Forgot to add a disclaimer in the last chapter, so making up for it now: if I owned monster hunter, you would be able to ride around on Uragaan's back like a friggin horse. Be prepared for one rushed chapter.
It was a chilly winter morning, small rafts of ice floating dangerously close past the village on their slow voyage, one always narrowly missing the wooden frame. The moon shed what little light it could on the huts and boats that sat upon the floating logs and it lit the path of a certain couple. They met beside one of the boats, the shorter of the two holding something in their arms - a child, wrapped lovingly in a fine cloth. The shadowed one holding the baby looked up at the other, revealing the sad face of a new mother – long, light brunette hair flowing in the gentle, frosty breeze. Tears ran down her face as she silently pleaded with the man in front of her. He was taller than she, and he had an azure long-sword strapped to his back. His hair was a messy dark brown, and his face clean-shaven.
"You can't do this to me. Not now." The woman almost whispered as the tears began to overwhelm her. She reached out her free hand to his chest.
"I'm sorry. I can't be his father – I'm not ready." He pushed away the hand towards the child, rejecting the gesture, but kept his hand on top of hers. His eyes stared into hers until she looked away, the pain too much. She walked away, his only love, with her sandals clanking upon the wood lightly. "It is for the best, and you know that." He whispered finally, a single tear emerging and rolling down his cheek.
"Conall!"
I looked up from what I was doing. The call came again- it was my mother! Scooping up my toy boats from the gap in the wood that I played in, I ran towards my hut. With one swipe of my arm I shoved the curtain back and ran in. The smell of sizzling meat met my nostrils, and my stomach began to grumble with anticipation. I put my toys down on the floor and rounded the corner. Standing at the single stove was my mother - well, surrogate. I had always known that she wasn't my birth mother.
"Conall, where have you been? Ya' dinners going cold." Mother gently scolded, before hugging me tightly. With one single hand she herded me over to the table and sat me down, setting a plate down in front of me. She hadn't even put her own plate down by the time I was wolfing the meat down.
"Alright, alright, calm down kid! It's not going to get up and walk away, is it?" She said surprised, sitting down cross-legged on the other side of the table.
"It might do," I replied, pointing my fork at her to prove my point "you have to be quick and choose your opportunities wisely!" I started my eating rampage again whilst she shook her head.
"Have them hunters been fillin' yer head with stories again?" I knew how my mother felt about me listening to those valiant warrior's tales about their last hunt, but I didn't understand why she never wanted me to follow in their path – I would, of course, but to her dislike.
We finished up dinner with little talk and I returned to my place beside the water with my toys. I was alone most days, but recently one of the other children had started to talk to me. Her name was Evangelina – her mother was the guildmaster, whose job was to control the flow of quests within the village and to act as the ambassador for Moga, and her father was a lance-wielding hunter. She always wore a little red dress.
Before long we were best of friends, always together playing boats on the water, or story telling at dawn. The days seemed shorter, as did the years, and it seemed only yesterday I was younger.
Fourteen now, and it was this summer we would begin our training to be hunters. Although we didn't play with toy boats any more, me and Evangelina would still sit beside the water talking to each other for hours on end without boredom, and then when it was so dark that we couldn't see our reflections in the water, we would lay on our backs and stare up at the vast sky. Above us hundreds of thousands of stars shined back at us, twinkling. As we became more mature, we became closer. Her mother was already teaching her how to manage the guild-store, and often left her alone to handle it, but I would always stop by to lend a hand.
It wasn't long before I was taking the quests. Five months into training and my muscles were already shaping as I learned how to wield a sword and shield. Those who accompanied me in this training were the other male youths from the village. I recognised few of them from when the warriors would tell us stories, and I started to learn their names when we had sparring sessions with each other. I was often paired with a boy called Isaac, whose agility and precision matched my own.
The months wound on at an insane rate. I was sixteen already. I hadn't noticed how quickly time had gone before I was in my familiar hut, with an aged woman who stood as my mother checking my armour and ceremonial war paint for hitches. Her eyes brimmed with pride, but at the same time sadness. It was everything she'd never wanted.
"I am proud to call you my son, Conall. Do your best tonight."
Equipped with simply a sword and shield, I followed the other amateur hunters out onto the bridge. Tonight we would be hunting a Great Jaggi as part of our ceremonial exam. We would be joined by the elder's son who would asses our skill, and decide who returns to the village the next day a boy, and who returns as a man. With a group cheer, we were off, racing along the bridge to be first there, and I ended up at the back of the pack, with the more impatient boys leading.
