On the run and on the hunt (woof)

While Euna and Club rushed to subdue and ultimately restrain the giant beast, what they didn’t understand was that the shot Thalia had fired was a test. The large chunk of flash missing from the creatures bicep showed that the hunters rifle could pierce several layers of armor and muscle. So all she needed to do was hit a part that didn’t have both. Her sights would be set on the wolf’s head. The skin there would be the thinnest. Club wasn’t much of a thinker, all he knew was that Thalia needed him to keep the monster locked down. He was armed with his immeasurable strength and the little demons oversized sword. He’d use both to get the job done.

The massive Arcadian growled in anger, gripping at it’s torn up bicep for a moment before shooting a deadly glare in the small redhead’s direction. Just as it was about to take a step towards her, a sharp pain in its leg would halt it’s advance. The quick jab to the beasts heel by Euna cause it to flinch, but not stagger like it should have. What it did do however, was draw its attention away from the hunter and back to the red skinned Arcadian.

The large werewolf like beast would begin to flail wildly. Doing everything it could to shake the smaller Arcadian off. Whether this actually worked was another story. But for now, it was moving erratically which made it hard for Thalia to get a clean shot. The little clone stared down the scope of her rifle, her aim swayed and tracked the monsters head. When she thought she had a shot she’d take it. A loud bang would echo throughout the surrounding desert. The gun shot was be followed up by a cry of pain and anger as the shot would miss its mark, ultimately blowing away one of the beasts ears.

A large clawed hand would reach up to grip the area. The beast was in some serious pain after that shot. A sudden jolt of sever pain would overtake the wolf’s calf as Club took the opportunity to use Thalia’s sword to cripple the beast. It’s knee would drive into the ground causing a mini quake. With it’s calf nearly cleaved in two the beast wouldn’t be able to stand for a while. At least not till it’s healing factor kicked in. This would have been the perfect window for Thalia to take her shot if she hadn’t done so already.

With an audible growl, the little redhead began reloading her gun as fast as she could. Meanwhile, the massive beast raised it’s head. It’s glowing red eyes locking in on Thalia. With the tiny demon in it’s sights the werewolf Arcadian would begin to draw in breath.

Euna clung on to the feral with her teeth. Literally. When the feral began to move all over the place, she just stuck her teeth in, keeping her in place. Only when the bang of that weapon Thalia had rung off, did she get to move again, also, she had a new target. The freshest scent of blood.

She climbed as quickly as she could to get to the torn ear, sighting Club with a massive sword as he swung and tore though the calf of the beast, giving Euna another place to hunger for, but she was already near the shoulder, to the...

Euna gagged as she realized what the hell she had been thinking. Didn't she quit? She had gone on, having forgotten the taste nearly, yet here she was, going stupid over a few little chunks. She was pathetic. Hungry, but pathetic.

Getting atop the shoulder, the demoness looked at the damage to the ear, already making an effort to repair the damage, she could still tear into there. While the flesh was tender, but her eyes were instead on the signs of that breathe attack the beast loved so much, and where it was aimed. And like that, Euna was angry for another reason. "Stop aiming at her!" Euna yelled as she grabbed at the raw flesh of the ear and almost stuffed her head into the canal, her maw spreading wide as she began to roar into the feral's ear. Much like before, this roar loudly echoed around, but rather then in the open, Euna focused it all into this creatures ear by stuffing herself as deep as she could in there.

Euna’s close range roar was more than enough to rupture the bests eardrum and rattle its brain. The gigantic creature let out a roar of agony, letting out what air it had gathered at that point into the air. The werewolf Arcadian would try to swipe the red Arcadian off of it’s shoulder. It had a hard time doing so, since it needed one arm to hold itself up. Club looked on in worry. He couldn’t let Euna get hurt, or rather he didn’t want to let her get hurt. He had to give the monster another target, another reason to give up its attempt at crushing Euna.

