Here it is! The chapter you all were looking towards! This one fought me for a while when I wrote it, but I'm now truly happy of it, and I hope that will be the same for all of you. Have a nice read!
Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Valen yawned and stretched, noticing his leg felt better than before. He figured that it wouldn't be much longer before it was fully healed and he was able to exercise the leg back up to strength. He finished stretching, then glanced to the side, checking on the status of the dragon, and confirmed it was still asleep. He debated mentally with himself for a moment before concluding. 'I'll wait for it to be awake; it feels too risky to intrude on it while it's still asleep.'
His course of action was decided, he closed his eyes and meditated, the steady breathing calming his nerves. The cool morning air caressed his exposed skin, the red burn scar still aching but not as violently as the first day. Valen knew it would eventually heal, but it still felt strange for him to have such a huge part of his skin be as damaged as it was.
Hearing shifting near him, he opened an eye and confirmed that the Valstrax was now awake and in the process of standing up. Finishing his exhalation, he prepared himself to jump into the unknown
Hearing the Valstrax stretching, Valen took a long breath and then opened his eyes, he looked intensely at the elder, finishing its stretch and yawning. He tentatively raised his hand but stopped mid-motion, his nerves failing him, looking at his hand, it was indeed shaking slightly. 'I didn't make this decision only for me to turn back at the last moment!'. Steeling himself, and deciding it was now or never, he clenched his fist and exhaled deeply. Then he finally, finally raised it in front of himself and presented the open palm towards the Valstrax.
The Valstrax was now staring intently at him, tilting his head after a moment. This was a critical moment in his life, and it could go either way, either cast him into oblivion or be the start of a legend that would endure through history. And Valen had no idea how long it lasted, the stare-down feeling like an eternity, it felt like an instant and a lifetime simultaneously. He lost count of how many beats of his heart he felt, not even sure if it even continued to beat, or if it, like him, was simply waiting for this moment to end.
He was sure he was about to lose his nerves again when suddenly, the elder took a step. And another. When its motion started, Valen was suddenly feeling completely stiff, not daring to make any sudden motion, lest the Valstrax be spooked and lunge at him to punish him for the affront. However, none of this happened, he could see and feel his hand shaking, but even clenching it would feel like a fatal mistake for him. So he waited with bated breath as the elder approached, too tense to breathe. It was like all his senses were absorbing every bit of information, the exact patterns of its scales, the way it walked, all the scratches and faults in the rock behind it. The click of claws every time it took a step. The underlying odor of the cave was dominated by the smell of metal that the Valstrax strangely emanated. The breeze that was caressing every hair on his body, that was standing on end. Everything was something that he felt in this one moment suspended in time.
Finally, the dragon was just in front of him, it stared at him, not at his hand, but directly into his eyes. It felt like it was staring into his soul itself, analyzing, judging him. Valen involuntarily gulped, the tension in the air was so thick that anything that wasn't in the course of operations would snap it and everything would be over.
Suddenly, Valen blinked, and he wasn't sure what happened, as this moment was the singular one he somehow lost track of, he just knew something, that everything was right. And when he recovered his spirits, it took him a couple of moments to realize the Valstrax had put its beak into the palm of his hand.
Valen breath hitched, he could feel the hard shell of its beak, which was… Neither warm nor cool. This detail was the one that stuck out to him, not the smooth texture, not the fact that he was touching it, but the fact that it was the same heat as his own hand.
His mind was slow-going still, but the next thing that he felt was looking in the dragon's eyes and feeling an overwhelming sensation of acceptance. Like it had judged him and he passed with flying colors. In this instant where both had contact, there was but one thing that circulated between them: the overwhelming sense of understanding. As if they finally unlocked the key the pair were missing to comprehend the world.
"Th-thanks you. For saving me." It took a bit for Valen's mind to catch up to the fact that he had said this out loud, and it also brought up the fact that it had been so long since he talked that his voice croaked from misuse, but at least he wasn't coughing.
The Valstrax rumbled in response, the whirring noise sending powerful vibrations that were conveyed through his hand. Valen smiled, careful to not show teeth, he knew some animals took it as a sign of aggressiveness, and he didn't want to take any chances.
