AN: Saw the Monster Hunter animated movie on Netflix. Now that he has an actual canon name, I'll be going back in to edit prior chapters to show Cheval is now Aiden while Simone is now Lea.

The Persied: A Love Betwixt Morons

Chapter 6

-Percy-

"So, you guys have a good hunt?" Aiden asked as they entered the shared room, the Great Jagras parts having been dropped off to make more gear, the pieces not needed to be donated for the use of other Hunters or Astera in general. At least he's pretty sure that's what's being done with them.

"Hell yeah!" Lilia threw an arm around Percy's neck "That Great Jagras was no match for us! You should have seen us! Perseus here is amazing! At one point during the Hunt, he got behind me when I was thrown, and used the flat of his greatsword to push me back through the air at the Monster!" given the wild gestures she was making, Percy figured she was telling them about their hunt against the giant yellow iguana thing.

"Sounds like one hell of a blast." Aiden grinned "But still, nothing can compare to your first hunt. I bet I got you lot's beat."

"You're on!" Lilia grinned, peeling off her armor as she flopped down onto her bunk, "Mine was me joining some higher ranked hunters when I was just starting out. The hunt was SUPPOSED to be simple mission where I'd be taking out a Velocidrome with one of my relatives and another friend of his. So, I was all kinds of hyped to go with Julius and Nadia-"

"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" Aiden waved his hands rapidly as Percy wondered what got him so worked up "Julius and Nadia…you're related to Julius the Ace Commander?!"

"Our parents are cousins…how do YOU know him?" Lilia was just as stunned while Percy was very confused.

"I met him during my first hunt." Aiden answered, "But we can explain more later. Finish your story."

"Ooooookay." Lilia shook herself to refocus after the tangent "Anyway, so Julius and Nadia were taking me to hunt a Velocidrome. Simple target, lets them get a feel for my ability, not a big deal right?" as she speaks, Lilia flips through a book till she finds a picture of a large blue raptor like creature, tapping on it as she spoke the word 'Velocidrome' "So we find the thing and deal with it, Julius and Nadia staying back to let me do most of the work as this was supposed to be my test. But, low and behold, the stupid thing's screeching woke up a nearby Kirin." Another flip of the page showed a unicorn…that could apparently shoot lightning. Joy of joys, it's Zeus' brony-sona.

"A Kirin?!" Mel gaped "How'd you even survive fighting that so early?"

"It was still a juvenile thankfully." Lilia assured the energetic brunette "Still in the range to be considered a low ranked hunt. But it made up for that through sheer piss and vinegar. It was bouncing around, screaming, throwing lightning, and was very determined to not let us get away. Now, I'll admit that Julius and Nadia were doing most of the damage, given the gear they had there's no way they wouldn't be, but I was right there in the thick of the fighting too!"

"Not bad, not bad." Aiden nodded before giving a smug grin "But that doesn't hold a candle to MY first hunts. So, mine were with Julius and Nadia as well as…some other friends." Aiden's smile wilted for a moment as he thumbed an old leather journal on his lap "I'd met Julius when he was studying the paths of Elder Dragon Migration. There was a Lunastra set to go right through my village." The word 'Lunastra' got horrified reactions from everyone but Lea, who seemed to have heard this story already. When they flipped to the page that showed this Monster he could see why. It looked vicious and big if the scale of the image was correct. "We didn't have time to actually evacuate the village, so I convinced Julius to stick around to help defend the area. He even started training me in how to be a hunter. Nadia answered his call for help as well as two people I will never forget. Ravi and Mae. Ravi was a hunter who'd left the guild in disgrace years before, having started hunting for trophies and sport but he joined us, putting his life on the line…and paying the price, to help defend my home." Percy still didn't recognize the words, but he recognized the expression of someone telling a story of a cherished friend who'd died in battle, giving Aiden a nod and raising his glass in toast to the apparently fallen friend. "Mae on the other hand was a very academic hunter, always recording everything and anything she came across. My journal…it was once hers." Aiden flipped the pages open to show a note to those who could read the language "But our group was determined, and we worked together to make traps and plans. We needed dragon bones and parts for a makeshift dragonator, so our first hunt was against a Deviljho. I…I admittedly messed up on that, trying to rush back in after the trap I set hadn't been properly secured." Percy saw all the girls wince so he figured something unfortunate had happened in the story "We got the parts we needed but Julius was…well let's say that 'angry' would be an understatement. He was ready to leave me out to dry then and there but for some reason he came back, gave me another shot. We worked together, we made our traps and when the Lunastra arrived we fought. We gave everything our all, but Ravi died to her flames while holding her back to buy the rest of us time. Mae…Mae and her kinisect died as well to protect a village none of them had ever set foot in before that. In the end I had to break a damn to flood the burning village, the torrent of water slamming the Lunastra against the cliff and eventually making it fly away but it was the single most terrifying hunt I've ever been on. Even fighting the Virus Dragon didn't make me feel that afraid as when I stared into those bloodthirsty blue eyes."

"An impressive story." Lilia admitted "But I actually KILLED both of my first two monsters."

"Mine were stronger!" Aiden protested with a grumble.

"What about Perseus?" Lea asked, "Do we know what his first kills were?" everyone looked at him and, after a bit of charades from Lilia, he got the gist of what they wanted.

"My first kills." As he spoke, Percy rapidly started sketching an…altered version of the Fury Alecto and the Minotaur, making them look more monstrous and taking out any human traces. Alecto kept her leathery skin and bat wings but now had a longer whip like tail and moved around on all fours as well as a long neck with sharp fangs, somehow just as ugly as her regular form. The minotaur drawing replaced the human legs with bull's hooves, darkening the skin to look more ape like, similar to a monkey like monster he saw in the book Lilia was flipping through before to show him the Monsters from the other stories. "The Fury and the Minotaur." And so, he began to sketch and charade out his altered version of events. That the Fury had attacked him as a child when he was getting his basic education while the Minotaur had tried kidnapping his mother when they were heading to some farms for food. Other parts he kept accurate though, that he'd killed the Fury with a sword he grabbed from his teacher while the Minotaur he'd killed by tearing off its horn and stabbing the beast to death. His new friends thankfully understood what he was telling them…at least he thought they did if their stunned expressions were any indication.

"So glad I called dibs." Lilia said…something, Percy wasn't sure what as she gave an eager fist pump while Mel gave her a look. Lea and Aiden just laughed at the byplay before the two book carrying girls spotted the SPQR brand on his wrist, taking his arm to get a clearer look at it.

"…Oh boy, how to explain this one." Percy gulped.