Weeping Grassinia made her way through the last of the grasslands. The only sound heard for a long ways around was the sound of her movement and those of the others who had proven themselves better hunters in the last trial hunt. Then in a moment all sound stopped as they all took in the majesty of their Lord's home. The great hidden mansion within the capital of their home.
It was all they could ever hope for and more. The mansion still stood tall, being covered in plants that oozed sadness and acid and surrounded by undead grass that cried endlessly. The very air seemed to taste of raw, unshed tears. It was truly a place for their kind, its mere existence seeming to draw them in on an instinctual level. They all wondered the same thought for one moment.
If this is so grand as it is, how would it appear with their lord standing inside? This thought brought them to move forward to cry at such a sad and grand vision. Their sudden rapid movements echoed among the nearby plant life as they closed in on the hidden mansion of Lord Hidden Blue Tear. All of them soon found themselves in through the front entrance at the same time, all gazing around at the tall rooms in eagerness to see their lord.
They saw nothing but the seemingly endless rooms of the hidden mansion that were visible to them from where they currently stood. They set their sight all around them, hoping and crying little tears of disappointment at their Lord's absence. A series of strange pillars that had been close to the walls twitched, and then the sound of large acid tears falling echoed all around them. They looked above themselves and took in their lord's hidden blue tear lurking above them, and so, seeing him, their tears turned from ones of disappointment to ones of joy.
"Good, you have arrived, and so the final hunt may begin, ending this tragic tale. As truly the full scope of the tale's tragedy can only be known when it has ended." Lord Hidden Blue Tear said in a sad voice, much to the sad joy in the apprentices that had taken in his words. For it was truly a sad blessing not only to be spoken to by the Lord but also to be given a lesson on tragedy as well, which was a glorious thing for them.
Their lord led them to the center of the mansion. They all waited in awe of him a moment as they held breath that they didn't have in anticipation of what he would tell them next. They did not have to wait long as his sad voice filled the room and them as well. "The last hunt shall be here in the mansion as a single intruder roams around inside, and you all will have to find him before he finds you." Lord hidden blue tear said before disappearing into the ceiling of the room.
So it was that the apprentices would have to hunt in an unfamiliar environment against an unknown creature. Truly it was the beginning of a great tragic final chapter of this tale of theirs. So all the hunters scattered to begin this final hunt. The sounds of their footsteps echoed in the silent mansion. Not knowing the thing they hunted was already stalking them in the rooms of the hidden mansion.
A sad spider elemental was making her way down the eastern rooms. Her legs hitting the floor was the only sound she heard as she searched room after room for any sign of her prey. She was completely unaware of the thing that was tracking her, moving from shadow to shadow, slowly closing the distance without her noticing. The apprentice in question, Blinking Grasears, was finding herself becoming impatient at the lack of progress.
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Her focus and attention were so pointed towards the rooms she was searching that she never saw what was coming behind her until it stabbed her literally. As a scream came from her, more in surprise than in pain. The creatures' strike had revealed it, and so Blinking Grasears wasted no time on acting on that particular fact. She jumped forward, ready to leap on the prey, but it disappeared back into the shadows.
Blinking Grasears was used to such things from an earlier hunt. So she began the process of figuring out how the creature moved in whatever strange way it was doing so. This hunt became a stalemate, that neither was sure who was prey at the moment. As blinking Grasears' constant leaps took it far too high for its blade to reach, but at the same time, blinking Grasears had to keep constantly in the air, as it wasn't safe on the ground, and she had to hope eventually her constant movement would allow her to surprise it.
On and on it went, rapid jumps of a sad undead grass spider with blinking shadows constantly shifting around the room. These rapidly shifting movements across the room would end as one of them made a mistake, and sadly for Blinking Grasears, it was she who made the first mistake. As she had realized that her prey had begun to predict her jumps to a degree, she found herself flinging herself onto its sword.
Before it could deliver a finishing blow, blinking Grasears was taken away by a fast-moving lord hidden blue tear. So with its prey gone, the creature moved in to find the others. Its next prey was Tearful Grabogle. She was also a sad grass spider, and she was exploring the northern rooms. So it was the game of hide that began as the creature slowly closed in, and just like the blinking Grasears before her, tearful Grabogle was unaware of the danger coming behind her.
Though unlike before, she was more than ready to act when the blade struck. Easily moving out of the way of the striking blade and turning towards the prey, treating her. The first hunt of hers that had given her a name was against a rather slippery creature. So she was far better at melee than what was usual of her kind.
So it was a similar but different game that occurred as the prey used shadows to move around Tearful Grabogle while she herself tried her best to pin it with her arachnid claws so she could deliver a final blow. Neither had any luck; the sound of a fast-moving sword as well as fast arachnid legs echoed in the room they hunted each other in.
Swing after swing and determined grab after determined grab. Eventually, as it had before, this new status quo in the fight would be broken. As unlike before, Tearful Grabogle had been standing more or less in the same position since this clash had started, unlike Blinking Grasears before. So she was vulnerable to an attack that the earlier one was not.
So it was that the prey moved into the shadows one last time, but instead of appearing on the ground near Tearful Grabogle, it instead appeared far above her. In the shadows of the roof falling down on a confused and suspicious Tearful Grabogle. The prey sword went straight through her, but again, before it could push the sword in once more to finish it, lord Hidden Blue Tear appeared as if from thin air and carried her away.
The prey found itself frustrated; twice now it had been robbed of its prize. Though it knew better than to complain or try and fight the thing that dwarfed it in both power and size. As it knew it would lose that fight, it moved on to find the others stalking it in this strange place. So it was that the final two apprentices of the great sad hunt were down to the final moments of deciding who would win this, though neither knew that, but they would soon enough.
