Author's Note: Well it took me a while, but my love for MH is starting to show. I have a lot of ideas on how to keep this going, and a very interesting relationship for you guys to see later on… so I have to get there, don't I?

PS: Who guessed what the title meant?


Beyond the Masses: A Hunt for One's Self

Part One:

Humble Beginnings

Chapter Two

Ten No ō


"Rock. Paper. Scissors!"

Well now, out of everything the duo expected from the two other wannabe hunters that would accompany them would be doing, playing Rock Paper Scissors wasn't on the top of the list… or even in there. But there they were. One of them had sandy, short blonde hair and matching eyes and was wearing the very same leather armor as Shin smiled and raised up his arms in victory while the other, wearing much of the same armor just with chocolate spiked hair and caramel brown eyes bonked his hair downwards in an over-exaggerated defeat sigh. Both were jovial young men, heights ranging from average, as the blonde man was, and pretty tall, as the brown haired one presented. They paid no attention to the group though, as they seemed too enveloped on their own "fight":

"I win! YOU get the bowgun!" the blonde one exclaimed, tossing the brown haired one a modified wooden gun, made to shoot wyvern shells. A Shooter's Barrel it was called.

"Meeeeeh… and I was really pumped up for going physical. A bet's a bet though. Here, catch!" The other one shouted, throwing a pair of utensils back at the blonde one. One was a simple, small silver knife-like sword whose edge didn't look like much while the other was a round, dark buckler. The length of the sword really earned it the name of Hunter's Knife.

"Thanks… huh? Oh! You guys are here!" the blonde one exclaimed, waving around at Shin and Terra, who had steered away from the ruckus until it was over.

"Oh, so you are-"Terra began, only to have the blonde teen grab her hand and shake it vigorously.

"Yeah, we're taking the test with you! I'm Vaan, he's Bartz!" he introduced, extending the hand towards Bartz, who smiled in a way it made Vaan's look inexistent.

"So you were making a last minute weapon decision?" Shin questioned, somewhat glaring at Vaan for reasons not even he knew.

"Well, yeah. Me and Bartz over there tried and practiced with a very big number of weapons before trying to take on the test. We just designated the gunner at random, since no one wants to be the team's "servant"." Vaan explained, pretty much insulting every Gunner ever, but caring nothing of it. He then inspected the interrogator's back to see a dark iron Greatsword, almost as big at the user in question, nothing much standing out from the Buster Blade's (before you scream FF fans this weapon IS a reference in MH itself to the sword you're thinking. And it's also a beginner's weapon. So yeah. Just saying.) edge, it was as plain as it could be, at least for its size, the only remotely distinct being it's curved spike at the back of the blade. "So, Greatsword huh? What about you?" he asked Terra, who proudly showed him her newly repaired blade. Vaan seemed impressed at first, but then had to question: "Okay, it's a SnS, right? Where's the shield?" he asked, the girl nodding her head to the side.

"He means it's not in the regulations to have a one-handed sword without a shield. The Guild is quite strict in what you can take out there and you'll be in real trouble if you disrespect the twelve weapons rule." Bartz explained, Terra biting her lip. She had no idea a shield was REQUIRED. She was planning on getting one eventually…

"I used to use dual blades, but I had no money for my weapon, let alone another one. I-" she gasped as a obsidian dagger was positioned in front of her face. It was… chaotic I design. It had not one straight edge, but various edges sticking out from the main one, various orange lines circling around it. It was quite small though, as small as the hunter's knife to be exact. "I won't take any-"

"It's just my carving knife. I wouldn't even want you using it as it's dangerous to use something not designed for combat. Use this to trick the Guild into thinking you went by the book and then return it to me after the quest," Shin succinctly told her, his eyes silently telling Terra that if she didn't take no for an answer, then he wouldn't too. Course, that was the best he could do. He was a wreck near girls, if she pressed anything more, he would back away. But alas, the circumstances required Terra to accept the offer, only thinking how to repay it after this whole ordeal.

"Well, we got ourselves a Dual Swordswoman." Vaan commented, a small familiar feeling coming to him as he saw Shin's carving knife, but he shook it off.

