The Lost Civilization: Driven

By: Thomas A. Hawk

Edited by: dashboardgecko

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Hunter. The rights of the game belong entirely to Capcom. This is a fanwork taking place in the setting of The Lost Civilization, another fanwork of the Monster Hunter games. The world and its characters, aside from those newly created for the sake of this story, are property of dashboardgecko

Chapter 3- The Hunter

Lloyd grunted in pain as his head bumped against a box, jarring him awake. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he pushed himself up. He and Selipa had been on the road for about a day now, and since he'd been up late the night before keeping watch of their camp, the trader had suggested he catch up on some sleep in the back of the wagon. However, the sudden stop of the carriage had caused the contents to shift around, rousing him from his slumber.

He was about to ask why they had stopped before he heard footsteps moving around outside of the canopy: two pairs on the left, one on the right. He heard a gruff voice from the front of the carriage a second later.

"Let's see if she's got anythin' worth lootin', boys! Lady, if you know what's good for you, you'll step down from there without a fuss."

Great, guess she wasn't lying about bandits, he thought, gritting his teeth and clutching the handle of his sword. Didn't she say these parts were safe though...?

"Gotta say, I'm surprised there was a trader moving around here without an escort," a voice outside the back flaps grunted. "And a pretty lady like that too! Damn stupid move if you ask me... not that I'm complainin'."

"Just makes things easier for us. These are the perfect parts to set up shop, after all," another voice, significantly higher in pitch, replied. "Even for a small party like us! I bet we'll make a real mint off of all this!"

"Quit yer yappin' back there and start lookin' for somethin' worth sellin'!" the man out front barked. "Quicker we get this done, the better."

Lloyd grinned slightly as he saw a gloved hand grip the flap before him, crouching slightly as he readied himself to jump out the back. They had no idea he was there! This was the exact same scenario that he and his friends had gone through once before, back in one of the cities they had been moving through. Of course, Zack had been the one to bail them out that time… But Lloyd always did think of himself as a visual learner.

As soon as the flap was pulled away, he leapt out of the wagon with his leg extended, driving his heel into the forehead of the unsuspecting marauder just as he poked his head in. The blow knocked the man back several feet onto his back while Lloyd landed on his feet, right next to another one of the bandits. They were only wearing light armor, with metal breastplates or thick leather pads here and there. Plenty of gaps.

"What the fu-"

Before the man could react, Lloyd threw his right hand into the side of the bandit's face, following up with a quick jab from the left and an uppercut after that. As the man stumbled back, Lloyd lifted his foot and drove it into the bandit's ankle, causing his leg to crumple beneath him with a pained groan. The blonde-haired man took a short step back and spun about, slamming the back of his other foot into the marauder's head, knocking him to the ground a few feet to the side.

By then, the third bandit had gotten over Lloyd's surprise appearance and drawn a large, single-edged blade with a noticeable curve along its length, as well as a small claw jutting out above the grip. Selipa carried one in her wagon too; it was the basic sword many hunters apparently started out using. The bandit rushed him from behind, raising the blade above his head and slashing downwards at his back. Lloyd spun about as he approached, drawing his own blade from its black sheath and striking the side of his attacker's knife with it, deflecting the blow in the nick of time.

Lloyd gripped the handle of his katana with both hands and took a step forwards, swinging his blade at the man's shoulder, but the bandit had recovered quickly enough to pull his own sword up in time to lock blades with him. Lloyd let out a startled gasp as the man easily threw him off, causing him to stumble back a few paces to keep his footing. This guy didn't look that much beefier than Lloyd, yet somehow he was almost as strong as Zack!

Before he had a chance to question that further, though, the bandit rushed him again, forcing Lloyd to raise his blade to block a slash aimed at his side. He kept on the defensive while the bandit swung at him, trying to find a good opening to counterattack with. The bandit's swings were powerful, but they were incredibly wide as well. He didn't have much training, that much was certain.

As the bandit took another swing at his side, Lloyd allowed his blade to shift slightly right as they came into contact with one another, causing the marauder's knife to ricochet off of the katana's side. Lloyd threw his arms out, pushing the man's blade away from him and throwing him off balance in the process. Taking the blade into a reverse grip with his left hand, Lloyd thrust his arm forwards, driving the pommel of his blade right under the marauder's breastplate with enough force to make the man double over, coughing violently as the blow winded him.

In the meantime, Lloyd hopped back a couple steps to put a little distance between them. He briefly considered running the man through to save himself the trouble, though he decided against that quickly. While he wasn't entirely opposed to taking lives anymore (it had been a very rough few weeks on the road with Zack and Fala), the thought of having to clean human blood off his sword just didn't sit right with him. Plus, he felt the last thing he should do as a Lost is start killing people when he could incapacitate them instead. It really wouldn't help the whole 'madness' stereotype.

