Chapter 16

Zack was busy looking at his pager, typing away at it.

“The others have all texted me, everyone's finished and heading back to the coach. Everyone who’s alive anyway.” Zack told the two of them as they walked.

“Texted? You know, now that I think about it, wouldn’t it have made more sense for the group to have been issued walkie talkies or something?” Jack asked. “Texting is good I suppose, but it’s not exactly something you can do when you’re facing down a pack of vicious man-eating monsters. Currently surrounded LOL, grisly death imminent FML, poop emoji.”

Rachael snorted in laughter.

“Most established hunter teams actually do have walkie talkies, though the guild issued pagers have a function that lets them quickly function as walkie talkies. Still we didn’t bother setting that up for this group did we? Huh. Next time I suppose.” Rachael said.

“Ugh.” Zack let out a disgruntled grunt.

“Oh come on little brother, ya not still upset are ya?” She nudged him with an elbow.

“No!” He turned away petulantly and walked faster.

Rachael leaned over to Jack and whispered conspiratorially. “He’s still upset.” Jack nodded with a smirk.

They continued walking along the road, it was mid afternoon by now and the sun was hanging low in the sky. A slight chill was encroaching but Jack enjoyed it, he breathed in deep, welcoming the cool air in his lungs and on his skin after the heat and stress of the fights in the village. As the shadows of the little village deepened he began to see more villagers venture outside of their houses and look on in horror and shock as the various bloody drag marks and pieces of bodies littering the area. Jack looked at them with uncertainty. He felt someone nudge his ribs, he looked and saw Rachael.

“C’mon, our jobs done, we need to go. Don’t engage with them.” She steered him away from a particularly distraught looking couple of villagers who were watching them and they walked away at a quicker pace back to the coach. Eventually they saw the coach and a small group of heavily armoured hunters, the hunters were not so much gathered around the coach but rather leaning heavily against it, slumped down or just outright lying down in an exhausted looking heap. As they approached, the driver emerged from the coach door and waved at them. Shortly afterwards they reached the group and looked them over. Everyone looked terrible.

The group of hunters were sweaty and dirty, most of them had damaged portions to the armour they were wearing and more than a few were sporting bandages or visible cuts and scrapes. One fellow was laying down with a bandaged wrapped leg raised into the air while trying to tie a belt around his thigh. A fire element girl was hiccuping frequently and had gathered a cloud of smoke around her which another wind element with an arm in a sling kept blowing away in irritation. The large man with the warhammer was now wielding a stick sans the hammer portion and looked extremely irate. Overall the mood of the group could be described as abysmal at first glance, Rachael it seemed felt the need to explore this.

“Jesus, what the fuck happened to you lot?” She asked, with a slight crooked smirk.

They looked at her with varying degrees of irritation.

It was then that Zack spoke up. “What the hell happened guys? We were supposed to stick together. But you just ran off by yourselves almost straight away.”

Most of the group looked a little guilty at that except the warhammer wielder who looked defensive. “What the hell happened?” He asked incredulously. “You had a shit plan, that's what happened! Just stick together? Hah!” He got up and pointed his broken warhammer now a stick at Zack.

“If you had a problem with the plan you could have said something earlier, you had plenty of time.” Zack calmly explains.

He snorts at Zack but doesn’t back down. “And what about him?” He now points to Jack, who doesn’t know what he’s being accused of but tries to look as innocent as possible out of sheer instinct. “A fucking sparker! He shouldn’t even be here! Dave gets killed but he’s still alive? None of this would’ve happened if we hadn’t been protecting him!” He was nearly shouting now and had taken steps towards the trio, both Rachael and Zack tensed up and put their hands near their weapons.

At this accusation Jack felt somewhat indignant, there was no way he was to blame for this was he? That guy ran off on his own and got himself killed. He resolves to speak up on his own behalf, perhaps to try and calmly diffuse the situation so this doesn’t escalate.

“Fuck you shit head.” Jack simply said, oops, it seemed his brain and his mouth had diverging opinions on how to handle conflict in the workplace. Meanwhile Zack groaned and brought a hand up to rub his face, Rachael looked delighted.

“What did you say!?” The big guy responded.

“Did I stutter? I thought I was pretty clear.” He looked to Zack and Rachael. “Did I stutter? You guys heard me right?”

Zack shook his head in exasperation but Rachael held two thumbs up and looked bursting with pride. “No we heard you, you’re doing great!” She said happily.

Jack turned back to the big guy who was staring angrily at Jack. “So now what?” Jack asked.

“Now I beat the shit out of you, piece of shit sparker.” He growled and moved towards Jack and Jack immediately backed off. He was now very aware of how large and muscular the other man was, elemental abilities notwithstanding.

