Hunter Or Huntress

Chapter 143: Jump Start

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It had taken some improvisation but with the mine in place, Glira had gone for a quick jaunt back to the keep. They needed some of the large beams originally meant as replacement floor supports for the keep that had been sitting in the wood barn to dry out.

But to Tom’s surprise, Essy had tried to talk the dragon out of it, though she had failed to come up with any good arguments, leading to Glira’s swift departure. When he had inevitably inquired, she let slip that Jarix really did not want Glira to come back today. Essy had apparently promised him she would stall for at least a while. Tom just sighed and added another conversation he needed to have, since, at least according to Glira, he was kinda responsible for what had happened to Jarix. Not that he knew jack shit about what the young dragon should have done differently, but he doubted that was the picture Glira intended to paint.

It had been one hell of a nasty-looking hit. Cruel as it may sound, he really wanted to know how much damage had been done too. By the sounds of it, Jarix was expected to recover fully. Mainly due to how damn tough dragons clearly were, but still. It was clear that death by fire breath was certainly possible, even for dragons.

Maybe if Glira was doing another run he could hitch a ride… or perhaps he could convince Jacky. That shouldn’t be hard considering she was nearly bouncing with excitement to show him her kill.

They had kept at it, trying to fix up Yldril. Mainly as a reward for her not trying to kill any of them since Glira left. If nothing else, it might just make her a bit more amenable to work with.

He didn’t know if it was worth it to try and win her over. Rachuck might just demand her head once they were done getting her to talk. Otherwise, she did represent quite the problem. She would need a lot of feeding, and winter was approaching. Tom didn’t even know if they could feed her till then. By the sounds of it, Glira wanted to march Yldril back to a big city and turn her in. ‘Could she be flight worthy before winter?’ Tom pondered, looking the dragon over. He didn’t know how long a bone would take to heal, so that would probably end up being the deciding factor here.

Much like Saph back when she had saved his fat arse, come to think of it. He allowed himself to scoff a bit at that memory. It was almost funny to think about now. ‘Everything can become a joke in time I guess.’

When Glira had returned, she brought a bit more of her crew to help out with the work. Yldril was splayed out so Glira could set the larger bones and the beams were strapped to her limbs to brace them as best they could.

Tom had taken a step back to look at the very odd spectacle. Yldril positively oozed defeat. Whatever strength the dragon might have had left, was being spent fighting the pain of Glira trying to put her back together. Tom had to admit the old blue had done a far better job that he had thought possible. At least when she was in fact trying to do good. Not having thumbs was a problem, but she could still grip alright and this was very clearly not her first rodeo. Once the braces and splints had all been completed, they had hauled Yldril out of the muddy pit that had formed under her from all the spilled blood.

With the majority of the work done, only further cleaning work and guard duty remained, Tom had been freed up to go back to the keep. He needed to check up on what was going on with Fengi as well as see first hand how the younger red had been brought to an end. Not to mention, he needed to check in on Jarix. He also had a plan for maybe cheering Tink Junior up just a little.

“So, hun, feeling tired yet, or could you take a passenger?” Tom had asked when Jacky had come over to rinse off a cloth in a water bucket.

“Now why would I be that? I’ve only been hunting, fighting, hauling, and working since the sun rose?” Jacky replied sarcastically. Tom could tell she was looking pretty spent though.

“I guess I’m camping out here then, huh?”

“Nah, I’ll manage. Besides, you have to see that red. You really should have been there with me when he crashed. That was just amazing. Fire everywhere, my arm got burnt and the gun broken. It was awesome.”

“You don’t need to convince me. We need to see what the fifty did too.”

“You mean aside from blowing Saph’s ears out?”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, that’s what she said,” Jacky laughed, giving him a shunt to the shoulder. “I’ll tell you in the air. You know the drill,” she went, pointing back in the direction of the keep.

“You don’t want a hand with me?”

“Nah, I’ve got a plan.”

“Does it involve dropping me?”

“What? No… I would never,” Jacky replied with a laugh, running off herself before quickly beating into the air.

‘Yeah, she’s gonna drop me,’ Tom sighed, waiting for her to come back around again before he took off running, arms up like an idiot.

Jacky snatched him up, beating skywards at speed, climbing fairly fast.

“Careful now. We wanna make it home.”

“If you wanna be the one driving, get some wings,” Jacky retorted. “Or at least a license, don’t humans need those?” Jacky asked, panting slightly as she climbed.

“Ha ha, very funny. Who might issue such a license?”

“Well an experienced flier, of course.”

“Well give me one then?”

