Monster Hunter 1. A New Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Monster Hunter.**

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**Entry No.1 - A New Beginning **

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Another lively afternoon at the marketplace in this new village approximately southeast of the Pokke Village from the harsh, cold mountain range. The cat granny decided to pay a visit to the village and offer hunters our felyne services. Large number of travelers, peddlers and hunters gathered here for varying reasons of their own which I didn't bother to think about. Commotion is somewhat normal in here, each of the store owners yelling their sales pitch at the passing crowd, hoping to get a customer or two and selling their finest products in their inventory and hunters looking for a place to stay for the day and restocking necessary items for their next job to be done. Like I said, this village was just recently built near a lake full of abundant resources but it looked like it's already known throughout the region with the mass of people here now. Then again, making a permanent human settlement in a monster-filled land is harder than could anyone imagine, let alone those who wished to build something close to a nest of a ferocious monster. They would just end up as meat supply for the monsters.

Different kinds of people arrived in a place like this for new opportunities which was quite the same for us felynes hoping to get employed. Not for me of course. I'm a hopeless felyne comrade, getting fired in a ridiculously short period of time after being hired by hunters who were dissatisfied in my sloppy performance, whether it would be hunting in the fields or plain cooking in the kitchen. Experienced felynes had more advantage since they were more coveted by hunters but still, getting a new client was no easy task for us cats.

I would also like to say that felynes aren't that picky in their jobs too due of today's increasing demand and competition between ourselves. Well, aside from the certain number of conditions stated in the contract, we tend to do almost everything, just like any human hunter would do. From simple bring-me this and that to small hunting missions. Yes, we could also do office work in the guild. Some felynes are contented with just that. Maybe I only have terrible luck to begin with while doing any of those mentioned. Definitely not a good boost for my morale...

Then, you will probably ask why am I still hanging around the cat granny or keeping in touch with village's guild hall, hoping for someone to hire me again?

I wanted to give myself another chance for no particular reason; it was not yet the time to give up this career although a month already passed without much visible success that could motivate me further. Even though I didn't want to, it looked like I wasn't given any other choices. Many of my fellow felynes already found their own human hunting buddy. Most felyne's dream was to make a name of their own, to become fully-fledged hunters. This was very tough to do alone and to be precise; there are only a select few in the felyne race who hunted solo. It will take you years of getting trampled by larger monsters, losing all of your whiskers or...your very existence. Since the collaboration of felynes and hunters under the form of contracts started, it made things a bit lighter and possible for us. Then again, relying too much on your partner will end up much worse than getting injuries from monsters. A felyne still need to carry its own weight during the quest.

I didn't care much about it, I just wanted to do something in my dull life, at least, achieving something that I can be proud of.

Anyways, observing the market's busy scene was enough to make me entertained, helping me to kill time in the process. A heavily-armored hunter passed by with an unusually large sword in his back, probably weighed almost a quarter of his own, not to mention his very tough armor significantly adding more weight. I imagined how he could swing a sword as large as him and also considering the unbearable retribution the blade could give on an unfortunate monster. From what I could tell, he's a seasoned hunter, already did countless of quests involving perilous dangers in this world full of fearsome monsters. Not long after, another hunter quickly caught my eye - a girl with chocolate-colored hair munching on a barbecue stick with a generous variety of vegetables in between the meat. I won't bother knowing what kind of meat she's eating, but I could tell that she really liked it. She was wearing a cute pink-colored armor, a lightweight bowgun slung on her shoulders and a helmet in her free hand. She was surprisingly young to be a hunter; probably she was just starting out. She stared in our direction for a few seconds in a somewhat curious manner. This sparked my hopes of being employed again.

_This could be it!_

The girl scampered towards us and sat down in front of me afterwards. I admit, she was very cute up close with her brilliant yet silly smile. She ruffled my cream-colored fur with her free hand as she contentedly giggled. I happily purred as a positive response to her. I think she's not that bad as a hunter after all. The other felynes patiently stared at us, waiting what would happen next.

