In The Hunter’s Nightmare
The Ace Cadet’s dream began as most dreams did; with the dreamer suddenly finding themselves in the middle of semi-familiar surroundings and completely ignorant to the fact that they were dreaming. As it was, the red haired young man walked among the rubble of what
once must have been a grand stone city. At least, that’s what it seemed like to him. He didn’t recall how he got to this place, but he was much more concerned with how to leave than how he’d arrived.
“Helloooo…?” the Cadet called out as he continued exploring the ruins. So far, there hadn’t been a soul in sight. He hadn’t heard any sounds of life at all, not even passing scavengers.
Don’t really know what I expected, it IS a ruined city after all… he thought to himself, idly kicking a few pebbles in his path. The sky overhead was covered in ugly gray clouds, increasing the already bleak cityscape’s gloom level. The whole place was huge, probably the biggest city he’d ever seen. It must have been at least twice the size of
Dundorma. It’s size alone would have made traversing it difficult, but the city’s pathways also seemed to weave up, down and around each other. It was maze-like and frustrating. There were homes built into the stone, no one living in them. The Cadet tried every door he came across - knocking, yelling, even attempted break ins. In the back of his mind he somehow knew it was wasted effort, but with every moment he spent alone in the ruined city his apprehension grew. It felt like he’d been there for hours already, and he hadn’t run into neither humans nor monsters, but the awful feeling that there was
something here, something he had to
escape from, just wouldn’t leave him alone.
“Gog, this place sucks,” Cadet mumbled to himself, leaning his back against the most recent barred door he’d found. He sighed and tipped his face upward, letting the back of his head rest against the old wood. High above him was some black shape moving against the clouds, and the Cadet closed his eyes in contemplation. How exactly was he supposed to make it out of this hellhole? The city was confusing to navigate and there was no one around too--
The hunter’s eyes shot open, staring at the black shape overhead. He could just make out the rough shape of a bird, and he sprang from his spot against the door and back onto his feet. A bird! Finally, a sign of life!
There’s no food for it here, so if I follow it I should be able to make it out of here! The Cadet found himself smiling despite the dismal surroundings. With his eyes on the sky, he began yet another trek through the worn down city. It wasn’t easy to both keep the bird in sight and avoid tripping over every piece of rubble or sudden staircase. The rough going was caught up to the Cadet eventually, and the bird had gotten a fair distance ahead of him.
“Noooo no no no…” the young man whispered under his breath. He wasn’t
scared, after all there was literally nothing in the city as far as he could tell. Even so, that creeping, dreadful feeling that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up was still growing. The Cadet sped up his pace, rounding a corner and--
Bam. He collided with something sturdy yet fleshy. Cadet stumbled backwards a few paces, finding what appeared to be a
person draped in some kind of ratty cloth. Said person stumbled a little themselves, taking a single step forward and turning slightly to look at who had bumped into them.
“Hey! Sorry, I was - well nevermind, I’ve been looking everywhere for someone that could…” Ace Cadet did what came naturally to him and launched right into conversation, but he trailed off as the creature slowly turned itself more and more in his direction and he actually
looked at it. It’s arms emerged from the cloth and ended in wicked looking claws. It’s face soon became visible, and the Cadet was treated to it’s horrifying visage - gleaming red eyes and a mouth full of sharp, rotting teeth. The beast hissed and rose up from where it has been crouching. It was many heads taller than the Cadet, and when it met the hunter’s eyes he suddenly felt as if he’d been drenched in ice water. This thing was unlike anything he’d seen before, and it looked downright feral.
The creature let out an ear piercing screech, and at the same time the Cadet jumped backward away from her. He’d forgotten that he’d just turned a corner though, and most of the alleyways in this nightmare city were raised and without walls. The Cadet’s foot slipped on the edge of the path and he fell several feet, landing on his side onto the hard stone below. He didn’t even have time to groan in pain before the creature above - and several others she’d called to her - looking over the ledge and jumped off to follow him down. The Cadet scrambled onto his feet, reaching for his sword only to grasp air.
