"It should be something simple, but not traditional for a pet or palico, since I won't be maintaining a bond with her." I think this to myself, mockingly. As I lie next to the eggs, I let my thoughts wander. I fought with a Rathian as if she were my own palico. Why did she let me pet her, and why did she nuzzle me like she did? Does she see me as another Rathalos that's come to help her protect her clutch? No, I'm so much smaller than her, and I'm clearly flightless. There's no way she thinks I'm a Rathalos.

Was she actually grateful for my help when I found her? If so, is that why she ate the berries with me this morning? Is she trying to show me her gratitude? I get up to start gathering wood to make a fire for the eggs, thoughts distracting me as I do. After starting the fire, I sit close to the eggs, watching them as the thoughts are still passing through my mind. When will the eggs hatch? Will they see me as their father? How will things change after they hatch? How does one even go about caring for Rath hatchlings?

Time goes by quickly, and eventually Queen returns. I extinguish the fire then take my leave and head to camp. It seems for now that there aren't any assignments, so I eat my ration then sit outside the tent thinking about what I could do for the next couple hours. I decide to do some target practice, using nearby paintberries as ammo and a dead tree as a target. Once I got to the point where I could consistently fire two consecutive berries in the same spot, which took around the two hours I had left, I return to the my way back, though, I hear a soft mumble. I turn towards the sound, and I see a First Wyverian sitting on a branch.

"What a strange occurrence, a Rathian adopting a human as her companion. And now she's taken a liking to you."

I sigh, and look over in the direction of the nest. "Am I doing the right thing? Helping a Rathian who, when I first saw her, was about to die. If I hadn't been sent here to collect her eggs, she would have."

It was silent for a moment before it spoke again.

"If the Rathian were meant to die, it is my belief that you would never have been sent here to begin with. Your guild can preserve monster eggs well enough, but nothing can guard Rathian eggs better than the Rathian that laid them. That, and her mate. You are doing the right thing. The hunter that slayed the Rathalos tilted the balance of this small part of nature, and you restored it by aiding the Rathian and acting as a father figure."

I start thinking again, then I start to worry.

"When the eggs hatch, I'm going to need advice for how to raise the hatchlings the same way a Rathalos would. I've never had a child, human or otherwise. What do the hatchlings eat? How will I teach them to fly? How should I –" It raised its hand to stop me in my sentence, then spoke.

"I will be there to advise you once the clutch hatches. For now, continue to guard the eggs."

I enter the nest again and sit near Queen over her eggs. She reaches and nuzzles my shoulder, then gets up to depart on her hunt. I reignite the fire, then take off my gauntlets and run my hand over the eggs. All eight of them are warm and alive. Aside from scaring off a lone Jagras and keeping the eggs warm, nothing happens during my time at the nest. After Queen returns, I go back to camp, and receive another assignment. "Deliver 20 Paintberries."

Huh, if I hadn't used them for target practice earlier, I would have been able to find them easily. Like nulberries, paintberries grow on vines, making gathering several at a time easy. The trick with paintberries is that they can stain, and even the cleaner the guild is providing me with would have trouble removing said stain. I eat my ration, place the cleaner in my bag, then head out. After searching for and gathering a few vines, I carefully snap off each of the biggest berries and place them in the basket. After bathing and washing my clothes I return to camp to deposit the berries and write my report.

When I return to the nest, the sun is just about to finish setting. I take off my armor near the entrance and walk over to Queen, as she lies above the eggs with her head held up. When she sees me, she finally lowers it, and I go over and sit with my back towards her, leaning on her neck. Somewhat surprisingly, she doesn't move. She breathes deeply and lets out another purr-like rumble. The thoughts come again, and this time a truly wild one comes to mind. "What if I could train one of the hatchlings to let me ride them after they grow enough?"

This thought leads to another. "What if I could get Queen to let me ride her?" I'm already putting a bit of my weight on her, and she hasn't moved, so it's probably possible that I could. I get up and turn around to face her. I pet her head, and she purrs again. I go and lean over her neck, arms draping over to the other side. I let my arms slide back as she lifts her head to look at me, confused. I decide for now that was good enough, and if I were to train her to let me climb on her back I'd first need her to get used to my entire weight. I sit back down and she lowers her head again. Eventually we both drift to sleep.

I'm the first to wake up again next morning, so stand and start stretching. Queen wakes up soon after and stretches as well. I'm especially sleepy this morning, so I sit back down and start dozing off again. Queen nudges me, almost knocking me over, and waits for me to finish waking up. I equip my armor and exit the nest. I head down to camp, and notice a strange liquid on the side of the path along the way. I scrape some off with my carving knife, and it drips down like a thick slime. This is Anjanath mucus, and it's relatively fresh. It seems to have passed by a few minutes ago. In the tent I find my ration, but no new assignment.

I decide to keep myself busy after I eat by tracking the Anjanath down. I eat, then pack my ghillie mantle and surveyor's kit and head out. After I find a few footprints my scoutflies pick up the trail. Following them, I eventually see it. I equip my ghillie mantle and set up my surveyor's kit. The Anjanath starts to sniff around, then continues hunting. I follow it until it finds a group of Jagras and a Great Jagras. The Jagras strategically surround the leader in a defensive position, but the Anjanath breaks right through, stomping right over the smaller Jagras and snatching up the Great Jagras then slamming it back down, killing it instantly. I write down my observations and return to camp as the sounds of the Anjanath and Jagras fighting grow distant.

It takes me some time to find my way back to camp, and when I arrive I leave my notes on the desk. It's only been around an hour, so I kill time by looking for a nearby lake and go fishing. I search on a bush next to me for a grub to use as bait, then throw the hook. After a few seconds of waiting, a fish eventually bites, and I set the hook. It doesn't put up much of a fight, so I assume it's probably a smaller or younger fish. I reel it in, and it's a pin tuna. As I assumed, it's a relatively small one, so I take the hook out of its mouth and release it. I repeat the process of searching for bait, throwing the hook, and catching fish for around another hour until I feel like it's been enough time. I head back to the nest and walk over to Queen. I pet her head, then allow her to fly off in search of food. After lighting another fire, nothing happens at the nest for a few minutes, so I check the traps then take a nap.

Usually when I sleep I either don't dream or I have a hard time remembering what I dreamt, but when I finally dozed off I clearly remember staring up at the sky in my dream, exactly how I was doing before, and seeing a dot flying in the sky. Eventually, it started to slow down, and then it stops. Then it started to grow. It grew until I could make out what it was, and I tried to get up and run. I couldn't move. It was a Rathalos, and it was diving straight at me. He kept coming, and as soon as he was about to land I jerked awake. I was in a cold sweat and panting, and Queen was just landing again where she left.

She must have sensed that something had me upset, because she came over to me and rubbed her head against me. I got up wrapped my arms around her neck, essentially hugging it. She lifted her head, and I hang on as she does. She easily lifts me with her neck, then waits a few seconds after realizing that I'm still on her. She lowers her head to allow my feet to touch the ground, and I let go. After calming down my breathing, I head out to camp.