Fandom Hunters Unite: Monster Hunter RP

[ProjectMischa]

Strom and Varick
Strom sighed softly at the 'Jaggi Bait' remark and shrugged, "Ehh... the more common term up there is Baggi Bait, since it's too cold for Jaggi to live there. S-same concept, though." He looked surprised when he saw Warren instinctively stand up in a swift movement to seemingly protect Strom from an approaching Apceros.

An Apceros?!

Strom felt a moment of panic settle in. Why was it there? What was it doing? Was it going to smash his face in with that huge mace-tail? His breathing rapidly increased for a few moments before he saw the familiar woman astride the beast, and his father standing next to the pair. He steadied his breathing. Oh. Phew. Okay, he wasn't going to die. "Hey, d-dad," he said quietly.

Varick grinned that jovial smile of his and chuckled, "Get so caught up in conversation that ya didn't see me comin', eh?" He shook his head in amusement before looking to the two boys, and then gestured to Itami, "This lady here's Itami. She's willin' to go huntin' with ya, kiddo."

Strom widened his eyes, "Y-you didn't-!"

"I did!" Varick said with a grin. "Watcha waitin' for? Introduce yerselves."

Strom looked up to Itami. Despite her small stature, she looked pretty intimidating. "U-Uh.. hi. I'm St-Strom..."

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

Turning around and running a hand through his hair, styling it out. Warren muttered to himself.
"Aww man... It's time for classic Ledden charm..."
Warren smirked and made sure his beard was clean.
"Hey, how ya doing? Name's Warren. Warren Ledden. You may have herd of me and my family."
Warren struck a dramatic pose.
"It's a pressure to meet you all!"

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
Itami looked at both of them and smiled slightly but that smile faltered a little from the flirtatious attitude she was being delivered on first meeting Warren, though she brought herself back to normal to make sure she didn't upset them. Patting Gaia gently the large Apceros sat down and the girl slid off of the large creature standing on her own two feet now. Gaia remained seated and wrapped her mace of a tail around Itami defensively, she curtsied to them politely stumbling a slight bit but playing it off regardless of her legs having fallen asleep mere moments before. Though she didn't allow that to be any sort of set-back for her cause if she did she'd appear weak.

"Pleasure to meet you Strom and Warren" she said with a tender smile crossing her young face, she seemed so inexperienced from her looks, young and full of life and yet she'd been through quite a bit of hunting herself. Though she wasn't going to try and showcase her skills she was here to represent and strengthen the other two in her party more than herself, though it would definitely be a learning experience for her in the end of it all. "Also I should introduce you to my companion, this is Gaia.. she's my companion and friend for years" she said smiling and the Apceros let out a happy groan as if to say hi in her own language. Then she realized Warrens last name and the mention of his family, "Ah a Ledden. I expect you're confident from what I've heard of your family, which would explain this suave act your putting on. But please don't call me cute until you know more on me" she said with a smirk and then a little wink to both of the boys. She was indefinitely teasing them just because she had that ability, "So I suppose we'll all be getting to know quite a bit about each other in the next little bit of time right? Since I believe it was said we'll be hunting together... unless you two have an objection to that" she said with a little mischief in her voice. Gaia shook at little bit on the ground during this just relaxing a bit more as her club tail smacked the ground again causing a small cloud of dust to come up and fade again.
ProjectMischa Scrubnoppon

 

[ProjectMischa]

Strom and Varick
Varick raised an eyebrow when Warren introduced himself, letting out a hearty chuckle and grinning, "Yer a Ledden? I thought ya looked familiar! Heard a lot 'bout yer family in my travels." He grinned, "Well, it's nice to meetcha, Warren. We'd be happy to have ya on the team, if ya wouldn't mind huntin' with Itami and Strom here. The more the merrier, and it already looks like yer gettin' along well with Strom." He gave Strom a cheeky grin, which only made the young hunter flush in embarrassment.

