It had been some time since the Tigrex incident. Ilia was still recovering from her beat down, being relegated to training duty and helping the handlers with their chores and such. Lucian was away on a hunt of his own while Joe wandered around Astera. While times of quiet were rare, few and far between, it didn't help his psyche knowing that his partner in crime, Reiya, was once again on what he figured by now was a top secret mission from the top brass. All he could do now was wait and see if he would get dragged into their business, or if the issue would resolve with Reiya and Reiya alone. This wasn't like going back to the Old World and fighting a Fatalis, however. This seemed to be something that they only wanted her to know about. Joe often found himself wondering if Alice knew anything about it as well, seeing as the woman was from the Old World, herself.

"WHAT!?"

The sound of The Commander boomed throughout Astera, catching several people by surprise. Joe as well jumped at the noise, looking at the planning table as The Commander's intense gaze locked directly onto the wyverian who had apparently delivered some bad news. Out of curiosity, he began to make his way over, knowing all too well that the booming voice could only mean something bad happened.

The Commander immediately turned to where his old friend, The Hunter, usually sat, though the stool was empty due to the man being called to Seliana to fend off a Teostra from the Seliana supply cache. The man grit his teeth, immediately turning to the planning table. His grandson was obviously still in Seliana, but given their few resources at the moment, there wasn't really any option for him other than to call for help.

"Excuse me sir…what's the issue?"

Upon hearing Joe's voice, the man seemingly let out a sigh of relief as his gaze immediately turned to the Master Rank hunter.

"Thank goodness," The Commander's voice was almost frantic as the man immediately approached him, catching Joe by surprise. The Commander turned to the table, the large map of the New World splayed out onto it as he points to the Ancient Forest. Joe furrowed his brow, then turned to The Commander as the man then said, "We have serious issues right now. There's been a Rajang spotted in the forest. I need you to go take it out."

"...Okay?"

A Rajang in the Ancient Forest was nothing out of the ordinary. Normally, the hunters would leave the forest for a bit to let the monster wander around until it left, but this seemed more than ordinary. If anything, The Commander seemed more worried than ever over a Rajang. Everything quickly came together in Joe's mind, however, once the man stated, "Anna and Hazel are in the woods. If anything were to happen to them–."

"Are you SHITTING ME!?"

Immediately, Joe took off for his private quarters before The Commander could say anything. He needed a proper weapon to take on the beast, and his Deviljho equipment was not up to par. He needed something more proper. More…icy. Of course, the first weapon he grabbed would be as cold as the apex predator of the Hoarfrost Reach, itself.

Raging Wolf Fang.

Without a second thought, Joe grabbed his weapon, his armor, and immediately made for the forest.

A powerful stream of yellow lightning filled the air, lighting up the night sky like it was still day.

The familiar roar of a Rajang echoed through the sky, the ape-like Fanged Beast slamming its fists into the ground. Hazel, Greatsword raised defensively, was blown backwards, unable to do much of anything. It amazed him just how strong the monster was, despite its relatively smaller size compared to most other monsters. He was hopelessly outmatched, stuck only to defending, his arms and sword having taken massive amounts of abuse at this point. Anna, meanwhile, could only do so much, relegated to being a distraction. Their lack of experience facing anything of this caliber showed, too stunned at the sight of their weapons simply bouncing off the rage reinforced arms of the Fanged Beast. Even with his best swing, Hazel couldn't help but be stuck in a state of shock and awe due to his weapon not even being able to pierce through even a single hair. It all came to a head when Hazel found himself clutched into the incredibly powerful grip of the Rajang, only to get thrown very violently against a tree with enough force to actually crack the wood. The force caused Hazel to spit up blood, his body falling limply onto the ground as the Rajang approached him, standing up menacingly onto its back two legs.

"...damn…!"

Hazel tried to force himself to move, but his body was having none of it. His weakened eyes look up, seeing the dark, emotionless, murderous eyes of the Rajang meeting his gaze. He could only watch as the Rajang raised its fist, about to bury him into the round with a single punch.

That is, until a bright flash of light filled the air between Hazel and the Rajang. The monster yelped, jumping back and beginning to swing wildly. Anna, in her panic, immediately dropped her weapon and ran up to Hazel, picking him up as best she could as she then tried to drag him away from the situation. The poor girl's body was in complete flight mode, adrenaline surging through her body as she dragged her injured comrade through the random depths of the forest, attempting to get away from the monster while it was still blinded.

Throughout the night, both hunters ran.

