"It's bullshit," complained the preacher to her choir. Kimi tore away another chunk of sandwich before continuing: "Three weeks we've been there, not one worthwhile quest comes down to us. I see Mathias and Sharra packing for a Najarala hunt, and what do we get? Fetch quests and some gogdamn Jaggis. It's—" Another bite. "—it's bullshit. Even once you're in, you gotta know a guy to get anything meaningful your way. I'm telling you, the whole thing's rigged."

Below, Aido shrugged. "To be fair, we weren't *
supposed to even be there in the first place. You know they weren't even looking for new Hunters?"

"Where'd you hear that?" Kimi asked, feigning ignorance.

"Where didn't I hear it, more like. From the mouths of just about every single person I've talked to in there." Kimi had no response, so he waited a bit in the sandy ambience. Wind howled over course but smooth hills, sand sighing over arid soil and through sparse, dull green foliage. "What about that girl, uh, Valer..."

"Valaeya."

"Yeah, her. She hasn't offered to bring you along on any of her quests? I hear she gets some pretty big ones."

"I haven't seen her much since we got in, actually. It's weird. Even if I did, and she offered...I wouldn't go without you."

"Aw. You do care."

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the small chuckle in her voice. Kimi had done away with about half of her sandwich—sushifish packed between thin slices of local cheese—and rewrapped it up in its paper shell to save the rest for later. She returned it to her pouch and stood with a grunt, kneeling down to lift the wood tailgate and locked it back into place against the wagon bed. "Alright, I'm ready."

"About time." Aido hopped off the rock he sat on, making his way around the wagon to the driver's seat and clambering up. The aptonoth before it snorted and shook the flies off him as Kimi clambered over the back of the seat and took the reigns. She snapped them and they got moving again down the long, lonesome road. Aido glanced back, at the eggs cushioned in a far corner of the bed. "You're sure about this? Isn't it...kind of illegal?"

"Nothing 'kind of' about it." She looked to him and was met with a worried gaze. Kimi sighed. "I'm *
joking. There's a lot of legal gray area...thatswhathesaidatleast...but! If we get caught, the guy that hired us has a consult who'll defend us in the courts, okay?"

"Yeah, so he says.."

"Meaning?"

Aido sighed. "Kimi, you sure we can trust that guy?"

"Hey, so far we're one to zero—me—on trust. Last time we trusted your guy, we got scammed. Last time we trusted my guy, we got into a super-elite prestigious Hunter club."

"Yeah, working out of a backalley bar. Some prestige. Sorry, "working" might be an exaggeration." Aido got a sharp stare as answer, but she said nothing, and he knew she knew he was right. "And besides, this is different."

"Come on. The laws around unsanctioned egg delivery are...hazy, sure, but it's not outright illegal. If we get caught—which we won't—there still won't be anything to worry about, okay?"

Aido hesitated. "You...think they'd kick us out if they found out? Of the Chipped Fang?"

"Fuck 'em," Kimi scoffed. "They don't wanna give us good quests? Fine, but they don't get to be mad when we find a quest outside of their whole deal. We gotta eat, too."

"Yeah, I guess. It's just...I don't know." They were passing between two cliffs now; the ground rose steeply on either side and now walls of stark clay pitched in close on either side. If Aido stuck out his arm, there'd be less than three feet between the tip of his fingers and the cliff face. "Why would that guy hire two rookies for something like this? You'd think he'd have some Hunters on his shortlist already. Part of me feels like we're being played for fools, you know?"

"Hey, hey, shh...you hear that?"

"Do you actually hear something, or are you just trying to—"

"Shut up, jeez! Listen."

Aido relented and did just that; and much to his surprise, he actually did hear something. Scuttling. Claws on earth. Their heads jerked up at the same time; he couldn't tell which of them shouted it, but the cry of "Monsters!" lifted just as raptoral shapes descended on them from the cliffs above. Aido leapt from the wagon, narrowly avoiding a creature smashing into his seat, and drew his dual blade before his feet had even hit the ground. One landed in front of him and he moved in before it could get its bearings, slashing at its neck and making quick work of the creature. Genprey. There was a shout from behind and Aido turned just in time to see the wagon speeding off with a panicked aptonoth at its helm and Kimi stuck fighting off a pair of raptors on her own.

Aido started to give chase, but another Genprey dropping in front of him put a stop to those plans. He couldn't see it, but he heard another one just behind him. The Hunter held his dual blades wide to either side, turning slowly and backing up towards the cliff as another dropped down in front of him. Back to the wall, there was no chance of him getting flanked. That was the upside. Downside: he wouldn't be able to run away. Doubt I'd even escape, anyways..

