Fanfic: Tome Of Lies I: Shadows Of Deception

Foreword
This is my new story, Shadows of Deception. I plan to make the chapters, and therfore the whole story, alot longer than my previous plots. It will also take longer to post, as I intend to read through other users' stories. The full story will be posted on this one page.

Enjoy! I&#39;m right behind you...or am I? (talk) 17:00, November 30, 2012 (UTC)

Plot
Altus-the very core of Guild power, where a deadly new disease of unkown origins called the "Mad Dragon Virus" has taken root, girdling the populations of both human and monster alike. Meanwhile, The Guild struggles to end the ten-year war with the rebellious Separatist Province of Tenkai, a region of Altus that broke away from Guild jurisdiction. A band of hunters from the backwater town of Kairu in Tarin, one of Altus' outer regions, is recruited by the Guild to assassinate Tenkai leader Shikimaru Tetsuya as part of a black ops mission to bring an end to the war. However, as events continue to unfold, not all is as it seems, and the friends will slowly begin to question the very power upon which they so wholeheartedly rely...

Characters
Main Characters: Dante, Alexis, Aaron

Supporting Characters: Yumi, Ruby, April, Teiko, Ash, Eiji, Ichiro, Irvine, Miyuki

Monsters
Akura Vashimu, Akura Jebia, Gurenzeburu, Stygian Zinogre, Dyuragaua, Ouroboros, ???, ???, etc

Summons From The Guild
Dante sat up in his bed with a gasp, finally being allowed respite from his nightmare. His brow was slick with sweat; his body had clearly been restless as his mind enacted the twisted nightmare. Ignoring the pang of the cold midnight against his bare chest, he scanned the room feverishly, as if looking for an enemy in the shadows. He felt something salty and wet touch the corner of his lip. As he smoothed his finger across the source of irritation he realized that he’d been crying softly. He sharply turned his head in the nighttime darkness at the sound of a soft, carefree moan. It was only his girlfriend, Alexis, rolling over to lie on her stomach, her long ebony hair reaching over the bed covers to rest lazily upon them in an untidy mess. As Dante was about to make another attempt at peaceful sleep (which was likely to fail), Alexis slowly rose from her position, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She looked around sluggishly until her eyes found her boyfriend, sitting upright, sweating, his eyes alight with fear. She dragged herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders protectively from her place on the right side of the bed as he stared blankly ahead into the window at the foot of the bed, which let in the bleak, misty moonlight from the world outside.

“Another nightmare?” she asked softly, though she already knew the answer.

“Yeah. Always the same one; that strange monster…its fur-covered wings…its sharp talons pinning me down. It roars in my face, and then…and then…” Dante couldn’t bring himself to finish, but Alexis knew exactly what he would’ve said. She kissed his cheek comfortingly, and gently pushed her hand down on his chest, motioning him to lie down.

"Just try and get some sleep. There’s no need to be scared, I’m right here,” she murmured tenderly, enveloping the distressed young man in her embrace, his head nuzzled deep in her arms, which curled around his back. She hummed an old lullaby and stroked the back of his head like a child until he fell asleep.              ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Morning. When he woke up, he was still in Alexis’ embrace. He smiled, and carefully shrugged her off of him, wanting to get free and to wake her up. That was what was good about Alexis when it came to a hunt; she was a light sleeper, and easy to wake.

With a peaceful sigh she peeled her body from the bed as her eyes slowly flickered open, gazing upon her loved one, a sweet, simple smile sketched upon her face.

“What time is it?” she asked with wryness, still smiling, her senses returning quickly.

“Uh, about…nine, ten in the morning?” he replied unsurely.

“Then we’ve still got plenty of time,” she purred playfully, wrapping her arms around his neck, tugging him back under the bed sheets and leaning in to kiss him tenderly at the same time. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Kairu was a small town on the outskirts of the region of Tarin, in the Guild-controlled country of Altus, the largest country in the known world and the central seat of Guild power. Although many people saw Chancellor Tojou to be in command, the de facto leader of the Guild, and therefore the known world, was Arch Minister Grimsley, although nobody ever really saw or heard much from him since the beginning of the war with the Separatist Province of Tenkai, a fairly large area of land which had incited civil war with Altus about ten years ago. Dante and Alexis had only been about seven at the time, so they were too young to understand. But they did now, to a lesser extent; Tenkai apparently disagreed with the Guild policies and the way it was run, despite the fact that there hadn’t been any form of protest directed at the Guild since the Reformation over two-hundred years ago. The Guild had been in peace talks with them for eleven years before that, so it was hardly surprising to the rest of the people of Altus when war was formally declared by Grimsley himself. However, a recent turn of the tide in Altus’ favour was bringing the war to a close. One final push was all it would take to drive Tenkai over the edge.

As Dante and Alexis strolled past the walls of houses and miscellaneous stores that were situated on either side of them and toward the Guild Hall, the voice of Dante’s best friend echoed from behind.

“Heeeeeeey! Wait for me!” Aaron yelled, running as fast as his Rathalos Soul G armour would allow. A huge Shiny Rathalos Sword G was strapped to his back. As he caught up with Alexis, who was clad in simple Steel+ armour and sported a Hi Ninja Sword G (which was, ironically, crafted in Tenkai) and Dante, who sported Rathalos+ armour and the Red Divine Flame, he smiled at the Guild Hall with anticipation.

“Do you know why we’ve been summoned by the Guild?” Dante asked, desperate for clarification, the trio all tucking their helmets under their arms to talk. A few days ago, he and Alexis had had a message delivered from the Guild (whom employed them) asking them to report to their local Guild Hall at twelve sharp. The thing that perplexed him so was that he had no idea why and neither did Alexis. But, clearly, Aaron had it figured out.

“Well…” Aaron replied unsurely, placing his hands on the back of his head absentmindedly (as he had been wont to do, for all the years Dante had known him), trying to figure out a way to explain what he wanted to say. “I don’t know, per se, but I’ve got a feeling it’s something to do with Tetsuya.”

“Who?” Alexis jumped in.

“Uh, Tetsuya?” Aaron repeated, as if it was obvious. Dante and Alexis stared at him with blank innocence. Aaron let out a sigh of half-hearted exasperation.

“I’m only talking about Shikimaru Tetsuya, leader of the Separatist Province of Tenkai!” Aaron exclaimed. “Geez, don’t you guys know anything about Tenkai?”

Aaron was right, they really shouldn’t have been so riddled; Shikimaru Tetsuya was the self-appointed emperor of Tenkai and the rebellious region’s general, although he often kept his hands clean, instead formulating the strategies for his soldiers to follow rather than doing the dirt himself. This wasn’t cowardice; he had never fled a fight on the sparse occasions in which he was challenged, but other than that he stayed behind the scenes. He was a shrewd man, and an excellent tactician. It was this keen mind that kept the Guild on their toes, even though Tenkai was on the brink of defeat.

Of course, the village’s mind had been on other things far more important than Tenkai. Recently, a strange and virulent contagion had taken hold, one that threatened Altus’ entire populace. They called it the “Mad Dragon Virus”, mainly for the detrimental effect it had on certain monsters such as Elder Dragons, certain Pseudowyverns and most Flying Wyverns. Its effect on monsters was extremely adverse to those it had on a human; a human would simply grow frail and weak before slowly dying, whereas monsters would survive the infection, and their eyes would turn purple and dark, varicose veins would sprawl across their hides. They would also gain insanely brutal strength but at the same time driving them utterly insane (hence the “Mad”). The monsters that were seen to be affected by the Mad Dragon Virus then had “Mad” added to the beginning of their name when referred to by hunters, but the Guild simply stamped the contracts for the hunting of a Mad monster with a purple biohazard symbol.

That was the strange thing about the Mad Dragon Virus; it wasn’t something that you just caught with the season or the area, like a cold, or influenza. It seeped into your system through any wound or cut you may have sustained, no matter how minute. The Village Elder’s son had caught it when an infected monster wounded him, and the Elder herself had caught it when she cut herself and her son was nearby. The only way to avoid the disease was to not cut yourself. Of course, since this was difficult for hunters, it was often they who were affected most. As a result, villages with high concentrations of the Mad Dragon Virus were quickly running low on hunters to protect their village, and attacks from small monsters such as Jaggi, Baggi and Furogi as well as larger monsters such as Tigrex were becoming a lot more common. Kairu has suffered no such attacks, as they were only a small outlying village with nothing much that these carnivorous Wyverns might want, but even still, they feared such an event and warned hunters constantly to stay safe.