Instead, the photographer leapt forwards at the man just as he was glancing up. The bandit's eyes widened in shock just before Lloyd drove both of his feet directly into his chest, drop-kicking the marauder across the road, his head smacking against a tree as he fell backwards. Lloyd landed on the ground with a loud thud and a grunt of pain, his ribs burning with agony at being jostled so hard.

"And people said wrestling was fake," he gasped, pushing himself up and glancing around. The three bandits were all lying about on the road, writhing about and groaning in pain as they slipped into unconsciousness.

"What the hell just happened back there?!" he heard the voice from before shout, as well as a startled yelp from Selipa. "Whoever's back there, show yerself, else the girl gets it!"

Lloyd unholstered the pistol strapped to his right leg as he rounded the corner, pointing the firearm at the last bandit. The man was standing directly behind Selipa, holding a short dagger to her throat and using his other hand to hold her arms in place.

"Could you kindly let my friend go before I have to knock your ass flat too?" he said, aiming the gun at the man's head. Still, it was an empty threat; there was no way he was going to try and take a shot with her in the way.

"How about you drop your weapons first?!" the bandit sneered, shifting behind Selipa slightly to make himself a smaller target. "Maybe then I'll consider it!"

Ugh, this really is becoming a cliché. What did they do in the movies…?

The photographer glanced down, noticing that Selipa's stance was wider than the bandit's, exposing his leading leg. Lloyd afforded himself a slight smirk before quickly aiming down and firing two shots at the man's leg. The first shot barely grazed the limb, but the second struck true, tearing through the bandit's shin and causing the man to howl in pain as his leg gave in, dropping his dagger and releasing Selipa in the process.

Thank god for westerns.

The trader turned as the bandit went down, pulling her leg back and driving her foot directly into the man's face. Lloyd thought he could hear the man's nose break from the force of the kick, wincing slightly at the sound. The marauder let out a short gurgle as he fell back unconscious, a fresh stream of blood dripping from his nose.

"Creep!" Selipa spat, lifting her leg and driving her heel into his crotch for good measure. Lloyd shut his eyes tight for that one.

"Anyways, thanks for the help, Lloyd," she said, stepping towards him while the bandit groveled in agony behind her. "Guess it was a good thing you were hiding in the back, huh?"

"Why didn't you tell me that bandits hung around these parts?" he asked, sheathing his sword and holstering his pistol. "I would've actually stayed awake if I'd known-"

"I didn't know either," the trader sighed, crossing her arms and looking to the side. "These parts are normally really safe! This is the first time I've ever been attacked on this road. I mean, there's only a few of them- probably just a small band that thought it'd be smart to camp out where no one would expect an attack. Almost worked too…"

"Well, what should we do with them? We can't just leave them here to run off again."

"Get some bandages and rope; I'll show you what I normally do with thugs like them."

And that was how Lloyd ended up watching the four hogtied bandits being dragged along behind the carriage, cursing and screaming other obscenities at them through the rags covering their mouths. If he hadn't already been as devoted to Fala as he was, he might've actually started to crush on her then: Selipa was a badass. That being said, he hoped that his friends hadn't been attacked on their trip to Loc Lac… If he had been sitting up front with Selipa when those bandits jumped the wagon, that encounter could've ended much worse.

"Maybe we should consider getting more than one hunter to guard the carriage when we stop in town," he called to her. "More guards couldn't hurt, right?"

"Are you kidding? Escorts out here cost a ton!" Selina replied, spurring Mister Popo into a brisk trot. "Half a dozen guards is almost two-thousand zenni, not counting the cost of feeding them. Besides, Rosa's more than enough, trust me. Then again, you aren't much of a slouch either! Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Depends. Self-taught with the sword, and I picked up on some hand-to-hand techniques from my brother, same with the gun. Other than that… Internet."

"Internet? What's that?"

"It's… complicated. Remind me to tell you some other time."

The photographer glanced back to make sure the bandits weren't coming loose from their bindings, chuckling to himself as one of them yelped in pain as they bashed their shoulder against a somewhat large rock. Lloyd and Selipa had taken all of their gear, save for the clothes on their backs, and thrown the extra swords and armor pieces into an empty crate the trader kept aside in her carriage. Apparently she actually sold these things at some of her stops, which she ironically summed up as 'robbing the robbers'.

"About how far are we from town?" he called back after a while. "Watching these guys struggle kinda wore out its charm half an hour ago."

"Actually, we're just about there! Take a look out front; you'll see the gates up ahead!"

Lloyd peered over his shoulder through the opening by the driver's seat, squinting his eyes a little. Sure enough, he could see tall wooden walls up ahead, with a red-framed gate leading into the compound. A pair of guards stood before the caged gate, armed with long spears with relatively wide blades at the ends. As they wheeled towards Aries Town, one of the guards stepped forward and raised his hand, gesturing for them to stop.

"What's your business in town?" the guard asked, lifting his face plate as he addressed Selipa. He raised an eyebrow at the sound of the bandits cursing behind the wagon, leaning to the side slightly to catch a glimpse of them. "And... why are you dragging four men behind your carriage?"

