Okay, okay, I have a ton of monsties following me, so what do I do now?

Might as well make a checklist of what I need to do:

Step 1: Find Shelter: Done - I'd found a little cave I could hole up in until I made contact with civilization. Hopefully, Astera would not ask too may questions about this.

Step 2: Acquire water: Also done - It wasn't hard to set up a basic water supply system, and seeing how I was in the ancient forest, water was a plentiful resource.

Step 3: Gather food - also realtively easy - the fight between the Rathalos, Jagras pack, and Anjanath had ended up flattening quite a few unluck Kestodon and Aptonoth, who provided me with plenty of meat to feed my new companions and myself. Combined with some nearby grass and edible herbs, and I was set for nutrition.

Step 4: Fire - trivial issue. Having pyrokinesis is awesome.

Step 5: Caring for the eggs and monsties...okay, this was proving to be a challenge. For starters, the Anjanath, Rathalos, Jagras, and Lagiacrus that I had were all trying to fight each other, as were the Nergigante and Xeno'jiiva. The angry pickle, meanwhile, was trying to snatch food from everyone else, at least until I fed him a full sized male Kestodon. I wasn't sure exactly how long it would be before he started acting up again.

Oh, and almost all of the other eggs had hatched, and now they were all starting to be annoying and difficult to care for - the Barroth and Jyuratodus were always fighting over the mud pit I'd given them, the little Odogaron kept harassing the Tzi-Tzi Ya-ku, the Radobaan I had to lead to several bone piles before he finally became happy with his coat, and don't get me started on the Teostra and Kushala Daora. Ugh, WHERE THE HELL HAD THE KULU-YA-KU FOUND ALL THESE EGGS?!

Luckily, as night began to fall, everyone seemed to calm donw, and I was able to shepherd them into the cave. Fun fact - it appeared one of the powers my my body had from all of the gene mods applied to the human DNA I had created it was the ability to alter my voice and produce all kinds of sounds - including roaring. Thus, it was rather easy for me to get my new companion's attention when I needed it - I could just roar at them and they all shut up and looked at me.

Given that all of them were hatchlings, though, I had to do this practically five times in ten minutes. Seriously?

Eh, kids. Monster kids. Can't do much about that...though it was heartwarming to see them form a cuddle pile when they went asleep. Especially since they refused to fight each other when they did so - among others, the Deviljho and a Bazelgeuse cuddling up with each other for warmth.

...Well, maybe I should turn in for the night.

XXXXXXX

I woke up three hours later, to the sight of a jagras trying to wrap its mouth around my head. A moment later, said jagras landed nearby a wall, most of the bones in its body broken.

Shaking out the residule effects of sleep, I pulled out the paracesis - a Jagras pack had arrived, led by an alpha, and it seemed to think my monsties would make an excellent meal. Three were already staring at my new charges..which were already awake and staring down their oppoenents. And aside from the occcasional growl or nip, inter-species rivalries had been put on hold.

Grunting, I threw a rock at the Great Jagras, then leapt at it. A moment later, and it was bucking like a bull.

Once more, unto the breach!

XXXXXXX

"...So, you're sure that you can pinpoint where your dad went to?" I asked, unable to keep the concern out of my voice.

"Yes, mom," was Rory's response. Ok, no need for snarkiness!

"I'm not your mom, young man, and do not snark at me when I am worried about my Commander."

"He's my dad," retorted the boy. "I am just as worried as you are about him, probably even more so."

...Okay, maybe I was being a little bitchy. "Good point."

"I know...and for the record, I know you aren't my mom..."

"Good."

"...but I wouldn't mind if you were."

...Um, well-

"Found him!"

Wow, that was fast. "Can you open a portal up to him?"

"Doing it, but I'm getting some issues with doing that."

"Such as?"

"Can't make an opening big enough to move anything larger than a tank through it. Also, from the limited data I can get from the implant's in my dad's brain, he's in a narrow area. Probably best if we just send in a few people."

"Is one good enough?"

Rory stared at me for a moment, then smiled. "In regards to the people we have on standby? Probably. If that one person is you...oh yes it is."

I could only respond with a manic grin. "Well, then, let's get to work."

XXXXXXXXX

As I exited the portal, I found myself staring at Flame...who was in the middle of beating up a giant iguana. Aroudn him, many smaller iguanas lay dead, bodies cut and broken, whilst a group of tiny creatures, some mammalian, others reptilian, huddled in a corner, eyes transfixed on my former pawn savaging the lizard.

The fight didn't last very long after I arrived - Flame only needed a few hits to knock hte fight out of the overgrown iguana, followed by one last blow that finally brought it down. Sighing, my Commander turned to observe his kill...and finally noticed my presence.

"...Oh, it's you."

"Yeah. Look's like I showed up a little too late to help."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Viv. This was the result of a screw-up, no reason to feel bad."

"Thank you. So, where are we?"

"The world of Monster Hunter."

"...That was a great jagras, wans't it?"

"Yep."

"...Did you use the kinship stone I gave you?"

"Yeah. Did you intend for this to happen?"

"Nope. I just thought it looked cool."

"Well, it seems it found a use for me."

"Indeed. So, what now?"

"Rest the night, then try to reach Astera in the morning."

"..Works for me."

XXXXXXXX

...Middle of the Wildspire Waste...

"Hey, partner, we got something new from the Commission."

Laying the last cactus into the box, the Sapphire Star sighed. "What is it?"

"Let's see: There was a meteor shower in the Ancient Forest, and they want us to investigate."

"...Why didn't they send ateams who were closer?"

"Apparently they were busy forcing away a tempered Pukei-Pukei, Tobi-Kadachi, and a displaced Kushala Daora. There were also reports of a Tempered Great jagras, Anjanath, and Rathalos in the area, but they already appear to have moved on."

"Interesting. So, what are we looking for?"

"Anything, I guess. We cn wait til tomorrow, if you'd like."

"Tomorrow sounds nice."

"Okay, then."

"Good night, pawtner!"

"Good night."

XXXXXXXXX

The probe rolled to the side as the battle raged on. THe tide had taken a turn for the worse - during its arrival, some of its production mechanisms had been damaged, leaving it unable to create factories and units as hastily as needed. True, it was more than a match for a Scarab - even a Horus was only a minor challenge for the machine, but ultimately, numbers were a problem here. Best to retreat for now and save those it could then waste resources in a pointless battle.

Regrettably, it lacked production equipment to build more than a basic settlement. Still, that was enough. With stasis technology, that could certainly keep anyone it rescued alive long enough to see victory!

XXXXXXX

AN: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy and give me some feedback!

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!