Dante, Alexis and Aaron had reached the door to the Guild Hall at last. Aaron swung the door open slowly, and a wall of noise greeted them, different from the relative quiet of Kairu proper. The chattering of hunters both leaving and returning from a hunt, as well as the drunken laughter of those gathered around the bar and the quiet (compared to the noise around them) undertone of the hunters who sat at tables eating, was enough to wake up the village, startling the still slightly groggy Dante.

“You’re still tired?” Aaron said, raising an eyebrow theatrically at his friend. “…Did you two have sex?” he asked bluntly, with a hint of mischief. Alexis blushed ever so slightly.

“Ahhh, so you did! Well, good for you. Just…try not to overpopulate the village, ’kay?” he said wryly, laughing to himself briefly. Then, Dante spotted some of their friends, standing by the bar. Only a couple of them were actually drinking, though. One was female, dressed in Uragaan armour with a Crimsonwall upon her back, another, also female, clad in Gurenzeburu armour, wielding its corresponding hammer, another pair-one male, one female- sported Gogomoa armour; the male wielded a sword and shield while the female bore a longsword, both of which were also crafted from Gogomoa materials. The last two were both male; one donned Akura Vashimu armour and dual swords while the other was clad in Akura Jebia armour and dual swords.

“Hey guys!” Alexis exclaimed, causing the group of friends to look up from their respective conversations, exclamations of surprise and happiness blurted out from each of them.

“Long time no see, Teiko, Ash,” Dante said, smiling at the two Gogomoa-armoured hunters.

“Yeah, we kinda got stuck in Jonton; the monster we’d been sent to hunt was, in fact, a Mad Barioth. Damn thing nearly killed Ash here. No wonder the client didn’t say what the target was; poor guy must’ve known nobody’d help him if he said the creature was Mad. I don’t understand how the request was even given a grant if it didn’t have the biohazard stamp on it,” Teiko explained matter-of-factly. Ash hit him on the shoulder.

“Hey, it nearly killed you too!” Ash complained as she ran her fingers through her silvery hair, annoyed at being made to look so helpless.

“Shut up, sis…!” Teiko hissed out of the corner of his mouth. Dante giggled at the pair. Tekio and Ash were brother and sister, and as a result were always competing with each other to be a better hunter. Teiko would be better than Ash, but his reckless bravado often got him into trouble, so overall, Ash was slightly “better”, if only in the intelligence sense.

“ALEXIS!” the girls in Uragaan and Gurenzeburu armours squealed excitedly, rushing over to hug their erstwhile friend.

“APRIL! RUBY!” Alexis squealed back, all three of the girls squeezing the life out of each other as they hugged.

“Hang on a second, where’s Yumi?!” Alexis asked, worried. Yumi was her best friend, and an accomplished hunter. “Don’t tell me…that Mad Barioth killed her?!”

“No, no, no! Don’t get so wound up!” April said, taking a swing of ale from Teiko’s cup while he wasn’t looking. Ruby and Alexis giggled at this as she talked. “She’s just doing something. Oh, look! Here she comes now.”

Ruby and Alexis both turned to the entrance with April to see a slender girl in Jhen Mohran armour and armed with a switch axe, the Great Demonbind G, strolling in. Her hair was black, tied back into a neat bun, her armour covered with small, barely noticeable bloodstains. She stopped when she laid eyes on Alexis.

“Alexis?” Yumi called out.

“Yumi?” Alexis replied.

“ALEXIS!" Yumi shouted.

“YUMI!” Alexis shouted back, and the two ran to cuddle each other, giggling immaturely as packs of teenage girls were wont to do. “When you weren’t here I thought that Mad Barioth had killed you!”

“Oh, you heard about that, huh? Yeah, well…no disease-ridden, oversized cat is gonna get the better of Yumi!” she huffed boastfully, her friends laughing at her amusing display of pride. “Still, we’re all extremely lucky that no-one was wounded in that fight. We’d have been infected otherwise…” Yumi said seriously, trailing away, pausing to think with dread about what might’ve been.

“Oh, cheer up, Yumi; nobody was hurt and that’s that. We’re all fine!” Ruby said cheerily.

"Yeah, until the next hunt. What if the next one turns out to be Mad as well? Do you think lightning won’t strike in the same place twice?” Yumi snapped. Ruby looked down, abashed.

"Hey, what’s the matter with you?” Alexis asked. “Relax! I know it’s difficult, the infection and all…but nobody was hurt. Sure, next time you might not be so lucky, but don’t think about that. Live in the now!” Alexis smiled, and Yumi managed a smile in return, once again returning to enjoy her reunion with her best friend. After all, Yumi, along with Ruby, April, Teiko, Ash and the Akura Twins, as they were known around the village, hadn’t seen Dante, Aaron or Alexis in a month; Jonton was a city in Tsutoko, one of the inner regions of Altus, and it took a long time to travel there and back to and from an outlying village like Kairu in an outer region like Tarin.

Aaron had missed Eiji and Ichiro (or the Akura Twins, as they had been dubbed by the villagers). As they talked, Dante, Teiko and Ash came up beside them and joined in.

"Teiko, Ash,” Aaron said, smiling as he nodded, acknowledging the siblings. Teiko nodded back while Ash smiled girlishly.

“Long time no see, Eiji, Ichiro. I heard about the Mad Barioth. Tough times, huh?” Dante said.

"Damn right,” Eiji said, twirling one of his Akura Vashimu dual swords absentmindedly. “Damn thing nearly fucking killed us. To be honest, I don’t think we’d all have made back alive if it wasn’t for Ash. She was the one who saw the damned thing about to ambush us in the first place, as well as saving April and l from the monster on several occasions. We owe you one, Ash.”               “Aww, that’s alright; it’s no biggy,” Ash chirped, smiling still.

"Oh, looky here; I think we’re about to find out why we’re here,” Ichiro murmured with anticipation, pointing to the back entrance, where two Guild soldiers (as could be seen by their red and gold attire) walked in beside a female hunter dressed in Barioth X armour and bearing its respective sword and shield and a male hunter bearing Rukodiora armour, a Rukodiora-crafted rapier hanging from a scabbard attached to the right side of his hip. He had no shield to accompany it, however.

"Oh my god…whatever we’ve been summoned for, it must be pretty darn important,” Yumi said seriously as she, Alexis, April and Ruby joined their friends in gazing upon the spectacle. “That guy’s from the military higher-ups; only the real high-ranking officers, the generals and field marshals and colonels and stuff wear armour other than the Guild uniform. And since he’s wearing Rukodiora gear…it must mean he’s part of the black ops department. Whatever we’re gonna be asked to do, I’ll bet gold to gunlances it’s real hush-hush.”

The ten hunters watched as the four strangers approached them. Despite the fact that there was a high-ranking officer from the Guild in their midst, the other occupants of the Guild Hall barely took any notice at all. The foursome stopped in front of them, the two Guild officers standing slightly behind while the Barioth-armoured hunter and the high-ranking officer stood prominent, both of their faces hidden from view beneath their helms.

"Greetings," the Rukodiora-clad man said. His voice was formal and polite, with the tone of a fairly young man, perhaps later twenties or early thirties, and sounded ever-so-slightly tinny from beneath his helmet. “I am General Irvine, commanding officer of the black operations department within the Guild military.” Irvine pointed to the woman adjacent to him. This is Miyuki, an elite hunter and agent of the Guild. We have come here to summon you to spearhead the operation in which we will assassinate Emperor Shikimaru Tetsuya and bring an end to the war with Tenkai."

Arrival At Yii-Do
"Why us?" Yumi asked quizzically. Irvine and Miyuki stayed silent, an air of speechlessness descending. "There are plenty of better-trained hunters in the inner regions and cities; Tsutoko, Kojo, even other, bigger places in Tarin have hunters that will work for less, and are better than us. What, do the backwater people not matter? If they die, or worse, get MDV, it doesn't matter as much?" Yumi sneered aggressively. She was the most level-headed and uptight member of Dante's circle of friends, their leader of sorts.

