This is my first fanfic, any feedback you have would be appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

Hirio never much liked the Guild Hall.

Loud, cramped, and far too many eyes. The tables where swarmed by young hunters drunk on ale and glory, spinning tall tales in a web of obnoxious noise that often ended in punches being thrown. Challenges where cast and met, deals made, deals broken and somewhere amidst that chaos hunting parties came together to create the next fable to tell around the fire.

Hirio ignored it all, muscling his way through the crowd with relative ease. A big man made even bigger by his armour, people saw him coming and promptly moved themselves.

"What's your rush, friend?" Hirio saw a fool stumbling towards him with all the grace of an elephant. "Barging through like that, gonna cause trouble-" Hirio violently pushed him aside as he attempted to lay a hand on his shoulder. From the thud the old hunter assumed he hit the floor, but did not turn around to check. He was here to see the receptionist, get the information he came for, and then leave.

Sonia looked up from her desk with a raised eyebrow. A guild receptionist spent most of the day putting on a friendly face for hunters, and Sonia was good at wearing her mask. But not perfect. She met Hirio with a warm smile as he approached her, but it failed to meet her eyes. They regarded him warily, like he was some wild animal that had just walked into the hall and eaten a guest.

"Hirio." Her voice strained to sound light and positive. "Going by the young fellow on the ground behind you, I assume your not in the mood for small talk?"

"Do you have it?" was Hirios answer.

"Not in the mood, just as I thought, Ah, it seems the man is wanting a word with you." She gestured over Hirios shoulder.

The hunter grudgingly turned to hear the fool whimper. "You got a chest of gold under that desk? What's his rush? You made me spill my drink!" He rung his shirt, stained with ale. "I don't know what kind of day you've had, but there's no need to throw your troubles at my doorstep!" He shook his head, sighing.

"I'll tell you what, if you buy me a new drink, we'll consider the matter settled. Otherwise-" the hunter clenched his fists. "-I'll have to settle my grievance another way." Hirio looked his opponent up and down. Wide stance, unsteady. About 3 inches shorter than him and probably 40 pounds lighter. He wore no helmet and his weapon was noticeably absent. What an idiot, thought Hirio.

"Take your bruised ego elsewhere, I don't have time for it." Hirio told him.

He saw the punch coming.

Before it could land Hirio blocked it with his left hand and retaliated with his right, landing a heavy blow with his gauntlet across the youths unprotected jaw. The young hunter returned to the ground, and a tooth clattered on the floorboards next to him.

Wiping the blood from his knuckles Hirio turned back to Sonia. "Do you have it?" He asked again.

"Your ticket to the New World?" Sonia smiled. "I've managed to get you a place on the Red Maiden to Astera. Wasn't easy, but I hear things are going badly out there. I'm sure they could use an experienced hunter like you."

"When does it leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, but your bunk is ready now. It's waiting just in the harbour, the one with red sails at the end of the quay." She handed him a number of papers across the desk, almost sheepishly, and her facade of politeness seemed to falter.

"You'll, um, need to sign these as part of the deal."

Hirio looked up at her, darkly. "Deal?"

Sonia held up her hands. "Look, passage to the New World isn't easy alright! I had to pull in some favours, do a bit of bartering, can't have something for nothing you know!"

"What have you promised Sonia?" Hirio demanded.

"The first part of the deal, states that I am to go with you to the New World as your handler, but that's just guild policy!" She quickly added. "I know you have your whole 'solo' thing going on but there's no way around it. I'm coming to the New World with you." Hirio thought he could hear a hint of excitement in her voice. Adventurous are we? Hirio thought. Or, maybe she just want's to get away from these drunken idiots. Argh, what does it matter? "And the second part of the deal?"

Sonia winced. "Ah, well, you see. Passage to the New World is pretty pricey, and it's usually helpful to have some kind of benefactor, hey, and I looked all over! This was the best deal there is! Unless you want to go on a ship full of lepers, which, to be fair you might considering-"

"Sonia, what have you promised?"

She twiddled her thumbs nervously. "You, are to have a partner."

Hirio gripped the papers with a newfound disgust. "I work alone."

"I know." Sonia replied. "But your benefactor, has a son who is also a hunter, and has expressed an interest in the New World. You are to go there with him, teach him, guide him, and in return you will become a very wealthy man, and maybe gain some friends in the nobility! This is actually a really sweet deal Hirio!" She exclaimed with forced cheer.

A partner? Hirio remembered running through fire, screams in the night. The sound of a long sword slipping between a woman's ribs. No, this will not do.

"I'm going to the New World for my own reasons, I don't have time to babysit."

"Don't all you hunters have the reason, to hunt monsters?" Sonia queried, confusion flicking across her eyes.

No, some of us hunt men. Hirio could not, would not, have a partner. He also could not refuse a ship to the New World.

"Is there no other way Sonia?" He asked, almost desperately.

"Well, as I said there was that ship full of lepers, so unless you want to arrive at Astera as a corpse, no, there's no other way." Hirio slammed a fist on the desk, cursing his luck. It would have to be done, perhaps he could hand the whelp off to someone else when they got there. I can't delay any longer, the trail may already be going cold.

Sighing heavily, Hirio forced out the question. "And who, am I supposed to be babysitting?"

"Erick of the noble house of Montfort." Sonia answered.

A pained whine came from the floor behind Hirio. "Someone say my name?"

Hirio froze, horror creeping up his spine. No, it cannot be. The runt was still half asleep, barely conscious. Blood poured from his mouth as he struggled to find his feet, only to fail and fall again. "You'll have to excuse me a minute, seems I've quite lost my footing."

