Velo stood over a river, waiting for a passing fish to get too close. He hadn't seen master Los or Ian for days, which meant he hadn't found any food to scavenge. Thankfully, his time away from his original pack had taught him how to hunt solo. Fishing had become his favored method of hunting as the fish could never hurt him, were plentiful, tasty, and he didn't need to roll around in dung to mask his scent. True, he had caught more mud than fish when he first started, but since then, he had learned to predict the fish movements and when the best opportunity to strike was. Right now, he had his eyes set on a trout that was lazily drifting closer to the water's edge. Velo kept still and bided his time. As the fish closed in, Velo caught a scent akin to burnt-Neopterons.

He had no time to react as Asta landed on the other side of the river and plunged his head into the water, scaring the fish away. Asta's body was covered in scars, burns, and shrapnel from a Flesh-taker's bowgun. The horns on his head were cracked and broken, with the one on front missing a large chunk on top where Los had ripped it off. Velo hoped Asta hadn't noticed him that day. The comparatively tiny Veloprey was afraid to run away as he feared that would gain the Astalos's attention. For now, Velo watched on and hoped Asta would leave.

The muddy water dripping down Asta's face made his glowing eyes stand out more as he scanned the water's surface for fish. Most of them had already swum off, and Asta's erratic twitching made ambushing newly arriving fish impossible. After several failed attempts, Asta cackled wildly as he began to charge up. His body shook as more electricity was built up within him until, with an unhinged roar, Asta stabbed his wings into the river. Dozens of fish floated belly up as Asta giggled to himself before he began to eat them.

Now that the wyvern was distracted by the fish, Velo had the perfect time to run away, but it was hard to resist so much food just within reach. He figured he'd grab the nearest fish and bolt to the thickest part of the woods. One was floating towards him now, practically begging for him to snatch it. Velo looked at Asta and saw the giant wyvern's back was towards him. As he heard Asta chomp on some more fish, Velo edged closer towards the stream, and with one swift motion, he bit down on a dead fish's tail. Asta raised his head which caused Velo to freeze. He didn't know if Astalos had a good sense of smell or hearing. Every droplet of water that rolled off the fish and Velo's beak made the Velociprey's heart beat faster and faster. What didn't help were Asta's twitches, as Velo could never tell if he was about to turn around or not. When Asta went back to eating his fish, Velo started to walk away from the river and towards the trees. If he could get to the trees, he could have cover, and Asta wouldn't be able to fly after him.

"Hey!" Asta yelled, "I killed that! Stealing isn't very nice!"

Velo dropped the fish and lept to the forest. His first jump got him closer, but he still had quite a distance to go before he could get to safety. He was so consumed with fear he thought the forest was being pulled away from him by an unnatural force. To be a single Velociprey was to be defenseless. All he wanted was someone to help him, or at least make sure he didn't die alone. So, he called out to the closest thing he had to a pack and hoped the wyvern couple would hear him.

"KA! KA! ASTA! ASTA! KA! KA!" Velo sang out as he made one last dive for the forest. He was just a claw away from the nearest branch when he felt something spiky and powerful grab him by the sides. He was waved around in the air before being pinned down on his back, just barely able to see Asta grinning at him. The wyvern had caught Velo with the pincers at the tip of his tail. He never noticed just how long Asta's tail was until now.

"Oh, so you're the annoying bird that's been helping that Rathalos! You should know we're not on good terms," Asta said, staring Velo straight in the eyes.

"KA KA ASTA ASTA!" Velo cried out before he felt a stream of electricity course through him.

"Really? You're doing that right in front of me? Hehehe, you're either courageous, stupid, or desperate."

"I'm definitely not courageous!" Velo cried, "Let me go, or Los will beat you up."

"Call for him again. Maybe he'll respond!" Asta said as he lifted Velo up and shook him around.

"Ka Ka Asta Asta! Ka Ka" Velo screamed as he tried his best to look at the sky for any signs of a red flying wyvern.

"Again."

"Ka Ka Asta Asta!" Velo sniffed the air for Los or Ian's scent. There was no one but burnt fish, himself, and Asta.

"One more time."

"Asta Asta!" Velo could barely utter the words as he tried to yell one last time. He felt like he had used up all the air in his underdeveloped screamer sac. There was only one reason why Los and Ian weren't here now. Asta must have killed them, and he was taking some sadistic pleasure in tormenting him with false hope. Velo thought only Flesh-takers could be this cruel. He once watched one beat another Velociprey to death by kicking it over and over again. At least that Velociprey wasn't forced to yell his lungs out.

