Heritors of Hereafter
Book 1: Hearts of Pride
By: Thomas A. Hawk
Edited By: dashboardgecko
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Monster Hunter, nor do I own Capcom. If I did I would probably be doing something else with my time instead of writing fanfics. All the characters that appear in this story belong to me unless otherwise stated.
Chapter 1: One in a Million
An air of tranquility blew across the yellow grass fields surrounding the Ancestral Steppe. The long, gentle breeze carried blades of grass across the meadows and towards the deep auburn forest and the high grey mountain that made up the hunting grounds.
Only a few particularly stubborn yellows strands managed to make it all the way to the Stairway of the Gods, carried by that same gentle breeze that filled the entire space with a steady howl. The long corridor had earned that title for its peculiar shape—in between two tall stone walls were a set of four 'steps', each one progressively higher than the previous. From ledge to cliff face each platform was separated by about fifty yards, and about the same distance from the base of each wall to the top. The lowest section of the Stairway led further down into the auburn forest at the base of the area, while the uppermost one led further up to the peak of Ancestor's Mount, a space known for both rich ore deposits and the number of wyverns that use the area as a breeding ground.
In spite of the name, no gods occupied the Stairway. Not today, at least. There was one individual there, though—a sole huntress, sliding down the steep sloped path into the canyon proper atop a round silver and blue shield. A gleaming red bloodrun jewel firmly in her left hand, her right dragging across the ground behind her to keep her steady, the huntress grinned eagerly as she neared the center of the uppermost rock shelf, pulling back to slow down and pushing herself up to her feet, kicking the shield up to her free hand and slinging it over her right shoulder, where it was pulled firmly into place by the magnet attached to her back. She took a couple steps forwards as she raised the seemingly already-polished decorative stone to inspect the surface for any damage—and to admire her reflection in one of the jewel's larger gleaming edges.
"Lovely as ever, Mila," she giggled, placing a finger on her reflection. "Tsss, hot!"
She was a tall, slender woman of twenty-three years who always wore a confident, brazen smile, matched well by her silvery-diamond blue eyes. Her long golden blonde hair normally ran down to her waist, but was currently tied up into a ponytail to keep it back—a few lengths still rested over her shoulders though, and beneath her forehead plate a few strands hung low, most prominently over and to the left of her nose. Though her profession was just about the most dangerous in the world, not a single scar blemished her light peach-colored skin. Even after all the training she had gone through over her life which left her toned and lean, she never quite lost her curves, nor all the smooth features of her face. She just liked to think she fit the fantasy image most people had for huntresses: strong and stunning. Were it an option, she would absolutely take herself on a date.
The huntress wore a suit of Battle armor, a light set designed with mobility in mind. Her chest was covered in somewhat-formfitting green scale mail that cut off just below her ribs, revealing a white furry lining over the long-sleeved chainmail shirt she wore—also cut off at the midriff, which allowed her to proudly show off her toned abdomen. A thin belt wrapped around just below the chainmail, and a pair of leather straps, one red and one blue, extended down the front of her body from that belt to a larger loop of bone that wound around her hips. The bone served not only as armor, but to hold up the chainmail half-skirt over her right leg, which had a large piece of blue cloth beneath it to keep the cold metal from battering her leg when she walked. She wore a short pair of brown leather shorts that were a lighter shade on the sides and that covered only a portion of her upper legs. A section of her powerful thighs were exposed between the shorts and the tall chainmail leggings that extended the rest of the way down her legs and into her brown leather boots, the fronts of which were covered in segments of polished metallic plates held on by metal bolts and a blue leather straps, while segmented green scale plates covered her legs above the knees. As for her arms, she wore rounded metal braces between her elbows and the middle of her biceps, the left having a bulky device containing a grappling line fastened to it. The rounded elbow pieces were bolted onto her metallic vambraces, which covered the entirety of her forearms and gleamed with a freshly-polished shine. A single strip of blue cloth, each with a slightly diagonal-rectangle pattern, wrapped around both of her wrists and upper thighs, and a thinner strip of blue cloth wrapped around her neck, just below her collar, which was held up by a piece of bone carved into the shape of a shell with a loop on the back, allowing a portion of the blue cloth to hang over her sizeable bust like a small scarf. Lastly, she wore a long blue cloth headband with bone plating and cheek guards to offer her face some light protection.
As for her weapons, Mila currently carried a single curved short sword with a deep cerulean blade on the right side of her waist, matched by the silver and blue round shield slung over her right shoulder. Both were heirlooms that had previously belonged to her mother, a fact that had heavily influenced her decision to bestow the name Sapphire upon the sword. Those weren't the only armaments she was packing, though—a trio of short swords, each only slightly longer than her forearms, were attached to the back of her armor in a bundle of wooden scabbards that jutted over her left shoulder. Like her sword, she had also named these short blades: Blossom, Bud, and Bloom. The scabbards contained a concentration of toxins that soaked into the blades and gave them each an individual status effect—Blossom, with its purple guard and disc pommel, was highly poisonous; Bud, possessing a blue guard and a diamond shaped pommel, was coated in a powerful sleep toxin that, given enough time and application, could even knock out a larger monster; and Bloom the yellow-hilted blade with a spherical pommel was seeped in paralytic Genprey venom. And of course, her Guild-issued carving knife Talon was sheathed on the back of her belt.
Figuring she had preened over herself enough (there'd be more time for that later anyways) Mila took a couple steps forwards and stored the jewel into her pouch, feeling a slight twinge in her mind just as she latched it shut. She was immediately aware of a large projectile rocketing towards her from higher up the path she had just slid down, and it would reach her in less than a second with its speed. Without even turning to look the huntress threw herself out of the way with a swift cartwheel, whirling around to face her attacker while the massive flaming orb it launched her way shot through the space she had occupied not even a moment earlier, bursting further back behind her.
"Alright, so you're still a little miffed."
A large, long-bodied, green-scaled Rathian glowered down at her from higher up the slope, flames licking at its lips from within its sharp-toothed maw. It looked none too happy, and for fairly obvious reasons—Mila had been mining nearby its nest and awoken it from its slumber, and the wyvern likely assumed the huntress was after its eggs. That, or the simple fact that Raths tended to be more temperamental than usual during and around mating season, coupled with Radiance's effects, meant this one was out for her blood.
As the beast slowly stalked down the incline towards her with a menacing, prideful gait, Mila glanced over her shoulder at the cliff about ten yards behind her. A straight drop to the next shelf down from this height would undoubtedly leave a person with a couple broken legs at best… Fortunately, she had other plans for herself.
The huntress turned back towards the Rathian and clapped her hands together repeatedly while stooping low, whistling and gesturing towards herself tauntingly.
"Well? C'mon, girl! Catch me if you can!"
Whether or not the wyvern could understand the meaning of her words remained unclear, but at the very least it understood her tone and gestures to be insults and challenges. The Rathian responded with a furious roar, then broke into a stampede towards the huntress with its mouth wide open, flames flickering in its gullet. Mila swiveled around and raced towards the cliff, easily clearing the distance in the blink of an eye. Ducking into a slide a few steps from the edge, the huntress skirted over and dropped half a dozen feet down the cliff face before grabbing hold of a protruding handhold with her right hand, coming to a smooth halt. She aimed her left arm up, clutching at the grappling line's firing mechanism while she felt the Rathian's charge bringing it closer and closer to the edge.