“Hell no. I know better than that. And that’s saying something,” she replied with a snicker, Tom moping a bit, wondering just what she was planning today. Even she would not be flying all the way back with him dangling in her arms.

He got his answer when she leveled out and then promptly yet still unexpectedly dropped him.

He briefly lost the ability to speak as he plummeted towards the ground before a hysterically laughing Jacky swooped down beside him.

“Sorry!” she shouted out, following him down before moving in under him and pulling up. “I swear I slipped.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Jacky grinned as they made for the keep at a more leisurely pace, gliding most of the way. “So, where were we?”

“Saph’s ears,” Tom replied reluctantly as he made himself as comfortable as he could, going to tickle her a bit behind the ear for some petty revenge.

“Right yeah, she… Oh would you… Radexi… oh come on!” Jacky protested as her ear flicked in annoyance, Tom giggling just a little. “That’s quite annoying.”

“Just testing your reflexes, you clearly need them.”

“Think I could catch you from this height too?”

“Let’s not find out,” Tom replied, ceasing the tickling… for now.

“Radexi fired the gun over her head. Knocked her out cold and she fell off. Took out her ears too, obviously.”

“Yeah, that should do it. Fucking hell,” Tom replied, taking that a bit more seriously. “That could have killed her, dropping in the middle of a battle like that.” ‘Damn she got both ends of the luck stick today.’

“I went after her, thinking she was out for good, but she came back pretty quick,” Jackalope continued. “Then she just cut her way straight through the very confused brigands, managing to gain the attention of quite a few of them. We blew a few to pieces and generally just gave them a bad day. Then the dragon came down trying to run from Jarix and you know that part… It was still awesome though.”

“You can say that twice. Imagine if it had got a run on the keep. It could have burned it down in one go.”

“Yeah… I can imagine that,” she replied in a far more somber tone.

“Sorry. Well this time, we got the bastards. We did damn well.”

“Yeah… Why were you after Glira then? She even took that black alive.”

“Yeah, but… She’s cruel. She toyed around with her like a play thing. She says that was all part of the plan, but I don’t believe her. She enjoyed that whole thing. In the end she was only annoyed it wasn’t more of a fight. She’s damn crazy.”

“Sounds useful if this happens again. Just send her out first.”

“I guess you're right. No doubt she’s good. She might even have the best chance of surviving being the point woman.”

“You mean second to me.”

“Well yeah, obviously,” Tom chuckled, grabbing a horn and jostling her head a little.

“But seriously, dude… that was fucking scary,” she replied, back to a bit more serious tone. “It’s just… Damn if that didn’t feel good. I mean, I know that wasn’t Rashan-”

“But you imagined it was.”

“I guess… kinda got caught up in the heat of the moment.”

“Well it was quite the moment,” Tom replied, giving her a hug from behind. “Brave Jacky. Ace of the battle. Slayer of dragons.”

“And layer of Humans,” she snickered in reply.

“Oh no, I thought we agreed I landed you?”

“Bitch, the only way you are landing is in a crater,” Jacky laughed as she looked ahead, the keep coming into view. “Unless you want to disprove that theory.”

“No, I think that’s enough heroics for one day. I mean all I did, really, was shoot out her eye. That was still a decent shot.”

“Oh, you were the one that took that out. I guess that’s what made her run like a little girl.”

“Yeah, she didn’t see that one coming.”

“Oh my fucking god.”

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Looking over to the Fengi, she still seemed to be sleeping soundly. Saph gestured for Maiko to check on her again, just to be sure. It had been awhile since the last check.

Maiko got up and moved over to the bed, finger pressing against Fengi’s neck to take her pulse, holding his other hand in front of her snout.

“She’s still with us,” he shrugged as Fengi moved a bit, letting out a slight grumble. “Oh. Someone is coming back around. Should we wake her?”

“Probably a good idea,” Saph concurred, Maiko going to shake Fengi a bit by the shoulders. That elicited some annoyed grunts before her eyes finally blinked open, staring up at him skeptically.

“You’re not my… oh. Hi, Maiko,” Fengi let out as she lay there staring up at him.

Maiko for his part just pulled back, standing up straight. “Welcome back, had a good nap?”

“You could say so…” Fengi replied, looking around, eyes landing on Saph. “Hi… did it work?”

“Oh yeah,” Saph replied with an exaggerated nod. “I had to keep my hand down for quite a while after that.”

“Yeah, she just couldn’t stop saluting,” Maiko chuckled, Fengi looking between the two of them like she was trying to figure out if they were lying or not.

