Narga TF

“Don!” the female leader called out, “Get over here!” A woman in her Nargacuga outfit tapped her boots on the concrete floor The male hunter wearing his Rathian set journeyed around the front lobby of the Yukumo Guild Hall. “Geez, Jennie. Did you really have to wake us up at five in the morning?” Jennie points at the bulletin board, “Have any better plan? It’s been months since we both had actual time to hunt together!” Don lazily waved back at her, “Yeah yeah. I have to help out the village. You yourself have to take up the ecologic monster disposure around here. How can you say I can’t make my time?” He grabs the document and puts his signature on the slip. “There, I signed up. Happy?” Don checks over his Blitzkrieg switch axe to be sure if it was enough. “I’m going to hate hunting that backflipper with this thing.” Then the other two felyne cats followed up behind. The black felyne salutes in his Yamato armor, “Reyn ready for duty!” The white tiger-striped felyne in a Zinogre set held out her sword. “Kimba ready for action!” Reyn hops in front of his cohort, “Don’t worry! If aggro’s your rat, then I’m your cat!” Don sighs, “We’re going to do this alone this time. You and Kimba deserve a rest every now and then. I want you two to stick to your training.” Kimba then sat down and groaned, “Aww. Okay, We’ll await for your return.” Jennie prepares her Hidden Saber Plus long sword. “Thanks for helping me gather some Nargacuga brainstems. Would go well for my weapon upgrade.” Kimba meows with confidence. “Good luck you two!” The two humans ventured out the door together to walk over to the mountain streams.
The falling leaves dropped over the exploring group as they examined the peaceful waterfall before them. “I saw that Nargacuga ran over here.” Don then yawns and turns over to the deeper part of the forest. “It must be close to dying by now. I’ll check in that direction.” He then splits from his partner. “Paintball that thing so I can come rushing in!” Once his body was hidden by the trees, Jennie then took out her barbeque spit. “I should take this time to make some food.” She puts over a slab of meat on a bone and starts twirling the spit crane. Unbeknownst to her, something was approaching her from afar. It slowly crawled up over to her direction. Jennie took a glance, “What the-” She sighed to herself in relief. “It’s just those Alatroths.” The ant-like insects gathered from the nearby mushroom patch. She continued spinning her spit, “And here I thought I would’ve been ambushed by that stupid bird-” A spiked object slams her off her chair and knocked over her barbeque set. ” She confronts her black bird wyvern opponent. “You stupid wyvern! I was cooking that!” She pulls out her long blade, “I’m going to make a blade out of you!” She checked in her pocket for a certain item. “Oh crap, I forgot my paintballs! Looks like I’ll have to call him in later.” The Nargacuga prepared to shoot something from its tail. Jennie dodged away from the spikes and began to perform her spirit slash until the Nargacuga’s tail was separated from the body. Jennie looked over to the tail, “There it is!” She recklessly went after the tail and took out her carving knife. When she dug into the tail, she was filled with glee. “YES! I GOT IT! I-”

While she was distracted, the Nargacuga then slashed at her with its bladed wings. Jennie was immediately on the ground with her blade flying far from her hand and into the waters. She only remained on the field unmoving from her location. The Nargacuga then halted all process of hostility and looked over the unconscious hunter. It examined what she was holding onto. Her collection was inched close to her mouth. The Nargacuga wondered if the hunter was trying to eat the brainstem. It picks up the brainstem from her hands with its beak. Suddenly, another hunter smashed its skull from behind. “GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!” Don threatened. The Nargacuga drops the brainstem in pain and accidentally drops it in Jennie’s open mouth. It decided to attempt to escape and limp away, but Don began to hack and slash its entire torso before it has fallen. Meanwhile, Jennie has awaken and started coughing from a foul taste in her mouth. “ECH! WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST EAT?!” It was more along the taste of raw delicacy. Don turns around, “Oh! You’re awake!” He then points to the dead monster he is currently carving, “Did you get a brainstem?” Jennie happily nods, “Yep! I finally got one in my hands!” She realized there was nothing in her hand. She then started looking around her personage. “My brainstem! It’s gone!” Don only made a sizzling tongue noise, “Ooooo. That sucks.” Jennie started stomping and splashing on the water, “NO! I had it in my hands! How could I have lost something like that!?” She squats down in her feeble position. Don sighs to himself. (Great,) he thought, (she’s definitely upset. Haven’t seen her like this in a long while now. Like years.) He walks over to her depressed friend. “Hey I know what’ll cheer you up. Some yogurt from the cat in the springs when we get back, alright? It’ll be on me.” Jennie sobs and asked in a whimper, “Will you buy the strawberries too?” Don grunts with enthusiasm, “Fine. But only today. You know I don’t like paying extra.” He helps her friend up so they may carve the Nargacuga together.