“Or instead we could -” But before Jack was finished a large fist rocketed into Jack’s face and everything went black for a moment, when he came too he was in the middle of crashing down onto the road. He landed with a thump and immediately let out a groan as the warm stinging sensation of pain settled over his face, centred around his nose in particular. He was faintly aware of shouting and arguing in what sounded like the distance but struggled to hear exactly what was said over a loud ringing or buzzing in his ears. A hazy figure crouched down next to him and said something but he couldn’t determine what.

Eventually the fog in his brain seemed to lift and he struggled to his knees and grasped his nose, he felt a sharp stinging pain and his hand came away wet with blood. That fucker! Jack was momentarily gripped by rage and angrily looked up to see the group of hunters, Zack was holding back Rachael from attacking warhammer and the rest of the group were now standing gathered around them arguing either on warhammer’s side or that of Zack and Rachaels. Jack looked to see who was knelt down next to him and saw it was the young fire element girl who kept hiccuping smoke. She had dirty blonde hair and green eyes and carried a spear like Rachael.

“Are you ok?” She asks in a quiet shy voice looking at him worriedly, before letting out another hiccup.

“Er yeah, are you ok?” He asks, watching the smoke trail into the sky.

“Oh! I’m fine, this just happens when I’m nervous. Hicc.” Another hiccup. She smiles at him, hmm pretty, he smiles back.

“Hey Jack! You ok!” Rachael rushes over and nearly knocks over hiccups girl who yelps in surprise.

“Er, yeah yeah I’m fine, all good, got me with a sucker punch, classic dickhead move. Unless the protagonist in a movie does it then it's ok.” He allowed Rachael to help him to his feet with hiccups girl hovering around him.

Everyone in the group was watching him, Zack looked concerned, warhammer looked smug and everyone else either looked bored or impatient. Jack stares back and wipes the blood from his face with his sleeve.

Warhammer speaks first. “Heh heh, you sure you don’t wanna lay back down princess? We can -” But before he could say anymore Jack quickly walked up to him and kneed him as hard as he could in the groin, like he seriously did it as hard as he could, he even tried to add extra power to the strike by bending and straightening his other leg at the same time. The reaction Jack received was splendid, warhammer actually went airborne briefly before crumpling down to the ground curling into a foetal pose, letting out ragged sobbing gasps, he even vomited a little. Jack raised his hands in absolute triumph and looked around for vindication.

Everyone keeled over in laughter, people were doubled over gasping, Rachael was on her knees sobbing with laughter, even the usually serious Zack let out a deep series of guffaws. Hiccups girls giggled quietly behind her hand.

In between gasps of pain and gritted teeth, warhammer wheezed a few words at Jack. “You bastard……you’re…….dead………i’ll tell………” But he stopped and grimaced in pain again. Jack shrugged with a grin. Zack asked the driver if they were good to go. The coach driver who’d been watching this with mild bemusement nodded and motioned everyone on. As Jack passed him and stepped on the coach he thought he overheard the driver mutter something about hunters always being great entertainment.

Jack sat near Zack and Rachael, eventually the warhammer guy dragged himself onto the coach and limped down the aisle before collapsing into one of the seats near the front. He sat down hunched over and quiet laughter and giggles could be heard throughout the coach.

“Ok guys, good work today! The hunt completion will be confirmed later today by guild surveyors and the police so you should get your payment of six hundred pounds each soon. And we’re off!” With that they set off back to York.

On the way back Jack relaxed and watched multiple ambulances and police cars with sirens blaring race past them to Boroughbridge. He felt a tap on his shoulder, he looked back and saw Rachael leaning over the back of his seat smiling.

“Pretty good today Jack, pretty damn good, I thought we’d have to babysit or stash you somewhere like that twat said. Instead we were the one having to keep up with you! Ha!” She grinned.

“Mmm, yeah, what rank are you anyway? How long have you been a hunter?” Zack spoke up from across the aisle.

“Um, rank F and about a week or so.” Jack answered.

They both looked surprised. Rachael leaned forward with a grin. “Oh! Well then, since you’re our junior you must have lots of questions. Don’t worry I’ll take you under my wing and teach you all there is to know about the glorious and glamorous life of a hunter!”

“Huh, well I do have one question, actually.” Jack tilts his head as if considering.

“Uh huh, ask away my apprentice.”

“Is it just me or does it seem like a lot of hunters are fire elements?” Jack asks, thinking about the group they were in and how at least half of them wielded fire.

“Oh! Well, er…..” Rachael seems perplexed for a moment before Zack steps in.