"Aw...you're so cute!" The girl squealed as she massaged my head gently. "I think I should have a cat like you!"

She looked at me once more then she gave off a smile I've never seen before in my entire felyne life, handing over her half-eaten barbecue stick. Such cuteness! "Do you want some?"

Keeping myself from taking a bite to the taunting smell of good meat, I shook my head in response. Her smile faltered slightly but still remained with her giddy self.

Out of the blue, she stood up to reach something from her leather bag on her back.

_Yes! Finally! Just pay the fee, sign the contract and we're good to go!_

She nervously stared back at me for a few seconds before putting down her bag, rummaging the things inside it. After a minute, she embarrassedly revealed what made her feel agitated. "...I think I left my money pouch somewhere."

My jaw nearly fell to the ground hearing those words. What a way to burst my bubble! She's equally useless and clumsy like me. If the two of us happened to be partners, I wonder what we could accomplish...maybe ending up as dinner by a wyvern or something like that.

Our generous granny insisted. It seems she was determined to get me the job this day. I'm thankful for that! "Oh...you could pay the fee in some other time."

Suddenly, two more female hunters arrived. Both of them wore lightweight armour that is typical for girls of their age. The one with the shoulder-length brown hair sports dual blades seemed to be made from claws of a wyvern or something. I couldn't really tell without closer inspection of it. The other hunter has lustrous black hair. She was carrying a long-barreled bowgun on her back and wearing a quite serious face than the two.

"Where have you been? Don't tell me you're going to hire another cat!" The brown-haired girl furiously asked, smacking the head of my supposed employer with her hand equipped with a steel gauntlet. I must say, that hurts a lot!

"Hey, don't be too hard on her," the girl with the brown defended as she crossed her arms. "We should find a place to stay for tonight."

"Sorry for the trouble...we'll be going ahead now," The black haired girl politely said as she bowed to us. She seemed to be a nice hunter.

She let out a sigh of disappointment before walking away after being dragged on her collar by the other brunette. Again, she stopped midway, looking at a refreshment stand not far from here. She sprinted towards the stand as I scratched my furry head figuring out how she could buy something without any money to pay with. I guess that was not my problem anymore.

Do I have to mention that she tripped face first while running?

The day was almost ending, two of the felynes with me together earlier were lucky being hired by their new masters. I sighed in disappointment as another unlucky day will soon end. I felt like wasting another day for that moment. Well, I did get extra points for being here in the first place though. There was not much to see at this time since most of the people who just got inside the village returned to their respective lodgings while the locals went back to their homes. The merchants who planned to stay up until the evening sorted out their stuff.

But from all of the people who passed by, this particular hunter changed my fate. We were about to pack up for the day when I saw him walking in the distance. He was wearing a mix of blue and gray armor with a peculiar bowgun on his back. He wasn't wearing any protective gear in the head unlike others who always wear their gear completely and I guessed he was just out for a walk around the place, taking a break from the hunt or he just plainly like his head exposed. He suddenly stopped and looked to our spot. I almost skipped a beat, realizing that he was actually staring directly at me. I reluctantly returned his cold gaze. To be honest, I'm used to that kind of look, especially when I screwed up something really, really bad.

After a few seconds of what seemed to be a staring contest, I ignored him and began to plan what to do the following day. To my surprise, the same hunter was already in front of me!

"Do you like to hire one of these little felynes?" The cat granny kindly asked.

The young hunter didn't reply and still, his eyes was glued at me. Seriously? What did I do wrong to him and stare at me like that? Not long after a brief silence, he pointed at me then spoke in a soft voice as if muffled on purpose.

"That one."

"Okay then. Kindly sign this contract, turning over all of my responsibility to you as this felyne's new partner." The cat granny gave him a paper and a quill for him to write on the contract paper as she displayed a smile.

I froze there for a minute as if reality turned on me. I couldn't believe someone would hire me...again. Although, it might be rough to be working with another hunter, I would certainly do the best I could this time. I joined him as we walk back to the inn where he stayed for the night without saying another word.