Moments later the wyvern shot over the cliff, clearly intending to circle back on the huntress and pin her against the wall. Just as its body appeared, however, Mila simultaneously fired the line upwards and released her hold on the rockface. The metal tip shot between the Rathian's talons before splitting open and catching fast, drawing the rope taut between huntress and wyvern. Mila let out an excited laugh as she was pulled along after the Rathian, holding onto the rope for dear life as she was tugged back and forth by even the slightest shift of the flying wyvern's body. What a thrill it was!
The Rathian swiftly turned before clearing one of the large stone 'step' far below, realizing it had unwillingly taken on a passenger. It screeched angrily and attempted to dislodge the huntress by kicking its foot around in midair. Not being in the mood for that sort of ride, Mila quickly responded by again clutching the mechanism and drawing the line back to her gauntlet, whipping towards one of the tall walls enclosing the Stairway at a near-parallel angle as the tether between huntress and wyvern disappeared. She landed on the surface of the sloping wall nigh-perfectly, sliding a couple dozen feet in a gradual downwards curve before getting her feet beneath her.
Pushing herself up, the huntress raced down the wall at an incredible speed—it took mere seconds for her to clear almost a hundred yards, the wind whipping her hair back like a river of gold. The slope gradually lessened in steepness as she neared the ground, though not nearly enough to prevent her from running headfirst into the canyon floor if she kept going like that. Rather, the huntress ducked into a half-slide and pushed off before reaching the ground, vaulting several yards away from the wall and somersaulting through the air, slipping her shield off her back in the process. Mila managed to get the thick metal plate underneath her just before landing, rocketing down the trail leading down into the auburn forest surrounding Ancestor's Mount with a triumphant laugh.
An infuriated roar sounded behind her as the Rathian resumed its pursuit of her, soaring down the path after her and transitioning into a stampede as they entered the next area, consisting of a shallow crook running through a rounded slope leading towards a sharp drop into the deep woods far below, overlooked by a naturally formed bridge of red stone with a short break between its two halves. There was a steady path to the left and a sharper drop to the right, but Mila preferred the thrill taking the center path would provide.
The huntress grinned as she sensed another fireball rocketing towards her, swerving to the side as the flaming orb shot past and struck the opposite half of the 'bridge', shattering the long-eroded stone with a powerful fiery blast and showering the creek below with several large chunks of debris, scaring away a number of Jaggi and Jaggia that had been drinking from the water at the same time.
Undeterred, Mila pushed herself up from her slide with a side flip, kicking her shield up to her arm and catching it by the strap right as she landed and transitioned into a sprint, remaining ever-aware of the infuriated wyvern stomping after her. She raced up and over the still-standing half of the old red stone bridge, and with a powerful push from her legs, the huntress leapt far over the gap between the span and the plateau, over the babbling brook, over the confused raptors below. She soared nearly fifteen yards from a single leap, clearing the gap with plenty of room to spare.
"Woo, nailed it!" she cheered as she pushed up from a roll, turning to glance over her shoulder at the sound of a panicked cry and crumbling stone.
In its rage the Rathian had stepped onto the remaining half of the weathered bridge after her. Its weight caused the weak stone to collapse and drop the wyvern into the stream underneath with a resounding thoom, shaking the ground all around it and thoroughly convincing the nearby ankle biters to vacate the premise. As the wyvern began to push itself up from where it had fallen, one larger stone came loose from what remained of the bridge still attached to the wall, tumbling down directly onto its skull and shattering against the scales, though not without earning a pained howl from the Rathian.
"Ooh, ouch! You might wanna ice that bump later."
Her gaze shifted up from the green-scaled wyvern as the telltale howl of wind beneath wings filled the air, and she turned her head just as a large yellow-orange beast landed on the raised plateau several yards to her right, shaking the ground beneath its claws from the impact. Quadrupedal, powerful winged forearms, a massive head with distinctly giant jaws lined with sharp teeth, teal-grey eyes filled with unchecked rage, blue stripes across its long body and down its tail towards the spiny protrusion at the tip…
Tigrex.
The newly-arrived wyvern let out a mighty roar powerful enough to shove the loose dirt around it into a wide circle five yards around itself. Its hungry gaze was fixated completely on the Rathian in the gorge below.
Pushing off with its powerful forelimbs the Tigrex pounced at the Queen of the Land, smashing down atop the flying wyvern and clawing at its wings while attempting to clamp its jaws down on the Rath's neck. Though letting out a pained shriek, its blood splattering the ground around it from the wyvern's assault, the Rathian fought back hard, smashing the Tigrex against the wall to its side twice to dislodge the beast, collapsing a section of rock onto both creatures in doing so, moreso the Tigrex than the Rathian. The Roaring Wyvern tumbled about in the debris to right itself, only to meet with a point-blank fireball directly to the face as soon as its legs were underneath it, staggering it back with a shocked howl. The Rath then attempted to follow up by jumping into the air and flipping backwards, slinging its poisonous tail up at the Tigrex's jaw.
Mila mouthed an impressed 'wow' when the partially-blinded Tigrex lurched its head back and boldly snapped its jaws forwards to meet the Rathian's tail, taking the brunt of the impact directly into its mouth. Though blood and poison splashed onto the ground beneath its head, the Tigrex clamped down hard, holding the airborne wyvern firmly in place even as the panicked Rath furiously beat its wings to pull away. The Roaring Wyvern let out a low growl before yanking its head down, pulling the Queen of the Land down hard enough to slam it into the stream with a resounding thoom that splashed water every which way. It screeched in triumph as it lifted its arm above its head, intent on crushing the Rath's head beneath its claws, but the second before its arm dropped the Rathian pulled its head out of the way, flames licking at its lips as it inhaled deeply.
The fireball that left its maw a moment later exploded across the Tigrex's chest with enough force to throw the Roaring Wyvern back almost twenty feet onto its side, splashing into the stream and filling the air with a cloud of steam as the water extinguished the flames that had ignited on its body. Taking the opening it had created for itself while the Tigrex recovered, the draconic wyvern took to the air, shakily flying up towards the treeline overhead and disappearing from sight without even sparing a glance backwards.
"Smart girl," the huntress smirked. It must've realized that leaving its nest unguarded to fight an unfavorable battle was a bad idea, and its maternal instincts had at last kicked in. The huntress had been so utterly captivated by the sight of the creatures' duel, the natural struggle that just couldn't be replicated anywhere but the wilds, that she hadn't even moved an inch from where she had been standing.