When they arrived back at the lobby in the early morning, Don made his way to the felyne drink salesman. “One Lucky Yogurt please. With strawberries.” Once they exchanged product and currency, Don walked back over to Jennie. She seemed to have fallen to her knees holding her stomach in pain. “Hey! Are you alright?” The Narga set female nods, “I just feel a little sick. I think something went into my mouth.” She pushed the yogurt away, “I need to lie down.” She limped her way out to the door. Don then looked back at the cup he was holding. “Wonder when Jen will stop looking for that brainstem? We’ve been going at it for weeks.” His hand was starting to feel cold from the tasty treat he was still holding. “Great. Now I gotta find the miniature refrigerator before it spoils.” Don decides to walk back to his small hut he calls home. He searched under the bed and tables until he found a small box. “Aha!” He pulls out the cooler box. Looking inside, there was only water. “Reyn? Are you here?” His black felyne helper hops from his small bed. “MEOW! I wasn’t sleeping! I was just...” Don disregards his discussion. “Never mind that. Can you get some ice in the market in this?” He puts the cupped yogurt inside and hands the box to his cat. Reyn nods, “Leave it to me!” The felyne slowly walked his way to the outside of the house and to the streets. Don looks over to the next house across from his. (I wonder if she’s feeling okay?) In a few minutes, he noticed that Reyn was back with the cooler. “I got the ice, master!” Don rubs his neck, “Please don’t call me master. It feels embarrassing.” Reyn then bows. “By the way,” he added, “me and Kimba are going to check out the volcano on our own to find some armor parts. We won’t be back for two days.” Don pats his head, “That’s fine. Let me know about your adventures when you come back, yeah?” Reyn bows again and prances himself out of their home. Don then picks up the cooler. “I should give this to her.”

Entering her house, Don knocks outside the front frame of the door. Kimba then walked out of the house. “Oh! Mister Don.” she greeted. “Jennie is resting inside. I must leave to join Ryen on our journey. Do take care of her!” As Kimba then started pouncing away from the area, Don invited himself in by crawling under the fabric. “Jennie?” He walked around until he found her on the left side of the room next to the open large window. “...Jen?” The lady didn’t respond. Don sat down on her bed and began rubbing where her head was, “Feeling better?” Then her voice cracked, “No.” The Rathian armored hunter pulled his hand back, “Yeesh, you sound terrible. Maybe we should work on that Nargacuga hunt at another time.” The shape only nodded, “...Okay.” He delivers the treat on the table before he forgets. “Jennie, your yogurt will be right here when you wake up. Okay?” He pours two glasses of water into the nearby cups. He next sat down next to her and hands her one of them. “Drink lots of water. It speeds up recovery.” Jennie pulls off the cover to look at her assistant. “You need to leave a sick girl alone. Sheesh.” She snatches the cup and takes a sip. Don noticed something different about her armor. It was rather more detailed than the last time he saw her, as if she had some more design along with her armor set. The Narga hunter noticed he was staring at her. The male hunter immediately turned his head out of embarrassment. He lifts his whole face guard up and started drinking his own cup. Jennie puts her cup down, “You know it’s okay to look at me like that. I know what I was getting into when I chose this armor.” Don accepts her assurance and gave a look to her face.

