[Kibagami]

(This is a direct copy-and-paste from the original, posted on another forum. I take full credit - please don't flame me/the girls, please, unless you wish for decapitation...)

First of all, this fan fiction is based off of the game Monster Hunter, by Capcom. I don't own Capcom/Monster Hunter: if I did, Monster Hunter Tri G wouldn't have been on the 3DS. Just saying.

Secondly, for those of you not familiar with the MonHun universe, I recommend the Monster Hunter Wiki.

I'm not exactly familiar with the fanfic section of this site - most of my stories are uploaded onto FanFiction.net. But please, tell me if I do something horribly, horribly wrong

I'll update this (hopefully) every week. The problem is, I have lots of homework and limited access to a computer (not to mention a lazy personality) so I apologize if I made you wait.

Well, thank you for reading that wall of text. Off we go.

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INDEX

Prologue
Chapter One

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PM LIST

(I'll explain how this works - you comment on this topic requesting to be added, I add you, then when a new chapter is up, I'll PM you. Simple, no?)

This post has been edited by Kibagami: 08 February 2012 - 10:51 AM

[Kibagami]

Prologue


The usually turbulent seas were calm today, the sound of the waves the only thing that disturbed the peace. It was a fine day, and a small fishing vessel cut swiftly through the waves, on a voyage to the nearby village of Ryudo. The sail was up, flapping wildly in the strong wind. Fishermen were shouting at each other, cursing in typical sailor fashion.

"Still seasick?" A sailor smacked a man in purple and pink armor on the back, making the latter yelp in surprise and almost fall into the sea. Almost instantly, the man coughed - and soon the remains of his lunch were retched up into the ocean. The man's sickly face slowly regained its color, and the man sighed in relief.

"Ugh. Yeah, I'm a little nauseous," he replied unsteadily. "I've never hunted overseas, so I'm not used to the rocking of boats and stuff."

The sailor chuckled. "Well, buck up, boy," he laughed, slapping the man on the back and making him gasp as the wind was whacked out of him. "We still've about two hours to go, so you bet'r be hopin' the winds continue blowing in our favor."

The hunter, Zephyr, muttered a thank you and turned back to the railing, thinking back to the past year with some regret.

The job of a hunter was not as glamorous as he had expected. After narrowly passing the Hunter's Exam, which was held by the Hunter's Guild every year, he had emerged from the test arena a fledgling hunter. At that time, he had felt as though he was the king of the world - the party the villagers had held for the passing examinees had boosted his ego even further, and he had truly thought himself a hero.

Unfortunately, the nightmare began soon enough. On his first day as a hunter, he had went to the quest board, only to find that all the challenging quests were out of his reach. The Guild had a system called Hunter Rank, or simply HR - to do the hard quests, hunters had to first advance up the ranks and 'earn their stripes' as the guild representative in his village had put it plainly. And being a freshly-graduated hunter, he naturally started at HR1 - with only the most easy quests available to him. 'Gather some honey, get some Kelbi horns, mine some ore'... Zephyr had the attention span of a housefly, so it was only natural that he got bored after doing a few quests.

After almost a year, he had finally advanced to HR4 - and was finally granted the permission to hunt monsters that were above novice level. The ecstatic Zephyr had signed up to kill a Great Jaggi (some sort of pink-purple-and-yellow raptor with a frill) and its pack for attacking a merchant who had been passing by the area, and specifically requested to hunt them solo. He had nearly died when the entire pack of a dozen Jaggi, led by their leader the Great Jaggi, attacked him at the same time, forcing him to run all the way back to his village. After that incident, he had learnt an important lesson - humans were not the dominant species out in the wilds. The monsters were, and hunters had to band together to survive.

After that, he had slowly worked his way up to HR7 with other hunters, honing his skills slowly and upgrading his armor and weapons along the way. Now, he finally looked like a real hunter - his armor was made out of the hides of Jaggi, and his weapon was a short dagger made out of various ores, accompanied by a shield made out of the same materials. Zephyr built up the courage to accept a quest that required him to travel to the village of Ryudo, but was forced to take this fishing boat to save time. According to the sailors, there were nine other hunters on board, apparently famous huntresses, but he had seen nothing of them during the two-day voyage. He had lost interest-

His thoughts were interrupted by a blood-curdling scream, and he quickly turned to the source of the sound. A fisherman was struggling in the jaws of... some serpentine monster with blue spikes adorning its back and fangs the size of knives.

It took a few seconds for his mind to register the threat: the Lord of the Seas, a Lagiacrus!

Zephyr was stunned into immobility - a Lagiacrus was far above his level! There was no way he could last for more than a minute against this thing...

"Oh god," he said, falling to the floor helplessly, his legs paralyzed by fear. "Oh god. Oh god. I'm going to die."

I'm going to die. I'm going to die. And I can't do anything about it.

"Step out of the way!"

Someone pushed him roughly out of the way, and he fell to the deck in a heap.

Nine huntresses, dressed in armor made of wonderful materials he had never seen before in his life and wielding great weapons he had always dreamed of wearing.

"Hey there, rookie." One of them, a woman with eyes that seemed to smile.

