FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Several moons had passed since Skye had set off towards Astera, travelling with a whole group of other hunters towards the new world. He had dreamed about testing his mettle against a plethora of new monsters, but he didn't think for one second that he would be fighting against these monsters AS one.

It had happened during the journey to Astera. Thanks to a few drunken idiots, Skye got knocked overboard into stormy seas, and thought there and then that his adventure was over before it had even begun. By no small miracle, he touched down on a small island in the middle of nowhere, with its only resident being a long-dead Lagiacrus. He injured himself checking out the fossil, and through unknown reasons, he transformed into an Abyssal Lagiacrus. He had kept his humanity for the most part, only every now and then having to deal with the instincts of his new form, and with it, he was able to make his way to Astera.

However, upon getting there, he had a feeling that a camp full of monster hunters wasn't about to welcome a monster with welcome arms, even if it was sentient and could talk. He was able to meet up with an old friend of his, Mika, on the outskirts, and thankfully for him it didn't take too much to prove that he was the same old Skye that he was before - for the most part. And it was by a small stroke of luck that he was able to prove himself to the camp, thanks to a bunch of hunters nearly meeting their ends by an Ajanath. Since then, he's been an invaluable ally to everyone at the camp, and was able to get closer to Mika.

More missions and requests had come and gone with their investigations, though with his aquatic nature, Skye had been largely restricted in what he could accomplish alongside Mika, but had made great strides himself in investigating the New World's formerly-unknown flora and fauna when they were in the water. He'd saved a number of lives, and eventually they'd found that a massive elder dragon named Zorah Magdaros was going to die and had been, in their estimation, trying to get to a graveyard to do so.

Normally, a monster looking for a place to die wouldn't be something to panic over, but in the case of Zorah Magdaros, it was making its way towards the Everstream, a massive underground river that runs through the New World, instead of the Rotten Vale. Should it die within the Everstream, all the energy within it would be released throughout the river, causing the destruction of the New World. Thankfully, the hunters were able to redirect it into the ocean where its released energy there would help in creating an entirely new ecosystem. Of course, there was a small snag during the battle with Zorah Magdaros, and that was a scuffle with another elder dragon known as Nergigante.

As they would find out much later on, Nergigante had been trying to keep Zorah Magdaros alive to use as prey later on and had not taken kindly to the hunters interfering with its meal ticket. But they'd continued on and had eventually, after a great battle, been successful in not only driving off Nergigante again after it had attempted to interfere, but had successfully diverted the Zorah Magdaros into the ocean, averting the rather explosive catastrophe that its original plan would've resulted in. But Nergigante was still alive, and they hadn't seen the last of it.

Naturally, given the threat that Nergigante was proving to both the hunters and to everyone else, it was decided that a group of hunters would be tasked with bringing the dragon down, and after a bit of extensive tracking, they discovered that its nesting ground was in a mountainous area, fittingly known as the Elders Recess. The night before they set out, they were busy deciding on just who should be the ones sent to confront Nergigante.

"I think we'll get it this time." Skye noted as he looked at the others, noting with some minor amusement that the novelty of a talking, fully sapient monster was apparently starting to wear off for some of the other hunters. He'd been around long enough that most of them had just accepted his bizarre state as some freak occurrence and that it wasn't really worth puzzling over if they weren't a researcher. Which suited him just fine - the fewer people trying to kill him as a knee jerk response, the better.

"We can only hope - the last couple of occasions where it decided to show up, there was nearly no-one left to save!" Mika added, looking up at the Lagiacrus. "I mean don't get me wrong, you guys are good, but that dragon REALLY is something else!"

"Yeah, don't remind me..." One of the hunters chimed in. "I think I'm still picking out some of its spikes from my armor!"

"Elder dragons certainly are something else... but if we can finish it here, things should go back to normal. Even I'm getting a bit riled up by that thing." Keeping his instincts in check took some work, albeit not as much as before, but something that strong sent his fight or flight instincts on high alert. It was strong, fast, tough and angrier than anything he'd ever fought before in his career.

