I gulp down the whole bottle of whiskey as my study's doors open, "Cornelius, sir?" I growl, "How many?" "Four ninety nine." I scream as the soldier stands at attention. I turn to him, "I want you to kill him and that red haired peasant!" He smirks, "I want one million." I grumble, "Fine! But only if you do it clean. If not-" I throw the bottle into the fireplace. A flame explodes from it and I turn to him. He's already closing my doors with murder in his eyes.

Outer Isle, Kinelt, 1960

"Amber!" Bullet runs towards me. The ground trembles as I raise the rifle. A worm the size of Bullet bursts out the ground. I shoot at it, it shrieks and Bullet swings a fire axe into it. It collapses in two as he hacks away. Goo spatters against his face and even though it's no longer moving, he's still chopping away. I wince after every hard hit. He walks up, covered in guts. Despite that, he's smiling wildly. "Amber! Good job!" He spits at the creature, "And there's five hundred. Suck on that, dad!" I gag as the smell finally reaches my nose, he turns around, "Are you okay?" I gulp hard to keep my lunch down, "The smell." I gag as he grins, "What smell?"

He points to me and rests the axe over his shoulder, "Oh right! It's the guts! Of our five hundredth hunt!" I laugh lightly, "Yeah, hey-" His wild eyes smile back, "Yeah?" I gulp at his crazed expression. "It's okay Amber, tell me." God, I can't tell if I'm next anymore or not. I stammer, "I-It was already dead. The extra swings-" He waves and buries the axe into the dirt, "You know me, Amber!" A jolt of paralyzing fear takes hold of me, can still hear the axe cutting the air. He shrugs, "Gotta make sure it's dead. Nice and chopped." I nod and he pats my lower back. "That a girl! And damn! You're so big now!" He's just now noticing? He looks up into my eyes and points, "Hey, let's go celebrate! Our five hundredth kill!" I gulp again, "Ugh, after you wash up!"

A couple hours later he holds up a peace sign as other poachers drink and get rowdy, "Two shots of whiskey here and anything Amber wants!" I look to the guy, "Just a beer." Bullet jumps on the bar and shouts, everyone turns, "Another day of showing my dad the finger! Five hundred Hunts!" They all shout, "Five hundred Hunts!" I smile and take a sip while the others chug. After they finish, the cheering and ambient chatter starts up again. A girl walks up in skimpy clothes, "Oh hunter!" Bullet looks at her, then at me, "Duty calls." He bites his lip and wanders off with her. I sigh and the bartender smiles, "You alright?" I shake my head, "It's nothing." He sets down an unwashed glass, "Nothing's nothing." I sigh, "I- don't know why he likes me so much." He smiles, "The way I see it, you're like a pet project of his." I press my lips together and he scurries away. After every beer, the answer to help Bullet escapes me further, it's been hours and he's still not back, I hiccup.

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I plant my face on the table and Bullet taps me, "Amber! Wake up!" I grab at my head as light shines through the bar? Suddenly whatever didn't get blacked out comes back. My eyes widen as the rest tells itself. Dead bodies of our group carved up. My scream suddenly gets muffled by Bullet's hand. He shushes me, "You remember last night? The deal?" I grab my head, "Did you k-" He smirks at their lifeless bodies, "Kill them? Yeah. Don't worry though, they were going to kill us, so it's fair game." I try to talk, but the ground rumbles as he speaks, "We have to move, remember those worms?" I jump to action, "The big one?!" He nods with a grin, "501, Amber." How did we survive- I look to my bloody hands. I stabbed a man- Oh god, it was us or them, right? "I-" Bullet nudges my side, "Where's Amber Steel, that badass!?"

I sigh deep and pick up a gun and knife. The giant worm smashes through a quarter of the bar and slams through the next building. Bullet shouts, "And the United Galaxies didn't want these things dead!? Screw that shit!" I shoot it as it fails to burrow through the floor. He runs past and I lower my gun, he runs in and hacks at it. Goo gushes out it's skin as I charge in and kick next to the wound.

He laughs as the goo spatters onto me. I grab my knees and gag, but some spurts into my mouth. I weakly hammer my leg with my fist as I puke. With a big gulp, I get back and grab a thick four by four. I raise it above my shoulders and ram it into the worm's wound. It shrieks and flails as I punch it bare knuckle in more. It's underbelly opens up and small worms plop out of it. I freeze at their innocent noises. And then his axe swings down again. Another shriek and another wince. He finally buries his axe into the big one. He turns around with that crazed smile. He shouts, "Amber!" I jump in my skin as he holds my giant hands, "You just stabbed it with blunt beam of wood! That was awesome!" I puke in his face and he jumps. Oh no. Oh shit.

He wipes it off his face and looks up into my eyes with a blank stare as I wipe my mouth. "S-s-s-" He bursts out laughing, "Now I'm covered in everything." He rubs his hands together and combs it through his hair and I gag. His face goes crazed again, "Amber, I love hunting with you. You're like a sister in arms!" I frown and he pinches my side, "You shouldn't be sad. Why are you sad?" I look away from him, "I-I'm not." His shoulders lower, "I'm glad you're so strong. It would kill me to see you sad for real." I force a smile and walk off, "Y-yeah, I'll just go wash up."

I grab the sink and I look back at my puffy eyes. I wipe my face and hold back my tears. I reset my mean resting face, just like after every other hunt.