhaust as he circled the storm.
The storm became more violent with every cycle he made, but the other Elder didn't seem interest in fighting over territory either. The storm calmed, turning the heavy rain and rushing gales into a calming drizzle and a flowing breeze.
His kin's shape landed in the slowly deteriorating forest below, and roared out to him. It was more of a call rather than a challenge, so he let loose his own roar in confirmation as he made to circle around the amassing windstorm.
His kin loosed another roar, calling out to him once more, as if they were beckoning him to join them in the world beneath the sky. Hesitant, but curious, he adjusted his wings to join his kin in the gathering windstorm. Hoping to return to his rightful domain soon after.
-0-
He felt weak.
He felt drained.
He felt like his very being was simply withering away.
"Dawn?", Shizuka's worried expression brought him back, "Are you okay?"
He swallowed the last of his Dash Juice, and felt some of his energy return. He turned to the bunyip beside him, she was as beautiful as ever, but there was something else about her. He felt a strange connection appear between himself and her; one that both existed and did not exists at the same time. A connection that was forged from last night's events; a connection that blurred the line between imaginary and reality. It smothered him and the mamono on either side of him in a hazy mesh of indescribable energy. A haze that only he seemed to be aware of.
He felt Shizuka's embrace.
It felt wrong, and it felt right. Like he was whole, but also separate.
The connection between them strengthened, and the haze grew denser.
When her cheek was against his; he felt whole. When she moved to look into his delirious eyes; he felt himself fall away. Was this what the encyclopedia meant? Is this the symbiotic relationship? Is his spirit, his soul, is his very being now tied to Shizuka and Estrid? Could he continue as he was? He couldn't continue as a hunter could he?
'No…'
He shook himself out of his delirium. He felt his power return, his strength renewed, and his mind centered. He is whole once more. The ethereal bond between him, the bunyip, and the minotaur beside him blurred, and eventually faded from sight. Though the connection remained, it felt far weaker than before. He gently nudged Shizuka away from him, "I'm fine… just lost myself for a minute."
Shizuka wasn't convinced, but decided to trust in the hunter anyways. She embraced him once more, despite the hunter's reassurance. He felt the connection return, but this time it was vacant of that draining feeling that consumed him before. The visual image, in his mind, dissipated altogether as Shizuka released him. She seemed to be feeling that connection they shared too, based on the brilliance of her smile and the joy in her eyes.
"Are you two done yet?", Ace pounced in between the hunter and bunyip, "We have battle strategies that need planning."
"Yeah," Mia pounced into the impromptu group huddle, "you two love birds need to leave the cuddling to me and Ace."
"We're not a coupl…", Dawn stopped himself. The werecats, currently situated in his and Shizuka's lap, started their usual scuffle of Mia proceeding to lovingly cling to the palico, Ace in turn trying and failing to tear Mia off of him, which would then lead to Tatsuo eventual intervention. This time it took the form of the chef dragging the wily werecats apart by their ears, rather than the usual smack across the back of their heads.
The noise of which woke the minotaur from her slumber. Said minotaur then proceeded to groggily rub up against Dawn's arm. Not yet aware of their current situation, and her most current memory being that of last night's 'payment' session. Estrid nuzzled into his shoulder, "Want to go another round, big man? Because I sure can."
Dawn and Shizuka shared a weary look before gently explaining to Estrid that they were currently being stalked by a large group of mamono, who they believed to be a part of the Demon Realm's army.
"Why didn't you wake me sooner?!", Estrid asked, her usual demeanor returning in full force.
"You looked peaceful," Tatsuo said, still holding the other werecats by their ears, "and Dawn said that you'll need rest for the journey into Order territory."
-0-
'Where did this rain come from?', Wilmarina thought to herself. She and her small patrolling force of five stared up into the sky in confusion. The sudden windstorm appeared without warning and calmed within seconds. At first, it was a flash flood, and then a drizzle, and to her confusion, it simply disappeared. It was as if a greater wind elemental was throwing a hissy fit, and decided the Lescatie Forest looked like nice place to vent.
"Hero Noscim?!", one of the veteran soldiers called out to her, "Do you sense anything… any monsters?"
The rest of her squad cautiously watched their surrounding for potential monsters. The newer Order soldiers had already taken their swords from their scabbards, and simply assumed they were being followed. While the veterans had gripped their weapons in anticipation, though they had yet to fully arm themselves.
