~Luthoc Sterling~

The shuttle landed with as much fanfare as when it left - which is to say, none. Luthoc waited as the other Hunters flowed off the ship, not wanting to push past the crowds for a reward as measly as getting to fight killer beasts sooner rather than later. When almost everyone was gone, he finally moved towards the exit, blinking as he approached the sun-lit opening.

When he'd pictured stepping onto the surface of the Earth for the first time, Luthoc had never imagined it being so...boring. At the very least, he'd expected a bloodbath of terrifying monsters or a scorching wasteland barren of life. In contrast, he was met with a surprisingly tame scene.

Noentirely sure what to do, Luthoc reached out hesitantly, his hand brushing against the vibrantly green surface of a bush bursting with leaves the size of his head. He'd seen plants before - there seemed to be no escaping them with Hunters like Chrysanthemum and William out and about - but never anything so big. It was like every bit of flora in the area had been on the receiving end of some kind of plant steroid.

Despite his more-or-less impassive expression, Luthoc could feel the cold creep of nerves sneaking up on him. Everything around him screamed "unnatural", not to mention the underlying tone of danger that seemed to permeate the air like an invisible, inescapable fog. Unconsciously, he reached up to straighten the high collar of his brown trench coat, which had slumped sometime during the shuttle trip. It had taken no small amount of arguing to get his own clothing brought with him when they'd been moved from the facility, but Luthoc had always had a... way with words.

"What's wrong?" Noctis appeared at his shoulder, staring up at him with her luminous yellow eyes.

Luthoc made a decidedly undignified yelping noise as he jumped away from Noctis, who gave him an amused look. "Nothing," he muttered darkly, jamming his hands into the pockets of his coat and hunching his shoulders in an attempt to cover his embarrassment.

Noctis appraised him for a moment, then shrugged. She turned to look at their surroundings as Luthoc glanced around, searching for a means of escaping her politely. Just as he was about to simply slip away, she spoke again.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" Her voice was oddly wistful and lacked any of the usual exclamation marks she used while speaking.

"Oh, er...sure, I guess." Luthoc wasn't going to admit that everything about the place put him on edge. His earlier awe had worn off thoroughly, and by this point he expected a monster to jump out from behind every bush.

Fortunately, Noctis didn't seem to notice his hesitation. This time when he tried to slip away, she didn't interrupt him, only continued to stare off into the trees with an expression that sent a shiver down Luthoc's spine.

Having abandoned his spot on the edge of the crowd, Luthoc now found himself being herded alongside the rest of the Hunters toward several crates of gleaming weapons. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, murmuring under his breath the whole way so that people let him pass. It only took him a moment to spot what he was searching for - an ebony-hilted rapier with a blade that gleamed like a slice of moonlight. Luthoc snatched it up without hesitation, sliding it with practiced ease into the scabbard it had slid from. He'd been too busy to spare much thought about the weapon he'd wielded since age eight, but apparently the Council hadn't been. Huh. Apparently they could do some things right.

Just not many.

It took him several moments more to wriggle his way out of the crush surrounding the weaponry, but it was only when he succeeded that he realized something odd. The only people that had excited the shuttle were Hunters. There were no officers or guards like he was used to, nor were there any pompous Council members ready to spout aggravating speeches about decisions they'd never willingly made.

Normally Luthoc would have been pleasantly surprised by the development, but in this case it only put him even more on edge. If they hadn't come, there had to be a good reason for it. A good reason...like dangerous monsters lurking in the sidelines ready to rip a group of naive Hunters limb from limb.

Stop thinking like that, Luthoc ordered himself as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. There might not even be monsters.

As if the universe decided that was the perfect moment to prove him wrong, a guttural snarl drifted from the bushes to his right. Luthoc reacted instinctively, whirling and slashing with his sword in a single fluid movement. But before his mind even had time to catch up, an axe sprang out from under the leaves, blocking his attack on the double-sided head.

"Geez, calm down, will you?" A head of messy black hair popped out from the top of the bush, filled with crumpled leaves that refused to fall free.

"Hunter." Luthoc practically growled the name, his mood quickly darkening as he leveled a stormy glare at the other boy. "Was that supposed to be FUNNY?"

"Well..." Hunter drew out the word as he untangled himself from the bush, scattering broken branches and ripped leaves everywhere. "...yes, yes it was."

Luthoc's fingers tightened around his sword, which now hung limply at his side. He sheathed it before he became angry enough to use it, tucking the weapon under his arm when he was done. Hunter was watching him with a faintly amused expression, but Luthoc did his best to ignore the younger boy.

Control your anger. The words were only a whisper in his mind, but they forced Luthoc to take a deep breath and compose himself before he did anything he would later regret. "Aren't there monsters out there waiting for a light-eater meal? Or a snack, I suppose. You'd need to be cloned before you'd make a decent meal for whatever beasties we're dealing with, I'd bet."

Hunter rolled his eyes at the taunt, which Luthoc admitted was quite weak. But his heart really wasn't in it, not with all the craziness going on recently. Fighting monsters? That was just another in a long line of strange things happening to their group. What would come next, humans living on the Earth's surface? Luthoc felt his lips curve into a smile as he pondered the impossibility of his latest thought.

"Well, you look happier." His smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared, which made Hunter falter. "Or not. Anyways, catch you later! I have some monsters to go kill, and not get eaten by while I'm at it."

Luthoc watched impassively as Hunter made a show of saluting him with his axe, then strutted off and disappeared behind some foliage. He waited a moment, confusion worming its way through his thoughts. Were they just supposed to leave like that?

Something large buzzed past his ear and Luthoc flinched away as a camera attached to a drone flitted past him and vanished after Hunter. Well, that answered that question. He craned his neck back, and sure enough, another camera had its lens trained on him. For a moment he simply stood there, staring intently into the reflective surface like he hoped to see through the link and catch a glimpse of the moderators beyond it. Unfortunately, all he could see was himself.

"Fine then. If it's a show you want, it's a show you'll get." Luthoc spared one more searching glance for the camera, then squared his shoulders, drew his sword once more and marched into the trees, batting leaves and branches out of his way as he struggled through the dense plantlife. "Barren indeed," he muttered under his breath as he went.

For several minutes he could hear nothing but his own breathing, the racket he made by muscling his way through the resting flora, and the camera as it buzzed along behind him. During that time he had many opportunities to realize just how under prepared he really was. Would it really have killed the Council to give them a week to prepare, instead of a night? All Luthoc had going for him was his very sharp weapon and his skill at fighting. He was pretty sure his words would do nothing to sway a monster, which meant his arcane ability was about as useful as a sword without a blade.

Unless... An idea occurred to Luthoc, but before he had a chance to explore it further, something crashed up ahead. The grating sound was quickly followed by a jarring snarl that sent ice racing through his veins.

That had been no joke. That had been real. Which meant the monsters, too, were real.

And they were here.