MH:TLC Chapter 12, Bombs and Mortars Part 1

Bombs and Mortars (Part 1)

Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine.

A gleam of early morning light woke Ellie the next day, shining through the thinnest of cracks in the wide blinds that covered the ornate windows of the house. She sat up sleepily, the moment of drowsy fogginess in her mind making her wonder where she was and how she got there. Her memories came back quickly, informing her that she was, in fact, currently in Cobi Village, there to hunt the Gobul.

The sound of restless breathing caught her attention, and she followed the noise, spotting Levin sleeping sprawled across a nearby couch. A few thin sheets were draped over him as he dozed, thrown around as he had tossed and turned in his sleep, no doubt unaccustomed to the new and unfamiliar place. A few scattered papers littered the floor under him, scribbles and ideas the two of them had come up with on how to fight the Gobul etched onto each page.

Marshall was nowhere to be seen, as far as Ellie could tell. She vaguely recalled the older hunter popping in late at night, the noise waking her for only a moment as he'd entered the building, but as to where he was now, Ellie had no clue.

She lazily rolled out of bed, stretching herself out and feeling tired bones pop and weary muscles ache as she forced herself to wake up. She wandered over to her bag, thrown into an unnecessarily large closet. She'd hung up her armor just inside the entrance to the massive closet, as opposed to Levin, who'd only gone so far as to toss his own armor over the back of the very couch he slept on. She looked at the green and purple thing wearily. She'd only had the opportunity to wear it once, during their exploit hunting for monster guts and their run-in with the poachers, and still wasn't sure about whether she wanted to keep it or not.

"Feel like taking a bath, nya?"

Ellie shrieked in fright at the voice that suddenly appeared behind her. She twisted around quickly, getting her feet tangled together and falling to the floor. Winded, she groaned in pain, rubbing her back as she sat up from the floor, blinking in surprise at the sight of an orange colored Felyne, chuckling at her from a few feet outside the closet's entryway. She could also she Levin flailing around inside his blankets on the floor, no doubt after having fallen off the couch when he heard Ellie scream.

"What happened?" he shouted, finally throwing off the sheets and leaping to his feet, a look of sleepy alertness (if you can believe it) plastered across his face. His eyes finally landed on Ellie on the floor, and nearby Felyne, and he blinked in confusion. "Uh, what's going on?" he asked.

"It would appear that I've scared the lady hunter here, nya," the Felyne chuckled. It turned back to Ellie. "I do apologize. I truly didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright," Ellie said, climbing back to her feet. "Just give me a little warning next time, if you plan on sneaking up on me."

"Oh, I wasn't sneaking at all," the Felyne replied. Ellie noticed that the Felyne had a higher pitched voice than that of Leif or the chef Felynes in Boma village, and wondered if this Felyne was female. She couldn't really tell for sure. The Felyne continued speaking, "We Felynes prefer to simply walk naturally. However, I suppose we can't help it if our 'naturally' is naturally quiet, now can we, nya?"

"I suppose not," Ellie replied, grinning slightly.

"By the way, my name is Eir," the Felyne introduced itself (herself?). "You are… Miss Eleanor, I believe? And he is Mister Levin, if I am not mistaken. I am not too good with human names, nya."

"Nice to meet you Eir," Ellie said. "How'd you know our names?"

"That elder hunter, Master Marshall, told me about the two of you earlier this morning," Eir replied.

"I see," Ellie replied. "You know, you're a lot more polite than most of the Felynes back in Boma."

"That's because they're probably male, Miss Eleanor," Eir replied, a tone of mild distaste in her voice. "Male Felynes tend to be more… clumsy and rambunctious than us of the fairer sex, nya."

"The same could be said for humans, I think," Ellie said, smirking at Levin, who rolled his eyes. "And you can call me Ellie. I get enough of the whole 'Miss' thing from Levin and Marshall as it is."

"Very well, Ellie," Eir replied. "Now, as I mentioned, I prepared a bath, so whenever either of you are ready to bathe, you may do so, nya."

"You can go first, Ellie," Levin yawned, stretching. "I think I'll spend a couple extra minutes waking up before I head in there."

"Sounds good to me," Ellie replied.

"If that is all, I think I will take my leave, nya," Eir said. "I have other business to attend to around the village, anyway."

As the Felyne began to leave, she turned suddenly. "Oh, yes, and before I forget, Master Willard asked me to tell the two of you that the fish in the area are abnormally sparse today. Is this area, such an occurrence generally implies that a sea monster of some sort is nearby, so the two of you are to prepare yourselves to battle the Gobul, nya."

"Thanks for the warning," Levin said, turning to pick his armor off the floor.

"Good luck to the both of you, nya," Eir said as she walked out the door. Ellie heard the Felyne mutter when she thought she was out of earshot: "You're going to need it."

