Monster Hunters, people who willingly gave up their lives to fight the terrors of nature. They cross great deserts by dragon ship and thick jungles by foot and sail the wide oceans that cover the world in order to protect people from dangerous animals. With the use of amazing weaponry and armor with the help of loyal palicos monster hunters are a new kind of warrior sent out to fight the army of nature. Seen by some as saviors and heroes and by others seen as low life scum who have a death wish or are just plain greedy. But when a monster shows its face in any town people of both views are happy to see a hunter take down threats. That is where this story begins, with a young girl who has a dream, a dream to hunt for others. But due to the nature of the beast has thus far been unable to, for her mother sees hunters as a blight among civilized people.
"Ryu!" A mother called from the door of the house to her daughter. "Come wash up, it's time for supper!"
"Coming mother!" Ryu called back as she took one last glance at the sight she had from their home on the hill. On the east side the cliff overlooked the nearby forest and in the distance the young girl could see the Great Desert; to the west she could see the piers and a vast ocean where merchant ships would unload. The piers were always so boring and uninviting to her, but Ryu did love going down to the east side of her town where the dragon ships docked and the hunters gathered to trade monster parts and tales of the hunt. "Ryu! Come wash up now!" her mother yelled impatiently from the door. Ryu turned away from the view she loved most and walked up to her home.
When she arrived food was set out on the table and Ryu's father and older brother had just gotten back from the shipyard. Her father was a boat builder who crafted fine ships for merchants and hunters, her brother was his helper as was Ryu's future job. She however had other plans, to become a monster hunter and travel far and wide and see the sights as she fights to protect people. Ryu sat down with her family as her oldest sibling, her sister Mabel, joined them. "So how is the ship coming along father?" Mabel asked as they started eating.
"Very well actually, those hunters came by today to check on the progress and are very pleased." he said after he took a drink. Ryu's mother, Korell, rolled her eyes at the mention of the hunters.
"Hunting monsters is no way to make a living." Korell's words echoed in Ryu's head, her mother's hatred for hunters made the mother and daughter not see eye-to-eye and they would often fight about it saying how "ladies should not be hunters" or "hunting is an ignorant choice and a waste of talent."
Ryu's brother looked at her and narrowed his eyes, "Hey Ryu, what were you doing down at the pier?"
Korell stood up and glared at her youngest child "You were WHERE?"
"Maki you snitch!" Ryu yelled at her brother just as Korell grabbed her.
"You are not to be down there with those hunters! They will poison your mind!"
"Maybe it is you who is poisoning my mind!" she yelled back "Maybe I don't want to be stuck in some dusty shop doing something I hate for the rest of my life! No offence father."
"None taken" Ryu's father said casually. He is a very skilled ship builder and his main customers are hunters looking to get across the great desert."
"I want adventure, action, I want to be a monster hunt-" she was stopped when her mother slapped her.
"No child of mine will be a hunter!"
"Korell, sweetheart, calm down. Ryu is a free spirit, personally if she wants to hunt then more power to her!" her father laughed.
"You are never going to hunt!"
"I am 15 years old I can become a hunter without your permission if I want to!" Ryu yelled back.
The fight lasted for several minutes until Ryu ran out of the main room into the room she shared with Mabel. I can't stay here the routines are going to kill me. Ryu thought as she punched a wall. Wake up, go get water from the well, do laundry, go to the market, every day is driving me insane! Her mind whirled with panic. She ran over to her bed and pulled up a floorboard that covered a small dip in the ground that she used to hide things in. it is not my fault she is so hateful to the hunters. Ryu took out a box and looked inside, it was filled with scales and a couple claws and teeth, Monster parts. Also inside the box are books about monsters. Wyverns Vol.1 and several other books containing info of all known monsters. If Korell ever found this she would probably kill Ryu instantly. Ryu got these treasures from the hunters down at the pier. Often she would get away and go down there and talk to the hunters, their stories of the hunt always got her into the right state of mind.
The next morning Ryu woke up and brushed her long pale blonde hair, some would call her hair white but in certain light it looks like a pale yellow. Ryu pulled some hair into a small braid on one side and tied it with a little pink bow that matched the color of her eyes. She walked over to the closet and changed into some black pants and a light gray shirt then grabbed her bag and moved to her place where she hid her monster books and treasures. Swiftly she packed her bag and set a note on her bed and walked out the door and down the dirt road not looking back, and with no regrets in her mind.
When she arrived at the pier she stopped to admire the dragon ships. They were the same size as a small merchant ship but were reinforced on the front of the ship by either large bones from a monster or by a metal frame, crafted in the volcano town Harth, and equipped with a dragonator. Another difference is the cannons and ballista's mounted on the sides and the large gong in the rear of the ship. The gong and weapons are a requirement from the guild of hunters to protect the hunters from Dah'ren Mohran, the massive elder dragons that are known to attack ships crossing the great desert heading to Vail Harbor.
