Angela was definitely cheating a little, but it was easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission. With Em'brel's help in the mining suit, she cut off a small part of the ship's inner frame to break down and make an advanced composite that would form the core of the bow. She then layered that with a kovaack horn on the inside of the curve to give the bow increased resistance to compression, allowing it to store more energy than even her composite was capable of. She also used churlish sinew soaked in glue she'd formulated to provide increased amounts of tension on the outside of the curve. This was laminated together and covered in a thin metallic web that added a stunning design and further reinforced the lamination process.

The bowstring was made of a composite of ultra-high molecular polyethylene formed into a looped string, with serving located at the nocking points to reinforce against abrasion. This would create a lighter, thus faster, string that was tough enough to withstand incredible amounts of punishment.

For the arrows, she refined the iron down to a purity that no argu'n would ever begin to approach before forming it into a high carbon steel alloy that was far tougher and stronger than anything that would be made on this world for several thousand years. She framed this around a carbon fiber lattice, making the arrow far heavier and more durable than anything ever shot from a human bow. Even adding in the greater draw strength of the argu'n, these arrows probably wouldn't reach the distances most human war bows had been capable of achieving, but that would be more than made up for by their incredible impact force.

For the arrowheads, she decided penetration power superseded cutting damage, since the most dangerous creatures on this planet seemed to be armored either with bone plates or thick matted fur that acted as a sort of gambeson armor. To that end, she created several triangular bodkins that would act like a chisel to crack and pass through the former and needle bodkins that would slip right past fibrous materials for the latter. She also created a few arrows for target practice, so Lon'thul could fire off a few shots before leaving.

Once done, she allowed everyone inside the now very cramped fabrication room. With a nod of her head toward her masterpiece, she addressed Lon'thul. "Now, that bow is was designed to be functional and durable, but keep in mind that it is probably also worth more than your entire village put together, so don't do anything stupid with it! Keep it dry whenever possible, don't string it until you're ready to use it, and unless you are using it, keep it out of the sun!"

Lon'thul now looked at the bow with concern. "Are you sure I should use something so... delicate?"

The AI nodded. "It's not quite as 'delicate' as you might think. If you take proper care of that bow, your children's children will be using it in just about the same condition it's in now. But if you do neglect it, I'll be melting it down for scrap in a year. So treat it well, and it'll return the favor. I call it the 'Artemis'!"

Lon'thul took a breath and approached the bow with a severe look, almost entirely out of character for the young hunter. After a moment's hesitation, he picked up the bow. Oddly, it's light weight belied its heft. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by it for a moment before looking at Angela with a huge grin on his face. "When do I get to test this thing out?"

The AI shook her head. "Don't make me regret this, but you can go test it out now. I've got a few arrows designed for target practice, but I recommend you shoot at something considerably heavier than a dirt pile. An extra dense tree trunk might do..."

Fea'en nodded. "I know of a few good ones, so come with me, pup, and let's see what that new toy of yours can do."

Everyone began to follow, intending to observe this new weapon in action, but Angela stopped Em'brel. "Hold on. I need you to help me put together a few things to ensure Lon'thul gets there safely, and help everyone out once he does."

Em'brel took one last wistful look at the hunter's retreating form, and the exciting new weapon he held, before sighing and turning her attention back to Angela. "Of course. How can I help?"

Angela suppressed a chuckle at her friend's expense. "Well, Lon'thul's gonna need food and supplies for the trip." The AI tilted her head in thought. "I also need to make a few other things for Jack and S'haar."

Em'bel sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

-

After coming up with the broad strokes of their plan, S'haar requested another meeting with the village leader, with only herself and Jack in attendance this time. When they walked in, fewer of the village's leadership seemed to be present. That suited S'haar just fine, since it hopefully meant fewer questions.

After being motioned forward, S'haar got right to the point. "We're going to hunt and kill the two wolgen for you. Any hunters or guardsmen you could spare to assist us would be appreciated."

Whatever the village leader had been expecting, that had clearly not been on the list. He blinked a few times, trying to process the information. However, his contemplation was interrupted by the barking laughter of one of the better-dressed guardsmen in the room.

