True to his word, Joe was on his way to the Wildspire Waste with Anna and Hazel right on his tail. The two younger hunters, excited to keep exploring the New World, continued bombarding the man with questions. While he was more than happy to share info, it did get to the point of being a nuisance. Not that he wasn't new to it, considering his friend Lucian would often be tuned out after so much time together.
His attention, however, was more focused on Reiya.
The woman hunter had remained as tight lipped as ever, even though he knew that there was something apparent that was bothering her.
Joe, however, knew better than to pursue it. If he did push her, she would simply get even more tight lipped than she was last night. There were even times that, when she was really annoyed, she refused to take any quests with anyone else, including him. And they had known each other for their entire stay at the New World.
"Hey, Joe."
Joe stopped, turning back to look at Anna, who's voice had perked up.
"What exactly are we going to see at the Wildspire Waste?"
Joe blinked, then chuckled, amused at Anna's curiosity.
"Well," he began, "If you remember anything from the old deserts, we have Apceros over here."
Joe then made his way over a ledge, helping the other two up as well as he began explaining the local endemic life.
"Oh yeah, don't mind the Kulu Ya-Ku. You'll probably see one raiding a nest or something. Then there's the Anjanath that were recently discovered there. Though, we don't have to worry about one of those…probably. Then of course the Rathian."
"Rathian? We're gonna fight a Rathian?"
"What? No! What makes you think we're gonna fight a Rathian?"
Joe laughed, turning a quick glance at the two, evidently over-eager hunters.
"Look at you guys. Barely out of your diapers and already aiming big. I like that," Joe stated, getting a small sparkle from Anna's eyes. Hazel's eyes as well, though he was quite a bit more reserved about it. To be praised by a master hunter was quite the feeling to the two hunters. The reaction only brought about a smile from Joe, who then said, "Anyway, the only other thing that we really have to worry about would be a Diablos. God forbid one of those are nearby today."
"Diablos? The Two-Horned flying wyvern?"
Anna's inquisitive voice piped up, a bit nervous. Joe smirked, now realizing that she was as nervous as one could be. His attention then turned to Hazel, a bit surprised to see that the young male hunter was still as confident as ever. Although, with a little bit of careful analyzing, he too had a bit of a nervous shake to him, albeit just a slight bit less.
"No need to be nervous, you two. There's no reason for a Diablos to be out here today…probably," Joe said with a bit of an awry smirk. The two immediately froze, suddenly breaking out into a nervous sweat. The reaction elicited an immediate laugh from Joe, to which the man then said, "Hey, that's why I'm here. To make sure you two don't run into anything dangerous. I'm in charge of keeping you guys alive, you know."
A sigh of relief escaped from the lungs of the two hunters. Joe once again snorted out a laugh as they began making their way over to a more open area of the Waste, one that had a suspiciously deep area of the desert sand. Joe couldn't help but chuckle, very familiar with the area. However, the two others immediately ran over to the area, almost enamored by the sinkhole. Hazel tapped at it with his foot, curious as to why the sinkhole looked so different compared to the rest of the dunes. Anna had kneeled down, carefully touching the sand as if it was different from the rest of the sand surrounding the area.
"This is…interesting," Anna said to herself. Nearby, Hazel continued to jump on the sand over the sinkhole. Joe, meanwhile, began making his way over to a small pile of rocks, picking one up and loading it up into his slinger. Anna then looked up and over at the veteran hunter, opening her mouth just as he loaded his slinger.
"Joe, what is this? It looks…suspicious," Anna stated.
"Hmm…," Joe replied, spotting a Noios sitting on one of the giant termite mounds nearby, "That's because it kind of is."
"Huh?"
Hazel turned his attention to Joe next, the man raising his slinger arm at the Noios.
"So it is. What is it?"
Anna's question only made Joe smile, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.
"You want to find out?"
Without even deliberating with Hazel, Anna nodded without hesitation.
"Anna," Hazel piped up from nearby, "I don't think that's a very good idea–."
Just then, Joe fired the stone from his slinger. The rock flew through the air rather gracefully, hitting the Noios on the termite mound with a decent amount of force that it flinched. Almost immediately, it took to the air, suddenly letting out a very loud shriek. Anna and Hazel both cringed, unused to the noise. Joe, however, simply smirked, going up to a termite mound and sitting down to watch the two hunters. Another Noios suddenly took to the air and let out a shriek as well, followed by another, then another.
"What the–what was that!? What'd you do!?"
Anna, surprised at the sudden shrieking of the small wyverns, turned to Joe, now annoyed. Hazel did the same, shooting him an annoyed look as well. Joe, however, just sat back against the mound, mentally counting to himself.
…3.
Anna and Hazel both began making their way over to him, unbeknownst of the sinkhole's sand suddenly beginning to poof up.
…2.
There was a slight rumble. Hazel took notice and grabbed Anna's shoulder, beckoning her to stop as he looked at the ground below them. Anna stopped once she felt him grab her shoulder, looking at him, then noticed the slight rumbling as well.
…1.
The two young hunters both looked at each other, then at Joe as he raised a hand in a waving gesture. And suddenly, all the sand under them gave way, almost swirling into a hole in the ground. Anna let out a shriek of fear, Hazel a scream of surprise as they both tried to claw their way out of the rapidly sinking sand. Joe couldn't help but laugh as the two hunters were slowly being dragged into the cave below them, finally standing up to walk over. He then raised his slinger arm, shooting the grappling rope down at them. Hazel immediately took notice and grabbed onto the grappling hook, holding Anna's hand for dear life as Joe then said, "Don't worry! This gets me every time too!"
A shrieking roar suddenly snapped Joe's attention up.
There it was.
A Diablos.
However, his blood suddenly went cold as he realized that it wasn't just any other Diablos. The usually dull, tannish-brown color of its shell was a gleaming black, almost shining in the sunlight. All indicative of a Tempered Black Diablos.
"Oh shi–!"
Joe immediately dove into the hole after the two hunters, Hazel and Anna being caught by surprise at the action as the Black Diablos let out another shriek, looking down into the hole.
—
"...nn…"
Anna's finger twitched as she winced, a light from above blinding her through her closed eyelids.
"Anna, wake up."
A groan proceeded, Joe now shaking her frantically.
"Dammit Anna, get up!"
The young woman finally grimaced, her body suddenly sore as she forced herself up onto her arms, followed by sitting with her legs splayed to the side. Nearby, Hazel was awake, looking around in confusion as Joe looked at her first, to which he said, "Sorry. I just tried to play a prank on you. This situation is pretty serious now."
Quickly, Joe stood up, looking off to his right as he said, "Hazel. You and Anna make your ways to that tunnel. I need to stay here for a bit."
"Huh? Why?"
Hazel looked at him, confused as he stood up himself. Anna slowly made her way to her feet as well, patting herself down as Joe then said, "There's a Diablos here. Not one that I can handle if I have to watch you two."
"What? We can help," Hazel replied, going to draw his weapon. However, Joe shot a serious glance at him, to which Hazel froze. Joe's eyes stayed locked onto Hazel before then stating, "I'm not asking you to. I'm telling you to."
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble yet again.
Joe turned back to his right, drawing his Charge Blade.
Anna and Hazel both looked at him, almost in awe, before suddenly snapping out of it when an explosion of sand filled the air. Joe furrowed his brow as two large black horns broke the surface of the sand, followed by the large black body of the Black Diablos. The giant horned wyvern let out an ear piercing shriek, it's eyes locking squarely onto Joe. The veteran hunter then prepared himself, raising his shield first as the beast let out another ear piercing shriek.