This is the sequel to my previous fanfic, A Tale of Two. Lots of goodies in store, concepts to include, and a whole wide world to explore!
Just to reiterate, in case someone didn't read the end review in Tales of Two, chapter 27 (final chapter), this story will be entirely in the universe of the game Monster Hunter, while using references and people from both God Eater Burst and Monster Hunter.
Enjoy~
"Arashi, we have a bit of a problem. Come to the cockpit, on the double." The pilot's voice sounded in Arashi's earpiece.
The God Arcs were acting up on the trip; the weapon switch function still worked, but neither the Devour function nor the communication function worked. Therefore, to maintain contact with one another, each God Eater had been assigned an emergency headset for communications.
"Alright, I'm on my way," Arashi responded quietly, standing up from his previous position next to an armored viewport. He had been staring outside into the vastness of space, reflecting over the events that happened before now.
According to what he knew: Kama, a good friend he once trusted, Kinaia, a girl who had fought tooth and nail, and Lindow, the old unit leader, were all connected by artificial means due to choices made by Fenrir.
Fenrir had created the first artificial Aragami -and every species thereafter– by using the DNA of Nova, destroyer of worlds and the only true Aragami, and splicing it into humans to synthesize a core for the then-inert Nova.
After decades of trial and error, thousands of sacrifices made in their quest for power, Fenrir managed to create three fragments that could resonate with each other to forge a complete core.
As Arashi walked past the dozens of exhausted and depressed God Eaters, most of which he didn't know personally, he thought to himself: Was it worth it, Fenrir? Was this what you wanted?
The three pieces had rebelled against Fenrir, whether by coercion or force, and formed Nova's core by themselves to destroy the surface of Terra and eradicate all traces of human life.
Arashi's homeworld was now a blackened, scorched wasteland that could probably never support life again. His last sight of his beloved world was of it going up in flames, and he knew exactly who caused it to happen.
He climbed up the compartment stairs, heading up a few floors in the space shuttle, and continued thinking on what happened.
Before he left the planet, he overheard – and confirmed – Kinaia, Kama, and Lindow plotting to recreate the world in the image of what Nova wanted. Lindow was captured and forced to cooperate, but Kama was completely eager to destroy everything he had worked so hard to preserve.
Arashi was sickened, but also saddened by the loss. He never really knew Lindow personally, and Kinaia had always been a loose cannon, but he knew Kama, like a brother. Trusted Kama with his life, even.
To see him so prepared to kill everyone and destroy everything, all in the name of revenge . . . the maddened glint in his eye as Arashi pinned him against the wall in a moment of rage, hoping to see some shadow of the former Kama in his eyes . . .
It made him hate Fenrir with the same intensity as Kinaia and Kama. The difference between them and him was he wasn't about to condemn everyone he knew to exact his revenge. As it was, Fenrir is finished.
Every survivor was younger than 35 years old, except for Sakaki. . . but Arashi couldn't trust him as far as he could throw him. His generation, as well as the one before, were the only survivors of this tragic disaster caused by mankind.
They were all Terran survivors, now. Fenrir is dead, just as Kama wanted.
Just as Nova wanted, Arashi added mentally, scoffing at such blind loyalty to a god infamously known for causing death and destruction.
He reached the cockpit without any difficulties, his inner thoughts having flown by quickly as he walked. As he entered the tiny room, surrounded by consoles and dials of various uses, the pilot was seemingly flailing his arms around as he twisted knobs and flicked switches in various positions around him, his main focus on a small cluster of beeping devices and several dials that dropped and increased randomly even as Arashi entered.
"Thank goodness you're here. I didn't want to raise a panic, but we're going to have a problem very, very shortly," the pilot muttered. He was sweating, having given up on trying to stop the noises and leaning back in his seat.
Arashi leaned over his chair, asking "What's the problem, and why are those dials sounding like that?" with a bit of nervousness in his voice.
"Those dials, and what they represent, are the problem. They control the ship's shields, the landing gear, and the integrity of the ship's hull. Since we were one of the last shuttles out, we were among the shuttles that were hit by the shockwave of Nova's awakening. Our primary and secondary shields were knocked out almost instantly," the pilot told him.
He pointed to a gauge and said "See the dropping numbers?" Arashi leaned over his shoulder and saw the number steadily dropping from 3000. By the time he looked back to the pilot, it was already 2950 and dropping quickly. Arashi muttered "I'm not going to like this . . . am I?"
