While he tried to put aside his reverent enthusiasm for the sake of lofty simplicity as he furnished the others with an overview of his storied homeland, Lewa still fretted internally that he’d do Mata Nui a disservice by failing to properly convey not just the versatile island’s majesty, but its essential nature. His time in this world, brief and involuntary though it had been, did more than anything else serve to illuminate the vast gulf of difference between it and the beloved realm he hailed from. Maybe, he reflected, he also ended up haranguing them with too many unfamiliar names and syllables, and those ultimately unnecessary details further garbled his explanation. On the contrary, however, the others seemed to grasp the sort of nature-attuned tribal society he outlined with immediate and surprising ease. They shrugged off the odd names, nonplussed for the most part by elements of a foreign culture, as one might expect from denizens of realities that were home to many. The only element of his eager fantastical tale that apparently aroused a sense of puzzlement was his matter-of-fact testimony that such a life could be led by machines. Of this, naturally, Lewa himself was living proof, and with pride in his home alight in his eyes he stood tall among the otherworlders, more than willing to answer any additional questions that his circumstantial allies might raise.

Remilia praised his home, and alongside Sanae, expressed sympathy for the toa’s plight. It pleased him to know that the others could grasp just how dire the situation back home could become in his absence–and how imperative it was that he return. Only one of the assembled strangers posed him another question, though. Though his face lay hidden beneath his mask, Lewa couldn’t hide the vigor with which he’d happily keep the memories of his home alive in his mind, and nobody wanted to get too bogged down in the details. His fascinatingly magical companion Rayne, however, did ask about one thing she wanted to know, a matter of taxonomy more than anything else. To Lewa, the answer seemed obvious, even if Rayne’s phrasing invited a measure of misunderstanding. “Why, my brothers and I are toa!” Lewa replied proudly. “Heroes defined by the three virtues of unity, duty, and destiny!” He gave each word special emphasis, then fell silent, as if his succinct declaration summarized everything worth knowing about his biomechanical race.

Despite the aplomb with which he’d reintroduced himself alongside his homeland, Lewa hardly resented the limelight moving elsewhere. The world didn’t revolve around him, after all, and this was hardly an appropriate time for showboating, even if the Spirit of Air had been particularly inclined. Joker introduced himself, offering a reference for his code name that completely passed Lewa by. Card? Was ‘the Card’ some sort of archetypal or legendary figure whose namesake the boy had become? He quickly dismissed that question as not just foolish, but irrelevant as Joker unveiled the presence of a new entity, ethereal and evil in appearance, not to mention so large that Lewa could no longer count himself the tallest out of everyone here. This spectral presence did not linger for more than a couple moments, just long enough to leave a lasting impression and an odd sense of intensified darkness. Lewa shuddered slightly as the impulse faded. Shadows were the domain of the Makuta, mortal enemy of Mata Nui, matoran, and toa alike. “Nothing safe-good can come of dabbling in darkness,” he muttered, half to Joker and half to himself.

The exchange petered out not long after his portentous warning. Everyone could tell the others a little about themselves, but the lack of common ground beyond their maddeningly unclear predicament made extended conversation nigh-impossible. To make matters worse, everyone was to some degree tired and sore thanks to their efforts since arriving in this world, and like the poor villagers who’d been through so much, they needed both rest and whatever succor could be found in dreams. Despite the success he’d enjoyed alongside these people so far, Lewa couldn’t truly bring himself to trust the others yet. Nor could he trust this hamlet to shelter him for the night; it had fallen once, and would do so again all the easier if assailed under cover of darkness. As such, he bid the others farewell, then made for the forest. He could sleep a lot easier up among the branches of the woodland canopy, where he could recline on a sturdy bough amidst similarly colored verdure and imagine, even if just for a moment, that the rustling whisper of the wind among the leaves belonged to the jungled slopes of home.



When the morning sunlight shone through the trees, casting dappled shadows onto the loam and leaf litter of the forest floor, Lewa awoke. Despite his best attempt to surround himself with comfortably familiar scenery, he’d never managed to shake the creeping, almost anathematic sensation that he didn’t belong here. That hardly made for a peaceful rest, and he knew his energy couldn’t have fully recharged, but after rousing himself he felt confident that he could go another day, physically at least. If another full day went by in this bizarre region without any indication of a return journey, the condition of his mind might be another matter. For now, though, he resolved to greet the new day with a smile on his face, and to hope that the youngster who played a part in his forcible seizure yesterday would be wide awake and amenable -not to mention able- to help. If not…well, best not to dwell on such things.

Lewa descended from the treetops with a practiced grace that defied his formidable form. He returned to the gutted village at a steady pace, suppressing the nervous energy that would’ve otherwise quickened his steps. When he approached the lodge where the others put an inordinate amount of trust in both numbers and one another, however, he found that a hushed but uneasy contention among the men had already garnered his allies’ attention.

They quickly filled the new arrival in, but the toa didn’t seem quite as quick to offer his services again. “Monster? In the trees?” He narrowed upturned eyes, a hand on the chin of his mask. He hadn’t sensed anything so far, but his senses were hardly used to the shapes and sounds of this strange land. “You mean a rahi of some kind? Now, now. Let’s not be so hasty. A sorrow-bad story has unfolded here, true, but rahi don’t understand such things. They know-feel no malice, and have only their instincts to listen-follow. It’s only natural that such things might lead them here. This is their home-land, after all. Let me keep look-out among the trees. I have a way with rahi. Even the mighty-big Ash Bear can become a friend if you know how.” Given how different things were here, and how much behavioral knowledge went into such endeavors, Lewa felt much less confident about befriending the wildlife than usual. Still, he felt obligated to try.

"Alvin, wait—"

Anne reached out for the fleeing boy, but her fingers slipped as a ragged cough forced its way out of her lungs. Red flecks of blood stained the floor in front of her, and her vision briefly blurred, Alvin becoming a dark smudge of motion she could hardly keep track of. "—Damn it. Can anyone follow him?" The hunters, the guards, they must have seen. Surely one of them would at least keep an eye on the kid, and make sure he got back safely?

She'd have to hope so, because she wasn't in any state to run around, and her face was probably the last one Alvin would want to see right now. She could only stay close to Millie, breathing heavily as her vision returned to her, and wait until Remilia arrived to offer a healing hand through her blood-based paranormal power. As expected, she could only do so much, but Anne was visibly thankful nonetheless. By the end of the process her breaths had eased, and she looked more relaxed than at any point since she'd arrived on this distant world.

