It was dark. The room was lit by the light of a large fireplace that glowed as the flame within dances about in a beautiful display. Next to it was two lounge chairs, one of them occupied by truly strange creature.

He was lithe in stature, resembling a wolf but with cyan scales and a two golden forward facing horns on the top of his head. Dressed in a casual grey hoodie and black shorts, he wore no shoes, exposing his yellow scaled feet like his hands. A long tail, covered in both scales and fur, lazily wagged beside him as he rested his cheek on his fist. His blue eyes, from behind thick-rimmed glasses, glanced to his left and noticed he had an audience.

"Oh! Hello, I didn't see you there." He chuckled. "Come in, make yourself comfortable." He reassured the audience, gesturing to the empty chair on the other side of the fireplace.

"My name is Xenthas, Xenthas the Zinogre." The Monster said. "Now, I could go into detail as to why I look like this, but that would be boring. You're all here for a reason, right?" He questioned.

The Zinogre pulled a large book from the side facing the fire and placed it in his lap. "Now, I have hundreds of stories I can share with you, my friends. I'm afraid I have time for only one." He said. "But not to worry! This story in particular is one of adventure, friendship, and the bonds between man and beast. Of light conquering darkness. And best of all, it's all true." Xenthas opens the book and began to read.

"It all started when the child of a friend of mine was looking for an adventure..." He declared.


On the main island of the archipelago, there was a girl sitting on the beach.

She had short, wild lavender hair (23-2) with somewhat dark red eyes. She also had a strange symbol tattooed on her forehead between her eyes (21). She wore an icy blue tank top and lavender shorts with black sandals that went up to her ankles. And from the first joint of her toes to her knees, as well as the first knuckle of her fingers to her elbows, she had wrapped in bandage tape.

This is our protagonist, daughter of the eldest sibling of family, Katana Blade and Prince Vegeta from another universe. This is Tekko Blade, a Saiyan/Ice Demon hybrid, age 14. She sighed as she skipped ice constructs shaped like perfect skipping stones across the water. "Man, I wish there was more to do around here." She groaned.

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the ground, and from the dust cloud created by it was a Anthropomorphic Zinogre dressed in a grey hoodie and black shorts. This was Xenthas, a family friend that Tekko mother's brother, Sai Blade, had met a couple years ago. The Zinogre making entrances like these, as she had learned, were a normal thing for him to do, so she wasn't phased by the tremor nor the boom.

In fact, Tekko rolled her eyes at this. "Jeez, Xenthas. Dramatic, much?" She asked.

"Shoot, I must be losing my touch..." Xenthas said in feigned sadness, but replaced it with a shark tooth grin. "So, what's poppin' kid?" He asked.

"Not much. Just hoping for something to do." She explained.

"Oh, well that's not good." Xenthas said. "Boredom is never a good thing. Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"Not unless you can find some poor island or something in extreme peril." She said.

"Hmm...have you heard of the people they call riders, kid?" Xenthas asked, looking out over the water.

"I've heard the name a few times, yes." She confirmed.

"Come with me, little one. I got something to show you." He began to walk off the beach towards the Blade Temple. The Ice-Demon Hybrid raised a brow at this, but followed after the Zinogre anyway.


Inside the Blade family library...

Inside the Temple's vast library, Xenthas rolled along the mobile ladder used to reach the books higher on the shelf, while Tekko was down below, tapping her foot.

"Come on...where is it?" The monster grumbled under his breath.

"I know I'm a demon and I can live for thousands of years, but I dont want to spend all of them here." She said sassily.

Xenthas sighed. "Just be patient, kid. I know your ma needed space to fit the amount of information from her travels, but this is a bit much." He continued to browse for a few moments before he found a particularly thick book with a human riding a Rathalos on the cover. "Aha!" He cried, grabbing the book and sliding back down the ladder.

"So, what does this book have to do with anything?" She asked.

"Sit down, and you'll find out." The bipedal Zinogre said simply. He walked over to a large table at the center of the vast room and pulled out a chair for himself, sitting down and placing the book down on the table with a resounding thud.

Tekko huffed at this. "Fine, just make it quick." She said, creating a lounge chair of ice and laying down in it.

Opening the book, he skimmed through the pages until he eventually came across a page that had humans riding monsters that seemed rather diminutive in stature. Clearing his throat and adjusting his glasses, Xenthas began to read.

"Long ago, in ancient times...

There were those who awakened a hidden power...

To open their hearts and befriend the monsters of the world.

They called them...Riders.

Those who forge bonds with monsters."

The monster looked at Tekko. "Still with me, kid?" He asked.

It was at this moment he heard snoring. Looking over, he saw that Tekko was now asleep, laying on her stomach and snuggling with a polar bear a third of her size, behaving exactly like a teddy bear or other stuffed animal despite being made of snow. "Adventure... glory... riches..." she mumbled in her sleep.

"Oh for the love of...WAKE UP!" He roared, startling her and nearly making her hit the ceiling when she jumped.

"Ah!" She cried out, leaping to the air and crashing down on her lounge chair, shattering it. "Hey! That was mean!" She pouted.

"Try to stay awake, kid. It's rude to fall asleep like that during important crap." He sighed, pushing his glasses back into place. "Anywho." He resumed.