"Heffly, relax," the other guard stated, jogging over to his partner. "This is that trader I was telling you about the other day. How's business, Selipa?"

"About the same as always, so pretty good. Had a little action about an hour ago: those fine gentlemen tried to rob us. Mind taking them off our hands? They're a terrible drag on the carriage."

"I'll go send for a few more men, Yale," Heffly said. "You're clear to enter, ma'am, sorry for the delay."

"Don't worry about it!" she called back cheerfully as the guard went to open the gate for them, though her expression and tone shifted to a more irritated almost the second he stepped out of earshot. "Have to go through this crap at almost every town anyways…"

The gates to Aries Town creaked open, and Selipa spurred the Popo into the village, bringing it to a stop just outside of the barracks next to the town entrance, where Lloyd and Selipa disembarked. A few other guards stepped out of the structure, untying the bandits and taking them off towards what Lloyd assumed was the prison.

The trader hadn't been kidding when she had said that this wasn't a large town; Lloyd counted just over two dozen buildings, arranged around a large open market in the middle of town. The wooden walls surrounding the village rose about twenty feet off the ground, just under most of the rooftops of the buildings nearby, as well as the majority of the treetops visible over the wall. Most of the structures were made from a deep brown wood and had red panels on the roofs, as well as red cloth canopies above a few doorways here and there. Compared to Nastre, though, this town was barely populated, even if it did lie next to a tall mountain like the previous village. There was no Hive, at least.

"So, what do you think?" Selipa asked, prodding his side with her elbow. "Nice little place, yeah?"

"Sure, I guess. Then again, I've been here for all of six seconds, so I'm not quite sure how valid my opinion is yet."

"So, is he the one you were referring to when you said 'us'?" Yale asked, walking up to the pair and removing his helmet. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, with silver streaked black hair and a fairly impressive moustache that curled up at both ends. "Found a new traveling buddy then? Doesn't look like too much to me. He isn't a Lost, is he?"

"So what if I am?" Lloyd shot back. "What's it matter to you?"

"Easy there, Lloyd," Selipa said, stepping between the pair. "Yes, he is a Lost, Yale. BUT, he's also responsible for taking out three of those bandits, and helping me down the fourth."

"It could easily be argued that I took down all four of them..."

"Shush. Anyways, he's plenty capable."

"Hmm… I should hope so. The… physical differences between us and the Lost are quite noticeable, so I just wished to ensure that you weren't senselessly putting yourself in danger by hiring him as a guard."

"Oh, he isn't really an escort, even if he is way more fun to keep around than you were," the trader smirked. "I'm just taking him to Loc Lac. We stopped in town to get our actual escort, stock up on provisions, and sell some wares before making the trek out to Hasara Landing."

"I see. I must take offense, though; I happened to be a very enjoyable companion for those few months!" the guard huffed. "In fact, if we hadn't been jumped by that pack of Jaggi, I'd probably still be able to act as a guard for caravans, telling tales I learned from my old bard's collection to all who would listen."

"More like everyone you made listen, Yale. The only really interesting story you have is the one with those little ankle biters!"

"Irk… You people have no respect for the classics…"

"Okay, now I'm interested," Lloyd spoke up. "Exactly what is this story?"

"T-that's not-!"

"We were camped out one night in between stops with a party of, I dunno, ten people at most?" the trader began, earning a look from the guard that seemed like a plea to stop. Unfortunately for him, Selipa continued anyways. "Well, Yale here takes off to use the bushes, and next thing we hear is him screaming in the woods, a bunch of Jaggis barking after him. Well, he's running back to camp with his pants around his ankles, and this rookie archer we had brought along panics and fires an arrow. Thankfully, he hadn't pulled the string back very far yet, so the arrow just bounced off Yale's knee and left a nasty cut. He trips and falls, and before anyone can get up to help him, one of the little guys runs up behind him and takes a bite right out of his ass! You should have heard him screaming after that! Anyways, we regrouped and drove the pack off and got him patched up, and since then Yale's been a little reluctant to head off into the woods."

"Huh. Y'know Selipa, you kind of have a sick sense of humor," Lloyd remarked, noticing that Yale's head had slumped down in embarrassment.

"Oh, like you don't think it's worth at least a chuckle too! I'm actually surprised we don't hear that story around the area as much!"

"That's because I usually just tell anyone who asks that I took an arrow to the knee and leave it at that!" Yale grunted. "It's far less demeaning, even if it does get a little old to say all the time. In any case, if you've had your fill of making fun of me, I must be returning to my post now. As for you… Lloyd, was it? Try and find me before you head out again. I'll be sure to... repay Selipa's tale with one of my own."

"Don't even think about bringing that up to him!" the trader said, raising her voice while the guard chuckled to himself.

"Perhaps you should have thought about that before spilling the beans on me then!" Yale laughed as he made his way back towards the village gate. "Ah, and if you're looking for your hunter, she's probably in the tavern still! She's been in there for a couple days now, so I'd suggest picking her up sooner rather than later. She has a habit of leaving quite the mess for that poor waitress girl."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks," Selipa huffed before hopping back into the carriage and spurring Mister Popo into movement. Lloyd hopped onto the side and scooted into position next to her a moment later.

