[color=lightsteelblue]Red rocks, check.

Bulging river, check.

[i]Reeeally[/i] tall cliff, check.

Lia glanced between the map in her hands and the cliff edge she was perched on. There was a disappointing lack of giant centipede creature in the canyon, but she supposed there was a reason behind all the reported night sightings. Even crusty, old gods needed their naptimes. Stuffing the map into her belt pouch, Lia stood up and stretched her wings.

[i]Hypocrite[/i] was a common label people liked to slap on her whenever they caught sight of her in uniform. Well, [i]uniform[/i] was a bit of a strong word, but the navy tasselled capelet that was draped around her shoulders and pinned by the white mana gem embedded in her collarbone usually made her status as a Royal Hunter pretty clear. If it didn’t, the wings and the scales climbing up her neck more than made up for it. The elders in the mountain village she’d passed through hours ago was a charming refresher for complaints.

‘[/color][i][b]Why do you wear those?[/b][/i][color=lightsteelblue]’ they’d cried. ‘[/color][i][b]Is it not enough to slay them?[/b][/i][color=lightsteelblue]’

Yeah, no need to thank her, truly. Just doing her job. Not like she was saving [i]lives[/i] or anything.

She stepped off the cliff. Her wings folded into a dive. Strong, pushing, pulling – the winds here were unrelenting, but that was okay. All she needed to go was down. Look for an opening somewhere. She’d been somewhat hoping that the creature would make her job easier and nap on the cliff face like a freaky spider but if that had been the case, there would’ve been reports of that in the daytime. The thing probably had a hidey-hole somewhere. 

About halfway down, Lia snapped her wings out, forcing herself to stop and hover. She caught sight of a cave near the bottom – but not before she spotted someone clambering down the cliff face with a length of rope. The helmet, the sword, and evident wishful thinking – [i]was this person just trusting that no one was around to chop off his rope?[/i] – were all obvious clues as to who they were: another hunter!

Lia darted lower, her wings working double-time to hover a fair distance above the climber. The wind tugged at her, threatening to rid her of the possessions clipped to her belt – her leather pouch, her quiver, her crossbow – but they held fast. Her black hair was tied back into a high ponytail, save for a few loose strands that whipped across her face.

‘[b]Hey[/b],’ she called, drawing the word out. ‘[b]You haven't seen a giant monster anywhere, have you? Lots of arms, creepy, needs killing?[/b]’[/color]