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Listed in Folders
The New World is fraught with danger and filled with monsters both thinking and feral. It is a land where humans struggle to survive and coexist with forces far greater than themselves. Hence why the massive monsters that call this place home have taken it upon themselves to guard and guide them. To teach and train them and see to it these frail and imperfect beings have all that they need to survive if not one day thrive in these inhospitable lands.
And in light of the danger confronting the New World, from within and without, the monsters and men inhabiting it must decide if they wish to grow closer together or drift further apart in response.
Thumbnail comes courtesy of
Jazzumi!
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Backs pressed together, and mrowing when they slid down against one another, the gathered Palicos collapsed to the forest floor with pained groans. Countless carts overflowing with the transformed bounty of the Ancient Forest rolled to a halt alongside them.
“...You've done well,” Nyx softly chirred. Reaching towards the pile of plenty she retrieved a pair of barrels before flicking off the sealed shut waxen caps with her clawed thumbs. Setting them down before the exhausted felines she wordlessly watched as they weakly clambered atop them and buried themselves head first into its contents. Wibbling and wobbling to and fro the barrels-
TONK
And the cats clinging to them tumbled onto their sides with a crash.
The Nightshade Paolumu smirked. At her command they had lugged the whole of Astera's haul to the heart of the Ancient Forest. Back and forth and forth and back the behemoth bat forced them to trek until they all but collapsed at her feet. Then, and only then, did she reluctantly extend to them a much needed reprieve.
Sprawled out beneath the shade soaked clearing, the branches and boughs of the canopy melding together and choking out the sun, the frazzled Felynes tiredly swatted away splintered wooden planks. Palms cupped together they lapped up what they could of the pulpy concoction of herbs and honey spilling out of the barrels. With every swallow of the spilled potions the aches and pains that wracked their fuzzy frames dulled and melted away. “Mreowwwwwwwwwwwwww.”
“See, Omar?” Nyx cooed. Bunching together her bountiful breasts, the Hunter tucked between them squeezed flat, the Flying Wyvern casually anted up the pressure on her captive. “I told you I always get what I want.”
“WOMAN.”
Pinching at the nape of Omar's neck, her clawed fingers carving clean through the collar of his vest, Nyx plucked the Commander free from her bosom. Having brow beaten him into oblivion, and cowed his Felynes into compliance, the Nightshade Paolumu flashed him the smuggest of smiles.
“SO HELP ME I'LL-”
Beady black eyes nearly squinted shut, Nyx flared her nostrils and scrunched her lips. “You'll what?” her bassy voice commanded of him. As she dismissively jingled the Commander side to side betwixt her fingers she leaned in close. “Answer me truthfully, Omar,” she trailed off with a growl. “Because I will not ask you again.”
“Would you just give it a re-”
Mist, violet and thick, trailed from between the Paolumu's teeth as she spoke. “Which. Trainers. Omar.”
Dangling in place the Hunter indignantly scowled. “Why do you need to know?”
“WHY DO YOU THINK?” she exploded.
The Commander grit his teeth while panicked meows sounded out from the Palicos diving for cover behind him. Brows furrowed, and eyes locked with Nyx's own, the wizened old Hunter refused to share so much as a single syllable with her.
Lips peeled back into a snarl, the Trainer of Trainer's neck sac slowly started to inflate around her head.
“Woman!” shouted the Commander as he felt them both lifting up into the air, “I'm not going to discourage the behavior I want to see! Those Trainers treat my Hunters with dignity! With respect!” Undaunted, he reached around his back for the Light Bowgun slung over his shoulder and pressed it into her purple scaled snout. “Which is more than I can say for most of them!”
The Nightshade Paolumu's expression faltered even as she continued to inflate. “I. You. Mmph.” Her bass boosted voice lightened in octave while her clawed toes brushing along the ground. “That's not what your Hunters should expect, should acclimate to, Omar.” Matching his implied threat with one of her own Nyx leaned forward and buried the stock of the Commander's Light Bowgun into his torso. “You of all people should know how cruel the world beyond our borders can-”
“I know that!” he interrupted her with a hiss. “I know you welcome any and all Trainers, however indifferent and callous and cruel they might be, because it's important that my Hunters know in their bones what awaits them. That doesn't mean I can't cherish, and reward, kindness and courtesy when I see it. Those Trainers love their Hunters. And my Hunters love them back.” Arm held out before him, the Commander accusingly pointed an outstretched finger at the balloon bat. “And I will not have you taking them to task for that!”
With a roll of her eyes, and flare of her nostrils, Nyx dragged out an emphatic exhale. Rearing back her head she pursed her lips when the Hunter in her grip lowered his weapon in response.
“Woman! Just... just get it out of your system!” Howled the Commander as he tiredly gestured at himself. “Shout and scream me down instead! We both know you want to!”
“...I swear to Sapphire were you always this stubborn?” Nyx angrily chittered. Soft squeaks sounded out as she deflated and lowered herself back onto the forest floor. “They're insubordinate, Omar! How else am I supposed to react to that?”
“By rewarding them,” he shot back without hesitation. “For daring to think, daring to imagine, what we couldn't. Look at what our disloyal whelps have accomplished not just with our supplies but your own as well!”
Dropping to her knees the Nightshade Paolumu delicately, if not tenderly, set Omar back on solid ground with a tired sigh. She couldn't deny this was the most bountiful delivery to date from Astera. “Loath as I am to admit it... I cannot say that I fault them for going behind my back. Had the selfsame opportunity fallen into my lap I know I would have taken it,” she jealously demurred.
Running a hand through his hair, and patting it back down into place, the Commander tched. “Thought as much.”
“Don't you start,” snipped the gigantic gerbil. Biting down into her lower lip Nyx mumbled as far off creaks and crashes echoed through the Ancient Forest. Unseen Trainers, towering and terrible, slowly came to congregate upon the area. “Fine, Omar. You have my promise I will not punish them. Question and cajole and interrogate them perhaps...” she said with a shake of her wings. “But I will not discipline them for being, in your eyes, model Trainers.”
Slouching forward, the old Hunter slung his Light Bowgun back over his shoulder and breathed easier at the admission. “...Thank you.”
“That said!” huffed the balloon bat. Nyx's expression turned stern as reached forward to slap at his shoulder. “We still have yet to settle on a course of action following our discussion. You still have yet to tell me your answer.”
The Commander clicked his tongue. “Even if the world is changing I don't think we should change along with it. Not that much. Not yet anyway,” he mumbled into his chest.
“Omar,” sighed the graying bat. “This... this time feels different. Surely you understand that there's never been a more dangerous time for you and yours.”
“Wom...” The Commander caught himself as he dismissively took to gesturing at the sky scraping trees that surrounded them. “It always has been, and always will be, dangerous for us humans. Especially beyond the bounds of this gilded cage of ours.”
With a clack of of her teeth, Nyx guiltily pressed her eyes against the sides of their sockets. “That's. That's not what I...”
“Besides! What would your Trainers even do with themselves were we to call off this collaboration?” he asked before nudging at Nyx's chin with a clenched fist. “I shudder to think of what kind of trouble that many idle hands could get up to.”
The Paolumu sharply inhaled. A fair point. “You do realize what this means though. Don't you? What scant few Hunters are permitted entry and access out of here will constrict even further.”
