[iHena]

Quote

Hunt 23: A friendly visit.

A few days of rest later, I woke up to find a letter on the floor.

Meet me at the usual spot.

Elder

After getting dressed in my new armor, I left my residence. Surprisingly, this new Daora equipment was not heavy armor, but was smooth and flowing, like silk. Although I had worried about its defensive capabilities, Stakarato had shown me how an ordinary iron sword shattered like glass upon striking it.

It most certainly was not a normal piece of equipment.

As usual, the Elder was sitting at the same spot. Noticing my look, she smiled. "Relax, this isn't a request for a hunt."

She gazed at the Elder Dragon Observation Centre floating directly above the village. "At around this time, Yukumo Village hosts a festival, celebrating the birth of the village. All villages are welcome to send Hunters to visit and enjoy the festival. I was planning to send you."

"Why not Shiru?"

"He's been sleeping for too long. He needs to get his hunting skills back, before he gets disabled again. Since you've been doing well as well, you seem the far better choice. Shiru agrees.

Take this as a break, and enjoy Yukumo Village. I heard their hot springs are the best in the world of Kiris." With that, she shooed me off.

I knew that she had my best interests at heart, but there was this uneasy feeling.

Hopefully nothing will go wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

En route, I sighted another wyvern in the sky. Suddenly, the whole area seemed to erupt in rage, but as quickly as it came, it vanished.

Dismissing it as a trick of the heat, I continued walking.

Why was it so familiar, though?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sky had gone dark as soon as I arrived.

Yukumo Village was a very traditional village, with little to no machinery, as opposed to the Hunter's Guild, full of machinery, and Tosami, where machinery was mainly used by Stakarato.

A group of people have begun dancing around the large center totem, with Felynes jumping in whenever they can. Stands littered the whole village, each selling a wide variety of food, masks, even game stores. I spent some time at a fishing game before moving on.

A young lady sitting on a log was deep in conversation with yet another person. Just as the other person left, the young lady noticed me and beckoned me to join her, smiling.

"Welcome, young Hunter. I've heard great things about you. I am the Village Elder of Yukumo Village."

"A pleasure to meet you." We exchanged handshakes.

"I must say, you look far younger than I had expected. Seems as if our resident Hunter wasn't lying."

Resident... Hunter?

Seeing my puzzled look, she laughed. "Oh, have you forgotten, the Hunter who saved your life?"

Before I could confirm my suspicions, however, a large commotion brought my attention to the Gathering Hall, where a small team of Felynes were carrying a gigantic Felyne head down the steps.

Although I knew Felynes were strong, I had the feeling that they won't last long.

Sure enough, the gigantic head soon started rolling down the mountain village.

This time, when the Elder smiled, I couldn't help but smile as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not far from Yukumo Village, at the site of the fireworks launching. A team of Felynes dropped fireworks into many similar sized cannons. The human sized cannon, however, was manned by a person clad in full Jinouga armor.

Somewhere else, a red dragon landed, another person in it's claws.

And so ends the Singer's Requiem and Portable 3rd crossover.

Next up, a twist to the fillers.

[iHena]

Before I begin.

All characters cameoed may or may not be linked with real life people. If characters depicted have links with real people, it is completely not-coincidental. However, every personality depicted by these cameos IS a joke and should be laughed off.

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Hunt 24: Clipping.

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Capture Quest: Wind Barioth and Rathian

Location: Tosami Desert (Day)

Weapons: Infinis (DS), Dream Apollo XIII (Bow)

Guest Weapons: Jinouga Switch Axe (SA)

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Once I got back the day after, the Elder set me on yet another quest.

"Hunters' Festival begins today. It's a month where Hunters all over Kiris band together to keep the land safe. And of course, a time of celebration.

Curiously, this festival began in Loc Lac, nameless, and its original purpose was to slay a rampaging Jhen Mohran that visited yearly... But I digress."

Instinctively I turned to the Desert. The roars remained the same, but there was a new addition to the mess... a wail?

Must be the Jhen.

