[IC] In Hunting Beasts and Nightmares

[Lucius Cypher]

"Spencer Parker huh? Name's Donny." The young hunter looked at the dapper gent, curious as to where he got his suit. He seemed more lucid then half the people in this village, though Donny hasn't gotten a chance to meet the locals. He was certain Spencer had some big dark secret, like he was actually a monster in disguise or sacrifices villagers for some profane ritual for immortality. He was also curious as to what Donny was doing with all this junk he found. As he was about to explain, Maribel came out and joined them. She seemed angry that Donny left her behind, which brought a smile to his face. Maybe she did care.

"Ah, sorry about that Sakar. I was just gathering some stuff to make weapons into, ya know? I mean... Far as I can tell, I'm stuck in this sodding gloopy dump and gunna krump whatever men or monster comes by to cause a mess. If my first drat with that ugly thing at the tavern is any indication, I'm gunna need some extra help, savvy? Anyways..."

Gathering up his things Donny spotted a table not too far away. The moonlight illuminated the spot well enough, though having an actual source of light would always be appreciated. He walked over to this spot and dumped his things there. "When it comes to tools and crafts, I got what I need. Might not be as useful for a bout, but I'd reckin I know a thing or two about fixin up stuff as weapons and whatnot. Least, that's what feels natural... Say Maribel, you say there's no smith around here, right? Well guess that means I'm the next best thing, less you know where to find a guy. I mean, these weapons gotta come from somewhere, aight? Anywhoozies, if ya oddy-knocky, how bout you stick with me, poke me with questions? Who knows, I might just remember something."

Regardless if Maribel actually was going to stick around to talk to Donny, he started to get to work on his new inventions. The first thing he did was work the shovel heads off the shafts since he wouldn't need them. Though he would save those for later; they were solid and sturdy bits of wood and could be used for other weapons or projects down the line. With two wooden shafts the potential were endless.

"Also top hat," Donny was referring to Spencer. "I just got here. Only other hunter I know is Roless, and I don't know where he went. Never heard about this Ravine, and if there are already others ahead of me, no sense chasing after them. Dangerous to go out there alone, don't cha know? Also, you wouldn't happen to have a metal barrel or something I could start a fire in? Need someone to hold heat in. Something big."

[Ashifili]

Sometimes, Roless simply zoned out.

After he had lugged the two dead fat Sakars back to the church, tossing them into the growing pile of dead monster bodies, he seemed to dimly recall complaining about how he wished his Blood magic could actually do some sort of healing, before hobbling back out for some…what?

What was he even planning on doing again?

Striding aimlessly around town, the Hunter scratched his head with an oily hand, weapons still clanging and clinking against his body. That bit of excitement really wasn’t worth it, and while Donny was a rather funny lad, he was more interested in seeing the raven-haired axe-wielder get close enough to Marabel that she’d make a funny expression when he died. Did that crazy loli even cry? Or was she eternally pretentious and irritated?

“Welp, whatever,” he said out loud, heading away from town, “Guess I’ll do some tracking.”

After all, with nothing else left to do in town, other than hope that his ribs heal up properly, he might as well figure out where the rest of the fleshbags went. Contrary to expectations, dead bodies didn’t just vanish with no reason, and pretending to be a detective was better than staying around any longer in this lobotomized cesspool.

[KoL]

Akemi

Akemi weaved and ducked under the enormous fist that came crashing down on her several times, using the Monolith's strength against itself, and the other threats that tried to pounce on the hunters "Come on! That's all you've got?"

Soon enough, the Lake of Tears was in plain sight,the Monolith let out a guttural roar as it finally noticed its opponents' cunning trick. Its legs got stuck in the mud all the way up to the knees, each step it took was harder than the previous and just as Akemi planned, it became completely stuck a few meters away from the margin of a particularly deep pond. In matter of seconds the desolate mire was obscured by a thin cloud of fog spawned as the lava boiled the water, creating steam that would cool almost instantly in the unnaturally cold air.

