After being granted permission to leave the village and explore the outside world, Tekko and her Monsties took off along with Navirou, heading for the snowy mountains so they could pass through to the nearest city of hunters. After an hour or so of riding, they would finally find themselves in the Darj Snowfields. Once reaching the icy area, Tekko stopped and looked around in amazement. "Wow. This place is beautiful. Snow and ice always make everything picturesque. I feel right at home here." Tekko said.

"Standing around admiring the view won't get us anywhere! We've still got a long way to go until we reach the other side of these mountains." Navirou pointed out, before sneezing. "Sure is cold around here. We should get going as soon as possible, buddy." He urged the young Ice Demon onward.

"Alright. Here we go." Tekko said as they rode Crushjaw into the icy plains. They traversed the area, collecting a few lost Poogies and dodging the occasional Zamite, Tekko making a mental note to THOROUGHLY check the nearby caves for a Zamtrios egg, they soon arrived at a cave towards the other end of the valley. "That cave is probably our best shot for getting through the mountains to town other than climbing over the entire mountain, don't you think?" Tekko asked the Felyne riding in front of her.

Navirou perked up a bit at this, looking uncertain, before turning around to face her. "Yep! You're totally right! That cave leads straight through the mountain for sure! I'm positive!" He insisted, ending with a nervous laugh.

However, Tekko was pretty quick to pick up on the fact. "Wow. What a ringing endorsement. Truly, I am filled with confidence." She said sarcastically, before they rode forth into the cave. However, they didn't make it too far into the caverns before coming across a surprising sight. There was a girl with blonde hair laying on the ground, clearly injured. "Whoa! There's a girl over there. And she's hurt!" Tekko said worriedly, getting off Crushjaw and starting to make her way forward.

However, before she could get too far, she was stopped by Navirou grabbing onto her leg. "Hold on, partner! We've got claws for concern! There's a Barioth right next to her! It's about to make her into lunch! And you two if you're not careful!" Navirou warned, pointing out the icy Pseudo-Wyvern with orange serrated stake knives coming out of its mouth as fearsome tusks.

"That would be concerning... IF it wasn't her Monstie." Tekko told him, taking note of how defensively it stood over the wounded girl, as well as the Kinship Stone she had on her chest. At this moment, due to the commotion, the Barioth woke up to see the two interlopers and let out a roar. "Whoa! Easy there, boy. We're here to help." Tekko assured him, holding up her hands. This allowed the Barioth to see the Kinship Stone on Tekko's hand and caused it to lower its guard, going back to tending to its Rider.

"I think I saw a cabin a way back near where we started from! We should take her there, then go get help!" Navirou suggested.

"Not the best option, but it's really all we've got right now." Tekko agreed.

However, before they could get up and get moving, they heard a roar and looked up to see an angry Lagombi on a ledge roaring at them, before leaping down. "Crap. Get her out of here, big guy. We'll handle this!" Tekko declared, drawing her greatsword. The Barioth nodded at this, before hurriedly bounding towards the entrance of the cave as Tekko blocked the Lagombi's path. "Sorry, Bugs, but you're gonna have to go see the doc by the time I'm done." She told the bunny-bear, who roared and prepared to attack, Crushjaw roaring back at it in defiance.

Background Music: "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin

The Lagombi started by digging its claws into the ground and tearing up a bunch of ice and snow, which it then flung towards its opponents. However, Tekko managed to block the projectiles with her greatsword, allowing Crushjaw to leap over her and pounce on the Lagombi, sending it to the ground and biting at its neck. However, the Lagombi managed to struggle and kick the young Deviljho back, before leaping forward and sliding away on its belly. It then swerved tot turn itself until it was finally facing its enemies again, slamming into Crushjaw and knocking the Deviljho down on top of Tekko, pinning the Rider underneath her own Monstie. Tekko grunted as she tried to push the massive monster off of herself. "Come on, Crushjaw! Get up! We need to stop him from going after that girl!" She urged her Monstie, before seeing the Lagombi towering over Crushjaw to peer down at her. "Oh. He wants us now. Great." She said worriedly.

The Lagombi then attempted to lurch down and try to bite Tekko, but Crushjaw swung his tail and managed to smack the White Rabbit Beast in the face, causing it to reel from the hit and land on all fours beside the Deviljho, who finally got back to his feet and attempted to bite at the Lagombi again, but the bunny bear leapt forward and slid away once again. The rabbit monster then leapt high into the air and crash down on its two opponents with its sizeable backside, but Tekko threw some throwing knives at it. The creature managed to avoid the airborne knives by leaning back, but this threw off its attack, causing to crash down on its back instead of its butt, missing its targets and doing more damage to itself. Then, as it got back to its feet, Tekko and Crushjaw charged together to slam their shoulders into the bear beast and knock it down, but it rolled onto its belly and slid a safe distance away.