"That's a useful ability you've got there. It's like Kasim's..." Her tired eyes watched for any reaction to the name, but Remilia didn't seem to recognize it in the slightest. "...Never mind. I'll manage over here; you should go and help the others."

The minor exchange more or less confirmed what she'd overheard from the others' discussion: that these travelers weren't just from the far-off reaches of known space, but from outside her civilization entirely. The concept defied everything she knew, but that was the reality... And it only weighed her down with fresh feelings of hopelessness, as the impossibility of returning became clear. There would be no ships flying in to rescue her, and no method of communication with enough range to reach Aegis from wherever she was now. Her only bet was to rely on the same mysterious entity that had transported her here in the first place, an entity she still hardly knew anything about.

Exhaustion crept up on her, and without any remaining strength or reason to resist, her thoughts soon faded away into the dark of the rainy night.

---

By the time she woke up, the others were already gathering. With Millie still just as soundly asleep as she had been the evening before, Anne left the girl where she was, and ambled up to the rest of the gang of otherworldly strangers as they eavesdropped on the hunters' conversation. They still had no other leads left to go on, and it made sense that the proactive types among them would want to jump on solving this problem, but Anne herself was of two minds about it.

"Hold on." She held up a hand, her tone soft but firm. Though still a little pale, she seemed to be in better shape now that she had been even back at the church. "It'd be good for us to assist if we can, but we shouldn't rule out the possibility of another Herald attack either. And it's not like we need everyone just to chase off a few scavengers." She was still worried about Alvin, and even with her partial recovery she wasn't keen on the idea of trekking about in the forest all day. "Those of us who're less mobile in this terrain should probably stay behind and keep an eye on the village. Myself, Lily... One other would be good, but the two of us can probably hold the line ourselves if it comes to it."

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR@DracoLunaris@EchoWolff@Lugubrious

While her scenery had changed, her morning routine had not.

Getting up early, despite everything, came naturally to the half-phantom girl. Even if she was harmed on a spiritual level, even if she still didn't understand much about this situation, that didn't change anything.

Youmu was going to train.

No-one else was awake yet, but the rain had stopped. While the town's damaged state was a sorry sight, she was able to find a spot behind the hunter's lodge to perform her exercises.

She could always be faster. She could always push herself that much harder. And that meant never letting up on her exercises, no matter what situation she was in.

To be perfectly frank, as long as she was able to stand and swing her sword, she'd carve out some time for training.

A swing could be faster and more precise. If she didn't think it could be, then she could try anyway, because that was the purpose of training.

Youmu's grandfather had made sure to instill this mindset as deeply into her as possible.

One swing.

Two swings.

Ten.

Twenty.

Fifty.

One-hundred.

She was nearing eight-hundred when she heard commotion from the front of the Hunter's lodge.

Sheathing her blades, the half-phantom proceeded back inside swiftly enough to catch what was being discussed.

"If there's something dangerous in the forest, then it's probably for the best to stop it from hurting anyone," she commented. While it wasn't strictly her duty back in Gensokyo, if she was in the position to stop something bad from happening it was likely she would provided it didn't interfere with her duty to Yuyuko-sama.

Besides, this could be viewed as an extension of her training.

@PKMNB0Y

Sanae turned to look at the others present who hadn't yet left for the night and was left only mildly surprised at the fact that a majority of them wanted to go hunt down whatever it was in the forest that was leaving the hunters on edge. When that number promptly doubled when the two who had been missing when she had woken up when she had chimed in, the green-haired girl was left in a bit of an odd spot. Naturally, dealing with monsters would have been no different from youkai extermination—a job she had become quite familiar with, but not in this sort of context—but Anne did have a point. But to choose between staying behind or gathering more information about the area...

"Mmm..."

After being lost in her thoughts as she weighed the pros and cons of doing whatever she did, Sanae finally chose to simply choose both options at once. It made sense to her; after all, there were also corpses near the church, which meant that the 'monsters' in question could still appear near there... Which meant that she could accomplish her original goal and help a bit before coming back. "Two birds with one stone" and all that.

"I'll go tag along for a bit, then," she said, stepping forward. "Or, well, I'll join the group to check the area around that church up and help deal with monsters on the side—assuming there are any, of course. I'll head back to the town once my own investigation's done, though, just so we can split the difference."

At the sudden wave of support for an investigation into the nearby woods, though, the hunter who had first mentioned the presence of something odd therein seemed to look surprised for a moment before giving his friend a bit of a smirk.

"Guess we've got the heroes on my side, huh?" he half-joked before raising a hand towards them. "Right, name's Derek; if you wanted to know where we are right now... Well, this is the humble town of Aventon, slapped right on the frontier of the nation of Riltaea. As you, uh, overheard, I saw an uncannily large shadow in the woods earlier today during a hunt. Seemed too dangerous to continue with something that big lumbering around, so I came back early."

There was a bit of a pause before Derek scratched the back of his head before glancing briefly towards his companion, then back towards the rest of the group that had assembled.

"I can show you where it was I saw it, at least. If something that big really is around here, then we're going to have a hell of a time getting any food from the forests here."

---

Led by Derek into the forest as they were, the group would swiftly make their way westward. For the most part, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, but anyone with an eye for nature would feel anything but. Signs of freshly-marked trees, gouged out by something far larger than should have been ordinary, and large amounts of underbrush that looked to have been crushed underfoot in a single motion...

"Here we are," Derek said out loud as he slowed to a stop and looked around. "This is where I saw whatever that thing was, but..."

The more problematic thing wasn't that whatever had marked this place as its own didn't seem to be the only one—not with so many branching paths with clear signs of things passing through every which way.

"My instincts are telling me that something's off. The heck could've caused all this, though...?"

---

As the rest of the group left to go and hunt whatever beast was giving that hunter cause for concern, Kendrick—who by the looks of things seemed rather worn-out—entered the lodge. He had given a passing glance to those who were headed out, but his goal at this point in time was not to speak with them.

No, it only made sense that he wanted to talk to the woman who he had entrusted the pair of children to the night before.

"Miss, uh... Sorry, I don't think I ever got your name," he said to Anne as he walked over to her. "...I saw Alvin run off back to his old place last night. I'm guessing you chose to break the news to him?"