The standoff continued until a chirping bark broke the tension and all three closed in at once. Out of reflex he rolled between the two closest ones, avoiding their fangs at the price of sacrificing his only advantage. Now it was one against three with him in the middle of the road, and the Genprey were quick to surround him. This time, it was he who initiated the skirmish; swinging at the neck of the nearest predator, yet it drew away and got off with just a cut. The Genprey opposite his target snapped at the back of his leg but he was quick enough to notice and lift his leg in time, kicking out at the monster's face. The attack stunned it costed him his balance, and another moved in. This time he wasn't quick enough to dodge.

It sank its teeth past his leather gauntlet and into his flesh. Aido was quick with his other hand to chop through the bird wyvern's neck, but that didn't change the fact that he'd been bitten. Already that arm was going numb, and if it hadn't been for the fact he could see it he wouldn't have been able to tell those fingers were clutching a sword. It certainly didn't help that apparently the monster's fangs had gone so deep that even as the body dropped, the head remained attached to him.

In the time it took to kill that Genprey, a second pressed its advantage and bit into his shoulder, while the one he'd kicked tried again, nipping at his leg and eventually finding purpose. Those fangs thankfully didn't go so deep, as he shook the monster off, but the one latched to his shoulder was so effective that the only reason he even knew it was there was because it didn't hurt. Aido swung around, blindly swinging his lone blade at the Genprey while the other dropped from his arm now hanging limp at his side. The sword ripped open the monster's side and it hissed away, but the damage was done. Aido dropped to his knee, fighting for his life, swinging at the predators every time they came close. He caught one in a stroke of fortune across the collar and it bled out while its compatriot harassed him without abation, until he at last hacked into its leg and forced a retreat. It was a good thing that happened when it did, because the paralyzing toxin was almost through his entire body now.

The last words from Aido's heavy lips as he dropped forwards into the sand was his sister's name, before they too were too numb to move.

...

Eventually, he lost track of how long it'd been. The way his head was angled, he wouldn't have even been able to see the shadows on the ground by which to measure the sun's location. Not that it really mattered, given where he was—sandwhiched between two cliffs and cast in their shadow—but it helped to fuel his rage. Because he knew, the only thing he knew, really, laying there for however long it was without a single spark of feeling across his entire body, was that as soon as he could get up off this little patch of dirt, he was gonna tear those damned birds limb from limb.

But first, he had to wait.

It was somewhere between twenty minutes and five hours when he could feel his muscles twitching again. Some time, shorter-lived than the numb period yet still not short enough, he could wiggle his fingers again, then his hands and toes, and at last he found himself fighting to his feet. From the crimson puddle, surrounded by those who would see him dead, Aido rose. He swore vengeance against the Genprey who'd wasted so many hours—or just thirty minutes—of his life. But, first things first...

Aido stuffed the hides, scales, and claws he'd plucked from the fallen foes into his pouch as he pocketed the carving knife. Now he was ready. Second things came second and Aido set off down the path, in search of Kimi and their wagon. It was a brief enough trek before he found one of those two: a set of boots jutted out behind a boulder off to the road's side, her boots. Aido's heart dropped but his fears were thankfully dismissed after he rushed over and saw the rising, falling of her chest. He let loose perhaps his deepest sigh ever, crouching at her side. Her eyes were closed so he didn't suspect she'd been paralyzed as he had. Aido reached to her shoulder and shook it lightly.

Kimi awoke almost shockingly easy.

"Huh..?" She groaned, grasping gingerly at a developing bruise on her dome. "What..?"

"Genprey," Aido said simply, and it did the job: Kimi groaned again as the memories came rushing back, and this time it was one of exasperation.

"Gog damn it."

"Yeah."

"And...the wagon? The eggs?"

Aido shrugged, glancing down the road. Engraved in the soil were faint yet recent streaks, to which he pointed. "Kept going without us. Hopefully it got out of the canyon and escaped." Renting it, they both recalled, had not been cheap. Then he pointed past Kimi, turning her attention to the weapon strewn against the wavy sandstone wall. "There's your hammer. You good to fight?"

"Good?" She grunted as Aido helped her to her feet. "I am itching to bash some heads in. Let's find this wagon."

...