Then they attacked the beast, scarring its fearsome face in a matter of seconds. The Lagiacrus squealed and slunk back into the water -

They're so good... while all I can do is sit here and watch like a fool, they're making mince meat out of it...

"Alright, girls!" A short woman, the leader probably, shouted. "Let's move out!"

The last thing Zephyr remembered before he finally passed out from hyperventilation, was the sight of the nine huntresses leaping into the seas...

And he remembered the name of the group, a name spoken with reverence by all the sailors.

Girls' Generation.

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Author's Note: I know, not showing much of them yet. That Zephyr guy was just a random hunter who probably will never appear in the story again. So yeah.

[Kibagami]

Chapter 1: Initiation

A huntress, dressed in armor made out of the silvery scales and hide of some unfortunate monster, strode somberly through a long and empty corridor. Her face was not visible, her eyes hidden behind a metallic visor. Strapped to her back was a... a thing, a piece of machinery folded up to the point where it was no bigger than a backpack. Sticking out of the top was a handle, wrapped in a pink cloth.

She sighed as she neared the end of the corridor - she could now see a highly-decorated double-door, guarded by two knights in simple metal armor. Despite their grand appearance, she knew that she could easily take out the both of them and break through the door - but she was not here to fight. Even so, her right hand slowly reached up over her back and grabbed the handle firmly.

As she approached, one of the guards barked "State your name!".

The huntress sighed again. Didn't they know a legendary huntress when they saw one? "I don't have time for this," was her caustic reply. "It's quite urg-"

The guards reached for their batons in a threatening gesture.

"Don't do something that you'll regret later," she hissed. "Fine, if you're so persistent. I'm Kim Taeyeon, hunter rank nine-hundred and fifty."

The two knights immediately straightened themselves up, letting go of their batons. Taeyeon could almost imagine them shivering in their armor, with terrified expressions - people always expressed such fear in her presence! "You- You're cleared for entry, Lady Taeyeon," one knight stammered, opening the door for her and bowing. With an unseen grin, the huntress walked past the doors.

"Did you see that? That's the legendary Silver Rathalos armor," she heard one of the guards whisper to the other, before the doors closed with a loud thud. She let her arm fall from the handle and to her side, sighing in relief. To tell the truth, she had been slightly nervous. She had expected to not be able to pass the security - she had lost her Guild Card, an item that was extremely necessary to hunters, to identify them and allow them to accept quests. Taeyeon's card was currently sitting at the bottom of the sea, after she had fought off a Lagiacrus that had attacked the ship she was on, and her new one would only arrive tomorrow. Of course there were hunters that didn't have guild cards, but the Hunter's Guild classified them as poachers.

She was jerked out of her thoughts by a deep voice. "Well, this is a surprise."

Taeyeon's eyes fell upon a man sitting behind an expensive-looking desk. She suddenly realized that although there were no torches or lamps in the room, she could still see clearly - then she saw the numerous glowing crystals attached to the ceiling. Lightcrystals. Rich geezer. Besides the desk in the middle of the room, there were several shelves showcasing numerous artefacts from all over the world.

"Good to see you, Guild Master Bloodhart," the huntress said, forcing herself to speak in a tone of respect. Given the choice, she would have refused to come - but as the leader of her mercenary hunting team, Girls' Generation, she had to come. "I come here as a representative of my hunting party." She glared at the middle-aged man, refusing to show too much submittance. As a mercenary, she did not work for anything besides money.

The guild master of the Ryudo-Branch Hunter's Guild stood up. He was wearing finely-sewn red guild robes, indicating his high position in the guild. "And I suppose the reason you've come... is because of the reports of the appearance of that
Yian Garuga?" he asked with an expression that clearly showed that he expected himself to be right.

Taeyeon cursed inwardly. So the man knew why she was here.

"Well, yes," she replied simply. She preferred not to small-talk. "And we would like to hunt it down for you."

Bloodhart visibly cringed, and she knew why. About a month ago, a Yian Garuga had been sighted in the forests surrounding Ryudo. Yian Garugas were solitary monsters (thus the title 'Lone Wolf Wyvern'), fighting to the death to defend their territory. They also killed their own kind unless mating, making a sighting fairly uncommon. The purple bird wyverns were ferocious, but were usually not impossible to take down. However, this Yian Garuga was different. Taeyeon recalled what the youngest huntress in her group, a girl named Seohyun, had obtained from research: "The Yian Garuga that showed up in Ryudo was extremely aggressive, attacking any living being it saw. After intruding on several quests and either killing or severely injuring innocent hunters, the Guild sent a group of four hunters with an average hunter rank of six hundred after the creature. They never returned - so they probably..." Seohyun had let that sentence hang.

"Anyway, after that, no one dared to go on quests in the region any more, fearing for their lives. The Garuga become known as the Devil Garuga - a warrior in the form of a monster, killing all it sees with deadly talons and fiery breath. Due to the sudden cease in hunting activities, the economy went downhill. Woodcutters wouldn't even go near the forest, and merchants were too spooked to come." The huntress had ended her explanation just like that - Taeyeon had actually wanted combat information and stuff like that, but she had thanked her anyway.