The pilot shook his head, telling him "That gauge is the integrity of the ship's hull. Since we lost the shields from the shockwave, we are flying through space with nothing protecting our ship from debris and radiation rays. If that gauge drops below 500 and we're still in space . . . there will be a very high chance of our armor getting holed. It'll kill everyone aboard from explosive decompression."
As Arashi began to sweat, glancing back at the gauge and seeing 2700, the pilot pointed to a lever above the console. A red light with an orange exclamation mark inside it was flashing on and off. He continued "And the lever? That's the landing gear. The red light is indicating that, for whatever reason, we won't be able to land properly. That means we'll have to crash land on the planet we're going to. If we can't find a lake, maybe a huge plateau of snow . . . We'll be pounded into pulp on atmospheric re-entry."
Arashi quietly asked "What are the chances of finding a snowy plateau?" The pilot glanced at Arashi, grimly serious as he told him "There are very few snowy regions on Gaia, our destination. To my knowledge," he glanced at a virtual map of the now-visible planet approaching on the viewport, "There is only one snowy region around our incoming trajectory, and it's narrow. We'll only get one shot."
Arashi breathed deeply, calming himself to keep the pilot from getting more scared, and placed his hand on the man's shoulder to say "Then get it the first time. I have full confidence in your abilities." The pilot gulped, calming down as well, and pushed a button on the console. A pair of old-Terra joysticks rose out of a small hatch, complete with buttons on the tips of the sticks.
He gripped them both, focusing as they reached the planet's atmosphere. The hull integrity was at 800 now, so they really did only have one shot. The pilot told him "I need to focus entirely on the manual landing. Grab that intercom over there and alert the crew; this is going to be a bumpy ride."
Arashi grabbed the microphone hooked onto the wall and flicked it on, announcing "This is God Eater Arashi Muramasa, alerting the entire ship to buckle in and prepare for a rough landing. Repeat, this will be a rough landing, so sit down and strap yourselves in."
He placed the microphone back on the wall after turning it off, almost instantly hearing Soma in his communicator asking "What's the situation?" Arashi had almost forgotten; along with him being one of the last few, he had also boarded with Soma, Kanon, and Sakuya.
Sakuya was still sleeping, Kanon was in the infirmary helping wounded civilians, and Soma had been resting in his bunk, awake and alert.
Arashi quietly told him "Don't let it spread, but the landing gear malfunctioned and the ship's hull is about as thin as a few layers of aluminum foil. If we miss our target, we won't live long enough to regret it."
Soma was silent, quietly muttering "Roger. Regardless of what happens, it's been nice knowing you, Arashi." Arashi told him "You too, Soma. Let's both defy the odds again and get through this. The survivors need a leader," he watched as the ship, now coated in fire and dropping like a rock toward a mountain, "and we're the only ones on this ship that can fill those shoes."
The pilot yelled "Brace for impact!" as the mountains almost filled the viewport. Arashi pulled the pilot to safety, unintentionally making the pilot yank roughly on the joysticks as he pulled him into the room behind them . . .
Ketsu enjoyed the mountains near his village, feeling the breeze on his face as he hunted for Popo's on the Astral Cliffs near his home.
The meat from a small herd of those fat beasts would feed his village for almost a full week, possibly more. Plus, the hide and tongues could be sold to Minegarde for a decent price.
His brown hair, braided to reach his lower back in a Warrior's Tail, was covered by the reinforced skull of a Giadrome. The bones that belonged to the ice-based carnivore would be naturally strengthened against the cold weather of the mountains, and the bones of random beasts were all mixed and combined into the armor he now wore.
It was basic armor, but it was decent for a novice hunter like himself. His weapons were odd, and he was frequently teased for his choice; He used an Ivory Horn, the melody useful for him. The heavy horn resembled a smooth shell, and it was easy to forge.
Adapting to the current trend that Gaians recently adopted, he also carried a second, lighter weapon: a beginner's bow. It was nothing special; scales from a Giadrome covering a flexible willow branch. It was short enough to not trip him while he had his horn out, but flexible enough to provide maximum range.
He walked along the mountain paths he had grown accustomed to, wishing he were able to travel to the famous – or infamous, if you were a supply caravan or a novice hunter – mountain ranges of Pokke Village.
Sadly, he was born in the poverty-striken Kokoto village, able to hunt at a time when the supply caravans were unable to deliver much-needed supplies to his people.
A mix of bandit raids and Rathalos raids repeatedly destroyed every caravan sent to Kokoto, and the foods and materials were either crushed or stolen, depending on which enemy attacked the caravans.