"You are a noble?" Hirio asked incredulously.

"Erick Montfort." His words slurred, and eventually he gave up on finding his feet and settled for his knees. "Third son of the lord Weyland, I'd say I'm pleased to meet you, but it doesn't appear the feelings mutual." He smiled, something that might once have been handsome, but was now a bloody mess. Nonetheless, he maintained his composure and offered his hand. "So, can I get that drink? Seems we've a lot to talk about."

Erick sat at the table while Sonia dabbed his chin, Hirio grudgingly took a seat and was pleased to see the other hunters leave as soon as he did so. He grabbed a leg of meat, tearing into it viciously while watching the fire spit and crackle.

"So, Hirio. You've fair strength in your right hand." Erick chuckled. "I'm sure I'll be safe in the New World with you at my side." Hirio grunted. "I'm not travelling to Astera to babysit." Erick made a show of looking offended. "Why, of course not. I imagine there's hundreds of monsters out there for us to slay together!" Hirio ignored him.

"What's a nobles son want from the New World?" Sonia asked him, wiping away the last of the blood. "Or the Hunters Guild for that matter?"

"Why, the sons of nobility have a long tradition of serving in the Hunters Guild! Sons and daughters often use it as a chance, to prove their worth and bring glory to the family name!" Erick boasted.

"If you consider sitting in Dundorma headquarters as a glorified door-stop 'serving'." Hirio retorted.

Erick reached for his mug. "True, most nobles use their influence to, ferry their children out of harms way…"

"Why haven't your parents done the same for you?" Sonia wondered.

"Oh, a bit of, a falling out you might say. Me and my father not exactly seeing eye to eye, and now I suspect he's trying to scuttle me away to the New World where I will no longer be a problem." Erick smiled merrily, then drank deeply from his mug.

"What'd you do?" Hirio asked him

"refused to marry." Erick responded quietly.

"So you're a wayward bride? Wonderful." Hirio threw the leg of meat aside and grabbed another, gripping the bone angrily.

"I assure you, I will do my upmost to learn true monster hunting, I graduated from Wycademy-"

"You're a noble. You were guaranteed to graduate." The big hunter turned to face Erick. "You might as well be starting from scratch. Your father isn't trying to scuttle you away, it's a death sentence. You wont last 5 minutes in the New World."

Sonia spoke up. "That's why he hired you Hirio! To keep him alive. Don't worry, he won't leave you to die." Sonia shot Hirio a glare as she said this.

Truth be told, Hirio had every intention of leaving Erick once they made port in Astera to pursue his own hunt. Perhaps Sonia could find some work for him in the research team, or in the smithy. But he couldn't come with Hirio. Besides, my trail leads me to men, not monsters.

"It's getting late, and Erick looks half a corpse. we should find our bunks on the Red Maiden." Hirio threw away the remainder of his food and stood. Erick went to follow and the prodigious amount of alcohol in his stomach made it's presence known. He keeled over and groaned, before letting loose a stream of vomit across the floor.

Sonia looked down at him, then at Hirio. "Guess we're carrying him."

Sonia and Hirio struggled down the wharf to their new home. The Red Maiden bobbed up and down on the churning waves, red sails flapping in the wind. At least it's big. Cannons and ballista jutted from it's hide, and the prow was adorned with one of the deadliest weapons a ship can possess, the dragonator. This is a warship. Sonia seemed to notice it too.

"Can the journey truly be so perilous?" She asked, eyeing the weaponry. It was Erick who replied. "My father spared no expense on the journey, with the Elder Dragons migrating from the Old World to the New, we are likely to run into one." Sonia's skin adopted an unhealthy white palette.

"If they come, we'll fight them. I've killed Elder Dragons before." Hirio made it sound much more nonchalance than it actually was. He didn't have the time or energy to waste upon Sonia acting like a terrified deer. He didn't lie, Hirio had killed Elder Dragons, but it was incredibly difficult, and dangerous. Caught unawares on a wooden boat, out in the open sea… Lets just hope they ignore us and carry on with their journey.

Erick soon found his bunk, and lay there chuckling on it while Hirio undressed and Sonia went to find her own bunk. "Well, Imagine meeting you like this." Erick laughed. "I had hoped to meet over a mug of ale, hear a few stories from the grizzled veteran!"

"There will be no stories, it's late, go to sleep." Hirios attempt to conclude the conversation was ignored. "So, will we be up early tomorrow? A bit of ship deck training? You should know I prefer dual blades, fast and-"

"Go. To. Sleep." Hirio interrupted him curtly. Erick nodded. "As you wish." He rolled over, facing away from Hirio. "We will have to get to know each other at some point though!"

Not if I can help it, Hirio thought.

The old hunter waited till Erick went quiet then removed the rest of his armour, the familiar sight of his burned, scarred, and malformed skin greeted him. A constant reminder of a life that could have been. Hirio pushed a number of regrets from his mind, demons that had long overstayed their welcome and refused to leave. Perhaps when he caught his quarry they would finally give him peace, at least he hoped they would. It was all that had kept him going in the years since.

Now he was so close, closer than he had ever been. Just across the sea, his prey was waiting, oblivious, thinking he was free of his crime. Thinking all who had any involvement where long dead. I'm coming for you, bastard.

Hirio closed his eyes and let the boat rock him to sleep. He dreamt of running through fire, screams in the night. And the sound of a long sword slipping between a woman's ribs.