"Throughout this month you'll be paired up with other hunters. Depending on the quest location, you might have to travel to another village or city. Not today, though, your Guest is coming as we speak.

Now then, the target. The client wishes for you to capture a Wind Barioth and a Rathian alive. Running some kind of zoo... How absurd. Either way, you can't kill them."

Just as she finished, a woman approached us. "Yo." She grinned.

I took a good look at her. A young woman, hair tied up into a bun. She was wearing a full set of silver armor, and on her back was what I identified to be a Switch Axe. A matching helmet was balanced on her finger.

"Silver Rathalos and Jinouga?" Some time during my observations Stakarato had popped up behind me. "You're looking at a real Hunter, lassy. Don't embarrass yourself."

With those words of advice(?), Stakarato trotted off.

"The name's Mizore." "Yukiru." We exchanged handshakes.

"Well then, shall we?" Mizore donned her helmet, and started walking.

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<Quest Start>

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"Before we begin." Mizore had stopped before leaving the camp. "Whatever you do, don't hit the head."

"Erm... why?"

"You'll see. I like a little... style in my hunts." She began running towards the mud pool, where the Rathian was.

Both of us hid behind a rock, while the Rathian stood there, oblivious to our presence.

"Go on, attract it's attention. That's what bows do best."

Remembering what Mizore said, instead of aiming the arrow at the head region, I opted to fire at the legs. Instead of a piercing arrow, though, a vertical volley of arrows was fired, each of them landing on the Rathian's left leg.

It turned towards us, and noticed both of us. Immediately, Mizore leapt out and landed a crushing blow onto the head. And the fight begins.

There were a few things I noticed about this fight. One, Mizore did nothing except hit the head. Two, she followed a very specific sequence of hitting the head. Two sword mode downswings and one sword mode upswing. Three, right after the second downswing, any attack she made seemed to flinch it. The more amazing part was that she'll time an axe mode upswing right as the Rathian was in the air, knocking it down and repeating the same procedure.

It's sort of... interesting, in it's own way. As for me, I alternated between the Dream Apollo XIII and the Infinis, targeting both legs.

It took little time to force the Rathian to flee. "Well, she's near dead. About time to pop those tranqs."

As we chased the fleeing Rathian, I couldn't help but question her actions.

"Oh, that? That's clipping. You could basically lock a monster into doing what you want if you time it well. It also requires a lot of maths, which I think you'll never want to know."

...How maths is required for this... "clipping" is beyond me.

Eventually, though, we captured the Rathian, who had fallen asleep. "Next, the Wind Barioth. Same thing, don't hit the head. Feel free to break it's wings, though. I'll have an easier time clipping."

We ran into the searing heat. Almost immediately, the Wind Barioth noticed us.

This time, as we fought, I began to take notice of Mizore's attacks. She stayed exclusively in sword mode this time, probably due to the Wind Barioth's reluctance to fly. Although, when chances allowed, she did use the axe upswing to knock the Wind Barioth down. Eventually, I noticed a pattern where every 6th hit was a sure flinch, no matter what attack was used.

Taking a chance, I tested out the bow's Daora Webbing coat by swinging it, hard, at the Wind Barioth's head once I counted 5 strikes. To my surprise, it did flinch.

"Atta girl! Now you've getting the hang of clipping!" Mizore was laughing. Slowly but surely, we forced the Wind Barioth into exhaustion, and one pitfall trap later, we found ourselves with a sleeping Wind Barioth.

"Great job. You should try clipping someday, too. Seems you've understood it a little."

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<Quest Complete>

Wind Barioth and Rathian captured.

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Walking back to Tosami alone, I noticed the Elder looking up at the stars muttering to herself.

"That Mizore... almost as absurd as the client. How can she believe in things like swing percentages and stagger limits?"

I shrugged as I walked back to my house. She did say maths was involved.

And here's our first star: Nosuke! Maybe you've seen his clipping videos, if not, watch them, they're great.

Mizore is his hunter's name. Nosuke has done clips with LS, SA, and HBG, but he's more well known for SA clips, so I used SA here.

