User blog:Eiza Borealis/Monster Hunter: Quake - Installment 6

Chapter 17 - Desert Splitter
As Eiza and Ailain rushed through the desert in the area towards the Trioblos, they reached a small enclave and decided to go through that way as a shortcut. However, upon entering this small area, their trek was interrupted by an eruption from the ground. Two long spires rose from the ground in a sandstorm that knocked Ailain to her knees and pushed even Eiza backwards into a stone wall. After getting back on their feet, they gazed upon the bright Plum Purple shell of a Plum Daimyo Hermitaur, a giant desert carapaceon. The hermitaur looked at them with curiosity and Ailain grabbed her blade handle. Eiza put his hand out and stopped her. "Hermitaurs are not violent creatures, and Plum colored ones are the least violent of their kind. We can use this to get moving faster." Eiza stepped forward and the hermitaur looked down at him, Eiza looked it in the eyes and it kneeled down for him without question. Eiza climbed onto its Diablos Skull shell and looked at Ailain. "Hop on, we need to get moving!"

As the hermitaur raced through the desert, the sun began to set. Eiza was calming down and his movements were slowing, showing signs of weakening due to the extended use of the adrenaline rush produced by his odd power, and Ailain watched him with worry the further they traveled. With the stars now fully visible in the sky, constellations resembling known monsters began to appear all across the heavens. A Rathalos, a Lao-Shan, even a Miogaruna were sighted out by the two as they travelled. Suddenly, the hermitaur stopped abruptly in the middle of the desert, threw Eiza and Ailain from its shell, then dug under the ground in a frenzy. The two stood up as the massive head of the Trioblos smashed up from the desert sands, sending a cloud of dust high into the air. It looked down at Eiza and immediately began to charge. Eiza quick-blocked then rolled out of the way, sheathed his sword, and began running towards a sandstone column.

Ailain distracted the Trioblos, worried for Eiza's safety, rolling under the monsters legs and slashing, unleashing a thunderstorm beneath the wyvern's belly. It spun around in anger, trying hard to attack Ailain, but she was far more nimble than the beast, dodging every attack. The monster finally tired of trying to attack her, and turned it's sights at it's true target, Eiza. Eiza stood by the stone column, waving at the Trioblos, and it began blindly rushing towards him, not caring about its surroundings or the dangers it was heading for. Eiza rolled as the beast got to him, and the amount of force propelling the Trioblos became its undoing as it slammed into the column, stunning the monster and causing the column to crack, and come crashing down upon the Trioblos. Eiza, breathing hard, walked to the monster, which was yelping in pain, and threw a tranquilizer bomb into its mouth. The Trioblos slowly closed its eyes and fell asleep.

"I thought you said you were going to kill it," said Ailain, "Why did you decide to tranquilize it after all the grief it's caused you?"

"Well," Eiza said, still breathing heavily, "For me to kill it, I would have to swing this sword, and that would cause a quake. I think that right now I am so tired from that extended use of adrenaline that I would get very hurt from swinging this sword, if I could pick it up. My armor is feeling very heavy right now. I just want to go home." Eiza looked up at the balloon above, and waved to it, but as he did so, the ground began to shake. A huge roar seemed to shake the earth to its foundation as the Trioblos awoke in a rage that split the massive stone pillar that once trapped it. The monster stood up and spun, slamming its tail into both Eiza and Ailain, sending them flying.

As Ailain hit the ground, her ankle twisted, and she gripped it in pain. Eiza lay on the ground motionless and Ailain looked on at the Trioblos, terrified. The Trioblos let out a massive, earth-shaking roar as it began to steady itself for a charge. Its stance seemed triumphant as if it were undefeatable, but as it began to charge, Ailain let out a cry, "Eiza!!!"

The earth shook. The air in the entire area shifted. Eiza got up on one knee. The clouds disappeared. Eiza stood up on both feet, his sword unsheathed. Eiza looked up, and on his face sat an emotion of pure hatred and evil, his teeth like fangs, and his eyes glowed a yellow and red. Ailain's eyes sat upon Eiza in awe, for what she saw was no longer Eiza, but a dragon of legend, and in the distance, that dragon's roar could be heard to her. Eiza threw back his sword and began a charged attack. The Trioblos kept charging. As the monster reached the hunters, Eiza swung down his sword with a roar that declared his power upon the Trioblos' head. The monster was killed instantly as the ground split open.

