This fanfiction is part of the The Art of the Hunt chronology. Its central page is FanFiction:The Art of the Hunt/Season 1. Thank you for reading!
Yuki sat back and sighed, rolling her eyes at the incredibly boring instructor's chastising words as he read off, in formal notation, her impending punishment. "... and I say to you Yuki of Ultimiose, on this the Fifth Day of March Year Seven Fifty of the Third Age, you are hereby sentenced to One Week Community Service, as per this academy's tradition." Said the old man, looking through his wiry glasses.
"Uh-huh. You're not even going to ask my side of the story," growled Yuki, "You're just going to assume that I was bullying him. I hate you, and that damn kid you're always trying to protect," she finished--under her breath. "I saw you step on his hand, young lady," replied the professor, lifting an eyebrow. "He grabbed my leg! He's a pervert! Of course I stepped on his hand! I meant to break it," she growled, shooting a dark look at the boy who had grabbed her leg when he reached under her desk to get his dropped pencil, "but sadly, I have other, more important, things on my mind."
The professor stood there for a moment, musing whether he should give her two weeks or change the punishment altogether. The latter seemed more prudent to him at the time. "I know a better punishment for you. See me after class." He said, smiling grimly. The girl rolled her eyes again, and went back to her drawing--cleverly concealed under a binder. It was a rough sketch of a weapon she had designed herself: the Cannon Sword, a greatsword with a gun mounted on it. She had designed it last year, and it got approved on her sixteenth birthday. She was sixteen-and-a-half now, and was designing its first upgrade on this sketch.
It was a very well-drawn sketch, consisting of not only detailed, noted parts, but also visually pleasing cosmetic details, and an easy-to-read key, which noted specific parts and materials. The sketch would tell one that this sword would have a longer gun; and on this gun would be a blade that jabbed its prey as it fired, causing an even larger gash than the normal gun would; the main materials were of Dragonite and Bracchydios materials. On the tip of the gun was drawn the blade and its configuration: with each slash, slime released by the blade traveled towards the gun and the end of the Sword part, and when the gun fired, the entire sword would catch fire and release a hearty explosion into the gash; and finally, the force of that explosion would help force the gun (and its blade) back into firing position--and jab the end of the blade into the attacking beast's flesh. She really was quite the artist.
After a fast twenty minutes, passed in relative silence (the class had been watching a presentation: their teacher made them watch one each week, and each was an eyewitness account by a hunter who saw some giant beast. This time, the hunter had a guild emergency; the students were told to read or occupy themselves otherwise), the bell was finally rung for the end of class. "Yuki," said the old professor, "remember to come here." He said, collecting a paper and finding small things to do with the various objects on his desk. The girl stood up, gathering her things into her leather pack, and replied with "Wouldn't miss it for the world," and then coughed, saying into it, "but perhaps I'd miss it for anything else," she finished under her breath.
She stood up straight now and smiled, trying to look at least somewhat presentable near the rest of her class in her long trenchcoat, long pants with soft leather chaps around them, and her hat that she just put on. Walking towards her teacher, her facial expression worsening as she drew closer to her instructor. The old man looked pleased with this. "Come along," he said to her, waving her in his direction as he walked towards the outward balcony.
The building was built upon a hill, and almost all of the classrooms (except for the Crafting and Intro to Camping classrooms) faced towards Tanzia Harbor and had a balcony looking outward. Inside the hill was the cafeteria, for the building was built in such a fashion that the school stretched all the way from the seaward side of the hill to the wild side, and on these wings were placed the classrooms. In the very center was the cafeteria; a large building, so large that it could have easily sat 300 people at need. On the Underground Wings, as they were called, were the Crafting hall and the Administration building; and even the Administration building had a long balcony that led upwards--up the mountain, and to a walk from which you could see many things.
As she neared the door leading out of the dusty, old classroom onto the breezy balcony, she began to smell a pleasant scent of flowers; spring was coming. It felt almost warm, standing there at the doorway of this place, and a shadow of a smile passed over her face. "Come to the rail, young woman." The professor nodded. Jerked from her thoughts, the girl angrily growled in her thought, quietly--so the professor wouldn't hear.
"You were a great kid once. What happened...?" He sighed. "What?" The girl asked, the look on her face changing from anger to puzzlement. "I visited your family, Yuki, when you still lived in Lava Falls, in Ultimiose. You probably don't remember me, but I was one of your father's old business partners. Shame what happened to him... He should have never been sent after that demon." The old man said, softly slamming hist fists on the railing. A gentle breeze flowed across the balcony. "Yeah... Only three of our hunters ever came back.... And only one of them survived, and he's still messed up. My dad... I wonder... If.... Nevermind." She said, quickly regaining herself. "No, he's not alive; I was the one who found his corpse. That was your question, right?" The professor looked at her hard. "Yes... !" She hissed, looking at him with a face devoid of any feeling save anger.