The hunter wasn't sure what to do next, not wanting to remove his hand from the contact. But suddenly, boldness overtook him and he started rubbing the spot, feeling the curves of the beak. The elder then shifted and Valen got scared he took it too far, but instead, it leaned into the touch, moving his hand more towards the back of his head, where the scales began. The texture of the scales was radically different from the beak, they were sleek, a bit rough on the edge but he could also sense the grooves that he supposed aided in the aerodynamics of the fastest known monster. This showed more than anything else that Valstrax were built for speed, it was present in every aspect of themselves.
He petted his host for a bit longer before it pulled its head back, observing the human intensely. Valen did not flinch before the stare, returning it. He was now assured that the dragon had no intent to harm him or the guild as a whole anymore, so he felt safer than he had ever been.
The stare-down lasted a while until an unspoken agreement was made between the two parties, and they broke it.
It took a while longer for the spell to break and the realization to finally solidify in Valen's mind. He had, not only been saved by an Elder, as ridiculous as it may seem, he, who all his life thought that they were all bloodthirsty monsters that were hell-bent on venting their aggressiveness on humanity, and only had the intelligence to know how to wield their powers effectively. But he had touched it. He had petted it. And it wasn't at the Elder's initiative, it was at his own. This fact above all was what stuck in him. Because now he had the suspicion that the Valstrax would have long ago initiated the contact… But it somehow realized that Valen would have shied away and not interpreted it the same way. Thus it waited for him to make the first move.
"I was so wrong about you… I was blinded by my prejudices."
It was only after he finished the sentence that Valen realized he said it out loud. His head looked towards his host but it had only tilted his head in confusion. 'Eh, I shouldn't be afraid of everything anymore, I don't think it's intelligent to the point of understanding my language. I wonder though...' Valen scratched his chin in thought thinking when a realization hit him.
'Have I… Only used 'it' to designate it this whole time? Scratch that, I've been using it for any monster, even when their gender has been established. It doesn't feel right for the Valstrax anymore, gonna peg him as a he unless I'm proven otherwise.' Now feeling better with his decision, Valen now looked towards the elder, – he was still looking at the hunter, but no longer with a confused look in his eyes. He was now looking at him curiously as if observing his guest in a new light.
Having a sudden idea, Valen pulled out his hunting notes and started flipping through the pages, skipping the most common monsters until he arrived at the apex section. Then he looked at the Rathalos' drawing that he glued to the page and showed it to the elder. He could immediately see his eye widening ever so slightly, most likely in recognition. And the Valstrax huffed and looked at him as if to dare imply a Rathalos was his match. Valen smiled and showed the next entry, being a Rathian, which caused the same reaction, a look daring Valen to imply that he would be bothered by such a creature.
The next monster shown however was a Brachydios, roaring, and the drawing he glued to his book was detailing the slime dripping from his forehead and arms, it was a very menacing monster for sure, and dangerous. It didn't stop the Elder from immediately turning to face Valen, the incredulity on his face clear. Valen chuckled, apparently if a monster isn't able to fly, it's not a threat at all for a Valstrax.
This went on for a while, all wyverns, beasts, or otherwise apex monsters being only dismissed by his host, land-bounds ones causing a bigger reaction. But then, Valen ran out of wyverns and turned the page to expose Teostra's drawing. The sharp intake of breath was unmistakable, and he could immediately see that the Valstrax was more wary. However he soon just tilted his head and huffed, even a Teostra wasn't enough to dull his confidence much it seemed.
Turning the page, Valen flinched hard when the Valstrax outright growled, he never heard him growl, and this sound was scaring a deep part inside him, it was a primal part of himself, that only manifested in the most dire of situations. Valen recovered his wits though, and focused back to the notebook, to see what was the monster that created such a reaction.
It was a Kushalah Daora, the steel Dragon, currently depicted preparing to expel a violent ball of concentrated air to his opponents. Valen was kind of surprised by this. But then, after thinking about it a bit more, he realized that the Valstrax was not a full-sized one, he was close but he figured it was still young for his species. So probably the elder encountered one when being younger and was bested. That was the explanation that made the most sense to him at least. So it wasn't surprising it had some animosity towards the species even though he should be able to best one easily nowadays.
