``Hey, what happened back there´´ Rick asked Derek as they walked towards the red hunter´s home. ``I found her after my fight with the Azure Rathalos, Shen says she will be fine. But what bugs me is her wound, it looks like a horn of something stabbed her´´ Derek answered. ``A horn you say? The only creatures that hve horns on that jungle are the kelb and bulfango´´ Rick told. ``It is not a bulfango, the wound is straight´´ the red hunter answered frowning, ``So you are telling me that a kelbi almost killed her?´´ Rick retorted, ``Not even the worst of the hunters could die by the kelbi! I can kill them with my bare hands´´ Derek shouted at his rival. The kelbi were docile creatures with deer like appearance, despite these weak characteristics they were largely hunted by their meat but principally by their horns which were used on powerful potions. Not too far away on an alley, a man wearing a bronze armor grinned before he disappeared on the shadows. ``Calm down!this is the only explanation we have right now´´ the rubber knight waved his hands and Derek sighed.
``Can you do a favor for me?´´ the red hunter asked stopping in front of his wooden home. ``It is about her, isn´t it?´´ the man asked, ``I want you to travel to the jungle and see if there are any clues of what attacked her, I will mark the spot on your map´´ Derek said looking into Rick´s eyes, ``I can do that, but I will need a job to go to that area. I will try to find an easy one´´ Rick answered turning to run towards the tavern but stopped when he heard his friend. ``By the way! How was your fight with your elder rubber brother?´´ the red hunter joked referring to the Purple Gypceros. ``It was more like a blind tag game…that chicken wyvern killed half of the plants of the swamp. But in the end I won!´´ Rick grinned, ``If there is a clumsier monster out there, I will make sure you are the first to fight it´´ Derek smiled as he watched his friend run through the village. ``Now it is time for some research´´ the red hunter entered his house with a sigh, it was going to be a long day.
It was afternoon when Derek finally checked all the notes he had and also the village´s archives. He was walking through the village pondering his findings, ``There are a couple of monsters with horns, but their habitats are generally the desert or far away from that area…´´ he though, ``Am I forgetting something?´´ he asked no one in special as he stared at the sunset. ``Derek!´´ a man called the hunter´s attention, he was a villager wearing brown clothes and a gown. ``Shen wants you at his house, he says it concerns you´´ the man explained, ``Fine, thank you´´ the hunter said going towards the village´s master.
When he reached the door he gulped waiting to be good news and then opened it. Inside the old man was at the side of the bed, the huntress was awake and looking at the window, her helm on a table. ``Hm…? ´´ Shen murmured turning to look at the door, ``I see you are here, I am glad to say she is just fine´´ thee elder smiled. ``Who are you?´´ Yoru, the huntress, asked finally noticing the red hunter. ``My name is Derek, I am the one who brought you here´´ the Rathalos hunter answered taking off his helm to reveal a young face, black hair and a scar covering his right cheek. ``Thank you…´´ she whispered feeling a bit embarrassed. ``It was nothing, you turned my day more interesting´´ he smiled rubbing his head. ``Now, can you tell us what happened?´´ Shen asked, ``Hum…´´ Yoru mumbled looking at the blanket. ``I was gathering mushrooms when…a red eye appeared on the bushes and then…´´ she paused several times trying to remember. Watching the confusion on the huntress´ face an idea came into Derek´s mind. ``You forgot?´´ he asked and she nodded without looking at him. ``Don´t worry, I sent a friend to investigate, he should return in a day or two´´ the red hunter assured. ``Can I go now? I must get the mushrooms…´´ she asked trying to get up but the elder´s hand stopped her. ``You are injured, there is no need to go back´´ Shen said, ``But someone needs them!´´ she protested but grabbed her chest in pain. ``Someone else can do the job´´ Derek told placing a hand on her shoulder and gently pushing her back into the bed. Yoru looked at his eyes with a glare and then turned to face the window with arms crossed, ``Fine´´ she said irritated. ``If any of you need me, I will be on the blacksmith or resting at my home´´ Derek told sighed and went for the exit.
(In the next day)
Yoru was healed enough to leave Shen´s care, but the elder prohibited her from doing any jobs for the next days. The huntress protested at first but agreed after feeling pain again. She wore her armor, the shirt visible from the hole in her chest, and went to the tavern to eat breakfast. When she opened the door, everyone stopped talking and looked at her, some whispered while others simply stared. ``Here!´´ a familiar voice spoke as a hand waved somewhere in the crowd. Derek was on an empty table with his breakfast, when he saw Yoru he quickly called the huntress.