Ryu walked on and weaved between people and avoided crews unloading the ships until she came to a small dragon ship near the end of the pier. The boat had a bone frame, mostly because they were cheap and easy to repair on the fly than the metal.
"Hey Ryu over here!" a large man called to her from a table with other hunters. Ryu walked over and sat down.
"Damen I want you to take me to Vail Harbor so I can register with the guild."
Damen was not surprised. "You are 15 so you can register without parental consent but your mother would not approve."
"You turning' her down D?" one of the hunters yelled as he slammed his mug on the table.
"I just don't want you getting into the hunt if you don't really want to."
"Damen I want to. I want to hunt, I want to live life on the hunt, and I want to be a monster hunter." Ryu said with more sincerity than she has ever known before.
"Let me guess, you left without anyone knowing and left a note didn't you?"
"My dad knows and he approves of my choice. He wants me to be a hunter."
Daymen stood up and turned to the other hunters. "Load up guys we are sailing to Vail Harbor!" The hunters cheered then jumped up and started loading cannon and ballista ammo as well as suiting up in the best armor and weapons they own. Damen took Ryu on board, "Okay Ryu, you can be up on deck but stay out of the way. If a Mohran shows up you are to get below deck and let us handle it, and be careful… you want to get to Vail Harbor in one piece!" he laughed.
The ship soon set sail and was moving at a slow pace at first. Ryu sat on the back of the ship on top of a box of ammo and watched as the town she called home moved away. After a while Ryu moved below deck to explore the ship. Under the main deck where crew rooms, but in reality it was beds in a slightly modified supplies hold. Towards the back of the ship which would be under the hunting gong was a small room with a dropdown wall, probably used to get crewmen who had fallen off during a Dah'ren Mohran attack. Ryu walked to the front of the boat where the captain's room was. Damen had told her there was an extra bed there for her because he didn't trust some of his men with young non-hunter women. Inside the room there was a huge dent in the ceiling where the dragonator was located. Must make it awfully loud noise when activated, Ryu thought as she set her bag on her bed. She returned to the upper deck and sat beside the ballista ammo at the front of the ship between two stairs going up to a platform where the dragonator switch was. She opened a book on Elder Dragons and found the Dah'ren Mohran. These dragons are larger than most ships and cause untold ship damage as well as hunter and merchant deaths.
"Scared Dah'ren Mohran will show?" A crew member asked as he walked by.
"No I just want to know why they are so dangerous to ships." Ryu replied without looking up.
"In all my years of hunting I've found that Dah'ren is more bark than bite, they are somewhat common and fairly easy to take down with the right weapo-" He was interrupted by an earsplitting roar as the sand beside the ship gave way and a large rusty-brown spiny back rose from the sand as rocks shot up into the air and then came falling onto the ship.
"Dah'ren Mohran!" Daymen yelled from the gong. "All hands on deck! Watch your step guys I don't want any deaths today!"
All the crew and hunters aboard ran to their stations, some unboxed the cannon balls and ballista ammo, others started shooting the beast with the ballista or cannons. A hunter ran over to Ryu who was still sitting by the stairs in a horrified daze. The female hunter picked Ryu up and ran across the ship and sat her in the stairway to go below deck.
"Stay." she instructed as she ran back to help. She drew out her weapon of choice, an Insect Glaive more specifically a Lightbreak Press, and charged the Dah'ren Mohran's arm and started slicing it with swift powerful blows. Soon she was joined by another female hunter, this one with Dual Blades, and two male hunters, one with a Switch Axe and the other with a Great Sword. The dual blade hunter ran over and hit the gong switch causing the gong to ring loudly, the Dah'ren Mohran screeched and rammed into the ship. The whole ship tipped and Ryu fell down into the crew rooms where she stayed.
"Ready the Dragonator!" she heard Damen call as this loud echoing sound filled the air followed by the cry of the Morhan and the shaking of the ship. When Ryu peered out she could see the Dah'ren Mohran clearly despite the sand cloud the dragon had whipped up from moving. Bigger than the biggest ship she had ever seen, in height and length, its menacing horn now broken from cannon fire.
"Sir we need to steer this Mohran due east! We are too close to Vail Harbor!" the dual blade hunter yelled over the commotion. Ryu stood up, in the distance she could see trees and what looked like to be a town not much bigger than her hometown was, surrounded on three sides by trees. Damen cursed to himself and pulled out a small metal gun of some type and shot a round in the air. It busted into a red smoke and a loud ring filled the air. Within moments she could see other dragon ships headed their way. One in particular caught her eye, it was far larger than the normal hunter ships. Made from a dark black wood with a golden metal armor frame and dragonator.
"Great the Aces are here to steal our thunder!" The dual blade hunter growled as she drew out her blades and dashed to attack the monster's arm again.
The ships grew closer and turned around to match the Dah'ren Mohran's speed. As if on the same page they all fired a ballista rounds that hooked the Dah'ren Mohran and held it in place with a strong cable and proceeded to fire cannon rounds. The elder dragon roared then the ships suddenly turned, uprooting the monster and making it fall sideways and screech. The dust cleared and before her very eyes Ryu saw Veil Harbor. Dah'ren Mohran had lost this battle and turned away from the desert side town and fled.