He browsed through the book again, and there was no other elder that the Valstrax expressed outright animosity towards… With the exception of the Magalas. The Elder outright snarled at the dual picture, and it took a couple of minutes for Valen to calm his racing heart from the surprise. Though the Valstrax seemed abashed by this and offered his head in apology. This was yet another proof to Valen that his host did not have any ill intentions towards him, and that he cared somehow, somehow.
Thinking about it though, Valen could not fault the Elder for his reaction, the tales of the frenzy virus crisis have spread far and wide. If you were to believe them, it implied a single Magala, either the purple, blind, and juvenile form, Gore, or its adult, golden-scaled form, Shagaru, were able to cripple an entire ecosystem by themselves if left unchecked. The official reports are inaccessible unless you were a hunter cleared for Elder hunts. Something that Valen wasn't. But the drawing of both Magalas, with their secondary claws on their wings, despite having four legs, gave chills on Valen's neck.
He remembered the emergency lesson about them, a couple of months ago, once the threat was deemed over by the guild. That lesson was required to be attended by any hunter, no matter the rank. The lecturers insisted that any sighting must be reported immediately to the guild… Even during urgent quests, quests that most of the time meant the life or death of entire villages.
Valen shook his head to clear his mind and continued browsing through the notes, of which no other monster caused a vivid reaction… Besides the last one. That one reaction surprised Valen the most because it wasn't one he expected to see.
The Valstrax was fearful. It wasn't outright cowering, but Valen could clearly see that he was scared of this monster. Looking again at the page to confirm his suspicions, he confirmed it was indeed Amatsu who was sketched. However, thinking about it more, Valen had the suspicion that Amatsu was one of the few monsters, if not the only one, that could challenge a Valstrax in its own domain: The skies themselves.
As much as a Valstrax may be able to ignore nasty weather, even they have limits… Limits that Amatsu, the storm serpent, floating in the skies by their lonesome without any effort, their white membranes gracefully catching the wind; they are their nemesis, their fierce winds proving too much…
Having reached the last entry, Valen closed the notebook and offered his hand to the elder, that was staring at the drawing. He immediately looked at the human, seeming to hesitate for a moment, before rubbing the side of his head in it. These displays of trust still continued to amaze Valen, who not even a couple of days before, thought that the Valstrax was using him to glean information on his peers. But he truly could not deny that it was unlikely at this point. Scratching the elder under his chin, he was rewarded with a rumble that displayed his pleasure. Valen smiled, he did not regret throwing all caution to the wind, he would never have seen this sight otherwise, an Elder simply enjoying companionship.
After scratching him for a bit more, he sighed. Then a rumble reminded him that he had yet to eat and that a great deal of time elapsed while he showed his notebook to his host. He was about to remove his hand to allow the Valstrax to go hunting before he went deep into thought. 'He demonstrated quite a bit of intelligence before, and proved to be concerned about my welfare, what if…'
Unable to dismiss the crazy thought, he opened his notebook yet again, getting to the part concerning medicinal plants however before he found the page he was looking for, and flipped it around to show it to the Elder. A drawing of a rare medicinal plant was shown, but hunters didn't bother with the real name of the plant (a fact that researchers always complained about) and just generally referred to it as "Herb", however, any sightings of it were important, as it was the main ingredient to craft potions that saved countless hunters from tough spots, allowing them to recover from fresh injuries quickly.
Hunters must be careful about their consumption, as repeated uses may generate growths that most often spell the end of a hunting career. Too many famous hunters suffered from that fate to ignore the danger.
Valen knew he had to be careful for a while, having consumed a lot to recover from the injury of his leg, however, the danger is nullified if you simply used the herb to accelerate the recovery of a wound that would otherwise take weeks if not months.
The Valstrax studied the drawing for a moment before seeming to understand. Then, after he walked to the entrance of the cave, he took off. This left Valen alone in his bed, who used that time to get some exercise using his crutch.
