It felt like an eternity for Elequinn before her crying finally ceased and she felt confident enough to let go of Galix. Rubbing her eyes which had turned red from all her weeping, the girl turned to look at her room's window and realized with a start that the rays of the sun were now starting to weaken.

"I'm sorry," she muttered a quick but sincere apology, "I might have gotten carried away."

"Don't worry about it," Galix patted Elequinn's shoulder reassuringly one last time before he stood up. "I know this whole thing is kind of overwhelming, but I'll always be here for you if you need me."

"You're one to talk," Elequinn gave her friend a wry smile. "Especially after you upped and vanished like that on both me and papa."

"It was a necessary evil. I could never have gotten any investigation done by staying here," Galix frowned as he walked towards the door, "and I came back the moment I heard about what happened to you. You can't possibly say I don't care."

"I won't ever forgive you if you do this again," the girl sniffed as she rubbed the last of her tears from her eyes and straightened her body. "Wait, what was that you said about an investigation?"

Opening the door, Galix stuck his head outside the room for a moment. There was no sign of life in sight, and the entire house seemed to be quiet, save for the whirling of the ceiling fan in Elequinn's room. Confident that the coast was clear, the man closed the door behind him and ensured it was shut tight before speaking.

"Have you ever felt like there was something amiss about the entire Hunter's Guild?"

"What do you mean?" The girl blinked in confusion.

"Don't tell me you never noticed the weird way this whole hunting thing actually works, Elly," Galix wagged his finger, "Hunters go out on quests that the Guild sends them on, returning victorious after a kill and claiming a small portion of the monster's parts as a reward for crafting new armor and weapons, as well as a neat sum of Zennies to line their pockets."

"That's the whole idea, isn't it? The guild keeps the remaining parts of the monsters hunted for research, or if they were captured, for entertainment purposes in the arena."

"Then have you never questioned why, with so many hunters around, we have yet to drive any of the monsters in existence to extinction?" Galix folded his arms. "Or why more and more subspecies of monsters keep turning up?"

"Well I always assumed it was because they reproduced and adapted to new environments quickly…" Elequinn realized how weak her own argument sounded as soon as she said it.

"Bullshit. You know as well as I do that it takes a long time for a small Rathalos chick to reach maturity. And yet each day, countless hunters are dispatched to slaughter members of the Flying Wyverns, but we never seem to run out of quests to hunt them," the man pushed aside his fringe once more, an action that Elequinn had long known was used to signify his seriousness about the situation. "Now I'm no scientific or mathematical genius, but I doubt you have to be one to figure out that the figures don't add up."

It was the first time Elequinn had ever heard anyone speaking of the Hunter's Guild like that. The same organization which had been created with the sole intention of uniting hunters together to protect their homes and loved ones was now being accused by her friend of possessing some dark secret. The girl always had linked the image of the Guild with bravery and justice, but now a small cloud of doubt began to form in her mind as she considered Galix's words.

"If you still need more evidence, then think about how the Guild reacted when I went missing. Hell, think about how the Guild acted when your mother went missing. Just a small report, then no more follow-ups. Just like this-" Galix snapped his fingers. "Poof. Another missing hunter added to the catalog, then filed away and never bothered with again. Don't you ever think that they seem way too negligent when it comes to locating missing people?"

"But that's only because they couldn't find any leads to go on," Elequinn tilted her head slightly in thought, "Your case ran cold without any tracks to follow, and mother…they didn't even find her body."

"Maybe they didn't bother with me because they deemed me insignificant, I'll give you that. But your mother was one of the best hunters in the Hunter's Guild, on par with a small handful of high ranking elite hunters. The official statement they gave you might be that they never found her," Galix reached into the jacket that he had slung over his shoulders the entire time as he spoke, "But then how do you explain this?"

Elequinn's eyes widened as she saw what her friend took out from the jacket – a piece of headgear that she never thought she would ever see again in her life. It was a simple headband with a blue metallic piece at the front connected to a long white cloth. The cloth was expertly tied into three ribbons, two smaller ones at the side and a larger one at the back, with the remaining fabric left to dangle freely down where the back of the wearer's head was supposed to be. What made the headgear so unique however, was the little note written in black ink on the otherwise white fabric.