"Yumi..." April sighed, the way a mother does when their child ignores warnings about touching hot food.

"Please, Miss...?" Irvine began politley.

"Yumi. Yumi Kimimoto."

"RIght. Miss Kimimoto.." Irvine started again. "We did not pick you and your friends because you are "backwater". Strictly speaking, we haven't actually picked you...yet."

"What do you mean, "yet"?" Teiko asked, folding his arms and furrowing his brow as if to concentrate.

"What I mean is that we have already asked for the assistance of other hunters, from Kojo, Jonton in Tsukoto and even in inner Tarin, along with many other places. We test test them to see both their individual apitudes and their ability to work as a team. You are the last on our list; the others are potential candidates. So far, the small band on hunters from Jonton has excelled the most. Should you fail, they will undertake this misson," Irvine explained.

"Are you sure it's wise to tell so many people about a mission of such importance? What if one of them is an Tenkai operative? I'm sure Shikimaru'll be flattered to hear about the attempt on his life," Ichiro said with a hint of haughty derision.

"It doesn't matter; they're smart enough to know that we'll find the bastards and slit their throats if they so much as utter a sylable to do with this op," the Barioth-clad hunter, Miyuki, retorted bluntly. Her voice was deep for a woman's but still easily identifiable as feminine, and sounded blunt and matter-of-fact.

"...Precisely," Irvine said, reinforcing Miyuki's point but hesitating to do so, as if taken aback by her blunt threat upon the hunters' lives.

"...What do you mean by "test"?" Dante enquired, raising an eyebrow.

"You will be taken to the Guild military bastion in Zakimuto, in the Komihata region. The bastion has a training arena. A plethora of monsters from across the land await there, from which we shall select in order to test your abilities. You should be aware that the monsters you will face will not be matched based on Hunter Rank; they will be chosen with the purpose to challenge you in mind. The only thing you can be sure of...is that none of them will be Mad," Irvine murmured forbodingly. Even though the hunters couldn't see him, they felt his eyes scanning them intently.

"Well then what the heck're we waiting for?" Ash asked with impatient anticipation (she was the youngest of the friends at the tender age of fiteen, and was the most easily psyched of the group). "Let's go already!"

The friends took a moment to confer amongst themselves, before Yumi emerged from the scrum, a look of formality on her face.

"Alright; we'll do it."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The ten good friends were really excited now, adrenaline surging through thier veins like a wildfire. They had never been on an airship before. They had read about them in picture books as children,a nd seen them docked in the inner regions of the country on the rare journeys they had embarked upon to inner Altus, but never before had they actually been on one. It felt incredible, and for a citizen of an outlying region like Tarin, it was a dream come true.

As Dante and Alexis stood at the starboard side of the craft, holding hands, Dante breathed a sigh of satisfaction, closing his eyes for a brief moment to listen to the whistles of the wind, the gentle creaking of the wooen planks and the squawking of small birds in perfect harmony with the prideful roars of Rathians returning to their nests, most likely with an unlucky Jaggi or Baggi clenched between their jaws.

"I've dreamed of this since I was a kid," Dante sighed, opening his sapphire eyes to watch a small flock of Qurupeco fly by sounding thier mating calls, thier bulbous vermillion vocal sacs bulging as they cawed.

"Well, good for you," Alexis said, smiling, her head resting gently on Dante's shoulder.

Following this, Teiko and Ash came to stand beside them, Teiko sighing quietly.

"Something wrong?" Alexis asked him.

"No, it's nothing," he said. "It's just...I've always wanted to ride one o' these."

"Me too," Ashe agreed, lifting her arms to her sides and clsoing her eyes to take in the breeze.

"Mind you don't fall off!" Teiko joked. The other laughed, including Ash.

"Hey, look! A Rathalos!" Teiko exclaimed, pointing ahead as a huge, red Flying Wyvern emerged from the wispy clouds screeching pridefulyl as it flew past the airship, scattering the Qurupeco flock with it's intimidating aproach. Dante, Alexis, Teiko and Ash all watched with wonder at the King of the Skies until it swooped down below the clouds and out of sight.

Their awestruck thoughts were swiftly interrupted by the heavy stomping of Irvine's Rukodiora leggings on the wooden deck.

"We are approaching the military bastion. Be ready," he said, then turned on his heel and retreated into the depths of the ship.

"I guess we can just relax up here then. Glad we kept all our stuff on us. By the way, where are Eiji, Ichiro, Aaron and the girls?" Ash questioned.

"Uh...I guess they must be below deck. 'Cause they sure ain't up here," Teiko said.

"Hey, Yumi," Dante said, acknowledging the Jhen-armoured hunter as she stolled above deck to meet with him and the others.

"Are all you guys prepared?" Yumi asked seriously. "Make sure you are; 'blos knows what we'll face down there," she warned, gripping the handle of her switch axe tightly. Shortly after Yumi's wise words, Eiji, Ichiro, April, Ruby and Aaron can scurrying onto the deck to stand with them.

"We're nearly there! We're about to descend! You'll hear the warning drum in a second," Aaron said excitedly.

And, as he'd said, the deep, strong and climactic sound of a large drum reverberated from below deck, and, sure enough, the airship descended, the clouds grew thinner, and as they cloud layer disappeared completely, a large island off the coast of Yii, Kojo, was a small island, covered from north to south in industrial structure. The group turned away from the starboard rail as Miyuki stutted past them.

"Welcome to Yii-Do," Miyuki huffed dismissively, "Your new home for quite some time, assuming you pass par."

The hunters turned back to gaze upon Yii-Do, conjuring up mental images of what fearsome creatures they might have to face.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

After the airship had landed, Dante, Alexis, Aaron and the others had been led through many areas of Yii-Do. They had to walk quickly, so there had been very little time to sightsee, but the bits that had been seen were almost foreign to them: Tarin wasn't as rich as other regions like Kojo or Chi'Huen, and so the advanced technology afforded to Guild outposts like this was slightly out of their reach. They weren't bothered by this though: they didn't have it simply because the Guild has no major military activity there, and Kojo (as well as other places) did.. This wasn't the kind of equipment you could just buy, it was expensive and resource-consuming to make, and as such it was only used on important places like Military Bastions in order to help them become self-sustaining and not rely on outsources from the capital all the time.

They were led down a long, straight stone hallway, lit by torches all the way along, beams of white light seeping in through the gaps in the barred window of the large, wide door that now stood before them.

"Be very careful when you venture into the arena, hunters. It is sperated from the mainland, and these drawbridges are the only way to...and from the arena. You can't escape from your fight once you cross, whatever monster it may be. Is that understood?" Irvine warned them carefully.

"Right," Dante answered for his friends.

"Very well," Irvine said. He grabbed a level to his right and slowly pulled tit down. Dante and friends watched as the dorr before them slowly fell away from the top, forming a bridge to a large, circular arena that awaited ahead, large chains clinking loudly as it did so.

Dante, Alexis, Aaron, Ruby, April, Eiji, Ichiro, Yumi, Teiko and Ash all strode forward, acorss the draw bridge and into the arena; Dante, Ash and Alexis with their swords and shields, Ruby and Aaron with their greatswords, Eiji and Ichiro with their dual swords, Teiko with his longsword and Yumi with her switch axe. Almost as soon as their feet stepped off of the wood and onto the dusty, desert-like ground, the drawbridge-and, therefore, their only means of escape- was pulled back the way it had come, the heavy chains on each side clinking as the wooden slab was peeled back from its position between the main building and the watery drop below and back to its upright position, blocking the passage way the hunters had just come from.

Even the surroundings of the arena were lushious to the eye. the rest of the strcture within which the arean was situated circled it in an amphitheatre-ish way, the clay-coloured stonework cut to look like rows of seats that went all the way around, although they had clearly not been used in some time, as clumps of moss, brush, dandelions and other greenery were dotted all over the brick, giving it a look of an old desert temple. Gentle streams of water seeped out from between the brittle bars (some of which had been eroded away partially) of rusty, derelict drainage pipes; not nearly enough to make the level of water  that awaited far below the gorge-like drop that awaited over the edge rise to any credible degree, but enough to make it look somewhat sceinic. The general gargantuan size of the whole area took the hunters' breath away as well.