He's also a great player, non-clip wise.

This post has been edited by iHena: 13 November 2011 - 02:53 PM

[iHena]

13 Days Later...

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Hunt 25: Young Star Rising.

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Hunting Quest: Doboruberuku

Location: Mountain Stream (Day)

Weapons: Infinis (DS), Dream Apollo XIII (Bow)

Guest Weapons: Dobo Hammer (Hammer)

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I set myself the task of improving my Hunter Rank a few days ago. Although usually tough, the Hunters' Festival made the task much easier.

This task brought me to an Urgent Quest, which would allow me to access the High Rank quests. A rampaging Doboruberuku in the Mountain Stream.

Unfortunately, not even Shiru knew much about this Brute Wyvern. Apparently newly discovered, the Hunter's Guild had little data on this monster, and details on it's way of life were hardly known even to Loc Lac.

Nonetheless, for this hunt I was paired up with a veteran. He had hunted the Doboruberuku a good number of times, and was one of the few Hunters to actually truly understand it.

For this quest, I had to travel back to Yukumo. My partner was a drifter, never spending more than a week in any place, but he had kindly extended his stay in Yukumo for this quest.

He must have understood how tough the Doboruberuku was, too.

Arriving at the Gathering Hall, the usual staff members sat at the long bench, while a young man was looking at the Quest Board. As I approached him, he turned around, revealing a handsome, yet battle worn, face.

"How're you doing?" On his back was a giant Hammer. He was dressed in a trendy outfit, reminiscent of what people wear back home...

Just the sight of this Hunter brought back memories of before Kiris.

Trying my best to block out these thoughts, I extended my hand. "Yukiru Monya."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Monya. My name is Ariel Dacumos, but please call me Eric." He grasped my hands. It was surprisingly cold.

"Well then, let's get that emergency solved." Eric donned his... headphones, and beckoned me to follow.

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<Quest Start>

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Loud roars were heard almost as soon as we arrived.

"This Doboruberuku must be very agitated. The roars do not seem to signify injury." He started running towards the source of the roar.

Dumbfounded, I followed his back.

Mere moments later, we reached the source of the roars.

The Doboruberuku was not focused on us, for a change. It was angrily crushing a small group of Hunters. A small flag was nearby.

"That Emblem, is that group a part of Vanora?"

The group of Hunters were struggling with the Doboruberuku, they were obviously exhausted at the stamina the gigantic Brute Wyvern had. One tail slam later, the battle was decided. The Doboruberuku roared mightily, and proceeded out of the area, taking care to smash the Vanora flag before leaving.

Once it was safe, we hurried to the fallen Hunters.

"Guys, wake up. Wake up!"

No response. Eric got up and turned to face me.

"Vanora and I go way back. We have to avenge them." There was cold fury within his eyes, and yet his face was calm. "Let's go, Miss Monya."

Nodding, I followed the Doboruberuku.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A fallen tree.

Sounds of someone eating.

The Doboruberuku was eating the trees found in the area. Almost immediately, though, it spotted us and turned to face us.

"You have a ranged weapon. Aim for it's humps. I'll go for the head." Nodding, I drew the Dream Apollo XIII. Eric unsheathed his hammer and began charging.

Focusing my aim onto the humps, I released the arrow high into the air. At it's peak, it scattered and released a tight focus of pellets from the sky, straight onto the hump. At the same time, Eric slammed his hammer onto the Doboruberuku's head, knocking it out. Immediately, Eric rolled towards the humps, and started hitting it.

The way he moves... he is undoubtedly a very skilled Hunter.

However, even skilled Hunters make mistakes. As soon as the Doboruberuku recovered, Eric immediately rushed to continue his assault on the head, throwing caution to the winds. His focus was only on the head, and not the deadly tail. One quick spin later, the hammer tail knocked him towards the cliff. Luckily, he wasn't knocked off, and yet the fury in his eyes remained.

He continued to relentlessly pound on the head, wanting to avenge the Vanora members.

