Ordained by Fate - a hunters Destiny
(For the rest of this story this disclaimer remains true, I do not own the rights to monster hunter)
Chapter 1 - It all begins with a big mistake
Pokke Village sat quietly resting along side the snowy mountains. The villagers were all caught up in the hustle and bustle of their relaxed daily lives. The merchant's shelves were lined with fruits and vegetables, meats, drinks, tools and any other accommodation one could desire. A few of the town's folk were gathered around screaming and pushing trying to get the last of the days bargains. Over at the smith black smoke poured out as the sound of metal scraping against metal filled the air. A large Popo was slowly carrying a cart that had a large amount of fertilizer for the fields and a few children too lazy to walk themselves along. Down on the farm the felynes were busy planting, fishing, and otherwise working hard to provide the village with food. The town elder stood staring into her fire, poking it every now and again with a stick. It was as quiet a day as any ever was. Every person had their job and was happy to do it. No one was missing… save for one.
Atlas Rho was a young man of twelve. He lived with his mother Peachy Citron in their quaint little house. His father had mysteriously vanished ten years ago, or at least that is what his mother told him. He knew very little about his father except that he had been the village's hunter. In his disappearance he left behind his collection of weapons and armors. The armor was far too big for Atlas to wear and most of the weapons were too heavy. Atlas found however that he was able to use his father's sword and shield fairly easily. It was a simple Hunter's Dagger, barely able to cut through a piece of paper but he loved playing with it. More than once an unfortunate Popo became the victim of his reckless play style which typically left his mother in a crazy rage. While his mother was busy doing laundry for the village, Atlas had snuck out to the snowy mountains. He didn't go far past the hunter's camp by himself and even then he felt he couldn't get in trouble. After all, he wasn't there all by himself.
Atlas walked a little past the hunter's camp into the clearing by a small lake. As soon as he passed into the sunlight a rock went soaring at his head. He quickly lifted up his shield and barely managed to deflect the rock.
"Oi, you've gotten a bit quicker on your toes have ya?" Basil Do said with a cheeky grin. Atlas turned to see the head of the training school sitting on a rock by a few grazing Popo. He wore basic hunter's armor consisting of leather strapped together. His large hammer sat next to him and he had collected a large mass of stones. "Keep practicing and you might actually be useful with that thing" Basil laughed heartily.
"I was able to block your attack wasn't I?" Atlas said with an arrogant grin across his face.
"Why I guess you did" Basil said with a nod. "You might be a strong hunter already"
"YOU BET" Atlas bellowed throwing his arms up in the air. As he did another rock soared at his head and this time his boasting prevented his blocking. "OW" he said as he was knocked to the ground by the rock.
"Perhaps not quite a hunter yet" Basil said sticking his tongue out. Atlas trying to hold tears back whined.
"You didn't give me a chance, I wasn't ready that time"
"Good, maybe if I bash you in the head a few more times I can knock some sense into ya"
"What? Why?" Atlas whined.
"Simple, you run around playing hunter. I see you attacking the poor Popo, running at them with your loud battle cries and flailing around like an over-turned turtle. Popo are just oversize furry cows. You think harassing cows makes you a hunter? Any half-assed teenage farmer can do that. If you want to hunt you have to be prepared. Cows might let you wail on them but wyverns won't."
"I know that…." Atlas stood up and pouted under his breath. As he pouted another rock smashed into his head knocking him to water. "HEY STOP IT"
"I saw an opening" Basil shrugged and tossed another rock at Atlas which he successfully blocked this time. "Remember, given the opportunity any thing out here will be more than glad to take advantage of your stupidity and your recklessness. If you are going to play out here, I am going to make sure you are safe and can defend yourself. Otherwise your mother would be mad"
"Like an angry Rathalos with a splinter" Atlas said with a grin.
"More like a thousand angry wyverns" Basil said with a grim look on his face. He reminisced back to his youth and one unfortunate day when he decided to sneak into the woman's hot spring…. He slowly grabbed his side, the bones may have healed, but the invisible scar was still there. His face turned a slight blue color.
"Basil?" Atlas asked. Basil turned to Atlas slowly.
"Come to think of it, I'd rather fight the thousand angry wyverns than your mother." Basil said with fear in his voice.
"ME TOO" Atlas grinned ear to ear.
"Enough with you" Basil said lobbing another rock at Atlas. Atlas pulled out his sword and tried to bat the rock away but instead got smacked directly in the face. "I have taught you the basic slashes and I have taught you how to guard. Atlas agreed by demonstrating the various attacks and guards he learned.
He leaped forward and tried to do a jump attack.
"ROOOOARRRR" Atlas wailed as he lunged forward. He neglected to remember he was still soaking wet and slipped on the grass when he landed. He slid forward quickly but luckily cushioned his fall with his face.