He would continue to hunt for meat, honing his skills while keeping his people alive, and get strong enough to kill anything that would attempt to kill the people of Kokoto.
He stopped thinking, reflexively crouching as he heard the hollow steps of a Popo. He lay down in the snow, camouflaged slightly by his bleached Bone Armor, and slowly crawled forward past the small ridge to see a group of Popo.
There were ten of them, all adults and large, covered with fatty meat that would feed his village. He grinned with victory; this would be an easy hunt, and it would further his reputation in the Hunter's Guild.
He crouched, unlatching his bow from his back and pulling an arrow out of the quiver. Just as he was about to take aim at the fattest of them, the largest one stopped suddenly; it raised its head to face the mountainside, alarm evident in its stance.
It bleated to the herd, causing them all to run faster, and Ketsu cursed his bad luck as he dashed forward, bow in hand and an arrow on the string.
He shot one of them, the arrow piercing its hide as he loaded two more arrows at once to finish it off. By the time the extra arrows pierced the large Popo's skull, the others had fled the area.
Ketsu swore out loud as he carved the Popo, thinking he made a mistake. This failed hunt would probably cause some people to go hungry tonight, to his dismay.
He stopped suddenly, his ears pricked as he noticed the ambient noise - or lack thereof.
He grabbed the extra bag of Popo meat, having carved off most of the meat, and stood to circle the general area as he held his bow, an arrow on the notch.
He was nervous; there were no sounds from the hidden animals on the mountain top. Scuffling claws could always be heard – animals burrowing under the snow – unless there was one of two things to scare them into stillness.
The first reason was that a large predator was around, like a Blangonga or, heaven forbid, a Tigrex.
The second reason was if a natural disaster was approaching, noticed by the animals as they took shelter from impending destruction and probable death.
As Ketsu concentrated, trying to find the source of his unease, he heard an unusual sound; a whistling, as well as something similar to the flames that billowed from his village's metalsmith hut.
He looked up, hoping that it wasn't a Rathian or Rathalos, but stopped dead at the unbelieveable sight.
Some kind of enormous object was falling from the sky . . . coming right at him!
Ketsu ducked into a nearby crevice in the mountain, holding his horn above his head for an extra little bit of protection while watching the falling chunks of flames as small pieces broke off to rain down on the surrounding area. It looked like an oval-shaped chunk of metal; unusual, though not unheard of around the Schradian region. Certainly not anytime in Ketsu's lifetime.
It clipped the tip of the mountain, a large chunk from the left side breaking off and crashing in the snow near him as the meteor spiraled out of control into the Astral Canyons below. Debris from the mountain itself, mixed with more chunks of burning metal, started raining down. Miraculously, Ketsu was untouched, and he watched the falling object like one watches a forest fire.
It landed in the canyon, melting the snow instantly as the large object scraped along the sides of the canyon walls, a loud torturous screech causing the mountain to reverberate.
When the crashed meteor stopped sliding through the canyon, Ketsu stood from his hiding spot and examined the odd piece of . . . whatever that had cracked off of the object and landed in the snow. All around it, the snow had melted and cooled the fragment.
Ketsu saw that it was a large piece of metal, but he couldn't tell what type of metal. It looked like iron, perhaps steel, but it was pockmarked and unidentifiable, covered with holes and scorch marks.
He turned back to the meteor, now recognizing the object as an airship of some kind, badly damaged and resting on the plateau just past the canyon.
He ran to the side of the cliff, sliding down the snowy cliff side and taking the shortcuts he discovered to travel downward. That looks like it was trying to turn this way, so there might be people in trouble!
He reached the base of the mountain, racing along the canyon and seeing the trail of destruction. More pieces of metal had come off, and what looked like . . . an engine? It was more mechanized than the ones he had seen on the transport airships that delivered emergency livestock and rations to his people.
He reached the end of the canyon, sighting the large gouge in the earth from where the airship had carved a trail through the frozen ground. The canyon lowered downward in a steep slope to even out with the ground, leading to a wide area.
As he got closer, he heard a loud noise, like the hammers that the weaponsmith uses to straighten out weapons just out of the furnace.
He stopped, arming his bow with an arrow but not readying it – there could be bandits on the airship, after all – as the loud clang repeated with a louder clanging sound. He saw what looked like a segment of the hull dent outward, like something blunt hit it from the inside.
One more hit and the hull segment caved outward, a foot thrusting through the hull as the large chunk of metal came off of its hinges to crash onto the ground below. Smoke poured out of the new hole in the ship, rising like there was a bonfire directly inside.
