not today
"SHURI, DUCK!!!!!!"
"WHOAAAAAA—!!!"
Shuri quickly ducks and bends backwards with her waist, forming into a bridge shape, looking in disgust as the witch's hideous head flies overhead, closing her eyes to avoid the blood dripping right onto her eyeballs. With her hands supporting her weight and her crazy flexibility, Shuri kicks the head even farther with a powerful right foot, sending it flying to the other side of the woods.
"Oof!" She slumps and drops to the slimy ground when all threats are being taken care of, relaxing her tensed nerves and muscles, twisting her head to check on her brother— he's safe and sound.
"For Bast's sake-" T'Challa bends over to stretch his sore back, that fucking witch swept him off his feet so hard he thinks he might break some bones as he heavily pants on the side. With a disgusted expression, he wipes the witch's blood from his sword on his pants, picks up their guns and bows and slings them over his shoulder grumpily.
His sister, Shuri and he had already encountered several dark witches on their way to a town called Talokanda. After a fierce battle, they had to decapitate or shoot them in the head to prevent them from using black magic to resurrect.
"It looks like the bounty from this town is dead real. We haven't even arrived yet and we've already encountered so many of them…" He walks to a still-lying Shuri, reaching his hand out to her.
Shuri reaches out slowly and grabs her brother's hand, getting back on her feet as they support each other, "No wonder no one wants to come and help them. So many came… and never came back…"
"They are all dead."
She tilts her head to the air, looking up— countless dead bodies hanging on the trees, rotting and decaying. Sadness reflects in her eyes… but it was overcome by something else under the blazing sun.
Shuri plucks her flask tied to her waist, T'Challa understands and takes out his, unplugging the cap and together, they pour the ale onto the grass ground that was already stained red with blood.
"To the dead."
"To the dead."
Together, T'Challa and Shuri raise their flasks to the dead bodies, bumping their flasks with newfound strength, the sound of metal clanking echoes through the forest, clear and powerful. They take a hearty swig and move on again.
"We will put an end to this witch town, Shuri..." T'Challa whispers softly with determination.
"That's what we came here for."
For the living.
Shuri nods melancholy in response to T'Challa's words, letting the gentle but foul-smelling breeze caress their faces. It fucking stinks. They stink.
They lean on each other and begin to walk back to their belongings. They are already close to the town, but the witches had dragged them back hundreds of feet while slaying them. It was almost like starting over.
But that was okay, they had each other. Over the years, the brother and sister had relied on each other to survive.
Now, they live the life of the most renowned monster-hunter siblings everyone has ever heard of.
"We have to reach the town before the sun sets, it won't be safe out here at night. We need to reequip and then meet with the mayor in town to see how the situation is now."
T'Challa grunts in pain as he murmurs. Earning his sister's teasing laced with concerned mockery, "Feeling old yet, big brother?" While reaching to check on his back, ensuring his bones are still all fine.
"Shut up, Shuri, don't make me remind you you are turning 26 this year," T'Challa gently bumps her with his head and Shuri playfully bumps him back.
Throughout their journey, they hunted numerous malicious and life-threatening monsters.
However, they held an unshakable belief that, where evil creatures existed, there were also benevolent ones.
As T'Challa and Shuri had witnessed countless times, monsters with goodness in them exist.
Humans are the same. So why does that make monsters any different?
But there will always be people who beg to differ.
Some think all monsters are evil and should be slain, and eradicated from the world, while some…
Regard life as insignificant and worthless as blades of grass, worse than any monsters.
They were once scorned by a village that sheltered a cannibalistic monster that had been eating countless villagers over the years, saying that by offering sacrifices, the monster would protect them from any harm.
The villagers mocked and accused them while they defended the monster that had "protected" them for decades. Their disgusting rampage sometimes echoes along the sunsets,
"—You monster hunters are murderers too!!! What sets you apart from the murderous beasts? M-U-R-D-E-R-E-R—!!!!!! '"
To Shuri and T'Challa, it was an insult to the countless dead innocents.
They had sacrificed for nothing, knowing that there would be more after them.
…Yes, perhaps they were just one step away from becoming monsters themselves…
But the Udaku siblings held onto their beliefs, and with the support of those who believed in them, they watched numerous towns recover from ashes and resume life as the benevolent monsters went about their lives without causing trouble, each living in peace.
As for the villagers who willingly embraced ruin, let them destroy themselves.
They were left on their own for good, for whatever peaceful future they believed in or disaster that would soon dawn upon them.
T'Challa and Shuri had done all they could to help, aiding everyone who wished to leave. They helped the villagers flee, far away from that god-forsaken place.
Would the villagers ever regret the sins they once committed when their loved ones or they themselves become the sacrifice in the mouths of monsters in the future?
Alas, the Udaku siblings would never know.
