The Frenzy Pt2: More Questions Than Answers

	Roy was relaxing below deck on one of the Guild's fancy new 'Dragonships'. Meant for hunting Mohran of all kinds, they were equipped with twin ballistae, a large gong, and a forward-mounted Dragonator that could pivot to either the port or starboard side. His Rathian companion from a few months ago had vanished on him, which upset the human a bit. She hadn't even said why, she just up and left one day. After a month of no contact, he figured Kino had moved on without him.

	So, here he was, 'guarding' a Dragonship on its way to Loc Lac. Really, the ship could defend itself. The crew was competently trained, and the route had already been cleared as safe by the Hunter's Guild. Of course, the Guild's 'safe' and Roy's 'safe' were sometimes two totally different definitions. Safe for the Dragonship meant that they *probably* wouldn't be sunk into the sand sea by a Mohran. Maybe.

	Roy stood and stretched, Azure Rathalos armor plates clattering as he did so. Remodeled in a newer, more protective style, he walked up the stairs to the deck, greeted by the sight of one of the crew members killing a Delex that had jumped aboard looking for food. The captain, a Diablos halfbreed, didn't appear to care to any degree. This was par for the course on a Dragonship, Delex frequently jumping aboard for loose scraps of food to pillage.

	"Ah, Hunter, good of you to join us." The Diablos man mentioned offhandedly as Roy looked over the rails at the grand city before him. Loc Lac was less than fifty kilometers out, which was nothing with the speed this ship was moving at. "What brings you to the upper deck?"

	"Eh, just stretching my legs, captain." Roy responded. The captain approached Roy and took up a spot next to him, the wickedly spiked Dragonator just beneath them. The weapon had been warmed up the entire trip, just in case. "I feel as cramped up as my luggage."

	Said luggage had been thrown in with the ammunition and fuel for the Dragonship. All of Roy's clothing would likely need to be cleaned before use, just to be rid of the smell.

	The captain chuckled, pushing off and calling back. "We'll be at port within the hour. Best collect your gear now."
---

	One Rathain bellow sounded out across the lush jungle, reverberating through the treetops and vines. A few scant seconds later a second bellow followed, challenging the first. This second one was lower in volume, but no lower in ferocity. The small Rathian anthro, Kino, was staring down her full sized 'mother' species, flame in her mouth and sharp claws bared.

	The two stood there for a moment, eyes locked. Brilliant gold eyes met mismatched blue and green, each daring the other to blink, even for a nanosecond.

	Eventually, the wyvern did. Kino reacted immediately, lunging forward. She planted her foot onto the ground and pivoted, her tail whirling around like a morning star. The bulb impacted on the Rathian's face, the sharp spines lodging in the plating and scale. Unfortunately, Kino's venom was ineffective on the full size wyvern, though the same was true in reverse. Instead, Kino followed through with another lunge, leaping up and onto the large wyvern.

	The Rathian struggled to dislodge the halfbreed woman, moaning helplessly as Kino dug in with her claws. Scale and plate went flying in all directions as Kino slashed any spot she could reach. Eventually the wyvern forced the halfbreed off, spitting a fireball in Kino's face as Kino went by.

	"Augh, hey! My hair!" Kino shouted, shaking her fist as the Rathian took wing to escape. "Fine! This is MY cave now, don't come back!"

	"Uh...Miss Reia...?" Came a voice from behind a rock. A young man in leather armor stepped out, a large metal Greatsword strapped to his back. Unused so far, not a nick or scratch on it. He had, in fact, avoided combat as a whole. Even a common Velociprey or Jaggi was too much for him.

	Kino shook her head slightly. "Yeah, rookie?"

	"Is that...Rathian coming back...?"

	"She better not..." Kino growled, a small hint of flame leaping into her mouth. "What did you need to come out here for?"

	"Just some jungle flowers...my village needs them for a healing remedy, and I'm just not cut out for this Hunting stuff..." The 'Hunter' said, eyes not meeting the wyverness' own.

	"Right...well, don't let me stop you." Kino said, taking up a sentry position nearby. Her presence alone was scaring off the smaller predators (the Jaggi standing an arm's length away having a fear-induced heart attack notwithstanding), and the smell of Rath blood was scaring off some of the bigger ones.

	She stood there for a few moments like this, watching as the gatherer picked a few bright pink flowers off of some vines. He was carefully removing them with a precision knife, taking great care to not damage the petals. Kino assumed the petals themselves were the important bit, even if the flowers smelled...unpleasant.