Tucking his hands beneath his arms the Commander locked gazes with his colossal counterpart and shrugged. “You and I both know those who want it bad enough will somehow make it work. Where there's a will there's a way. ”
“Speaking from experience now, are we?” Nyx taunted as she nosed at and nudged him.
“Don't remind me!” snorted the Commander as he shoved her snout aside. “You and I know full well we can't just tell them 'no.' They need some sort of outlet. Some sort of goal to aspire for.”
“As it would only encourage them otherwise,” the elderly bat mumble grumbled. “Very well. We'll proceed along as we have. The Hunter system will remain in place.” Rising back to a stand, the Nightshade Paolumu leered down at the old Hunter. “Before we conclude out business and go our separate ways though...”
“Hmm?” asked the Commander as he tugged at and tched his now tattered and fraying collar.
Shoulders bunched, Nyx crossed her arms with a harrumph. “These.... 'cultural exchanges' of yours. What all do they entail?”
The Palicos flopped alongside the mountain of supplies, which had begun to jostle and jiggle in place with the rhythmic and far-off footfalls of approaching monsters, went wide eyed at the mention. Innocently whistling and mrowling among themselves they hurriedly took to sorting and stacking what they could to avoid arousing suspicion.
Coughing into a clenched fist, the Commander sheepishly sidestepped the question. “Nothing too tantalizing, I assure you. They're but glorified guided tours.”
Squinting as hard as she was able, Nyx leaned in close. “Well I expect to be invited to the next one.”
“And so you shall,” the old Hunter replied. “Until such a time though... I wish you well, Trainer of Trainers.”
“...Must you always be so formal?” the bat whined back under her breath. With an errant exhale she shooed both Omar and his Palicos aside as they scurried into the underbrush and back onto the beaten path leading back to Astera.
THOOOOOOOOOOOM
Step by shaking step Trainers of all stripes slowly began to assemble.
Dragging her hands across her cheeks, massaging the oils slicked across her fur into the graying patches of fuzz that pocked her frame, Nyx forced a smile. With a lung straining inhale she rose into the air with a twirl.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Hovering above the center of the moss caked clearing, her webbed wings flapping at a steady and heavy beat, the Trainer of Trainers readied herself.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A pair of crimson, and pupil-less, eyes flickered to life among the shadows.
“Erza! What a pleasant surprise!” purred the balloon bat as she bid a warm welcome to her earliest arrival. “I do so hope you've been enjoying your sabbatical.”
Sharp cracks shot across the clearing as the owner of those eyes didn't navigate the gaps between the trees so much as they lumbered through them. Their shoulders, lined thick with scales the color of dried blood, sheared away sheets of bark and snapped apart low lying branches with ease.
THOOOOOOM
An Ebony Odogaron, lean yet densely muscled, stepped forth and flashed the Paolumu a terrifying but well meaning smile. The colossal canine-like Wyvern, eye level with Nyx even as she hovered in mid-air, thumbed at her cheek. “S' good to be back, Lady Nyx,” Erza rumbled as a roiling black mist spilled out from her mangled maw every time she spoke. “My baby cousin and them other Rookies ain't giving you too much trouble is they?”
“Anything but!” Nyx reassured her with a squeak. “Orissa is, I will confess, at times overly enthusiastic. But she's putting in the effort and it shows! Why I do believe she's well on her way to graduating her first Hunter!”
The Master Rank Trainer happily hummed as her plated tail gently wig wagged behind her. “'Preciate you keeping an eye on her, Lady Nyx.”
“Think nothing of it,” decreed the Trainer of Trainers. Bouncing through the air, Nyx lazily came to circle the veritable mountain of man-made offerings. “Come, come! Treat yourself and take a seat!”
Eyes gone wide, and pointed ears flicking to attention, a curious growl lodged itself in Erza's throat as secondary sets of claws erupted from her wrists and ankles.
THOOOOOOOOOOM
“Richter!” beamed the Nightshade Paolumu. “Punctual as always!”
A placid looking Rajang, the tips of their fur shimmering with a golden glow, thoughtfully wound their way through the undergrowth. “Lady Nyx! Salutations and-”
KAKROOOOM
Every time the Fanged Beast's massively muscled shoulders so much as nudged against a tree an explosion of soil soon followed. Their faintest touch, more than enough to uproot the surrounding flora, left a trail of unintended destruction in their wake.
With a pronounced clear of their throat, Richter swatted away the clouds of leaves and loam swirling about him. “...Salutations and jubilations,” the horned ape managed between coughs. “I do hope you'll forgive my uncouth introduction!”
“Nonsense, Richter!” the bubbly bat playfully laughed off. “There's nothing to apologize for!”
“Even so...” he grunted. Clamping his jaw shut, trickles of electricity gathering upon the Rajang's pronounced fangs, Richter effortlessly hoisted back up what trees he had felled. With an explosive burst of energy, the whole of the Fanged Beast's striped body taking on a golden glow for all of an instant, he slammed the bundled balls of roots back into the earth where they belonged. “Accident or no, I cannot bear the thought of leaving this place worse off than I found it!”
Nyx could but chuckle in response. “I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree. For here I was hoping you could help us demolish Astera's latest and greatest delivery to date!” Wings spread out to her side, the Nightshade Paolumu gestured towards the countless barrels, bundles, and more.
“OOH!” Slouching forward, his knuckles burrowing into the very bedrock, ecstatic hoots and hollers tumbled free from the Rajang's maw as he ambled up alongside Erza and happily helped himself.
DOO DOO DOOOOOOOOOM
The smell of soot, and the muffled rat a tat of miniaturized explosions, filled the air as a hulking Brachydios approached. The blue plated Brute Wyvern's arms and horned head, caked with a glowing green slime mold, sizzled every time stray tufts of pollen so much as brushed against him.
“Baldesion,” Nyx introduced him with a courteous bow of her head. “I trust you've been well?”
The enormous and rigid reptile noisily worked out the cricks in his neck in between rapid fire pops. “Hail, Trainer of Trainers,” he politely rumbled back. With a tired blink he struggled to maintain eye contact with the Paolumu through the cloud of heat radiating out from his conical and glowing green horn. “I've been... well enough. Dare I ask what ill tidings you have to share?”
“What? And ruin the surprise?” the Nightshare Paolumu taunted back with a pirouette. “Come now, Baldesion. It's not all doom and gloom.” Wings tossed out to her sides, Nyx guided herself above Astera's offerings. Dipping low, and clenching a pair of barrels between her clawed toes, she backflipped through the open air. Relaxing her grip as she completed her somersault, the bat gerbil sent the frost caked curios sailing into the Brachydios' waiting grasp.
Faint, but perceptible, explosions relentlessly rippled along Baldesion's forearms when his calloused palms swallowed up a barrel a piece. His blood red eyes, sunken deep into their sockets, flickered to life when his clawed fingers forced them open.
“This is-!”
“A tiding as you're content to call it. Come courtesy of our Hunters,” teased the balloon bat.
Propping open his jaw wide, and simply sliding the whole of the barrel between his jagged teeth, Baldesion gleefully crunched and compacted the container between his teeth. At the faintest application of pressure a jelly like sludge of Chillshrooms spewed forth and sluiced along his gumline. Tossing back his head, the super chilled stream sprinkled with wood shavings and mulch sliding down his throat, the Brachydios gasped in relief when a cloud of frost wafted past his lips.
