Rumble Rumble. The ground shook, tearing apart, forming large cracks.
Stomp, Stomp! The wide, large, armored beast raised and lowered its feet, a destructive reverberation emanating from its heavy footfalls, which rang with the force and sound of a thousand men's steps.
No one in the party needed to warn anyone else. They simply took quick, decisive action.
"Aerefedor, Phontus!" Angie continued layering chains over the beast. The beast was ridiculously strong, but all it could do under so many thick chains was lift and pound its feet.
"Empric Fantalla!" Suna shot through the air, propelled by the surge of water. "Beryl, Now!"
A small section of the rocky ground split apart underneath the rampaging beast, revealing a lightly-armored smirking Beryl, her sturdy-looking sledgehammer at the ready.
"RraaAAHH!" She swung it, with more force than could possibly reasonably be generated by her thin, small body. The upward force of her swing flipped the entire beast over, on its back. Before it could even react…
Sssshhhhh. A long line, of blossoming red, across its thick, wide neck.
The chains re-restricted the beast, it couldn't even move, as it emitted its last death cries.
The beast dead, the party members all looked at each other. They had won.
–
There was a certain Hunter group that was rising quickly in Elrith Region. Word started spreading, among lower ranks, and among the middle ranks, as well. A new Group, one that didn't even have an official name, yet. They took on Platinum commissions and completed them faster than any other Platinum group; people were simply waiting for them to rank up to Diamond, especially Platinum Hunters, who were a bit annoyed at having their job pool being reduced before their eyes. Their vigor caused a bit of a fuss among some groups.
Not many people had the chance to interact with them. It seemed that they came out of nowhere, composed of mainly young Rookies. This is what drew the attention of higher-ranked Hunters – Rookies experiencing so much success is not common. No, it's rather unheard of. Platinum quests are not easy, they usually are completed by groups of battle-hardened veterans, who've gone through more life and death scenarios than the fingers on both hands. Rookies don't normally perform like this. There was something their success was based off of, some trick, or perhaps, new strategies or tools. Hunting was their livelihood, no, it was their whole lives, their whole identities; if something different or revolutionary seemed at play, people were going to find out.
"Suna, wait up!" Lilt beckoned to Suna, who walked terribly fast through the dirty, desert town.
She didn't like it. These gazes. She never really got over her fear of being Abnormal, she was just able to tolerate it better after her reconciliation with Angie. She wasn't Alone, she didn't need to bear this judgement alone. But it still hurt her. It still scared her. She found an alley and dove into it. Lilt followed.
"...Suna…" Lilt bent down to Suna, who shivered. She never was the same after experiencing that crowd's hate. Lilt really, truly, resented those Hunters. Those insensitive, inhuman, jokes of people. How could they be any more than that? What did she do to them? Nothing. She did absolutely nothing to them. Yet they still regarded her with those raw, pain-inflicting looks, which Suna was still hurting from. It had been a couple months now, and she still Hurt. Lilt could barely stand it.
Lilt gingerly comforted Suna. Suna reached out for Lilt. Lilt let her hug them.
"Suna. I think… I think they're looking at you, because they're starting to recognize you."
"...Huh?"
"Yeah, people, they're starting to notice. They're starting to catch on, Suna."
"Catch onto what?"
"Haha, well, we are doing a pretty good job at our commissions, aren't we?"
"Um… I suppose?"
"Haha, yeah, you never let us rest, you know? Always pushing us, always pushing yourself." Lilt didn't mind Suna's eagerness to take quests. She could never seem to sit still for long, always looking for the next beast or problem to tackle.
"Oh, I'm, uh, I'm sorry, Lilt. I didn't mean to push you guys, or anything…"
"Haha, it's okay, Suna. We're happy, I mean, we are making a lot of money, hahah! And, well…" Lilt looked down at Suna. They caught her flickering, hesitant gaze. "We just want to travel with you. We're… your Friends, Suna."
Suna looked at Lilt, and she Smiled. "Mm." She hugged Lilt. She was so thankful for her Friends, who made this bleak, miserable World so much better. So much more bearable. She wondered what she'd do without them. What would she do? She didn't really ponder the thought.
Lilt led Suna out of the alleyway. They were meeting up with the others at a nice restaurant, to treat themselves, for their recent string of accomplishments.
They walked into a rather plain-looking building. Inside, the ambience was tender, and delicate. Deliberately placed, tasteful, sparse decorations. Dim lights. It was like walking into a whole other world. A waiter guided the two to a table, located in a separate room that was cordoned off by a hanging, expensive-looking fabric.
They saw Angie and Beryl. They were chatting. Suna was happy that her Friends seemed to get along with each other. She pulled Angie up from her chair, and Hugged her. Then she pulled Beryl up, and Hugged her, too.
"Haha, you're so clingy, you know that?" Suna didn't mind Beryl's teasing comments. For she could tell, when they touched. That she always missed her Hugs, whenever she didn't get one for a period of time. You're the clingy one… But Suna kept that thought to herself.
Angie… she was still shy. She was still hurting. Suna tried, over and over, to reassure her. They shared delicate talks and moments, reassuring each other, that they both were just happy to be with each other and continue Traveling with each other. But Suna found Angie's guilt to be like a stain, which simply wouldn't go away, no matter how much she scrubbed it. She felt bad. She wondered, how should she have reacted differently, that day? She was… a bit too scared to bring it up directly to Angie. She didn't want to remind her of that day; she'd prefer, and likely Angie too, to simply move on, leaving that day in the past. But she still… it's just not the same. Suna lamented, in her heart. She… wanted to be closer to Angie. She wanted Angie to feel comfortable again. She wanted Angie to know how Suna felt about her, that None of her resented her for that day, for what she did. Because she understood. She was simply Hurting that day. She should've understood that sooner. She should've been more delicate, given her more time and more space.
