*It is the next morning at The Great King Lodge. The place is bustling as everyone gets ready for The Hunt*
(Don): Ladies and gentleman! I am please to announce The Hunt is about to begin. Those participating in the hunt, please make your way down to the starting line and take your positions.
*Men and women wearing hunting gear made their way down while others choose to stay up top in the lodge to enjoy the food and watch the hunt from the monitors*
(Don): The Hunt is taking place within The King Lodge Forest. Once a luscious forest view has now become barren thanks to winter weather. But don’t be fooled. There are still plenty of places for our prey to hide. However, escape will be impossible as an electric fence has been placed to keep anyone from fleeing the area and I’ll be here to monitor all the kills. Now let’s take one last look at our prey and their bounties.
*The monitor shows 32 names as well as the picture and bounty of each demihuman, elf, merfolk, and mixed-race that were kidnapped*
(Don): An impressive line up to say the least. Now lets get the prey out in the field.
*Below the lodge, a wide backdoor opens and out walks Gael and the others. Some of them were shivery from the cold while others were scared. Gael, Keanu, Fei, Rowen and Kazuma led the way as the flying camera got in close to videotape the looks of despair and fear. Gael, Keanu, Fei, Rowen and Kazuma were the only ones with a normal expressions on their faces which secretly angered Don*
(Don): As is tradition, the prey will get a ten-minute head start to run and hide. Can’t make it too easy and eliminate all the fun, right? Any last words from our high bounties. Let’s start with the fox boy. He’s got that scowl on his face. Anything you want to say.
(Rowen): You’re a sick man! You and everyone up there who are taking pleasure in this. You’re a mockery of everything Brister is supposed to stand for. It’s people like you who taint this kingdom and is the reason why I became a knight.
*People could be heard booing him from up top*
(Don): Sorry, you’re going to have to speak up. I can’t hear you over this electric crowd.
*Growing frustrated, Rowen stopped and just scowled into the camera*
(Don): Let’s hear from the half elf next.
*The camera pans over to Keanu who begins to speak Elfan loudly and then spits into the camera*
(Don): Alright, we’ll get a translator for you later. How about you, dog?
*The camera pans over to Gael*
(Gael): You know, there’s a lot I want to say but I’m just gonna sum it up with this.
*Gael lifts up the middle finger on his left hand to the camera*
(Don): Short and sweet. I like that. How about the little bunny next?
*Kazuma just holds up three fingers*
(Kazuma): You’re so smart, Don. Read between the lines.
*Don chuckles at Kazuma’s statement as the camera pans over to Fei*
(Don): And lastly the little kitten. She’d be such a cutie if it wasn’t for the tail and ears.
(Fei): You think you speak for the kingdom? You speak for nobody but yourself. I’ve worked with its citizens closely on a regular basis and swore an oath to protect them from harm. You and every human here may be a citizen of Brister but that’s only in name.
(Don): A poignant perspective from an animal. Well, let’s not wait any longer. Let the Hunt begin!
*Don fire off a gun*
(Gael): Just like we talked about yesterday, let’s go.
*All of the demihumans, elves, merfolk, and mixed-races make a run toward the forest. After ten minutes, the hunters also make a run for the forest to hunt them down. Once in the forest, the hunters either split up or form groups looking for their prey. They observe the ground for footprints and trees for broken branches as clues to where everyone went. One group of five hunters was walking through the forest when all of sudden the leader of the pack got hit by a dropkick to the face courtesy of Gael*
(Gael): Who says the prey can’t fight back. Come at me!
*At first the hunters were scared and stepped back*
(Hunter #1): Wait! He’s outnumbered and the cuffs on his arms limit his magic use. Why are we afraid?
*With that knowledge the hunters prepare to attack. One of them pulled out some electric brass knuckles, one pulled out a knife covered in dark magic, the third one pulled out a hatchet that was frozen, and the final one had a metal javelin. Gael just smirked and charged at the hunters. He managed to dodge the one holding the hatchet by jumping over him. The hunter with the knife charged at Gael who grabbed his arm and twisted it to get the hunter to let go of the knife. Gael caught the knife and stabbed the hunter in the leg with it. The hunter screamed out in pain and fell to his knees as blood stained his leg. As he tried to pull the knife out, Gael struck him with a knee strike to the jaw and knocked him out. The hunter with the electric brass knuckles attempted to hit Gael but he sidestepped the attack and smacked the hunter in the back of the head. Gael ran toward the hunter holding the javelin who couldn’t risk throwing it as he would hit one of the others. This made him an easy target for Gael who took out the hunter with two punches and grabbed the javelin. The hunter with the brass knuckles tried to wrestle the javelin out of Gael’s hands but had no luck. Gael fell backwards and monkey flipped the hunter down a hill. Gael then returned to his feet and faced the hunter with the hatchet who turned to run. However, it was too late. Gael threw the javelin and pierced the arm of the hunter pinning him to the tree*
(Gael): Bitch, don’t you know I’m a knight?
