Morning came over the Ancient Forest as Mark made his way from Astera with a small group of Palicos and a cart. His grandfather, the Commander, had given orders to keep the camp Spyro altered in its altered state so that the general idea of its size could be copied for other camps that would be set up in the future. That set of orders necessitated the cart to carry Spyro's personal belongings.

Upon arriving at camp, the group found Spyro cooking breakfast for Crimson and Emily, both who looked like they could have slept better. Spyro, having heard the cart and the occasional meowing from the Palicos, turned his attention away from the cooking food. "Morning Mark!"

"Morning Spyro," the man answered. He gestured towards Crimson and Emily. "They have a hard time sleeping?"

"I wish," Spyro commented. "They had slightly better sleep than I did, at the expense of using my gut as a mattress."

"Then why…"

"Waking up early from good sleep can take a lot out of someone," Spyro answered. "And I can more easily 'bounce back' from bad sleep and waking up early."

"Comes with experience?" Crimson asked in a mumble.

"Early teen adventures forced me to adapt for the sake of my sanity and the safety of others," Spyro jabbed back as he handed him and Emily their food. "Anyway, I can see the cart. Anything I need to have packed up?"

"Just your personal belongings and supplies," Mark answered. "The Commander wanted to keep the camp as it is so we can incorporate similar size increases in other camps. He probably thinks that if you are going to join the Commission, then it would look good for him toward the Guild to consider even the smallest of requests or the potential thereof."

"A good leader cares for the well-being of those he or she leads," Spyro said. "The biggest reason for a bad leader's downfall is selfishness."

"I can agree with you on that, with the only exception being the Admiral," Mark said. "Good guy, but he can't stay in one place for too long. But, rather than just up and abandon his responsibilities, he delegated his responsibilities and began wandering the New World. If I had to say why, it'd be to keep an eye out for any anomalies in monster behavior, and act as needed."

"Bad leader, but good guy," Spyro thought out loud. "Having 'selfish' issues, but having the sense to have someone without said issues take the reins." He then shook his head before getting up. "Can you watch the food while I'm packing up my belongings?"

Mark nodded and moved to tend to the spit, alongside one of the Palicos. Spyro, in the meantime moved to where he stored his stuff and supplies, and began packing everything up.

Upon placing the first bundle of supplies on the ground, one of the Palicos tapped him on his knee, getting his attention. "Excuse me, Meowster, but can we take the bundles you make and set down and put them on the cart for you?" The particular Palico, female by the sound of her voice, said in nervousness.

Spyro found that the way the Palico asked the question was equally as cute as it was concerning, but held himself back as he answered, "That's fine, many hands make light work." The Palico nodded and took the bundle, which while it was somewhat bigger than her, she either didn't seem to mind the load it contained, or she was stronger than she looked.

With the 'assembly line' set up, Spyro's belongings and supplies were quickly packed and loaded onto the cart. The three Humans finished their meals and food tending at that time, and gave him his share of the food, which amounted to the last of the food that Spyro had.

With that, the group made their way to Astera. They had just barely gotten to the protective gate that kept most wildlife away from the base when Spyro spoke.

"So, what's the Research Commission all about?" He asked Mark. "I've heard its name mentioned a lot, but even then, I don't know much about it."

"Not entirely surprised," Mark said as he led them down the empty trail towards the entrance of Astera's Tradeyard. "So, several decades ago, the Hunter's Guild noticed a pattern every decade where Elder Dragons migrated across the sea. The phenomenon was dubbed 'the Elder Crossing' and a fleet was sent to follow so they could learn the reason for their migration."

"Forty years and four fleets later, we haven't learned anything yet," Emily pitched in. "At least, as far as the Elder Crossing is concerned. Despite that, there is always something to learn."

"And many of the researchers in the New World can agree with that. Endemic life, Piscine studies, botany, heck, an older Wyverian is looking into the indigenous Felyne populations," Mark said just as they arrived at the bridge just outside Astera. "And the Elder Crossing and the previous topics is where the hunters come in."