"I'm sure with you on our team, we're gonna have some form of advantage!" Mika smiled to Skye. If the Abyssal Lagiacrus could blush, he probably would be right now.

"Wow, you're really putting a lot of faith in me subduing Nergigante, aren't ya?" He chuckled.

"Why wouldn't I be? You've really shown what you're capable of against the other monsters we've battled thus far!"

"Yeah, though just don't remind me of the fight with Vaal Hazak... that bastard was a pain to deal with..." He growled wearily. "And he didn't even taste good, it was like I was eating a rotting Popo!"

"Sorry about that. Really didn't see something like that coming... still wish I didn't smell it a little still. That rot just won't leave." Mika wrinkled her nose, the memories of fighting the half-rotten monster not having the best memory in her mind. The fact that it existed at all was unique, but they'd all quickly learned that unique didn't always mean pleasant or fun. But Nergigante was at least not something that smelled like months-old fish left out in the sun after something had puked on it.

"Maybe after a few more hot baths it might finally leave you. Anyway, back to the matter of hand - we'll be setting out first thing tomorrow to the Elders Recess. I'm hoping that all of you will be up for this task!" Skye told them all - this order was normally given out by the Commander, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference whose mouth it came from - Nergigante had to be stopped, one way or another.

They all knew what was at stake, and would act accordingly. Their equipment was the best that they could have, and they'd fought it twice and knew most of what it tended to do. All that remained was to put the massive dragon down and preserve the New World's ecology, at least until the next massive threat appeared, as they tended to do.

The next morning, Skye and the hunters made their way to the Elders Recess, staring around in awe at the large formation of cliffs, monsters and crystal-like rocks that surrounded them all. From their brief exploration, they were quick to note that the Recess had a subterranean area full of molten magma and dangerous beasts - they were surprised that the likes of a Brachidios hadn't made its home here, though the evidence of a Lavasioth in the area made them steer clear of it for now. Last thing they wanted to deal with was a monster whose hipcheck could send them flying from a mile away.

It didn't take them long to find the beast - it was standing out in the open, as if it had expected that the humans and monster who had denied it a meal twice over would track it down and put their unfinished business to rest. It was still as terrifying in appearance as it had been the first time they'd seen it, and was still rather unhappy to see them, letting out a rather loud snarl of rage and dominance, the fires of anger burning in its eyes. One way or another, the end was going to come for one side or the other.

"Well, I hope you're all ready for this!" Skye told Mika and the other hunters, shooting the elder dragon an equally threatening glare.

"Ya shouldn't have to worry too much about me, just try not to get too messed up by it!"

"Oh trust me, I'm going to enjoy this!" Sky bared his fangs into a grin, letting loose a loud roar. Whilst it was not quite on the same level as the Nergigante's bellow, it was still enough to get its attention.

Murderous eyes locked onto the other monster and the dragon and began to barrel towards it, claws ready to strike. The other hunters could see the multiple spikes covering it starting to grow, only making the already lethal dragon immeasurably moreso. If the fight dragged on for too long, they'd be in much greater danger, so they needed to finish it as fast as possible, getting into position even as the two titans collided.

"Any clue on when we should step in?" One of the hunters asked.

"Skye said to wait until he either gives us a signal, or if it tries to retreat. Either way, stay on your guard!" She advised, keeping her hands firmly on her weapon. Nergigante could sense that the hunters were up to something, and it was already scheming to take them all by surprise, that is if it could keep Skye at bay long enough to do so.

The two combatants were going at it with everything they had, multiple wounds on both of them, with Nergigante's spikes making attacking him difficult, but it was suffering from the multiple high-intensity electrical strikes Skye had inflicted upon it, showing clear signs of having mastered his new body's skillset in battle. He said nothing during the fight, happy to leave the monster side of him in the driver's seat for the most part, only ensuring it didn't get distracted and try to retreat or attack the hunters.

