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air, darkness settled in as the night fell where in the mist of a forest a group of Hunters gathered as a messenger handed one of the Hunters a small piece of paper. \"Change of plans guys, there is some old business to take care of\" a serious toned voice could be heard from a group of Hunters, \"no Ion, it is too dangerous to go after him and besides, we are still on the Contract to protect Meeka's Medic Knight division to the field hospital\" as more reserved voice answered back with the rest of the group silent as the argument continued. \"Zephyr, you do realize he is a threat if he remaines out there, a threat to our contract as well, you know what he is capable of, what he would do if he finds the field hospital, Kyara, Garrette and Lazar can handle the security of getting the Medic Knights there, we can take Virgil out before he gets to them\" Ion retorted as Zephyr let out a small sigh, \"fine but you need to control yourself, we will do this together, no running ahead\" Zephyr answered. Ion let out a small smirk, \"don't worry I will not let myself loose control\" he said placing a hand on Zephyr's shoulder, \"alright then it is settled, me and Zephyr will go and take out Virgil, while you guys (motioning to Kyara, Garrete and Lazar) continue to provide security to the Medic Knight unit and if Meeka asks anything just say we went out to do just some simple scouting ahead, don't want her to worry too much\" Ion continued as the Fangenclaw group nodded in agreement with their new tasks, though Zephyr shook his head afterwards, \"please don't kill yourself\" he though as he and Ion got ready to head out. Ion and Zephyr departed from the group and headed towards a more deadwood portion of the forest they were traveling in, silently moving and concealing their presence as they came upon a makeshift camp, the cover of darkness immensely helping. Hiding in a nearby bush, Ion and Zephyr saw their mark, he was sitting there, using a large knife to what looked like carving up an unfortunate victim, someone he had probably killed during the day and now was going to make a meal out of, sadistically moving out their innards, there was nothing Ion and Zephyr could do for them, but at least they could take down Virgil, rid this world of his nightmare presence. Ion and Zephyr decided they would do this methodically, having one go out and draw Virgil's attention while the other will wait in the shadows for the right moment to deliver the killing strike, with Zephyr's fighting style more focused on defense, he decided he would go and draw Virgil's attention while Ion would, with his more precision based strikes, to deliver that killing blow and besides, Zephyr did know Ion needed this to get back at Virgil for what he had done to him, the rage Ion had at the mere mention of his name that use to cause him a frenzy, Ion needed this.\n\n\"Just be careful Zephyr\" Ion said, placing a hand on Zephyr's shoulder as he started to head towards Virgil's position, \"you don't want to end up the way I am\" he continued while raising up his mechanical arm, but Zephyr could see Ion's mind struggling to not loose control, that was his hidden meaning. \"Don't worry I will be careful\" Zephyr replied as he pulled Ion's hand off his shoulder, \"just make sure you stay out of sight and continue to mask your presence and blood lust until I give you the moment to strike\" Zephyr continued. Ion gave a serious nod as Zephyr move in slowly behind Virgil, he got into position and put his scythe to Virgil's neck but knowing Virgil would probable sense this attack coming, Zephyr was ready to dash backwards, as he had to do when Virgil suddenly made a move to grab his scythe. Within moments, Virgil sprang up, grabbing his sword and lunged in the direction Zephyr was dodging, he was quick but Zephyr had anticipated this and was ready to deflect the attack. Virgil then moved in quickly, pushing back Zephyr with furious blows but again Zephyr was ready for this, with his defense style, he was able to easily deflect all the blows that came his way, moving himself backwards further into the deadwood forest to draw Virgil away from the camp so Ion could sneak in behind and strike when the time was right. Ion watched as the fight went on, moving slowly as Zephyr continued to draw Virgil back, using his senses and continually studying their movements waiting for his time to strike, the darkness made this a bit difficult but Ion was tuned in, like some force was helping him keep track of their presence. As the fight went on, Ion tensed up a bit, Zephyr was holding up his own alright but something felt off, but there was no time to think about it, Zephyr was out there putting his life on the line and who knows how much longer he could hold out, Ion had to make his move soon. Seeing Virgil's back fully open, his attention squarely on Zephyr, Ion moved in, he darted towards Virgil as time itself seamed to slow down, Ion calmed his breathing, fully focused on his next move, he was going to end this. But as Ion closed in, Virgil uncannily turned his head slowly so his eye met the darting Ion, his expression turned to a smile as he said \"there you are!\" Ion hesitated for a moment as his mind wanted him to stop but his body continued his attack, Virgil with a strong strike was able to knock Zephyr to the ground while turning his body to the side as with one hand, he was able to deflect Ion's attack, then grab Ion by the coat near his chest and flip Ion over his head. Ion landed hard on the ground near Zephyr, a burning cut in his thigh could be felt as Ion had banged it against Virgil's sword when he went flying, both boys were stunned by the sudden turn of events as they looked each other in the eyes, both knew what they had to do, they had to run, get away as fast as they could back towards the rest of their Fangeclaw group as it was their only choice for survival now.