Her attention was pulled downwards yet again, however, as the Tigrex pushed itself back up and roared after its fleeing prey, its eyes flicking towards her now that the Rathian was no longer distracting it. Now that she could get a good look at it, she identified a few distinct traits—a few scars over its right eye, a long, jagged split in the right side of its lip, a broken horn, distinctly tattered wing membranes that looked almost like flames, an overall darker coloration, and a massive scar over its back caused by a hunter's great sword. She'd read a report in Val Habar about a Tigrex with those same features, nicknamed the Raging Blitz. It was considered a six-star threat, a step up from the average Tigrex, due to its age and experience as well as its incredible resilience. Supposedly it had managed to kill two older veteran hunters and hospitalize a third some months ago when they wandered into its territory on a gathering quest and attempted to pick a fight with it.
Its intended target having slipped away, the beast instead opted to target the huntress, letting out another roar and beginning to claw at the ground, tearing the rock and soil beneath it as it dragged into a stampede towards her. The huntress chuckled bemusedly before turning and sprinting off towards the wide, winding pathway leading out of the auburn forest along the drop off.
"Let's see if you can keep up, bucko!"
The wyvern charged after her in a frenzy of wild stomps and flails, gnashing its teeth all the while. Mila easily managed to keep ahead of it, though, ducking into a short slide as they neared a sharp bend in the path to aid her turn and simultaneously duck underneath the Tigrex's jumping tackle when it attempted to leap down upon her. The beast crashed hard into the wall behind her, obliterating a large boulder in the process but only stalling it in a cloud of dust for a few brief moments. The huntress continued down the path and past another bend, though she had to slow her pace when she saw the Raging Blitz leap down from the ledge overhead and onto the path about a dozen yards ahead of her, sending a powerful quake through the ground that split a deep crack to the ledge, dislodging several stones from the wall as well.
The obtrusion only slowed her momentarily, though. She darted towards the left as it gnashed its jaws at her, evading the attack and charging a couple yards up the wall. The Raging Blitz snarled viciously and attempted to slam its claw down on her as she rushed up the incline, but Mila pushed off just before the forceful impact could connect, leaping completely over the Tigrex's body with a long, graceful flip. She slid down the twenty-foot slope to the next segment of the path, coming to a halt between a pair of hunters, both with wary stances and drawn weapons. One was garbed in grey and blue rock-like Basarios armor and held a massive iron hammer with a grey head decorated by a blue pattern, while the other was outfitted with pale white Nerscylla armor and a matching long sword. Both gawked at her sudden appearance before turning their heads skywards, just in time to see the Tigrex careening down towards them.
Mila darted to the left, as did the Basarios-clad hunter, while the man in Nerscylla gear ducked right and threw himself out of the way. The Roaring Wyvern slammed into the path so forcefully that the ground all around seemed to quake, forcing the three to stumble in order to maintain their footing. While the Tigrex turned towards Mila and the rock-clad hunter, though, a massive splitting sound filled the air, and a heavy crack appeared beneath the Tigrex. No sooner had it taken a single stomp towards the two than the earth below ruptured completely, dropping the ground underneath the wyvern—along with the Tigrex—down to the next segment of the winding path, a panicked screech filling the air just before it slammed into the ground in a hail of debris.
"Well, that happened," the hammer user grunted, turning his head towards Mila. "And hello there, good-lookin'. Are you hunting that thing? Alone?"
"Nah, I'm on the harvest tour," she grinned, blushing at the compliment. "This Tigrex just decided to crash the party! But you should have seen the tussle it got into with the Rathian that was chasing me right before! It was all FWOOSH and KABAM and RAWWR. Just, THE coolest."
"Wait, a Rathian too?!" the Nerscylla hunter called from across the newly-formed chasm between them. "Exactly how much trouble do you get into every time you go out for a gathering trip, lady?"
"Oh, usually a little more. This is a pretty tame day all things considered. Like this one time, four years ago, I was at the Arctic Ridge, right?! And this Kushala—"
The huntress found herself cut off as a powerful roar sounded below them, and the ground began to quake—the Tigrex was beginning to forcibly climb the wall back up to their path, using its powerful claws to tear into the stone.
"Wow, rude!" she called down to the beast, huffing lightly before glancing back and forth between the two hunters. "Guess it'll have to wait. Happy hunting, boys!"
Without even waiting for a response, Mila leapt over the chasm and pulled her shield from her back, throwing it underfoot as she began to drop. She fell about ten feet before rebounding off the surprised Tigrex's snout, bounding off to the side while the wyvern yelped from the impact, one of its claws dislodging from the wall in the process and causing the Roaring Blitz to once more go tumbling uncontrollably down the cliff face. The metal plate beneath her grated loudly against stone and dirt as she slid down the incline, pushing off with a short grunt of effort to clear the next segment of the path and beginning her descent down the rest of the cliff face towards the auburn forest far below.
Meanwhile the Tigrex's previous rampage up and down the path, as well as its current tumbling down the ravaged cliff face, had loosened many stones and boulders from the mount, creating a small rockslide with itself in the very middle of it all. Many boulders ranging in size from a melon to a grown wyvern had shaken free from the rockface and begun to careen down after her as well, filling the air with crumbling stones and shrill cries from the wyvern caught up in it all.
"Woo! Now this rocks!" Mila grinned, swerving hard to avoid one of the boulders as it barreled past. The cascade of red and brown stone threatened to envelop her at every inch, but the huntress managed to stay just ahead of the main body, dodging out of the way of any boulders that managed to break ahead thanks to her Awareness. She grinned wildly as she began to near the treeline below, her eyes flitting towards a bump ahead of her just before the incline sharply dropped. The sword wielder angled herself at the 'ramp' and launched herself into a free fall towards the canopy while the rocks pursuing her tumbled down into the trees far behind her.
The huntress soared dozens of yards ahead, shifting her shield back to her left arm as she neared an opening in the trees. She fired the grappling line upwards as she dropped into the canopy, the hooked end catching on one of many particularly thick branches and drawing itself taut as the inner mechanism retracted the excess line. She was safely able to transfer her momentum into a long swing, and at the end of her arc she retracted the line, flinging herself towards a long vine ahead that hung down to another level of the forest made up of tangled vines and branches. She caught it about halfway down, killing the rest of her momentum with the long green tendril as she slid down to the ground. The rockslide continued to crash into the forest far behind her, only a few stones managing to come close to reaching her, though missing by a number of yards to the left or right, usually punching a large hole into the canopy in the process. Mila took a few moments to glance back at the massive dust cloud the rockslide had kicked up with a frown.
"Poor thing must've gotten crushed. Guess that's how the cookie crumbles…"
A furious roar drowned out the falling stones, however, the wave of sound powerful enough to blast an opening through the cloud—racing out from the deadly cascade covered in blood and with its left wing looking horribly mangled, its veins pulsing a dangerous red color as blood flowed from its maw, was the Raging Blitz. It was heading directly towards her, barreling over thinner trees while smashing larger ones badly enough to threaten to topple them.
"Oh, nevermind then! Tough cookie it is!" Mila smirked, quickly backpedaling and turning to continue her sprint through the woods. Tigrex were already known for their strength and tenacity over their intelligence, but one durable enough to survive getting caught up in a rockslide too? It was clear why the Guild considered it such a threat. Even still, there was no way its scrap with the Rathian and its tumble down the cliff hadn't left it seriously hurting.