After a moment to catch his breath, the guardsman spoke up unbidden. "If you want to commit suicide rather than waiting for death to come to find you, I commend you, but we have too many responsibilities to our people to throw away our lives with such a futile attempt! You've got one hunter who's seen too many winters, two guardsmen who haven't seen enough, a servant girl more timid than a churlish, and a broken male who needs a stick just to walk. However formidable you might be, that's nowhere near enough to take on a single wolgen, and a pair is far more than twice as deadly!"

S'haar waited surprisingly patiently for the last of the noise to die down before responding. "If that was all there was to us, you might be right. However, there are a few things you should know before passing judgment."

She spoke, taking her sword from its sheath and laying it on the table for all to see. "First, though I am loath to admit it, I am S'haar, daughter of De'haar, and I did not only inherit that monster's blood. Near the end of this winter, the two of us crossed blades, and though to my dismay he walked away from our battle, as you can see, I'm still standing as well!"

Judging from the shock in everyone's eyes, S'haar's father had more of a reputation than Jack had realized. However, he didn't have long to dwell on that revelation because of S'haar's following words. "The next thing you should know is that when backed into a corner, I'm only the second deadliest person in this room!"

Jack felt the pit of his stomach drop out as he quickly realized where this was going. Not knowing what to do or say about it, especially since none of the village leadership in the room could understand him, Jack simply listened as she continued. "The 'broken male' beside me that you so casually disregarded is a powerful wizard more deadly than all the males of this village put together. Perhaps you caught word of the raider army that passed through our valley before your village became isolated? This is the male who singlehandedly brought that army to a halt and slew over a third of their number in one night before reinforcements arrived the next morning to finish what he'd started."

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S'haar clearly had everyone's attention at this point, though most of the expressions Jack could see were doubtful at best. Finally, the same guard from before spoke up again. "Quite the claims you've just made, but any stranger could walk into this room and say anything they'd like. If you want us to commit the lives of the warriors of this village, and if your pet male is really who you claim he is, he should be more than able to easily handle a half dozen of our males in a friendly sparring match!"

Jack had no doubt the sparing match wouldn't stay friendly for long if he couldn't live up to the image S'haar had painted of him, and judging by how many hands were now resting a little too easily on the hilts of multiple weapons, no one else in the room thought so, either.

Surprisingly, S'haar's hands were still relaxed and disturbingly far from her weapon's hilt. Instead, she tilted her head as if in thought. "Well, you're right, he could, but Jack is surprisingly bad at holding himself back once he finds himself in a fight for his life. You might very well lose a half dozen warriors in the 'friendly' sparring match. So instead, how about he shows off his powers against targets who won't bleed and die."

Angela chose that moment to speak up over Jack's headset so only he could hear. "Oh, that's smart! I think I like where she's going with this!"

Jack's stomach was tying itself in knots. He wished he could agree with his more optimistic sister.

-

Lon'thul was on his way back to the cave. He'd fired off a dozen shots and was totally exhausted. It didn't help that the arrows had been so difficult to retrieve. Any of them that squarely hit the target had buried themselves up to the fletching and had to be dug out a little before they could be properly removed. Any that didn't hit the target...well, it had taken him more than a few minutes to find some of those.

He was also a little scared of the bow after test-firing it. He could almost feel the raw power contained within each arrow as they'd left the bow. This thing had not been designed for hunting. It was made for killing. Seeing the arrows stuck in the stump like that, he could easily imagine any correctly angled shot piercing through argu'n bone plate as well as the soft tissue behind it.

He'd known that's what they'd been trying to create, but it was entirely different to see what it was capable of and feel its weight in his hands. Now it's weight matched its heft.

Walking into the house, he could see Em'brel running back and forth, throwing various things into a backpack, most of which made no sense to him, though the pair of sheathed swords strapped onto the side of the bag did.

Lon'thul started reaching for the hilt of one of the blades when Angela popped into existence right in front of him. "Those aren't for you! You've already got your new toy. Those are for S'haar!"

The hunter looked a little surprised. "I thought you already made a sword for her? Why does she need new ones?"

Angels shook her head. "That one was designed to be cost-efficient and plain enough not to attract too much attention."

The hunter laughed. "Given how sharp and strong the blade seems to be, I'm not sure that's how I would describe it!"

