Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
BGM: At One With Nature - Rutoh Village (Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin)
"I feel like we need to prove this paranoid idiot wrong." Meryl said, her arms folded as she was sitting on Susan.
"But how?" Weiss wondered.
"I'm not sure, but we all know you had that Azure Rathalos when he was just a baby."
"I know… but now Adam has him…" Weiss looked away in sadness. "It was my own anger that I killed two of my monsters, and even Kora's got caught in the crossfire. Why do I have this feeling he's going to use him against-"
"Don't say that." Meryl put her hands on her shoulders. "We'll get him back. I know we will." She smiled. "Right now, we just gotta focus on proving this old geezer wrong."
"I wish I knew… what's it gonna take for him to get off his high horse? Find another Rathalos egg? Tame a Rathian? I'm not sure what to do…"
"We'll figure something out." Meryl said, pulling her into a hug. "Love you, sis."
"Love you too…" Weiss smiled, leaning her head into her shoulder.
At that moment, a powerful stench entered their noses as both Susan and Kiran both screeched in disgust. "Uuuugh, what the hell…?" Meryl wondered as she and Weiss made disgusted faces. "What's that disgusting smell?"
Nearby, Kora and her group arrived. "I can't believe you actually gutted a Tigrex." Alwin groaned.
"Hey, my friends are Riders, not hunters. How was I supposed to know?" Terra asked.
"He's not wrong… I haven't seen the process myself." Blake said, her eyes watering. "That said…!"
"If your friends are Riders, then they should have known you skin the monsters. We do not have a black market for monster guts in our village." Alwin said. "...At least, I hope we don't."
"Why would you want to sell guts anyway?" Kora wondered. "Are there people out there who wear 'em as necklaces?"
"Or they're probably sick and want to eat 'em." Navirou said.
Kora grimaced. "Noooo thank you, I'm good!" She said as they walked off.
Clearly, they've never heard of venison… Annette thought to herself.
"How'd it go?" Ven asked as he and Aqua approached Terra, only to be quickly repulsed by the smell. "Ugh!"
"What'd you do? Get eaten by a monster?" Aqua wondered.
"Get eaten? No. Had a hell of a fight with a Tigrex? Absolutely. Though… apparently, I didn't know you simply skin the beast and cut their limbs off and not… the other."
"You gutted it?" Ven asked.
"Yup. The blacksmith got on my case for it."
Aqua sighed. "That explained the smell earlier. Ruby got sick from that awful smell."
"Yeesh…"
"Terra, what are we gonna-"
"Don't give me that. You both would've done the same thing if you didn't know how everyone did it."
Aqua and Ven paused for a moment, then they looked at each other. "He's got us there." Ven said.
"Good point." Aqua nodded. "Sorry about that."
"Ah, don't sweat it." Terra waved it off. "Now uh… is there a way to shower all of this off? I feel like I could use one."
"I think I saw a waterfall nearby." Aqua said.
"Waterfall. Thanks." Terra walked off.
With the Elder…
"My word!" Maolo said in surprise. "You actually tamed a Tetsucabra?"
"Yup, I sure have." Sienna said. "I've called him Tetsu."
"I've named my Basarios "Basalt"." Mahiru said.
"Forgive me for sounding surprised, but taming a Tetsucabra is quite unheard of." Maolo explained. "You might as well be the first one to tame such a creature."
Sienna chuckled. "You should thank Blake, she was the one who suggested the idea."
"Me?" Blake blushed. "I mean, it was one of those "What if you could" ideas, ya know?"
"Your curiosity rewarded you." Maolo said. "Well done."
"Sooooooo, considering Kora helped out in defeating the Basarios, what's next? You think she has what it takes to do the Rite of Channeling?" Navirou asked.
"Hmmm, what do you say, Elder?" Zellard asked.
"Defeating a Basarios is no easy feat, since they have a lot of armor on their bodies. Very well, follow me to the stables. Bring all of your friends along."
