A gentle breeze swept across the coast. The palm trees swayed side to side, and they cast a gentle shadow on the sand below. A few coconuts have fallen to their base, waiting for whatever entity that will consume them. Mikan was dreaming. She was dreaming about her first visit to Pokke, where she met Azen. She would remember the nice sunny days, the snow patches on the roofs and the sides of the paths, the smoke from each home coming out of the chimney. She dreamed about the food she ate in the Gathering Hall, and she could feel her lips wet from the soup. She could feel the soft fish in her mouth.

...But something wasn't right. Mikan was slowly waking up, but her lips were still wet. There was still something in her mouth. Mikan decided to lightly tap against the object in her mouth, and she knew it wasn't fish. 'What could it be...' Mikan thought to herself. She slowly opened her eyes to see Azen directly in front of her.

"...Mmn?" Mikan made a muffled noise. It took a while for her to realize that the object in her mouth was Azen's tongue. Her temperature skyrocketed and she quickly pushed Azen away. As if nothing happened, Azen smiled sheepishly, and Mikan slapped him across the face.

"Why did you stick your tongue in my mouth?" Mikan yelled out.

"Well, I woke up seeing you sleeping beside me with nothing but your underwear, so I thought there must have been something that happened between us while I was asleep... So I assumed you'd like it if I kissed you." Azen replied, rubbing his cheek.

"Hmph! Well, I'm going to take a bath. You better be ready when I come back!" Mikan said before stomping off out of the cave.

Azen sighed, then saw his Mafumofu set neatly folded at the back of the cave. Azen carefully put on his clothing, then ran his fingers over the torn cloth. He remembered the fight with the Tigrex. There was a huge gap, until one particular moment when Mikan said her name to Azen.

"Mikan, eh?" Azen said to himself. He grinned, and headed out of the cave.

It wasn't long before the two started to approach a town past the forest that lay between the beach and the town. Along the way, Mikan hunted Velociprey and Velocidrome items so that Azen can get a weapon crafted at the closest smith shop they can find. Azen walked behind Mikan, as a red hand outline was visible on Azen's cheek. Mikan slapped him when he looked for her, and she happened to be drying herself from her bath.

Mikan was literally dragging Azen by a leash as she tied a rope around his neck. As they walked into town looking for the smith shop, people would look at them weirdly. One reason was because of Mikan's custom armor, another is because of Azen's Mafumofu set, and lastly, how Azen is being treated like a dog. Mikan's orange eyes pierced through every onlooker, and it repelled any curious soul from stepping up and asking about their situation.

They arrived at the smith shop and the smith was immediately looked surprised. Mikan first thought that the smith was afraid of her orange eyes, but when she traced his gaze, she found out that the smith was surprised about Azen.

"Do you know him?" Mikan asked Azen.

Azen looked at the smith and shook his head. The smith managed to calm himself in a few moments, and he cleared his throat before speaking.

"It's not the boy. It's his set. That is the Mafumofu set, native to Pokke Village! I remember when I was a child that I hear stories about a hunter from Pokke. Man he was great... but only a few people know the name Pokke Village now..." said the smith, ending the sentence in a somber tone.

"What do you mean?" Azen questioned.

"Well, ever since your village's success rate in quests declined, people stopped relying on Pokke for big quests, and the big quests give fame to the village who's hunters successfully undertake the quest. So eventually, Pokke Village faded from the people's mind... and now a bunch of other villages are taking it's previous glory." replied the smith.

"Well, that's nice and all!" Mikan interrupted, "We're not here for stories. I came here to give this perverted dog a weapon. I'd like a Bone Katana done by this afternoon." she demanded.

"Mikan, I'm sure the smith has to take at least a day to make a weapon like that..." Azen said, trying to alleviate the situation.

"Don't worry, boy. With these materials your girlfriend gave me, I can make not a Bone Katana 'Wolf', but a Bone Katana 'Dragon'! I've saved materials from other hunters who brought excess materials, so I'll upgrade your weapon free of charge. Just come back in the afternoon."

"Mikan... maybe you can summon oranges if you stared at something long enough... Those orange eyes of yours makes me wanna eat an orange..." Azen complained. It has been about 6 hours that they've been roaming around town, asking for directions and basic needs, such as the Gathering Hall, an inn, a trader who sells maps, etc.