Under the night sky, it felt almost peaceful as we settled into a silent jog. We passed herds of Kelbi and Aptonoth, all cautious of our presence, nervously surrounding their young. One of the huge male Aptonoth stamped his front two feet into the ground with a warning call, but it was cut off by the howl of a greater beast. Crashing through the trees towards us, it definitely made it's arrival clear. The Aptonoth family scattered and ran away as Jaggi filled the area, leaping and snapping at us in an attempt to spook us.
The smart thing to do would be to wipe out a few of the Jaggi to stop them nipping at our backs, but I ignored the advice. I headed straight for the Great Jaggi as he started to roar, thrusting my sword upwards into his body. I missed by a hairs length, but I was too involved to start worrying about the examiner. Confidence still rippled throughout our group, but suddenly it had all become too real as I felt the hot breath of the beast brush past my head as he snapped his jaw at another hunter. This had become a struggle for our own lives. I dived to the side as it began to spin, hopeful to avoid its spiked tail, managing to send a Jaggi flying with my shield as I did. Two other of the small minions ran for me from the edge of the clearing that I faced, and as I moved backwards to recover, I bumped into their leader's side. By the time I had turned slowly to see what it was I had hit, the Great Jaggi was already in motion.
But before the large male could retaliate by swinging his frilled head around to me, I quickly threw myself forwards and rolled out of the way, his teeth narrowly avoiding my leather boots. The others took advantage of the sudden diversion and began to attack.
Rowan was next to strike. He leapt forwards with inhuman strength and delivered a blow with his shield that would any shatter human's bones. The alpha male staggered back, blood trickling down its head. While he was distracted, Isaac ran forwards under its legs, plunging his sword straight up into the monsters stomach –a huge whine of pain confirmed the hit.
"Get him over to that ledge. Strategy B. Conall, you know what to do." The eldest of our group, Raphael, ordered. Strategy B... strategy B... Oh! I know what strategy B is! I remembered and ran for the vines that protruded from the ledge. I climbed up them with haste, hidden from the Great Jaggi's sight. The monster had a surge of anger. It howled loudly, the sound causing the others to flinch and I to lose a grip on my left-hand vine. In their moment of weakness the Great Jaggi lunged for Rowan's exposed leg. I heaved myself up onto the rock formation and looked down. Now!
With all my might, I jumped straight for the beast. I landed squarely on its back and smashed my shield into the back of its head to confuse it. It began to thrash about, trying to reach me, and as I avoided every snap of it's jaw the others in the group charged. In a matter of seconds, the hunter had become the hunted. I jumped off before it fell to the ground, defeated, and with a final howl.
"Great job, lads. We'll eat well tonight. You all did superbly." The chief strolled out from his hiding place with a grin on his face. "Excellent final blow Conall, great strategic placement there Raphael. Come on, let's all go back. We'll have the felynes carve the goods."
We returned to the village that dusk, welcomed by the triumphant hunting horn that announced our arrival. I looked around and most of the ceremonial paint had been smudged away by the hunt, but it didn't matter now. We were all safe, back without any injury at all, and it seemed the chief had something to announce to the tribe.
"Brilliant news, everyone: tonight there will be a feast! Five of our young boys travelled deep into Moga Woods last night to hunt down a Great Jaggi, and do you know what? King's Frill soup for everybody!" The villagers erupted into applaud, especially the proud mothers and fathers. "Now, join me here, men." He gestured to the five of us who stood at the bridge entrance shyly as the whole village congratulated us, and Isaac was the first to walk forwards, and we all followed suit.
In the crowd, a little commotion was occurring. Evangelina emerged from the crowd after a long struggle to get to the front as politely as she could. Nothing but happiness shone upon her face, her eyes were gleaming, focussed solely on me. "Go get 'em, Conall."
The chief jumped down from where he was sitting to meet the elder, his father, as the son told him the names he had picked for us. The elder smiled and nodded, which is always a good sign. "The Elder of this village will speak now." He moved out of the way for the old man to approach us. One by one, he addressed us.
"Isaac, the sure sighted eagle, whose precision is challenged by none. Rowan, the heavy striking thunder, strong of body and mind..." My hearing was interrupted by Evangelina, who quietly said behind me 'I hope he gets a cool name' before being shushed "Raphael, the alpha wolf, confident in leading his pack and Conall, the valiant griffon, he who strikes from above."
The crowd of people broke into rapturous applaud again, this time surrounding us and congratulating us. I couldn't see Evangelina, but I knew she was in the swirl of people somewhere.
I heard the elder pat his stomach before saying "So where's that Great Jaggi hide..."
