"...How'd you get a kinship stone?"

I stared blankly at the Sapphire Star's handler for a moment. "...How do you know about those?"

"The Guild picks the absolute best to send to the New World. We have a couple of riders with us."

"...Seriously?"

"Yes...but they really don't like to work with everyone else. I think they're worried that the rest of the Commission will try to turn their...monsties...into weapons or armor."

"Really?"

"Well, someone did try that once. I think he got eaten by a Great Jagras."

...Was I stuck in a parody version of the Monster Hunter universe?

No, you aren't. Trust me, weird things happen here.

I was expecting Celm to reply to my thoughts, but he did. Not that said reply filled me with confidence.

"Where are the Riders?"

"Most of them operate in the Elder's Recesses. I think they were trying to track down a Fatalis."

"..Okay, just one last question."

"Ask away."

"...Why are you not surprised at all that I said I fell out of the sky, yet have a kinship stone."

"We've hunted things that make that a lot less unbelievable then you'd expect."

I thought on that for a moment, then shrugged. Might as well go with the flow. "Okay, I'm out of questions. NOw could we go back to...wherever you are based."

"That would be Astera, and okay. NOW LET'S GO!"

With that, said handler jolted back toward Astera. I turned to look at her hunter for a moment, giving him a quizzical look.

He merely shrugged. "She has her quirks, but once you get to know her, she's really nice."

For a moment, my gaze turned to Vivienne, who was now be licked over by my monsties, much to her embarrassment. "...I can relate."

Yes, Viv, you are quirky. Don't argue.

Hey, I like being quirky!

XXXXXX

After managing to get a team of Felynes to carry off the tranqed Nargacuga (and not get mauled by my monsties, who thought they were chew toys), we managed to make our way back to Astera. Part of me felt bad at feigning gnorance as to what the Commission's base was named, but how would I explain that? Some secrets should best remain secrets, at least for now.

When we arrived, I was surprised by the amount of stares we got...or should I say lack of stares. Aside from a few confused glances, nobody really seemed to mind the fact that A. I wore strange clothes, as did Viv, B. we had really odd looking weapons, and C. we were being followed by a horde of baby monsters. What was with these people? Shouldn't they be more worried?

"...Expecting more stares?" asked the Sapphire Star's Handler. I simply nodded in response. "Well, there's been a lot of activity from Kulu-ya-ku lately, and they feed primarily on Monster Eggs. The commission has had to return so many eggs to their nests that every so often, we have to deal with a hatchling that won't go home. It looks like you just had the...odd...luck to stumble upon a whole clutch ready to hatch."

"I see...I apologize, but may I ask your name?"

That caught her off guard. "I didn't introduce myself?"

"No, you did not."

"Well, um, I'm sorry about that. I'm Zoe. You?"

Uh oh. I hadn't thought about that. I couldn't really use an alias, and Flame would just sound weird. Hastily, I tried to come up with something, only to turn up blank.

"I think you might want to wait on that," remarked Viv. "HE hit his head on the way down and, well, forgot a few things. I'd tell you his name, but I do believe he'd get rather angry at me for that. As for my me, I'm Vivienne."

Thank you for the save, Viv.

You're welcome. Now, I suggest that you think up a name, and fast.

Any advice?

You run an Egopolis in fact, if not name. Perhaps you should name yourself after your federation?

Oddly, that sounded like a good idea. I was willing to bear the narcissism comments that would inevitably ensue if I did that - it could throw people off about my competence.

As I pondered what would be the best name to use, I saw a wingdrake carry one hunter off to the Ancient Forest, whilst a trio helped move the Nargacuga into the holding pen. Some disntace away from said pen, a Pukei-pukei had just had a tag attached to it, and was now flying back into the forest. Others looked at supplies at the main hub, whilst a quartet was busy trying to put fertilizer on the Ancient Tree and all of the plants surrounding it. How amusing.

Eventually, we reached the designated meeting gathering hub for Astera - the one fore the story, not the one for multiplayer stuff. There, the Commander and his grandson were talking about something, before noticing our arrival. Both smiled, clearly happy to see their best hunter and hanlder duo return in triumph.

"Welcome back!" exclaimed the Field team Leader. "You guys find anything?"

"Yes, though what we found raises more questions than it answered," was Zoe's response. She then turned and gave us a rather pointed look.

"..Something wrong with those two?" asked the Field Team Leader, whilst his grandfather seemed rather confused (and somewhat angry) that Zoe was giving us a weird look.

"Well, it seems monsters aren't the only things that fall out of the sky."

It took the two of them a moment to figure out what she meant, but after that, their expressions turned to ones of admittedly muted shock as they stared, somewhat unbelieving, at me and Viv.

"...How'd you end up here?"

I took a breath before explaining. "It involved messing around with the technology of an ancient civilization and things going horribly wrong."

Considering that the native Ancient Civilization to this universe was the reason Elder Dragons hated everyone, and had created a flesh golem out of the corpses of several hundred monsters, I was pretty sure they would believe what I had said. Which they did. Much meaningless chatter followed, mostly me giving them a somewhat truthful account of what had drawn me here and asking them what was going on in the New World.

"...And that's why we sent our Sapphire Star to examine where the meteor shower had happened, which ended up leading us to you two," finished the field team leader.

"I see. That's a lot to take in."

"I could say the same about your story. Though I do have one question."

"Go ahead."

"What did you say your name was again?"

At that, Zoe shot up. "Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you: he injured his head when he landed and-"

"-forgot my name, amongst other things. It's all come back though..well, most of it. To answer your question, my name is Infernis. People always di say I had a fire in me since the day I waI was born."

That last bit was a lie, but hey, I needed to say something to make my name sound less cheesy.

"Oh. Interesting. Mine's Preston. As for my grandfather-"

"My name is Alexander. I apologize for not introducing myself to you earlier."

"It's fine. And thank you for explaining things to me."

"Of course. So, what do you intend to do now?"

"I'd like to go back home, but first, I want to pay you back for helping me out earlier."

"How so?"

"...You short on field researchers...or hunters? If you need someone to fix up parts of Astera, I'm fine with that, but I'd like to see the New World with my own eyes."

"...that could be arranged, but it won't exactly be a quick process. There are tests that need to be done to see if sending you out into the open is reasonable. And, fo course, there will be paperwork to fill out."

"I can handle that."

"I didn't think you would be. Your story paints the picture of a person who isn't easily caught off guard. Still, here is one other issue that needs to be addressed."

"I'm listening."

"Your sword is on the small end for a greatsword. I'd suggest you look into getting something bigger. You've already taken down a Great Jagras and its pack, so we can use those for materials. If you do find a weapon or two to your liking, I'll pay for it, but anything else will be on you."

"...Thank you."

"It's nothing."

With all that said and done, the Commander excused us.

That was awfully easy.

The recent events around Astera have forced his hands. He's just sent a request for more help to deal with all the creatures that have come out of the woodwork after Xeno'jiiva died, but it'll be a while before he gets a response. Even if it is only one hunter, he'll take all the help he can get.

Thanks, Viv.

Calming myself, I turned toward the Sapphire Star. "Could you lead me to whoever is in charge of the forges here?"

"Of course."

"Your help is appreciated...by the way, what's your name?"

"..Theseus."

"Nice name."

And a fitting one, even if he ultimately had a far happier ending than his namesake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Sorry if the names and dialogue sound off. Dialogue isn't my thing and I made the names up on the spot.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!