The chase continued on through the vine layer towards the edge of the woods, with Mila eventually finding an opening to skirt through and slide down to the floor along a winding branch. The Tigrex was right on her heels, shoving its head through the opening and chewing the vines and branches apart as it dug through in pursuit of the huntress, sending a shudder through the increasingly unsteady vine layer. Mila slid down and hopped to the shaded floor below with a roll, glancing around even as she heard the Tigrex slam down after her. Several walls of vines stretched to the ground overhead, offering a way up through the gaps in the canopy and supporting the entire structure of vine at the same time. The massive entanglement immediately gave Mila an idea—she darted towards one of the vine 'ladders' and skidded to a halt, turned around to face the stampeding wyvern and whistled loudly.
"Hey, Blitz! Dinner's waiting!"
The enraged Tigrex's eyes already on her, it turned hard and rushed her faster than ever, its claws shredding through the ground as it dragged them along to angle itself at the huntress and launch itself into a leaping charge at her. Mila ducked and threw herself out of the way just before the beast crashed into her, hitting the floor with a roll and breaking into a sprint while the Raging Blitz crashed through the vine pillar, sending a thick shudder through the tangled mass overhead.
"Whoopsies, gonna have to try harder than that! C'mon, main course, right over here!" she called, standing in front of another vine wall and knocking her right hand against her shield, her gauntlet clanking against the plate obnoxiously.
The Tigrex shook the mass of vines from its mouth, tearing the ladder apart and causing the section overhead to sag downwards from the lack of support, before turning its livid glare towards her and lifting one of its claws. A short growl preceded Blitz slamming its less-wounded claw into the ground, launching a mass of roots and stones at the huntress. She grinned as they approached—she sensed every last one as it entered the field of her Awareness, and she predicted the way to avoid the barrage in a split second. She turned her body to the side and leaned back, narrowly skirting between two rocks by only a few inches and feeling a rush of wind lift her hair up behind her, but still she completely avoided the projectiles themselves. The stones crashed through the vines behind her, only further causing the ceiling to sag inwards with a low, straining groan.
"Are you even trying?! Guess somebody's not very hungry!"
The huntress let out a taunting laugh as she rushed over towards the thick tree in the center of the area, the Tigrex hot on her trail. She darted around the trunk, wincing at the splintering sound when Blitz slammed one of its claws into the old wood before charging past. It turned hard once again, its eyes landing on the huntress with her back to the large wall of wood and goading it into a faster-than-ever charge, deadly intent glowing within its now-crimson eyes and veins.
Mila flashed a confident grin and brazenly raced forwards towards the charging brute. Had it not been completely blinded by fury, it might have hesitated a moment at that maneuver, but the Raging Blitz simply continued its mad dash towards the huntress. Mila timed the creature's rapid footsteps as they closed the distance, and just as its left wing dropped, the sword wielder whipped her shield towards its face, ricocheting the plate off the side of its skull and making it wince. Taking advantage of the split-second lapse in its attenition Mila pushed off with her legs and stepped off the appendage as it passed, catching her shield strap around her wrist and just barely avoiding the Tigrex's snapping maw when it suddenly twisted its head after her. She landed into a cartwheel as it raced past, then into two consecutive flips, before finally landing with a slide several yards back, turning her eyes upwards as she came to a stop.
The Raging Blitz collided with the thick tree, outright snapping the already-weakened trunk with its weight and scattering chunks of wood all throughout the area around it. The blow momentarily stunned the wyvern, halting it for a few seconds to shake its head clear—a few seconds too long, now that the main support holding the vine canopy up was destroyed. A loud creaking wail filled the space as the vines overhead completely sagged inwards, snapping free from the stone walls on either side of the area and falling to the ground below. Mila only had to take a single long step backwards to get out of the way, but the Raging Blitz was dead smack in the middle of it all—it let out a panicked screech just before hundreds of pounds of thick ivy and gnarled wooden branches came down on top of it, burying it beneath the overgrowth.
"I thought your diet could use a little extra green in it," she grinned as she brushed some dirt from her chainmail halfskirt, turning from the muffled sounds of pained, frantic roars beneath the tangled mass of vines and branches. With the Raging Blitz currently occupied, the huntress continued on towards the next area, whistling a merry tune to herself while jogging through a passage walled in by the same grey stones that made up Ancestor's Mount.
The scenery gradually shifted as she moved along, from stone to grass and dirt while the passage widened substantially. She had to leap over a long, deep crevasse, but before long she reached a turn and came into the next area, a large field covered in vibrant yellow grass, with a large river running along the right and feeding into a deep pond some distance further off. And the sky! The sky was a deep azure blue hue broken only by the occasional cloud of white, and of course brightly illuminated by the blazing sun overhead. From her slightly elevated position she could see on for miles and miles. The simple sight of it all made her heart flutter with excitement, even if it wasn't the first time she had been blessed with such a grand view. Something about the world, about all there was to see out on the horizon, thrilled her more than nearly anything else. That was why she had become a huntress—to explore and see as much of the world she'd grown up hearing stories about as she possibly could with her own two eyes.
Taking a deep breath with a light smile, Mila pressed onwards into the meadow, lifting her arms to either side as a breeze swept through the area and blew countless blades of grass across the field. None actually came into contact with her, though—any that would have seemed to flutter away from or around her body, as though pushed back by some slight unseen barrier. The feeling of the wind on her body, fluttering her hair in the breeze behind her, filled her with such a sense of ecstatic freedom she almost felt like just running off into those vast fields and never coming back.
"Having the time of your life as usual, huh Princess?" Mila turned at the call of her long time best friend Falia's steady and controlled-yet-snarky voice, seeing the woman far off to the right next to an Aptonoth's carcass.
She was of average height, had an attractive heart-shaped face and a pleasant expression, and was quite athletically built; the latter came with her job as a field handler. Her hair was shoulder-length, parted slightly to the left to allow more of the black strands to hang over the right of her head, though not quite to the point where it covered either of her bright yellow eyes. She kept the ends of her hair dyed a similar yellow color, convincingly enough that one could be forgiven for believing it grew in like that naturally.
Her attire was built to be sturdy and reliable, perfect for going out on forays into the wild, though not nearly as bulky as anything that properly qualified as hunting armor. Regardless, Mila thought the outfit looked great on her. Falia wore a long olive green jacket over a dark shirt, a blue-patterned white scarf wrapped around her neck and hanging down over her deceptively buxom chest. On her legs she wore dark pants and tall leather boots, matched by the gauntlets on her arms. On her left arm the handler had an Asterian slinger, a newly-introduced device created by hunters in the New World consisting of a large circular metal disk with two folding arms and a retracting slide that resembled a crossbow when deployed, and that contained a grappling line just like Mila's. A belt with a few pouches containing various traps, tools, and ammunition-like 'pods' for the slinger hung around her waist, as did a hunting knife and an oversized four shot revolving pistol that could fire both bullets and flares, the latter much more commonly.