“Mmmph...” Eyes clenched shut, the bags beneath them all but melting away, Baldesion suckled at his clawed fingers before popping in another barrel. With every chew, every swallow, the rat a tat pops grew all the more quiet as the slime mold coating his leaden limbs and aching head dried out. Rolling his shoulders, and splaying his fingers, the blue brute breathed an emphatic sigh of relief.
“There's plenty more where that came from,” Nyx cooed.
Flanged mace of a tail contentedly swishing behind him the Brachydios' cheeks strained as he struggled to stifle his smile. “My thanks, Lady Nyx,” he sheepishly mumbled. Lumbering up alongside Richter and Erza, and filling his hands with as many Cool Drinks as he could carry, the Brute Wyvern started schmoozing in earnest.
FWOOOOOOOOSH
From on high echoed the heavy flapping of wings echoed. The Ancient Forest's canopy rustled wildly as the trim and slim Pukei-Pukei, wings tucked close to her torso, dived through the gaps between the branches. As she spread out of her arms, the humid air catching against their webbing, traces of the sun trickled into the taut folds of flesh lining her wings. The light filtered through them cast the clearing in a kaleidoscope of warm oranges, greens, and yellows.
Neck sac bunching up against her cheeks, Nyx dragged out an inhale as she rose to meet her. “Why is that none other than-”
“Hey Nyx,” grunted the feathered chameleon while she lazily glided on past. Buzzing the other monsters, the Pukei-Pukei smirking as her knees and her talons brushed against the top of their heads, she seated herself without saying so much as a word to the other Trainers.
Brows pulled flat, and eyes half-lidded, Nyx quietly scrunched her lips. She wouldn't deny that, when it came to a select set of Trainers, Omar's low opinions perfectly aligned with her own. Nevertheless...
The Nightshade Paolumu swallowed down a sigh. Donning a strained smile once more her beady black eyes turned skyward once more as petals of ice descended from the heavens. “Lorelei!” she squeaked.
FWOOOOM
With a frigid howl of wind, her very presence banishing the horrid humidity, the Legiana drew close. The leaf lined branches that impeded her entry found themselves flash frozen before crumbling apart into flakes of ice upon her approach.
Circling round the clearing, Nyx excitedly chittered as the towering Flying Wyvern lowered herself to the forest floor.
Arms tucked close to her thin frame, the webbing of the Legiana's wings wrapping around her like a shawl, Lorelei's icy blue eyes flared to life. “Lady Nyx!” she said with a clack of her beak. Her voice, airy and echoing like a chime, whirled about the winds that enveloped her. “It's been far too long.”
“That it most certainly has,” beamed back the bat. Dropping down alongside the giant among giants, the oily sheened bat not even eye level with her navel, the Trainer of Trainers bid the ice queen the warmest of welcomes. “We have so much catching up to do!”
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
“...When time permits,” Lorelei laughed as Wyverns of all shapes and sizes continued to pour in. “I shan't keep you.”
Offering up her latest and greatest guest a tired shrug, Nyx continued to personally meet and greet each and every one of her Trainers. As the clearing grew cramped it became all too obvious that everyone was accounted for save-
“Nell and Taras,” the Nightshade cooed. Her tone took on a playful lilt when she spied the Tobi-Kadachi and Nargacuga slinking in from the shadows. Hovering high in the sky, her spherical form eclipsing the sun, Nyx swam through the air towards them.
FWOOOSH
With a squeak the Paolumu screeched to a halt before them.
“L-l-lady Nyx!” the Tobi-Kadachi spat with a surge of sparks. Sulking alongside him, the Nargacuga's eyes went wide as she jolted to attention. “W-w-what a sssurprissse! Ssseeing you here!”
“At the presentation I arranged?” laughed the Trainer of Trainers.
Taras stumbled and stammered on his words as a panicked lisp overtook every syllable tumbling between his lips.
“Fashionably late, I see,” she teased with a twirl. As her beady black eyes adjusted to
the shade they had tried to shroud themselves in Nyx blinked in confusion at the Tobi-Kadachi and Nargacuga's curious attire. Her brows furrowed as her tone and expression fell flat. “Quite fashionable at that. ...Where did you get those?”
“Get what?” Nell nervously deflected as she puffed out her fur to try and swallow up her tattered armor.
With a wordless grunt, Nyx's nose wrinkled and her gaze narrowed.
“O-o-oh? Thessse? T-t-they were a gift!” Taras worriedly blepped.
“From who?” the Trainer of Trainer curtly snapped back.
“Uh duh. Duhh. F-f-from our Huntersss!”
Nyx tiredly blinked as her purple scaled feet planted flat against the forest floor. “Which Hunters?”
“I-I-I. Well. You sssee-” Even though Nell and Taras both stood head and shoulders above their bitty boss they couldn't help but cower before the bucktooth bat.
The rainbow rings of fur lining Nyx's neck contorted into a glowering pair of false eyes as she reached up to shove a clawed finger into Taras' shoulder. “You have none last I checked,” the Flying Wyvern irritably followed up for him.
Taras visibly deflated at the call out. Jaw clamped shut, and head held low, he shamefully turned away from the Nightshade Paolumu.
Nell stumbled up to the plate in defense of the Tobi-Kadachi. “W-w-what he meant to say was my Hunter! Our Hunter!” Taking her fellow Trainer's hand into her own she gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Taras was his Rookie Trainer and now that I'm his Master Trainer we've been keeping tabs! Keeping in touch!”
Nyx arched her brows and kept them there. “So instead of training your Hunter you've been having them rendezvous and reminisce?”
Beads of sweat formed along the Nargacuga's forehead as her beak hung agape. “It's. No. W-w-well. It's more of a 'yes and' situation rather than an 'either or' but-”
Hands on her hips the graying bat clicked her tongue. “No wonder they have yet to pass,” the Nightshade Paolumu curtly replied. “What with you distracting them so.”
Shoulders slouched, and tail gone limp, pitiful chirps tumbled free from Nell's beak.
With a swish of her wing, Nyx gestured to the stack of supplies that they had had helped surreptitiously stockpile in the first place. “Take your treats and your seats. We will speak more of this later.” Turning her back to the Nargacua and Tobi-Kadachi she rose into the air with a creak.
Teeth clenched, and lips pulled flat, Nell and Taras both exchanged nervous glances. Ears folded flat, the Nargacuga struggled to untangle the knot forming in her throat.
“...C'mon, Nell,” Taras sighed as he choked back a sniffle of his own. “Bessst do asss ssshe sssaysss.”
Lumbering towards the picked clean pile they scooped up what grub stuffed honey combs and Potions remained. As their colossal compeers started to seat themselves the two Wyverns plunked themselves down along the edge of the clearing. Away from any and all prying eyes.
Shoulders sunken, and eyes hanging low, Nell wordlessly stuffed her beak. The crunch of beeswax against her teeth and the squelch of grubs crushed apart between her beak did nothing for her mood.