Kora's eyes sparkled. "Oh, awesome~!" She grinned as they made their way to the stables.
Once (mostly) everyone was there…
"Is this everyone? We seem to be missing a few." Zellard said.
"Terra's taking a shower underneath a waterfall to get the stench off of him." Ven explained.
"That stench was enough to knock Ruby out for a while, so Rosalina and Yang are taking care of her." Mine said.
"Very well. I assume they will be told soon enough." Maolo said. "Now then, Kora. To use the Rite of Channeling, you will need two monsters. One for your monstie and the other as a sacrifice."
"...Now when you say sacrifice-" Kora looked concerned.
"Take my Aptonoth as a demonstration." Maolo said as Zellard brought the Aptonoth over, as it hobbled over and looked rather old. "My Aptonoth has served me well, but unfortunately, it's health has been failing the past few days as it has been getting on in years." He explained. "Now, raise your Kinship Stone up high."
"Okay…" Kora raised her arm up. "Now what?"
"Repeat after me: I, your name-"
"I, your name-... er… uh… I, Kora-"
"-Do take this Aptonoth's power-"
"-Do take this Aptonoth's power-"
"-And transfer it to, the name of your monstie-"
"-And transfer it to Duke-"
"-And may the power be served well."
"-And may the power be served well."
The Kinship stone lit up as an aura surrounded the Aptonoth and Great Jaggi, as energy came out of the Aptonoth and was moved directly into Duke.
Duke let out a hiss, feeling much powerful as he swiped at the air and smacked his tail into the ground, letting out a nod while the Aptonoth fell to the ground in death.
"What… what did I just do?!" Kora asked.
"Do not be sad. That Aptonoth was about to be dead at a moment's notice. Consider this a mercy killing." Maolo said. "Now, back then, both monsters would fare better, but as the Rite of Channeling got more complex over time, the monster giving up their power to the monstie also gave up their life energy and dies."
"What?!"
"You gotta be kitten me!" Navirou said in surprise.
"That's barbaric!" Mine exclaimed.
"What the fock, dude?!" Gloria yelled in disgust.
"Bro… just… bro." Zinnia folded her arms.
"Now now, I do not blame you all for getting upset over this ordeal. The Rite of Channeling is recommended for when a monstie is at death's door and can no longer fight. However, you can pass on the monstie's genes into your new monstie, and from a certain point of view, the old monstie's soul lives on inside your own. As such, the Aptonoth's spirit now resides inside your Great Jaggi." Maolo explained
"I… see…" Kora frowned.
"I understand that you're upset…" Alwin said. "But think of it as a mercy killing. Would you want the monster to suffer in its last moments or do you want to give it peace? Plus, you give your new monster their strength, so in a way, as the Elder had said. I think you can give them new abilities too."
"Indeed." Maolo nodded.
"Every Rider should be capable of using the Rite of Channeling. It is not easy given you bond with your monsters, and sacrificing them to have their life energy transferred over is something to consider." Zellard explained. "It may be worth it, but as I said, it's not easy as you would have to say goodbye to your Monstie that you had bonded with."
"I'm still not sure how to feel about that though…" Weiss said. "Granted, it's a mercy killing if they're really sick or they've been injured beyond repair, but…"
"I'm with you there…" Mahiru nodded.
"Now then, if you'll excuse me." Maolo walked off, but not before stroking his Aptonoth's head one last time before departing.
"Zellard!" A worried Wyverian approached him in a panic. "It's about the previous matter, sir… wh-what should I do?"
"Mmm… you again…" Zellard mumbled while everyone else slowly started to move away.
"I'm no coward, sir, really I'm not! I know I need to go search for it, but… but… I'll go if I have to go, but… I get so scared just thinking about it!"
"What's the problem?" Kora asked.
"My daughter lost a special stone in Alcala Cave a while back. She asked me to go and get it back for her… but there's a Yian Garuga in that cave! What am I supposed to do against a creature like that?"