What? He thought, all the blood in his body running cold.
No, I had it with me this whole time! His short sword was missing. The Cadet’s eyes rushed between the ground around him and the cloaked creatures quickly advancing on him. If it had simply fallen when he hit the ground, it would still be around - but the sword was nowhere to be seen.
The largest beast reached the Cadet first, and swung her massive claws at him. The hunter raised his shield in defense, only to watch it disintegrate before his eyes. He could physically feel the color drain from his face as the creature’s claws ripped into the skin of his arm, spraying his blood onto the nearby stone. What was going on? His equipment was just
disappearing. As the other beasts screamed and rushed towards him, the Cadet had only one option he could see: run.
He did just that. Ace Cadet turned and sprinted as hard as he could away from the ghoulish women. They cried out with their horrible voices, and he could hear them giving chase behind him. He didn’t bother trying to check for certain. He couldn’t fight them off without a weapon, and if he didn’t escape he was sure he wouldn’t survive.
When the Cadet no longer heard the beasts behind him, he allowed himself to slow down. He tucked himself into a half-shattered alcove and breathed hard through his nose.
“What the hell is happening?” he asked himself, peeking out from his makeshift hiding place to see if he could even hazard a guess as to where in the city he’d ended up. He’d been blindly running for the most part, though he didn’t know the city’s layout either way. He spotted several more stairways - which were really starting to annoy him, by the way.
Looks like I ran back to the higher levels. Okay, higher up was good. Maybe if he got a good look at the city from high up he’d be able to find an exit. There was a slight problem with that plan, though. Ahead on the stairs leading upwards were different, yet equally disturbing beings. They were slightly more humanoid, but they looked as if they had had the life force sucked out of them. The
hollow-looking beings did little more than sit on the steps and hug themselves for now, but did the Cadet really want to risk trying to get past them?
Those blanket wearing creatures are still down below somewhere, it’s probably not a good idea to double back… plus, these things don’t look like they have claws at least… though he’d more or less decided that the best way out - for now - was through, the Cadet made no move to leave the alcove. His heart was still beating hard from his experience with the beastly women. His brain was stuck in some kind of limbo between being terrified and wondering why exactly he was so afraid. He’d faced much more deadly monsters than the creatures down below. What made them so frightening? His lack of protection, or their grisly appearance - halfway between man and monster?
As the Cadet fought to calm himself down, a beat of massive wings disturbed the air and nearly made the young hunter jump out of his skin. The corpse-like beings on the stairwell didn’t so much as stir as a giant black-winged bird alighted at the top of a nearby building.
Huh? That’s not the same bird I was following, is it? The sudden appearance of the
crow spurred the gears in the Cadet’s head to start turning. The city had been totally empty before he’d see the bird overhead. He followed it and then without warning there were deadly creatures nearby. His sword and shield had vanished. Now the giant crow had landed, cocking his head back and forth as if looking for something. A chill ran down the Cadet’s spine as a thought occurred to him:
...is it looking for me?
Good. Super Rad-alos, he thought sarcastically,
so what are my options? Hide here forever? Maybe I can fight it somehow, even without my sword. It’s connected to… to something! I can feel it. If I could get on top of it, maybe force it to fly out of the city… It was a few more moments before Cadet came up with a haphazard plan. He took a deep, steadying breath… then burst from the alcove and rushed toward the stairs leading higher into the city. At the hunter’s approach, some of the hollowed stood as if to intercept him while many more remained still on the staircase. The Cadet ignored them as best he could, sprinting up the stairs and again keeping his eyes on that damn bird. When the poor beings reached out to grab him, Cadet dodged them. When they took a swipe at him, the hunter shoved them out of the way. Ultimately they were less of an obstacle than he’d expected. So far, so good. He continued on, climbing up a pile of rubble close to the crow. It noticed him and let out a loud
CAW! The crow spread it’s large wings, preparing to take off back into the sky as the Cadet flung himself at it. He just managed to grab hold of one of its talons as it flew, and the hunter found himself wishing for his glaive for just a little more height - though any weapon would have been a Gog-send right about then.
