Monster Hunter: Stars of Hope

Chapter Forty: Point Of No Return

Darkness had fallen over all. A voice screamed out a name, echoing far too much to be heard with any clarity. A familiar face was seen in the distance. Great distance was closed to get to them, only to trip and fall away. The familiar face began to run forward. The name that they screamed out became clearer as they closed in.

A roar was heard that shuddered all the world, its voice equally like an immense, guttural call of rage and the toll of a bell that signaled one's final hour.

A sapphire light appeared in the darkness above and began to descend behind the face, who had turned to see it, before whipping back with fear in her eyes. Her run turned to a sprint. The light hit the ground. The light erupted into death, surging out like a wave. This death was faster than familiar woman was. The name being called out became audible at last.

"HALDYS!".

-----

"AGH!!!", Haldys screamed out as he jolted forward, his hand reflexively reaching for his Charge Blade and his breath quick and heavy with shock. Though, he swiftly realized that his weapon was not with him on account of him presently being in his bed, having bolted awake just as the morning sun was sifting through the window of his manor home. His heart finally began to slow down; It was all just a bad dream. In fact, it was the same kind that Haldys had experienced from time to time for many years, starting after his arrival in the Old World. Yet, enough was different about it this time to leave him far more disturbed than usual; Neither the face he had seen in the darkness nor the monster that let out that roar were the same as they had always been before.

Not once had Nia nor the Safi'Jiiva ever been a part of this specific nightmare in the past, and never had either of them been present at the same time in any nightmare at all.

Before he could think much more on this, though, Haldys was quickly surprised to see his pet Poogie, a small, pink swine adorned in a white and blue-striped, pajama-like outfit, leap up onto the bed from the floor. "Ah, Scruffler, it's you", he responded wearily, before the Poogie suddenly pressed its snout up to him and started sniffing loudly, making a concerned whining sound. Swiftly, Haldys assured, "It's alright, boy", as he lifted the swine off of him rose out of bed, "Just a dream... just a bad dream". Once he was up, he let off a sigh as he briefly let his gaze wander, before turning back to Scruffler when the pig made a quiet snort. "Guess you're probably hungry. Better feed you before I head out", Haldys noted, seeing the Poogie almost immediately change its demeanor and hop back down at the mention of food.

"I have a feeling that today's going to be a long day", he remarked tiredly.

-----

For as rough as his morning was, the commander of the Granport guildhall soon found that today was actually going quite well. There were no problems as soon as he walked through the door, everything was running smoothly, there weren't many hunts on the board at the moment, and most of the ecological disturbances caused by the Well erupting were finally starting to calm down. With no sign presently of anything else concerning, and the fact that the Safi'Jiiva also consistently showed no sign of leaving that island, which the Guild assured him they were near to finding a way to get hunters to, it seemed all was going splendidly.

Perhaps he wouldn't need to enact those plans he and Vehlan were drawing up after all.

It wasn't long before his path crossed through the gathering hub, where he found Nia and Sariko at their usual table. Even from a distance, the fact that the former was still practically captivated by her new Greatsword, a massive, razor-sharp weapon forged of Nergigante materials, the back of its dark-hued blade lined with a plethora of its spikes, was clear to see. Even once she had done over a couple month's worth of hunting with it after the end of the Spring Blossom Fest, Nia still had a hard time getting over this impressively deadly weapon. Though, the fact that she had been using the blade against monsters that it was arguably overkill for, her team wishing to take things easy for a bit, probably didn't help.