FanFiction:The Art of the Hunt/Season 2/Chapter 6 - Night on the Plains

Y uki pulled a blanket around her ever tighter. As always, the desert night brought cold winds and icy memories. Her teeth chattered as she retold her story.

"I did not want to alarm anyone. I set out without the proper equipment to light a fire anyway, because I was certain that we had not come far enough to find it. So I kept walking -- I walked, using my compass, in a straight line for what must have been five, or even ten miles. Then, I spread out, using my binoculars to look for signs of life. That's when I saw Starfoot," she said, pointing at the Aptonoth, and continued: "he was moaning and looked confused. Every so often, he would raise up and roar, as Aptonoth do when they smell a threat. I was confused, alright? So I got up, I walked towards it, and I calmed it down. It was docile, and around it part of its halter had become entangled. Upon untangling it, I saw his name inscribed on the thick leather.

"He allowed me to ride him, thus speeding my travel. But as I came ever closer to the end of a ridge that I had ridden to, a fell sense of shadow fell over me, and Starfoot bucked. I fell off, but he did not bolt. I thanked the Gods for that much," she said, rubbing her back at the memory. "I took out my binoculars and looked into the forest of stone and sand that lay before me. And inside it, between two huge silvery rocks and underneath a raised plateau, sat the Curse, the Beast. Upon seeing it, I -- I couldn't handle it. I mounted Starfoot and we took off with all haste," she finished.

"Please tell me you didn't wake it!" Taka said, entirely alarmed.

"No! I did not," she explained, "for when I had gone a fair mile, I turned around and looked. I could still see its sleeping figure. It sleeps now, I am sure. From there, I came here when I saw the smoke signals."

The sun was finally setting in its entirety. Only shadows remained now. The vastness of the sky was an ocean, a pale blue sapphire locked within the heavens. On the horizon, pink clouds had settled. The winds of the desert were dying down, no longer blowing sand as hard in the sand fields outside their camp. Quiet had settled on the group and night had set in, affecting them all.

Suddenly, a realization hit Katrina. "Where are Noami and Reia?!" She asked. "You sent them out and they never came back...! Where did they go?" she asked worriedly.

Taka, realizing his err, grabbed at his hair and, for the first time, showed anger. "I do not know -- the went into the cave," he said, pointing towards it.

Katrina, ever the worrywort, instantly decided that she would go find them. "A slagtoh takes no time to gather oil from. They must have encountered a Great Jaggi... or.... worse..." She said, grimacing as she lit her lantern.

"But you cannot go alone!" Taka protested.

"You let them, didn't you?" she replied.

"Fine, but I'm going with you," Calli said, lighting her own lantern.

"I'll come, too. They might need more," Gamor said, finding a torch and lighting it. He sharpened his sidearm, a trusty knife, and walked towards the cave. The rest followed his lead, venturing into the dark.

Yuki pulled her blanket ever closer, deeply concerned about the fate of the few friends she had that had went into the darkness. Jeren walked over to the group. "I can finish the build as soon as I have the oil," he said, "then we no longer need to stay here on the morrow."

Ali smiled as she sat down by Yuki. She gave Yuki a hearty hug and whispered, "they'll be fine. I just know it." she said. Yuki looked at Ali as if she had gone mad. She did not, however, push her away.

"...thank...you. I think..." She said.

Ali hopped up gleefully. "You're welcome!" she cheerfully chirped.

Ali skipped over to the wood pile and fetched a few sticks to stock the flame they had built around the rocks that they were sitting on. It would be a long night.

Within the cave, Gamor turned his lantern to a higher flame setting and began scanning the area. Behind him, Calli and Katrina were using their lanterns -- built with a reflective, convex back to reflect more light in one direction -- to look in corners and around bends for the girls.

Under the sands of the plains, the caves were dripping with water, a normally rare resource made abundant by the cold. Dank air, riddled with mostly unidentifiable, dead smells, flowed throughout the cave system. In some corners, the occasional Giggi would shy away from the lantern light, while in others, Bnahabra nested on the walls. Other than the insects, the Giggi, and the hunters, there was no other life in the caves.