As Levin knelt to the ground, he shuffled through the papers he and Ellie had made the previous night as they'd planned their fight with the Gobul. "Hey, Ellie?"

"What's up?" Ellie asked.

"You really think any of these plans will work? They seem just as likely to kill us as they do the Gobul."

"Who knows?" Ellie shrugged. "They're about as likely to work as any other plan either of us come up with."

Levin grinned. "Your plans maybe. My plans work like a charm."

"Oh, mine aren't that bad."

"Says the girl who tried to blow up a Qurupeco with its own mucus."

"Hey it worked, didn't it?" Ellie huffed. "Besides, all your plans seem to fall apart when even the smallest thing throws a stick into the spokes."

"Yeah, I guess," Levin admitted sheepishly. "If that's the case, then this plan should work. Provided your aim isn't off, that is."

"Have some faith in me," Ellie replied. "This plan will work. I'm sure of it."

"Whatever you say," Levin said, rolling his eyes.

But as Ellie thought about the plans they'd created, a tremor of nausea flooded over her. Levin must have caught a change in her expression, because he gave her a confused and concerned look.

"Something the matter?" he asked. "You look a little out of it."

"It's nothing, really," Ellie said, shaking her head. "It's just, it feels kind of… wrong to use barrel bombs to take out the Gobul."

Levin stood in thought for a moment before realization kicked in. "Ah. Because of the poachers you mean."

Ellie sighed. "Yeah. After what happened in the Ludroth nest, I just feel dirty using the same weapons that those guys used to kill off all the Ludroth. It just seems… wrong somehow."

"I know what you mean," Levin told her. "But don't get yourself down about it. I'm not sure what the old adage is, but you can't label something as evil just because someone evil uses it as well. I'm sure a lot of nobler hunters use barrel bombs, too."

"I know that," Ellie said, "but it still just doesn't feel right."

Levin sighed, then shrugged. "Well, you can do whatever you want, I guess. Honestly, the thought of carrying around a bunch of bombs just to blow up a monster seemed really dangerous to me, not to mention way too much effort, so I never really used them. While we're here fighting the Gobul, I don't think we're going to get away with fighting it that easily without using bombs, but from here on, we can try to fight monsters without them, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ellie said, grinning slightly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to shower. That ride here was way, way too long to go without bathing. I feel like I'm covered in a layer of gunk."

Once the two of them had cleaned up, they put on their armor and headed out into the village in search of Marshall. The journey in search of the old hunter itself took the two of them on a tour around the village, following the instructions of passerby who pointed them in the direction that they'd last seen Marshall and Willard together. Finally, the two hunter apprentices spotted the older hunter standing next to Willard and several dozen barrels of explosives at the head of the bay, near the base of the archway that spanned the mouth of the bay.

"Hey old timer!" Levin called out, catching Marshall's attention.

"Good morning, both of you," Marshall said. "Judging by the fact that the two of you are fully armored, I assume the two of you've heard that the Gobul is most likely in the area?"

"Eir told us about it this morning," Ellie replied.

"I saw the results of your planning on the floor of the house earlier," Marshall said. "Any good ideas pop up while the two of you were brainstorming yesterday?"

Levin shrugged. "Only one decent one, but its incomplete."

"How so?" Willard asked.

"Well, we planned to drop a few dozen barrels onto the bottom of the bay. Then, while we fight the Gobul, if it gets close to any of the barrels, Ellie can fire rounds at the explosives, detonating them. That way, we'll be able to use the bombs without risking damage to ourselves. The bombs should be plenty damaging to the Gobul, even though the bombs might lose their effect while their underwater."

Willard laughed. "I like this kid! You were right Marshall, the boy makes pretty good little plans."

Levin shrugged and pointed to Ellie. "Actually, this plan is one of Ellie's brain-childs."

"Two decent plan-makers, then," Willard replied. "Not bad at all. But I don't get one thing; what makes this plan of yours incomplete?"

Ellie sighed. "As much damage as all of us do against the Gobul, the fact is it is a sea creature and has superiority under the water. The one thing that's always caused me and Levin problems is when a monster decides to run away and escape. Most of the time, they're far faster than us. If the Gobul decides it wants to get gone, how are we supposed to stop it from doing so?"

Willard and Marshall shared a quick glance, before Willard burst out laughing. Ellie looked between the two of them in confusion as they chuckled between themselves. She glanced over to Levin, but he shook his head at her, uncertain as to what was so funny.

"Oh, trust me, kiddies," Willard grinned, "the Gobul getting out of the bay is the last thing you need to worry about."

"How do you figure?" Levin asked, confused.

"Let me show you," Willard said, turning and walking over to the archway. As he neared the base, Ellie noticed a large wheel latched to the bottom of the arch, connected on the inside to a cluster of ropes and cogs.

