"So what do you think, Maki?" Rynda asked. "What do you mean?" Makani returned the question.

The nightingale girl fluttered around her Maestro as they waited at the hunters' base camp. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and night fell over the town of Riva Sranvi once more. "You think they'll get cold feet?" She leaned on his shoulder closest to her.

The pilot chuckled. "Hell naw. They're serious. Nobody gets that broken up about something they didn't care about." Makani pointed down the path, where a familiar trio approached. "See?"

Shouri, with Taika and Pacifica in tow, joined the pilot and his lunar bird. "Shouri buddy, you made it!" He appraised the two Resonators that stuck close to their Maestro. Specifically, Pacifica caught his eye. "You seem brighter today," he addressed the otter.

She smirked back at him. "We're gonna kick ass tonight," the water element replied.

Taika glanced over at her water counterpart. Pacifica did seem to have regained her pep since she made that call earlier in the day. Shoot, even Shouri seemed ever so slightly phased by whatever was said, which made the curious little vixen all the more interested in what had been discussed.

Makani clapped twice to draw the attention of the now five-strong group. "Well, if we're all here, let's get started."

"Wait, what about Cera?" asked Shouri. "Oh, he'll show; just you wait and see." Makani motioned for them to follow.

They got in line and waited their turn with Makani and Rynda at point, while Shouri and his duo were right behind. The quintet remained quiet as they slowly shuffled forward. Taika flexed her nosiness and listened to what was being said at the front of the line. Nothing different, no comrades in their hunt. Just business as usual.

Finally, it was Makani's turn. He stepped up and slid over his tuner as practiced as every other hunter on the grounds.

"Me and the gentleman behind me want to take on the big Scherzando in the mountains. We got a couple of lunars between us, so tracking should be easy," Makani explained to the attendant. The attendant looked to Shouri expectantly who scrambled to submit both of his tuners as well.

The newer Maestro was surprised at the lack of fanfare behind such an event. The booth attendant seemed to simply check a box and nod. "Would you like to wait for any others to join?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Makani agreed.

And so, the small group loitered around the registration booth with nothing better to do.

"Did you find Cera? Do you even know who he is?" Shouri questioned. "Nope; just a vague idea," Makani snapped back quickly.

Shouri narrowed his eyes at the other Maestro."Well if nobody told him we were planning this, how are you sure he's gonna show?" "Ryn had a good feeling." The pilot motioned to the bird girl next to him who nodded with a confident smirk on her face.

Shouri looked to his own Resonators who could only offer back a shrug.

More time passed with the group in silence as other Maestros and Resonators passed them by. Occasionally someone stopped and asked what they were waiting around for, but upon hearing they were going to hunt a big Scherzando, the looky-loos moved along.

"If you plan on trying to take on that big Scherzando tonight it's probably best y'all get moving. Fighting them in their dens is suicide," the hunt registrar advised the group.

It was getting to prime hunting hours, not many people were around at this point – mostly the vendors just relaxing between "shifts" as it were, and a few late-coming Maestros.

Shouri grunted in frustration. "I guess it's a bust tonight then?" He looked to Makani who considered the thought.

"What do you think Ryn?" the pilot deferred to his bird. "Hmmm…" She stroked her chin, mulling over her Maestro's inquiry. "No, not a bust," she decided after a moment.

"How so?" Shouri raised a brow. "'cause he's right there." She pointed downfield, towards the city. In the distance, there was the man they had been waiting on; Cera, and his wall of a Resonator right behind him.

As he approached the group, the nature Maestro openly wore his surprise. "Shouri! You brought a friend?"

Seeing how he was the one connecting these two pairs, Shouri begrudgingly made the introductions.

"Makani, Cera; Cera, Makani."

The two men sized each other up for a moment before Makani offered a hand. "Nice to meetcha bud, I've heard a bit about you."

Accepting the handshake, Cera smirked. "Sorry pal, can't say the same about you – but I appreciate the help regardless."

Breaking off, Cera looked to the organizer of this rag-tag group. "Are we waiting on anyone else?" Cera questioned.