The guard had a complicated expression on his face—an indescribable mix of concern, frustration, and understanding all in one—but he chose not to act on any of those emotions and continued speaking his piece instead.

"Either way... I checked in on him last night after my shift ended. He was still there, thankfully enough—sleeping on the floor and soaking wet, but there. But that's more than enough reason to talk to you now."

It was at this point that Kendrick's expression hardened a little, and a frown made itself rather evident on his face.

"Look, I know I'm not the kid's dad. I can't replace what Ywain's done, and I don't even want to think about how to handle the situation with Millie after she wakes up. I also can't thank you enough for bringing them back here safely—a lot of people here lost their friends and loved ones, and every person alive is a blessing on its own. But would it have been too much to ask to try and keep the news from him until... I don't know, today? Even asking me to do it like you had suggested would have been fine; it's not like I haven't had to do that more than enough times already."

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@DracoLunaris@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@EchoWolff

Now that everyone had gathered once more, from either having just awakened or returned to the lodge, the discussion for their next move could begin in earnest. While Remilia herself had expressed interest in neutralizing the beast - or beasts - by culling it, there was no guarantee that everyone would share the same desire.

To begin, the Knight-Witch Rayne brought up a good question, It's true, we never did discover the name of this place, hmm? Well, to be fair, twas' a paltry matter compared to the disaster we had to deal with yesterday. Now that things had calmed down a bit, she supposed it was a good time to address the matter. Aventon Town, located within the territory of the sovereign nation of Riltaea, one of hunters said, Can't say I can remember or even ever heard of such a country. Indeed, it's already beyond any shadow of a doubt that this place is not the Outside World that she came from before her exodus to Gensokyo. Troubling, but no longer a surprise.

Next, Lewa the Toa of Air proposed an alternative solution to the issue, one that might seem... unthinkable to the average commoner, but the Scarlet Devil was no commoner, nor average, Hmm... an interesting proposal, one that aligns with Sir Lewa's peacekeeper principles admittedly. Still, it was something to consider, "If we can somehow tam-... befriend this beast and turn it into an ally, that'll be swell. After all, Aventon needs all the help it can get." She certainly wouldn't stop Lewa from trying, but if push came to shove, then as much as it was unideal, they'd have to slay the beast.

Then came the woman whose body partially rejected her healing spells - Anne, was it? - and she'd be the first who expressed the desire to stay behind and maintain overwatch of Aventon instead of venturing out to hunt, proving to Remilia regarding there being no guarantee that everyone would be on-board. "Understandable." The vampiress didn't have much to say on the matter, she was sure that Anne and the others could handle themselves.

At the very least, the plight appealed to the Half-Phantom Gardener's sense of naive heroism, as was expected. Youmu had always been the selfless savior kind of individual, meanwhile, Remilia had no illusions about her own motivations, while yes, altruistic acts were 'morally appropriate' by itself, she couldn't deny that there was a sense of thrill in discovering what wonders - and dangers - this world had. If she had to be stuck here for the foreseeable future, might as well make the best use of her time here. Imagine the stories I’ll be able to tell Flan and the others, fufufu~

The Moriya Miko was the last to chime in, and unlike everyone else, she took a third option of just dipping her toes in the hunting endeavor before returning to the village. Personally, Remilia thought that was a bit pointless, why not simply guard the village from the get-go? However, she wasn't in the mood to argue, she knew that the green-haired shrine maiden could be insufferably stubborn when challenged, just like her red-white counterpart, I suppose being exasperatingly hardheaded is a requirement for the job? Heh.

With the conference concluded, it was time for action. "Please, by all means, lead the way, good hunter."



Without the pouring rain, this place can be pleasant after all. The Scarlet Devil mused as she returned to the forest lying just beyond Aventon's town limits. As they went, Remilia's keen eyes and nose started noticing the tell-tale signs of the thing responsible for all the signs of disturbance on the vegetation, "Hmm..." Slitted blood-red eyes scanned her surroundings while a hand rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "I concur, good hunter, my senses tell me that we're dealing with beasts, plural." And what was the best of the five senses in terms of tracking things down? Correct, the olfactory organ.

"Debilitated as I am, let us see if I can track their scent." The lilac-haired youkai smirked before she closed her eyes, then inhaled, focusing her mind to identify every distinct scent she could notice.

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR @DracoLunaris @Lugubrious @Drifting Pollen @EchoWolff

As distant as they were from anywhere Youmu could recognize as home, being immersed in wilderness wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. It wasn't the same as the forest she knew, of course. It didn't closely resemble any of them. But for anyone who participated in Incident Resolution, running or flying through the forest was at least a familiar feeling.

Less familiar was the sight of the trees that had portions of them entirely gouged out, or the other plants that had clearly been trampled. While it wasn't as if the petite half-phantom had never seen anything like this before, it wasn't exactly a common sight even after a particularly ferocious duel.

It didn't quite look like it had been done by humans. No-one harvesting wood would have went at the trees like that.

At least, Youmu hoped they didn't.

"It's as if something big came through here," she commented. It wasn't like she knew much about hunting animals, but it seemed very animal-like. There were some youkai who neither had human-like appearances or sapient minds in Gensokyo, could it be something of that nature?

"Do you have youkai here?" she asked, as she glanced back towards the hunter, Derek.

@PKMNB0Y@Izurich@Drifting Pollen@Lugubrious@EchoWolff

“Aventon huh?” Rayne repeated. It was certainly a name, as was Riltaea, the name of the nation it was part of. But, naturally, lacking context, that was about all it was, names.

Well actually if she thought about it a bit, the fact that they were on a frontier was actually useful context. They were probably far from anywhere else, specifically due to said nation presumably pushing into some kind of wilds or foreign territory. That had all sorts of implications probably, but the main one was that the ruins they had found, and specifically those of the church, were not ones that belonged to the ancestors of the people they had helped protect.

Which was probably bad news when it came to getting information about the goddess who had brought them here.