Strom glanced between Gaia and Itami, not really sure what to make of seeing the girl shoot a wink his and Warren's way. Was that a wink? Strom didn't exactly have many people throw winks his way, only the coy ones from his father. It was more likely that she probably got something stuck in her eye. Yeah, that made much more sense to the young man than anything else. After all, it wasn't like Strom had much experience with girls, or other people for that matter. He also couldn't help but let out a light chuckle at the dramatic pose Warren had flashed when Itami drew near. Was that supposed to be charming and impressive? He felt bad for snickering a little, but it was a fairly comical stance to him. Then he realized something, his father didn't mention himself being in the group. "W-Wait a minute," he said, looking to his father incredulously, "Y-You're not coming with?"

Varick looked to Strom, and shook his head gently, "Nope. I can keep an eye on things from a distance, but I ain't steppin' in n' takin' away from yer experience."

Strom's jaw gaped. He couldn't help it. His father was just sending him out with near-total strangers like that? What if they all died? What if everything went terribly wrong and they decided to trip him to save themselves? Okay, that wasn't giving them enough credit, but still. He didn't have much time to dwell on it, though, as his father, being the quick, go-getter he was, already started striding ahead toward the Val Habar Guild Hall. "Well, what're ya waitin' for?" Varick had called out to the trio over his shoulder, "We're wastin' daylight! Gotta make the most of yer huntin' trip, ya know!"

Strom tried to mask the panicked look on his face, but it was hard to hide the dread he was feeling. He didn't want to go and let even more people down, but it seemed like Varick's mind had been made, and nothing would change that. He got up, shot the two hunters an apologetic look for how quickly his father was trying to rush things along, and followed after the seasoned hunter.

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

"W-W-WHAAAT? You HERD THAT?! OH NOO!"
Warren stepped back and bit his upper lip.
"B-but... did I say that out loud? Did I say it THAT loud?"
Warren cursed at himself, and perked up when she mentioned hunting
"Woah woah what?! What was that? Nobody told me we were hunting together!"
Warren looked at Strom, it was obvious that they didn't After giving him all this advice and wearing his heart on his sleeve for him, it would be almost hypocritical to bolt on them.
"Sure, you all caught me off guard with the request, but I don't mind helping out on a hunt!"
Shooting another thumbs up at Strom, Thoughts rush through Warren's head. What kind of hunters were the others like? Was Strom as bumbling as him? Or worse?
"What are we hunting?"

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
Itami moved getting back atop Gaia who stood to her feet lifting her tail, where it had smacked down was now a crater with little holes from the location of her spikes upon her tail. She looked down at Warren for a moment noticing he was standing there seeming a bit caught off guard and she shook her head slightly smiling a little bit. "We'll be hunting as a team from here on due to what i've been told.. also you might want to catch up, since I doubt you have a creature that can run faster than the people you're with" She said and Gaia followed in suit of Varick to ensure that her and Itami wouldn't manage to somehow fall behind. Since that would be an issue being that they could easily get lost in the crowd, if you were to walk beside an objective place or person you need to follow atop a giant creature it was quite easy to follow you and know where you were going.

After a moment she took out the mango from her bag and began to eat it since she needed to eat something more or she couldn't manage to sate her hunger. So munching on the mango she continued to follow after Strom and Varick hoping that Warren had remembered to follow after her or it would become a much larger issue, none the less if he didn't follow there was no excuse for loosing them since all you had to do was follow the gigantic Apceros who was walking after the other two people in the group. But then again everyone tended to have much different tendencies so she couldn't exactly be too upset or anything regardless.
Scrubnoppon ProjectMischa

 

[ProjectMischa]

Strom and Varick
Strom couldn't help but smile a little at how flustered Warren got. It seemed girls might be a bit of a weakness for the bearded hunter. Not that Strom had any room to chuckle at weaknesses, since his could be summed up to just about everything. He let out a sigh of relief when Warren agreed to follow along with his father's grand hunting scheme. It was a pretty sudden request, and even Strom hadn't been all too aware of it until Varick brought it up to everyone. At least he was hunting with someone he somewhat knew, even if he wasn't as familiar with the Ledden name as his dad was. He hung back a little to walk beside Warren so the group wouldn't be separated, though Varick was doing a pretty good job of walking at a comfortable, easy to follow pace. "D-Don't worry," Strom told Warren quietly, "m-maybe she'll forget all about that once w-we get s-some h-hunting in? T-Thanks for f-following along with my d-dad's plan, by the way. I kn-know it was sudden and all."