The newbie sat across the table and put her helm down, ``Feeling better?´´ the red hunter offered a mug of milk and she accepted it. ``I guess so. Shen told me he used a potion to increase the healing speed and another old potion, otherwise I would need a month to recover…why is everyone watching us?´´ she whispered furrowing her brows. ``I don´t know, yesterday I have gone to the blacksmith and then straight to my home´´ he took a bite of cheese. However, someone walked straight towards the duo. It was a man wearing a bronze armor without the helm, an iron katana was strapped on his back, the face was plastered with a grin and his grey short hair was spiked. ``So you´re the noob uh?´´ he put a foot on the table and leaned forward, ``What do you want Ignavus?´´ the red hunter asked annoyed, ``You don´t know?! I talking about this woman!´´ the bronze hunter snickered as everyone watched the conversation. ``Who are you calling noob?´´ Yoru stared at the man, ``Forget it´´ Derek put a hand on her shoulder but he didn´t expect what would happen next.
``I heard a kelbi beat you, maybe it was a challenge too big for you!´´ Ignavus laughed and soon the others laughed too. The huntress´ shoulders fell from the embarrassment, they didn´t know what she passed through. Meanwhile, Derek felt like a dagger stabbed his heart, he knew somehow the bronze hunter heard his conversation with Rick earlier and made gossip of it. Ignavus was a six stars hunter, he wore the bronze armor of the elder dragon Kushala Daora, the lord of the storm as a trophy and often bragged about it. Derek doubted he even killed the dragon, since he never wore the helm and the armor had a rusted appearance, but he couldn´t prove it and so had to endure the hunter´s pride.
Yoru raised from the bench, her face covered by the shadow of the helm, and walked towards the exit as the others laughed. ``Oh…don´t you want to know where I heard that?´´ Ignavus teased and the huntress stopped by the door, ``It was your boyfriend who said!´´ he told laughing. Yoru looked back, her eyes beaming into Derek´s soul like a spear. ``How could you?´´ she said surprised, ``How could you?!´´ she shouted running away. ``Wait!´´ Derek raised from the chair but a comment changed his focus, ``And never come back! We don´t need weak hunters like you!´´ Ignavus mocked but he was the only one to laugh this time. Everyone watched as the red hunter trembled with anger and a few seconds later a fist connected with a jaw. The bronze hunter fell on the ground rubbing his chin as the other man stood with bared teeth, ``You fool!´´ Derek said running towards the door.
Yoru ran through village leaving a trail of tears behind. She passed through the village´s entrance where two guards stood and went straight to the forest with only her armor, metal shield and hunter´s knife. A few minutes later Derek arrived at the entrance, breathing really hard, ``Did you see a red haired woman?´´ he asked panting, ``She went towards the forest a five minutes earlier´´ one guard told, ``Thank you´´ he rushed hoping the best.
(Three days later)
Derek sat on a chair inside his house and threw his helmet at the ground feeling frustrated. ``Three days of searching and nothing! Where the hell did she go? That forest is dangerous, specially with an unknown creature luring in the shadows!´´ he thought . Ever since Yoru´s escape from the village the red hunter became more reserved and so no one dared to provoke his ire. Everyone except one, the next day following the huntress´ disappearance Ignavus came and provoked the red hunter, the result was a brawl where Derek emerged victorious. Ever since, the bronze hunter kept distance from the Rathalos hunter and learnt to not talk about the "noob".
``And where is Rick?! He should be here already´´ Derek thought starting to worry about his friend when many knocks came from the door. ``It is me!´´ a muffled voice exclaimed from the other side, the red hunter walked towards the door feeling anxious. When he opened the door he found the rubber knight breathing heavily. ``Are you okay? What happened?!´´ Derek asked concerned that something attacked his friend. ``That forest is definitively becoming dangerous*gasp*. I managed to get a mushroom delivery, but a*gasp* Yian Garuga appeared out of nowhere´´ Rick managed to raise his head after some breaths. The Yian Garuga is a distant relative of the weak Yian Kut Ku, however, it was classified as four star monster because of it´s aggressive nature. It was stated that should a hunter find a monster higher than his/her rank, the hunter must avoid battle at all cost. This was made to ensure the security of less experience hunters and avoid unauthorized attempts to reach a higher rank.
``I managed to escape and continue my search when I found a couple of these´´ Rick opened his hand to reveal a dark spike with dry blood covering good part of it ``I found it some meters away from where you found her. I searched the nearby area and found a couple more on the ground in a straight line´´ the hunter explained while his friend checked the object. ``I never saw a spike like this´´ Derek gasped when he accidentally cut his finger with the sharp part of the weapon. ``It cut through my armor and my finger!´´ the red hunter said amazed and horrified as he watched the blood drip into the ground. ``How did she survive this?!´´ Rick asked but didn´t notice his friend´s dark expression. ``By the way, where is she? She should be fine by now´´ the rubber knight leaned expecting to see the red haired woman inside the room.