"Hellooo, Sweetheart!" Mila grinned cheerfully, jogging over to where Falia sat crouched, wrapping hunks of raw meat into cloth bundles to store for later. "So, you finally decided to join me after all! Miss me that much?" she purred coyly, earning an eyeroll from her friend.
"Not even a little," Falia smirked bemusedly, though she frowned after a moment, tapping at the device in her ear. Mila wore one similar—useful communication devices for hunters to correspond with one another in the field if they were set to the same frequency, even when separated by a few miles. "I was trying to get into contact with you, but this darn mic keeps breaking on me. Care to explain all the roars and explosions I heard coming from your end?"
"Pfft, you're acting like any of that's new! You know me better than that!"
"And that's exactly the reason I maintain a healthy distance."
"Ah c'mon, do you really expect to make it to the New World with an attitude like that? You've gotta be bold, adventurous! Make some waves!" Mila grinned, sweeping her hand out towards the horizon dramatically, earning an eyeroll from Falia.
"Yeah yeah, I'll get right on that… preferably very far away from the monster nests you so enjoy diving into without a second thought. I don't need to remind you that we have completely different definitions of 'adventurous'."
Mila let out a short laugh, only for the sound of another roar from the path she had just entered the area through to cut her off and draw their attention. Blitz soared down from above, just barely entering the thirty-yard radius of her Awareness when it landed in the field behind them. It was covered with gashes and cuts, its wing membranes were even further torn, and a great number of vines and leaves were still entangled around its body, while some thicker wooden branches were even impaled through its wings or body, and while clearly exhausted, it still looked as furious as ever.
"Oh joy, it followed you home. Getting some Maki vibes here… Gonna name this one too?" Falia asked dryly, taking a couple steps back while priming her slinger. The device snapped open and clicked into firing position, creaking as she loaded a pod onto the track and cranked the catch back.
"Sadly the Guild beat me to it," Mila pouted, turning fully towards the Raging Blitz as it growled furiously at her, attempting a few steps towards her while staggering heavily on its wounded limb after only a couple yards. She was normally content to just let creatures run along after giving them a bit of a thrashing—if she wasn't specifically trying to slay them, that is—but no, this one just had to keep coming after her… she knew Radiance was the likely reason, but she supposed this Tigrex was as stubborn mentally as it was physically.
"Take a hint and beat it, Blitz! I don't wanna kill ya, but that doesn't mean I won't if I gotta!"
The wyvern's reply was an angered yet exhausted screech of defiance, causing air to rush outwards in all directions, pressing the grass flat and making Mila's hair whip up behind her. The huntress simply sighed as she heard a metallic click behind her, swiftly lifting her shield to cover her face as Falia's slinger launched a glass pod with a glowing flashbug inside into the space between them and the Tigrex just as it began to charge. It detonated after a short distance, filling the space with a brilliant flash of blinding light that stopped the Raging Blitz dead in its tracks with a pained, confused howl.
"Raging Blitz, huh?" Falia said as she loaded another pod into the device on her arm, stepping up beside the huntress now that it was more safe to do so. "What do you say, Princess? Feel like smiting this overgrown lizard? There's a pretty nice reward for it."
"We didn't come out here to hunt anything. I just needed the jewel for Corvus' gift," Mila repeated, giving Falia a side eye while the wyvern began swiping at the space around it wildly, rolling halfway across the field to their right in its blinded confusion. "Let's just let the poor thing go. He's had a rough day."
"But… but the zenni. The materials! That beautiful red 'quest complete' stamp in my notebook!"
"Sweetheart, that's a quest we didn't sign up for. Maybe next time, eh?"
"Ugh, you're at least half the reason my record isn't as full as I want it to be… Fine, your way it is. But you owe me, big time."
Mila smirked and lightly smacked Falia's butt, earning a short yip of surprise from her handler, before stepping towards the Raging Blitz as the wyvern tried to shake off the effects of the flash bomb. The huntress gripped Sapphire's red leather-wrapped hilt, pulling the cerulean blade from its place on her hip and twirling it once on either side of her, all before leveling it in front of her, sunlight gleaming off its well-polished, razor-sharp edge.
"Well Blitz? It's showtime!"
Mila darted towards Blitz's left as it turned towards the sound of her voice, taking a wild, poorly aimed sweep of its claws at her. She leapt over the attack before it even came close to hitting her, spiraling through the air and landing with a roll behind the Tigrex's leg. She turned sharply and rushed the wyvern's back, swiping her blade upwards with a leaping slash that carved a line through its rear-left thigh while jumping clear over the creature's body. She turned over in midair, landing squarely on her feet at the base of the Tigrex's neck and stabbing her blade into its shoulder to lodge herself into place. Her blade cut deep in the soft, unplated section of the beast's hide, the latent element contained within further battering the Tigrex with a powerful jet of water that trailed after the huntress' blade.
She lifted her shield arm and slammed the plate into the top of Blitz's head twice, each accompanied by the dull ringing of metal against bone, then pulled her sword from its body and slashed left and right three times, carving shallow gashes into the plates on the back of the beast's head and buffeting it with more water element. Blitz roared in pain before rearing up, an act Mila immediately reacted to by kicking off the Roaring Wyvern's back—not a moment too soon either, as the creature fell backwards in a frenzied attempt to crush her underneath its weight. She hit the ground with a roll and rushed back towards the beast as it recovered.
Clearing the gap in the blink of an eye, Mila launched herself into a swift, beautiful sequence of sharp swings and stabs. Rapidly she slashed up and down, left and right, with the sweeps and strokes of her blade accompanied by flourished twists and spins of her body, accentuated further by long trails of water element. Blood and water sprayed every which way as Mila's assault on the wyvern continued, lining its body with cuts while she evaded its attacks as dexterously as she struck, countering with precision slashes and thrusts or bashes from her shield. The wounded and weary creature just couldn't keep up with her blistering speed, taking frenzied sweeps towards her only for its deadly claws to be met with empty air as she skirted beneath its body or vaulted over its limbs. Even a full body spin failed to hit the huntress when she jumped completely over the strike with a front flip, letting out a triumphant laugh as she dropped, slashing her blade down the side of the beast's neck. With her confident, brazen grin, the huntress leapt back to avoid a retaliatory stomp from the Tigrex, hurling her shield at its face in midair. The blue plate clanged off the creature's skull with a resounding ring, making it wince while the shield flipped back towards the huntress. She then darted forwards again, catching the shield strap around her wrist and delivering a quick jumping slash to the wyvern's jaw. She landed from that and turned sharply, driving her foot up into the beast's chin barely a second later. The combination of blows succeeded in making Blitz rear back a pace and lift its head to avoid another follow up, though the huntress did not press the attack immediately. She instead turned and held her shield up behind her as a luminous blue glow surrounded her body. The Tigrex's eyes met hers for a brief moment, and then—
"Chew on THIS!" Mila shouted, rushing forwards and swinging her shield up with a powerful rising uppercut, planting the metal plate directly into the bottom of the Tigrex's head. There was a slight pause, then a massive shudder as a wave of energy exploded outwardly from the huntress' shield, carrying her high up into the air above Blitz and forcing it to rear back with a shocked howl, tumbling over and rolling nearly two dozen yards back while the huntress dropped back towards the ground and landed in a crouch.