\n\nFrustrated, Ion and Zephyr darted out of the battle as Virgil gave chase, they were quicker them him, being smaller foxes and with their lightning and wind powers respectively helping their feet move faster. But suddenly Ion felt this jolt in his leg, as the cut on his thigh gave off a sudden sharp pain causing him to trip and tumble to the ground. Zephyr slid to a stop just ahead and dashed back towards his fallen mate, Ion was having a hard time getting up as his leg began to ache badly but there was something more worrying, Virgil was right behind him, his sword ready to plunge into Ion's back. Zephyr grit his teeth and rushed in, deflecting the attack on Ion and pushing Virgil back. Ion was able to turn over on his back as his leg continued to ache, he watched Zephyr fighting against Virgil, but he was starting to falter, Ion had to do something as Zephyr was at his limit. Pushing through the pain, Ion got to his feet and dashed towards Virgil, again the world around him seamed to slow down as Ion was concentrating again on delivering a killing blow, it was his only wat to save his mate. Again Virgil slowly turned his head towards Ion and with move that almost seamed dance like, Virgil was able to deliver a powerful kick to Zephyr, sending him flying into a tree as he turned his body towards Ion, deflecting Ion's attack while this time grabbing a hold of Ion's mechanical arm. But Ion used this to his advantage, as Virgil tried to pull apart Ion's mechanical arm, he used that force to push Virgil onto his back, stunning him for a brief moment, Ion waisted not time as he now only had one way to end this, his primal instincts took over as he grabbed ahold of Virgil's neck with his hands, Ion was determined to end it, his nightmare here and now. With Virgil struggling, victory seamed in hand until a cold, sharp pain seeped into Ion's gut, as warm liquid started furiously dripping down his body, that same liquid now clogging his throat as he struggled to breathe. Ion vision blurred as he looked down, Virgil had been able to grab a hold of Ion's own sword and impale him straight through the gut, a strike that went clean through and deep, as the guard almost touched his belly.\n\n\"I will admit you have acquired some skill since the last time we met, and some new beautifully designed toys, like this sword for example\" Virgil said as he quickly pulled the blade out of Ion's gut, the curved teeth latching onto his intestines, pulling out a large chunk of them with it, \"it is so beautifully well designed for disemboweling! I must say you have a much darker side then I thought\" Virgil continued in a somewhat cheerful tone as Ion slumped to his side on the ground, blood pooling all around him. Virgil returned to his feet and looked down at the severely injured fox, his entrails still seeping out into a pile next to him, \"you have such beautiful insides!\" Virgil said as he rolled Ion face up with his foot, kneeling down he grabbed some of Ion's spilled intestines in his hands, following them to the large wound in Ion's gut, \"why don't we see a bit more\" Virgil grinned as he thrusted his hand into Ion's wound, causing him to howl in pain. Looking down his body, Ion could see Virgil's arm sticking out of his wound, while feeling his had digging all around deep inside, claws tearing into the soft organs with the immense pain coming with it. Virgil then placed a hand on Ion's cheek, looking into his eyes as the fox struggled to breathe, choking up blood every few seconds, \"just relax and it will be over soon\" Virgil remarked wiping a tear from Ion's eye with one hand, while the other was still deep within Ion's gut, he then placed fingers over Ion's eyelids and pulled them down, \"just close your eyes and enter death's embrace!\" Virgil exclaimed as he forcefully pulled his hand out of Ion's gut, pulling out more intestines with it causing Ion to violently cough up thick blood, with his eyes heavy, Ion looked over to where Zephyr hit the tree and saw that he was gone, \"good... at least... at least he was able to get away, at least he was going to survive\" Ion thought as he closed his eyes and started to feel cold, \"this is it\" Ion thought as lost the sense of the world around, the pain dulling as he started to feel his soul leaving his body, \"I am going to die here, no, this is not how I wanted to go out\" his thoughts continued as he teared up inside, it is not as Ion had not thought of death before, being seriously injured to a point where he almost died two years ago was the first wakeup call, but in general the life of a Hunter is a dangerous one, death can be around any corner in their line of work. But dying here, to this bandit, to this nightmare on the world that had harmed so many others, not just himself, Ion didn't want it to end this way, not to him. There had to be a way to fight back, there had to be a way he could survive this, to end this nightmare and only then after it was all done, then he could accept moving on to the other side, as long as he was gone, that is all Ion wanted at this moment, just one more chance to end the nightmare before paying his dues, after that he didn't care what would happen to him but the job would be done. \n\nBut as luck would have it, Ion sense of the world started to return as he could hear the voices of many coming their way, \"dam not again\" a voice closer by started saying as Ion could make out a figure kneeling over him, \"well looks like this is your luck day once again, don't let it go to waist\" Virgil suddenly said as he spit out the parts of Ion's intestines he was chewing on, \"I don't want my meal to spoil before I have a change to devour it\" Virgil remarked as he darted away, leaving Ion collapsed on his back on the ground, his intestines still spilled out with bits chewed off by Virgil's fangs, blood continuing to pool around