“Stupid bird! What are you? What - !” The Cadet’s angry questioning was cut off as the crow sped up high into the sky. It shook it’s leg violently until the Cadet couldn’t hold on any longer. The red head fell, rushing toward the ground at a frightening pace. Cadet grimaced as he thought about how much it would hurt when he landed - he closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact that would soon come.
When he did hit the ground, the landing was much softer than he’d expected. The Cadet tumbled in the grass where he fell, springing onto his feet and raising his fists defensively. The feeling of soft earth beneath him, not hard stone, made him look down curiously. Yeah, that was grass alright. Not only that, but the ruined city was nowhere to be seen. Instead, all that surrounded the Ace Cadet were trees. Slowly, the hunter lowered his hands as he took everything in. Something was definitely fishy, it was almost like he was -
“Dreaming?” The unexpected voice made Cadet startle for the second time. He spun around to find the voice’s source, his eyes flicking between trees until the voice called,
“Look up here!” Another
giant bird greeted the Cadet, though it was smaller than the crow - not to mention a different species.
“Uhm… yeah, I feel like this is a dream,” he told the owl. After all, he didn’t feel strange about talking with the bird whatsoever, and in the waking world the thought of conversing with a giant avian might have at least given him pause. When the owl merely cocked its head at him, the Cadet added,
“...though that city was way more like a nightmare.” If the Cadet had been capable of reading the bird’s facial features, he might have noticed it sneer at the mention of a nightmare. The large owl extended one of its impressive wings, pointed at a makeshift path through the trees.
“If you’re lost, go that way,” it said.
“I’m not - I just got here, how can I be lost?” “Do you know where you are?” “...okay, fair…” the Cadet sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He started down the path, though he didn’t make it very far before he turned back to the owl, fixing it with a suspicious look.
“You’re not in cahoots with that crow, are you?” he asked, though the owl merely shrugged in response. The Cadet lingered for a few moments before moving on, and behind his back the owl’s shape began to melt and morph…
...the path through the woods wasn’t a very long one, and eventually the Cadet made it to a cozy looking clearing. Several
unusual looking felynes lounged in the small field, meowing and generally making noise. The coins jingling in their back clanked together, reminiscent of steel cups making toasts. Across the space, the Cadet could just barely hear some familiar laugher. There was a circular wooden table set up at the other end of the clearing, and three people sat at it.
Three people very near and dear to the Cadet’s heart.
Did I make it out of the nightmare? Is this a normal dream now? Cadet thought as he jogged over to the group. They spotted him soon enough, smiling and calling him over.
“Cadet!”
“What took you so long?”
“Getting kind of worried there, kid.” Ace Cadet couldn’t help but smile back at his teammates - the Ace Gunner, Commander, and Lancer. He pulled up a chair and sat down with them, chuckling when the veteran Lancer clapped a hand on his back.
“Got that insect glaive you were saving up for, did you?” the man asked, and the Cadet blinked in confusion. He reached toward where he normally stowed his weapons, and sure enough slung across his back was the bone staff of a
glaive. In fact, his whole armor set had changed.
Oh yeah, I think I remember… The city was crazy loud with yowling palicos, and I was wearing this just after… “How are you feeling, Cadet?” the Ace Gunner asked, letting her elbows rest on the table as she propped her head up on her arms.