She focused her attention on the Tigrex as it struggled about in place, eventually turning over and getting its legs underneath it. It turned its head towards the huntress to glare at her with its unobscured eye, while Mila simply grinned and rested her blade over her shoulder.
"What's wrong? That all you got?!" she taunted, raising her arm out to the side. "I can keep dancing around you all day, bub!"
Blitz growled lowly at her remark, as if understanding her mocking gestures and tone, scraping at the ground beneath it as if debating to charge her again. Mila rolled her eyes and whistled, hearing Falia's slinger discharge another pod from her hiding place in the tall yellow grass behind Mila not even a moment later. The sword wielder sensed the projectile fling past, clearing the space between huntress and beast, and burst across the Tigrex's face in a brownish cloud, making it screech in shock.
"Way to give 'em the stink eye, Sweetheart!" Mila grinned, quite cheerful that Ward could stave off the stink of the projectile. The pod seemed to have done its job quite well—a massive brown stain covered one of its eyes, and the beast no doubt had its nostrils full of dung. The Tigrex began desperately trying to wipe the stain away by dragging its face along the grass, only to pause and sharply turn its head to the path behind it. Mila cocked her head to the side as the sounds of battle cries reached her ears—the two hunters from before raced into view with weapons hefted over their shoulders, shouting ferociously as they rushed the Raging Blitz.
Blitz pushed off with its forelegs and leapt off to the side before the two could reach it, their weapons slamming into the ground it had stood on just a moment prior. It skidded to a halt and glanced between the two new arrivals and Mila, as well as towards the patch of grass Falia had hidden herself in—whether it actually saw her was uncertain. However, it didn't attempt to attack. It remained there, panting tiredly and sizing up the threats before it. Whatever deliberation it went through must have happened quickly, as the hunters in Basarios and Nerscylla armor hadn't even lifted their weapons fully before it let out one more screech and turned away from the group, racing up another slope into the highlands of the Ancestral Steppe, dripping blood onto the grey stones below all the way. Mila let out a brief sigh of relief as any hostile vibes it gave off towards her and the others vanished from her senses before it left the field of her Awareness.
"Good boy. Now go on back home and rest up, tough guy! Sleep tight, don't let the barrel bombs ignite!" she called after it, giving her weapon a few quick twirls before sliding it back into place on her belt and affectionately patting Sapphire's pommel.
"Aren't you… going to go and… finish it off?" the rock-clad hunter huffed as he thumped his hammer onto the ground and pulled his helmet off to wipe his brow. He had short, spiky brown hair and eyes of a matching hue, as well as a squared face and jawline. "C'mon… we ran all the way down… that mess of a cliff… to help out…!"
"Don't even… get me started on… that mess of vines back there," the Nerscylla armored hunter panted while stabbing his sword into the ground and propping himself up with it, yanking his own helm off and dropping it into the grass beside him. He had slicked forward black hair shaved close to his head on the sides, as well as a pair of cool grey eyes. Unlike his companion, his features were more gradual and smooth.
"Eheh, sorry boys, but that one's free to go," Mila laughed, leaving the two hunters to groan tiredly and sink to the ground in disappointment. "Aww, don't get so down! The fact that you worried about little ol' me enough to come running in like that was sweet! Completely unnecessary and utterly pointless, but sweet!"
"I, uh… you're welcome?" the hammer user said, glancing up at her with a slightly redder tint to his cheeks. He cocked his head to the side in thought, only for his eyes to then widen in realization. "Wait a second… you look just like—is your name Mila? Are you THE Mila? The Untouchable Huntress?!"
"Right on the money! Heard of me, have you?"
"And here we go again…" Falia muttered from a few paces behind the huntress as she went about picking up bloodied scales and claw fragments.
"Who hasn't heard of you?!" the hunter said excitedly, almost forcibly, apparently forgetting all his fatigue as he pushed himself up and began to roughly shake his friend's shoulder. "You see, Deen? SEE?! I knew it! I told you she looked familiar!"
"Easy Sain, easy! I get it, she's some kinda… celebrity or something. No need to tear my pauldron off over it," Deen sighed with a more lackadaisical tone to his voice.
"WHAT. Do you even—! How are you NOT as excited as I am?!"
"Maybe because I don't know her? You know I never care enough to keep up on the news."
"Oh gods, I'm friends with an uncultured Mosswine… Mila's one of the best young hunters in Maglea! C'mon, she was in the exam with Zeke, Alastor, and Lowell five years back—they're the Four Faces! They've been featured in Hunter's Life dozens of times now! There is no possible way you haven't heard about any of them!"
"Ehh… I think my little sister named her pet frog Zeke..."
"Hopeless. You, are utterly, irredeemably, hopelessly hopeless. A-anyways, Mila—can I call you Mila?"
"Of course!" the huntress laughed with a short wave of her hand. "I'm not too picky about what people call me, but the name my Dad gave me is definitely my favorite!"
"Right then, Mila! Could I like… get an autograph or something? This is all just so… wow."
"Hmm… since you're kinda cute, how about I do you one better? Falia and I will be in town for another day or two—find us in Val Habar later and we can all get some drinks!"
"S-seriously?! You think I'm—?! I mean! Ahem! My idiot friend and I would gladly join you two! Our treat, in fact!"
"Oh, suuure, I'm the idiot. Remind me again who it was that forgot his own weapon in his carriage this morning?" the long sword user inquired with a smarmy tone, pushing himself up and giving Sain a sideways glare. The hammer user visibly flinched at his words, then turned and quickly strode over to his friend, waving a shaky finger into the air between them.
"Shhhhhhhut it."
"And you say I'm the hopeless one…" Deen planted a hand on Sain's shoulder and pushed him aside to address Mila and Falia. "We've got a quest of our own to finish up. I presume you're heading back to town now? We'll keep an eye out for you. I'm hoping to hear about that Kushala story you mentioned."
"You betcha, handsome! That's one I never get tired of telling!" Mila grinned, waving at the two as they gathered up their equipment. "Oh, and watch out if you head up the mountain! That Rathian was not a happy camper. That goes double for the Tigrex."
"Considering we're just after some mushrooms, I think we'll steer clear of 'em," Deen nodded before sliding his helmet back on. "See you both back in Val Habar."
"Drinks on me!" Sain called as the two hunters began to make their way towards the opposite end of the field, earning a cheerful laugh from the huntress.
Mila then took a brief moment to check her pouch and make sure she hadn't lost anything during the excitement. Sure enough the bag was still stuffed full with a number of ores, crammed in beside a polishing rag, a whetstone, and a collapsible pickaxe, but most importantly the bloodrun jewel she had gone on the tour to get in the first place was still resting atop the pile of gleaming metals she had mined. She glanced back as Falia strolled on over, carrying a number of bloodied orange and blue Tigrex scales in her hand, as well as a couple fangs and a fragment of a claw.