"Is that really all that you're scared of?" Zellard asked.
"Well, no… It's also the idea of failing my daughter… How could I ever look her in the eye if I mess it up? If anything, that thought is even scarier!"
"We'll take care of it for ya!" Navirou said. "Right, bud?"
"Yeah!"
"I'd be careful." Alwin warned. "Yian Garuga are nasty creatures. Quite fierce too."
"Nothing we can't handle!" Kora grinned. "I'll go see if we can't rally a team up."
About a minute later…
"Alright, we're set!" Kora said, joined by Sheele, Seryu, Ilia, Hendrik, Tech and Captain Slime.
"Very well. I'll show you where Alcala Cave is at."
"Yeah, I think we need to get our mind off things after that… event." Sheele said.
"Poor thing…" Seryu mumbled as they took off.
Pause BGM
BGM: Cave (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
At that moment, Koro's nose twitched as he immediately sniffed the ground. "...Woof!"
"Did you pick up on something, boy?" Seryu asked as she closed her eyes and sniffed the air. "Oh yeah, I'm picking up on a scent too." She said, immediately following the trail along with her Palamute.
"O-oh! Wait up!" Ilia said as she ran after her.
"First Ruby and now Seryu…?" Alwin wondered. "Hmm, then again, those ears are a bit peculiar."
"Oh! Uh, that's easy. Her mother mated with a Palamute with human-like features." Sheele said. …That's the grossest and weirdest lie I've ever told!
"A human-like Palamute? Haven't heard of such a species. But I suppose they're quite rare since Blake and Sienna are human Felynes."
He seriously bought it?! The group, minus Kora and Navirou thought in surprise.
"We don't know much of the outside world aside from Rutoh. Hearing stuff such as this is quite fascinating." Alwin said as he walked off as the others followed, where they would see Seryu and Koro teaming up against some Wild Jaggi and a blue Yian Kut Ku.
"I'm curious. Why are Seryu's arms metal?" Kora wondered.
"A Rathalos tore off her right arm." Sheele explained.
Alwin's eyes widened, picturing the grisly sight. "The whole arm? She's lucky to be alive! …How about the other arm?"
"The other arm-" Sheele paused, not sure how to say "I accidentally cut my girlfriend's arm off while we were fighting when she was mentally unstable at the time".
"She accidentally wandered into a Magnamalo's territory and it cut off her other arm as she was getting away." Ilia jumped in.
"A Rathalos AND a Magnamalo?" Alwin grimaced. "Talk about bad luck…" He rubbed his chin in thought while Sheele quietly mouthed "thank you" to Ilia, causing the latter to wink at her. "Something tells me she's had a spot of bad luck, but she was able to still live her life happily."
You don't know the half of it… Sheele thought.
"She's a trooper, that's for sure!" Navirou said as they continued on, helping out Seryu take care of the monsters as they pressed on… until they came across a Felyne in a dress with blonde hair and a basket.
"Oh, it's a Felyne." Seryu said.
"Ooooh meeeoooow~!" Navirou's eyes turned into hearts as he grabbed her paw, causing her to flinch. "What's your name, cutie? My name's Navirou, but you can call me-"
Chomp!
"YOWCH!" Navirou yelped as Koro pulled him away by the ear. "Ow ow ow! Watch the teeth, buddy! You're pulling too hard!"
"Mrow mow…" The Felyne sweatdropped as Kora chuckled, patting her on the head.
"You're definitely cute, that's for sure."
"Wait a moment." Captain Slime turned to Hendrik. "Hendrik, you took your medicine before we came here, right?"
"Yes… I took some before we left the village just in case."
"Good."
"Hmm?" Kora turned her head to see Alwin backing up. "What's gotten into you?"
"N-Nothing! I'm just… reminded of how your grandfadder acted the same way. He fended off a Teddsucabba and only received a scratch while prodedding the Felyne. That's all."
"You sound stuffed up. You okay?" Ilia asked.