"Well at least I taught em to you" Basil said with an eye brow raised. Basil was actually impressed though he would never let Atlas know it. It had been a few months since he caught Atlas sneaking out and in that short time he had become quite adept at combat. His form was sloppy but he had a really good grasp of the basics. "Alright then" Basil said with a sigh. "Today I am going to teach you how to dodge".
"Why dodge when I have my shield?" Atlas asked. Before he could finish his question Basil threw a massive boulder at Atlas. He tired to block it with his shield but got knocked over completely.
"Answer your question?" Basil asked sarcastically.
"Yeah" Atlas said staggering to his feet.
"There are some attacks that are too fast to block or far too strong to block with that flimsy little shield of yours. The best thing to do is roll out of the way. Here" Basil tossed a rock to Atlas. "Throw it at me" He commanded. Atlas agreed and threw the rock with all his might. Basil nimble rolled to the side dodging the rock, and caught it in his hand. Atlas stood eyes wide open and dropped his weapon to the ground.
"OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO COOL" Atlas jumped up and down repeatedly.
"Yes you see this is the basic dodge….."
"I WAS ALL WHAM AND YOU WERE ALL DODGE"
"It allows you to evade an attack but still be able to…"
"AND THEN YOU HOPED BACK UP ALL VROOOOOOM"
"ATLAS!!!!!!!!" Basil screamed. HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING AT ALL!!!?"
"Uhm…….. No?" Atlas said with a smile.
"GRRRRRRRR." Basil was shaking with rage. "Alright. We'll do it your way. Since you are so adept at dodging, let's see how well you can dodge." Basil lifted up his hammer and smashed it into the side of the mountain. A barrage of boulders rushed down at Atlas.
"OH NOOOO" Atlas wailed.
Atlas slowly walked into his house with a bag of ice taped to his head and a few bitter herbs stuffed in his mouth. He had a slight limp and a few other miscellaneous cuts and bruises.
"Now go clean yourself up before your mother gets home! You are a mess" Basil yelled.
"Pfth" Atlas grumbled trying to speak with the herbs crammed in his face.
"DON'T TAKE THOSE OUT; you should be fine by the time your mother gets back" His scolding was met with the sound of a loud door slam. He shook his head. "What am I going to do with that kid"? Suddenly Basil felt all life drain from the room. He felt a chill cold as winter consume his body and the light from the fire slowly became enveloped by darkness. He could sense the eyes of some demonic beast go into focus as they fixated on him. This this evil…… it could only be.
"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING TRAINING HIM BEHIND MY BACK" Peachy wailed louder than the cries of a hundred Diablos. Basil slowly turned around to see Atlas's enraged mother behind him. Her beautiful soft blue eyes were now a blazing red and he smooth flowing hair stood on end.
"I've done too much damage" He said quietly to himself. "Now she is in rage mode, god help us all"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY" Peachy screamed again. Before Basil could speak she had grabbed his hammer and swung if deftly into his ribcage. As he kneeled over in pain she raised the hammer high above her head.
"WAIT LET ME EXPLAIN" Basil bellowed in fear
"SURE LET ME EXPLAIN WITH THIS HAMMER" Peachy wailed. She swung down with a super pound that nearly tore the house in half. Basil managed to roll out of the way his hand holding his ribs in place. Peachy swung wildly at Basil as he dodged. The table got smashed in two, the chairs got smashed to pieces, and pretty much everything in the house was smashed. Basil desperately tried to plea as he ran for his life.
"I WAS TRYING TO DO YOU A FAVORRRR. HE WAS SNEAKING OUT FOR A LONG TIME, HAD I NOT TAUGHT HIM TO DEFEND HIMSELF HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT."
"THEN WHY NOT TELL HIS MOTHERRR" Peachy bellowed.
"YOU WOULD HAVE TRIED TO KEEP HIM INSIDE, HE WOULD HAVE ESCAPED AGAIN. HE NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO DEFEND HIMSELF; I HAD YOUR BEST INTEREST IN MIND." Peachy suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes could no longer be seen, only darkness. Trembling she managed to speak.
"How long before you started this training had he been sneaking out?"
"Four years he told me" Basil said while gasping for air.
"Since he was eight…….." Peachy cackled under her breath.
"Yes, he was already trying to fight Velociprey by himself." Basil spoke calmly. Peachy stood there trembling. Basil desperately tried to find the right thing to say. "He is just like Atlas….." Basil began to speak. Peachy turned at him gaze ablaze. He had chosen the wrong thing to say.
"DON'T YOU DARE BRING HIS FATHER INTO THIS" Peachy bellowed.
"WAIT" Basil screamed. "He is just like his father I mean come on he is named after him. His father was a great hunter, he has the makings of a great hunter" Basil turned to see a large lance mounted on the wall. He slowly looked back at Peachy. "Even his mother was a great hunter".