"We should get going though. We only have until midnight to be back here and it's a two hour walk," Bartz explained, smiling mischievously before taking a whistle with his bare fingers. Coming to his call, rustling through the fresh grass of the city at enormous speeds were two large yellow birds that Terra recognized instantly as Chocobos. Her eyes almost became like hearts and she almost squealed, but contrary to what happened near Moogles, she COULD control her excitement in seeing the feathery cuteness bombs known as chocobos. They were large. Easily two times as tall as her, but oh so fluffy. They seemed really into Bartz though, poking him on the head and ruffling his head as he did the same to their wings. "This is Boko and this is Choby. They never told us anything against taking them with us!" Bartz explained, winking. "Now, we'll share it. Vaan'll come with me on Boko. You take Choby."

Terra slowly walked to the one Bartz had called Choby, intent on giving it a small caress before mounting it but looked on in surprise as Shin had walked over to near its head, reaching for his pouch and feeding it small crumbs of bread, caressing the top of his head as he did. She had no idea he would be an animal-loving guy. Noticing her, he shared his crumbs with her as they both fed Choby, who warked in pleasure and even bent its legs to facilitate the mounting.

"Wow, am I the only one here who the Chocobos hate?!" A quick one-two by the beaks was enough to answer Vaan's question. In a matter of moments, both Chocobos were off into the wild green yonder.


If Bartz were to be trusted, they would arrive at Forest and Hills in less than an hour with these beauties. Their mission? To retrieve a Rathalos egg from its nest and bring it back in pristine shape for research. They were not surprised at it, even Terra had had Inspector Rayleigh bet with her that the first mission would be an egg mission. This was because it combined everything a hunter would need. Tracking, observing the wyvern's patters, fighting off any attackers or running for your life if too strong and even carrying previous cargo. Teamwork was also incentivized by having a Rathalos out of all things in the area.

Still almost an hour lead to a lot of minutes to talk about things. Not that Shin was going to start ANY conversation with Terra grabbing him from the back. He… wasn't the most extroverted of people, nor did he have a lot of girl friends as he grew, this of course made it quite awkward for him to even talk to one, let alone ride a chocobo with one, said girl needing to grab onto his back for leverage, as the chocobos were no slackers when it came to speed. So it was up to the other side to stir up conversation, seeing as they were on the verge of an awkward overdose. Vaan's keen eyes for once shone, seeing that, with the wind flapping his hair backwards, Shin's ears were completely on display, and they were pointy. Just like…

"You're Wyverian?!" Vaan gasped, Bartz turning quickly to the left while Terra suddenly looked up. Shin rustled uncomfortably on his bird but nodded in agreement.

"Mostly. Got a bit of human blood in me. Hence why I don't have talons, most Wyverian genes are recessive," he explained, Terra wondering just how different would be from a normal human. Wyverians in Narshe were… inexistent. She had only met some in Minegarde, but only passing acquaintances. Were they any different? Was it hurtful to ask? She did not know.

"So… you got like, super psychic powers?!" Bartz asked, smiling like a kid that was given a new toy. As if he was used to it, Shin simply sighed and shook his head.

"No. What you probably heard is how we "know" where monsters are like we drank a psychoserum. That's not magic. That's instinct. Wyverians differ from humans by having being a race that was wild for much longer than you and as such, much of our primal instincts still remain. We know the noises, the smells, every hint the land gives us, we understand it, it works subconsciously. We are also much more dexterous than humans, hence the amount of blacksmiths and people in arts," the group would only stare in awe at his explanation. Even if it meant humans should be technically obsolete near them. "BUT!" Shin exclaimed, pointing at the trio: "Humans develop muscles much faster than Wyverians. That is why there are few Wyverian hunters we are, ironically, unfit for battles if not in intense training. Our stamina isn't the greatest and our strength needs much work to match yours, we also have a very low… fertility rate," the moment he said it he broke all eye-contact with the rest. It was obvious to anyone he wasn't going to say it, but caught himself too late and decided to be honest. That must've been really awkward and hard to say, especially in front of a girl but Bartz and Vaan would not kick a man while he was down. They simple nodded at one another and continued their ride in silence. They now knew why so little Wyverians existed compared to humans.

Terra honestly felt as sorry as she could for the young man. She loved children and would love nothing more than to have her own one day. How awful would it be for her to know that she would probably not have any children. Even if it comforted him just one but, she leaned her head against his back and just whispered it would all turn out fine in the end.

