“The Master sure picked up a wild one this time.” A boy who looked to be around ten to twelve years of age said as he looked at the clouds passing by. His dirty blonde hair glinted in the sunlight and his piercing blue eyes seemed unfocused as he leaned back staring into the sky.

“Un.” The boy beside him grunted in agreement. Although he wasn’t one to talk that much, Kachuk still enjoyed his company. The boy had deep brown hair and the same signature blue eyes that all of his companions had. Kachuk looked at the boy and lamented, as the boy was much taller and far more muscular than he was, which was apparently more attractive to his female companions than his softer looks.

“Kachuk, it’s your turn to watch over that little crap.” A girl with purple hair that led into a combination of black and orange, which to Kachuk looked like feathers, said as she walked over with a scowl on her face. The cause of her grumpy mood was clear on her face, which was adorned with several scratches, the cause being obvious to Kachuk.

“The kid got your feathers ruffled? Haa, one of the most talented fighters of our generation, and yet she can’t even handle a little kid.” Kachuk let out a dramatic sigh as he teased her, because he knew how much she hated when he did that. And he enjoyed it oh so much more because of it.

The look on the girl's face shifted from a scowl to her clenching her teeth so hard they seemed like they might break at any moment. A smile blossomed on Kachuk’s face as he thanked Ikiyoka for the opportunity to piss her off.

“Do you really want to be beaten up that badly Kachuk?” She asked in a menacing tone that indicated she was at the very edges of her patience and that pushing further would be a very, very bad idea. Kachuk knew very well the consequences for pushing people past their limits, and he wanted none of that today, so he would back down this time.

“Of course not! That would make my job of looking after the little barbarian a lot harder. So, I better get going!” Kachuk raced off before he couldn’t control himself and blurted out something that would seal his fate.

He ran towards the small camp that they had made to stay a couple of days, as the Master had sensed a weak Horror around these parts that would be used to test the wild child. Now that he thought of it, he didn’t remember her name. In just a couple of moments of running he reached the camp which consisted of one large tent where the Master stayed and three smaller tents which the six of them shared.

As he ran over he saw the two kids that he would be taking care of. Well, it was more like looking after one beast as the other kid was a very calm and polite kid. Quyon was currently practicing her forms that the Master had taught her while the other kid was sitting there watching her.

“Hey Quyon! And uhh,” *Kuhum* Kachuk cleared his throat to try and buy some time to remember her name. Oh! He thought as the name came to him. “Melon!”

Melon was flying through the air in an instant towards him. He hadn’t expected that calling her name would set her off so he wasn’t able to react in time as the top of her head smashed into the bottom of his chin.

In an instant he could taste blood in his mouth and spat out, which to his horror he saw what looked to be the tip of his tongue come out as well. How embarrassing that a little girl caused him to spit out blood, he definitely couldn’t let feathers find out otherwise he wouldn’t hear the end of it. However, even though he was the one spitting out blood, Melon was the one that probably got the worst of it.

Melon was currently on the ground unconscious because his body was a lot tougher than regular people due to the power of the violet energy. It would have been like running head first into a tree and expecting to come out of it fine.

“Aw, cwap.” Kachuk said as he put his hand to his mouth. She would be fine since the Master was here, but he was the one who was going to take the brunt of the punishment for this incident. He shuttered thinking about it as he watched Quyon rush over and start taking care of Melon.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she was too injured as she began to stir shortly after Quyon came to check on her. Unfortunately, Quyon was the one who was the closest to the bundle of rage. Melon shot up at Quyon with her mouth open, trying to bite off her nose. Quyon had fast reflexes, but even then she only managed to turn her head, causing Melon to only clip the bottom of Quyon’s left ear.

Kachuk rushed over and wrestled down the crazed girl before he saw the Master walking over. Every step she took seemed like an increasing pressure crushing down upon him. Her red hair shone like a vibrant ruby in the sun and her blue eyes like a clear summer’s sky. He only had a couple of seconds to admire her beauty before he was smashed into the ground next to Melon.

He knew that the punishment for this would be harsh, but he took solace in the fact that Melon would be right there by his side, suffering. Maybe the punishment would knock some of the gusto out of her and she would calm down even.

-------

How foolish he was to think that the punishments would calm down Maymun. They instead accumulated all the rage and hatred inside of her which she directed at the people around her, causing her to get into more trouble. A vicious cycle that neither Maymun or the Master seemed interested in stopping. The only reason as to why it started to de-escalate after a while was that Quyon begged Maymun over the course of several days, enduring most of the hurt by herself.

Kachuk could now look back on those memories with only a portion of the terror that entrenched itself in his soul. Kachuk looked at the boy in front of him, he was someone who hadn’t met the beast that lay inside Maymun.

“Well, as much as I’d love to catch up with you, I'm in a rush.” Kachuk said as he finished picking out the rest of the rations he needed for his travels. “Oh, right. In the Soullight forest to the east there should be a Horror that the three of you should be able to handle. I was only able to get a passing sense of it for a moment, but good luck anyway!” Kachuk said with his signature smile as he left to go pay for his stuff, leaving Ilon there stunned.

