The next morning Suzaku and I awoke at the same time, and wordlessly equipped our armour. Citrine was swimming in the water outside. I beckoned her back inside and the three of us left the house and met RT who was talking with Alpha. Alpha looked like he was ready for war. RT kept fiddling needlessly with the decoration that had come loose from his armour yesterday. As we approached, Alpha greeted us with a cocky smile.
"Well, about time you two were up. Today's the day!"
"For what?" Suzaku asked and we looked at him like he was drugged.
"Today is the day that the Teostra dies." I reminded him, and he mouthed a silent 'oh' and looked down in humiliation. Citrine gave his leg an affectionate head-butt.
"And I'm gonna help out." Alpha pointed to himself and held out his unimpressive hunting bow for us to see. I frowned.
"How?" I asked him and he seemed seriously offended.
"Whaddya mean 'how'!? I'm going to help you kill it! You need a bit of long-range attack on your team!" He scolded me and I sighed.
"Well, whatever you say."
"Wait! Wait for me!" A hyper voice called from behind us. We turned around and saw Po running towards us from the trading ship. The first thing I noticed was that he wasn't in his usual attire – he was wearing standard Alloy armour, and on his back was a Jaggi sword & shield. The armour was clearly too big on him, and the helmet kept falling over his eyes. He was quite a sight – he looked like a child trying to get away with wearing adult clothing.
"Po… you aren't planning on fighting with us, are you?" I said in worry. Sure, I had had the idea myself but it was a stupid last-minute thing that I was hoping we wouldn't have to do.
"I feel pretty useless when I'm out with you hunting… maybe I can be of more use now." He told me with a stern expression. His mind was made up. There was no convincing him otherwise.
And so me, Citrine, Suzaku, RT, Alpha AND Po headed out to see if we could track down the hopefully dead Teostra. We first checked the Wyvern Nest – he wasn't there. Then we checked the caves – nothing there either. We checked the waterfall and the tunnels, and found nothing. As we passed respectfully through the Jaggi nest, some of the Jaggia broke away and followed us, adding to our already pretty big hunting party. As we entered the cavernous area where the water began, we saw the Teostra lying haphazardly across his back, breathing heavily. The whole area had turned into a sea of blood, both in the water and staining the grass. The Jaggia started going crazy – the scent of Teostra blood was obviously something they didn't like.
Before I could issue any kind of orders, RT had rushed forward and his switch axe had unsheathed and clicked into place. Alpha readied his bow with an arrow and Suzaku and I began to advance, preparing to rush in when RT sounded the alarm. Citrine and the Jaggia started their own attack, advancing for the Teostra's flank. RT's switch axe inevitably sliced effortlessly right down the Teostra's face, rendering one of the beast's eyes useless. And so forward we charged.
"RT, aim for the stomach now! We'll handle the face!" I shouted to him and he nodded, rolling under the pink beast as it burst to life, lifting up onto two legs and letting out an ear-shattering screech. Much to my surprise, Po roared like an ancient barbarian in reply and went charging in, weapons drawn and arms flailing – and actually landed a direct hit, right in between the beast's eyes.
That was it. That was the blow that did it. The beast froze in its tracks, emitted a roar, then a gurgled cry and lastly a whimper before it collapsed forward with the blade still stuck deep between its eyes and breathed its last.
It was so anti-climactic. I was so wound up and ready for more action that I had to kill some Altaroth just to calm down. Alpha sheathed his bow, disenchanted, while Po wrenched his sword from the Teostra's skull and gave the monster's corpse a fierce kick, grinning all the while. It was over. Just like that…
"Umm, guys…" Making me grimace, Suzaku emerged covered in innards from the Teostra's stomach, which RT had kindly sliced open. "The World Crystal isn't there." My heart did a backflip and then divebombed into the deepest recesses of my stomach. I couldn't believe it… all of that effort, uncertainty, death and confusion… and it wasn't even there!?
"How can it not be there? It must be there," I snarled – I didn't want to get angry at him but I just couldn't help it. There was nothing else to take my anger out on anymore. "You said it was there, you said!"
"I know I did," He frowned. "Perhaps the Teostra spat it out after we wounded him. It could still be around here somewhere."
"It is a possibility! It is not uncommon for monsters to vomit after suffering heavy blood loss. It is especially common in winged wyverns." Po confirmed. RT immediately began searching nearby, particularly in the more bloody areas. However, he returned empty-handed even with the help of Citrine's keen nose. He looked so downtrodden and frustrated – feelings I currently shared. Surprisingly, Suzaku seemed the calmest out of us all, despite the fact that it was his way home at stake.
"I don't want any of you to get frustrated over this. I don't care if I get to go home – what matters to me now is insuring that this island is safe from the monsters of my World," He announced – his eyes gleamed in the faint light of the cavern. I was transfixed on them for a moment, unable to look anywhere else. "Believe it or not, but you guys have it easy here and I want to keep it that way."
"What are you saying? Surely your world must need a hunter like you!?" RT objected, stepping forward with a worried frown.
"Actually, there's something I didn't mention earlier…" His nervous tone of voice caught my attention.
"What? Please don't tell me that something else followed you through the portal?" I begged. He merely smirked amusedly.
"No, not quite that serious. But, I should probably spill the beans," He said with a shaky sigh, before looking me right in the eyes – nowhere else. Only at me. "I'm only a Novice hunter. I shouldn't even have been hunting the Teostra."
Everybody who was present, even the Jaggia, gawked.
"The Teostra is a High-ranking monster where I come from. The quest that I took should only have been given to a hunter like you or Neeshka." He told us.
"Well then, how did you get accepted by the guild for the quest?" RT's voice was nearly inaudible, he was so shocked.
"I have friends in high places back home." Suzaku mumbled in reply.