"I think sending nine extremely high-ranked huntresses against one monster is overkill," Bloodhart said with a humorless smile and leaned back in his Yukumo wood chair.

Taeyeon frowned. Damn it, just let us do the damn quest already! "Would you rather see more bloodshed? Would you just sit back and watch as your village crumbles around you? Sir?" Taeyeon shouted, remembering slightly too late to always be polite to those higher ranked than herself. Clearing a throat and straightening herself to look more commanding (and failing miserably due to her shortness), she added, "Right now, what this village needs a is team capable of either killing or capturing the beast. And that team is Girls' Generation."

She paused to let her words sink in, waiting for a response from the guild master. The man's expression told her that he would rather send highly-trained snails against the Yian Garuga, but at the same time, his face slowly shifted into... reluctance.

"This is not an ordinary foe, Lady Taeyeon," he murmured gravely as though trying to dissuade her. "You might not be able to come back in one piece."

"Don't worry..." Taeyeon took off her gleaming silver helmet, revealing a pretty, kind face with neat shoulder length hair, dyed golden in contrast to her silver armor, and looked Bloodhart dead in the eye. With a disarming smile, she added, "I have eight of the best huntresses on the continent backing me up."

Bloodhart held the huntress' gaze for a moment, before sighing in defeat. "Fine, I give my approval," he muttered, taking out a piece of parchment and beginning to scribble on it with a quill. "But Girls' Generation isn't notorious for hunting skills alone..."

At that moment, Taeyeon's smile was twisted into an evil grin - any normal person would have never expected her to be capable of such an expression. However, Bloodhart's higher ranked colleagues had witnessed her... dark side first hand, and had often warned him to be careful around her...

"I want four hundred and fifty thousand zenny in cold, hard cash." She dropped the bombshell.

Bloodhart sighed. Oh, when will I be able to retire...

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Author's Note: Yay, another chapter up! :3
Any questions or comments, my lowly serfs dear readers?

Extra info for those who don't play Monster Hunter:

Spoiler

Zenny is the currency of MH.

Yian Garuga related info can be found here, and its ecology can be found here.

Taeyeon's armor looks like this:
But more streamlined, as in it is less... fat and allows for more mobility. Ignore the weapon for now.

[Kibagami]

I practically forgot that this topic existed. I blame it on you guys (I'm getting little to no readers )

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Chapter 2: Recollection

"Four hundred and fifty thousand?!" The huntresses around the table shouted in disbelief. Their loud voices silenced everyone in the small restaurant, but none of them paid any notice. The woman in the silver armor, their leader, only grinned in triumph as her fellow eight huntresses wore identical 'what the heck?' faces on them - even the normally stoic Jessica snorted out her Royal Honey Tea out of her nose, making a very amused Yuri giggle.

Tiffany gave her a hug (which was quite painful, considering her strength and her rather spiky armor) and shot Taeyeon a happy smirk. "Looks like the... negotiations went well, then, Taeng?" the Mushroom Princess asked with a laugh, making the kid leader blush a little.

'Taeng' chuckled as a waitress arrived with a huge plate filled with Royale Cheese and Crimson Seabream, making the tallest woman in the group lick her lips in anticipation. "We'll split it up, fifty thousand each- HEY SOOYOUNG LEAVE SOME FOR US DARN IT!" The woman whimpered and slid back to her seat, but her eyes still remained on the pile of food sitting in the middle of the table, glaring hungrily at the fish as though it had done her a personal wrong. Across the table, a huntress in white, spiky Barioth armor stared at Sooyoung with an icy glare, forcing the shikshin to back down.

"Thank you, Jessica," Taeyeon said with a smile. Jessica, the huntress in white, turned away coldly - she was never very open with her emotions, the leader of the hunting clan thought. What could she be thinking about now...?

Jessica Jung. Hunter rank nine hundred and forty-eight. Best gunner from the regions of Pokke, able to hit a moving target at a hundred yards upside down with one eye closed (Taeyeon herself had witnessed her skill in battle, and had been both awed and terrified) and also a cucumber hater. Always the one who sat in a corner, twirling her shoulder-length blonde hair with a blank expression on her face while reading a book, polishing her gun or some other activity she happened to find interesting at the time. She had a cold, aloof demeanor, and could scare small animals away with the sheer amount of intimidation she could release. Her comrades were used to it, but it wasn't uncommon for some poor hunter to try and flirt with Jessica, only to be sent scurrying away in fear.

"Anyway, as I was saying, fifty thousand each! Imagine the shopping we could do with that!" The statement made everyone grin foolishly, and even Jessica smiled (though she tried to hide it). The Barioth-clad hunter quickly recovered, however, and snapped, "Shouldn't we be preparing for the hunt instead of spending time on idle chit-chat?" The other huntresses fell silent in shock at her harsh words, and even Taeyeon had a mild expression of surprise on her face.

The huntress sitting next to her - Yuri the Black Pearl of the Mekusaeya Desert - pursed her lips somewhat angrily. "Jessica, why so urgent?" she said, firm but soothing. Jessica simply looked away and stared blankly at the floor with an unreadable expression, making the rest feel slightly uneasy with the sudden silence.