"You do realize I'm going to want to know about this story even if he doesn't tell me, right?"

"Lloyd, let me be clear on this; the day you hear that story is the day I end up tying you to the back of this wagon for a little joyride."

"...Uh..."

"I know that came out wrong, but you know what I meant! You'd best get any ideas about it out of your head."

"I, ah… Alrighty then."

The trader brought the wagon into a small depot across from the barracks where a few of the town guards would keep watch over her wares and untied Mister Popo from the lead, allowing the furry beast to graze in a small pasture set aside for creatures of labor. Once she had finished that up, she and Lloyd made their way towards the tavern across town. According to her, there was only one tavern in Aries, which was actually surprising; from what Lloyd had heard, most towns had several. They were popular places for hunters to meet up, and they could even sign onto quests there.

"Why only one?" he asked as they stepped through the market, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across their path.

"Like I said, this is only a stopover town. Hunters are either heading towards Nastre or Loc Lac; there's not much of a reason to stay around here for hunters. Sure, there are some valuable wares and decent smiths, but the real big places to be are in either direction. Plus, this town doesn't even see a lot of monster activity, so quest options are kinda limited in these parts."

"With all those monsters running around, I thought there'd never be a lack for jobs to kill the things."

"It's not like hunters only go out and kill stuff," the trader said. "Believe it or not, but those things are a pretty big part of life around these parts. If the hunters just went all gung-ho genocidal on them, then we'd lose out on resources, food, materials… Stuff that can only be gotten by hunting in moderation. Hunters like to talk big about bringing down beasts four times their size and all that, but they could just as easily go out the next day to pick flowers and catch bugs."

"Pick… pick flowers? What do they need flowers for? And bugs, too?"

"All of those are vital resources that go towards potion making, alchemy, cooking, and even weapon crafting! Some smiths know how to make weapons out of Bnahabra wings, and those are normally fragile enough to snap without any effort!"

"What's a Naha… Bahu… Nabra-"

"Bnahabra," she corrected, enunciating each syllable slowly for him to pick up on, though he still felt he'd never nail that one down. "They're large bug creatures, about the size of your head. Basically, they're giant flies that can sting you. Usually a hit or two shatters their bodies, so they're not really the biggest threat."

"And… people make weapons out of these things?"

"Armor too."

"How the hell do you make armor out of bugs?"

"Ask a smith! I just know they can do it, not how they do it."

"What even is this world…" Lloyd sighed as the pair rounded a corner and approached a two story building.

A sign reading 'Aries Tavern' creaked above the entrance, swaying slightly in the breeze, and Lloyd could see that the lights were on inside, despite its rather destitute outer appearance. He trailed after the trader as she stepped into the structure, taking a deep whiff of the smell of cooked meat and ale that hung stagnant in the air. Lloyd removed his sunglasses and stored them in one of the small pouches on his belt.

"Ahh, glad to see this place hasn't changed a bit!" she remarked, glancing around the room.

Pretty much all of the tables were empty, save for a few off to the side where a few older men and women were eating and talking. There was a half-eaten tray of food on one of the tables on the other side of the tavern as well. The only employees they could see were an older barkeeper and a middle-aged waitress, both of whom were currently cleaning a few tankards behind the counter.

"Where's your friend at?" he asked, scanning the room once again. Unlike the tavern at Nastre, he didn't see a single person wearing some sort of armor or carrying a giant weapon with them, though he did notice a rather large sword made of a massive bone hanging above the bar.

"Knowing Rosa, she's probably…" Selipa's voice trailed off as she began to walk over towards the tray of half-eaten food, while Lloyd followed a moment later. Selipa quickened her pace to the table and leaned over the side, glancing down at the seat as she came to a stop. "Aha! Found her!"

Lloyd raised an eyebrow as he neared, but a moment later the light sound of snoring reached his ears. He stepped up beside the trader and glanced down confusedly at the woman currently snoozing on the bench, an empty tankard loosely in her grasp. She had lighter skin than Selipa, and was a fair bit taller as well. She was also much, much more toned than her friend, though she lacked the same curvature Selipa possessed, instead having a lean, lithe frame. She had a full head of crimson hair, currently tied back into a ponytail, while her facial features were rather sharp and defined, not quite to the point of ruggedness, but not exactly smooth. She wasn't wearing any armor or carrying a weapon, instead being dressed in a casual outfit not unlike those worn by the women in Nastre.

"Hey, Rosa?" the trader asked, poking the huntress' leg with her foot. "C'mon girl, time to wake up! You aren't drunk, are you?"

"Is this normal?" Lloyd asked, turning towards Selipa.

"Oh, hunters get drunk and pass out all the time. I was just kind of hoping we'd meet her before she decided to do that."