As she thought about this, the quest to investigate the monsters out in the wilds rapidly gained more volunteers, and also shifted from a killing them plan to a pacifying/taming them plan which Rayne was going to be less useful for. There was also talk of some of them staying guard in-case the Raven Heralds came back, which was a team currently pretty understaffed

“I could stick around and keep watch as well. Be your eyes in the sky, kind of thing” she volunteered in the end, before saying “if you need help out there, maybe shoot something up through the trees… or just fly up and shout. I’ll-” she checked her cards and found armageddon sitting in her hand still “-make a really loud explosion if we need help” before clarifying that she’d do that “In the air, not in the town”

That was how she found herself floating above it all, keeping watch in the now nice and clear rather than choked with rain or smoke skies, which was far more pleasant than they’d been since she’d gotten here. She could still do with a change of clothes after being out in all that last night, that was for sure.

The clearness of the skies gave her another thought, and that was that, well, there was nothing stopping her from going up now. Not dreadful weather or plumes of choking smoke, not urgency to save people, and certainly not the guaranteed death that her own sky would have brung. It called to her, that endless blue, and so almost without thinking, she began to rise, higher and higher, above it all, causing this alien world, familiar, strange, and nostalgic all in one, to come into view, as first the tree line, and then the horizon line, fled away from her ascending from.

With crossed arms and a look of concern rather evident on her face, Sanae glanced around where the group had stopped and shook her head. Up on the peak of Youkai Mountain, beasts rampaging around was an occasional occurrence, but seldom had she seen anything to this extent. More often than not, the tengu or kappa would take it upon themselves to clean matters up before Kanako could even thing of sending her out (or cause bigger problems that would call for her presence to resolve the matter), which meant that her experience on this front was rather limited at best.

Luckily enough, there were those present who did have the skills for just such an occasion, which would inevitably mean that she wouldn't have to make a fool of herself by chasing the wrong trail.

Not that there would really 'be' any wrong trail, though; Remilia (and anyone else with a keen eye for these things) would notice that there were indeed multiple creatures that had passed through the area—and a few minor clashes to boot, if the rare patch of blood or torn fur was any indication of anything.

"Uh... A youkai?" Derek would ask in response to Youmu's inquiry, scratching his head in confusion. "I haven't the foggiest what you might mean by that. Is that a monster of some sort? Because if we're talking monsters and magical creatures... Well, there are probably more than a few deeper into the forest, but they usually don't tend to get close enough for us to have to worry."

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@Lugubrious@EchoWolff

---

With the sky as clear and as blue as it could ever be, Rayne would find no issues flying higher and higher into the sky. Ascending into the heavens above, the halfling would soon be met with a beautiful late-morning vista over the horizon—and a nearly uninterrupted view of the land below.

Aventon itself seemed to be somewhat damaged from the chaos of yesterday, but most of the damage could be repaired in time; there was nothing so devastating so as to force the residents to have to abandon their home outright. Sure, the wounds of battle and the loss of life marred what would otherwise be a picturesque little town, but that much couldn't be helped.

There would be little of note to be seen to the north, where the Heralds had retreated towards; there scarcely seemed to be a road of any sort that way, though the ground seemed level enough to not warrant a need for any. A gaping hole in the northern wall, though, would explain how the Heralds had been able to access Aventon's inner workings. Maybe that was an issue to be handled later in time.

Looking east would provide much of the same visuals, though these lands seemed at least somewhat developed. Fields of grain had only started to grow, it seemed, and by some miracle or another the Heralds had left the area mostly untouched. There was evidence of some robbery of whatever was near the town, but beyond that everything seemed intact enough. Further still would be a river, and one large enough to provide for the needs of the town's food supply.

To the town's south, a long, winding road would stretch out into the distance. This one, though scarcely anything more than worn dirt, would at least indicate the presence of travel to and from the humble frontier town. There wasn't any clear destination from where they were now, which at the very least meant that wherever that road led to was too far away to see even from the skies above.

That ultimately left the west the last, and it was there that the expanse of the forests made itself rather apparent. Trees blanketed the area and only really stopped right where Aventon had situated itself—a strategic choice of some sort, no doubt—but seemed to extend far off into the distance, at which point they seemed to bleed into the ground below a somewhat moderately-sized mountain.

The clearing where the church was positioned—in other words, where the group had all come from—was visible from where Rayne was in the sky, as were a few scattered ruins that she had seen yesterday. They weren't convenient trips by any means, but their distance from the town would at least make return visits doable within reason.

@DracoLunaris

While the Knight-Witch was busy being the eyes in the sky for the villagers and their newfound allies, the hunting party continued to investigate the scene of the crime. "Hmm..." Remilia lowly hummed as she noticed the various scents she could gather, then began classifying them in her head. "I concur," the Scarlet Devil quipped at Youmu's hypothesis, "Several sizable creatures had made their marks here, we're dealing with a pack of… whatever they are." Then the Half-Phantom Gardener's inquiry to the hunter actually brought Remilia into a brief contemplation, Youkai? Hmmm... is it possible? Then again, who's to say that my kind only exists in Gensokyo? I can even use myself as an example, Flan and I weren't natives of the realm...

"Youkai are a family of both sapient and non-sapient species of creatures, Sir Derek," The vampiress explained matter-of-factly, "For an easy parallel, the term 'primate' consists of both you humans and those apes and monkeys, sapient and non-sapient, but primates nonetheless." This Derek person might be a human peasant, but he didn't appear to be intellectually-challenged so that should suffice, "In this particular case, indeed, I agree that we're dealing with the latter kind of creatures, or 'rahi' as Sir Lewa would classify them as."

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR @Lugubrious @EchoWolff

Most of the group seemed pretty eager to go and deal with whatever was lurking out in the forest, but Anne was glad to know that she'd still have some backup in the event that the worst came to pass. "I'll try and gather information down here," she told the others as they left, "We can fill each other in again when you all get back." She looked as serious as ever when she spoke, but the quiet confidence in her words was a show of her faith in their abilities. They'd survived the battle yesterday; they could survive whatever challenges this new day brought as well.

She wanted to believe that, even if harsh experience had made it impossible for her to think that way.

As the colorful backs of the otherworldly heroes passed through the threshold and out into the daylight, a new face loomed at the door. Kendrick wasn't an unwelcome sight, exactly, but his presence was a sharp reminder of what had happened the night before, and she already had an inkling of what he wanted to say to her. Not that this was something she could flee from even if she wanted—the Knight only drew in a quiet breath, and met the eyes of the weary guard.

