Memories.
Bone and steel, clashing upon each other.
Fire.
Ice.
Water.
Lightning.
…Red lightning.
Visions.
Dreams.
Blood, injuries, sacrifice.
Loss of kin.
Of friends.
Sweat, blood, tears.
Many, many suns and moons of hunting and gathering.
Of improving.
Becoming stronger.
Ear piercing, echoing roars.
Tremors in the ground.
Poison.
Paralysis.
Drowsiness.
Explosions.
Memories. Echoes of the past. The thrill of the hunt.
Memories and past experiences.
Memories.
So many…
Memories.
—-
Eyes, as deep a blue as sapphire itself, opened, looking down at the beer mug on the table set before them.
A blink.
Two blinks.
A hand rose to grab at the mug's handle.
"Reiya, wake up."
Reiya snapped to, blinking her daze away as she looked to her right. Seated there was her long time hunting partner, Joe, who was smiling at her. His eyes, a much brighter, almost gray, shade of blue, met hers as he said, "Can't sleep all day, you know. We've got work to do."
The woman hunter blinked, her gaze softening as her other two companions, Ilia, seated across from her, and Lucian, seated to her left, both raised their mugs as well. Reiya's eyes scanned her friends, a smile gracing her face as she adjusted her glasses. Of course, not real ones, but rather more just worn for aesthetic purposes.
"...Okay then," Reiya sighed, finally standing. Her deep blue Velkhana armor clinking softly as she moved. With a small groan, Reiya stretched out her back, arms raised high, as if trying to reach for the azure sky itself. Her hunting party all watched her, almost captivated.
The sapphire star.
That's what everyone called her.
The shining light of the Fifth Fleet, that had battled to hell and back all for the survival of residents of the new world.
Xeno'Jiiva.
Safi-Jiiva.
Alatreon.
Even traveling back to the old world and fighting Fatalis.
Reiya had pretty much done it all.
As she relaxed, her lips released a sigh, bending down to pick up her trusted longsword that she had spent many, many hunts to be able to make. The silver scales that were adorned onto the sheath and back edge of the blade gleamed in the light of the midday sun. Within the sheath, the ancient fires of a Silver Rathalos burned, ever eager to be unleashed as the Wyvern Blade "Pale" found itself slung onto Reiya's back. In contrast to the silver sword, a golden amulet, made from the scales of a Gold Rathian, had been adorned onto the sword's handle.
"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go."
Reiya's gentle, and confident smile grazed everyone's eyes.
Returning the expression, each of the other three hunters grabbed their own weapons.
Joe, his Charge Blade.
Lucian, his Hammer.
Ilia, her Insect Glaive, raising her left arm and nuzzling her Kinsect lovingly.
"Alright," Reiya stated, "Let's go!"
—-
"WHAAAT!?"
Lucian and Ilia both screamed, causing the Commander to grimace in annoyance. Joe sighed, also annoyed, but not for the same reason. Reiya simply rolled her eyes, having been looking forward to a hunt with her team. It had been a while, and having been stuck on solo quests was really starting to annoy her. Even if she enjoyed doing them for the sole sake that she wouldn't have to worry about any casualties.
"Like I said," the Commander stated, albeit now annoyed, "It's been requested that Reiya, specifically, do some quests for the guild. A strange request, but I trust you'll be able to do them, Sapphire Star."
The Commander's gaze turned to Reiya, who begrudgingly nodded in agreement. Joe was about to speak in protest until the Commander's eyes landed on him next. Joe's mouth closed as the Commander then said, "As for you, I need you to watch to rookies. They're a fresh set of hunters that had volunteered to come to Astera, as opposed to staying on the mainland."
Glancing over his shoulder, the Commander jerked his head, two hunters that were wearing basic leather hunting armor popping out from behind. Joe raised an eyebrow, curious as the two rookies introduced themselves, probably being no younger than Reiya was. And, said Sapphire Star was still relatively young, as far as hunters went.
"Thank you for training us," the young man stated, a charge blade on his back, "I am Hazel. I come from Pokke Village."
"Anna. I'm from Loc Lac City."
Reiya shot a glance at Anna, the young woman standing as confident as any other hunter. Loc Lac City was certainly a name that she had not expected to come out of any other hunter's mouth. Especially after said city had been…
Shaking her head, Reiya turned to look at the Commander, who nodded to her. With a sigh, Reiya turned herself away, tapping Joe's shoulder. The man turned to look at her, to which she nodded before taking her leave. Joe watched her go, her armor almost shimmering as her sword began glowing in bursts. Bursts of blue light scattered from her silver sword, the Frostcraft ability of the Velkhana armor showing itself and causing the two rookie hunters to go wide-eyed with awe. Joe snorted a chuckle, turning to look at them.