"A millennia ago, the world suffered from a plague simply known as the 'Black Blight'. This plague drove monsters to the brink of madness and caused them to attack everything with a pulse. The people feared that the end times were upon them." Xenthas read aloud. " Then one day, a group of people learned how to befriend and ride the monsters that had kept their distance from them from for so long. These people called themselves...Riders. And leading them into the fight was a Rider on a White Dragon. Using a powerful force called Kinship, this Rider along with his monster friends by his side, repelled the Black Blight and restore light to the world. And so peace had prevailed, a balance maintained..." He said, closing the book. "...until recently." He added ominously.

"What do you mean, until now? These are events that already happened, they can't be changed... right?" She asked.

Xenthas' blue gaze turned steely. "Even though the world had been saved, that didn't mean that everyone wanted to see a monster that wasn't an Aptonoth or a Popo walking the streets. Try as they might, the Riders couldn't find a way to make co-existing with Hunters work and due to their opposing views on monsters, the Riders kind of went into hiding, falling into obscurity. They almost became myths, legends." He explained.

He then got up and walked a few steps away from the table, not facing Tekko. "In their absence, there have been rumors that the Black Blight is returning, with sightings of odd phenomena such as black gas appearing and driving monsters crazy. Just a year ago, a village had been attacked by a Nargacuga that was shrouded in a cloud of black smoke and was acting erratic." He told her.

She looked shocked at this, before looking serious. "Then we have to go. As a Blade, it is my duty to defend the world from certain danger." She declared, before smirking. "This is gonna be so lit!" She cheered.

"Hold your horses there, kid." Xenthas laughed, holding her by her shoulders. "To save the world, you'll have to become a Rider. Which leads me to my next point." He pulls a map out of his Hoodie pocket and lays it down on the table.

"I've been riding on Monsters for years. I rode on a Gravios before I could walk. How am I not already a rider?" She asked.

"You may have rode a monster, but not in the way Riders do it." He explained pointed to a Valley which had a small Village drawn on it. "There's a Rider Village where you'll learn the ways of the Rider. To make things simpler, you will not bring any of your mounts with you. You will be a person from beyond who wants to know their ways. Only when you learn their ways will you be able to start your journey to taking on this plague." He added.

"Aww, man! I was really hoping of showing up on my Kushala Daora to look awesome." She pouted.

"It wouldn't be fun if you could just skip through it, right?." Xenthas questioned.

"It would be fun to be able to skip to the good stuff, yes." She insisted.

"If you showed up on one of your mounts from here, they'll get suspicious, especially since your mounts can enter rooms with an automatic size-changing spell." The Monster deadpanned.

"I guess that would be JUST A LIITLE out of the ordinary." She admitted.

"Lastly, word of this operation will be kept between you and I. Once you leave, I'll stay behind to ensure that your mom cannot go after you." Xenthas said the last part of the plan.

"Thanks, Xenthas. Words cannot express how much I appreciate that." She said gratefully.

He handed her a slip of paper. "These are the supposed coordinates of the Valley the village is located in. In the morning, I will see you off." He explained.

"Alright. The world can rest easy, because Tekko Blade is here to save it!" She declared.

"I like your spirit." Xenthas smiled, patting her on the back. "Rest up. I'll be there to see you off." He walked off and exited the library.

"Alright. I swear by the Sapphire Star, I will not fail." She declared as she headed to her room.


Meanwhile, in Astera...

Sai Blade was explaining to the handler about how he met his loyal Palico, Draco, before he suddenly sneezed. "You okay, Pard?" The handler, Natalia, asked.

"Yeah, fine. I think someone is talking about me." The mighty hunter said as he sniffled and wiggled his nose.


Early the next morning...

Xenthas stood out in a clearing, arms crossed as he watched the Moon sink below the horizon in preparation for day to come. His ears twitched to the of sound of feet hitting the ground behind him, drawing his attention and making him turn around. There stood Tekko, up and ready to go.

"I'm ready." Tekko said as she walked up him, wearing black shorts, a black t-shirt, a camo vest and black, fingerless gloves., with her right knee bandaged up and wearing a black headband with blue fire decals... rather ironic for an Ice Demon.

"Alright, good." Xenthas clapped his paws together, turning his body to fully face her. "Got everything you need? You sure you're not forgetting anything?" He questioned.

"Nope. Absolutely nothing!" Tekko confirmed proudly.

"Heh. Organized as usual." He pulled the Ice Demon hybrid into a hug. "Come back to us safely, please." He whispered.

"I promise I'll come back safe. And I might even bring some new monsters with me." She told him.

"Heh, I better hope so." He chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"Hey, watch the hair!" She complained, pulling away. She then took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay, I'm ready." She said, creating a portal leading just outside the village she was to investigate.

"Good luck, kid!" He said, waving to her as she waved back before walking through the portal, the hole closing up when she walked through, leaving Xenthas alone.

Tekko emerged on the other side of the portal just outside of a quaint little village where people walked around with monsters. "Alright! Here we go. Time to begin my journey and stop the Black Blight... As a rider!" She declared.


[1] The numbers in parentheses are how to create this character in Monster Hunter World