Taeyeon sighed and shrugged. "Her words are right, to some extent," she admitted sheepishly. "Well, once we're done eating, we'll each go our separate ways to prepare and then meet up in front of the guild hall by nightfall. Agreed?"

The other huntresses nodded meekly in agreement - besides Sooyoung, who was already tearing into the food.

---

Jessica Jung walked in a commanding fashion, striding through the the streets in search of shops. Other people seemed to make way for her of their own accord, as though she emanated an aura that suggested royalty. But then, she was in a bad mood - so far, she had not found a single non-hunter supply shop open. Due to the halted economy (no thanks to that Devil Garuga), most shops had either closed down or went bankrupt. When the shops were closed, no shopping could be done; and when she couldn't shop, the Ice Princess would not be happy.

Hell hath no fury like a huntress unable to shop, so they say.

Her mood was already bad enough. While waiting for their leader to return from the guild offices, Sooyoung had suggested that they wait at a restaurant while Taeyeon negotiated with the guild branch leader. Everyone readily agreed, except Jessica - was she the only one who could see how much the little shikshin ate? It was shocking how she never got fat. While in the restaurant, she had seen many hunters come in and out, either for a bite or just to hang out. And it just so happened that she saw something that reminded her of her sister.

Jessica Jung had been recruited as the third member of the hunting clan Girls' Generation. Back then, the clan only consisted of two huntresses, Taeyeon and Tiffany, and they were looking for more comrades to join them. Jessica was a member of the famous hunting family, the Jung family of the Furahiya Mountains, and had a little sister named Krystal. Growing up in a cold climate made Jessica resistant to cold, and as a result she developed unsurpassed endurance under severe weather conditions. She lived a relatively sheltered life in Pokke Village, under the care of her wealthy parents.

She didn't know when she decided to be a hunter. Maybe it was when she read an article in the newspapers about a brave hunter slaying a rogue Rajang in the mountains. Or maybe it was when her father came home carrying a Giadrome corpse over his back. Or maybe, the second she was born, her destiny was to be a hunter. Either way, she became a village hunter - although she was acknowledged by the guild, she would not be allowed to hunt any truly dangerous monsters until she passed the Hunter's Exam and became a fully-fledged Guild hunter. Jessica was coveted as a hunting partner, mostly due to the fact that she was an excellent tracker. She could spot even the faintest footprints in the snow and navigate the confusing network of ice caverns in the mountains without trouble, and her aim with a Bowgun was precise and almost never missed. Every day, she would go out to hunt, then at nightfall she would return home to her family. She worked hard to become a good role model to Krystal, and the two sisters were near inseparable.

She had only one weakness - the young gunner, not even a legal adult yet at the time, had a lofty sense of pride. Jessica preferred working alone to hunting in a team, and would constantlyshoot her comrades in the butt 'by accident' if they got in the way. Because of this, the hunters who had gone on quests with her gave her a nickname: 'Ice Princess'.

One fateful day, however, her entire life was changed.

The Hunter's Guild issued a notice - no hunts were to take place for a week. A Tigrex had been sighted in the mountains, despite normally living in the desert. A Tigrex was a formidable foe, deserving of the title 'wyvern' - it was known to quickly dispatch any threat that entered its territory, and its roar could be heard from miles away. No one knew why the Tigrex had suddenly decided to come to the Snowy Mountain area, but some theorized that it was due to a lack of food sources in the desert regions it normally inhabited. When she heard the news, Jessica was ecstatic - this was an excellent chance to prove herself worthy of becoming a Guild hunter, and become an example for her sister! However, the Guild had expressly forbidden any hunters below HR100 to even set foot in the mountains, and she wasn't even HR1 yet.

Ignoring the warnings, the overconfident gunner had headed off to find the creature. She easily found it - even the most talentless hunter could follow the trail of Popo carcasses - and engaged in battle. She knew little of the monster's behavior, attack patterns, or weakspots, but had expected tactics to form during battle.

She was sorely mistaken. The Tigrex was known for a pseudo-wyvern for one reason; it maintained its primitive features, as the forearms had not yet fully evolved into wings and were instead used for running. And it could run terrifyingly fast - once it caught her scent on the wind, it was upon her in an instant. Her bowgun was snapped in half easily by the wyvern, and she barely managed to escape by losing it in the cavernous depths of the mountains.

Admitting grudgingly that the monster was out of her league, Jessica had slept fitfully that night, plagued by nightmares of the Tigrex's sharp teeth. Then, at night, it struck.

She was awoken when she heard a loud crash and the sounds of people screaming. Not even pausing to think, Jessica slid on her weak Mafumofu armor and went out, wielding only a small hunting knife as her only means of defense. As she exited her house, she was presented with a horrifying sight - the village was half destroyed, burning and in pieces; dead or seriously wounded villagers littered the streets; and several hunters, her parents included, were trying (and failing) to drive away the Tigrex. The Tigrex must have came for revenge, seeking her out, for the second its eyes fell on her, it quickly leapt over the group of hunters occupying it and charged at her.