This Lagombi was clearly spiteful, refusing to give up. It came barreling in towards them once again, before flopping onto its belly and spinning sideways like a top to knock the two of them away from each other, before going after Tekko. It slammed its claws into the ground once again and threw move ice and snow at Tekko. She managed to block it once again, but this kept her blocking and unable to attack, allowing the Lagombi to charge forward and swipe at her with its claws, breaking through her defense and allowing it to knock her down by dropping down on all fours and ramming her with its head.

The White Rabbit Beast then rose to its feet and prepared to slam down on the Rider girl with its massive body and claws, but Crushjaw came rushing in from behind the Fanged Beast, chomping down on the back of the bunny beast, raising it above his head and flinging him down to the ground behind him. The Lagombi was quick to get back to its feet and tried to lunge again, but the Deviljho turned and slammed its tail into the Silver Slider's face, sending it reeling back once more. The Lagombi tried one final time to lunge forward and attack the World Eater, but the Brute Wyvern responded with a stream of Dragon Energy that immediately halted the Lagombi's progress, leaving the beast cringing from the effects of the element and allowing Tekko to rush in and knock it down with one final, powerful horizontal swing of her greatsword.

End Music

After taking all the damage Tekko and Crushjaw had inflicted on it, the Lagombi wisely decided to retreat while it was still able to do so. And with that, Rider and Monstie exited the cave to check on the injured girl and her Monstie, finding them close to the entrance. "You're still right here? I thought you would've went for help for your Rider." Tekko said. The Barioth looked at her, then out towards the icy plains between them and the cabin, seeing Zamites crawling over every few dozen feet or so. "Oh, yeah. Kind of tough to protect your Rider AND avoid a small army at the same time." Tekko admitted, before sighing. "Well, same plan as last time, I guess. You just hurry to the cabin and we'll watch your back so you get there safely." She explained, the tusked Pseudo-Wyvern nodding in agreement, before bounding out into the tundra towards the cabin.

The Barioth then rushed forward at full speed through the icy plains, with Tekko not far behind, whistling for Sonic and Dagger to assist as well. Tekko blocked the first one with her greatsword, before shoving it forward into her attacker, sending it back into the frigid water. The next one leapt out of the water towards the Barioth, but it was intercepted by Crushjaw, who spun and slammed his tail into the monster, flinging it back into the lake as well. Another one pulled itself form the frozen pond and charged towards the Ice Tusk Wyvern, but Dagger blocked its path, kicking wildly with his talons and immediately discouraging the fledgling Zamtrios from pursuing its attack, causing it to flee back into the water. One more attempted to launch from the surf and tackle the Barioth, but Sonic rushed in and pounced on the young Zamtrios, sending it to the ground with Sonic on top of it, clawing at it a few times and causing it to quickly retreat into the waves.

Finally, the got some good distance from the frozen lake and no longer had to deal with any surprise Zamtrios leaping out at them. From there, Tekko and crew only had to block the path of a few Bullfango's, before they finally reached the cabin. They then quickly entered the Cabin and Tekko laid the injured Rider girl down on the bed, doing what she could to tend to the girl's injuries. A short time after Tekko had finished dealing with her injuries, the girl woke up. "Ngh..." She groaned as she started to stir.

"Nya! Look, she's awake!" Navirou declared.

"Whew! What a relief. You had us worried there." Tekko told the girl.

The girl jumped as she heard their voices, quickly turning to face them. "W-who are you!?" She asked.

"Take it easy, we're not gonna hurt you. I'm Tekko and this is Navirou." Tekko said, introducing herself and her uninvited travel companion.

"Morning, sleepyhead. We're the ones that got you out of that frozen cave." Navirou told her.

"Well, to be fair, her Barioth did most of the work. We just made sure they got here safe." Tekko corrected.

After being informed that someone had rescued them, you might expect that person to be grateful. This girl, however, didn't seem to share that idea. "Hmph. I don't remember asking for your help." She said, clearly unimpressed.

"You were a little to busy BEING UNCONSCIOUS to ask." Tekko countered.

"Yeah! You're welcome, by the way!" Navirou declared in annoyance.

Suddenly, the girl spotted Tekko's Kinship Stone. "Is that a Kinship Stone..? So you're a Rider, too? That explains why Frostfang trusted you." The girl said.

