Chapter 2 - The Hunt Begins

"Go away, I'm not in the mood to deal with you." Akane told Fande, pushing her aside to get in the Hunter's Guild building.

Before Akane could open, the door, Fande put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, "Look at you! You even changed weapon for Enma's sake!" Fande pointed out, "Do you really wanna leave behind what we've been through as if it was nothing?" She questioned, wanting an answer out of the Oni.

With that phrase, Akane froze for a moment before brushing off Fande's hand, "Shut up you stupid dragon..." She demanded as she went in the building.

Seeing Akane leave, Fande rubbed her eyes, "Why do Onis have to be so Goddamned stubborn..." She lamented, remembering she was like this even before.

In the building, Akane went to the commission counter, placing down the poster she selected, "Do you have anymore information on this Jorogumo?" She asked the mission handler.

Taking a look at the poster, the mission handler put down a map on the counter, "From the information we were given, it seems to be North of Schorcia, although we have no idea why it would come here." They explained in a dubious tone.

"Thanks." Akane simply said as she left, but not before she went to the bar, "Hey." She called out to the barkeep, and place a gourd on the counter, "Do you do refills?" She asked, ready to put the payment down.

"Yeah, we can do that, just give us a moment." The barkeep requested, taking the gourd from the counter.

5 Minutes Later.

The barkeep came back with the filled gourd, "That'll be 12 Kami Koin." The Barkeep said, prompting Akane to take out 12 coins and hand them over, "Pleasure doing business with you." they siad.

Akane took the gourd back, "Likewise..." She said before going away, "The good stuff has been going up in price..." She lamented under her breath.

When she left the building, Akane saw that Fande wasn't there, "...That's right... Don't keep trying..." She muttered, actually sad that she didn't, but that didn't deter her from her current commission, as she started going to Schorcia.

2 Hours Later.

Standing at the entrance of the town, Akane sighed, "Where the hell should I start..." She muttered in contemplation.

As she entered the town, the idea to ask for more recent sightings came to mind, "Excuse me Ma'am." She called out to a Yuki Onna passing by, "I'm here to deal with the Jorogumo that was sighted, do you have any information or know anyone who does?" She asked.

The Yuki Onna thought about it for a moment, "I'm afraid I don't know anything about it, but the sheriff is trying to hunt it down." She informed.

"Thank you for you your help miss." Akane thanked with a little bow before going to find the sheriff.

Meanwhile.

"I just don't understand Puria... Why won't she come back?" Fande asked a woman much taller than her, "Seriously, why does she have to be so goddamn stubborn!?" She complained putting her face in her hands.

The woman named Puria started petting Fande to comfort her, "Akane has always been quite... Difficult, to say the least." She reminded her shorter friend, "And ever since Xue died she has always been on edge." She added, remembering the purple oni's face at the time.

Fande buried her face in Puria's hair trying suppress some tears, "I just hope she changes her mind one day..." The dragon shakingly said.

"Me too Fande, me too..." Puria said in agreement.

Back with Akane.

"Are you sure you can handle that beast?" The sheriff questioned Akane, "Not even our best men were able to put a dent in it." He pointed out.

At the warning Akane just huffed, "Have you haver met an Oni?" She questioned haughtily, "One of the four strongest types of yokai?" She added sounding even more haughty.

The sheriff looked unamused at the boastful display, "If you say so, we noticed that it likes to eat Will-O-Wisps." He explained, "I have one right here, you can use it to bait the Jorogumo out, as long as it's away from town." He instructed carefully.

"I dont make any promises." Akane replied as she started heading towards an uninhabited area.