Hello once again, my good friends! Sorry about the time between these posts; it seemed like a long time for me, and I do hope it didn't feel the same for all of you! So, who missed Hugh and co.? I know I did; they've been having all sorts of adventures while the others were out, right? Well, maybe not; house sitting ain't exactly something that's fun to write about. But then again, this IS me were talking about; let's see what they've been up to, eh? Enjoy!

Chapter 36- Trouble

Meanwhile, in Moga Village…

"York's going to be pissed," Hugh said as Karah finished wrapping a bandage around his bleeding foot. The house was a complete disaster; even more so than it normally was, and that's saying something. There were several small holes in the floor, and several shelves had been knocked off the wall, spilling all manner of objects onto the already messy floor. It looked like a tornado had blown through the house!

About five minutes earlier…

"Wonder what this is?" Hugh said, picking up one of York's creations; it looked like some kind of bowgun. He slid the section under the barrel back and forth, hearing a metallic racking sound. Hugh whistled at the noise. "Damn, this thing sounds like it could kill." Karah entered the living room from the kitchen, carrying a small plate of food.

"And you're sure they won't mind that we ate some of their food, right?" She asked. "Probably not. York complains about money, not starving," Hugh replied, looking down the sights of the gun. Karah looked at it with interest. "Well, we're going to have to pick up the kitchen before they get back. Last night's party didn't exactly leave the place sparkling. What're you doing?" "Looking at some of York's things. Doesn't this seem pretty cool?" He answered, relaxing his posture and pointing the barrel towards the floor.

"Yeah, but what is it?" "No idea. Looks like a bowgun without the 'bow' part." "Does it work?" "Dunno. Seems like it should," he responded, shrugging. Except, the motion made him tighten his grip on the trigger, causing the gun to go off! A loud bang erupted from the barrel of the gun, releasing numerous sharpened pieces of buckshot straight down!

Several of the rounds tore into Hugh's left foot, causing him to yelp in pain and drop the gun. He hopped around on one foot, grasping the other with both hands and screaming in pain. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Why the FUCK did he leave rounds INSIDE THE GUN!?" Hugh shouted as he hopped about. "Look out!" Karah called, trying to warn him about something.

He soon learned what she was trying to tell him; Hugh slipped on a large scale on the floor, falling forwards straight into several shelves on one of the walls! He knocked most of the objects on the shelves to the floor, falling down as well. Scales, bones, and other monster parts spilled across the living room. One of the shelves Hugh crashed into fell off the wall, landing right between his legs!

"Ow… Why me..." "Hugh! Are you okay?!" Karah exclaimed, lifting the board off of him. "No… No, no I am not…" Hugh responded, holding his bleeding foot with both hands. "Let me get some bandages, I'll be right back!"

Hugh sat on the equipment box York kept his weapons and armor in as Karah finished wrapping his foot. "There, that should be better. How's it feel?" Karah asked. "Pretty good, all things considered. Thanks," he responded, standing up. A few red splotches appeared on the bandages, but otherwise the injuries were mostly dealt with. "It's a good thing those potions work so well." "Yeah, but I think we may have a problem…"

"What?" Hugh asked, before looking around the room. "Oh, shit. York's going to be pissed." There were numerous holes in the floor where Hugh had accidently fired the gun, along with a few bloodstains on the wooden surface. Innumerable monster parts lay scattered across the floor, along with a few decorations and objects York had made. The shelves on the wall were all crooked, with a few no longer even attached.

"This is bad… They asked us to house sit, not wreck the place even more!" Karah said, gazing around at the mess. "They'll be back tomorrow, so I think we have time to clean it up," Hugh answered encouragingly. "But I don't think the floor's going to be an easy fix…"

A knock on the door practically stopped both of their hearts. The couple looked at each other, extremely worried expressions on their faces. "How are we going to explain this to them!?" Karah whispered. "I dunno, but why would York or Rose knock on the door to their own house? Maybe it isn't them," Hugh whispered back. "Go answer the door, I'll try to start clearing some of the things out of the way," she said, beginning to fix the shelves.

Hugh opened the door slowly, careful not to allow too much room to see the disaster behind him. To his relief, the person standing at the door was not York. "Is York here?" a man in a guild uniform asked urgently. "No, he's out in the city for a few days," Hugh responded. The man cursed at the news. "Listen, this is really important. Are you an experienced hunter? Can you come with me?" "Whoa, hold up a sec. One, what's this all about, and two, where is it you're trying to get me to go?"

