…I think I’ll call those five The Bender.
“Do you have any stars you like?”
“Hmmm…”
I think I could name about a dozen by now. And by that I mean a dozen different groups.
“Mmh!”
“...Oh, really? Alright, show them to me then.”
I’m curious as to which ones she actually likes, is it some big fish or something?
“Mmh-hmm-hmm.”
“Uh huh… I see it, group of five stars off in the distance way off to the left, one of them was… flickering you say?”
“Mhm.”
“Right…”
Well that can’t be right. Stars don’t flicker, they’re millions of light years away, their light is a constant unbroken stream. Unless they were obstructed long, long ago, we’d still see them… Unless stars are something entirely different in this world, but I don’t think they are.
“...You’re sure it was?”
Cause I don’t see those diddly darn things moving!
“Mmmhh…”
And then, out of the corner of my eye, a light goes out for just the shortest of moments…
That’s… not right? Stars don’t flicker. Especially not in a chain like they are right now… That one just went out, that one went out… wait a minute.
The Llama, King Of The Hill V2, Flying Raijin, stars in each self-assigned constellation blip out one after the other, almost as if…
Something’s…
Covering them…
Uh huh…
I sit up, eyes squinted in the direction of the flickering stars, watching as something carves a trail through the starry night sky. Okay, so, surely this could just be a coincidence.
…
…Said absolutely nobody. I know how video games work! Nothing happens for no reason, the observant are rewarded! That’s just how it goes, that’s game logic bruh. For instance, now that I see these stars constantly vanishing, with the trail carving ever closer to this wagon, obviously, that BIRD resides within!
Or, you know not “within” there’s no actual physical object to hide in, but, like, ffs, FOUND IT! Found the bird. Found the damn thing, caught it red winged even. Now, my question, is how the hell am I going to catch it without actually having any method of flying myself…?
Well it’s getting closer by the second…
“Heeeeey, Jasper?”
“Mmm?”
“About those stars. That’s uh, that’s not a star causing that blinking…”
“...Mmm?”
“Get ready. It’s getting closer.”
—
Standing at full mast now, I filter the night-light as best as I can via way of the hand in order to get as great a view of the bird as feasibly possible. I haven’t made any noise or caused any alarm yet, because I’m not sure if that’d cause it to potentially flee, or if somebody would somehow mess up my plans… I don’t think these npcs would do it, but they could. And that’s enough reason to not trust them with anything at all, teehee!
It’s gotten closer now, and I can actually make out the outline of its feathers. At a distance, it’s… quite large to be frank. I see how it was blocking out whole stars, kind of crazy really. I can’t imagine it’s too physically powerful thouhh despite its size, otherwise, why hasn’t it made any actual attempt to raid this wagon if it has something it so desperately wants? Its… eggs, maybe? I duhflubbin know. Would seem kind of cliche to be honest, but this is a game, and the people allowing me on board were, like, suspiciously defensive about whatever they’re transporting.
Meh, maybe it’s an endangered species hunting for its young and I’m the bad guy, but who cares? Helping it out doesn’t give me jack shit, so why would I? There could perhaps be some sort of secret quest for doing that and it would suddenly love me and voluntarily become my monster which I’m not even sure I’d want! Yeah, no. We’re opps, D1 from the gates, ur done buddy. When I get my paws on you it’s so over.
Anyways… enough rambling! I mean, not much else to do while I just… wait here… but hey, stay frosty, right? Don’t let your guard down around the ene-I’m doing it AGAIN oh my GOD.
I stand up just a little straighter, blink a few times and lean forward. Seriously, enough games… Well… NO! ENOUGH GAMES! IN THE METAPHORICAL SENSE!
