The cool midnight breeze graced Atreon's tongue with gentle hints of salt from the nearby ocean. Previous to Seliana's discovery Astera's meteorologists were ferociously trying to discover what made Astera's climate drop to sub-zero degree temperatures in the nights since its climate was on average quite warm due to the Wildspire Waste's dessert and Ancient Forest's canopy. Due to Atreon's hightened senses he could barely feel the small crystalized water droplets melting on his forehead as he strained his body up a mountain wall. The half dissected Great Jagras was swinging from side to side from his backpack and shifted his center of gravity regularly almost causing him to slip and fall.
"Maybe waiting for twenty minutes isn't as bad as I want it to be.." He muttered as he crimped his hand around a quarter inch thick ledge. He had opted to scale the mountain wall behind his villa instead of walking around it to the main gate as the latter action would involve a roughly twenty minute wait time for the gates to be opened. Since only a skeleton crew was currently operating on Astera they couldn't afford a guard to maintain the gate during late nights since they would have to be fully operational during daytime when most monsters were active. Atreon had always stood firm on the belief that the most dangerous monsters were the ones active during dark and to him the ordeal seemed too great a risk to simply leave up to chance, but he understood the need for manpower during daytime. Besides, him shouting at them behind the gate wouldn't even guarantee him entry since some guards were incredibly heavy sleepers and wouldn't awaken even if a Diablos were shouting into their ears. But, scaling the mountain during winter time, with wet rocks, a Great Jagras on his back and fully geared had proven itself to be quite the challenge. He cursed as his grip slipped on the ledge after a draft struck him and he hung of the wall with one arm. It felt like hot fire and ants were crawling in his fore arms and sweat was pouring off him. If he had some to spare he would have had a cool drink about now to cool down, but they were all spent on the Great Jagras to keep it from spoiling.
"Your meat better be worth the effort big girl." He grunted as he swung back into position and continued to climb. Soon, he curled his fingers around the top of the mountain and as he pulled himself up the gentle and soft light from lit candlewicks embraced his body. Atreon laid down next to his pond and rested for a minute or two with his head staring down into the calm water surface, silver hair tendrils swirling in intricate patterns whenever sushifish swam past. He mustered the strength to stand up and carry his backpack into his warm villa. The fire in the fireplace had almost died down so he threw in another log and sparks flew around like scoutflies. He stepped out of his hunting gear and hung them on a chair to dry in front of the fireplace. His sweat soaked pants and undershirt clung to his body as he began to unpack his loot. After placing all materials in an orderly fashion in his item box he pulled out a thick leather sheet which covered almost his entire floor and carpet. The fatty Great Jagras pieces were placed in a fashion which emulated a macabre two dimensional animal seperated into a main body, arms, thighs, calves and tail.
The cool drinks had done their job and had evaporated at some point during the climb, but the pieces were still somewhat cold and firm to the touch. A smile could be made out from behind Atreon's thick beard. As he began to butcher the monster, what little blood still remained in its body splattered on to the leather sheet and prevented his rug from staining. Since the young age of six Atreon had helped his mother butcher monster meat and the work had become second nature to him and was quite calming. His sweat dissipated as he worked and only left salty stains at the end of the session. Bespeckled with blood on his face and clothes, Atreon wiped his eyes and felt satisfied. Each cut was masterful and no edible meat was left on the bones as Atreon tidied up his bonepile and covered the meat in butcher wrap and ties. The best cuts were beautifully marbled with thick layers of fat and would be excellent for stews. Its muscled thigh meat would be stripped into dried meat and jerky for longer expeditions. Its ribs would be barbequed during summer with seasonings from the Old World.
Atreon pulled out a metal pot from his cupboard and heated some fresh water from a canteen together with three Great Jagras bones in it. Their marrow would make for a nice pre-bed snack with a cup of dark roasted Seliana hot chocolate beans and sweet Aptonoth heavy cream. Atreon had always preferred to make his own food as he found the process pleasurable, another habit picked up from spending so much time with his mother when young. As he sat down by the table the fireplace illuminated his massive figure from behind and he had to light a candle to be able to see his food. The dark hot chocolate made swirling patterins in his heavy cream as he stirred his spoon around in his cup, the steam leaving gentle droplets of water on his cheeks. He had tied his long hair into a bun as to not get hair in his meat when butchering and his features became more defined and illuminated. Soft, dark blue eyes stared out into the Ancient Forest as he picked up a bone and snapped it in half with his bare hands. He made an effort not to cut himself as he sucked on the marrow. Based on the position of the moon he deduced he would have to be awake in seven hours as manadatory attendence was taken. The canopy of the forest was swaying gently in the breeze and sparkled as water droplets moved and reflected the moonlight. Atreon sighed.
