All who had passed the last trial hunt moved with speed. They moved through the landscape on swift steps, none making any attempt at stealth. As all were eager to see what awaited them and what great prey had been set out for them. They moved through magical grassland and necrotic grassland; they dodged around any greater insects that tried to impede them.

  A steady background to their movements was the constant clashes that happened on the red road. The constant sounds of shifting combat contrast greatly with the controlled movements of the sad necrotic grass elementals. Eventually the winners began finding themselves close to where the next hunt should begin from.

  Though something strange began happening as the winners closed in on the starting point. They all found themselves unable to move forward. For a long moment they kept trying but found themselves back at the beginning of the last grass line again and again. Weeping Grassinia, along with other winners of the last trial hunt, found herself wondering if perhaps the hunt had already started.

  As they may be hunting for a way out instead of prey, like they had all been expecting. This would be a great change, though whether it was a good change remained to be seen. This line of thought was broken and proven wrong soon enough. As if appearing out of thin air, a creature passed weeping Grassinia, moving at a fast pace.

  "What is that?" Weeping Grassinia asked herself, wondering what had passed her by so quickly, especially as there was no creature within the kingdom of necrotic smog that moved that fast. At least there was none she knew of, though she thought that looked like it was to change. Which was a sad thing—to have what you know challenged and proven wrong so fast was a wonderful tragedy.

  As she contemplated this sudden tragedy that had befallen her, she began hearing the sounds of the other competition moving about in the strange grass, somehow close but also very far away. Grassinia tried to figure out how this was possible, as the only ones able to do such strange things were the grass pixies, and there were none nearby as far as she was aware.

  Perhaps some had come from where they were supposed to be, coming to interrupt their great sad hunt as a form of rebellion. That would be such a sad tale to have all the work she and the others had done undone by the actions of, no doubt, a few vindictive grass pixies. The thought made her angry and sad, a truly strange emotion. Which made her want to end this immediately and wipe them all away instead of trying to find the truly beautiful tragedy in it all.

  Luckily for her and the nearest grass pixies to her, she was wrong on her assumptions and proven verifiably so as she caught a glimpse of what was messing around with the grass at high speeds near her. It stood on four twig legs with an upper body made of necrotic grass and similar in form to a grass pixie. She wondered why this creature ran around her.

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  What was the point of making such fast laps around her? She asked herself in her own mind and took a moment to find an answer. The only reason she could think of was that it had something to do with the manipulation of the grass around her. Though she had no idea how that worked. As she was contemplating this new situation, she suddenly heard a strange whooshing sound nearby.

  Before she began to figure out where the sound was coming from, she felt and heard a thud right next to her. Weeping Grassinia immediately turned to see what had caused it. She found a strange thing buried in the dirt next to her. It was some short spear of some kind, much to her surprise. It was strange, though, as it had some wing-like things at the back of it like the wings of the zombie butterflies but not at the same time.

  She found herself drawn to it in her curiosity, trying desperately to figure out why it was here. She found herself being given plenty of examples as more began to rain upon her as the creature made another pass around her. She managed barely in her surprise to move out of the way. This sudden shower of the strange short spears by the creature made everything clear to her.

  She was the creature's prey as it was hers. The next challenge was clear to her now: to be hunted or hunt. Oh, such a wonderful tragedy to be a part of. Truly, Lord Hidden Tear was a generous lord. So it was that a swift battle of range began. The two of them were moving quickly as they dodged each other's fire while moving to get the perfect shot on the other. So it was that short spears and balls of spit acid went through the air constantly.

  The grassland around the two became filled with small craters of acid and implemented short spears. Weeping Grassinia is trying again and again to predict the route of her fast prey but finding herself always just a bit short. Meanwhile, her prey accidentally hit her with the short spears. Though not too much effect, as her body was coated with a thin layer of acid that robbed the short spears of their power when they hit.

  So it was that time lost all meaning as the game of move fire and move again continued in the small area of grassland the two were trapped in. Eventually the game had to come to an end, and so it did. Weeping Grassinia predicted her prey just enough to get a glancing blow with her acid on one of its legs. It did not take her prey out but did slow it down greatly.

  This allowed Weeping Grassinia to close in and finish her prey. It did not give in; no, it shot short spear after short spear at her. It was time for nothing in the end as she closed in and declared it with a quick snip of her mandibles. Her acid tears flowed easily as she took in the magnificent creature she had brought. The sad tale of it is truly tragic, though sadly she would not get to find out the specifics until later.

  As it heard her thoughts, a blue scroll appeared as if directly from the sad wall of the hunting lodges. Proving her lord's greatness once again as she read the tale of her prey, that lord's hidden blue tear surely allowed her to see.

  So it had fired arrows—good to know was the first thought had upon reading of her prey's tale. She then thought of how many more of these creatures would come to hunt her and her kind. As she figured, the grass pixie Hunter still desired to hunt. She looked forward to the future hunts of these creatures.

  Weeping Grassinia separated and then picked up the creature's head and proceeded to make her way to the hunting mansion of Lord Hidden Blue Tear. Her face was already becoming covered in acid tears at the beauty that surely awaited her at her Lord's mansion as well as the greatness of her Lord himself. So it was; her steps were swift as she walked the final part of the journey.