After the events of last night, my next attempt at waking up was surprisingly less eventful. No unexpected monster attacks, no earthquakes, no portals spewing up monsters from another world (apparently, as I found out later, I was just in the wrong location for that to happen), just me calmly awakening to see my monsties still in a cuddle pile. Nearby, Viv was shaking the cobwebs out her eyes, before calmly stretching out her tail to grab her regular clothes, all so she didn't have to leave her sleeping bag.

Once both of us had awakened and stretched out (as well as done all our morning rituals aside from bathing, mostly because A. neither of us were comfortable bathing when we weren't the only ones who would be watching each other, and B. there wasn't any big enough body of water to bathe in that wasn't either salt or filled with angry Gajau, and getting eaten by catfish while trying to clean yourself was annoying), we started waking up the monsties. It was funny seeing mortal enemies using each other as pillows, especially in some cases. I mean, who would have thought a Vaal Hazak would be so willing to let a baby Odogaron use it as a bed? Of course, the adorableness of this outweighed the comedy.

As the baby monsters went back to being both adorable and migraine inducing, I began looking at my other newfound companions. I had spent some of the time before sundown the previous night catching all of the nearby endemic wildlife I could, and now had a horde of Pteryx, hercudromes, birds, and bugs crawling around. Hopefully Biz would like to study them, non-invasively, of course. First, though, I needed to find civilization again.

Speaking of which, as we finished up breakfast, my acute senses alerted me to the approach of two humanoids, one significantly heavier than the other. Noticing my sudden change in demeanor (I think I froze up upon hearing the footfalls), Viv set down the adorable baby Legiana she was petting the hell out of and pulled out a bow.

"What is it?"

"Two people ambling toward the cave. Don't think they're hostile."

"Any ideas who they are?"

"Given that one appears to be female from her voice, she's the lighter of the two, and she just won't. Shut. UP!... I think that they're the Sapphire Star and their handler."

"...Is the sapphire star that pudgy?"

"No, but they are carrying a really big weapon."

"...Good point. You think they're looking for us?"

"I doubt it. They probably just came in to see what happened when I arrived here. It did involve a meteor shower, after all."

"Right. Well, let's get ready to greet them."

XXXXXXXX

"So, partner, think we'll see a new monster when we find the meteor?"

The sapphire star sighed. Truly, his handler was a nice girls, but at times, she asked to many questions.

She was also too impulsive for her own good, if their first encounter with a Deviljho was any indication. How she managed to get into so much danger the instant she left the eyes of someone more responsible eluded him.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Behemoth may have come from a meteor, as did Xeno'Jiiva, but those were far larger than the ones were looking for."

"Good point...ooh, what if we find fruit in the meteors?! I wonder what they'll taste like?!"

...What was with this girl and eating?

Any comments that would have followed were brought to a halt by the sound of a branch snapping. Instantly, the hunter was on alert, hand on his blade, ready to strike. As for his handler, she had decided to take shelter behind the most well defended object in the area - him.

"...See anything?" the fiver asked.

"Not yet...wait, there's some footprints up ahead. Maybe they'll lead us to our target?"

"Maybe. Can you look them over?"

"Of course, partner. Just keep me protected!"

"Me and my meowster hunter will make sure you stay safe!"

Smiling, the girl approached the tracks and began examining them. "Now, let's see...small, three pointed feet, looks like a juvenile rath, though I can't get more details there...wait, why are their Anjanath tracks here...where'd the baby Lagiacrus come from?"

"...Something wrong?"

"Well, these tracks belong to baby monsters...but I'm finding at least three different sets of tracks, all side by side, belonging to monsters who I know will kill each other...just what happened here?"

"You're guess is as good as mine," replied a new voice.

With a yelp, the Sapphire Star's handler retreated behind him, whilst said fiver turned to examine the source of the voice.

There, standing at the entrance to a nearby cave, was a man, only a few years into adulthood. Not to far away, a lady was resting, eyes fixed on them. Both were armed - the girl with a bow of sorts and the boy with a gold and white great sword, albeit one smaller than even the most common ones the guild provided.

"..Hello," offered the man. "Sorry if I spooked you."

"I see. Apology accepted."

"Thanks. So, what brings you here?"

"A rather large meteor shower. What about you?"

Instantly, the man's expression turned to one of uncertainty. "...It's complicated."

"Did you fall out of one of the meteors?"

The pride of the Fifth Fleet turned to glare at his handler. Seriously? That was just-

"..Actually, yes."

"Wha-really?"

"Yes," replied the girl. "...How'd you know?"

"We've had to deal with stuff that strange for a while now. You get used to it," replied his handler. "So, what are you-"

A sudden growl halted the conversation, as the quintet's attention was turned toward a nearby set of leaves...where two red eyes were staring at them. As y began to move around, the eyes seemed to leave a hazy trail in their wake.

"...Oh dear," was all the Sapphire Star had time to say before the Nargacuga leapt into battle.

XXXXXXX

Rolling out of the way, I watched as the Nargacuga leapt toward the hunter and handler. Given said handler's appearance, I was inclined to assume that they were the heroes of Monster Hunter: World...should I call him the sapphire star? Eh, probably not - that might raise too many questions.

While I was pondering, the sapphire star unfurled his weapon, a Tobi-Kadachi charge blade, and managed to block the pseudo-wyvern's first blow, before returning the favor with a slash of the sword. After a few strikes, the blade started to glow, to which the Sapphire Star responded by loading the phials and morphing the blade into axe mode. The cat like predator bristled when it saw this and moved to charge, only to take a scatternut to the face, leaving it too disoritented to block or evade the axe's first swing. As the electric explosion followed, the wyvern hissed in pain, whilst the star's handler retreated, a couple of scatternuts in hand.