Shouri avoided the other Maestro's gaze. "I um, didn't have anyone else in mind," he mumbled.

Makani took over at this point: "I think we're good between the seven of us."

Cera glanced over at Rynda. He hummed in thought, his gaze shifted to Taika and Pacifica, then finally rested on Saul. "Hmmm..." He hummed again. "I think we could probably make it work if we bust out the big guns," he decided after mulling it over.

"Cool, register with us and we'll get moving." Makani motioned to the awaiting registrar.

The septet of Maestros and Resonators moved through the brush, uphill towards where Rynda and Taika could sense the big Scherzando. The path to the mountain was dark as they left the gentle warmth of civilization. Everyone in the group outside of Pacifica had no issues navigating through the dark forest they found themselves in. (Cera hitched a ride on his Resonator's shoulder, but he was in the same lack of sight situation as the otter)

"How big is 'big' again?" Pacifica asked Shouri, tightly gripping his hand to avoid getting lost. "Never seen one in person. Some pictures I've seen show them standing over trees though," Shouri replied.

"They can go from as big as a trailer to upwards of a nice two-story house in size," Cera added his two sharps to the conversation.

"I hear they can get bigger than that. Supposedly the Polvere Islands off the west coast of Selvica have sky-scraper-sized Scherzando, though that's all just hearsay and rumors," Makani chimed in.

Taika frowned; her lack of a formal education was getting to her. "Selvica is..?"

"The continent directly south of us," Pacifica told her. "It'd be south-west of Unis-Résonne," Shouri added. "Oh…" The fox gasped in astonishment. The world was big.

"We're getting close, Maki," Rynda warned her Maestro. Taika nodded in agreement. "Y-yeah… even I can feel it." Pacifica gulped.

It was a bit overwhelming. There was always a sort of rhythm-adrenaline rush whenever a Scherzando was nearby, but this sensation was like nothing either Taika or Pacifica had ever experienced before. It felt as if their whole essence was being pulled towards their destination.

"Let's stop here a sec. Come on in." Cera hopped down from his Resonator's shoulders.

The three Maestros huddled with their collective Resonators circled around them. "So! Shouri is gonna be our support – you cool with that, Makani?" Cera asked his fellow Maestro.

"I was gonna suggest the same thing." Makani looked to Shouri. "Not trying to be a dick, but you three are the weakest. I don't want anything bad to happen," he told them.

While it stung to hear that, Shouri, Taika, and Pacifica knew it to be the truth. They had a good idea of what Cera was capable of having worked with him on normal hunts. They didn't know all that much about Makani or Rynda, but based on the way they carried themselves, they were probably at Cera and Saul's level.

"Also, if I can ask something selfish?" Cera began. Makani looked to Saul, then the bear's Maestro. "Say no more, I think I got a good idea of what we're after."

"Try to focus your healing on our feathered friend and I think we got this. Unless we're dealing with a fire. If it's fire, we'll need Pacifica there to keep Saul safe," Cera advised Shouri and his Resonators.

The trio looked at each other. None of them really knew why Cera was making the requests he was, but Makani seemed okay with the arrangement, so they rolled with it.

Cera got back up on his Resonator's shoulder. With their attack plan solidified, they resumed their march towards the battlefield.

As they got closer the site of battle, the trees nearby grew thicker and taller than usual, almost as if the mountain they approached would be consumed by a tidal wave of motionless trees. Despite their lack of fluidity, their presence impeded the group's movement, making traversal through the thick woods even more perilous.

They pressed on though, and within the torrent of trees, they found the calm amid the storm. A calm where the land laid bare of the chaotic lumber they had to climb over.

"There it is." Rynda wiped the sweat from her brow, pointing into the colosseum made by the flora.

At its center was a massive four-legged creature, a shadow of a beast. Feet adorned in wood, shoulders carrying bladed leaves. It appeared to be at the ready, almost as if it had been aware of the group of seven warriors who crossed the great sea of trees to reach this island.

"It's nature," Cera noted. "That means our strategy will work well here." A grin rose on the man's lips.