him, staining the soft white snow with the thick colour of red as the sun continued to rise. Ion struggled to breathe as blood was still coming up his throat, while all the more of his bowels continued to push out of his body, he started feeling cold again as he knew his life was fading but there was something keeping him alert, something keeping him grounded to this side of existence, at least for now. A flurry of activity started to surround Ion as he saw Zephyr there with the rest of his comrades and Meeka looking over him, Ion felt his coat being pulled open as his now exposed chest fur felt the cold air as well as the large wound in the centre of his belly. Ion could hear the group around him talking but was having trouble hearing exactly what was being said. Meeka's original plan was to have Zephyr, kyara and Garrette fend off Virgil while Lazar would fly Ion and herself to the field hospital where she could operate on Ion but after seeing Ion's injuries there was no time, Ion needed emergency surgery and he needed it right away here in the field.\n\nIon felt his body being dragged towards a tree where Kyara sat against and leaned Ion's head up in her lap, it helped with the blood in his throat as Ion was able to get small gasps of air as Meeka handed Kyara a hand pump oxygen mask to which she started using it on Ion right away. With fresh air entering his lungs, Ion saw Garrette take a seat beside him, placing one of his hands on Ion's chest so he could get a feel for Ion's heartbeat. The expression Ion saw on Garrette's face did not look too good as Meeka and Zephyr took a seat on either side of Ion, looking over his gaping wound, Ion could hear Meeka giving some sort of instructions to Zephyr as Zephyr moved his hands which were now gloved into his wound, pulling it carefully apart as Meeka examined Ion's innards. Ion then saw Meeka take a scalpel and make some cuts inside of him, causing Ion to whimper out in pain as he coughed up a bit of blood into the oxygen mask. \"I know this hurts but stay strong, take deep breaths and just contrate on looking at Kyara and Garrette, I know you can do this Ion\" Meeka could be heard saying in a caring voice as she continued to make the painful cuts, Ion knew what she was doing was only to help and heal him, through the immense pain, he tried to stay strong. But it was getting harder, Ion was having trouble breathing again as his sight was fading, he could feel his heart starting to slow down as Garrette could be head making a panicking cry out to Meeka. Ion could feel Garrette's hand lift from his chest as he took something from Meeka, but before he could process everything going on, a sharp pain started to radiate from the side of his chest as Ion could see Garrette making a incision between two of his ribs, where his scar from the last time he had surgery after fighting Virgil was. Within seconds, Ion felt Garrette pry apart the place he cut between his two ribs, making a small cracking sound as Ion could feel a hand slide into his chest and grab ahold of his heart. Ion let out a large groan as Meeka told Garrette to not fully squeeze Ion's heart, but to gently help it beat along in rhythm to keep Ion's blood flowing. But for Ion, his vision continued to fade as he could feel Garrette having to squeeze harder and harder on his heart to retain rhythm as Kyara was also pumping the oxygen mask a lot faster to give him the air he needed. The voices started to mumble as Ion could not make out anything anymore, as his pain started to subsite as darkness filled his eyes as the world around him disappeared once more, finding himself in a place somewhat familiar. \n\nIon didn't know what to make of it, he looked around to see nothingness all around him, just a dark black void. He was still laying on his back in what now felt like calm water, like he was floating in a small pond or lake. He could not feel a thing, no pain from the injury or surgery that he was going through, just nothing. Ion wonder if he had succumbed to his injuries, if he had just passed away and was now floating towards the afterlife, whatever that entailed. Then suddenly Ion felt a warm presence wrap around him, something that he had felt before but not for a long time, \"don't worry, you are not dead, I would not let you die that easily\" a familiar sounding voice could be heard in the void. Ion perked up, calling out \"who are you?\" Laughter could be heard before the voice continued \"you really still don't remember who I am? Don't you remember the last time you were in such a place, I pulled your soul back from the beyond, I carried you on my back, I'll always lift you up when you fall...\" Ion was still confused, the voice was familiar but he could not put his finger on who it was. After some moments of silence passed, the voice continued on, \"well it does not matter, just know I am with you, that I am a part of you and will always be by your side and protect you\" \"I guess.. all I can say is thank you, I am sorry I should know who you are but my mind is running blank\" Ion responded as only more laughter could be heard. \"Again don't worry about it, you have had a rough day, let your spirit rest, I will take over while the surgeons are operating on your body so you can regain your strength, my spirit can handle it, I am more use to it then you are\" the voice said in a reassuring tone, with a small hint of smirkyness at the end. Ion closed his eyes and let out a small laugh, \"you know, you remind me of a friend I use to have, he pushed me to what I have become today, always there looking out for me and having my back, always smiling and having fun with us... I really miss him...\" Ion started to say as the voice continued it's laughter but then suddenly stopped. \"Well looks like I have done all I can, you have to take over so I hope your spirit has somewhat recovered, thank you for those kind words...