Anna walks into the village of Mayflower, a quaint village towards the East of her country of Gainsborough. The village is very small, about 20 houses or huts, and has dirt roads. It spans tens of acres however, and is full of farm land. It's a sunny day and no cloud is in the sky, fair temperature. Anna's feet make noise as the metal of her boots clunk onto the soil of the roads, the silver of her armor with bits of orange rust. It's time for new armor, need to buy some. Her sword is in good shape though, her father's sword. Handed down to her after he realized he could not change his child's decision of becoming a bounty hunter. It was just an average, pretty well built long sword.
A scrawny middle aged man worn down from farming witnesses Anna and gets riled up. The man comes back with an elderly man who Anna suspects must be the village elder. When the bounty hunter is within 10 feet of the men, she sees his eyes glitter in the sun.

"You've come. Please... follow me. Oh, and the payment..."

"You needn't worry about the payment. Please show me the girl."

"Right this way... " He walks Anna towards the hut where the girl is staying.

"How do you know that she's ill and be a changeling? She could have a fever."

"It's not so simple... She has been losing her senses one by one. First she could not taste, then she could not see nor hear. It's just like the stories of the others who changed! Now she doesn't speak and has eyes that don't reflect the shine of the sun. Her eyes are glazed, she no longer responds. We're afraid... "

"I'll keep watch on her. Please pack all your belongings and retreat the villagers from Mayflower. I'm afraid we're going to have to take precautions."

"Yes... Thank you..."

Anna looks feircely at the girl who is huddled in blankets. Sad sight to see, hopefully we may save her if it's not too late. Terra be with her.

---

IT was afternoon, just before evening. It was still sunny outside, but now that the village was half way cleared it was very quiet. The buzzing of critters could be heard, and the frogs in the pond nearest the hut croaked every so seconds. Anna closed her eyes as the girl lay there motionless, but still breathing. The girls veins were turning purple beneath her skin and jutting out. Anna knew it was almost time. Pretty soon the girl would transform into a hideous creature and she would have to kill it.Anna got her sword ready and held her sword towards the girl whilst the girl was still breathing. The girl looked in pain, not in peace and Anna hated this part the most. Anna always made it rough for herself. Some bounty hunters could kill the organisim just before they change, but Anna always hesistated. She could not help but pity the changeling for their loss of life. Not ever has it been recorded yet that one could save them being a monster. Not yet.

One.... Two.... Anna counted numbers in her mind. IT helped calm her blood down in the moments of death.

Three... Four... She clenched her sword. The girl huddled in pain as the purple veins took over her face.

"Please.... help me..."

Anna could see in the girl's eyes how afraid she was. But it was too late. A loud screech erupted from the hut that could be heard a mile away.

Anna didn't think, but instinctively ran out of the hut as the monster hopped crawling onto the ceiling. With it's twisted head, it slobbered with it's sharp teeth and looked like it was insane. Mad, no mind.

Esquire Sunfire's name was formerly Lucian, but the heir of the title of Lord Sunfire sacrificed his name to be called Esquire Sunfire, though this mattered little to the young lad. What mattered more to this young man with brown eyes, a face softly built and seemingly free from the horrors of reality, along with innocent, smooth and short brown hair, was the thing that held him like a princess carried to safety.

The beast that held him towered 2 metres above the ground, clutching Sunfire as gently as it could as a reptilian monster with muscles that bulged with muscles and with claws for hands. It looked around with a blank gaze on those 4 eyes it had that served a predator better than a human being, and a mouth full of fangs and a tongue that ended in a sharp tip. Where one estimated its backbone to be, were a trail of sharp spines led from the monster's hairless, horned scalp to its rear end. The only real signs that this monster used to be a human, and a human girl, were the fact she was wearing clothes and the evidence upon her chest.

Her name was Aqua. And when she halted her running pace and froze, growling softly, did Sunfire realise that something was off.