Looking to his left, Club stared at the Arcadian’s massive hand. Rushing over to it, the rocky knight would raise Thalia’s sword above his head before plunging it down into the back of the beasts hand. Feeling the sudden sharp pain, the wolf like monster would try to lift its hand up, Club made sure it couldn’t. Using all his strength, the formidable knight continued to push down on the blade, keeping the monster’s hand pinned down.

When the beast had begun to draw in breath, Thalia had picked up her rifle and tried to scramble around. There was nowhere safe for her to hide or take cover. She tried her best to reload on the move, but the rifle was far too large for that. Upon hearing Euna’s deafening roar, Thalia froze in place. Her mismatched gaze shifting from her gun to the three battling Arcadian’s. She could see the pain and anguish on the wolf’s face, but also a ton of rage and anger. It was moments like these that made Thalia feel a little sad that she was basically a glorified executioner.

Still, this demon was a threat and menace to Earth and Arcadia. It needed to be put down. It was all part of the job. After finally being able to reload the weapon, the little demon took in a deep breath and readied the weapon. She slowed her breathing down to steady her aim. Eventually she’d zero in on a spot just between the bests eyes. The massive Arcadian reared back in an attempt to use its size and strength to pull free of Clubs grip. It’s head rose high into the air and as it did, it exposed the underside of his jaw.

This was the best shot Thalia was going to get. And with that in mind, she pulled the trigger. A third and final boom would fill the air as the bullet exploded from the barrel of the rifle and tore right through the monster’s neck and blew out the back of the beasts skull. The massive creature went limp instantly and collapsed into the hardened sand beneath it, sending up a glistening shower of glass into the air.

Practically stuck in the creatures ear, Euna did her best to roar for as long as she could, the air behind her moving with each whiff of the feral's hand as it tried to swat her away, till the air remained still.

And it wasn't long after that the bang of thunder that rivaled her own thunderous roar erupted, and with it, the head of the creature went. Not entirely, but enough so that when Euna pulled herself from the creature mid fall, she was practically bathed in heated blood.

Rolling onto the ground with the beast, Euna stared at her hands, covered in blood, sand caked over her fingers, it took all her energy to not lick at any part of her limb that didn't have sand, and there was quite a bit... So much... Like gravy. "That'll teach some ass to mess... Nyahh." The Arcadian huffed, tearing her eyes from the corpse of the feral, from her arms, to something else... To the ruins.

They were done. The beast was dead. Her ho- Her cell, her prison, her hell. It was destroyed. She felt her lips quiver with pain and relief. She was... She was never going to go back there. No one could ever force her back in there ever again. She was... She was free.

Yet she was not free of her basic instincts. The smell of blood and death tingled in her senses, and soon she was drawn back to her arms. One lick... She could.. One bite. No one would mind, right? She could just tear right into that, and no... No. No!" Euna yelled as she shoved her arms into the sand, rolling and caking them in sand, till the blood and sand could not be distinguished from the other.

Done, she directed her attention to Club, the Arcadian she was still so unsure about, the new thing she had questions for. Because she felt like she could cry even more just from the sight of the rocky giant. "That girl... I want to do so many dirty things to her. But the idea that she's part Queenie kinda buzz kills me... Maybe... Fucccck I can't think. Have we met before?" Euna asked, not really sure of what she was saying, just that she needed to say something, no matter what it was.

Thalia wiped the sweat from her brow as her shot landed. Still, the feeling was bittersweet. While the job was done, she couldn’t help but feel bad putting down one of her own. She always had this feeling. She knew it had to be done, and that they were a legitimate threat, but they were still Arcadians. This particular hunt stung more than usual. The small demon had been mesmerized by the sheer power the beast had shown. And now, with it laying here in the sand, Thalia was able to take in the sheer majesty of the monster’s design. Slinging her massive rifle over her shoulder with a heavy sigh, the little hunter would make her way over to Club and Euna, who seemed to be conversing with one another.

