A short little ditty to christen my monster hunter montage. Centered in the new world from the perspective of a certain hunter.
The guild isn't a stranger to poaching obviously, sometimes they've had to intervene on behalf of the ecosystem. But what happens when they're not the only ones keeping hunters from doing what they do best? The fifth fleets own azure star will find out first hand that the guild knights aren't the only ones keeping the peace at times. They'll also realize that sometimes the ultimate monster, is merely a man with enough conviction.
Endevor.
Ch1. Prepping for the hunt.
He hated them sometimes, the newcomers. Strangers in this place meant one of two things. Either they were here as fodder for the commissions endless research or they were here to oversee the construction of something else to learn. So it was no surprise he slumped into his seat as the handler went on about a strange stowaway the argosy had dragged back.
"You won't believe this guy. Says he's a hunter but he isn't registered in the guild. Not to mention he turned down the commanders offer for safe sanction. I don't know if he realizes how dangerous this place can be! Is he crazy?!" She just wouldn't shut up, something he'd prided himself for tolerating over the course of the last two years. No he didn't hate her per say but her prattling made it hard to concentrate. Something he desperately needed to do in order to correct the firing coil In his slinger. So after a few moments of prattle he grabbed the closest article of food 'a random fruit he still didn't know the name of' and plopped it into her mouth.
"Geez... eat something will ya and breath." He grumbled continuing to tinker with the broken tool on his arm. Surprisingly effective as it was for switching the topic apparently it wasn't an adequate method of silencing the girl.
"Oh wow this is great!" Her enthusiasm was sometimes infectious but for now he was more annoyed "anyway, seriously pard, we should look into this, if that guy just runs out there unprepared he could get chomped on! And old pickle jho is bound to still be skulking about. We heard the last team had to be carted back to base. This ones particularly nasty."
"Which is why I'm trying to gear up mind you," He sighed as he relinquished his sword. "Coulda brought the ignition blade sure, but this kinda job needs more finesse." Whet stone in hand he commenced to sharpening his blade as the overly talkative handler went about sifting through the gear he'd accumulated,
"You know you should sell off a few of these weapons. I mean you don't need them all right?" She scoffed nonchalantly as she tossed him the shield counterpart to his weapon. "Anyway, so what do you make of this fellow?"
"Don't know don't care. He's probably just another researcher trying to act tough. Remember the biologists? Every one of them get into trouble on a daily due to getting too comfortable. How about the endemic wildlife researcher hmm? She's always in over her head that's why they gave her a ghillie? The only way they're not gonna end up monster food is if we cull the heard. So that's what we do. We hunt monsters, the rest just do what they do." He sighed finally managing to get the many various straps and plates on his armor back into place. He hated the way some of it was bulky and others weren't but that was the price for good gear, and Rathalos plates weren't easy to meld. "Finally. Really hope this holds up better than the pukei armor did. Not gonna lie I'm kinda not a fan of the potions."
"Wow as frequent as you guys chug those things I thought they would've been tasty," had she not ever tried one? Odd that. "But that aside I think you'll be fine. The second fleet masters been cranking out some serious forge Time lately but he's still on his game. So it should hold up."
"Against a devil jho? Now that's some wishful thinking. Grab some traps. We're gonna need them." Sometimes he just wanted to kick back, grab a flagon and ask himself why he even did this job... then she bent over. Suddenly he found himself raking eyes into territory he'd never admit and he forgot what he was even thinking about for a moment.
"Mewoster. You're purrrrusing the view a bit too hard." His trusty Palico knew only two things at times it seemed. One being how to quickly get his attention, the other being his inept ability to be as inconvenient as possible. Both showed now as he had a random bowl bounced off his helmet.
"D-damnit E.J." Shocked into a state of awareness and now a flustered panicked mess he snapped himself back to the hunt. "Alright alright! Hold your fruit!" He ducked as the rather persistent felyne readied a coconut as his next projectile.
"Here we are. Shock traps, and a few pit falls. Really gotta wonder how they make those tools." The ever cheerful girl chimed as she tossed him the odd contraptions in question.
"Ahem trade secret." His face nearly matched the red of his armor now but he kept a decent poker face.
"Wow pard, are you sure you're okay? You're face is all red... are you gonna hurl?" She was either really good at lying or completely oblivious one. "you should try to eat something"
"G-good idea." He normally hated her oblivious nature but for now he'd let it pass as he trudged to the canteens main table hoping a stiff drink and a hearty meal would put him back into the fray quickly. "Sup chef."
"Hey scrawny! Ready to go flex on that over sized pickle? That's what I thought! Get you some gains!" He had to give the over zealous cat some credit he was amusing. Though even through watching the canteen felyne's unusual cooking routines he couldn't shake the prior question his partner had brought up. Sure newcomers were rare, but they weren't unheard of. But the fact that this one came from the old world under the guise of being part of the guild was unsettling. Even more so the apparent lack of concern they had for their own safety as they were offered sanctuary and refused. Rumors or not this seemed to give him a bad feeling in his gut. And much like his partner he'd learned to trust that gut if his very closely.