"That was a long time ago" Peachy said softly.
"Not that long ago" Basil stood up. "Admit it Peach, your son is meant to be a hunter. He is going to get out there, he already has been. I decided to train him to keep him safe. You might as well let him keep training. Heck, you should enroll him in the training school. I sent an avalanche of rocks at him and he was able to dodge most of them."
"No" Peachy said softly.
"Why not?" Basil insisted.
"Because" Peachy looked up tears in her eyes. "Because I don't want to lose him too" Basil looked down. "Atlas was a great hunter an above average one. You think I don't see his son harassing the Popo? He is good, he's really talented. He moves just like his father did. I have no doubts he would make an above average hunter but, that is what scares me. His father was one of the best, hell we all were but you know what happens. The guild gets a hold of you and fills your mind with grandeur. Then before you know it….." Peachy paused for a second. "Before you know it they send you to fight something they couldn't handle themselves, something no human being is able to beat."
"Peachy……" Basil tried to find words to comfort her.
"You may keep on training him so that he will be safe when he plays" Peachy said softly. "But he will NEVER be allowed to be a full fledged hunter. Do you understand me?"
"Yes" Basil said grimly. He slowly walked towards the door; he gently removed his hammer from Peachey's hands and tried to leave. She caught him by the wrist and pulled him close to her, giving him a big hug from behind.
"Thank you…" She said softly. Basil said nothing else. There are some moments in life for which there are no words, an infamous saying. However, this time he had none for his old friend. He had none for his old………..
The next morning the village was silent. All the doors were closed. The market had no visitors and all the windows were boarded up. The smithy had no black smoke coming out and not a sound could be heard. The fields were empty and there wasn't even a single Popo lumbering about. The elder's fire was unlit and the small rock she perched upon was empty of its companion. The village seemed to be dead. Everything was boarded up because of a hunt that was going on. In the nearby mountains a Tigrex was seen. Instead of just calling a hunter the Training School was dispatched to capture it. They hadn't had a Tigrex in a long time and the few senior students really needed to be exposed to it. In preparation the training grounds had ten ballista's attached to the walls with enough ammo to fire a hundred shots each. The training with Tigrex wasn't meant to teach how to fight it. It was meant to teach how to run from it. As it was Basil was anxious. He had hunted countless Tigrex before but capturing one alive was always a bit of an ordeal. He had some twenty men with him, all ready to go back home and hide. It wasn't a normal Tigrex this time; it was a male in mating season. Twice as big, twice as aggressive, ten times as dangerous. Basil and company slowly traversed through the mountains trying to find it. He came upon a place where three Popo lay dead. They have had their stomach removed and various bite marks taken out of them.
Basil shuttered at the sight. As his stomach lurched he heard a loud shrill behind him. The Tigrex swooped down and landed on top of one of his men. With a loud crunch noise his number of men was depleted to nineteen.
"QUICK FLASH IT" Basil screamed quickly one of the men nervously threw a flash bomb. It passed by the Tigrex and went off. It managed to blind everything in the area except the Tigrex. Bloom Nos one of the more advanced of the party managed to throw a second bomb which succeeded in blinding the Tigrex. It roared in anger and spun around knocking down about ten of the other men. For one second it stopped and growled. "NOW" Basil screamed. At once the remaining men attacked the Tigrex all at once. Swords clashed, lances pierced, bows were fired, the damage to the Tigrex was severe and it let this be known be letting out an ear shattering roar. The force of the roar blew all the men away and the Tigrex began to glow a slight red. "RAGE, BE ON YOUR GUARD" Basil shouted, as he did so the Tigrex smashed its arm into the ground sending three large boulders flying at Basil. Before with Atlas, he was adept and nimble, these traits were not on his side today and he was knocked back ten feet and dazed by the boulder.