A boy, probably not much older than Ketsu himself, stuck his head out of the impromptu doorway. His face was bleeding from a cut on his forehead as he leaned outward and scanned the landscape.
He had short brown hair, though dirty and bloodied as of now. He wore strange clothes; a black shirt, covered by metal armor at the shoulders. Black pants made of an unknown material, also covered by metal at the knees.
Ketsu, having run parallel to the airship, was out of his sight for now. As Ketsu observed, the person jumped down to the ground from the hole in the hull; it was easily a ten foot drop that looked lethal for his condition, and yet Ketsu watched in amazement as he landed perfectly on his feet, not even grunting in pain.
Ketsu continued to watch as a second, scarier person jumped out similarly like the first. He wore a torn blue coat that looked too large for him, tan pants that had a lot of pockets in them, and his snow white hair was dirty and bloodstained. His torso was wrapped by a bloody bandage, and he stumbled upon landing.
Ketsu also noticed – with rising dread – that they had unknown weapons on their backs; One had a black crystal blade, made of Akura Vashimu materials, while the other had an unknown black blade similar to the handsaws that the adults used for construction. The teeth on it, though, were bloodied and broken, as though it had gone a long time without being repaired.
They looked suspicious as they gazed around the landscape, seeming like they were looking for something in particular. Maybe they really are bandits! Or maybe corrupt hunters, looking to stash a poached monster somewhere until they can sell it on the black market!
Ketsu, having assumed that they were hostile, notched an arrow into his bow and took aim at the first boy, who started moving away from the ship . . .
Arashi landed with a slight grunt, his leg sore from kicking the door outward. He coughed as the smoke cleared from his lungs, allowing him some air. The crash landing had been rough, certainly, but only three people had died because they ignored his directions to fasten themselves down.
Damn fools . . . Arashi inwardly cursed. Three dead was bad enough normally, but it was absolutely unacceptable with how few survivors were left from Terra.
He looked around the landscape, seeing the ground covered in melting snow from the landing. He turned around, grimacing at the totaled shuttle. It certainly wouldn't be flying ever again.
On his communicator, he reported "Soma, The landscape is clear of anything hostile. C'mon down, but mind the fall." He watched Soma brace himself, one hand gripping the side of the hull as his other arm clutched his injured stomach, and jumped into the biggest clump of snow he could find. He stumbled, his wounds opening up again, and Arashi caught him before he fell backwards.
"C'mon, let's get you some rest. I'm sure we can find some herbs, or something useful in this area," Arashi told him. Soma nodded, gritting his teeth as he stood despite the pain. Same old stubborn Soma, Arashi thought to himself.
He walked a few steps toward the partially-grassy area nearby before something in his head told him to step backward immediately!
He obeyed the instinct, jumping backward and watching a large arrow, almost as thick as a spear, sail past his head and embed itself into the ground next to him.
He quickly twisted, pulling out his blade and engaging the shield as another arrow sailed toward him. It reflected off of the shield, the arrow unable to pierce the armor as it bounced away to land in the snowy grass. Arashi called out "Who's there? Show yourself!"
A boy, perhaps 16 or 17 years old, stepped out from behind a crack in the canyon they had just navigated the shuttle through, only stepping partially into view with an antique bow in his grip. Arashi saw an arrow loaded and pulled tight as it was aimed at him.
"Bandits are not welcome in Kokoto's territory. Get back to your group and go away," the boy said with authority, his left eye half-closed as he zeroed in on Arashi.
He wore odd armor; it looked like the bones of various monsters had all been forged into clothes. He wore a skull with a light-blue fin on his head, a brown braid reaching down to his waist with a few feathers tied to the tip.
Arashi disengaged his shield, but kept his sword up and ready as he said "We are not bandits; we've been chased from our home by our enemies, and we crashed here."
The boy pulled his string tighter, yelling "Prove it! Show me why I shouldn't believe you aren't going to steal our food yet again!" Arashi was confused; steal his food again? What was he talking about? Soma walked up with his blade at the ready, hearing the unknown boy's yell.
Suddenly, two other unknown people – an adult male and a teenage female, from the sound of the voices – were nearby, yelling "Ketsu! Ketsu, where are you?!" The boy glanced backward, startled, and Soma made his move.
He dashed forward, using his superior speed and strength to high-kick the boy's bow out of his hands and twisting off of that to backhand the boy with a closed fist, pushing him to the ground.