'God, just how much more can this beast last?' Skye thought to himself, striking at it with everything he had within him. The monster side of him wasn't going to back down easily, nor was it going to turn tail and run - it would be willing to fight to the death... well, unless Skye had anything against it. He hadn't had a fight that he had fled from yet, but even he knew that he wasn't going to let himself die in a hopeless battle if he had a say in it.

Eventually, the beast had been weakened enough that the hunters began to strike once they were in position. With their help, Skye thought, they would finish it off for sure. Even Elder Dragons had their limits, and as their attacks began striking home, both from range and up close, he could see the Nergigante shuddering under the assault, still bleeding heavily and looking even more enraged than it had previously, fighting feverishly to stay alive and claim victory over the intruders.

'Just... just a little more to go...' Skye huffed, his body slowly starting to show signs of exhaustion. The battle was nearly won, and all he could do was hope that he could continue going for a few more minutes until he was sure that the beast was dead. At the same time, Nergigante was essentially thinking the same thing, though it also had one last trick up its sleeves - it just needed the perfect moment...

With a sudden burst of strength, it shoved itself free after using its wings to kick up a cloud of dust, blinding them long enough to disentangle itself, hurtling towards the sky, face set in a fierce snarl, as with a bellow of rage, it sent a massive shower of its own spikes hurtling towards its prey. Regardless of if it survived or died, it was not going to go down quietly, and was going to go down fighting.

The hunters below struggled to dodge out of the way in time, some of them taking hits whilst the others were barely able to dodge through it. With a low growl, Skye focused his energy into one more attack, but before he could get it off, he realised that the elder dragon was going to attempt the same attack one more time in a bid to take out anyone who was left standing after the initial attack. It let loose one more monstrous roar as it fired off another barrage of spikes, and Skye was only just able to throw himself into the volley, the spikes opening fresh cuts in his body. In retaliation, Skye released all the energy he was charging up into one violent burst of lightning, striking the Nergigante.

As mighty as it was, the burst of electrical fury was too much for the beast to handle, and it soon died, plummeting to the ground with a massive thud, kicking up more dust and leaving a fairly large crater. But Skye's attention wasn't there, it was on his friends who hadn't been able to get out of the way in time.

"Mika! Are you still alive?"

"Mmmf... I've felt better..." She responded with a weak chuckle, a look of relief crossing Skye's face. "I will admit, I didn't think we were going to make it through the last part!"

"H... heh.." He smiled, wearily. "That thing admittedly put up much more of a fight than I was expecting!"

"It's... it's done now. Maybe we'll find out more of why it was acting that way..." She groaned as she tried to steady herself, in definite need of medical attention. The admiral was also looking injured, but the brunt of the attack had mercifully not caused any deaths or maimings. And as far as Skye's nose told him, not all of the blood on his friend belonged to her.

"Wouldn't you rather wait until we got back to the camp?" Skye asked.

"Not unless you're willing to lug this corpse all the way back - not to mention they do prefer to examine a target that's alive, after all." She laughed.

"That's true... just be careful either way." He moved closer to the fallen elder himself, curious to find out what was causing it to act so aggressively.

Even in death, it looked mighty, and nobody was entirely certain that it wouldn't get back up and start trying to kill them once more. Its breathing was still, and there was the acrid smell of electrical burns from it, along with the numerous wounds inflicted by the hunters. They would get no shortage of research material from it.

"Man, you really made a mess of it!" Mika whistled, impressed. "I'm surprised that it lasted as long as it did with all the damage you caused it!"

"Come on, you expect an elder dragon to go down easily? God help us if there's a sub-species..." Skye muttered, watching Mika examining it.

"Let's just hope there isn't..." She muttered as she examined it, making a mental note that the various spikes that lined its body were in various stages of growth, and had been during the fight. To so quickly regenerate such a portion of its body suggested to her that it might have had to prey on other Elder Dragons simply because they provided the best nutrients or perhaps it simply liked difficult prey as a form of practice.

