- 2 -
Pandora heated the bayonet at the end of her gun to a glowing red in the fire, then held it to the tip of her cigarette. It smoldered to life and she took a long drag. That should hold the shakes at bay for a few more hours. At least the ones caused by graft failure. A cigarette couldn't do anything against the horrible Britannian weather that had soaked her through and ruined her matches. And since it left her to improvise a light it may have ruined the hardness of her blade as well.
"You have any extras, girlie?" muttered a gruff voice from across the fire. Pandora didn't bother to raise her head, merely shifting her eye up to glare at the man through the fringes of her hair. He sat using a rag to polish an ornate revolver. It was far too nice to use but then church hunters always were pretentious pricks.
"They're cut with blood," Pandora said. "Unless you have the same grafts as me they'll fuck you up." Pandora let out a puff of smoke. "But if you call me girlie again I'll fuck you up myself." She turned her eye back towards the pile of notes on her lap. She was only half interested in their contents but she had wasted enough of her energy on the man.
"Welcome to try. You think you're hot shit just 'cus you're from Eden, huh?"
Pandora laughed, not even sparing him a glance. "No, I think I'm hot shit 'cus I'm getting paid to be here and it's your money."
Pandora reveled in the man's scowl. Weeks wasted traveling halfway across the world to save his backwater village and this is how he acts? Entitled bastard. She was being paid well enough for the hunt, but there wasn't any extra on top for dealing with bullshit. And church hunters always came with bullshit; no matter the denomination.
His hateful expression pulled burgeoning wrinkles into sharp relief. They cast deep shadows against the firelight. He wasn't old quite yet, at least not by most standards, but then hunters didn't get old. They slowed down and then they died.
The man raised his gun with a flourish and looked down the sights; one eye squeezed shut. "Listen here, you ain't getting paid shit less you kill it. Either you or that gorilla you came here with."
Pandora took a long drag from her cigarette. The blood had done its job to stop the shaking but the nicotine wasn't doing anything to calm her mood. He was aiming the gun inches past her left shoulder.
"Bring that barrel any closer and I'll kill you right—"
"Andor, Pandora, stop fighting," said a voice from behind. It was followed by a hand gracing Pandora's left shoulder. Her jaw clenched crushing the end of her cigarette between her teeth. She whipped around and snatched the hand around its wrist. She found it attached to Geoffry, the leader of the church hunters. An ache in her fingers brought her attention to the sheer force she devoted to his restraint. She slowly uncurled her fingers and brought a trembling hand back down to her lap.
"Don't stand in my blind spot," she said, then turned back towards the fire.
"See, Gregor? I'm not fighting with her for fun. She's just got a bubbly personality," said the man across the fire, Andor apparently. Not to mention the man she thought was Geoffry. What kind of name was Gregor anyway? Not that it mattered. Their names weren't worth learning. She would be finished with her job and on her way by morning.
Gregor took a seat next to Pandora. "Sorry for startling you," He said. " And don't worry about Andor, he... he just doesn't like outsiders." Gregor gave Pandora a weak smile. She turned her eye back to the notes and took another drag of her cigarette.
"You mean he doesn't like heathens. Well, don't worry I don't much care for you religious types either. If it bothered you so much you should have hired hunters from your own church?"
"Well we were planning on it," Gregor admitted. "It would seem our church was run out of Eden at some point this year. One of the other faiths pushed them out. We're a body with no head at the moment."
Pandora looked up at the man's expression and when she saw he was serious she cackled. "Haha... Now that's more what I expect from the church. All the little groups killing each other over who's less wrong. Piling the bodies as high as they can so when they build their cathedrals on top the steeple reaches higher than everyone else's."
Andor seemed to writhe across the fire, a fact that brought Pandora great satisfaction. Gregor by contrast was less fazed by her statement.
"A rather harsh opinion," he said.