“No… Really?”

“Yup,” Saph confirmed. “It's gone by now. It wore off slowly, but to start with I couldn’t even will it down.”

“Oh that’s amazing!” Fengi replied as she looked down at the sheets before taking them off and getting out of bed. “How long was I out?”

“A few hours,” Maiko replied. “I’ll go let the significant other know. Fengi, keep an eye on her, she’s not allowed to go to sleep yet,” he instructed, gesturing at Sapphire before walking out the door, closing it behind him.

“Can do,” Fengi replied curiously, looking after Maiko as he left the two of them alone, then looking to Saph as if expecting an explanation.

“Oh you know who. He was very worried.”

“OH… Oh gods dammit Maiko. Significant other,” Fengi replied in a mocking tone. “Well he can’t be that worried, he’s not here.”

“Be nice. Unkai is a nice guy. You’ll break his heart talking like that. Also, He’s more than got his hands full right now too.”

Fengi huffed a bit at that before looking away. “I guess. Now I could just tell him to not worry, couldn’t I… would that even work? Could I tell someone to be happy?”

“I have no idea,” Saph replied, mulling it over a bit. “Would you want to?… I mean be told to be happy and then just be… Would you know that’s why you are happy?”

“I… I don’t know? What would that feel like?” Fengi questioned, seemingly as much to herself as Saph. Then there was the sound of rapid footsteps going up the stairs from outside, their privacy coming to an end as Unkai stuck his head through the doorway, looking at Fengi and seeming to freeze there.

“Hi there,” Saph let out, breaking the silence, Unkai looking to her instead. “Come on in, she’s fine.”

He didn’t reply as he opened the door, trotting inside looking rather cautious, Fengi tilting her head at him. “Something wrong?”

“No no. Nothing wrong,” he replied as he knelt down in front of Fengi, who was still sitting on the bed. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah…” Fengi replied, seeming a bit confused too, tilting her head ever so slightly and looking at him. You?”

“Little tired,” Unkai relented, peering into her eyes and looking more like he was checking something. “And a lot more to do.”

Fengi glanced at Saph briefly before looking back at him. “Well don’t be such a scaredy pants. Come here,” she went, holding out her arms. “Happy to see you are alright too.”

Unkai actually hesitated, to Saph’s near-complete confusion. Even if it was a trap, he would have pounced at that opportunity before. He did eventually lean in, taking her into a hug and nuzzling up against her neck.

“You too… You too,” he replied as he finally closed his eyes. Fengi looked to Saph with a questioning expression.

Saph just shrugged, trying to look as confused as she could while watching the guard, trying to work out what had gotten into him. “Did the prisoners say anything yet?”

“Not much. Most of them claim to have just been hired for this job. Rachuck obviously doesn't believe them,” Unkai replied as he seemed to hold Fengi a bit tighter.

“Obviously,” Saph echoed. Then there was a knock on the door. Saph looked over to see Major Jortun standing there, helmet under his arm.

“May I have a word?”

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Tom had wanted to go check on Jarix, but there had been no stopping Jacky from showing off her kill, so down they had gone. Even Tom could tell Jacky was a spent force by now, shoulders sagging and panting even as her enthusiasm drove her onwards. He wanted to tell her to slow down, but he knew better.

“Look. His head still looks good.”

“Yeah, the damage isn’t that bad… I guess the skull keeps the blast inside,” Tom admitted, looking at the large dragon head.

“Yeah, his brain is still leaking out too,” Jacky pointed out, pushing the head over a bit to show the wound. The damage looked rather mild, Tom thought, but the dried pool of gore betrayed the damage that had been done. It looked more like a chunky milkshake made with blue paint, the stain running down the dragon’s ear and onto the ground.

“Ewww.”

“Yeah, we’ll get him cleaned up first…”

“How would you even preserve something like this? It’s a big fucking head.”

“Oh, I was thinking just the skull. Otherwise it would be a lot of work. But what do you think?”

“He certainly looks like a fine specimen… not much scarring.”

“No, I think he was rather new to all this. Certainly had spirit though.”

“Mhmm,” Tom replied as he started walking down the dragon’s side looking for bullet holes. He quickly found what he was looking for, the little round holes highlighted very well by the splotches of blue.

Pho had come down to greet them, looking about as excited as Tom had suspected, setting down uncomfortably close to him while holding one of the shotguns.

“This thing… is amazing!” she all but shouted.

Tom smiled kindly at her, looking down at the gun to see if he could see any damage. “Glad you like it.”

