Monster Hunter: Stars of Hope

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Gambit

The mountains were fortunately not that far of a trek away, and were in fact close enough that the late Teostra's sudden change of course was starting to make a lot of sense. If it had caught scent of the terror that laired here on the wind, then it may have very well been trying to leave the region entirely when Nia and her friends caught up with it. With this realization came another thing for Nia to feel bad about: forcing the emperor of flame to suffer a fate far more violent than what her team could provide.

Though, there were other things on her mind. They had reached the lair just as the sun was setting and had entered these wide-open, shale-walled caverns, not-insignificant rainfall pouring in from holes in the ceiling as thunder could be heard in the distance, in search of the creature that had wounded their friend and was now the key to saving her life. This was the current den of the Nergigante, and hopefully the place where its reign of terror would end. Quickly upon their arrival, Vehlan identified that the dragon was here, stating that he could hear it snoring, but that the echo on the cave walls and the noise of the rain made locating it difficult. Without hesitation, the wyverian hunter bid the group split up: a suggestion that the others wouldn't have even entertained if not for the this stranger's obvious experience. Now, Bucket and Perren were off checking the north side of the cave for the creature, while Nia and Vehlan searched the south side. Though she was keeping as best an eye out as she could, Nia could not help but let her thoughts wander to other things; primarily, her fear for Sariko's life and her renewed self-hatred for how she treated Doctor Moratta. Both of these things were tied to possible outcomes that could ruin everything, albeit in two very different ways; Though, she definitely did not struggle at all to determine which fate she'd rather suffer, if she was forced to choose.

"Nia, right?", Vehlan spoke up, pulling her from her thoughts, to which she wearily replied, "Yeah, that's me... What's up?". The wyverian hunter, who had stopped behind her, was quick to answer, "There is... a certain query that has been on my mind. I'm curious if you could sate that curiosity, if it would not be too much trouble", to which Nia replied simply as she turned around to look at him, "Okay, I don't see any harm in it. Hard to hunt with clouded thoughts, after all", trying hard to not feel like a hypocrite for making such a point, given her current, turbulent state of mind.

"This Sariko woman...", Vehlan responded, "What exactly is she to you?".

Nia locked up; Had this wyverian asked her that a month ago, Nia would have responded without hesitation, stating Sariko to be her best friend. Yet, in the wake of everything that had happened recently, she could no longer be so sure it was that simple. There was so much that confounded her; the way she cracked when Sariko hugged her out in the Shrouded Rift, the menacing sense of emptiness that loomed over her when thinking of the possibility of losing her friend, and the way she so easily lost herself to rage at the same idea. Though, Nia now also found herself doing something else that perhaps made processing all of this even more difficult: She became defensive. "That's... I'm sorry, but that's none of your business", Nia blurted out somewhat aggressively, to which the wyverian chuckled as he responded sarcastically, "Oh, of course. Where are my manners? I'm only a stranger who's risking their life against one of the most ferocious Elder Dragons to ever walk this world, all to help save someone I've never met... who you're so concerned about that you'd impulsively threaten the good doctor just trying to help her over unfounded fears".

Nia froze solid as her eyes went wide with shock.

"How... how the hell did you...", she muttered out quietly and fearfully, beyond alarmed that any hope of her keeping this a secret may have just vanished, to which Vehlan simply tapped one of his ear lobes, prompting Nia to mutter again, "That was... through walls... across the whole village...". To this, Vehlan let out a quiet chuckle, before continuing to the now shaken hunter before him, "Listen, Nia. You, your friends, even Sariko; I am... more familiar with you than you'd know. I know you are a truthfully well-meaning soul who has difficulty keeping a darker side of yourself in line, and that you realized the act you committed was wrong before it could escalate further. On that note, I also know that Doctor Moratta really isn't the kind of person who would care to tell the Guild about that. However, I know that there are some who you very much would not appreciate learning of this... One of their names starts with an 'H', I believe?". Left staring at this stranger and the wry smile on his face, Nia quickly found herself more terrified than she had ever been of a person before; Vehlan somehow had enough of her life story to sum her up quite well, and thus knew all he needed to unmake her. He even knew about Haldys, seemingly; The old man had not even been a consideration for her up until this point, but the idea of drawing his disappointment added a new level of horror to what she had been going through. "Wha... what do you want?", Nia muttered out fearfully, to which Vehlan chuckled again as he answered, "Very little, actually. Here is how it will be; You let this stranger, who has no business being involved in such things, give you a bit of friendly advice, from one hunter to another, and I will forgot all that I heard".