"Come home safe, from Elly with love," Elequinn repeated the words written on the cloth shakily as Galix handed the headgear to her. That inscription had been what separated her mother's helmet from several other similar looking ones, aside from the different colors they opted to dye the ribbon in. Looking up at Galix in disbelief, the girl quickly shot a question at him, "Where did you find this?"

"Let's just say I broke a little deeper into the headquarters of the Guild than I thought I would," her friend sighed heavily, "And what I found in there was alarming."

"What else did you find?"

"Armor," Galix replied gravely, "A whole hall full of empty suits of armor on display inside the restricted sections of the Guild. It wasn't just your mother either – there was also the armor of the rest of her team placed into glass displays inside that area. Each of them had their owner's name and the date that they vanished engraved onto a slab of metal. It seemed as though they had all gone missing together while embarking on the same quest."

Elequinn silently contemplated her friend's words as she clutched her mother's helmet tightly. Up till a minute ago, she had had her doubts about Galix's bold claims regarding the Guild. In the face of this particular piece of evidence however, it was difficult for her to come up with any form of excuse defending the Guild.

"A whole hall? What exactly happened during their hunts?"

"That's where I came up empty," Galix let out a disappointed sigh, "I can't be sure about much else, and to know more I'd probably have to hold one of those Wyverians in the Guild hostage or something. But an entire hall full of the armor of hunters who had gone missing? There's definitely something odd going on in there."

The tanned man looked Elequinn in the eye as he continued, "But that's why I'm here. I know your passion for hunting, and how you want to carry on your mother's legacy. And I figured, it wasn't fair for someone like you to continue to look up to an organization that may or may not have been responsible for your family falling apart. Tell me Elly, do you want to come with me?"

Elequinn found herself at a complete loss of words. Silence fell over the room as she stared at her friend, a mixture of emotions and thoughts churning in the girl's mind. The whole situation seemed too surreal – first her encounter with the monster in the tundra, then her dream to be a hunter got shattered into pieces, and then her missing friend turns up bearing news about her mother.

The faint orange sunlight shining softly into her room gave it a peculiarly nostalgic appearance, and Elequinn remembered how her mother used to return around this time of the day, her loud footsteps clinking down the pathway as she approached their house. Back then, the girl would always run out of her room just in time to watch her parents embracing each other. Her family would then have their dinner together, and her mother would talk about her hunt of the day.

It had been something Elequinn had always looked forward to when she was young. When her mother took her out during every few nights to teach her a few tricks on hunting, she had been more than delighted, and took every lesson seriously. And then one day, without warning, the seat her mother occupied in the family was left forever vacant. It broke the girl's heart to see how depressed her father was every night as they sat together, eating their meals in an awkward silence.

But now Galix was offering her a chance to find out the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Elequinn held the helmet in her hands, a surge of anger rose up within her. Did the Hunter's Guild really orchestrate the downfall of their own hunters?

The very notion sounded preposterous, but the girl felt that there was some truth in her friend's words. At the very least, the hard facts before her didn't lie – Galix had indeed taken a big risk after breaking into the Guild to return to their hometown of Woodsten to visit her, knowing full well that he may have been arrested on sight at any time during this period.

"I-" Catching herself before she accepted her friend's proposal in the spur of the moment, Elequinn looked solemnly at Galix. There were too many factors for her to consider. For starters, she would be selfish to leave her father all alone in their house, particularly now that the girl was the only person remaining in their family that he could turn to. "I don't know. What would we be doing if I come with you?"

"Hunting and travelling. We'd still be hunters, just a different kind. Ones that are unaffiliated with the Guild, if you want to put it that way. But I can see it in your eyes – you're worried about leaving pops alone here, aren't you?" Galix smiled knowingly. "That's the Elly I know, always thinking long and hard before any decisions. And yeah, you're right to think like that. Coming with me would naturally make you an enemy of the Guild, and I guess that's really something you don't want happening."

