With each their wooden barrel in hand, the boys grunted and made their way across the forest floor - back towards the camp. Marcel was in agony, as the powder had metabolized in its entirety, yet he kept pushing onwards. He felt stronger than ever - a budding hero already. Aside from Isaac and Bear, he imagined the three were the first citizens of Anza to have seen the Hellspawn for years and lived to tell the tale. They had even helped kill the damn beasts - all under the leadership of their new Master; Logan.
Next to him, Abraham looked about ready to die. His robe was wet with sweat - a stark contrast to the grinning Michael. For the hours it had taken them to watch the sap drain slowly from the Ghast’s prepared taps, they had spoken of Logan’s speed, technique and the impressive weaponry he had wielded with such ease.
How fitting that he would find a maiden in need beyond the wall. Michael had said that he had seen the unmistakably round backside of a woman on the figure in Logan’s arms.
“She can’t be the first one. Think they’re back in the tent fucking? I’m sure she’s grateful.” Michael imagined being their great leader - to wear that mask and wield that power. If she’d been in his arms, he’d known what he’d certainly do.
“Goodness, Michael! Of course not - Logan wouldn’t do such a thing. If he wanted to, he could’ve done it with someone back in the town… besides… it’s sinful if there’s no promise.” Michael’s lips split into a wide grin, well aware how shallow Abraham’s morals lay.
“I think he’s right, Mike. Logan just doesn’t seem like he’s interested in women - or men for that matter. He’s a charming guy, but he hasn’t made a move on Ethel; can you believe it?” Marcel said, silencing the pair - reminding them of the other Ghast back in the village. Seeing his mistake, he quickly corrected himself and attempted to save the bright mood: “Hey, if he’s not making a move, I will. But a woman won’t do that just because you’ve saved her and even if she were to, it wouldn’t be right for a hero to act on it. You gotta be confident, smooth and most of all: romantic.”
Michael scoffed. He knew where this undeserved confidence had come from - they both did. “Just because you got to cop a feel from Marinthine three years ago, you think you’ve got all the moves. Face it, she was just shit-faced drunk on whatever Ethel’s been brewing up.” Marcel did not fall for the goading.
“Women hate jealous men, Mike. Maybe Logan isn’t the only one you could stand to learn something from.”
Logan could hear the bickering from afar. He sat next to the tent, tinkering with his alchemical equipment - its spools and kettles as well-beaten as they were well-used. A small, ancient, ethanol-fueled burner was boiling the contents of his alembic, vaporizing the tar-like Crude he had lugged across half of Cradle, at that point. But the slow dripping at the end of the condensation-tube hinted that his supply was running out - perhaps enough for a dozen vials, but no more.
“What are you doing?” A soft, cautious voice spoke from behind his back. Hours had passed since he left her to her lonesome and it seemed she had used her time well- her eyes dry and unpuffed from when he had last seen her.
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As instructed, she wore the hood over her eyes, but from below he could still see the faint red to them. It was as good as he supposed it’d get, but still far from perfect.
“Making accelerant. Stuff to burn the Monstrum.” She took a step closer to look at the curious apparatus.
She’d never seen anything like it - a bowl curving up to a point, leading into a spun tube that eventually produced droplets of clear fluids. Having gathered her senses, she had made the realization that she hadn’t the faintest clue as to how she had gotten there. Her hair had been wet, as had her clothes, meaning she had definitively come from the water, as expected. This man had the answers he sought, no matter how disturbing she found him… That aside, he had just killed Monstrum to save her.
“You said you had to burn them. Is that the only way to kill them? They have to burn?” The mask swung back and forth.
“No. But they can regenerate quickly, especially if they have access to food. Worst case, they’ll eat each other and themselves. But you can hack at them until they stop moving.” She threw a glance at the long silver blades on his hip.
“That was a gun, wasn’t it? I’ve seen them in books… they didn’t say anything about being so loud.” She took a step closer to behold the apparatus.
He raised a hand and with the flick of his wrist, the large, black pistol from earlier shot out from his sleeve. She startled before he spun it around to show her - hilt first. She knew they were for killing - that they had been used to kill millions of men in the days of old. Was this a sign of his trust or was he simply being a moron? He certainly didn’t sound nor look like an idiot - why, then, would he take such a risk?
She raised a quivering hand and took the gun, surprised at how heavy it felt in her hands. She looked it over and imagined her detailed books, toying with the mechanisms - the safety, the barrel and the magazine.
“It’ll slow them down. Sometimes, it’ll even kill them. But you have to hit the right place - the brain, if you can call it that. But there’s no telling where it is, so it’s usually up to luck… your best bet is to use a high caliber from a distance and pray, if you believe in that sort of thing.”
She had spent her time considering his offer of shelter. Seeing as she had nowhere else to go in a world full of Monstrum, what choice did she really have? It was not as if she could simply wander along the magnificent scenery and just hope to survive; a foolish choice, when she had this trough of knowledge at her disposal.
“You know a lot about killing Monstrum. Why?” He glanced up at the gun she would’ve blown his head apart with by that point - had it only had bullets. “It’s what I do. I kill monsters.” She liked the sound of it - killing the bastarding things. For all the things she’d expected from the world above the sea, she was mostly amazed how they were capable of fighting those horrific things - even having gone so far as to beat them back.
As she swung the gun down to her side, she felt relaxed enough to take in the scenery of the clearing. Grass, trees - blue skies; things she had heard of and read about, but never thought she’d see. She breathed deeply - filling her nose with the scents of the forest, a satisfactory smile splitting her lips. This was it - the dream she and Guy had shared. To leave the deep seas to see the sun and begin again - far away from the hateful, despicable people of the dark abyss.
“I’ll come with you on one condition.” She spoke determinately as she turned around to extend the gun back towards her savior. His head bobbed agreeingly as he took the pistol and returned it to his sleeve.
“Teach me how to kill them. You said something about walls - I don’t want that. I wanna see the world, not hide behind plating; teach me how to fight them and I’ll come with you.” He scoffed and looked down to the grass at his feet.
“That’s a big ask. This training’s gonna be longer and harder for you than for those boys. But at the end of it, you’ll be able to do so much more.” It was a dire promise, one she didn’t understand in the least, but if he was ready to swear to it, she could too.
“It’s a deal.” She spoke, extending a hand towards him. He stood up, took it and introduced himself again: “Logan.” to which she responded through a bright, white grin. “Luna.”