"Well, maybe we shoul-"

The photographer didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before the huntress shot up in her seat, the wooden mug flying from her grasp as she did. Lloyd barely registered the tankard flying through the air until it struck his forehead with a loud thwack, clattering to the ground while he clutched his forehead in pain.

"Agh! Son of a bitch!"

"Aww, dammit Sel, you were supposed to be standing there!"

"You think I'd fall for that trick again?! I always figured there's a slight chance of you trying that whenever I walk up to you, and now I see that I was right!"

"Guess I'll just have to find something new to pull on you then… So, who's the scrawny dude I just decked? You didn't bring a human shield along just to avoid getting pranked, did you?"

Lloyd shook his head once after lowering his hands, feeling a dull throbbing in his skull from the impact. There was probably a welt forming already, though his hair would probably help conceal it. As he glanced up at the huntress, he saw that her eyes matched the color of her hair, being the same shade of deep crimson. She eyed him curiously, glancing up and down his body as though she were sizing him up.

"Eh, he's maybe a seven. You can do better, Sel."

"Aww, give him some credit, Rosie. I'd say at least seven-and-a-half."

Were they seriously judging him on the ten scale right in front of him? And for that matter, how was the ten scale still a thing thousands of years in the future? And all THAT aside, what kind of 'prank' entailed chucking a wooden tankard at someone's head?

"Anyways, Rosa, this is Lloyd," the trader said, patting his shoulder roughly. "He's a piece of cargo bound for Loc Lac, and we're gonna get him there."

"I'm not a damn package!" he grumbled, rubbing his forehead to try and ease his headache.

"Does he have much of one though?" the huntress asked, making him almost choke on his own spit in surprise while Selipa burst out into laughter at his flustered reaction.

"Haaah, it really has been too long, Rosie," Selipa sighed after recovering from her fit of laughter. Lloyd was still trying to clear his windpipe while the two began talking again. "But no, we aren't together together or anything. I'm just taking him to Loc Lac in exchange for some help along the way. Be careful with him, he's fragile."

"Oh, in that case… Eight." Lloyd was just about done recovering before that remark sent him back into a coughing fit too, and the two women laughed in response.

"You are killing me, Rosa!" the trader chuckled. "And him too, from the looks of it. But no, Lloyd's already got a sweetheart waiting for him in Loc Lac."

"Really?" the huntress responded, glancing over at him as he finally started to regain his breath. "In that case… Nine-and-a-half."

"Not… I'm not falling for that… again…" he gasped, resting his palm on the table and easing himself onto one of the benches. "God, I need some water…"

"Oh alright, ya lug. Waiter! Get us a round of drinks! And a water!"

"Be right there!"

"That isn't always how you react to being teased, is it?" Rosa asked with a coy smirk. "Cuz if it is, I am going to have a lot of fun with you, Lloyd."

"She's pretty much always like this," Selipa added, and Lloyd just rested his head in his hand before sighing.

"Figures… I just wasn't expecting it. Just promise me you'll actually try to keep me from choking to death if that happens again, would you?"

"Meh, I'll think about it."

"She means yes," the trader laughed as the waitress brought a tray of drinks over for them. Selipa and Rosa both immediately went for tankards of ale while Lloyd opted for the water first; he hadn't had much to drink today, and liquor was hardly the best thing to have on an empty stomach. Selipa and Lloyd also put in an order for something to eat before they continued their conversation.

"So, uh, Rosa, what kind of weapon do you use?" he asked.

"Guns! Lots and lots of guns!" she replied quickly, getting a very excited tone. "I mean, I usually carry a short sword for close quarters fighting, but there isn't anything more satisfying to me than shooting down a flying wyvern or just blasting the hell out of my targets! I actually have four different bowguns for different occasions, but all of them pack a real mean punch. Only have my Rathling Gun right now, but that's more than enough for a trip back to Loc Lac!"

"Oh, and before you ask, I did get that ammo crate for you so you don't run out like that one time," Selipa said. Rosa laughed cheerfully before taking a swig from her tankard.

"Ahh, good to hear! I was worried you would forget again! Just like the last three times!"

"Okay, I did remember them the second time, they just… kinda exploded. Totally wasn't my fault, at all."

"I believe I'm missing a lot of context here," Lloyd remarked, finishing his water before grabbing the third tankard of ale.

"I told you, Rosie and I have had a partnership going on since… How many years ago was it?"

"It's been five years," the huntress answered, taking a long drink from her tankard and slamming it down onto the table with a long gasp. "That hit the spot… But yeah, I still remember when Sel here was just starting to go out on her own. I was in Nastre for a contract when I saw this pretty little gal loading up her old cart. Said her Papa wanted her to get into the family trading business, but she hadn't even hired a guard for a ten day trip! I offered to help her out of pity, but this cute li'l thing just grows on you! Eventually I just offered to be a full time escort and took hunting as more of a side job."

"I give her forty-five percent of each cut," Selipa whispered, though Rosa must've heard her, since a wide grin split the bowgunner's lips.