A pained expression crossed Elequinn's face as she took in what her friend had just said. To go with Galix would mean that she could finally pursue her dream of becoming a hunter. But the price for doing so was steep, and the girl would have to leave everything she held dear behind. It was a difficult choice, and Elequinn found herself torn between the two options presented to her.

"She'll go."

A soft-spoken voice answered for her, and the two friends in the room turned their heads towards the door, which had been silently opened. Standing in the hallway was Elequinn's father, returning her startled look with a disgruntled one of his own.

"As much as I don't like it, she'll go," Sighing, Leonardo Ferami entered the room, taking a seat beside his daughter and looking at her close up. "She was never one to be held down by others. Elly here is a fighter just like her mother, down to her very eyes and personality."

Elequinn's eyes darted quickly between Galix and her father – neither one of them seemed surprised to see the other party. "Y-You knew about Galix?"

"He turned up here a day or two ago, and explained everything to me. I didn't believe him at first, but then he showed me Amanda's helmet. It brought back…a lot of memories. Both good and bad," shaking his head sorrowfully, Elequinn's father continued, "I've been letting him take refuge here since. When he said he'd offer you a choice to leave with him after you woke up, I had a feeling you'd do just that, no matter what I said. So then…go."

Elequinn stared gratefully at her father. Seeing his silvery hair and weary hazel eyes, it made the girl realize she would forever be indebted to this person before her. He had always been making sacrifices for her. Since she was young, he had been the one to take care of her when she was sick. When she was growing up, her father would always drop whatever he was doing to rush to her side whenever she called. If she suffered any injuries, he would be the one to forgo sleep, tending to her wounds no matter how minor. And yet, he never once complained throughout their time together all, even when her mother was gone. Even now, he was still sacrificing himself for her, knowing full well that he would be left alone in the house once she was gone.

Pulling his daughter over into his arms, Leonardo squeezed her tightly between his thin arms. It reminded Elequinn of the hug he had given her on the day her mother went missing – although nothing more was said by her father, the gesture itself contained something beyond what words could convey. Feeling a fresh batch of tears in her eyes, Elequinn returned the embrace.

"Thank you."


Night had fallen by the time she had gotten ready, and Elequinn gave her backpack a last check to ensure that she had brought enough supplies for her journey. Galix had told her that they were going to perform a few hunts along the way during their trip to a certain village far off the usual routes, and she didn't want to be caught unprepared in case something unexpected happened.

Satisfied that she had brought sufficient food and clothing, the girl stuffed some maps and books detailing the local wilderness into her bag, then paused as she considered the necessity to bring items for recovery. The highly expensive healing potions sold by the Guild was not an option due to their prices, but Elequinn wasn't sure whether bringing a few medicinal herbs would be enough to last them for the entire trip. If either she or Galix got careless and suffered a major injury, applying some herbs to their wounds was hardly going to save them.

There was the matter of armor to consider as well. Elequinn took a look at the armor that she was currently wearing – a light but durable metal alloy acted as her chest plate and covered majority of her upper body, complete with two smaller pieces acting as shoulder plates. Attached to her wrist was the utility belt that she had been wearing during her short stay at the Training School, filled with as many useful items as the girl could think of.

Below her belt was a chainmail skirt, the light armor allowing the girl to maneuver freely whilst still providing ample protection around her lower body. A pair of sturdy greaves were fastened with straps to her legs, and the brown leather shoes she was wearing felt slightly heavier than her usual footwear.

Elequinn couldn't help but feel a tad uncomfortable about how long the equipment she was wearing had spent inside her basement – while she was confident in her father's ability as a blacksmith, time was a test that most armor would have difficulty surmounting, and it has been far too long since she last witnessed him performing his craft. Playing with her long shoulder length hair, the girl decided that she would be better off forging her own armor once she got the chance. Her hands ceased their movements for a moment as she realized what she was doing.

Ah, I have to tie-

"You'd have to get a weapon too," Galix spoke from the sofa behind her, interrupting her train of thought. "I dropped my weapon and armor at a pickup point, so I'll be fine once we get out of this city. You might need something to defend yourself with though – I can't possibly be trying to protect your hide the whole time."

