The Tale of the Hunter

The Tale of The Hunter is a short story detailing The Hunter's rough biography.

The Tale of The Hunter
The Hunter rushed through dark forests, blood spilling and bones cracking on his path. What nature strived to build had no importance to The Hunter, for he laughed them off and cut them down just the same in an unstoppable fit of insatiable hunger for bloodlust. The legendary Beasts of Onada, guardians of the balance of nature, knew what they had to do. The Hunter carved a path of imbalance in the world, and so he had to be put down. His mind far above and beyond reasoning, he had to be slain like the numberless creatures he had taken the lives of.

So driven by bloodlust was The Hunter, that he could outright steal the very blood of his foes without raising any weapons. Blood was forced out of innocent creatures without effort.

So it was with the mighty C'Krusis, who, while capable of shutting off The Hunter's muscles and movements with his great thunder, was unable to shut off his mind. He was knocked unconscious from the blood loss, his form toppling like an old oak.

Korr and Orkan, the earth and the wind, worked together to take down the Hunter. But though they had no blood of the same type as the other beings The Hunter slain and their powers were great, they still had bodies The Hunter could harm. One was unable to keep up with the fast-paced combat and the other was too frail physically. Soon, their strange blood was spilled and their limbs rendered weak from the blood loss.

Even if The Hunter had severe wounds from the three, Gadon and Yakura were unable to defeat this monster. The deadly toxins of the former wore him down and the sharp edges of the Toxic Beast's blades cut horrendous wounds in the Imbalance's body, but he lacked any sort of defenses. It was this way that his jugular was slit, leaving the poisonous titan helpless. Though able to bend the water to her every whim and able to use it to move blood itself, the connection Yakura had with blood was far exceeded by The Hunter's own. Already terrified at herself for having to resort to an ability deemed extremely cruel and dishonorable, the Chiller was overpowered and put down.

Her back would have been snapped had it not been of a last Beast arriving to challenge The Hunter.

The Beast of Flames stood tall and jagged as a mountain, but, unlike The Hunter, was perfectly calm and focused. The seemingly empty sockets of The Hunter's skull crossed the soft eyes of Kitamura, eyes of blind bloodlust meeting eyes of peace. Though the Beast showed little sign of tension, her heart was bursting with rage, knowing what the Hunter had done to her loved ones, the rest of the Onada Beasts. Steam poured gently from beneath the Martial Master's armor plates like a steam train, a gust of smoke flowing from her maw like the fire of a Chinese dragon. Her fists clenched slowly, a fire surprisingly gentle shrouding the appendages.

It had been difficult to track down The Hunter, but an offended Kitamura was always unrelenting. She had followed the paths, though hazardous and ever-changing, created by The Hunter and the suffering of her allies of which she kept a psychic link with. In this, The Hunter had become The Hunted!

For The Hunter, she would be another trophy for his collection; the biggest of them all. And so he charged right at her, but there was something about the flaming Beast he did not know of - her mastery of combat.

And charging blindly at her was not a good tactic.

The Hunter's tremendous momentum was turned against him in a single movement, without effort, as he stumbled and bounced into a mass of sprawled limbs on the ground. Amidst the abnormally tall pine trees in the dark of night, The Hunter rose once more. The skull he kept attached to his jagged head glowed ghostly under the full moon - his wounds seemed to be nothing, and his desire to slay the giant merely grew. He swung bony claws in an attempt to gouge an artery to let the bear outbleed itself, but a paw rose like a lightning bolt to catch the limb, for Kitamura the master of martial arts could read through The Hunter like an open book. She had been able to predict the area he would go next, and using her great wisdom, was now able to predict his every movement. Every twitch of a muscle, every hoarse breath, every tension betraying attacks was caught by the Martial Master, whose experience was raised through thousands of years.

The Hunter's failed tactics caused him to use his most dangerous technique, one that did not require physical contact - bloodbending. Kitamura slowed to a halt as her blood became heavy and ceased responding, the step she was taking interrupted. But though her blood was heavy and hardening, her muscles were still immensely strong. The mighty bear forced herself upright, a river of blood flowing from her nose. Soon, more bloody rivers appeared over her as her thick flesh and scales tore, fighting back the bloodbending force causing her to rip herself open. Had The Hunter been capable of grasping fear, his eyes would have widened in horror. The mother bear's arms raised, bulging with powerful muscles. Soon, the firebender was able to wrap an arm around The Hunter's back, interrupting the immense pressure brought to her blood before her eyes would burst.

The Hunter saw himself spun and hauled, an elbow driven against the bottom of his neck like a pillar of judgment. Suddenly, he found himself unable to use his limbs, and thus unable to fight back against the creature's monstrous strength holding him in place.

A fist raised and burst in flames - they were in no way gentle and warm, but the fury in the bear's heart materialized into flames! Soon, The Hunter was clobbered by immense force, his helmet giving in under the numerous, rapid strikes brought to his head. His trophy skull was rammed into his own skull, driving itself into his eyes and brain. The Hunter emitted a strangled roar when his very own jugular was sliced by a sharp blade from Gadon, The Hunter now being the one outbleeding himself and left to die like the creatures he had slain before.

The terror he had brought to all lifeforms around him was stopped when the Onada Beasts combined their powers to shatter his remains - fire, water, air, earth, thunder and poison completely and utterly destroyed the body of the Hunter, and The Beastmaster, watching in silence, was pleased, for the mythical Beasts of Onada had passed his test...