Throughout the night, the Rajang hunted the hunters.

It seemed like the darkness was forever, and it would take forever for the sun to rise. Both were panicked, too panicked to even shoot up an SOS Flare. It seemed like they had been on the run for hours, and with little resources, they were running out of options. Even with all the hunters back at Astera, it seemed like a bad idea for them to lead the monster all the way back to base. Their weapons were the furthest thing from their minds, more focused on survival than actually hunting at this point.

Taking shelter in a hollowed out log, they both took a moment to process what had happened. They had just been minding their own business when the Rajang appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Nowhere in the reports did anyone mention there being a Master Rank monster out in the woods. Just merely glancing at the monster seemed to enrage it, which had completely caught the two by surprise. Were ALL Master Rank monsters this quick to enrage? What did they do to enrage this monster? Were they going to get out of this alive?

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crackling thunder. Anna held her breath as Hazel tried to calm down, slowly looking through a hole in the log. Of course, the Rajang just happened to be right where they were hiding, its fur glowing an intimidating yellow, practically standing with how much electricity was rolling off of its fur. The very sight made goosebumps rise on his skin, almost like he was looking at something that shouldn't even exist. He had heard tales of Elder Dragons that were practically gods, especially of the Fatalis that he had heard about. However, this monster seemed different. This monster was almost the opposite of a god. A god killer, one could say.

Hazel's eyes go to Anna, seeing the poor girl shivering with fear. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him, fear evident all over her face. She was frozen in place, her earlier adrenaline having worn off after hours of running. Neither of them were really ever in a situation where they would have to run for their lives. Situations like these, they heard, were situations that would often make young hunters quit monster hunting. Given their quickly dwindling resources and no weapons, quitting on monster hunting seemed like a good idea for her.

Arms wrapped around her, catching Anna by surprise.

Hazel, injured as he was, mustered enough energy to crawl to her and hug her, attempting to comfort her. He was ready. He was more than willing to die if it meant his comrade would live. Seeing the frightened expression on her face, he knew that he couldn't just leave her by herself, no matter what the solution would be. Even he had to admit; he was scared as well.

Pulling away from her, Hazel brought a finger to his lip, to which Anna frantically nodded. The Rajang hadn't seen them yet, and with any luck, they would possibly stumble upon another monster that would either fight the Rajang, or if they were even luckier, stumble upon a researcher or someone who would happen to be in the forest. Hazel looked into Anna's frightened eyes, trying to look as confident as he could as he mouthed, "I won't leave you."

Anna nodded, trying not to let her tears fall as she struggled not to make noise. Hazel touched his forehead to hers as he looked at the end of the hollowed out log, pointing to it. Anna nodded again, attempting to crawl through as quietly as possible. Hazle watched her crawl away, then peeked through the hole in the log again to get another look at the Rajang.

Only, it was no longer there.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Hazel suddenly felt a feeling of dread. With a gasp, he looked at the other end of the hollowed log, seeing the evil, red, beady eyes staring right at him. Seemingly, even looking right through his soul.

"ANNA, MOVE!"

Without a second though, Hazel pushed Anna out of the log, getting a yelp of surprise from her. However, he wasn't as lucky, the monster smashing the log into smithereens and almost crushing him with the rotting wood. Anna rolled forward before turning back to face Hazel, only to see him in the clutches of the Rajang once again. The Fanged Beast roared in his face, causing him to wince as his poor ears felt like they were going to burst. Before he knew it, he was getting slammed repeatedly into the ground, each slam knocking the wind out of him to the point where he couldn't breathe. Hazel's body screamed pain, his mind begging for it to end as the Rajang once again threw him into a nearby tree.

Unlike last time, Hazel merely smacked into the tree like jelly. How he was still alive was beyond him, but he peeled off the bark like an ear of corn, landing on his back. Anna, horrified at the sight, couldn't move. She was frozen with fear. Fear of death. Fear of her comrade dying before her eyes. Fear of being unable to do anything. So as the Rajang raised its fists for one final blow, she took in a deep breath, then released a scream that echoed throughout the entire forest. A scream of agony. Of fear. A cry for help.

A massive spark of energy ignited from behind the Rajang. The Fanged Beast was immediately thrown off balance by the impact blast of a Charge Blade. The distinct sound of an impact phial being reloaded filled the air as the Rajang scrambled to get back to its feet, flailing about.

Hazel, though his vision was blurred with pain, tilted his head as best as he could, barely able to make out another hunter.

Joe.