3. Sunday Hunt

Ok, so chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it as it took me a while to write it. Laziness contributed to that. Anyway I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Monster Hunter

Rika and Macie were walking along the street, the flow of people moving around them as they discussed their plans for their two days of freedom. "We know that we're going Sunday so what are we going to do Saturday?" Macie questioned. "I don't know," Rika shrugged. "But I want to be able to get my armor checked before Sunday."

"Yeah, same here." Macie let out a yawn and stretched her arms as they continued towards their homes. "I could do with a nap right now." Rika let out a sigh. "You could always use a nap, Macie. Try sleeping more at night rather than in class."

"Hey, I can't help the fact that I'm always tired." Rika let out another sigh as the continued to walk. "Anyway, what WERE you daydreaming about in class back there?" Macie just didn't drop things that she knew would embarrass her, and it was quite annoying. "Nothing," Rika said, trying to stop the conversation before it began.

"Nothing, huh?" Macie had another mischievous grin on her face. "I could just force it out of you." Macie then wiggled her fingers in a rather threatening manner. "Ok fine just don't tickle me anymore!" Rika exclaimed. They took a right onto a less crowded street. "Ok, so you know how my parents died right?" "Mhm." Macie knew the story of how Rika's parents died. Not many knew it because Rika didn't like to tell it very often, and only to friends. "Well, I was thinking about the boy who saved me. I was wondering what it would be like if I met him again." It had been six years since she had seen that boy, standing over his dead master. Yet he put aside his pain to comfort her in that hour of sadness, and she wanted to thank him for it. But it was problematic to find a person when you didn't know their face, or even their name for that matter.

"So you were fantasizing about this guy," Macie wiggled her eyebrows, implying something that made her friend blush at the thought. "NO I don't mean it in that way!" Rika's face was a bright shade of pink, which caused Macie to laugh her head off, drawing quite a few stares to the two best friends. Noticing this, Rika blushed two shades darker. This made Macie laugh even harder. She managed to calm down to a fit of giggles rather than her loud laughter. "Oh man," she managed to get out between giggles, "you should have seen your face!" The girl couldn't hold it and erupted into laughter again. Rika just stared forward, refusing to look at her friend.

Just then a guy walked out of the blacksmith's shop. He was wearing a hood and carrying a large weapon, but it was covered so she couldn't tell what it was. The mysterious guy turned and said yelled back into that blacksmith's shop, but with the distance and Macie's laughter Rika couldn't tell what was said. The guy then turned around and was starting to run off. That is, until he tripped over a felyne, knocking the hood off his head and uncovering the weapon slightly. When the guy got up, Rika saw his face. It was Kodah! 'What is Kodah doing running out of the blacksmith's shop?' She then noticed the thing on the ground. It was only partially uncovered so all she could see was a bit of blue scales. Kodah seemed to notice that it was showing and covered… whatever it was back up.

"Hey look its Kodah." Macie just noticed the boy down the street. "HEY KODAH," the purple haired huntress shouted, "WHAT YA GOT THERE?" Kodah whipped around towards the voices, and upon seeing who it was, gave them a small wave, looking like he didn't know what to do in this situation. He just opted to turn around and walk away. "That's cold," Macie remarked with a frown. "Well you did embarrass the crap out of him by calling all that attention to him." "Ah come on it can't be that bad." Rika sighed. "Not everyone wants attention like you, ya know."

"Like you got much room to talk beauty queen." Rika rolled her eyes at this comment and flipped her white hair over her shoulder in a very exaggerated move. "Whatever," she said in the most stuck up voice she could muster. Her friend laughed at her actions. "Well my house is just up there. See you Saturday maybe, Sunday for sure." "Yeah, for sure."

Rika sat there, staring out the window. It was 11:00pm on a Friday; she should be out and about but she just stayed home. She felt like she was waiting for something, but she didn't know what. She just stared out at the street and glanced at the stars occasionally. At least six boys had come to her house, asking if she wanted to go out with them but she turned each of them down, saying she wasn't feeling well. Two of them had tried to get in and check on her but she told them she'd be fine and they left with dejected looks on their faces. She debated on calling Macie and seeing if she wanted to come over but decided against it. She just wanted to see what her gut was telling her to wait for. She looked up again at the sky, wondering about the day's events. The day was uneventful until lunch. Macie had slapped her other friend in the face with a pizza, starting a food fight which ended before it could really begin. The project due that was due in smithing class that day. And finally, Kodah beating up that boy, Blake, with the other boys wanting to get back at him for it. And how grey Kodah's eyes were. And How tall he was, and… 'Wait a sec, why can't I get him out of my head!? And what was he doing outside the blacksmiths shop?' Rika knew it was her fault the other guys wanted to beat Kodah up. She should apologize for it, but that would sound a little weird. 'Oh well, just focus on what's outside.'