He puts down his drink. “That armor fits your style just fine,” he jokes, “I bet I wouldn’t tell the difference between you and an actual Nargacuga.” Jennie remained silent through his small talk and picks up her cup again. She takes one sip and spoke, “What gave you that idea?” Don gave a good look at her seemingly different figure. “Not sure why, but you look like one today.” He felt that he made a poor choice of words. Jennie was about to slap her friend when she started coughing harshly. The caretaker pats her back to help her cough better. Don finds something shining at his eyes from her right ear. “Ow. Watch that earrings!” Jenny held her fingers behind her red orchid earrings. “What? I can’t even look pretty up here?” Don shields his vision, “No! It just reflected off into my eyes!” Jennie puts her hand near her mouth to try hiding her silent giggling. She peacefully enjoyed her moment with the fiddling hunter. “Since you’re here, I would like to ask you something.” She hands the empty cup to him. “Living in this society is draining my life. It’s half the reasons why we don’t hang out anymore.” Don starts scratching where his face would’ve been had his tight helmet didn’t get in the way. “We all have our roles. It’s how we afford our own homes. That’s the way it is.” The Narga clothed hunter snuggles herself in her blanket.

“Do you think we’ll be able to be with each other a lot more often someday?” Don scratches his helmet to gesture his confusion. “What? What’s with the sudden idea?” Jenny then sighs, “Well, I think one of us could drop our job and just live with the other person. You know what I mean?” Don puts down the cup on the table and shrugged, “I don’t really know where you’re going with this.” Jennie puts her fingers between each eachother. “What if you became my personal caretaker?” The sheer thought nearly had the caretaker nearly choke in his drink. He puts down his cup and starts coughing. Once he finishes, he checks her forehead. “Are you sure your sickness isn’t getting into your head or anything?” The male hunter flustered, “It’s uncomfortable enough having Ryen thinking I’m his owner. Enough fooling around, alright?” The resting hunter then became frustrated. “Agh! You don’t get it, do you?!” The ill hunter then decides to lie back down on the bed, “Nevermind then. I’m just not feeling alright.” She faces the wall. “Thank you for taking care of me, but I’m feeling rather uncomfortably ill. I could barely move my entire body. I think I should just rest for the remainder of the day.” Don waited for any other words from her crackling voice. Without a sound, he turns around. “Then we’ll hunt some other time. Maybe next month if things progress smoothly.” The Rathian equipped partner leaves her house and walked over to the guild for his next task. He puts down his face guard over. “Take care, Jen.” When the hunter left, the girl twists her head to her leaving friend. When he passes through the fabric, she lays low. “Have you never considered how I feel about you?” She looks over to her hand. Her vision was becoming fuzzy. “I just want him to take care of me. Is that so much to ask for?” Her conscious was suddenly failing on her. “Why am I...”

The following evening, Don was resting in his bed peacefully in his light clothing. He suddenly awoken with something on his mind. (Jennie looked pretty bad today. Maybe I should check up on her.) He gets off his bed and puts on his Yukumo attire. He held his hand over his door frame and examines if anyone else has awoken yet. He walks down the long street to infiltrate her house quietly. He looks around for her bedroom. He finds her still asleep in her room still covered in her blanket. It was still too dark to see since the sun didn’t rise from the mountains yet. “I suppose checking her temperature wouldn’t hurt.” The closer he inched, the more the bed looked like it was crowded. He slowly flips the blanket to find something fuzzy. “Hm?” He felt for her head only to find strands of hair. “That’s her hair, but I don’t remember it being this thick.” He slides his hand down where there was more. “Weird. Her hair’s not that crazy.” Feeling around her, her whole body was as if it was covered in hair. “That’s it. Where’s the lamp?” Turning on the nearby lamp, he could see a black bird wyvern sleeping on her bed. Don loudly gasped at the sudden surprise which caused the Nargacuga to awaken and jumped around the bed in confusion. Don immediately shifts his sights over at Jennie’s Hidden Saber Plus weapon. Grabbing the long sword, he unsheathes it and threatens the Nargacuga. “I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m kicking you out!” The wyvern dodged the overhead swing and pounces on the hunter. It roared in front of his face in anger. “Get off of me!” Its burning red eyes showed much anger at the pinned hunter.