\" the voice said before a blinding light filled Ion's eyes as the void around him disappeared.\n\nIon awoke to the feeling of fingers spreading open his right eye, looking over he could see a male bunny dressed in scrubs standing over him, Ion now tried to resist the finger keeping his eye open and the bunny seamed to sense that as he removed his fingers from Ion's eye before saying \"good morning sleepy head, it is about time you have waken up.\" Ion tried to sit up but pain started radiating around his chest and belly, looking down Ion could see gauze pads taped over where the gash down his belly was and the incision made into the side of his chest while he was being operated on in the field, but also one tapped down the centre of his chest, signaling to Ion that he underwent open heart surgery while he was unconscious, which made sense as the bunny doctor in his room Ion recognized as Oliver, the surgeon who did look after his heart issues. Oliver rushed over and kept Ion from sitting up, saying \"no, no, you need to still lie down, you underwent some serious operations, it is not everyday someone survives getting a bite taken out of them, you still need to take it easy as you got a few more to come in the coming days\" Oliver said. \"How... how long have I been out?\" Ion asked before continuing, \"and why were you pully my eyelids open?\" Oliver sat down in a chair beside Ion's hospital bed and answered \"it has been about ten days since you were injured, Meeka pulled off another miracle getting you stabilized in the field before getting you to the field hospital to finish your surgery, after that you were transported here since you were having some heart issues as you can probably tell, where I had to perform a couple of surgeries on you myself but you should make a complete recovery on those, Meeka still need to do some stuff with your bowels though, she will be in latter after her shift is over and I am sure she will be glad to see you awake again.\" Ion took all this information in as Oliver continued \"as for your eye, thought I saw it starting to open but I saw or think I saw your pupil was blue, so I went to take a further inspection and I must have been seeing things as it was your normal orange colour.\" \"And waht about Zephyr?\" Ion asked, \"well he is doing good, Meeka and your friends have been getting home to rest and keeping his mind busy while you recover, they still come every day to visit in the evening so they will be here in a couple of hours so why don't you get some rest while you wait for them to come, don't worry I will not be going anywhere, I have no other scheduled surgeries so if you need anything just motion me over\" Oliver replied. Ion closed his eyes and tried his best to relax, the medication being pumped into him helped but his mind was still racing a bit, who was that voice he heard in that void, he wished he didn't wake up so soon as he had much more to talk about with it, but whoever it was could wait as Ion dosed off into a peaceful sleep. \n\nOut in the Contract Hunter's headquarters, the leader of one of the Hunter's divisions, a female bunny was having a small meeting with a few of her team members. \"They are going to classify him as a reckless Hunter, he has been injured way too much and it puts the lives of other Hunters in too much danger\" one of the members started to say. \"This is my fault, he first got seriously injured on one of my Contracts and who knows how bad that had messed him up\" the leader replied. \"Well to be fair, he was not experienced enough nor should have been given permission to go on that contract, it is the fault of the auditors no you\" another one of the team members said. \"It doesn't matter, it was my Contract and he got injured under my watch, he has been treading water and trying to keep himself afloat ever since he recovered but continues to falter and I cannot think that I am not responsible for some of that\" the leader continued. \"Narche, he has had plenty of time to grow these past few years since the incident and he still is just as reckless as ever, other then the militia incident he has recklessly thrown himself and his partner into danger and received some serious injuries because of it, I don't think you have done anything, it is just in his nature, a nature that we can't have in the Hunters\" the team member replied. \"But that is also the case\" Narche started to say, \"after the first incident Ion should have had some mentorship, he was able to join the Hunters at age sixteen, the incident happened at eighteen with a few smaller injuries before that, he was very young for this kind of work, someone should have been there to help guild him through and correct his behavior and give him the proper mentality of a Hunter.\" \"So you are going to go through with this?\" the team member asked, \"are you sure the council will let you do that?\" \"I owe it to him\" Narche replied, \"Ion needed a mentorship well before this and we failed him on that, I will not let that failure continue to happen any longer and besides, the fact he has been able to survive incidents like this, there is something more going on, he may just be like us.\" Narche continued as the last part of her sentence made the rest of her group's eyes widen. Looking up at the clock, Narche got up from her desk and started walking out of her office with her team members in toe, heading towards the council chamber, \"they will assign Ion to me, he will become a great Hunter and I will make sure of it\" Narche determinedly said as the two team members following her stopped and looked on at her in awe as she continued forward, she was on a mission and one that she would not fail.\n~\n", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Art by Neiverru on FurAffinity

A remastered retelling of this story (as I wanted to fix some details, original story is still in the link)

~