"After all these years, I'm still alone huh?" Atreon wasn't especially fond of other people and their behavior towards nature, but he still desired contact and communication. A feeling of belonging. By remaining steadfast to his ideals the majority of society found him barbaric and shunned him. Even here, surrounded by somewhat like-minded individuals and hunters, his clan traits and teachings made him an outcast from society.
"Sure, I'm respected and all that, but what does respect and power matter if I'm all alone?" He sighed again as he listened to the roars of nocturnal predators from the forest.
"Hm?" Atreon put way his cup as he spotted something flying towards the tallest tree in the Ancient Forest. It moved slowly when viewed from his distance, but based on the discrepency between the tree top and the flying creature reducing by the second he knew it was flying incredibly fast for being so large he could spot it from his villa. Grabbing his pair of binoculars he zoomed in on the creature. It sparkled in the moon light like a golden jewel and had been disguised by the reflective water droplets when cruising above the regular canopy.
"Not bad." Atreon smirked. Not many monsters were intelligent enough to disguise themselves during the night as many relied on their natural abilities to conceal themselves, but this one stood out like a sore thumb when contrasted to the sky and moonlight. It was only now, right before reaching its goal he spotted it. Zooming in as much as he could, he barely managed to spot the silhouette of a smaller creature in its clutches before disappearing behind the green tree crown.
"A Rathian? And a gold one at that... Now what would a Golden Rathian be doing up there?" As Atreon put away his binoculars he was reminded of when him, the Commander and the rest of the skeleton crew returned to Astera. They had missed the tidal waves by four hours and had made landfall in the middle of the night instead of evening. Almost immediately they had been attacked by a Rathalos and Rathian couple. They had made a nest on top of the Gathering Hub and bombarded them with fireballs from above. While the Commander helped his crew get to safety, Atreon was tasked with protecting them all and driving away the power couple. He had to climb the anchor chain since the lifts had malfunctioned when they were away. It had taken an hour but Atreon managed to heavily wound the Rathalos and slice the edge of the Rathian's tail as she flung him off the ship and into the ocean. The Wyverns left Astera after he attacked them and yet the only one to thank him for his efforts were the Commander.
Atreon's inquisitive nature faded as his memories reminded him of his loneliness. A grimace dawned his face as he quickly scarfed down his meal and cleaned up his dishes in a marble bowl filled with sterilised water. His hands rubbing over the pot and cup calmed him as the repetitive motion brought him back to his childhood once again. A calm and familar place where he was accepted and loved, and a family that adored him would welcome him with open arms. Placing his cup and pot back in the cupboard he quickly scrubbed off his hunting gear with a brush to remove dried blood, pieces of flesh and intestines.
Pulling his blood bespeckled and sweat stained clothes off him, Atreon rose to his full height in his birthday suit and drew in a deep breath of air, filling his lungs and smelling the mixture of sea salt, wood smoke, fresh meat and hot cocoa. He tensed and relaxed all his muscles and felt blood rush into them and heat up his body. His fore arms and back ached from the long climb and a wave of tiredness struck him like a rushing Barroth. He threw away his clothes into a woven basket filled with dirty laundry. As he creeped into the bed which was a size too small for him he felt the necklace given to him by his father prick against his chest. A piece of elder dragon bone carved into an intricate tree root design, covering a glass vial filled with a blood red liqiud which moved like quick sand. As Atreon felt himself drift off to sleep he held on to his necklace and noted to himself he would have to inform the Commander of the Golden Rathian tommorrow morning. As the gentle sea breeze blew through the small trees in his garden Atreon could faintly make out the howl of a terrified creature coming from the top of the Ancient Forest before silence and darkness overcame him.
Author's Note
Damn, it has been awhile. School is engulfing my life and I was finally able to sit down and write a small chapter to fill in the hiatus a little. After some more essays and projects I will finally have the time to sit down and write more and longer chapters with more character development and story progression so look forward to it! If you have any suggestions feel free to message me or leave a review, would love to know what you like from this story and what you would like to see more of :) See you soon, hopefully!