The Unwanted Tamer

Gaia awoke the next morning cuddled up with Fergus. He had his arms around her as she laid with her back to his chest. She decided to just relax and laid there for a while before Fergus woke up himself. They stayed like this for a while longer, but got up as her bonds started to awaken. Malachite was first and needed assistance to extricate himself from her hair, as he'd got himself knotted in it. Fergus helped her as she tried to untangle him.

The movement awoke Shadow who'd been laid out beside her and she promptly started to lick Gaia's face. Making it even harder for her to pay attention to the mess that was her hair. Liv had been awake the entire time as Gaia had heard the laughter at Malachite's situation, through their bond. The last to awaken was Antonio who just started moving after exiting his almost statuesque state of torpor.

It took a while for Fergus to extricate Malachite since Gaia was moving from Shadow's loving licks and the pulling of her hair. He luckily succeeded in helping Malachite with only a bit of complaining from Gaia. He'd tried his best but he'd still accidentally pulled some hair out. When he looked at it he noticed it was actually gemstone, just extremely hair-thin strands of it. This wasn't unheard of for Earthbound but was still pretty rare.

"Have you ever realized that your hair is actual gemstone?" He asked.

"I thought it felt like it at first, but it still feels like regular hair to me. I didn't realize it actually was though. Why?" She asked.

"Well, some came out when trying to get Malachite out and I looked at it. It's actually gemstone." He replied.

"Wait, what? Will it grow back? Actually, does my hair even grow? I don't think it really has since I got here, not that I can see it to tell. It does feel a bit longer, but I can't really tell." She replied slightly panicked.

"It's fine. Yes, your hair grows, and yes it will grow back. Your hair has gotten longer since I first met you. It's grown almost a foot, are you saying you never noticed? It doesn't get in the way of anything?" He asked.

"Not really. How long is it now? How long it is doesn't really matter when you can't see. From what I remember, long hair really only got in the way of being able to see. I also don't think it will get long enough to get in the way otherwise." She replied.

"When we met, it was just passed your shoulders. Now, it's around the middle of your back."

"Really? I must not have noticed since it grows slowly. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Do you want to get up and go for the usual walk before breakfast? We're going to the League today to check out the requests, if I recall correctly."

"Of course. I'll be ready in a moment." He replied as he got up from the bed.

After a few moments, where Gaia guessed he was changing clothes, they were both ready. They walked out of the room and towards the garden. Luckily for them, no one else exited their rooms at that moment, so there weren't any misunderstandings. They reached the garden a minute later and slowed their pace. Gaia held Fergus' hand as she had the other out running over the plants leaves as they walked. The scents were delightful for them both, with multiple flowers blooming and the wet ground from being watered.

They enjoyed their walk like this, Fergus enjoying the sights and Gaia's obvious love for the aromas and plants. They eventually reached their usual bench and sat down, side by side. Gaia relaxed against him as they waited for the sunrise. Fergus enjoyed the view while she just enjoyed being together and the warmth of the sun's rays when it'd risen high enough. They stayed there until it was time for breakfast. They got up and went inside to meet the rest of their companions for the day.

They arrived in the dining room to find everyone else already there. They quickly joined the table. This morning's breakfast was delicious as always and happened to be sausage, potatoes and eggs. She was reminded of breakfasts from earth with her family which was nice. She hadn't thought about them recently and the thoughts made her a bit sad, since it was likely she'd never be able to see them again. Her thoughts were pulled from her reminiscing by the Baron's usual question.

Today, however, everyone planned to go to the Hunter's League and check out the requests that were available. They'd all been waiting around and not really doing much for at least a couple months. Everyone was feeling antsy and wanted to do something. Their funds were also slowly depleting by all of the restaurants they were going to. They all wanted to get back to work and earn some money.

Thus, almost everyone filed out of the dining room and towards the Hunter League building. The only ones who didn't were the Baron, Baroness and Delilah. They all had paperwork, obligations or other plans for the day. Fauna, Flora and Freya all made the trip to the League together. Freya was, in essence, Fauna's dedicated League receptionist for the foreseeable future. They didn't mind, but it would make it a bit harder on her since she didn't know what requests were currently available. She told them that they'd be talking to someone else today, but come tomorrow, she should be able to give them requests. She'd be knowledgeable enough about the requests and monsters that were in the area that she'd be able to issue requests.