Club was a bit confused by Euna’s actions. Why was she bathing in sand? Eh, it wasn’t important. What was important was that Club now had time to talk with the red demon. He could finally fill one of the missing pieces of himself. Club would crouch down so that he was eye level with the kneeling Euna. The rocky demon reached out to brush a strand of her inky black hair out of Euna’s face. “You really don’t remember me?” he asked, a hint of concern in his voice. There was no way she could have forgotten him. The two were thick as thieves. Maybe now that there wasn’t so much action going on, she’d be able to get a clearer look at his face.

About halfway to Euna and Club, Thalia paused. Her mismatched eyes shifting to the corpse of the large wolf. As much as she was upset about killing the thing, her mind raced with the possibility of things she could craft from its parts. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to scavenge a few parts now.

Euna frowned at the apparent... No, the actual gentleness of this Arcadian. Despite his size, he so easily, so carefully reached out to her... Touched her. She could only stare up at this thing with eyes so... So unsure. She knew him... That much she had decided. She just didn't know how she knew him. "I... I can't. I don't remember a lot of things... I can't remember a lot of things. I... I was taken... Right after I could even form sentences.. Right? How do I know you?"

Resisting the urge to brush her caked hands though her hair, she stood up and stepped back, looking to the ruins. "I was there! I was there from the moment I could remember what being able to think was like. You... You and I can't have met... I didn't know anyone. I didn't... I was just... Just a freak of an Arcadian and then someones pet." Choking on her words, Euna felt an immense need to break down, to eat, to... to vent.

She was angry and confused and she had been from the moment she met Thalia to now. And yet she didn't know how to vent that anger. That confusion. She could only let it bubble up inside, till her eyes hurt. She didn't cry.... She wasn't crying.

"Freaking sand." Euna muttered, not even making a effort to hide her shame. She could just blame it on the sand... She realllllly hated sand right now. "Stupid fecking sand!" She roared out a second after, kicking at the sand uselessly, before losing her balance and tripping herself onto her behind.

While Euna and Club seemed to get reacquainted with each other, Thalia made her way over to the monstrous corpse of the werewolf Arcadian. Despite being dead, it’s body still gave off a great deal of heat. “I wonder if I could make a weapon out of that armor.” the little clone mumbled to herself. Her metal hand would reach out and rest on the dead creatures muzzle. There were a number of theories rolling through Thalia’s mind as to what she could do with the remains of this monster. New weapons? New Armor? A tool of some kind? The possibilities were endless and the beast was large enough to fulfill them all.

Club had to think for a moment. He didn’t want to speak ill of a fellow knight, but there was no way to explain to Euna why the two knew each other without doing so. “We uh…I used to look after you. Your father was too busy trying to rule Arcadia. To busy trying to be something he wasn’t. He often would have me keep an eye on you. And when I say often, I mean all the time.” Club explained.

It wasn’t like the large Arcadian to be this open. But this was a special occasion. In his mind, he had spent so much time with Euna that he was more of her father than spade was. So for him, this was like finding a long lost child. Now though, in a moment where he should be ecstatic for finding her, he only felt pain and remorse. To be entirely honest, for as much as he care for Euna, he was guilty of not looking for her as hard as he should have. And from the looks of it, she had suffered. And that suffering was on him. It was on him because he couldn’t find her, because he wasn’t as invested in finding her as he should have been.

Watching the red Arcadian fall into the sand, he moved almost instinctively. Mush like he used to when he watched over her. Always worried she’d get hurt when she took a little tumble like that. Rushing over to her side with ground shaking steps, the rocky demon offered her a hand up.

Taking a moment to breathe, hot sand almost a bed for her to sit, Euna silently thought. Because there was too much for her to take in right now, and she had been acting like a little shit from the moment the feral Arcadian had made it's presence known.

