Prologue- "A Hunters Dream"

Lightning flashed through the angry black clouds as the loud thrums of wings could be heard over the hunter. The seasoned combatant's face was obscured by the metal visor he wore, but he stood proud and tall as the red wyvern landed before him. His armor was adorned with the brilliant crimson scales of the very monster he now stood to face.

The mighty King of the Skies, the massive Rathalos regarded the armored hunter for a moment at it landed a few yards away. It gazed at him with its right eye, the only one that seemed to still work, its other optic was scared over and shut. The beast was sizing the man up for what he was worth, seeing he wore the carved flesh of many of its ilk. The mighty Wyvern threw open its jaws and let loose an ear ringing roar that shook the ground around the two figures.

With a calm demeanor, the hunter reached for the ornate handle of his mighty blade that hung upon his back. The long blade slid effortlessly from its scabbard, a faint crackle of energy running along its length as it seemed to sense the oncoming battle it would partake in.

A flash of lightning lit up the area, momentarily plunging the world into endless light. As his vision cleared he saw the opened jaws of the wyvern. From deep within a glowing fury of the fire was welling up deep in the creature's gullet. As it glowed brighter, it then suddenly faded only to then reignite and pulse like the mighty forges back home. A loud voice was calling out to him, and suddenly his eyes opened.

"Lad keep feeding the embers!" came the deep voice of Ferrum the forge master.

The young apprentice lurched back into consciousness, realizing that he was not upon a rocky peak awaiting his bout with a mighty beast. No, he was back in his village once more helping his care-taker tend to the fires of the old forge they worked at.

The long drown out breath of the leather lung caused the fires in the forge to pulse with life. It was the gentle breathing of the billows that had lulled him to sleep and had apparently been the wing beats of his fictional adversary. The growing and fading light had caused the boy to imagine the stories he had heard the night before, of the wyverns the hunters in the village had pursued.

Dreams like this had come more frequently for the young man as the days drew closer and closer to long awaited time. The time in which he could finally pursue the dreams of many boys in his village. The time where he could be a hunter and fight the monsters he heard stories of.

"Koryn! You still with me!" boomed the annoyed, yet concerned voice of the smith.

That had snapped the young man out of his stupor at last "Y-Yes!...S-sorry sir!" the teen managed to say as he quickly grew aware of his surroundings at last.

The large man only shook his head partially amused by the boys antics, his light blue eyes gleaming with cheer. "You won't be huntin' any beast if you're charbroiled," he spat as he turned the heated metal into the living fire, taking a guess at what it was the boy had been so distracted by.

"Yes sir," came the quick return.

Koryn had been in the charge of Ferrum since before he could even remember. His parents were long since gone. His mother had been a huntress from a village far away from Kokoto, a place called Yukumo. She was said to be of fair skin and raven black hair, her eyes like the clearest pools of water and the way she wielded her blade in battle was almost an elegant dance. His father, on the other hand, was a mystery. Koryn knew he too was a hunter, and it had been during a hunt the two had met, but that was the extent of his knowledge regarding the matter.

The adolescent idolized his father figure and master. The large man sported thick straw like facial fur, slightly singed at the tips, stretched to connect to his dull red mohawk at the base of his skull. The boy thought to himself how much the huge giant looked very much like an Azuros, the ursine beast that roamed around the forests. His thick arms and legs also seemed to mimic the way the large creature was built, not the mention the thick girthy belly the older man had.

The boy by no means resembled his master. At a glance, one would say he was lithe, his features and build only developing as he now grew into adulthood. His arms and legs were slim, though one could see as he pumped the billows that tight sinew had begun to form along his bones. His face now covered in a thin layer of soot from the ashes, had begun to angle and sharpen, though small traces of childhood still lingered along his features. His complexion was no longer as fair as it had been as a boy, now darkened slightly from the fires of the forge, though despite that his eyes, a dark amber, still retained a fiery light that was intensified by the flames.