"Peachy. Let's go." Alwin walked off.
"Hmm… interesting…" Tech mused as they all walked off.
"See you around!" Kora waved farewell to the Felyne.
The Felyne turned her head around and proceeded to wander around the cave with a hum, but then she felt something was watching her. She looked around and saw something approach her from the shadows.
Back with the others, Sheele pulled Seryu to the side. "Huh? What are you-"
"Ilia just saved my butt. She told Alwin that you lost your other arm when you accidentally wandered into a Magnamalo's territory." Sheele whispered.
"Really?" Seryu gave her a teasing smile. "So you're the Magnamalo who took my arm, huh~?"
Sheele blushed a bit, snickering a bit. "I didn't even think of it like that… darn it…"
Seryu giggled. "Relax, you know I'm well over it."
"I know, I was just letting you know so you wouldn't be caught off guard when it was brought up."
"You're sweet." Seryu smiled, giving her a quick peck on the lips as they caught up with the others where they reached a dead end.
"I feel like we're about to get ambushed…" Ilia said.
"You too? My whiskers are a bit tingly!" Navirou said.
End BGM
"Mrow! Mroooooow!"
BGM: Yian Garuga (Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate)
They turned to see the same Felyne from before running straight to them in a panic, with a Yian Garuga chasing after her.
"There it is!" Ilia said as the Felyne got behind everyone.
"We'll protect ya!" Felyne said. "Let's take it on!"
"Be wary of that tail! The poison is quite potent!" Alwin warned as the Yian Garuga lunged and swiped at them, but Sheele batted it away with her scissors and then slashed it gracefully as Ilia quickly lashed at it from the side.
The Yian Garuga turned to Ilia and breathed fire, but she rolled out of the way as both Alwin and Tech shot at it with their bows as Shaulk whipped his tail around and sent icicles flying toward it while Kora and Duke proceeded to jump in, the latter using his newfound power and body slamming into it with full force.
The Yian Garuga growled as it attempted to bat them away with its poisonous tail, but they jumped back as Captain Slime bounced forward and slashed at the beast where Seryu used her right arm as a cannon and proceeded to fire while her Palamute jumped in, blade in his mouth and slashed through.
The Yian Garuga flew up and breathed fire, forcing them to get out of the way as Ilia responded with unleashing ice magic into its mouth, freezing it solid as the Yian Garuga batted its head against the ground to shatter the ice and swung its tail at Ilia, but she backflipped away and responded with lashing at its face with her weapon.
Alwin aimed his bow, charging up an attack as Kora jumped in and slashed at the beast as Alwin fired, hitting the head full center as Kora jumped back with Hendrik running in and swinging his axe to knock the Yian Garuga back, but with a snarl, it chomped at him, striking his arm but thanks to his armor, it didn't do do much damage as Hendrik pulled away.
The Yian Garuga breathed fire once again, unaware of Sheele sneaking up behind it as she got into position. The Yian Garuga lunged and smacked Seryu with its tail, where she used her arms to block the attack. "Can't poison me~!" Seryu grinned, punching the Yian Garuga back as it let out a screech… only to let out a loud pained screech shortly after as Sheele cut through the tail with her scissors.
"I'm sorry…" She whispered as the Yian Garuga was in agonizing pain so much that it was stunned from it, which gave Hendrik the opportunity to use Hatchet Man, striking it hard enough to send it crashing to the ground.
"Alright, let's finish this, bud!" Seryu said as Koro agreed, lowering himself as Seryu got on him, then he took off, only to come back as he was running on the cave wall, gunblade in mouth as he rocketed through, then climbed up as fast as he can, before both launched off of the wall.
"We'll put you down!"
The blade lit up as Koro swung it down, cleanly cutting through the Yian Garuga as there was a powerful explosion as Koro let out a victorious howl with Seryu joining in for the hell of it.
End BGM
Goodness, just when I thought she couldn't get any cuter~! Sheele thought.
