Disclaimer: I don't own Monster Hunter. Blah.
A/N. I don't consider this chapter canonical, but I wrote it, there's some decent action sections, worth a read. Enjoi!
Amy opened her eyes to find herself in the Inn, unable to remember much of the last night; it was as if she was on auto pilot. Wandering outside the Inn, through the main street of the village, her mind was still scrambled, no thoughts or feelings came to her, but at the same time nothing made sense.
Amy clutched the amulet around her neck and stared at the sky. The necklace was one of her few trinkets from Kokoto, one of the few connections to her past, and her roots. It was given to her by her grandfather; it once belonged to her mother before the Wyvern took them.
A small bird flew overhead as Amy turned to inspect the necklace. It was small; a thin gold chain held it around her neck and exquisite golden jewel crafting held a bright orange jewel in the centre. Amy loved it, it was beautiful.
"They can't, they aren't ready for this." Amy heard the Village Chief say.
Looking around, she saw the Chief and the Guild Manager bursting out of the Inn, the Manager holding a letter in her hand.
"They must go, Guild rules clearly say that when a town or village calls for aid, any town or village that receives the call must respond immediately," the Guild Manager said, her voice rising slightly.
"And don't the rules also give a three day grieving period after the loss of a team mate?" Asked the Chief, her voice also rising.
"Oh, come on, it's not like they really knew him, they went on three hunts together, and I never saw them together outside of a hunt, it isn't like they were life partners," answered the Manager.
"Nevertheless, I happen to know that each of them needs these three days, it just isn't right that they go now," the Chief retaliated.
"But it is right for Kokoto to suffer?" Asked the Manager.
"Kokoto has its own Hunters, plenty of them," the Chief answered.
"All of which were slaughtered," the Manager shot back.
"Even more reason to keep our Hunters here, and safe," said the Chief.
Amy stood up and headed over to them.
"What has happened at Kokoto?" She asked.
"Noth…"The Chief began.
"It has been attacked by a monster; every Hunter so far has fallen." The Manager cut in.
"Well what are we stood debating it for? Every moment we stand here, Kokoto could be destroyed!" Amy said, rushing back into the Inn.
"Now that's what I like to see, enthusiasm," The Manager said, smiling and clapping her hands together, "now, Chief, I trust you will alert the other Hunters of our situation, I have work to do."
Amy returned to find Laura and Aaron stood outside, fully dressed in armour, waiting by a carriage.
"You didn't think we'd let you go by yourself, did you?" Aaron said with a slight grin. "Come on kiddo, the carriage is waiting."
The three of them climbed into the carriage, where they settled down, waiting for the long ride to Kokoto.
Snow blew around them, howling loudly, constantly reminding Amy of the last time she took this pass, where she was attacked by an aggressive Tigrex, the memories of the encounter still haunted her to this day, Amy wondered if she would ever get over it.
'I should consider myself lucky,' she thought, 'some Hunter's must have gone through three times what I have, their whole lives must be one big scar…'
Her thoughts were interrupted when something outside caught her eye.
"Stop the carriage!" She shouted, hopping out of the back of the carriage.
"Amy, what's going on?" Aaron asked, "We don't have time to stop."
"I know that, but this is where we were attacked on the way here." Amy said.
Aaron looked around, seeing splinters of wood laying in the snow, a Popo carcass, and the remains of the carriage, toppled over, by the edge of the cliff. Amy was rummaging in the snow by the remains of the carriage, searching for anything from the journey to Pokke.
"Amy, we really don't have time for this," Laura yelled from the carriage.
"I know, but I'm looking for something that could help us," Amy replied.
"Well look faster!" Aaron shouted, inspecting the frozen remains of the Guild Official that lost his life to the Tigrex. "This Tigrex was nasty, wasn't it?" He asked, bemused.
"Aha!" Said Amy.
They looked over to see Amy pulling several pieces of frozen armour from the snow.
"What is that?" Aaron said, rushing over and kneeling in the snow beside her. "Wow, Rathalos armour, how did you know that was here?"
"I told you, when I left Kokoto, I was given armour and a weapon…" She began.
"Speaking of Kokoto, let's move!" Laura yelled.
"I need my sword!" Amy replied, frantically searching through the snow again.
"I think I've got something," Aaron shouted, pulling a black wooden case out of the snow.
