"I still can't believe you fought Nergigante without me!"
Eclipsen felt his eye twitch as Ayla continued to rant and rave while he sat bedridden in his room.
It was fairly nice day as the sky was bright and the wind was cool when it blew in through the window.
The Hunter however, was forced to endure Ayla's temper tantrum over missing her chance at Nergigante.
Eclipsen glanced at the Coralbird that hovered around the room, feeling the draft blowing through the window.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Eclipsen felt his knuckles pop under the sheer force he put into clenching his fist.
"I have been. For the last. Five. Hours."
He muttered, just loud enough to catch the attention of his fellow hunter.
Ayla met Eclipsen's glare equally, the only advantage the senior Hunter had over her was his glowing red eye.
"My point still stands."
"Yes, your point being that you're an inexperienced brat who thinks she is entitled to one of the highest level of monster because she befriended an elder Hunter that has faced challenges that would give you PTSD of the highest caliber."
Ayla opened her mouth to protest, but Eclipsen lifted his hand and let out a loud whistle.
The Coralbird responded to the whistle immediately, diving down and assaulting Ayla's magenta hair with an elegance of a ballet dancer.
Ayla promptly batted at her head and dashed out the door of the Private Quarters, shrieking all the way.
Eclipsen flashed a malicious grin as the Coralbird landed on his finger and ate the bird feed in a bowl sitting on the nightstand.
After the Coralbird had eaten it's fill and returned to flying about the room, the Hunter leaned over and reached under the bed mattress.
He pulled out a large slab of wood with four led stands folded under it.
He opened the large piece or wood and retrieved a wide piece of design paper and a feather pen.
He closed the slab and unfolded the leg stands, allowing the slab to sit comfortably on the bed while also giving him a surface to write on.
He laid down the paper, showing quarter-finished schematics for dual crossbows.
He smoothed the paper and began to draw in missing pieces of the diagram, adding details and functions as he went.
He had been working on the schematics for four years, even before his career as a Hunter. He was first struck with the idea when he noticed that heavy bowguns were slow and light bowguns did not pack enough punch.
So far, he had designed explosive, paralytic and shock bolts for the crossbows and planned to make even more types.
He worked away at the diagram for a long stretch of time, barely even noticing when the Coralbird had allighted on his drawing stand.
He continued drawing until he heard a knock on his door. The Hunter lowered the drawing stand, making the Coralbird take off.
Hether stood at his door, with four books in hand. Eclipsen waved his hand in a gesture to come in, and the Handler did so.
She set the books on his desk to the side of the room and wiped at her forehead.
"Whew, those books were heavy. So, how did you get Ayla to stop lecturing you?"
Eclipsen grinned and pointed at the Coralbird, who happily tweeted as a reply.
Hether giggled when the Coralbird began to fly in figure eights. Eclipsen watched the two interact before beginning to put away his drawing stand.
Hether noticed his movement and moved over to the side of the bed, carefully trying to steal a look at the schematics.
"Are you... Designing something?"
Eclipsen gave a nod before closing the drawing stand and folding up the supports.
"What is it?"
The Hunter stopped his movement, giving a wary look to Hether. She returned the gaze with one of innocent curiosity.
After a moment of pondering, he reopened the stand and withdrew the diagram.
He laid the plans out on the somewhat flat bed, showing the plans to the Handler.
She looked at the plans for a bit, taking in the information. Eclipsen watched her carefully as she leaned closer to read.
He failed to notice the twinkle in her eyes as she finished reading the plans.
She quickly grabbed the plans, lifting them off the bed and rolling them up.
She dashed for the door, with Eclipsen tossing his drawing stand on the bed and leaping off to give chase.
He was glad that he wore a shirt and pants as he ran out the door, closing it as he left.
Hether looked back at the Hunter as he sprinted after her, his eye glowing with a bit of Frenzy.
"I'm sorry! The Blacksmith needs to see this!"
All she got in response as she dashed down the stairs was a nearly inhuman growl.
She slid to a stop as she reached the workshop, lifting the diagram and shouting to the Blacksmith.
"Mr.Smith! Here, catch!"
She yelled before winding back and tossing the paper full force. The Smithy caught the paper deftly, then watched as the Handler was visciously tackled by an angered Hunter.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
She repeated as Eclipsen grabbed her by the collar and dragged her into the workshop, his eye glowing with leftover Frenzy.
He stopped at the conveyor belt, holding out his free hand and motioning for the paper.
"Now now, lemme take a look at it first."
Eclipsen's eye widened in horror as the Smithy unrolled the diagram and looked at it intently.
Hether held up her hands in surrender when the Hunter's grip on her collar tightened.
The Smithy let out a whistle as he looked at the plans.
"By the metal in me forge! This be a good one! You draw this, girly?"
Hether shook her head. The Smithy's eyes slowly crept towards the Hunter, whose eye glowed under the shadow cast on his face by nothing in particular.
"Ye be the one who made this?"
"I am."
"By the fire of the forge! This is amazin'! It be best if you kept workin' on it though."
The Smithy then rolled the paper back up and handed it back to Eclipsen, who gave a grateful nod and let go of Hether's collar.
He then stalked out of the workshop with the paper tight in his grip. The Smithy gave a look to the Handler before speaking.
"Methinks that was a bad idea, girly."
"... Really?"
"Aye. I could tell that diagram was filled with the man's heart and soul. He might never trust ye again."
Hether's mood dropped like a steel weapon lost in the ocean. She slowly moved to follow Eclipsen out of the workshop.
She jogged up the stairs to catch up with him, and stopped when his door closed.
She began to approach the Private Quarters, only for a click to resound from the door.
Hether reached up and set a hand on her face before sighing.
"I really screwed things up, didn't I?"