"Should be interesting to find out just how it manages to grow out those spikes so quickly..." Skye said, looking at the many that had been fired off beforehand. The largest of them appeared to be fully black, so it was safe to say that those ones were fully grown.

"Those things hurt a lot, and you even have that thick ski- ow!" Mika hissed in pain as she cut herself on one of the spikes, still slick with at least one of the combatant's blood, the cut stinging from the influx of the foreign bodily fluid.

"You ok?!" Skye nearly jumped out of his scaly skin as he turned towards Mika.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." She winced, shaking her hand about. "Even when that thing's dead, it's still capable of hurting someone..."

"Spikes don't stop being pointy, I suppose. Just be careful - if you fell onto one of those, I don't even want to think about what would happen." The wound still hurt, but she'd been banged up worse in the line of duty, including that battle, so Mika thought little of one more scar to add to her collection. But she was finding herself increasingly agitated.

"If you think something like that's gonna keep me down so easily, I'd be amazed." She responded, taking a few samples of its spikes. "Still, maybe we can try to gather some information as to why this thing was trying to derail Zorah Magdaros in the first place..."

"Maybe it being here would've messed with something. A nest, or maybe this is just someplace special to it." If he could've, Skye would've shrugged. Trying to figure out the Elder Dragon's motivations was always difficult at best. Even as a monster himself, he didn't really fully understand them.

"Well seeing that it's currently laying here dead, I don't think it's going to be of any further use to us!" Mika grumbled, the other hunters moving in to gather some material from the slain dragon. They'd be able to craft some great armor and weapons from it, that much they did know.

She idly scratched at the area around where she'd gotten cut, not quite noticing that her skin was starting to harden into thick, black and familiar scales. She was also starting to feel more confined in her armor as she stepped back, sighing. This should've had her in a better mood, so her sour disposition was striking.

"Mika, is something wrong?" Skye asked, moving in closer. "I mean I can't say I've ever seen someone look so down after slaying such a big target!" He finished off, the scales slowly making their way up her arms. "Maybe we should head back to the camp and let the hunters finish off what's left to be done? I believe they were gonna call on the researchers anyway once it was killed."

"Mmggg... just... don't feel good..." She half-growled, her body pulsing as the black scales spread further, spikes rapidly beginning to sprout as Mika felt an incredible anger rising inside of her, along with a frantic realization. Whatever had happened to Skye might not be an isolated incident, his blood could very well still contain the virus that had changed him.

"It could be that you're worn out from the battle. I mean, it was quite fierce..." He paused, noticing something seemed a little off about her. Maybe it was the growl, maybe it was the fact that the seams of her armor along her arms looked like they were about to split, or maybe it was because he had caught sight of the black scales along her arms and hands, her fingers twitching as they grew steadily thicker and broader, sharpened claws sprouting from her fingertips.

Her body was starting to grow in size, muscles growing larger and stronger, bones growing thicker and denser as the virus continued its work, countless razor-sharp spines sprouting like a lethal forest on her body. She wasn't moving much, just twitching as if just being near her was enough to set her rage off.

"GGghrrrhhhHHHhggrr..."

"OK... this is somewhat worrying..." Skye gulped. When he transformed, it was an intense feeling, but at the same time the creature he was becoming didn't show any signs of attempting to take over until the changes were nearly finished. Even then, he was able to keep in control for the whole time. What Mika was turning into, on the other hand, was a physical manifestation of pure, murderous rage, and he was worried that she might not be able to overcome the beast's mental challenge.

By now, the others were backing off with undue haste, trying to avoid attracting the transforming woman's ire. Her armor was rapidly becoming unable to contain her growing brawn and rage, the spikes growing longer and sharper as her arms grew larger and densely scaled, fingers elongating as thick, razor-sharp claws replaced her nails, twitching as she grasped the Nergigante's corpse beneath them, causing more blood to flow. Another ominous growl escaped her throat.

