Welcome to Gaia! ::

This is it. This is my time. A real threat. Not a false alarm, not a suspicious cardboard box, and not a damn apparition. Flesh and blood. Something that can kill. Paxton’s thoughts were mimicking her body, which was running wild. The stars, the moon, and red glow of her weapon were the only things lighting up the ocean of sand. The Hunter base had slowly disappeared from sight as the Mist Trainee rushed away from it to tackle the immediate threat. A horseman had attacked the base and fled with an unconscious hunter as their captive. Paxton didn’t see the attack, but she was eager for a real fight to finally prove herself.

Hurry up and find them! I need some action! Hollis was as eager as ever to be part of a fight. Paxton’s weapon was always complaining about never getting enough use. The time had finally come as Paxton ran to the top of a dune. Below the Hunter was a body lying on their side in a pit of sand. The figure was covered in blood and torn clothes with a sack over their face. A word was written on the sack in blood: WEAPON.

Probably some sick horsedemon’s sense of humor.

Yeah, humans would make terrible weapons. Especially you. You’d probably be a bullet. Get used once, then become useless.

Someone just died and this what you have to say about it?

Fine. You can be a Slinky with little pink runes.

You’re hopeless. I’m gonna see if they still have any life left in them.

As Paxton moved closer to the body, she heard the horrible cry of a gigantic bird. The cry was then overshadowed by the blood-curdling scream of a War mare riding upon it. The wings of her great bird blocked out the moon as it moved closer to Paxton. The Mist hunter had little time to react. She lifted her eager weapon and fired at the horseman warrior. The gunfire ripped through the enormous bird’s wings, but did little to stop it as it dove towards Paxton. Yes! More! Keep firing!

Paxton and Hollis’s fighting spirit only fueled the War Clansmen’s rage. The War mare leaped from her wounded bird and descended towards Paxton. Her blade collided Paxton’s FEAR shield with tremendous force. Paxton was in a daze. She fired her weapon but she had no time to aim. The War Mare was relentless and had no fear of the gunfire. In a blur of powerful blade strokes, Paxton felt her FEAR shield start to fail. The Mist Hunter’s blood was now raining onto the surrounding sand. Even though she was consumed with agony, Paxton tried to shoot the horseman. She might have gotten a shot in, but it didn’t matter anymore. The blade of the War mare connected with Hollis. The blade, glowing with FEAR and rage, shattered Paxton’s weapon.

That did it… I can’t believe this happened so fast… I was having fun for a moment there… Paxton, I just want you to know that-

CRACK

The War mare struck the broken weapon again and it exploded into shards. Paxton felt like she had just been shattered as well. It was so quiet now. No more sultry whining to get her blood boiling. No more little snide remarks to get her through the day. Hollis was dead.

Paxton was in shock and panic. Her attacker had become strongly distracted by one of Hollis’s fragments. The War mare clearly believed that the Hunter was no longer a challenge and could be dealt with at her own leisure. The Lost Clansmen held up the weapon fragment and examined it with both curiosity and rage showing on her face. Paxton tried her best to command her torn and panicked body. She stood up, ready to run from or fight the War mare who was now bathed in Paxton’s blood.

Whatever Paxton wanted to do, had no meaning now. An arrow had pierced her chest from behind. With no FEAR shield left to protect her, the arrow almost went all the way through. She turned as well as she could. At the very least, she wanted to see who had fired the arrow. She saw a horned Conquest mare holding her recently used bow. A bloody sack with the word “WEAPON” at her feet.

Paxton understood what had happened. The horsemen had taken a hunter and probably murdered them. Then the Conquest mare took their clothes and disguised themselves as the hunter’s defeated body. And while Paxton wasn’t paying any attention to them, the Conquest mare shot an arrow through her back. It seemed like they expected to fight a stronger hunter than Paxton. She felt like a disappointment to both her allies and enemies.

As the War mare’s blade found it’s way to the Paxton’s head, she felt an odd emotion. She had no reason to feel good in any way. But this scenario seemed strangely fitting in a way she just couldn’t figure out. This shouldn’t feel good. There’s nothing about this that should feel right. Why does this feel like something that was meant to happen? Why does this feel right? Am I-

Her thoughts drifted into the void. Her last thoughts sank into a deep sea of confusion. The life faded from her as the last bit of red light blinked out of a fragment of her cherished Hollis.