Chapter Text
I couldn't believe it. Finally, outside! The Ancient Forest was mine to explore! Specimens and real wildlife as far as the eye could see! I am terrified. But I will not show it! That’s just what they want, after all, especially the Commander. He probably thinks I’ll come screaming back in a day or two, terrorized by monsters and frustrated by the eccentric hunter I’d been paired with, but he is wrong and I will prove it. I didn’t get this far in my career as a researcher without the tenacity and wherewithall to wear other people out until I got my way. I will make this work dammit.
“Oi, you’re not stuck are you?”
Speaking of eccentric hunters, Rien called out to me. She was fairly typical of hunters. They all were either lean or stocky. She was more the stocky type, and a little on the short side. I was jealous with a capital J of her long locs. How did she keep her hair and skin so perfect?! Waltzing around the wilderness, fighting monsters, getting hip-checked and tail swiped and rolling around in the dust, and yet she was practically polished mahogany! Where’s my magic lotion? My braids were already fuzzy after just a day, I couldn’t imagine what they’d look like by the time we come back to Astera.
“No, I’m not stuck, just getting a feel for, well, everything!”
Rien’s expression said she wasn’t buying my fake excitement. It wasn’t entirely fake, but I was definitely more nervous than I was excited. After all, I’d never been allowed outside Astera until now. Plus, I’d never had a wheelchair like this either. It had three wheels instead of four, and the front wheel was much bigger than I’d seen on any chair before. It was supposed to make it easier to get over obstacles. The back wheels had a bigger camber than my old chair, so it was harder to push, but it wouldn’t fall over so easily either. There was even a bar for wingdrakes to grab onto, although we hadn’t trained any yet to pick me up. The chair even had a bit of suspension, so it was a bit springy. Really, it was quite innovative, but that also meant yet another thing to get used to.
Truly, the Commander only agreed to this to sabotage me from the gate. Nonetheless, I will perservere. All the old research Pop-pops were allowed to go out and collect their own samples and make their own observations, and some of them couldn’t walk any better than I could roll. But the Commander never heard me out, and the hunters never wanted to help me out. They didn’t want to be responsible for me getting hurt, but somehow that wasn’t an issue with the elder researchers. No, it was always about viewing me as helpless and weak because I can’t walk very much. Hence this plan I hatched, becoming a handler!
See, handlers go out with hunters and manage their quests, and, to an extent, the hunters themselves. They’re not supposed to get into too much danger, they have some good safety training, and their hunters are almost always just a short call away! I can get all the samples I want if I have my own hunter, and a body guard to boot! Of course it wasn’t that simple, though. Once again, most of the hunters wanted nothing to do with my plan. A lot of them thought I shouldn’t have even been allowed on the Fifth Fleet to the New World in the first place, and most of them just saw me as a child, a good natured nuisance even. Then Rien came along.
An oddball even among hunters, she didn’t like being in Astera that much. She’d had several people try and be her handler and they all got frustrated with her long stints outside and refusal to come back for comfort or just to report in. Another good-natured nuisance, in a way. She seemed to enjoy helping people but never came back to base enough to get quests unless someone went out to her. The Commander definitely roped her into my plan to be a pain in my ass, but she was kind of perfect actually. Someone like her could tell me all kinds of information about the different environments and monsters in the New World. Plus, she didn’t look down on me or blow me off.
I thought she would, when we were first introduced. She’d bent down and got right in my face, but before I could say something snarky she’d backed up. “You’re not going to get anywhere in that raggedy chair.” And then dragged me to the smithy and spoke with the Second Fleet Master, super blacksmith of Astera. He’d put her to work too, making her get a ton of Diablos and Barroth materials to build this unusual chair. It actually even impressed the Commander.
Rien then put me through two weeks of hell training. I was at least confident I could use my slinger to fire off dung pods and flash pods to chase small beasties away, and maybe use the grappling hook to get to higher ground, but honestly I was still pretty new at all this and was desperately praying no large monsters tried to eat me on the first day. Still, I will be brave! I’m going to make it!
“Did we have to pick this camp? It’s so…wet.” I complained. This camp was practically a treehouse, and the foliage made it rather humid and slick. The fact I was in this camp was astonishing enough, even more so when you think about the fact a cat got me up here. Let nothing bad be said about Palicoes, they did a ton of work in Astera. Hauling, lifting, driving carts, doing farmwork, fishing, animal husbandry, and of course helping hunters, they were pretty strong critters, but there’s still nothing quite so startling as being 200lbs, in a wheelchair, and getting lifted via pulley 20 feet into the air by a 3 foot tall cat to make you go “what the fuck”.
Azerai was a seasoned hunting Palico of course, she’d been Rien’s partner since they first became hunters, long before they joined the Fifth and came to the New World, but still, a cheery blue tabby in cute, tiny Rathalos armor could not possibly give you the impression that she was stronger than a good portion of humans in Astera. Which really just made you wonder what kind of monster you had to be to become a hunter worthy of such a cat!
Then there was my Felyne. Luard was no hunter, he was a research cat, my favorite assistant. At best he could do some solo gathering of bugs, fungi and flora, but he bolted at the sign of even small monsters. I honestly had no idea why he’d decided to come with me, begged me even. Sure, I get that he’s worried, but what is he really going to do about it? He was shaking in his borrowed armor, an old set of Azerai’s, and could barely hold the bone club he’d been given as a weapon. Azerai had a shiny, tiny Rathalos sword, which I thought was hilarious. Honestly how can anyone take these petite little fighters seriously when they’re so adorable? What shouldn’t have been hilarious, but totally was, was Azerai trying to teach Luard how to use the club. She couldn’t even get him to hold a proper defensive stance, much less make a real swing. He toppled himself over swinging it. Poor Azerai, she’s gonna be stuck training my poor Luard.
“You can get down from there,” Rien said out of the blue. She was pointing towards an opening in the vines where a tree trunk could be seen. “It’s a bit narrow so be careful, otherwise Azerai can just let you down the way you came up.”
Oh, joy. As if it hadn’t been difficult enough getting over here, what with the tree roots and bushes and ledges to get over. I suppose that’s what I signed up for though.
“Right, so, why didn’t we go to the other camp?” I pulled out my map. “There are other camps out here right?”
“You wanted to be in the thick of things. Many monsters pass this area. You can view them safely from here, or go down and pester them if it suits you.”
Her grin at the last part said she was teasing. “Yeah, that sounds great,” I said with a laugh. “Let’s just pester a Rathian!”
“That’s the spirit. Now, Azerai will stay with you, and I’ll see about tracking down a nice little Rathian for you to marvel at.”
“Wait, what? You’re leaving me to get babysat by the cat?”
“Don’t worry meowstress! I’ll look after you!” Azerai said, making a superman pose. I couldn’t help but snicker. It’s too hard to take the Felyne seriously.
Rien roughly patted her Palico’s head. “Azerai is a strong hunter. She will keep you safe, even if you can’t take her seriously yet.”
“I mean, I think I’ll be ok.” I patted the equipment strapped around my arm. “I’ve got my trusty slinger here, and plenty of dung pods.”
Rien looked at my arm, and then into my eyes. “You will take Azerai with you.”
Guess I have to work for that independence.