“First time on official Knight business must have been tough.” Indeed, the Cadet remembered the day the whole crew had gathered round a small table like this one - though it had been in a tavern, not a forest. It was after his first mission to track a wanted poacher. The quest hadn’t gone well, he wasn’t able to make an arrest, so he had to--
“Don’t worry yourself, it gets easier.” The Cadet looked up at the Commander in surprise. That wasn’t what his mentor had said last time. In fact, it was the exact opposite.
This is a dream dummy, not a memory, he reminded himself. He’d gotten free of the horrible nightmare from before, so why was the feeling of dread slowly coming back to him, slithering from his brain into his blood?
“Last time you said it doesn’t get easier,” Cadet tried, searching his master’s face,
“even you still struggle.” The rest of the Ace Hunters burst into laughter, and the Commander giggled,
“Struggle? No, I enjoy it… and you’re our next target.” As they laughed time seemed to speed up for everyone but the Cadet. He watched as their small mirthful movements got faster and faster, their laughter more high-pitched, mingling with the yowls of the cats in the field.
This is wrong, I’m still… in the nightmare?! Cadet stood abruptly, but the Ace Commander caught his arm. Time was still spinning forward for him, and the fair features of the Commander’s face started to change into something like those of the hollowed ones from the ruined stone city.
“Let me go!” Cadet cried, wrenching his arm free and backing away from the table. From the trees, more of the hollow beings emerged - though they looked
slightly different. Though slow these clay-like monsters seemed more aggressive, moving toward the Cadet. The hunter brandished the weapon he thanked the heavens hadn’t disappeared on him yet. The Ace Hunters had all been turned completely by now, rising up to attack Cadet with the other creatures. One of the beings screamed, pinning the Cadet in place with its ghastly glare. As they shuffled closer and closer, Cadet could feel panic spread throughout his body.
It’s just a dream! It doesn’t matter if I get maimed or die, I’ll just wake up! So why - why does this seem so freaking real?! A sharp pinch at his side broke the ReDead’s spell over the hunter, and he turned and fled yet again. Running left a bitter taste in his mouth, but the supernatural fear pumping it’s way through his veins didn’t leave him much choice. He crashed back through the trees to the area he’d come from - he’d expected the owl, or crow, or whatever creature it was to be there, though he hadn’t expected the
new form it had taken. It had shed it’s brown feathers, growing in size and sporting a ticking mechanism in its body. It hooted, almost surprised to see the Cadet return so quickly, and began to fly off again.
“You aren’t getting away!” the Cadet yelled, vaulting himself into the air with the glaive. With the weapon’s boost, he easily reached the demonic owl, twirling the staff in front of him and bringing it down hard on the bird’s head. It squawked in pain, crashing to the earth. Cadet landed beside it, holding onto the glaive as if his life depended on it - and it very well might. The owl’s formed seemed to destabilize, or it was changing of its own accord, either way its body began to contort itself. If it changed into something able to take his equipment away again, then he’d never be able to escape. Cadet brought his weapon about, trying to bring it down onto the creature again, but it’s flexible in-between form was more capable of evading his attacks. He tried again and again, growling in frustration every time the creature wiggled away. He willed himself to calm down like the Commander had taught him, but the thought only brought to mind that a zombie version of that same Commander was probably making his way
here, and that the Cadet needed out of his dreamscape as soon as possible. He couldn’t think straight with the feeling of fear eating away at him, no doubt supplied by the nightmare itself. So what could he do? He didn’t want to keep running, so the only option was fighting, but
this stupid thing won’t…! Ugh! Another sharp pinch made the Cadet falter, and the brief opening let the bird-like monster slip away from him and into the air, molding itself back into the shape of the dark crow. The hunter put some space between them and allowed himself to glance down. There was no insect on his arm to go with the glaive, but there was one - or what
seemed like one, attached to his hip. Gray with antenna and multi-colored wings. Cadet shook it off, and it landed on the ground and grew slightly in size. Before the Cadet could determine if it was friend or foe, the crow bore down on both of them. The Cadet parried as the bird lashed out with its talons, whacking it sharply in the head with the blunt end of the glaive. It flew up and turned for another sweep, speeding at the hunter with deadly intent. Cadet raised his weapon, considering the best way of attack when the colorful moth flew up in front of him.