"Yeah, I've got some experience with Barioths. My sister has one as her main Monstie." Tekko explained, petting Frostfang.

"That's impressive. My name is Avinia." The girl finally introduced herself.

"Tekko Blade. Nice to meet you." Tekko now introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you as well. I never thought I'd meet another Rider. Not this far from my village, anyway." Avinia admitted.

"Really? Because we're not far away from the village I came from. That's a village filled with Riders, too." Tekko told her.

"I had no idea there were more Riders out there. Kind of paw-inspiring, right?" Navirou said, to which both girls groaned.

"Well, I'd better get going." Avinia said, starting to get up and out of bed, but Tekko was quick to stop her.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy! You're still injured. You shouldn't be moving around much right now. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. My uncle's a pretty prestigious medic, you know." Tekko told her, while also taking a second to brag.

However, Avinia refused to listen to what she was told. "I'm in a hurry, alright? I'm looking for somebody right now. I need to find the Wyverian who knows about the Rite of Channeling." She told them.

"Well, that's interesting. We're looking for him, too." Tekko said.

Navirou jumped up on the bed. "Yeah!" He said, before leaning in to whisper in Avinia's ear. "And word is, he'll only teach you about channeling if you prove yourself as a Rider." He told her, before backing up and putting his hands on his hips. "Not that my buddy and I will have much problems that! Just one word and our Monsties will do anything for us! Anything at all!" Navirou said proudly.

Tekko then pulled back on his tail to make him sit down and give Avinia some space. "Ignore him. He likes to think he's the greatest of all time. Honestly, he's only still here because I just can't get rid of him. He's right about one thing, though. My Monsties are top notch. I put my faith in them and they reward it with loyalty and determination." Tekko told her.

Avinia tilted her head in confusion. "Monsties? Oh, you must mean your monsters." She said.

Tekko laughed nervously at this. "Y-yeah... The head Rider of our village came up with it. I didn't like it at first, but it kind of stuck." She admitted.

"But still, you order your monsters around? I think being a Rider means a different thing to you than it does to me." Avinia said judgingly.

Tekko huffed at this. "Well, everyone has their own way of doing things. And, like you said my way is different-" Tekko began, before covering her mouth and letting out a quick fake cough. "- Better-!" She said, then quickly coughed again. "- Than yours. But for your information: no, I don't order them around. They just do whatever I need them to. Because we're so in sync because of how deep I connect with them." The young Ice Demoness boasted.

Avinia then gained a small smirk. "Really? Then would you be willing to prove yourself?" She challenged.

Tekko pulled her head back skeptically at this. "Why do I have to prove anything to you. I saved you and your Barioth while you were out unconscious in the snow. I proved myself by making sure you got here alive. I don't owe you anything, so I shouldn't have to prove myself." She told the other girl.

Avinia's smirk then grew slightly. "Oh? So do you not think you can do it, then? Is it too much for you?" She questioned.

Tekko immediately jolted up at this, gritting her teeth at having her ego tested. "Oh, you're on! I'll take any challenge you can think of!" She declared.

Navirou gulped at this. "This might turn into a CAT-astrophe." He said worriedly.

"There's a place on this mountain that only Riders can reach. Find it and bring me back the Mountain Herbs that grow there. Then we'll talk." Avinia instructed.

"Alright, but you better warm up before I get back, because as soon as I show you those herbs, your going face-first into a snow mound!" Tekko told her.

Avinia and Navirou both leaned away from her a bit at this. "You... do remember I'm injured, right?" Avinia asked worriedly.

"Sorry! I'm just REALLY competitive!" Tekko declared one final time.


After quickly stopping to talk to the Smithy in the building and purchasing herself some swanky Bnahabra armor, Tekko exited the building. "Finding the herbs should be easy-peasy with a bird's eye view!" She declared, mounting Dagger and taking off with the Seregios, flying high into the icy sky, with Navirou managing to jump onto one of the huts and leap off to grab Dagger's tail before he could be left behind. From there, Monstie and Rider surveyed the high up mountain cliffs that would be impossible to get up without aid of a monster. And soon enough, they spotted the a large bushel of the herbs almost perfectly in the center of the cliff.

"Wow! That was nice and quick! Not only did we beat Avinia's challenge, but she'll be EXTRA impressed we did it so fast. No doubt because of my expert leadership!" Navirou declared as they landed.