Or was it? Strangely, the Doboruberubu did not pay any attention to me, only towards Eric. It was trying it's best to crush Eric, and although Eric was completely capable of avoiding the tail, he kept getting swept away by the tail.

One miscalculation was all it took. Eric began to spin the hammer around, gaining momentum, and as such was completely unaware that the Doboruberuku had also begun spinning. The instant he swung the hammer up, the Doboruberuku threw itself into the air.

The hammer missed the hammer tail by centimetres.

Without time to get away, all Eric, and I, could do was to see the gigantic Wyvern land straight onto him.

One loud crash.

One massive tremor.

The Doboruberuku got up, satisfied, and again stomped off to another area.

The fallen Hunter simply lay there, a pool of blood already beginning to form.

To be continued.

[iHena]

Quote

Hunt 26: Prayer.

Wake up. Please wake up.

Please...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was but a young boy. A young boy without a family.

I lived with my family at Pokke. What family?

All we had was each other. All that remained was alone.

One day, Ever since that fateful day.

A scream tore through the sky. A scream of death.

I was still unaware of the truth behind Kiris. A furious roar.

My father stepped out, a blade in his hands. The last I ever saw of him.

My mother brought me and my sister into the cave. The last I ever saw of her.

After a while, my sister got restless. If she could wait...

"Where's Dad?" She screamed. The echo hurt my ears. But that was the last voice I heard.

She ran out of the cave. Mother followed, determined to bring her back. Too little, too late.

Right then, the tail slammed down on both of them. Two screams...

Right in front of my tear-filled eyes. Right in front of my ears.

I'll never forget those eyes. And I'll always remember that roar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, Eric opened his eyes.

"Thank goodness you're awake! I've applied some medicine onto the wounds, just rest for a while."

He turned his head, staring at the hammer lying next to him. "..I'm a failure, am I not?"

"Why say that?"

"The calm and cool Eric, torn apart by rage, and he now meets his glorious end slain by the one thing he sworn to destroy. Doesn't that fit a failure's specifications?"

I said nothing. In fact, I didn't know what to say.

"My entire family was killed by that Doboruberuku. I recognised it by the scar near it's eyes. Just one rampage, and my entire family was taken."

He didn't ask for confirmation. He didn't need to.

"Orphaned at 5, I was adopted by a Hunter. He trained me into the man I was today. All just because of that monster."

Tears had begun to flow from his eyes.

"And now, here I am, wasted."

I slapped him. Hard.

"You moron. They won't be happy to see you like this.

I know what it's like to lose people. I've lost everyone near to me once before. And yet here I am! Still going on, still believing that they won't want to see me give up. I would have lost their faith in me. Would your family lose faith in you?

Your family might be gone. All that's in the past. But now, in the present, more and more people are dying. And their faith is with us."

Eric closed his eyes. I thought that he had become unconscious again, but he gripped the hammer tightly.

"You're right. Faith... I've almost forgotten it existed."

Slowly but surely, he got back onto his feet.

"Let's go, Yukiru."

"Right."

Warmth emanated from Eric, a sudden blaze of faith.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, we found the Doboruberuku eating away.

Eric groaned. Although his external injuries were fine, he had a few broken bones. He was trying his best to hang on, though.

"I'm fine. More importantly, the race against time begins." I nodded.

Together, we charged at the beast.

...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...A few days later, a letter found it's way to me.

It's Eric.

Thanks for your help with the Doboruberuku. Honestly, you've been a very great help.

Although I don't think I can hunt again, I feel as if a huge weight was lifted off my back.

I believe you'll find your way back, too.

The dream might have worked both ways, huh.

I offered up a silent prayer. Both to the decreased and the living.

Our second star: The (self-proclaimed, or made up by someone, I DONT KNOW) Uniquely Legendary Pigibat (Don't call me that)!

A Youtube star, but recently stopped playing P3rd in favour of Unite. You'll probably have seen at least one of his videos, so his skill is undeniable.

Why Hammer? I think you guys know.