Just as she thought that her end was nigh, she heard a loud bccht sound and warm liquid splashed onto her body. The blood was not hers, nor did it belong to a human - she could smell the telltale scent of monster blood. The Tigrex growled angrily, stumbling backwards with a large scar etched across its face. Jessica's eyes looked up towards her saviour, clad in armor made out of Pink Rathian scales. Before she could say anything, the pink-clad hunter with a large bone club and her companion, a dark-haired woman wielding a large mechanical axe, teamed up to beat away the Tigrex, sending it fleeing.

After everything had quietened down, the two hunters approached her.

"Hey." The Pink Rathian hunter stuck out a hand.

"...Hello." She refused to shake it, much to the huntress' amusement.

And that was how she joined Girls' Generation, the now-legendary hunting clan.

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Author's Note: Sorry for how long it took for this chapter to come out. No actual hunting yet, but I'm getting there...

And yes, I'm a Royal shipper. Gonna put in some YongSeo soon. ^__^

[Kibagami]

Author's Note: This is semi-filler about the past of TaeNy. I know I said there would be hunting in this chapter, but due to time constraints and my school assignment this was all I could type up. My apologies: Next chapter for sure!

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Chapter 3: Remembrance

Tiffany Hwang. Hunter rank nine-hundred and thirty-three, and best hunting horn player in the region.

The hunter wearing Gold Rathian armor polished her hunting horn with a rag diligently, humming a tune as she did so. She sure was glad she rented a room in this inn... the rest were probably wandering around aimlessly, and with their sense of direction she wasn't entirely sure they could set off on the hunt at the designated time and location...

She ceased her wiping for a moment, then shrugged and continued. The horn was already polished to the point where she could see her own reflection in the metallic surface of the weapon, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a few more wipes, would it? Even though it would be stained with monster blood soon…

Tiffany had always wanted to use a hunting horn. A hunting horn was both weapon and musical instrument, capable of smashing monsters into oblivion and playing music. And not just any music - no one knew why, but the music that was produced by hunting horns acted as psychological steroids, boosting the fighting spirit and strength of all those who heard it. And the gold-clad huntress had already mastered the flute at a young age, so she had little trouble learning how to use a hunting horn. The huge, bulky weapon was a pain to lug around and swing at first, but once she discovered how to play a tune that allowed the listener to carry their weapons better, she had an easier time. Now, she didn't even need the song to boost her strength.

Her eyes darted to her own Gold Rathian armor for a moment. The Gold Rathian... the female counterpart of the Silver Rathalos, fighting together even as they both inched towards death... That was what she wanted to be like with Taeyeon, comrades and friends to the very end. The rag slipped from her hand in her moment of distraction, and she cursed under her breath.

I'm worried for her. Taeyeon was an excellent huntress and a capable leader, but even she had her fair share of problems. She was very good at hiding her weaknesses, but Tiffany could see through her like glass. With a sigh, she gently put her hunting horn on the wooden floor and fell back onto her bed, her mind wandering back to the events of eighteen years ago...

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A six-year old girl sat by her lonesome on a beach in the frontier town of Orage Dell, her flute in hand. With a deep intake of air into her lungs, the child lifted the woodwind instrument to her mouth and blew in, produced a single long note that pierced through the silence of the morning. Her fingers began moving of their own accord, beginning to play a complicated song from pure memory. The song had frustrated many musicians who had spent weeks trying to learn it, and yet this girl was sitting here, playing it near-flawlessly from memory...

Oh yes, Tiffany Hwang was talented, and she made no attempt to hide it.

I might dream and weave and sing
Then you might know everything
Where cradles rise from shattered bones
To raise you up into the spring

She mentally recited the Song of Life in her mind, following the flow of the flute - the ancient song was a part of Wyverianculture, and the only reason she knew the song was because her caretaker (not 'nanny', it made her sound childish) was a Wyverian songstress. Though the Wyverian race was diminishing in numbers, they were an important part of society, what with their skill in blacksmithing and various other practices. Tiffany was hoping to be able to one day travel to a place her caretaker called the 'Wyverian Hub', a place where Wyverians from various places came together.

Seeds might fall from dreamtime skies
And bloom like teardrops in my eyes
I watch you smiling silently
Regretting not this sacrifice

The girl lowered her flute, taking a deep breath. Despite being skilled beyond her years, the song was still incredibly hard to play. She hoped that a mermaid would be attracted by her song one day… but for now, she would just sit and relax, falling onto her butt. It wasn’t everyday that she could sneak out of the Hwang mansion, after all–

As she was looking across the beach, half-heartedly taking in everything she was seeing, her eyes suddenly fell upon a humanlike figure in the sand, lying face down as waves lapped over its (?) body.

A mermaid! Excited at the prospect of finally meeting a real mermaid, the innocent child leapt to her feet instantly, her eyes brimming with delight. Tiffany ran over to the figure without a second thought, and was beside the ‘mermaid’ within several moments. It was another girl, probably around her age, lying face down on the wet sand with her hair messily plastered all over her face. She was eerily pale, and her torn red dress was soaked and provided little protection against the cold water. Her legs–

Something wasn’t right. It wasn’t a mermaid if it had legs.

If she had legs.

The dress wasn’t red, it was white – it had been stained by some red substance. Even though she was young, Tiffany was not stupid enough to pretend it wasn’t blood. But was it the blood of this girl, or did it belong to someone – something else?

