FSE

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I was about to spark up a conversation when Cerys decided now was the perfect time to untie her apron, letting the thin green cloth fall in a small crumple on the bedsheets. Without the apron, the little palico was left bare to the world. Or, as bare as a completely fur covered creature could be. The thin pure black fur along her chest and stomach was marred by a large, white oblong shape that traveled halfway up the center of her chest and flared out in a pseudo-circle near her left hip.

Tt wasn’t the first time I’d seen her without the apron, so I didn’t give it much thought. Besides, a lot of palicos wear next to no clothing as is, so seeing Cerys like this wasn’t too surprising. Hell, she wasn’t wearing anything when we first met, too. Not like it matters. With all the fur, there was an almost zero chance you’d see anything anyway. Clothing seemed less a modesty thing for plenty of felynes, and more of a matter of strictly fashion.

Cerys picked up the discarded apron and jumped off the bed. The soft pitter pat of her tiny feet sounded out as she went over to the large chest of drawers and pulled open the bottommost drawer.

“Well, well,” she mused aloud. “Looks like Finley really did go all out with the armor and weapons.”

Pushing up from the bed, I carried myself to stand behind her. “What do you mean?” But she didn’t need to answer.

There, laying inside the open drawer, was a full set of alloy armor. The light gray of the iron ore was accented by the machalite’s blue. It was a fine, sturdy armor designed to withstand most monster attacks. Within reason. I lifted the chest plate up to my torso, realizing it was just the slightest bit too big. Certainly nothing that would present any serious problems, it was just something I noticed. Hopefully, the rest of the armor was a bit more fit, but there was a good chance the whole set was this ever so tiny bit bigger.

“Alright,” Cerys said enthusiastically, smacking the side of the chest. She reached inside the still open drawer and pulled out another set of alloy armor, but this one designed for a palico. At once, she donned the armor. It was a much simpler make than the one I held. Hers was just a chest plate and a helmet, leaving her bottom half exposed. The helmet was just a skull cap type, and the chest plate was…interesting, acting mostly like a metal vest rather than armor.

When she had finished putting it on, Cerys beamed up at me. “Been a while since I’ve worn one of these old things.”

I snorted at that. “Old? It looks brand new.”

The little black and white furred lady shook her head. “I didn’t mean it like that. These alloy armors are an old design, dating back to when the Guild first started.” She slammed a tiny fist against her metal covered chest. “Don’t fix what ain’t broken, yeah?”

Without any sort of response to that, I just shrugged and began to shed my clothes. As I did so, I noticed my felyne friend watching me intently. After pulling my shirt over my head, I shot her a look and asked, “Problem?”

“Nope.” She said it with a little smile. “Just observing your body. And I gotta say, not bad for a rookie.” Her eyes scanned across my exposed torso and she clicked her tongue. “Definitely could use a bit more work, though. A few months of hunting will fix that.”

With just a hint of smugness, I stated, “’A bit more work?’ I’ll have you know; I passed my license exam with flying colors.”

“Ha!” she shouted mockingly. “Any idiot human can pass that exam so long as they’re not fat as a zamtrios.” She walked over to me and hit my stomach with one of her small hands. Hard. It actually managed to make me take a few steps back. When I recovered from the brief shock, I looked down to see her face awash in self-righteousness. She laughed as she said, “See? Some ‘flying colors’ you are if little ol’ me can do that to you.”

“That’s just because I wasn’t expecting it,” I said with only the smallest hint of embarrassment and shame.

She shook her head in disbelief. “Honestly,” she muttered. “How do you expect to survive out in the field if you’re not ready for anything? Monsters don’t pull their punches, and they sure as hell don’t wait for you to be ready.”

As I slipped on the armor, I retorted with, “Oh, come on. With an experienced palico like you by my side? Those monsters better be looking out for us than the other way around.” With the torso pieces on, I then began to hook on the leg and arm guards, though not without some assistance from Cerys to fasten them on tight enough.

As Cerys finished fastening the leg straps to my boots, she let out a little chuckle. “Oh yeah, those monsters will all cower and run in fear at the mere sight of this cute little felyne.” Her chuckle evolved into a genuine laugh at the thought. It was a sweet sound, almost like music.