"I wonder if I'll ever be able to go anywhere with you and not run into another member of the Mila Fanclub," the Handler mused as she slid the scales into her belt pouch. "So, tricked the poor sap into buying us drinks, did you? What a heartbreaker you are, mooching off of these lovesick Slagtoths like you do."
"Mooch is such a strong word…" Mila giggled, wrapping an arm around Falia's shoulder pulling her close with a wicked smirk. "But just think of how easy it'll be to get a free meal out of this too! Imagine baskets of warm, fluffy heaven bread and creamy Kirin butter, plate after plate of steaming dragon head and crispy king truffle! All stacked high as a mountain, with rivers of thick goldenfish brew flowing down the sides!"
"Mmm… I suppose being friends with you does have its advantages…" Falia said, an equally-wicked grin crossing her lips. If there was one thing that could convince her to go along with almost anything, it was food... not that you could tell just by looking at her, considering she wasn't much stockier than Mila. "Must be why I stick around."
"Heehee… You know you love me."
"Something like that."
Mila laughed as Falia freed herself from under her arm, and the two began to make the trek back to base camp. The huntress occasionally stopped to take in her surroundings for just a little while longer, though aside from those infrequent pauses the walk went by rather quick, even despite her taking her time to continue surveying the grounds and chatting lightheartedly with Falia. Through the long field and up a staggered slope of grass occasionally broken by a stone 'step', past a few small herds of Aptonoth that ceased their grazing to watch the pair when they drew near, then onto the dirt path that led under a number of overreaching bridges of red stone. The terrain gradually shifted from grassy to rocky as they continued on along, entering a secluded canyon sheltered from above and around by the walls of red stone. A deep river ran parallel to the path the two walked on, flowing towards the plains from its source somewhere in the alley of crimson rock.
After about twenty minutes the base camp came into view. It wasn't too different from any other camp she'd seen since beginning her apprenticeship seven years prior; a large tent with a bed big enough to hold several people, held up by a metal furnace positioned near the center, a couple blue boxes filled with Guild-provided supplies, another few red crates meant for accounting items the Guild pays hunters to collect and more specific delivery requests, such as eggs, a small dock extending a couple yards over the river, and of course, a campfire pit surrounded by a number of logs to act as seats.
"Think I'm gonna grill up some steak before we make the walk back," Falia said, stepping towards the blue box and procuring a collapsible BBQ spit from within. "Want any? I've got more than enough meat, and I can whip up that honey glaze too."
"Delicious as that sounds, I probably shouldn't. Not all of us are so blessed with the Dente metabolism like you, Sweetheart," Mila chuckled as she settled onto one of the logs and pulled Sapphire from her belt, laying the cerulean blade across her lap and digging into her item pouch.
"Knowing how light you are, you could stand to gain a pound or two," her friend pointed out, carrying the spit over and setting it up over the firepit before dumping some kindling into the pit to ignite and retreating back to the tent for something.
"And risk losing this figure?!" Mila scoffed, dramatically sweeping an arm down her body and outwardly, extravagantly presenting herself towards the handler before snickering and taking out her polishing rag to begin caring for her sword. "That'd be a crime against every living being on the planet!"
"Yes, because I'm so sure the monsters care about how sexy you are. Can't wait to see the looks on everybody's faces back in Ran Fos when a wyvern entourage comes knocking on your door bearing flowers and gifts, looking for autographs and a date," Falia said, stepping out of the tent with a massive tome. The book was filled with papers and notes of all kinds—monster ecology, hunt requests, Guild documents, crafting instructions, recipes, maps with detailed gathering point locations, enough of a mess that Mila decided long ago to not delve too deeply inside, lest she lose her sanity within her dear friend's organizational hell. She settled into her seat on the log, leaning the tome against it before turning her attention to slathering honey on a hunk of Aptonoth meat she pulled from her own pouch.
"It'd definitely liven the place up, that's for sure!" the huntress snickered, lifting the gleaming blue sword before her to admire her reflection on its well-polished side, then giving the blade a quick spin to work on the other side. Falia rolled her eyes before sticking a long metal rod through the Aptonoth meat and setting it between the arms of the spit to cook over the roaring fire below.
"Mmhmm. Real talk though, why didn't you finish Blitz off? That would have looked great on both of our records… and y'know, the Fifth Fleet is only accepting the real best of the best. Soloing a titled monster would go a long way."
"I guess, but like I told you before: I didn't come out here to hunt anything. These things are called harvest tours for a reason! All I needed was the bloodrun jewel to have my brother's gift made. So, a jewel was all I took. Not a creature's life."
"Right, right, 'all things have value'… but still! You already beat the snot out of it. Why just let it run off and get killed by some other big nasty out there, or some lower ranked upstarts? That's just a wasted reward… which isn't even taking the materials into account, and we both know someone who's always in the market for more Tigrex parts."
"Pfft, Bart would just get all mopey about not being here to fight it himself!"
"I think he'd be sadder about not being invited on this little adventure in the first place. The guy's a teddy bear and you know it. A big, cuddly, incredibly jacked teddy bear."
"Heehee, yeah, those arms of his are nice. But no, he's a bit too blabbery for this. It's supposed to be a surprise, remember? That's why you were the only one allowed to come. Not Bart, not Klavier, not Iggy, not Eli, not even Maki—and you know how Maki is."
"And here you had me thinking it was just a girls-only outing. I was wondering why Jyl didn't get an invite either."
"Nah, she's too much of a gossip. As much as I like me some dirty little secrets, I don't really need her blabbing to Corvus. Besides, you're special! BFFs, amirite?"
"Fair enough. But in any case, would it kill you to act a little more hunterly and off a few more monsters for me? It's admirable to have a moral code and all, but it looks good on my record as your handler if we actually clear some requests now and then."
"I already said I would, didn't I? Anything for you, Sweetheart," Mila winked, earning an exasperated sigh from her handler. Mila chuckled and lifted her blade up before her to examine the length—completely polished and freshly sharpened, the blade practically gleamed with new life, drawing a softer, more wistful smile from the huntress.
"Uh oh, she's thinking again. What's on your mind, Princess?"
"Oh nothing," Mila said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts and shooting her friend a cheery smile while returning her sword to its place on her belt. "What do you think about Corvus' promotion?"
"Hmm…" The handler frowned, but dropped it with a sigh, turning her attention back to the steak. "Well, he's definitely proving to be your brother. Twenty-one and already a surveyor? Doesn't happen all that often as far as I know. He's got a good head on his shoulders though. Always has. That's why I think he's earned it. Now if he can just learn to drop the attitude, I'm sure he'll make it far."
"He'll just insist its part of his charm. I do my best with him, but the little bugger just loves to be difficult!"
"Must run in the family," Falia said with a dry smirk, earning a short laugh from the huntress. Her expression hardened after a moment, and Falia's eyes glimmered briefly beofre she lifted the hunk of meat from the flames and into the air above her—it was nice and juicy, a delicious golden hue that glistened in the light whilst sweet, flavorful steam rolled off its sides. "SO tasty! ...Ahem."
"I never get tired of watching you do that," Mila smirked while Falia's cheeks became tinted with the soft red of embarrassment. The handler set the steak down on the plate beside her and quickly set about cutting into it with a knife and fork.