After what seemed like an eternity of painfully slow walking and exploring in the caves, they suddenly came to a very sudden stop. In front of them was a huge room, a cave within a cave. Over part of the gaping hole that the hunters stood but a few feet from was flowing water, as though a great waterfall had opened upon them. On the other sides of the room, more waterfalls fell and sparkled. Gamor, the least fearful, leaned forwards and looked up.

"A small bit of light. I'm -- I'm guessing this is where all the water in the desert goes..." he said, looking up and then slowly staring down in the void. The earthy smell of mold wafted up from the hole, but Gamor was not satiated yet.

"Noami? Reia?! Are you down there?" Gamor shouted.

For a few minutes, the world stopped turning. Then, an eternity later, a broken voice replied.

Color returned to Gamor's face and he began yelling frantically to the two lost girls. After a few minutes of this, however, Katrina hit him hard on the shoulder.

"Stop that. You'll wake... something. We don't know what's down there. That may not even be Noami and Reia. Be a little cautious, geeze." She said, rolling her eyes as she tied the climbing rope to a stalagmite.

"I'll go down first," Calli said. She was the bravest of the three and also the lightest.

After a few minutes and a careful pull test, the safety of the rope had been ascertained. Gamor and Katrina made their descents, and they began to search for their lost.

This part of the cave, they learned quickly, was even more disturbing. The only living creatures here besides the hunters were strange, parasitic-looking, leech-like slugs that crawled amongst the rocks and stared back with illuminated eyes. Katrina winced digustedly and searched for a cavern leading away.

Though the group did not, of course, know this, they were actually within a valley in the Plains. Though it seemed as though they had reached the flatlands, they were still well below the higher points of the plateau. This is what caused the water to flow forth into this cavern, which was actually known for flooding when rain would come to the plains. Had they known this, the cavern -- which was roughly a foot above the floor -- would have been noticed more quickly.

It was Calli who first spotted it. She joyfully pointed it out, and the rest of the hunter group looked in. The bioluminescent slugs were not there, and somewhere deep inside, a small light, like that of a lantern, shown from within.

"Noami? Reia?" Katrina called out, "Is that you guys?"

"Yes--yes," The two answered in unison from the other side of the subterranean hill. They quickly climbed over the side and crawled towards the two, trying their best to avoid the roof of the cave. When they stood up, they realized why the two had not yet moved.

On the other side of the cave, with only a thin rock wall separating them, lay a Great Jaggi. Presumably from the fall, Noami's ankle was badly sprained, and while Reia had administered first aid, there was no way she could make the climb back up. They were brainstorming ideas on how to leave the Jaggi nest without disturbing it when they had heard the other hunters.

Gamor looked at Katrina, Calli, Noami, and Reia, and looked at his hammer. It was a well-built hammer, the product of several months' work at the Academy. He looked back at the Great Jaggi.

"I'm going to distract it... When I do, I want you guys to run, or rather crawl, through that cave there. Make your way bake using the smoke as a guide." He said, sighing while looking down. "I'll see you again." He said. He wondered if that was not the truth; would this be his final sacrifice?

The rest of the group regretfully nodded their agreement. Gamor nodded and stood up fully, brandishing his hammer.

The Great Jaggi awoke as soon as he slipped into the room where it was laying. Though its senses took a second to awaken, it located the intruder instantly. It stomped, roared the characteristic roar of the Jaggi, and began its onslaught with a lunging bite.

Gamor had, of course, expected this. He countered with a well-placed blow from the side, knocking the creature about and causing it to lose its bearings slightly. However, it was quickly attacking again, this time with its tail. Gamor fell down awkwardly as the painfully sharp scales slid across his armor, bruising him and, little to his knowledge, causing a small cut. He haphazardly rushed up and began charging a whirlwind blow.