This time, T'Challa and Shuri arrived in this small town called Talokanda after hearing about many missing children, supposedly due to witchcraft. No one dared to take on the bounty, for those who went never returned.
They came.
This was the town's fifth plea sent to the Sakan city, the biggest city in Ravelm.
The city they stayed in, and called home, maybe. Each time they returned to the city for their reward, they would regroup and rest before determining where the need for the next monster hunting was.
"If we make it through this time, remember to get me a big gift, T'Challa!" Shuri said to him with a big, big smile, as if they hadn't just narrowly escaped death.
"Sure, I'll get you any gift you want, Shuri," T'Challa replies ever so tenderly.
The path they had chosen was destined to end only in death.
With each monster they slain, they steeled themselves to die.
It was best if they died together, as T'Challa and Shuri had pledged to each other that - the one who lived, the one who survived would continue the hunt, upholding the beliefs of the one who had fallen, side by side.
"How many children do you think are missing by now, Shuri? The distress raven they sent three days ago when we set out mentioned there were nine missing children already..."
"What do these witches want? Or have the children already been..." Shuri couldn't continue… they should have come sooner.
T'Challa tugged her closer to him, wary of the surroundings, it was unusually quiet. "We'll stop them, Shuri, we'll find out when we get there. Since the witches have come to attack us, they surely don't want to see us alive in that town. We should pick up the pac—"
"WATCH OUT T'CHALLA!!!!!!"
Shuri brutally shoves him away and is instantly swooped up to the sky by a witch riding a broomstick—
"SHURI—!!!!!" Her last glimpse was of the other witches leaping towards T'Challa and—!!!!!
But Shuri didn't have time to worry about him because the witch pointed her wand at her head, chanting a deadly spell that would instantly kill her—
However, one thing that the witches didn't know was that she and T'Challa had been immune to spells and curses since they first encountered a witch who tried to cast a dead curse on them years ago.
It didn't work. They don't know why.
This was what set them apart from other monster hunters.
Seizing the opportunity while the witch furiously wondered why she hadn't died— Shuri violently drew the dagger from her waist and stabbed the witch's right eye ruthlessly. In an instant, both of them start to plummet towards the ground, falling from the sky.
With fury, Shuri kept stabbing and slashing at the witch's face brutally, dragging her downwards with loathing as she was driven mad by the anger of being abducted, and the fear for her brother's fate, heedless of the viscous blood soaking across her face.
The witch kicks fiercely at Shuri's chest to throw her off, as she closes her eyes, clings to the broomstick and they both crash into the towering trees, one by one. Shuri's hand slips and falls between the trees, dragging the witch with her, and scraping her skin on the branches. She tried to cling to the branches but couldn't. She and the witch both fell with a heavy thud as they struck to the ground, well, at least the witch cushioned her fall!
Shuri desperately regained her consciousness and reached out, trying to grab the dagger just inches away from her fingers, just an inch more—
But the witch recovered quickly, kicking away her hand while she covers her bloody eye as she snarls in triumph, peering down at Shuri mockingly, "YOU USELESS BITCH!!! LOOK WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA—!!!!"
In a fit of mad laughter, the witch mercilessly stomps on Shuri's head over and over, burying her into the mud, into the soil, taunting her, making Shuri filthier than the muck.
"Your life is worthless! More rotten than the dirt! You filthy human!" Shuri's anger flares.
"Your lives are worthless—"
Once upon a time, young T'Challa and Shuri stood in confusion and fear, shaking in each other's arms, with tears in their eyes, watching everyone around them fall—
They pounced on the witch who had been cursing them relentlessly to no avail, wresting the wand from her hand, preventing her from killing anymore. Together, young T'Challa and Shuri stabbed the witch to death. Yet seeing such a violent act, every survivor fled in terror, and so did young T'Challa and Shuri - for in this harsh world, survival means living at its seams.
This was the second time they had killed— No, it was the second witch they had slain. Before they were abducted and brought to this city, they had just escaped from the clutches of the first witch who had intended to fatten them up and feast upon them.
In the end, young T'Challa and Shuri threw the witch into the furnace, into the very flames intended for cooking their bodies. With their combined efforts, they killed her. From that day, they took hold of their destinies in their own hands.
This is the last time they let themselves be slaughtered like pigs.
From that day onwards, they clung to each other, doing whatever dirty work or odd jobs they could find. They met bad people, and many kind-hearted people throughout their journey. One day, young T'Challa and Shuri decided to become monster hunters, and their lives improved.
They found a purpose and mission in life.
She didn't want to die.
Shuri didn't want to die, not here, not now.
She couldn't die yet, her time had not yet come. She had so much left to do—
She didn't want to DIE—!!!!!!
Overcome by hubris, the witch was overly pleased and audacious, thinking she had successfully thwarted the arrival of the monster hunters.