“I know Jet and I have talked about me being more than just his Trainer. That there's more to our relationship than that,” she anxiously thought to herself. As sloughing sheets of royal jelly caught in the batcat's throat an ill guided adrenaline clutched at her chest. Just. Just what if she wasn't the right Trainer for him? What if he really would be better off with someone else? What if-
WHUMPF
Eyes half-lidded, Nell weakly growled when Taras leaned into her. Bumping shoulder to shoulder, combs pinched between his lips, the Tobi-Kadachi couldn't even muster the energy to stress eat. He had always known he was an unpopular Trainer. His stringent standards among the Rookie Trainers and aspiring fresh faced Hunters making him nigh infamous but... but to hear Nyx bluntly repeat it back to him? Ego death was too gentle a word for it.
The Nargacuga tiredly leaned back into her friend. Slinging an arm around his shoulder, and holding him close, Nell and Taras shrank in on themselves as the crowd fell silent and the Trainer of Trainers took her place at the now sunlit center of the clearing.
Neck sac inflating, Nyx wordlessly rose above the crowd. “Welcome, Trainers!” her bass boosted voice echoed far and wide. “First and foremost, I must beg your forgiveness for summoning you all here on such short notice.” Her beady black eyes swiveled towards the constellations of Scoutflies twinkling amongst the canopy. Ever at her beck and call had they scoured the every inch of the Ancient Forest for her Trainers. “But as you all have surely gathered by now... trade with Astera has since been restored.”
Approving roars and bellows sounded out as monsters of all shapes and sizes toasted to the fact.
“And with the Feral threat thwarted and contained, for the time being anyway, the training of Hunters, from Rookie to Master Rank, will resume effective immediately!”
Far more muted growls and groans sounded out in response.
“Then speaking of Ferals-”
Wings thrown out to her sides, Nyx slowly glided around the circumference of her stage. “I'm sure some of you have felt that the frequency of their incursions has only been increasing as of late.” Rounded ears swiveling to and fro, the Trainer of Trainer puffed out her cheeks and stifled a sigh. “Sadly, I am here to say that is not merely a matter of perception. It is an immutable and unfortunate fact.”
Brows furrowed she let slip a raucous screech before her Trainers could even begin to grumble. “And I would not see your ire directed towards those who not deserve it! The Slayer is not to blame.” With a frontward flip Nyx deflated and crashed down to the center of the clearing. Her broad feet slammed through the moss covered sheets of rock lining the forest floor. “Not ours anyway,” she clarified with a snarl.
The gathered Trainers suspiciously side eyed one another. Arms crossed about her chest the Nightshade Paolumu allowed them time enough to murmur amongst themselves as her sizable subordinates digested the trail of bread crumbs she was leaving for them. “Through no fault of our own the Ancient Forest finds itself at a perilous impasse. A crisis confronts us.”
“And even though we are not responsible for it...” a silky smooth voice whistled. “We must respond to it nevertheless.”
With a swish of her hands, Nyx gestured towards the depthless darkness of the Ancient Forest. The low and steady clap of footfalls, armored yet light, barely registered through the brush. “And the first step to doing so is by educating ourselves on its severity and scope.”
FWICK
Barely visible threads flickered in and out of focus. With a twitch here, and a taut tug there, they puppetered the sprawling and serpentine branches coiling through the canopy. As if pulling back the curtains, a spotlight of sunlight came to shine upon the Silk Seer.
“My thanks, Trainer of Trainers,” he whistled with a bow of his head. Spindly and chitin covered arms tucked behind his back, the Nerscylla sauntered onto the stage. “Greetings, Trainers. I am known as the Silk Seer and long have I served a role that complements your own.”
Pointed limbs swishing at the open air, the Silk Seer forced the spotlight apart as the canopy above unfurled into a series of chlorophyll colored vistas. “Since time immemorial has the Ancient Forest bordered, and otherwise lived in harmony, with the Wildspire Wastes and Coral Highlands.”
Eyes half-lidded, all six of them, the Nerscylla hissed as the otherwise peaceful scenery above filled with ghastly visages. The shadows they cast spread wide across the forest floor before swallowing up the audience. “And I, regretfully, must report that ill tidings have befallen both those lands.”
Nell and Taras, their cheeks brushing together, exchanged nervous glances. Mayhaps it was a blessing in disguise Jet hadn't earned the right to leave just yet.
“Even now I struggle to speak it aloud. The mere notion is farcical, ridiculous enough, to utterly beggar belief. Yet...” Mandibles grinding together, the Silk Seer conjured forth the visage of a brutish looking Zinogre. “The Slayer of the Corals has been deposed.”
“...Deposed?” Richter the Rajang repeated back to him in disbelief.
“As in... he was stripped of the title of Slayer,” the Nerscylla clarified with a swish of his spear like arms.
“The hell?” the problematic Pukei-Pukei spat with brows half-cocked. “Who would even want the job? Much less fight him for it?”
“Elder Velkhana,” mumbled the Silk Seer. Worried murmurs swept through the crowd as the likeness of the Zinogre melted away into the rustling leaves. With a flourish, silver webs of thread congealing together with a twinkle, the canopy peeled back to approximate the ice crowned likeness of a regal and unapproachable Elder Dragon.
Clearing his throat, the Nerscylla came to stand directly beneath the portrait he had painted. “Having grown tired of presiding over his frozen throne in the Hoarfrost Isles, Elder Velkhana thought to return to the mainland. On a whim, as he described it, the esteemed Elder Dragon decided to claim the Coral Highlands as his new keep.”
Jaws clenched, glum growls tumbled free from the maws of every monster present. The Elders, to the last, were veritable gods in their own right that none would dare question much less argue with. No matter how ill-informed their actions or opinions were.
“A not insignificant amount of Ferals, understandably, slipped past his discerning gaze whilst he occupied himself with bringing the Slayer of the Corals to heel,” the sizable spider grunted. “Whereas in the Wildspire Wastes,” the Silk Seer grimly alluded to. “We have an altogether different calamity to contend with. One the likes of which we've never grappled with before.” Alongside the Velkhana's likeness a broad and devilishy lfrightening horned head, sporting sunken and shadow soaked eyes, came into focus. “There... simply is no way to overstate the gravity of the situation. The Slayer of the Sands has abandoned his post.”
Indignant growls and roars, rising into a cacophony, reverberated around the clearing as the gathered Trainers voiced their disgust at the unnamed Diabolos.
The Silk Seer continued to speak even as anxiety and panicked hearsays, filtering in past the anger, filled the air. “You're right to be angry. More than angry. Yet, loath as I am to admit, there are none among us who possess the strength to challenge him and force him to reconsider. Already has he made...” the Nerscylla shuddered as his mandibles rattled together. “Examples. Out of those who would compel him otherwise.”
“As such!” Nyx squeaked as she sidled up alongside the Nerscylla. Ears only reaching up his torso she forcefully inflated herself so as to dispel the disparity in size. “Changes, drastic ones at that, must be undertaken to safeguard the security of the Ancient Forest going forward. Prominent among them...”
The Nightshade Paolumu and Nerscylla both, in unison, looked expectantly to the thickets of ferns behind them.
“...”
“...”
“...?”
Sapphire eyes blinking in confusion, the Silk Seer loudly ahemed and gestured once more towards the unruly underbrush. It but pleasantly rustled in the breeze in response.
“Uhh...” Nyx and the Nerscylla exchanged confused glances and shrugs as did the rest of the audience. An awkward and interminable silence began to drag out.