"I got that covered," her father emerged from the basement he had been rummaging through before Elequinn could speak, carrying in his arms several pieces of paper and a pair of odd looking gloves. Placing the items onto the porcelain table, he held up one of the gloves and began to brush some dust off them.

Her curiosity piqued, Elequinn walked up to her father, taking a closer look at the objects he had placed onto the table. The papers appeared to be blueprints of some sort, showing multiple concept arts and improvements of a peculiar type of weapon that the girl had neither read nor heard about before. Despite that, the idea behind the weapon seemed impressive, and Elequinn quickly found her eyes wandering over to the gloves.

The gloves themselves were wholly obsidian in color, and were long enough to fit up to her elbows. A circular metallic object seemed to be joined permanently to the wrist area of each one, appearing almost like a bracelet of sorts. They were however, significantly big enough that Elequinn was certain they were not merely accessories or a design choice. A faint shimmer of purple light pulsed from the lines that encircled the objects, hinting that there was more to them than meets the eye. Plating seemingly made from the same material as the bracelet was attached to the knuckle area of the gloves, and it didn't take Elequinn long to understand that this was a weapon made for a very different kind of combat from what she was normally used to.

"How do they look?" Leonardo sounded proud as he watched her daughter observing his creation. "I made them from the last monster Amanda slew in her career. It took me months to finally melt and refashion that creature's horn into these."

He pointed at the metallic objects attached to the wrists of the gloves. As Elequinn reached out and clasped her fingers around them, a sinking feeling similar to what she had felt when she encountered the giant monster in the tundra spread throughout her body. She released the gloves from her trembling hands almost instantly, and realized that her breathing had quickened.

Fear. That had been what she felt when she touched them – Elequinn was now only all too familiar with that sensation. Whatever manner of beast had been slain to make these items, its essence still flowed through the metal, challenging all who dares try and wield its power. Turning to her father with puzzled eyes, the girl found him smiling forlornly.

"Terrifying, isn't it? The power that this monster had, and still your mother took it down without backing off," her father stroked the gloves gently, his fingers twitching from the frightening sensations that assaulted them. "Beasts like these possess abilities strong enough that their spirit lingers on even after death. To wield them, you'd have to prove you are worthy. I'm positive Amanda would have been able to use these without any issues."

"That just looks like a pair of normal gloves to me," Galix had gotten up from his sofa, and finally decided to speak up after watching the two of them for some time. "Let me try them on."

No sooner did he hold the pair of gloves up into the air did his hands begin to spasm uncontrollably, causing the hunter to involuntarily release them with a gasp of surprise. They fell to the ground with a dull thud, leaving Galix completely dumbfounded as he rubbed his hands.

"Young rascal, not everything is as simple as it looks," Leonardo let out a soft and teasing laugh, "Just because you do not know true fear just yet doesn't mean you won't in the future. Only when you can stand up against them can you hope to properly hold these pair of weapons I created."

The pair of gloves looked harmless as they laid on the concrete ground, and Elequinn eyed them silently as she mulled over what her father had said. If she could prove herself worthy, then she should be able to wield them without any difficulties.

Fear.

A sudden realization struck the girl – perhaps the problem was inside of her all along.

Closing her eyes, Elequinn imagined herself atop a snowy mountain, facing the beast that had devoured her comrades once more. This time however, she wouldn't cry anymore. She would find a way to fight back, and she would win. A fierce fire burned from within her chest. No longer will she be held in place by fear of the creature, shivering in terror.

A hunter is the perfect machine. The machine that knows not fear.

It would take more than a single monster to hold her back. She may have run away the first time, but the next time she encountered the beast, she would try again. Even if she failed once more, the girl would continue to fight, hounding after the beast as though she were the predator and it was the prey. Because to give up on the mission would be to truly abandon her fallen comrades.

Opening her eyes, Elequinn felt a refreshing feeling flowing through her body. It was almost as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her. Her path was now clear – and nothing was going to stop her. Reaching out to the gloves, Elequinn clutched them tightly in her palms. There was a little resistance as she lifted them from the floor, but the fear she had felt earlier seemed to have dissipated. No – the fear was still there, but the girl was now using it to fuel herself.

"Well done."

