Through Fire and Snow II: Stampede!

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The hunter grunted as he turned to face Icil. "How may I help you, miss?" he said, having to look down at the huntress; after all, Icil was only 5'4" when she stopped growing. His voice sounded as shady as he looked.

"We'd like to join you on your Remobra quest, if you don't mind?" the girl chimed in, looking right back up at the man. He had eyes as green as a Giadrome's crest, his hair was black as a Nargacuga's fur, and he had stubble on his face. Oddly, his left eye was murky and had a slightly visible scratch on the sclera. Icil looked at the wound, mentally cringing from the thought of how much it must have hurt.

"Sure, I don't mind. It's not your average slaying quest, though, so be warned."

"My name's Icil Kiera, by the way! The Felyne's name is Rin. Yours?"

"Deus. I don't have a last name anymore, so don't bother wondering." he growled a few moments after the question.

"See? I told you he's not that bad." Icil shrugged. She followed Deus out of the Guild Hall, with Rin sitting on her shoulder still. "This is going to be a looooong day..." he meowed under his breath.

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The area was the Cliffside Prairie. A herd of Aptonoth were at the foot of the cliff. A few Remobras were flying around the clifftop. Deus and Icil had slain 9 out of 20 Remobras by now. When the two had reached the top of the trademark cliff of the prairie, they took down a few Remobras; Deus shot them down as Icil finished them off with her Tactical Blade. Suddenly, Deus could hear something. It was wingflapping... but there were no wyverns on this quest! The monster was a very large Remobra, and it wasn't too pleased with its kin being destroyed.

"Deus, what is that...? It's not in my encyclopedia..." Icil asked through her teeth quietly.

"It's a Tyrant Remobra... they're the leaders of Remobra packs..." Deus muttered back, reloading his pistols. The giant Remobra snarled and screeched before preparing a swoop.



"Jump!" Deus barked. They both leaped backwards, decending down the ledge. They both landed on an Aptonoth, which startled them into a panic. They groaned in fear as Remobras surrounded them. But then, they ran. Icil clung onto the Aptonoth's back and Deus stood with great balance on his Aptonoth's back. The Aptonoth were faster than they thought; the stampede was moving at 40mph at least. Remobras hissed and screeched as they surrounded the Aptonoth, making swoops at the two hunters. Deus caught one of the Remobras by its neck and threw it into the Aptonoth herd, where it was trampled to death by hundreds of Herbivores. The Tyrant Remobra flew overhead, where it could easily top the speed of the panicking creatures. It hovered backwards and spat a glob of poison at Icil, who leaped onto another Aptonoth just in time. The poison hit the previous Herbivore in the face, blinding it, and caused it to tumble to the ground, tripping several other Aptonoth in the process. Icil looked back at the mess. Meanwhile, Deus was shooting down Remobras left and right. If the shot didn't kill them, the Aptonoth's feet did.

Suddenly, the Tyrant Remobra swung its talons into Icil's stomach. This left a giant gash, which almost instantly started to bleed. Icil let out a sharp yelp, and covered the wound with her arm.

"Dammit..." she muttered. "Deus, cover me!"

Deus ran on the backs of the Aptonoth before he made a great leap at the Tyrant Remobra. He landed on its chest and stomach, and began to unload his bullets into its wings and neck. The wyvern hissed and screamed in pain, flailing wildly to get him off. Icil swung her Great Sword into a Remobra and cleaved it in half, before she slammed the back into another's skull, knocking it into the stampede. Deus jumped off of the Tyrant Remobra and continued to shoot at its face and chest. Icil pulled out a Potion and consumed it, healing her gash rather quickly. The Tyrant Remobra screamed and made one last swoop at Deus, but was shot in the heart with a well-timed Normal S Level 3. It tailspinned into the stampeding Aptonoth and was crushed into a pulp afterwards. Most of the Remobras retreated at the sight of their leader being slain, but a few were left. Icil tossed a Throwing Knife into one's forehead, and cleaved off the wing of another. Deus shot down the last Remobra, ending the quest.

"That was... different." Icil said as she looked at Deus.

"I told you it wasn't your average slaying quest." he replied as he looked back.