She focused her mana into a search spell. A thin translucent wave of Spirit Energy emitted from her. The mana pulse returned to her, letting the hero see the mana of every living thing around her. Wilmarina gave them a puzzling look, "I don't sense anything…"
"Really," one of the new recruits interrupted her, "nothing? Then what the hell's causing this."
As if on cue the rain resumed, and the windstorm returned in mass. Drenching the already soaked Order soldiers, and throwing the rude recruit from her horse. A crack resounded, shifting their attention to the creaking tree in front of them, and the tremor that followed its fall. And just like it came in, it suddenly and bafflingly disappeared.
They silently observed the forest around them, waiting for another random gust of wind, but instead of being greeted by bellowing wind and heavy down poor, they were deafened by a thunderous roar in the distance. Wilmarina and the soldiers covered their ears in pain and were about to uncover them, but another roar of even greater power resounded from overhead.
Wilmarina turned her sight skywards, and gaped at the red and purple comet circling the storm above. She covered her ears for another roar, and let out a silent awed gasp as the comet descended into the forest with a sonic boom. Though potentially miles away from their location, she could still feel the tremor of the comet striking the earth.
"Did the red comet just strike the earth?!", One of the veterans yelled out.
"It's a comet!", Another added, "How in the name of the Chief God, DID A COMET LAND IN THE LESCATIE FOREST?!"
"Enough," she turned to her subordinates, "we need to report whatever," she paused, not sure how to describe what she just saw, "that was… and whatever that roar came from can't be allowed to take Lescatie unawares."
Despite her relative lack of confidence, at the moment, the rest of the soldiers quickly moved to calm their startled horses. The fallen recruit clumsily jumped onto the back of her horse, as she made her way to the front of their formation. She gestured forward, and got her horse into a steady trot and eventually into a full gallop as the windstorm started picking up again.
She carefully steadied the reins as another gust of wind blew there way, and had to duck beneath a flying, severed branch. The storm had returned in full force, and she had to make sure she wasn't struck from her horse by any more falling debris. The two new recruits received the occasional scape, but had avoided any major injury. The three veterans, on the other hand, were avoiding most of the debris that came there way as well, though the soldier to her left had received a cut along his cheek from a stray rock. He waved away her concerns, and she turned back to the road ahead.
Her horse leapt over a fallen log, and she had to dodge another flying rock shard. The storm was only getting worse the longer they remained in the forest. She turned to her left to see a fleeing monster, that was doing her best to simply get away from the unnatural disaster. The pang of pity she felt was quelled, and she decided to ignore the monster in favor of escaping the storm herself.
Fortunately for her and the soldiers, the route they followed had led them out of the raging windstorm. She let out a sigh of relief as the rushing wind lessened and the rain settled into a drizzle. They came to a stop at the crossroads, and took a moment to let their mounts rest. The recruits moved to treat the cuts on their faces and forearms, but were denied by the injured veteran.
Wilmarina wiped the water from her face and ran her fingers through her matted hair. She checked her cloths, and was relieved to see that none of her garments were torn. She turned to address her men, "Is everyone okay?"
The veterans gave her a nod, and the recruits grunted. She was about to give another order, but was interrupted by another tremor coming from the road heading to Reinhold. She and the soldiers gaped at the oncoming wagon, that was not only pulled by a minotaur, but was also housing the hunter she had 'met' back in Reinhold.
She quickly moved her horse to the other side of the road, and watched as the minotaur hauled the wagon at the speed of their horses at full gallop. The orange werecat, that had insulted her and her fellow heroes back in Reinhold, waved at them as they passed. The six of them simply gawked at the wagon in shock. She was about to make an order to follow them, but stopped herself as a pack of eight hellhounds tiredly passed them in pursuit of the hunter's wagon.
"Uh…", she tried to register what she just saw, "after them?"
-0-
"Hey! We just passed that Wilmarine lady!", Ace called out from the window.
"Oh really?", Dawn looked out the window beside Ace, "I see… Let's hope she doesn't do anything stupid."
Dawn moved over to Mia who was watching the pack of hellhounds following them, "Are they keeping up?"
Mia turned to look up at the hunter, and nodded, "Yeah, they gave up sneaking in the forest awhile back. Do you think we take them?"