Suna tried to exit her circle of thoughts. Food was being brought to them. Her Friends were talking. She wanted to Talk with them, too. She wanted… to be an Equal among them. She longed for that. But maybe, maybe if she seemed too desperate, maybe if she showed them just how much she cared for Them… maybe they'd Judge her. Maybe they'd think she was Weird, maybe over a long period of time, they'd think of her differently, maybe they'd leave someday. Suna didn't want to hold her Friends hostage – if they wanted to leave, she'd let them leave. She knew. That she couldn't keep her friends here, with Her. So Suna struggled, to figure out how she should act. How do I act… normally?
"How long are you gonna keep sulking for, Suna? Come on, eat already!" Beryl grabbed her by the hair, and tried to shove a piece of meat into her mouth. Suna, um, messily let the meat enter her mouth. Her Friends laughed.
"Heh, hehe…"
Suna tried to pay attention to what her Friends were talking about.
"...so Amadeth apparently has some sort of problem, apparently there's some weird Sickness going around? But they're not entirely sure, if it's an airborne one, or if it's finding some other way into people's bodies." Lilt tilted their head, uncertainly. "Maybe we should avoid it. I certainly wouldn't like to get sick, that's for sure…"
"Amadeth…" Angie pondered.
"What is it?" Suna interjected.
"Oh, uh, well, Amadeth… is apparently where Krax is from."
"Oh. Huh." Suna didn't really know what to add to that.
"Is there anything interesting to do there?" Suna thanked Beryl for intervening.
"Mm… well, there's Baths. But, why would you want to take Baths in such a hot environment, right?"
"Hey, are you kidding me??" Beryl rolled her eyes, "Hot water Baths aren't just something you can pass up!!" Beryl was passionate.
"Oh, um…"
"She can make hot water baths. With her Magic."
"Huh??" Lilt's interest was piqued.
"Wha, Excuse Meee?? Why haven't you done that yet!" Beryl squealed, she couldn't believe it.
"Oh, um, well, I guess, I just never had the chance to, really…"
"Wait, Angie, you can heat up water?" Lilt got out a notepad. "How much? What temperature? What method?" Lilt barraged her with questions.
"Waah, uh, um…!"
Suna sat. On the flustered Angie's lap. Her friends were being rather rude.
Nom. Munch.
The two heated individuals let out sighs, and went on with eating their food.
Nom, nom. Munch.
"Um… Suna…"
"Hm?"
"Uh, you can, uhh…"
"No."
"..." Angie was defeated. She continued eating, as well as she could, considering her cute obstruction. She didn't want to get anything on her hair, but it was difficult.
At some point, the Party Members were full. They sort of lounged, around the table, occasionally picking at something to eat, or twiddling with something.
"So… Where are we headed now?" Lilt posed the question. "There aren't really any more good quests for us here… Should we…" Lilt didn't finish their question. But everyone knew what they were asking.
Everyone sat, in thought.
They knew. How tough Diamond quests were. Because… they had tried them. Twice. And both times… they failed miserably.
Suna was very eager to try and fail, no matter how many times it took. But… there were systems in place. They could only try and fail a certain amount of times, in a certain period of time. Failing meant they had to complete another set of Platinum quests, before they could try again.
The usual strategy for completing quests of a rank higher than one's own, was to team up with a party of that rank. Then, you could gain the experience of actually completing a quest of that rank. But Suna… was very adamant. She did not want to team up with anyone she wasn't familiar with. And… her Friends understood why. She was very sensitive. Especially nowadays, even just people's glares seemed to set her off. She'd huddle back, in a room. But at least, if she was given enough time, she would leave. But this is why they never left her completely alone. They just didn't know what might happen if she was left alone.
Yes, she was idiosyncratic. But all of her Friends, they all found completely no issue accommodating her, assisting her, like this. For they all truly Cared for her. They all knew what kind of person she was. That she was doing her Best. That she was Kind, Bright, and Gentle. But they all scratched their heads, wondering how they could help Suna become resistant to other people. Should they try and force more exposure to Strangers? They all remembered that time, when she darted from them, crying, when she saw they brought someone to team up with, for a commission. She didn't leave her room for three days. And, well, simply shielding her from interaction with others wasn't really an option. She didn't seem to want to just seclude herself in a room, she really wanted to do quests, to Travel, with her Friends. They saw, as she pushed herself, to do just that. But her Pain was so readily apparent to them, she never hid it, she really couldn't. Stumped, they could only hope that with time, Suna might improve. She might get better. They really didn't know how they could help her.
All four of them pondered. Suna had her own desires, but she didn't want to push them onto the others, too aggressively. She didn't want them to leave her.
Beryl didn't really care. She… didn't really know what she was doing. She was just… living her life. Without a purpose. She was just… prolonging the inevitable. That was how she felt. But she did her damn best to conceal that fact from everyone.
Angie… wanted Suna to get better. That was all she cared about.
Lilt, they… they didn't know. They didn't know how they could help Suna. They didn't know what Beryl wanted. They didn't know Angie, or her past with Suna. Lilt… was scared to ask these things. What should I do? What's the right thing to do? They racked their head.
During these times, when no one seemed to voice their opinions, when no one seemed to know what to do… she always spoke up.
"Amadeth. Let's go."
The Team looked at her. And they nodded.