This chapter is dedicated to
Gordon "Gord" L.
1960 - 2022
A great friend. An amazing and hard worker. A family man. A great storyteller and lesson giver. The one who would always give a smile even on the bleakest days. And someone who was like an uncle to me, despite only being my coworker.
May he Rest in Peace.
So at least this chapter didn't take so long to get out, but it definitely feels shorter. I apologize for how little it seems we are on action. I promise that we will be getting to it soon. Nonetheless, enjoy the chapter and worldbuilding it involves.
Don't own Monster Hunter World or its characters. I only take claim of Nov Sinclair, Dov Sinclair, and Gaia Treathers.
Chapter 6
Second Somber Steps
It took about an hour to get back to Astera, despite Dov's fast past. Nov's explosions had faded into the distance about twenty minutes after we left. Along the way, Dov stopped us.
"Now before we get back, I'm gonna get one lesson Nov neglected to teach you, at least right away." Dov said, unusually serious. His eyebrows were knitted together, almost touching, and his gaze was steely. Seemingly, Dov was channeling some of his brother Nov, feeling sweat drip down the back of my neck. Seeing as speaking was beyond my ability, I slowly nodded.
Seeing as he had my attention, Dov quickly pointed at me and began explaining, "Look, Nov didn't teach you this, cause he believes some lessons should be learned the hard way. I'm saving you the pain of a lesson learned through blood. Throughout the years, Nov and I have learnt a lot, including the body. It is abundantly clear to both of us, you are wearing breast bindings. Lose them, those things are a deathtrap. If a monster can land a clean hit on you, it can and will snap. Suddenly, your center of balance is thrown off and you can't fight properly…"
Dov took a deep breath after finishing, letting it out as a huff after. His gaze, even though it was no longer on me, was still as cold as steel, and it was very easy to tell he wasn't joking around. Despite the seriousness though, it is extremely awkward having my new teacher essentially talk about my tits.
A minute of awkward silence followed, then I realized Dov was waiting for me to answer. Coughing slightly to clear my throat, I said, "Uhh, I would, but my… my armor is made with my bindings in mind… Plus, wouldn't my balance be thrown off when, uhh, 'they' move around…?"
I was feeling uncomfortable by the end, making me taper off my response. Dov either didn't notice, or straight up didn't care. Continuing, the Hunter said, "Your armor can be refitted to match your body, the Armory has a back room for refitting armor, and if all else fails, just give your measurements to the Second Fleet Master, he makes sized armor for both guys and girls. Pretty sure the guy is asexual in that regard. And to answer your other question, if the armor is made properly, it will act as a bra."
Ignoring how Dov is able to talk about tits and bras without blushing, something which no other guy I've met can claim to do, not even Aiden. Sighing, I just gave up and went along with it. Clearly, Dov is trying to save me from a very painful lesson that Nov would willingly subject me to. I was entertaining the idea of dragging Elise along with me, until the fact she was out with Aiden on their first hunt came back to me.
Seeing my agreement, Dov let out a sigh, of what looked like relief? The Ace Hunter spun on the spot, quickly resuming our jog back to Astera. With the first step, he gave me one last lesson before lapsing into silence, explaining, "Look, if it's gonna affect your fight, don't keep something a could be your body, a phobia, or a dislike of someone else. Let it be known, either so you can start to get over it, or so you can plan around it. If neither are possible, you really shouldn't be on that hunt to begin with. A Hunter with extreme ophidiophobia isn't gonna be sent to fight a Najarala or something similar."
Following Dov, we were jogging for about fifteen minutes when Astera appeared. The impromptu lesson had taken about half an hour, and the time we spent traveling was just slightly more than that, putting the entire journey at just over an hour.
With Dov still leading, we made our way up to the Canteen. Sitting down, we both ate lunch as Dov began his preparatory lessons. Boiling it down to its simplest explanation, Dov went over the stuff required before going on a hunt. The 'Pre-Hunt Preparations' as he calls it.
With our meals quickly finished, and Dov leading the way again, we made our way down to the Workyards. Walking past the hustle and bustle of the workers, Dov took me to a small building set up right on the side of the cliff? The building was placed well off to the side of the Workyard, but still within walking distance. Dov stood beside me, beckoning at the building as he began explaining, "This is what most Hunters call the Locker Room, or alternatively, the Supply Depot. It's where Hunters can store materials, supplies, and extra gear safely, without cluttering up their home. Generally, Hunters keep a basic kit of regular use items on them, and store extra of said kit here, along with any extra supplies that aren't part of their normal kit. Same goes for extra gear. Most Hunters have a go to set of gear, or a main loadout, that they keep in their home. Extra weapons and armor that they can switch to as needed is stored here so it isn't stolen. Granted, the Commission is pretty serious about thieves so theft is extremely rare. This is just a precaution. As a side note, rarer materials can be stored here safely, but most Hunters prefer to keep them safely at home in their personal storage."