"Mika, I'm going to need you to try to stay with me here, ok?" Skye moved in closer, hoping that she'd be able to fight it. The hunters and the arriving researchers were watching from afar, starting to take notes of the curious phenomenon - what other chance were they going to get to see what happened to Skye happen to another person? With another growl, her armor slowly split, her greaves exploding, unable to keep her giant paws contained whilst the arms of her armor followed soon after, revealing the scaly, spiked muscle underneath. Her back appeared to be bulging outwards, noticeably around her shoulders. If she'd heard him, it wasn't clear, but the growling remained as she kept growing, easily starting to match the size of the titanic dragon they'd slain mere minutes before. Of more concern was simply the fact that she could easily infect anyone her attacks didn't outright kill. A massive spike-laden tail began to grow from her spine, her neck thickening, eyes unfocused, but almost pure red with anger. They could see her teeth starting to go from human to dragon, becoming thicker and sharper.

"Grrh...GRRAAHHHHHH!!" She roared in rage, using her claws to tear off the rest of the armor that was confining her changing form. It fell aside with a heavy thud along with her weapon, her chest barrelling forwards now it was free from the hand-crafted cage that had previously surrounded it. Her breasts receded into a wall of pure, scaly muscle, the scales on her undersides sporting the same golden brown as the Nergigante under her. On second glance, she appeared to be steadily surpassing the beast in size, her tail thrashing against the ground, the multitude of spikes covering it leaving a series of deep gashes in the stone.

Her tail grew out further, lashing about in anger as the area around her shoulders bulged further and further until a massive pair of wings grew in, growing to full size with inhuman speed, being folded against her back. A pair of bulges on either side of her head soon grew into a pair of massive, curved horns, heavy and ready to gore anything that drew her wrath. Internally, Mika was finding herself unable to contain the sheer, unadulterated fury that was the Nergigante's mind.

"Mika? Stay with me, Mika!" He was hoping that his voice might at the very least keep her from going off the deep end, her changes slowly approaching completion. Taking a big risk, he placed a scaly paw on Mika's shoulder, wincing slightly from the fully-grown spikes that adorned her body. "If I was able to stay in control, I'm sure you'll be able to, too!"

"Grrhh..hrhrrargghh..." His words seemed to be working, at least for the moment. Her consciousness and the Nergigante's mind were currently in a stalemate, neither one refusing to budge. The red coloration of her eyes appeared to fade for now, only for them to revert to a feral, golden yellow rather than Mika's natural eye color. "S....Skye....?"

"I'm here for you. It's... it's not easy, but you can do it!" He kept his tone cheerful as he spoke, her face starting to push out into a broad, frightening muzzle to fit her many lethal fangs inside of it. As far as he could tell, she was larger than the original, and in full health, if the spike growth was anything to go by. For the moment, Skye looked satisfied that she wasn't going to attack anyone.

"Rrrghh... S...Skye..." She growled and groaned, shakily getting to her feet - or rather, all four of them - as she looked at the Abyssal Lagiacrus. For now, their minds were at an impasse. "What... what's going on?" She asked, soon noticing her new form. "W...why am I...?"

"Keep calm, you've turned into a Nergigante." He said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, yet still hoping to not agitate her. "My blood must have been on the spike you cut yourself on..." He paused before realising that if that was the case, then any of the spikes on her body would be capable of causing a similar transformation as well, and the last thing he wanted right now was for the hunters and researchers to be subjected to such a change - for all he knew, they might not be able to handle themselves as he could, and Mika was still in a stalemate mind-wise.

"G-guess the virus is still contagious..." She grumbled as she warily eyed her new body, the spikes still feeling foreign in spite of her body now growing them. She felt strong, but with the monster's rage still barely held at bay, it was hard to get too excited about what aid she could possibly lend to the other hunters.