	Kino's thoughts drifted, back to Roy. She hated just abandoning him like that, but she had...something important to do. Her memories blanked out her entire childhood, and she wanted to know why. So here the anthro was, a month later, no closer to her goal than when she left. She was, in fact, a little worse off. Strapped for cash, lacking in conversation, and devoid of companionship. He may have been annoying at times, but...Roy was always willing to talk. Sometimes too much, but even that she appreciated.

	"Ma'am? I'm ready."

	"Good, let's get you home then. I'm hungry and broke, and I'd like to get paid."
---

	Loc Lac appeared much the same as it did the last time Roy was here: sand worn, loud, and loaded with activity. The Hunter offhandedly waved a goodbye to the Dragonship crew, off to find the lodging that the Guild had set up for him. Someone briefly bumped into him, pushing off with a rushed apology before disappearing into the crowds.

	After a few minutes of searching (and some directions from the local guard), he had found it. A large building, glittering white despite the sand. A sculpture of a Rathalos head was over the door, and various other monsters were carved into the outer walls. The windows were easily twice Roy's own height, and many of the rooms had balconies for when the sandstorms let up on the pressure.

	A low whistle escaped the man as he looked at the grand building. While he had access to only one of the rooms, the single room in and of itself was larger than his entire home back in Pokke. Roy sat his bag onto the bed, and noticed something was...not right.

	He re-counted. Then counted again.

	"Wait..."

	He was missing something. One of Kinoreia's scales, a sort of 'thank you' from her.

	"Where..."

	The Hunter gasped.

	"That asshole that bumped into me!" Roy shouted as he turned on his heel and stormed out. "I'm gonna end that son of a bitch as soon as I get my hands on him...!"
---

	Kinoreia belched, leaning back in her chair. She had rented out a room for the night, though the village insisted she not pay for it tonight. Her food was also 'free', in the sense that she caught it herself. A nice tuna, lightly roasted with her own flames. The remains sat on a plate that she would dispose of in the morning. As of right now, sleep called.

	The anthro hopped into bed, wrapping her tail across her waist. A cool breeze was drifting through the open window, the little town too impoverish to afford glass in any significant amount. She wrapped the thin blanket around herself, shivering slightly.

	"Bah...I'll *make* them some glass if it's that big a deal..." The wyverness grumbled, closing her eyes for some much needed rest.

	She had only been asleep for an hour when her keen hearing picked up voices outside. She woke with a low groan, but didn't move from her spot on the bed. It had finally gotten just the right temperature, and she was too comfortable to move.

	"Are you sure?" A voice asked, feminine.

	"Positive. These halfbreeds are nothing but trouble." A male voice replied.

	"What about the one staying here? She seemed helpful." Another male said.

	"Yeah, for now. Wait until she hears about the Rathalos halfbreed, she'll join right on up with him. No, we need to contact the Hunter's Guild." The second voice spoke up again.

	"But...she *is* with the Guild. We can just ask her." Said the third.

	"We can't guarantee she'll stay with the Guild if a male is involved." The first man shot back hotly. "No, we need a human to sort this out."

	"You're just paranoid." Replied the woman with a sigh. "Fine, I'll send out a letter in the morning. Hopefully that Rathalos halfie stays in the forest until we get a response."

	"On a different note, the blacksmith is running down on supplies again, asked me to pass this note along." The third voice cut in, audibly cutting off the first man. "Details what he needs and how much."

	"Very well. I don't need to tell you to not let on about that Rathalos, do I? It'll create needless panic, and the village is on its last legs as is." The village chief half-asked. The Rathian halfbreed strained her ears, trying to pick up the footsteps as they each went in a different direction.

	Now curious, Kino rose from her bed. Tiptoeing to the window, she saw one of the speakers heading down the street. The other two were long gone, and the wyverness couldn't tell which that particular figure was from this distance. She carefully stepped through the window and took wing, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

	The figure stepped into a building, and she heard the door lock with a heavy bolt. To afford that kind of protection? Had to be the chief she was tailing. Having lost her lead, Kino instead turned her attention towards the jungle behind her. Supposedly there was a Rathalos halfbreed back there? If there was, she had missed him entirely.

	Time to do some scouting. The wyverness figured that she wasn't welcome here anyway.
---

	The following morning, Roy was at the Guild counter, looking for work. Kino's scale hung on his unarmored neck like a pendant, the Hunter having successfully gotten it back from the pickpocket. Said thief was currently sitting in a holding cell, large bruises on his arms, chest, and face.