Pointed limbs clutching at the side of his head, and tugging down his flayed hood, the Silk Seer wiggled his abdomen in disgust. “I swear to Sapphire,” he quietly cursed as he impatiently took to tamping his cloven feet.
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
And in light of the danger confronting the New World, from within and without, the monsters and men inhabiting it must decide if they wish to grow closer together or drift further apart in response.
Thumbnail comes courtesy of
Jazzumi!FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Backs pressed together, and mrowing when they slid down against one another, the gathered Palicos collapsed to the forest floor with pained groans. Countless carts overflowing with the transformed bounty of the Ancient Forest rolled to a halt alongside them.
“...You've done well,” Nyx softly chirred. Reaching towards the pile of plenty she retrieved a pair of barrels before flicking off the sealed shut waxen caps with her clawed thumbs. Setting them down before the exhausted felines she wordlessly watched as they weakly clambered atop them and buried themselves head first into its contents. Wibbling and wobbling to and fro the barrels-
TONK
And the cats clinging to them tumbled onto their sides with a crash.
The Nightshade Paolumu smirked. At her command they had lugged the whole of Astera's haul to the heart of the Ancient Forest. Back and forth and forth and back the behemoth bat forced them to trek until they all but collapsed at her feet. Then, and only then, did she reluctantly extend to them a much needed reprieve.
Sprawled out beneath the shade soaked clearing, the branches and boughs of the canopy melding together and choking out the sun, the frazzled Felynes tiredly swatted away splintered wooden planks. Palms cupped together they lapped up what they could of the pulpy concoction of herbs and honey spilling out of the barrels. With every swallow of the spilled potions the aches and pains that wracked their fuzzy frames dulled and melted away. “Mreowwwwwwwwwwwwww.”
“See, Omar?” Nyx cooed. Bunching together her bountiful breasts, the Hunter tucked between them squeezed flat, the Flying Wyvern casually anted up the pressure on her captive. “I told you I always get what I want.”
“WOMAN.”
Pinching at the nape of Omar's neck, her clawed fingers carving clean through the collar of his vest, Nyx plucked the Commander free from her bosom. Having brow beaten him into oblivion, and cowed his Felynes into compliance, the Nightshade Paolumu flashed him the smuggest of smiles.
“SO HELP ME I'LL-”
Beady black eyes nearly squinted shut, Nyx flared her nostrils and scrunched her lips. “You'll what?” her bassy voice commanded of him. As she dismissively jingled the Commander side to side betwixt her fingers she leaned in close. “Answer me truthfully, Omar,” she trailed off with a growl. “Because I will not ask you again.”
“Would you just give it a re-”
Mist, violet and thick, trailed from between the Paolumu's teeth as she spoke. “Which. Trainers. Omar.”
Dangling in place the Hunter indignantly scowled. “Why do you need to know?”
“WHY DO YOU THINK?” she exploded.
The Commander grit his teeth while panicked meows sounded out from the Palicos diving for cover behind him. Brows furrowed, and eyes locked with Nyx's own, the wizened old Hunter refused to share so much as a single syllable with her.
Lips peeled back into a snarl, the Trainer of Trainer's neck sac slowly started to inflate around her head.
“Woman!” shouted the Commander as he felt them both lifting up into the air, “I'm not going to discourage the behavior I want to see! Those Trainers treat my Hunters with dignity! With respect!” Undaunted, he reached around his back for the Light Bowgun slung over his shoulder and pressed it into her purple scaled snout. “Which is more than I can say for most of them!”
The Nightshade Paolumu's expression faltered even as she continued to inflate. “I. You. Mmph.” Her bass boosted voice lightened in octave while her clawed toes brushing along the ground. “That's not what your Hunters should expect, should acclimate to, Omar.” Matching his implied threat with one of her own Nyx leaned forward and buried the stock of the Commander's Light Bowgun into his torso. “You of all people should know how cruel the world beyond our borders can-”
“I know that!” he interrupted her with a hiss. “I know you welcome any and all Trainers, however indifferent and callous and cruel they might be, because it's important that my Hunters know in their bones what awaits them. That doesn't mean I can't cherish, and reward, kindness and courtesy when I see it. Those Trainers love their Hunters. And my Hunters love them back.” Arm held out before him, the Commander accusingly pointed an outstretched finger at the balloon bat. “And I will not have you taking them to task for that!”
With a roll of her eyes, and flare of her nostrils, Nyx dragged out an emphatic exhale. Rearing back her head she pursed her lips when the Hunter in her grip lowered his weapon in response.
“Woman! Just... just get it out of your system!” Howled the Commander as he tiredly gestured at himself. “Shout and scream me down instead! We both know you want to!”
“...I swear to Sapphire were you always this stubborn?” Nyx angrily chittered. Soft squeaks sounded out as she deflated and lowered herself back onto the forest floor. “They're insubordinate, Omar! How else am I supposed to react to that?”
“By rewarding them,” he shot back without hesitation. “For daring to think, daring to imagine, what we couldn't. Look at what our disloyal whelps have accomplished not just with our supplies but your own as well!”
Dropping to her knees the Nightshade Paolumu delicately, if not tenderly, set Omar back on solid ground with a tired sigh. She couldn't deny this was the most bountiful delivery to date from Astera. “Loath as I am to admit it... I cannot say that I fault them for going behind my back. Had the selfsame opportunity fallen into my lap I know I would have taken it,” she jealously demurred.
Running a hand through his hair, and patting it back down into place, the Commander tched. “Thought as much.”
“Don't you start,” snipped the gigantic gerbil. Biting down into her lower lip Nyx mumbled as far off creaks and crashes echoed through the Ancient Forest. Unseen Trainers, towering and terrible, slowly came to congregate upon the area. “Fine, Omar. You have my promise I will not punish them. Question and cajole and interrogate them perhaps...” she said with a shake of her wings. “But I will not discipline them for being, in your eyes, model Trainers.”
Slouching forward, the old Hunter slung his Light Bowgun back over his shoulder and breathed easier at the admission. “...Thank you.”
“That said!” huffed the balloon bat. Nyx's expression turned stern as reached forward to slap at his shoulder. “We still have yet to settle on a course of action following our discussion. You still have yet to tell me your answer.”
The Commander clicked his tongue. “Even if the world is changing I don't think we should change along with it. Not that much. Not yet anyway,” he mumbled into his chest.
“Omar,” sighed the graying bat. “This... this time feels different. Surely you understand that there's never been a more dangerous time for you and yours.”
“Wom...” The Commander caught himself as he dismissively took to gesturing at the sky scraping trees that surrounded them. “It always has been, and always will be, dangerous for us humans. Especially beyond the bounds of this gilded cage of ours.”
With a clack of of her teeth, Nyx guiltily pressed her eyes against the sides of their sockets. “That's. That's not what I...”
“Besides! What would your Trainers even do with themselves were we to call off this collaboration?” he asked before nudging at Nyx's chin with a clenched fist. “I shudder to think of what kind of trouble that many idle hands could get up to.”
The Paolumu sharply inhaled. A fair point. “You do realize what this means though. Don't you? What scant few Hunters are permitted entry and access out of here will constrict even further.”
Tucking his hands beneath his arms the Commander locked gazes with his colossal counterpart and shrugged. “You and I both know those who want it bad enough will somehow make it work. Where there's a will there's a way. ”
“Speaking from experience now, are we?” Nyx taunted as she nosed at and nudged him.