Walking ahead of Dov, who was busy catching his breath after the long explanation, I walked into the Locker Room. Looking back at me was a workshop lobby, with a small desk being manned by an aged Wyverian lady. Walking up to the woman, I hadn't even uttered a word before I was handed a small steel key. Looking down at it, I could see a small tag with a marking on it. Looking back up at the elderly Wyverian, I could see she was now distracted with looking through a ledger. Hearing Dov come up behind me, I span around.
Seeing Dov throw a grateful nod towards the woman, the man used his hand to start pulling me towards the back wall. Following the Ace Hunter, I could see we were heading towards the back wall, which was made entirely of cliff face, minus an archway carved into the stone?
Passing through the archway, Dov led us down a set of stone steps. Passing through a long hallway, along the way moving past many branching staircases leading further down into the ground. Nearing the end of the hallway, Dov made us turn down one of the few remaining staircases. At the bottom was another hallway, not as long as the original, but still fairly long. Instead of staircases lining the sides, what looked to be heavily reinforced steel gates were stuck into the stone. Dov, having grabbed my shoulder, took me to one of the gates. Above the gate was a sign, the marking on it matching the label on the key given to me.
Dov, turning his head to look at me, began his lesson, explaining, "This is your lockup. Normally, newbie Hunters are given smaller lockups, or a slightly larger one if they decide to stay as a team. As the Hunter, or Hunters, prove their worth, they are given larger and larger lockups. As you are technically a Fleet Master in training, you've been given a larger than normal lockup with more complimentary items than normal. This is about the max size a solo Hunter can be given, so you won't be seeing any moves to bigger lockups until you are sworn in as the Fleet Master, which when that happens, your stuff will be moved to the Fleet Master vaults, which are at the end of the long hallway we went down to get here."
Unlocking the vault, I let Dov lead us in. I couldn't help but let my jaw drop as I took in the spacious interior. Twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide, and about eighteen feet high, the lockup almost matches the size of my temporary quarters! One wall was decorated purely with shelves, drawers and storage boxes, each one with a blank sign to keep a sense of organization. The opposite wall seemed to be a row of armor displays, more than capable of holding over a dozen different sets! The back wall was the same way but with weapon display racks. The center of the room had different workbenches, seemingly set up for each part of the room. One side facing towards the storage wall held benches for bulk crafting supplies. The armor and weapon walls had workbenches designed for their respective maintenance. Overall, the room was set up for a clearly experienced Hunter, which I'm definitely not.
"I know I shouldn't argue with the Commander, but doesn't this seem a bit much? Also, how'd they even manage to do something like this?" I shyly asked Dov. I was only one Hunter, and not even a good one at that. I barely made it into the A-List. And there should be no physical way to carve out so much space with only pickaxes and other hand tools.
The Ace Hunter, who was busy looking over the crafting tables, stood up straight at my questions. Turning towards me, he answered, "The supplies and vault are essentially a gift to inspire you to do well. And don't ask me how they did this, all I know is some invention that the Second Fleet Master created around the same time the Third Fleet arrived."
The older Hunter was clearly exasperated with me still doubting myself. Holding my tongue, I let Dov lead me out of the vault. Just looking at his pace, it was easy to tell Dov wanted out of the stuffy caverns. Thanks to Dov's pace, we made it out of the Locker Room in record time, and were swiftly moving across the Workyard without even stopping.
Dov took me to the grand entrance of Astera. The Ace Hunter stopped right beneath the natural archway, leaning against one of the ribs casually. Looking at me, Dov started speaking once more, "Okay then. This pretty much wraps up my preparation lesson day. We went over the basics, which include getting a meal in, preparing your gear and stocking on supplies, along with some other minor things. I took you to learn about the Locker Room where you can store supplies safely. That means I only got one more thing to go over with you, and that is preparing yourself for the Hunt, both physically and mentally."
While I'm glad for the quick recap, having most of it crammed in over our lunch, and what little didn't fit in was explained on the walk over to the Locker Room, the last point Dov said was confusing me. That and the fact that Dov's lesson hasn't kept me straight till dark like I was expecting. Voicing my confusion, I asked, "Last thing to go over? And what do you mean by preparing myself?"