They arrived at the League and immediately entered. The place was busy and crowded so they had to push their way in. At least that was the case for everyone except Gaia, who had Malachite do so for her. They shoved their way through the mass of people and got into line behind those before them. Flora split off and went off to wherever bronze rank hunters got their requests. Gaia guessed that it was the second floor if it was the same as the League in Boundary.

Fauna waited in line until it was their turn to talk to the receptionist. They stepped up and the receptionist looked them over. At least that's what Gaia assumed they did based on the silence and slight movement of the person's head. The silence continued for a while before Gaia ended it by coughing. She had felt the gaze on her and Malachite for a while and it had started to get uncomfortable.

"Ah, right. How can I help you today? You lot aren't regulars, are you new to the area?" The person asked. Their voice was odd. Gaia couldn't tell whether they were male or female and it sounded almost monotone. She could hear the barest shift in pitch as they spoke, but it always returned to the same monotone pitch immediately after.

"Yes, we are. We came to see what requests were available. We'll be in the area for a while, but our dedicated receptionist here hasn't been to this area recently. She suggested we speak to a receptionist for today and she'd be ready by tomorrow." Griff explained.

"Oh… Very well. Give me just a moment. May I see your badges? And what was the name of your party?" The person asked.

"Fauna." Stephanie replied as they all handed their badges to the receptionist who checked them. The receptionist paused for just a moment before continuing.

Their badges were taken off while they waited. It took the receptionist about a half hour to return. They were walking back a bit faster than they'd left. They handed the party's badges back. Griff paused for a moment after grabbing his and spoke.

"Why do we have four arrows now? We only had two before, why the big jump?" He asked.

"I didn't recognize the name of your party, but you were the ones who cleared the ruins by Boundary, right?" They asked, to which Griff nodded.

"Well, there were a lot of recommendations for you to have more. You did a lot in those ruins for the League to agree. Normally a party or hunter can only gain arrows one at a time. There have been a few exceptions to my knowledge, one of which appears to apply to you guys. Now, I'm sorry for how long that took. My name is Gill. I also had to check what requests you could take, which changed after the update to your badges. The Mana Torrent is still ongoing so there is a limit to the number of requests you can take. For now, these are the requests you can choose from. You can only take two, this includes any requests that will take multiple days." The receptionist explained.

There was silence for a bit before Gaia nudged Fergus who then read all of the requests out loud. The first was an investigation and subjugation request. The requester wanted a party to come and investigate what was killing the livestock of the village. Then, if possible to kill it. The monster was in an area where bronze rank monsters didn't appear so it was determined to be stone rank, but was still reserved for party's with more arrows. This would also likely require an overnight stay since the monster attacked at night.

The second was a simple subjugation request. It asked the party to subjugate a group of monsters known as Krimeds. They were monsters that were relatively weak but had variants that appeared when they gathered in numbers. The request asked them to destroy a small nest within a day's travel of the capital. It also had a stipulation for more pay, if it was bigger than expected. There was also a clause that allowed them to retreat if the nest was deemed too large.

The third was an escort request that would last for about a week. It was to escort a merchant while he made deliveries and traded with the villages surrounding the capital. They would be the only party going, but the merchant would have a bronze rank guard that was hired separately. This was just in case of an emergency, and the guard would only step in if there was a bronze rank threat and only to defend the client. This request felt somewhat sketchy, so they didn't want to take it unless they needed to.

The final request that Gill had given them was another security request but was quite different. This one was for a school trip. The request was from the League itself and to escort a class of trainees on an excursion outside the capital. It would last for a week, but they would be paid for each day. They would be in charge of security but could call for a staff member if a bronze rank showed up. The area they were going wasn't supposed to have any, but they would have a couple bronze rank staff members assistance just to be safe. This request was also restricted to those who had at least three arrows.

They thought about the options before speaking. "When does the security request start? And can we do one of the first two before it?" Gaia asked.

"The security one says it should start tomorrow around noon, so we should be able to do one of the first two before it. We just need to decide which one." Griff stated.