“Don't remind me!” snorted the Commander as he shoved her snout aside. “You and I know full well we can't just tell them 'no.' They need some sort of outlet. Some sort of goal to aspire for.”
“As it would only encourage them otherwise,” the elderly bat mumble grumbled. “Very well. We'll proceed along as we have. The Hunter system will remain in place.” Rising back to a stand, the Nightshade Paolumu leered down at the old Hunter. “Before we conclude out business and go our separate ways though...”
“Hmm?” asked the Commander as he tugged at and tched his now tattered and fraying collar.
Shoulders bunched, Nyx crossed her arms with a harrumph. “These.... 'cultural exchanges' of yours. What all do they entail?”
The Palicos flopped alongside the mountain of supplies, which had begun to jostle and jiggle in place with the rhythmic and far-off footfalls of approaching monsters, went wide eyed at the mention. Innocently whistling and mrowling among themselves they hurriedly took to sorting and stacking what they could to avoid arousing suspicion.
Coughing into a clenched fist, the Commander sheepishly sidestepped the question. “Nothing too tantalizing, I assure you. They're but glorified guided tours.”
Squinting as hard as she was able, Nyx leaned in close. “Well I expect to be invited to the next one.”
“And so you shall,” the old Hunter replied. “Until such a time though... I wish you well, Trainer of Trainers.”
“...Must you always be so formal?” the bat whined back under her breath. With an errant exhale she shooed both Omar and his Palicos aside as they scurried into the underbrush and back onto the beaten path leading back to Astera.
THOOOOOOOOOOOM
Step by shaking step Trainers of all stripes slowly began to assemble.
Dragging her hands across her cheeks, massaging the oils slicked across her fur into the graying patches of fuzz that pocked her frame, Nyx forced a smile. With a lung straining inhale she rose into the air with a twirl.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Hovering above the center of the moss caked clearing, her webbed wings flapping at a steady and heavy beat, the Trainer of Trainers readied herself.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A pair of crimson, and pupil-less, eyes flickered to life among the shadows.
“Erza! What a pleasant surprise!” purred the balloon bat as she bid a warm welcome to her earliest arrival. “I do so hope you've been enjoying your sabbatical.”
Sharp cracks shot across the clearing as the owner of those eyes didn't navigate the gaps between the trees so much as they lumbered through them. Their shoulders, lined thick with scales the color of dried blood, sheared away sheets of bark and snapped apart low lying branches with ease.
THOOOOOOM
An Ebony Odogaron, lean yet densely muscled, stepped forth and flashed the Paolumu a terrifying but well meaning smile. The colossal canine-like Wyvern, eye level with Nyx even as she hovered in mid-air, thumbed at her cheek. “S' good to be back, Lady Nyx,” Erza rumbled as a roiling black mist spilled out from her mangled maw every time she spoke. “My baby cousin and them other Rookies ain't giving you too much trouble is they?”
“Anything but!” Nyx reassured her with a squeak. “Orissa is, I will confess, at times overly enthusiastic. But she's putting in the effort and it shows! Why I do believe she's well on her way to graduating her first Hunter!”
The Master Rank Trainer happily hummed as her plated tail gently wig wagged behind her. “'Preciate you keeping an eye on her, Lady Nyx.”
“Think nothing of it,” decreed the Trainer of Trainers. Bouncing through the air, Nyx lazily came to circle the veritable mountain of man-made offerings. “Come, come! Treat yourself and take a seat!”
Eyes gone wide, and pointed ears flicking to attention, a curious growl lodged itself in Erza's throat as secondary sets of claws erupted from her wrists and ankles.
THOOOOOOOOOOM
“Richter!” beamed the Nightshade Paolumu. “Punctual as always!”
A placid looking Rajang, the tips of their fur shimmering with a golden glow, thoughtfully wound their way through the undergrowth. “Lady Nyx! Salutations and-”
KAKROOOOM
Every time the Fanged Beast's massively muscled shoulders so much as nudged against a tree an explosion of soil soon followed. Their faintest touch, more than enough to uproot the surrounding flora, left a trail of unintended destruction in their wake.
With a pronounced clear of their throat, Richter swatted away the clouds of leaves and loam swirling about him. “...Salutations and jubilations,” the horned ape managed between coughs. “I do hope you'll forgive my uncouth introduction!”
“Nonsense, Richter!” the bubbly bat playfully laughed off. “There's nothing to apologize for!”
“Even so...” he grunted. Clamping his jaw shut, trickles of electricity gathering upon the Rajang's pronounced fangs, Richter effortlessly hoisted back up what trees he had felled. With an explosive burst of energy, the whole of the Fanged Beast's striped body taking on a golden glow for all of an instant, he slammed the bundled balls of roots back into the earth where they belonged. “Accident or no, I cannot bear the thought of leaving this place worse off than I found it!”
Nyx could but chuckle in response. “I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree. For here I was hoping you could help us demolish Astera's latest and greatest delivery to date!” Wings spread out to her side, the Nightshade Paolumu gestured towards the countless barrels, bundles, and more.
“OOH!” Slouching forward, his knuckles burrowing into the very bedrock, ecstatic hoots and hollers tumbled free from the Rajang's maw as he ambled up alongside Erza and happily helped himself.
DOO DOO DOOOOOOOOOM
The smell of soot, and the muffled rat a tat of miniaturized explosions, filled the air as a hulking Brachydios approached. The blue plated Brute Wyvern's arms and horned head, caked with a glowing green slime mold, sizzled every time stray tufts of pollen so much as brushed against him.
“Baldesion,” Nyx introduced him with a courteous bow of her head. “I trust you've been well?”
The enormous and rigid reptile noisily worked out the cricks in his neck in between rapid fire pops. “Hail, Trainer of Trainers,” he politely rumbled back. With a tired blink he struggled to maintain eye contact with the Paolumu through the cloud of heat radiating out from his conical and glowing green horn. “I've been... well enough. Dare I ask what ill tidings you have to share?”
“What? And ruin the surprise?” the Nightshare Paolumu taunted back with a pirouette. “Come now, Baldesion. It's not all doom and gloom.” Wings tossed out to her sides, Nyx guided herself above Astera's offerings. Dipping low, and clenching a pair of barrels between her clawed toes, she backflipped through the open air. Relaxing her grip as she completed her somersault, the bat gerbil sent the frost caked curios sailing into the Brachydios' waiting grasp.
Faint, but perceptible, explosions relentlessly rippled along Baldesion's forearms when his calloused palms swallowed up a barrel a piece. His blood red eyes, sunken deep into their sockets, flickered to life when his clawed fingers forced them open.
“This is-!”
“A tiding as you're content to call it. Come courtesy of our Hunters,” teased the balloon bat.
Propping open his jaw wide, and simply sliding the whole of the barrel between his jagged teeth, Baldesion gleefully crunched and compacted the container between his teeth. At the faintest application of pressure a jelly like sludge of Chillshrooms spewed forth and sluiced along his gumline. Tossing back his head, the super chilled stream sprinkled with wood shavings and mulch sliding down his throat, the Brachydios gasped in relief when a cloud of frost wafted past his lips.