Alwin checked the unmoving Yian Garuga… and noticed that Seryu and Kora had managed to split the monster in half. That explains it… He thought.
"I guess that Yian Garuga wasn't as half the monster he used to be! Eh? Eh?" Navirou grinned as almost everyone rolled their eyes. "...Well, someone had to say it."
"I don't get it." Alwin scratched his head before he began extracting whatever was left of the monster.
"I'm so glad you're okay, cutie!" Navirou said to the Felyne, and then playfully put a paw print on her apron.
"Mrow?!"
"There! Now every Felyne will know that I've already marked my territory!"
"Achoo!"
They looked up to see Alwin walking away in a hurry after finishing what he did with the Yian Garuga.
"Are you okay?" Kora asked.
"I'm fine. Let's just keep going."
"Hmm…" Sheele rubbed her chin in thought.
"Oookay, anyway, see you later, cu-"
Chomp!
"OW OW OW OW!" Navirou yelled as Koro pulled him away. "Has anyone ever told you you have sharp canines? OW!"
"Oh, don't mind him. He's just being gentle." Seryu said.
"THIS IS BEING GENTLE?!"
"Hmmm…" Ilia looked at the Felyne, narrowing her eyes as she immediately brought out her scroll when Kora wasn't looking and snapped a picture, then put it away before the Felyne would notice. "Later, cutie!" She waved as she walked off, while Seryu turned her head to said Felyne.
Something about her… Seryu thought as she turned around and walked off.
Once everyone was gone, the Felyne sighed and shook her head. "These humans are more perceptive than they look. I need to be more careful going forward…" She glanced at the Yian Garuga. "I'm slipping too. I can't believe I was caught off guard by this thing…"
On the way back, Seryu spotted a golden den as she walked into it. "Seryu? Honey?" Sheele wondered as Seryu came back out with an egg.
"Thought I might give one to ya." Seryu winked.
"Aww!" Sheele giggled as Seryu kissed her on the cheek as they walked back to the village, and by the time they got back to the village, the egg started hatching.
"Goodness, these eggs hatch fast!" Seryu said as a small Yian Garuga emerged from the egg… who immediately nuzzled against Sheele.
"Oh! Oh goodness, you're a cutie!" Sheele smiled. "Wonder what we should name you…"
"It's all taken care of." Kora said to the worried Wyverian. "Now you can head off to find that stone your daughter dropped."
"Oh, thank you so much!" The Wyverian exclaimed as he ran off.
"Yeesh… father of the year…" Navriou mumbled as they walked up some stairs, and looked to see some folks beside themselves with worry.
"Zellard, what's going on here?" Alwin asked.
"There has been a monster sighted near the village. Thankfully, so far, there haven't been any major injuries, but some of the children who went into the forest still aren't back yet. We don't have enough Riders to go get them."
Not enough? Kora thought, immediately thinking of her new friends. Riiiight… not enough…
Alwin frowned. "It's easy to get lost in the Wendwood, even as an adult. I'll go and bring them back. Come, Kora. Let's rally up a party."
"I was just about to say that." Kora grinned.
One party gathering later…
"Alright, this should be good." She said, as Veronica, Meryl, Mercedes, and CRDL were ready to go with them.
"Now let's take down this beast." Cardin smirked as they took off to the Wendwood.
Once they got to the Wendwood, they all proceeded to look around to see if any kids were nearby, while also taking out any monster that got way too curiously aggressive. They found the first kid crying against a rock wall.
"Hey…" Mercedes gently approached the child, kneeling down. "It's going to be okay." She said.
"Oh. Thank you for finding me! I know one of my friends was at the big tree earlier…"
"Big tree? That narrows it down… kinda… okay, not really." Navirou said.
"Actually, it does." Alwin said. "Shaulk, can you take this child back to the village?"
With a nod, the Legiana picked the kid up and then flew away while everyone else followed Alwin until they reached the tree in question, which had another kid in a fetal position.
"Hey kid, you all right?" Cardin asked.