"Just be careful with your spikes for the time being, that's all I can suggest." Skye nodded, the two of them looking over at the hunters and researchers, some of them gathering materials, whilst the others had finished taking notes on Mika's transformation. "All I can ask now is what's gonna happen next?"

"Hey! We might have just picked up a clue on where Nergigante was heading!" One of the researchers called out. "Er... the dead one, I mean!"

"Great! If we know what its objective was, maybe we can unravel this whole mystery!" Skye beamed as the group began to move out towards where the researchers had indicated, something gnawing at the back of Mika's mind. The Nergigante was oddly... pleased by this, its resistance to her control fading suspiciously.

"Thankfully we might not have to look too far!" One of the hunters said. "Turns out that whatever Nergigante was looking for is deeper within the Elder's Recess!"

"Well, that's convenient!" Skye didn't quite know how to react to that one. "So shall we go and look for it?"

"We could, but maybe it might be a good idea if you rest up here for a little bit, Skye. I mean I know you wouldn't want to miss out on the action, but the beast did rough you up something fierce, after all!"

He didn't look entirely enthused by the idea of staying behind, but it was hard to deny that fighting the original Nergigante had done a number on him, even more than some of the other monsters they'd fought since his transformation. Grudgingly, Skye nodded and sighed, motioning for Mika to follow the others.

"Alright. Just... be careful. It's hard getting used to this."

"Right. Hopefully I won't do anything stupid, though..." Mika nodded to him, turning away from the Lagiacrus so that she could travel with the hunters. She still had the beast within a mental lockdown, and it was taking a lot of strength and willpower to keep it in place - all she could do was hope that it'd settle down soon.

They continued further on, Mika keeping an eye on the surroundings as they got closer and closer to whatever the elder dragon's prize was. Something was drawing her closer, as if her body already knew the route, knew what lied at the end. Eventually, they stopped, a host of researchers examining their prize.

"It's another elder dragon! One still in an infant stage... fascinating..."

"Hrm?" Mika stepped closer, taking a look at the beast. Whilst it appeared to be freshly hatched, at the same time it didn't look like it was a pushover in any way - its body was covered in blue scales, some of them appearing purple in a certain light. Several large orange orbs lining up to its horns gave it the appearance of having multiple eyes, the dragon itself looking like an alien from another world. As soon as it caught sight of the invaders upon its territory, it let loose a powerful roar.

Before Mika could say more, she felt her control of the body violently shoved to the back of her mind, the Nergigante practically salivating over the prospect of being brought straight to its prey. She pounced forwards with an earth-shaking roar, claws and fangs at the ready, eager to rend the glowing young dragon into meat. Though fresh, the Xeno'jiva returned her challenge and began its own charge.

"Mika! What are you doing?!" One of the hunters yelled to her, only to get a feral roar in response, the beast fully in control now as she charged it with her horns, knocking it aside.

"I think one of you should go back and alert Skye!" The lead hunter said to the others, keeping them back for the time being. "See if he's able to snap some sense into her!"

"Are you sure? I don't think he'd last too long in the state he's in!"

"All we can hope is that his presence might bring her back under control!" The hunter retorted. Knowing that they'd have to keep all the hunters there in case it got ugly, one of the researchers dashed back towards where they had left Skye.

Though he didn't turn to watch, the sounds of carnage were hard to drown out as the two dragons tore into one another, the infant at a disadvantage, but the conclusion was already obvious for anyone watching. It was going to lose, but that wasn't the man's concern as the adrenaline carried him back to where the other hunter-come-monster was.

"S-Skye! Come... come quickly! Your friend's lost control!"

"What?!" Skye nearly leapt clean out of his scales at the news. He was still nursing his wounds, but he knew that he had to try to bring Mika back to normality before she turned on any of the hunters! Shakily getting back to his feet, he followed the hunter back into the depths of the Recess.