“Mmmph...” Eyes clenched shut, the bags beneath them all but melting away, Baldesion suckled at his clawed fingers before popping in another barrel. With every chew, every swallow, the rat a tat pops grew all the more quiet as the slime mold coating his leaden limbs and aching head dried out. Rolling his shoulders, and splaying his fingers, the blue brute breathed an emphatic sigh of relief.
“There's plenty more where that came from,” Nyx cooed.
Flanged mace of a tail contentedly swishing behind him the Brachydios' cheeks strained as he struggled to stifle his smile. “My thanks, Lady Nyx,” he sheepishly mumbled. Lumbering up alongside Richter and Erza, and filling his hands with as many Cool Drinks as he could carry, the Brute Wyvern started schmoozing in earnest.
FWOOOOOOOOSH
From on high echoed the heavy flapping of wings echoed. The Ancient Forest's canopy rustled wildly as the trim and slim Pukei-Pukei, wings tucked close to her torso, dived through the gaps between the branches. As she spread out of her arms, the humid air catching against their webbing, traces of the sun trickled into the taut folds of flesh lining her wings. The light filtered through them cast the clearing in a kaleidoscope of warm oranges, greens, and yellows.
Neck sac bunching up against her cheeks, Nyx dragged out an inhale as she rose to meet her. “Why is that none other than-”
“Hey Nyx,” grunted the feathered chameleon while she lazily glided on past. Buzzing the other monsters, the Pukei-Pukei smirking as her knees and her talons brushed against the top of their heads, she seated herself without saying so much as a word to the other Trainers.
Brows pulled flat, and eyes half-lidded, Nyx quietly scrunched her lips. She wouldn't deny that, when it came to a select set of Trainers, Omar's low opinions perfectly aligned with her own. Nevertheless...
The Nightshade Paolumu swallowed down a sigh. Donning a strained smile once more her beady black eyes turned skyward once more as petals of ice descended from the heavens. “Lorelei!” she squeaked.
FWOOOOM
With a frigid howl of wind, her very presence banishing the horrid humidity, the Legiana drew close. The leaf lined branches that impeded her entry found themselves flash frozen before crumbling apart into flakes of ice upon her approach.
Circling round the clearing, Nyx excitedly chittered as the towering Flying Wyvern lowered herself to the forest floor.
Arms tucked close to her thin frame, the webbing of the Legiana's wings wrapping around her like a shawl, Lorelei's icy blue eyes flared to life. “Lady Nyx!” she said with a clack of her beak. Her voice, airy and echoing like a chime, whirled about the winds that enveloped her. “It's been far too long.”
“That it most certainly has,” beamed back the bat. Dropping down alongside the giant among giants, the oily sheened bat not even eye level with her navel, the Trainer of Trainers bid the ice queen the warmest of welcomes. “We have so much catching up to do!”
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
“...When time permits,” Lorelei laughed as Wyverns of all shapes and sizes continued to pour in. “I shan't keep you.”
Offering up her latest and greatest guest a tired shrug, Nyx continued to personally meet and greet each and every one of her Trainers. As the clearing grew cramped it became all too obvious that everyone was accounted for save-
“Nell and Taras,” the Nightshade cooed. Her tone took on a playful lilt when she spied the Tobi-Kadachi and Nargacuga slinking in from the shadows. Hovering high in the sky, her spherical form eclipsing the sun, Nyx swam through the air towards them.
FWOOOSH
With a squeak the Paolumu screeched to a halt before them.
“L-l-lady Nyx!” the Tobi-Kadachi spat with a surge of sparks. Sulking alongside him, the Nargacuga's eyes went wide as she jolted to attention. “W-w-what a sssurprissse! Ssseeing you here!”
“At the presentation I arranged?” laughed the Trainer of Trainers.
Taras stumbled and stammered on his words as a panicked lisp overtook every syllable tumbling between his lips.
“Fashionably late, I see,” she teased with a twirl. As her beady black eyes adjusted to
the shade they had tried to shroud themselves in Nyx blinked in confusion at the Tobi-Kadachi and Nargacuga's curious attire. Her brows furrowed as her tone and expression fell flat. “Quite fashionable at that. ...Where did you get those?”
“Get what?” Nell nervously deflected as she puffed out her fur to try and swallow up her tattered armor.
With a wordless grunt, Nyx's nose wrinkled and her gaze narrowed.
“O-o-oh? Thessse? T-t-they were a gift!” Taras worriedly blepped.
“From who?” the Trainer of Trainer curtly snapped back.
“Uh duh. Duhh. F-f-from our Huntersss!”
Nyx tiredly blinked as her purple scaled feet planted flat against the forest floor. “Which Hunters?”
“I-I-I. Well. You sssee-” Even though Nell and Taras both stood head and shoulders above their bitty boss they couldn't help but cower before the bucktooth bat.
The rainbow rings of fur lining Nyx's neck contorted into a glowering pair of false eyes as she reached up to shove a clawed finger into Taras' shoulder. “You have none last I checked,” the Flying Wyvern irritably followed up for him.
Taras visibly deflated at the call out. Jaw clamped shut, and head held low, he shamefully turned away from the Nightshade Paolumu.
Nell stumbled up to the plate in defense of the Tobi-Kadachi. “W-w-what he meant to say was my Hunter! Our Hunter!” Taking her fellow Trainer's hand into her own she gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Taras was his Rookie Trainer and now that I'm his Master Trainer we've been keeping tabs! Keeping in touch!”
Nyx arched her brows and kept them there. “So instead of training your Hunter you've been having them rendezvous and reminisce?”
Beads of sweat formed along the Nargacuga's forehead as her beak hung agape. “It's. No. W-w-well. It's more of a 'yes and' situation rather than an 'either or' but-”
Hands on her hips the graying bat clicked her tongue. “No wonder they have yet to pass,” the Nightshade Paolumu curtly replied. “What with you distracting them so.”
Shoulders slouched, and tail gone limp, pitiful chirps tumbled free from Nell's beak.
With a swish of her wing, Nyx gestured to the stack of supplies that they had had helped surreptitiously stockpile in the first place. “Take your treats and your seats. We will speak more of this later.” Turning her back to the Nargacua and Tobi-Kadachi she rose into the air with a creak.
Teeth clenched, and lips pulled flat, Nell and Taras both exchanged nervous glances. Ears folded flat, the Nargacuga struggled to untangle the knot forming in her throat.
“...C'mon, Nell,” Taras sighed as he choked back a sniffle of his own. “Bessst do asss ssshe sssaysss.”
Lumbering towards the picked clean pile they scooped up what grub stuffed honey combs and Potions remained. As their colossal compeers started to seat themselves the two Wyverns plunked themselves down along the edge of the clearing. Away from any and all prying eyes.
Shoulders sunken, and eyes hanging low, Nell wordlessly stuffed her beak. The crunch of beeswax against her teeth and the squelch of grubs crushed apart between her beak did nothing for her mood.
“I know Jet and I have talked about me being more than just his Trainer. That there's more to our relationship than that,” she anxiously thought to herself. As sloughing sheets of royal jelly caught in the batcat's throat an ill guided adrenaline clutched at her chest. Just. Just what if she wasn't the right Trainer for him? What if he really would be better off with someone else? What if-
WHUMPF
Eyes half-lidded, Nell weakly growled when Taras leaned into her. Bumping shoulder to shoulder, combs pinched between his lips, the Tobi-Kadachi couldn't even muster the energy to stress eat. He had always known he was an unpopular Trainer. His stringent standards among the Rookie Trainers and aspiring fresh faced Hunters making him nigh infamous but... but to hear Nyx bluntly repeat it back to him? Ego death was too gentle a word for it.