The snow had stopped falling as a cold winter wind breezed through the air, darkness settled in as the night fell where in the mist of a forest a group of Hunters gathered as a messenger handed one of the Hunters a small piece of paper. "Change of plans guys, there is some old business to take care of" a serious toned voice could be heard from a group of Hunters, "no Ion, it is too dangerous to go after him and besides, we are still on the Contract to protect Meeka's Medic Knight division to the field hospital" as more reserved voice answered back with the rest of the group silent as the argument continued. "Zephyr, you do realize he is a threat if he remaines out there, a threat to our contract as well, you know what he is capable of, what he would do if he finds the field hospital, Kyara, Garrette and Lazar can handle the security of getting the Medic Knights there, we can take Virgil out before he gets to them" Ion retorted as Zephyr let out a small sigh, "fine but you need to control yourself, we will do this together, no running ahead" Zephyr answered. Ion let out a small smirk, "don't worry I will not let myself loose control" he said placing a hand on Zephyr's shoulder, "alright then it is settled, me and Zephyr will go and take out Virgil, while you guys (motioning to Kyara, Garrete and Lazar) continue to provide security to the Medic Knight unit and if Meeka asks anything just say we went out to do just some simple scouting ahead, don't want her to worry too much" Ion continued as the Fangenclaw group nodded in agreement with their new tasks, though Zephyr shook his head afterwards, "please don't kill yourself" he though as he and Ion got ready to head out. Ion and Zephyr departed from the group and headed towards a more deadwood portion of the forest they were traveling in, silently moving and concealing their presence as they came upon a makeshift camp, the cover of darkness immensely helping. Hiding in a nearby bush, Ion and Zephyr saw their mark, he was sitting there, using a large knife to what looked like carving up an unfortunate victim, someone he had probably killed during the day and now was going to make a meal out of, sadistically moving out their innards, there was nothing Ion and Zephyr could do for them, but at least they could take down Virgil, rid this world of his nightmare presence. Ion and Zephyr decided they would do this methodically, having one go out and draw Virgil's attention while the other will wait in the shadows for the right moment to deliver the killing strike, with Zephyr's fighting style more focused on defense, he decided he would go and draw Virgil's attention while Ion would, with his more precision based strikes, to deliver that killing blow and besides, Zephyr did know Ion needed this to get back at Virgil for what he had done to him, the rage Ion had at the mere mention of his name that use to cause him a frenzy, Ion needed this.

"Just be careful Zephyr" Ion said, placing a hand on Zephyr's shoulder as he started to head towards Virgil's position, "you don't want to end up the way I am" he continued while raising up his mechanical arm, but Zephyr could see Ion's mind struggling to not loose control, that was his hidden meaning. "Don't worry I will be careful" Zephyr replied as he pulled Ion's hand off his shoulder, "just make sure you stay out of sight and continue to mask your presence and blood lust until I give you the moment to strike" Zephyr continued. Ion gave a serious nod as Zephyr move in slowly behind Virgil, he got into position and put his scythe to Virgil's neck but knowing Virgil would probable sense this attack coming, Zephyr was ready to dash backwards, as he had to do when Virgil suddenly made a move to grab his scythe. Within moments, Virgil sprang up, grabbing his sword and lunged in the direction Zephyr was dodging, he was quick but Zephyr had anticipated this and was ready to deflect the attack. Virgil then moved in quickly, pushing back Zephyr with furious blows but again Zephyr was ready for this, with his defense style, he was able to easily deflect all the blows that came his way, moving himself backwards further into the deadwood forest to draw Virgil away from the camp so Ion could sneak in behind and strike when the time was right. Ion watched as the fight went on, moving slowly as Zephyr continued to draw Virgil back, using his senses and continually studying their movements waiting for his time to strike, the darkness made this a bit difficult but Ion was tuned in, like some force was helping him keep track of their presence. As the fight went on, Ion tensed up a bit, Zephyr was holding up his own alright but something felt off, but there was no time to think about it, Zephyr was out there putting his life on the line and who knows how much longer he could hold out, Ion had to make his move soon. Seeing Virgil's back fully open, his attention squarely on Zephyr, Ion moved in, he darted towards Virgil as time itself seamed to slow down, Ion calmed his breathing, fully focused on his next move, he was going to end this. But as Ion closed in, Virgil uncannily turned his head slowly so his eye met the darting Ion, his expression turned to a smile as he said "there you are!" Ion hesitated for a moment as his mind wanted him to stop but his body continued his attack, Virgil with a strong strike was able to knock Zephyr to the ground while turning his body to the side as with one hand, he was able to deflect Ion's attack, then grab Ion by the coat near his chest and flip Ion over his head. Ion landed hard on the ground near Zephyr, a burning cut in his thigh could be felt as Ion had banged it against Virgil's sword when he went flying, both boys were stunned by the sudden turn of events as they looked each other in the eyes, both knew what they had to do, they had to run, get away as fast as they could back towards the rest of their Fangeclaw group as it was their only choice for survival now.