In SR related news, I've lost some motivation for writing. Hence, this project will be on yet another hiatus. For how long, I have no idea.

If you DO have anything to say about this (which I highly doubt), you can post here.

I've also been unable to create an effect I wanted. Apologies.

This post has been edited by iHena: 03 December 2011 - 02:38 PM

[Pigibat]

It's not self-proclaimed! Nosuke made that up! xDD

[iHena]

I felt like I had to do this.

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Extra 26.5: The untold fight.

Another roar from the Doboruberuku signalled it's willingness to attack again.

"As usual, aim for the humps."

Drawing my bow, I aimed at the two brown bumps and fired. Halfway through the arc the arrow burst into flame, landing squarely on the humps. Eric, on the other hand, continued his pounding on the head, but this time taking care to distance himself until completely ready to attack.

And yet, the Doboruberuku seemed to feel no pain. It repeatedly swiped it's tail, eager to swat away the annoying hammer using bee.

Making good use of the Doboruberuku's infatuation, I kept firing at the back of the beast. Countless arrows rained down on the monster, each bursting into flame before impact. Soon enough, the humps were on fire, though that did not do anything to dull the Doboruberuku's attacks.

Almost immediately, the monster shifted it's attention towards me, and charged at me as fast as it could.

It was surprisingly fast.

Unable to run, all I could do was a feeble attempt at stopping the frenzied charge by swinging the bow at the head. Meanwhile, Eric was rushing towards me, eager to recapture the monster's attention.

The small 'twack' was met with pain almost as if I was hit by a truck. The impact threw me into the air, causing me to land 30 feet away. Miraculously, it seemed as if the Daora robe absorbed most of the damage, leaving me with the dull pain. The hit from the bow caused the Doboruberuku to stop for the briefest moment, allowing Eric to slam the hammer down onto it's head. Once again, the monster fell to it's side, knocked out again.

As quickly as I could, I got back up on my feet, took out both Infinis blades, and fired them at the humps. Although this forced me to collapse again, both of the humps were broken. With the weak spot exposed, Eric followed up with a heavy pounding on the soft flesh within.

Groaning, I reached into the bag and took out a bottle filled with a yellow liquid. The instant the liquid flowed down into my stomach, I felt as if my blood was running at super speed, bringing much needed energy to my body.

...They didn't call it Mega Juice for nothing.

I ran towards Eric, and pulled out the two blades which were still stuck in the still burning humps. No pain whatsoever...

"You ok, Yukiru?" Eric asked, still pounding on the humps.

"I should be asking you that question, you know." I proceeded to stab the white flesh as many times as I could.

"I feel like I could hunt another Doboruberuku. Look out, it's getting up."

With a massive (and unbelievable) flip, the monster got back onto it's feet. Now that the exposed flesh was in contact with the fire, it obviously did not feel very good. It turned around, ignoring our continued attacks, and moved slowly towards the greenest area of the Mountain Stream.

"Gah, me and my big mouth." Eric winced.

"Maybe you shouldn't follow... get some rest."

"I plan to. Go on, kill it. It's almost dead, a few more arrows to the knee and he'll be done. In fact, you could take my hammer along and pound it awake. It's going off to rest now."

"Will you be fine without your hammer?" I was very concerned about his safety.

"I'll be fine. I still have the carving knife. The Felynes will be here soon, too."

"Okay. Take care, then." I grabbed his hammer, which had fallen to the floor, and chased after the Doboruberuku.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And true enough, the Doboruberuku was already sleeping. It had somehow extinguished the flames on it's back, and was lying sideways.

Slowly creeping up towards the humps, I took the hammer out and with all my might swung it down on the humps. Obviously startled, the Doboruberuku stumbled to it's feet, and the brief moment of surprise allowed me to load up yet another Infinis blade. Aiming straight at the feet, I fired the blade.

The blade pierced midway through the knee, and the Doboruberuku lost it's balance. While it was immobile, I dragged the hammer to it's face and again, with all my might, swung it in a circle, the hammerhead landing squarely on it's nose.