The teacher gave her a certain look, a kind of gesture of kindness, understanding, forgiving and regret, and she quickly calmed down. "I have this to give to you. Your father gave it to me in his dying breath... He said to give it to his daughter, with these words: 'Take now my charm; may it help you in ways unforeseen and provide light where before only was darkness.' Take it now," he said. And as he did, he pulled out a parcel from his instructor's bag. He unwrapped it, telling her to close her eyes. He slipped the Wroggi leather strap around her neck, and, taking her hand, placed the pendant in it. "Keep it safe." Were his final words before he turned back towards the sea. "I will... Oh, I will. Thank you." She said, hugging him. He coughed and turned around, looking at the doorway. "You had better get going," he said, glancing at his wristwatch, "Your break is begun, but you only have ten minutes to go!" Said he, motioning with his wristwatch-adorned hand towards the doorway. She hurried away.
As she released the pendant and walked out of the classroom, another student slammed into her--knocking her straight down. She sat up and rubbed her head. "Ow!" She cried out, "What the hell!! Watch where you're going, you dick!" She yelled at the young man who ran into her. "Sorry." he shrugged, and would have walked away without another word. "Oh, no you don't," She growled. "Apologize right, and get some damn respect for people. Get your head out of your a-" She stopped short, spotting the glowing jewel dangling from his neck. "Get away. Get away, now!" She cried as she fell backwards again, tears streaming down her face. By this time, a crowd had gathered. The boy stepped towards her. She lurched forwards with her fist, slamming into his thigh with all the power in her strong arm.
The boy lost it. He picked up the girl (who was heavy in herself; she was not fat, or even chubby, but she wore her weight well and was easily 5'11 tall) at the neck and a fire was in his eyes. He would have thrown her if it weren't for the remembrance of his morals and how much trouble he'd get into.
"What's your problem, anyway?!" The boy cried out, dropping Yuki to her feet. "That... Pendant... It's.... Deviljho... Power... Go...." she jabbered, her incoherent words falling short of their message. "My Powertalon?" He asked. She nodded her head, scooting backwards even further. The boy shook his head and hid the Powertalon in the folds of his shirt. After the demonic glow was gone from the area, Yuki returned to her senses. She got up and brushed herself off. "Why do you even have that?! That was no normal Powertalon." She growled at him, before giving the crowd mean looks to disperse them. They all gave various gestures and walked away. "My father gave it to me a few days after we left our village. What's it to you?" He asked angrily.
"A Deviljho destroyed my village... But that's no matter of yours." She said, remembering her position. "Oh, wait," the boy said, smiling evilly,thinking of a way to get slight revenge at her attack, "I know you. You're from Lava Falls. Your village elders sent every hunter there was away to fight some beast, and six months after they left, your village got destroyed." He chuckled, glaring at her. Yuki's eyes began to burn with a hating fire. "You know why the village was destroyed!? Those hunters left to hunt that beast that destroyed the Swamp Tribe! It was the day of my birthday when I heard about it, three days after it had happened. I was twelve... They sent the hunters out and six months later the village was overrun by the Deviljho. My village died for heroes!" she cried out, nearly lunging for him but restraining herself at the last moment.
"Then it might please you to know that my own village was the Swamp Tribe! Stop acting like you have a right to be a total bitch--I've been through everything you've been through, if not worse." the boy said as he grew in anger.
Suddenly, Yuki's face went pale. It seemed much more relaxed. The End-of-Break bell rang; they still stood there looking at one another, as though waiting for one to make the first move to leave. "Then... that must mean... Your.. Your village was... The...You... Alive... How... I.. I didn't know any escaped," She said finally, after piecing enough of the information together. "My family and I did. We left Ultimiose when I was ten, the very day it happened... We never went back. I'm... Sorry for getting angry with you," The boy replied. "My name's Gamor." "You know what... I want to hear your story. My name's Yuki. Sit with me at lunch, I'll be sitting by my cousin," she told him swiftly. "Wait," he called after her, "Who is that!?" "He'll be wearing black clothing, and I'll be wearing what you see now! Get going!" She hissed back.
Gamor rubbed his neck, feeling slightly surprised at the unexpected turn of events. He shook his head, gave the girl (who was now nearly gone around the corner) a hard look, and turned around to his own devices. His next class was Crafting and afterwards, lunch with Yuki. After that, his dreaded Mathematics class; he hated this class, and thanked his luck for the fact that in only three weeks, he would be Testing with the other students--to hopefully pass on from the school and become a true hunter.