"It's Anne. And yes, I was the one to tell him." Even after getting a long night's sleep, she looked completely worn out, in a way that went far beyond her sorry physical state. It was a feeling Kendrick surely knew by now: the pain, the guilt, the exhaustion that afflicted every single villager who'd survived the Heralds' attack. A single traumatic event could scar a soul for life, and when you repeated that, over and over and over again for hour after hour as your comrades died screaming around you—whatever was left of you, when the sun finally set, would never be the same person that had existed before. They'd be someone else, someone haunted. Something less than what they'd been before.

Anne had lived through the events of yesterday, just as Kendrick had. For her, the day before hadn't been much different. And the day before that... The weeks. The months. The years. Violence and loss and white-hot fear, stretched out in a bloody trail all the way back to her earliest years. Chipping away at her bit by bit, until all that remained was a brittle shell of a woman with eyes as empty as the dead.

And still she soldiered on, and tried to fumble her way to an answer. Why did I...?

"I didn't mean to tell him at first." She sounded quiet, contemplative. "But you were right: he's a bright kid. Maybe a little too bright. I left the lodge for a while to deal with some of the others who'd showed up, and by the time I came back he'd noticed something was wrong." The look in his eyes, his worry transformed into cold dread. "I approached him, and he asked... And I felt like it would be a betrayal, to try and evade or lie to him. That I owed him the truth, even if that was all I could give him." Would things have been different, if she'd gone with the others to defend the village? Would her power have been enough to push the Heralds back a few moments sooner, and save even a few more people?

She cast her eyes downward. "...No, those are only excuses. The truth is I was just too weak to face him."

@PKMNB0Y

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lewa’s advocacy for a non-violent solution concerning the reported beast failed to get any appreciable groundswell, either among the villagers or his fellow fish out of water. In fact, the hunters regarded him with a mixture of muted bewilderment and astonishment, clearly intending to give no offense but unable to suppress their awe at such a wild, naive notion. Meanwhile, amongst the otherworlders, only Remilia dignified his suggestion with a response, though her choice of words did suggest that even she didn’t take his idea too seriously. Well, no matter. While he wasn’t going to summarily discard his preferred plan of action, Lewa didn’t plan to insist on it. Even now he had a very poor grasp of how things worked in this alien world, but given the vast differences he’d observed already he knew it would be nothing short of hubris to blindly apply his own way of doing things to this new reality. Maybe the rahi of this world couldn’t be befriended no matter what, or maybe these ‘monsters’ had more in common with the Bohrok than Mata Nui’s own wildlife. Rahi had every right to try and live their lives that matoran did, but the Bohrok Swarm was a mindless force of annihilation, killing and destroying not to survive but out of some inexplicable mechanical malice. With the Bohrok, there was only kill or be killed, and maybe it was the same here. Still, Lewa wanted to hold out hope that if the team ran into some majestic animal, no matter how ill-tempered, that he could be the one to hold out the carrot instead of the stick.

Anne volunteered to stay behind and keep the villagers safe from any possible threats in the others’ absence. Though Lewa wanted nothing more than to help guarantee the safety of the poor folks who’d already suffered so much, others would be better suited to guard duty, while comparatively few would be better suited to a forest expedition other than himself. With the composition of the two teams decided, no further deliberation remained, so with the hunter named Derek in the lead Lewa and the others got underway.

---

Bolstered by a troop of capable combatants at his back, Derek could retrace his steps through the forest with renewed confidence. After saving his village from the Raven Heralds, surely these people could handle a rogue beast or two. The further he and the others delved into the trees, however, the more ominous the traces of unnatural activity became. As they appeared, Lewa studied the tracks with an interest that bordered on enthusiasm. “Bigger than an Ash Bear,” he remarked, his tone surprisingly chipper. He knew the creatures of Le-wahi, and to a lesser extent those of Mata Nui’s other regions, like the back of his hand. The same couldn’t be said for the rahi of this world by any means, but his experience meant that he could see certain commonalities. The scarred tree trunks suggested that this beast was marking its territory. In turn, the fact that it was claiming new territory to begin with suggested a disturbance in its ecological niche, maybe an emigration from its usual habitat. However, the decimated underbrush filled Lewa with bemusement. What purpose could that serve? Rahi didn’t destroy just for destruction’s sake. With that in mind, the sheer size of this creature’s tracks became more worrisome. If amicable solutions were off the table, this makeshift team could be in for quite the fight.

Some of the others came to their own conclusions. All could agree, though, that the sheer amount of traces could only be explained by the existence of multiple culprits, possibly all of a similarly gargantuan stature. Their expedition came to a momentary half as the subject of ‘youkai’ sidetracked the conversation. Lewa could only assume that the completely unfamiliar word represented something unique to a particular foreign world. Half-listening, the toa of air continued to examine the area, crouching down by tracks to try and get a better idea of the mammoth feet that made them, or climbing up to inspect damaged tree trunks. While doing so he realized that Remilia was talking about the organics’ species. Human, hmm? When she mentioned rahi, he decided to chime in. “In truth, ‘rahi’ means ‘not us’. Meaning any living thing other than matoran, which would technically include all of you. But yes, ‘wildlife’ would be more appropriate.”

After another moment, Lewa stood from the set of tracks he’d been looking at. “This is quite the mess. But if we want to hunt-track down the source of this disturbance, I think we should hurry-go this way.”

"Uh... Huh. Right."

Though Derek might not have been a fool, the explanation that Remilia provided didn't really explain anything to him as much as it tell him to accept that it was monsters that they were dealing with. Probably. The semantics of the situation mattered little in the long run, though, so long as the problem—be they monster, youkai, rahi, or whatever other word these otherworldly travelers might have had for them—was dealt with.

"Well, if we're talking about a general description... I will admit that the size of whatever it is that we're hunting was about... That high and roughly that wide?" the hunter continued, gesturing towards the bottom of the treetops and between a pair of trees roughly four meters apart. "It wasn't a clear look, mind you, so that's a rough estimate... But I can at least trust my eyes if nothing else. Not a hunter for nothing."

With that description and Lewa's assertion to proceed, though, Sanae took a brief moment to think for a bit before pointing in another direction, wherein the trees seemed to be equally scarred by whatever had passed through in that direction.

"It might be a good idea to split up here, then—teams of two, maybe, if we want to be safe? If there are a bunch of these things in the area, it might be a bit too slow to take them out one at a time. Worst comes to worst, we can always just run; no way these monsters are any stronger than those soldiers, right?" the green-haired girl asked—somewhat rhetorically, of course—before starting to head off. Hopefully someone actually able to track monsters would join her; otherwise, it'd come down to relying on her intuition. While that had served her well enough in the past, hopefully she could just follow the vague trail of destruction in front of her and not lose the trail entirely.