	"Hey there," Roy greeted. "Got anything today?"

	"Oh, we have plenty, Hunter! May I see your Guild Card?" The attendant chirped, taking the Hunter's card and looking at her board. "Ones appropriate for your rank though, hmm... Ahah!" She then pulled down a number of bounties, one of them completely unstained from sand and the elements. "Just got a new one this morning, poor little messenger bird was so exhausted."

	"May I?" He asked, gesturing for the clean bounty. She handed it over wordlessly, attention elsewhere. "Hmm. Rathalos Halfbreed terrorizing the village of Tristew. Pure human or pure wyverian help only, Hunting part of one requested... fifty grand?!" Roy leaned back in shock. "This must be...pretty serious."

	"Is that what it says? It's only been up since the messenger bird came in thirty minutes ago. Lucky you, huh?" The Guild attendant chirped. "I take it you'll be going on this one, then?"

	"Absolutely. I'll go get equipped, please have a ride ready?"

	"Oh, of course! We'll have you there in a day or so! Happy travels, your exit is gate three!"

	Roy grinned and left for his room, almost sprinting towards it. Once there, he pulled on his Rathalos Soul armor, as well as supplies he may need. Equipping his Stygian Luxuria sword and accompanying shield as well as a belt of flash bombs (just in case), the final thing was a book to read on the way over. Maybe two.

	"Let's see...I haven't read The Dove and the Princess: End of an Era yet..."

	The small airship pilot was actually getting slightly impatient by the time Roy showed up, the Hunter flashing his Guild Card and boarding the craft. The pilot threw the docking rope off, and they managed to take off just before the usual sandstorms hit the city. The Azure-clad man sighed, popping his book open.

	"I hope I closed the window..."
---
	The sun's rays woke the Rathian half-breed, who had managed to make a hammock high up between two trees. While she was certain smaller predators would leave her be, it wasn't them she was worried about. No, she was worried about other wyverns and the possibility of other half breeds such as Nargacuga or...

	She shuddered. Khezu, the absolute worst she could fight. The entire reason she had her scar in the first place. It was possible that Kino had developed what the humans called a 'phobia' of Khezu, and frankly, she was happy that most of them melted like candle wax.

	Kino still wasn't at the top yet, she had to go through a cave system first. The foliage was too thick for her to fly through, or she'd have done it long ago. She also didn't have the flight stamina to go from ground all the way to the nest, so she had to do a little bit of leg-work.

	Keeping a fireball at the ready and listening very closely for any signs of Khezu of any kind, she unleashed the full fury on a Genprey that had attempted to ambush her. Its midsection was incinerated in an instant, the two remaining chunks landing some distance away. Several others of its pack came out of a small alcove in the cave, with a Gendrome leading them all.

	Kinoreia simply cracked her neck muscles. "I could use a workout. C'mon."

	One leapt at her, which was countered with a high kick. Her talons immediately poisoned the Genprey, obvious in the way it unsteadily swayed to and fro. A second one jumped near her and attempted to bite, only to get an elbow to its teeth, shattering them. Her scales protected her from the worst of it, though her right arm was starting to go numb. Minor dose of the paralytic poison, she figured, should wear off soon. The leader wasn't doing much, so Kino launched an assault of her own. If she broke the leader, the rest would scatter.

	Closing the distance quickly, she turned into a vicious roundhouse kick, talons bared. The Gendrome ducked the kick, but not the tail bulb that followed Kino's movements like a flail. It smashed him in the side, snapping off roughly half a dozen toxic thorns into his side. The Gendrome groaned in pain and was momentarily distracted as the green-scaled girl finished her spin and spat a molten-hot fireball into the 'drome's face. Though the Gendrome's scales were slightly heat resistant, there was no way they could hold off the sheer heated fury of a Rathian.

	Scales and flesh melted, the Gendrome falling over dead as his head smoked from the blast. The other Genprey that had been poisoned also collapsed, dying of its wounds and subsequent poisoning. The other four Genprey looked at one another and retreated, just as she thought they would. Flexing her numb hand in irritation, she continued on through the cave while waiting for the toxin to run its course.

	Kino exited through what appeared to be a waterfall, getting soaked in the process. While she didn't exactly appreciate that, she noted that it would keep certain predators out...while letting other scavengers in. Several Hermitaur sifting through the sand to her left made her case.