Varick grinned and shot back a smile at the small group of hunters behind him as they made their way to the massive building at the end of the street. Even with the large throngs of shoppers and traders about, the Guild Hall was hard to miss. It stood out like a beacon of hope to many, a place where brave hunters gathered and set out on valiant adventures. Varick's grin was a knowing and slightly mischievous grin as he heard Warren question what they'd be going after. "Well, kiddos," Varick said with a gruff chuckle, "I've gotten word from the Guild Master that a nearby village has been bothered by a feisty lil' Azuros. They're not far from 'ere, but the Guild's promisin' to take care o' the travel fer ya if ya decide to go along with the request. That's why I came out here with my boy. It's a good startin' monster, lil' tougher than a Great Jaggi, but still not too tough. Shouldn't be an issue for you all if ya work together."

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

Warren didn't have much trouble following, considering most people made generous room for the large Apceros. Warren and Strom followed in its wake.
"Eh. I'm not too worried about that. She didn't look like she took it to heart. Besides, you're right. Time should make things work out."
Warren realized he was already off to a bad start, and thought that if worst comes to worst he'll move on eventually.
"Oh, and it's no problem, pal. I don't mind getting my hands a little dirty and hunting with you. It shouldn't be a problem if there are three of us."
Warren said quietly to Strom.
"This place always amazes me. I dunno why. It always does."
Entering the Hunter's hall, Warren took a second to let everything in. The food stalls, the shops, the cute quest girl...
"Oh, we're just hunting a Azuros? I'm not worried then."
Warren was very worried.
He knew an Azuros wasn't the most formidable foe, but given his hunting skills Compared to his family's...
"We'll give it our all!"

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
Itami continued to have Gaia walk but made her stand outside the hall so that they could go in without too much attention. The large beast was reluctant to let her master go so suddenly but didn't exactly have the ability to object and instead stood ready to swat at anyone who got too close. The purple should be enough to indicate it definitely wasn't wild in the slightest manner of the word, well that and it not charging everyone nearby. Though it wouldn't take too much to spook her into action she would defend that spot Itami had stated for her to hold with all of her life which was indeed an intended purpose of the matter.

Itami walked with the others carefully making sure she didn't cause a disturbance for anyone else until it was absolutely necessary. But that was when she heard the statement about the Azuros, she'd heard of them though never fought one before.. a hunter which had passed by the market told her about it. "Isn't it like... a glutton of sorts?" She asked remembering the stories which she had been told of the creature raiding their base camp just to eat a little bit more than it had previously.
ProjectMischa Scrubnoppon

 

[ProjectMischa]

Strom and Varick
Varick grinned and nodded, looking to Itami when she asked her question, "Yep! The lil' beasties just can't seem to eat enough honey. The village in need of help has a pretty prosperous bee farm, and the Azuros that moved in has been sneakin' in tryin' to gobble up all the honey. Keeps hurtin' people in the process, and they can't afford to keep rebuildin' every time the beast comes back for more. Only a matter of time 'fore it kills someone, ya know?"

Strom frowned at Varick's last remark. His commonly found dread was beginning to settle in, as he had an inkling suspicion that the person the Azuros would manage to kill would be him. Unless maybe it decided Warren was the bigger threat? He was bulkier, made for more monster meat . . . No! No, no, no. He berated himself mentally. You can't use Warren as a meatshield, that's really mean, he thought, since he was certain Warren wouldn't be doing that to him. He even stood in front of Strom when Gaia approached, in case the Apceros was a wild one rampaging through town. Strom couldn't repay that treatment by using him as a shield again. That's what his own shield was for! He took a deep, shaky breath, "S-So we just go in and t-take care of it?"

"Exactly!" Varick said, giving his son a proud look, "Easy. I'll tell the Guildmaster yer ready to head out, and he'll set up all the travel details fer ya. They'll be ready ta take ya out there as soon as possible, so get all settled and prepared fer then."