The bird’s tail knocked over a box of ice that spread around the floor. The eyes of the beast reverted to its curious yellow. It was then that it noticed that strawberry yogurt treat on it. It lets go of the hunter and trots over to the covered food. “What?” Don taunted, “Aren’t you going to keep attacking me?” The Nargacuga was too distracted trying to slowly open the lid. It was having a hard time, but why so? It suddenly noticed its gigantic claws and drops the yogurt in shock. It next checked its winged arm and backs away in fright. The monster was shifting its yellow eyes over at its legs, then its chest, and lastly the tail. The beast started squaking like crazy as it was on fire. It was making too much noise that could wake the neighbors. Don looked at the wyvern thinking it was senile. The Yukumo hunter sheathed the blade and side slaps the beast in the face with the scabbard. The Nargacuga shook its head from its unbalanced daze. Don rubbed his head, “I wasn’t very good at bringing people to their senses. Especially monsters.” The black wyvern was then making short burst roars as if it was complaining. “What?” Don replied, “You just came out of nowhere! How the heck did you even get in here?” The bird didn’t say another word. It only pointed its beak over to the fallen treat. Don notices its message and picks it up. He watched the bird try to ask him to open it. So he opened the cap and puts the bowl of yogurt on the table. The Nargacuga then got up straight and started eating the inside of the cup. Something reflected from its head by the lamp’s lighting. “Agh!” Don grunted. He looked over to where its ears were. It was that same red orchid earring he saw recently. Don was bewildered. “I don’t believe it.” The bird’s face was slathered in strawberries and yogurt. Don took out a handkerchief and wiped the mess, “Jen? Is that really you?” The Nargacuga stopped eating and looked at the hunter in disbelief. The pesudowyvern didn’t even make a noise. Don then suddenly lost his consciousness from the insanity and faints to the floor.

When the lantern’s light flickered brightly in front of his face, Don awoken to find the Nargacuga staring back at him. He instinctively held himself to the wall, “GAH!” He watched the sincere bird only staring at him. “Oh, right. I fainted from this crazy event. He sits down closely. “Jen, is it really you?” She notably nods back at him. Don then pinched the tunnel between his eyes and groaned, “Oh man. This is really hard for me to digest. How did this even happen?” The hunter twirled his wrist to give some ideas. “Did anything foreign get into your body?” His mind was onto something. “Was it that weird thing you ate you complained about earlier?” Jennie covers her beak and nods. Don then snaps, “Wait. You said you lost something yesterday. Wasn’t it that brainstem?” The Nargacuga was growling with annoyance. Don pointed at her, “What if you didn’t actually lost it? What if that was the thing you accidentally ate?” She looked away to the floor in though before slapping her own head with her talons in realization. Don then scratched his head and removes her claw from her face. “It’s just a guess but I can’t say for sure.” He looks over her overgrown furry body. He eyed the swinging tail that displayed of her anticipation. Don gets off from the bed and groans from the turn of events. “I can’t believe this.”

While Don was looking at her tail, he saw her sword laying on the wall. He picks up her blade. “Wait. You’re a monster now.” Jennie tilts her head to show she was confirming him. Don turns around and holds the blade to her. “You’re not human anymore.” Jennie caws with surprising truth. He lowers his hands, “That means you’re no longer a hunter.” She squaks loudly with her revelation wiring through her mind. She froze in immediate sadness. The Nargacuga started slamming her head onto the floor and cried in agony and frustration. Don knew she is now undergoing a stressful crisis. “Now I know this may seem bad, but-” The beast halts her self injury only to glance back at the calm hunter. She picks up her long sword from his hands only to throw it against the ground. He only looked back at the gesture she performed. “Jennie...” he whispered. She slowly and carefully crawls her way to the balcony. “Wait,” Don said, “we can work this out. Let me help!” Jennie gazed back at him with a sorrowful expression. She jump out of the giant window high into the sky. “No wait! Jen!” he shouted. The picking wind pressure was gone. The wyvern was nowhere to be seen from his angle. Don examines the long sword on the floor. “Dammit!” he cussed, slamming his fist on the wall. Picking up the Hidden Saber Plus on the carpet, he made a run to the streets over to to the mountain streams. Don pushed by the late night passersby citizens of the city. “Excuse me! Coming through! Please move! Sorry!” He looked over at the sky where the unclear black creature flew above the people. It steered over to the mountains. Don quickly left through the wooden bridge that lead to the streams. Meanwhile, Ryen and Kimba ran into him on the way back. “Master, we have returned.” Ryen greeted. Don rushed by the felynes, “Not now! Follow me, I’ll explain on the way!” Sensing the emergency situation, the two cats willingly chased after the male hunter.