Akemi used the impromptu cover to hide herself as she dashed between the Monolith's legs and slid her feet on the slick mud, spinning her body to gain momentum before trusting her right hand forth, summoning a lance of shadows that dwarfed anything Tatsumi had created until now to rip apart the Monolith's leg and force it to fall on the ice cold water. A shadow spell this strong was something that only experienced hunters could do without suffering a severe backlash, and even then, only once, but that was all that Akemi needed anyway.

A second latter a huge roar was heard all over the Lake of Tears area, as the molten stone giant fell on the pool and began to solidify, becoming hard and brittle "It's all yours, now!" Akemi shouted to Alto "The rest of you, newbies! Stay sharp, this ain't over until we get back to Irede-" she began to say, before being cut short by a set of slimy tentacles that curled around her body "Why are..." was all the fox woman could say before being paralyzed by the poison inlaid on them.

As if on cue several other monsters like the one who ambushed Akemi crawled out of the mud pools around the hunters. They looked like lobsters, but were as big as pony and their shells had a sickly spotted yellow hue, but that wasn't by far the most disturbing aspect about the beasts. The real threat came from its pincers, strong enough to reap through steel and the tentacles that came from inside them, that were coated in a paralyzing slime. Also, in place of the big beady eyes that lobsters have, the monsters had an orb filled with gaunt and sickening visages of human beings and... if the hunters paid close attention, they would even find their own tormented faces among the ones there.

The odds had swung all against the hunters now, it seems. Was it really all over? Or their mysterious stalker would be able to tip the scales again? All of this was yet to be seen...

[Spriggs27]

Sinthe

Sinthe watched over the monster from above and watched as the monolith just waltz into the pond and began to produce steam from the heat from it's body, when the steam began to rise up to his level Sinthe oddly felt cool air instead of heat, Sinthe looked down to see the cover from the steam clouding the area and shrouding the the hunters in a cloud of smoke, then he noticed a large ebony spear peak out from the shroud and pierced the creature's leg.

When the creature dropped into the lake almost face first and began to sink into lake, Sinthe began to climb down quickly seeing the monster defeated, he could climb back up if he needed to help with another plan, when his boots hit the muddied ground Akemi was grabbed by a slimy tentacle that dragged her under the mud." Akemi !" Sinthe yell almost diving out for her, but soon creatures began to emerge from the mud, they looked like giant lobsters if they were yellow." Everyone careful these things look like their poisonous, and their claws are very long, don't get too close to the claws." Sinthe told them."And watch out for tentacles they could drag you under." He pointed out the obvious.

I can't use my fist against these thing since they might be poisonous to skin, switch to kicks and knee attacks or Sinthe thought about how to attack these lobster creatures then looked down to his boots, he knew his hand wraps wouldn't be able to protect his hands from poison, thought about using his boots for gloves then thought the idea was stupid and took up a defensive stance against the lobster creatures.

[Bubsy 2]

Tatsumi continued running with the vanguard, keeping up despite the threats that lined the canyon walls. The Lake of Tears, in spite of it's name, was a sight that brought great relief to Tatsumi. He watched as Akemi sent the creature plunging into the lake, using a magic similar to the kind Tatsumi had used, but on a much larger scale. Woah! I may not like her that much, but I've got to get her to help me... I still have no idea what the hell is going on. The creature plummeted into the water, hardening and causing steam to rise above the group, but it still wasn't quite dead. I'll leave this one to the experienced guy, I've already made enough of a fool of myself.

Tatsumi's rejoicing was suddenly interrupted. The Lake of Tears was not devoid of life, it appeared. And the wildlife of the World of Waster Dream was terrifying. The creatures that rose from its depths were monstrous, gigantic lobsters with some very sharp looking pincers and tentacles coated with something. To make matters worse Akemi was nabbed by the them. Judging by her reaction it must be coated in some kind of poison. It looks like she can't move. Sinthe almost echoed his thoughts. "It looks like Akemi has been paralyzed." He added urgently. He looked towards the entrapped vixen. His first instinct, despite their mistreatment of each other, was to save her. He almost did, but resisted. That's suicide. There's no way... even if I do save her she'll probably find a reason to be mad... I should probably wait for the other vet to make a move.