I felt that it happened to quickly- about the process of a hunter getting a felyne by signing a contract made by the local guild branch. That was quite easy when I think about it. Who am I to complain anyway?

"Errr, what's your name, nya?" I asked out of nowhere, trying to ease the unnerving silence. I'd figure that he wasn't much of a talker. He stopped from walking which made me quite nervous. Maybe one of the first things I should learn first was when to shut up or ended being kicked out just after being hired. I'll be the newest record holder in that category if it happened or even existed.

"...Yuurei," He replied then paused for some seconds, remembering something just now that made him quite surprised. He turned around slightly then pointed at a building a few feet away from us. It must be the inn he mentioned earlier...and we already passed the place without noticing.

I'm quite nervous about this but I hope this new adventure would end up in my favor...


	2. The First Trial?

**Disclaimer: [Here]**

Finally updated. Enjoy!

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**Entry No.2 - The First Trial?**

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Before sunset, I prepared myself for our journey to the forest. Yuurei, my new hunting partner, already arranged the quest beforehand and bought necessary supplies for the gathering quest. I'm quite nervous as it was my first quest with my new master. The quest itself was not easy though. I heard that some monsters were going haywire in the past few days and we have to careful for that. Apparently, we need to find goldstone ores in the forest's caves and gather some special mushrooms on the way for additional payment. Mushrooms, eh? I wonder what could be so 'special' that the guild pays considerable cash for them?

Maybe for medicines? Maybe some other uses that I'm not aware of? Special or not, they're still mushrooms.

Anyways, I filled my special barrel backpack for the trip. Every felyne comrades have their separate gear and items from their partner. Hunters are always creative when it comes to finding their own food out in the field but I always took my own food and water with me before going out in a quest. Wearing my armor is always a troublesome chore but will surely increase your chances of survival in a lethal hit. This leather armor I have from the beginning is already quite worn out, maybe I should consider buying a new one soon if I have the money. Lastly, I grabbed my trusty carapaceon pickaxe made from hermitaur shells, sharpened to the point where it could easily pierce exposed flesh.

At first glance, it may look like fragile and weak to be a weapon that you could depend on, but my pickaxe proved to be useful than you imagined. I used this once as a weapon when I got separated from my previous master and had to defend myself from a velociprey. It was my very first kill but nearly did me in as well. My partner didn't tell me anything about how should I do or behave when hunting together. Maybe to assess my skills? I could already feel the pressure when I think about it...

He looked at me expectantly as if wondering if I'm ready too. I noticed that he will be using the same light bowgun he was carrying yesterday. I gazed at the bowgun that was unusually larger than your typical light bowgun, but it's not a heavy one either. Then, I suppose it's in the middle; a medium bowgun? I also saw a glint of silver which fascinated me even more - a sharp blade contained in some kind of sheathe attached under the bowgun as if it was intended to be hidden in the first place. I have never seen such weapon like that. It seems like a hybrid of a weapon.

And I noticed that he was still staring at me.

I could only nod in response as I placed my backpack in place.

_Please, don't look like that as if you're going eat me or something. Don't expect too much either..._

We went outside our room then outside the inn to fetch a rented aptonoth. The herbivore was widely employed for transport and to carry supplies, especially heavy ones. I guess we didn't need to worry about our gear anymore. My master estimated that if we were lucky to finish our job early, we might get back here before tomorrow night which reminded me that the forest is not that far from the village. The said forest is not that vast compared to the Great Forest, but it is home to the velociprey family.

"This is the only available quest at this time. This may do, I guess," he said to me with a disappointed look on his face, biting his lip. "Anyways, let's go..."

Yes, he was somewhat disappointed. I wonder why...

Our trip wasn't interrupted by any attacks from monsters which was quite a good start. Considering the fact that we chose a more perilous road near velociprey nests. Only small carnivorous monsters inhabits the outskirts of the town unlike others that needed forts as a primary defense for powerful dragons and wyverns.