"And it's a fine forty-five! You should see how good Sel here can be at earning a mint. I saw her sell an old iron sword to some poor sap after telling him it was a legendary blade from deep in the woods that would bless his fields. Guy forked over half his life savings for it!"

"That… sounds incredibly dubious," the photographer said. "Remind me to never buy anything from you. Ever."

"Oh relax, Lloyd! I wouldn't cheat a friend out of their zenni! Usually…"

Selipa paid for a couple rooms to spend the next two nights in before the group got moving again. While Lloyd wanted to get a move on as quickly as possible, the trader had been quick to point out that if she didn't stop in towns to sell her wares, they'd run out of coin very quickly. He was just glad Aries Town was small; there wouldn't be as many people to sell to, and thus, their stay wouldn't really be that long.

He quickly learned that Rosa- she insisted on being called Rosie, but he was never one to use nicknames- hadn't been kidding when she said that Selipa was a cunning merchant. Within a few hours, she had already managed to earn back a good deal of the money she used to pay for the inn, and by the end of the day, she actually had more than what she started with.

This was partly due to her being a great story teller. She managed to make even the most mundane and simple things seem like they could have belonged to an ancient king, and the funny part was, her prices weren't even that crazy! Or at least, he thought they weren't- the whole zenni thing was still rather confusing to him. She seemed to have relatively fair prices for everything, but Lloyd quickly picked up on how she managed to make so many sales. She would rope a customer into buying something they needed, but would quickly procure an item that she could say was important for the use of the first. This could go on for a while, it seemed: she managed to sell an entire set of silverware, dishes, and plates to someone by just saying 'why not complete the set?'

There were also the tall tales she came up with to sell some of the odder merchandise she had in her wagon. First, there was a mirror that she said could reveal the face of the owner's soul mate if wiped diligently for an hour every day for a year. Then, there was a battered old shield that she said was an ancient relic from a prosperous kingdom that disappeared long ago and was said to bring great luck. The most amusing one to him was the 'mask of dreams': basically it was just an eye mask you wore while asleep, but she pitched it as having a 'special enchantment' that allowed the wearer to choose their dreams.

"Don't these people come back to complain once they find out that stuff isn't true?" he had asked after they had packed up for the first day.

"That's the funny thing: most of the time, they fool themselves into thinking it's true!" Selipa had replied. "I had this young hunter come up to me a few days after selling him a necklace that would attract this girl he had the hots for, right? Thought he was going to chew me out for sure, but there he was with the girl he bought the necklace to try and get! I managed to make a few more sales off the pair too! Customer satisfaction is my specialty, after all. Trust me, I've got a book full of positively glowing reviews."

Somehow, Selipa was an expert at not only selling things, but also abusing human psychology.

Still, he'd known worse scammers back in his time, so he wasn't about to go pointing fingers. Besides, most of the people she sold to seemed genuinely happy with their purchases, so why ruin the image? He even helped out a couple times when she had a harder time coming up with convincing tales to tell, though he attributed that to copyright no longer being an issue. Thus, by blatantly ripping off movies and plays from the Lost's time, he was able to drum up a few sales of his own. Selipa even let him keep those earnings for himself.

When he wasn't helping Selipa at her stall, though, Lloyd was looking into anything else he might want to get for the trip out to Loc Lac alongside Rosa. The huntress was apparently good friends with the smith in town, and was able to get the strange little creature- apparently it was called a wyverian, though to him it just looked sort of like Yoda with a tan- to upgrade the gear he got from Mikael. While it didn't feel much different, the armorer had assured him that the 'armor spheres' he had used put his leather gear into the realm of usability. Lloyd didn't quite get it, but he was grateful for the upgrade nonetheless.

Rosa herself never let up on the teasing, just like Selipa had said, but she was actually pretty fun to be around. The three would usually eat together, and Rosa would regale them with a story about one of the hunts she'd been on before. Apparently, she'd been at this hunting thing for a really long time; she became an apprentice in her mid-teens, passed the Hunter's Exam in Orage Dell at eighteen, and for the past seven years when she wasn't helping Selipa, she was off hunting Rathalos', Barioths, Barroths (he didn't quite understand how two different monsters could have such similar sounding names), Gobuls, and all other sorts of beasts he'd never even heard of. The Rathalos sounded familiar to him- one of the towns he and his friends had been moving through had been attacked by a red draconic creature, pretty much devastating a school in the process- but the others were complete mysteries to him.

If nothing else, though, hearing all of these stories were incredibly fascinating. He used to spend some of his free time playing video games, typically medieval fantasy ones with lots of adventure, and most of what Rosa described would fit perfectly with them. It was strange to think that he might actually be living in such a world now, despite not having seen many live creatures since awakening. A few Popos, the deer-like Kelbi, and a small pack of Jaggis were about it, though he had seen some larger creatures in Nastre. Those ones were already dead, though, so it wasn't quite the same. A part of him really wanted to see one of those fantastical creatures for himself, but his common sense told him that he should probably try to stay as far away from them as possible.