Her father seemed both joyful and sad as he watched Elequinn put on the gloves, and the girl knew how hard the entire situation was on him. He was, after all, getting ready to say goodbye to the last remaining member of his family.

"I won't let you down, papa," Elequinn spoke as she tugged at the gloves and ensured they fit snugly onto her hands. Oddly enough, they seemed to feel lighter once worn. "I promise, once I get to the bottom of this whole thing, I'll come back and we can have dinner together again."

"Just like Amanda," Leonardo gave his daughter a warm smile, heading towards the front door and causing it to creak softly as he opened it. "I know you'll keep your word."

"See you around, pops," Galix made his way out first, his jacket still draped over his shoulders. "Stay safe now."

"Don't worry about me. I may be retired but the Guild is still liable to compensate me every month for the service I provided them with in my prime. Worse comes to worst, I'll just say you kidnapped my daughter and put a bounty on your head or something," Elequinn's father smiled at his own joke before continuing in a whisper, "You take good care of her."

Galix gave a firm nod before he headed out of the house. Turning to his daughter, Leonardo noticed that she was taking her time walking towards the door. It wasn't surprising though – this house was where the girl had spent the vast majority of the past eighteen years of her life in. For her to have to suddenly leave it behind was a difficult task.

As Elequinn slid her hands over the sofa Galix had been seating on, she couldn't help but feel melancholic. Many of her happiest memories have been made under the roof of this particular place, and now she was bidding everything goodbye. She would miss it all – the looks, the smells and the sounds of home. But what she would miss most of all was the figure standing at the door waiting to bid her good bye.

"Come on now, we haven't got all night, and the Guild might send in a patrol over here for all you know," Leonardo beckoned his daughter over as he placed the blueprints of his weapon and a long slim package into the bag she had prepared. "Ah, you haven't even done your hair yet."

Now that her father reminded her of it, Elequinn became aware that her hair had not been tied up since the time Galix had arrived in her room. She normally looked like a complete mess whenever it wasn't tied into her usual ponytail, which was why tying her hair was usually the first thing she did when she woke up. The events of the entire day had been extremely overwhelming however, and even though she had remembered it earlier, it had quickly slipped her mind.

As she looked around for her hairband, Leonardo walked up to his daughter, gripping his wife's helmet tightly in his hands. Then, wordlessly, he placed the headgear into her hands. The girl looked at her father in puzzlement for a moment, but quickly understood what he meant by that action.

"Papa…"

The cool night breeze that blew in from the open front door caused the long white ribbons to sway gently, and Elequinn felt a serene sensation wash over her body as she put the helmet onto her head. Perhaps, similar to the gloves that her father had fashioned, her mother's helmet too contained her benevolent spirit inside of it. With that cheerful thought in her mind, the girl used the cloth from the headgear to tie her hair up into her signature wild ponytail. With the biggest ribbon holding her hair up and the rest of the fabric dangling just above her knees, Elequinn took a deep breath as she took her bag from her father.

"Come home safe."

No more words needed to be exchanged between the two, and Elequinn smiled resolutely as she stepped towards the door. Turning back, the girl saw her father returning her smile, even as a single teardrop made its way down his face. Lifting her hands to her face and making the gesture of a smile, Elequinn waved goodbye one last time before she made her way towards Galix, who had prepared a Gargwa cart for the two of them.

"Like mother, like daughter."

Leonardo Ferami watched with a poignant expression as his daughter hopped onto the cart with her friend, holding on tightly as the domesticated bird made fast strides down the road. The whiteness of Elequinn's shirt and the color of her aquamarine hair gradually faded away into the distance, and her father closed the door with a bittersweet feeling in his heart.

He had not cried in a very long time, not since he had finished mourning over the loss of his beloved wife. But as he leaned against the wooden frame of the door, the elderly man couldn't help but feel sad that for the first time in his life, he was well and truly alone. Several tears streaked down his aged face, and he lifted a weak hand to rub them off.

And yet somewhere deep in his heart, he knew Elequinn would return. And just like it had been in the past with her mother, Leonardo knew that he would be here, standing at the door and opening his arms to her as he welcomed his daughter home.

"Make us proud, Elly."