Pandora pulled the cigarette from her mouth and flicked the ash from its tip. "Maybe, but I made a promise to myself. I'm done lying about how I feel. Don't really care if people hate me for it. I'm not here to be your friend anyway, I'm here to do a job." Pandora let out a thick cloud of smoke. "Speaking of which, how long before we can leave?" she asked.
Gregor pulled out his pocket watch and flicked it open. "Your partner ran off on his own for some reason. I sent a handful of men after him; gave them an hour. Whether they find him or not they should be back in the next 20 minutes."
"I don't have a partner."
"Gamal's not your partner?" Andor asked.
Pandora stared across the fire with her head cocked. He rolled his eyes and clarified.
"Gamal is the muscular man who traveled over with you. Face all scarred to hell and back."
"I thought you were together," Gregor added.
"Sorry," Pandora said. "I'm bad with names. But in terms of who you hired, you told my broker you could afford two hunters, so she sold you two. You got ripped off by the way. I would have been enough. That's why you gotta be careful dealing with contract men you know, they're scarier than any youkai."
Gregor brought the palm of his hand to his temple. "I still think we're better off with two but I thought we were getting a pair that already had some synergy."
"Never even met the guy until the boat. I used to have a partner but she died years ago. I've worked alone ever since." I don't play well with others."
Across the fire Pandora heard, "We've noticed," mumbled beneath breath.
"I'm sure that's true, but tonight we hunt together. We need every advantage against this youkai. Humans are always stronger when they come together."
Pandora had heard that sentiment a million times before, but she could never bring herself to believe it. Work with enough idiots and eventually you start to see just how good they are at dragging the group down.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry to hear about your partner," Gregor said. To Pandora's ear, he meant that sincerely. "I'm guessing the hunt finally caught up to her?"
Pandora put her cigarette out on her sleeve, then flicked the butt out into the dark beyond the fire. "She was killed by monsters alright, just not a youkai."
Only the crackle of the fire gave any response. A long silence grew between Pandora and the church hunters. Some might find the drop in conversation awkward but dealing with the religious only exhausted Pandora. She was thankful for the break. Gregor, in contrast, fidgeted about. His leg was restless, hammering up and down in place.
"So have you read through all the notes yet?" he finally asked.
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Pandora looked down at the papers in her lap. She gathered them together, then started to bind them with a leather belt. "No, but I don't need to. I've seen enough to know what we're dealing with."
"Enlighten us then," Andor said.
"Barghest," Pandora said plainly. She handed the notes to Gregor, taping the notebook at the top of the bundled documents as she passed them over. A leather-bound book with a brass bookmark. "That's your personal journal, right?"
"Indeed it is," Gregor answered taking the bundle. He stashed them in the leather satchel he wore over his shoulder and said, "Why do you ask?"
"Assuming you didn't make anything up you first encountered it at your door."
"That's right. It howled at me, then ran east. I chased it a few miles but lost track of it."
"Then it's a barghest. They're..." Creatures of omen. But she didn't want to say that part aloud, even though it was why she was so confident. She had memorized hundreds of entries in her bestiary and it was the only one that matched.
"You sure?" Andor asked. "There's lots of canine youkai you know."
Gregor admonished the man. "I said no starting fights! We came to the same conclusion, Pandora."
Pandora picked up her shotgun and checked it was fully loaded, then slung its strap over her shoulder. "Barghest are B rank youkai. Are you guys going to be okay to fight one?" Especially you, she thought. Pandora examined Gregor's outfit. "I mean... no offense but none of you look like you spend much time on the hunt."
His brilliant white and gold cloak didn't have a stitch missing nor thread out of place. She had yet to see so much as a speck of dirt on his or any of the church hunter's outfits. Gregor glanced down at his clothes. "Maintaining our outfits constitutes somewhat of a religious ceremony. We'll be plenty disheveled by hunts end."
"We don't all need to walk around wearing a corpse to prove we can hunt," Andor added.