The moment we reached a suitable place to establish a small camp, we deployed our kitchen gear for lunch. I was quite thankful that my master is a good cook, I was saved from being ordered to whip up something delicious. I remembered one time when one of my previous masters turned into an enraged blango when he tasted my barely edible meal for his dinner. The soup he made was very revitalizing, it could tell that it was almost as good as the ones made by famous felyne chefs. This tells me that I should work twice as hard today too. After some minutes of rest, we packed our gear for the hike.

Carrying a couple of pickaxes and hot drinks, we walked through pathway filled with small shrubs, plants and hanging vines from the towering trees to get to the caves containing the goldstone ores we need. The path was too small for our aptonoth to get through, so we left it in the camp. Now, I wonder too why hunters leave their camping gear and other supplies somewhere without the fear of those stuff getting stolen by others? I got to occupied wondering about that possibility when I noticed my master stopped walking and suddenly deployed his hybrid bowgun.

He told me with his usual calm voice, "I think we got company."

I was confused at first on what he meant since I didn't notice any hostile presence nearby until a velociprey lunged from our right. My master didn't move for the last second and suddenly, a silver blade came out under the bowgun's barrel, similar of a bayonet, which impaled the bird wyvern to its demise. The blood of the velociprey soaked the blade with its blood. My master immediately returned the blade to its 'sheathe' in the bowgun as if avoiding the sight of blood which tainted it bright red. I guess he doesn't like seeing blood or it's just me or...

"Are you alright?" Master asked me, somewhat worried. I replied with a small nod. "Well, I was surprised too. I could have tranquilized it instead."

"I-I'm fine. You did the kill, why ask me, nya?"

"You should have felt its presence before I could. Something wrong?" He asked again, scratching his head in wonder.

"Err... I'm fine," I quickly replied. He then shifted his eyes to the trail ahead. "Was he a scout? Anyways, let's move on."

He had a point. Velocipreys travel in packs. Another lucky break for us since only one showed up. There's no doubt that we should hurry before the others shows up.

I managed to pick up a couple of items along the way, some blue mushrooms, paint berries, and the coveted special mushroom. I carefully stuffed them all in my barrel backpack for later. After that lengthy hike, we managed to reach the cave. Inside was bright enough without the need of a torch since the some part of the cave's ceiling already collapsed, allowing sunlight to enter. It was simply mesmerizing for my part. I don't usually get a chance to admire a picture like this but first things first, right? I glanced around the area and there weren't much of a threat inside except those frustratingly huge insects.

Vespoids to be exact. Just the thought of those insects makes me want to burn every last of them or squash them with a very large hammer! Not that I can carry one, but you get my point. A true menace for every hunter out there, paralyzing you in the middle of a wyvern fight, ending up in your demise! When you happen to come across a whole army of them, better start running.

_Okay...enough with that part..._

Master reached for his bowgun again and loaded something different other than his usual tranquilizer rounds. It was not so different either as it was just the standard rounds used by all bowgun users.

"I'm not a fan of insects, so let's clean some of them first," he said as he started to aim at a stationary vespoid on the wall.

The muzzle of the bowgun flared to life as a round was launched straight to its target. As expected, the vespoid exploded to various unrecognizable pieces, making procurement of its materials useless. The resulting sound was pleasing to the ears, if I might add. Take that, insect scums! Wait... Did he just blasted another one from our far right? And another from behind? That makes three now. He's good at this.

He shifted his attention to another target, a moving one too. Satisfied that he already got the vespoid on his sights, he pulled the trigger once more.

"Missed. That was fast."

Yeah. There are some that could crazily move like they knew what was coming, retreating for a few meters out of harm's way. I can't blame you for that.

"We got sidetracked for a minute there. Let's go."

I nodded my agreement as we took off.