	She wasn't sure why she was pursuing this Rathalos Half-breed. Some part of it had to be instinctual, she knew. The Rathian also figured that maybe, just maybe, he could help her on her quest to figure out who she was.

	...as little hope as she had of that, she chuckled dryly to herself.
---

	"You must be the Hunter we requested." The Chieftain said, looking Roy over. His helmet was held loosely in his arms, the scale pendant hidden underneath his chestplate. "Hmm...yes, you'll do. Do you understand what it is you need to do?"

	"I'd appreciate an explanation." Roy said, scratching the back of his head.

	"Very well." The elder said, looking at the mountain peak. "A Rathalos half-breed has recently taken the top of the mountain as his den. This is a problem, as there are valuable minerals up there that we need. Naturally, he has been less than kind enough to let us in and mine said minerals out."

	Roy rolled his eyes. "Yes, I can't imagine why he denied the noisy mining operations. All day and night. In his home."

	"We recently played host to a Rathian half-breed, but she disappeared a little while ago after helping us collect medical supplies." The Elder continued, ignoring the Hunter's comment. "We believe she heard about the Rathalos and went to him." The elder did not look happy. In fact, most of the town didn't look happy. Whispers of it being all the Rathian's fault reached Roy's ears, and caused him to cast an icy look in their direction.

	"Very well. I'll convince him to leave, either through words or through force." Roy said, patting his Stygian Zinogre short sword. "What's the easiest way up?"

	"There is actually a path up, leads to a rope bridge. Provided the halfie didn't burn it down, that trail will lead you straight to the top. Otherwise...you may have to improvise."

	"Right. Thank you, I suppose I'll be back in a few days."
---

	"Ah SHIT!" Roy shouted, one of the planks on the bridge giving out under his weight. He quickly grabbed the rotting planks on either side as the shattered wood underneath him fell into the darken forest below. Panting as the fear flooded out of him, he hauled himself up and grabbed the ropes on the bridge. "Gods dammit, don't they ever maintain this fucking thing?!"

	His question was answered when the ropes snapped, severing the bridge and sending him on a one-way trip to the other side. Roy screamed in terror on his impromptu rope swing, before the air was knocked out of his lungs on impact with the other side. Struggling to keep his lunch down and lungs filled, the Hunter paused.

	"'Oh, it's the easiest way up!'" Roy mocked, sending a withering glare at the village behind him. The Azure Rathalos-clad Hunter climbed up the bridge-turned-ladder, reaching solid ground and panting heavily. A quick equipment check showed that he had lost one flash bomb in the fall, but it wasn't worth searching for. It would take too long and it wasn't all that valuable. A look to his left indeed showed a path around the hill and, presumably, to the top of the mountain.

	"Twenty zenni says it's covered in old traps they 'neglected' to tell me about..."
---

	Kinoreia was watching the Rathalos anthro curiously from her higher vantage point, something she filed away to laugh at later. He had odd purple markings all over his body, and it seemed like he overreacted to everything. Jaggi in the nest? Cluster-fireball. Altaroth? Cluster-fireball. Hunter in Azure Rathalos arm-

	"Oh no, what is that idiot doing here...?!" She asked herself in fear. He could compromise her entire purpose for being here!

	"Hey there!" Roy called, and the Rathalos anthro immediately rounded on him, growling. The growl sounded...off, though. Like something was messing with the red anthro's vocal cords. His eyes were also bloodshot, and the irises were a corrupt purple. "Listen, I don't want to fight, and you seem to be a respectable guy." Roy continued, either unaware of the threat or completely aware. It was hard to tell with him sometimes. "I know it sucks, but the village at the base of the mountain? They kinda want you to move."

	The demi-Rathalos snarled at him in response, tainted flame in his jaws. Said flames had some sort of purple hue to them. She wasn't sure if she should alert Roy or not...

	"Oh no, no, I get it, really." The Hunter said, hands up in an apologetic stance. It seemed that he *didn't* recognize just how dangerous this crazed Rathalos was. "I'd hate to get kicked out of my home too, just because the neighbors don't like me." He sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm being paid to make you move. I'll give you half of my reward if you do, deal?"

	"Prey..." The Rathalos ground out, his voice definitely sounding...off. Like parts of his vocal cords were paralyzed. The halfbreed prepared a fireball, ready to hit the Hunter with it...for all the good it would do to his fire immune armor.

	Roy sighed again.

	"I was afraid of that."