A brief twitch, and then silence. The monster breathed no more.

With Infinis still stuck near the knee.

This truly concludes Pigibat's Arc. Next up is... I dunno.

[iHena]

Happy 2012, guys. You get two chapters today, although one is just to explain things.

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Extra 26.8: Gunlancing 101.

Every Gunlance is unique. The user, however, customises every Gunlance to suit his or her needs.

Just to name an example, shelling. A wide variety of shelling methods exist, ranging from a normal shell, to a charged shot, and then the full burst and the infamous Wyvern Fire. A barrel on a lance hardly has enough capabilities to handle a way to fire each of these shells.

That is why every user has to register a Mystic Code with the Gunlance. A spiritual weapon, the Gunlance is the Guild's latest creation, and the first to share spiritual links with it's user. Upon registering a Mystic Code with the Gunlance, all the user has to do is to recite incantations for the shells to take effect. This allows Hunters to simultaneously stab and shell.

Of course, the longer the incantation, the more potent the shell.

(This issue of Hunting! was a history.)

That was the explanation. On to the story!

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Hunt 27: The Silent Assassin.

The beast crouched low, high up above near the clouds. Waiting. Waiting for it's prey.

When one would least expect it, the beast pounced onto it's prey. It's sharp nails dug into flesh, tearing meat and sinew away. The teeth, bladed yet cool, sunk into the head of it's dinner.

Today, it was following the same principles in it's hunt. Stalking around at it's usual spot, high above the ground. It waited patiently for dinner to serve itself.

Sure enough, the prey it expected appeared, larger than usual. A feast was in store for the beast.

It leapt into the air, allowing for gravity to steal the kill.

Right before the landing, though, something else appeared below the beast.

Something the beast never wanted to see, ever, in it's life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hunting Quest: ???

Location: Tundra (Night)

Weapons: Infinis (DS), Dream Apollo XIII (Bow)

Guest Weapons: Jinouga Gunlance (GL)

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Late in the night, the Elder called for me.

"We have some kind of an emergency, to be really honest. A few hours ago the Hunter's Guild found a corpse in the Tundra. The diagnosis was that he was crushed to death by a monster." At this point the Elder kept silent.

In a soft and shaky voice, the Elder continued. "Shiru's son was the victim."

Footsteps. Shiru had noticed both of us talking and had approached us. "Something wrong?"

Trying my best to keep my face straight, I nodded. "Another person was attacked."

"God damn it, those monsters never fail to harm the innocent!" Shiru was obviously fired up. "We're hunting this beast, right?"

The Elder nodded. "The monster should still be in the Tundra. Be careful."

Shiru immediately left to pick up his gear. Before I left, I looked at the Elder again.

"The body was removed from the scene. Still, keep an eye on him. There is virtually no information on what you two are hunting."

The tone suggested that the Elder had not expected this turn of events.

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<Quest Start>

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Immediately, the two of us drank something hot to keep our body warm.

"Let's split up. I'll look in the caves, you look around the open areas. Give a holler if you find it, I'll do the same." Shiru told me. Without waiting for a response, however, he sprinted into the blizzard.

Following his lead, I entered the Tundra proper. The blizzard had cut visibility down to a minimum, but luckily I remembered how to navigate around the Tundra. Slowly but surely, I moved from area to area, in pursuit of the monster.

The minutes stretched longer and longer, with the blizzard growing more intense by the second. Seeking shelter, I had no choice but to run into the caves.

The first thing I saw, was Shiru standing at the other end of the cave. In the middle of the two of us lay our target.

A jet black Naruga Kuruga.

Shouldn't they be found in green areas? I bet Shiru was thinking the same, too. Slowly, the two of us approached the barely moving monster.

"It seems to have lost consciousness due to the cold. Freezing, even. Should be an easy kill, it probably won't wake up no matter how much we hit it."

To my surprise, there were icicles hanging from the hairs of the Naruga. It probably must be near death. I myself would just leave it alone and let nature take it's life, but Shiru had other plans.