"Would you stop?" Gregor shouted.
Pandora looked down at her cloak. It was stitched from the pelt of a werewolf. The beast's stuffed head hung off her right shoulder like a pauldron; its tail hung from the back of her belt. Anyone who saw her would know she had killed a werewolf, that much was true, but that wasn't why she wore it. The wolf was her first kill, back when Renna was training her as a hunter; when Renna was still alive. Pandora wore the cloak to remember her precious partner. The same as she did with her pointed hat; an irreplaceable item passed down to her by someone who was never coming back.
Pandora stared through Andor. A snide grin smeared across his face. She wanted to tell him the reason, to scream it at him, the words mixed with the bile rising in her throat. But he didn't deserve an explanation. Her hands were shaking again, but this time she couldn't blame her grafts. Pandora placed another cigarette between her lips, then struck a match. The head crumbled and smeared across the striker.
Right, I forgot.
"Motherfucker!" She crushed the matchbook and spiked it into the fire. She pulled the cigarette from her mouth and pointed it at Andor. "Alright. Since you're so great. What's your biggest kill then? Because the only thing I'm certain you've ever killed was my good mood."
"Good mood? That's a fuckin' joke. Since when—"
Gregor bolted to his feet. "Would you two—"
"I'll go first," said a soft voice from behind. Pandora turned to find the village's lone female hunter. She stood, hands behind her back, with a glowing smile lighting up her face. Pandora recognized her as the one to travel to Eden and put in the contract for two hunters. Only trouble came from associating with pretty women or religious zealots. This woman was both. So Pandora had avoided her on this ship over. This left her struggling for a name. Something with an A.
"Thank God you're back, Fennel," Gregor said. "Where is everyone?"
"Just behind me." The woman pointed in a rough direction. "We found tracks so I ran ahead to get you. Is everyone ready to head out?"
Pandora took up her belongings and, without words, headed in the direction Fennel had pointed. Footsteps approached from behind. Gregor took a place to her right and matched his pace to hers.
Pandora couldn't see Andor but she heard him plodding around. He had taken position to her left; in her blind spot. That bastard, it's not like he didn't know. She slowed her pace to fall slightly behind. She wanted to make sure she could see him in her good eye even if he insisted on walking to her left.
Fennel shot ahead, skipping backward to lead the group yet still talking face-to-face. It's a wonder she didn't trip over a root and fall. Her situational awareness was impressive. Pandora glanced her way and met with begging eyes. Fennel looked like a child trying to get her way.
"So can I?" she asked.
"Can you what?" Pandora responded.
"Tell my story. About my biggest kill."
Right, that. Pandora had already forgotten. She considered telling Fennel no but figured that would be more trouble than letting her ramble.
"Fine, go on."
Somehow, the woman's smile grew even wider. "It was a Yamachichi. Do you remember it, Gregor? It was just after Lilith came to live with you. Let's see, I was 14 at the time so what's that? 16 years ago. Anyway a good portion—"
"Who's Lilith?" Pandora asked speaking over the woman. "She another hunter?"
"Lilith's my daughter," Gregor answered.
"Guys, I'm not done." There was something cute about Fennel's protest. Pandora considered teasing her but thought better of it. She reminded herself that flirting was only going to bring her trouble. Instead, she waved a hand signaling her to continue.
"Like I was saying I was 14 and a good portion of the village had fallen ill. Low energy, dizziness, brain fog. The damn thing was sneaking into people's houses at night and sucking their life out through their breath." Fennel made a loud sucking noise.
"Why pick the Yamachichi?" Gregor asked. "You've tracked more elusive and fought stronger."
"Because it was my first hunt obviously... And no more interruptions. So anyway, It was right as I was finishing my training so I was put in charge of the hunt. I'll never forget the joy of scouring the chapel library for research. Narrowing down the possibilities to just two or three. Mixing the appropriate blood into gunpowder and loading fresh cartridges."