"Help me out with this, boy," Willard said, motioning to Levin, who nodded reluctantly. The two of them began turning the wheel, and the gears creaked and groaned inside the archway's pillar. Ellie noticed that while Levin was struggling to get the wheel to turn, Willard hardly seemed to be trying at all and was still making the wheel turn quickly.

As the gears inside the pillar turned, Ellie spotted a disturbance in the water along the mouth of the bay. She gasped in surprise as a wide line of water suddenly broke apart, a thick and powerful mesh fishing line rising up out of the water and up the sides of the arch. The net continued to rise up the side of the pillar until it was at least twenty feet in the air.

Finally, Willard reached over, snapping a latch into place on the wheel and locking the gears in place. As the lock clicked shut, Levin bent over, gasping for air, and shaking off his weary arms.

"Not used to regular hard work, are you, boy?" Willard laughed as Levin wobbled over to one of the barrels and sat down. "You could use a little bit of honest struggling like that to make you stronger, I think."

"This net is amazing!" Ellie exclaimed. "I thought the arch was a decoration."

"Oh, we fishermen wouldn't put up something so gaudy without a good reason to do so," Willard said. "We keep this net around to capture some of the larger sea creatures that would otherwise damage the nets our boats use. Things like Epioth or other such things. Lure them into the bay, then raise the net before they can escape. It wasn't really intended for creatures like the Gobul, but it should keep the thing in the bay for you. Won't stop it from coming on land and just going around, though, so you'll have to keep it from doing so."

"Fair enough," Levin said, hopping back up to his feet. "All we need to do now is to put the bombs in their places and lure the Gobul into the bay. Not sure how we're going to do that last part, though."

"It won't be that hard," Marshall said to them. "All you need to do is set the right bait, and any monster you want will come for you on its own."

"Okay," Ellie said. "So what bait do we need to lure in a Gobul?"

"Epioth work particularly well, in this village's experience," Willard said. "We have a few salted slabs of Epioth meat over in the village cantina that we can use. Just toss them all into a big ol' bag and dangle them in the water. If that doesn't get a Gobul into the bay in an hour, then there just aren't any in the area."

"Sounds like we have everything we need then," Marshall said, looking between Ellie and Levin. "Anything else the two of you can think of that we should prepare before the fight?"

"That's all we've got, I think," Levin said. "All we need to do is set everything up, I guess."

"That and survive the fight itself," Ellie muttered.

"Yeah, that too."

"Well, we'll never find out how it'll all turn out until we do it," Marshall grinned. "So let's get to work, shall we?"

With a grunt of effort and a twist of their wrists, the pair of apprentice hunters wrenched the last of the barrel bombs they'd collected from the villagers into the fine sand at the bottom of the bay. On the other side of the barrel, Levin cautiously shook the barrel, making sure it wouldn't shake free of its base, before nodding in acceptance and motioning towards the surface. Ellie nodded in response, mentally stopping herself from speaking out loud, reminding herself that the air philter she wore over her mouth blocked out any words and only released a swarm of bubbles into the water.

She glanced around the clear bay water, checking their work. The bay was littered with dozens of explosive barrels of various shapes and sizes, all of them wedged into the sand of the bay. Some were weighed down with rocks or tied down with ropes in places where the sand was thin or not sticky enough to hold down the buoyancy of the barrels. A couple of barrels floated on the water's surface near the shoreline as well, bobbing up and down in the water, just in case the Gobul made a break for land. The only area of the bay that didn't have a bomb nearby was the area close to the pillars of the archway.

Satisfied with their work, Ellie swam towards the surface, following Levin as he made his way up himself. She involuntarily gasped for breath as she broke the surface of the water, despite the air philter covering her mouth and providing her with oxygen. She peeled the small plant off of her face, taking a deep breath of fresh air before swimming towards shore.

"Not a fan of the philters, huh?" Levin laughed as they pushed their way onto the dock.

"They work really well," Ellie admitted, "but the oxygen it makes it just really… thick. Moist, I mean. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's better than holding your breath, but it just feels so forced breathing through those things."

"I know what you mean," Levin said. "Not exactly up to par with snorkeling gear, probably, but it's still the best option for hunters, considering we may have to stay underwater for quite a long time in order to fight monsters like the Gobul. Just imagine how rough it would be to fight something bigger underwater, like a Lagiacrus."

"I'd rather not have to think about something like that right now," Ellie groaned. "If we manage to survive this fight, maybe I'll think about it."

"Hey, where's your confidence?" Levin asked. "Ususally, you're all into the whole idea of a hunt."

Ellie grinned. "Sorry, I'm just a little worried. After all, we didn't do that well against the Royal Ludroth, so now I'm worried about how well we'll do against something that's supposed to be bigger and tougher than that."

"I'm sure we'll be just fine," Levin grinned. "The Royal Ludroth just took us by surprise that one time. Under different circumstances, I'm sure we would've kicked its butt across the river. Besides, if worse comes to worse during this fight, we've got Marshall around to pull our hides out of the fire."