And that was the last thing anyone ever spoke until their arrival at the camp.


"Welcome-Kupo! I assume you are the rookies for the hunt, Kuppo?!" Terra wouldn't believe it. Normally, Felynes would be the helpers in the base camps for hunters, or so she read. But… there was a Moogle there. Those small, round, flying, adorable balls of pure white fur with that round pompom sticking out of their heads. She could not control herself when near one. As it spoke with Bartz about the materials they would be provided and the time limit, she tackled the poor animal from the air to the ground, rolling on the ground and cuddling it almost maddeningly. "Watch the fur Kupo!" The Moogle retorted, Terra suddenly snapping out of her trance and apologizing profoundly as everyone just stared at her goggle-eyed.

"I'm so sorry! It's just… you're so cute… I can't… control…" If Shin AND Bartz hadn't taken a hold of her, the Moogle would once again return to her titanic grip. The small being had no idea if he should be scared or flattered, but he was going with scared-out-of-his-mind.

"In any case, Kupo, since this is your first mission, you don't get a formal time limit. Just bring me the egg and I'll give you a pass. Get it back to Cornelia before Midnight and you're done!" it explained with almost child-like enthusiasm. But then a cold breeze came over it and it knew what to do: "Just get her into the hunt Kupo… please Kupo?" it begged.

"Nooo! I want to huuug it!" Terra whined as Shin slowly but surely pulled her out of the base camp, Bartz taking his and Terra's supplies to give them after they lost eye-contact with the Moogle.


"I am… so sorry…" Terra told the other ones, staring embarrassingly towards the ground as she grabbed her First-Aid med, min-whetstones and dug into two rations. Bartz and Vaan were laughing their asses off, while Shin couldn't help but chuckle.

"I never took you for a Mog-Maniac Terra. You are just full of surprises!" Shin exclaimed, the other two barely breathing. Terra blushed a bit at the memory of her unstable but embarrassing display and waited out the laughter. "Still, nothing wrong with loving something so dearly. It was kinda charming actually…" that did NOT help with the blush. For neither of them. Shin was really bad at keeping words in when he was speaking, which had already screwed him over twice… in a day. Now the laughter had not only intensified, but there was a big "Ooooooooooooooooooooooh" going on. Shin cringed and decided to take things into his hands.

"We have a time limit to keep! Let's stop acting like kids and laugh it up AFTER we get the egg!" he shouted, sounding much less convincing then he hoped he would, he was still red as a tomato. Bartz and Vaan mockingly saluted with a "Yes Sirie!" but the atmosphere changed a lot when a piercing roar brought about silence to the land. It resounded on everyone's eardrums for the longest seconds of their lives, deleting all attempts of being light-hearted and leaving only fear and determination. The Aponoths at the edge of the river cowered in fear, the roar of the King marked into their very beings as one to always fear.

The roar of the King of the Skies, Rathalos.

"So… he's patrolling…" Shin gasped, being the first to snap out of the shock the roar provoked.

"Thanks cap. Anything more obvious you wanna say?" Bartz asked, shaking off the fear from his head. Vaan was supposedly recovered, but Terra was… different. Not trembling, not scared, just… glaring. Her glare was just… intense. It was as if something in her snapped for a moment before her eyes widened once again in relaxation. The trio had no idea what had just happened… but they were quite scared.

"Was that… a Rathalos?" she asked, apparently unaware of the glare she had just given them. It was cold and calculating, but this one was pure and warm… Shin decided to ignore it for now. He looked over the lush hills of green and analyzed them. To the left, there was a ledge that lead to the forest. Rathalos normally fed on the small openings in the forest so that was a no-go. To the right, Aponoths bathed and drank in the river, it lead nowhere needed they. Straight ahead the hills raised until the top of this mountain-like zone, leading to the wyvern's nest after three marked zones on the map. He quickly looked at the map and started thinking of the areas a Rathalos appeared the most.