Already unsheathing his Gunlance, he pointed the barrel straight at the head. Muttering some words, the barrel emitted a blueish flame, similar to a Bunsen burner.

"...Die." After saying that final word, Shiru plunged the Gunlance into the mouth of the Naruga, and the charged shells within the Gunlance all exploded at maximum strength. Without a way to spread out around, the explosion was released from the only exit: the barrel. The force of the explosion barely caused the Naruga to react... Rather, the monster had died right before it could even react.

"...Mission accomplished. Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What the beast had never wanted to see, was a human child.

It had never harmed humans. Exiled from the family because of it's unwillingness to pursue human flesh, the beast had only sustained itself on Kelbi. Hardly appetising, but enough for this beast.

One by one, the beast had saw his 'family' fall. This only further strengthened it's resolve to never harm humans.

And yet, flying over the frigid wasteland, it had no energy left to reach it's destination.

What was supposed to be a Popo became a human child...

And now, wrongfully slain, the beast lay. The harsh winds covered the beast with snow.

And yet, if one looks close enough...

...Faintly red...

[iHena]

Quote

Hunt 28: Revisiting.

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Hunting Quest: Tigrex

Location: Tundra (Day)

Weapons: Infinis (DS), Dream Apollo XIII (Bow)

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Once light shined upon Kiris again, I set off towards the Tundra once more.

It was with short notice, too. It just so happened that there was a rampaging Tigrex loose in the Tundra.

The fierce blizzard had died down over the night, and the sun was hanging brightly in the sky, but I still took a Hot Drink, just in case.

If one strained his ears, he could actually hear the roars...

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<Quest Start>

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In the wide area before the fork into the caves, I met the brown Tigrex for the first time.

Razor sharp teeth, claws strengthened by nature, a body suited for high speed running... A fearsome foe, both to blade and ranged users.

Immediately, I took the Dream Apollo out and readied an arrow. With luck, I could plant some arrows into the monster before it noticed me.

Which, obviously, did not happen, for the Tigrex had already noted the change in the air.

The smell of fresh bait.

It turned towards me, and let an ear-splitting roar out. I took that moment to launch an arrow right into the mouth, which he deflected with the powerfully built arm.

And so the fight began.

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Around the same time, Shiru was just sitting on the steps of his house. Pondering.

My family... It's been a while. Almost 4 years...

He remembered many things about his family. His first kiss, 12 years ago. His proposal, 11 years ago. The birth of their son, 2 years later. The first time he was forced to separate from them, 7 years ago.

His last visit to Loc Lac, where his family remained, waiting for his return. 4 years ago.

He got up, re-entered the house, and opened a drawer. In the drawer was the many letters sent to him by his wife and son. At random, he picked up one and read it.

Shiru, it's been a while. I really hope that you're well. I worry day and night about you, nightmares almost nightly, but your letters are the best salvation I could ever hope for.

The proof that you still think of us.

Mel is fine now. He was glad to hear that you worried about his sudden illness 2 months ago. Prehaps, it was because of this that he was able to pull through. Although he is fine, he still harbours thoughts of following in your footsteps. Nothing I said deterred him, and I believe you won't deter him. I really should accept this fact.

But, this ambition in life has given Mel a reason to study hard. Never once after the illness was he seen resting, he's either working out or studying about the monsters around Loc Lac. In a way, I feel pleased.

The letter was dated one year back.

How was Mel now? Shiru couldn't help but ponder over this.

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For what seemed like the umpteenth time, the Tigrex jumped over my head and landed.

Mystery of the world #1: How a Tigrex can be so furiously fit when you could see his ribs. That was my first thought.

Both of us were evidently worse looking than a few minutes ago. The Tigrex had his teeth stuck in the wall a few times, and every time it got them unstuck some of his teeth remain embedded. There was a long scar down his hard skull. A few streams of blood could be seen dripping from the tail, and the arteries were pulsating red.