"But…" I walked up to him on shaking legs, placing a hand on his cheek. "Why?"
"…I had a particular grudge against this Teostra. I wanted to see him dead myself – I didn't want some blowhard hunter doing it for me," he growled, looking back to the beast as if checking for any vital signs.
"Grudge?" RT inquired. I shook my head at him, but Suzaku put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. It's alright, his gesture seemed to say. Then, his expression blank once again, he looked to RT.
"I once had an older brother. He was a hunter, much like my father was and his father before him. Three years ago, I was training under him to join the guild myself when the… incident happened." He began, hesitant, uneasy. I shook my head at him. You don't have to do this. But he simply flashed the same smile as before and continued.
"He accepted a quest to take down this Teostra, him and a friend from the City. They set off together and never returned. I don't even knew if it was the Teostra that got him – but somebody or something had to pay," He seethed. "I've been tracking him ever since, waiting for the Guild to issue another quest to take him down. When they did, I had some strings pulled and joined three other hunters to take him down. They were killed within minutes, then the Teostra swallowed the crystal…" He trailed off. I brushed my thumb over his cheek – I'm not sure if I meant it as a form of comfort or something else. It just felt like something I had to do. He smiled again, placing his gory hand over mine. RT looked a cross between sympathetic and horrified, but did his best to hide both. He held out his hand to Suzaku, who gave him a confused look.
"It has been an honour fighting alongside you today, Suzaku." He stuttered. Suzaku's face suddenly erupted in a wide grin and they shook hands.
"Same to you."
However the pleasant atmosphere between us wasn't to last. Only minutes later we were still standing in the same spot, arguing over where to next search for the World Crystal. To be honest, we all had absolutely no idea where to even begin – I figured the Teostra had thrown it up somewhere, like what Po suggested. RT wondered if it was still in the beast's body and Suzaku had missed it, to which he retorted that even if it was still in there he most certainly would not be going back in to get it out. Alpha was worried that the beast had dropped it while flying and that we would never find it, or that another monster had swallowed it. Citrine barked along with us, although we remained unaware of what her opinion on the matter was. The Jaggia had long since left, evidently bored by our humanoid squabbling.
Over the sound of our argument, Citrine caught on to a curious sound and alerted us with a series of alarming barks, before sliding on her belly back in the direction of the Jaggi nest. Catching on to the mysterious noise ourselves, we wordlessly followed her, expressions grim and hands clasped on weapon hilts. All of us were filled with a dread that the strange, unearthly sound had something to do with the World Crystal – and to our dread, we were very much correct.
Exiting the Jaggi nest back onto open ground, there was a strange, purple shimmering disk hanging high above us in the sky. Looking through it was a whole other world, featuring a dusty valley, similar to the Sandy Plains but much different in appearance. We didn't get to look very long – in the next instant it was closing and before we could so much as speak to one another it was gone, like it had never been there. Suzaku heaved a huge sigh of relief and turned to us with a smile.
"Well, that was a World Crystal portal, but I guess nothing came through-!" From nowhere a titanic black being swooped down and snatched Suzaku up in its massive claws, before beating its mighty wings and shooting back up into the sky, knocking us off our feet.
"Suzaku!" I screamed, but I could see no more of him or the monster through the dust. He didn't even reply, if he was even able. Gulping with fear, I rocketed to my feet and drew the Demonbane, praying to whatever Gods that watched over us that Suzaku was alright in the grip of the unknown monster – and then the dust began to clear.
Hovering high above us, with Suzaku unconscious in its claws, was an abnormally large black and red Rathian. It was no subspecies I had ever seen and one glance at Po told me that this was yet another new species altogether. He was just as clueless as the rest of us.
"What is that thing!?" RT roared, drawing his own switch axe with a wolfish snarl.
"Judging by the spines on its tail, it's a Rathian, but it is unlike anything I have ever seen before." Po replied scientifically, before being elbowed by Alpha. Nervously, he turned back to the monster and drew his bloodstained sword.
Regardless of the monster's intentions, whether they were evil or not, I found myself lacking of the ability to issue an attack command. Images of the Rathian mother flashed before my eyes, pounding against my temples and forcing me to the ground. With the Rathian I had watched die still clear in my mind's eye, I felt the most painful nauseating wave I ever had in my life. The oddly coloured Rathian unleashed a piercing roar that shattered my thoughts and brought me into more confusion. I thought I heard RT call for me to get up, but I barely picked up on it. What was this – telepathy? Was somebody showing me something, or trying to communicate with me? I felt my mind was connected with another's, but I could not focus on them or make any sense of my own wellbeing. Images of something else combined with that of the Rathian mother – flashes of red – but nothing clear.
Somewhere amidst the overwhelming chaos of my mind, something else emerged. The voice of another, deep, proud and strong, rung out over RT's words of encouragement and the Rathian's roaring. That voice seemed to calm the turmoil of my soul and made me feel at peace, like the voice was the only one I could trust. While at first the voice's words were incoherent, suddenly and with no warning I saw the mental image of a reptilian blue eye and accompanying it the voice said in a commanding, protective tone;
"I am here."
After another year-long wait, here is Chapter 12. I never really stopped working on this - Chapter 12 just took a year. However, this chapter is actually short deliberately so I could fit in the cliffhanger that I had always been aiming for with this chapter. The ideas really weren't flowing, and it didn't help that I got stuck on MH3U and stopped playing it altogether, although that really isn't an excuse on my part. I look forward to hearing what you guys think is going to happen!
I managed to get this finished today. For my readers who are still around, enjoy. I don't think this story is going to go on for much longer. For those who are still reading this tale after I posted the Prologue in 2010, I am so grateful to you and I admire your patience. XD
~Lagiacrus