Monster Hunters

Going Back Home

Two Months Later...

It's August 25th, 2015. Deep in an unknown portion of a forest, a completely focused Ben with his usual white t-shirt, black, skintight pants, and latch-on boots, remained standing on a tiny piece of ground in the center of a lake with his eyes closed and without making a single move. The lack of movement and noise that was exerting itself from Ben was so out of the ordinary that you could almost consider him a completely different person. After maintaining his positioning for a few minutes longer, a wooden frisbee came flying at him from a random tree, but he seemed as if he was prepared for it as he caught the frisbee and launched it back into the treetop that it had come from. He then was greeted by James, who attempted to get the jump on him with a kendo stick from the tree to the right of him, but Ben seemed prepared for that too as he managed to successfully dodge the swing James had made with his kendo stick; however, Ben was unable to predict the next swing as James quickly swung the kendo stick down onto Ben's back before he could even stand back up from his initial dodge, but Ben seemed practically unphased as he simply shook his shoulders a little bit to get the stinging sensation to lessen. As James took another swing, Ben managed to wrap his arm around the head of the massive wooden weapon and was able to snap it perfectly out from James' hands and into the water. As the two began their exchange of missed punches, Ben managed to successfully land an unexpected kick directly in the side of James' ribs, which both caught James off guard and caused him a bit of pain. James went for yet another swing, but Ben managed to use his own momentum and would attempt to throw him over his shoulder and into the water behind him, but just as he did so, James grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into the water with him, meaning that they tied. As the two quickly made their way out of the water with Ben seeming as though he was slowly freezing to death, James was able to clearly see signs of both frustration and satisfaction emanating from Ben as he became both happy and sad that he had managed to force a tie between them.

Ben: Man, I almost had you! How were you able to grab me by my shirt and pull me into the water with you that easily?

James: It's as I said before, Ben: the powers of the mystic beasts can be quite useful.

Ben: Oh, come on, that's no fair! Either way, I guess it is still a tie. That's better than what I've done up until this point.

James: That, it is. Hey, speaking of mystic beasts, have you had anymore flashes lately?

Ben: Honestly, I've not had one... I don't know why, but after that day when you explained to me just what it was that was calling out to me, I haven't had a single flash of imagery, both metaphorically and literally... Who knows? Maybe the salamander just didn't deem me worthy of it...

James: Maybe now would be a good time to inform you of the arrangements that I've decided on.

Ben: Really? What's that?

James: What would you say to the idea of going and staying at your place for the night?

Ben: Wait, what?! Are you being serious right now?!

James: As serious as it gets, my boy. As serious as it gets...

Ben: Well, what're we waiting for?! Let's get going!

James: Hehe... You lead the way. Keep in mind, I'm not too familiar with your village's area.

Ben: Hehe, just don't assume that another Mimicker's gonna jump on you just over that one time. Heck, for what it's worth, that was the first time I had ever seen one since living there. Anyways, let's get going!

James: I'll be right behind ya, then.

The two began walking in the direction of Ben's home village, which took much less time than it did to get back to the mountain. After a few minutes of walking, Ben finally noticed the outer walls of the village in the distance, which made him begin to run even faster than before with James being forced to keep up with every last move that Ben makes. After a little while longer of walking, they had finally reached the village, and Ben quickly began to search for his childhood home. After a little bit of searching, Ben and James had finally managed to come across the home of Ben's family. The spruce wood of it seemed to be in the exact same shape as the last time he was here.

Ben: Man, I didn't really realize how little wood changes appearance until just now. Not to mention, they actually got the door fixed.

James: Yeah, I gotta admit, it hasn't changed a bit.

Ben: Wait, how would you know what my house usually looks like?

James: Uhhh, I don't really know exactly what it looks like. I'm just going by how it looked when I was last here, ya know?

Ben: Uhhh... I guess that's fair? You good, James? You're acting a bit anxious.

James: Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, I'm fine... I just haven't had to really meet anyone else's family, ya know? I'd imagine your mother is expecting to make sure that I've taken care of you, even better than she expects me to. I guess I'm just a bit unsure about how good of a job I've done at that...

Ben: Come on, now. You've taken damn good care of me regardless of if you wanna believe it or not. Regardless of what we started as, you're more than just a mentor... You're my friend, James.. and ya know.. I don't want it any other way...

James: I... Thanks for that... You're a good kid, Ben... I mean that...

Ben was slightly disappointed that James didn't claim to seeing him as a friend as well, but he quickly brushed it off and would slowly place his hand on the door knob to his home.

Ben: Well... Are ya ready to meet my family? Well, officially, that is.

James: Ummm... I guess so...

Ben: Alright then...

Ben slowly opened the door in order to keep from alerting anyone earlier than he'd like, and as soon as he had managed to tip toe his way through the front door with James right behind him, he closed the door quietly and would let out the loudest announcement he ever had.

Ben: I'm home!