"Amazed?"
The two turned to look at Joe, the hunter nudging his head at Lucian and Ilia. The two glanced at each other, then shrugged and walked off on their own. Joe simply snorted a chuckle, watching his two companions walk off, then turned his attention to the two new hunters. He eye'd them up and down, making his own judgments, then said, "Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. The name's Joe. Well, you can call me Josama, but Joe is just fine. I'm gonna be the one in charge of you two today…allegedly."
Hazel and Anna both cocked their heads, then turned to look at eachother, then turned back to him and nodded. Joe simply chuckled again, amused. The looks on their faces were screaming that they weren't buying into him, but he chose to pat both of them on the shoulders.
"Well, you guys aren't gonna become hunters overnight. Let's get started."
—-
Later in the evening, Joe had finally returned to Astera, having gone through the basic ropes with the new hunters. Seeing as they were pretty much adept at everything else, his session with them had essentially become a tour to them, showing them around the Ancient Forest, the endemic life, even having to slay a Great Jagras that had been harassing them all the way through the woods. Of course, Joe simply stood back, jumping in only when necessary when the pair were in what could only be called a bind.
Hazel plopped onto a table up in the Gathering Hub, immediately putting his face down onto the table top. Anna was much more reserved, sitting down politely to his right. Joe sat down as well, sitting across from Anna as a Felyne approached them, beer mugs being carried in a tray. A quick thank you was all Joe needed to say, taking the mugs and distributing them amongst themselves, the Felyne taking off to do other duties. A smile graced Joe's face as he watched it leave, followed by turning back to the two hunters.
"So what'd you think?"
Hazel perked up, as did Anna, both their attentions turning to Joe.
"What'd you think of the New World so far?"
The two hunters remained silent for a moment, turning to look at each other. Joe kept an expectant gaze on them, wanting an answer. It certainly amused him how two hunters could be so confident, but then suddenly grow shy at the thought of answering a simple question. It was almost as if they were scared to say the wrong thing.
"Oh, leave them be, Joe. No need to put them in a spot."
Joe turned to his left, Reiya now sitting down in the only empty chair at the table. She raised her mug to him, to which he returned the gesture before he asked, "How'd your day go? What'd they make you take on?"
"Hey, don't worry about it," Reiya smirked, taking a quick swig of her mug, then turned to look at Hazel and Anna, both their eyes locked onto her. It was almost as if they were looking at a ghost, or maybe even a hero, both their eyes wide with amazement. Slowly, Reiya lowered her mug, a smirk on her face again as she then said, "Pick your jaws off the table. As flattering as it is, there's no need to be in awe. I'm just another hunter like you guys."
"Hey, did you hear? One of the hunting parties took down an Arch-Tempered Teostra!"
Immediately, Joe's attention turned to a nearby group of hunters. Their excited chatter also caused Anna and Hazel to turn to them as well, curious as to what the group was talking about. A single finger twitched on Reiya's hand as she listened in as well, the nearby party unaware of the four listening in to them.
"'Arch…Tempered?' What's that?"
Hazel turned back to face Joe and Reiya. The former chuckled and simply shook his head, then turned to Reiya. However, his companion's attention seemed more stuck on the conversation, her almost blank expression causing him to worry.
"Well…," Joe began, raising a hand in front of Reiya's face, "over here, we have monsters known as 'Arch-Tempered.' Extremely rare, and too dangerous to face alone under regular conditions. However, a few of us HAVE gotten away with hunting them alone."
A snap of his fingers later, Reiya suddenly snapped back to reality, flinching and looking at Joe. Joe's confident smile greeted Reiya warmly, to which she sighed and chugged down a mouthful of beer. Joe chuckled, then turned back to Hazel and said, "You two aren't anywhere near the level to be challenging Arch-Tempered monsters yet."
Anna's attention slowly turned to Joe, to which the man stood up and stretched before saying, "Alright you two. Meet me at the Astera gates at sunrise. We will go on another expedition from there."
A nod and a moment later, Anna and Hazel had taken off.
Joe simply smiled after them and said, "They're certainly promising."
Reiya, however, remained silent, putting her mug down. Joe's eyes landed on her, a bit concerned as she seemingly stared at the mug, an emotionless expression on her face. It was almost…terrifying.
"Reiya."
Slowly, the woman's sapphire blue eyes turned to look at Joe.
"What's on your mind?"