"I don't want to keep relying on Marshall though."

"I know," Levin replied. "That's why we're going to have to do the best damn job we can doing as much damage as we can to kill the damn thing."

"I guess so," Ellie grinned.

"Are the two of you finally done?" the two of them heard Marshall call out to them. They turned, spotting the older hunter carrying a large bloody satchel over his shoulder.

"Got the meat all ready, then?" Levin asked.

"So it would seem," Marshall replied, patting the side of the large bag. "All that's left now is to lure the creature here, I think. Are the two of you ready to begin?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ellie replied.

"Same here," Levin replied.

"Then let's get started."

Marshall walked over to a small rowboat that the village had donated to the cause along with the barrels of gunpowder. Using a line of rope, the older hunter tied the massive sack to the side of the small boat, then hoisted the sack over the side into the water, where a fog of bloody red began to spread out from the core of the meat inside. The older hunter slid on his bright blue Lagiacrus helmet, then kicked off from the shore, allowing the boat to drift its way into the center of the bay.

The villagers, who were initially interested in watching the impending battle, began getting shooed away by Willard as he ran up and down the dock, forcing people to evacuate the area. Only a group of tough-looking fishermen, including Willard himself, were allowed to stay in the area. They stood near the pillar of the archway, ready to raise the net and trap the Gobul inside the bay once it was inside.

Ellie and Levin watched carefully and quietly as Marshall drifted in the water, scanning the water for any signs of the Gobul or anything else that might be wanting to cause them trouble. Silence filled the area as the noises of the village began to die away. Ellie noticed that the villagers had begun climbing onto the roofs of their houses, a distance from the bay. Ellie supposed that if they were wanting to watch a monster hunter battle that was occurring just outside their village, they were going to see it one way or another.

Several minutes passed as Ellie and Levin stood intently waiting on the shoreline. Ellie began to fidget impatiently. She knew that waiting for a monster to jump at a line of bait was an act of patience, but she still wished that she could move around a little more. She much preferred a chase through the forests around Boma Village than setting a trap and waiting for a monster to arrive. At the very least if she knew where the Gobul was and when it would show up, she would be a little more content with the situation.

She glanced over at Levin, who was leaning idly against a crate and staring out to the mouth of the bay. He was tapping his feet against the wooden dock under him, giving Ellie the impression that he enjoyed the act of waiting on the Gobul to arrive as little as she did. He rolled a whetstone between his fingers as his eyes began to glaze over, his thoughts obviously moving to something other than the waiting.

Suddenly, Ellie's eyes snapped to the mouth of the bay under the giant archway. Something was off. Ellie couldn't tell what exactly, but something seemed wrong. She glanced over at Levin, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything at all and continued to stare blankly out to sea.

Ellie glanced back to the water, sure that she must have noticed one thing or another, but was uncertain what. Marshall was gazing intently at the water (or at least Ellie thought he was; it was hard to tell with Marshall wearing that helmet). Maybe he'd noticed something as well.

But the water was crystal clear inside the bay, and just as clear for at least a hundred yards out to sea. If something… anything had managed to get into the bay, she'd notice it… right?

"Hey, Levin."

"What's up?"

"Can the Gobul… hide itself in any way?" she asked. "I know it has some sort of stealth ability, but I can't remember what it was."

"It's a digger," Levin replied. Ellie gave him a look of confusion, at which he continued. "Provided the soil at the bottom of the water it's in is soft enough, it can bury itself underneath and pop out to surprise attack enemies."

Ellie froze. "And the sand at the bottom of the bay?"

Levin thought for a moment. "It was really soft, actually. It was a lot easier to wedge those barrels into the dirt than I thought it would… oh, crap."

Ellie's eyes shot back to the water, grazing over the surface fanatically, until her eyes rested on what must have tipped her off earlier that something was wrong: not ten feet from Marshall's bobbing boat, a steady stream of bubbles trickled up from the bottom of the bay. Glancing through the water to the source, Ellie spotted a large bulge in the sand that she was absolutely certain hadn't been there when she and Levin had been setting up the bombs.

"Marshall! Look out!" she called, catching the older hunter's attention.

Just as Marshall looked up at her in surprise, an enormous dark object ripped out of the sand at the bottom of the bay, opening an equally massive maw. With a thunderous rumble, the Gobul began to inhale, and an unbelievable amount of water began spiraling down towards the creature's gaping mouth.

The boat Marshall sat in twisted violently as the water began churning and spinning downward, pulling the rickety wooden raft down into the clear water of the bay. The older hunter was caught off guard, and dropped into the vortex as well, soon finding himself getting pulled down with the rowboat.

"What do we do?" Ellie cried out.

"This!" Levin said, pulling something out of his pack. Ellie saw him pull a pin, realizing it was a Sonic bomb just as he tossed the object into the water. With an sound far louder than Ellie suspected would occur, the Sonic bomb went off under the water, sending a shockwave a sound across the bay with such a force that it caused a ripple in the water.