Taking another deep breath, Euna looked up to the rocky knight, letting out the breathe with a sigh as she took his hand, pulling herself up to a stand, gripping his hand hard, twisting and turning till she brought his finger to her face. "I use to bite your finger. I don't think my teeth would have done anything back then. Different story now. Can we move away from the feral. It is taking a lot of effort to not ignore all of you and eat what remains." Letting go of his hand, she'd walk behind the feral and pull her spear from it's ankle, taking a moment to stare at the young hunter as she seemed to examine the dead demon with a morbid curiosity. "Girl... Thank you... For being here in the end. Even if I wasn't part of the plan. Thank you." Nodding with a turned cheek, Euna would then move away from the dead Arcadian before the choice was made for her, moving quite a distance before looking to Club. She had questions... So... So many questions.

Yet she didn't want to ask too many. Any at all really. As if learning more would... It'd destroy what she knew of her home world. Her view on it. She hated it... And she didn't need more reasons to reconsider that. "Did... Was I... Normal. When we knew each other. Did I stop trying to eat you. Because I... I don't see how else I could remember you. And that doesn't make sense because I remember waking up from my hunger and leaving. Nothing else... Certainly not you. Not... To be rude. I just... My memory is like a broken puzzle that I can't put together. I guess thousands, if not hundreds of those, in total darkness, tends to mess with you." Attempting to keep her words from a whisper, or from emotion, Euna did her best to sound... Well, as she liked to think she sounded. Mature. She wasn't a child. She was an fully grown Arcadian, and while her body was certainly a lot older then her mind, so she could at least be old with her words.

There was a slight look of relief on the knight’s face as Euna took his hand and remembered one of her favorite pastimes. Leading the Arcadian away from the massive corpse, Club nearly forgot the whole reason he was here. Luckily Euna reminded him when she called out to Thalia. Turning back towards the corpse, Club would see the little demon’s head poke out from the creatures maw. She looked as giddy as a kid in a candy store. So many useful materials for her to work with.   “No need to thank me! You helped me out a ton!” the tiny demon would say, waving her metal hand in the air in response to Euna’s thanks.

Finally what Club felt was a safe distance from the downed monster, He turned to face Euna. Finally after all the chaos he had some time to study the female Arcadian. She was so big now. Club remembered how he was always so scared to handle her with how small she was. “You were about as normal as any other small Arcadian I suppose. It was such a long time ago. I could cradle you in one hand!” the stony knight would say, lifting up one of his hands and giving a gravely chuckle.

While Club and Euna caught up, Thalia finished examining the werewolf Arcadian’s body. She had already carved off several pieces and packed them away in her belt pouches. She’d slice off a few more pieces for good measure before leaving the monster’s side. The thing was far to large to dispose of via normal means. Normal means meant that Thalia picked the body clean. In this instance though, she had already gathered more than enough materials. With a slight smirk on her face, Thalia ran over to Euna and Club’s side. Reaching into a pouch, Thalia would pull out her whistle. Giving it a small blow, sigils would appear again beneath the corpse of the large demon. Moments later the massive serpent demon Lobek would erupt from the ground snatching the beast by the midsection and dragging it beneath the desert sand.

Normal? No.. No that can't be right. I don't think every Arcadian tried to cannibalize it's own kind like I did. I... I wasn't even a person, even Vaedren told me that Spade spoke of how it was like I was still that thingyajid. All hunger, no sanity. A hunger I still have to this minute." Rubbing her forehead, particularly around her horn, Euna did her best to think. To think and think and think. But nothing came to mind. She didn't remember being cradled, she... She didn't remember him except for biting that chunky finger, and she only really remembered that, because that was what she did. She bit and tore at everything that breathed because she hungered for their flesh and blood.

She had a moment of reprieve, however, when the sudden quake of something fecken big came, and a large ass snake just appeared out of nowhere and ate the feral. "Holy motherhecking fucks is that!?" Euna had yelled, twirling her spear and aiming at the serpant, only to watch it drag the feral under the sands. Breathing hard, she looked between the two knights with a toothy frown, her razor sharp teeth having erupted with her fright, but they soon retracted as she settled down with how the two seemed calm over the fecking snake.