Dawn leaned over the werecat, as she wasn't necessarily tall enough to block him. He stared out at the hellhounds barreling after them. There was eight in total: three in front, which appeared to be the leaders, with two more were following from their sides. The red cloaked mamono he ran into back in Wicker followed behind the third largest leader, and the last of the hellhounds ran in sync in the back of the pack.
"I don't know," he looked down at Mia, "keep an eye on them. I don't want them circling around for a pincer attack."
Mia beamed at the hunter and saluted, "Sir, yes sir!"
Dawn turned to Shizuka and Tatsuo, who were putting together screamer pods. The chef had already laid out three pods, ripe and ready to blast, while Shizuka was carefully placing the screamer sac into the first bomb casing. The hunter leaned down, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Doing so had the unintended effect of making the bunyip's tail curl around his leg.
"Shizuka, I think you should leave the bomb making to Tatsuo.", The hunter said.
"No, I can help…", Shizuka's enthusiasm deflated as the bomb casing unraveled in her claw.
Tatsuo patted her back, "I got this."
Shizuka gave the bomb casing a grimace before handing it to the chef. Embarrassed, she unintentionally coiled around the hunter further. She turned to Dawn, "Is there anything else I can help with?"
"Yes, I could use some help reading up on hellhounds," he glanced at the tail currently curled around his leg, "and I need my leg back."
"Oh, sorry," she didn't even blush, "yeah I can help you with that."
"DAWN!", Ace called from the window, "Nyah need to see this!"
Dawn handed Shizuka the encyclopedia, and moved to the window. Leaving a disappointed bunyip to search through for the entry on hellhounds. Earning a laugh from the chef still sitting beside her.
"What's going on?", Dawn asked, while leaning out the window.
"That Wilmartie lady's following us.", Ace pointed to the galloping Order soldiers and hero.
Wilmarina was at the front of their formation, and was being follow by five soldiers. All equipped with a sword, though only one of them carried a shield. He waved at them, but only received a stern glare from the soldiers and a nod from the hero. She slowly pushed her horse to get into talking distance.
"Hello, Wilmarshmellow," Ace waved, "what do you want!"
She gave the palico a glare, and addressed the hunter, "What are you doing here?!"
Dawn nudged Ace out of the way, and leaned further out the window, "We need to speak with your leader!"
"We'll take you to King Castor, but you we need to get rid of those monsters!", The soldiers behind her glared at the werecat waving at them from the back of the wagon, "And you won't be taking your monsters into Lescatie either!"
"That's fine," He glanced over his shoulder, "we seem to be heading out of the forest, we'll engage the hellhounds there!"
Wilmarina nodded, and slowed her horse's gallop to rejoin her formation. The hellhounds on their tail started to pick up the pace, after noticing their exchange with the hero. The lead mamono leapt onto the back of the wagon. But a swing from Mia's Bone Wedge deterred her long enough, for Ace to thrust the pointed tip of his halberd out the back entrance. Forcing her to cling to the edge as she ducked beneath the weapon's spear head.
Tatsuo handed the most recently finish Screamer Pod to Dawn. Nodding in thanks, Dawn loaded the sonic bomb into his slinger, and fired it out the back entrance. Ace cover Mia's ears and winced as the sonic blast ringed in his ears.
The sound of claws being wrenched from the wagon's wall, and the tumble of a hellhound holding her ears in pain brought a smile to the hunter face. He gave Tatsuo a thumbs up, and began observing the affected werecats.
Mia was for the most part fine, while Ace was busy trying to get the ringing out of his head. The palico glared at the hunter, "DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO SHOOT IT RIGHT NEXT TO ME!"
Dawn, satisfied with his experiment, ruffled the newly deaf felyne's hair, and took a look out the back entrance to see that the hellhounds were still following them. However, they were far more hesitant to actually get closer to the wagon. The leader had recovered, and had rejoined in the back of their formation. She sent him a death glare, but something about the way she looked at the hunter told him it wasn't exactly murder in her eyes.
He shivered as he thought back to last night. While it had been incredibly pleasurable, he had no intention of making it a part of his weekly routine. Especially, after the feelings of weakness he felt this morning. He cleared his minds, and refocused on the hellhounds gaining on them. He held his hand out for another pod. Tatsuo, wearily, stuffed some makeshift earplugs into his ears before handing him another.