He just dumped that news on him and left like it wasn’t a big deal, yet the Soullight forest was only half a day away from Mazual. It could come and enter the town at any moment, plus they were still dealing with the people that had caused the disaster at the inn.

“Kachuk!” Ilon called out to him as he reached the end of the row. “Do you have any idea about who’s causing the mess here?” Kachuk just turned around slowly with the most serious look Ilon had ever seen on his face.

“Leave Mazual. Do not get involved. Why do you think I’m leaving?” Kachuk said with a slightly sad smile. It was clear that he knew something, but if it was even out of Kachuk’s league then it was impossible for Ilon, Maymun, and Quyon combined to do something.

“What is it?” Ilon asked in a tense voice. Kachuk stared at Ilon for a good moment, his blue eyes seemed even sharper than they were before.

“All I know from sensing it is that it can probably kill everyone in the town easily. Obviously it has a goal here, but that’s all I know about it.” Kachuk let out a sigh of defeat. “Oh yea, tell Quyon and Melon that I said hi. See you in five months.” He said as he walked off.

“In five months.” Ilon nodded to him as he left, his mind focusing on what he said.

If it’s something that Kachuk can’t handle then it might be in a high tier in the rank above Horror. Assuming that’s what it even is.

Ilon calmed himself down before the panic of knowing that something could decide to act and kill everyone here overtook him. Thinking about it, he was always around someone who could do exactly that, whose goals were both unknown to him, so it wasn’t that different was it?

Ilon decided that he was going to get Maymun and Quyon and get out of here as fast as he could. He bought some extra rations in case they didn’t have enough before going back to the inn. He tried to keep calm and managed not to run back, as that would cause the panic in him to escalate, so he settled for speed walking.

He reached the inn with no incident and immediately noticed that all the blood was cleaned up and that people were starting to return to the street again.

Can I really leave them all behind? The thought entered his head and he froze. Was it fine to really leave them all behind? Fessal? Cudlin? Lysa? All those who were harmed by the actions of the being. He didn’t know what to do, what he could do for the people here. But now he wasn’t alone. He had people that he could talk to, bounce ideas off of, and make decisions together.

He went to his room in order to gather his things and then quickly went to the room that Maymun mentioned they were staying in when they were chatting. There was a lot that he would have to tell them, and something could happen at any moment so he had to hurry. He knocked on their door and quickly got a response.

“Who is it?” He heard Maymun call out in a relaxed tone.

“It’s me, I need to talk with the both of you now.” He said in the most serious tone that he could. The response of which was a key sliding out from underneath the door and hitting his shoe.

“Huh?” He let out an audibly confused sound. Why they didn’t just come open the door was a mystery to him, one that he would solve in a couple of seconds. He reached down and picked up the key, put it in and unlocked the door. The first thing that hit him was the scent of soap, as well as a faint smell of sweat and ‘other’ scents that he sometimes smelled at inns.

The reason as to why they threw the key was revealed, as they were both sharing the small tub used for bathing. They were both slumped down in the water. Maymun had her arms resting on the sides of the tub, while Quyon was resting in between her legs with her head on Maymun’s shoulder.

It didn’t look like it would be that comfortable, but it seems like they made it work. Ilon walked in and relocked the door behind him, unfazed at what he was seeing before him. He wasn’t exactly in the right mindset to get antsy over the bodies of two girls who he considered to be sisters, plus they would likely be travelling together so it was better to get used to it now than make things awkward later.

“While it seems you had fun, unfortunately I have some bad news.” Ilon said as he took a seat in one of the chairs in the room. He would have usually taken a seat on the bed because it was far more comfortable, but there was no way he was doing that this time.

“What is it?” Maymun and Quyon both looked a little more serious.

“I met Kachuk while buyin-” Ilon began to say before he was interrupted.

“What!?” Maymun tried to jump up in a fit, but because Quyon was leaning on her, all Maymun managed to do was push Quyon’s head off her shoulder and into the water. “Ah.” She was definitely going to be sleeping alone for a night or two after this. Quyon confirmed this when she lifted her head out of the water and gave Maymun the stink eye.

“Anyways, as I was saying, I met Kachuk not too long ago.” This time Maymun didn’t react to his name. “By the way, he said hi Quyon and ... Melon?” He said as he was curious about what type of reaction she would have. The serious and tense atmosphere had already gone out of the window and the panic inside Ilon had pretty much completely dissipated.

And what a reaction it was. Maymun clenched the side of the tub so hard that part of it broke off as she jumped up at full force while shouting “Bastard!” This time instead of just causing Quyon’s head to fall into the water, it sent her flying to the other side of the tub where she landed with half her body hanging off the side.

Ilon could only stare at the two naked girls in shock, one standing and clenching a piece of the bathtub, and the other hanging off the opposite side with her arms dangling down, just as in shock as he was. He felt a smile build upon his face before a torrent of laughter overtook him. Ilon could see why Kachuk teased people all the time if it led to situations like this.

As the sounds of Ilon’s laughter rang out, Maymun finally realized what she had just done as she looked at Quyon. She said the only thing that came to her mind at that moment.

“Fuck.”