As she looked back down at the street, she noticed another boy standing outside her window. He looked like a fourth year at the academy, Ian if she wasn't mistaken. He was the most popular guy in school, a person everyone liked. He was dressed in an armor she didn't recognize, probably made out of parts from a powerful monster. They looked at each other for a minuet until he broke the silence. "Nice night huh." Rika nodded, "Yeah, it's nice for being in the middle of summer."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I thought it was going to be humid like all the other nights, but it's kinda nice right now." Most nights had been hot, humid or dry, but tonight seemed just right. "What'er you doing here, if you don't mind me asking?" Rika questioned politely.

"Well I wanted to see if you wanted to go hunting." She looked down at him in surprise. Why would he ask someone like her to go hunting? She was just a second year, the biggest thing she had killed so far was a Gobul and the largest monster she knew about was a Rathian. "Oh, thank you for the offer but I just want to stay home. I don't feel too well. Besides, I wouldn't be much use, I'm still a rookie."

"All right, I could just come in then…"

Rika felt something was wrong. She did not want to let him in, she at least from her gut feeling. "Sorry, just not tonight. Maybe some other time." "But…" Rika was starting to get irritated. "I'm sorry, but I just want to rest now." The fourth year looked ready to force entry to her home but he noticed someone walking in the torchlight so he seemed to decide against it. "Ok then. See you later." Ian did not sound happy and walked away at a fast pace. Rika then looked for the person that just saved her from fighting off and intruder. When she finally saw the person, she noticed the large thing on their back. It looked like the thing Kodah had earlier that day. Now that she noticed, this person was also wearing the same dark grey hooded jacket. In her gut she knew this is what she was waiting for. She changed into some darker cloths and slipped on her shoes.

She followed who she thought to be Kodah down the street for about a mile until he turned onto small dirt path leading into the woods. As Rika rounded the corner to follow him, she noticed that he'd started to run. She tried to do the same while maintaining the same silence as he, but she wasn't doing too well. She stepped on a few twigs that snapped under her weight but the guy seemed so focused on getting to his destination that he hadn't heard her.

About three miles into the woods, he seemed to slow down. As he did he pulled his hood off. She could see a mop of brown reaching halfway down the person's neck. Then they turned around slightly to look behind them. Rika darted behind a tree so that she wouldn't be seen. When the person did this she could see one pale grey eye that seemed to glow in the light of the stars shining down on the uncovered path. Yep, it was definitely Kodah. He turned the rest of the way around and scanned the way he had just come. She pulled her head back so that she could just see around the tree while maintaining her hiding spot. As he scanned the path his eyes lingered on her hiding spot a second longer than everywhere else. He just shrugged and turned back around, and started running really fast down the path, faster than she could keep up.

She eventually gave up and started to walk back. When she made it a half a mile down the road, she heard a distant roar. She whipped around in time to see a small blue flash come from about two miles down the path. The sight and sound frightened her so she started to sprint as fast as she could towards her house. When she got back, she closed the open window and changed into a night gown. Rika got into her bed and tried to sleep, failing miserably.

Kodah walked down the path, a slight limp in his step, clutching his arm. He started to walk back towards his house, wondering how the thing had gotten the drop on him. It had come from under the ground but he should have still sensed it. 'Damn, next time I need to pay attention more. Why can't I stop thinking about who was following me?' He let out a grunt of pain when he tripped on a rock in the dirt street. He was going to feel this in the morning. He took out another mega potion form his pouch and drank it. The bleeding stopped and some of his bones stopped aching but he was going to need to go to the hospital tomorrow. Potions could only do so much. 'Hope no one sees me.' "Oh my God, Kodah! Are you ok?!" 'Shit.'