Shouri glanced over. He still didn't have any real frame of reference for what the nature spell pool looked like. He knew that they had vine spells and mushrooms that put things to sleep. What else could they do?

"Let's get this started." Rynda stepped in first. "Easy does it Ryn, don't want to start this off before we're all in position." Makani crept in behind his Resonator.

"Time to take care of business buddy." Cera patted his Resonator's shoulder and urged him forward. "Ah, okay Cera." The bear walked into the clearing.

This left Shouri and his two Resonators outside the clearing.

Pacifica gulped; her eyes locked on the huge beast they were about to hunt. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her head. "Here we go Sho." Try as she might to calm herself, there was still a quaver to her voice.

"If it gets too hairy, I don't think either of them would blame us for running," Shouri spoke with trepidation as well. It was one thing to say they were going to try to kill this thing, but it was entirely too big.

Taika spoke no words; she walked in, strangely relaxed for the situation they found themselves in. The vixen stopped and turned to her stuck teammates. "State arrivando voi due?" she inquired, her eyes glowing a blazing blue.

"Y-yeah… we're coming." Pacifica grabbed Shouri's hand. "W-We'll be okay." Though she wasn't sure if she was saying that to herself or her Maestro at this point.

With all seven finally gathered in the wooden cage, they got a better look at their opponent for the evening. As the equipped wood and shrubbery implied, the beast had a nature element. Its general body plan appeared to be that of a feline, possibly a comically oversized lynx?

At any rate, it was surely tracking the group's movements. Finally, it grew tired of the preamble and began the skirmish, lifting its head into the sky as if to beckon to the clouds. Immediately Pacifica was transfixed by this spell – it was like nothing she had ever experienced in her life. A feeling of familiarity washed over her as she came to the sudden realization that she could perform the same spell the lynx had used.

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However, appreciation for this art did not come to most of the party. It began to rain, but not just normal everyday rain – these tiny missiles of water came with a payload, which was delivered upon impact.

"Ow! This is acid rain!" Rynda yelped as the party began to be pelted by the droplets of highly acidic water.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Shouri shouted, throwing up the hood of his jacket to try to protect his head from the sudden assault.

Pacifica looked around; the rain didn't hurt her? Why?

Checking the rest of the group, she noted Saul, the nature bear was similarly unaffected by the stinging rain; he just kind of stood there, eyes affixed to their shared adversary.

"Okay pal, you've had your fun with that!" Makani shouted. "Chiaro Cielo di Mezzanotte!"

Rynda formed a ball of purple light and sent it skyward, dispersing the clouds and with it, the rain.

"Ah, that spell clears the weather," Shouri breathed out, shaking off the previous acidic assault. "Heads up, lunar spells will be stronger while the moon is shining on us," Makani added.

The lynx rushed the group at this point, seeing how the acid rain hand't dissuaded them from leaving.

Makani, ever vigilant, belted out another spell: "Onda Mentale, Adagio!"

With a hand thrust forward, Rynda produced an invisible force that met their target head-on, throwing it backward, as if it had smashed into a telekinetic wall.

"Fissare la Ombra, Lento!" Makani commanded next. "Fissare la Ombra, Presto Staccato!" Shouri chimed in.

Both Taika and Rynda let loose a wave of arrows, pinning the beast by its shadow.

"Thanks bud!" Makani flashed a thumbs up to Shouri, who acknowledged him with a nod.

"Sotto!" Shouri commanded, cutting Taika's access to that spell. "La Bella Vita, Rubato!" he issued his next command. "Top yourself and Rynda off."

The vixen heeded her Maestro's orders and cast a small heal on herself and the nightingale by her side.

While pinned in place, the Lynx gathered together a storm of leaves and launched them towards the group – yet another spell Shouri and his duo recognized from past encounters. They couldn't see the individual leaves that made up the attack, only seeing a wave of greenery on the scale of a tsunami.

All they could do was brace themselves for the onslaught, Pacifica grabbed Shouri to try to shield him from the attack, with Taika turning back to do the same.

"Onda Mentale, Rubato!"