He rushed off, leaving the researcher behind, though the man didn't seem too eager to return to the carnage. As he ran, he heard the sounds of combat and roaring, pain and triumph and desperation. Just as Skye reached the Hollow, he heard a triumphant roar, combined with the unmistakable sound of teeth crunching through scale and bone. Mika had triumphed, with barely any scratches on her, teeth, claws and spikes stained with gore.

"Oh god no..." Skye gulped, looking at Mika as she tore into the fallen Xeno'jiva, fearing that he had lost her. "Mika, are you in there?" He asked, slowly and carefully approaching her.

For a few moments, Mika didn't respond, simply tearing into the dead dragon with great gusto before suddenly stopping and removing her face from where she'd torn into the creature, a mix of contentment and shame crossing it.

"S-Skye? I... I think this is what it wanted. It's not... it's here, but... kind of not...?"

"Mika... oh thank god..." He let out a sigh of relief, approaching her. He reared up, placing his forelegs carefully around her shoulders, pulling her into a soft embrace. The hunters and researchers didn't quite know what to make of the display of affection between two monsters. "I'm guessing that your minds must have finally merged together?"

"Yeah, I think so... it's not trying to take control, and it... yeah, it feels like it's happy to share the body now, as much sense as that makes. Shame we couldn't study whatever that was alive, but..." She chuckled for a few seconds. "...knowing our job, we would've had to fight and kill it anyhow. So I guess I just helped speed the process along."

"I'm pretty sure there will be other chances to find one that's alive, though we'll probably have to give it some time..." Skye smirked - at least if that was the case, the next time he'd actually be able to join in the fight. "Besides, I'm sure with whatever's left over of it, we might be able to gather up a few bits of useful information!"

"True, I think there's enough left of it to research. Well, unless you're hungry, anyway..."

Skye was about to protest that, but he was cut off by his stomach rumbling loudly.

"Eheh... I'll try to leave enough for them to work with..." He chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~ Once everything had been wrapped up - and the pair had left enough to satisfy the researchers - they had returned to their base in Asteria, a party being thrown for them, with plenty of meat to satiate the two apex predators that were now a part of the team. The fact that the virus could still change people meant they were treated with more caution, but there was talk of perhaps finding a way to use it to some advantage later on. Skye smiled as he looked at Mika.

"So, I guess now that we're both monsters... I dunno. Could plan for a future with us, somehow?"

"Honestly, I don't see why not~" She said with a soft purr, moving in closer to him. "I mean I don't think we're going to get much in the form of partnership offers with any of the humans, and it'd be just a little bit more questionable if we paired up with the more feral-minded beasts."

"I'm sure they wouldn't object in any way to the concept of mating." Skye teased, nudging her shoulder.

"Oh, stop it, you. But honestly, now that Nergi and I are sort of merged... I actually kinda like this. I can fly, I don't need to worry about finding armor, or sharpening my weapons. These damn spikes grow if you even look at em' funny. Helps with arming the others. Just... kinda wonder where we'll go next." She gave him a gentle, for a monster, nudge back and grinned, flexing her wings.

"Whilst everyone was partying earlier, I overheard the Commander talking about a place called Hoarfrost Reach - can't say I've ever heard of the place, myself, but from the sounds of it, it's in the middle of icy terrain." Skye told her. "Safe to assume that that's where they'll be heading out to investigate within the next few days!"

"And where there's things to investigate, there's bound to be monsters. And honestly, I think they just might need us to tag in when things get too heavy. And I know we won't need to worry about the cold. So, I say bring whatever life throws at us next on. We're bigger and meaner than it, and if we combine our strength? We can take down anything!"

"I don't know what part of you saying that is you or the Nergigante!" Skye couldn't help but laugh. "But yeah, I'm sure that whatever threats come our way, we'll be more than ready to take them on!" He smiled, Mika wrapping a wing around his side as the two embraced, looking up at the stars.

Though they were both fierce monsters, they were still humans - and hunters - at heart.