As it gets closer and closer, the make of its build becomes more apparent to me. It’s, as mentioned prior, absolutely massive. Like good lord, this thing is practically too big for its own good. It’s like, dinosaur level size. Which is absolutely crazy work mind you, it looks about the size of Jasper right up in front of me from the distance it’s at.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
…You know, the thought occurs that if I’m standing up looking for it, it might get a little cautious given it’s displayed the intelligence to go with hit and run tactics so far. So… I lay right back down, feigning perfectly subtle ignorance. No possible way it could figure me out… unless it has some kind of mind reading ability that works at a long distance…
…
Tap-tap-tap
Knock on wood. We make no further mention of this.
Anyways, carrying on, it kind of reminds me of something. I used to do some bird watching back before I started really getting into gaming as a whole. Though, the city I grew up in was pretty bland unfortunately, so I kind of lost interest. Though, from that interest spouted another one, given I never saw any cool birds… I just kind of looked some up. One thing led to another, yada yada, got into reading about a few mythological birds, you know… standard fare.
This one’s… really ticking a few boxes on that list. Like, a few real specific ones. It looks like… Ah what’s it called… It looks like… Ah what’s it called… It looks like… Ah what’s it called… It looks like… Ah what’s it called… It looks like… Ah what’s it called… It looks like… sunnuvua bitch! Right on the tip of my tongue here, come on!
Rrrrrrrrrrr~ra! Rrrrrrrrrrr~ra! It’s an R come on! R-r-r-r-r-r-r, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… ROC! ROC BIRD! HAHA GOT IT! Right! The thingamig looks like a Roc Bird, giant bird of prey from… somewhere I can’t remember, in some… what mythos was it from?
…How do I recall the name of the creature, but not any of the surrounding context? Do I just have selective memory loss all of a sudden what the hell?
Wait, wuh-wuh-wait when did it get so close? Shieeeet, alright, got distracted again, no biggie, at least I have an idea of what it does now. If it’s a Roc bird, IF, then… it’d likely be a physical fighter, perhaps reliant on its voice to make sonic attacks like earlier? So, I have that to look forward to after knocking it down… great.
Welp, it’s about go time, the thing’s starting to slow down now, and I think it’s… almost within range. O-kay… this is a little risky, but it should work out without issue. As long as she doesn’t take any damage…
“Alright Jasper, you ready for this?”
“Mmmm… M-m-M.”
“Good, good. You know what you need to do, yes? No need for a refresher?”
“Mhm.”
“...Alright. It’ll be within range any second now, brace… brace…!”
…I might’ve started calling brace a little too early, but I can’t just say that can I…?
“Brace a little longer…!”
“...”
“...”
“M-”
“NOW!”
“M! MmmMmM!”
[Summon]!
First things first, Monster Tamer has a WIDE area of effect. Not in that it has skills that damage AoE-wise, but that, [Summon] is basically line of sight. With a maximum distance of course, but that distance is loooooooooooooooong. About… fifty meters I’d estimate? Maybe a little longer than that.
So, let’s say that an enemy happens to enter that theoretical maximum distance, what is a Tamer to do? This enemy is out of reach, and unable to be attacked through conventional means! So clearly, we simply think outside of the box, aaaaaaaand!
Appearing out of thin air, Jasper flails for a moment in front of the slow-to-react monster bird, before their neck snaps forward, latching onto the body of the bird with a monstrous bite force.
32!
Similarly, the bird flails around for a bit, clearly not expecting to have been assailed as it is currently being 32.8084 yards off the ground! Unfortunately, this is the reality of the fool’s situation. Doubly unfortunately, the worst has yet to have come.
Winding back one of her claws as Jasper hangs onto the monster’s torso with her jaw strength alone, she thrusts the appendage forward in one, MIGHTY, [Wild Hunt’s Mark]!
118!
And you know what? For the first time, I think something actually survives a [Wild Hunt’s Mark] ala, not dying instantly from the attack. In fact, it doesn’t even deal that much dama!-31!
…?
Did… did it just kick Jasper mid air? HOW??? How did it even contort its body like that? Its leg practically folded into its chest! That was un-friggin-NATURAL! In fa-wait, wait, wait, shit, fubbernuck-
JasPER IS FALLING!