As for me, I had a slash on my forehead where the Tigrex clawed at me once after loosening his teeth. Though light, the blood had made it hard to see much of my surroundings. Multiple light abrasions were on my body where I missed death by an inch, and the friction caused by the tough scales spilled blood. A dull pain was on my chest, when the force of the Tigrex pushing me away connected with the Daora robe.

The Tigrex is respectfully feared, indeed. Taking great care to be ready to run, I drew out a blade and loaded it. The Tigrex jumped again, and I took the opportunity to release the string under the ribs. The blade was small enough to be jammed into the spaces between the bones, and the landing forced the blade further in, causing the Tigrex to groan in pain.

I guess the Infinis had pierced it's lung. The Tigrex tried to take off, but the wound on the chest was too serious, it only managed to hover in mid-air for a moment before gravity brought it down, winded.

Moving quickly, I placed two bombs near the hind legs. Drawing an arrow while jumping back, I got into a safe range and fired the arrow, which burst in flame before igniting the gunpowder.

The blast left the Tigrex smoking, and dead. The shockwave had also caused a few icicles to fall.

That was when I realised something. Sometime into the fight, we had entered another area. This area was the same place where the Naruga Kuruga was.

Instead of there being a corpse, there was nothing there.

This post has been edited by iHena: 14 January 2012 - 07:19 AM

[iHena]

Quote

Hunt 29: In Another's Eyes.

So... so cold...

Need... food...

... A monster...

I leapt into the sky, desperate for sustenance.

The Popo moved away, however, and hidden behind it's large body was a small human child.

No... STOP!

I willed my wings to flap. But the energy remaining was not enough.

A loud crash completely crushed the frail body. Startled, the Popos around started to run away.

Blood...

It.. smells good.

Against my will, my teeth sank into the corpse. I tried my best to avoid looking at the corpse while eating.

The taste of fresh meat, human meat... It tore against my conscience, but the feeling of consuming food far outweighed the guilt in my body.

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And yet, it wasn't enough.

I should have struck the Popos while I had the chance...

The energy that frail child provided was only enough to allow me to move again. Not to take off and avoid facing a Hunter's wrath.

Not that it was even possible. Right after I finished my meal, the blizzard began. The freezing cold, chattering teeth... Unbearable was an understatement.

I dragged myself into the caves. Still cold, but slightly less than the wilderness outside.

I knew that I would die if I fell asleep, but the hunger was creeping back again...

I cannot sleep. I cannot sleep.

And yet, the embrace of darkness was so alluring...

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Voices.

I heard voices in the darkness.

"It seems to have lost consciousness due to the cold."

That may be true, but I can still hear them... Feel them, even.

Why are they here?

To rescue?

Or to kill...?

"It probably won't wake up no matter how much we hit it."

I tried to move my tail. Try as I could, my tail simply refused to even budge an inch. I tried opening my eyes, but it felt as if ice had glued my eyelids to my face.

A sudden warmth flooded my face. Just enough for me to open my eyes, a little.

All I saw, was a bluish flame, and a face.

A face that looked startlingly similar to the corpse.

The last thing I heard was the word "Die". Right after that, the crude weapon was jabbed straight into my throat.

This time, I tasted my own blood.

A loud bang later, my entire body was burning. Almost as if my blood was on fire...

I couldn't move. Not at all. The ice had froze my body down, and all I could do was to suffer.

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Needless to say, I did not last long against the burning blood flowing within me.

And yet, what I always imagined Death to be... A swift escape into the Heavens or Hell... It did not happen.

My soul still remained there, frozen to the ground.

What was stopping me? Why can't I move on, to atone for my sin?

A voice spoke to me. Prehaps, it was simply my imagination.

"Master... this time, how about a change? A non-human puppet..."

"Hehehe, a marvellous idea, my dear. I cannot wait for the results."

The blood flow reversed. Once again my brain received oxygen... Not that it needed any.

A slight tinge flowed down my spine, and I felt my body becoming lighter.

I opened my eyes, only to realise that they were burning, just like how my blood boiled moments ago.

The ice around me had finally melted. I got back on all fours, and leapt away into the night sky.