Dov, looking at me with a teasing smirk, stood up from his relaxed position. Throwing his arms up in a stretch, the brunette elaborated, "Yep, final thing. There is more, but most of it can be done out in the field where I prefer to work. I only really went over what you personally can't do out in the field. Handlers can make meals at the camps for you, same with some Hunter teams. You won't have that option. Everything I went over requires you to head back to Astera, which requires abandoning a Hunt, which is a bad idea for a Fleet Master to do, seeing as they have a rep to uphold. If you didn't bring enough with you, you're screwed on that front and have to deal with it."
Astounded at the revelation, I missed Dov turning his focus back on me. His chuckle, being deep, broke me from my shock. Staying silent, I could feel a flush of embarrassment rising, and fought it down. I refuse to be embarrassed any more today! Feeling the moment pass, I put on an expectant look, waiting patiently for Dov to answer my other question.
Dov, raising an eyebrow at my silence, was clearly waiting for me to repeat my question. It took a few seconds before Dov startled slightly with a small noise of realization. I guess he did forget my second question when he answered my first one.
The Ace Hunter took a breath, closing his eyes in the process. When he opened his eyes again, I could see the serious look in his eyes, which meant that this is one lesson I need to take to heart. With his voice once again sounding like steel, Dov started his final lesson, "Self prep. Physically, it means going over yourself before you leave. If you have anything that could impact your combat ability, you either fix it or don't go on the hunt. These things could be as simple to a muscle cramp, or as serious as an injury. If you find something that could impact you, see if it will. Some minor things can be ignored completely, even if they can't be fixed. But don't go out with a bad wound that could open up again mid fight. That sort of thing."
Dov stopped after that. The man was looking down unsure, looking like he was debating something with himself. Suddenly, he let out a heavy sigh, before looking back up at me. Any trace of the jovial Hunter was gone now, with eyes slightly glazed over. Dov's voice now held a rougher edge, further pushing home how serious he now is, as he spoke once again, "The mental side of self prep is far more serious. Going on a Hunt requires the right mindset. You need to be confident enough to see every action through, without hesitation, including landing the finishing blow on a monster. Any second of hesitation is a chance for an attack to be thrown at you, and if you are unprepared, it will hit all the harder. But being too overconfident is a big problem. Get egotistical and you become stupid and will make mistakes that will cost you your life. You need to walk the straight line between meek and overconfident. It's why I told you to lose the bindings. You need to be confident fighting in your own body and not a restrained version. Nov would have let you take a hit from something that would take the bindings out, and let you try and fight unbalanced, coming in to save you at the last second."
The Hunter stopped again, his eyes glazing over further. I, being the smart woman I am, took the reprieve to let the information sink into me, holding back a shudder at the revelation of what Nov would do to teach me things. Before I could open my mouth to speak, Dov once again resumed talking.
"You need to be able to rationalize taking the life of another creature. You should never take joy in ending a life though, these monsters are only fighting to survive. You can take joy in the fight itself, Nov certainly does as do I, but don't let it blind you from what's going on around you. Lose focus of your surroundings, and you will get blindsided by something. Every mistake can, and often will, have a consequence. The bigger the mistake you make, the more you pay, possibly even with your life. I've seen more than a few Hunters rushed back here to Astera in critical condition cause they either got overconfident and made a stupid mistake, weren't confident enough and hesitated, or lost focus and paid the price for it. I've been very lucky to never see one that has ended in a death…"
Dov began walking away from me, having answered my unasked question if Dov has ever seen a death. As Dov was reaching the edge of the gate, he turned around, glazed look still in his eyes, and threw one final thing at me, slowly saying, "Nov hasn't been as lucky. He's seen three deaths total. One was a young female Hunter. She and Nov were fighting a Deviljho just on the cusp of being tempered. She was wearing bindings too. She took a nasty swipe to her side that damaged the bindings, and they snapped midfight. When they snapped, she got thrown off balance and stumbled forward, right into a massive tail swipe from the Deviljho. It tore her entire face off, nearly took her entire head actually. It also completely shattered her neck and collarbone. She was dead before she hit the ground. It's why Nov is so serious about not constraining yourself, you need to fight comfortably in your own body. Lose the bindings by tomorrow morning. Nov will be here to pick you up by mid morning, meet him here. Make sure you get your armor refitted by then."
The brown haired Hunter, his piece finished, turned back around and disappeared further into the Ancient Forest. I took no notice as my focus was on the cold dread of realization flowing through me. I can't fault Nov now cause he's seen how bindings can be an actual deathtrap. With dark scenarios running rampant through my head, I spun on the spot and retreated back into Astera.
Once again, a short piece. It took me a bit to try and get this right in my head. I'm trying to keep my focus on present tense speak, but it can be a bit hard at times. If the chapter seems a little weird, that's probably why. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, including my take on the storage boxes that seem to be a hammer space of infinite proprotions.
Keep up the Hunting my fellow Hunters.
Ace Hunter Nov