“It's because fire is seen as the best combat form of element with wind being a close second, but also because serious earth cultivators usually get snatched up by some construction company or some sort of manufacturing industry or another. And serious water cultivators tend to find work around the ocean with fishing industries or sailing.” Zack explains and Jack nods along.

“Pff, nerd.” Rachael contributes. Jack smiles at her.

“Why did you decide to get into hunting anyway Jack?” Zack asks.

Jack considers for a moment. “At first, for a mixture of reasons, but I suppose it boils down to two things; excitement and money and power, oh wait that's three things. But more and more I think my main reason now is to not be helpless anymore. Cultivating and getting stronger is probably my main drive right now.”

“Huh, so it's just power now?” Rachael asks.

“Is that so wrong? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but it's really starting to go to shit out here.” Jack responds.

“Ahh, it's not so bad.” She says as they pass an abandoned car suspended ten feet in the air by several large stone spikes and what appeared to be a group of baboons dancing atop it. “Ah, bad timing.” She murmured.

“What about you guys? What made you want to be hunters?” Jack asked them.

Rachael and Zack look at each other for a moment, they shrug and Rachael speaks. “Family reasons.” She says simply.

“Uh.” Jack doesn’t really know how to respond and before he can ask any kind of follow up question they arrive back at HQ. Or at least they try to, there is a large crowd of people, reporters and news vans arrayed outside the building blocking the way. The driver beeps the horn and people move aside, only to attach themselves to the side of the coach and point their cameras and microphones to the coach windows. Jack nervously edges away from the windows.

“Oh fuck me what fresh hell is this?” He asks no one worriedly. He looks at the two siblings, Zack looks rather grim and faces forward to the front of the bus in determination, Rachael however stares back at the reporters and their cameras in fascination. Eventually the coach came to a stop and the driver’s voice sounded over the intercom.

“Ok guys, this is the final stop, thank you for travelling with North Yorkshire Hunters coach tours today and we hope you had a good day. Now get out.”

Everyone slowly shuffled their way down the aisle and into the wall of sound and press of bodies that awaited them. As soon as Jack stepped off he and the others were assailed by a babble of random questions from multiple sources and camera lights shoved into their faces. It never even occurred to Jack to try and answer any of these questions or to even listen to them, he simply did as Zack and Rachael did and shoved through. He made his way along the pavement until he reached the iron gate that led into the courtyard, unlike usually it was closed with a guard stationed there behind it. Jack and the others showed their licences and they managed to squeeze through without letting any of the reporters slip in with them. Once through, Jack let out a breath of relief only to see that there were still reporters inside the courtyard, and they were giving interviews. Around half a dozen or so reporters from various news outlets were each interviewing various hunters, soldiers or people in suits.

He looked around once he noticed no one was paying any attention to him and decided to skirt around the edge of the courtyard and make his way into the building. It was getting dark now and the various lights around the courtyard had come on, lighting up the fountain and the stone benches surrounding it which various reporters and their interviews made use of.

He walked around trailing behind the other hunters of team red and listened with half an ear to the interviews as he passed. Mostly it was just questions being asked about proper procedure being enacted by the guild or how the hunters performed in the field. It seemed most of these questions were scripted, these interviews were nowhere near as hostile as the ambush that Jack witnessed for the two A rank hunters that took out the Kladican a few days ago.

Just before he reached the main entrance into the building he saw Adrian Welts, the director for this branch of the hunters guild giving an interview to a female reporter. Welts glances over to their group and gives them a small nod before turning back to the reporter, at this Rachael seems to huff in annoyance and grabs Zack’s shoulders from behind and quickly steers him into the building. Jack follows them.

They get inside, in comparison to the outside it's relatively quiet with just a few hunters and suits standing or walking around with quiet murmured conversations here and there. The tranquillity is broken however when Rachael speaks.

“I’m starving! Let's get to the hall and get something to eat!” She puts an arm around Zack and Jack's shoulders and drags them across the atrium. They reach the dining hall or the guild hall as it was more popularly known. As they enter, Jack can see it's just as lively as ever with dozens and dozens of hunters eating and drinking, talking and laughing boisterously. He can’t help but smile at the sight, even after the day’s events.

Jack automatically goes to a booth at the side and the two siblings follow them, the rest of red team splintered off into other groups around the hall. Jack watched hiccups girl greet a group of women by the bar who appeared to be her friends before turning back to Zack and Rachael. They were having an animated conversation about what abilities they were trying to develop and how best they could combine them in the future. He listens in on their conversation while perusing through the touch screen menu, he looks up at Rachael when she suddenly bursts into laughter over something. She looks over to the bar, Jack follows her line of sight and sees warhammer guy as he limps to the other side of the hall up the stairs to the second level. He notices them and snarls before continuing up, Jack can’t help but adopt a feral grin of satisfaction.