“Why,” the hunter grit out, masking fear with frustration, when the mouth opened its mouth to speak.
“Me -” The crow seized both the Cadet and the moth in its claws. It soared upward, twisting its body into a spiral, and flung it’s captives back toward the ground. This time when the Cadet landed, it was gain on unforgiving stone. He took the hit hard and heard the distinct
crunch sound as his arm flared with pain. The big moth came flying after, though it righted itself in the air with its wings before impact.
The Cadet and moth’s eyes met briefly, and apparently that was all the invitation the bug-man needed to speak again.
“Me do not belong here. You do not belong here either. Me need to beat the bird to escape,” it said, and in any other situation the red head would have rolled his eyes. If this was a glimpse into how other people felt about him, he kind of felt bad for his companions.
“Yeah, that bird is keeping me - er, us, here, I think,” Cadet replied. He couldn’t fathom why someone else would be trapped in his dream too, but that was a question for later. Right now, his arm was broken, and his insect glaive could really use an
insect to go along with it.
The unlikely pair looked over to where the crow was, slowly landing on the ground and already melting apart. Either the Cadet had done more damage than he’d thought, or manipulating the dream was acting like a power drain for the thing. The hunter stood back up as the bird squawked harshly and all of it’s black feathers melted away, revealing a creature the Cadet was actually familiar with. A large, majestic blue Bird Wyvern - with razor sharp wing blades and the haunting power to put its prey into confusion and sleep.
“A Malfestio,” the Cadet breathed, and beside him the moth chimed in,
“Me don’t know what that is.” The Malfestio shook itself, sending it’s loose feathers and dangerous powder spores flying. It was breathing heavily and glaring at the hunter and insect duo. A final showdown, which was more than fine with the Cadet.
“Moth dude, if you’re really on my team, then I might need a hand,” the hunter said, nudging the funny little fuzz ball. It looked back up at him with it’s big red eyes before replying.
“Me will help. My power is your power,” it said, hopping up onto the Cadet’s good arm. For how big it was, the insect-man was pretty light.
“Okay, first - you’ve got wings so blow away it’s powder! If we breath it in we’re done for!” the Cadet instructed, sending the moth in the direction of the Malfestio. The bird monster spread its massive wings in an intimidating display as the Cadet made his way to it’s flank. The moth flapped its wings hard, scattering the gathered sleep powder. However, it’s small wings were no match for the Malfestio’s own, and the owl beat them several times, sending the moth flying backwards with the force of wind. The moth’s distraction was enough for Cadet to get close, using the bladed edge of the glaive to slash up at the monster’s face. He caught it just below the beak, drawing the blade up and through one of its eyes. The monster screeched in pain, turning to swipe at the hunter with it’s sharp wing ends. Cadet vaulted himself up to avoid the attack, though pain shot through his arm and sent him in a different direction than intended. Mothman found his way back to the scene, putting the Malfestio directly between them.
Out of habit, the Cadet flicked the button on the glaive to activate the insect pheromone, intended to call it’s matched bug back to the staff. He was surprised when the moth reacted to it, heading straight for the hunter - and directly in his path was the Malfestio. The Cadet met the moth halfway, running toward the Bird Wyvern and stabbing into its side as the moth headbutted it from the other direction. The owl squealed, stamping its feet just before spinning in place with it’s razor wings stretched outward. Mothman flew up while the Cadet suffered a shallow cut across his chest. He grunted in pain briefly but didn’t let up his attack. If the monster was defeated, the nightmare would end. At least, that’s what he needed to believe. The Cadet spun his glaive, slicing the Malfestio’s stomach and legs before it jumped backwards. It beat it’s mighty wings again, giving itself an opening to take to the sky.