The boy, who Arashi assumed was named Ketsu, showed impressive reflexes as well, pulling what looked like a massive shell from his back within seconds and smacked Soma's body away as he lunged again, lifting himself on one knee and positioning the horn similarly to how a God Eater held his blade.
Attracted by the noise, the two others ran toward the fighting teens, yelling "Ketsu! Are you alright?" The girl dashed over to the boy while the adult stood in front of Soma, guarding the two teens.
He wore odd blue armor that looked intimidating in a cold way. The joints, arms, and legs were lined with blades, while the chest had two ridges on each side of his body. He wore a bladed helmet, obscuring his face from view.
He held out a massive blade – a huge bone similar to a lower jaw, almost as large as Soma's weapon - as well as having what looked similar to an Ibaraki bow on his back.
"State your business and why you attacked my son, or I shall cut you down with no mercy," he demanded, steel in his voice.
Arashi lowered his weapon, saying "Soma. Lower the sword, we aren't trying to fight right now. I'll explain it to them."
As Soma lowered his blade, Arashi put his own weapon on his back and walked forward slowly, keeping his hands visible, not making sudden movements as he calmly told him "Me, my comrade, and the people of our homeland were invaded by creatures and forced to flee. We crashed near a mountain in that direction," he pointed to the distant mountain, and then toward the damaged shuttle.
"We were attacked without warning by your son, who accused us of being bandits. We are the only survivors we know of from our . . . home, and we have wounded inside the shuttle. We were trying to find some herbs, antidotes, poppies, anything to help those of us that need help as quickly as possible," Arashi continued, seeing the man's posture relax into a half-ready stance, but willing to lower his weapon. The man turned to the boy, who looked guilty, and asked in a stern voice "Is this true, Ketsu?"
He kept his head lowered, saying "Yes, father. I assumed they were more bandits that came to steal from us, and I attacked without making sure." He sounded regretful, and Arashi sighed with relief when he realized there wouldn't be a fight after all.
His boy's father glared at him, telling him "We'll talk about this later. For now, return to the village; when your sister and I left to search for you, the others were holding off a few Rathalos that were trying to raid our livestock. With this distraction that you caused, they have likely already taken what they wanted and left by now," he sighed forlornly, gesturing for his son to follow him.
The man, who took off his helmet to reveal golden eyes, brown hair that was slicked back into spikes, and scars across his face, told Arashi and Soma "We would help if we could, but right now we have problems of our own. It would be best if you searched elsewhere."
A roar echoed in the air, loud and ferocious, and the man's back stiffened. He turned to the boy and girl, ordering "Alara, Ketsu, get to safety, now. Stay hidden until I say otherwise; they're coming our way."
He turned back, holding his blade in a fighting stance with the large weapon held horizontally in front of him as the roar repeated, louder and monstrous and much, much closer.
Arashi glanced upward toward the source to see a very unwelcome sight: What looked like a dragon was gliding downward, red and menacing with smoke billowing from its mouth.
Its head was lined with red spikes, it walked on two legs with the same red spikes lining the feet and limbs, and it had two massive wings that were spread wide in an intimidating pose.
All along its back, more red spikes angled backward, and it even had a tail that swished side to side, lined with red spikes and protruding, lined with white spikes.
The red dragon-like being scuffed it's feet backward, like it was preparing to charge, and it growled deeply before raising its head in a mighty roar.
The unknown man spoke to Arashi and Soma "If you want to run, I won't blame you. This Rathalos and its flock has been causing trouble for the supply caravans for over a month now. Our village is starving because of these wyverns. I guess it got tired of waiting and attacked us."
Still facing the monster, he declared with a growl in his voice "This creature, as well as its children, stole my apprentice's life, starved my village of food, and killed many of our young hunters in their quests to kill it. I'm not leaving until either I kill it, or it kills me."
Yelling a battle cry, he charged in to meet the dragon he called a Rathalos, his blade slowing him down but fury in his eyes lending him strength.
The Rathalos roared, accepting the challenge, and charged in like a bull, its maw wide open and teeth shining with deadly promise . . .
A/N: I'd say this is pretty good for an introduction, don't you? Certainly introduces something worth reading right away, compared to Tales of Two.
I think my readers know by now that I have no idea what the meaning of "Building up the story first" means. xD
So, it's official: The sequel to Tales of Two is up, and the creativity furnace is burning on overdrive.
New A/N: Revised and edited. I'm back, baby. For however long that stands remains to be seen, but I did promise to finish this story..!
Cheers~