Sigs Test

"Uh hi, guessing this is the first time I'm doing this. With everything going on Illia made a suggestion of me trying out a Journal. I mean it's worth a shot, trying and failing is better than not trying at all. So, first journal entry, tomorrow is the day where me and Chevval will become riders. Well hopefully if our tests go right. Doubt they will go wrong, I don't think there is one person in this village that took the test and failed.

But that is not why I'm worried. It's Chevval, a while ago Chevval, Illia, and I went to a place where we shouldn't have. We were younger, we didn't know the trials ahead of us. We went out of the village, as of now I don't remember where it was but we found an egg. And when we grabbed it, well it hatched. A baby Rathalos popped out. It looked at me as if it was waiting for me, like it's whole existence was based on me showing up. Of course we had to bring it back and explain our unauthorized journey, with a baby Monster I don't think we had the right to hide it and what we had done. The baby would be given to a proper Rider and that would be that. It pained me to think of that, but it was for the best. Or so I thought… Gods why can't I write it, my hand is shaking, my pulse just accelerated, my mouth is dry. Guessing I can't even write it down. It may be best for me to get some rest. I can't be exhausted or tired for the test. Dan has had me non stop doing riding practice with his Velocidrome. Don't want all that practice going to waste because I did not get enough sleep to keep focused. Good night, this ends journal entry one.

Sig

Morning had come as it always had. Slow and methodical, the sun never seemed to be in a rush. The land around was always a sight to see, some places were covered in sun, but some of the higher hills cast large shadows that reached Hakun village. The Monsters in the stables were the first ones to wake up, and their waking up acted as an alarm of sorts for the adventurers. The barks of the Velocidrome stable woke the Kut-Ku causing a cacophony of caws and roars. It was just another day as Sig found himself waking up. Today was the day. He was 17 now, the age where everyone aspiring to be a rider would be tested. And he still had to wait a bit, meaning he would have to go to Dan for a refresher course. Make sure everything was fresh in his head.

"Gotta get in the appropriate attire. The elder gave us this for the test itself."

Sig pulled out a hooded robe, parts of it tattered as if meant to mimic a lone leaf. The color long since lost to time but even with its age this was still sacred to Hakun and all of those that wished to be riders. Simply donning it already prepping for what the test would be like. Would another monster accept them like the baby Rathalos so long ago did? Questions were already swarming through his head as he ventured out of his house into Hakun. He was expecting to go right to Dan but who was outside was surprising enough for him.

SItting on the ground waiting for Sig was the elder, small in stature but infinitely wise. Only looking up giving Sig a closed eye smile.

"It is good to see you are awake. I have been here patiently waiting for you to awaken."

Sig was stunned for a moment to see the Elder, but quickly snapping out of it and giving a bow.

"Forgive me Elder, I was not expecting you. I was about to go to Dan and-"

The elder raised a hand as if telling Sig to hold on a moment. Which Sig did without a second thought.

"Your test has already begun. To Dan you will not be going. But rather you will climb Hakum's spire and to our Hall of Rites with me at your side. The test does not begin with hatching a Monster Egg. It will begin with reflection."

The Elder got up and began to walk towards the upwards trail leading to the Spire. Sig quickly followed curious as to what the Elder meant by reflection.

The spire was a long trek up. This path was only used by Riders and those undergoing the rite to become one. While the scenery had not changed the atmosphere was different. There was a serenity to it. A calm that the village below did not get to experience.

"So tell me young Sig, why do you wish to become a Rider? Are you aware of what it means to be a Rider, the weight you will be carrying. It is not an easy set of shoes to fill."

Sigs eyes widened at the questions, only one that he had thought of fully. The other was something Dan told him that he would need to find.

"A rider's purpose is to bring balance to nature. The path of a rider is one where you dedicate yourself to nature, that is why we open our hearts to monsters and have them as our companions. Our Bond is unique in the fact that both Monster and rider belong to neither the Wilderness nor Civilization. We stand as a mediator between them, never allowing one to overtake the other. Even when we fight monsters it is never out of malice, we do it out of necessity. When we kill a monster we make sure none of its parts go to waste. To allow a piece of a monster to go to waste would be an insult to them. And we stop those that wish to hunt them for profit and sport, but not through violence, through words and peace do we attempt to talk the hunters of lands far away to not hunt here."

The elder nodded to Sig's view of what it meant to be a Rider. Happy the boy understood what it meant to be one. But he could tell Sig did not answer one question.

"And why do you wish to become one? Every Rider has their own purpose, a goal that can only be fulfilled by becoming a rider."

Sig bit his lip when the elder hit him yet again with that question. He knew full well the answer but he was unsure of how the Elder would react.

"The answer to that question would be I have no clear answer, not yet anyways. I feel like it's somewhere in me, but no matter what I cannot find it. Even now it still evades me. I only know whatever my answer is it needs me to be a rider. But maybe if I were to guess I need to find something. Something that was lost to me. I don't know what it is but maybe being a rider will help me find whatever it is I'm looking for."

Sig gulped at his answer, how in the hell did that make any sense. It was the truth but he was sure he needed to give a more solid answer. There was no way the Elder would accept and answer like that.

"Not many Riders even know the reason they wish to be one at first. That is the beauty of being a Rider. Many become Riders not knowing why, but somewhere along the way they grew alongside their monster partners. It's a shared Journey. Most riders that even passed the test left Hakun shortly after. Which is good, Hakun is a nest of sorts. The few Riders that remain here stay for the sake of those that come after them. Your answer will come, whether it be here in Hakun or out in the world is all left to you."

The Elder stopped in front of the Hall of Rites, even with the bright day the inside of it was lit with torches, a single egg sat on a pedestal, waiting for it's rider to approach.

"Go forth Sig, my journey stops here, and yours begins when you approach that egg. When it hatches reveal yourself to it. And we shall see if a bond is forged."

The Elder stood by as Sig made his way into the Hall of Rites. Waiting with bated breath to see if lightning could strike twice, the same as when Sig brought a Rathalos to the village two years ago.

The cave was damp and dark, never a great place to be in normally, but the Hall of Rites was different. It felt inviting to be in this sacred place. No one except for Riders ever entered, while Sig never knew the full story of it, he knew enough to understand this Cave was where the first riders made their first bonds with monsters. This lone Cave has seen more stories begin than the years the Elder has lived on this world. But today it saw a visitor, a human male, too old to be a boy, but not old enough to be a man. With copper skin and emerald green eyes, his dark colored hair betrayed the rest of his body. He was unlike the others that had entered, a fierce determination in his eyes, almost like a fire had lit in a forest, approaching the egg with unknown purpose.

But as Sig approached the Egg trembled. Then twitched, cracks emerging around it, the faint sound of a creature too young to grow but attempting to do so could be heard. And in moments the azure blue shell of the egg began to break, razor sharp claws emerging as a small blue raptor emerged. It's back covered in black stripes, and on it's head sat an amber orange crest as if marking it as royalty. Breaking out it yipped quite a bit before it's eyes opened looking at the odd creature standing before it. Yet it felt something, even the boy felt something as their eyes met, the baby Velocidrome propping itself up to meet Sigs eyes. And his own locking on to it, putting the hood down revealing his face fully to it.

No words were said between these two creatures, no sounds were made. But it all changed when the Rider reached his hand out to the young Bird wyvern, causing it to flinch at first. But already it was happening. They both felt a connection as their eyes yet again locked. These two entities came to an understanding as the monster put it's head into the humans hand, nuzzling it and feeling comfort.

In that single moment a bond was forged, they no longer were part of the wilderness nor civilization. In this cave they were no longer Monster and Human, they were Partners.