The men were shocked by their leader being injured and their courage began to way. Bloom was not so easily distracted. He tossed another flash bomb in front of the Tigrex blinding it. In rage and now blinded the Tigrex lashed around wildly trying to bite or kill anything it could. Bloom silently began to set up a shock trap. His hands were nimble a trait Basil personally admired and in less than a minute the trap was set. Basil was back on his feet and limped over by Bloom behind the trap. Bloom wrapped his arm around Basil, he was warm, and helped hold him up. They each had a tranq bomb in hand and waited patiently for the Tigrex to come back to its senses. They didn't have to wait long before the Tigrex snapped to and turned its rueful eyes on them. It charged them tearing into the ground as it ran, and in its blind rage fell right into the shock trap. The electricity poured through its body and it was unable to move. Bloom and Basil raised their arms to throw the trap when one of the men in a panic swung his great sword at the head of the Tigrex. He missed completely and instead knocked over Basil and Bloom. At the same time the Tigrex broke free of the trap and fled to another area. Basil partially injured tried to stand and saw a pale white face when he looked at Bloom. Bloom pointed towards the village, pink smoke was rising into the air. Someone was missing but, who could it be. Basil turned ten shades whiter than Bloom and whispered under his breath. "Atlas……"
Atlas was calmly walking about the snowy mountains. He had managed to find a warm coat and was happily exploring. He stopped and saw some herbs growing on the ground. He smiled and knew he could sell them and buy his mom something to calm her down. He bent over with his Hunter's Dagger and began to cut the herbs and stash them in his bag. Suddenly, a dark shadow surrounded him; he noticed and ran just fast enough to barely be crushed by the rogue Tigrex. He turned and saw the beast, a dark orange color, blue stripes, and a head that resembled a tyrannosaurus rex. Somehow one of its eyes had been gouged out and it looked furious. The remaining eye turned on Atlas and his eardrums were all but ruptured by the blood curdling roar that the Tigrex let out. The Tigrex charged at Atlas. He ran as fast as he could and managed to jump out of the way; however, the Tigrex quickly turned and charged him again. He struggled to ready his shield as he rolled, He managed to dodge the blunt of the tigrex's charge but he got cut but the wing of the beast.
He was tossed aside and was slammed against part of the mountain. The Tigrex turned looking at him and snapped its jaws a few times. Terror overcame Atlas but, he slowly remembered the lessons Basil had given him. He stood to his feet and planted them firmly on the ground. He slowly raised his shield. As if following orders the Tigrex charged him. At the last possible moment Atlas rolled aside dodging the Tigrex as it tried to bite at him. The Tigrex instead bit the side of the mountain and got its teeth stuck. Atlas did not hesitate, he ran as hard as he could and jumped in the air with his dagger held firmly in-between his hands. Mid air was when Basil and company managed to stumble upon the area he was at. Mid air his mother and a few concerned towns' people showed up as well. Mid air…. He looked just like his father. His back was perfectly straight and his arms were held way above his head. Around his twelve year old body was the outline of a much older stronger man. For a second Basil and Peachy mistook him for his father. In the next second, he drove his dagger firmly into the Tigrex's skull. The beast roared and slowly fell to the ground. It twitched a bit as Atlas pushed harder. Then with a plop it stopped moving. The life had left its eyes. He had killed the Tigrex. The town's people and the hunter school all stood in awe. Atlas did not move or take his hands off his dagger. He stood perfectly still. He looked up at his mother with the same eyes of determination she was so familiar with. He slowly opened his mouth to speak and all of Pokke village was at attention to the words of this conquering hero.
"OMG DID YOU SAY COOL THAT WAS, I TOTALLY KICKED THIS THINGS ASS" Atlas said cheerfully.
The next day the village was livelier than ever. The entire village was in an uproar over Atlas managing to kill the Tigrex. The training school members made fun of the man responsible for setting the Tigrex free. They joked that they should fire him and hire Atlas. The entire village was celebrating except for one person. Peachy sat by the fire in her house staring at it. Atlas was fine but worn out from his battle and was sleeping heavily. Basil let himself in and sat next to her. She didn't say a word or even acknowledge him.
"I don't know where to start" He said softly.
"Neither do I" Peachy said.
"I asked the elder if I should fire ……"
"I already told her not to, Atlas escaped it was my fault"
"I don't know about that" Basil said.
"I couldn't keep my son safe" Peachy said softly "What kind of mother am I? What kind of wife am I? I should have stopped the training. I should have locked him away in his room and made him become a blacksmith or a farmer. Then he would be safe"
"Yeah" Basil spoke calmly. "But he would hate you for the rest of his life." Peachy looked up. "Face it, its official now. He is a hunter. I've already gotten three letters from the guild……."
"What?" Peachy asked surprised.
"They want him trained….. Officially I should add" Basil said with a smile.
"He is too young' Peachy began to say but knew what Basils defense would be. "What should I do Basil?" she asked quietly. Before she finished the question he handed her an application to the training school.
"He IS a hunter. He needs to have proper guild approved training. I said he would get out and he did. Look what he accomplished." Basil stared at the picture of Atlas Sr. "Its fate Peachy. You saw how he looked just like him yesterday. He wants to be a hunter. He will be a hunter even if you try and stop him."
'No more" Peachy said softly. Basil looked up. "Train my son Basil, make him a hunter" she whispered quietly. Basil put his arm around her while she cried. She knew it was best and so did he. The next day they would tell Atlas that he has been recognized as an official hunter. The next day they would tell him that all his dreams had come true. The next day Basil would subject him to training so physically and mentally taxing that is will to live would be pushed to the limit. For this day though, they would let him sleep. Atlas kneeled by his door with it slightly cracked. A big grin was across his face and he as much as he didn't want to be caught he could not help himself.
"YES I'M FINALLY A HUNTER"