"The investigation one shouldn't be overly difficult, as long as the monster is stone rank at least. The Krimed one could either be extremely easy or extremely dangerous. It mainly depends on how big the nest is and if it was completely discovered. I don't want to take the chance before a long request like the security one." Stephanie added.

"So, in conclusion, we want to take the security and investigation ones. The other escort request seems sketchy since they'll already have a bronze rank guard and are asking for a group that's weaker to escort them. The Krimed one is just too uncertain. It could be a small nest like they reported or it could be massive and have variants making it overly dangerous. Am I right in this thinking?" Gaia asked.

Everyone agreed. "Alright. Then, we'd like to take the investigation and the security requests." Gaia stated.

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"Very well. The security request begins at noon tomorrow and you will meet them in the square by the southern gate. The leader of the excursion would like it if you arrived early, though. The investigation request comes from a village around five hours east of the capital called Lastgrove. The village mayor will meet you to give you more information when you arrive." Gill explained before speaking again. "Now, is there anything else I can assist you with today?"

"No. That should be it. Thank you for the help." Griff replied.

"Very well. Good luck with your hunts." Gill stated as the party left the counter.

Freya quickly bid them good luck and goodbye as she went to the back of the building. She was going to do whatever it was she did to become acquainted with the areas information. Fauna left the building and began moving towards the Baron's estate. They needed to let him know about their plans as they'd just changed. They would be out for the night investigating Lastgrove before going on a week long security request.

They arrived at the mansion and swiftly relayed their plans to the Baron. He thanked them for letting him know and told them to stay safe. They quickly grabbed their items, at least any they'd need for the requests, and agreed to meet at the entrance in around fifteen minutes. This time ended up being needed, since Gaia had to get Stephanie's help finding her items. Mainly her clothes, or rather those she needed for underneath her armor, and for her travel bag. The maids had unloaded it all when she'd started staying in the room and would insist on helping her dress. She guessed it was a noble thing and she needed the help finding the items anyway, so she usually let them do what they wanted.

Luckily, they were finished and at the mansion's entrance right at the time they agreed. They rode Malachite down to make sure they got there on time, it may have been a bit close, but they made it. No one commented on it guessing what had likely occurred based on the half open travel pack in Gaia's lap. They made their way out of the estate and started towards the east gate. They almost got lost, having taken a turn when they shouldn't have, but luckily made it onto the main street towards the east gate after dashing through an alley.

It was at this point they hopped on Malachite who'd grown just big enough for them to fit comfortably. He dashed through the crowds, making use of his speed to get through gaps in the masses. They arrived at the gate and double checked if they needed to do anything to leave. They didn't, they just had to show their Hunter's League badges and were let through. They didn't even react to Malachite, likely due to all of the times other guards had seen him.

Fauna left the city through the gate and were on their way to Lastgrove. Griff had bought a map of the surrounding area at some point during their stay and opened it to act as navigator for Malachite. A few minutes after leaving the gate Malachite grew to his current largest size and they had their small house back. They relaxed for the most part as he carried them towards their destination. Griff had to give him directions every now and again when they needed to make a turn into another path, but otherwise let the big turtle do his own thing. As long as Malachite ran, he would get faster and faster until he hit a ridiculous speed. Fergus and Griff weren't sure if they could even keep up with him when he topped out, so he was their fastest form of travel and he didn't mind carrying them. He just liked running. It was a win-win for the party so they all enjoyed traveling.

They arrived at Lastgrove around three hours later. They'd needed to make quite a few turns so it had taken longer than if it'd been a straight shot. It was faster than they were originally told by a lot, so they were happy. Now that they'd gotten closer, Malachite shrunk down so only Gaia could fit in him. A few minutes later they'd arrived at the village, which Gaia only realized based on the humanoid forms she could sense. There were only two so she guessed they were still outside the perimeter.

"Wh-who are you? Stop where you are! Don't come any closer!" One of the two yelled, obviously frightened.

The party obliged, stopping and not moving any closer. After the pair realized this the other called out to them. "Show us some identification! If you refuse, we need to ask you to leave or we will use force."

Fauna agreed and Griff spoke. "Let me get our Hunter's League badges and I'll bring them to you. Will that be alright?"

There was a beat of silence before they replied. "Yes, but only you."