	In a flash, the Hunter had both sword and shield ready, rolling away from the fireball and coming to his feet expertly. The Rathalos halfbreed charged him, planting his feet and twisting to use his tail as a wicked flail. While it wasn't toxic like a Rathian's, it still hurt.

	Reia could almost sense Roy yawning as he deflected the attack upwards with his shield, causing the tail to soar over his head and the Rathalos to teeter off balance. The Hunter then shoulder-checked his opponent, the Rathalos skidding across the nesting area but staying on his feet.

	"C'mon, I'm still willing to give you a chance. Move somewhere else, and I won't have to kill you." Roy said, voice lowering from amicable to absolutely frigid mid-sentence. The Azure Rathalos Hunter then swung his sword twice, practice swings. The short sword, made of Stygian Zinogre, was infused with the Dragon element. Lethal to most Elder Dragons...and his target in question.

	"Must...kill..." The Halfbreed droned on, ignoring Roy's drawn weapon and keeping his eyes locked with the Hunter's.

	"Are you seriously that suicidal?" Kino shouted, though her voice didn't reach the battleground. The Rathalos lunged at Roy, prompting Roy to slap his opponent's claws away with his shield and slice into his tail. The burst of Dragon energy simply disintegrated a chunk of the tail, the club-like portion of the tail hit the ground with a heavy thud and both severed sections bleeding freely.

	"GAHAHAAAHA!" The Rathalos shouted in pain, picking himself up from the ground slowly and inspecting the damage. He rounded to see the point of the Azure Hunter's sword in his face.

	"FINAL WARNING! Move, or I END YOU." Roy snarled, voice as fiery as the armor he wore. It seemed like the halfbreed finally got the hint, backing up with his hands up. Roy lowered his sword.

	The Rathalos lunged forward, slugging the Hunter in the face and removing his helmet with the force. A fireball was then launched, aimed true to the reeling Hunter's head. Roy only had time to close his eyes and figure that he had a good run.

	The impact hit, but it didn't hit *him*. Instead, something heavy hit him and threw them both to the ground, and Roy chanced a glance. In her green glory was Kinoreia, clutching the small burn on her side. She was inaudibly grumbling about something, and Roy grabbed his helmet as he rose, putting it on and realizing the straps had snapped, likely when the bridge had snapped and taken him for a ride.

	Figuring Kino would be fine for the moment, he turned towards his Rathalos opponent. He was in the air, a strange purple aura around him. The Demi-Rathalos dove at him, razor sharp talons bared. Roy waited just a moment, then batted his opponent to the side with his shield. This change in momentum caused him to fall out of the sky, right on top of Roy.

	The Hunter rolled him off and played no more games. Placing his boot on the animal's neck, he pushed down to break his trachea while simultaneously ramming his sword through the Demi-Rathalos' forehead. "I warned you far too many times." He looked up to see Kino had pulled herself to a sitting position, still rubbing the burn.

	"C'mon, it didn't hurt that bad, did it?" Roy said, pulling his helmet off so she could see his teasing, but friendly, smile. "Really though, did that hurt? I've got mega potions for you if it did."

	"Thanks for severing one of my only links to my past." She said quietly, not looking at Roy. He stopped his advance, absolutely confused. He looked at the now dead Demi-Rathalos, still emitting that strange purple aura.

	"Kino, wha-"

	A terrible scream tore through the area, one that Roy could not place. He dashed to the broken Demi-Rathian, picked her up, and hid behind a rock. He'd deal with her after he was sure they both were safe.

	Cloaked in black, a wyvern landed. He had never seen this wyvern before, though it was emitting the same purple aura as the slain halfbreed. The wyvern simply began to eat the fallen Rathalos. Messily. Roy took notes, as unpleasant as they were, when he noticed something.

	It was looking dead at him now. Or rather, 'looking' at him. He noticed it lacked eyes. After a moment, it began flinging orbs of black and purple, seemingly not caring where they landed. After roughly five minutes, it screamed again. Two objects, which were what appeared to be antennae, had sprouted from its head, but most jarring were the two extra limbs it grew. Or rather, simply stretched from its shoulders. These limbs were massive in musculature, and they were also where the wings were attached. Bright purple lit up the antennae and wings, and it looked at Roy, growling quietly.

	It could see him.

	Roy left his half-cover of the boulder, Kino still tucked behind it. The human drew his sword and shield, unsure of what to do. It had yet to attack him, but it did just devour the corpse of the recently dead. Quickly, at that. It hadn't even been fifteen minutes before this...thing had found the dead demi-Rathalos.