"I got lost… thank you…" The child smiled. "I've seen one of my friends head over to the pond nearby."
"Then we'll go get 'em for ya." Sky said as Shaulk arrived, picking up the child and then flew off as they went over to the pond… but as they did, they heard a roar and a child screaming. They quickly picked up the pace and arrived at the pond… where they saw three Felynes in front of the scared child trying to fend off a Duramboros.
BGM: Duramboros Theme (Monster Hunter Portable 3rd)
"A Duramboros?!" Russel said in surprise.
Alwin growled, quickly stepping in and firing an arrow at the Duramboros to get its attention. "You three get the child out of here! We'll deal with this!"
"Right!" One of the Felynes nodded as they quickly escaped with the child in question as the group got into position. The Duramboros growled as it put its head down and started charging forward as everyone avoided the attack as Meryl quickly jumped in soon after and swung her halberd into the beast from the side. The Duramboros seemed to have ignored her and attempted to headbutt Veronica who put up a Kacrackle shield to block him from advancing, then she unleashed a Kaboomle.
The Duramboros roared as the Kaboomle had ignited it. He then roared and spun its tail around before launching itself at the group, where Kora was unfortunately on the receiving end of it. "OOOOF!" She grunted as she was knocked on her butt. "I'm okay…!"
"Are you kitten me?! How can a gigantic monster this size swing himself around like that?!" Navirou asked.
"You'd be surprised!" Cardin said as he and Dove both swung at the Duramboros as Veronica threw in a Kasizzle, igniting the Duramboros as it roared and flung itself into the pond to douse itself out, then it swung itself toward Cardin, as he narrowly avoided the gigantic monster. "Sheesh… talk about an active big guy!" He said.
Meryl switched her Halberd into its Gun lance, changing it up and then shooting out pink fireballs as Mercedes threw out a Seraphim before using a Heal spell on Kora and Cardin where Alwin fired arrows at the beast's head. The Duramboros proceeded to shove its head into the ground and plowed over to Alwin, forcing him to get out of the way, but the Duramboros turned his head and struck him with its horn.
"Agh!" Alwin grunted as he was knocked back as Shaulk corkscrewed into the Duramboros and hit with icicles, and then Meryl unleashed several blue fireballs at it. The Duramboros turned to Meryl, swinging its tail and flinging itself toward her, but she threw a pink fireball down, launching herself up with the explosion to avoid the boulder-like talk, then Meryl came crashing down, wrapping her weapon in pink flames and swung it down, creating a massive explosion that stunned the Duramboros.
"I've never seen pink fire before, but that was clawdacious, Meryl!" Navirou praised as Meryl backflipped off of it, then shooting orange fire at it to catch it ablaze once more before gracefully landing right as Mercedes used Abraxas, then Kora and Duke proceeded to lunge forward together and slashed at the Duramboros's underbelly with Dove and Sky pitching in to help.
"Alright, Rocksteady! Knock that thing out with Hammer Arm!" Cardin ordered, calling out his Pokemon.
"Perioooooor!" Rocksteady cried as the Rhyperior jumped in and used Hammer Arm on the boulder-like tail, smash it to bits as the Duramboros roared in agony as both Kora and Duke both slashed at the underbelly again, with Meryl finishing it off by launching yellow flames as yellow bolts came crashing down on the Duramboros, cooking it from the inside while destroying some of the rock armor and igniting it, before it finally fell limp.
End BGM
"How can a creature that size… fit inside such a tiny ball?" Alwin wondered. "...You know what, best not to think of it."
He approached the Duramboros, proceeding to strip it down as Kora would help him. "Ya know something… your grandfather was special."
"How so?"
"A long time ago, in this part of the forest, we were attacked by an Arzuros. However, he calmed it down and realized it was only agitated because the Arzuros felt we were going to attack its cub."
"A mama Arzuros…"
"Yup. The Arzuros went away with her cub, and then he told me that he can hear what the monsters are saying." Alwin said.