"Alright, here's how it'll go," Shin began, laying the map on the ground. "We'll go here…" he pointed at a nearby zone, zone 2, just the next one. "Here, three of us will stay and kill as many animals as we can possibly do. Rathalos' sense of smell is amazing. It will come to us in minutes as he needs as much food as he can to protect his young," he began, the group gulping at that task. "One of us, preferably the lightest one, will then go up this cliff here and enter zone six. There are normally vines in this zone and you should be able to enter the nest from the back, zone 5. Then he will grab the egg and just run for it. We have no idea how long we can hold a Rathalos, we need to be quick. The Moogle told us the Rathian was out for food like she does once a week and that she will return by nightfall… this is why we have the timelimit and we gotta make the best out ofit. We can't take both, it has to be now, got it?!" He exclaimed, all of them exclaimimg:

"Got it!" in synchrony.

"Alright, now… who's the one that'll go for the egg?" Shin asked, looking at the duo of men. There was no way he was going to send Terra alone. What if she entered the nest before the Rathalos found their food? What if the Rathian returned early?! Why was he worrying so much?!

"I'll do it!" Bartz exclaimed rather happily.

"You just don't wanna use the bowgun…" Vaan said, to which Vaan lost no time in nodding." Well played…"

"As good of a reason as any. Let's go!" Shin exclaimed, the four would-be-hunters rushing up the hills for their first mission.


And so they arrived at Area 2. There was nothing special about it… aside from the view to their right. They were now hundreds of feet in the air, and the view over the Forest and Hills was amazing. They could see the valley extending downwards, hoards of Aponoths marching like ants in size along the coursing pristine blue river, the mountains surrounding them in all their human-free beauty. Terra was taken by it the most. She was not the most well-travelled of the bunch… who was she kidding? She had lived in Narshe for fifteen years and trained in Minegarde for two. Those were the only places she had ever been. This felt like something out of a fairy tale for her. Of course, it was not all sunshine and rainbows. To the left, there was a small aggregate of rocks that lead to the entrance to zone 6, but between them and it, there were a lot of crying interlopers.

They were raptors. Blue-scales with white stripes on the back, white interior, yellow, prey-seeking eyes and a small crest all identified them pretty quickly.

"Velociraptors heh? Well, the Rathalos DOES eat them for trespassing… guess we got our meal ready guys," Shin decided while drawing his Buster Blade.

"Well, I'll be going then…" Bartz said, nonchalantly leaving the others to fend for themselves as he ran up the rocks, faster than Shin gave him credit for, no Velociprey could even touch him.

"Figures…" Vaan sneered playfully, drawing his swords as the raptors stopped rushing after Bartz and turned to the "easier" prey.

"I can finally put my skills to a test…" Terra whispered to herself while she drew her blade and Shin's, her grip tightening around them as they the raptors drew in.

"Velocipreys shouldn't be too much of a deal." Vaan said, somewhat relaxed. But both Shin and Terra realized something was wrong.

"They are encircling us! Rush through!" Shin exclaimed, Terra being one step ahead of him and tearing through two of the Velociprey's torsos with her blade, escaping the circle and giving Shin just enough time to cleave through them with his blade, Vaan following through and leaving two headless preys as a goodbye gift.

"That was good you two!" he complimented, the duo nodding.

"Didn't get A in the last of the Academy's exams for nothing," Shin allowed himself to brag, not noticing that Terra was about to speak.

"My S had to mean something…" aaaand he froze.

"S?!" Shin exclaimed, almost being surprised by a Prey from behind if it weren't for Vaan and Terra cutting it.

"We'll talk later!" Vaan exclaimed, rushing towards a group of five a few meters away. Terra nodded and rushed towards a group of ten on the other side. Shin was left with the ones that came from adjacent areas, answering the calls for help. As he mowed them down with precise strikes that cut them in half, he was wondering:

"S…? S means perfection itself. No hunter gets an S… not one S has been given in the decade except for K-" he was again interrupted as his eyes lay now on the carcass of the Prey that almost ambushed him, or was it a prey? It was… mostly orange with violet overtones and cream colored bellies… it was also much smaller than a Velociprey, and were those ears? "No way!" Shin exclaimed, but it was too late for a much deeper shriek came from the entrance to the north. From behind the rock it appeared. It was easily two times as big as a normal prey, his legs, body and skull all corpulent and massive, muscles twitching with adrenaline and anger at losing its fellow raptors. It was not the leader of Velocipreys, oh no, that was the leader of the raptor hey had killed. Easily recognizable by its long, barbed tail and the large frills that symbolized leadership on the sides of its head, along with the furry line on its spine. It was a Great Jaggi. And if Shin could guess why there was one here while Velocipreys ran about, they were in deep trouble. And oh, they were, for another deep shriek came from the exact opposite direction. The raptor walking up the hill with ten Velocipreys by its side could only be described as their Alpha Male. Bigger, bulkier, large, orange prominent crest and larger, orange claws, its eyes locked on to both the girl that was cutting down its kin and the Great Jaggi.