"Um... Excuse me? It was my idea to fly up and look for the herb. And I tried to ditch you before you could even get on Dagger." Tekko said, quickly going over and picking some of the herbs. "There, we go-" She said, about to leave, before noticing something in the taller grass behind the herbs. "Wait, what's that?" She asked, moving the grass to reveal a large blue egg with orange vertical lines on it. "No way... It's a monster egg!" She said excitedly, before pulling out a book of monster eggs she had gotten from Lilia, quickly finding the pattern. "It's a Zamtrios egg! Oh, you are SO coming with me!" She declared happily and picking up the egg.

Suddenly, Navirou gasped. "I hate to ruin the moment for you, partner, but we've got claws for concern! Zamtrios incoming!" Navirou cried out, pointing to the Zamtrios crawling up the cliffside and coming towards them with a roar.

"Crap! Take the egg, Navirou! Be sure to keep it safe!" Tekko instructed, handing the egg to Navirou and pointing for him to move to the other side of the cliff so she and Dagger where between him and the Zamtrios. "Well, let's do it!" She declared.

Background Music: "Cold as Ice" by Foreigner

The Zamtrios charged forward and spun on its side to knock the pair back. It attempted to pounce on Dagger, but the Seregios was quick to fly out of the way, twisting in the air to smack the Amphibian in the face with its tail, now turned to face it, allowing it to give a few slashing kicks to the shark-like creatures snout, before Tekko rushed in and rammed her shoulder into the bouncing beast to knock it down. However, the monster was quick to get back to its feet and blast a beam of ice from its mouth, sweeping across the immediate area. Dagger quickly took to the air and managed to avoid it, but Tekko was blasted back. Due to her being an ice demon, she wasn't affected by the freezing cold temperatures, but the force behind the beam was more than enough to launch her back and onto her back.

The Monster Shark leapt into the air and pounced upon the downed Rider and tried to bite her, but she managed to get her greatsword up and put it between the jaws to stop them from closing on her. The Zamtrios then tried to lower to the full weight of its head down on her to crush her, but it was then hit with several of Dagger's dagger-like scales, causing it to flinch. It turned and roared the Seregios, who screeched back and fired more scales at the the Amphibian. The Zamtrios responded by creating its ice armor and causing the scales to harmlessly bounce off. However, all this time allowed Tekko to squirm out from under the Zamtrios, before driving both feet into the beast to push it back, getting to her feet and knocking it even further back with a swing of her greatsword.

The Zamtrios roared at this, moving towards Dagger and trying to bite at the Flying Wyvern, who managed to dodge out of the way of the attack, before smacking the land shark in the head with its tail, flying to the side and swinging its head to leave a decent gash in the ice armor with its horn, digging into the gash with its claws and breaking away some of the ice armor and clawing into the Monster Shark a good bit. The Amphibian flinched away from the pain, before snarling at its airborne attack and managing to turn and jump up to bite Dagger's tail, falling back to the ground with the Seregios, causing it to bounce off the ground as well, shaking its head around a bit to further damage and rattle the Thousand Blade Wyvern, before flinging it back into Tekko. "Dagger, no!" She cried out as she crouched and tended to her injured ally.

She then heard a roar coming from the Zamtrios, looking up to see the frozen Amphibian readying another beam attack. "Oh, no! Crushjaw!" She cried out, the Deviljho quickly rushing to its Rider's aid. Seeing what the Monster Shark planned to do, the World Eater readied its Dragon Energy and fired its own beam at the same time as the Zamtrios, the black and red beam meeting the blue and white beam in between the two struggling to overpower the other. Meanwhile, Tekko continued to tend to her fallen friend. "You're gonna be just fine in a minute, Dagger. Just drink this up and you'll be back to fighting form in no time." She assured her Monstie as she slowly fed it a healing potion.

Finally, Crushjaw's Dragon beam overpowered the Zamtrios' ice beam, driving through it and slamming into the Amphibian with full force, knocking it back and destroying its ice armor. "Nice work, Crushjaw! We've got it from here." Tekko told the Deviljho, who let out a small roar and allowed Dagger to take over again. The Seregios quickly screeched as Tekko climbed onto its back and activated its Kinship once again, the two of them sailing high into the air, before the Seregios released countless scales that Tekko powered with Demon Energy, which then rained down on the Zamtrios, Dagger soon following after its scales and finishing the fight with a brutal diving kick.

End Music

After the devastating rain of scales, the Zamtrios had no choice but to flee. "Alright! Now we get the baby all for ourselves! And we can rub the herb right in Avinia's bratty face!" Tekko cheered.

"Well, let's not waste any time and show her what we got!" Navirou said, managing to get the egg up on Dagger's back with him.

"For once, I actually agree with you." Tekko agreed, getting on Dagger's back and flying back to the cabins.