"He can understand them?!"
"Yes."
Kora groaned. "Oh great… I've got a lot to live up to…"
"I wouldn't be too worried. Everyone advances at their own pace. I'm sure you'll be as great as your grandfather."
"Aheheh… here's hoping." She said before smiling. "Thanks, Alwin."
Alwin smiled, finishing taking what was needed. "You're welcome. Now let's head back and report that the children are safe."
Meanwhile, with Pyrrha…
BGM: Missing You (Kingdom Hearts II)
Pyrrha sat near the edge of the cliff, overlooking the area of Yoshi Falls. She watched some Yoshis wander around without a care in the world. It actually brought a smile to her face as she reached over to her bottle of alcohol and opened it up, taking a swig of it.
Her eyes widened and immediately spat it out, coughing. "What…?" She wondered as she took a hard look at the bottle.
"Sledgey - The best Hard Root Beer in the Mushroom Kingdom!"
"Hard…" Pyrrha frowned, closing her eyes with a groan.
"Pyrrha? This is a surprise!" A Koopa bartender said in a flashback.
"I know this particular bar allows minors in."
"That's true… we're a kid friendly one. Kids eat for free and they get some so-"
"Wouldn't this be a pub then?"
"Uuuuh… what's the difference?"
"Never mind. I want a drink to get my mind off things."
"While I can't sell you alcohol… I can sell you soda. What would you like? Chuckola Cola, Root Beer, Orangekist, Double-Up, Squirtle-"
"Root Beer sounds good."
"Coming right up!"
The bartender turned around as he spotted a half turned bottle that only had "Root Beer" visible. "Ah, here we go." He grabbed said bottle. "Would you like it now?"
"You got a bag?"
He put it in a bag. "Here you are, miss!"
"Thank you…"
When the flashback ended, Pyrrha groaned as she put the hard liquor in the bag. "Never mind…" She mumbled.
"Thinkin' about cliff divin'?" A voice asked.
"Wah!" Pyrrha yelped as she turned her head to see Dedede approaching. He had just parked his Wheelie nearby.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I thought you'd heard me." Dedede lightly chuckled.
"Hello Dedede… what brings you here?"
"Ah, I've heard from yer friends that yer feelin' a bit down and thought I'd be the best guy to talk to, since I know what yer goin' through."
"Oh… okay."
Dedede sat down next to her. "So, like I was askin'. Thinking about cliff jumpin'?"
"I've thought about it. Might clear my head…"
Dedede looked down. "Divin' into those rock spires?"
"What?" Pyrrha looked down. Her eyes widened. "Oh good heavens, I didn't even see those!" She said, quickly scooting away from said rock spires until she was clear.
"That's better." Dedede chuckled. "Now uh, I hate to bring up a touchy subject, but given what you've been through… were you, ya know… thinkin' about endin' it all?"
"Honestly, it never even crossed my mind. If I took my own life, I'd bring shame to those whose lives were lost in Argus. I tend to come to Yoshi Falls to clear my head…"
"Aaaah, okay. It sounded like you were… going to do that."
"No. I don't have it in me… but… what am I supposed to do? My whole sense of identity was stripped away, and I was forced to endure horrifying things… I've sent Kyoko to her death, I've destroyed my home town, I…" She closed her eyes. "I almost killed Jaune… I don't know what to do anymore… I can't run away from this hellhole. That's why I sealed away my weapons… because if I don't hold them, I can't… hurt anyone."
Her hand caught ablaze. "If only I can say the same with the Fire Brand… and my polarity? Well, thanks to that two week transformation, I can have a magnetic shield around me about a meter wide."
She extinguished her hand. "I don't know what to do… but I want to find a way out that doesn't involve taking my life."
She closed her eyes. "Actually… before I left town, I ran into Yasuke…"
Flashback!
"Hey, you're Nikos, right?" A voice asked as Pyrrha looked up to see Yasuke approaching her.
"That… would be me."