"Speaking of which, did you mix up the extra shells I asked for?" Gregor said.
"You do know what 'no interruptions' means, right? I was getting to the best part. But of course I did." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small pouch and handed it to Pandora. Inside were 15 or 20 shotgun shells.
"It was a rush job admittedly," Gregor said. "I didn't know what type of weapon you had until this morning after all, but Fennel knows what she's doing. They're reliable rounds."
"You went out of your way for a heathen like me?"
"We just want the thing killed," Gregor said.
Pandora nodded and started to unload her weapon replacing the standard shells with the blood-cut ones Fennel had mixed.
"Guys, my story," Fennel whined. "I was explaining how I tracked it down. Followed its trail for miles deep into the forest. God, I still remember exactly how the gun smoke smelled when I shot the thing. It makes me shiver. That's what it's all about. And of course, seeing everyone recover... well except for Lilith. She was weak even when she first arrived so I should have known it was unrelated, but it happened so soon after I had hope."
"I see," Pandora said. "A battle junkie. I don't trust her."
"No fair," Fennel said pouting.
Pandora stuck her tongue out at the woman. Gregor let out a hearty laugh and slapped Pandora on the back. The impact jolted her body forward and she bit down onto her tongue. He certainly had some muscle under his cloak. "She knows her stuff though," he said.
Pandora regained her balance and took a deep breath; in then out. It was clear he meant no offense but the fresh throbbing in her mouth cut at her patience. After a lengthy back and forth in her mind, she decided against lighting another cigarette. She could have borrowed a torch to light it with, but as much as her patience was in limited supply her cigarettes were even more so. They needed to last the full journey back to Eden.
"I think it's your turn next Andor," Gregor said. "It's your chance to finally impress Pandora."
"As if I care what she thinks," he snapped. "But fine, I'll play along."
He scratched at the back of his neck with a hand torch.
"Though...," he trailed off. He tapped the torch against his temple a few times before finally lighting it. "Truth is I don't have a name to put to it. It was some type of rodent roughly the size of a large cat. It had bright beige fur and long ears that stuck up like the devil's horns. That doesn't sound too impressive I know, but the thing could shoot lightning like a dragon's breath."
He held his torch up to his mouth then flicked it forward mimicking breathing fire even mimicking the sound vocally. "Hit a tree at one point and blew the thing into smoldering mulch. Started a fire that damn near burned half the forest down. The real problem was its speed though. 'Course It wasn't as fast as the lightning it breathed, but it was close. Struggled to hit the damn thing and I'm no slouch when it comes to marksmanship."
The story didn't particularly impress Pandora, but it did do something worse. It interested her. Why couldn't it have been one of Coventry's other hunters that had seen that youkai? Then she could ask for a copy of their notes, maybe pay a few mils for them. But it had to be that man. She would never give him the satisfaction.
"That just leaves you, big guy," Pandora said to change the subject.
"Does it now?" Gregor laughed but it wasn't the jovial laugh he had up till now. It was more unsettled, nervous even.
"Let me think for a second," he said.
Lack of practice leaves honest people bad liars. Pandora knew he already had something in mind. Likely something painful. She wouldn't push. Pain is the cost of the job, but if he doesn't want to pay twice that's his right.
"Probably an ogre. Though there's not much of a story to it," he said letting out that nervous laugh again. Pandora let her gaze wander from the awkward display and spotted paw prints ahead of Fennel. Lucky. She could save Gregor from having to bullshit his way through a story about some ogre. Pandora had struggled through two real stories, she couldn't handle having to listen to a fake one.
"Tracks ahead," she said moving up to examine them. She bent down and ran a finger along the indentation. The ground was hard and frozen all around the print but inside the frost had thawed completely.
"I think the tracks are fresh, the ground hasn't—"
An otherworldly howl interrupted Pandora, then the screams started. A wet ripping echoed from the left. Without words, the hunters took up arms and rushed toward the commotion.