Monster Hunter Destiny VII - Relcia, or Rathalos?

A comforting softness pressing against the back. A warm yet thin material covering the front of the body. The panicked whispers of several people. A great pain in the upper left arm, and nothing in the lower left. Mouth dry, yet filled with the aftertaste of a Potion, Taka twitched involuntarily as he slowly woke up.

His eyes fluttered open. He was staring at the ceiling of the barracks in which him and his friends slept. He was in his bed, with a comforting blanket covering him. He slowly, cautiously, turned his head to the side and saw Illeera in the bed next to his. From the look of her, she was still out of it.

Taka carefully sat up slightly. The first thing he noticed was that his friends, as well as Hydra and Bronton, were huddled together, whispering to each other urgently. A lump in his throat, he swallowed reflexively. The slight sound made the group turn as one. Hydra gasped as she saw her brother suddenly awake, staring at them. Ryka and Mylie both breathed a sigh of relief.

Taka was about to ask what had happened when, out of nowhere, Relcia rushed up to him and hugged him tightly. "I was so worried," she murmured in his ear. "I thought that you - you - " Tears sprung to her eyes as she embraced him again. Taka, redder than a Daimyo Hermitaur, wrapped his arms around her as well.

When she withdrew, Taka tore his eyes away from her face and instead looked at his left arm. His eyes bulged and he let out a squeak. The upper arm was fine - the lower arm was gone, replaced with a thick wooden stick with an opening in the centre, attached by metal plates bolted into the remainder of his arm. "I - I - I..." Taka stuttered in absolute horror. "The Gobul... It didn't..."

"I'm afraid it did, my friend," said Kread sadly. "You killed it, but before it died, it snapped your arm off like a thin tree branch." Kiem muttered bluntly, "We thought that you were dead by the time we brought you here. There was tons of blood, you see. I didn't think that you had survived that."

Listening to them intently, Taka suddenly remembered something. "Illeera! Is she..." Bronton put a strong hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Taka," the trainer said reassuringly. "She's fine. She lost half of her leg, but we replaced it with a wooden one." Hydra chimed in at this point. "We gave each of you at least twenty Potions each. Not all at once, obviously. You're fully healed, all of your lost blood's been replenished... As well as Illeera's."

Taka slumped in relief, and then slumped even further when he remembered something else. "I... I shapeshifted," he rasped, licking his lips to wet them. "I had promised... It's too unnatural... I let myself down. I couldn't control myself." Ryka, who had been been clutching Kread's arm, suddenly let go and stepped forward emphatically. "You shapeshifted, yes, but for a great cause!" she said forcefully. "If you hadn't, Illeera would be dead, as well as you!"

No matter how much Taka was reassured, he remained ashamed of himself. Finally, he felt strong enough to climb out of bed and walk around the Military Bastion. He grabbed Guan and left his friends alone.

-

Taka, numb with all of the shocks that he had recieved, walked through the Military Bastion alone. He had figured out that he could easily wield Guan by inserting the end of the handle into his wooden arm. Trying to get used to it, he swiped a few times at an imaginary monster while he traversed the great stone walls surrounding the Bastion. From the top of one, he looked into the great canyon which surrounded the fortress on three sides. Crouching next to the Dragonator button, he imagined a great Lao-Shan Lung or Shen Gaoren approaching the fort, an earthquake accompanying each step. If only they still existed, he thought wistfully. Then I could see the magnificent beasts with my own eyes.

After another hour of walking, during which he mostly gazed out into the Barren Desert from another wall, he decided to return to the barracks for a little rest. Illeera would have definitely woken up at this point, so he thought he might pop in and ask her how she was feeling.

When he reached the barracks, he was about to open the door when he heard Illeera's voice. His heart skipped a beat when he heard Relcia respond. Overwhelmed with curiosity, he pressed an ear to the door and listened in. I know it's not nice to eavesdrop like this, but...

What he was about to hear would set in motion the events that would change his life forever.

-

Relcia and Illeera sat in their beds, which were opposite each other, and talked. At first, the conversation was about what had happened in the Arena Terra, as Illeera had no memory of the events just before her injury. Then, when Illeera asked what had happened to Taka, the conversation slowly turned toward him.

"Awww, how sweet," she teased Relcia, when she told him about their meeting in the Forested Spring. When Relcia blushed from both embarassment and annoyance, she became more serious. "I honestly didn't know that you liked Taka that much. I mean, I knew that you two were good friends, but..."

Relcia blushed even more, suspecting that she was still being teased. "We ARE good friends," she said angrily. "Our relationship won't move anywhere beyond that! I have no interest in him!" She felt guilty about denying her love for Taka, but for some reason, she didn't want anyone to know until she was ready to reveal it.

Suddenly, both girls turned in response to a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob and the sound of running feet. Illeera awkwardly got to her foot and a half and limped toward the door. When she opened it, she turned to Relcia and motioned her forward.

When Relcia got to the door, her heart wilted. She saw the familar footprints of someone wearing Qurupeco armor, and a single colorful feather. She turned to Illeera, eyes wide with fear, as if she couldn't believe what she had seen and was asking Illeera to tell her that it wasn't real.

Illeera sadly said, "I think you hurt his feelings." On that note, Relcia dropped to her knees and began to quietly cry into her hands.

-

REST COMING SOON