A Jagged Adventure

CHAPTER SEVEN

Beanie and Red got the OK from Elder Fugen to begin their final assessment. There was just one more task that needed doing before they would officially be recognized as Kamura Hunters. They put their Kamura Garb on and headed out to the Shrine Ruins to meet with Master Utsushi so that they could find out what that final task was.

Master Utsushi looked mildly amused at their arrival.

"You get lost?" He asked breezily.

"We wanted to be prepared," Beanie replied absently. Her focus was more on the lush green grass, high rocky walls, and gurling stream than Master Utsushi himself. It was very beautiful.

"Well, listen up, because I will not be repeating myself for a tiny little kitty cat and her guard mutt."

Beanie's head snapped to the hunter, and Red growled.

"Oh, you think this is going to be a breeze?" Master Utsushi crossed his arms and tilted his head at them. "I am sure you have loads of potential stored in your tiny paws, but until you prove yourself with this trial, you will not be worth my time and energy. So, on to business. Over there is the camp. You can use it to store your weapons and items on hunts. Over there is the storage box. You can use it to gather up items that other Hunters have left for you to find. Those items may help you on your current endeavor."

Red walked over and opened the lid to the storage box. His pelt prickled.

"There's nothing in here." He observed.

"Too bad." Master Utsushi yawned. "Your task is this: Walk around the Shrine Ruins and be back before dark. Oh, and you need to be in one piece." He paused. "Yeah. That's about it."

Beanie furrowed her brown and glanced at Red. The Palamute shrugged.

"All we have to do is... Walk around?" Beanie asked.

"Yup." Master Utsushi readied himself, and then took off using a wirebug. "Good luck! We'll see you tonight at the celebration party if there's enough of you left to celebrate!"

Red and Beanie glanced at one another.

"Is he serious?" Red laughed. "All we have to do is sit in one spot, right here, and we'll be fine!"

Red proceeded to lay down and sniff at a beetle crawling through the grass.

"Piece of cake." His tail wagged.

Beanie was tempted to do that. Oh, she was very tempted. But that would be wrong. She wanted to earn her place as a Hunter, not be handed the title after sitting in one place doing nothing all day. Her mind made up, she squared her shoulders and walked over to Red.

"Get up," she ordered, kicking him in the ribs. Red flinched and growled, but she was unfazed. "We should at least familiarize ourselves with the area. We'll be here a lot, I think."

"Magnamalo was fought here." Red stood up and gestured for her to climb onto his back. "We might as well see where the battle happened. I heard a few of the Hunters talking about an area that was flooded. I think it's that way if we follow the path."

Beanie jumped onto his back, fully expecting to be bitten or thrown off, but after a few seconds, she relaxed and noticed Red staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Beanie asked guiltily.

"I'm not that evil," Red snarled.

"So you are evil?" Beanie questioned, stifling a chuckle.

"Pfft."

Red turned and took off down the thin path that ran along the stream. Beanie loved the rush of the wind in her face, the feel of going far faster than any Palico should be able to go. They would be able to cover the entire map within fifteen minutes at this pace!

Red howled in alarm, and the next thing she knew, he had launched them both off the sheer cliff face that overlooked Shrine Ruins. Beanie yowled in terror, digging her claws into anything she could, be it cloth, leather, or fur. Red howled in terror as they plummeted to the ground, but before they could lament on how badly they were about to fail, Beanie felt Red shift under her, and as his paws hit the ground he launched himself forward, redistributing the force of the fall into moving forward at an alarming pace. Beanie held on for her life, screeching until her voice cracked.

Red sailed up the path, swinging around a bend, and vaulting himself up the trail. His paws skimmed over the old, worn stone steps until, finally, he slowed to a stop at the top.

Beanie slid off his back; her limbs were noodles, and she could no longer hold on. Red gasped for every breath, but his eyes were exhilarated, and his muscles twinged with energy underneath his fur.

"What was THAT?" Beanie demanded.

"That was..." Red paused to inhale, "the most fun I have ever had in my entire life!"

Beanie stared, then fell back with a sigh. Chirping from nearby alerted her to the fact that they were not alone, and she immediately remembered what Master Utsushi said about coming back alive.

"Red?" she staggered to her paws and saw two Bombadgy staring at them. They reared up, inspecting the threat level, and chittered to each other warily.

What is that?

A Palico and a Palamute from the Hunter settlement on the cliff.

What are they doing here?

I'm not sure, but there's no Hunter scent on them. We're alright.

Beanie blinked, wondering if she'd imagined the voices, and noticed the two Bombadgy were waddling away, unimpressed.

"Red?"

"I think Red is out of commission." The Palamute's words sounded pained, and she turned to see her partner struggling to stand.

"Red!"

"That's my name, stop wearing it out!" Red staggered to his paws, but his stance was shaky at best. "I'm already named after one of the most common colors, I don't need it to sound that familiar as well!"

Beanie ran over to him and noticed that all four of his ankles were red and swollen. Beanie remembered the disastrous fall, and the mad dash from the cliffs to here. Red collapsed back onto the ground, and she shook her head helplessly. There was nothing she could do. The supply box back at camp was empty.

"Find herbs," Red said through gritted teeth. "We passed some, back there."

"Herbs? Okay, got it!" Beanie ran back down the path, plucked a few of the forest greens out from between the stone steps, and made her way back to where Red lay. "Here you go. Do you... Just eat it?"

Red answered that by snatching the herbs out of Beanies paws and gobbling them down. She watched, waited, and was amazed to see that his paws looked a bit less red, and a bit less swollen.

"Herbs!" Beanie noted that down in her mind. "They can cure mild injuries."

"My injuries are not mild." Red got to his paws, wincing. "I'll need a potion, I think, back at the village."

"Let's go!" Beanie turned around and headed back down the trail but stopped when she realized Red wasn't following her. "Red? Oh, shoot! Sorry!"

Glancing around, Red was nowhere to be seen. Heading back to the top of the path, she found the small area void of life. Even the Bombadgy pair had retreated underground. Red was gone!

"RED!" Beanie stared around wildly, looking for any sign of her injured partner. "Where are you?!"

Something poked out of the leaf litter near the old wooden archway, and she bent over to pick up a prickly tuft of brown fur. Her worst fears were realized when she smelled and then noticed the leaves speckled with fresh blood.

A Great Izuchi prowls these parts. Beanie dove into the taller grass, and stared around wildly, half expecting the large monster to leap out and snatch her, too. And I think it saw poor injured Red as it's next meal. This is not good. Not good at all.

A howl of agony echoed from somewhere nearby, and after pinpointing where it was coming from, Beanie leapt into action. Literally.

"Hold on, buddy!" Beanie charged down the path in the direction of her presumably dying friend. "I'm coming to save you!"

Again.