The beer tumbled down my chin as I tried to drink. I hadn't been functioning for 24 hours and my injury made me writhe in pain. The guild had put me off quests for three days, they couldn't afford much more, and a crisis was brewing in the mountains. The Tigrex was back. I had been trying to arrange a Sherpa through the mountains to carry my items but no one would go with me, not after the last time. I swilled the rest of the beer into my mouth and stood up. I wandered across the pokke centre, it was nothing like kokoto. That was where I grew up. I remember the blossom. I remember hunting my first Rathalos. That came at a price. My friend Dorgan had agreed to come with me. The stupid fool had taken a sword and shield; It bit him in half within twenty seconds of it seeing us. His blood and entrails hit my body as I fired a crag S into the beast's mouth. The objective had been cleared, that didn't matter anymore.

I couldn't live in kokoto anymore, not with the looks of disgust I got every time I walked down the road. So, I went to the guild. They seemed nice and supportive about what had happened, saying I wasn't the first and I wouldn't be the last. They offered me a post at a small mountain town called pokke, I would do quests for the guild and help the village repel any approaching monsters. The job came with a house and I got paid per quest. It had seemed fine until the village chief asked me to kill the approaching threat. The Tigrex. I opened the door and piggy trotted up expectedly. I dropped some scraps from the tavern into his bowl as he gave a disapproving snort.

For the next two days I slept solidly, my felynes bringing meals to my bed. The next day there was a banging at the door. I shook myself awake and answered it. "Yes?" I murmured, blinking in the harsh sunlight. An elderly old man spoke in an annoying slow pace "ummm…. We…. Need….a…. hunter…. For…. a….Giadrome…." I sighed slowly. "Why do you want me? I failed the last time" I said in a depressed tone. "Ummm….We….have….assembled….some….hunters….and need….you….to….lead….them". I peered behind him, some spotty teenagers wearing fur armour grinned gormlessly. I blinked. "No". The elderly man nodded and walked away. It seemed to him that he was becoming a guide. No, I can't be a guide; I'm 30 for Kirin's sake! I pulled on my ceanataur armour and walked down to the guild with a brisk pace. I opened the door and everyone sat in an awed silence. I walked across to the office where Lucy greeted me. "Zak, we have assembled some hunters, a group of five. We need you to lead them. You're going to the desert" she added in a warm tone. "To hunt what?" I asked bluntly observing her calm dace for signs of nervousness; she had taken a shine to me since I came to pokke. "A daimyo hermitaur". I nodded calmly, I could manage that. A daimyo hermitaur was no problem. "Who is in the team?" I looked around but there was no one except me and Lucy in the office. "You'll meet them at camp, they're already there" she said, I nodded and headed onto the road that took me to my destiny.