"ANYWAYS, I just hope he doesn't get too in over his head. He's smart, but… well…"
"I know, I know, he's the kind of person that digs his nose too deep where it doesn't belong. But that's part of what makes him so good at it!"
"I suppose you have a point, but if he doesn't learn to be prudent he'll end up biting off more than he can chew," the handler said, plucking a piece of meat from the plate to eat. "Ran Fos might not be the most wretched hive of scum and villainy out there, but that doesn't mean the area doesn't have its share of dangers. There's a good reason some think the area a frightful place to live."
"Pfft! Buncha woosies if you ask me," Mila said with a roll of her eyes, untying her forehead protector and letting her hair loose, quickly puffing her lower hanging bangs to the left of her nose. "So there's a crazy serial killer or two running around. That happens all over the place."
"Only difference being this one's been around the block for hundreds of years. Most usually have enough after one lifetime, not ten."
"Eh… okay, I guess that's fair. Your dad already has someone working on that case though, right?"
"Yeah, and in all fairness the incidents haven't been happening for a few years now… I'm probably just overreacting. Not that it isn't warranted, considering who I spend most of my time around," she remarked, pointedly jabbing a piece of steak on the end of her fork towards Mila.
"Hey, for the record? Most people would kill to have the position you have, Sweetheart," the huntress said coyly, pushing herself up and leaning over towards her friend with a sly smirk. "Especially considering that one time when we—"
"That does not—! Q-quiet, you!" Falia stuttered, her cheeks blushing a fiery red as she leaned away from Mila. In her momentarily distracted state, however, the handler made the devastating mistake of leaving her most precious place unprotected, and in that brief moment Mila made her move. Her head shot downwards… and she bit the remaining chunk of honey-glazed meat off the end of Falia's fork, earning a startled cry from her handler as she pulled her head back with an amused smirk and chewed the juicy morsel. Falia took a brief moment to stare in wide-eyed horror at the now-empty end of her utensil.
"NOOO! My poor steak! Agh, I can practically hear it screaming… Why would you do that?! I thought you didn't want any!"
"Mm mmm! You sure do know how to cook 'em right! That is good!" the huntress laughed, wiping a small dribble of honey from her chin."Never said I didn't want any, just that I probably shouldn't. Emphasis on the 'probably'."
"Ugh, why are we friends again…"
"Because, I'm awesome, and you're just so darn cute! We're basically the coolest tag team ever. Now eat up, Sweetheart! We've got a long walk back to Val Habar ahead of us!"
"Wait, we're walking?" Falia inquired, looking up at the huntress with a raised eyebrow. "Why? We had the Felyne taxi wheel us out here before."
"Yeah, but that's just so boring."
"You being bored means my legs are spared from unnecessary aching—and before you ask, no, I do not want another massage from you! Things are still tingling that I'm pretty sure should not be tingling."
"Heheh, alright, alright. You ride in the cart, and I'll walk alongside! Promise not to leave you in the dust!"
"I'd certainly hope not."
Author Notes: Please review! I hope you liked this chapter about a strong female character.
Hello faithful readers, both new and old! I hope you enjoyed the first action-packed chapter of my newest story, Heritors of Hereafter! I've been looking forward to writing this one for a very long time... as far back as chapter 30 of The Master Corps, I believe. It originally started out as a short DLC story that quickly spiraled into its own multi-part tale. While this story is technically a sequel to TMC, I'm making an effort to have Heritors be its own standalone work. So, if you've read my previous works it'll be helpful, but if you haven't or don't really want to, no sweat! Heritors will be a four-book series, though I plan to keep each book substantially shorter than the likes of The Master Corps. That's as much for your sake as my own.
This is actually the first long story I've ever begun with a hunting scene rather than a simple meet and greet for the characters... but I felt nothing else quite worked for Mila! I'll be honest, she's a big part of the reason why I've been so excited to write this story simply because she is fun to write. What did you think of her, faithful reader? Or Falia, for that matter?
It might surprise you to learn that Mila shares the main character role with someone else who we'll be seeing next chapter! ...though the cover art may have already clued you in on that. And speaking of cover art, shout out to Ming for the fantastic artwork of my characters! I'll include a link so that you can see the artwork of Mila closer, faithful reader! Just replace each /dot/ with a period and it should work fine.
drive /dot/ google /dot/ com/open?id=1LTH4woRbGN9sPf_fE3vjyune6zitpwK1
What I really wanted to do with Heritors was take a step away from the third gen games all of my other stories have been set in so far, so in a symbolic way a Tigrex encounter on the Ancestral Steppe seemed appropriate. I mean, who doesn't remember 4 Ultimate's intro? That being said, the 4th gen is a bit behind nowadays, so I'm going to be incorporating some elements from World into my story too! Mila and Falia are both packing grappling lines and Falia's got a slinger, but my personal favorite here is turf wars. I was pretty proud of the Rathian/Tigrex fight here, so let me know what you thought of it! Did you like it, dislike it, did you think anything could use clearer explanation... have any suggestions for fights you may want to see later?
Oh, and for those of you who played Monster Hunter Stories, the idea for naming monsters comes from that game. I like the idea of doing so since it lets me give a little extra character to the monsters themselves, which I think I've failed to do in the past. So, Heritors is going to be something of an amalgamation of 3U, 4U, Generations, Stories, and World. A little something for everyone!
Another new thing I'm doing with this story is voices. I figured it may help to picture the characters better if you know what they sound like, so I've been using actual voice actors as reference for each main character. Admittedly I get a lot of these voices from Fire Emblem Heroes due to how accessible the voice clips are and how varied the VAs are, but it also helps to put a character to the voice. For Mila, I imagine her voice as Cherami Leigh's, the VA who does Caeda and Mae, while Falia's is Nicole Balick, the voice of female Morgan.
But, one thing shall also remain from the previous stories, and that's a kickass soundtrack! Listening to music really helps me set the pace for action scenes so perhaps it'll enhance the reading experience for you! Mila's theme is Wanderlust by Nightwish, while the Tigrex chase/fight scene uses an instrumental cover of Nightwish's Over the Hills & Far Away, which youtube user Mes longs cheveux has on their channel. Expect a lot of Nightwish or Nightwish covers for scenes involving Mila. They're pretty much her hype band.
So, let's talk games. World is still as amazing as I was hoping it would be, though I'm looking forward to an update that adds a new area and several new monsters instead of just a single elder dragon every couple months and then arch tempered versions. Here's hoping for a Tundra region... and Barioth. Please let Barioth come back. Sure, he'll be in Generations Ultimate (which I'm totally getting, even if I'm not terribly hyped for it) but I want to see him in the new engine in all his glory. I'm also pretty excited for Smash Bros. Ultimate, but I think the real show-stealer is Devil May Cry 5. Ten years. Ten years I've been waiting for a proper sequel to DMC4... I have high hopes.
And that about does it! Please leave a review telling me how I did, or shoot over a PM if you'd like! I'm always happy to see feedback. Expect the next chapter in a couple weeks! Have a good one!