Not far from the village, almost perfectly at the edge of the forest, a young woman with black hair emerged from the murky water of a river, throwing her hair back to shake the water free from it. Pulling free from the strength of the current, she would have been an attractive display if not for the hulking lizard corpse that she dragged out with her. Using every muscle in her arm, she dragged the dead Ludroth out of the river and onto the bank, its neck pierced with three holes and steadily leaking blood onto the dirt. Not wanting to wait until the scent drew more powerful predators, the girl knelt down and drew out her knife, carving the beast quickly and efficiently. It was mostly the meat she was after; the hydro hide was useful for patching up her armor or storage gear when it spring a leak, and it could be sold for a<em>little</em>cash if she needed it, but it was hardly the most useful material in the world.<br/><br/>A few minutes later, she stood up and continued along the trail, soon to find her hunt of the Ludroth had taken her farther than she had cared to notice. The trees began to fade as the air grew colder, and the dark-haired huntress soon began to wish she wasn't making it worse by being dripped wet. Reaching into her bag, she pulled a thick, furred overcoat she had bought specifically for the trip and wrapped it tightly around her body for warmth. As she came to edge of the forest, where the river grew shallow and receded up to the mountain that was its source, snow began to lightly dust the ground and soak through her cloth sandles. Before long, she was shin deep in the stuff. Being from a tropical village, she had never seen the stuff before in her life, but her first impression was that it was going to be an absolute pain in the ass.<br/><br/>Trudging down the trail, where the snow was most shallow, hood pulled up over her head and coat tugged ever tighter by her shivering arms, Seiche continued single-mindedly toward Pokke, a village where she was sure she wouldn't have to deal with any legendary hunters that would exist just to show her up, but still provided plenty of marks for the up-and-coming Monster Hunter. As she entered the village, she wasn't too impressed; just bare wood-and-stone buildings, not much more sightly than where she had come from, but the opportunity was so much better than that rotten old bunch of huts.<br/><br/>There weren't many buildings, so finding the tavern and inn was pretty easy to find. Pushing on the door, she found herself nearly tugged forward as the wind tried to throw the thing open, but recovered quickly enough not to make a fool of herself. Once she had the door closed again, she sighed as the sudden warm seeped into her body and loosened her grip on the coat. Her hood was lowered, revealing slightly backward-pointed hair that was surprisingly well-styled even under the hood, but actually seemed a little frosted in the spots where the cold froze the water she had been submerged in not long ago. Walking proudly up to the counter, lest other hunters be in the room, Seiche pulled out her meager bag of funds. "How much to rent a room?"