The moonlight hovered over the three party members. Kimba was then reassuring the human’s story. “Let me get this straight. That Nargacuga earlier was my master Jennie? That’s biologically impossible. Right?” Ryen shook his head, “I heard this myth when I was a kitten, but never had I imagined to encounter such proof in my lifetime!” Don pulls out his binoculars. “Now isn’t the time to be talking. We need to find her.” He stops in the middle of the jungle to catch his breath. Looking over his legs, he realizes that he was not wearing his usual equipment. “Oh come on!” he jeered, “I rushed out here so fast that I forgot to put on my best armor.” He puts the lenses in front of his eyes to watch the dark forest. “If only I could see in the dark.” He puts down his device and started roaming around. “Jen! Where are you?” He heard rustling from afar that caused him to pause. “Come out. I don’t want to hurt you.” He awaited in the darkness for an answer. “Please.” Shifting through the bushes, the bird wyvern slowly crawled out of its hiding position. Kimba stumbles backwards, “That’s her earring!” Jennie only whines. Her ears lowered to show her feelings. Don widened his arms to comfort her. “Come here.” The beast hunches over his shoulders and roars its heart out. Despite the painfully loud cry, the hunter endured it for her sake. He closes his arms around her neck. “Don’t worry,” he explains, “I’ll figure something out. Just hang in there.”

The morning sun shined through the land and over the whole group. Don reawakened and checked his surroundings. “I’ve must have fallen asleep while she cried over me.” He tried to piece his fuzzy memory together, “Let’s see. She picked me up and brought me over somewhere to hug me while I slept in her fur. But...” Somehow he found himself on a giant tree branch. “WOAH!” With this sudden surprise, he almost stumbles off and struggles to stay on. “Where in the hell...” He looked upwards to find Ryen and Kimba sleeping separately above him. He heard chewing from below and looks over. The black beast returned with a dead Gargwa in its mouth. The Nargacuga dropped the food and started ripping the blood and flesh. With such a sight, Don leaned forward and falling off his branch over to the nearby ruins. The beast took sight on the hunter and walked carefully closer. The pesudowyvern roared and pounced on the hunter with such speed. Don struggles to get lose, “Wait! Stop!” The Nargacuga did nothing but wag its spiky tail for his company. “Jen!” the Yamato hunter commanded, “Off!” The bird wyvern complied and stepped off of him. Don brushed himself from the dirt and dust. “These are my traveling clothes...” Jennie resumed to consume the Gargwa on the dirt. “Where did you get that?” he questions. Jennie twists her head over to him. She pushes the bird over to his direction. Don waved his hands away, “No thank you. Forgot my spit back home.” With that reminder he looks over at the lower location where the village was. “Jen?” He caught her attention. “We should see if we can consult the village elder about this. Maybe he might know what to do.”

