Girls and Monsters
Stars blazed across the sky, and a moon swathed in violet silk cast its light upon the earth — a night of true beauty....
"Fuck!!!!"
A string of curses ripped through the heavens as a black hawk fought for its life.
"These fucking cock-sucking bastards — there's a goddamn shitload of them!!!"
The black hawk was thoroughly pissed.
His name was Hugin.
The night before, while scouting the area, he had stumbled upon abominations so foul that just looking at them put him in a rotten mood. Murderous intent rolled off them in waves. They advanced through the forest killing every animal in their path — grotesque things crawling up out of the deep woods. Hugin had figured they were nothing special and torn into them without a second thought.
Before long, though, more kept coming, until the swarm of creatures numbered in the hundreds.
Hugin shot into the sky, then plummeted. Wind coiled around his wings and talons, hardening into blades that shredded dozens of the things in an instant.
"How many of these fuckers have I killed already? At this rate I'm gonna lose every last feather!!!"
They had been crawling toward the place where Hati and his best friend were, so Hugin had figured he could just wipe them out himself. But no matter how many he killed, more poured out, the numbers swelling without end. At first he kept going out of pure spite — let's see who wins, assholes — but taking on that army alone was impossible. He had fought straight through the night, and still their numbers refused to drop; if anything, they only grew. He considered heading back for Hati even now, but against that overwhelming mass Hati would get hurt too. And Blanc — that annoying little shit — only cared about their best friend, so she was out of the question.
"Goddamn it!! This is a hit to the pride!!"
In that case, he would call his best friend. Haren. That guy would grind these things into dust in no time.
"You lot are fucked! Just wait!!! I'm bringing my friend!!!"
Leaving the abominations behind him, Hugin soared toward the village. He had flown so far in the chaos of battle, and after fighting all day he was exhausted, forced to rest for long stretches along the way. He finally reached the village at noon the next day and searched for his friend — no sign of him.
"Haren!!! Where the hell are you!! Don't tell me that rockhead's gone and hidden himself again?"
Fine. He would meet him at the hideout... Before his best friend got back, Hugin figured he would grab a nap in Hati's warm fur.
"Heyyy~ Hati~"
But something was wrong. Hati was nowhere to be seen. In his place stood those tentacled freaks with their goddamn ugly faces.
"What the fuck? The ones I was fighting weren't the front of the pack...?"
Had the ones he had been slaughtering only been the middle of the swarm?
Then —
"Hugin!!! Friend!!! Over here!!! Help me!!!"
A distant bark, bark — that was Hati.
"Shit!!"
Hugin shot into the air.
Hati was rolling around on the ground again today. He had just polished off a mountain of meat, and his belly was gloriously full. Warm light... a cool breeze... the perfect temperature... that stuffed, contented fullness — this was happiness, pure and simple.
Hati, the living embodiment of an unemployed dog.
Sniff sniff.
Huh? This smell. This presence.... It's Friend's??
Friend Haren. The kind friend who, along with Hugin, had raised him since he was a pup. The friend who fed him his favorite foods every single day, the friend he always wanted to stay by. The unusual part? Friend was insanely strong. Hugin was strong too, but Friend was on another level entirely.
Looks like Friend had come home.
His tail wagged back and forth.
But the scent and the presence were too faint to belong to Friend.
What? Did Friend get smaller or something?
Hati heaved himself up and followed the smell. After walking a while he found the source — two females of the same species as Friend.
Huh...? The scent is coming from their necks?
Sniff sniff.
Friend's mates? But they're way too small and young for that.
If you stacked the two of them together, maybe they would reach Friend's height?
With that idle thought, Hati headed home.
He said he was coming home, so I'll just grab a nap there...
"Gah!!!!!"
"No!!! Mani!!"
At the sudden cries Hati spun around. The yellow female was standing protectively over the brown one.
"Bel! Look over here~ There's tons of fruit~"
"Whoa, you're right. Coming this deep into the woods was the right call after all."
"Heeheehee, I told you we should've come sooner."
Mani scrambled up a tree with practiced ease, plucking fruit and showing off.
"Oho, look how ripe these are. Bet they'd taste amazing just like this."
"Mani.... I can see your underwear..."
"Ahem~ It's just us girls anyway, so who cares~ Come on up, Bel!"
"Urgh... Fine."
Under Mani's relentless urging, Bel climbed up after her.
"These are the biggest ones! Let's eat them right here~"
"Oooh... They really are huge."
"Wow, so sweet."
"Pinkbells are in season right now~"
After eating their fill, the two girls picked more fruit into a basket and chatted away.
"Alright, shall we head back!"
"We really picked a lot. We could even share some with the neighbors."
"Great idea. Let's give some to the priests at the church too."
Bel was just thinking it was about time to leave when —
Flinch!
In an instant, Bel felt a horrible, spine-chilling presence.
"Huh? Bel, what's wrong all of a sudden? Your face is pale — did you get something stuck?"
"Uh....? Uh! I just got a little scared."
"Aw, don't worry~ Even if we're deep in the forest, the church is nearby, and the priests take care of any demons or monsters that show up."
"I know, but... what is this feeling?"
"Let's just hurry home. Bel, you look awful."
"Yeah... Let's go quick."
The two girls started back toward the village, but the terrible sensation never faded — it only grew stronger.
"Bel?? Bel!! Are you okay? You're shaking so hard."
"Y...yeah."
"This won't do. Get on my back — I'll run us to the village."
The moment Mani tried to hoist Bel up, something black streaked toward her at terrifying speed.
Thud!!!
"Gah!!!"
"No!!! Mani!!!"
Bel watched Mani get knocked sideways into a tree, then scrambled over and shook her.