Now the Great Jaggi had begun to taunt him. It roared and scratched the ground as it looked threateningly towards Gamor. However, this look of intimidation was quickly replaced by one of pain as it was hit by the upswing and the pounding of a Whirlwind Blow. This knocked the monster on its side. When it got back up, it began to pant and grow with rage. It lunged at Gamor, then bit him, causing damage to his armor and knocking Gamor backwards. Being a trainee hunter, Gamor began to panic.

As appropriate, Gamor also entered somewhat of a raged state. He began to wildly hit the beast, over and over again, until he was panting so heavily that he was having trouble distinguishing dropped scales from pebbles on the ground. The Great Jaggi, though wounded and limping, took advantage of this by hip-checking Gamor. He flew across the floor and landed, tired and wounded, and did not get up for a few seconds. The Great Jaggi fled, and for a second, Gamor was relieved.

He got up, dusted himself off, and put away his hammer. He went into the nearest tall cave entrance he saw, which, in hindsight, was the worst possible one he could have chosen.

Inside slept the Great Jaggi already. Gamor, ever the fighter and the thinker, readied three bombs and placed them by the monster's head and chest. He then grabbed a rock, dipped it in his lantern oil, and set it alight before quickly throwing it. It hit the barrels, igniting them and causing vicious damage to the Great Jaggi. The creature coughed as it tried to locate its attacker. Unfortunately for it, however, it had begun to lose massive amounts of blood and was quickly dying. Finally, its legs gave out from under it and it fell, breathing its last breath.

Gamor headed back to the surface, where he knew his friends were surely located by now.

On the surface, right after the group left

"I...had a dream." Taka said, with overtones of depression in his voice.

"Oh? What did you dream?" Yuki asked, ever curious about matters of the deep mind.

"The Phenor... It... spoke to me." He said, trying not to look or sound crazy.

"It...spoke."

"Precisely."

"How do you know it was the Phenor?"

"Because... I don't suppose I've mentioned it, but I can speak to monsters and most animals. I don't know why or how, but I can. It's a blessing and a curse. Anyway, that's how." Taka said. Yuki stared back at him, with the air of a person who has just heard their otherwise sane friend talk of the world burning as though it were a child's game.

"What did It say?" Yuki asked.

"It said, 'We are one; we are both the same; we are two sides of the same leaf.'" Taka replied.

"What could that mean?" Yuki asked, though she knew the most likely answer.

"I don't know, but that was just the first few times. Lately, it's changed it up. It's said this: 'I shall consume. Consume... Consume. I shall consume... Consume... Everything.' I can't help but wake up startled from the dreams..." Taka said, trailing off.

"Sounds scary," Yuki said, musing upon their meaning.

Yuki had always possessed a unique interest in dreams, especially very specific, meaningful ones. When she was very young, her life had been plagued by constant nightmares, and ever since, she had attempted to understand them.

She leaned back against a rock face as she pondered.

"I don't really know what to say. I'm guessing it's got something to do with repressed memories. You said you came from somewhere else, right?" She queried.

"Right. I think somewhere around the Central World, but I'm not entirely sure." Taka responded.

Jeren walked over and sat down. He looked terribly old. Crestfallen, he looked up to the others, those who had been sitting around the fire for a long while already. To his left sat Brutus and Ali, and to his right sat Taka and Yuki. He shook his head and cleared his throat, as if there was a great weight upon his chest.

"It's all because of the damned Slagtoth oil," Jeren said, shaking his head in anger. "I shouldn't have sent them; it was my task."

"Jeren, you couldn't have known," Said Ali quickly.

Yuki, who knew Jeren better, remained silent.

Taka imparted his own wisdom: "Many things lay in the caves of Daradh Guhor, the recesses of the night, and none of them are predictable."

"That's my point, dammit! Jeren roared angrily, getting up and stamping away for a few seconds. Soon, he was right back.

"I made a huge mistake, because I didn't know. I assumed they would be alright, because I didn't know. I didn't know. And I didn't send help soon enough, because I didn't know. Don't tell me what I'm already aware of. I do not look for comfort or understanding. This..." Jeren began, trailing off as he walked away. He sat down in front of a tree and finished his sentence under his breath. "...is unforgivable."