Griff took everyone's badges and walked closer to the pair of village guards. He stopped a short distance away from them. "Here they are. If you don't mind coming closer. I figured you didn't want me coming straight up to you." He stated.

The guards hesitantly walked up to him and took the badges. They inspected them, as Gaia could sense them being turned over. After a couple minutes of thorough inspection, the guards handed the badges back before speaking again.

"Sorry! The monster attacks have us all on edge. We didn't mean to offend you, but we had to check to be safe." One of them said as they both bowed apologetically.

"No need to explain, we understand. You can't be too safe when it comes to situations like this. We were told the village mayor would give us more information when we arrived. Would you mind giving us directions or guiding us to them?" Gaia asked.

"Oh, uh, yes. I-I'll guide you to her. Just give me a moment." One of the guards replied before whispering to his companion.

Gaia could hear every word they whispered, but did her best to ignore them for the sake of privacy. It was very hard to do since she could hear them like they were talking to her normally. The struggle was short lived and the guard motioned for them to follow him.

"Sorry. I just realized I never introduced myself. I'm Nolan. Can I ask what your party's name is?" He asked as they walked.

"It's Fauna. I'm Griff and the others are Stephanie, Fergus and Gaia. You guys seem on edge. How long have the attacks been happening? All we know is that livestock have gone missing and the monster only attacks at night." Griff replied.

"Ah, nice. Cool name. The attacks have been happening for a few weeks now. It started out as just one or two of the Quadactyls going missing every few days. That isn't uncommon so we didn't think much about it. Then it was happening everyday, and one of the larger beasts was taken irregularly. Now at least one of the larger beasts are taken every night. We only have a few of the bigger livestock left. We luckily still have some Quadactyls, since they grow quickly, but we can't lose anything else. That's why we sent the request in a few days ago." Nolan explained.

"So whatever this monster is, it has either gotten bolder or needed more food. That's the only reason I can think of for why it attacked more often and took bigger prey." Griff stated.

"Y-you think whatever it is grew? What if it decides to try and take one of us then?"

"We're here to stop it. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was just talking to myself. I was trying to figure out what it was, with the info we had." Griff explained apologetically. Nolan had sounded frightened by the possibility that the monster grew. The guard was luckily released from hearing Griff's musings soon after this. They'd arrived at the Village mayor's house.

"Here's the mayor's house. I'll let her know you're here before returning to the gate." Nolan stated as he walked forward and knocked on the door.

There was a muffled voice that called from inside as they waited. Nolan opened the door and went inside to speak to the mayor. There was some more muffled speaking before Nolan returned and bid Fauna farewell. He then swiftly departed back the way they came.

A few moments later, someone opened the door and spoke. "Welcome to Lastgrove. I am the Mayor, Lara. Nolan said you were the party sent by the League for our request. Am I correct?"

"Yes ma'am. We're Fauna." Griff replied.

"Wonderful. Please come in. Would you like some tea while I explain the situation?" Lara asked.

"That would be great. Thank you." Stephanie replied.

Fauna piled inside the building and settled themselves around a table in what Gaia guessed was the living room. She was still atop Malachite who was just big enough for her to fit, and they waited as Lara made tea. Once it was ready and it was served for everyone Lara related what information she had.

From what the villagers knew, the monster started small. They'd found tracks nearby that made them think it was a lone canine type monster like a small Sabre wolf. Then it seemed to be larger, still wolf like and bipedal. This is what worried the Mayor the most. It led her to believe it was an evolving monster that had ranked up to become some kind of humanoid wolf monster. It would explain the escalation in prey and why it attacked more often. It would also explain the intelligence to not slaughter everything at once, and why it hadn't attacked any people yet.

Had it attacked someone, the village would have sent a request to the Hunter's League immediately. This would have led to it being hunted much earlier and not growing as strong as it was now. The Mayor did stress that they still weren't sure what the monster was, but were positive to some degree that it was intelligent. This made it a very dangerous monster no matter its rank. The Mayor also told them to be careful, and to not attack it if it was bronze rank. She'd rather lose some more livestock and get a higher rank party here than lose some citizens and hunters.

"Thank you for the information and advice. It's really helpful to know what we could be facing. Is there a specific area that it has been attacking from, or is it just wherever there is livestock?" Griff asked.