Loading the projectile sonic blast into his slinger, he took aim at the center of their formation. The two other leaders yelped, and tried to move away from the incoming sound explosion, while the others moved to follow suit, but none of them were able to escape the pod's blast radius.
All of them tumbled, clasping their claws over the ears, and doubling over in pain. They hesitantly continued their pursuit, doubting on whether or not if it was worth the effort. He peaked out to see the Order soldier covering their ears as well, but they didn't seem nearly as bothered as the hellhounds.
He ran to the front of the wagon as they exited the forest, "Estrid! Stop! We can fight them here!"
The minotaur glanced at him, her exhaustion plain to see, and slowly came to halt. She fell to her knees, gasping for air. Dawn came down from the driver's seat and handed her a ration, "We're running out of Dash Juice. You'll need to make do with this."
She tiredly nodded, and took the ration from the hunter. Trying her best to keep the small meal from falling out of her gasping mouth. The hunter gently patted her back, and equipped his Great Sword.
"Join the hunt when you can," he added, "don't push yourself. We still have the to get to Lescatie after this."
"Don't worry about me," she smirked, "just earning my paycheck."
He shivered, but had more important things, than the durability of his pelvis, to worry about. His gaze fell on the hellhounds that came to a halt beside the wagon, and the potentially worse cavalry behind them. He settled on pointing his weapon at the hellhounds for now.
Mia, Ace, and Shizuka sallied out of the wagon, holding their respective weapons, and moved to stand beside the hunter. Mia did her best to ready her Bone Wedge, as she was still unfamiliar with the weapon. Ace rested his halberd on his shoulder, while he evaluated the mush taller mamono in front of him. Shizuka, though anxious, steadied herself and prepared for her first proper fight.
The Order soldiers readied their swords, while Wilmarina readied a spell with her sword as the catalyst. She ran her hand along the blade, coating it in the Divine Energy of her Chief God, and took a disciplined fencing stance. Dawn made a mental note to question her on how she did that afterwards.
The hellhounds' attention switched to the Order soldiers, and then to the hunter and his companions. The leader, he had blasted, pointed to the hunter, and then signaled the three identical hounds to focus on the soldiers behind her. She turned to the fourth largest of them and pointed to the hero. He watched with interest as the mamono seemed to wordlessly give out orders to her subordinates. He smiled to himself, 'So, these hellhounds have three leaders… Great Hellhounds? Royal Hellhounds? Helldromes?', He snickered at the thought, "Ace."
His palico glanced his way, before taking his halberd in both hands, "What?"
"Go after the second and third largest," Dawn nudged Mia, "take Mia with you. Shizuka," he turned to the bunyip, "I want you to go after the cloaked one, don't hurt her too much."
Shizuka nodded, and shook off her nerves, "I can do that."
He nodded, and turned to face the head leader, "I'll take her."
-0-
Tatsuo knew he wasn't useful in a fight. He had accepted that a long time ago, after a mishap with a jaggi, but he couldn't just sit by and let his friends do all the work. He made sure his earplugs were nice and snug, and readied the Screamer Pods he was able to make. He counted three, and took a quick glance over his makeshift cover.
He picked up his first pod, and took aim.
-0-
This wasn't going there way at all. In fact, Alpha would have described their situation as the exact opposite of what she wanted. The hunter had sound bombs, they have a hero baring down on their collective asses, and they were down a member with backup that had decided to fuck off with said member. They were outnumbered, overpowered, and potentially outsmarted.
The hunter and the Order had her pack surrounded, but that wasn't really the case now, was it? The hunter wanted to study them, based on how he was watching their every move, and that particular hero was infamously known for sparing mamono after battles. She grinned, 'Those soldiers are little more than cannon fodder, and that ridiculously strong minotaur's out for the count. We got this.'
Her confidence disappeared as another sonic blast deafened her. Her sisters covered their ears, and failed to take the initiative. The dull side of the hunter's weapon throwing her off her feet didn't help much either.
Alpha rolled with the weapon, and reoriented herself to face the hunter and his stupidly massive Great Sword. It hurt, a lot more than she thought it would. Making distance between herself and his Great Sword wasn't too hard, but the hunter wasn't deterred by an occasional whiff and renewed his assault.