"It's a territory war…" Shin cursed, walking back to hit back to back with Vaan, who had taken out the Velociprey just to be assaulted by the Great Jaggi's Jaggi underlings.

"What do we go?" Vaan questioned as he saw Terra backing away to them.

Shin hated their chances. Not one, but two drome-level raptors and ten of each species were preying them... there was no other way to put it. One of them needed to distract one of the species while the other two killed the drome. And, as much as he hated to admit it, the best one to act as bait was the best and fastest of them. If Terra's S-grade was to be believed, she would have to problems dancing with the preys and the Velocidrome with something as mobile as Dual Swords. He didn't want to say it. He didn't want to compromise her safety. But he was looking at her after not hearing her speak for too long. She had those eyes and of the ten she had taken on alone, none were alive to return to their leader after the few minutes where she fought them. That was not only impressive as it made the raptors want HER and not anyone else.

"Terra... can you distract them while we take the Jaggi out? We'll give you back up in…" and she was off, not tangoing them, but simply rushing towards the entire pack. Shin was about to cry her name, but the Jaggi started coming. He guarded one's with his blade, using it to throw it off the cliff as it got stuck in the sword. Vaan took this time to cut through two of the Jaggi's, but the ever sneaky and calculating Great Jaggi used this to its advantage, using the field of vision it's dead kin provided to ram his shoulder into it and, by consequence, Vaan. The young man fell to the ground as three Jaggis body-blocked Shin, forcing him to scream for Vaan's name.

"So... dark…" Vaan muttered, his consciousness fading, blackness covering his field of vision after his torax cutting all air supplies to the body.

"Vaan! Vaan! Get up!"

He could hear Shin's voice crying out, the sound of the cleaving of meat resounding in his ears. But it all felt so… dreamlike. Until:

Drop.

Something hit his face. A drop of a substance. It was… warm. It was… slimy. It was saliva!

Vaan's eyes shot open as the Great Jaggi shrieked, biting at his face. He moved his neck to the side as fast as he could, the jaw barely missing. He soon realized he was still trapped under the dead Jaggi, so he couldn't move. The fact that his sword had dropped off his hand didn't help either. Thinking fast, he dodged the bite again and grabbed the carving knife on his waist, driving right into the Great Jaggi's eye. The creature whip it's head back, ready to cry in pain… if only a Greatsword hadn't hit it precisely on the junction between its neck and its skull, separating them immediately.

"Nice one!" Shin congratulated, pushing the Jaggi away from Vaan and pulling him up.

"You're the one that got credit for the kill. Still, Terra needs us!" He exclaimed with a new sense of urgency as he remembered just what was supposed to happen. Yeah, no. "That's… that's not human," he gasped, the sight of a little girl using a Velociprey as a stepping stool to jump higher, crashing down on the Velocidrome with both blades, leaving the thing in two equal pieces, being too much for him to believe possible for a newcomer. As if that was not enough, the same Velociprey she had used as a stepping stool jumped her from behind, but she suddenly leaned herself fully to the side, as if she knew it was coming and HOW it was coming, driving one blade into its abdomen flawlessly while using the other to shoo away another prey with a wild swing, who Shin proceeded to cut in half.

Shin was also speechless while his sword made his way back into his back, Terra doing the same. She had that same glare in her eyes. Emotionless, cold. Just like her movements had been. Emotionless, cold, perfect. Just like her movements had been. How was this one a low-level hunter trainee? There was no way. No freaking way. And he would've asked her that, but no, his instinct tingled. No one else would understand the changes in the wind currents as he did. Letting it take over, he grabbed Terra's wrist, called out to Vaan to run and they both climbed into the elevation for area 6, jumping behind a brush. Sure enough, moments later, the same, heart-stopping roar crossed the heavens, a red flash blitzing in its wake.

