Forty Years of This [Monster Hunter World]

Chapter 46

The girl who took the bunk across from his was very pretty. Perhaps he would have thought that of any girl his age he'd never met before, but this was the first girl, and she was bunking near him. She had a wild look about her with her blond hair tied back in a messy fishtail braid. She flicked the sweat from her brow then turned to the boy and threw out a hand.

"I'm ███!" Her wild confidence, her brown skin, and her broad stance reminded the boy a bit of his grandfather, and he was immediately won over.

"I'm ████!" Though his hand was larger than her's, he felt the strength of her arm in her grip.

"Yeah? What do you hunt with? I switched the gunlance recently, so I'm a bit new to it, but I was poking things with the plain lance before."

"Oh! I've been trained on the longsword, but I want to try the larger weapons once I finish growing. I've been told you can ruin your growth if you start on the heavier things too young. I don't want to learn first hand if that's true."

The other hunter, the Gunlance, laughed. It was a laugh from the chest that radiated through her nose and ended in a snort, but she didn't seem to mind. "Yeah! My dad ruined his hip with a hammer when he was twelve. He got stuck having to do therapy for years before he could swing one again. Always called his long sword his 'hip replacement.' Ahh..."

As they spoke, another hunter dragged his trunk in and let it fall next to the boy's. He was taller than both of them but not by much. Nor was he terribly brawny, and a strange looking insect clung to his arm.

"Is this bunk taken?" He pointed to the one above the boy's.

"Oh not at all. I'm ████, and this is ███. Do you use the insect glaive? That's never been popular here-- I can't wait to see it--"

"Nope. This is my friend's bug." Without hesitating, the new hunter threw open his trunk and began tossing his personal effects around. "I'm █████. I'm a good shot with anything ranged. Bow. Bowguns. Sling shots. Spit. Some other things." He winked at the boy who cocked his head in confusion.

Their Bowman wasn't half as brawny as the boy, but he seemed to have it where it counted. It seemed to the boy that a good team was just falling in his lap. He had an amiable hunter who even after an exhausting trip was eager to chat and a less sociable hunter who would be good at a range. How mind bogglingly fortunate he would be if a hunter walked in the door and took the bunk above their Gunlance's. Better yet if that hunter could run support.

But no such hunter came. No hunter came at all. Not even the Bowman's friend for his insect. The bug got up on its own and flew off to find its hunter.

"Well," the Gunlance said as the bug zipped away. "Guess your buddy isn't joining us."

"Oh. Nah. She found a girlfriend on the ship, and is making the terrible decision of hunting with her. Never date your hunting buddies."

"Why not?" The boy looked up from beneath his bunk.

"Because if your girlfriend is mad at you, and a monster is about to bite your head off, you have to hope to whatever gods you hold dear that she's not spiteful enough to let that happen. And people can get really nasty when you're-- wait how old are you?"

"Fifteen."

The Bowman leaned over the edge of his bunk and looked down at the boy. His face screwed up like he was looking at some sort of incomprehensible bug.

"Fifteen? How'd they let a kid like you come over-- actually, I didn't even see you on the boat." The Bowman looked to the Gunlance. "Did you see him?"