"Right... It.. It doesn't matter. It didn't matter for all the years I was alone, where none of you bothered me. It doesn't matter now. You two got shit you want to do? Cause... I got a cat I need to feed or something." Euna lied. She paid a lot of money to make sure that cat was kept fed, but the longer she was here, the more she had to see this big... Big man that claimed to be her guardian in his own way was just... The more she looked, the more she wanted to get angry.

Because she was already angry. Look after her? Where was he then? Where was he when she woke up. Where was he while she was chained and locked away. Where was she while she sat alone, in darkness and silence for years. Years... So. Many. Years.

Sparks of electrical currents ran up and down her arm as her frown turned to that of hurt and anger, anger she suddenly seemed to direct at Club. "No... Where... Where were you! Grrr... You... You don't get to just appear now and act all chummy with me! I had no one. For years, I was alone, chained to walls and forgotten! So where were you!" She vented as she jabbed her spear in his direction, stepping closer and closer, her magical electric power becoming more violent as she got closer.

*That oughta keep him happy for a while.* Thalia thought to herself. Waving a metal arm in the air, the small demon bid the large serpent farewell and thanks. “Thanks again Lobek!” she shouted gleefully before turning to face Euna and Club. Her smile quickly faded and her look became one of concern as the red Arcadian pointed her weapon at the rocky knight. Thalia quickly tried to position herself between the two demons, acting ever like the mediator she was. “Whoa what’s going on?” Her attention shifting between both of her fellow Arcadian’s till she got an answer.

Club stared clean over Thalia’s head. He had a feeling this was going to happen. Euna was right though. Why didn’t he bother searching for her. Sure he had other things to do that took up all his time, but he should have tried to find Euna nonetheless. She had every right to be angry. At the same time she was acting like a child and Club wasn’t going to stand for it, regardless of how much he cared for the girl. “I…I don’t know. It’s like I didn’t remember you till I saw you. Like all my memories of you were blocked or something. The last time I remember even seeing you was in your fathers arms.”

It seemed that was a common theme. Every problem and issue regarding Euna could be traced back to her father. For some reason Club knew Spade was involved somehow, but as he tried to think back to that time, all he got were blanks. Spade didn’t want anyone to know or remember Euna for some reason. Club had all but forgotten about her till this fateful meeting.

“See! I told you Spade was a big ole meanie!” Thalia interjected, as if siding with her large stone companion.

Euna paused when the smaller of the two knights put herself between the two. Despite the girls bravery during the fight, Euna felt for some reason she was incredibly foolish. Brave... Very brave. But stupid. Still, it was enough for Euna stop in her tracks, the crackle of lighting like strikes still shot into the sand around her, but even that soon died as she listened to Club explain... Something.

And Thalia clearly just didn't like her father. Euna would never be one to not trash her father, or promote any bad word of him, but her head just wasn't in the right place to even agree with her. She wasn't getting answers here anyway. No... And she supposed. No, she realized. She should stop with the anger. For now.

Because she would get no pity here. These were Arcadian's. Ones she only just met today. Club might be a separate story, but in her childish rant, he seemed only focused on himself when it came to her... Taking her spear, she began to calmly scrape at the blood and sand that caked her arms. "This all seems rather simple. Does it not? The one with the answers is my Father. And as much as I am going to regret these next words... I think it's time I returned home. Hmm... I suppose I have business for a friend there anyway." Euna said, as if any anger she had directed at Club was gone. She seemed rather serious as she flicked her spear to remove some of the gunk she scraped off. With a purpose.

It was not the cell, the broken prison that laid in the sand beyond her. That was never the answer... Perhaps. Having met all the Arcadian's she had in the last while... It all led here. To one fucked up family reunion. And still she feared to ask one question, here and when she got there. The one question that often plagued her the most. A question she always thought of at the sight of mothers. And one she would remain tight lipped on.