The Gobul cried out in pain as the sound tore through the water, shaking it to its very core. It spasmed violently, ripping itself out of the sand and flipping over upside down in a loss of self control, exposing its lighter colored belly. Marshall, still spiraling down towards the creature, twisted his body around and swung out his hammer, smashing it into the large creature's belly.

"Willard!" Ellie called out, motioning to the fishermen standing near the archway.

"On it!" Willard replied, motioning to the other fishermen. The group of them immediately grabbed a hold of the crank and began spinning it furiously. The net practically shot out of the water at the speed the lot of them were spinning it at, spreading the wide block across the mouth of the bay in only a few moments.

"Let's go!" Levin yelled, charging towards the edge of the dock. Ellie tailed close behind, the two of them sliding their air philters over their mouths and leaping into the water of the bay. A burst of cold slid up Ellie's spine as the chill of the water spread over her.

Ellie was glad she was wearing the philter a moment later as her eyes acclimated to the water, or she had no doubt Levin and Marshall both would have heard an audible gasp come from her. The Gobul that floundered in the water ahead of her was massive, far bigger and more fearsome looking than anything she'd been able to imagine of it, even with the pictures drawn on the pages of the hunter's manuals. The notes on average length really didn't give an accurate impression of size until you saw it up close and personal.

She slid her bowgun around her shoulder as Levin swam forward to aid Marshall as the older hunter swam away from the Gobul as it flipped right-side up. Her bowgun was already primed with Sub shots, and as the giant fish turned to Marshall, preparing to attack the old hunter as he pulled out his own air philter, she fired a staccato burst of rounds at the creature, peppering it across its broad back.

The Gobul grumbled in irritation and anger as the bullets punctured its rubbery hide, thin trails of blood trickling out of the wounds for a moment before they clotted. It turned abruptly to the two new assailants, lunging threw the water with fluid ease. Ellie was caught off guard while she was reloading, the giant fish surging towards her.

But Levin turned as he swam, spiraling towards the creature's path. With a grunt of effort and a blast of bubbles from his mouth, he swung around his great sword. The blade caught the Gobul's forelegs with a shallow gash, but the hit caught the creature unawares, and it twisted its head around to find its attacker. The new angle of its head altered its course, making it graze past Ellie as she ducked away from the monster, rather than smashing into her headfirst.

Ellie swam away as the Gobul twisted around, rumbling out a guttural growl that reverberated through the whole bay. Out of the corner of her eye she spotting Marshall swimming their direction, motioning Levin towards the Gobul's left side. The great sword user nodded in understanding, sliding his great sword back into its sheath and joining the older hunter in a flanking maneuver.

The Gobul twisted its head between the two of them, uncertain which it should focus on, before deciding on Levin, who was closer by a few yards. It pressed of from the soft sand below it, opening its wide mouth and rushing through the water toward the hunter.

Ellie cringed; she would feel absolutely horrified if such a massive maw was rushing in her direction at such speeds. She whipped her bowgun around, nearly failing to stop in time as she spun in the water, but managed to fire several rounds at the Gobul's gaping mouth. The rounds peppered the inside of the creature's mouth, making it shiver in irritation, but hardly slowing it down or changing its path at all.

Levin kicked his feet, pushing himself up towards the surface as the monster rushed his way. He managed to avoid the bulk of the creature's charge, but the thick lantern orb that was perched above the creature's eyes snagged Levin's coat of armor as it passed. The great sword user was sent tumbling and spinning through the water as the giant fish whooshed to a halt curled itself around to face him again, and began another charge.

However, Marshall had caught up by this time, grabbing Levin by the hood of his armor and tossing him out of the way of the charge, then dodging away himself as the Gobul tore past the two of them. The Gobul grumbled in frustration as it spun around and slowed to a stop.

Ellie glanced under it, and caught sight of one of the explosive barrels sticking out of the muddy bay bottom. Before the Gobul could charge again, she lined up her sight and fired a round at the barrel. The shot flew true, sliding underneath the giant fish towards the explosive. The Gobul looked down, following the trajectory of the bullet as in shot past, a confused look crossing its face as the shot struck its wooden target.

The wooden barrel ripped apart at the seams as the shot ignited the gunpowder within, creating a blast that tore through up the tail and underbelly of the Gobul, blasting it upwards towards the surface with a howl of pain. A mushroom of smoke and bubbles swarmed up from the detonation point blotting out the shape of the Gobul as it writhed in pain from the blast. Elli grinned victoriously at the sight, and glanced over to Marshall and Levin, seeing them grinning as well.

Then the shockwave hit her, the water carrying the force of the blast across the entire bay and knocking her backwards as the sound and pressure waves drummed into her body and head, nearly making her black out from the shock of the impact. She was sent flailing backwards by the force of the blast, and her eyes filled with stars. For a few seconds, she was completely lost, unable to tell where she was or which way was up.