``She is gone…´´ the red hunter said, ``Gone? She succumbed to the injury?´´ Rick asked finally noticing his friend dark mood. ``No, it is all my fault´´ Derek bit his lip in anguish, ``Remember our talk some days ago? You joked about the kelbi´´ the red hunter told, ``And?´´ the rubber knight asked. ``Ignavus heard it´´ Derek finished and immediately Rick felt guilty. ``He spread the rumor didn´t he?´´ Rick asked, ``And told I was the one to say it. She fled the village with only her equipment´´ Derek nodded. ``Then we need to search!´´ the rubber knight turned but Derek placed his hand on his friend´s shoulder. ``That was three days ago. I searched the entire jungle, a bit of the desert and even the forest and hill´s area but no signal. I already searched today with no results´´ Derek fell on his chair with a sigh.
(Forest and Hills)
Yoru sat on the base of a tree, a small bonfire burned in front of her, a piece of meat was hanging from a stick as it burned. The huntress´ expression was covered by the untamed red hair as she waited the meat. ``It has been three days…´´ she looked at the fire with half closed eyes, ``I still don´t understand. How could he? He saved my life but made gossip of me…That liar! He tricked me! But why?!´´ she thought. Yoru heard a buzzing sound far away increasing with every second. She raised from the ground grabbing her sword and shield and used the tree as protection against rear attacks. A group of giant wasp like creatures emerged from the bushes from the right, she faced them with her shield up, but then another buzzing came from behind. ``Surrounded?´´ she said to herself looking back to find another group of monsters. She counted twenty of them and more could appear at any second.
Vespoids were insect-like creatures that lived in group with a queen, with behavior not too different from the common bees. Hunters detested these monsters, even when alone, because their stings were filled with a paralyzing toxin, causing the hunters to overthrown monster´s eggs during deliveries. Of course, since Yoru isn´t a proper hunter yet, she doesn´t know this.
The right group of vespoids dived at the huntress, she cut the first one easily and used the shield to bash another one on the left but a third one managed to hit her on the right arm. The rest continued forward and gathered with the other group. ``My arm!´´ Yoru felt the toxin spread and turn her arm numb, it took all of her strength and will power to just hold the blade. 18 vespoids dived again, their stings aimed at the huntress like needles ready to subdue an elder dragon. She rolled to the side and cut three bugs as the passed to the other side but then the pain came, it was getting harder to keep holding her sword. ``Darn you! Just because you have numbers and poison!´´ she gritted her teeth as the monster turned to rush again. ``I will kill all of you!´´ she shouted running towards the vespoids.
Yoru managed to slice one more before they separated and started to fly in circles around her. The huntress felt her sword getting heavier, she shook her head trying to keep focus. ``I hate this, but I have no other choice´´ Yoru let her shield fall on the ground and grabbed her sword with both hands. A vespoid came and she spun and waved her sword vertically, cutting the bug. Another two came and were killed but then she felt a sting on her leg and with a scream another one was dead. With an arm and a leg numb Yoru was sweating and breathing heavily. ``Ten more…ten more left´´ she whispered to herself as the insects flew around her. She fell on her knees gasping for air, ``No! I must get up!´´ Yoru said determined as she looked up, three more came and she sliced them. She tripped and fell on the ground as one vespoid passed over her head. The huntress spun her body so she could see the monsters and kept her sword close to her belly. Using her body weight Yoru rolled to the side as two vespoids stabbed the ground where she previously was. The huntress took this opportunity to jump and kill them, a third one dived but she crouched and simply raised her sword over her head, the monster killed itself and it´s body parts fell on the ground with a "crack" sound.
Yoru´s poisoned arm fell limp and now she was using only her left hand to hold the sword. ``Four more…´´ she said with an eye closed, her heart was pumping so hard that she doubted if it was going to break her chest. The huntress stabbed through two vespoids, threw herself at another slicing it in the process and fell on the ground. ``Agh!´´ she screamed as pain rushed through her back as the last vespoid hit her. She forced her body to spin so she could see the annoying bug flying closer and closer to her ,it almost looked like the monster was mocking her. ``I´m not going to die here! Not to this useless bug´´ she thought gritting her teeth. Yoru closed her eyes gathering all the remaining strength she had in a last effort to grab her sword, the vespoid was getting closer and closer. When she finally felt her fingers around the weapon she opened her eyes and with a war cry slashed the bug.
Yoru felt her consciousness slipping, a strong urge to close her eyes and the world going blurry. ``My first monster hunt… and my last´´ she thought smiling as darkness washed over her mind.