“Have you cleaned it properly?” Jacky interrupted, walking up and taking the gun, forcing Pho back a bit. Tom let out a slight snicker at the younger huntress’s confused expression.

“I mean, I was working on it,” Pho replied as Jacky opened the gun and looked down the barrel.

‘I mean, at least she unloaded it,’ Tom thought to himself as Jacky’s finger came away black from inside the chamber.

“Oh really?” Jacky questioned accusingly, looking at Pho.

“I said I was working on it… look I even have the cleaning rod thingy,” Pho countered, producing the modified stick.

“Oh, do you mind?” Tom went, taking the stick and turning back to the red dragon.

“What do you need that for?” Jacky questioned, turning to see what he was up to.

“I wanna see how deep they went,” Tom replied, going up to one of the more conveniently placed holes and sticking the rod inside. “Damn,” he let out as it went in all the way.

“Oh, he had a bad day,” Pho added, now peeking around Jacky.

“Yup,” Tom replied, turning back to them. “We intend to burn him, right?”

“Don’t know actually. That’s up to Nunuk in the end.”

“I do not want to carry him to the edge.”

“Well would you rather eat him?” Jacky questioned, looking down at her, head tilted.

“Fuck no,” Pho replied with disgust in her voice. “That’s just not okay.”

‘Well thank God for that,’ Tom thought to himself, feeling quite relieved that at least that moral question wasn't gonna come up.

“Well I would like to cut him up a bit to see what happened inside if possible.”

“You got it, boss. But could that maybe wait for tomorrow?”

“Yeah, let’s go check on our people. I need a chat with Jarix and a visit to the infirmary,” Tom replied. “Wanna take the stairs?”

Jacky stood there looking back at the keep for a second before nodding. “Yeah… see you up there, little scamp. That gun is clean next time I see you,” Jacky went, going to follow Tom, taking his hand once Pho had taken off again and going up to the open ramp.

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The major had let Unkai finish his little snuggling session, the healer eventually scampering down the stairs to get back to work. Jortun had closed the door behind Unkai and gone to take Maiko’s chair, glancing at the baby briefly as he sat down.

“So.”

“So,” Saph echoed, looking at him.

Jortun glanced at her, his expression still seeming quite serious and not much like his day to day demeanor. Then again, they were still only just on the other side of a battle. He had looked back to Fengi almost appraisingly, letting his eyes run over her from horn to toe. Saph had no problems discerning Fengi’s discomfort.

“She may want privacy for this,” he began, not taking his eyes off Feng. Saph guessed it was directed as much at her.

“No, she can stay,” Fengi piped up, sounding rather uncomfortable as well, looking to Saph.

Saph just nodded and leaned back in her chair, making it clear she wasn’t going anywhere. The major certainly hadn’t struck her as a creep before, but neither was he acting normally right now.

“A friend might do good too,” the major replied as he leaned back as well, seeming to make himself comfortable. “So… Enchantress,” he said, eyes locked on Fengi.

“That’s what Glira said,” Fengi replied.

“And I think she’s right,” he replied, glancing to Sapphire. “Proof was pretty hard to deny. You are a natural it seems. Quite surprising it took you this long to notice.”

“The others thought I was just very likable,” Fengi replied with a smile, though it seemed to vanish after a second. It was replaced by a rather apprehensive expression, eyes looking into the middle distance.

“And that is why I’m here,” Jortun went, pointing at her head, Fengi snapping back to look at him. “You have been given a great gift… and a terrible curse.”

“But she’s just found her magic,” Saph replied with confusion as Fengi seemed to keep thinking. “And it’s so rare. That’s hardly a curse.”

The major turned to look at her, his expression dead serious as he took a second to compose his reply.

“A curse because of what her magic means. What happens when she asks you to do something? Do you do it because you want to?... or cause you were forced to? Why do people like her? Why does she seem so nice?”

“Cause she’s the sweetest thing since Tom’s candies,” Saph replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. A statement she wholeheartedly believed.

“If she learns her new craft, and learns it well, she could make anyone adore her and do her bidding. She would not have to work another day in her life.”

Saph didn’t have a reply for that as she just turned to look at Fengi who was still sitting on the bed, though now she was looking away.

The major turned back to look at Fengi again, clearing his throat, gaining her attention as she looked back at him.

“I am here to tell you a very important thing. And to teach you a very important lesson. You have to learn how to control this. You have to learn when to use it. And to only use it then. Else you risk no one ever trusting you again. This is not to be trifled with, or played around with. You can topple keeps with this power and it can turn away every last person who has ever liked you.”