The citizens of Yukumo Village watched the hunter and the two felynes bringing in a cooperative monster into the main street of the village. Children and wives hid indoors while the men only gawked at the sight. The village hunters held closely to their weapons by each passing. Don ignored the people. He holds tightly onto the reins of the Nargacuga’s collar. She crows when he accidentally tugs her roughly. Don winced at each of her noises. “Sorry I have to tie you up. Village’s regulations for captured monsters. You’ve done it before.” He looked above to the high temple. “We’re almost at the stairs.” They climb up to the large chief hut. The elder was drinking tea only to spit out once he saw a hunter bring in a wyvern into his room. “What is the meaning of this?!” the elder dared ask of him. Don scratched his head as he began taking his word path in thought. “Uhh...” Ryen bobs his head to comfort him. Don clears his throat first. “I came to request of a favor.” The chief poured an unstable cup. “And you bring that thing in first? You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Don bows down to show his apology and respect, “Please help my friend Jennie here! She was once human! I know this sound ridiculous, but...” The chief got off his chair to give a closer look at the Nargacuga. “I see...” He faces the hunter, “This is the first time I have ever seen such events.” Don rubs his head, “Wait. You believe me?” The elder points his cane outside to the villager huts, “Last night we have reports of a giant bird that escaped a hut. We also received a witness report that your friend never left the room since yesterday noon. Our investigators reported that she was nowhere to be found and you were running after this wyvern so desperately. It wasn’t very hard to piece the two together.” The old man turns around. “Now why don’t you tell me the story from the start?” Don kneels down since he knew he was going to stay for a while. “Well...” He began his storytelling from their last hunt, to Jennie falling ill, and his discovery of her transformation.

The elder nods his head, “Indeed a tragic tale.” The adult hunter eagerly asked, “So does this mean you will help?” The chief only puts his stick back down. “Unfortunately, I do not know much of the Monster’s Curse.” Don had to ask, “Monster’s Curse?” The chief poked the bird’s beak. “The Monster’s Curse was a myth passed down through generations. It is a ritual where a human transforms as a monster. The ritual consists of the host to consume a certain part of a beast in order to turn into the desired creature. Many have failed to become one with the beasts, but I heard a few successful stories that were said to be true.” The elder then lets go of the beast. “I’m sorry. I cannot help your friend here. She is forever to remain a monster.” Don stomps his feet, “There has to be something we can do for her!” The elder starts pacing away from them. “You must also know that she is to stay away from the village.” The young hunter could not believe what he was hearing. “WHAT?! That is completely unfair to her! It’s not like she wanted to be like this!” He points his stick at his face. “I understand what it means to lose someone you care about, but she is not human anymore. She must live as a Nargacuga or her nature will surely catch up to her. She will destroy this village out of pure instinct. She cannot stay!” Don stands up in sheer anger. Jennie then leans her head over his shoulder to calm him. “No Jen,” he replies, “It’s not okay!” She chirps to him. Don’s heart sank with grief. “I can’t give up. There has to be something...” The elder pats the defeated hunter. “It is for the best. I will instruct the guild to transfer her belongings under your name.” Don sank at the floor. “...Why?” Ryen rests aside with him. “I’m sorry it didn’t turn out the way you wanted.” The whole party decides to leave the temple entrance.

Returning to the cold outside forest streams, the two stopped near the darkened flowing water. “Well Jen. We’re back here now.” The hunter looked back to the Nargacuga. “I just want to talk you privately. That’s why I left Ryen and Kimba back home.” He wraps his arms around her neck to remove the restrictive leather. “Welp. I did what I could.” The beast didn’t seem sad in the slightest. She rubs her face under Don to lift him up a bit. “Hey hey!” the human shouted. He moves himself away from her. Don held his shoulder to bring the bad news. “Look, Jennie.” The guilty sight of her attentive face only made it harder for him to explain. “We can’t live together like this.” The beast made a cracking voice, like she was telling him not to go. “You are no longer a human,” he replied, “let alone a hunter.” Don lets go of her. He turns his back to her.  “You need to live out here. You are already hunting like an animal, so you’ll definitely survive out here. I’m sure of it.” He proceeds to leave the area. Jennie lunged forward to punch his back enough to make him stumble. Don looked back to her. She clearly didn’t want to be abandoned. Those sad dilated pupils filled him with much regret. “I can’t help you anymore. I don’t know what else I can do for you.” The pesudowyvern couldn’t bear for him to leave. The monster crawled to him and latch herself onto his shoulders. “Hey what are you doing?” was the hunter’s response. She wanted to let him know what she wants. Following her instincts, she opens her mouth and licks his lips. Don was stumbling backwards from the turn of events. He trips himself over to the ground, “Wha- I- Uhh... Did you just kiss me?” Jennie leans its head over his chest. The hunter didn’t know what to say. “So you just want to stay with me?” The Nargacuga only cooed to him. Don pats his hand over her furry ears. He didn’t feel like ruining this moment. The two only laid together with the fireflies starting to settle into the scene. Don began thinking to himself. He only had an idea what to do.