The AI shook her head. "Nonetheless, these two make that one look like a common butter knife. I used simple high carbon steel in its manufacture. These two are my own alloy formulation of what could be referred to as modified tool steel. They combine high carbon steel, tungsten, a little silicon, and several other rare minerals that I had to cannibalize a small portion of the ship to get enough of. In addition to being highly functional, these were designed to be fit for someone of S'haar's newfound position as the leader of this Outpost. As much as I wish it was simply a person's capability that matters, appearance is almost as important, and these match her status."

Lon'thul looked a little closer and could see the Outpost's symbol inlaid on both the swords' hilts and the fine dark leather scabbards. The sheaths featured a metallic winged lizard Lon'thul recognized from his movie nights in the mountain. "Well, I've never seen anything like them, though I have a feeling Tel'ron would be more impressed than myself."

Angela flashed the predatory grin she seemed to be growing more and more fond of. "Oh, wait until you see them in use. I'm sure you'll be plenty impressed, then."

Em'brel came over holding what appeared to be some sort of oblong metallic eggs with odd rings attached to them. She nudged the hunter to the side and gently placed them into the pack, ensuring they were properly secured and wrapped to prevent any shifting once Lon'thul got on his way. She repeated this a couple of times before Lon'thul finally spoke up.

"What are those?"

Em'brel shook her head. "It would take too much time to explain, but those are for Jack's use and only Jack's use."

The younger girl fixed Lon'thul with a deadly serious glare. "Don't play with them, don't look at them, don't even think about them. You handle these wrong, and you could get yourself and others killed!"

Lon'thul held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, no need to get like that. I can be serious when it's called for, and this is one of those times." Looking at the pack somewhat dubiously, he continued. "But should I really be walking around with something so dangerous on my back?"

Angela floated over. "They should be perfectly stable, so long as no one fiddles with the metal rings on the end. But just to be safe, try and avoid jostling the pack more than is necessary. Honestly, I'm being a little overly cautious. Feel free to run, jump, and even tuck and roll if the situation calls for it. Just make sure they stay properly secured, and you should be fine."

Lon'thul shrugged. He was pretty sure if there was one person he could trust with his life, it was Angela. If she told him he'd be fine, he'd be fine. Besides, this whole situation was already risky enough. When dealing with a pair of mated wolgen, it wasn't a question of if someone would die rooting them out, as much as how many would die. If the number stayed in the single digits, it was usually considered a success. If this smaller risk meant the actual hunt would go that much more smoothly, he was willing to take the chance.

Em'brel also handed him a headset, much like Jack, S'haar, and herself were always wearing. Putting it on, he could hear Angela's voice clear as day. "With this, I'll be able to guide you once you get in range of the sensor Jack has set up next to the village. You just need to worry about getting in range of it undetected. After that, I can guide you."

With everything packed up and ready to go, Lon'thul looked around the house before heading out. Suddenly, he was held tightly by a smaller female with her face buried in his chest. Looking down, he was afraid to say or do anything to ruin the moment, so instead just wrapped his arms around her in much the same way he'd seen S'haar do with Jack quite frequently. He had to admit, he could get used to the feeling.

Eventually, Em'brel pulled away and looked up at him with unexpected heat in her eyes. "Be careful! I expect to see that stupid grin on that stupid face when you get back! And make sure Jack and S'haar come back in one piece as well! I won't forgive you if you go and let them or yourself die out there!"

Lon'thul made sure to give her his biggest, stupidest grin before responding. "Of course! I can't become a better hunter than my old man if I fail here! My 'stupid grin' isn't going anywhere!"

Em'brel smiled briefly before turning her back on him with a disgruntled harumph. "You'd better!"

With a laugh at himself as much as Em'brel, Lon'thul shouldered the pack and walked out of the house.

After a minute, Em'brel turned around to look out into the gloom of the cave beyond the open door. "Does it ever get easier to be left behind while everyone goes off to do something so stupid?"

Angela floated beside her friend, appearing to stare out into the same cave even while her sensors tracked everything around the hunter as he left. She shook her head forlornly. "I wish I could say it does, but I'm afraid it only seems to get a little harder every time."