Saph could see Fengi’s breathing quicken even from across the room as the coppered huntress stared wide-eyed at the major.

“But if you do it right, it’ll work out just fine in the end. I’m willing to bet you are currently sitting there wondering if everyone who likes you only does so because of your magic. If it’s all fake. A charade.”

Fengi looked down and took a few seconds before replying with a very slight nod, Saph swallowing once.

“No. No I’m not having that,” Saph protested, leaning forwards and trying to stumble to her feet. The major grabbed her by the shoulder, trying to force her back down. “Why the hell are you telling her such nonsense? Look at her,” Saph snapped, gesturing at Fengi. “She’s been looking for so long. She was so happy, and now look at her.”

“But what if it’s true?” Fengi replied, looking up. “I’m just a street rat. No one wanted me… until I was what? 15?”

“But you are the nicest person ever. How can you even say that?” Saph questioned honestly, hurt by even the accusation. “Sure you can be an arse at times, but think for a second. I don’t even hate Jacky… I fucking love that woman. And she’s a piece of shit most of the time compared to you.”

“Would you two calm down?” Jortun growled, getting up and forcing Saph back into her seat before turning his attention to Fengi. “Look at me, huntress.” Fengi looked up to the now standing major.

“I see I can skip the first lesson. You figured that one out by yourself. Time for the second one. Sapphire, try lifting that…” he went, looking back at the table pointing at a feather quill. “That quill. That should be possible, yes?”

Saph nodded, looking to the quill, not sure what the major was after. As she tried to lift the quill she just felt… nothing… and the quill didn't move.

“You see? She can’t,” Jortun went, looking back to Fengi. “This is my doing. You can’t tell her what to do right now. Nor can you make her like you. Yet she still does,” he continued with a genuine sincerity in his voice. “It is real. They do like you.”

Saph looked back to Fengi, not sure what to say.

“I will do you a favor, young huntress, though I will want one in return. Whenever you are in doubt if something is real, come fetch me and we’ll set things straight.”

‘I guess he’s not so bad after all,’ Saph thought to herself as she saw the smile return to Fengi’s face.

“Thank you,” she let out, almost choking on the word.

“What kind of favor?” Saph questioned, being a bit more suspicious.

“I don’t know yet. But it does pay to have favors with a woman like her. You never know when the Inquisition is hard to get a hold off. Now, don’t be mistaken. You have a lot of work ahead of you, Fengi. You are going to need friends you can depend upon for your training. Whatever you do, don’t betray that trust.”

“I would never-”

“That means always telling them what you are doing, exactly, and when you are doing it,” Jortun cut her off. “While I’m here, feel free to train on the prisoners. Though I must warn you against using your power outside on any unwilling parties not deserving of such. I have the title of witch hunter for a reason, and my prey is not only those that have fallen to the darker powers.”

“I… Yes, sir,” Fengi replied with a nod, recognizing the threat for what it was.

“Now I heard talk of a very special individual,” Jortun continued, looking to the small cradle on the floor where, incredibly enough, Jinora was still sleeping.

“That would be Jinora, yes,” Saph replied, cursing to herself and hoping really badly that the fact that kid was likely the equivalent of a living holy artifact would not produce problems with someone named witch hunter.

“And your plan is to use her to assist Fengi?”

“Yeah… She’s quite the special little kiddo.”

“So I heard. I read the agreement on the horn you have… I take it she was omitted.”

“Yeah…” Saph replied, averting her gaze.

“Good idea. The church will want her. Though I would recommend doing a better job of not mentioning her around people who shouldn’t know.”

“Yeah… we probably should not… oh dear,” Saph replied.

“Don’t worry. If I was her guardian, I would have her under lock and key. Stand fast and vigilant. People might try to take her, either through force or subterfuge.”

“Can do. Not like we have any precious secrets hidden around here.”

“No, but this one is a bit different,” Jortun replied as he got up, going over to look a bit closer at Jinora. “She might be the only one of her kind alive.”

“Have you heard of others? Maybe before?”

“Stories, sure. Hard to tell what’s true, but if half of them are, she’ll do great things.”

“Well may this be the start of an illustrious career.”

“Indeed. By the sounds of it, Yldril will make it through the night. At least the old girl believes so. Get some rest and find out how to do this properly. There is still time to work with.”

“Will do. Maybe a bit more training before proper bedtime?” Saph replied, looking back to Fengi, who was still just watching from the bed.

“Sure… Jortun, do you know what was up with Unkai before?”

“Can’t say I do sadly… I recommend asking,” the major replied before stepping out the door, closing it behind him.