"Basically, extra manpower to get things rolling?" Crimson asked.

Mark nodded to the question, which got Spyro thinking. "So, I'd probably end up like a hunter, just extra manpower?" He asked.

"That's probably the most likely to happen, but even then, you can pick and choose which tasks you want to work on," Mark answered. "All of our tasks and assignments are posted on special notice boards, where handlers, or highly organized hunters can inspect and choose from them."

"So, jobs are posted, and hunters can choose from them...got it." Spyro confirmed as they stepped past a handful of carpenters doing some work. "And did the Mountain Turtle take a toll on the base?"

"That's Zorah Magdaros, one of the many Elder Dragons to make the Elder Crossing, and any damage the big guy did to Astera was minimal," Mark explained. "They're just working on additional safety precautions. With more hunters, the area will be busy, and will need to support more weight."

"Why do I suddenly feel slightly insulted when you say that?" Spyro asked.

"It's because that is the official reason, and you can subtly tell that that isn't the full reason," an older voice said. Spyro looked down and saw that they were now at a meeting location situated around a table. Surrounding the table was a collection of Humans, pointy-eared Wyverians, and a Palico that was a fair bit taller and bulkier than the rest of the species. At the head of the table was a man with white hair and considerable age, but held himself as if he wasn't old.

Mark walked around the table to stand behind the old man and stood next to where an armored man with a green nodachi katana was seated. "Spyro, Crimson, Emily, this is the First Fleet Master and Commander of the Research Commission, Matthias." The Dragon and humans gave the Commander a brief bow.

"Thank you," CDR Matthias said to Mark, taking the reins of the started meeting. "We'll do further introductions later on. In the meantime, we should see to getting our Human friends freshed up with the basics and off to work, and give our new Dragon friend here a chance to learn about the Commission's mission here in the new world."

"Partially taken care of by Mark as we made our way here," Spyro said, giving Mark a thankful look.

"As to be expected," Matthias said, looking to his field team leader with a proud smile. "Get Crimson, Emily, and their Palico, Tigger, outfitted and onto their first assignment. The Ecologist Department leader should have the assignment details."

"Understood!" Mark said with a salute and motioned for Crimson, Emily, and Tigger to follow him, which they did.

Matthias turned his attention to the 'behemoth' of a Dragon and spoke. "In the meantime, Spyro was it?" The Dragon nodded. "I'd like to get to know you a bit better on a personal level. Despite coming from a world that isn't ours, it's still new, having what amounts to a 'humanoid' Elder Dragon interested in helping the Commission. So, I want to make sure we aren't making a mistake that would endanger the lives of everyone here." Matthias walked around the table and passed Spyro, while motioning for the Dragon to follow him.

Their walk led them past the Second Fleet's workshop and onto a trail that went to a large, open area, presumably to be used for training. As soon as they stopped, Matthias turned to Spyro and spoke. "Your posture betrayed your thoughts," he simply said, catching the Dragon off guard. "When I spoke of making sure there weren't any legal mistakes happening, you rolled your eyes as if you thought your presence was an obvious good thing."

Spyro stood quiet for a moment before nodding, prompting Matthias to continue. "However, despite such, you decided to keep quiet, probably in hopes of simply waiting for my reason behind my caution. To put it bluntly, I'm not entirely on board, but seeing as you did rescue some of the Fifth Fleet A-Listers, I'm willing to give you a chance and see to giving you full access to the resources of the Commission to do what any hunter here in the New World does best." Matthias said with a smirk.

"To Hunt?" Spyro asked.

"To Hunt," Matthias confirmed, holding out his hand for Spyro to shake, which he did. "Welcome to the Research Commission."

I'm gonna need some 'minor help' in figuring out three key details for Spyro's loadout.

Armor type

Weapon type

Potential FEMALE name for the Palico he'll be paired up with

Simply answer by way of the Review system and I hope you enjoyed and will continue to enjoy what I write.

Spyro and Monster Hunter belong to their respective companies.