"Shut up! It's your fault you didn't eat my cooking back at the inn." Mikan exclaimed.

"Well... It's not my fault I prefer not to eat burnt food..." Azen whispered.

Mikan slapped the back of Azen's neck then crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"That's it. I'm not cooking for you again!"

"I didn't ask you to..."

Mikan turned bright red and puffed her cheeks as she glared at Azen. Her orange eyes really pierced through people's souls, but Azen was more hungry than intimidated at the moment. Out of nowhere, the ground shook.

"Earthquake?" Mikan asked.

"HWAAA!" Azen yelled and pointed to the road at the end of town. There was a massive dust cloud coming, and in front of it were a stampede of villagers, farmers and livestock running. As the dust cloud cleared up a bit, the face of a Yian Kut-ku was revealed.

"They're running away from the Kut-ku?" Mikan asked to herself.

"Nooo! The Kut-ku is running too!" Azen cried, as he was starting to see more.

There were three hunters hunting the Kut-ku, and it just so happened that the Kut-ku ran towards town as it nearly ran over the villagers. One of them was a Long Sword user, one was a Gunner, and the last one was a Lancer. It was a short hunt, as the Long Sword user slashed at the Kut-ku's tail, the gunner shot sleep rounds to it's face, knocking the monster unconscious.

Later, the trio ran into Mikan and Azen when the Kut-ku was being taken away. The Long Sword user immediately approached Mikan and stared into her eyes.

"Well, hello there. My name is Ian."

"Umm... Hello, Ian. I'm Mikan. Can you back away? You're invading my personal space." Mikan replied.

Ian smirked and then kissed Mikan, much to Azen's dismay. Mikan was paralyzed as she didn't expect a stranger to do such a thing to her, and Ian took advantage of the situation. He put his arm around Mikan's waist and pulled her to him, then Ian stared at Azen.

"Beat it, kid." Ian said.

Azen scowled, "You can't just take her away!"

"She's not resisting, is she?" Ian said and laughed, then walked away with his two henchmen.

Azen fumed and took it in. She wasn't resisting at all. Maybe she liked this stranger. How come? They've known each other for 40 seconds. It's impossible. Azen couldn't wrap his mind around the matter, and he stormed off towards the smith's shop.

"You know, wielding that with a broken heart may result in broken limbs, or severed body parts for that matter." The smith said as he watched Azen inspect the blade.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. She obviously fell for the guy. I just can't believe that she could fall for someone in 40 seconds..." Azen stated before sheathing his Bone Katana 'Dragon'.

"Well, your fate is in your hands, boy." said the Smith.

Azen departed the shop shortly after the smith's last words to him, and he looked at the spot where Mikan was taken away by Ian. The road where the Kut-ku was captured was ahead of him, and he immediately started walking along it. He assumed Mikan would stay with Ian, so he didn't bother searching for her. He set his eyes down the road, and with the setting sun illuminating his path, he started walking. It wasn't for a while that Azen's concentration was broken because of a note flying into his face. The paper had Mikan's scent, and he started reading it.

"Kid,

I hope you're having a wonderful time alone. Mikan sure enjoys my company, so don't worry about her. She looks for you every now and then, but of course, I'm not letting my future wife escape from my grasp. But she's a really tough girl. She said that she'll force her way out. Well, now she's paralyzed, but she can only watch what is going on around her. If you want to rescue her, go to New Starfall. You have two days. We'll be waiting.

Signed,
Ian."

Azen threw the note away and ruffled through his bag for a map. He looked for New Starfall on the map, and was shocked. New Starfall was three days away from the town he was just in. He wouldn't make it there in two days.

With fiery eyes, Azen took a piece of coal from his bag and drew a straight line. It was the shortcut he was going to take to New Starfall. It was definitely shorter than any route to it, so he knew he what he has to do now.

Little did Azen know, New Starfall is now infested with monsters. Ian and Mikan, along with Ian's henchmen, were on the cliff at the back of New Starfall, watching the town of monsters.

((Bad chapter is bad. I need to play more MHFU for ideas.))