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

"Hold on, lemme buy a few things and we can get going!"
Warren nodded and scampered off to one of the stalls.
"Heeey!"
"Augh..."
As Warren approached, the woman working the stall groveled. She had long, flowing black hair, An hourglass frame, and glasses. Warren had hit on her many times before.
"What do you want?"
"Woah, I just want to buy some stuff, man."
"You say that every time."
"But I do, don't I?"
"Yes but you got monster blood on EVERYTHING I HAD!"
"Well, you know..."
Warren grabbed a few potions and some honey.
"I'll take these. Alright?"
Warren handed her the money for the purchase.
"Thanks for the purchase..."
"No problem!"
"I'd say come again but that won't change anything."
With a grin on his face, Warren walked back to the group, mixing the potions with the honey.
"Sorry about that. Hope I didn't take too long. I'm ready to head out."
Mulling it over, Warren felt slightly better about the hunt, but he still had his doubts.

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
Itami saw Warren run off and thought for a moment before whistling to summon Gaia. The large Apceros lumbered her way over to Itami being careful not to damage anything as she allowed Itami back onto her back. Which the small girl accepted since they were still quite close in the end, she seemed a bit relaxed from all of this before stretching. "Hopefully you two boys have some moxie to you or it will be a bit difficult to hunt with you both." She said smiling to the two of them, all she really expected from the two was to have an outlook on the hunt and be at least a little bit social with her.

She began to think a little more in-depth on things though she also knew that she would need to be protective of these two or at least one of them from what she knew, as long as they could at least distract larger creatures for a moment and not get too injured in doing so she was almost entirely confident that they could take them on in the three-man team that they had, well four if you counted Gaia. But then again that was another topic entirely for now she had to focus more on the fact she was about to head out on her first hunt with this team and after something she'd only heard of, it was an exciting experience for her and she felt.. giddy almost as if she were that young and inexperienced hunter which she had once been. "Well let's hope they don't make us too long... I don't want to waste all my excitement on standing around" she said with a bright brimming smile across her lips.
ProjectMischa Scrubnoppon

 

[ProjectMischa]

Setting the Scene
It didn't take much longer for the Guild to finish the travel preparations. One thing they prided themselves in was swift service and quick deliveries when hunting was involved. Originally, the idea had been to take the hunters out by airship, but when taking the girl's Apceros into account, the staff decided travel by caravan would work more smoothly. The intended location wasn't too far out, and the group would reach their destination quickly regardless of the type of travel they took. The caravan was ready to go shortly after the group of hunters returned from their preparations, and the driver met with the three of them, speaking in a friendly, excited tone as he motioned for them to go to the modest cart.

Travel time took a few hours out of the day, and the hot afternoon sun beat down on the travelers as the caravan approached their destination. The group would be dropped off at a base camp closest to the target. The land was more lush and lively than the desert they had arrived from, with bugs flying about here and there to pester larger creatures in the heat. The caravan driver explained the mission in more detail, as a refresher to the hunters, before dropping them off at the camp.

"You have a few days to locate the Arzuros and deal with it however you need to. Killing is preferred, but capturing is an option if the going gets tough. The villagers only ask that you deal with the beast quickly, as they're due for another honey raid from it, and they just barely recovered from the last attack. The Guild's left some extra supplies for you in that big, blue box over there. Good luck to you all!"

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

As Warren stepped off the caravan, he tossed an empty cold drink to the side, and chugged down another.
"It's so hooot! It's not even the dunes!"
Warren wiped sweat out of his forehead and beard, and headed over to the blue box, as the caravan driver mentioned.
"Let's see... some maps..."
Warren unraveled one of the maps amen glanced over it.
"Some mini whetstones... I'll take a few."
Warren pocketed some of the whetstones.
"Some rations, I brought my own food but you guys feel free..."
Warren continued to dig through the box, not needing any of the rest of the items.
"Well, I think I'm about prepared."

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
She smiled and shook her head slightly before walking over to the blue box, she grabbed one of the maps and some of the rations. The rest of it she could honestly care less about and they seemed irrelevant to her cause of this hunt, Gaia went to sitting before standing once more with Itami atop of her. This would give a better position to scout out the area and find this Arzuros or wherever the honey-loving monster were at, Checking her bow with every key component she could she smiled realizing that it was perfectly fine. "Alright i'm ready to roll when you two are" She said smiling and bringing her bow out notching an arrow. She watched a bug carefully watching where it was moving before letting an arrow fly.