Ailain sat petrified, staring at this evil entity before her that she once knew as Eiza. Ailain stood up and limped forward, "E-Eiza?" She said, "Eiza are you okay?" She said with fear. She stopped moving towards Eiza as the air became lighter. Eiza turned around and looked at her with the same blue eyes and cheerful smile that she knew, and he replied to her, "I'm fine, Ailain, let's go home." He took a few steps toward her then went limp, and fell into her arms as she caught him. Ailain smiled and waved for the balloon to send some felyne collectors.

Chapter 18 - Training?
"No, no, no, no, no, no!!! This isn't good!!! What am I going to do, it's all my fault he got so hurt!!!" Pai ran in circles screaming as Eiza lay in bed asleep. Ailain sat by his side laughing at Pai. "It was because I made him eat that fish!!! Why did I even agree to do that!!! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!!!"

"Pai, it was just some bad food, it wasn't your fault. Eiza was the one that overexerted himself."

"Yes I know but a felyne chef is supposed to produce meals that strengthen the body and soul, not cause their pops to get almost killed by a monster!!!" Ailain laughed as Kei brought in some gauze and bandages for Eiza's wounds. "Good morning, Ailain, how are you?" Kei said as he began removing Eiza's bandages. "I'm doing fine, Kei, thank you. I didn't know you were good at doctoring."

"Oh, of course! All comrades are good at this! What do you think we do when we dig underground? Sit there? No! We drink a potion and wrap ourselves up, then get right back out into the action, nya!" Ailain laughed as a knock came on the door. Ailain rose and opened it and saw it to be a head trainer of the training school. "Yes," said Ailain, puzzled, "What can I do for you?"

"Miss Ailain, the guild has demanded that you train under the Head-Master of the Longsword Academy in Taruza city. You have been chosen due to excellent longsword skills as noted by the observation ballooners in the field. Congratulations!"

"Well, I don't know... I was a little of the cause of Eiza's injuries, I don't know if I should."

"Ailain... go ahead and do it..." Mumbled Eiza, sitting up in bed. "I'd be very happy if you were to do that. It would be an honor to fight alongside a top-class longsword user."

"Oh-ho! Eiza Borealis! A pleasure it is to finally meet you!" shouted the trainer. "I'm honored to be in the presence of the Greatsword Master!"

"Eiza you shouldn't be sitting up so soon, you'll hurt yourself..." Ailain said with concern. "Oh, hush, I know when I'm ready to do something." Said Eiza, getting out of bed. He stood, lost his balance, and fell flat on his face. "Dammit, dad, this is what she is talking about!" Yelled Kei, pulling Eiza up. Eiza nudged Kei and stood up, then walked to the door. "I will get her prepared, and she'll leave tomorrow. She will have some things to do before she can reach the school. Thank you for your time."

"Oh, my pleasure, sir. Have a good day." The trainer walked away and Eiza shut the door, then went to his bed and lay back down. "Ailain, there are a few things I need to tell you do do and how to go about doing them before you leave. First off, the training school is a very different place when you compare it to an actual hunt and the training school here in Pokke. The Taruza schools are for the best and only the best, and they will make you hunt the fiercest monsters with the materials you gather from the field and that they give you, with the armor and weapons they give you."

"Another thing to note is that failure to complete the school will cost you your hunter's title, and you will be banned from ever hunting again."

"Wait, I don't want to have to do this at the risk of never being able to hunt again! That's a risk I don't want to take!"

"Calm yourself, the tests aren't that hard to pass and the monsters aren't astoundingly hard. You will graduate to higher ranks and hunt harder monsters, but with how skilled you are with a longsword it shouldn't be to hard for you. However, one thing you must know... The Longsword Master and I... we don't get along well... he thinks that his title allows him authority over whoever, whenever, however. He will treat you like dirt and you will have to get used to that. He is drunk on power and I detest being around him, but if you can stand him then you're better than I, so don't lose faith."

"Now there is one thing I want you to do, I don't care if you do it before or after your training, but you must do it before returning home. I want you to take the goldstone we obtained from the Lao Mine and go to a location in Taruza that I will mark on a map for you. It will be a back alley and you may get a little nervous, but I'll write a note for you to take to a man in a small workshop there. I want you to make some jewels and imbed them into your armor and weapon. They can be any element you desire, but he will tell you what materials you will need. This will further your training and give you that element boost you wanted."

Ailain began packing her belongings, folding the pieces of paper Eiza gave her and putting them in her backpack. She then walked to the guild hall and met the escorts who would take her to Taruza City.