Eclipsen sat on the edge of his bed, gently handling the paper in his hand.
After he had awoken from his recovery nap and his hangover had dissipated, Sundancer had returned from wherever he normally went and delivered a letter to the Hunter.
Eclipsen held the letter lightly, inspecting the wax seal emblazoned on the white paper.
The seal had the symbol of the Hunters Guild pressed into it, signalling the importance of the letter.
Eclipsen ran his thumb over the somewhat rough paper a few times, feeling the familiar material properly.
A knock on the Private Quarters door snapped the Hunter from his distraction. The Tracker, her actual name being Eliza, stood at the door, waiting patiently.
Eclipsen tossed the letter onto the nightstand and stood to open the door.
Eliza entered with a friendly smile while Eclipsen closed the door.
"Hey kiddo. How you holdin' up?"
The Hunter offered a slight shrug in response. Eliza nodded before taking the wooden chair that Eclipsen handed her.
"That's okay to feel sore after that fight with Nergigante. That's actually why I came. I wanted to ask about the Elder's Recess."
Eclipsen sat back down on the side of his bed and let out a heavy sigh. Both of them allowed the silence to stay for a bit.
After Eclipsen had remembered all he could about the Elder's Recess, he began to speak.
"The Elder's Recess is a sort of hidden ecological cache. It has been locked away from the rest of the New World for so long that all of the Bio-Energy that should have dispersed throughout the rest of the New World instead crystallized and made the nearby monsters incredibly strong."
Eclipsen paused for a moment, glancing at the Coralbird floating about the room.
"The monsters, on the other hand, were land-locked and had nowhere else to go. So they adapted to their environment by absorbing the Bio-Energy around them and becoming asexual, eliminating the need to hunt for food and find a mate."
The Tracker listened intently, finding the information incredibly interesting. She loved ecology, so this was a mind-blowing discovery to her.
"The natural progression then slammed to a halt for as long as we can guess, leaving the area stagnant and unable to change other than the roaming creatures. That changed when the fifth Elder Crossing occurred, bringing both Zorah Magdaros and Nergigante to the New World."
Eliza then put the rest of the puzzle together, finishing Eclipsen's long explanation.
"Then when Nergigante arrived in the Recess, it wrought havoc on the local ecosystem and sent the food chain spiraling in disorder. It also drove out the Elder Dragons that normally came there to live their last years in peace."
The Tracker gave a questioning look to Eclipsen, who confirmed her deduction with a nod.
Eliza leaned back into her chair with an amazed sigh while Eclipsen filled the Coralbird's feed bowl.
"Amazing. An ecosystem so perfectly in balance that it stayed stagnant for as long as it existed."
"I doubt it was stagnant forever. There may have been points in time where younger Elder Dragons stumbled upon the Recess and tried to claim territory before being driven out by older Elder Dragons."
Eclipsen stated, watching as the Coralbird tweeted happily while it pecked at the feed.
Eliza processed the information before a question popped into her head.
"Wait, where exactly did the Elder Dragons nest so that the Recess wasn't effected?"
Eclipsen shrugged as he lifted the letter back off of the nightstand.
"That's actually what I wondered when I first got there. Monsters roamed about the Elder's Recess calmly, but there no Elder Dragons around. It strikes me as strange for the namesake of the area to be absent."
Eliza nodded in agreement as the Hunter opened the letter with a small pocket knife.
The Tracker pondered the question while Eclipsen skimmed the letter in silence.
"My best guess would be that the Elder Dragons that come to the Recess find secluded places to rest. Or Nergigante's arrival drove out the local Elder Dragons, leaving the question unable to be answered."
Eclipsen hummed in agreement as he folded the letter and set it back down on the stand.
"We won't find out until Nergigante is taken down."
Eclipsen stated with an edge of venom in his voice. Eliza chuckled at the Hunter's determination.
"You have quite the fire in you, kid. I bet you'll do it, given enough time. I doubt anybody else in Astera could."
Eclipsen smiled at Eliza's words. For all they knew, that could be true.
"Well, I better head back to the Third Fleet. They get ancy when they aren't receiving new samples to study."
Eliza said, standing up and moving to leave. Eclipsen also stood, giving the Tracker a firm handshake and waving as she left.
As Eliza disappeared down the wooden stairs, Eclipsen glanced at the the letter again.