She wasn’t breathing.

“Oh my g– Are you alright?” she said in a horrified whisper, her hands covering her mouth as it gaped open in terror. She flipped the unconscious girl over, but received no response other than a small trickle of seawater from her mouth. The girl was cold to the touch, but her heart was still beating. Her pulse was weak, but it was there.

Tiffany gulped deeply in fear, beads of sweat forming on her forehead and sliding down in fear. She would never have dreamed of being in such a situation, and she had no idea what to do (well, it wasn’t like six-year olds ran around saving lives, did they?). There was a resuscitation technique for drowning people called… what was it? Ceepee…something…Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, yes. That was it. Mouth-to-mouth. But she still found herself hesitating, even though she had read about using the resuscitation technique many times… Was she going to test out something she had never tried in real life on a half-dead girl? Shouldn’t she just run for help and find an adult who could help her?

And… what about… her first kiss? What a stupid thing to think about now, she thought with a mental sigh, but it was a concern, all the same. She had always fantasized about giving her first kiss to a dashing prince of a faraway kingdom, riding together with him on his trusty steed. Was she going to throw that fantasy away so recklessly? She didn’t even know this girl–

Just do it! her conscience shouted at her angrily. If you delay this any longer, the girl will die!

So it was decided then. Forcing down the growing sense of panic that was trying to worm its way out of her chest, she tossed her flute carelessly onto the sand and placed both her hands on the girl’s chest, pushing down quickly again and again like she had read. There was no response.

Another push.

Still no response.

I guess there’s no other way, then…Sucking in a deep breath just like she did before playing the flute, Tiffany closed her eyes in mental preparation, clearing her mind of all unnecessary thoughts. Once her body had calmed down (actually, it didn’t calm down, but her brain was screaming at her to just do it so she forced herself to think that she was calm) she bent down and pressed her lips against the girl’s mouth, pinching her nose at the same time.

It was a strange feeling, to be able to feel someone else’s lips against her own – in fact, if the situation wasn’t so dire, she would have probably giggled herself silly – but she forced down the rising heat in her cheeks and focused only on her task. The taste of salty water on the stranger’s lips was disgusting, but she continued breathing into her, until the girl’s chest rose slightly. Tiffany quickly removed her lips and started pumping again, urging the girl to wake up…

Suddenly, the strange girl sat up and coughed terribly, retching up scary amounts of seawater. Tiffany, being the rich kid she was, scrambled backwards in fear of being vomited on. And the girl was really heaving up a lot of water (it reminded her of a water-spitting Ludroth).

After several moments, the girl finally ceased her coughing and turned to look at Tiffany with lidded eyes. The rich girl noticed that the girl looked very unfocused, although color was steadily returning to her face. “H-How are you feeling? Are you alright?” Tiffany asked with a slight stammer, unable to stop the shock and relief from seeping into her voice. “I-I found you lying on the–”

“Thank you,” the girl interrupted. The flute player was stunned temporarily (no one dared to interrupt her in the middle of her sentences!), but recovered quickly and asked “What’s your name?”

The stranger stared at the ocean blankly, before grabbing her head and reeling backwards as though physically struck by something. Tiffany had no idea what to do, and could only watch helplessly as she rolled around on the sand clutching her head. After a few (panicky) moments, the girl finally seemed to relax and rolled back into a sitting position – by now, her face was a lively shade of pink and sweat was rolling down her face, and her eyes had regained their spark.

“I’m Kim Taeyeon.”

---

Tiffany rushed the girl, Taeyeon, back to her mansion (where her parents were relieved that she had returned from her little ‘escapade’, but mortified that their youngest daughter had brought home a haggard-looking young girl) and had her rushed to the nearest Guild infirmary for treatment. The Guild doctors had deemed her a living miracle – if Tiffany hadn’t given her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the spot, she probably would have died. Of course, Taeyeon was in terrible condition, but still alive.

On her many visits to the infirmary to check on her ‘pet’, Tiffany Hwang found out little about Kim Taeyeon besides one thing – she was a complete, total, amnesiac.

“What’s your name?”

“… Kim… Tae… Yeon…”

“Where are you from?”

“I… argh…!” Every single time she attempted to learn more about Taeyeon, the girl would start groaning in pain when she tried to recall anything related to her past besides her name. Even the doctors couldn’t understand what was happening to the girl, until one week later when she visited the infirmary.

“She has dragonblight, kid.”

Tiffany blinked in confusion, scratching the back of her head cutely. “Dragon… blight?”

“Yes. Dragonblight… it’s a mysterious ailment, that’s for sure. No one knows what causes it, and it’s very hard to conduct any type of research due to its rarity. What we do know is that Dragonblight is caused by monsters when they unleash what we call the ‘dragon element’ on us humans, resulting in severe mental handicap for a short period of time. Few monsters have the ability to cause this impediment, and even the species that do have the ability to cause Dragonblight are few and far between, usually classified as elder dragons due to their rarity. Some scientists from the desert city of Loc Lac observed one hundred victims over various periods of time, and…”

“And…?”