He took a moment to push the matted raven hair from his forehead, as sweat began to bead down his slim features, gingerly gliding along a strengthening jawline. Koryn then began to redouble his efforts, the lung heaving sighs of air into the hot embers with greater intensity and speed.

The flames suddenly leaped forth in a gout of heat. The metal the old man had been turning suddenly came alight, reaching the perfect temperature for hammering in an instant. Ferrum chuckled as he withdrew the smoldering piece of iron from the fire.

"Now...Wha's got ya all hopped up like a Wroggi in heat?" though he asked, he knew clearly what was on the boy's mind. He began to hammer the heated metal over his anvil as the boy caught his breath, having strained himself from that little outburst.

"T-training!" Koryn managed as he gulped air "s-said ya...would!"

"I thought that's what we were doin'?"

Instantly the younger males face hardened his striking glare saying, "You know what I mean."

Ignoring the look on the youth's face for the moment, the older man continued hammering on his anvil, thinking of how the boy's aspirations had changed. He had done all he could to change the boy's mind in becoming a hunter, he had all but forbade him from walking around the village. It had been his mistake to send him to the market a year ago to pick up more supplies. It had been much to Ferrums chagrin when the boy had come running back, spouting things like how the hunters in the village had just returned from a successful hunt. He had seen the carcass of the slain beasts; a large Buldrome. The large pig-like creature had been massive and the young boy had gone on and on about how he would conquer a beast himself someday.

It had been since then the thought of hunting had been on his mind, and deep down even though he worried for the boy, Ferrum knew he would have to let him pursue that goal, that or risk having the boy resent him for the rest of his days. He had then brought it upon himself to train him, revealing to an astonished Koryn that he had once also been a hunter. For unsaid reasons he gave up hunting and pursued the honest work of a blacksmith, Koryn had badgered to know why, but he had been adamant on keeping his reasons a secret and so his young ward resigned himself to being trained by the grizzled old hunter.

"Let me finish this blade and we can go," the blacksmith finally replied after a few more minutes of hammering the cooling metal. He had to keep himself from chuckling when he saw just how excited the young apprentice grew at that announcement.

"I'm going to go get ready!" and before anything else could be said Koryn was already out from the heavy flap that separated the forge from the outside world. With a sigh, the old man finished his work at a leisure pace, mainly as a means to reprimand the boy's antics, but also because he still held some hidden reserves against the training.

With a heavy heart, he laid his hammer down and removed his apron. It would not be long now before Koryn could go and register as a real hunter. The village chief would not hesitate to allow this, even if Ferrum had the inkling to try and persuade to the contrary. He just hoped the boy didn't end up like so many young headstrong hunters.

He stretched as he stood up from his seat, the wooden frame groaning from his massive frame. As he made his way to the large leather flap, he gave a side long look at an old helmet that rested gingerly just above the doorway. A large rend in the metal could be seen from the top of the dome all the way down and through the visor of the once beautiful piece of smith work. Ferrum looked at the ruined helmet for several moments. He could already hear the boy's eager demands for him to hurry some distance away behind the leather curtain.

"No...I can't let another one slip away from me," he muttered to himself gingerly. His clear blue eyes slowly retreated from the site of the ruined helmet and he took a moment to compose himself.

"Alright...I'm coming!" he shouted with a deep bellow as he answered his eager apprentice. He left the forge, allowing the embers in the furnace to slowly smolder.

-End Prologue-

Author's Note-

So this is my first time writing a story like this so I apologize if this introduction to it seems a bit childish and less exciting. It was mainly to serve as a means of character building. I promise to amend the issues in later chapters, after all you are probably here for action packed hunting anyways right?

If you want to learn a bit more about me, take a look at my profile if you haven't already. Hope you enjoy reading my story. Leave comments if you can. I enjoy constructive criticism, and praise will only motivate me further.

I plan to have the next chapter or two up shortly later today so you all have more to read.

Happy Hunting!