Assuming the group split up, though, each of them would come across very similar scenes—namely, the presence of what could only have been described as a massive boar surrounded by decimated trees. None would notice the people that had come seeking them immediately, but it would take little more than a few seconds before they turned and recognized the existence of something yet foreign to them—and likely hostile, to boot.

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@Lugubrious@EchoWolff

---

Kendrick chose to listen to Anne's word's in silence, but all the while that same expression seemed to remain as it was. Once she had finished speaking her piece, though, the guard spent a few more moments in silence before sighing.

"...I guess I can't blame you for saying something in that situation. Still doesn't sit right with me, but if the alternative was false hope or something..." he mused before shaking his head. "...No, wait, it's a kid we're talking about at the end of the day; there was no way something wouldn't happen. Gods, why's it so much more complicated now of all times?"

After scratching the back of his head and groaning in frustration, Kendrick took a deep breath before finally turning to face Anne again.

"Ugh. Well, in any case, he should still be asleep now, which gives me a bit of time to talk to you about what comes next," he said as he glanced towards Millie. "Those two are orphans now, no two ways about it. I could take them in, and that'd be that. But my gut's telling me that something's up; I don't know why those Raven Heralds came here in the first place, but it's got something to do with them, right? No way Ywain would've made them run if he didn't know something himself, and it's not like he's around to ask any more..."

@Drifting Pollen

After gathering what they could from their immediate surroundings, the hunters - and one ‘rahi befriender’ - continued the discussion about their quarry. First, Lewa explained what 'rahi' specifically meant, "I see," Remilia confirmed with a short chuckle, "So 'rahi' has a broader meaning than simply 'beasts', the term includes anything that's not a matoran. Hmm, neat." The vampiress had to admit, Lewa's vernacular vocabulary was quite interesting, she'd like to know more but alas, they had more pressing matters to attend, Perhaps later. Also, once we do encounter these beasts, I wonder if they really are bigger that those 'Ash Bears' he mentioned earlier. Whatever they were though, they certainly wouldn't be larger than the Hisoutensoku, not even close, else all of them could already see the things from all the way in Aventon.

Then, the young lad who had a sharply-dressed spectre companion inquired Derek about the creatures, in which the hunter replied with... information so generic, it actually didn't help much, but Remilia wouldn't fault him for it or anything, he was just a mere commoner. Eh. Remilia simply shrugged mentally, then turned her attention at the Moriya Miko, who suggested that they should split up to cover more grounds, A rather risky endeavor considering both Youmu and myself are heavily crippled, however... what's life without some risks, hmm~? "As I wasn't present when you fought those soldiers, I couldn't provide an assessment, however, at the end of the day, these troublesome beasts must be taken care of one way or another."

With that said, the time for talk was over.
..........
.....
...

With Sanae, Youmu, Joker, and Derek going off into other directions, and perhaps further splitting into two more sub-groups, Remilia found herself traveling once more with the "green hisoutensoku", but without the halfling knight-witch this time around. In great contrast to Lewa's mechanical whirs and stomps, Remilia's movements were almost silent in comparison, especially as she had opted to float a few inches above the ground instead shortly after they split off. "Sir Lewa," The Scarlet Devil spoke, briefly gazing up at the Toa of Air, "Once we encounter the 'rahi', I shall let you attempt to pacify the creature, as I had promised back in the lodge." In fact, she'd love to watch him try, it'd be quite a sight to see, or in other words, an amusing spectacle, "But should push comes to shove, you simply need to call my name and I shall come to your aid."

Meanwhile, using her extraordinary sense of smell, Remilia continued to track the creature's scent in addition to visually following its trail, which eventually led them to a... peculiar sight. "Ah, I see..." The lilac-haired youkai rubbed her chin in curious amusement, "A dire boar, for a lack of a better term. Herbivorous then? Presumably, at least." Without missing a beat, Remilia turned toward the verdant guardian of Mata-Nui, then elegantly gestured with her left arm toward the boar, as if saying, "Be my guest~".

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR @EchoWolff @Lugubrious

"Actually, I was going to tell you about that." Anne composed herself quickly, remembering the urgency of their situation. The Heralds were still out there somewhere, and fretting over her possible mistakes wouldn't protect anyone from a second attack. "While I was escorting the kids yesterday, we ran into one of the Herald commanders, a woman. She wanted Millie specifically, and offered to spare our lives if we handed her over."

Anne looked over at the girl, still fast asleep and eerily silent. It was clear that the child lay at the very heart of this mystery, the sole connecting factor between the summoned strangers and the Heralds' unknown motivations—and they had yet to even work out the truth behind her current condition.

"Obviously we refused the offer, and the Herald backed down after receiving orders from higher up. I doubt they'll just let her go, though. There's a chance they could even come after you or Alvin to use as hostages." The Knight fished in her coat pocket, and brought out the small box the woman had given her the day before. She popped it open for Kendrick to see. "The woman gave me this before she left. Some kind of offer or token, though I'm still not sure what she really meant by it." She'd said something about 'falling into hell,' which all seemed like nonsense to Anne. Hell doesn't exist. Or if it is real, then we're already living in it.

Regardless, she was hoping Kendrick might recognize any of the items in the box. The necklace, the jewel, and the vial of fluid... The first two could have been read as a bribe, but that third object gave the impression of some deeper purpose, far beyond Anne's own frail understanding.

@PKMNB0Y

Hanging in the air above the village, Rayne just took a little moment to close her eyes, relax, and experience the sky for all its serene glory. To breathe the untainted surface air, feel the breeze wisp through her hair, feel the touch of the sun on her skin. Then the moment ended as her mind reminded her as to why she was here, and she opened her eyes again to keep them peeled for danger.

First thing’s first, she figured out where the Raven Heralds had run off in the direction of, which revealed no sign of them, mostly because of any kind of road they might have used to travel. Well, other than the hole in the wall they had punched in-order to break into the town.

Indeed there wasn’t much indication of anything else around, other than the picturesque landscape which Rayne was very much enjoying. She’d once signed up to fight a war to protect nature after all (even if she hadn’t ended up fighting it) and it was heartening to see it doing so well in this world. Out here on the frontier anyway. She had to wonder how built up things were, however far back along the dirt road the heart of Riltaea was situated.