"This...is the Yii-Do Training Arena," Irvine's voice echoed from over a relay of large horns that had been placed at key points around the amphitheatre-esque surroundings in order to amplify the sound. The group figured that he must have the original horn somewhere within the main building. "Here, you will be put to the test against a plethora of captured monsters from our reserves. If you can pass this test, you will be allowed to move on to the second test."

There was a short pause, and then another drawbridge was lowered to the northeast of where they had entered, and two scorpinlike monsters scuttled across it an into the arena, hissing and rattling their tails like snakes as they did so. One had brown skin and coated in purple crystals while the other had navy blue skin an icy white crystals. Both had four round, beady red eyes. They slowly moved in around the ten hunters, snapping thier pincers and waving their tails in anticipation, circling the hunters antagonistically.

"These two Carapaceons are known an Akura Vashimu and Akura Jebia. Trained for use in the arean, they will be your first challenge. When the drawbridge closes, you may begin," Irvine's voice sounded from the mic system again.

A few seconds later, the drawbridge closed and the first test of a hunter's mettle began.

The First Test: Vashimu And Jebia, The Crystal Carapaceons!
Before the nucleated group of hunters even had time to draw their weapons, the Akura Vashimu screeched and leaped toward Ruby, who let out a cry of shock and swung her Crimsonwall toward it at the last moment. The sharp, heaby bladecut into its left mandible, cleaving it straight off and disorientating the Carapaceon, diverting it from its warpath and sending it crashing into a nearby moss-covered rock with a pained screech. However, some crystals from its tail broke off like shrapnel and flew toward Ash. A few small splinters dug into her flesh and she winced, but the rest collided with the flat of Ruby's greatsword, shattering them on contact and preventing them from reaching its owner.

Meanwhile, the Akura Jebia hissed and pouned on Alexis, who was sent tumbling acorss the floor in a heap. The creature simultaneously fired a high-pressure water beam from its crystal-tipped tail, which blasted into Teiko, knocking him away. As Ash brought her longsword to bear, the Jebia whipped her away with its tail, then hissed triumphantly. As it was doing so, it let its guard down to Yumi's attack, her Great Demonbind G slicing into the sub of it's leg. It hissed with irritation and swept its body across the floor an attempt to roate around in the oppostie direction and swipe Yumi with its pincer, but to no avail; Yumi brought her switch axe to bear, but in sword mode now, the Jhen-crafted blade slicing into the crystals that coated the Jebia's claw. The monster shrieked shirlly and drew it's claw back protectively before batting Yumi away with its tail.

Ichiro and Eiji were slashing away at the stunned Akura Vashimu with their dual swords, the demonized slashes tearing into the carapace of the creature at its legs flailed wildly, its body stuck at an awkward angle against the rock its face had rendezvoused with. Finally, it heaved itself onto an upright position and swiped its claws across one another, slapping the Akura Twins away. It hissed and screeched with humiliation and rage, barely any crystals left on its pincers. Dante quickly ran over to Alexis and helped her up.

"C'mon, you've gotta stay with it! Help me with the Vashimu!" he said. Alexis nodded and the pair ran over to the brown Carapaceon, where Eiji and Ichiro had already recovered and were slashing away at it while it jabbed its claws at them inaccurately, too irate at having allowed itself to take so much damage (as well as loose its mandible right off the bat) to do anything else.

On the other side of the arena, April and Ruby had rushed over to assualt the Akura Jebia, covering Yumi's recovery. She shook off the last of the crystals that had coated her upon being struck with its tail, drinking a Mega Potion to recover her vitality and munching a couple of quick Rations ot recover some of her completely drained stamina, before switching her Great Demonbind G back into axe mode and jumping back into the fray with her friends, slashing at the Jebia's back left leg while Ruby sliced into it's already damaged claw with a full-power attack from her greatsword and April was busy pounding the creature's head with her Gurenzeburu hammer. The Jebia hissed even more aggressively then before, and slammed it tail down on the ground repeatedly, attempting to flatten Yumi in its ire. Yumi switcher her axe into sword mode once again and pointed the tip up as the Akura Jebia's thick tail came smashing down upon her. The sword pierced the shell, blood and flakes of crystal pouring out of the mammoth gash. The Carapaceon shrieked louder than it had done since it had entered the arena, and swivelled around and stabbed its left pincer into the ground, pinning Yumi to the floor between its two thick, crabbish joints and kicking Ruby and April to the floor at the same time.

With its back to Ruby and April, the two girls could now see the full extent of the damage Yumi's last-dicth attack had done to the Jebia. Its tail hung at an angle, dragging along the floor, still attacked to the main body, but only just. One or two more strong thumps and it'd be off.

The Akura Jebia hissed lowly with antagonistic pride, sensing its advantage over Yumi. It slowly began to squeeze the two joints of it's pincer together, wishing to watch the helpless hunter squirm as its claw crushed her bone by bone. It then hissed and rattled its mandibles to augment the sound that came out, giving the impression that the crystal-coated Carapaceon was laughing at its quarry. It listened intently as Yumi grunted and cursed, desperately trying to wriggle free from the Jebia's rock-hard vicegrip.

"Quick! Get its attention before it crushes her!" Ruby hissed to April, who fumbled in her puch for a stone and throwing it as hard she she could. The rock landed clean on it's head as it was squeezing the life out of their friend. The Jebia hissed and spun around at an angle, its four crimson eyes boring into Ruby and April. It turned around and lifted its claw out of the ground a few centimetres, then slammed it down onto Yumi's body. She cried out in pain, feeling immediately brusied. As the Jebia slowly slunk away from her, she rolled over, winded. The Jebia screeched a battle cry before scuttling toward Ruby and April, claws at the ready, beady eyes gleaming with spite.

As it screeched and lunged at Ruby with it's left pincer, she brough the flat of her greatsword up defensively, deflecting the hit. In this time, April had prepared a hefty swing, which she now loosed upon the monster, the gargantuan hammer striking the Jebia below the chin and causing it to cry out it pain and slump to the floor, stunned, its legs feebly scrabbling on the floor. Ruby ran around behind the creature and began to charge her Crimsonwall above its almost severed tail, while April continued to savagely pound the beast's head with her Gurenzeburu hammer. Out of the blue, the Akura Jebia recovered, drooling blood from its shattered jowls, and thwacked Ruby away with its pincers, scrambling to prise itself off of the ground. In its haste, however, it had forgotten Ruby, whose greatsword subsequently slammed down onto the Carapaceon's damaged tail, severing the crystal-tipped natural weapon in one fell swoop. The Jebia shrieked and hissed with raw pain and anger, before swishing the half of its scorpion-like tail that remained to fire crystals over a broad range behind it, the crystal projectiles immeadiately slamming into Ruby, blowing her away. As she hit the ground, she tumbled over and over, latching onto the edge of the arena's turf with both hands, looking down with fear, the wind slicing crisply as her greatsword tumbled down to the water far below.

Then, every hair on her body stood up with fear as a low, gurgled hiss seeped into her ears. She looked back up, past her hands, to see the Akura Jebia, its head twitching erratically as if to say well, well, well, what do we have here?, Ruby's reflection shining in its four round, beady vermillion eyes, its outer and inner mandibles twitching impatiently, more blood and saliva dripping from them. Something about it looked rabid, as if it were a hungry dog hellbent on vengeance. As it raised its claws triumphantly in preparation to force Ruby to fall to her doom, a girlish battle cry echoed from behind the Jebia, and it then shrieked hoarsely, its spine arching in pain. Then, a voice as feminine as the cry that had just sounded called out to Ruby, although its owner was obscured by the Jebia's hulking form.

"Close your eyes!"

Ruby recognised the girl immediately. ''Ash! ''she thought with relief. Hope for survival renewed, she screwed her eyes shut as a dull, metallic sound echoed above her. A Flash Bomb. The Jebia hissed once more, angry at being blinded by the projectile.

As Ash sliced at the Akura Jebia's back leg, she signalled to April to make her move. April sprinted across the Jebia's spine, then leapt into the air, hammer over her shoudler. As the Jebia shook its head, regaining its sight, it screeched, stunned for the second time by April's crushing blow to the head. April then leapt off and hauled Ruby back to safety, although it took a mighty effort on her part due to Ruby's heavy Uragaan armour.

"Thanks," Ruby said.