The Malfestio screeched so loud it made the Cadet’s ears ring, and he brought his hands up to cover them. He was vaguely aware that the moth person had returned to his side and was saying something, but his focus was still on the monster above them. He only took his eyes off it when the moth actually kicked him with it’s skinny leg and gestured into the depths of the city. They were still a little ways off, but from where the Cadet was standing he could clearly see them - the dreadful monsters he’d encountered in the city before, both the clothed beasts and the pitiful hollows, making their way towards the battle - and quickly. The hunter felt his heart sink. Did the Malfestio summon them? Could it really do that, or was there some other force at work, using the monster as a distraction?
Ace Cadet tightened his grip on the glaive as the Malfestio came back down. It was tired out, there was no better time to end this than now. The young hunter met his moth companion’s eyes again. They nodded to each other, then Mothman jumped back up onto the Cadet’s arm before being sent in the direction of the beastly horde. Hopefully the moth could distract them, or stall them long enough. If they got through, not only would they overwhelm the hunter with numbers, but emotion. Wherever this city was, whatever this
nightmare was, it was injecting pure terror into him at the mere thought of facing those half-monster horrors.
Cadet began his attack yet again, running at the Malfestio head on. The owl-like wyvern clicked it’s beak and let out the deep cooing noise that the Cadet recognized as it’s supersonic wave designed to disorient prey. Cadet braced himself and used the glaive to leap overhead, pushing the pain in his arm out of his mind. This time he made it to his intended target: square on top of the monster. It thrashed as soon as the hunter landed on it, trying to buck him off. Holding on was difficult with just one arm, but the Cadet managed it. The Malfestio paused for just a moment, spreading its wings in an attempt to get into the air again, but the Cadet smashed the staff’s end into its face, sending it face down into the ground. While it was stunned, the Cadet shakily stood on top of the monster and flipped the rod over. Blade end first, the hunter thrust the glaive into the bird’s head. It squawked feebly before going still. The Cadet didn’t need to check to see if it was dead, as it soon began to disintegrate right under him. He jumped off of it quickly, and in the same moment his sword and shield reappeared on his person.
“We did it!” the red head said, letting out a puff of air that could pass as a laugh on a good day. He stepped a few paces backward and turned to where he’d last seen Mothman. He really needed a hug right about now, and fuzzy bug-guy would do just fine.
...however, the Cadet didn’t find his insect companion. Instead, he found the group of beasts only a few feet in front of him. The adrenaline from the battle with the Malfestio is what saved the Cadet’s life, kicking his instincts into overdrive as he leapt away from the gnarly creatures and kept going.
No! We defeated the Malfestio, why isn’t the dream ending?! The Cadet thought as he ran. Just how much running was he supposed to do in this damned city?
Where’s the moth? Did he die? Was he a bad guy this whole time? What’s - How do I end this?! The beastly once-humans were hot on his trail, he wasn’t able to lose them as quickly this time. The hunter fled up and down staircases, under bridges, around corners, and still his pursuers didn’t slow. Several times he could feel their breath on his neck, or their claws at his back. Anytime he caught a glimpse of the horde, they seemed to grow in number. Dozens became hundreds as they chased him around the Hunter’s Nightmare. His chest and throat began to burn with the effort of his escape. Air was getting harder and harder for his lungs to process. His legs felt as if they were about to give out. From the corner of his eye he saw claws reaching out in front of him before curling in --
Ace Cadet woke with a start, jolting up in his bed and clutching all over his chest. He was dead, torn apart, blood everywhere... except... not.
"I... I'm alive...?" he panted, his breathing hard and uneven. There weren't any holes or slashes in his chest at least. He moved his "broken" arm up and down, finding that it too was fine. Was that
whole thing really just a nightmare?!
Cadet groaned and flopped back against the bed, covered his face with his hands. That was
by far the worst dream he had
ever had.
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