“Guess they could be hiding in the woods” she mused, but they’d likely run into the other heroes of the town if they tried to come back that way, which while concerning in its own way, meant that they’d have advanced warning of some kind.

Either way, having got a lay of the land, and made sure that there wasn’t another attack streaming over the plains towards them, she felt confident that she could go back down a bit. Focus more on the village, see what they were up to and if she could help out somehow. Mushroom farming and magical firepower might not be the most applicable skills to a rebuilding effort, but she could probably do something.

Or, well, help bury corpses. Both the Heralds and the Heroes had doubtless left a lot of those strewn around.

Once the team of otherworlders split into smaller groups, they began to make more progress on their investigation through the forest. In an environment where all sorts of creatures kept a constant ear out for predators just to survive day to day, a large, noisy group tended to make more of a disturbance, and the wildlife shied away in response. Peace and quiet gave Lewa's powers of perception a chance to shine, allowing him better attune himself to the wilderness around him. It certainly helped that he'd gotten lucky with his assignment of teammate; Remilia, after all, moved by floating through the air. Her unique method of travel made no noise and left no trail, turning the Scarlet Devil into a whisper on the wind who could provide the experienced woodsman with an extra set of eyes but no accompanying drawbacks. Together the companions breezed through the trees, following the traces left by their quarry until their path reached its conclusion.

When he spotted the culprit, Lewa let out a low whistle of appreciation. Though he could draw a few parallels with rahi he knew, this beast deserves to be appreciated on its own merits. It features a shaggy, bristly coat of coarse, deep brown hair, a nondescript tuft of a tail, short but sturdy legs that terminated in stony-looking trotters, and an almost conical head tipped with a flat snout, itself flanked by natural weapons in the form of hefty tusks. Most impressive of all was its sheer size, giving the beast an imperial air of combined strength and majesty. Assuming that this beast must be relatively soft to the touch, Lewa couldn't help but imagine how comfortable lounging against the boar's belly would be.

Of course, the toa of air didn't want to disturb the creature, let alone provoke it. When not dealing with rahi made aggressive by the Makuta's infected kanohi, the simplest strategy was the most effective: leave it alone. As a rule, rahi weren't curious, and as long as one didn't impose on their territory one should have nothing to fear. In this case, though the animal's impressive scale and natural weapons suggested that it would be far from helpless in a fight, nothing about it said 'predator' to Lewa. Remilia confirmed as much, calling the 'boar' a herbivore. She then handed the metaphorical reigns over to Lewa, giving him a chance to do things his way, as promised. Lewa nodded in appreciation. His companion's biological knowledge was a welcome surprise, and he was glad to be given the benefit of the doubt. "I will do my best."

For a little while longer, though, Lewa just observed. He listened to the boar's snorts and grunts, watched it rummage around through the underbrush, and considered what he was trying to achieve. Given its size and likely impunity, this creature's proximity to the struggling humans presented an understandable threat. Between the two of them, he and Remilia needed to convince it to leave the area. That would be difficult even if the toa could truly communicate with it. Intimidation would be preferable to disposal if the beast could be intimidated. He would need to learn what it wanted to eat (and convince it that he wasn't a threat) to lure it elsewhere with food. Well, regardless, he couldn't just crouch here forever. It was time to make a move. Standing, Lewa began to approach, obviously but slowly. He made no sudden movements or attempts to hide. "Good morning, amazing rahi," he murmured, his tone low and non-threatening as he tried to get the beast used to his voice. "I am Lewa. I want to get to know you. See eye to eye." Though the boar probably couldn't recognize expressions, he still smiled as he inched closer, his posture natural and calm. "What are you up to? Digging up roots?"

While this beast was particularly enormous, it wasn't an unfamiliar creature to Youmu. Boars weren't exactly the most uncommon sight when it came to ordinary animals living in Gensokyo, after all. Not to mention, there were certainly some that were abnormal in one way or another as well.

This monstrous boar was certainly very large, but nothing that she was unprepared to see.

The blood on its tusks, however---

It didn't mean that it had killed anyone, at least not anyone at the village, but it did mark it as a dangerous animal. Not that there was any reason to believe otherwise. Boars were plenty dangerous.

At least, to regular humans. Even one this large, even while she was injured like this, Youmu had nothing but confidence in herself.

"If it acts aggressive, I'll cut it down," she said, simply, the half-phantom drawing Roukanken smoothly from its sheath as she spoke. The blade of the youkai-forged katana gleamed resplendently in the light of the sun as she fixed her gaze on the enormous creature.

@PKMNB0Y

As much as she would have liked it if the creature they were pursuing was more apt to go somewhere more open, Sanae had no expectations that she could do much more than restrain the beast. That feeling only grew as the team split up; Remilia and Lewa had opted to split off, and with Joker appearing to be lost in his thoughts for a bit, it seemed quite apparent that she would be heading out with a fellow incident-resolving regular in the form of one half-ghost gardener.

Given what they could be facing, that wasn't actually all that problematic. Quite the opposite, really; a pair of swords were more likely to deal a meaningful blow than her danmaku, especially if it was someone like Youmu wielding them.

The pair-up meant that pursuit of whatever it was that crashed through the area didn't take all too long, either; between Youmu's natural agility and Sanae's ability to simply choose not to get caught up in the underbrush by flying over it, finding their mark was never a matter if if, but when.

Said mark being a rather nasty-looking boar with bloodstained tusks, however, didn't seem to shake her much at all. The state of the beast explained the state of the area from which they had begun their search, and it didn't exactly take a genius to put two and two together.

With that said, a creature like this being so close to a human settlement was naturally cause for alarm. And when something like that was turning towards them and, while staring dead-on at the pair, began to shake its head around and stomp at the ground...

Well, it was clear that it saw them as a threat, too.

"Don't think we're going to be able to scare this one off," Sanae remarked before the massive boar suddenly began to rush at them. Given how she had expected the animal to posture a bit more before anything happened, though, the only thing that she could instinctively do was dodge upwards.

"I'll back you up from the air!" she called out before forming a few ofuda and firing them off towards the creature's thick hide. Unfortunately enough, it didn't seem like the impact of a few bullets would do much.

...Maybe she just needed to fire more? Surely Youmu of all people could dodge accidental friendly fire if it came down to it, right?