	Maybe because Roy posed a threat is why it wasn't attacking?

	That thought was shattered when it lunged at him with all six limbs, its 'extra' ones picking up a hefty boulder and bashing Roy over the head with it. The Hunter staggered and fell over, knowing for a fact he had a concussion now as he clutched the top of his head. The wyvern then spat another one of those cloudy orbs, this time in his face.

	 The purple mist broke apart over his head, and his very next breath drew most of it in. His mind was overwhelmed with emotions as the poison attacked his very mind. Chief among them were anger and rage, the want and NEED to hurt something. The Hunter's valiant struggle against these invasive and dangerous thoughts was for naught as he picked himself up and immediately launched himself at this black monstrosity. It reacted in fear, almost as if it had been caught off guard.

	Roy attacked it with reckless abandon, the dragon element sword cleaving one of the antennae off in a single stroke. That wasn't enough, he needed more. The other antenna retreated to safety to...gods knows where, so his blade bit into its face. As Roy lifted the weapon, gold scales were exposed to open air as black scale disintegrated. The Hunter took no notice, moving for another attack. It moved its head, and he instead attacked its arm, not even recognizing the creature's movements as an attack. The beast had blood, and Roy wanted to see it spilled, no matter the cost!

	A massive clawed limb smashed into him, throwing him several meters away. Roy didn't feel it, instead getting up and charging back in. He leapt up and brought the sword down, slicing through a small bit of wing membrane as it attempted to retreat. As he followed it, the blood rage broke and everything he had been ignoring hit him with twice the pain.

	Roy collapsed on the spot, a short shout of pain announcing his change of mental state. He slowly lifted himself into a sitting position, panting somewhat. His shield arm was limp, likely broken, as he looked himself over.

	"What...what the *fuck* was that...?" The Hunter muttered, cradling his busted arm gingerly with the other.

	"I don't know..." Kino replied, jaw almost unable to close as she watched Roy's careless and stupid attack. Those were not the tactics of a seasoned Hunter, those were the actions of someone begging to die. The Hunter attempted to grab one of his potions, but found it nearly impossible without causing further harm to himself.

	"Ugh. Kino, can you help me with this?" He asked, gesturing to his bag. "Just pull one out for me, mega variety."

	"Yeah, hold on, okay? I'm here," she said, hurriedly combing through the bag.

	"I'm not dying, Kino. Just in a lot of pain. Would like it to stop, too."

	An embarrassed blush worked its way to her face as she pulled one out. "Right, right..."

	Roy downed it as soon as the demi-Rathian pulled the lid off, sighing in peace as the natural, heavy painkillers went to work. "Now...what are you doing out here?"

	Kino gestured to the brutalized corpse of the Rathalos halfbreed. "I wanted to ask him something. I'll be honest, I'm glad it was you that went out there."

	"Oh?"

	"I wouldn't have been able to put him down," Kino said, shaking her head. "Don't get me wrong, he wouldn't have had the chance to attack me. He needed to be put down, I just wouldn't have the guts to do it. I...almost thought I would have to do it to you when you lost control."

	Roy chuckled as he replaced the now empty bottle in his pack. "Heh, c'mon now. You know I'm tougher than that."

	"Physically, sure," the demi-Rathian commented. "Against an attack like this, though...? I was worried."

	The Hunter chuckled again, then picked his sword up and sheathed it. "Well, I'm alright now. I'm just tired..." He amended himself when he saw Kino stare at him with her jaw set in irritation. "...right, okay, fine. My arm's broken too. Point is, my job is done. Easy fifty grand."

	"You said FIFTY?"

	"Mmhm."

	"Who put it up?"

	"The chief of the village below. Even mentioned something about you, but I wouldn't worry about it. I've got you covered."

	Kino arched an eyebrow. "'Got me covered?' Why?"

	"Eh, well...they thought you were up here with him."

	The Rathian's face turned an interesting shade of red, fury bleeding into her veins. "Really now."

	"Yeah. Like I said, I got you covered. Just gonna invent some bullshit about you being an advance scout or something."

	"And they'll buy that?"

	"They won't really have a choice. You haven't done anything wrong, and they can't prove you did," Roy said with a shrug. "Now, that antenna. Try to shove it in my pack, I'm going to have the Loc Lac Guild Branch take a look at it."

	The Rathian girl nodded and shoved it into his pack with some difficulty, then helped the wounded Hunter up. "Shall we?"

	"Thought you would never ask."
----