"Oh bugger, I don't think anyone's coming," Asta said before laughing at his own words. "Why would a Rathalos care if I ate a Velociprey? Most would consider that a favor."

"Because I'm part of his pack," Velo said sadly. "I alert him and his mate about threats, and they let me live on their turf and have some of their food."

Velo winced as he expected more electric shocks, but they never came. Asta laughed again as if he had just heard a friendly joke, a far cry from his usual deafening unstable outbursts. The strangest part was that Velo noticed Asta was crying. While Asta was known to laugh hysterically, he had never been seen crying before.

"A pack of different species. Here? That's too rich. Oh, I can't stop thinking about it. It's just too funny. What a world we live in. Come on, admit it It's funny. It's funny, right?"

Velo didn't answer at first. He whimpered as he felt the pincers tighten around him.

"It's funny, right!?" Asta asked again.

Velo forced himself to make a noise that only vaguely sounded like laughter. "Yes, yes! It's hilarious," he said.

"Tell me, Velociprey, does Los and his mate chew up meat before they give it to you? Do you sleep in a nest they made for you? Do they clean your scales?"

"Well, no. But Los did tell me about the Pact of Packs," Velo answered.

"Is that so?" Asta asked in a surprised tone.

It was then Asta's mocking words came together in Velo's mind. He wasn't referring to Los and Ian in the past tense! He was even asking questions about them and seemed curious about Velo's answer. Why would he be so interested in learning about dead enemies? If it was still just a ploy, then it was a very drawn-out one, but it now seemed more likely that Los and Ian were still alive and were just far away. They could still save Velo.

"Los taught me a lot," Velo spoke with growing confidence. "He told me that you're supposed to respect other monsters' turf. You seem pretty beaten up, and I'd hate for Los and Ian to show up when you're not at your best."

"Ha, you don't know what's happened!" Asta replied. "It's humorous in a tragic sort of way, but then again, most humor is tragic."

"What is?" Velo asked.

"They left," Asta answered. "It had something to do with their last hatchling dying, so they flew off and haven't marked their turf for days. Now, it's all fair pickings."

Velo felt his heart stop. Once again, a pack had abandoned him, and he was left without protectors or friends. Velo wished Asta would just eat him now instead of dragging out this twisted conversation. As he prepared for Asta to kill him, he felt the pincers loosen up, and he was dropped to the ground.

"I like you. Do you have a name? Is it Velo?" Asta asked.

Velo nodded. Asta laughed (as expected).

"You're too funny to kill. Look, I've killed plenty of fish, so why don't you have some."

Velo looked at the forest, the river, and Asta. He waited for Los to fly in, hoping Asta was lying, but the Rathalos never came. As much as Velo wanted to retreat, if Los and Ian really had moved, then Velo would have no more reliable source of carcasses to scavenge. Hunger won out, and Velo found himself cautiously approaching the river again. As he looked for dead fish, he made sure not to step into the river for fear Asta would electrocute it again.

"Go on, they won't bite," Asta encouraged, "Take anyone you like."

The fish were being carried away by the river's current, and none were drifting to shore as Velo had hoped. Apprehensively, the Velociprey stepped into the water and made his way to the nearest fish. As Velo waded through the water, he kept looking back at Asta. The wyvern had followed him to the water, but he wasn't charging electricity yet. Feeling some form of safety, he grabbed a fish.

"No, not that one!" Asta shouted as he leaped into the river sending water and dead fish everywhere. Velo tripped into deeper water as he tried to run away. When he pulled himself back to shore, he saw Asta was on his side, cracking up.

"I was kidding. I was only kidding!" Asta chuckled.

Despite how terrified he was, Velo growled at Asta. It was a weak, unintimidating growl that Asta would never be able to hear over the sound of his own laughter, but it was an aggressive growl non the less. He picked up a fish that had fallen ashore and walked into the woods without looking back. As the lonely raptor ate the fish in the relative safety of the forest, Velo began to hope that Asta was lying. It would have been better if Los and Ian had been killed or injured than if they had really moved on. Despite all the death threats they made towards him, he had grown to enjoy even the faintest illusion that he was protected by a pack. He couldn't stand the idea that he was abounded again, even if it was only natural that a partnership like the one he had with the Raths wouldn't last.

This was originally going to be a longer chapter, but I ended up switching characters around several times until I ultimately decided to post this so I wouldn't lose momentum again. Los and Ian have been through enough with Asta, and Velo needed the spotlight for a while. We'll get to more species/characters soon. To anyone interested in this story, I'm interested to hear what your favorite monster in the series is and how you imagine their personality would be like.