The Nargacuga tiredly leaned back into her friend. Slinging an arm around his shoulder, and holding him close, Nell and Taras shrank in on themselves as the crowd fell silent and the Trainer of Trainers took her place at the now sunlit center of the clearing.
Neck sac inflating, Nyx wordlessly rose above the crowd. “Welcome, Trainers!” her bass boosted voice echoed far and wide. “First and foremost, I must beg your forgiveness for summoning you all here on such short notice.” Her beady black eyes swiveled towards the constellations of Scoutflies twinkling amongst the canopy. Ever at her beck and call had they scoured the every inch of the Ancient Forest for her Trainers. “But as you all have surely gathered by now... trade with Astera has since been restored.”
Approving roars and bellows sounded out as monsters of all shapes and sizes toasted to the fact.
“And with the Feral threat thwarted and contained, for the time being anyway, the training of Hunters, from Rookie to Master Rank, will resume effective immediately!”
Far more muted growls and groans sounded out in response.
“Then speaking of Ferals-”
Wings thrown out to her sides, Nyx slowly glided around the circumference of her stage. “I'm sure some of you have felt that the frequency of their incursions has only been increasing as of late.” Rounded ears swiveling to and fro, the Trainer of Trainer puffed out her cheeks and stifled a sigh. “Sadly, I am here to say that is not merely a matter of perception. It is an immutable and unfortunate fact.”
Brows furrowed she let slip a raucous screech before her Trainers could even begin to grumble. “And I would not see your ire directed towards those who not deserve it! The Slayer is not to blame.” With a frontward flip Nyx deflated and crashed down to the center of the clearing. Her broad feet slammed through the moss covered sheets of rock lining the forest floor. “Not ours anyway,” she clarified with a snarl.
The gathered Trainers suspiciously side eyed one another. Arms crossed about her chest the Nightshade Paolumu allowed them time enough to murmur amongst themselves as her sizable subordinates digested the trail of bread crumbs she was leaving for them. “Through no fault of our own the Ancient Forest finds itself at a perilous impasse. A crisis confronts us.”
“And even though we are not responsible for it...” a silky smooth voice whistled. “We must respond to it nevertheless.”
With a swish of her hands, Nyx gestured towards the depthless darkness of the Ancient Forest. The low and steady clap of footfalls, armored yet light, barely registered through the brush. “And the first step to doing so is by educating ourselves on its severity and scope.”
FWICK
Barely visible threads flickered in and out of focus. With a twitch here, and a taut tug there, they puppetered the sprawling and serpentine branches coiling through the canopy. As if pulling back the curtains, a spotlight of sunlight came to shine upon the Silk Seer.
“My thanks, Trainer of Trainers,” he whistled with a bow of his head. Spindly and chitin covered arms tucked behind his back, the Nerscylla sauntered onto the stage. “Greetings, Trainers. I am known as the Silk Seer and long have I served a role that complements your own.”
Pointed limbs swishing at the open air, the Silk Seer forced the spotlight apart as the canopy above unfurled into a series of chlorophyll colored vistas. “Since time immemorial has the Ancient Forest bordered, and otherwise lived in harmony, with the Wildspire Wastes and Coral Highlands.”
Eyes half-lidded, all six of them, the Nerscylla hissed as the otherwise peaceful scenery above filled with ghastly visages. The shadows they cast spread wide across the forest floor before swallowing up the audience. “And I, regretfully, must report that ill tidings have befallen both those lands.”
Nell and Taras, their cheeks brushing together, exchanged nervous glances. Mayhaps it was a blessing in disguise Jet hadn't earned the right to leave just yet.
“Even now I struggle to speak it aloud. The mere notion is farcical, ridiculous enough, to utterly beggar belief. Yet...” Mandibles grinding together, the Silk Seer conjured forth the visage of a brutish looking Zinogre. “The Slayer of the Corals has been deposed.”
“...Deposed?” Richter the Rajang repeated back to him in disbelief.
“As in... he was stripped of the title of Slayer,” the Nerscylla clarified with a swish of his spear like arms.
“The hell?” the problematic Pukei-Pukei spat with brows half-cocked. “Who would even want the job? Much less fight him for it?”
“Elder Velkhana,” mumbled the Silk Seer. Worried murmurs swept through the crowd as the likeness of the Zinogre melted away into the rustling leaves. With a flourish, silver webs of thread congealing together with a twinkle, the canopy peeled back to approximate the ice crowned likeness of a regal and unapproachable Elder Dragon.
Clearing his throat, the Nerscylla came to stand directly beneath the portrait he had painted. “Having grown tired of presiding over his frozen throne in the Hoarfrost Isles, Elder Velkhana thought to return to the mainland. On a whim, as he described it, the esteemed Elder Dragon decided to claim the Coral Highlands as his new keep.”
Jaws clenched, glum growls tumbled free from the maws of every monster present. The Elders, to the last, were veritable gods in their own right that none would dare question much less argue with. No matter how ill-informed their actions or opinions were.
“A not insignificant amount of Ferals, understandably, slipped past his discerning gaze whilst he occupied himself with bringing the Slayer of the Corals to heel,” the sizable spider grunted. “Whereas in the Wildspire Wastes,” the Silk Seer grimly alluded to. “We have an altogether different calamity to contend with. One the likes of which we've never grappled with before.” Alongside the Velkhana's likeness a broad and devilishy lfrightening horned head, sporting sunken and shadow soaked eyes, came into focus. “There... simply is no way to overstate the gravity of the situation. The Slayer of the Sands has abandoned his post.”
Indignant growls and roars, rising into a cacophony, reverberated around the clearing as the gathered Trainers voiced their disgust at the unnamed Diabolos.
The Silk Seer continued to speak even as anxiety and panicked hearsays, filtering in past the anger, filled the air. “You're right to be angry. More than angry. Yet, loath as I am to admit, there are none among us who possess the strength to challenge him and force him to reconsider. Already has he made...” the Nerscylla shuddered as his mandibles rattled together. “Examples. Out of those who would compel him otherwise.”
“As such!” Nyx squeaked as she sidled up alongside the Nerscylla. Ears only reaching up his torso she forcefully inflated herself so as to dispel the disparity in size. “Changes, drastic ones at that, must be undertaken to safeguard the security of the Ancient Forest going forward. Prominent among them...”
The Nightshade Paolumu and Nerscylla both, in unison, looked expectantly to the thickets of ferns behind them.
“...”
“...”
“...?”
Sapphire eyes blinking in confusion, the Silk Seer loudly ahemed and gestured once more towards the unruly underbrush. It but pleasantly rustled in the breeze in response.
“Uhh...” Nyx and the Nerscylla exchanged confused glances and shrugs as did the rest of the audience. An awkward and interminable silence began to drag out.
Pointed limbs clutching at the side of his head, and tugging down his flayed hood, the Silk Seer wiggled his abdomen in disgust. “I swear to Sapphire,” he quietly cursed as he impatiently took to tamping his cloven feet.
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Category Story / Macro / Micro
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 105px
File Size 194.2 kB
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