* * *

The felyne Ryen waltz into an unmarked territory of the forest. “Kimba, are we there yet?” The front cat checked the map again. “I don’t know. This is uncharted territory. We’re not even supposed to be here.” The black felyne yawns, “I still can’t believe master decided to move out of the village. I hate moving days.” Kimba points at a miniature cottage far ahead. “We’re here!” Through the trees with particles of sunbeams shining through the turquoise environment stands a small hut. Outside the large hut was a hunter in his Nargacuga set. “Oh! You actually came by!” Kimba looked at his attire, feeling quite awkward. “Is that armor made out of...” Don looked at his attire, “Well to be honest I thought it wasn’t a very good idea that I made this armor. Jennie didn’t seem to mind though since she understood. I thought if I wore this then she’d feel right at home. It’s now my exploration suit.” Ryen looked around the front yard. “Did anyone hear that?” A faraway screech shuffled branches of the woods. An incoming predator was charging through the forest with high velocity. Out of the shadows of the trees was a humongous black bird! Don hesitantly grabs his nearby Hidden Saber Plus weapon and prepares to self defend himself. He looked over to the left. “It’s her, guys.” He lowers his weapon with relief. Ryen jumps and points back, “What?! She’s was way smaller than that thing!” The hunter points at the large Nargacuga, “Look at her ears and neck.” Kimba paid close attention to the earrings. The shining icons of exaggerated cartoonish felyne heads dangled under the lowered ears. There was a crimson collar wrapped around the throat. “Mreow,” Kimba admired, “Now that’s a sexy collar. Are those earrings new?” Don smirks, “Yep. Thought it might be adorable on her. It was a bit of a pain to put them on without her jumping everywhere.”

Jennie walks to the three characters. She lowers her body to ready herself. She jumps over the hunter and pounces on his entire torso. “HEY! JEN! You’re too heavy!” She began licking his cheek in a form of ‘welcome back’ to him. Don tries to push her off, “Come on! It’s not like I’m not your owner or whatnot!” She only wags her tail hearing those words. The hunter gave up and groaned, “Can’t get free.” Eventually the wyvern releases the human from captivity and sits upright. Don then remembers something. “Right. I need to change into my current armor set.” He walks inside his new home to remove his Nargacuga armor and change into his newly polished Silver Rathalos set. He looked around the messy tables for a certain something. “Aha!” He brings out the ice box and walks outside. “Sorry about that.” He removes the tasty yogurt treat from the cooler and uncaps the lid. “Here you are. I also paid for the strawberries too.” The bird hops in anticipation and started eating from his hands. “Heh. Even the taste of blood and meat doesn’t come close to your favorite snack, huh?” Once the Nargacuga finishes, Don looked over to the barely visible sun. “I need to help the guild out before the sun sets. After a few hunts, I’m going to help the village out with some repairs.” He looks over to the excited bird. “Would you like to come watch with me? The elder didn’t say you couldn’t visit.” The Nargacuga lifts him up and lay low to his level. The Silver Rathalos warrior puts the leash on her collar. “Ryen, Kimba, we’re leaving.” Ryen was rubbing his foot, “But we just got here!” Everyone sets out from the lonely house to the gates of Yukumo Village. The Nargacuga pants with glee to be walked by her only human friend. Don still didn’t like the idea of a master and slave relationship, but he can’t deny that fact since he’s holding her rope. Sure every now and then Jennie occasionally missed the hunter’s life. But when her monster life allowed her to be as close to Don as much as she wanted, she wished she had turned much earlier.