'He's not aiming to kill me,' she ducked beneath the flat of the blade, 'which is good.', She struck back, but only ended up raking her claws against the weapon's metallic bone guard. The hunter redirected her claws, and swiveled into place for a horizontal swing. She felt the cold, oddly wet blade cut into her stomach, and the wind being knocked out of her was only making it worse.
She collapsed in a heap a couple paces from the hunter. She ran her claws along the place the Great Sword had cut her. She gave a sigh of relief when she realized that it was mostly superficial. Shallow and leaking blood, but not mortal by any stretch. She carefully stood back up, while covering her stomach, 'Definitely underestimated this guy.', She smirked, and took a step forward, "Is that all you got?!", That didn't mean she was just going to tuck her tail and run.
While the hunter dealt with their Alpha. Bonnie and Rachel squared off against the orange werecat, and his mate. Bonnie took another glance at their eldest. She wasn't doing much better than they were. If it had just been the blonde werecat, they wouldn't be having any issues, but the constant barrage of swings and thrusts prevented either of them from closing the distance. If they had another sister or removed one of them from the fight, it would improve their odds immensely.
Bonnie swiped at the female, who managed to block it with gritted teeth. The wooden handle of the weapon had somehow stayed intact despite her overwhelming strength. She kicked the female werecat in the stomach, forcing her out of her guard, and was about to knock her out of the fight when a stinging blade sank it's teeth into her back.
Rachel blocked the second swing with her claws, but even she was covered in small lacerations. Her younger sister pushed the male werecat away, and allowed her to refocus on the recovering female in front of her. She raised her claws to deliver the final blow once more, but the hellhound was swept off her feet by the female's weapon. Bonnie rolled out of the way of another retaliation swing, and joined Rachel's retreat.
"Okay," Rachel gasped for air, "this isn't going well."
"Yeah," Bonnie took a look at the cuts lining her sister's arms and waist, "you should take the girl. I'll…", she dragged her injured sister with her into a dodge as the male's attack sailed overhead. Bonnie and Rachel rebounded until they were facing the werecats, side by side. The male glared at them, and went back to resting his halberd on his shoulder. While the female hesitantly moved to stand beside him, coping his stance with her staff.
"Wanna switch?", The male gloated.
Whether he was asking his companion or mocking at them, they didn't know, but she wasn't going to let her sister continue to get her ass kicked by the clearly stronger werecat. Bonnie nodded, and rushed the male. Rachel took a second to catch her breath, noticing the female's hesitance. The hellhound growl, and broke into a charge.
The song of the bunyip's horn sounding over their battle as she carefully slammed the hunting horn into the ground. The youngest of their pack, ran up the horn's shaft, and delivered a jab to the mamono's chest.
The fluffy lamia let out a wheeze before wrapping the girl up in her tail, and slammed her into the ground. Rachel gasped, swiped the female werecat across the jaw, and raced across the battlefield to help her sister. But was rebutted by the massive, frilled horn to her already shredded arms.
Chloe wrenched herself free from the bunyip's tail, and ran over to her downed sister. Staring back at her opponent as she through her sister's arm over her shoulder.
-0-
Wilmarina parried the hellhound's swipe, and slid beneath the monster's guard, slicing into her waist as she did so. The monster recoiled from the burning Divine Energy, but for the most part got away unscathed. Her magical, demonic skin and natural muscle mass preventing the blade from piercing her. Wilmarina returned to her original fencing stance.
She ducked beneath another claw swipe, and thrusted her sword into the monster's paw. It didn't pierce like she thought it would, but there was a satisfying burning pop. The beast nursed her paw, but a rage burned in her eyes. A rage she hadn't seen in the eyes of other monsters before. She met the next claw swipe with her holy blade. Searing the black fur on her paws, and forcing the she-wolf back.
Her companions weren't fairing any better, despite their numbers advantage. The veterans stood their ground against the monster-trio, but had yet to land a substantial blow to any of them. Even with the help from the second sound bomb going off near them. The recruits were already unconscious; they didn't stand a chance.
She had to end this quickly. Turning to face the hellhound, she channeled more of her mana into the holy magic on her sword. Fear replaced fury, the hound could feel the Divine power gush from the hero's sword even from a distance, and broke into a sprint in a desperate attempt to escape.
