Monster Hunter U, Chapter I: Fleeting Introduction

'''Hey guys! Sorry for the wait!''' I've had a few problems with my laptop the past few weeks, and last week it completely shut down for a week. But... (and it's a big but) it's working again now! I'll clear this up here, since I'm going on holiday soon, you won't hear much from me, and this chapter will be the only one for a few weeks, but I can ssure you, it will follow the set schedule of every Saturday from then onwards! So for now, enjoy the first chapter of the Monster Hunter U Fanfic!

Chapter I: Fleeting Introduction
“That weapon. You CAN use it, right?” Lucy was a very questioning girl. She nudged his shoulder and gave him that reassuring smile. Imrik simply shrugged, an action easier said than done. His arms had been aching from his comrade’s workout program earlier and this heavy metal-plated armour didn’t help either.

“I guess so…” He unsheathed his weapon of choice, a simple iron Long Sword, a blade with a thin edge that can land lethal blows when used with practise. Dubbed “Spirit Blades” by master hunters, they can allegedly convey feelings of anger and finesse into energy, a mechanism that no one really understands. The weapon shone bright silver when it was slowly removed from its hilt, the glare causing Lucy to instinctively cover her eyes. Imrik had only practised a little with his weapon, since Lucy had only really cared about his physical condition; in her eyes, the men provided the brute strength while the elegance and style was left to the women.

She poked her head over the outcropping. A pair of small bird-like creatures snapped at each other playfully. They had mottled brown feathers and two long muscular legs that scraped the soil beneath them. The huntress looked back over at her companion.

“These featherheads are called Ostride. They dance quite randomly when left alone… In fact, it’s actually rather amusing…” Imrik peered his head over as well. He smirked at the two Ostride, clicking their beaks together to make a rhythm, and then hopping around each other with a little care for anything else in the world. Suddenly, they quickly snapped their heads upwards, looking towards a small hole in the rocky wall nearby.

Slowly, a larger creature walked out. It vastly resembled one of the smaller ones, yet this one was far bigger and had a red head crest and a pair of orange feathers on its side. The two smaller Ostride quickly ran away from it, disappearing into the cave that that larger one came out of.

“Perfect” Lucy had a determined look on her face now. “This is an Alpha Ostride. It commands the smaller peons with ease” Imrik looked closely at it. It had a long scar across its left eye, and a small chunk taken out of one of its two head crests. “On the count of 3, we jump.” Imrik snapped out of his engaged trance and looked at her.

“What? Jump!? Are you mad!? I’ll break my legs from that height!” Imrik said, stunned at Lucy’s command.

“It’ll be fine! Those boots of yours have a weird padding that absorbs the impact of falls from even jumping off cliffs! The only thing you’ll feel is a small pain when you land, but nothing that’ll cause any sort of damage” She gave that trademark smile. “The plan is, we’ll try to jump onto the monster of attack it with our added height advantage”

Imrik ran the plan over in his head. The monster was certainly close enough to jump onto, but it would surely notice them. He heard the final count from his comrade, and quickly focused on the task at hand. ''She was already counting? ''She jumped, her hand firmly grasping her Insect Glaive. Imrik stumbled down the drop, supressing a shout of surprise, he couldn’t alert the monster, he had to make a good first impression!

Lucy landed on the monster, which yelped in surprise as she hit it. She reached for the carving knife on her belt, her other hand flicking her Glaive back into its hilt. The knife slashed into the creature’s back, swiftly digging into its hide and back out again. The Ostride screamed, trying as hard as it could to shake the huntress off, but she still hung on, her spare hand grasping some of its feathers.

Imrik watched from a distance, one hand reaching to his sword. The monster struggled violently, Lucy repeatedly jamming the carving knife into its back. All of a sudden, she slipped, pulling out the clump of feathers she was holding and falling to the floor. The Alpha Ostride fell near her, its body flailing on the floor, unable to regain its footing. She yelled to Imrik, beckoning him over for a split second before leaping toward the creature, gripping her weapon and slashing the creature’s back some more. The Insect Glaive quickly hacked away at its victim, the cuts leaving large wounds in the Ostride’s hide.

Imrik ran towards her and brought down his blade onto the creature’s head, cracking its beak and causing it to jump away suddenly and rear up at the hunters. They stood in stalemate for a while, the Ostride growling and the hunters poking their weapons towards it. They failed to notice the rustling from the bushes next to them however, and only at the last moment did Imrik notice and pulled Lucy out the way.

A large wyvern came crashing out of the bushes, its hands reaching out and grasping the Bird Wyvern by the neck, pinning it down. It had orange scales that blended together with the environment to give it a slight green tinge. It had a pair of prong-like horns on its skull, and a slender spike on the end of its tail. The Ostride struggled beneath it, only until the monster threw it behind it. The hunters stood in awe at the new beast, Lucy physically shaking with fear.

 They ran. They ran far without stop. Good thing she set me up for that workout Imrik thought in the panic. They had been running for a while now, the creature chasing them occasionally jumping out at them, the hunters ducking and jumping over obstacles to avoid it. The village was in sight now; a single home straight was all they needed to cross to be safe. The monster halted at the sight of the blazing torches outside the entrance, the earth parting beneath its sharp claws as it attempted to turn the other way. The hunters noticed this, and slowed down to a gradual stop.

“Safety…” Lucy stammered, completely breathless. Imrik was the same, on his knees outside the wooden gate. The torches gave him a sense of warmth, a safe warm, a warm that assures you that nothing outside them will harm you. He caught a final glimpse of the Fanged Wyvern trudging back towards the forest, and fell face first into the soft ground.

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<p class="MsoNormal">It eyed the beast just as it was doing to it. It could feel its instincts taking over, its wingclaws twitching, its tail brushing away the grass and weeds from the ground behind it. It couldn’t supress it anymore. Its wing claws collided with the earth, its horns emerged from its skull and it wailed at the beast, as the area became dark with its dusty scales. The other creature lowered its head and charged.

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<p class="MsoNormal">'''Once again, thanks for waiting and having faith in me! Big thanks to my good buddy Gojira57 who gave me a great idea for a future part, and G-Rank Hunter on Facebook for a great plot idea! For the final time, thanks and the next chapter will be up soon!~Imrik37'''