"I got your back, girlfriend," April said with a wink and a pinch of sass. They then joined Ash in setting up as many Large and Small Barrel Bomb+'s as they could, then run and dived away in preparation for the fuses on the Small Barrel Bomb+s to run out.

As the Jebia returned consciousness, it had moments to gaze around at the sight of the bombs that had been placed around it. It hissed and seethed with silent rage at having been defeated, before its entire form was consumed in flames, the silent, charred carcass blown off of the edge of the arena by the monumental force of the exlposion and tumbling into the watery moat below.

Ruby, April and Ash knew it was over when they heard the loud hiss of a heated object hitting the water. They slowly uncurled their bodies from their respective protective positions and unsheated their weapons; Ash her longsword and April her hammer-Ruby had lost her greatsword to the watery depths.

Each of them gazed yonder to where Teiko, Dante, Alexis, Aaron, Eiji and Ichiro were still slashing away at the Akura Vashimu. The creature was putting up a brave and aggressive fight, but it wa clear that it was being bullied into submission by the reletnless attacks from six different hutners.

"Guys...Guys...Help me..." a voice rasped from closeby. Ruby, APrila nd Ash looked just ahead to their right to see Yumi, clutching her stomach as she edged along the dusty, stony floor toward her friends, looking somewhat reminiscent of a wounded catterpillar. The three girls quickly scurried over to help Yumi to her feet. Ruby and April wrapping one of her arms around their shoulders to help her sustain her own weight.

"You guys stay back. I'll go and help the others finish off the Vashimu," Ash said, her voice both casual and serious, but an inherent air of intelligence in her words. Ruby and April nodded soberly and watched Ash turn on her heel and spint off to help their friends, Gogomoa longsword in hand.

Yumi winced with pain as Ruby and April set her down against a nearby rock, then leaned against it with her, watching the others tackle the brown-skinned Akura Vashimu. Ruby took some a flask from her puch and offered it to Yumi. Yumi took it, then shook the flask from side to side gently, as if she didn't know what to do with it. She wrinkled her nose with hesitation and curiosity.

"What's in it?" she asked, somewhat dreading the answer.

"It's a weak Lifepower solution. Rather bitter, I've gotta warn you," Ruby replied gently, but bluntly. She was the resident medic of the friends.

"Ugh, I remember how horrible this stuff is. My mother used to give it to me when I got sick. Do I have to drink it?" Yumi groaned.

"If you wanna feel any better, yes. But not all of it! I have to save some for other patients; Lifepower's expensive, y'know. I can... put a lttle bit of honey if you want to sugar-coat the pill," Ruby offered.

"No, no. I'll just down it as it is. I'm a big girl, I can handle some bitter medicine," Yumi declined, taking a couple of gulps from the flask then handing it back to Ruby, who packed it away carefully.

"God, that stuff really is vile," Yumi said, taking a Ration from her item pack to wash out the taste with some meat. That didn't make the aftertaste much vaguer but it was all she could do not to throw up.

Meanwhile, Dante and Alexis were slashing away at the Akura Vashimu's legs. The creature had been downed, but it wasn't out yet. Dante's Red Divine Flame slashed across the area where its mandible would have been, reigniting both the stinging pain of the wound and the burning rage of loss inside the Vashimu. The creature screeched and fired its swept a large swathe of the area with its water beam from its tail, brushing Alexis and Dante away and knocking Eiji into a rock, knocking him unconscious. As Ichiro prepared to avenge his brother-in-arms' wound, the Vashimu quickly dismissed him with a strong thump from its right pincer. Meanwhile, Teiko was still slashing away at the underbelly of the Carapaceon with his Gogomoa sword and shield. The Vashimu reached under its body and plucked Teiko out with its pincer. It then chucked him into the air and opened its mandibles wide, it mouth gaping open, eagerly awaiting the juicy morsel that was soon to drop into its hungry jaws. The others could do nothing but watch with horror.

However, at the last moment, the drawbridge that led back the way the hunters had come in suddenly dropped down, and Irvine came sprinting in, his Rukodiora rapier sheathed on his hip, though he now had a Rukodiora greatsword upon his back too. He threw a Flash Bomb as soon as he could. The flash blinded the Vashimu, forcing it to reel away from the path of Teiko's fated fall. Teiko came back down the solid earth with a crash. He hurt like hell, but nothing was broken, and he definitely hadn't been eaten.

Irvine quickly lobbed a pair of Tranq Bombs at the Vashimu, and it hissed woozily, before slowly slumping into a sprawled form on the floor, small drops of drool dripping from its flaccid mandibles on onto the dry clay floor.

"Hunters, your test is over. You have performed vailiantly here. You have done well enough to move on to the second and penultimate test. Now, if you will please follow me; I will show you to your quarters. Your next opponent will be even tougher than this. I assure you, you will need your rest," Irvine annouced formally. As he turned on his heel to vacate the arena, Dante, Alexis, Aaron, Teiko, Ash, Yumi, Ruby, April, Eiji and Ichiro all strolled out behind him, heads held high, proud and satisfied with their impressive victory.

"The Hunters of Kairu- Conquerors of the Crystal Carapaceons!" Aaron whooped triumphantly, gazing back upon the comatose Akura Vashimu and the severed tail of the Akura Jebia (all that remained) one last time before accompanying his friends away from the Yii-Do arena.

The Second Test: Further Training In The Yii-Do Highlands
About an hour ago, Irvine had led each of them through another portion of the industrial structure to their quarters. They still hadn't had time to get a good look at the technology installed here, and they had begun to think that they probably never would. Their rooms were down a long passge way to the left of a crossroads inside a castle-like structure with only one floor, the north path leading to a forge and the right path leading to the dojo, full of dummy Tenkai soldiers and the like. All three were lined with torches, otherwise sight would be impossible.

Their rooms were all in order from left to right; Dante and Alexis at the very end of the hall, then Aaron, then April, then Ruby, then Yumi, Teiko and Ash, Eiji and Ichiro. When Irvine had said that they could distribute the rooms among themselves, Dante and Alexis had almost instantly called dibs on the double. There were other doubles, which Teiko and Ash and Eiji and Ichiro took, but the couple had seized this room because it was the only bedroom with a bed built for two people (the other doubles were two seperate beds). Hearty meals had been placed in each of their rooms to allow them to regain strength lost in the Akura battle before retiring.

"Cozy," Alexis purred tiredly as she let Dante wrap his arms around her.

"Yeah, it is," Dante agreed with a slight chuckle directed toward how trivial the conversation was. Dante's blue eyes met with Alexis' emerald ones, and they kissed.

"Well...as much as I could stare at you all night...we should sleep. Something tells me we're gonna need it tomorrow. If the highlands here are anything like the ones we know...then I think we have a fairly solid idea of what to expect."

"Yeah."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

A knock on the door was the prelude to April's abrupt entering of Aaron's room, which almost made him jump.

"Aaron, I brought you som-!" she stopped with a short gasp. The hunter was drssed in only his underwear. April blushed at both the sight and the fact that she had been so hasty as to not wait for him to let her in.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't knwo you were-! That was really rude of me..." she groaned, abashed. As Aaron pulled some night clothes on, he shook his head dissmissievly and started toward April.

"No, it's fine. I don't mind, honestly," he said with a smile. He ran his fingers through his straight black hair, his plain black eyes returning April's gaze with warmness, and somewhat...fondness. "Besides, now you know to wait a bit before you barge in like that. Right?"

"Right," April said, nodding. She stared and smiled at him for a few moments. She had a bit of a soft spot for him, although she had never admitted it. His figure, his hair, his warm eyes and gentle voice. He wasn't really looking for a girlfriend, as far as she knew, but if he was...she wouldn't mind giving it a shot.

"Um, so...you were saying before..." Aaron said hesitatnly, coaxing her into remembering what she'd barged in to tell him in the first place.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry!" she said, the pair of them laughing awkwardly under their breath. "I just came to say that...well...I know it's your birthday the dat after tomorrow, and..." she stopped, blushing again.

"What is it? There's no need to be shy," he said reassuringly, still smiling.