Then a hand grabbed onto her shoulder, spinning her around in the water and bringing her right side up. She found herself face-to-face with Levin, who was looking at her worryingly. Then she noticed his injuries. He looked pale, and his breathing seemed somewhat ragged, judging by the awkwardly timed bubbles that slid from the cracks of the air philter. Apparently both he and Marshall had been hit as hard by the blast of the bomb as she had; maybe harder, since they'd been a bit closer.

Ellie looked helplessly at the bombs littering the floor of the bay. The shockwave from just one of them had almost been enough to knock her out, and their whole plan had revolved around using them by the dozen to take down the massive Gobul. But how were they supposed to fight such a monster when any of the bombs they set off were just as likely to hurt them as they were to hurt the Gobul ?

Levin caught sight of her expression. After a moment of thought, he flashed her a grin (or at least she thought it was a grin, it was hard to tell with the air philter covering his mouth). He pointed to one of the other barrel bombs near the Gobul, who was still writhing in pain and confusion. With an exaggerated motion, he pointed his finger like a gun and fired at the barrel, then gave her a thumbs up.

Ellie looked at him with an expression that she hoped let him know that she thought he'd lost it. Was he insane? Was he really willing to risk their own health and safety to take down this monster? They both had just learned the dangers with setting off any of the underwater bombs, and yet Levin wanted her to continue blowing them up?

Ah, of course he'd be willing to risk it, she thought glumly, thinking back to their first Royal Ludroth fight, when he'd risked his own health trying to get the monster stunned by a Shock trap.

She was about to glare at him, when she saw him glance cautiously over to Marshall, before he turned back to her and giving her a pleading look. And suddenly she understood: Levin felt the same as she did. They both wanted to get out from underneath Marshall's shadow and prove they were perfectly capable of becoming great hunters without his aid. And if they wanted to prove that now, they'd have to show they were willing to do what they needed to take down a monster and still come out on top.

Then Levin eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned and dived down, dragging Ellie along with him. As the pair of them reached the bottom of the bay, Levin reached down, grabbing a handful of seaweed. Ellie watched in shock as he took the slimy brambles and wedged a clump of them into his ear canal. He pointed at the stuff, holding out a line of the stuff to Ellie.

Ellie nearly laughed in realization. Earplugs! she thought. Why didn't I think of that? She gingerly took the stuff out of Levin's hands, cringing slightly at the texture of the stuff. But she still ripped away a few strands, shoving the vile stuff into her ears.

Looking around, it was as though all sound had simply ceased to exist. She glanced over to the Gobul, who had rolled back into a right side up position and was growling at them menacingly. The sound came through the thick seaweed as something just barely heard above the sound of Ellie's own heartbeat. Ellie grinned in surprise satisfaction, nodding to Levin as he smirked back at her.

As Ellie began reloading her gun, she glanced over at Marshall, who had been watching them closely since the explosion. He nodded in acceptance of their plan, then motioned back to the Gobul. Ellie glanced at the creature, and nearly reeled back at what she saw.

The Gobul had sprouted spikes seemingly out of nowhere, and was inhaling water at an alarming rate. That wasn't what scared Ellie, but the fact that the Gobul was increasing in girth by several times was. The thick rubbery skin of its back was inflating with the water the monster was inhaling, making it balloon out to several times its original size.

In only a few short moments, the Gobul was nearly as tall as it was long. Ellie might have found the sight of the creature humorous, if it weren't for the fact that the creature's entire inflated back was coated with hundreds and hundreds of spikes, most likely filled with the paralytic substance that she'd read filled up the spines on the creature's tail.

The Gobul grumbled another thunderous snarl, before pushing off from the bottom of the bay floor and curling up into a ball, charging their way like a wrecking ball. Ellie and Levin dived out of the way in a panicked rush, managing to avoid the bulk of the oversized creature, but getting completely blown back by just the force of the Gobul passing close to them. A surge of water pushed them back, making them struggle just to keep control of themselves.

Marshall rushed forward as the Gobul swooped to a halt several yards away from the pair of younger hunters. The older hunter brought around his hammer, smashing it into the side of the Gobul's front fin and knocking it back with a yelp of pain. But the Gobul twisted around in the water, smashing Marshall backwards away from it.

Levin swam forward to Marshall's aid as Ellie fired several rounds of Sub shot, making it wince and growl in pain at her. The great sword user rushed forward as the Gobul turned, however, swinging his sword down onto the giant fish's tail. The Gobul howled in pain as the giant bone blade smashed into it, crumbling and shattering the thinner bones in its tail.

The Gobul twisted its head around, spotting Levin behind it. With a wrench of its body, it sent its body curling around, its tail curling around and twirling towards Levin. Levin saw the spiked tail coming and tried to bring up his sword defensively, but the thick mass of muscle cracked him across the chest and sent him swimming through the water.