"Did you hear something, Aqua?" asked Sunfire, glancing around as much as he could from where he was carried. When the young lad sprained an ankle from a poorly conceived leap from one rock to another, Aqua picked him up without a word and just continued moving. He appreciated the gesture, but preferred to get back to Gainsborough and put on some ice. But since they were almost a mile away from Mayflower, it was probably quite rude to suggest it to Aqua. She seemed quite pleased with herself about carrying her brother so far and so quickly, even though her monstrous face couldn't make the appropriate expressions beyond anger and hunger.

Aqua looked down upon her brother and growled, "Roar. In. Dis. Tance." Every growl that tried to sound like a facsimile of a human syllable took about half a second to figure out of how to make the sounds come out from her throat. Considering that her vocal cords were suited for a monster showing dominance rather than for polite conversation, Sunfire was always quite pleased to hear Aqua talk, even as she preferred to growl.

His happiness at Aqua's talking let the actual content of her words bypass him for a moment, and like a boomerang, strike him from behind with an appropriately quick jolt of realisation.

"Is it a monster?"

Aqua nodded, and began to pick up her pace. She would have taken to running on all fours if her brother wasn't in her arms, and her brother always took offence to the idea of riding her like some sort of beast.

"Aqua, you idiot! I'm not going to do that! You're not some sort of mindless monster!

If she could smile at that thought, she would have. She felt foolish for suggesting it, but happy that her brother rejected it out of hand with such a reason.

The two reached the village nearly half a minute later, where the monster, and the bounty hunter maiden with long black hair and armour stood, clearly both of them ready for battle.

"A monster!" gasped Sunfire.

Aqua nodded, though all she did was hold Sunfire closer to her chest and growl a few words. "Let. Her. Han. Dle. This."

Sunfire looked up at Aqua with a look of moral horror. "But what if she—"

Aqua covered Sunfire's both with a spare claw. She wanted to argue, but growling an extended discussion on why protecting her brother was more important than protecting a stranger was tedious. Her brother had his upsides and downsides, but he always saw helping others, no matter how far gone, as his priority. She liked his naivety in some endearing ways, but she believed it was the sort of thing that was going to get him killed.

"Just put me down and help her! I'll be alright!" Sunfire struggled to speak, trying to pull off Aqua's claw off his mouth.

"Hush, Lu," growled Aqua, her eyes focused on the monster. If it attacked, she dodged. If it lunged, she sidestepped. If it spat anything remotely dangerous, she moved. Even for a 2 metre chunk of muscle, scales, fangs and claws, Aqua moved fast.

The morning was a quiet one as Cora cleaned her face with a fresh cloth, the fringes of her hair slightly damp from the washing. The young woman paced in the small room she’d rented last night in the only tavern in the village; she’d hoped to earn a few extra coins putting on a show or two before making her way to Gainsborough to meet her next buyer. Sadly it was not meant to be.

When she’d first arrived, Cora had sensed something hang in the air, tension so thick one could slice it with a butter knife. People walked warily, no one made eye contact and no one smiled even as Cora put on her most friendly face. She’d located the tavern easy enough, the village of Mayflower was neither big nor complicated to navigate through. The owner had eyed her silently, his face a blank mask, and when he finally spoke he made Cora jump slightly, the bass of his voice booming in the near choking silence from just a moment ago.

“We don’t get your sort coming through here often,” he remarked, his voice almost monotonous. “If you’re hoping to find...business, you can forget it.”

“Just lodging would be nice,” Cora masked her surprise and flashed the tavern keeper a modest smile, her big green eyes wide with mock innocence. “A-and some food would be nice too, I’m on my way through to Gainsborough and the journey has not been kind.”

The man’s expression softened just a touch as he turned around, took off his apron, and beckoned her to follow him up a flight of stairs located near a door she guessed would lead into the kitchen. The room he showed her was at the end of the narrow hallway, it had a window that looked down the main street running through the village, a small bed pushed against one side of the room, and a water basin stood across next to the opposite wall. A chest was at the foot of the bed for her belongings.

