FicWad

...Like a bullet from an unseen gun, a figure smacked against the Nargacuga with such an extreme amount of force that it was blown at incredible speeds to the side, ruining it's killing descent. "I believe you heard the lady, dear brother," the figure said in a calm tone as it smashed the beast's face into the rock wall with a sickening crunch, "She only woke up the whole forest screaming it!" What the fuck... is that?! Cassandra knew she's heard that voice somewhere, that tone that sounded regal, but not condescending. The figure turned towards her, his silver eyes flashing a sudden, strange glow as he scanned her body for visible wounds. Aiden?! she thought as he swiftly creeped over to her fallen form. "My, quite the situation you've gotten yourselves into, my dear," he says as he bends down, completely ignoring the fallen monster behind him. His eyes follows hers as she stares at the monster who just seconds ago had threatened to end Isaac's and her own existence. "Don't worry about him, he won't be getting up for a few more minutes," he flashed a reassuring grin. His expression changed to one of worry as he turned to Isaac, "What's important at the moment is helping your friend here. May I?" Oh god, Isaac! I haven't felt him breathing this whole time! she thought frantically, her eyes filling up with familiar tears as Aiden gently lifted her off Isaac's still form, propping her up against the rock wall.

"Please...save him." She felt so weak then, her energy leaking out like the blood from the cut on her arm.

"Don't waste your energy, my dear. I'll do what I can for him, I swear," he puts his hand against the side of Isaac's neck. Cassandra felt as though her heart stopped beating as he checked his pulse. Please say he's still there, I can't...I can't lose him! Aiden's face lit up briefly. "He's alive!" Cassandra felt a great wave of relief wash over her body as Aiden switched his focus to the blade sticking out from Isaac's chest. He gently felt around the wound for what seemed like ages for Cassandra, who held her breathe in worry. Aiden's face lit up again as he began cutting Isaac's jacket up the front with his hunting dagger. "What a smart one your friend is, Cassandra!" he remarked as he removed the metal vest holding the Nargacuga's blade from Isaac's body. He was wearing a vest! She was relieved beyond belief. That asshole had me so worried!

"He's got a mild concussion and the impact broke a few ribs, but he otherwise he'll make it alright." Aiden gently laid the hunter on his back, making sure to keep him in a comfortable position.

"Thank...you," she said, letting the tears fall down her pale face while the other hunter moved towards her.

"It was no problem at all, my dear hunter. I said I would be there if you two ever needed me, did I not?"

"Could you...do...me a favor, please?" Cassandra asked. Aiden turned to look at her, one white eyebrow raised in question. "Could you...not tell him that...I was worried? He would never...let me live it down." She managed a smile which he shared, along with a soft laugh. Her expression turned to one of shock, however, when her eyes met the scene behind Aiden. "Look out!" she exclaimed with whatever power she had left in her small body as the Nargacuga lunged at Aiden, slashing its blade at the hunter. Aiden reacted quickly, much quicker than Cassandra could ever have anticipated. With a strangely calm expression on his face, Aiden quickly turned towards the assailant and, with his right hand level to the blade, he launched it forward, catching the blade and stopping it completely with seemingly no effort.

"Oh, I'm quite sorry, dear brother," he said with the same calm tone, standing up slowly holding the blade as a look of utter shock spread across both Cassandra's and the Nargacuga's faces, "I didn't mean to ignore you. We can play now, if you would like?"

That's...not physically possible! You can't stop an attack like that, with that much strength, it's just...not possible! Cassandra thought in complete shock as Aiden released his grip on the blade. The beast seemed just as shocked as Cassandra, for as soon as the other hunter let it's blade go, it retreated frantically into the mist, becoming translucent.

Cassandra's eyes darted around frantically in their sockets, trying to catch a glimpse of the monster who had simply disappeared, "Is it..."

"No, It's still here. That's no large matter." His face took on a fierce grin that caused an even stronger chill to run down Cassandra's spine than the Nargacuga's, his sharp looking teeth glinting in the moonlight as mist enveloped the hunters once again, "I've always loved a good game of hide and seek!"

He's...insane. He's absolutely crazy! Is that why I'm so scared of him? Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep growl, then a loud whoosh. With incredible speed, Aiden whipped his hand in an arc in front of himself. The Nargacuga stepped out of the mist, it's body now lucent in the moonlight, a look of confusion on it's face.