"Well, uh...I...I got you a gift. It's only small, but...please take it..." she giggled bashfully, handing a delicately crafted knife. The main blade was jet black, but the silver embroidery along the edges were silver. The handle was simple iron wrapped in some bandage, which was greyed from the dirt it had collected in its lifetime. "It's just a combat knife. Cheaply made, but it's pretty strong, sharp and definitely durable.  Aaron's face seem to light up just a little bit more as he ran his finger gently along the flat of the blade.

"Wow, that's really neat that you remembered my birthday. I'm sure others have too, but...we live in a pretty poor town in a pretty poor  region. This must've really choked your wallet. Thanks alot," he said with genuine sincerity. He leaned in and kissed April on the cheek. She almost yelped, but she managed to hold it in, blushing an even brighter shade of vermillion and moving a few stray strands of her long, straight light brown hair out of her eyes.

"Goodnight, April," he said, smiling as he turned away, bound for the bed in the left corner of the room.

"Night," she replied meekly, barely able to speak, still recovering from the unexpectred surprise as she shut the door quietly behind her.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Morning crept in through the gaps in the undrawn curtains next to Dante's and Alexis' bed. Dante's blue eyes snapped open. That was a strange thing about him; he would never rub his eyes or let them flutter open gently, they would simply snap open, as if his subconscious knew the exact hour, minute and second to awaken. A pleasant surprise was that, when his vision focused, Alexis' leafy green eyes were staring into his, waiting for him to wake, a smile sketched across her face.

"Hey, you," she giggled.

"Hey," he muttered back with a smile. As they leaned in to kiss, Alexis drew back sharply, sitting upright, her brow creased with alarm.

"What's wrong?" Dante asked quickly, alarmed. Alexis had no time to answer, she quickly ran to the wooden pale in the far corner of the room, ususally used for trash and the like, clasped its rim with both hands a violenty vomited into it, horrible choking and retching noises echoing mildly around the inside of the pale for a few seconds. Dante quickly ran over and put his hands on her shoulder as she lifted her head up briefly, hyperventialting with distress. Before Dante could utter some words on reassurance and consolidation, Alexis' head dipped straight back into the bucket for another round of unpleasant yaking.

"It can't be...this can't be right...it can't..." she huffed to herself.

"What can't be? What are you talking about?" Dante asked hollowly, although he was painfully adamant about what the answer was.

"Dante...I...I think I'm pregnant."

The sentence was exactly what Dante had feared; and it was like a bullet to the head.

"No...What're we gonna do?" he exclaimed. Alexis looked at him with empty eyes; she had as much of an idea as he did. Suddenly, somebody rapped on the door.

"Guys, are you awake? C'mon, it's time to get up! We've got time for a quick breakfast, then we have to get going!" Teiko's voice boomed, slightly muffled from behind the wodden door. Dante looked about the place hurriedly, trying to think of a way to open the door without it looking suspiscious. His head then whipped back to Alexis.

"Um, get back in bed, cough alot; you feel like shit and can't go anywhere," he hissed quietly. "Quick! Go!"

Alexis quickly picked herself up off the floor and clambered back into the bed, taking what was now well and truly the room's designated 'sick bucket' with her just in case. When she was comfortable, Dante rushed to the door and opened it.

"Hey. You get all that?" Teiko asked casually. Dante nodded affirmatively. Following the conditions of the haphazardly cobbled together lie, Alexis coughed heavily a few times, then pretended to be sick into the bucket again.

"Hey, is she okay?" Teiko asked, one eyebrow raised with concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, this time to Alexis herself.

"She's caught something. She's been vomiting on-and-off for the last...twenty minutes or so. She really won't be able to go anywhere," Dante answered on Alexis' behalf, while she coughed and spluttered a little more. Teiko took a brief moment to analyze the situation at hand.

"Well, we can't postpone the traning, of course. She'll have to miss it," Teiko sighed frankly, apologetically.

"Maybe I should stay here and look after her..." Dante groaned unsurely.

"No, Dante, it's fine, you go. I'll be fine-!" she said, almost choking on the last word as she threw up into the sick bucket again, this time for real.

"She's right, Dante; you should come. We can get Ruby to look after her; she is our group's medic after all. Alexis'd be alot better off with Ruby tending to her than you," Teiko mused, almost didactically. Dante hesitated for a moment, then nodded, walking of with Teiko.

"C'mon, the others are in the barracks having breakfast."

As Teiko rushed down the hall, eager to chow down on what he hoped would be a nice chunk of gourmet steak, Dante took one last worried look at his apprently pregnant girlfriend, before following his friend away.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Dante sat quietly at the long, almost pew-like table, one of the many that filled the eating area of the barracks. He felt really guilty about lying to his friends, but he was sure it was for the best. After all, if word spread thta Alexis was pregnant, it would hardly gain much approval. Sex before marriage was frowned upon in Tarin; the region's populace felt that it promoted promiscuity and unfaithfulness, and so those who did concieve prior to marriage were generally shunned by the public, their friends; even one's own family would cast them out into the streets without so much as batting an eyelid.

Dante wouldn't let that happen to Alexis. Not to their child either.

In fact, he didn't really want a child, not right now. There was a special consumable liquid that had been recently discovered that could prevent a baby from being born and get rid of the foetus, the process having come to be known as 'abortion'. They could nip the foetus in the bud, no questions asked. But could he really condone taking a life that had yet to be even born? And even if entirely agreed with himslef on that, what would Alexis think? He was as frightened as she was, and neither had any idea what to do. Not yet, at least.

His worrisome train of thought was derailed when a voice shot from across the table.

"You're really quiet, Dante; is something wrong?" Eiji asked, sitting one to the left of Ruby, who sat directly across from him, scooping up as much ramen as was possible. He looked down and noticed that he wasn't eating either, just twiddling the ramen strands round and round on the chopsticks. From the silver plate in the middle of the table, upon which various sauces and dressings were placed for their application, he saw his reflection. He looked depressed. His eyes were alost dead and he had dark circles under them. The same way one doesn't notice pain until they acknowledge the wound, gazing upon his tired appearance suddenly made the exhaustion written on his face take hold.

"Dante?"

"I'm fine, it's nothing," he said, brushing his friend off. "I was just deep in thought."

"Alright then. Good to get all that heavy thinking out of the way now so you don't zone out when we face the next monster," he said, his sympathetic tone laced with so much sarcasm that his other friends chuckled at the remark. This seemed to snap Dante out of his gloomy thoughts, and he slowly began to eat.

April sat at the very end of the long table, where their table ended and another began on the other side of the divide through which pedestrians could travel. She, like Dante, ate slowly. She didn't have enough concentration to be able to eat at a normal pace; she was too busy wrestlig with her brain for control over her eyes, which drifted to Aaron like magnets. No matter how many skirmishes she won, where she sould look at something or someone else, she always found herself gazing into his eyes. Those glistening blue eyes... She could've sworn that no sea, ocean or sapphire could ever compare to the depth and warmth within them. And a large part of her wanted that depth and warmth to be only for her.

And then, suddenly, it happened.

As he looked back from the laughter, chuckling to himself as he prepared to down another mouthful of ramen (evidently the only food available as it was all that was being eaten by those around their table), his eyes snapped up and to the right (from her view) and bored straight into April's. She almost gasped and dropped her chopsticks into her bowl, but that would be, in her words, "totally not cool", so she forced her startled brain to "keep it cool". As their staring continued, the rest of the world seemed to dissolve around them.

Until it was all ruined as April's mouth fall slightly agape, allowing the half-consumed ramen within to tumble out. As the greasy strings slipped off of her lips, she fell back to earth, quickly shoving her mouth full of more ramen, blushing to herself. She watched Aaron grin to himself briefly, before he refocused his attention on his meal.

"What do you think we'll be facing today?" Ash asked, excited.

"I'll bet gold to gunlances it's Pariapuria," Ichiro said wisely.

"No, no, no! Gurenzeburu, for sure!" Eiji disagreed. The two then squablled for a few moments.

"Alright, fine! Let's bet on it!" Eiji challenged. "Fifty Zeni."

"You're on!" Ichiro said confidently.

"Pfft, you're both wrong; I bet it's a Doragyurosu," April cut in.

While the three of them squabbled, Ruby turned to Yumi, who sat next to her, eating quietly.

"How are you holding up?" she asked. She had tended to her cynical friend's injuries the night before, giving her more life powder and wrapping bandage around her midriff where the Akura Jebia had slammed her with its claw.