Frustrated, Ion and Zephyr darted out of the battle as Virgil gave chase, they were quicker them him, being smaller foxes and with their lightning and wind powers respectively helping their feet move faster. But suddenly Ion felt this jolt in his leg, as the cut on his thigh gave off a sudden sharp pain causing him to trip and tumble to the ground. Zephyr slid to a stop just ahead and dashed back towards his fallen mate, Ion was having a hard time getting up as his leg began to ache badly but there was something more worrying, Virgil was right behind him, his sword ready to plunge into Ion's back. Zephyr grit his teeth and rushed in, deflecting the attack on Ion and pushing Virgil back. Ion was able to turn over on his back as his leg continued to ache, he watched Zephyr fighting against Virgil, but he was starting to falter, Ion had to do something as Zephyr was at his limit. Pushing through the pain, Ion got to his feet and dashed towards Virgil, again the world around him seamed to slow down as Ion was concentrating again on delivering a killing blow, it was his only wat to save his mate. Again Virgil slowly turned his head towards Ion and with move that almost seamed dance like, Virgil was able to deliver a powerful kick to Zephyr, sending him flying into a tree as he turned his body towards Ion, deflecting Ion's attack while this time grabbing a hold of Ion's mechanical arm. But Ion used this to his advantage, as Virgil tried to pull apart Ion's mechanical arm, he used that force to push Virgil onto his back, stunning him for a brief moment, Ion waisted not time as he now only had one way to end this, his primal instincts took over as he grabbed ahold of Virgil's neck with his hands, Ion was determined to end it, his nightmare here and now. With Virgil struggling, victory seamed in hand until a cold, sharp pain seeped into Ion's gut, as warm liquid started furiously dripping down his body, that same liquid now clogging his throat as he struggled to breathe. Ion vision blurred as he looked down, Virgil had been able to grab a hold of Ion's own sword and impale him straight through the gut, a strike that went clean through and deep, as the guard almost touched his belly.

"I will admit you have acquired some skill since the last time we met, and some new beautifully designed toys, like this sword for example" Virgil said as he quickly pulled the blade out of Ion's gut, the curved teeth latching onto his intestines, pulling out a large chunk of them with it, "it is so beautifully well designed for disemboweling! I must say you have a much darker side then I thought" Virgil continued in a somewhat cheerful tone as Ion slumped to his side on the ground, blood pooling all around him. Virgil returned to his feet and looked down at the severely injured fox, his entrails still seeping out into a pile next to him, "you have such beautiful insides!" Virgil said as he rolled Ion face up with his foot, kneeling down he grabbed some of Ion's spilled intestines in his hands, following them to the large wound in Ion's gut, "why don't we see a bit more" Virgil grinned as he thrusted his hand into Ion's wound, causing him to howl in pain. Looking down his body, Ion could see Virgil's arm sticking out of his wound, while feeling his had digging all around deep inside, claws tearing into the soft organs with the immense pain coming with it. Virgil then placed a hand on Ion's cheek, looking into his eyes as the fox struggled to breathe, choking up blood every few seconds, "just relax and it will be over soon" Virgil remarked wiping a tear from Ion's eye with one hand, while the other was still deep within Ion's gut, he then placed fingers over Ion's eyelids and pulled them down, "just close your eyes and enter death's embrace!" Virgil exclaimed as he forcefully pulled his hand out of Ion's gut, pulling out more intestines with it causing Ion to violently cough up thick blood, with his eyes heavy, Ion looked over to where Zephyr hit the tree and saw that he was gone, "good... at least... at least he was able to get away, at least he was going to survive" Ion thought as he closed his eyes and started to feel cold, "this is it" Ion thought as lost the sense of the world around, the pain dulling as he started to feel his soul leaving his body, "I am going to die here, no, this is not how I wanted to go out" his thoughts continued as he teared up inside, it is not as Ion had not thought of death before, being seriously injured to a point where he almost died two years ago was the first wakeup call, but in general the life of a Hunter is a dangerous one, death can be around any corner in their line of work. But dying here, to this bandit, to this nightmare on the world that had harmed so many others, not just himself, Ion didn't want it to end this way, not to him. There had to be a way to fight back, there had to be a way he could survive this, to end this nightmare and only then after it was all done, then he could accept moving on to the other side, as long as he was gone, that is all Ion wanted at this moment, just one more chance to end the nightmare before paying his dues, after that he didn't care what would happen to him but the job would be done.