"Looking for these?" he asked, holding up the hand to reveal four perfect tail blades. He...caught it's blades?! He can't...be human! she thought as Aiden slowly retreated into the mist, the grin never leaving his face as he disappeared more and more into the fog, "Did you think you were the only one who could hide, dear brother?"

The Nargacuga began to spin around, growling deeply while it looked for the hunter. Suddenly, hearing a noise behind it, the beast turned around and pounced, eyes wild with fury. It did not like to be toyed with, especially not by it's food. It was so mad that it didn't notice the glowing silver eyes filled with mirth behind it, nor did it know what had hit it when one of it's own blades smashed into its shoulder. With a painful screech and a spray of blood, it whipped around to meet it's assailant, who had already left.

"Hard being the seeker now, isn't it?" he asked, ending the question with a dry laugh. His voice seemed to come from all directions, ricocheting off the rock walls. Cassandra, not being able to tell where the source of the voice was, turned her gaze to the Nargacuga, and was shocked at what she saw. It's...terrified! I've never seen a monster, ANY monster get scared! It truly was mortified. It had never been challenged before, by anything. Fear was just another word it's prey used. That was, until it met the White Hunter.

Another whoosh, this time louder, and two more blades protruded from the Lucent Nargacuga's pelt. Blood began trickling from the corners of it's mouth now, the fear on it's face intensifying. "That's called pain, by the way. It's far less than what you regularly show your prey, however. Lets fix that, shall we?" A sound, like a hammer hitting a rock, echoed through the air, and the final blade fell from the sky and sliced into the monster's tail, nearly detaching it from the Nargacuga's body. It now hung lazily from its base, dangling from a few scraps of flesh. It's scream tore through the air, it's force blowing away the mist around them revealing the hidden hunter.

"I see," he remarked, one hand on his hat and the other on the pommel of his saber, "Playtime is over, I assume." With a click, he popped the shiny white sword from its sheath. The chains that bound it whirled off the sheath like a tornado as he slowly stretched out his hand. As soon as the dragon's paw shaped hook detached from the sheath, the chain began to wrap instead on Aiden's arm, until the hook swung around and attached to his back with a wet slap the caused Cassandra to internally wince. With his other hand, he removed his hat from his kempt snowy hair and flicked it gently towards the fallen hunter. She noticed the deep lavender scent that seemed to radiate off it as it fell onto her lap.

"Could you please hold onto my hat for a bit, my dear. It was a graduation present and I wouldn't want to sully it." His hair glittered like pure ice in the moonlight, his sword drawn in front of him. His grin was gone, replaced instead with a scowl that sent lightning bolts of fear into the two who could see it. The Nargacuga, after seeing that look of seriousness on the hunter's face, began to back up slowly, it's scales twitching in anticipation for a quick disappearing act.

It jumped back, shifting itself into non-existence. "Oh, no you don't!" he exclaimed, rearing back his sword in a slashing pose. What's he doing? She didn't have to wait long to find out. "Oe Khai!" His eyes flashed silver as his sword, which Cassandra noticed beforehand was pulsating as though it was alive, made an audible shifting sound. He swiped it up in a full arc, releasing a strong gust of wind, stronger than anything that should have been possible for such a slash. The gust, hued silver like the hunter's eyes, seemed to veer here and there as though it was seeking something. Suddenly, the gust switched directions completely and slammed against it's unseen prey. The wind...it was hunting the Nargacuga! she thought as a tornado of silver specks surrounded the Nargacuga, whose scales had begun to mottle and fall off. The Lucent Nargacuga, whose silver translucent scales were it's pride and greatest weapon, was now naked and disgraced to the world. It's armor rotten and useless, it's weapons broken, it's body bloodied, and it's soul crushed. Truly, the Hunter had become the hunted.

"No more running and hiding, brother. You no longer deserve the mercy of time, so bear your blades and fight!" The Nargacuga knew there was no way out for it now, not anymore. It turned to it's dangling, near stump of a tail. It knew it couldn't fight with such a burden behind it. With a wet smack, the last off the tail, bitten off with one snap of it's jaw, fell to the wet ground. It's eyes, burning with fury, met the hunters, and with a powerful roar it pounced. Aiden dodged the first strike effortlessly, and countered with his own. The Nargacuga blocked with it's arm blades, but was knocked back by the sheer force of the strike. It whipped around in the air, smashing it's blade into Aiden's. Seeing his chance, Aiden dragged his blade up the length of the Nargacuga's and spun, cutting deep into it's throat.