He looks back down to the menu but a familiar voice interrupts him.

“Still haven't gotten yourself killed yet?” Jack looks up and sees Cheryl looking down at him, she smirks.

“Hey Cheryl! Nope but I’m doing my best.” Jack happily replied, he scooted over in his seat and patted the spot next to him. She smiled and gracefully slid down next to him. “Guys this is -” He started but was interrupted.

“Cheryl, we know, she did our orientation.” Zack said with a small smile and nod at her.

“Hello again you two, everything going well I trust.” Cheryl asks.

“Yes ma'am, no problems on our end.” Zack suddenly seems oddly formal and Rachael is uncharacteristically quiet and only meekly nods in response. Jack blinks and looks between the three in confusion.

“Sparky!”

Jack groans as he hears another and slightly less welcome voice. He glances to the source of the voice and sure enough it's the hunter Nate approaching cheerfully, accompanying him however is none other than Stacey. Nate and Stacey reach the table, Jack and Cheryl scoot over for Stacey and Zack shifts over begrudgingly for Nate.

“So, did you guys take part in any of the priority hunts? We just got back from one ya know!” Nate eagerly said.

“It was Bloodletter wolves today wasn’t it Jack?” Cheryl asks.

“Er yeah, how’d you know?” He responds in confusion.

“I’m admin, sometimes I go out as a surveyor too, I was aware of all priority hunts and their parameters from today.” She explains. Stacey got out her pager and started looking through it.

“Bloodletter wolves, which ones were they again?” Nate asked.

“They hunt in large packs, have manes, massive sabre teeth and have a venom that doesn’t allow blood to clot.” Stacey says as she reads it from the bestiary page on her pager. “They’re considered D rank by themselves, but in a pack they’re a C rank hunt.”

Nate looked suitably impressed. “Whoa sparky, and you’re still alive? You just won’t die will ya? Ha!”

“Jack has the ability to punch above his weight class I think.” Stacey smiles at Jack in a conspiratorial fashion.

“Did ya kill any sparky? A wolf isn’t quite a rat afterall.” Nate asks, Jack looks at him for a moment, it's strange but even though the things he says to Jack are condescending, Jack can’t detect any malice in Nate at all.

“He killed four actually.” Zack states. “He pulled his own weight and did his fair share.”

“Yeah! He even took a selfie with us and a couple of wolves right before a fight!” Rachael chimes in.

“A selfie? Whoa! I’ve gotta see that! Show me show me!” Nate excitedly leans over the table. Jack smiles and pulls his pager out and accesses the photo album. He brings up the photo from today's hunt, it shows Jack with a cheerful open mouth smile as if he’s greeting a long lost friend in the distance, on either side of him are a confused looking Zack and a bewildered but still uncertainly smiling Rachael. A dozen metres behind them are two extremely pissed off looking wolves. He hands it to Nate who laughs uproariously along with Rachael, even Zack shows off a grin.

“Can I see?” Cheryl asks.

Still laughing Nate hands her the pager, she takes it and looks, she lets out a giggle and shows it to Stacey who releases a loud laugh.

“Hey, can we see the one with the goblins?” Stacey asks next.

“Goblins? Ha! Yes!” Nate eagerly shouts.

Jack takes back his pager and thumbs through it bringing up the selfie with the goblins. It shows Jack with his same grin, his arm is around Staceys shoulders and Stacey looks the opposite of happy. Horrified would be a more appropriate description, sort of like the look someone might get when they realise there's no toilet paper in the public restroom but it's too late now, the deed is done. In the background a veritable hoard of vicious goblins can be seen as if they’re all posing specifically for the camera. Jack shows the table and everyone laughs, even Stacey chuckles ruefully at her expression.

“Ha ha ha! You’re a crazy bastard, sparky, I like you, we need to go hunting together!” Nate exclaims. Jack nods, still smiling.

“So, what hunt did you guys do today?” Zack asks.

“Well we got saddled with a hunt for these lizard centipede things.” Nate says.

“Centasaurians they were called, they overran a town and we had to clear them out. They weren’t difficult to kill but you had to be careful, they’ve got this powdery poison stuff they release and it causes a bad allergic reaction if it gets on your skin, like anaphylaxis.” Stacey said.

“Oh yeah, Cenpasarens right, could barely even harvest anything cause of that poison stuff. Just a few chitin plates. But we killed ‘em all though!” Nate chimes in.

“It's Centasaurians.” Stacey corrects him.

“That's what I said.” Nate responds with a shrug. Everyone chuckles and continues to chat and banter back and forth, Jack continues looking through the menu determined to find something good, he was really hungry now, bordering on hangry. However it seemed their table was a bit of a hotspot today.