But as luck would have it, Ion sense of the world started to return as he could hear the voices of many coming their way, "dam not again" a voice closer by started saying as Ion could make out a figure kneeling over him, "well looks like this is your luck day once again, don't let it go to waist" Virgil suddenly said as he spit out the parts of Ion's intestines he was chewing on, "I don't want my meal to spoil before I have a change to devour it" Virgil remarked as he darted away, leaving Ion collapsed on his back on the ground, his intestines still spilled out with bits chewed off by Virgil's fangs, blood continuing to pool around him, staining the soft white snow with the thick colour of red as the sun continued to rise. Ion struggled to breathe as blood was still coming up his throat, while all the more of his bowels continued to push out of his body, he started feeling cold again as he knew his life was fading but there was something keeping him alert, something keeping him grounded to this side of existence, at least for now. A flurry of activity started to surround Ion as he saw Zephyr there with the rest of his comrades and Meeka looking over him, Ion felt his coat being pulled open as his now exposed chest fur felt the cold air as well as the large wound in the centre of his belly. Ion could hear the group around him talking but was having trouble hearing exactly what was being said. Meeka's original plan was to have Zephyr, kyara and Garrette fend off Virgil while Lazar would fly Ion and herself to the field hospital where she could operate on Ion but after seeing Ion's injuries there was no time, Ion needed emergency surgery and he needed it right away here in the field.

Ion felt his body being dragged towards a tree where Kyara sat against and leaned Ion's head up in her lap, it helped with the blood in his throat as Ion was able to get small gasps of air as Meeka handed Kyara a hand pump oxygen mask to which she started using it on Ion right away. With fresh air entering his lungs, Ion saw Garrette take a seat beside him, placing one of his hands on Ion's chest so he could get a feel for Ion's heartbeat. The expression Ion saw on Garrette's face did not look too good as Meeka and Zephyr took a seat on either side of Ion, looking over his gaping wound, Ion could hear Meeka giving some sort of instructions to Zephyr as Zephyr moved his hands which were now gloved into his wound, pulling it carefully apart as Meeka examined Ion's innards. Ion then saw Meeka take a scalpel and make some cuts inside of him, causing Ion to whimper out in pain as he coughed up a bit of blood into the oxygen mask. "I know this hurts but stay strong, take deep breaths and just contrate on looking at Kyara and Garrette, I know you can do this Ion" Meeka could be heard saying in a caring voice as she continued to make the painful cuts, Ion knew what she was doing was only to help and heal him, through the immense pain, he tried to stay strong. But it was getting harder, Ion was having trouble breathing again as his sight was fading, he could feel his heart starting to slow down as Garrette could be head making a panicking cry out to Meeka. Ion could feel Garrette's hand lift from his chest as he took something from Meeka, but before he could process everything going on, a sharp pain started to radiate from the side of his chest as Ion could see Garrette making a incision between two of his ribs, where his scar from the last time he had surgery after fighting Virgil was. Within seconds, Ion felt Garrette pry apart the place he cut between his two ribs, making a small cracking sound as Ion could feel a hand slide into his chest and grab ahold of his heart. Ion let out a large groan as Meeka told Garrette to not fully squeeze Ion's heart, but to gently help it beat along in rhythm to keep Ion's blood flowing. But for Ion, his vision continued to fade as he could feel Garrette having to squeeze harder and harder on his heart to retain rhythm as Kyara was also pumping the oxygen mask a lot faster to give him the air he needed. The voices started to mumble as Ion could not make out anything anymore, as his pain started to subsite as darkness filled his eyes as the world around him disappeared once more, finding himself in a place somewhat familiar.  

Ion didn't know what to make of it, he looked around to see nothingness all around him, just a dark black void. He was still laying on his back in what now felt like calm water, like he was floating in a small pond or lake. He could not feel a thing, no pain from the injury or surgery that he was going through, just nothing. Ion wonder if he had succumbed to his injuries, if he had just passed away and was now floating towards the afterlife, whatever that entailed. Then suddenly Ion felt a warm presence wrap around him, something that he had felt before but not for a long time, "don't worry, you are not dead,  I would not let you die that easily" a familiar sounding voice could be heard in the void. Ion perked up, calling out "who are you?" Laughter could be heard before the voice continued "you really still don't remember who I am? Don't you remember the last time you were in such a place, I pulled your soul back from the beyond, I carried you on my back, I'll always lift you up when you fall..." Ion was still confused, the voice was familiar but he could not put his finger on who it was. After some moments of silence passed, the voice continued on, "well it does not matter, just know I am with you, that I am a part of you and will always be by your side and protect you" "I guess.. all I can say is thank you, I am sorry I should know who you are but my mind is running blank" Ion responded as only more laughter could be heard. "Again don't worry about it, you have had a rough day, let your spirit rest, I will take over while the surgeons are operating on your body so you can regain your strength, my spirit can handle it, I am more use to it then you are" the voice said in a reassuring tone, with a small hint of smirkyness at the end. Ion closed his eyes and let out a small laugh, "you know, you remind me of a friend I use to have, he pushed me to what I have become today, always there looking out for me and having my back, always smiling and having fun with us... I really miss him..." Ion started to say as the voice continued it's laughter but then suddenly stopped. "Well looks like I have done all I can, you have to take over so I hope your spirit has somewhat recovered, thank you for those kind words..." the voice said before a blinding light filled Ion's eyes as the void around him disappeared.