"That's it!" Amy said, rushing over and sliding to her knees beside the case.
"It's frozen shut," she said, struggling to open the wooden box.
"Here," Aaron said, handing her his Hunter's knife.
Amy jabbed the knife into the side of the box, and the case snapped open. She pulled out Supremacy Blade, it's long, slender blade reflecting the dim sunlight with a red tint, and it was in the pristine condition it was in when Amy received it.
"Ok, you got the sword, now let's go!" Laura yelled.
Amy nodded and grabbed the sheath and her armour, and dashed into the carriage.
Night was falling as they left the mountains, an ominous orange glow in the distance told the where Kokoto was. They urged the carriage on towards the village, hoping that they weren't too late. Amy put the Rathalos armour on over her Narugakaruga armour, removing the arm and leg protection in favour of the more protective Rathalos shell coverings. She strapped 'Dragon' to her back, heeding her grandfather's words about only using it when she felt ready.
By the time they arrived at the village, night had well and truly fallen. The only lights were from the burning houses of Kokoto. Amy looked around in horror at her home village; most of it was burning, or already burnt. A house beside them shook, and some of the wood fell from the roof.
"Whatever comes through there, we must remain calm," Aaron said as they all readied their weapons.
The house burst apart, revealing the menace that was terrorising Kokoto. It stood twice as tall as Amy; its red scaled body looked incredibly powerful. Thick wings sprouted from its back, each wing beat released a fine powder into the air. It had a thick red mane around its neck, and its head sported two fierce, crown like horns. Its eyes burnt a fierce orange as it stared down at the Hunters. It bellowed and gnashed its huge fangs together, igniting the powder from its wings, incinerating the ground around it.
The Hunters backed off as the Dragon turned; flames billowed from its mouth as it continued to devastate Kokoto. Amy yelled and charged at the beast, drawing 'Dragon', ignoring Aaron telling her to come back. She raised the Katana above her head, ready to strike, when a wall of heat hit her with the force of a rampaging Bulldrome pack. Weakened, the strike did nothing but alert the monster of her presence. A tail hit the Huntress, knocking her to her feet. Before her brain could register, a paw swiped at her, sending her sprawling across the charred land. As she recovered, she felt the hard head of the Dragon hit her, again sending her sprawling across the floor. Opening her eyes, she saw the mouth of the monster opening, preparing to finish its attacker.
In a flash, Aaron was there, blocking with his Greatsword, as Laura unleashed a flurry of lightning powered strikes into the beast's ribcage. The Dragon spun around and swiped Laura with its paw, sending her rolling across the floor.
Aaron's sword slashed upwards, slicing through the tail of the monster, causing it to leap forwards in pain. Amy recovered and charged again at the beast, which shunted its horns forward, knocking her down. It reared its head back, sparks flying from its mouth. Amy knew it was about to burn something, and she knew she didn't have time to move, so she closed her eyes and jabbed her sword towards the Dragon.
Flames didn't burn her, no excruciating heat enveloped her body, something heavy landed on her leg, but that was all. She opened her eyes. Her sword had removed one of its horns, which had stopped it from burning her. She grabbed the horn and rolled away from the monster as it recovered.
It looked to Laura, who was just climbing out of the pile of wood she had been sent into, and began to charge. Aaron rushed to her aid and brought 'Blushing Dame' down onto the head of the beast, not having time to use the sharp side; the blunt edge of the sword had sent its head crashing into the hard earth.
The Hunters backed off as it recovered, letting out a deep, loud roar. The earth around the monster began to blacken, any grass wilted then burst into flame as the heat around the monster grew more intense.
"Get away from it!" Aaron yelled, turning around and running from the beast.
Amy struggled to stand up, dropping her Katana; she broke into a run as the Dragon bore down on her.
"Amy!" Laura yelled, "Over here!"
Amy looked over towards Laura, where her and Aaron where taking shelter inside a building. The Huntress turned her run towards the two, aware of the raging beast behind her; she could almost feel its breath on her back. She dove through the window of the house; crashing onto the weakened wooden floor as the monster collided with the house, shaking the entire structure.
"We need to move," said Laura as Aaron helped Amy to her feet.
The trio quickly made their way through the ruined house as the Dragon tore the wall down, pursuing its attackers through the small space.
"Out there!" Yelled Aaron, pointing to another door to the house.