We looked for suitable mining spots and finally used our steel pickaxes to gather the needed ores. It didn't take us too long before we had more than enough of the goldstone ores and other spoils. Honestly, it would be much faster if these vespoids do us a favor and stop buzzing around us but since they were few, they weren't much of a threat. Getting inside the cave and back to the camp was quite easy, but with all of the ores we had gathered, it won't be that simple.

The goldstone ores were quite heavy and I was told to carry as much as I could. I only got to carry three of the ores which already hit my limit, knowing that I collected other stuff going here. I drank from my canteen of water, quenching my body as a refresher before we exit the cave.

I also noticed something that was bugging me. A feeling that I only felt being with the hunter in front of me . My master's not fond of talking since we started. Not much what said either other than the quest we were doing now since I was hired yesterday. We just ate at a local diner, prepared our stuff, and called it a day. Ordinarily, a hunter would give a personal list of protocols when a felyne was already taken in but he didn't seem to mind at all. I started to think if that was actually a good thing for me or not. It goes without saying that I should perform well in every task I will do or it will be over for me. This is my last chance anyway!

On our way back, the weight of the items significantly slowed down my movement. I could also tell that my master didn't like carrying heavy stuff too, so he suggested that we should have some minutes of rest before walking again.

I suddenly felt movement around us, around three or more monsters perhaps then I gave my master a worried look which he somewhat received my message. He just sighed then he again deployed his bowgun ready, seemed quite annoyed in another hindrance in our simple quest. I also set aside my item pack containing those heavy ores and other items and firmly held my weapon. I think that they gave up on the stealth approach and showed up somewhat in an enraged state. They also got their leader with them and surely, this won't be an easy fight. Is this all because of their fallen comrade? For whatever reason, it was not our fault in the first place.

The velocidrome, although one may think that it is just an enlarged version of its lesser brethren, poses a threat to even experienced hunters. It's pretty obvious that they're much stronger and could even call their comrades if they need additional help in the fray.

_Something tells me that they're here for an early dinner..._

As they slowly closed in, my master quickly fired at one of the velocipreys. The shot made a direct hit and produced a white cloud of smoke around the velociprey, forcing it to a deep slumber. I could tell that the tranquilizer he uses was very potent, especially made for wyverns and other large creatures, which was somewhat a waste for these small fry. The others became hesitant, but that wasn't enough to scare them though.

He discharged another tranquilizer round and another while dodging the attacks of the monsters. On the other hand, I just stood there in a mix of awe and panic while deciding if I should help him. If I screw things up again, he might get injured instead or if I didn't do anything to help, my purpose will be defeated of being a felyne comrade.

Decisions. Why is it so hard to decide?

All of the sudden, one of them leaped towards me and growled as it stared with its frightening eyes. I crouched a little. I'm not a melee fighter and I didn't have much to use in my backpack. Well, beside from my rations, I had some flash bombs, a flute, a roll of bandage, a small bottle of antiseptic for wounds, a couple of whetstones and two portable barrel bombs with me.

Wait... are all these things even important now?

The velociprey went rushing without warning and I made a sidestep to the right, avoiding the razor-sharp talons of the bird wyvern in just a mere inch. This caught it off guard and had the chance to slash its flank twice with my pickaxe, which made it screech in pain as blood freely flowed on its wounds.

Well, well, well... Did I improved that much now? Probably just lucky but who cares anyway?

The wounded velociprey leaped a few meters backwards, reminding me that they're really good at jumping long distances. Suddenly, another one pounced me from behind, pinning me down on the ground. To tell you, I wasn't particularly injured in the pounce but what I wasn't expecting, the bastard was drooling at my face.

_It burns right through my soul!_

"Nya! That's disgusting!" I cried desperately, flinging my weapon crazy with the hopes of hitting the velociprey, but to no avail.

"For goodness sake, get off him." He fired at the velociprey the moment he noticed the predicament I was in. "You okay?"

"My soul isn't..."