"I've heard what happened. Junko explained to me what went down at that weird Death Egg and told me about you. It didn't take long for me to figure out that you've been possessed and you weren't yourself when you blew up Argus."
"Wow… you figured all of that out, huh…"
"I could help you. I've been working on a new technique for a while."
Pyrrha looked up. "You have?"
"Indeed. It's a work in progress, but it should be done relatively soon. With this technique, you can actually say goodbye to all the pain you've had. You'll be back to your regular self."
"I… see…" Pyrrha said quietly. "I'll… think about it…"
"Take all the time you need." He said as they both walked off.
End Flashback
"Sounds temptin'."
"I know… and I've been seriously considering it, but… something in the back of my mind doesn't want it."
"Fair, considerin' ya don't know the side effects."
"Yeah…"
"Mind if I say somethin'?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"I know exactly where yer comin' from. I wasn't sure what to do either because I've been possessed quite a few times. We've had a problem with a devil known as Zero, and believe me, I always seemed to get possessed by that bonehead. Heck, my whole belly was his mouth once upon a time if you can believe it!"
Pyrrha paled at the thought of it. "Oh my…"
"Yeah, I wasn't myself after Kirby knocked some sense into Zero. But, every day, that lil' puffball always came by to see how I was doin'. I didn't want to admit it to him, but I slowly enjoyed that little doofus's company. It made me… well… it made me want to become a better person as a result. Sure, we clobber each other but nowadays it's a friendly rivalry… heh."
Dedede leaned back. "Every time I'm about to get possessed, I know in the back of my mind that that lil' puffball will come-a clobberin' my head to get me to my senses. Of course, my pride gets in the way after he saves me, but I'm actually grateful. Heh… funny, you'd think I'd develop some sort of immunity to it by this point. Darn Fecto found a way to get my noggin blanked out."
Dedede sat back up. "What I'm tryin' to say is… you've got somethin' worth livin' for. Heck, maybe ya need a Kirby in your life to cheer you up. I know Kirby does so with me. …Don't tell him I said that, I'll never hear the end of it."
"Where would I find a Kirby of my own…?"
"I'm sure you'll find it. You just gotta start lookin'... or better yet, maybe it'll find you." Dedede chuckled as he stood up, then offered Pyrrha's hand. "Now come on, let's get you back to your friends. They're mighty worried sick about ya."
"I didn't mean to worry them…" Pyrrha mumbled as she took his hand, where he pulled her up as they walked back to Toad Town together, with Dedede's Wheelie turning around and driving up next to them.
End BGM
Meanwhile, with Yasuke…
"Mmmm…" Yasuke looked at his findings, folding his arms after a breakthrough. "Pyrrha'll have to think long and hard about this."
New Scientific Breakthrough
Erasing someone's pain has a ninety nine point nine percent chance of erasing memories
"I'll be willing to do it… but, it's gonna be a hell of a mountain to climb should she lose her memories."
Deadpool: So you're telling me there's a chance she might make it out okay with her memories intact?
Ibuki: Apparently!
Yup. Anyway, I need to clear the air... because, yeah, here's the thing. Originally, yes, I was actually going to have Pyrrha commit suicide, but Dedede (thanks to everyone on the server thinking Dedede would be the best pick) swoops in to save her and chats with her. I was only going to do this once, just to show where Pyrrha's mindset was after Winter's Dusk. 'Cause, yeah, naturally, someone would think of a character commiting suicide after nuking their home town and not everyone made it out. I knew it'd be risky since suicide is a touchy subject, but I was willing to give it a try.
However, as I told my friends what I was planning, one of them said "I don't actually blame you for thinking this, but... let's pull away from that, shall we?" and so, we worked out a better alternative with what you've seen at the end. And honestly? I have to thank them because I was getting worried I might screw it up accidentally even though I felt confident that I could try to pull it off masterfully. I felt instant relief when we worked something else up.
Thank goodness for having cold feet on this subject...