Rika was looking out her window again. "What was he doing going into the woods?" she wondered aloud. She kept looking out for him, trying to see if he was ok. That roar in the woods was like nothing she had ever heard before. It had scared her. It sounded so angry and hungry. That is not the kind of monster you want to deal with anytime let alone in the dark, though the moon and stars did a good job of lighting up the night. And it was by this light that she saw Kodah limping slightly and clutching his arm as he tripped. "Oh my God, Kodah! Are you ok?!" That was a stupid question. Even from here she could see the blood. "Hold on I'll be right down!" She slipped on a pair of slippers and ran out to him. "You look terrible. Is that blood?! Oh my God what happened to you?!" the girl exclaimed. "There's blood all over you! Where are you hurt?"

Kodah sighed. "I'm fine," he said Blankley, keeping his voice level as to not give away his injury any further, "Don't worry about me." "No you're not. Come inside. Here let me help you." She reached to pull his arm but he didn't seem to want to cooperate. "Please, just let me help you," she pleaded. Then she got an idea; she pulled out the puppy eyes.

Kodah looked at her then shook his head. "No no no no, don't give me those eyes." He said quickly. He was portraying an emotion right now, and it was annoyance. She decided to layer it on thick. "Don't give me puppy eyes." "Pleeeeease, let me help you," Rika kept putting layers of cuteness into her eyes, "Pleeease."

"Damn it," Kodah sighed, "fine." She helped him up and put his arm around her shoulder to support his weight. She blushed at his touch as she helped him towards the door. "Thank you," he told her as she helped him sit in a chair. Rika blushed even deeper at his thanks. "No problem she replied. "Now where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," He replied. "Everywhere hurts."

Rika rubbed her forehead as she thought of what to do. "Ok," she stated, I need to see how bad it is under that jacket. Take off your shirt and jacket please." He did as he was told. The first thing she noticed was the bruises. Then she noticed something else. This guy looked skinny underneath that jacket, but when he took it off plus his shirt, he was lean. His muscles were defined enough to see that he hunted a lot. No wonder he could kick the crap out of Blake; he had very lean muscles that were hard to see under his jacket. She blushed when he noticed her staring. He just sighed and sat back. "Can you please hurry up I need to get home." He seemed calm considering something had beaten him up. At least, he sounded calm. His body said otherwise. His muscles were tensed, ready to fight or run at a moment's notice. She grabbed some bandages for the cuts and cool drinks to put on his bruises. "You got a nice place," he remarked, "Doesn't look cheap."

"My Grandma sends me money every month to support myself. That, with the money we get from the hunting academy, I was able to afford this place and still had some money left for food and supplies." She grabbed the bandage and had him stand up. "Ok stay there for a moment please." She wrapped the bandage around his stomach and had him sit back down, giving him the cool drink. "Put that against your bruises. They should go down after a few minutes with it on there. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get something for your arm and leg." He sat back in the chair, waiting patiently for her to get back. After she had finished patching him up, he put his shirt and jacket back on. He grabbed his weapon which was covered as usual and walked towards the door. " Thank you for helping me," he said. "It's no problem," Rika replied. "I'll always help a fellow hunter. Anyway what happened to you?" He looked away, "I don't want to answer that right now." "Fine." He looked back at her in surprise. What? People could have their secrets. It was fine by her, but she wanted to know eventually.

"I'll be going then. Thanks again." Rika was feeling conflicting emotions right then. Before he walked out the door, she turned him around and gave him a tight hug. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. He let out a surprised yelp as she whipped him around, wincing "Ow." "Sorry," Rika said as she let go. "Don't go getting yourself hurt like that again," she told him. 'Oh my god, why the hell did I just do that? He probably thinks I'm weird now'. Kodah nodded in reply to what she said, and walked out the door, closing it behind him, and walked down the street. 'That girl is weird,' Kodah thought to himself as he walked down the street.

Rika woke up Sunday feeling tired. She didn't get much sleep Friday, and Saturday went by in a blur, not giving her much time to rest if she wanted to be prepared for the hunt. She had gotten up from her bed at six to get ready as it took her a good thirty minutes to get ready and she had to walk for another twenty to reach the academy. She put on her armor, which she had been told was made from a Barioth, a fearsome beast residing in the tundra. The blacksmith said a hunter came in with some materials and sold them to him cheap, so he made it into a set of armor for the first person who asked for some; and that had been Rika. She then picked up her Ananta Boneblade and strapped the sheath to her armor.

