A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've had some writers block and, well, this was the best I could come up with. Shorter chapter, but I couldn't get any more ideas out. Enjoy!

At the top of the tree of the Ancient Forest, Hazel stood, Charge Blade sword stuck in the ground with a dead Rathalos nearby. Anna wiped her carving knife clean, running her hand on the side of the blades before waving the blood off and putting the knife away. Her attention then went over to Hazel, approaching her fellow young hunter as he stared off to the distant horizon.

"Man. What an adventure," Hazel breathed out, feeling her approach him. Anna's hand went up and rested onto his shoulder, her eyes gazing out to the horizon as well. As they watched, Hazel then said, "Who knew coming over to the New World would bring so much fun, eh?"

"Well, aside from the Raths over here sounding like they all have a sore throat," Anna laughed, fully leaning onto Hazel. The man blinked, then glanced at Anna, whose head was now resting on his shoulder. The two fell silent for a few moments, just basking in the afterglow of their hunt before Anna pushed off of him, then said, "Well, let's head back to Astera. This hunt isn't going to report itself."

"True story," Hazel replied, shooting her a smile before pulling his sword out of the ground and sheathing it into his shield. The two began making their way down the tree, bickering amongst each other. Nearby, the Rathalos corpse suddenly twitched, a murky, black aura slowly beginning to surround it.

—

"And the investigation's been running stale?"

"Well, this thing's been…elusive. Everytime I get close, it seemingly gets the hint and takes off just before I can get to it."

"Damn. Well, we can't do anything except keep searching."

"..."

"What is it?"

"...Why can't I have some help on this?"

"You already know why. This is an assignment directly from the Guild."

"..."

"You're doing a good job. Don't worry. They'll understand."

"...Don't be so sure of that."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I'm off."

—

"Hey, Joe!"

Joe stretched his arms, his Palico, Callie, right next to him, meowing excitedly. His eyes opened to see Lucian running right for him, the frigid cold air of Seliana flowing all around them. Their breaths steamed from their mouths as they spoke, their noses as they breathed. Ilia, right behind Lucian, sighed and shook her head, shrugging her shoulders as Lucian, excitedly, asked, "You find anything about this Velkhana?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Joe replied, "Normally, just the very presence of an Elder Dragon would throw the local wildlife into turmoil. There's literally nothing going on with the Hoarfrost Reach. I don't know why we had to–."

"I'm just as confused as you guys are."

All three hunters turned their attention to the Field Team Leader, the young man approaching them and putting his hands on his waist.

"I had heard of something going on out here. Something akin to Elder Dragon activity. Whether its a Velkhana or whatever, we don't know," the Leader explained. Joe brought a finger to his chin, contemplating the options. There were no reports of a Velkhana in the area. While Kushala Daora were fully capable of surviving in extreme cold, the only reasons why they'd be in an area such as the Hoarfrost Reach would be to shed its rusted skin. And seeing as Kirin were such a rarity, the presence of one was definitely out of the question.

"Whatever the case," the Leader then stated, "We need to be ready for whatever is out there."

"Certainly," Ilia stated, clasping her hands together. On her left arm, her Kinsect flapped its wings excitedly, causing the woman to smile before bringing said arm up and nuzzling the insect lovingly. Lucian turned and rolled his eyes, playfully shoving her and stating, "You show more love to that thing than you do to me. What's up with that?"

This was immediately followed by sap being fired at Lucian's chest, the man suddenly getting launched to the ground by said Kinsect as it hungrily chased the sap. Joe and the Leader both burst out in laughter as Ilia clapped her hands together, an obvious annoyance on her face behind her annoyed grin as Lucian popped back up to his feet and began running throughout Seliana, trying to avoid the chasing Kinsect.

"So what're we gonna do then? We gonna do now? We gonna just go back to Astera?"

Joe's attention turned to the Field Team Leader, the man giving him a shrug in response.

"Ideally," the man began, "I'd like to keep you here while Ilia and Lucian can head back. I don't feel too comfortable leaving Seliana alone without any of our top hunters."

Joe sighed, annoyed, but understanding. He turned back to look at Ilia pull her glaive from her back, spinning it once and calling her Kinsect back to her. Nearby, Lucian lay on the ground, the Kinsect having done its damage to him. A small chuckle escaped Joe's lips as he watched Ilia approach him, poking him a few times to make sure he was still alive.

"...alright. I'll go take a look around in the Reach," Joe stated, turning to the Field Team Leader once again. The man gave a nod, finally taking his leave as Joe turned back to see Lucian finally lifting himself out of the snow, groaning. Ilia chuckled before pulling him up, patting the snow off his armor before she began to walk away.

—-

"Hmm…."

Reiya kneeled down, standing on top of the hollowed tree of the Ancient Forest. Nearby, an abandoned Rath nest, scales and blood soaking the wood from the earlier hunt by the two rookies. Reiya's hand touched a scale, then one of the many puddles of wyvern blood as she glanced around, knowing for certain that she was in the area of the kill. However, what she expected to see was a dead Rathalos, not a giant puddle of blood and scales.

"...Where is it…," Reiya breathed to herself, standing back upright.

Nearby, a faint growl caught her attention.

Turning around, she looked at the spot that was supposed to have a giant boulder, having been blown apart by the rookies earlier. However, all that stood there was said Rathalos that was supposedly killed earlier, a menacing black aura flowing out of its mouth. Reiya's eyes widened in surprise, the Rathalos slowly standing up. Cuts all over its body had, strangely, coagulated, and the Rathalos' growls sounded extremely strained. Reiya's hand twitched, her body tensing up as the Rathalos took a few steps forward, stepping out of the shadows. Reiya couldn't help but feel a tiny twinge of nervousness, unsure of the capabilities of this new Rathalos. As the fire wyvern approached, it finally took the moment to let out what sounded like an extremely strained roar. The sound of it was painful to Reiya, not in the sense of it being painful to her ears, but rather, painful that she took pity that the roar sounded painful for the wyvern.

However, the sad reality of the situation was that Reiya was going to have to put the magnificent creature down. She slowly began to regain her composure, taking a few steps to the side, where the top of the tree was more open. A more suitable spot for a hunt to begin. With a sigh, Reiya reached up and grabbed her longsword's handle, finally recomposing herself as the monster charged.