CHAPTER 4: A Gallon of Problems
Joanne had begun to feel like an alien.
The villagers had instantly made clear that she, Rick and Freddy did not belong here. They kept casting glances at them, avoiding their gaze and murmuring behind their backs. Some of them glared hostilely at them. The physician seemed to notice none of this as she led them to… somewhere to meet the village chief.
The village itself reminded her of Pokke village from the second generation of Monster Hunter. There was a lot of snow. Shovels were scattered everywhere, but there seemed to be no particular workers clearing the snow. If there was snow in someone's path, they simply picked a shovel up, cleared their way and tossed it somewhere in the snow before moving on. There was a line of cottages on either side of the road. People were going about their daily work, not bothering them but not ignoring them either. It was cold, but not as cold as Joanne had thought a village in snow-capped mountains should be. There was, however, no sign of anything Monster Hunter related, except for the group of what seemed to be hunters sitting around a table in front of what seemed to be a bar, drinking from steaming cups.
"Where's the blacksmith? The guild hall? Talking cats?" she asked Freddy.
Freddy went red. "The people told me something about them," he said vaguely.
They reached an enormous rock on which some markings were made in red clay. The physician went around the rock onto a small, barely visible path. Joanne saw that there was a hole in the rock on the other side, just big enough for a person. The entrance was barred with metal rods which seemed to cast a black glow. Joanne was about to touch them when a gruff voice said, "You don't want to do that".
She whirled around. A huge man was standing on the path, his arms folded. He seemed to have appeared from thin air. He looked about six and a half feet tall, with a bald head. He was wearing a single piece of cloth that covered his stomach and middle. He seemed to be completely ignoring the cold. His eyes seemed to size them up.
Joanne looked back at the cave, "What's in there?" she asked curiously.
"You don't need to know," said the man rudely. "Come, you must meet the village chief."
"So I've heard," muttered Joanne darkly as she followed the man around another rock which was twice as huge as the first one, so it almost looked like a cliff. There was another cave at the bottom of this rock. This one was, however, open and the man walked through it.
"You must excuse Gallon for his gruffness," said the physician in an undertone. "He's not keen on visitors."
"His name is Gallon?" asked Rick in surprise.
"Yes, so?" asked the physician, walking into the cave.
"Isn't that… OW!" Rick cried, as Freddy stamped on his foot.
"They don't do gallons here, kid. No one knows what that means," he hissed.
They walked in silence through the cave, which curved right and slightly upward. It was naturally lit by glowing white crystals, several of which were broken.
"Novacrystals," informed the physician. "Very rare and valuable. This village was formed due to the discovery of such a large store. The blacksmith is allowed to break some off for his weapons and armor."
They reached a small opening above a natural rock ledge. The physician climbed out, beckoning the others to follow. They emerged into a large street and Joanne was cleared of all doubt that they were in the Monster Hunter universe.
To her left were two shops. One was selling items like herbs, cool and hot drinks, tranquilizers and monster information booklets. The other one was selling whetstones, bowgun shells, bow coatings and trap tools. To the right were stone steps that presumably led to the farm. Ahead was a great black forge. Half of it was a big furnace, and the tops of the fire roaring in it could be seen above the roof. Attached to it was a small shop, which must have been the blacksmith's, though the blacksmith was nowhere to be seen. At the end of the road was a huge two-storeyed house made entirely of blue and red crystals with a slanting roof made of what looked like metallic skin. To its right was a steaming hot spring, with a drinks stall next to it. To its left was a very old fashioned straw hut which looked very out of place beside the fire-and-water building.
It was like looking at several generations of Monster Hunter at once. Joanne had never seen such a magnificent gathering hall.
"This is the gathering hall of our village," said the physician proudly, pointing to the red and blue building. "Built wholly from Machalite and Eltalite. The roof is made from the shedded skin of the great Kushala Daora itself. And that," she pointed at the shabby old hut, "is where the village chief lives. Come on."
The village chief was sitting behind the hut, with her back to them, warming herself at a fire. Her cat was sleeping beside her. Gallon was sitting on the other side of the fire. He glared at them when they arrived and muttered, "They're here."
The village chief turned towards them. She was a very old woman, her body fully wrapped up in the signature single-cloth clothing of this village. Her skin was literally plastered onto her face, with no flesh in between, which reminded Joanne of Girkuza from a Monster Hunter comic she'd read. Her nose seemed to be broken. But that was all that suggested that she was old. Her eyes were a startling shade of green that seemed to look right through Joanne. Her teeth, though not in very good condition, were all there. She stood up, revealing herself to be about double the size of a standard cat. Her cat woke up and came over, rubbing itself against her short legs.
"Hello, and welcome to Guranta village," she said, in a voice that sounded like a forty-year old woman, not like someone who seemed to be over two hundred. "I am Minerva, the chief of this village. You-"
She was cut off by a man who came running over yelling "Chief! Chief!"
The man stopped at the fire, panting, and thrust a scroll at Minerva. She unrolled it, her eyes travelling up and down. She sighed, and threw it into the fire. "I expect the others will be leaving soon?" she said.
"They have already gone. Scared out of their wits. I don't know what we're going to do. This situation is getting out of hand."
"Whoa, whoa, time out!" said Freddy. "What's up? Who's scared?"
The man glanced at Minerva, who nodded. He turned to the three of them. "A monster has appeared on the other side of the Eastern Ranges," he said. "It is unlike anything we have ever seen. It destroys anything and everything in its path. Over twenty hunters have been killed, four villages destroyed. No one is able to stop it. We call it the Annhilator. And it is approaching…"
"Say no more," interrupted Rick. "What is this monster? We will get rid of it."
Joanne looked at Rick as if he were nuts. Had he been touched in the head? They'd just run away from a ridiculously small Nargacuga, and he wanted to take on something that had killed twenty professional hunters?
The village chief, however, seemed to have different thoughts. Instead of telling him that he needed a psychologist, she simply said, "You are underage."
The messenger guy seemed to share Joanne's view, however. "You can't be serious, Chief! They're nobody!"
Minerva turned to the messenger. "Any ideas, Bontus?" she asked politely.
"Um…"
"Go and notify the villagers at once."
As Bontus hurried away, Minerva turned her eyes back on Rick. "What makes you think you can do it?"
"I have had… erm… practice," said Rick hesitantly.
"So I've heard," said Minerva coldly.
"I was not prepared that time!"
"The kid is right," said Freddy, laying a hand on his shoulder. "We have certain knowledge that you do not."
Minerva did not seem to take this as an insult. She stared at the mountains in the distance, as if a monster would leap out of them at any second. Finally, she said, "I suppose there's no harm in seeing if you have the Burreshingu. After that, if you pass the test, we will see what to do."