The whole village held a celebration feast that lasted all through the night, but I wasn't hungry. I sat in my usual spot beside the water, appreciating the quiet for a few moments. I had finally realised my dream – those stories of great warriors were now ours to rewrite. Few small fish circled the water below me, and when they suddenly swam off I turned around.
"Evening." It was Rowan. He walked over to me slowly and sat beside me. "Thanks for... well, earlier." He spoke in a lower tone than usual, and his eyes were staring straight at the water's surface, like he was ashamed of what happened.
"Don't sweat it. There is no such thing as a perfect hunter, y'know? We all slip up sometimes. The only thing that matters is that we finished the quest without any injury." I responded, trying to lighten his mood.
"Thanks Conall. It means a lot to me." Heaving himself up, Rowan left to return to the celebrations with a final 'good night'.
I decided to follow him. The village hall in which everyone was partying was just about big enough for everyone to fit in, with space for a long table full of foods and drink, which any other day would be used for lengthy debates on Moga's wellbeing. I skimmed the table for something appetising, but before I could pick up a sandwich, someone threw their arm over my shoulders.
"Here he is!" It was Redspear, one of the fishermen-brothers. He was drunk. "Ya'know, at first, I didn't think ya had the guts, but yuu've got more bottle than a Rathalo'." He stumbled off, probably to harass another of the new warriors.
Picking up a single sandwich, I walked over to an empty table that had one or two empty glasses knocked over on it. Before long Isaac joined me, looking pleased with himself. Even though he'd only been a warrior for a few hours now, he had managed to impress plenty of the girls our age around the village – except for Evangelina, who was having none of it.
"So tell me, He Who Strikes From Above, what weapon you goin' for?" The question surprised me.
"Oh...I haven't given it much thought..." I lied. Of course I knew which weapon class I would choose – a Great Sword, brave and bold, everything I wanted to be.
"Well I chose many moons ago!"
"And what would that be, Sure Sighted Eagle?" I used the same mocking voice that he did previously.
"A Bowgun, obviously. I've got to utilise this godly-accuracy somehow. Besides, all the other weapons are too up close and personal with the monster. I like my privacy." He smirked at the end of his sentence, taking another swig of his drink. We joked around for a while before he noticed that another of the local girls were giving him 'the looks'. "Excuse me, Mr Griffon." I heard him scamper off.
I never saw my best friend the rest of the night, and for most of it I sat wondering where she was, or asking about after her. She had probably just gone to bed, so I would too. I walked back to our hut with my mother, who was tired from spending the whole night telling people how proud she was of me.
We entered the house in silence, something I was not used to. Mother was strangely quiet, and then as she walked over to one of the cupboards in the kitchen, she spoke: "Now Conall, you know that you heritage is shadowed. Not my doing of course." She said, with a slight sadness in her eyes that I could never understand, "I was forced to promise only to tell you everything when the time came, but many years ago when I first held you, something had been left with you in your basket." She stretched, just managing to reach for an object at the back of the cupboard. "I saved it for a special occasion, because I knew this day would come." She smiled warmly at me, but I could tell the rest of the story unfolded in her mind. What was she remembering... or who?
The object placed in my hands was cold at first touch, but as I looked curiously down at the item, I felt like it was hot rock in my palms. It was a ruby red scale, held in place by a decorative green frame, which felt like the same material. I rubbed one thumb over it, and it gleamed in the minimal light. Whatever it was, it was valuable.
"I believe it was forged from two things. The red scale was your fathers, and the green scale was your mothers. They had the blacksmith put them together as a sign of their love." I stood, staring at the object before looking up at her. "Come now, Conall. Time for bed. You've got a big day tomorrow – someone has to feed the village, you know."
Holding the object in my hands firmly, I said goodnight to mother and walked into my room. My faithful felyne friend, Chamberlyne, was curled up in his usual place beside my wooden dresser. He was just younger than me in regards to his species ages. Every new hunter-in-training is assigned one, and they are to stay with you until the end, being if something happens to either of you.
Trying my hardest not to disturb him, I removed my traditional ceremony clothes – which were a navy blue shawl and a pair of leggings the same colour. I lay in bed, the gentle sound of the water lulling me into a comfortable sleep.
Thanks for reading so far, I hope you're enjoying it! Reviews are very welcome in the house of Fagan. Just as a criticism to myself, I feel that the progression of him becoming older is very rushed, but I did feel at the time I couldn't drag it out any more than I wanted to, because really I don't like to dwell on him growing up and would rather have him killing something than losing his first tooth, which is why this whole chapter is really centred around the progression of him getting older. Don't worry – next chapter the real stuff begins!
