Life of a Monster Hunter

3 - Gaining a Team

After my bout with the Velocidrome, my status in the village skyrocketed. I received praise from everyone there once I brought back the parts I had carved from the large wyvern. The chief hailed me for saving the village from a previously unknown threat. My parents were delighted and frustrated all at the same time. The villagers crowed around me as I walked back through the main gate, eager to hear my story. I told them all what had happened. They'd had the same reaction with Tusk after her come back from a quest. I loved that feeling. It finally felt like my dream was become my reality.

I forged new armor from the parts I'd collected. After the whole fiasco with the bone armor, I was eager for a change. The new blue Velociprey armor fit perfectly and gave me just the right amount of coverage. The metal plating and scales would serve me well on future hunts.

Over the next month or two, I continued with my questing. I hunted several monsters, gathered a few materials, and even tried my hand on a few capturing missions. I upgraded my armor and got a new Long Sword, the Aikuchi, forged from a Tetsucabra that was seen roaming around in the Marshland caves. I was growing in strength, but I knew that I had a limit. I was the only hunter in the village, and there were some monsters that I knew would take more than one person to hunt. Of course, there wasn't much I could do about that. There weren't any other hunters around for miles.

I was sitting in the village, eating lunch with Mira. I had returned from a hunt the day before and was looking for some down time before my next quest. There was talk of a large monster, though no one had seen anything specific.

"I was thinking of heading out tomorrow," I said to Mira. "Do some scouting to see if I could find anything."

"I'm sure it's nothing. I haven't heard any monsters."

"Still, better safe than sorry."

She shrugged and went back to eating. I reached down to take another bite of my meal when I saw something scampering on the ground by my feet. A pair of deep blue eyes looked back at me. A grey felyne stood beside my leg, looking up at me with curiosity. I smiled and leaned down to it.

"Hi there," I said sweetly. "I haven't seen you in the village before."

It climbed up, standing on my lap, looking between me and Mira.

"This is Mira. My name is Ria. It's nice to meet you."

It looked back at me and smiled. It moved and hugged me, making me warm with its soft fur. I hugged back, not ever remember hugging a felyne before. It was like hugging a stuffed animal. I smiled when a voice came from behind me.

"Alright, that's enough."

I glanced back and saw a taller man standing behind me. He was then with short black hair. He looked to be a little older than me. A short scar spread down the left side of his chest. He looked fairly strong, but his face seemed off. He looked annoyed.

"Oh, is this your felyne?"

"He is, and you might want to stop him."

"Huh?"

"Um... Ria?" Mira said slowly.

I turned to face her, then looked down at the felyne. I wasn't hugging him anymore, but he was hugging me. His soft paws gripped the sides of my breasts while his fluffy face was buried deep into my cleavage. I blushed a dark crimson and pulled him off of me, much to his dismay.

"Nya!" he meowed. "What's the big idea?! I was just getting comfortable!"

"Malcom, you can't do that anymore. Remember our talk?" the man said.

"Forget that! There's nothing better than the warm plush feeling of the female chest, and this one's- Hey!"

He stopped at the man lifted him off my lap, pushing him to the ground.

"Meow... you're no fun..."

"Sorry about him. He can be a little unruly."

"Uh... Yeah," I managed to say, still a little shocked. "I... I'm Ria..."

"I heard. My name's Cal. You've already met Malcom."

"It's a purrleasure to meet you," the cat smiled.

I wasn't really processing anything. On the one hand I was reeling with the realization of being groped by little paws, but on the other hand, he was really soft and warm. I snapped out of it when I saw the cart sitting behind Cal. Sharp green pieces of metal glowed over the sides, catching my eye.

"Is that armor?" I asked.

"Yep. It's mine. I'm a hunter. Malcom is my Palico."

"I though we agreed on purrtner," he purred.

"I've never seen that kind of armor before," I said, walking over to it. "It's flashing... what's it forged from?"

"An Astalos. A large electrical flying wyvern."

"Like a bug, but bigger, scarier, and zappier!" Malcom cheered. "And this is mine!"

He ran up and dug through the pile, pulling out a black mask that was the perfect size for a felyne.

"From the dangerous Nargacuga. I'm purractically a ninja in these."

Cal had shifted around the pile a bit more, pulling out another piece of green glowing equipment. It was a Bow.

"Wow... I've never seen a Bow before. Is it hard to use?"

"Not really, once you know the different coatings and abilities. This Lightning Bow can use quite a few. Are you a hunter?"

"Yeah. I use a Long Sword."

"Oh, so you're the one the guild was talking about. I've heard you've done quite a bit on your own. I'm impressed."

"Meow too," Malcom said, smiling devilishly, "but I'm more impressed now."

I frowned and folded my arms over my chest, trying not to give him any more ideas.

"Why did you guys come down here? We haven't sent out any requests."

"A report from a neighboring village said that a large monster was seen flying over towards this area. We were sent in to make sure everything clear."

"That must be what everyone thought they saw," Mira chimed in.

"If it is around here, we're supposed to hunt it before it becomes a problem. Since you're the resident hunter, I guess you would like to go along on the quest," Cal said to me.

"Oh... yeah. Sounds good."

"Sounds good to meow too!" Malcom said. "More time to spend with that soft bosom..."

"...I will be wearing armor."

"... right."