He gave a small smile to me as I noticed an opportunist velociprey about to swipe him with its claws. To his surprise...or maybe sheer luck, he blocked the attack with his bowgun and slash the staggered creature in a sideways motion, cutting its stomach clean in the process. To be frank, it was quite a clumsy but yet amazing move. I could tell that he wasn't expecting the result as well.

"I didn't mean to do that to you. Well, honestly, I didn't expect that too," He said in a somewhat solemn way. Then, he turned to me and gave me a small nod as an expression of thanks. Again, the blade was painted red again, replacing the previous dried blood with a fresh one.

_Oh, master, you're too modest. Don't forget that they're here for food... revenge... whatever..._

The pack decided to circle us again, maybe to prevent us from escaping which was not really our intention at the moment. We don't want to lose all of those ores over there, okay?

In annoyance, I reached for a flash bomb in my backpack to end this nonsense encounter, then, for some reason, I remembered about the flute along with my other items and something came up in my head. Great, why didn't I thought of that sooner? I'm such a genius. Well...not really. Who gives a damn anyway? Time to turn the tables!

_No doubt, it's payback time!_

I breathed in deeply and played the flute as I closed my eyes for some seconds. The somewhat soothing tune of the instrument got everyone's attention, even my master who gave me a curious stare. It was not an exaggeration that the sound of the flute could reach more than this vicinity since this item was made for that purpose.

_Yes, perfect. Just what I need. Eyes on me, please!_

Then, I gestured to warn my master the moment I threw the flash bomb. It emitted a blinding flash of light upon impact to the ground, disorienting all of the creatures around us. They looked kinda silly when I looked at them cocking their head to and fro, crying in a strangely sharp pitch as they were temporarily robbed of their eyesight. This gave opportunity for my master to take them down easily with his bowgun and in my case, throw a barrel bomb to the nearest velociprey.

_Ah... the sweet smell of gunpowder!_

He loaded new tranquilizer rounds in his bowgun to neutralize the velocidrome. The effect of the powerful flash already subsided and the creature was ready to attack as well. That moment looked like it was going to be a good fight when my master suddenly fired two consecutive rounds to the velocidrome. I stood there dumbfounded, as I was expecting better to be seen. The velocidrome managed to move for a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

_What? No action? Come on, you didn't even gave it a chance!_

"Well, that does it..."

I hope a wyvern drops by so I could see real action...but, to my sudden realization, it's not fun when we're involved in that.

I shifted my gaze back to the sleeping bird wyverns that littered the ground. I'm quite anxious that they might woke up in any kind of disturbances around them, given their keen senses. My master didn't seem to mind whether they would attack us again.

"Nya... they won't wake up anytime soon, huh?" I finally asked him as I wouldn't get any answers alone.

"Yes. About a quarter of a day or so... I think," he replied as he activated the folding mechanism of his bowgun to its compact size. "Someone's making these kind of ammo for me for the right price. At least she's confident on what she could do."

His tranquilizer rounds are that potent? I'll make a mental note not to play or experiment with his bowgun ammunitions. Now, I'm curious to meet this ammo-inventor that can make those powerful tranquilizers.

"Is she a hunter too, nya?"

"I doubt it. You could say that she's more of a researcher."

"Is that so?"

"The least that could happen is an ambush from them, and it did. We should move on."

Now, things finally quieted down again. My master looked a bit flustered and worn out, but he managed to fend off a whole pack of velocipreys. I didn't felt bad, knowing that I did helped him, at least a little. I was about to pick up my item pack when I sensed something approaching from above. My instinct told me that it was sure powerful. I cringed in fear as I heard its menacing and familiar roar, announcing its grand arrival. My master again prepared his bowgun in case the monster finds us.

"Rathalos," he whispered calmly. "I'm not entirely sure if seeing one today was just luck or it's the other way around. What do you think?"

"A-Ah, what? This is big trouble to us!"

"We don't have to fight it. The two of us are dinner if we did."

I'm sure envy your demeanor in this kind of situation. Can you give me some of that? "Nya, let's do that. We're not even properly prepared for fighting a wyvern right now."