The arrow pinned the poor creature to a rock nearby where it struggled for a moment only to die, it was an odd satisfaction one gets from taking the life of a monster.. but she didn't know why she got that. Gaia moved over to it and pulled the arrow free giving it back to Itami who traded her an herb for it. "Seems like we have a bit of target practice don't we?" She asked with a smile, "Also I forgot to ask you both earlier.. who do you think the leader should be in our group?" She asked cocking her head slightly to the two of them as Gaia munched on the herb happily. A few of the other bugs buzzed around alive unlike their comrade which Itami had dispersed of.
ProjectMischa Scrubnoppon

 

[ProjectMischa]

Strom
Strom searched through the blue supply box carefully when the other two were done, grabbing a map, a couple of rations, and some first-aid potions. He felt he'd doubly need them. Armor or not, his spindly arms could easily be broken by the monster they were hunting. Even if Varick referred to the Arzuros as 'little', it'd still be large enough to cause some serious damage, and definitely larger than Strom. Then again, his father had a tendency to refer to every monster as little purely through his way of speaking. Strom shook his head to clear his thoughts, stuffing the new supplies into his item pouch and turning towards the other two hunters. This was it, his first big hunt away from his dad and away from the tundras, and it was to be done with two people he had just met earlier that day. He couldn't exactly back out now, not when Warren and Itami were expecting him to follow through with the hunt like they would.

Strom couldn't blame Warren for complaining about the heat. Having grown up around snow all his life, the heat felt like standing in lava for the young hunter. He let out a low sigh and fanned his sweating face, trying to cool himself down a little before deciding to do what Warren did. He quickly downed a cold drink, feeling the relief spread through his gut as the cooling sensation took over. "W-Way too hot out, y-yeah," he said in agreement, before jumping in startled surprise when Itami suddenly shot a bug out of the air.

After a brief breather from the shock, he registered Itami's question and looked at her uncertainly, "A l-leader? Ah..." he frowned and looked down at the ground, his booted foot tracing patterns into the dirt demurely as he mulled it over, "I-I think I'm the least qualified o-out of the three of us to l-lead. S-So I mean... It'd be between t-the two of you, I think." He glanced between Itami and Warren. Both seemed so strong and confident in themselves, he honestly thought they'd do fine as a group with either of them as a leader. If Strom was leading, he'd just tell them that they should abandon ship and head home before the monsters killed them all.

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

"O-oh!"
Warren smirked at Itami's question and stood tall and heroically. His helmet on and eyes filled with a firey passion.
"I'll be our leader!"
Warren maintained his smirk and continued talking, his hands still heroically on his hips.
"Although we may be a group of fledgling hunters now, this is the first stepping stone across the river of the hunting world!"
Extending his hand, and gesturing toward the plains Warren's voice boomed.
"We have a goal in set, and I will do everything in my power to make sure we reach it! Even if I don't come back alive, I'll be sure you all do! My sword cuts through those who oppose us, and my shield guards us from those who are foolish enough to strike! With us in charge, we cannot looooose!"
Warren brandished his sword in the air as he concluded his speech. Maintaining his pose he looked back to the group.
"Anyone else wanna contend?"

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
Smirking at Warren and Strom she noticed the distinct differences between the two of them, She noticed a lack of confidence and confusion as it seemed in one. In the other she noticed courage and confidence but in reality she had yet to see if that was to be backed up on the battlefield, that's where a leader needed to take charge but they also needed to think ahead on things rather than the here and now. At least in her opinion a good leader needed to be such, "Well how about this. We will judge who is the most appropriate leader based on our performance out in the field. We are all still learning but if we can't come to terms with battle and actually manage to lead there then what's the point in calling oneself a leader?" She asked this confidently knowing the exact reason why she was doing this beyond all other reason in the matter of it.

"Strom, Warren. I wish you both the best of luck.. and i'm counting on you both. Let's not loose anyone today alright?" She asked seeming a bit more sentimental and her tone holding almost a sadness to it as though she was used to loosing people on expeditions like these but wasn't saying anything. Gaia moved slightly due to Itami pushing against her side with her foot, "So let's try to find this beast and go. You two seem pretty warm at the moment and that drink won't last forever!" She said with a smirk, when you grew up your entire life out in one of the hottest areas of the dessert it was easy to understand how others had more of an issue. However.. the cold would more than likely be a complete and absolute nightmare for her to have to handle.