Ellie rushed forward, ready to grab onto Levin and pull him away, in case he was paralyzed. But the great sword user rolled himself right side up, swinging his great sword back into its sheath and swimming away as the Gobul twisted around and snapped at his coattails. As Levin swam away, the Gobul rushed after him, half swimming and half clawing its way across the muddy bottom, snapping its teeth furiously at the young hunter.

Marshall and Ellie chased after the Gobul as it chased Levin, gnashing its teeth, deflating and inflating in and out in its rage. Suddenly the massive creature actually tripped, catching the older hunter and bowgun user by surprise. Even the Gobul looked shocked, shacking its head and turning around to look under it. Ellie grinned in glee: it had tripped over one of the explosive barrels.

There was a fraction of a second while she raised her bowgun in which she wondered whether or not it was a good idea to fire upon the explosives again, despite the damage it did to the Gobul. But a look from Levin as he turned around gave her the guts to fire. The Gobul seemed to freeze in fear, realizing what was about to happen as the Sub shot flew out of the barrel and smashed into the side of the barrel.

Another eruption roared through the water as the explosion ripped through the water and burned across the back of the Gobul. Ellie braced herself as the shockwave flew through the water, and a fraction of a second later the blast hit, smashing against her like an invisible wall. She gasped in shock, winded, but found that she could recover far faster than before, without the sound waves rattling their way around the inside of her head.

Levin practically laughed at joy from their plan working on the other side of the Gobul, rushing forward through the water toward the writhing Gobul. He swung his sword at the giant fish's face, tearing a huge gash across it just over the Gobul's eyes. The creature howled in pain, pushing off the muddy river bottom to get away from the assailant, with Levin tailing close behind, sword in hand.

Suddenly Ellie blinked. Her eyes had suddenly dilated from a burst of light, leaving spots dancing in her eyes. Had the sun reflected off the water above them and into her eyes? The flash came again, and Levin slowed to a halt, affected by the sudden flash of light as well. The two glanced around, uncertain as the flashing continued, slowly increasing in frequency.

Ellie's eyes flew to the Gobul, remembering what she'd read in her monster manuals. Sure enough, despite the blinding light blinding her and leaving blind spots in her vision, she managed to see that the light was flashing from the pale lantern atop the Gobul's forehead stalk. However, Levin didn't seem to have realized it, still charging toward the Gobul and glancing around in confusion with each consecutive flash from the lantern.

Marshall turned hopelessly, averting his eyes from the inevitable flash of light that was sure to blind any persons looking that way. But Ellie reloaded her gun, sliding in a pair of paint shots, cocked back the bow, and fired down the sights. The shot flew awkwardly through the water, wobbling and shaking as the current of the bay altered and distorted its course. But the shot flew true, smacking full on into the back of Levin's head, coating the dirty yellow hood in a blank pink goop.

Levin spun around in surprise, giving a confused look at Ellie and the flashing continued to speed up. But before Ellie could turn around herself, the flashing of the Gobul's lantern suddenly went dead for a moment. Ellie paused, confused, when the lantern suddenly erupted with light that seemed a thousand times brighter than any of the ones before it.

The light seared into Ellie's eyes, filling her sensing and brain with a thousand piercing needles tearing into her eyes and filling them with only pure white nothingness. And then the light blurred away into dull grey, slowly and surely growing a deeper and fuller black. She flailed around, suddenly lost in the dark water, not able to tell the difference between up and down any longer. She brought her hands up to her face, pawing at her eyes, trying to force herself into seeing again.

A hungry and almost joyous growling filled her ears, followed by the rumbling sound of what could've been the Gobul's imitation at laughter. Then a rushing noise burst from the same location of where the Gobul's laughter echoed from, a surging churning that grew louder and more furious by the moment.

A rough hand grabbed her by the shoulder, the familiar grip of Marshall pulling her back and away from the onrushing sound. But the older hunter wasn't fast enough, and dozens of jagged spikes and needles tore into Ellie's armor and peeled away at the exposed skin on her stomach and legs. She cried out in pain, her scream dampened by her air philter and carried away by the rush of water as the Gobul whooshed past in the water.

Ellie twisted in pain as Marshall pulled her away from the rumbling growl of the Gobul, reaching forward to clamp her hands over the bleeding wounds on her legs and abdomen. Another sound of motion through the water rushed past, and a swooping sound reached her ears, followed a wet crunch and the sound of the Gobul howling in pain and irritation.

Instinct and reflex made Ellie reach for her pouch, pulling out a potion before she remembered the air philter was covering her mouth. She sucked in a deep breath, peeling away the small plant before swiftly uncorking the bottle in her hand and shoving in into her mouth. The vile tang of saltwater accompanied the bitter taste of the potion, but she managed to swallow the substance, feeling the telltale numbness of the drink and the feel of her wounds cinching closed due to the power of the potion.