He fell into it's trap. With his blade stuck in it's neck, it closed its blade like scissors on the hunter. "Aiden!", Cassandra tried to scream. It came out as a whisper as the blades cut through Aiden's jacket to his skin. That's when she saw it. H-he...he has...scales! Through the torn jacket, she could see large metallic plates, glittering in the moonlight as it repelled the Nargacuga's blades like a shield to a sword.

"Goodnight, dear brother." With one final swipe, the beast fell to the blood soaked earth. It's head followed soon after, with a look of fear superimposed upon it's face. Aiden bent down over the monster, it's blood staining his torn jacket. He placed a hand on where it's heart would be and closed his eyes, his scowl turning into a look of tranquility. He began to chant what seemed like a prayer, loud enough for Cassandra to hear, "My brother by blood, rest now, and may your soul return to nature not in anger, but in tranquility, having given man forgiveness for our greatest sin."

The battle lasted less than ten minutes, but to Cassandra it was like an eternity. She became extremely light headed, her brain over stimulated with questions for the...thing that knelt before her. Then again, she could also have been light headed because of the mysterious pool of blood that surrounded her. Isaac was hurt, but he wasn't bleeding, so it must've been her. But, from where? She only had a small nick on her...she turned her eyes to the cut, and from the very corner of her eye, she could see the source of the gore.

"Aiden," her voice now a whisper as the hunter sheathed his blade, the chains returning to it's place around the sheath.

"Hmm?" He turned towards her and immediately noticed the wound, which was now bleeding profusely.

He rushed over to her, dropping down to her level, "What's..." she began.

"Here, put this on." he said, placing the hat, which had laid unattended on her lap, on her head. The smell of lavender drowned out her panic as she took a deep breath, "You need to stay calm, my dear." He brought his nose close to the wound and lightly sniffed it, "Emptotoxin. It acts as both a neurotoxin and a powerful blood thinner."

No wonder she felt so cold! She turned her eyes to the other hunter, "What do...we do?"

"Not to worry, I have an antidote! I do need to stop the bleeding, though." His face took on a pensive look, and then a look of apprehension, "Looks like there's no avoiding it. My dear, please forgive me for what I'm about to do. It may seem highly inappropriate, but it is for your benefit entirely." He took a handkerchief and cleaned the wound up a bit.

She was about to ask what it was he was so worried about doing when he leaned in and gently ran his tongue against the cut. Even though she had lost feeling in most of her body, she still felt the familiar heat of a signature deep red blush. "...Why?" was all she asked, the blush turning scalding as he wiped the blood off his lips with a second handkerchief that he for some reason had on him.

"To stop the bleeding, of course." He stuck out his tongue and pointed to it, "You thee, my thaliva acts as a kind of mioyogical gwoo that..."

"What are you?" she interrupted, causing him to bring his tongue back into his mouth. His expression darkened noticeably in a way that made Cassandra regret asking it. Silently, he turned his attention to a pouch on his hip, rummaging through it until he removed a small vial full of red liquid.

He put his arm behind Cassandra's head and pulled her close to his chest, inciting an even deeper blush from her. He popped the cork of the bottle with his teeth and brought it close to her mouth. Seeing this as a command to drink it, she parted her lips and allowed the bitter liquid to flow to the back of her throat. With some effort, she swallowed what she believed to be the antidote.

She broke the silence with a questioning word, "Antidote?"

"No. That was Popo anesthesia. A lot of Popo anesthesia. You'll be unconscious any minute now." If she could move all the muscles in her face, it would have contorted into a look of confusion and anger, while his took on a lighter mood.

"I apologize again, my dear. The main side effect of this," he held up a syringe full of a dull, green liquid, "The real antidote, is extreme pain. I thought it wise to keep you from such a fate, considering the fact that you're currently overdosing on blood thinners. I wouldn't want you to have a heart attack on me." He then administered the drug to her bare arm, and then lifted her onto his back piggyback style.

"When I...wake up," she started, already feeling the effects of the anesthesia, "I'm gonna...kick your...ass."

He chuckled lightly, taking the tattered jacket he had removed before lifting her onto his back and using it to tie her to his body securely, "I'd be honored to see you try, my dear hunter." He bent down and lifted Isaac up now, holding him bridal style as he began to walk towards the exit of the forest.

She was almost out when he said something that would stay in her mind for the longest. "Before you sleep, you asked me earlier what I was." he began, stopping briefly to see if he could discern any signs that she understood him. She held her breath in anticipation. "A better question, and also possibly an answer to your own, is what you are, Cassandra?"

What am I? she thought as the world turned hazy, I'm...human.

...Aren't I?