---

The boar that Remilia and Lewa had come across seemed to be far warier of their presence, especially as Lewa made himself known. Even with the latter's gentler tone and choice of action, the boar seemed to be less inclined to actually want to acknowledge his words than it did to stand its ground. Rather than back up, though, the creature chose to shake it's head and grunt at the unfamiliar being approaching it.

A closer look—or a keen sense of smell—would make the presence of wounds both new and old quite apparent now, though. A few gashes upon the beast's shoulders and an odd festering bite wound on it's rear leg made clear that the boar was injured.

It still seemed to have enough energy to fight if one broke out, though given it's current demeanor it didn't seem like such an outcome would be all too desirable to begin with.

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@Lugubrious@EchoWolff

---

Anne's explanation of the situation left Kendrick with a rather distinct grimace on his face—particularly the notion that he or his would-be wards could be taken as hostages in order to trade for Millie's. That had as much to do with his own safety as it did everyone else's, of course; with Ywain gone, it naturally fell to him to protect what remained of Aventon. If that meant his safety was in turn tied to the kids' own, that would naturally leave him at a troubling crossroads.

It didn't help much that the village head and his wife had passed in the attack too, leaving only their daughter behind to carry on in their place. To say that this entire situation had spiraled out of control would be an understatement at this point, and heavens knew how many people wanted to try and rebuild after so much had been lost.

Hopefully the survivors would recover soon enough to make a decision on the matter, then. But that was a problem for the future.

Though he had been lost in his own thoughts for a brief moment, Anne calling attention to what exactly had transpired when the small group he had seen before—including the odd "gift" that they had received. Naturally, this was cause for concern in it's own right; the remark about "falling into hell" didn't help assuage any fears about the matter either.

When presented with the actual items within said box, though, the guard seemed to take a moment to examine each. His attention panned over towards the vial first, and after picking it up, Kendrick took a moment to hold it up to the light before popping the cork on top off and taking a quick whiff of it.

"...Mmm... There's a really strong medicinal smell to this one, but I'm not super qualified to say what it might be. Might be better to get this examined by an apothecary; unfortunately, given the situation, the one we have here is probably going to be busy for... A while," he stated before turning his attention towards the other two items.

"These, though... Call it intuition, but there's gotta be more to these things than just looking pretty," he continued before picking up the jewel and looking at it in the light in turn. "At the very least, I know that the symbols carved into this gem aren't just for show. Seen a few mages use things like this when they were passing through, at the very least, but I've got no affinity for magic so I can't help much there, either."

Naturally, that left the one object that hadn't yet been examined by him: the necklace. After placing the jewel back in it's place, Kendrick slowly lifted the necklace up and held the emblem in his hand as he checked it over. Nothing seemed to be apparent beyond the fine workmanship that had to have gone into such a piece, though, which was... Somewhat disheartening.

It was at this point, though, that the presence of an odd piece of paper that had been hidden away beneath the necklace caught his attention, and curiosity soon got the better of him as he picked it up to examine it in turn.

"Hm... Any idea what this means?" he asked before handing the paper off to Anne.

"Enshrining a god without proper precautions can lead to unforeseen consequences. Unchecked divinity can overwhelm a soul, snuffing it out like a light."

@Drifting Pollen

---

Being so high in the skies above the town would provide Rayne ample view of what the townsfolk were up to now that the battle had passed. If the situation was better, it was more than likely that she would have seen people milling about in the market square by this time of day, picking up what they needed from the vendors peddling their wares. Instead, though, everyone seemed to be on edge and still barely recovering from what had transpired the day before. Guards were still posted around the town's walls, though there seemed to barely be enough to keep watch; else, civilians who were of sound enough mind and body and not otherwise occupied with care for the injured were starting to move around town to try and start getting things back in working order.

In less vague terms, that meant cleaning up the remnants of the battle, bodies and rubble alike. It was by no means a job meant for the faint of heart, but the reality of the situation could not be ignored. The Raven Heralds had not collected their dead when they had departed, though, which left them awkwardly strewn about all over the battlefield for the survivors to handle alongside the bodies of the deceased.

In that regard, though, it seemed like a few of the more able-bodied among the townsfolk were beginning to gather the dead outside the walls therein and (very roughly) trying to sort them into two groups. The Heralds, of course, were gathered into one group and stripped of what arms they had; the deceased residents, then, were gathered into another. It went without saying that the latter were treated with far more respect than the former, but at the end of the day it was far from a pleasant task.

Those with less of a heart for matters like these, however, were busy trying to move all of the broken wood and shattered stone away from the buildings scattered about the town, slowly working their way out from the lodge where a majority of them had spent the last night. There, at least, there was less of a chance of witnessing a scene that might have left them sicker than not.

@DracoLunaris

After Lewa confirmed their plan of action and while he was observing the large beast, Remilia took the time to float up to a nearby tree branch, one large enough to sit on comfortably and high enough to provide an adequate viewing of the Air Toa's pacification attempt. Ah, if only she had a glass of fine red wine, then it'd be a near-perfect substitute for theater watching. Alas, she'd have to do with what she was given as Lady Remilia made herself comfortable, slitted blood-red eyes focusing on the Toa and the Rahi as the former began approaching the latter.

"..." Much to her own slight surprise, Remilia found herself quite engrossed, perhaps because both of the subjects being observed were foreign entities as far as the vampiress was concerned, Lewa more so than the giant boar. Hmm...? Foreign as it might be, Remilia could notice a threat display when she saw it, one of those ingrained instincts that animals - and people - from all walks of life seemed to share. I wonder if there's a reason for its unusual agitation... It was then she noticed the scent of dripping, fresh blood wafting from the boar, prompting her to scrutinize the creature with her eyes. Ah... I see.

Nodding to herself, Remilia would fly over to Lewa, swift and silent like the nocturnal predator her kind naturally was. The Rayne-sized youkai would float next to Lewa's ear - or lack thereof - and began speaking in a whisper, "Sir Lewa, I must inform you that the beast is grievously injured, it'll likely perish on its own eventually if we leave it alone, so..." She paused, "If you wish to save it, then I do have a proposal; do your best to restrain or, barring that, non-lethally incapacitate it so I may then heal its wounds without it making a fuss. What say you?" Then there was also the matter of just what kind of creature could inflict such wounds upon the boar, but that's for later.

@PKMNB0Y @Lugubrious