The sound of the Gobul roaring in fury echoed into Ellie's ears through the thick clumps of seaweed that remained wedged in her ears. Marshall squeezed her shoulder gently, releasing her in what Ellie assumed to be a safe spot as the older hunter rushed away nearly soundlessly. The sound of powerful hammer-blows thundered through the black in her eyes, followed sometimes by a yelp of irritation or pain from the giant fish.

With aggravating slowness, the darkness in her eyes began to slowly fade away, revealing patches of blurry blue color in her vision, and the occasional flicker of motion across them. She urged her eyes to finish filling with color, and began preparing herself for returned vision by sliding her hand into her ammo pouch and feeling around for several particularly shaped rounds that she planned on using against the Gobul in revenge. As the circles of color widened, she clamped her hand over the rounds she sought and slid one of them cautiously into the chamber of her bowgun, careful not to slip and let it fall.

Finally, her vision widened enough for her to make out where things were again, and she spotted Levin and Marshall circling around an enraged Gobul, the massive fish lunging at snapping at them while they circled, lunging forward to attack while its attention was on the other.

Ellie lined up her sights, focusing on the Gobul's face and pulling the trigger. The gun burst with a short flame and the shot flew through the water while the giant fish twisted around to face Levin. The Gobul winced as the shot contacted with the side of its face, the shell exploding open and a bright purple goop latching onto the Gobul's rubbery skin. Even as Ellie began sliding in the next round, the goop began to seep into the Gobul's skin, making the creature twitch and moan in irritation.

The Gobul lurched towards Marshall, snapping irritably at the older hunter as the hammer user slid away through the water. Ellie fired another round of the purple goop at the Gobul's face, splattering it with goop just behind the stalk on its forehead. Once again, she began reloading as the goop seeped in and the Gobul shivered in irritation, continuing its chase after Marshall.

Suddenly, the Gobul's complexion faded into a sickly greenish hue from its normal purple hue. With a vile belch, a slab of Epioth meat was regurgitated in the water, and the Gobul let off a weary whine in pain and dizziness. The creature gave another half-hearted lunge toward Marshall, but was forced to stop to cough in pain as it inflated back began to slowly deflate, the spikes on its back retracting inside the monsters body.

Ellie grinned. Her Poison shots had worked! She had wondered if they would work at all, considering how much paralysis-inducing venom the creature had flowing through its veins (or at least secreted away in some sac or another). With a joyous grin, she slid another group of Sub shots into the barrel and began unloading the chamber into the creature's side as it gurgled and moaned in sickness. Seeing their chances, Levin and Marshall lunged forward as well, smashing their weapons into the creature's softening skin.

The Gobul roared in pain as the two assaulted it and Ellie continued to fire rounds at open spots on its body. It roared in fury, attempting to puff itself up again to reveal its barbs, but halfway into its inflation, the poison in its veins got the better of it again and its back began to shrink in size once again. It grumbled in irritation, deciding instead to focus its strength into defense. With a flash, it once again began sparking the light on its lantern, attempting to blink the trio of hunters that were barraging it.

However, Marshall was experience in the hunting of Gobuls, and their experiences earlier had taught Ellie and Levin the dangers of the Gobul's lantern. Immediately, the two melee fighters sheathed their weapons, sliding nimbly through the water away from the Gobul and the lantern that flashed ever faster. Ellie swam backwards a stroke or two as well, turning away from the Gobul as the light sped up to a near strobe light speed.

Then came the pause, followed by the same unparalleled flash of light from the Gobul's lantern. Ellie blinked profusely, still slightly blinded from the flash despite being turned the other direction and having her eyes closed. Spots danced in her eyes as she turned back to face the Gobul…

And found it completely vanished. Gone. Completely disappeared from where it once stood. She saw Levin and Marshall both turn, stunned looks on their faces at the sight (or lack thereof) of the missing Gobul. But Marshall's eyes shot the sandy bed of the bay, searching frantically around. Ellie looked down as well, in search of whatever sign Marshall sought.

It wasn't immediate, but she managed to spot what she believed Marshall was searching for: a large, ominous-looking lump surged through the muddy bottom of the bay, digging through the soil at the bottom of the bay and looking like one of those cartoons from her world of something digging through the dirt and leaving a trail behind them. Ellie followed the line of its path and winced in fear: the Gobul was making a bee-line for the mouth of the bay, attempting to escape before it incurred any more damage.

As the Gobul trailed through the dirt, it slid underneath one of the barrel bombs littering the bottom of the bay, lifting it gently into the air as it passed underneath, unsuspecting. Ellie quickly swung her bowgun around, leveling it on the barrel as it loosened from the dirt of the bay bed and began to rise inch by inch towards the surface of the water. The Sub shot fired, spiraling through the water.