Once the armor was all tight and fitted properly (as best as it could, at least be), the last remaining piece was the helmet. Similar to Cerys’s, it was a skull cap, and when I placed it upon my head, I could feel this sense of pride in myself. It was as if the fact I was a hunter had finally set in fully now that I looked the part. Raising my arms, I looked down at myself, examining the way it all looked on me.

It was at this point, I realized I was missing the most crucial piece of all. A hunter is only as good as their weapon. I mentioned my need of a weapon to Cerys, who once more reached into the chest and dragged out a simple sword and shield made of iron. They were finely crafted, a testament to Finley’s craftsmanship.

However…

“No no no,” I said, shaking my head. “Give me something different. I used something like that during my exam.” Though the weapon pair was made well, I wanted a grander weapon, something that people could see and think ‘that guy is a true hunter.’

“But these are the tried-and-true weapons for most beginner hunters,” she explained. “It’d be better to get more accustomed to something simple before moving on to one of the more complex weapons.” She held the sword and shield out towards me and urged, “Please, just take them out for a few jobs. Get used to using these, and then I’ll help you find something that you can truly call your own. Ok?”

Reluctantly, I nodded and accepted the pair. Strapping on the shield to my arm, it felt almost weightless, as if it wasn’t even there. The short sword (which was more like a large dagger it was so small), I turned and twirled it around some to get a nice feel for it. It was as light as the shield. How could something made of dense iron feel like air? Perhaps Guild crafted weapons were just special. Perhaps the smiths used Ancient forging techniques or even magic itself. Perhaps the rumors about modern day humans being the descendants of super soldiers were more than just legends.

I felt a small poking at my side, followed by Cerys’s voice saying my name to get my attention. When I turned my gaze to her, she asked me, “So, you ready to go see what Chief’s assignment is?”

Nodding silently, I led the way outside and back to the Wycademy office building. Along the way, I noticed another set of buildings off in the distance, a little ways away from this current collection. I wondered aloud what they were for, and Cerys echoed my question. I made a mental note to ask Chief about them, just to sate the curiosity.

As we neared the entrance to the office, I leaned down slightly closer to Cerys and said, “I hope this first job is something good.”

A big toothy grin formed across her face. “Aw, does the rookie hunter not wanna take a rookie quest like picking mushrooms?” She was mocking me, but it was all in good fun. Mostly.

“All I’m saying is I’d rather my first outing as a hunter be, ya know, as a hunter.”

“You’ve gotta do the small jobs before you can do the big jobs,” she said with a shrug. “Need to show people you can actually handle the responsibility and all that.”

“Still though. Would be nice not to have to be treated like a child just learning to walk.”

“You kinda are, though,” she said, barely containing a laugh as she did so.

With a raise of an eyebrow, I questioned, “Just how old are you?”

In faux anger, she put a hand to her chest and stated, “You can’t just ask a lady something like that.”

“What lady? All I see is a cute little felyne,” I said, teasing her with own previous words. In response, Cerys simply smirked and playfully punched my hip. Even with my armor on, her little fist still hit hard. She was stronger than her short stature would lead one to believe.

Soon, we were inside the office and saw Chief standing near a desk, talking to a few scholars with papers strewn about the desktop. The scholars’ mouths were all moving a mile a minute, but they weren’t shouting or anything of the sort. Perhaps the scholars were just overly excited about something. Chief cast a quick glance our way and then said something to the studious types before him, who then bowed and walked off, taking a few of the papers with them.

“Well, well, well,” Chief bellowed as Cerys and I drew closer. “Look at you two. I expected Finley to make something nice, but he really went all out.” His eyes drifted over to the shield on my arm and he smiled. “Ah, I see you’ve chosen a classic.”

Shrugging, I responded with, “Well, not for nothing, but I do plan on expanding my horizons and trying out the rest.”

“You’d be a fool not to,” he replied, his smile only growing. “Every hunter has to come to their own conclusion on what weapon is best for them. I just hope you find yours sooner rather than later.”

“Well, thanks. I hope so, too.”

Chief gave a single nod (maybe one of respect?) and then stamped his cane down onto the floor. “Now then, let’s see to your assignment, yes?” He grabbed one of the papers on the nearby desk and scanned it for a brief moment before looking back to us. “Recently, we set up a small area out in the Jurassic frontier, a little base of operations in the field. Sadly, it appears as if a pack of the local maccao took it upon themselves to ransack the place and rip up the tents.”