The pain never reached Shouri or his two Resonators. When they braved a peek towards the battle, they found Rynda standing at the vanguard, parting the sea of foliage with another telekinetic push. "You gonna stop messing around now?" Makani directed to Cera.

"Yeah yeah, I suppose we should get the real battle started." Cera finally descended from his Resonator's shoulders. He cracked his knuckles and drew his tuner from his side.

"It's time for the hunter to become the hunted." He grinned toothily.

The lynx Scherzando broke free of the shadow bindings and charged at the group.

"Artemis Arktoi, Ultrissimo – Lady luck give me all ya got!" Cera declared boldly. "Knew it." Makani chuckled.

The inexperienced trio turned their attention to Saul, who wore focus unlike any they had seen before from the simpleminded bear. He clapped his hands together with a thunderous smack. The bang was the starting gun that told seven trees to sprout around him.

"Don't let Saul get hit!" Makani shouted to Shouri and his Resonators. Rynda threw out another wave of telekinetic energy with the Rubato-cast Onda Mentale she still had access to.

"R-right!" Shouri looked to his tuners. "Pacifica, L'onda di Tempesta, Accelerando! Taika, Luce Lunare, Piano!" were the commands he decided on.

Pacifica joined the two lunars at the front, and stomped down. A river formed under her feet and ran across the ground, wrapping up the paws of the massive Scherzando. Unfortunately, given the size of the beast, it wasn't too effective in this task, splashing harmlessly against the nature element.

Taika formed a ball of lunar energy and chucked it at the beast. Sadly, due to the size and strength of the enemy before them, this served little more than to plink off its form and anger it further.

Shouri shot an uneasy glance back at Saul, hoping they'd hurry up. The seven trees grew at an unbelievable clip, the wood, bark, and leaves twisting, snapping, and crunching until seven bears formed that answered to their Resonator summoner.

"What is that spell?" Shouri asked. "Oh, it's a nasty one. Check it out." Makani grinned toothily.

Cera was already in celebration mode. "Hooo baby we hit the jackpot today! Thank you Lady Luck, your check is in the mail!" He turned to the fellow Nature elemental across the field from them. "Sic 'em Saul!"

With that command, the wooden bears came to life and immediately charged the lynx. Despite being massively outclassed in size and strength, the seven wooden bears fought ferociously. The Scherzando swatted at the relatively tiny bears like one did a swarm of pests.

These bears fought harder and harder the more they got hit. They clawed, bit, and struck well outside their weight class and rapidly wore the lynx down.

"What the hell?" Pacifica gasped, dropping her defensive posture.

"Artemis Arktoi, the nature ultimate attack. It summons a squad of wooden bears to fight at the user's behest," Makani rhapsodized.

"The more you hit them, the stronger they get," Cera added.

"Ultimate… spell?" Taika blinked, in similar shock as her fellow Resonator.

Shouri shook his head, watching the bloodbath in front of him (not that Scherzando bled mind you). It didn't make any sense. Cera and Saul just had a "summon army" spell in their arsenal? Why did they even need help?

"Cera!"

THWACK

Saul took a tree the lynx had fired at the nature Maestro. As soon as the Resonator was hit by the attack, Saul's summoned bears evaporated into thin air. The bear-man's body was thrown onto his Maestro and the two rolled a small distance coming to a stop.

"Wait, what the fuck!?" Shouri shook himself out of his stupor. Saul and Cera were unmoving. That simple attack was massive. "T-Taika!" he cried out.

Taika shook off her own stupor at that call. Shouri needn't say anything further, she knew what was expected of her as the group's healer. "I got it!" She bolted over to tend to the fallen bear and possibly his Maestro.

The Scherzando rose to its feet and charged once more. Rynda attempted to push the big cat away with her Onda Mentale spell as she had done previously, but the beast managed to avoid the wall of force, putting it in the path of-

"MAKI!"

She flew backward and scooped up her Maestro before he was subject to the big Scherzando's rage. Rynda was just one girl, however, and there were still two others in the path of the beast.