Eventually, though, the day came where the three had planned to set off. Lloyd had attempted to locate Yale, but the guard was nowhere to be found. He couldn't help but feel that Selipa might've had something to do with that… Regardless, he and the trader busied themselves that morning with loading up her wagon while Rosa got her armor on. Considering some of the other suits he had seen before, Lloyd was actually rather excited to see what sort of gear she used. She'd mentioned a 'Rathling Gun', but she'd been pretty secretive about what her armor was. Not even Selipa knew what it could be, since Rosa quickly said it wasn't anything the trader had seen her in either. They had just finished loading the last of the crates into the back of the wagon when he heard the door of the tavern swing open, and the two glanced over as the huntress stepped out into the street.

The first thing that went through Lloyd's mind was 'that can't be armor'. The suit was most white, cream, and light blue in color. Rosa's torso was covered- "covered"- with a few plates of tannish material, while a white piece of cloth with blue markings was visible between the sections on either side of her waist. An upside-down teardrop shaped hole was cut through the middle, exposing a part of her toned stomach, while that same cloth was the only thing covering the huntress' breasts. A large blue belt with thick fur tufts on the front and back was wrapped around her waist, and two additional strips of the blue material hung at her sides, with a number of loops to store what appeared to be giant bullets. A pair of baggy tan pants covered her upper legs, while plated white greaves protected the upper parts of her shins, and her feet were covered by a pair of black boots. Rosa's arms were asymmetrical in regards to the armor, with her right arm being mostly exposed from the shoulder the elbow save a single blue strap holding a few more rounds on her bicep. A plated white gauntlet covered her forearm. Her left arm, though, had much more protection: a segmented pauldron covered her shoulder, and instead of just a gauntlet on this arm, she appeared to have a mix of a large plated shield and a claw attached to her left arm. As for her helmet (if it could be called that), she had a thick white plate covering her forehead, and a similar material covered her chin, but immediately behind her forehead plate was a strip of blue material, almost like a hair band, that had a pair of amber-colored tusks attached to the sides, both of which hung beside the huntress' head. Everything else behind that was a massive tuft of white fur, almost like a giant wig or something. It was… impressive, at least, but he couldn't really see how it was practical, considering how much of her skin he could see.

"Oooooh, you finally made that Barioth set!" Selipa squealed, practically bowling Lloyd over as she rushed over to her friend to inspect the set up close. "When did you get the rest of the parts you needed? I thought you said you were injured!"

"What do you think did the injury-ing? High rank quests aren't exactly a breeze, and my old set was getting too worn out to keep up!"

"Now that you mention it, last time I remember seeing that Ludroth stuff, it was kinda falling apart..."

"And what does our little Lost friend think of it?" Rosa smirked, shooting a wink in Lloyd's direction. He flushed slightly- he'd gotten better at handling all the teasing, but he had yet to prevent himself from reacting to her 'forwardness'- and cleared his throat.

"I'd say it puts you at a very solid eight-and-a-half," he replied, grinning slightly as the two laughed at the remark. "How the hell is that stuff supposed to protect you, anyways? Are you trying to seduce dragons?"

"It's not supposed to be as protective as a blademaster's set, doofus!" The huntress placed a hand on her hip and her other on the strap holding a massive red bowgun over her shoulder. It had fiery red and black scales, as well as several barrels arranged in a similar style to the mini gun Zack had used back in his time when they were fleeing that black dragon. "This is gunner armor, designed to be light and mobile. It also helps with holding bowguns: the positioning is too awkward with most blademaster sets to properly grip one. The plates get in the way, and they're too heavy for quicker movements."

I guess that kind of makes sense… Doesn't explain the massive cleavage window though. Even Power Girl would be jealous.

"Anyways, we should probably get rolling," Rosa said. "There'll be plenty more time for you to stare on the road, Lloyd!"

"You got it, Rosie," Selipa replied, barely containing a snicker as she climbed into the driver's seat. Lloyd simply rolled his eyes at the remark and climbed into the back, while Rosa took a seat beside the trader up front. Selipa spurred Mister Popo on, and within a few minutes the group was outside of the walls of Aries Town and on to their next destination.

As they traveled along, the photographer listened in on a few of his new friends' talks, sometimes quipping in when he felt like it or they asked him a question. If nothing, he learned quite a few things about each of them: Selipa was apparently an awful cook, Rosa had been in almost thirty-seven different relationships since becoming a huntress (and all of them had at least relatively humorous endings), and they apparently loved to vacation by the ocean. They mentioned a small village called Boma that sounded rather appealing to him, though he could worry about beach trips after finding Zack and Fala.

"Say, Lloyd, apart from your lady friend in Loc Lac, you have any special girls in your life?" Rosa asked, poking her head in through the canopy's flaps. "Tough guy like yourself has got to have had at least a few interesting relationships!"

"Eh… I wasn't much for the dating scene, actually. Aside from my mother, there were three important women in my life: Fala, Rose, and Snow."