“Dinner starts at sundown. Spiced beef stew tonight and fresh bread,” the tavern keeper grunted as he turned to leave. “You can try plying your trade, as long as you don’t scare away customers.”

Cora had pulled out a less elaborate stage costume with a moderate hair piece that evening, with all sorts of tricks hidden up her sleeves as she head down to the dining hall. It was slow at first, but even as people started filing in and the ale started pouring, the tension in the air did not lessen. After some asking around Cora found out the reason for everyone's unease; a monster was coming. Well, a little girl was turning to be more specific.

That was interesting, and not in a fun way. Cora was always thankful her infection was minor compared to most, and if anything, more beneficial to her than not. A lot of others were not so lucky. Cora went upstairs after she’d found out the news, changed out of her stage clothes and into something more comfortable, ordered some food to be delivered to her room and stayed there until sunrise.

The young woman blinked into the bright morning sun and sighed, she really should leave town now while the girl child has not turned monster yet. All things considered, a village this size faced with a newly turned monster generally meant bad bad things were going to happen. But heading into Gainsborough early was also not a good idea, after all there were people there that would be more than happy to see her dead, a few of them would even take action to make that happen themselves. The devil she knew was better than the devil she didn't, and with that she made up her mind to stick around town just one more day.

The day wore on as Cora practised some of her tricks, barely leaving her room. She’d hear weird noises drifting through her window once in a while, the interval becoming shorter as the day wore on. Then there was a commotion as a villager ran from the entrance, waving his arms and yelling for the elder. He was chanting something about a bounty hunter.

Well things just got a bit more interesting still, Cora thought to herself as she snuffed out the ball of light in her palm and stuck her head out the window to get a better look. Moments later a woman not much older than herself walked into the village in all her battle glory, long black hair billowing in the midday breeze.

She watched the warrior woman speak with the old man, then let herself be led to a house not too far from the tavern, no wonder she could hear the weird noises, the monster was going to hatch not even three doors down from her. Trouble was in the air, and Cora could almost taste it as she dug into her trunk and pulled out her black silk shirt, a pair of form fitting black trousers and a belt with 6 black throwing knives strapped into them. She changed quickly, strapping the belt securely around her waist. Cora checked the blades, then pulled out a loosely coiled black leather whip out of the trunk and hooked that around her torso, off one shoulder, the handle within easy reach of her left hand.

She didn’t like getting involved in fights, but if this monster got out of hand she was going to be a victim of its destruction, and well, Cora didn’t like being a victim to anyone or anything. The afternoon drifted on by slow and chokingly quiet. The villagers all but shut themselves into their homes, fear and uncertainty hung in the air like a blanket.

Then suddenly the world was alive with sounds and movement as the bounty hunter all but exploded out of the hut, following a bellow of rage and confusion and hunger. Ah crap…

Cora bolted from her room, down the flight of stairs on silent feet before slipping out of the tavern.

Anna noticed the monster was not after her. Anna looked around, she could sense a few people were probably hanging around in the village still. Villagers who still hadn't cleared the village yet. Anna let out a sigh of frustration as she told them to clear the area and go to another more safe town immediately.

"Now you've done it... Hyahhh!!" Anna struck the monster, but she missed the first swipe. Sweat beaded her forehead, the monster was now facing her back and so she turned around and swung again. The monster was cut in half, but it's head still growled. IT was still alive.

The monster saw 3 people out in the clearing and like a mad thing it was, it dived after the boy with the super organism.

"Drat, this monster goes for the easy targets!" Anna ran towards the legless body that was going towards the boy and Aqua. Monster blood trailed the dirt road where she had cut off it's bottom torso.

Anna soon saw a woman come from the tavern of Mayflower who rushed into the scene.