“Of the hundred victims, eighty-nine were reported to have recovered after a few minutes of infliction, or after consuming what hunters call a dragonfell berry, which cures Dragonblight instantly in most cases. Nine more were observed to require a longer amount of time to recover and more dragonfell berries than the first group. And the last group…”

“What?” Tiffany’s eyes were practically shooting heart-melting lasers by now.

“… complete memory loss, unable to recall anything for the rest of their lives.”

The news struck her like an Uragaan, rendering her senses numb for a few moments as she contemplated the meaning of that sentence. Complete… memory loss? As young as she was, Tiffany still realized the gravity of those words – her new friend might never regain her memories for the rest of her life. So young… but already she had been so much.

“Tiffany?” Taeyeon murmured as the flute player entered her room silently (Tiffany had persuaded her parents to get a private room for the strange girl so she could recuperate peacefully). Even though her mind was clouded by the effects of several tranquilizers the doctors had given her to control the effects of Dragonblight – spasms, fits, sudden mood swings – she could see the troubled look on her only friend’s face. “What’s… wrong…?”

Tiffany looked at Taeyeon sadly, her eyes filled with silent sorrow. Taeyeon only stared back with an unfocused gaze, mumbling incoherently to herself. I’m sorry, the rich girl thought in a voice that sounded many years older than she was. She had never been the most mature kid on the block, but…

“Thank you for… for saving… me,” Taeyeon muttered, staring at the storybook in her hands blankly. Tiffany didn’t know if the strange girl could read, but she had been staring at that book for a few days already, so she assumed that she could read. The book was about an amnesiac prince who had been rescued by a princess, and had been one of Tiffany’s favorite books. She almost laughed at how the events in the book almost perfectly paralleled what was happening now… except that Taeyeon wasn’t a prince. Not at all.

“It’s nothing,” Tiffany said brightly (her sadness was gone suddenly). “Hey, do you like that book I gave you?”

Taeyeon nodded, still staring at the book.

“I’ll… be your… prince… Tiffany.”

“Huh?” Tiffany wasn’t sure she had heard that properly.

“I will protect you. You saved my life.” Taeyeon said firmly with a voice as steady as a rock. The tranquilizers seemed to be losing their effect – but then, the doctors had said that their tranqs seemed less effective on the girl for some reason.

Tiffany could only smile in reply, patting the strange girl on the head cheerfully. “Well then, I’m gonna become a monster hunter when I grow up! Think you can keep up, ‘prince’?”

A moment of silence.

“Um… What’s a monster hunter?”

---

Seohyun. Hunter rank nine hundred and two, and the sweet-potato loving youngest member of the hunting clan Girls’ Generation.

The young huntress sat at a table in one of Ryudo’s most popular restaurants, the Ukanlos Den, with a pout on her face. Sitting on her left and right were two of her fellow huntresses – her clanmates, Sunny and Hyoyeon. The two huntresses were grinning stupidly at her, making her blush under their combined stares… She knew why they were giggling like that. They were dressed in normal civilian clothing, instead of wearing their armor as they usually did (Seohyun felt naked without her familiar Rajang armor), and she knew why too.

Sitting two tables away was a fairly well-known hunter in Ryudo, and the man Seohyun was (although she hated to admit it) infatuated with – Jung Yonghwa.

“I don’t want to do this…” the young huntress muttered to herself nervously. Even though she was wearing a plain brown tee and pants, she still carried her helmet around with her to give her a sense of safety. Her two unnies had tried many times to get her to leave the helmet in Tiffany’s room, but she repeatedly refused to come without her helmet.

She didn’t want to admit it, but she was scared.

Seohyun was an only child, and very, very shy around people she didn’t know well. Growing up in a small merchant town, she had been studying to become a monster researcher when… certain events happened, and here she was – a high-ranking huntress in the legendary Girls’ Generation hunting clan. She was very timid, and wouldn't hurt a fly; so why was she in a legendary hunting clan and one of the highest-ranking huntresses in the world?

Simple. SUPER SEOHYUN MODE.

When under stress (which was rather common, considering her profession) the young huntress would unleash her second personality; a frighteningly violent and vicious persona, capable of acts she would never even dream about in her normal state. Even Jessica had been terrified of her when she went crazy on a Great Jaggi, completely overpowering the creature with her raw power. Barehanded. These events had prompted Hyoyeon to call this second personality 'Super Seohyun Mode', in which she could dominate every other hunter out there. That wasn't to say that Seohyun wasn't capable of combat in normal conditions, but Super Seohyun Mode certainly gave her a distinct boost when fighting.

No one knew why Seohyun had developed this second persona - and no one was daring enough to try and find out.

Yonghwa was chatting with his clanmates, laughing over a mug of what appeared to be beer. It wasn't uncommon for hunters to drink when not questing (hell, some of her unnies knocked back a couple of glasses once in a while!), but she still refused to drink a drop of alcohol. Of course, it was a different story with her alternate personality, but her unnies were there to stop her. Sometimes. Seohyun caught herself blushing a little as the hunter grinned charmingly, and groaned in embarrassment, hiding her face in her hands. Oh, why...? I try so hard to ignore this feeling, but still...!