Wilmarina let more of her power flow through the blade. Alerting more of the hounds, causing them to flee from the Chief God's divine wrath as well. Leaving the hounds fighting the hunter and his companions. She leveled her catalyst with the monster fighting the orange werecat, and let loose the power stored within her sword.
A bolt of light shot forth, striking the monster, and forcing her to her knees as the Divine Energy tore into her soul. The werecat took the opportunity she gave him, and slammed the end of his pommel into the back of her head. Knocking the monster into unconsciousness.
She watched as the rest of the hounds fled from the battle. She turned to check on her soldiers, and was shocked to see the recruits being carried off by the trio of hounds. She moved to pursue, but was too slow to follow them back into the dense forest.
Furious, she leveled her blade with the two retreating hounds and was about to unleash more of her power, but the minotaur had beaten her to the punch. A hammer to the back of the cloaked wolf had brought both her and her comrade crashing to the earth. A glare from the monster's red eyes made her dispel the magic flowing through her sword.
'Monster fighting monsters, huh.', Some of the anxiety over the missing recruits left her, 'At least we captured them.'
-0-
Dawn charged after the fleeing leader, reaching out to grab ahold of her before she could escape into the dense thickets that lined the forest edge. He could practically feel the black fur in his grasp, but stumbled as his gauntlet scraped the empty air.
She jumped impossibly high, and dived over the blockage. Dawn ripped the Wyvernator from his back, and cleaved through the bushes and trees in his way. By the time he ripped his sword free, she was long gone.
Grumbling, Dawn fought back the urge to pursue her, knowing that those hellhounds would probably have him surrounded if he did. Sighing, the hunter returned to the wagon to find Ace tending to Mia's wounds, and the uneasy standoff between Shizuka, Estrid, and the Order soldiers.
"I'm going to use the health horn," Ace said, as he carefully moved away from his First Stinger, "tell me if it hurts, okay."
The werecat nodded, but winced from the gaping wound on her chin. Dawn could tell she was fighting back tears, and gently gave her a pat on the back as he passed. She gave him a pained smile, which accidentally caused more blood to gush from the cut.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!", One of the soldiers accused.
"We didn't do anything," Estrid glared down at the shorter man, "you people lost your friends. We had nothing to do with that."
"Says the monster.", The other spat, "I bet your kind had some elaborate plan to capture the lot of us, and it failed when Hero Noscrim showed her true power. You ain't fooling me, monster!"
By the time he reached the confrontation the hero and the last soldier, with a cut on his cheek, had joined them as well.
"It's my fault," Wilmarina stepped forward, "I brought all of you out here. I will bear the responsibility."
The man behind her was older, far older than the rest of them. Dawn learned to see experience when he started hunting stronger monsters, and this man practically shined with it. He simply sat back and watched the confrontation unfold. Not interested in reprimanding the other soldiers, but he didn't look at the mamono with any of the righteous fury his comrades had.
"Hunter," he turned to the hero, "your name is Dawn, correct?"
"Yes, it is.", He looked to the furious soldiers and then her, "What happened to your men?"
"Two of our recruits were taken.", She turned downtrodden and whispered, "It happened while I was helping the orange werecat."
The fury in the soldiers' eyes were directed her way, but the sound of a horn prevented them from laying into her. Everyone's attention turned to the palico blowing through his Health Horn beside Mia. Thin green music notes and their chart circled around him as he activated the power of the life-crystals within the horn.
As he finished his song, a sudden rejuvenation passed over everyone in the vicinity. The oldest soldier felt his old wound painlessly stich itself back together, the wounds on the unconscious hellhounds, piled next to wagon, did the same, and Mia felt her jaw in awe as the cut sealed shut.
Ace inspected her chin, and gently laid his paw on her cheek as he did so. Despite the relative intimacy, Mia didn't try to exploit it. He let go of her, and stood back up.
"It left a scar, but you should be fine.", He gave her a genuine smile, "You did good."
Mia immediately wrapped the palico in a hug, a big silly grin on her face. Ace for once didn't push her off, and gave her a congratulatory pat on the back. He took notice of the sudden shift in attention, "What?"
AN: I haven't really found anything regarding magic spells in MGE. Beside the basic succubus horny spells. So I decided to just base it off of your standard fantasy magic.
I hope you guys enjoyed.