She walked out the door and took a deep breath. Nothing like a good walk to wake you up. She made it about halfway the academy when Macie started to walk beside her. "Ready?" the purple haired huntress asked, decked out in Jaggi armor with a pair of dual Ludroth swords on her back. "Mhm. I wonder what's gonna be available today?" "Dunno, but look out; here comes the paparazzi." And sure enough, three boys were approaching them, no doubt wanting to ask the two girls to hunt with them.

Rika felt a sudden hand on her shoulder, pulling her into an ally. When she got a look at who grabbed her she saw it was Macie trying to conceal her from the boys.

"Where'd she go?"

"I don't know, why are you asking me?"

"You saw her too."

"She was here a second ago."

Frustrated, the boys continued to look for her further down the street. She listened to their voices which slowly faded in the distance. Letting out a relieved sigh, Macie pulled her back on the street. "You have to be better at running and hiding from boys, Rika."

"I could just turn them down."

"Has that stopped them yet?"

Rika sighed. "Yeah, you're right. But one of these times I'm going to have to say yes." "I know. I'm just trying to keep you free for the right guy. None of them seem to fit your personality." Macie was right. None of the boys fit her well. They were nice, persistent, strong, but every one of them had something that she just didn't like in the slightest. A lot of them were too persistent, and others just saw her as a pretty face, as Ian had that night he was outside her window. She just couldn't find the right guy. "One of them will eventually," she replied to her friend as they entered the building and walked to their homeroom to select a partner and quest.

There were about 23 people in the room. Most looked partnered up already. As expected, the boys who hadn't partnered up yet ran up to her immediately.

"Hey, you wanna hunt with me?"

"No way loser, she's hunting with me."

"Back off, she wants to join me. Right Rika?"

The jumbled mix of requests and protests were cut off when she let out a yell. "HEY!" All the boys stopped bickering at once, giving her their immediate attention. "I'm flattered by your offers but I'm going to partner up with my friends." The boys all let out consecutive groans of disappointment and dispersed about the room. She walked over to Macie and sat in the desk next to her. "Now that that's sorted out, who do you want to partner with?" Macie scanned the room looking for other people. She stopped when her eyes reached to door, as someone had just walked in. Lots of people turned around and stared. Who just walked in was none other than Kodah. No one had ever seen him on Sunday hunts and they were surprised to see him now.

He walked in only wearing jeans and a jacket, the only armor he had on was a pair of leather bracers on his forearms. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy and had to be joking. He was carrying the same weapon as Friday though it was still covered so no one could see it. "Hey Kodah," Macie called across the room, "You want to join our group?" Kodah looked their way and seemed to contemplate whether to accept or not, but in the end he walked over to them and stood in front of them. Many boys were shooting him glares but he ignored them.

"So where's your armor?" Macie questioned him. No sensible hunter went out on a hunt without his or her armor. "The biggest thing up there is a Querepeco and I'd rather no one saw my armor. It'd raise too many questions," he said, loud enough only for the two girls to hear him.

"Come on, don't be stupid. We won't ask any questions if you wear your armor." He still didn't look like he wanted to show them what he had, but then Rika put on her puppy eyes. One look and he started to crack. "Fine," he muttered, "Grab the contract for the Peco and I'll go get my armor from my chest." With that he stood up and exited the classroom. "Well then," Macie got up, "Let's get that contract signed. Rika approached the blackboard with her and grabbed the contract for hunting a Querepeco. They brought it to the teacher's desk and told them their team. He stamped it and gave it back to them. They exited the classroom and walked down the hall to the front doors where Kodah stood waiting. "Wow, you changed quickly," Rika commented, noticing the large black coat that covered his armor so they couldn't see it. "Why do you insist on keeping your armor and weapon covered?" Macie asked. He shrugged his face as blank as ever. It was impossible to read this guy. And why did he want to keep so many secrets? "Ready?" Macie asked. They nodded in affirmation and started to walk down the street. Macie walked in front while Kodah fell behind a bit. Rika fell into step beside him. "She threw him a few glances, wondering about this secretive boy. After a short awkward silence, she decided to ask some questions. "So…. What do you like to do in your spare time Kodah?" It was lame, but it was a start. "Hunting." Wow, such a simple one word answer. "Really? What do you like to hunt?" "Stuff."

She sighed. It looked like this was going to be a long walk.