*Gael could hear people approaching his location and decided to run away. He picked up the hatchet and ran past the pinned hunter*
***
*In another part of the forest, Fei, Kazuma, and Keanu were running from the other hunters in pursuit of them*
(Kazuma): You sure it was right to let Gael go off on his own like that?
(Fei): No, but it seemed like he knows what he’s doing. So let’s trust him to stay alive and do our part to protect the citizens.
*As gunfire and bolts of magic were fired at them, the three knights ducked behind the trees for cover. The group of hunters which was composed of men and women who were closing in on the knights and looked behind the trees only to see no one there*
(Hunter #2): Where the hell did they go?
*As the hunters searched the area, Keanu moved from behind a different tree carrying a thick branch and whacked a hunter in the face with it. The attacked gain the attention of another who turned to face Keanu only to have Fei jump down from a treen and land on the hunter’s shoulders. Wrapping her legs around the hunter’s neck, she delivered a reverse hurricanrana planting the hunter on their head. Kazuma dropped down of the remaining five hunters where he delivered a jumping spinning heel kick to a female hunter to take her down. Once he landed, he flipped backwards in the air to deliver a double stomp to a male hunter behind him. One hunter fired bolts of magic at him but he dodged the attacks with a cartwheel. The last two hunters then charged at Kazuma hoping to strike him with their weapons. Balancing himself on his hands, Kazuma leapt up maneuvering himself between the attacks and coming out unharmed as he landed on his feet. Fei and Keanu rushed in to take out the hunters with a dropkick and a bash to the head*
(Kazuma): You’re getting some mileage out of that branch.
(Keanu): Yeah, let’s just say it’s a good thing I can’t use magic. Otherwise this branch would have been destroyed after the first attack.
***
*In another part of the forest a female deer demihuman and raccoon demihuman were running from three hunters. The raccoon demihuman slipped in the snow*
(Deer demihuman): Racheal!
*The deer demihuman quickly turned around to help out her friend and the two found themselves looking up at the hunters with evil smiles on their faces to convey their wicked motives. Before the hunters could do anything, they were all hit in the head with pebbles. One of the pebbles shot a hunter in the eye and he screamed out in pain. The other two hunters were hit in the head which dazed them*
(Hunter #3): What the hell was that?
*The hunter was then hit in the private area and fell to the ground in immense pain. Out of the trees fell Rowen holding a slingshot and some pebbles*
(Rowen): And there’s more where that came from.
*The two demihumans saw Rowen and immediately blushed. His eyes, his face. He was in every sense of the term dashing knight*
(Rowen): Are you two okay?
*The girls snapped out of their daze and nodded*
(Rowen): Then keep moving and find a place to hide! I’ll cover you!
*The deer demihuman helped up her friend and they ran past Rowen who fired at the remaining hunter and a few more hunters who had shown up. He fired his slingshot in rapid succession to hit the hunters and daze them*
(Rowen): It’s not my fire arrows, but it’s effective.
*As he saw himself running low on pebbles, he made an immediate retreat into the forest*
***
*Back at the lodge, the spectators were growing restless and unhappy with what they were seeing. Almost thirty minutes had gone by and not a single kill. As if that wasn’t bad, most of the demihumans, elves, merfolk, and mixed-races had gone into hiding while the high bounty knights were either fighting or saving others. Even Don Castle was getting angry at what was transpiring*
(Don): What the hell is this? At least 1/3 of those inferior beings should be dead by now and yet there hasn’t been a single kill yet. What are those hunters doing?
(Man #1): Those knights appear to be more resourceful than we anticipated. They must have rallied the others in the holding cell last night and formed a plan.
*All of a sudden, Don’s phone and he answers it*
(Don): Hello! I know, I’m just as angry as you. Just be patient, they will all die. I understand how much you and the others paid for this. Don’t forget how much I’m sticking my neck out for you. Alright! I’ll take care of it!
*The phone call ends*
(Don): Fuck! I can take a hint! Activate the mechanical hounds.
(Man #1): Sir, those hounds are programmed to attack anybody trespassing in the forest. They’ll attack the hunters as well.
(Don): I don’t care if they set the forest on fire. Our investors paid good money to see blood and I’m going to give it to them.
***
*A bunch of red dots light up in a dark room followed by red eyes as a door opens. Running out of the room is a bunch of black mechanical hounds who head toward the forest to attack the trespassers. There were twelve of them who began tracking down whatever they could find. The first ones they come across are two hunters who were examining some footprints and closing in on a merfolk and elf. Without warning, two of the hounds drag the hunters to the ground with their teeth and began attacking the hunters. A few more of the hounds came over to attack with their teeth and claws. The hunters screamed out in pain crying for help but no one came. Ever the merfolk and elf who were hiding nearby didn’t move as they were afraid of what the hounds would do to them if they were found. Once they were through with the two hunters they continued to run through the forest and catch up with the others who had gone on ahead of them. Peaking out of their hideout, the merfolk and elf could tell that the hunters were mauled to death by the hounds*
***
*Back at the lodge, Don and his assistant had just witnessed the hounds maul the two hunters to death on Don’s private monitor*
(Man #1): I warned you this would happen. What will the guests think of this?