Huh, maybe she wasn't a total load in combat.

Then the wyvern recovered from the attack. The minute it did, its eyes focused on me and Viv.

….Oh snap.

Howling, the cat-creature jumped toward us. I rolled out of the way, then swung the Paracesis at it - rather small for a hunter's great sword, but better than nothing. Vivienne, meanwhile, opened fire with her bow, though she also took a moment to hurl a boulder at it, which the wyvern merely parried with its tail. Groaning, Viv responded by shoulder charging the beast, elicting a surprised yelp from the predator and a crunching noise from one of its arms.

Look's like she'd broken its wing.

Of course, that just enraged the monster, which responded to her charge with a tail swipe. Vivienne flew through the air and impacted against a nearby tree. She was back up in minutes, but her breathing was labored, and I could see a cut on the side of her head starting to poor blood. My other forms of vision, plus some quick scanning, confirmed she was mostly unharmed, but one of her ribs had been cracked.

The cat-like predator seemed to realize it had scored a victory, and howled in delight.

A moment later, a pile of foliage poured out from above us, unceremoniously landing on top of the wyvern. As the creature tried to free itself, I turned toward our newfound companions, where I found the Sapphire Star had just finished sharpening his blade, whilst his Palico was aiming a...rocket(?)...at the wyvern. A moment later, the attack connected, causing the beast to slide back a few meters.

It was at that point I noticed the creature seemed to be slightly tinged purple.

...Wait. Was this a tempered monster?

…..Maybe it was. In that case, we...really needed to leave.

…..Okay, then. The bigger and meaner they are, the harder they fall.

As the beast finally came to a halt, I charged at it, blade at the ready. Then, when it lunged, I leapt, before swinging down onto its head. Without missing a beat, I began hacking at it with a knife, taking care to avoid its bucks and charges. Fun fact: mounting a monster was even more exhausting than the game made it look. Fortunately, I had the stamina to hold on. When the beast at last tired, I pulled out the Paracesis and brought the blade down on the wyvern's head again.

As the beast fell, the Sapphrie star, his palico, and Viv joined me in whaling on it, hacking, slashing, stabbing and shooting until the monster recovered. Unfortunately for us, the cat-like predator's first move after it regained its footing was to use a tail swipe to knock all of us over. Sensing an opening, it pounced toward me.

What happened next was really surprising.

Just as the monster was about to hit me, a strange looking mass slammed into it, sending it careening over a nearby root. For a moment, I was transfixed upon the sight of the mass attacking the pseudo-wyvern, but then my attention returned to my companions. Whilst the Sapphire Star's Palico was busy checking him for injuries, I rushed over to Viv and helped her to her feat. Even without her ROB powers, and taking into account her earlier wounds, that girl was not easily worn down - the only major injury she had was the rib the Swift Wyvern had broken with its first tail swipe. All she had from the more recent one was a bunch of bruises, just like me.

"But which of us will heel off the bruises first, I wonder?"

Viv, I'm tired. Please don't read my mind. This doesn't count.

"Fine. Now, what saved up from that leap?"

Turning my attention back toward the Swift Wyvern, I was met with a massive surprise: assaulting the flier were the creatures that had hatched form the eggs I had acquired the day before. As in, all of them. And they were winning. Big time. Oh sure, the Swift Wyvern was putting up a fight, but when you were under attack by a bunch of creatures that you couldn't easily dislodge, and several of them were using fire and lightning attacks, then the fight really couldn't be considered fair.

Eventually, though, the beast managed to shake them off, but instead of going in for the kill, it collapsed, panting. It seemed exhuasiton had taken its toll.

Part of me wanted to strike the beast down, but another part of me felt that would be wrong. Still, how could I take it alive? I mena, I had no way to trap it, and while our saviors apparently did have a way to trap it, he'd apparently forgotten to pack tranquilizers-

A sudden sense of something flying toward me caused me to hold out my left arm, at which point I found myself gripping...one of Biz's tranq rifles?

Okay, when had that shown up. And yes, Ms. Veravenora, that was directed at you.

"Rory sent it last night, thought you might need it...and please don't call me Veravenora."

Well, good of him. Quietly, I started loading the rifle.

"Are you okay?" asked another female voice. It seemed the Fiver's handler had found a way to us.

"We're fine."

"Good, now let's get go-what are you holding?"

"It's a special gun only meant to fire tranquilizers. I want to use it on our furry friend."

"Why? I mean, I'm all for capturing it, but why do you want it alive?"

"It fought hard. Might as well honor that."

"...Okay. Hey, partner, our new friend might have a way to capture the Nargacuga."

The Sapphire Star merely nodded at this and began setting up a shock trap. Part of me was confused as to why he just accepted this as fact, but part of me also knew now was the time not to ask questions. Thus, all I did was take aim at the retreating form of the Nargacuga. My monsties were slowly retreating back to us, much to the confusion of the handler and the Fiver's Palico.

As soon as the trap was finished, the Fiver threw a piercing pod at the Swift Wyvern. Enraged, the creature made one last leap, only to land in the trap and get shocked. With deft hands, I opened fire on the beast, with a dart flying into its head. Another soon followed. On the impact of the third dart, the wyvern finally lost consciousness.

At that moment, I collapsed, exhausted. A moment later, I heard the Sapphire Star let out a relived sigh. "Nice work."

"Thanks.."

A wet sensation all over alerted me to the return of my monsties, who were trying to lick my wounds. The Fiver, his handler, and his Felyne all stared on at this in shocked silence.

"...I can explain."

XXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!