“Excellent,” I exclaimed, “so you want us to get rid of the pack?” The fact my first job would be to actually deal with monsters, even if it was some small fry from the way Chief was speaking, was making me all pumped up and ready for action.

Cerys slapped at the backside of my thigh. “Hush up and keep listening. He’s not finished.”

“Now now, no need for that,” Chief said, calming us both down. After clearing his throat for clarity, he continued, “This isn’t just about the maccao. It’s also about their alpha, the one running the show. We’ve had run-ins with him before, but he never presented a threat before now. But this last encounter put two of our scouts into the med bay with serious wounds. And yes, I am asking you to deal with the pack, and the most surefire way of doing so is taking out the leader.”

Chief then handed us both small slips of paper. Imprinted on them were drawings of the monsters in question. The maccao were those colorful raptor-like creatures I saw from the airship. Red faces and underbellies, bodies covered in moss green feathers, and a thick tail. The other drawing was likely the alpha maccao, as it was depicted are larger, with a bright yellow crest of feathers around its head and neck, and with a thicker tail that had spikes placed at almost even points along the edge.

“Some of the others have taken to calling the alpha a great maccao,” Chief stated.

Cerys looked up from the drawing and asked, “Oh, so like with the jaggi?”

“Why not maccaodrome?” I questioned.

Chief just shrugged and said, “Probably because ‘great maccao’ just sounds better.” He then presented us with a folded piece of cloth and explained, “This is a map of the frontier, I’ve already marked out where the encampment was.” When I took the map and opened it up, Chief made another note. “We’ve not had a good opportunity to study the alpha, so if you could, I’d ask for you two to capture it rather than just kill it.”

“Hmm, a capture quest,” Cerys mused aloud. “Pretty good job for a rookie hunter, eh?” She said this while nudging my hip, pushing against me in a not-so-subtle reminder of our earlier talk. I tried to hide the little smile I could feel forming, but clearly failed, as both Cerys and Chief laughed a bit.

“Well then,” Chief stated, clapping his hands together firmly, “I wish the two of you a successful hunt.” With those final words, he gave us each a warm pat on the shoulder and walked away, following after the scholars he was talking to before we showed up.

I took in the moment, relishing the fact my first job as a hunter was exactly what I wanted. I could feel my own eagerness trying to take hold of my entire being and force me to run off to the frontier and bag and tag this great maccao for the Wycademy. Thankfully, I had a little friend nearby to stop that.

Cerys reached up as high as she could to poke at my chest, bringing my focus down to her. She had a smug little smirk painted on her face as she said, “I know you wanna go deal with this monster right away, but need to prepare first. Get some items and such, ya know.”

Try as I might, I couldn’t help but release a dejected sigh. “Yeah, I get it. So, Ms. Experienced Palico,” I began, emphasizing my words with a smug grin of my own, “what do you think would be good to bring on this hunt?”

“For a simple fight like this, I’d say a good handful of potions would be a good starter. Also, some traps, of course. Can’t catch a monster without ‘em.”

“And with traps comes the need for tranqs.”

“Naturally,” she confirmed with a nod of her fuzzy head.

“Alrighty. What say I go get us the potions and you pick up the traps and tranqs and we meet at the gates?”

Cerys nodded once more and added, “Get some flash bombs, too. Never know when they could come in handy.” She then turned tail and went off to collect her share and left me to do the same.

Roughly ten minutes later, I was leaving the office building and marching my way down to the village gates, with a full store of potions and even a few mega potions in a large sack tied to my waist. The shopkeeper gave me a good price on them, telling me the discount was to celebrate my arrival. He did make a point to mention this little discount would only last until tomorrow, afterwards I’d be paying full price.

As I neared the gates, I could see a certain armor-clad felyne already waiting there for. When she noticed me, she gave an enthusiastic wave and lifted up a little bag. She shouted out, “Got the stuff! You got yours?”

I patted the sack of potions and shouted back, “You know I did!”

When I got closer, Cerys puffed out her chest and boldly claimed, “One great maccao, coming right up.”

“Hell yeah,” I agreed with a laugh.

I was just about ready to head out when Cerys grabbed my arm, stopping me. She hooked a thumb over to the felyne kitchen and demanded, “Always eat before a hunt.”

I agreed and after a nice hearty meal of thick cut steaks and stewed greens chased down with sweet wine, we were departing Bherna and making our way out to the frontier. Following the map, we trudged through a few little hilly valleys before arriving at that large field I saw from up in the air. The large sauropod creatures were grazing blissfully, completely ignoring me and Cerys.