Ion awoke to the feeling of fingers spreading open his right eye, looking over he could see a male bunny dressed in scrubs standing over him, Ion now tried to resist the finger keeping his eye open and the bunny seamed to sense that as he removed his fingers from Ion's eye before saying "good morning sleepy head, it is about time you have waken up." Ion tried to sit up but pain started radiating around his chest and belly, looking down Ion could see gauze pads taped over where the gash down his belly was and the incision made into the side of his chest while he was being operated on in the field, but also one tapped down the centre of his chest, signaling to Ion that he underwent open heart surgery while he was unconscious, which made sense as the bunny doctor in his room Ion recognized as Oliver, the surgeon who did look after his heart issues. Oliver rushed over and kept Ion from sitting up, saying "no, no, you need to still lie down, you underwent some serious operations, it is not everyday someone survives getting a bite taken out of them, you still need to take it easy as you got a few more to come in the coming days" Oliver said. "How... how long have I been out?" Ion asked before continuing, "and why were you pully my eyelids open?" Oliver sat down in a chair beside Ion's hospital bed and answered "it has been about ten days since you were injured, Meeka pulled off another miracle getting you stabilized in the field before getting you to the field hospital to finish your surgery, after that you were transported here since you were having some heart issues as you can probably tell, where I had to perform a couple of surgeries on you myself but you should make a complete recovery on those, Meeka still need to do some stuff with your bowels though, she will be in latter after her shift is over and I am sure she will be glad to see you awake again." Ion took all this information in as Oliver continued "as for your eye, thought I saw it starting to open but I saw or think I saw your pupil was blue, so I went to take a further inspection and I must have been seeing things as it was your normal orange colour." "And waht about Zephyr?" Ion asked, "well he is doing good, Meeka and your friends have been getting home to rest and keeping his mind busy while you recover, they still come every day to visit in the evening so they will be here in a couple of hours so why don't you get some rest while you wait for them to come, don't worry I will not be going anywhere, I have no other scheduled surgeries so if you need anything just motion me over" Oliver replied. Ion closed his eyes and tried his best to relax, the medication being pumped into him helped but his mind was still racing a bit, who was that voice he heard in that void, he wished he didn't wake up so soon as he had much more to talk about with it, but whoever it was could wait as Ion dosed off into a peaceful sleep.  

Out in the Contract Hunter's headquarters, the leader of one of the Hunter's divisions, a female bunny was having a small meeting with a few of her team members. "They are going to classify him as a reckless Hunter, he has been injured way too much and it puts the lives of other Hunters in too much danger" one of the members started to say. "This is my fault, he first got seriously injured on one of my Contracts and who knows how bad that had messed him up" the leader replied. "Well to be fair, he was not experienced enough nor should have been given permission to go on that contract, it is the fault of the auditors no you" another one of the team members said. "It doesn't matter, it was my Contract and he got injured under my watch, he has been treading water and trying to keep himself afloat ever since he recovered but continues to falter and I cannot think that I am not responsible for some of that" the leader continued. "Narche, he has had plenty of time to grow these past few years since the incident and he still is just as reckless as ever, other then the militia incident he has recklessly thrown himself and his partner into danger and received some serious injuries because of it, I don't think you have done anything, it is just in his nature, a nature that we can't have in the Hunters" the team member replied. "But that is also the case" Narche started to say, "after the first incident Ion should have had some mentorship, he was able to join the Hunters at age sixteen, the incident happened at eighteen with a few smaller injuries before that, he was very young for this kind of work, someone should have been there to help guild him through and correct his behavior and give him the proper mentality of a Hunter." "So you are going to go through with this?" the team member asked, "are you sure the council will let you do that?" "I owe it to him" Narche replied, "Ion needed a mentorship well before this and we failed him on that, I will not let that failure continue to happen any longer and besides, the fact he has been able to survive incidents like this, there is something more going on, he may just be like us." Narche continued as the last part of her sentence made the rest of her group's eyes widen. Looking up at the clock, Narche got up from her desk and started walking out of her office with her team members in toe, heading towards the council chamber, "they will assign Ion to me, he will become a great Hunter and I will make sure of it" Narche determinedly said as the two team members following her stopped and looked on at her in awe as she continued forward, she was on a mission and one that she would not fail.
~
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