"I knew it…" Shin whispered, all the carnage had brought about the King. Colored in dark red and black scales, this wyvern was what most people connected to the word. Yes, it had two paws and its upper limbs were wings. The shell of scales the monster had was razor sharp, spikes pronounced in most of its complexion. Its wings colored by a beige tone with flame markings in black, its tail as long as its body, leading up to a crimson spike brimming with poison. Its claws, which even now were dripping with the foul liquid. All of it commanded respect. It was just a natural impulse. When you looked at the wyvern, with the crown-like crest, neck striking upwards while it looked down on its surrounding, you felt like kneeling. The King of the Skies, Rathalos had arrived.

At first, it was suspicious, raising his neck high and scouting the area with his sapphire-like eyes. It was by this point that Terra shook her head violently, Shin turning to see her normal look return. She seemed somewhat confused, but not because she did not remember anything, but as to how Shin had known.

"I… had no idea it was coming. How did you?" she asked, Shin smiling meekly and telling her:

"I'll tell you later…" he replied as another heavy footstep gained his attention. The King had taken the bait. Seeing no plebeians in his kingdom, he simply too the spoils as his own, happily devouring a nearby pile of Jaggis. Shin hated the notion of having all those scales go to waste, but he was not about to scuffle with a Rathalos for them. It took Rathalos minutes to have its fill. They could only watch, unmoving, waiting for Bartz to take this time to grab the egg and deliver it. Either way, they were stuck there until the Wyvern decided to leave.


Finally, the Rathalos seemed to have arrived at the Main Course. The Dromes. Licking his teeth, it approached the big, juicy headless Great Jaggi. Surely that would feed him enough while the Velocidrome would be for his partners return, right? Well, in a single bite, he scoped the entire stomach and everything in it from the body, pulling and snapping until he had a full mouth. All according to plan, correct?

"Okay… now he just has to eat that and he will probably take the rest home. Just a bit more…" Shin whispered, Terra and Vaan nodding in agreement. It was going so perfectly!

"Hey Guys! I got the egg!"

"Oh, he didn't…"oh, he did Shin, he did. At the exact entrance that the Great Jaggi had entered ran Bartz, a despairing look on his face and giant egg in-between his arms, the clumsily heading towards them as fast as it could . Shin's jaw nearly hit the floor, and he wasn't the only one. The Rathalos' jaw nearly disjointed itself, hanging open and dropping the rest of the carcass on the ground as it stared almost incredulously at Bartz. Why would he even BE here?!

The answer was far worse than him being an idiot. You see, the Moogle's prevision was just that. A prevision. For trailing behind them eyes blazing with fury was the Rathalos' mate, the Rathian, its green complexion shinning as the poisonous fur on its neck and tail reflected the light.

"What do we do? He's done for if we don't do anything!" Vaan exclaimed, jumping into a standing position and drawing his weapon. Shin had no idea what to do. How could they help him. He was between the sword and the dragon. And they could take on neither.

And then, she flew. Shin and Vaan only looked, both amazed and afraid at the courage or recklessness Terra had shown right now. She had taken Vaan's shield and jumped off the ledge, throwing it like a disk into the Rathalos' head, catching its attention for enough time for Bartz's to slip in beneath its legs, the Queen unable to stop, colliding with the confused King.

"YEAH! That was amazing!" Vaan cheered, but Shin knew there was a much, MUCH bigger problem at hands. The wyverns had just stood up. And they were burning up, red, flaming breath exhaling from their mouths. And Terra was right in front of them. And so, against everything he ever believed to be doing on his entrance exam, Shin had just jumped off the ledge and now stood by the side of a rookie hunter, facing down one of the most illustrious duos in the hunting world.

And the strangest part? He had no regrets.


Next Chapter:

"We are out of our league."

"No other shall bear my burden…"

"The egg?!"

The Hunt Continues In: The White Prince


Post-Chapter Notes: Well, this one was a small one. Well, I cut it in half. I wanted to get some info out and set up the next chapter. What? Troublesome Pair so soon? I wonder… Anyway, tell me what you thought of all this and how the main cast tickles your fancy. It's gonna include one or two people more, but as for the "newbie arc" expect to see this combo a lot. Go and review my loyal minio- readers!