The man sighed in frustration, but answered anyways. "We need to get to the tavern. An Azure Rathalos attacked a group of hunters in the Flooded Forest!" "Wait, what!? Do you know who?!" Hugh asked, worried. "No, it was a couple of rookies. One of them was pretty badly injured, and the other was saying something about a third member, but that's all I know." "Son of a- Just give me a sec, okay?"

Hugh turned around quickly, rushing back into the house. "Hugh! What is it? Is something wrong?" Karah asked, confused. "Yeah, there is," Hugh said, beginning to strap on his Rathalos armor. "I need you to come with me to the tavern. Get suited up; we might have a situation on our hands." Karah, although confused, did what he asked anyways, and soon they were running to the tavern along with the man from the guild.

A few hunters were gathered outside, trying to gain entry, but were held back by a few people wearing Guild uniforms. The man allowed the pair to enter, causing a small outburst in the crowd the officials were holding back. Inside, the tavern was completely empty except for the center of the room; several tables had been pushed together, and someone was lying on them surrounded by medics. A single hunter- a rookie by the looks of it- stood off to the side, looking worriedly at the makeshift operating table.

"What the hell happened?!" Hugh asked the young hunter. "I-I-I don't know! There was- We were just-!" the young man stammered. "Calm down a sec, then answer," Karah said in a soothing voice.

The young man took a few deep breaths, regaining a bit of his composure. "I went out on a quest with a friend of mine and an older hunter. We were hunting a Royal Ludroth, nothing too difficult. But then- then a giant blue dragon flew down at us! It was breathing fire in every direction, burning everything! It launched a fireball at Finch; he blocked it with his shield, but his arm was really badly burned! The old man tried to drive it off while I carted Finch outta there, but when I looked back I saw him get launched off a cliff! We barely got away!"

"What!? Felix is… no, he can't be... What about Finch?!" "The medics are trying to help him, but... he's out cold. I don't know, I just don't know…" the young hunter said, again gazing at the tables surrounded by medical personal. Hugh and Karah left the hunter alone; it was getting to be too much for him at this point.

"An Azure Rathalos? In the forest? Since when does that happen?" Karah asked, confused. "It doesn't. Rathalos stay away from the forest, and Rathians usually don't stay there for too long. There's no way that kid could've mistaken the two, either; he said it was blue," Hugh said, deep in thought. "We won't learn anything just trying to piece it together, though. We need to go to the forest and search the area. Hopefully, we'll find Felix too. That old coot couldn't have kicked the bucket that easily."

Karah looked uneasy. "I don't know… If it is an Azure Rathalos, we'll need more help if it's still around. Especially if it is one of those people." "We can get Zephyr to help out too. Come on, Karah, this isn't something we can just ignore! If it does try to attack us, we'll just do our jobs and kill the damn thing. We gotta find Felix!"

"…Alright. I trust you. Let's go," Karah said. They quickly exited the tavern, informing the man from earlier what they planned to do. Although he protested the idea, eventually he caved in. "Alright, fine, I can let you go out there. Don't blame me if you end up like the kid, though." They made their way through the crowd towards the docks. "Hugh! What's going on?"

Zephyr joined the three as they left the crowd. He was already armored; his long sword was slung across the back of his Lagiacrus armor. He carried the helm underneath his arm, allowing his hair to fall down to his shoulders. "An Azure Rathalos attacked Finch's hunting party in the Flooded Forest. Felix is missing, too. We're going to check it out. And before you ask, yes, you can come along." Zephyr nodded and joined them as they boarded the Guild airship used for High Rank quests; it was the fastest way they could get to their destination.

"Still, for an Azure Rathalos to attack hunters in the forest… It's unheard of," Zephyr said, deep in thought. "Which is why we're going out there," Hugh replied. "I really hope it is just a Rathalos, though; I don't think anyone who would ride one is someone I'd want to mess with..." Karah said.

"I don't think anyone would," Hugh said. "But they messed with me first' and I'll be damned if I'm going to let them get away with this."

Zephyr nodded in acknowledgment. "Of course. Even if they are responsible, that doesn't mean we can't fight them off. These people usually attack in either a small group or individually, right? It's three of us against two of them at most. We can handle it, as long as we stick together.

Well, how's that for house sitting? Not a bad job, if I do say so myself; that was more of a horrendously awful job. Looks like the Azure Rathalos came back, too; did Felix really kick the bucket? And what about Finch? I might be down a couple side characters... But hey, I'm always looking for some more outside sources as well; if anyone of you has a character you want included, feel free to ask! I can't promise I'll be able to fit everyone into this story, but I will let you all in on a secret; this probably won't be the only story I do. Well, we'll just have to wait and see! At least, you all will; I have to write it. Thanks again for reading, yadda yadda yadda, you know the rest.