Sunset falls upon the nest, and the Rathian still hasn't come back. Since she left a few more Jagras have shown up looking for the eggs I'm protecting, but I deal with them as easily as the ones before, and I decide to make a meal out of these Jagras for my own sustenance.
I need to at least report back to camp, but I can't leave these eggs unprotected. I go to the edge of the nest where the Rathian flew out to hunt, and take out my binoculars to search for her. I find her after a bit of searching, next to the small river where the Aptonoth were grazing. She is lying down, but still awake, head held high. She glances over in my direction, but I make no move to hide or run. After this, she rests her head and begins to rest. A few minutes pass before I'm sure she's fast asleep, and I begin preparing snares around the entrances to the nest, in case any more Jagras try to eat the eggs during the night, then observe my work. After this, carefully avoiding the traps, I make my way back to camp. Along the way, I stop twice to carve a specific symbol in the wood which my palico and I understand to mean "I am safe." I leave a note on the cot in the tent explaining the situation, that it may be weeks before I am able to return to Astera, and to request rations and supplies for the foreseeable future.
By the time I return to the nest, it has been around 2 hours since the sun left the horizon. I pass the time to stay awake by sharpening my carving knife and gathering wood to make a fire near the eggs to keep them (and myself) warm. By this time most of the other monsters have fallen asleep, and I gather leafy branches to form a soft patch of land to sleep on near the fire. I take one last look at the nest before I doze off, counting and recounting the eggs. Eight eggs in total, each of them healthy and safe.
I refuse to believe I snore while I sleep. After an uncertain amount of time, I wake up to hear Daiko (my palico) laughing at my expense, after what he claims was a particularly loud snort. I look around at the nest and the snares, counting once again to make sure all the eggs are still there and making sure no invaders tried to creep in while I slept. Daiko reassures me that everything is under control by providing the requested ration for breakfast and a message from the guildmaster. I take them, and after reading through the message, I tell Daiko to go back to Astera to help other hunters if they need a substitute palico. He enthusiastically complies, as he always does when he's given the opportunity to fight a monster.
According to the guild, around a week ago, another hunter was dispatched here to slay a Rathalos, and they believe that was the same Rathalos that was the partner to the Rathian I found when I was sent here to gather eggs. My assignment has been adjusted to the current situation, and now instead of gathering the eggs I need to help the Rathian defend them until they hatch. I return to the ledge to search for the Rathian again, and she is awake and alert at this point, but still lying down. After a few minutes of watching her, she stands up and starts to walk to the river and drink. It relieves me to know that just yesterday she was barely living, and amazes me just how quickly she sprang back to being able to walk normally.
A few minutes pass, and I hear a snap behind me. I quickly put away the binoculars and turn around to locate the source of the sound, to see that another Jagras set off one of the snares, scaring the rest away. I approach it, and it struggles in vain to escape. As I get closer, it eventually stops moving, as if it's accepted its fate. I loathe killing monsters, I always have, and when I fight any type of monster I always try to capture it so that it can eventually recover after gathering the information the guild needs from it. I set the Jagras free, cautious in case it tries to steal an egg, and it quickly scurries away to join the rest. I'm just starting to realize the struggle of a Rathian protecting her nest.