And find it they did: some hundred and fifty more yards down the way they came upon a curious little hole in the canyon walls left of the road. It wasn't a small hole either, by any means: some forty feet high and twice that wide, and served as the opening to a circular cave which doubled as both an oasis and a cenote: fingers of light shimmered down from the opening in the cave roof, illuminating the sparkly blue spring around which grew thick shrubs and chubby cacti. It might've made a nice little tourist attraction, had it not already been claimed.

Because finding the wagon, as they suspected already but now was confirmed, would be the easy part.

"Seventeen, nineteen...shit." Aido hissed as the pair crouched behind a dusty old stone. "Twenty-one genprey."

"That's the wagon, over there. Damn, they really did a number on it. I don't think we're getting our security deposit back..."

"The one picking at the aptonoth, that's their leader. See his more pronounced crests, the larger fangs? That's a gendrome."

"Is he—?" Kimi squinted and leaned in, voice raising in shock. "He is! He's eating my fucking sandwich!"

"Sh! Who cares about your sandwich, can you see the eggs from here?"

Kimi huffed. "No." 'Gog, I spent so much time making that sandwich. It was the perfect fucking sandwich.'

In her rumination she was blind to Aido looking over at her, after some moments breaking the silence: "You're thinking about that sandwich, aren't you?"

"No!" She tsked as though disappointed in her brother for thinking her to be so simple that she'd muse over something so silly as a sandwich, before prying her thoughts away from her sandwich and trying to force them to the situation at hand. "Think this counts as reasonable cause to hunt?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Hm...well, where's the nearest settlement?"

Aido was quiet for a bit, trying to remember the maps he'd scrutinized that morning. "There's a farm, a few leagues west. Three or four. Guild's territory limit on gendromes is..." He shut his eyes, perusing his memory and harkening back to his studies for the written exam. "...I think three and a half miles."

"Eh. Reasonable enough."

Aido sighed. "We really need to get a handler to do this for us."

"Baby steps, baby brother. Let's worry about these asses first. If you handle all those smaller ones, I can take the big guy?"

"That's a lot of smaller ones..." He bit at the corner of his lip as he did a quick second count over the genprey population here, census placing him again at twenty-one. Aido sighed. "Alright, I'll handle it. But if I need help..."

"Right away." Kimi nodded. "I'll be quick, I'm sure. Once their leader goes down anyways, the genprey should disperse pretty quickly, right?"

"Maybe," Aido sighed. But within, he lamented his lack of preparation: 'I should've grabbed some notes before we headed out. We knew there was a good chance of running into them, and still...'

"Whenever you're ready, then."

"Alright." He adjusted his position, preparing to burst from behind the stone, and so too did she, looking to him for the go-ahead. When it came as a nod, the pair of siblings erupted.

The Gendrome wasn't particularly quick to notice them; it had taken the ringing call of a genprey on sentry to alert the den. Aido broke off and disappeared from view, making for the raptors behind it, while Kimi unhooked her hammer as she approached the sluggishly rising monster and swung it in a fluid motion at the beast's side. If it didn't take her seriously before, it certainly did now: the monster tumbled backwards upon impact, dropping to the soil and kicking wildly at her to keep her at bay while it regained its footing. She approached again.

Again Kimi whirled her tool, yet this time the Gendrome avoided its head becoming a pulverized mess by rearing up, before lunging forwards, fangs brushing her shoulder as she spun out of the way. The Hunter poured the momentum from this spin into her next strike, and felt bone shatter and brain splatter upon contact. But as the world unblurred around her she found not a dead Gendrome at her feet, only one of its minions. Kimi glanced up and looked for Aido amidst the throng of bird wyverns, though her search was cut short as the Gendrome's tail whipped against her back and knocked her to a knee. Using the hammer as a crutch, Kimi got back up and hefted the weapon with a grunt, but the Gendrome had no intention of letting her breathe. She turned to face it but was met only with a split-second view of the beast's hip approaching rapidly—bruised from her prior attack—before her gaze was sent to the roof and she was tossed skyward.

The air sharply escaped her chest on impact. Kimi lay there, on her back, spine and head both aching dully. There wasn't time to rest; a Gendrome-colored blur was descending towards her from above. The Hunter surrendered her grip on the hammer and rolled left, hearing sand and stone erupt under the monster's talons just next to her head. Kimi kicked her boot against the ground, rolled onto her knees before hopping to her feet as the Gendrome turned again to face her. No time was wasted in its next attack, driving ahead at her with open jaws and fangs soaked with paralytic venom. Kimi dove towards the monster, between its legs, and scampered back to her feet as it passed overhead and wheeled back around, already going for a second rush. Keeping those eyes on the prize, Kimi reached blindly for—and somehow grabbed—her hammer, smashing the weapon once more into the Bird Wyvern's already wounded side.