"And Fala's the one in Loc Lac?"

"You got it."

"Well, tell me about the other two then! They sound pretty!"

"Let's see… Rose was a lot like you. Had a real thing for red, was kinda loud, and could be really hard to control sometimes. Snow was a lot bigger, but she was quieter and a lot quicker to boot. Not to mention she'd do exactly what I wanted, when I wanted. Handled so well… Gotta say, I'll miss the two of 'em."

"Ooh, were you dating all three at once? You sly dog…"

"Actually, I only had two of them at a time. Fala's my first love, Rose and Snow were second and third. Unfortunately, Rose was getting kinda old and hard to deal with, so I dumped her and found Snow instead. Kinda wish I coulda had her for longer though."

"What happened to her?"

"She exploded."

That simple reply was enough to startle even Rosa, and the huntress blinked in surprise before continuing on, her tone much less cheerful than before.

"Yikes. And how did that happen…?"

"Well, she crashed into a tree and a dragon shot her with a fireball. Wasn't a great day."

"O…oh, that sounds awful…"

"Eh, no big deal now. Important thing is, me and the others managed to get away in time. Even if we did end up getting sent into the future or whatever…"

"That's kinda cold, Lloyd!" Selipa called from up front, earning a slight chuckle from the man.

"Well, they were my cars, so our relationship was purely platonic."

"What's a 'car'?" Rosa asked, cocking her head slightly. "Is that Lost slang or something?"

"No, they're vehicles, like our version of your carriages!" the photographer laughed. "Much faster though, and they didn't need any monsters to pull them either."

"And you named yours?"

"Yeah. Like that could possibly be the weirdest thing you've ever heard…"

"Why name them after women though?" the trader asked. "I hear some hunters name their weapons after gods, or stuff like 'the Eviscerator', but that's kind of different. Didn't that one guy you were with a few years back name his great sword Keith, Rosie?"

"Ugh, that guy was a reeeeeal piece of work," the huntress sighed.

"Well, as a straight man, it made a lot more sense for me to name the thing I'm going to be inside for several hours at a time after a woman."

Rosa covered her mouth in an attempt to hide the snicker that followed that comment before she pulled her head back out of the wagon, and a moment later the two broke out into full on laughter. Lloyd smiled to himself and leaned back on the crate he was seated on as Selipa and Rosa finally started to calm down a few minutes later.

"Hoo boy," the huntress chuckled, taking a few deep breaths while her friend continued to snicker beside her. "This is going to be a fuuuun trip!"

Author Notes: Please Review! And thus our intrepid team is complete! I honestly wasn't sure what I wanted to do with Rosa's character in the original drafting of this story. I had considered (again) making her more hostile towards Lost and eventually coming around to accept them, but I couldn't really get that to work with a character I wanted to be remarkably fun and flirty. I decided on a more neutral stance for her in that regard, where instead of hating or sympathizing with Lost, she just kinda accepts that they're around. That is, unless she gets to know them more personally. Ultimately, she's grown into one of my favorite characters, and like I said last chapters, I don't really know who I like more between her and Selipa. Both are definitely a lot of fun to write, that's for sure.

I admittedly took a couple cues from Rose (The Hunter's Oath version) when designing Rosa, though oddly enough the name was NOT one of them. It was actually purely coincidence! Being a ranged huntress with Barioth armor was the basic framework I had for her design, though she actually uses the Barioth gunner armor (aside from the helmet, which is the blademaster version. I kinda think the gunner helm is ugly) while I designed Rose to use the blademaster set. Y'know, only having a one vowel differences between these two's names is actually very confusing to write... Good thing they exist in separate universes.

Lloyd's first car being named Rose is also a peculiar reference. It's actually based on my first car, a Ford Escape, which I named Rose as well. Guess where the THO character got her name from?

A pretty fun aspect of writing Driven also came with pointing out some of the weirder habits that now exist in the Monster Hunter world. Making armor out of bugs was a prime example, as was actually being able to pronounce 'Bnahabra' (I still kinda struggle with that. Is the 'B' silent, or what?).

And, of course, there's also the fight scenes! This chapter had the first proper one of this story, and while relatively short, the idea was to show that Lloyd is ultimately very competent against human opponents, who he had to deal with a lot more back when the Lost world was being destroyed. He actually has a lot more intricacies to his fighting styles than what will likely be shown, but essentially he uses a mix of real techniques and skills along with several improvised ones. And drop kicks. That being said, it's actually hard for me not to want to use more flashy and over the top descriptions for these things, considering gecko's world is markedly more realistic than my stories. Lloyd seems downright clumsy compared to Wes. I suppose there's a certain charm to that too, though.

Also, we've got a release date on Monster Hunter Generations! Prepare for July 15, people!

Playing: Fire Emblem Fates, Super Smash Bros. 4, Hyrule Warriors

Watching: One Punch Man, Noragami, Bob's Burgers, Silver Spoon