Damen looked at Ryu "Welcome to Veil Harbor!" he laughed
"What do you mean she is gone?" Korell yelled as Mabel entered the dining room for breakfast.
"She left last night. I found this on her desk." Mabel handed her mother a piece of paper with Ryu's letter on it:
Dear mother,
I have left to become a Hunter, I don't care what you say about them. This is a choice i have made on my own and I'm going through with it. By morning I'll be in Veil Harbor living my dream. There is nothing you did wrong, I just can't stand the routine anymore. If I would have said this to you, you would want me to change the routine but the thing is I don't want one. I want to live free and see the world beyond the walls of your judgmental parenting. I am a monster hunter, that's who I am. Hopefully someday you will see that and be proud but until then I will be hunting.
~Ryu
Ryu's dad smiled "Way to go Ryu". Korell glared at him and walked out of the house headed down to the pier to look for Ryu despite the fact that her daughter would not be there.
Ryu stepped off the dragon ship with happiness on her face, her dream of being a hunter was only a short time away. Hunter by day, Hunter by night, hunting monsters until my final fight where i raise my blade to the sun's light before my last breath. May every hunt be prosperous hunters of young and old. Ryu said to herself as she walked down the rock-brick road of Veil Harbor. Ryu walked up to a large building that honestly looked like a large ship of some type that had crashed here or was abandoned and a town grew around it. This building was called "The Gathering Hall" it's where Hunters go when they want to team up with others and hunt as a team without being in the same Caravan. It's also where new caravans go to recruit hunters and where one would register to become a hunter.
Inside the gathering hall was nothing like Ryu would have thought. Hunters in groups of four sat at the table drinking or eating while others posted quests at the quest board beside the counter, others where prancing and having fun in the middle of the room.
Ryu walked up to a quest counter. "Um is this where I sign up to be a hunter?"
"Yes it is, I'll need your name, your hometown, and the names of your mother and or father." the lady behind the counter said as she placed her book in her lap and got a hunter registration form.
"But I'm 15, why do you need my parents?" Ryu asked
"It's just something we like to have on file. Not that it happens a lot but we do need to know where to send the hunters when they can no longer hunt due to extreme injury or death." she replied.
"Oh… Well I'm Ryu Hamara, spelt R-Y-U and I'm from Port Kade and my father is a ship builder named Coda. My mother is Korell." Ryu said as she glanced at a group of hunters leaving for a quest.
"Okay, Ryu. Your guild card will be ready tomorrow afternoon, come back then to officially become a hunter and get your hunting knife. Until then you are not allowed to buy armor, weapons or go on quests do you understand?"
"Yes Ma'am." Ryu bowed in respect then received a small card that said Probationary Hunter
"Go find you a caravan, or a group of hunters who will show you the ropes." the lady smiled.
Ryu left the gathering hall and went back to the dragon ship docks to meet up with Damen. The hunter congratulated her on becoming a hunter then gave her a pat on the head.
"Come back here tomorrow and I'll have something for you." he smiled.
She nodded then went back into town to find some hunters willing to take her under their wing. A few hunters roamed around on the main road where the blacksmith and quest post where located, though none looked like a good mentor for the new monster hunter. Then something caught her eye, it was a small dark shape that ran past her leg… A cat? The cat ran down the road and then was attacked by another cat as it passed the blacksmith. Ryu ran up to the two fighting felines and tried to break up the fight but she just couldn't get the attacking cat away.
"Jet, that's enough." a voice made the cat jump off the dark gray tabby, it was a hunter. High ranked by the looks of him, dressed in what looked to be Azure Rathalos armor with a long sword. He laughed, "Relax girl that palico is just about useless anyway". The hunter turned and walked away towards the gathering hall, stupid jerk, you wouldn't know a good partner if it hit you. She thought angrily as she picked up the injured palico and walked down the road to sit him down on a rock.
"Hey are you ok?" she asked as she pulled out some bandages. He didn't answer at first then mewed softly with a raspy voice.
"I'm fine, thanks"
"My name is Ryu, what's yours?" Ryu talked as she started to wrap his little arm.
"'Names Kruo…" He meowed.
"I just came here to become a hunter, but it looks like not all hunters are the best people in the world." Ryu giggled.
"Yak I guess… You say you're a hunter?" Kuro's ears perked.
"Yes, well I don't have my official guild card yet but yes." she smiled as she finished bandaging up the palico's arm.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you pawsibly take me as your Palico?" Kuro asked as he hopped up. Ryu didn't know what to say, it was true that a hunter most always was accompanied by a couple palicos. To be honest there wasn't much to say to the cat other than "Yes." The word seemed to light a fire in him, instantly happy and smiling. This day Ryu may not have found the mentor of her dreams but she did find a lifetime friend and partner.