Jeren began to weep. He had seen men, women and children die in the wars in enemy nations; he had seen great monsters take their last breaths and carved them later; he witnessed his entire family die, but it was not until now that he wept. He wept for the true friends he had come to know over the past few years in the school, and all the better in the past weeks.

Yuki, who was naturally sensitive to her cousin's angst, walked over to comfort him. Around the fire, Brutus hugged Ali closer, preserving warmth in the desert cool.

Night had finally properly settled, and it was beautiful, though tense. In the sky, a billion stars shown brilliantly, brightly bending their outlandishly diverse colors across the night sky. A few meteors skyrocketed across the night, but from the hillock in the Sandy Plains, it looked very slow. The night sky was difficult to view in its entirety; even upon the horizon, one found it difficult to ascertain where the sky ended and the Earth began.

Jeren moved slightly to the side to allow Yuki room.

"They went with their weapons, and Gamor is looking for them. They'll be alright... I know it." Yuki said. "they might even bring some Slagtoth oil back."

Jeren laughed and wiped his eyes. He looked up. In the stars, he could see the faces of all the men he'd seen die and all the loved ones he'd seen go. They stared back down at him understandingly. He coughed and looked back down.

"Memories... Sometimes a curse, sometimes a blessing. I wish I could... just... push it all... away." He said, leaning against Yuki and sniffling. "Man... this is embarrassing." He continued, looking around.

Yuki and Jeren sat there, leaning against the tree and one another, for several minutes. After a while, the wind began to pick back up. As it blew, lifting and caressing Yuki's long, red hair, Jeren was reminded of all the days he spent in Tanjia, where the sea breeze offered solace every night. He sighed and got up.

As he shook his head one last time, Yuki lifted herself to her feet. Suddenly, however, a noise startled them from their stance. A cave, at the end of a short path, was echoing with noise.

"Arm yourselves -- arm yourselves!" Jeren shouted, in true military fashion. Weapons appeared from out of the nothingness, and the group stood at attention. Taka, ever the pacifist, instead grabbed a torch that lay at the ready. Despite not having a weapon, he assumed a warrior stance like the rest of them.

From the cave issued forth four people: Katrina, Taka, Reia, and Noami. Jeren lifted his head up and cried out with joy. Ali smiled warmly and ran to greet them, sheathing her sword. Brutus laughed heartily and sat his weapon down. Taka scoffed and began to search for his medical equipment. Yuki speed-walked towards them, and when she got there, she gave them all warm hugs.

"We were so worried about you!"

"You had us all scared sick."

"Oh, it doesn't matter now. What matters is that you didn't die!"

Different encouraging thoughts were issued by the group as they met and greeted one another once again. From their pouches, Noami and Reia produced adequate Slagtoth oil for the needed repairs. Jeren gladly took them.

Brutus was slightly apprehensive, however. He looked around, and in all the excitement, Gamor was nowhere to be found. "Hey!" Brutus shouted, "I get you're all excited and all, but Gamor -- where's he?"

A silence fell over them all. Calli spoke up, finally.

"He stayed behind to fight a Great Jaggi. He'll be back as soon as he can.

Just as she said that, Gamor came out of the cave, limping and bleeding. Taka looked at him, only slightly cringing, and invited him to sit near him so he could administer medical help, with the aid of Calli. Gamor sat between them and relegated his health to their capable hands.

Taka administered the herbal and chemical treatments, while Calli, who had gotten advanced medical training at the Academy, treated open wounds and a few bruises with wraps and various heat packs, made from combinations of different elemental powders.

As Gamor endured treatment, he fell asleep. After his wounds had been cared for, the rest of the group laid out their makeshift beds and lay down to sleep. In the morning, journeys awaited them. For this night, at least, they had peace. They would enjoy it in full, while it had been made available.

To be continued in FanFiction:The Art of the Hunt/Season 2/Chapter 7 - Ride For Desert Canyon