He closed the door and walked back to the nightstand, lifting the letter and re-reading the paper.
-Dear Eclipsen
After hearing about your little spat with a new type of Elder Dragon, we've decided to head over and provide a bit of backup.
We'll be there within four days, so be prepared for some more of the good 'ol days.
Sincerely, Your Old Partners-
Eclipsen let out what must have been the tenth sigh for the day as he brushed a hand through his silver hair.
He set the letter back down and moved over to the storage box, reaching in and looking for a specific piece of equipment.
After a bit of searching, he withdrew a peculiar weapon from the box.
It was a type of weapon Eclipsen classed as a short sword.
It was a black sword at least forty inches in length, much smaller than most swords hunters used. The point of the blade was warped into a crescent shape, with two wicked spikes protruding from the inside of the crescent.
The metal of the blade radiated with an unsettling energy, as if the creatures the sword was made from were still alive. The guard of the sword was in a strange T shape, with both sides bearing a glowing red rune.
The hilt was a ruler and a half long, and the black cloth made the grip soft to the touch. The pommel was a simple black spike that had a small chance of poking the wielder.
Eclipsen lifted the blade, confirming that it was still as balanced as he remembered it being. He turned the blade, checking the straightness of the metal.
After he was done inspecting the sword, Eclipsen leaned the weapon on the side of his bed and reached back into the storage box, retrieving the rest of his gear.
He would be damned if he was going to lie around for another day and let Nergigante rampage through the Elder's Recess in a starving rage.
Eclipsen heard footsteps behind him as he tightened the buckles on his Girros Vambraces.
He turned his head slightly, watching as Hether approached slowly with a small wrapped object in her arms.
By now, he only had his lower body armor on and his scarred chest was bare for her to see.
Eclipsen returned to equipping his armor as Hether set the wrapped object on the bed.
"I... I came to apologise."
"Apology accepted."
"...What?"
Eclipsen turned around to a very confused Hether as he adjusted the string in his Odogaron Mail.
"Apology accepted. I know that you didn't mean what you did out of malicious intent, and honestly I would've been happy to forge my weapon with you, had it been completed."
Hether's face contorted into a mixture of relief, happiness and a bit of surprise. She rushed forward and embraced her partner with the force of a charging Aptonoth.
Eclipsen stumbled a bit as Hether tackled him, but regained his balance easily.
The Handler buried her face into his armored shoulder and let out a few sobs of relief. Eclipsen did the only thing he knew how to do and patted her back reassuringly.
"T-thank you!.."
"Your welcome, but please think about the consequences before you act. We already know where that can get us."
Eclipsen said as he pushed the fact that he was blind in his left eye to the back of his mind.
Hether only began to cry harder at the mention of the Hunter's wound.
It was the result of Hether having been in the Ancient Forest when a Deviljho roamed about.
After Eclipsen had gotten Hether to safety, he had battled the Deviljho viciously, eventually disappearing into the forest in the heat of combat.
Nearly four hours later, the Hunter was carted into Astera with wounds that would have been fatal had he not been wearing armor or lacked the Frenzy Virus.
His eye was one such casualty of the battle, forcing the Hunter to switch out his Mosswine Mask for the Dragonking Eyepatch.
After another fit of sobbing, Hether broke away from the hug and wiped at her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I really am."
"I know you are, Hether. You aren't the type to do anything out of hatred or some other negative emotion."
Hether nodded gratefully as Eclipsen unwrapped the object on the bed, revealing a set of potions and antidotes.
Hether watched as the Hunter assorted the potions and set them in his satchel.
"Are you going to hunt Nergigante again?"
Hether asked, shifting her weight nervously. Eclipsen nodded with a determined look.
"I'm not going to lose a second time."
Hether nodded as Eclipsen lifted the black sword from the side of the bed and began to sharpen it.
"I've never seen that one before. Is it from the Old World?"
The Handler asked as she sat in the chair the Tracker had sat in previously.
Eclipsen nodded at the question, continuing to sharpen the weapon.
"It is one of my personal creations. Not on the level as my other one, but still effective as a weapon."
Eclipsen stated as the metal squealed in response to the whetstone grinding on it's edge.
They sat in silence after that. Only the sound of the sword's protests filled the room, for a while.
"Are you going to take Ayla with you?"
"I might. Depends."
"On what?"
"If I can aim my bow as well as I did with two eyes."