"I'm fine; chest hurts, but it's bearable. Thanks," she said, smiling thinly at her friend, eating all the while.

"Alirght then, you should be fine now. I shouldn't need to give you any more medication."

"Well good, because if you think I'm chugging any more of that vile shit you've got another thing coming," Yumi said bluntly. After a pause, the pair of them laughed with each other.

Almost as if the timing was deliberate, Miyuki strolled in through a pair of wooden doors to the north west of the small eating area. It wasn't a quiet entrance either, thanks to her heavy Barioth X armour. It was as she drew close that Dante noticed the small arms dotted aroudn her waist. She carried several small kunais, the blades of which were all made of the black, triagular claws of a Barioth. She also carried a combat knife with a blade that was literally a Barioth's orange saber tooth. Silence descended as she stood before them.

"We're leaving for the Highland soon. Be prepared; tardiness is unacceptable," she barked tonelessly, before turning on her heel and leaving the way she had entered.

A short silence followed before the friends started for their rooms to prepare for whatever lay ahead.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The hunters set out from the barracks at a mild walking pace, fast enough to get to where they needed to go (the Yii-Do Highlands wasn't terribly far away; in fact it was almost on the bastion's doorstep) but slow enough to finally be able to marvel at the industrial forest that was Yii-Do.

Dante, Aaron, Yumi and everybody else (except for Miyuki and Irvine, of course, who had probably seen this thing a thousand times before at many other bastions and keeps, if not only this one) gazed around in awe at the wood and steel, the army of contraptions that each had a vital role to play in the autonomy of the base. There were several watermills, lined up horizontaly like dominoes, which in turn powered the huge metallurgy structures up ahead to the immediate northeast.

Further northeast of there, the teenagers witnessed the smoke billowing from towers as tall as any king of old's, made of pure, obsidian Noctalite, a new ore that had recently been unearthed in the mines of the Arken region. There were three of them, far enough to be able to witness them without having to crane one's neck to the sky but still clsoe enough to cast it's imposing shadow over the party. They were broad at the base, but they grew more pinched the further up they were built. There were short, pike-like spikes that jutted out at regular intervals, continuing all the way up, appearing almost like spines. At the peaks of the towers, there were six tall, flat, blade like spikes that curved inwardly. It was from there that the black smoke billowed through a pallet of square, blackened iron mesh (it couldn't possibly be seen from there but the teens had stood atop the peak of such a tower before and knew it well), through which could be seen the fires of industry and the sparks that flew from hammered metal, on every level from the very top to the very bottom. The smoke that wafter from the tower at this time was just the leftover from the periodic expulsion of fumes, whenere the six bladed pillars pulled backward and came to rest against the towers walls, and smoke and ash and emberes were exumed. Theese towers were all forges, and as such they had been aptly (although unimaginatively) dubbed Forge Towers.

These towers had always unnerved Dante somewhat, as their blackness, and cruel, barbed appearance seemed out of place amidst the browns of wood and the grays of stone, but then again, it was made of a brand new material; of course it was going to look misplaced.

They turned their gaze opposite to the west, where there were windmills and bakeries for preparing bread, next to which were a series of abbatoires and butcher stores where meat and rations would be prepared, often filled with Aptonoth and Kelbi meat, but sometimes, according to what they'd learned about military outposts, they would get occasional shipments of Rhenoplos meat, as well as pork to break the monotomy, such imports being the only occasions where autonomy was not the case.

As the hunters observed all this, it was clear that one side was about food production and the other about armour and weapons, as well as mining (how else would they have come across the Noctalite?). The city was a giant factory that fueled-they estimated-around three thousand men. It was certainly impressive, and was a perfect example of the Guild's might.

After what felt like a day staring at the structures of the place, the Dante and co. were roused from their awe by the deft, surly feminine voice of Miyuki.

"Come; your next trial awaits."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The Yii-Do Highlands didn't look that far different from anyother highland in the land. Rocks and cliffs, at the end of the day were only rocks and cliffs after all.

Dante and friends all stood peering down over the edge of a precipitous cliff face, not white like cliffs of chalk, but simply  rocky and mountainous, with a huge gorge in the middle where the mountain had split apart from it's other half long ago, becoming a simple-but still just as dangerous-highland. It was U-shaped: Dante and the others stood on a large patch of even ground, but further ahead there was a gap in the rocks that lead through the rocky pass to the other side of the highland, in the middle of which was a small waterfall, which emptied into a small pool below, ahead of which was a thick jungle (where the air was no doubt thick and humind compared to the pleasant, brezzy climate up on the rocks), around which lay brush and muddy sand, where Dante and co. could see a small pack of Aptonoth, no more than four or five, lapping up some water. Suddenly, they were pushed aside when a Barroth came galumphing up to them, barging them out of the way, snorting and grunting and it slammed it's brutish body into the wet mud and rolled around like a pig. Three of the Aptonoths left quickly, but looked back with contempt, while the other two simply moved to the far left side, which was more beneficial to them than the middle as there was a conveniently placed patch of brush there to munch on as they drank deeply from the pool.

Silence descended as the Barroth righted itself and left. Then, out of the water rose the head and neck of a Plesitoh, which hissed triumpahntly before clamping it's jaws down like a vice on on of the Aptonoth's necks. The herbivore yelped and roared hoarsely, it's stumpy legs scrambling meekly against the soggy sand before Plesitoh dragged its head and its quarry back into the depths with nought but a ripple of water. The other Aptonoth quickly fled. The lake was far too small for the Plesioth to be dwelling in...it most likely lived in a larger lake, but there was a hole- a former cave, before it was flooded- that water had broken in thorugh from behind the rock wall, and that was big enough for a Plesioth to slide it's body through and back out again.

Such a sudden death was what awaited the hutners, if they dropped thier guard. Witnessing the spectacle had served as a cutting reminder of just how stark reality was.

"Attention all," Irvine said, not particularly forcefully, but the subtleness of his voice was a suitable replacement for Miyuki's disciplined, choppy commands. Miyuki stood beside him even now. Dante couldn't see either of thier faces, but sensed that Irvine had a sharp, beady gaze, but not as harsh as Miyuki's, who he imagined to be the firm sneering glance a teacher mgiht give a pupil when they catch them talking in their lesson.

When Irvine was sure that they were all paying attention, he continued.

"This is the highland of the island of Yii-Do. It might look benign from here, but I assure you it is no such thing. As you may have seen, an assortment of monsters stalk these lands, preying on smaller creatures: Plesioth. Barroth. Daimyo Hermitaur. All of these will chew you up and spit you out if you-"

He stopped seamlessly, without so much as uttering the next word, his hawken eyes transfixed on Eiji and Ichiro whispering away in the middle of the nucleated group of friends. Dante probably figured that they were arguing over thier earlier bet.

"Don't excercise caution," Irvine said, enuciating each word, his voice a little louder and sterner so as to get the Akura Twins' attention. The pair of them fell silent immediately under the dour gaze of Irvine's Rukodiora helm. Irvine once again continued without fault. "Now, onto business. Your next opponent is a Flying Wyvern. SOme of you may be familiar with it, some of you may not. But I promise you that after today, you will all know this creature better than you know your own mothers." Irvine momentarily regretted such a conditional comparison. Most of them, if not all of them (which was in fact the case) probably didn't even have mothers (or fathers). At least, not anymore. Nevertheless, it mattered very little in the grand scheme of things. "Good luck," he added with finality.

Irvine and Miyuki drew back swiftly, turning thier backs on Dante and his comrades, dissapearing back behind the rock face from whcih they had reached this rocky plateau. It was not long before the teenage warriors understood exactly why.

A loud screech echoed from above. Dante, Aaron and the others all drew thier weapons and looked up inf ront of them to see the front half of a cruel, nasty-looking Gurenzeburu crawling over the rocky, jagged wall that seperated their large natural arena from the way back to the bastion, the creature using it's wings to crawl across the moss and weed-covered stone, before leaping from above to slam to the ground in front of them. The Gurenzeburu's left eye was ruined, nothing but crude scratchings and dried bloodstains remaining. It's body was covered in the scars of old lacerations, and there was holes in the webbing of its wings, much like the dragons of old. In one place it was even missing some scales, red raw flesh exposed to the crisp highland air. It had a huge gash on the left side of its face, crossing over both of it's jaws, history of the Flying Wyvern attempting to eat the wrong hunter. It one remaining eye sneered at them. The contempt and malice emanating from the creature was almost palpable. It had clearly been crossed far too many times.