Of the two, only one broke; and while injured, it certainly wasn't the Gendrome. Kimi balked at both parts of the hammer, the club snapped away from the shaft and crashing to the earth somewhere in the throes of a massive genprey throng. "You're kidding me!" Her gaze snapped back to the beast, both of their mouths agape. The Gendrome's for a very different reason.

It lurched with maw wide, aiming to catch her here and finish her. Kimi herself knew there was no way she'd dodge on time, she'd need to think of something else...the shaft! The hammershaft in her hands rose as the Hunter flinched away and became the object of the Gendrome's attack in place of her head. She let go of the steel rod just as the monster clamped down on it, sprinted past it and brainstormed a way to finish this hunt without her weapon. Almost instinctively, Kimi's hand found the sheath at her hip and drew the carving knife.

It was a small utensil, compared to the tools of the trade...but it'd have to do. Kimi breathed in. Her knuckles were white around the grip. Before her, the Gendrome hissed, stomped its feet, prepared for a final assault. It intended to end the fight here and now. So did Kimi.

The pair charged.

Another swing took the Genprey clinging to him off. Aido gritted his teeth and opened its throat before whirling around to chop through another's neck, but his breath was growing ragged and his focus thin, and over the raptor corpses on the ground stepped a new one for each he slew. 'How many of you assholes are there?' He cut through another, then another, then another, but like a trail of ants springing from their hill, they seemed to have no end.

Aido faltered. In that moment of weakness a Genprey sprung, knocking him to his stomach. He felt fangs gnawing at the back of his neck, covered quickly by a gloved hand, but both knew it wouldn't take the monster much longer to eat its way through the glove and the hand, and after that...

Aido roared, pushed himself further still as he tapped into strength he didn't know he had to fight back to his feet. One of his dual blades was on the ground at his boots but Aido didn't have the time to bend down and grab it, so he resorted to rearing back and throwing his fist into the side of his attacker's head, knocking it down while another nipped at the back of his leg. The question struck like an arrow: how long could he last? He swiped again with his blade, left a fatal cleft in a genprey's skull. It changed nothing.

One snatched his already-torn glove in its jaw, yanked him violently off-balance; Aido stumbled towards it, hacking through its neck, but from behind a pair of genprey found an advantage in his clumsiness and knocked him to his knees, their weight heavy on his back. He craned his head up, saw his sister...

She and her own foe sprinted at the other. In the moment before impact Kimi shuffled her feet, twisted her body out of the gendrome's way. She let its head pass by, maw snapping close, waited for the perfect moment before—

The crunch of her armored shoulder driven into the side of the gendrome's head was deafening. The huntress recoiled with a pained shout but however much her shoulder hurt, she was certain the monster hurt more. It crumpled like a napkin onto its side, stunned for just a second, but Kimi seized that brief opportunity. Drawing her carving knife, she dropped to the gendrome's side and squeezed the blade between its brow and eye. It died instantly. Aido shouted for the last vestiges of motivation he had, shook the fodder on top of him off and beat them away. With their leader dead, the genprey did not engage. They broke off from the Hunter and fled, scattering like leaves in autumn air from the scene.

He dropped from his knees to the ground and crawled off from the rugged ring of corpses he'd built around himself. Aido huffed loudly, increasing in volume the closer his sister came as though to remind her she was the one who'd chosen this matchup for him. "You alright?" Kimi asked once she stood over him, hand nursing her (probably broken, if she was being honest) shoulder. The other extended towards him.

"Forget about me," Aido waved her hand off. "I'm fine to just die here. Find the eggs."

"Always so overdramatic.." She murmured, leaving him there in search of the eggs. On the ground, Aido found a nice, comfortable position to pass out in. One thing was utterly certain: there was zero chance of him hitting the road again in this condition, much less dragging that wagon the whole way as he knew they were bound to do if those eggs were still in good condition. 'If.' But he knew the reality of the situation, knew the likelihood that they were still intact was slim to none. Kimi's stream of profanity, more distant than it really was to his ears, only confirmed Aido's suspicion. But all hope of financial gain was not yet lost from this venture. As his head dropped to one side, his blurrying sight ran over the hills of corpses, and a fading consciousness wondered at the value of genprey materials.