The Elder returned sometime later, and Valen could clearly see it was carrying something in his beak and a Bullfango in his claws. It only took Valen a split second to confirm that indeed, the Valstrax brought back herbs. He dropped them on the foot of Valen's bed and then went on to consume his meal.
The hunter completed the walk back to his bed, and, after sitting down on it, examined the plants the Valstrax dropped and had no doubts that it was what he asked for… Looking at his host feasting, he deduced he had a bit of time before he would be able to cook his part, then grabbed a couple of flat rocks, one bigger than the other. Placing a portion of the herbs on the rock, he folded them in a small ball on the flat top of the bigger rock, then, adjusting his grip, started mashing the herbs, dull thuds resounding in the cavern.
He went at it until he reduced the herbs to a paste, noticing that the Valstrax was observing him between bites. He ignored him for now and stretched out his leg, checking on the bandage. Noticing it was due for a cleaning, he retrieved his cooking pot and squeezed the remaining water out of the sponge, filling it nicely, then he turned on the fire pot and placed the water-filled container above it.
While the water was heating up, he unraveled the bandages on his leg and threw them into the water, aiming to sanitize them in the boiling liquid. He then waited, his host was finishing his meal and was dragging the carcass to him.
Valen could cut out his piece in the meantime, but he decided to watch the water, wanting to do it properly. Though he looked at his leg in the meantime.
The wound was well underway in healing, but he clearly could see that he would have a big scar on it, though nothing looked terribly wrong. His hope was that he only got a slight limp out of it, and that he could put pressure on his leg in times of need. He sighed, he was lucky all things considered, having only lost an ear and gained a big scar on his calf out of the fight with Seregios. Other hunters would have lost whole limbs and thus, their hunting career.
Focusing back on the water, he confirmed it was boiling. He waited a couple dozen seconds just to be thorough, then he turned off the fire and fished the bandages with his stick, then spread them on a rag. He waited a bit for it to cool down, then picked up the rock which had the herb he squashed to a pulp, then he mashed the rock against his leg injury, gritting his teeth in pain. But he was thorough to spread it all around the wound until only a negligible amount was left on the flat rock.
He then quickly redressed his wound, so that the pulp didn't fall off that easily. This done, he laid his back on his bed, sighing in relief. The herb would cut his remaining recovery by a few days. Then once he was satisfied he could walk normally, he would be able to leave this cave…
The realization made him freeze. It didn't sink in until now, but he was reluctant to leave the Valstrax behind, he had grown fond of him… And it only took a few days. But he had never felt such a close companionship beside another being, it now somehow went deeper than the bond he had with his now late hunting companions, and he was ashamed to admit it. He was ashamed that he felt closer to an Elder, which is never spoken about without a hush of fear by civilians, than to any other human being. He felt like he has rescinded his oath by feeling this… But did he want to change anything, did he want to never meet the Valstrax again, once he was free to move by himself? No, he didn't.
'If anybody knew… I would be shunned. Then… I will make sure nobody knows, I'll keep this a secret to myself and the Valstrax. I better prepare a story to tell the guild to explain my absence then…'
And creating that story would occupy his entire afternoon. After he had fed himself. He dismissed explanations that were too full of holes or too close to reality, but he still made it as close as he could, his opinion being that if his story was close enough, he could narrate it more convincingly.
Late in the evening, when he could see the stars starting to shine on the horizon, Valen still had trouble believing what happened that day. It felt like it happened an eternity ago. But he still wished he could convey his desires better to his host, as it was now, it felt… Not enough.
'I wish I could just show him what I want… But I cannot only rely on pictures, I'd need a huge book that I'd need to carry everywhere, and besides I'm not fond of the idea we would just both have a pointing match on everything around us…' Valen sighed, then frowned. 'Wait, what if I just… It's crazy enough but it just might work. I hope I'm not overestimating his intelligence, he has amazed me so far, but is it good enough for this? I've nothing to lose anyways, I want to be able to convey suggestions to him.'
He mulled over his idea for a while more, then, suddenly feeling very tired, the day's emotions finally catching up to him, and he fell asleep immediately.