Instead he backed up towards Sinthe. He cast a glance towards him. "Well, this doesn't look very good. I don't really think either of us are in a position to save her. We should probably just hold out and wait for Akemi's friend to make a move." Tatsumi said to the burly army man. He raised his sword defensively.

[TheWendil]

As the hellish lobsters crawled out from the darkness of the deep, the massive form of the Monolith sank further into the icy waters below. Even as its body was solidifying completely, it continued to flail about with one remaining arm to crush the one that had trapped it so. Akemi’s blood was what it wanted and it raised one hand to bring down like thunder upon the trapped fox girl.

The twin blue moons soared high in the heavens, casting an ethereal light upon all the combatants. Only when the light reflected off the ice of the lakes did something stir from the shadows. A reflex was enacted and something harsh sounding was heard, like metal clashing against stone. The Monolith’s descending limb was soon torn apart by the seams, rock and freezing magma spewing about everywhere.

Whatever resolve the monster had before was gone now as it sunk on its side into the Lake of Tears completely, a creaking sound heralding its defeat. No sooner was the creature slain did the origin of the attack turn their sights on the nightmarish lobsters now. Faster than any of the Hunters, even Akemi, the lobster’s had their shells penetrated and crushed while their tentacles and bodies were sliced apart. Spews of green sludge exploded everywhere as one by one the monsters were destroyed.

The others would have to recover from their sudden rescue but for Akemi the force of killing aura turned its sights on her now. With a flash, the blur picked up Akemi and leaped away from the Lake, landing on the border edges of the frozen water.

“You really do like making my job hell, don’t you Akemi?”

The voice was feminine, despite the figure’s appearance. The casual attire of a Hunter was placed on the woman’s frame, including the average brown and gray coated boots, pants, and vested shirt underneath a long fabric that appeared to be a cross between a long coat and a poncho. Messy, long, and blonde hair spilled out from under the woman’s hat and that too looked like a mixed breed, mainly a fedora and cowboy’s hat rolled into one.

The woman’s collar was raised up to conceal her lower mouth though one could make out the amber eyes that darted around next to the beginnings of a scar along her face. What was perhaps most frightening though was the massive ivory scythe strapped to the woman’s back, no doubt the weapon that had slain these monsters attacking just moments before. The woman placed Akemi gently onto the ground, knowing the effects of the paralysis would be wearing out off enough.

A woman with a white scythe….yes, she was notable as one of the more prominent and powerful Hunters in this twisted world. The Hunter calling herself Pale Wolf.

“Right then. You mind telling me why you almost got yourself killed. Again,” she said in a blunt manner to Akemi.

Back in Iredele, the mayor of the town shrugged in response to Donney’s question. He was meant to watch over the village, not provide Hunter’s with free necessities. And so he turned away from the now growing trio of people, waving his hand back in farewell.

“Nope, not a clue friend. Though Maribel might know where to find something like that. Maribel, be a good girl and help the poor Hunters, eh?”

Maribel steamed in annoyance at his words before turning back to Donney.

“Well it’s like I said before. I only visit this place so I don’t know where everything is exactly. And I’m no one’s lap dog anyway. But I bet Roless knows,” she said, pointing to the wandering senior Hunter. “He’s the one living here after all.”

[Spriggs27]

As Tatsumi began to back off lobsters Sinthe got an idea, if Tatsumi wasn't going to use his own weapon, then Sinthe would use it, he held out his hand near Tatsumi while keeping his eyes locked onto Akemi." Hand over your weapon." Sinthe ordered the kid." If your not willing to jump into the fight out of the fear of being berated then you shouldn't even wield a weapon and consider yourself to be a warrior." Sinthe berated Tatsumi while he waited for him to hand over his weapon so he could save Akemi himself.

But then Sinthe said screw it when he saw the lobster hit Akemi, he cracked his knuckles and began charging towards the monster lobster, and at the last second something began killing the lobsters, and Sinthe dove into a roll and crouched behind a rock to take cover of the monster's blood, when he came from behind the rock he was ambushed by a bright light and tried to use his hand to cover his eyes but it still blinded him for the moment, when his eyes adjusted he couldn't see Akemi anywhere and began to look around for her." Akemi !!" Sinthe yelled out for her." Where are you ?! Are you still alive ?!"