Gaia continued to walk leaving footprints in the sand behind her as they moved Itami's bow drawn just in case they came across anything that would be a good idea to get some materials off of or anything really for that matter. She just hoped they'd find something sooner or later, if they happened to find more Apceros maybe she could get the other two a couple of rides.. though that was more unlikely than not she did understand Apceros quite well and in these conditions it wouldn't be the worst thing. For now though she decided an equal trade-off of commands would be for the best so she decided to take the early lead on that and hope the others would understand and do the same in due time.
Scrubnoppon ProjectMischa

 

[ProjectMischa]

Strom
Strom looked between the two, watching their exchange. Warren seemed really confident in himself, almost comically so as he brandished his sword and waved it around in an theatrical manner. At least, that's how Strom saw it. He couldn't help but quietly speak under his breath, "I have a shield too.." He shrugged, his voice too meek to actually carry. Itami's suggestion seemed sound, though, when he heard what she had to say. "G-Good idea," he said timidly, "That g-gives us a chance to see h-how we all operate. T-Though I don't have much to offer, you've been warned."

He followed Itami and Gaia cautiously out of the base camp, his shield at the ready in case anything decided to fly out at him. Strom looked around, studying each bush and plant as if his life depended on it, as if at any moment something could fly out and try to claw his eyes out. Why didn't this helmet cover his face entirely? It seemed like such a huge oversight from the designers. Who knows what could happen to his eyes or face? He'd be done for!

He took a deep breath to try and keep himself from freaking out, and instead pulled out his map to get a look at the general layout of the area. "Th-They said the Arzuros l-liked eating honey, so maybe if we check a-any place th-that has bee hives in the area we could find it?" Not that he actually wanted to check those places out. The last thing he wanted was to run head first into the beast. What did they even look like? He never encountered those monsters in the icy wasteland he lived in.

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

"W-what? Aww! I thought I'd be leader for sure... Guess I'll have to prove it to you all!"
Warren followed the others into the lush green landscape the Azuros was home to. He was used to places such as the one he currently traveled in, because his father took him to a similar location to train when he was younger.
"Ahh, I see. You want us to look for the honey huh? That's smart!"
Warren nodded at Strom's suggestion. It made sense. If they found honey, most likely the Azuros would be nearby.
"And if we find sources of honey that seem to be unprotected, I can use the honey to lure the Azuros into a trap! Lather some raw meat with honey and some other fix ins to get it to eat tainted meat!"
Warren rubbed his hands at all the possibilities. He felt better knowing they had somewhat of a plan in the works.
"Let's stick together until we find the Azuros, so we won't have to worry about grouping up to fight it. I don't wanna have one of us end up in a bad situation, like finding it alone. It'd be too much of a hassle to group up, and it wastes precious time, and puts us in danger."

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
Nodding to both of their ideas she looked around for any hives she could see in obvious view, there was the look of some that had been destroyed nearby but other than that none. "That's very true though.. if we don't stick together than it's more likely that we're all going to have issues. But for now there's really no need to split up, we find the honey, set the trap, and fight it." She said in a more matter of fact tone than anything else. While she was more forward with her approach on things she also had the tendency to be back and chilled out a little more than not.

"But I think any of us are viable as a leader. No matter whether we feel it or not.. It all comes down to what the team feels is the best option otherwise we won't feel as safe on it." She said hoping that they'd agree with her as Gaia continued to walk sniffing as she did, the area was likely unfamiliar to the beast so it made the most sense that she'd be a bit curious of the new world around her and the shift in location.
ProjectMischa Scrubnoppon

 

[ProjectMischa]

Strom
Strom let out a soft sigh of relief when both Warren and Itami stated that they shouldn't split up. He had no intentions to do that in the first place. "G-Good to stick together," he agreed meekly, "We c-can watch out for each other then." He certainly wanted to stay as a group for self-preservation over anything else. Had he been out here on his own, the young hunter would have certainly messed up and died. That would have been a tragic tale. Probably. He'd only hope there'd be something left of him.

