Here's another chapter! I hope you enjoy and please leave a review.

Krillshadow: Well, I'm glad your open minded. I'm honestly just happy having such a wide base of readers.

The Megaevolved Pony: I've always viewed it more as duality. Hunters kill monsters to make armor and reserve balance, in the commission anyway. Monsters kill hunters to survive and continue with their business. It's a double sided coin.

Guest: I honestly don't know if I'll get to that. It's gonna take some time.

Enjoy!

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With the end of the story, the two listeners realized that Eclipsen's journey's were not for the light hearted. Nor for those who thought hunting was a virtuous cause.

Eclipsen was clear to explain that with the profession of hunting, came the title of murderer to many of the creatures living in both the Old World, and the New.

He had explained it in very harsh terms.

"Hunting is not a one sided thing. It is the duty of those who aren't afraid to bloody their hands, whether it's for the good of humans or monsters. Fatalis was an ancient creature, born to do one thing. He was the opposite of a Hunter. He was the one who balanced the deaths of monsters with the deaths of humans. Even the ancient Fatalis who destroyed Shrade was painfully aware of the death he brought, and it was quite clear to me after that night that Monsters can feel guilt. True guilt.

Like the guilt I carry on my shoulders. Just like the dead parts of Monsters we wear, Hunters are meant to bear the weight of their sins and be reminded of them when we finally return to the Earth. It's the World's way of showing us that no creature, whether human or monster, is free of the sin that comes with being a balance of nature. Fatalis also knew this, as he was the one who welded human remains onto his scales. He bore that sin too, but the young Fatalis I fought was not the older one that destroyed Shrade. He was an adolescent. One who still thought that his sins were not of importance.

In that last moment, that Fatalis realized what his predecessor bore. He realised that I was the counter to his bloodlust. I too was baptized in a way by the battle. I learned the same thing. I learned that even great destructive creatures like Elder Dragons were not absolved of their own sins. Many Elder Dragons go their entire lifetimes without killing a human. They only killed to survive. Survival is not a sin. Killing to protect your own kind or another is.

In that way, Brad and the Field Team Leader are the same as Fatalis. They kill without considering the lives of their prey as important. They will realize one day that they have too much blood on their hands to ignore. They will be condemned to the same fate as me. A life of simple killing and working though the guilt.

You've never seen suffering until you realize the armor you wear is made of mothers, fathers, daughters and sons. The shredded flesh of an innocent creature.

In that way, we are no different from Fatalis."

-Transition-

Those words hung heavy with Nergigante. She had never could've guessed that the Hunter carried such a weight upon his shoulders. At first glance, she had assumed that he was just a hunter with a small respect for monsters, but the curtain had been ripped away and Eclipsen's true feelings had spilled forth.

Hether had visibly deflated after he had delivered his speech, her normally happy personality cracked and revealed a woman who truly cared for her partner.

She was envious of Hether for that. To be able to comfort someone you respect even when the hurt that they bear hurts you in turn. Nergigante's status as a monster-human hybrid made that impossible for her.

Now she sat in Eclipsen's Private Quarters, having been escorted back by the Hunter's cat companion. He was still wary of her, which she found amusing. She had decided that she would tease the Felyne as much as she could.

It was too bad that the Palico had fled back go the canteen as soon as the door closed, leaving the Elder Dragon alone in the room besides the Wigglers in the pots and the Coralbird in the tree.

She sat quietly on the bed, her wing pulled out in front of her. He scraped her now small talons across them, shaving off some of her spines. They were nuisance, even when she was still normal. They itched when left for too long without grooming. She remembered her grandparents having crooked and uneven spines from years of not grooming, which wasn't a true problem. Rather it was simply strange to look at the spikes jutting out awkwardly in ways they shouldn't.

Many thoughts still ran through her head, but she decided to focus on one topic.

How did she feel? About the Hunter, the Handler, all of this. Why was she so fond of the idea of staying with the Hunter and eating good food everyday? Her natural instincts were still strong, and every single one of them told her to spread her wings, leap out a window and fly back to the Elder's Recess.

But when faced with the starvation she experienced out in the wild, it was not a logical decision. Her instincts were not aware that here in the human settlement, she could slowly work her way into things and keep herself fed.

Nergigante had to admit that her hatred of hunters and humanity in general had long been tossed away. Her parents would've angrily reprimanded her for such a thing, but she didn't care.