Two hours later
Gamor walked proudly down the west hall as he went towards the southern; in the very middle of this hall was the entrance to the cafeteria; and if his calculations were right, the location of Yuki's table wasn't far away from that. He was coming from his Math class, but several wonderful things had happened: his teacher was ill, so they were allowed to play games and throw balls at one another. In his Crafting class, they finally were given permission to go at any time into the Crafting Hall; this was a long, deep-delved hall, built far into the west of the mountain and equipped with five forges--each for a different skill level and weapon type. The final was even used by the Armory on occasion--to train new smithies, and to forge their newest weapons.
He strutted through the door entering the south hall and smiled at the people walking by. "Good morning, Gamor!" said an instructor standing by, smoking a long pipe. "Yes, yes it is." Gamor thought to himself. He petted the school pet, a tall and loving Felyne. He laughed for the sake of laughing. It was turning out to be a great day.
Finally, he walked through the cafeteria doors and searched for Yuki's table. A serving-women behind the counter beside him noticed this. "Who are ya lookin' for, Gamor?" The old housewife asked without looking up from her work. "Uhh," he said thinking, "do you know where Yuki Nishi usually sits?" He pronounced the name carefully, finally turning towards the old woman with the last word. She looked up with the same friendly, hardworking smile on her face. "Why, yes! That'd be my niece. She sits over with my son, in the back. Table 11. You need to tell 'er something?" She answered quickly, looking back down at her work. "Oh, nothing much--she asked me to sit by her," He explained. "Well, go on then!" The woman commanded. She smiled again, a smile that held both power, beauty, and the weight of many years.
He looked around and quickly found Table 11; he walked over to it, trying not to look as happy as he was. "Oh, there he comes!" Yuku exclaimed to her cousin. "Damn, Yuki," her cousin exclaimed, looking at his cousin, "You're awfully excited. I'm guessing he's got a cool story or two?"
Gamor, smiling, sat down across from Yuki. Yuki tipped her hat, smiled, and began speaking--but this time, in her normal voice. "Hey!" She greeted him. "Sorry we couldn't talk longer. Damn bell's loud and mean. So, what were ya sayin'?" She asked happily. "I'm curious about something myself," said Gamor, "What happened? Why are you so happy now?" He asked.
"I'm happy because I ain't burdened by a teacher, a crowd waiting for me to punch some kid, or somethin'. You get the point. I'm not always a total bitch," She grinned and laughed again. Gamor shrugged and continued on. "So, what were you saying before we were interrupted?" Gamor asked.
"Oh, that," Yuki said, remembering the conversation. "I was thirteen--I had just turned thirteen--when the hunters came back. Only six came back... My father was killed by whatever they had went to hunt. They couldn't remember anything farther than getting to the Swamp... after the battle, they couldn't remember where they were for a long time, and they just wandered aimlessly. But it seems they headed right straight towards the Lava Falls, but they had to pass through the village were I--the only Lava Falls Deviljho Attack survivor--was stayin', and so they found out about the destroyed village. Some of 'em died from infection; only one remains, and he refuses to speak to anyone about any aspect if the creature. He claims he don't remember. Anyway, at thirteen and a half I wanted to rebuild... They.. Wouldn't let me. I tried committing suicide... I failed." She said, sighing sadly at the memory.
"So I left. I packed up all my things and I set out for Moga, looking for someone to teach me how to slay the Deviljho that destroyed my life. And so I found this place. I knew my cousin here, he took me in--and we live together now, so it's cheaper on the both of us." She said, now nodding towards her cousin. "Introduce yourself!" She commanded.
"I'm Jaren. Nice to meet you." Jaren said, getting up and nodding at Gamor as he said so. He sat back down and Gamor introduced himself. The three were quickly lost in conversation.
"So, you use a Great Sword, Jaren?" Asked Gamor. "Myself, I use a Long Sword. It's just the basic, an Ananta Boneblade, but it works. I'm a fan of paralysis." Gamor continued. "Yep, the Chieftain's Great Sword. A good, all-around weapon. I love the awesome defense, for my part." Jaren replied. Yuki giggled. "What about me?" She asked jokingly. "Well, what about you?" Said Gamor, laughing. "I use a weapon I made myself! Where's my recognition?" She chuckled. Gamor looked towards her, giving her the curious look of one amazed. "You made the Gunblade?" He asked. "Well, duh! Only I could come up with something THAT cool!" She replied, jokingly.
To be continued in Chapter 2!