She didn't know how Sunny and Hyoyeon found out that she had a crush (It's just a crush, she reminded herself. Not a long-term thing...) on Yonghwa, but she didn't really care to find out. All she knew is they absolutely enjoyed playing matchmaker, much to her chagrin, and that was the only reason she was here.

"C'mon, Seo, it's not so bad." Hyoyeon giggled and gave Seohyun an encouraging pat on the back. "You won't have to worry about rejection, trust me. You're one of the cutest huntresses I know, and Yonghwa has probably noticed you already."

Seohyun doubted it - the hunter hadn't even seen her yet. He was chatting in a lively manner with his clanmates, making weird gestures as though he was trying to describe a monster, but couldn't find the words. He was just so cu- no, Seohyun! Don't even go there! the huntress reprimanded herself repeatedly, aware of a wave of heat slowly rising up her face.

"H-Hey, are you alright?"

Suddenly, the youngest huntress in Girls' Generation stood up, grinning maniacally with her fists clenched and in the air. With a loud war cry, she slammed her fist down on the table gleefully, cracking the entire thing in half.

There was a sudden silence in the restaurant as every single pair of eyes within the restaurant turned to look at the huntress. Even Hyoyeon and Sunny were taken completely by surprise, staring dumbly at Seohyun as though expecting her to turn into a monster (which wasn't far off from the truth)...

Seohyun regained her composure after her sudden activation of her secondary personality, the realization crashing onto her shoulders like a freezing waterfall. With a surprised gasp, she quickly covered her mouth in shock.

"Oh my g- I... I'm so s-" Then she caught sight of Yonghwa, looking at her with a completely-out-of-place expression of curiousity.

He waved.

She didn't even think when she put her helmet on and ran out of the restaurant in panic. She didn't even realize that she had put on her helmet in reverse, and that she couldn't see anything. She didn't even hear her two seniors shouting at her pleadingly, following her out of the restaurant. All she could think of was how she had completely embarrassed herself in front of dozens of hunters, including Yonghwa himself. That was the real bummer.

"Maybe we shouldn't have stressed her out, Sunny," Hyoyeon muttered sheepishly.

Sunny sighed, folding her arms in mock annoyance. "And we're gonna have to pay for this broken table... What a depressing job this is..."

The two remaining huntresses sighed in unison, going back into the bar reluctantly. This is gonna take a chunk out of our wallets...

---

Author's Note: I apologize for this horribly-written chapter... I am suffering from severe writer's block (no thanks to my various school assignments) and this was all I could squeeze out from my brain in two weeks. I hope the next chapter will be better......

[17dragonboy]

I read prologue and chapter 1.

I recognize Zephyr. He was portrayed rather to be rather wimpy here, despite being a monster hunter. I suppose it's just my opinion that even low ranks would be rather tough people.
Not sure if this Zephyr would be continuous with the others I've seen (the one you intended to use for Maskata seemed to be the biggest deviation).

I recognize Ryudo and Bloodhart. In the RPG, I pictured him being a larger, more fit and imposing man. Here I picture him being a fat wealthy guy.

It may just be my personal taste, but a little more description might be good on some points.
The Lagiacrus, for example, I thought was a sharq at first because size was not mentioned (despite the word serpentine).
Silvery scales really doesn't describe Silver Rathalos armor. For all we know, it might just look like Plesioth armor but silver.
I would try to rely less on readers knowing stuff from the game. Relying on it some is fine, but try to exorcise your writing.

Don't mind my constructive criticism though, sorry if it's not my place to give it, etc. Just figured I should try to help.
Overall I did think it was pretty good. Taeyeon was very well defined (though I wouldn't like her). Things flowed nicely, good intro chapter.
Not sure what to say about the all girl hunting team. It seems that theme is usually a less serious thing in entertainment. I might just be sexist or something. Anything in particular that spawned the idea?
I'll try to read more at a later date.

[17dragonboy]

Read chapter 2.

I may have just been out of focus, but introducing so many characters at one time can make it hard to keep track of them.
A tip I read somewhere was to define characters by some kind of physical trait, and repeat that trait each time they appear.

It may just be me, but the whole 'uber awesome hunter' and 'uber scary' thing kind of got repetitive.
Also, show, not tell, I think tends to be better. As in, show that they're an awesome hunter or feared or a cold snob, don't just tell the reader.

Again, forgive me for being so negative.

[17dragonboy]

Read chapter three.

I see where the names come from now.

I think I remember Taeyon, Tiffany and Seohyun by name now since they've each had their own sections. At least, when I see their name I recognize them (spelling would be difficult).

I think my favorite part so far has been the Tiffany beach part, because it showed her train of thought, uncertainty and hesitation.

With Seohyun, it reminded me of the principle "show, don't tell," in regards to her alter ego, even though it was briefly shown after.

[Kibagami]

Show, don't tell... I'll keep that in mind. And I'm working on description - it's probably the weakest link in my writing. Next chapter will probably be up by the weekend.

Thanks for the constructive criticism!

P/S: Not sure if it's obvious, but Taeyeon is my bias. (points at signature) Is it obvious?

This post has been edited by Kibagami: 10 May 2012 - 08:01 AM