"Most wherever there's livestock. Now they're all in one place since it'll take them even if they're spread out. It usually just heads to their location in a straight line and taking the shortest path, at least that's what we've discovered based on its tracks. We still haven't been able to get more than a glimpse of it. Based off those it's bipedal and dark furred, that's all we've seen." Lara explained.

"Very well. Would you mind showing us where the livestock will be held tonight? We'll plan to camp close to where it's path will likely be." Griff asked.

"Yes. Of course. I'll guide you until we get to the village's gate. Then I'll get Nolan to guide you. He'll have a good idea of where it'll go, he's the village's hunter after all."

Lara led the party back to the gate where she passed them off to Nolan. He hesitated a moment before leading them around the Village's wall. She could feel that it was made from wood. Fergus explained it should surround the village entirely, leaving only the gate open. From what Nolan was saying, there had been multiple spots that needed repairs or replacing due to this beast. It was strong enough to break through the thick wood meaning the villagers had to spend more time repairing than anything else.

After a short walk Nolan stopped. "The livestock will be held in Mrs. Reriald's barn tonight. It should be only a few minutes' walk from here, if the wall wasn't here. This'll be the shortest and most direct route to them. I believe, based on its past behavior, it should come this way. If you're going to camp around here, I'd suggest moving around fifty feet from this area and trying to stay down wind if possible." Nolan said.

"Understood. Thanks for guiding us and the advice. It was all very helpful. Do you mind pointing us to where you'd suggest for us to camp?" Fergus replied.

"Ah. Yes." Nolan stated as he pointed out where he believed was the best spot.

Fauna proceeded to unload and make camp for the night. They wouldn't be making a fire due to obvious reasons but were ready for the long night. They stuck to their usual setup, only having one tent so they weren't taking up as much space, and prepared for their watches. They'd been told the monster only attacked at night, but hadn't been caught or really seen, so they guessed it came later in the night. Thus, they had Fergus take the first watch followed by Stephanie, then Gaia and Griff finished the night out.

This setup had Liv with everyone since she didn't sleep and had one of Gaia's bonds with each person. The only one with just Liv would be Fergus since the monster wasn't likely to come out during his watch, but he was their fastest member. He would be able to react the fastest and wake everyone if it did appear. Everyone else had their own ways to stall or wake everyone quickly as well, but Stephanie and Gaia were the best suited for stealthy monsters like this one. Gaia would be able to sense it when it came within her aura's area, while Stephanie could see better in the dark than the guys and had her rifle. This made her the best suited for it since she could see a good area and wake everyone with her first shot.

As they were finishing their discussion about the watches, Lara and Nolan approached. They were carrying a couple large platters with what Gaia guessed was bread and some kind of vegetable soup from the smell. They weren't expecting for the village to offer, let alone bring them food. They knew the situation wasn't great and were planning to just eat some jerky with hardtack.

"I didn't know if you guys had eaten yet, but we wanted to show our thanks for helping us. It's not much, but we luckily haven't lost any of our crops so we still have bread and vegetables. It's just some vegetable soup. I hope it suits your taste." The mayor, Lara, stated as she walked towards their tent.

"Thank you! We know you're not in the best situation, so we weren't going to intrude. We're just happy to help. We'll do our best to deal with the monster for you tonight. With any luck, by tomorrow morning, your monster problem should be resolved." Gaia replied.

"Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts. We'll also have breakfast for you in the morning if you'd like. It's the least we could do for you guys. Oh, right. You said your party's name is Fauna, right?" Lara asked.

"Yes, Ma'am." Fergus replied.

"Then have a good hunt tonight, Fauna and please be careful."

"We will do our best." Gaia replied honestly.

They all sat and ate the meal the village had provided them. For only being grains and vegetables, it was quite delicious. There weren't any added spices or flavors, instead the villagers had found a way to bring out the sweetness and bitterness of each veggie, making a delicious soup. The bread was a bit hard but softened right up when dipped in the soup, adding another layer to the meal's taste. They finished their food quickly and Fergus ran to return the bowls and utensils. He returned a few minutes later, and they reviewed their plan.

With their plan set, everyone but Fergus went to sleep. As usual they were all bundled up in the same tent and they slept somewhat comfortably. Only for them to be awakened by the sound of a gunshot.