"Of course. Although, I'd like to have the wyvern's scales if I had the chance."

If you really want one, maybe we can put him asleep with your tranquilizers... No, no. The risks are great for that idea.

"I'm not that desperate for materials unlike some hunters out there."

It's good to hear that, you know? Us felynes could procure items for you and monsters wouldn't even have the slightest clue about it. Oh, another memory of mine resurfaced just now. One of my previous masters was fond of collecting materials and other shiny stuff, and she would often reprimand me for not getting any. I can't really blame her when she uses herself as bait to distract a monster while I do the stealing. You might think that it's an ingenious idea, but it's not. Any experienced hunter knows that's just too impractical! It's just stupid even! She was expecting too much from me for pulling off something like that! Too much!

But she's not a bad master compared to the others. I have to give her that. I wonder what she's doing now? Taking it easy, I guess?

We dived into the thicket to hide ourselves, noting that we have yet to recover from the fight earlier. Upon landing, the wyvern often referred to as the 'king of the skies' scanned its surroundings cautiously. He walked towards our hiding place, shaking the ground slightly in each massive step. I was certain that he didn't saw us, but I wouldn't be surprised if he find us. My heart seemed to stop when he stared at our direction, as if he just looked at me in the eye.

_Oh, crap! I shouldn't think of such things. Just his presence gives me the chills in my body. I don't want to end up as wyvern snack anytime soon._

I gazed at him as he continued to walk until he tilted his head. The Rathalos stared at the sleeping velocipreys as if choosing the best piece of raw steak available from a market stand. I could tell that he was somewhat confused and feeling thankful at the same time for making things easy for him. He slowly took the leader of the pack using his powerful claws then he flapped his wings vigorously, returning to the skies above.

D-Do my eyes deceived me? D-Did I just saw the Rathalos smiling? Something like a 'Thanks for the meal!' smile.

That very moment, I just knew that my eyes could need some serious washing. Or I could just smash my head on something hard.

We both walked out of our hiding place. "Well, he sure does know what to pick. We should be going as well..."

"A-Ah, yes, of course..."

Upon finishing our business with these monsters, we went back to the camp with the ores and rested for a bit. I even found a patch of felvines in the bushes just before we finished packing our things up. Let's just say these are well-earned souvenirs in this quest. If you're wondering why us felynes are attracted to these, think of them as a catnip. Wait, it's something more addicting than that! They're considered very valuable for us cats, especially to Melynxes, our black-furred cousins. They don't think straight whenever they see one, and they definitely won't give a damn to your most expensive item just to get their hands on a felvine. Well... I don't blame them for that.

That evening, we received our pay from the guild and went back to the inn, exhausted. My very first quest with him was accomplished! Couldn't feel better than that! I did the favor of storing our procured items from the forest to the storage room then went downstairs for dinner in the cafeteria. He was waiting for me as he ordered two grilled steak marinated in some kind of spicy sauce, stir-fried truffles with other vegetables, and a cold drink made from berries and other stuff I didn't bother to know.

"Wow, nya. Isn't this the house specialty?"

"I've been wanting to try it, so here it is."

"Thanks! I haven't got to eat something this fancy for years!"

The smell of the food was enough to make me drool. Well, considering that my master fancy cooking, he might try being a cook as his part-time job. But, somehow it's quite a shame on my part too. I'm a felyne and yet, I couldn't even fry a freaking egg or properly roast meat. Oh... that was quite an exaggeration there. Hey, don't take that seriously...

_We're absolutely clear about that part, right?_

There were also a few hunters and travelers eating heartily after a good day of hunting or adventure, a usual sight to be seen. So far, my start was quite better than I had imagined, for the most part. I guess it would be another adventure for the following days, huh?

"Nya... Is it just me or you just don't like seeing blood?"

He replied with a cold gaze when he was about to get a portion from his steak. "Are you implying something?"

_Then again, I should learn how to filter what I should say and shut up for what may happen next..._


End file.