(Don): We’ll do some editing and make it look like those degenerates killed them.
***
*Back in the forest, the hounds had already mauled four other hunters in their path while others barely managed to escape with injuries. One hunter who fought off and destroyed one of the hounds was limping away in the forest. His leg had been torn up and was bleeding severely. The was unbearable as he put no weight on finally fell face first into the snow. He crawled over and sat himself up hoping to use the tree to pull himself up and escape the hounds. Two of the hounds were closing in on him and about strike The hunter just sat there staring blankly as he prepared to accept his death. However, before the hounds could attack they got knocked away by Gael, Kazuma, and Fei. Keanu and Rowen came over and helped the hunter up. Keanu ripped off one of his sleeves and wrapped it around the injured leg of the hunter to prevent it from getting infected*
(Hunter #3): You’re protecting me? Why?
(Gael): Trust me, it’s not because you’re a nice guy.
(Rowen): We took an oath to protect all the citizens of Brister. As much as we don’t agree with your ideology, you’re still a citizen of Brister and we will protect you.
(Keanu): Even if you are a bigot. Now let’s get you to safety.
*Two male elves. An older elf and a half elf come out of hiding*
(Older elf): We’ll take care of him.
(Half elf): There’s a place not too far from here where he can hide with us and the others.
(Keanu): Thank you.
*Rowen and Keanu hand the hunter over to the elf and half elf and turn their attention back towards the hounds who had all gathered and were staring down the knights*
(Kazuma): So, how tough do you think these things are?
*With the hatchet in his hand, Gael throws it at one of the hounds who catches it with its teeth and shatters it*
(Fei): Very tough and a lot smarter than the hunters.
(Rowen): We can’t let them advance any further in the forest or they’ll find the citizens.
(Kazuma): Then let’s lead them away.
*Kazuma runs west followed by the others and the hounds pursue them*
(Keanu): Woah, they’re all coming after us.
(Fei): They’ve singled us out as the biggest threat in the forest.
*The knights continue to run with Gael bringing up the rear. Rowen fired pebbles at the hounds but they had no affect on them. One of the hounds managed to bite the right pants leg of Gael’s pants and tore a piece of it off*
(Gael): Oh man. Not again. Sis is gonna kill me.
*The knights continued to run into they made it out of the forest and into the clearing where they saw an electric fence. They ran toward the fence and finally turned around to face the hounds who were surrounding them*
(Keanu): So this is where we make our final stand.
(Rowen): You guys run, I’ll try to distract them.
(Gael): No way! We stick together to the very end.
(Kazuma): Although I’ve only known you guys for a day and a half, I am honored to die fighting alongside such great knights.
*Fei remained quiet, but Gael could tell she was scared and fearing for her life. In a bold move he stepped in front of her*
(Fei): What are you doing?
(Gael): I’ll keep them busy while you make a run for it.
(Fei): What! I won’t leave you to-
(Gael): You’re looking for someone important to you remember? You can’t find them if you’re dead. So, keep living.
*Fei was taken back by how sincere and selfless Gael was being. She knew how much she wanted to find this person but couldn’t bring herself to abandon her friends. She wasn’t sure what to do. Flee and survive or stay and die. The hounds charged at the group and they prepared to fight. While this wasn’t the way any of them had thought they would die and had regrets there seemed to be no regrets over the decisions that led to this point. The group of knights felt a gust of wind hit their backs and all of a sudden, the sound of metal on metal could be heard as the hounds were sliced into pieces by a sword. As the bodies of the hounds hit the snow only one lone swordsman could be seen, and he was carrying a black sword. Gael smiled, doing his best to hold back the tears, recognizing the green hair, green kimono, and slightly darker green haori of the person in front of them. Sheathing his sword the cuffs on the knights fell off as the swordsman turned around to face the knights and revealed himself to be none other than Sanada*
(Sanada): Apologies for the delay.
Author’s Note: Oh we are in for it now. Going into this chapter, I wanted to show off a little of Gael’s leadership and survival instincts. He and the others know the odds are stacked against and that they can’t win, but they can stall long enough for help to arrive and that’s exactly what they do. The last scene with Sanada coming in at the end is one of my favorite moments in the series so far. It’s clean, surprising, and totally matches up with Sanada’s character. Gael’s smile, relief, and him holding back his tears cement just how much he sees Sanada as not only a big brother figure but also his protector. He’s been putting up a tough act this whole time, but in truth, he’s just as scared as everyone else and seeing Sanada lets him know that everything is okay now. Another good scene I liked was them saving the hunter. They hate him, but their duty as knights forbids them from leaving behind others. It’s a good example of putting duty first and taking the high road against your enemies. It’s so easy to hate but it leads to a miserable life and I’d rather live a life free of stress and hate than spend my time hating someone. In the next chapter we finally the knights get some much-deserved payback on the supremists. Look forward to it. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.