He inspected the broken bee hives nearby, fresh honey slowly dripping onto the ground. It had looked like something broke the hive open to get at the treasure inside, maybe a person, or, more accurately, a large, honey-loving monster. That meant their target had to be somewhere nearby, if they followed the trail of broken hives. Probably. He wasn't about to go charging headfirst into the lush forest, however. That was an option that spelled certain death for the spindly man. He listened carefully to the sounds of the wildlife. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the soft chirping of birds, the buzzing of insects. A couple of Altaroth slowly crawled across the grass to collect what honey had spilled to the forest floor. Strom shuddered. Big bugs were not exactly a favorite of his, but they were better than huge monsters that could tear him to shreds or swallow him whole. The only other sound he heard was the soft, rustling of the leaves.

Wait a minute...

The soft rustling was increasing in intensity, as if something was shuffling about in the grasses beyond. That couldn't bode well. Was it the Arzuros? "Um, h-hey, do you hear that?" Strom asked his companions quietly. He readied his blade just in case, though he had no idea how he'd effectively use it, or whether he'd actually be able to do any damage.

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse

 

[Scrubnoppon]

"Yeah... I herd it too..."
Warren bit his lip and drew his sword and shield. He looked to the other two, as a sense of dread flowed through him.
"...I'll scout over there. You both stay behind me."
Slowly, Warren crept closer to the soft rustling, his shield in front of him. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he quietly peered through the bushes and grasses where the soft noises rang...

 

[Entity.Eclypse]

Itami
Unsure as of why Warren has moved over her and Gaia began to move closer as well, the bow being drawn and Gaia's tail ready to swing as soon as she had deemed it necessary to do. All they could do was hope it was nothing too dangerous or else the entire group would be in a world of trouble, which could quite possibly spell absolute disaster for them so she just needed to hope for the best. Gaia didn't seem very frightened which helped Itami's confidence a bit since that meant whatever came out of that bush was more than likely to get a nice smack from Gaia's tail.

That alone required Itami to keep her careful since Warren was there, but she needed to help protect them. Strom, Warren, Gaia they all needed to stay safe since if any of them got hurt it'd be her fault. Maybe not to others but to her it would be inevitable that since she wasn't enough to save them they had gotten hurt because of that. Though maybe that was just how she saw things... she really couldn't tell and she only hoped they didn't end up risking their necks for anything stupid. If it was the Arzuros behind this bush then maybe food could make it stay away from attacking. She was tempted to see if they could bait it out before the fact but it was far too late to recommend that idea now that they stuck their hands into the thing "Be careful... we don't know what it is yet, If it's dangerous jump back and Gaia can swing on it" She said cautiously making sure that they all could be cautious as possible.
ProjectMischa Scrubnoppon

 

[ProjectMischa]

Past the thick bushes, the rustling noise grew even louder. It was clear now what the sound was. A shuffling, snuffling sound echoed in the air and to the ears of any nearby who could listen. Here rested a decent amount of beehives, busy worker bees bustling about hurriedly to get work done, yet they moved in an agitated manner. What was sitting at the end of the grove explained it all. There, digging its sharp, red claws into a once peaceful hive, sat a large, blue, bear-like creature. It was easily as big as Gaia, if not bigger. Sharp spines ran down the top part of its back, and its forearms were covered in scales and similar spikes. It certainly didn't take long to find the Arzuros.

Strom
Strom widened his eyes in fright as he gazed past the thick undergrowth and spied the big, blue creature before him. It was huge. Was it supposed to be that huge? The poor boy had no clue, as this was the first Arzuros he had ever laid his eyes on. Why were they so big? Why was its claws so large and sharp? It was spiky! And the claws were red! Did that mean its claws were forever stained by the blood of its enemies? Had it killed a bunch of people and failed to clean up the blood? Strom felt like he was about to faint with all of the thoughts that ran through his mind. This was where he would die. Not too tough of a monster, his dad had said, only a lil' tougher than a Great Jaggi. Varick had to have been kidding.

In his fright, Strom took a slight step back, taken aback by the sheer size of the monstrosity. Upon stepping back, he accidentally stepped on a twig, and a loud snap reverberated throughout the clearing. Oops.The Arzuros immediately paused its feast, its head snapping to the direction of the noise. Beady red eyes rested on the group of hunters, and that's when Strom noticed that the Arzuros had a large scar going over one of its eyes. This beast had seen battle before. Not good. They had its attention now, thanks to Strom's clumsiness.

Scrubnoppon Entity.Eclypse