Cerys yanked the map from my hands and pointed to an area over to our right. “Looks like the encampment’s over that way. With any luck, the great maccao won’t be too far away from it.”

The short walk to the camp took almost no time, and soon we were standing at the destroyed remains of what was once the Wycademy research camp. Blue tens were ripped to pieces with large jagged tears in the cloth, boxes were smashed to bits, papers strewn about everywhere and carried off by the wind. Discarded and busted items littered the ground, showing off the unfinished studies the scholars were doing here. I could see some rotted meat around, too. Likely the food the scholars kept on hand before the attack.

We explored the camp, finding some reddish scales and green feathers. The maccao were supposed to be responsible for this ruin, so it made sense to see hints of them here like that. A few prints were around, too, large clawed feet. Oddly, there were also prints of something much larger than the feet, something heavy, indicated by how these particular prints were sunken in deeper into the ground than the footprints.

Cerys was off somewhere behind me and hadn’t yet seen this weird print, so I called her over, asking when she approached, “What do you figure this is?”

She got low to the ground and examined the print closely. When she stood, she rubbed at her furry chin and said, “Not sure. Never seen something like this before.”

Picking up one of the left behind feathers, I offered it to my little hunting partner. “Can you sniff out the maccao?”

Smacking my hand away, she said, almost in anger, “I’m not a bloodhound.” The feather softly floated down to the ground in the meantime.

“Sorry,” I said, dropping my hand to my side. “Just wondering, is all.” Taking a deep breath, I held it for a second before letting it all out in an annoyed sigh. “Guess it’s time to track the old-fashioned way.”

“You mean blindly wander about like idiots until we stumble upon our target?”

“You got any better ideas?”

“Yes, actually,” she stated with a scoff. Quickly, she pulled forth a cut of dried meat from her pouch, tossing it a few feet away. She then pushed against me, saying, “We’ll just hide for a bit and see if we can coerce a maccao out in the open.”

The idea then hit me. “Oh, I get it. Then we’ll follow the little bastard back to wherever the nest is and take out the alpha when we get there.”

A mischievous grin formed when she tapped a finger to her forehead and said, “Now you’re thinking like a hunter.”

We darted off behind some large bushes and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

After what felt like half an hour, a rustling noise alerted us to a nearby creature heading this way. Off to the side, coming from a little covering of rock, was one of those red and green maccao. It was just as the drawing made it out to be. From up close, I could see the individual scales along its face and neck, and how the feathers puffed out to cover damn near the entire beast. Its mouth was layered with razor sharp teeth perfect for ripping into soft flesh. Short arms ended in brown scaled pseudo-hands, and its legs were equally coated in the same scales. The tail was almost like a club it was so thick.

It looked around cautiously before dashing to the meat as quick as it could. The maccao licked it (possibly testing for poison?) before picking it up in its little claws and running back where it came from. We traveled carefully, avoiding making too much noise and alerting the maccao to our presence. We followed it through thick underbrush and under trees with massive leaves on their branches, and finally through a small cave that opened up to that mushroom covered place I remembered from earlier.

The mushrooms surrounding us were tall, taller than most buildings, and were shining with bioluminescence, painting the area in a hazy mix of greens and blues. Up ahead, the maccao had stopped, as before it was a grouping of similar beasts, all crowding around a pile of food; mostly chunks of flesh ripped off some poor creatures no doubt. And there, laying down but observing the smaller beasts, was the great maccao itself.

Similar to the tinier types, the bigger beast was just as the drawing showed off. Large, a colorful crest of feathers, the thick tail, powerful legs, etc. It was almost amazing just how accurate the artistry was. The great maccao silently watched its packmates hop around excitedly as they seemingly waited for the go-ahead to enjoy their feast. The crested creature lifted its head and let out a warbling noise, which was apparently the signal for the others to begin eating.

They ripped into the meat like they were starved. So eager to feast they were, they even fought each other for what they could get, despite there being more than enough for all of them to share.

Cerys nudged me and whispered, “They’re distracted. Perfect time to jump in and cause chaos. Would probably get the smaller ones to run away if we act fast enough and do a bit of damage.”