"Impossible," April gasped quietly to herself. She knew for a fact that this was no imprisoned monster, consigned to the labours of the Yii-Do arena for the rest of its days. This particular Gurenzeburu was wild, and dangerous, the threat doubled- maybe evn tripled- by its apparent abundance of experience. If the scars, cuts and wounds that covered it's body were anything to go by, it had clearly survived many a hunt and claimed many a hunter.

"What is it?" Aaron asked, overhearing the musing of the girl whos tood adjacent to him.

"Oh, nothing," she said, but Aaron could tell by her ever so slightly agape mouth and her briefly dead eyes that she was lying. There was no time; he would ask her later.

Ash, looking straight at it as it scanned them all for weaknesses, could tell without a shadow of a doubt that this fight was going to be far from easy.

Without warning, the Barbarian Wyvern leapt forward and plunged it's dealy hord into the earthw ith all it's might. Everybody managed to egt ouut of the way in time, and Teiko even managed to slice the horn with his sword inadvertently as he ran out of the way, although, when a creature has suffered laceration after laceration on countless boxed in trainign sessions, a small nip from a stray blade would barely faze it. It narrowed it's eye with smug, sly satisfaction as it saw Yumi, April, Eiji and Ash sprint around it to the right. A bunch of greenhorns, it thought with delight. They have no idea what's in store for them.

As the four of them ran, it rotated it's head, horn still stuck tight in the ground, to the right, intent of showing, April, Yumi, Eiji and Ash the price of inexperience. However, the monster was about to realise that they weren't as foolish as they seemed.

"Whoa!" Yumi cried out, bringing her switch axe to bear and swinging it like a bat at the oncoming attack. The Great Demonbind G's blade cut a fairly sizeable gash into the Gurenzeburu's head, casuing it to shriek and recoil. However, it did this not out of raw pain, but to ride Yumi's blow. By the time Yumi realised what she'd opened herself up to, it was too late. She was shoved off her feet and thrown high into the air, along with pieces of uprooted earth and weeds, by the action of the creature's recoil, the horn acting like a shovel. The Barbarian Wyvern sneered and hissed as it thwacked Yumi away with a forceful whip of its tail, sending the girl flying into the rock wall and collapsing with a pained grunt, her switch axe barely within her reach, though he hadn't the strength to grasp it, or even to get up. The incredible strength of the blow, combined with the force of hitting th wall and falling to the ground was more than enough to make anybody's strength leave them, but in Yumi's case, her chest injury from where the Akura Jebia had slmmed it's pincer into her abdomen had begun to throb and ache again, and gritting her tteth and screwing her eyes shut was all she could so not to cry. Every time she tried to open her eyes, her head throbbed like she's been kicked by a horse and her vision was blurry and shaky, as if she were looking through a telescope held by someone with an unsteady hand. Luck really ''isn't on my side these days. First the damn Jebia, now this shit'', she thought with contempt, Biding her time until she could gather some strength. Until then, she allowed unconsciousness to veil her within the folds of its pitch black silence.

"Yumi!" April cried out, making a dash toward her fallen friend, hammer in tow. The Gurenzeburu, which was currently in the process of snappping it's jaws at Ash and flicking Eiji and Ichiro away with it's tail, glaced behind it to where April was dashing for the creatures first victim. It made a gesture with it's eye and lips somewhat akin to a malicious smile, before it hulked it's body around, swivelling in a deliberately slovnly fashion so as to knock everybody over at once, which it did. It then notcied something else about April. She wore a large, jagged piece of blue, scaly skin, which was threaded through a piece of string and hung on her waist like a battle trophy, along with a couple of small, sharp teeth. The Gurenzeburu slowly scanned it;s mouth with its tounge. It was missing two teeth. It also  glanced behind at the patch of raw flesh that was exposed upon its back, that had bled for half a day and had smarted like a vespoid's sting ever since.

The monster had met this girl before. Oh, how it hated her. And that fact that her clothing was made of its kind only served to add to its hatred.

It roared, roared so loud that Dante, Aaron, Teiko, Ash, Ruby, Eiji and Ichiro all had to clamp their hands against the sides of thier heads. April, who had been taken by surprise, cried aloud and fell to her knees, then pressed her ears with her hands, dropping her weapon. Now the Gurenzeburu had its chance. It quickly sprinted over and bashed into April with the side of it's head, sending her rolling across the floor and comign to a slump against the wall, next to the unconscious Yumi. It kicked Yumi to the side and out of the way with it's right foot, before, it closed April in with the flods of it's wings, as it it were a bird allowing its hatchlings to nuzzle against its breast. But what it had planned was something far more sinister. It statred into the now fearful (doubly so, as she recognised the monster as much as the monster did her) eyes of the girl who had pulled out his teeth and ripped his hide. Perhaps evens ome of these old wounds were hers, but it couldn't be sure, and it its rage, it didn't care. She would pay for each and every one of them.

April cried out in terror and pain as the Barbarian Wyvern folded and its left wing and pulled it back, then thrust the golden, pointed stub into her shoulder. One! the creature counted to itself. It then brought it's right leg up and stomped on the girl's chest, hard enough for it to hurt, but not enough to kill jher or break any of her fragile bones. The pain was moderate at most but it was excruciating to APril, the pain amplified by the stab wound in her shoulder. She cried out again. too closed in (the monster's pointy head was millmetres away from embedding itself into the wall. Infact, it occasionally scraped against it, the flasked of stone and dirt falling onto April and the mosnter) to be able to do. ''Two! ''the Gurenzeburu spat, even though the victim of its eagerly-awaited revenge couldn't even hear it. Suddenly, as it opened it's jaws wide in prepaation to chomp into April's leg, it screeched with pain and drew back, flapping its wings like a chicken as something short, snall amd very, verys harp pierced it's flesh and scraped against its bone. Then it felt the sharp thing slide out and back in, each time painful, again and again and again.

Behind it, Aaron was screaming aloud as he clugn onto the vreatures back, holding one of Eiji's Akura Jebia duls blades and stabbing the red patch of raw skin on the Flyign Wyvern's back continuously. Finally, he gripped it so tight that (assuming one could see his knuckles under his armour) his knuckles turned white, and thrust it into the red, bloodied flesh with all his might, He left something hard  chip away before he was flung off the creature's back as it flailed about in pain. A red mist has descended over its eyes and it was no longer aware of its surroundings only the pain in it's back and the chipped piece of bone. But there was no respite from the pain as the other huters had ganged up on it, hacking and slicing away in the monster's body with their myriad weapons. Finally, it felt another surge of pain from a fresh wound on its leg and that was the final straw. ''If I can't have the girl, I'll claim another. But I'm not leaving here-or dying here- without a kill! ''It thought.

The Barbarian Wyvern Roared with ire and loathing, before unleashed a torret of high-pressure water from it's mouth, then flailing its head about recklessly like an ungripped hosepipe, into commotion, the hunters retreated before they were either blasted by water and accidentally whacked by a stray limb. However, it was too late for Eiji, was impaled by the Gurenzeburu's pike-like horn, coughing up blood to add to the splashes of it that already stained the desrt-brown earth below. Fianlly, the Gurenzeburu stopped its endless flow of water,and stood still, although at an angle, his wounded leg giving way a little, the blood from his severely wounded back and cut leg mizing with that of Eiji's. Finally, the Gurenzeburu lifed it's head alotf and screeched at the midday sun triumphantly. Then, it flicked it's head upward some more and cuaght the armoured corpse, now limp and lifeless, between its jaws, holding it thre like a dog with a stuffed toy for a moment for using its tounged to pull the body into its waiting jaws in its entirety, chewing it up and reducing it to nothign more than mush in but a few seconds. A gulp followed, and it was over. The Gurenzeburu turned to face the remainign hunters, who stare on in horror, to shocked to even cry out. The monster grinned at them, baring it's bloodstained teeth, before taking flight and swooping off into the distance, over the rocks and out of sight.

(unfinished)

The Third Test: Gigginox?! Are You Mad?!
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