It had taken about three hours to get to their destination. The sun was high in the sky and beat down on them. Macie was sweating like crazy in her hunters armor while Rika was about passed out from dehydration, as her armor was supposed to keep heat in. Kodah wasn't even breaking a sweat under his black coat and the armor underneath. He sighed as the two girls took another break to catch their breath. "I'm going to go look by myself. I'll alert you when I've found it. Oh and here you go." Hu dug into his pouch, pulling out a couple of cool drinks. He tossed one to each of them and walked away, looking for the monster on his own. The two looked at his retreating form until he was around the corner and out of view. "Well isn't he a barrel of fun," Macie commented when she was out of earshot. "He is really rude. I know he's a stone-cold kickass fist-fighter, but can't he at least answer some questions?" The dual-wielder complained. She was referring to the little session of Q & A they had on the way here. Kodah had answered a little less than half of their questions. This frustrated Rika, as she wanted to know more about this hunter. "Well, he must have his reasons," Rika told her. "Maybe something happened in his past." Macie let out a huff. "It would help if he actually talked about his past." Rika just shrugged. Suddenly, they heard a roar that they'd never heard before. Rika recognized it after a second. It was the roar she had heard on the night she had followed Kodah into the forest. It sent shivers down her spine, just thinking about it. After Macie had recovered from the initial sound, she got up and walked in the direction of the roar. Rika chased after her, telling her she was crazy. "We don't know what this thing is!" "Well we can't leave Kodah to fight it alone! He must have run into it while looking for the Peco." Rika reluctantly nodded. She didn't want to leave their teammate behind, but that roar unsettled her. They ran around the corner to find Kodah looking around the area, the big green bird wyvern dancing in front of him. "Hey! What was that?!" Macie shouted to the boy. He whipped around at the sound of her voice. He looked worried. That couldn't be a good sign. "Run!" he shouted back, "Get out of here!" "Why?!" Just then the ground started to tremble beneath their feet. The ground bulged in between them and their teammate. Kodah ran at them, trying to get over to them. But just as he got close, the ground erupted, sending him flying. Rika covered her ears as a loud roar came from the hole. Suddenly, an ugly monster climbed out. It was green and had a long tail, ending in a round stump. It had a long jaw that ended in a round chin covered in curved spikes, and numerous scars covered the face and body. It looked around the area until it spotted the two girls, instantly focusing on them. Rika and Macie were stunned at the sight before them. It eyed them menacingly, and gave out a loud roar, pulling them out of their stupor. Macie shook her head rapidly and drew her ludroth blades. She charged the monster and jumped, letting out a ferocious battle cry and swung the blades down at the monster, ready to cut it to pieces- and the blades bounced off without even leaving a scratch. Macie started to fall back to the ground but the monster whipped its long tail around, slamming it into Rika's friend and sending her flying and slamming into a cliff. Macie didn't move after he hit the ground. Rika backed up in fear, tripping on a small rock and landing on her back. She propped herself up on her arms as she backed away horrified from the monster slowly walking towards her. It soon stood over her, blocking out the sun and hope of getting back alive. She knew she was going to die; there was nothing she could do. It had bested the strongest friend she had with one blow, knocking her out instantly and probably breaking a lot of bones. She got into a crouched position and covered her head, waiting for the end.

But just as the monster was about to strike, something or better yet someone flew through the air, slamming into its side and knocking it over. It let out a surprised roar as it hit the ground, trying to get up. The person who knocked the monster over had moved between her and it. This someone was a hunter, wearing full Rathian armor minus the helmet, and carried what looked like an axe made of azure scales and decorated with reddish-orange horns. Remnants of a black cloak hung off of his armor, blowing in the slight breeze. He looked ready for combat.

It was then that she realized that he didn't belong at the hunting academy. This guy was the real deal, a true and full on hunter.

Kodah stood between Rika and the Deviljho, pissed as hell for letting another one to surprise him. Switching the Bolt Axe into sword form, he gave a quick glance back at Rika to see if she was ok. She looked fine but had a strange look on her face. He frowned and looked back at the monster. "You're kind just seem to LOVE me. Will I ever get a break?" With one final glance, he charged forward.

This chapter was probably the most difficult to write so far. I wanted to put a lot in, but I didn't know how to execute it. I've spent at least a total of 15 hours sitting in front of this thing wondering how to write it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review. Until next time.