I nodded along, and together we prepared to strike. Unsheathing my sword as quietly as possible, I let out a long breath and then as one, Cerys and I jumped out and ran straight at the great maccao itself. I hadn’t even noticed before now, but my little felyne friend had her own sword on her, a sharp blade of dark iron gleaming in the mushroom’s light as she dashed towards our target.

The great maccao jumped up immediately and tried to let out a screech, but before it had the chance to, I tossed a flash bomb, covering my eyes as I did. Even from behind the protection of my shield, the blindly white flash was still strong enough to burn at the corners of my vision. When the flash dissipated, I saw the pack all scattering in fear, while the leader was dazed from the bomb’s effects. Cerys was already leaping for the thing’s face, sword slicing at the scaly hide at its neck.

The sword made a meaty thunk as it collided with the beast, but the blade couldn’t quite stab in. Monster hide is surprisingly tougher than it appears, and even the sharpest blade would have trouble penetrating it. Only Guild made weapons can actually do any real damage, either by way of the special forging used, or perhaps due to some secret passed down from the time of the Ancients. Either way, I knew even my own blade wouldn’t really cut too deep. Which is why one had to be persistent in their hunting, always on the offensive as much as possible to create the maximum amount of damage needed to eventually wear down the monster enough to cause their tough hide to give way and eventually deal an actual blow.

I dashed forward and brought my arm down fast, the blade sliding down the side of the great maccao’s face, then followed it up by slamming the front of my shield directly into the beast’s muzzle, the loud noise of metal against bone sounding out. The monster regained its focus and swiped at me with one of its hands, sending me back a few feet from the hit. Cerys appeared behind the beast and landed a few hits on its flank, distracting it from me for the smallest of moments, giving me just enough time to get my footing back.

The great maccao looked my way and then jumped backwards, landing not on its clawed feet, but on the thick tail. Suddenly, the imprint at the camp made sense. This creature could use its tail as another foot of sorts. As soon as the realization hit me, the monster used its powerful tail to propel it forward, directly at me with its clawed feet aiming for my head. I dive to the left, narrowly avoiding having my face rearranged by those large toe claws.

When I righted myself once more, I turned to see the great maccao’s tail swiping directly at me, which knocked the wind right out of me as it made me fly away some good 3 yards. Cerys let out a loud yell, gaining the beast’s attention, and then she produced a tiny barrel bomb and threw it right at the monster’s stupid face. The blast disoriented it for a moment, which the little palico took that time to throw out a second, larger bomb, aiming at the same place. The beast hopped to the side, avoiding the second blast, and let out another warble and jumped at Cerys, pouncing at her and pinning it beneath its large feet.

The creature opened its maw, sharp teeth covered in drool at its potential meal, but I had different plans. I jumped at the beast, landing right on its back, and I began to hammer my shield right into the top of its skull. Each blow let out meaty thunks and the great maccao roared and thrashed, trying to force me off. Cerys was now freed, so I let the creature throw me off, landing on my feet and ready to continue the fight. Cerys tossed a boomerang, which shockingly sliced off a few of those bright yellow feathers around the great maccao’s crest. (Never knew those things were so sharp)

Together, Cerys and I kept at it, cutting and slicing small cuts and knicks over and over into the hide of the monster. It tried in vain to jump at us or pin us or even bite us, but even if any of its hits landed on one of us, the other was right there ready to knock the beast away. Eventually, I began to notice the great maccao slowing down in its movements. Cerys noticed it as well, and she was fast enough on the uptake to place down a shock trap, waving to me to lure the beast over to it.

It didn’t take much effort to do so, as the monster was angry enough to follow my every move. The moment its foot hit the trap, an audible blast of electricity paralyzed it in place, and we tossed enough tranqs at it to down an animal twice its size, which proved just as effective as imagined. The great maccao fell in a heap, the tranquilizers putting it into a deep slumber.

Cerys and I were both breathing hard from the exercise. I glanced at her little form heaving up and down and it set a little laugh in me. When Cerys gave me questioning look, I laughed a bit harder.

“So, what was that you were saying about me ‘needing work?’ Looks to me like I did just fine.”

“Pfft,” she scoffed at me. “As if this was all that hard.” Shaky legs betrayed her words, and she slowly sat down and relaxed.

I follow suit. Now sitting down and staring at our slumbering catch, I then voiced a concern I hadn’t thought of before just now. “How are we gonna get this big bastard back to Bherna?"