Avinia had managed to get out of bed and now stood closer to the fire in the middle of the room, warming herself up, when Tekko suddenly burst in. "Special delivery!" She declared, tossing her the herbs. "And I even got a little something extra for myself." She said, holding up the Zamtrios egg.

Avinia squealed in surprise when Tekko burst in, then gasped and struggled to catch the herbs as they were thrown at her, but she managed to do so, now looking at Tekko with a deadpan expression. "Do you really need so many monsters with you? I think you should just stick to one partner who you pledge your full trust and loyalty into." She said stubbornly.

"I can see where you're coming from, but I think it's better to be prepared. Like what if you run into a monster that resists your partner's element, or who has an element your partner is weak to?" Tekko explained. She then went to work hatching the egg and soon, an adorable Zamite burst from the egg, but became a miniature version of its adult form in the blink of an eye. "Alright. The two of us are gonna freeze and feast on anything in our way, Tundra!" She declared as she hugged the shark monster's head.

"Still, I'll admit, I'm impressed. This mountain isn't exactly friendly. I didn't think you could stick it out. I guess you're a little stronger than I gave you credit for." Avinia admitted.

"Well, you should never underestimate people. They just might surprise you." Tekko told her.

"You're right. We're both Riders, after all. It's our duty to understand monsters and bring out their true power." Avinia said.

"True power? What do you mean?" Tekko asked.

"Well, you see, I got my Kinship Stone, but Frostfang still wouldn't listen to a word I said. I'd pretty much given up on ever riding him and just let him do what he wanted. But then I understood: I was only interested in what I wanted, not what Frostfang wanted. I wasn't letting him go his own way in his own time. I only cared about using my Kinship Stone to control him. But once I let go of that way of thinking, Frostfang finally let me ride him. I should've been taking the time to get to know him from the start." Avinia explained.

Tekko was stunned by the wisdom the younger girl had displayed. "Wow. Those were wise words. I'll definitely work on it. It may take more time with more monsters, but I'll try to bond with them and gain the same level of trust as you have for Frostfang." Tekko said.

"Okay, guys! Enough of this serious talk! I'm getting hungry!" Navirou cried out.

"Yeah, you're right. It is getting late. You're probably hungry, too. Right, Avinia?" Tekko asked.

"Oh, I'm not really hungry-" Avinia started, before her stomach began to growl.

Tekko smirked at this. "Right. Tell that to your stomach." She said.

Suddenly, the two of them were alerted to a presence beside them. "Well, you two should try the Hot Spring dumplings! They're a delectable treat." A voice said, the two girls turning to see a Wyverian twice their size with green skin, pointy ears and a big pot-belly.

Everyone jumped in surprise at the man's sudden appearance. "You nearly scared the whiskers off me, pops! Who are you anyway?! And why do you think you can barge in on our conversations?!" Navirou demanded.

"Well, to be fair, we don't own these cabins. He probably does." Tekko told her companion.

"That's right, little lady. Now, let me spin you a riddle. And if you can answer, I'll let you keep staying here." The Wyverian told them.

"Really? Wow, that's definitely a fair trade." Tekko agreed.

"Yeah! We ain't afraid of no riddles!" Navirou declared.

"Excellent. Then here it is: my ears are pointy and my belly rotund. What am I, hmmm?" The Wyverian asked.

The two girls tilted their head at the riddle, which barely qualified as one. "Are you just describing yourself?" They asked simultaneously.

"That's right! The answer is me! A couple of Gene-iuses, both of you!" He praised.

"That's a weird emphasis you put on genius, but okay." Tekko giggled.

He then pointed at Navirou. "You still have to pay, though, little buddy, because you didn't guess the riddle. One billion Hot Spring Dumplings a night." He informed the Felyne.

"What!? Why only me?!" Navirou demanded, before groaning. "Fine! Let's go, partner! We'll bring you enough dumplings to feed a Fatalis!" Navirou declared.

But Tekko simply relaxed on the bed. "Why should I go? I got the answer right. He only said you had to pay." She said lazily.

"Oh, but I should probably mention, there's a nasty monster prowling around the Darj Rock Baths right about now. And if it keeps rampaging, those baths will be nothing but mud and slush." The Wyverian added.

"What?!" Navirou cried out, before jumping on the bed with Tekko and dropping to his knees, clasping his paws together beggingly. "Please, partner! I need you here! You know any monster would tear me to shreds!" He pleaded.

Tekko sighed at this. "I guess I can help. I don't want those baths destroyed, either. I was hoping for a nice soak later. Let's do it, then." She declared, getting back to her feet.

"Oh, yeah! That monster better watch out! Because we're about to make it all washed up!" Navirou declared.