"Sh-sho..." Pacifica whimpered. She couldn't move. Her heart hammered painfully. Her blood was ice. Every breath felt like a mountain sat atop her lungs. It was so slow. She had what felt like years to contemplate her rapidly approaching demise.

Even if she couldn't move, she was jerked away at the last second. Shouri saved her from the beast's initial swipe. However, they weren't spared from its ire as it brought its massive paw back and nailed the pair on the second attempt.

Taika gulped hard; time stopped as her link with Shouri shattered in that instant. She could do nothing but look on in horror as the back of the beast's paw made contact with her only two friends in the world. "SHO! PACIFICA!" Taika screamed as she helplessly watched them get launched away from the beast. They smashed into the ground with a hard thud, sliding a bit before coming to a complete halt.

"Albero Robusto, Rubato!" a newly awakened Cera shouted from his position on the ground. Saul similarly was able to rise thanks to Taika's healing. The bear created several trees in an instant, punching them toward the lynx. The wooden missiles smashed into their intended target, causing it to back away from the Maestros and their Resonators.

Once it was at a safe distance from them, Cera made another call: "Sotto! Rullante di Radice, Fortissimo!" he commanded.

Massive thorned roots tore themselves out of the ground and wrapped the lynx up tightly, holding it in place.

While the rest of the party dealt with the Scherzando, Pacifica came to. The otter trembled as she feared the worst – her Maestro had once again put himself in danger to protect her, and now he lay under her in an unknown state. The bile in her gut roared, her pulse only hastened, the ice in her blood began to glaciate. This was no time to lock up! Through sheer force of will she thawed the ice of fear that encased her heart and acted. The otter pushed herself off of her unmoving Maestro. He wasn't bleeding but she couldn't tell if anything was broken or not. Worst of all, he wasn't concious.

Her heart sank. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him "Sho! Sho! Speak to me!" she cried out, tears poured down her face. Taika also ran over and slid to her knees next to her friends, desperately looking her Maestro over.

The boy groaned and shook his head. "Fuck…"

"Sho!" Pacifica and Taika tackled him, sobbing and hugging him tightly.

Makani sighed in relief seeing Shouri and his two Resonators were okay. "One more good hit should do," Rynda advised her Maestro as she set him back on the ground.

"Yeah, let's finish this." Makani glanced down at his tuner. "Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato!"

Upon hearing the call of that spell, both Taika and Pacifica perked up, their eyes were fixated on Rynda. With a beat of her wings, Rynda took back to the sky, scattering sparkles of red rhythm in her wake. It was beautiful, enrapturing even. "This should wrap things up!" the nightingale declared. A hand was thrust into the sky, straight up. Much further up her palm directed the formation of a ball of ice. It expanded at an unreasonable pace, quickly swelling to a massive ball that easily matched its target in scale. When she was satisfied with the size of the spell, she allowed gravity to take the wheel.

A comet descended from up high towards the battered, injured Scherzando. The entire time the two girls bound to the ground were entirely enthralled by this spell and the only thing on their minds at that moment was:

"I can do that."

With the beast injured and secured by thorny vines it was powerless as the ice rock hit its body. In a healthier, unbound state, it could have dodged or even deflected this attack. But in this condition, all it could do was get crushed like a bug by the icy space rock.

Fragments of frozen water pelted the Maestros and Resonators remaining on the ground as the comet exploded on impact.

Ground zero of the attack was initially obscured from view by a cloud of dirt and debris kicked up by the force of the strike. Rynda slowly descended to the ground; eyes fixated on the last observed location of the Scherzando.

The group relaxed upon the full dissipation of the cloud of debris, revealing the complete dissolution of the Scherzando.

"Holy shit." Cera fell back into the grass, letting out a sigh of relief.

Shouri too laid back, with Pacifica and Taika refusing to release him.

"I feel a little bad coming out of that unscathed," Rynda muttered to Makani. The pilot shrugged. "It is what it is." He smirked, glancing over to Shouri and his partners. "I'm glad you were right about them," he added a quiet aside.

"Right? Those two have caught it bad." Rynda giggled.

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