Amy and Aaron dashed through the door as Laura hopped through the window frame. The monster, not a second behind them, crashed through the wall, causing the already weakened building to crumble around it. Laura approached it as the other two caught their breath. The beast unleashed a torrent of flames, causing Laura to roll out of the way and back to the two Hunters.
"How long do you think it will stay there?" Amy asked, looking at Aaron.
Her question was already answered, however, as the dragon's wings sent powder into the air, and it gnashed its fangs together. Amy brought up her hand, shielding her eyes from the explosion, which had sent burning wood and earth into the air. In the midst of the flames stood the Dragon, roaring proudly. Amy thought it would have been quite a spectacular sight, had it not been so deadly.
A sharp tug at her shoulder brought her back to reality, as Aaron pulled her towards another building.
"Wake up, I've got a plan!" He yelled, sprinting towards the house.
The monster caught them in its gaze, and leapt at them. It overshot it, and collided with the house they were running to, trapping itself again.
"Quick, Laura," Aaron yelled, "Amy, let us know when it starts flapping!"
Amy watched as Laura and Aaron set up bombs around the house, the monster flailing madly, trying to free itself.
"You ready?" Aaron yelled.
"Yeah, let's finish this!" Laura replied.
The two of them lit fuses and ran back to Amy as she watched the fuses slowly burn away.
"Wait, if it's a Fire Dragon, what good will bombs do?" She asked, suddenly worried.
"Hopefully, they'll catch it off guard, and weaken it a fair bit," Aaron said, his voice not showing the same confidence his words did.
The bombs exploded in another spectacular combination of light, sound and heat, sending wood into the air, along with a thick pillar of smoke. The beast had been thrown into the air, and crashed to the floor, shaking the ground as it landed. It stood up and extended its wings, glaring menacingly at the Hunters.
"My sword!" Amy said, realising that she was unarmed.
"Go get it, we'll hold it off!" Laura shouted, drawing her swords.
Amy turned and ran back to where she had dropped her Katana, quickly navigating the rubble that littered the area. Another explosion shook the ground, knocking her to her feet. Grabbing the wood for support, she pulled herself up and over the remains of the house wall, and crawled to the sword that lay on the floor. Her eyes met the sword, and she knew she wouldn't be able to use it again. The heat from the Dragon's body had warped the blade, it was now bent and twisted beyond repair, the handle was broken, and the wrappings lay on the floor in ashes. She quickly untied the sheath from her back and put the weapon with it, dragging herself over to the carriage. She threw the weapon into the back, and grabbed the shiny black sheath from beneath her old armour.
'Now is the time,' she thought to herself, and strapped the blade to her back.
Aaron and Laura appeared at the doorway of another house, running as fast as their bodies would allow, the fierce blaze of the Dragon visible in the house behind them. The monster burst through the wall, shaking off the rubble that fell onto it, and charged towards the Hunters. Amy grabbed her sword and ran towards the beast, bringing the black blade over her head as the Dragon's wing passed over her. Blood rained down onto her, drenching her face and hair as she rolled away from the beast, turning around to wait for its next move.
It howled in pain and glared at her, its eyes searching over her body. It let out a roar and took off into the air, flying towards the rising sun, eventually disappearing from view.
"Thank the Elders for that," Aaron said, exhausted, "I don't know how much longer I would have lasted."
"There's no time for that," Said a voice, "The Guild has ordered you three to head to Schrade immediately."
"What?" Amy said, looking up.
A Guild member stood there, his silver armour shining in the morning sun, a carriage behind him.
"And why should we have to go there?" Laura said, obviously struggling to stand. "Give us one good reason."
"Fatalis." The Guild member said quietly, looking around nervously.
"What?" Aaron almost shouted, "It doesn't exist, the old king killed it, over a hundred years ago."
"Listen, Hunter," The Guild member said, his voice taking on a tone of authority, "I don't have time to stand here telling you the difference between what you read and what happened, okay? Now get in the carriage."
The trio climbed into the back of the carriage, where they all collapsed to the floor, the battle taking its toll on their stamina.
"Before we go," Aaron started, "Tell your cleanup crew that the tail we cut off is mine, have it sent to Pokke for me."
"Along with any survivors." Amy added.
"Alright, can we go now?" The Guild member asked, "Fatalis isn't going to wait around for us, you know."