Even her instincts had admitted that these humans were good people. Hether and Eclipsen both simply worked for what they wanted, even if the guilt upon Eclipsen's shoulders was soul-crushing. Hether was a ray of sunshine and it somehow never failed to make Nergigante feel better.

These two had treated her with respect and kindness. Even Eclipsen's leader was a kind man at heart. She could sense that the Commander was someone who wanted to preserve balance, but also knew how the Ecosystem would function with or without hunters, and that if he let the reigns go to much, then the hunters would end up destroying the Ecosystem. She had to admit that if he was the one who faced her, she would've fared much worse in battle.

These humans had accepted her when any other Monster would've rejected her new form outright. How these humans could accept something that they previously feared was beyond her, as many of the hunters she had known were simply scared little people with oversized weapons.

Her thoughts circled back around to Eclipsen. He was ultimately the one responsible for turning her into this form, but she somehow didn't mind as much as she used to. She had only been here for a day, but her anger and rage had seemingly just disintegrated.

She respected Eclipsen greatly. For a individual to defeat an Elder Dragon is something very important in the wild. Not many monsters could do it, but if they did the Elder Dragon would begin to respect the monster, even going so far as to start what looked like friendships.

Maybe it was the same for her and Eclipsen. Nergigante didn't really know. It wasn't her specialty to think about these things in detail.

But she knew that she felt grateful to him. She had secretly accepted the fact that whatever Eclipsen had done had saved her from the normally gruesome fate of death. It was a life not like the one she had grew up in, but it was comfortable.

With that, Nergigante came to the conclusion that these hunters were worthy of her presence. They held enough respect for the monsters they hunted to earn Nergigante's slight trust. It was nigh a miracle they had even gotten that from her.

The sound of footsteps echoed near the door, drawing the Elder Dragon out of her thoughts and grooming.

The door swung open, revealing Hether with Eclipsen following closely behind. Hether's face was slightly flushed and her movements were lanky. Not to mention she reeked of alcohol. Nergigante's nose crinkled at the scent.

Hether walked in with a yawn, a goofy smile plastered onto her face. Eclipsen followed quickly after.

His face his dark and his eye held a sorrow that was unexplainable. He smelled slightly of alcohol, but not to the extent Hether did.

He looked over at the Handler before speaking quietly.

"I'll set up the hammock for you."

Hether gave a giggle and nod before plopping down on the bed and flopping backwards, seemingly failing to notice the spined tail the back of her head nearly collided with.

The Hunter moved over to the other side of the bed with slow and calculated movements, bending down and reaching into the Item Box. He withdrew a small bundle of material and moved away from the box.

He walked to the other side of the bed and proceeded to unroll the material into a long blanket like cloth that he tied onto two hooks that had been placed into the walls.

He shook the material a bit, making it fully form into the cloth hammock he had mentioned.

He walked back to the bed and tapped Hether on the shoulder. She gave a soft drunken giggle in reply.

"It's set up."

"Okay~."

With that, he moved over to the other side of the bed and sat down on the edge of it. His very aura radiated sadness. Nergigante had to resist the urge to lunge forward and embrace him.

The man reached up towards the strings on his Odogaron armor, gently pulling at them and releasing the pressure on his chest. He then unclipped and loosened the rest of his chest plate before lifting it off his head.

Nergigante once again found herself staring at the Hunter's exposed chest. The bandages around his chest and sides did little to hide the many scars and signs of battle that were scattered about his flesh.

She unconsciously reached forward, placing a hand on one of the exposed parts of his back. The heat from his skin was nice and moderate, and his muscles seemed to sink into her touch.

He didn't seem to care that she was touching him, as he simply placed his Odogaron armor next to the bed and went about unclipping his waist armor. The black cloth that wrapped around his waist soon joined the chest plate.

Nergigante didn't move her hand for the duration of the movements. The feeling of the Hunter's skin on her scaled hands was strange but... pleasant. Like a warm drink of a hot spring in a cold environment.

What she didn't expect was for Eclipsen to lean back into the touch. His muscles seemed to relax as she rubbed her hand across his back.

It was early in the morning now. At least around one in the morning. Eclipsen was just tired. Tired of many things, it seemed.

Nergigante found herself wanting to just embrace him and keep him close for the night, like a worried mother would do for a scared child. She knew it would be crossing a few boundaries and that she would find herself hating the sentimentality she had developed, but it was a small price to pay

A small price indeed to comfort this wounded warrior.