"Mani!!! Mani!!! Wake up!"
"..."
Thankfully Mani was not badly hurt — just knocked unconscious by the impact. Bel tried to lift her and run, but she froze at the sight of the abomination approaching slowly from the opposite direction.
Thump... thump...
Pitch-black, slick skin; a grotesque form of two long tentacles fused together, using the tips of those tentacles as legs. Dozens of eyeballs bulged from its body, all of them fixed on Bel.
Her whole body trembled with fear, but Mani was hurt behind her. She could not abandon her friend and run alone.
I have to protect Mani!!
No matter how firmly Bel resolved herself, the monster stretched out a tentacle, long and thin. That must have been the weapon it used to strike Mani.
Her legs had gone weak; they would not move. The monster's body writhed, and a black whip came lashing toward her.
Bel wrapped herself around Mani and squeezed her eyes shut.
Mom!!!
CRASH!!!
A tremendous noise — but she felt no pain. Was she dead? She cracked her eyes open. She and Mani were unharmed.
Slowly she looked toward the monster...
Huh? A white wolf?
An enormous wolf had smashed the creature to pieces and was now looking their way.
"Well, that was a lot of good information."
"Hahaha, I gave you three silver pieces, didn't I? Got to make it worth your coin."
I had woken up that morning and sat for a bit in the shelter hall when Mr. Gen came downstairs. We exchanged greetings and fell into conversation, and before I knew it noon had come and gone...
"Well then, take care."
"Yes. If fate allows, we'll meet again."
I left the village with a smile. Based on what Mr. Gen had told me, I needed to figure out where to go next~
At the village entrance I found the same vigilantes who had been guarding the gate yesterday.
"Oh? Heading out already, hunter?"
"Yes, time to move on."
"Aw, that's a shame.... Still, drop by sometimes and sell us some hides, will you? My wife was raving about the ones from yesterday."
"Same here. My old lady absolutely loved them!"
"If the chance comes, I'll definitely stop by."
"Please do~"
Now I just needed to swing by the hideout and leave with my friends. Hugin should be back by now, right?
"Pong!!! Pong!!!"
Blanc suddenly started shouting.
What? Hati and Hugin were in danger?!
"Pong!!"
Blanc declared she would lead the way and shot off ahead.
What on earth was going on?
Hati was baffled.
This nasty thing... it doesn't smell like anything? Even its blood has no scent?
Having assessed the situation, he glanced back to find the yellow female staring at him in a daze.
The brown female looks hurt. This is when I need Water-Droplet Friend...
Water-Droplet Friend was always going on about how she was a multi-talented super-genius spirit, and that if anything hard came up they should just tell her.
Hati quietly approached and licked the brown female.
Wake up, female. It's dangerous here.
After a continuous barrage of Hati's hot, wet licks, Mani's eyes fluttered open.
"Mani!!!"
"Urgh... that hurts like hell! What even happened..."
"Hic... Mani.... Thank goodness.. I'm so glad..."
"Ugh... I'm fine, Bel. Don't cry — stop! More importantly, what's with this wolf? It's huge."
"Uh.... Uh..! The wolf saved us."
"Whoa.... Hey, wolf, you saved our lives. Thank you."
Mani stroked the wolf, then spotted the bizarre thing behind it — that had to be what attacked her. She stood up and checked herself over, bouncing a little and twisting this way and that. Watching her, Bel finally relaxed.
"Mani... this isn't the time. We need to get to the village, fast."
"Yeah, right away. But did that monster come alone? What if there's more of them?"
"Y...eah? Whenever people say that, there usually are."
"Uh... like that?"
Creatures just like the abomination had already gathered around them. Mani muttered under her breath.
"My big mouth just jinxed us..."
"Grrrrrr..."
Fortunately, the moment the monsters approached, the white wolf sitting beside them let out a low snarl and smashed the creatures to pieces in an instant.
Boom!!!
Boom!!!
Thud!!!
"Whoa.. It's as strong as Auntie Bel..."
"Taking those monsters out with one swipe of its paw..."
The wolf's power was astonishing. The monsters died without even managing to fight back.
"Nice one! Wolf!! Clear us a path!!"
"Mani, doesn't something feel off?"
"Uh... Wolf... I think we just need to run?"
The roughly ten monsters right in front of them had swelled to around thirty.
"H-how is this happening? There are so many more!"
"What is even going on."
Mani and Bel were stunned. The white wolf scanned its surroundings, then lowered its body beside them.
"Uh..? You want us to get on?"
"Woof woof!! Woof woof!!"
"Bel!! Get on, now!! They're coming!!"
"Already that close?!"
With both girls on its back, the wolf took off at a blistering run.
"Waaaaah!!"
"Kyaaaa!!"
As the scenery blurred past, the two girls clung tight to the wolf's fur.
"Why are those things everywhere!!!"
"They're this spread out through the forest? Then the village..."
Even in the direction they fled, more monsters appeared. The wolf crushed everything in its path while barking skyward without pause.
The encirclement tightened.
"Ugh... Wolf, what do we do..."
"Hang in there!! Wolf!!"
Shrieeeeeek!!!!
A sudden, ferocious rush of wind from above. Something dropped from the sky and swept a swath of the monsters away.
"What was that?"
"A bird?"
"Screeeech!!"
It was an enormous bird. Looking at the bird hovering in the air and the clearly delighted wolf, Mani and Bel spoke up.
"I guess it knows the wolf?"
"Looks like it. It's really excited."
The white wolf's tail was wagging hard.
"Woof woof! Woof woof! Woof woof!"
"Screeeech!!"
And so the two animals found each other again.