Little did she know revenge comes swiftly - the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Watching as Shuri lay motionless and lifeless, she must be dead! The witch removes her foot, disdainfully wiping her blood on her already bloodied clothes. Her blood seeps more and more into the soaked soil. The witch bends down, reaching to seize the filthy human's head—
"NOT TODAY WITCH!" Shuri spits a mouthful of blood at the witch while she screams, and with what strength remains she seizes the dagger that she had reached while the witch was busy laughing and viciously drives into the witch's remaining left eye, blinding her with unshakeable wrath.
The witch wails in agony, throwing her out and slamming her against a tree. Shuri screams in anguish and struggles to get up, watching the infuriated witch charging towards her with the twisted, ugly face.
Shuri slumps against the tree, her gaze hollow but glistening with unspoken sorrow, unable to move an inch anymore…
"YOU FILTHY HUMAN—!!!!!!!"
Through the blurred and bloody veil of her gaze, Shuri looks up towards the sunset sky - its glorious orange-red beauty is the last thing to grace her eyes…
"...Good… bye… bro.. ther…" Live, T'Challa.
Do not wallow in grief, brother…
Mourn my death, and keep fighting…
Fight for the living
FIGHT FOR THE LIVING—
A deafening monstrous roar echoes through the forest as the air around them quakes violently. Its piercing call pulls Shuri back from the brink of death's embrace.
Jolted by the beast's terrifying cry resounding amongst the trees, Shuri's consciousness returns.
The monster's howl brought her back to the present, drumming through her ears as she started bleeding due to the high-pitched uproar. In such a state, Shuri clings to her life solely due to the monster's ferocity alerting her senses, she shoots her head up in dread—
The witch watches as Shuri looks extremely terrified, in an extreme state of fright and panic—
She's looking behind her.
The witch suddenly turns around in fear, shocked by the gruesome gaping maw of a monster before her.
"A—" Before the witch barely had time to form a scream of terror escaping her throat, the great jaw clamps shut over her entirely, engulfing her puny figure, her limbs split and crushed, flesh and blood spilling everywhere.
In Shuri's extremely blurred vision, she witnessed a massive creature that had instantly appeared behind the witch!!!
It opens its colossal maw, towering over the witch. Shuri had no time to cry out before closing her eyes instinctively against the spray of hot blood that soaked her entire body.
The sickening, nauseous, metallic scent of the witch's blood made her too queasy. On the verge of vomiting, but Shuri dared not vomit or move, for she knew the next one to die would be her—
Backing away in terror with her eyes closed, but behind her was a tree, and she had no strength left to get up and run. There's nowhere to run, Shuri fully understands humans can not outrun any monsters in the hunt.
Too weak to flee, she had no escape.
Trembling violently, Shuri desperately keeps her eyes and quivering mouth firmly shut, never having encountered such a monster before.
Shuri struggled to keep herself from screaming out loud, yet her years of experience made her peer through barely opened lids, to glimpse what kind of creature had devoured the witch—
All Shuri sees is an expanse of bluish-green scales.
Was it a crocodile monster? They'd encountered them before. Or was it a fish beast? Or a serpent fiend?
Shuri could feel the massive creature closing in, she curled herself up into a ball, huddling on the ground, praying as long as she didn't move, she would disappear from the monster's vision.
Suddenly a cry— another witch— but before she could approach, Shuri listened as the witch began convulsing violently and screaming in horror from a distance— Then she collapsed instantly, lifeless.
Daring not to move or look again, Shuri's experience told her this beast surpassed even the witches in power, deadlier than any monster she encountered. And it had surrounded her, even without moving, it could kill the witches from afar.
Fighting back sobs, Shuri tightly clutches the dagger that had been flung out from the crushed witch. Shuri grasps it tightly, but a while passes, and the enormous creature remains circling her, showing no intention of eating her.
It made no move to feast.
The chill emanating from it made Shuri shiver yet also brought a strange warmth, fogging her mind until consciousness wavered. Suddenly, she feels the massive creature start drawing nearer, its hot breath hitting her face. Slowly, slowly, Shuri begins to feel lightheaded, her heart racing and she grows more and more frightened. Yet the monster still didn't feed on her…
Shuri pried her eyes again, and the bluish-green scales were all she could see.
Her mind is muddled, bewitched and confused, Shuri's shaking hand finally releases its grip on the dagger.
Trembling, Shuri reaches out for the scales, as if hypnotized. Spellbound.
The monster let out a low hissing that pierced through her eardrums. At last, Shuri regained her senses, it was a serpent.
It was the serpent hissing at its prey.Her. Still, realizing its true nature, Shuri didn't find herself becoming a meal… Her hand slowly touches the frigid and icy serpentine scales, she feels its breath come, and then all goes black.