Lute, Meet Your Monstie! (Part 1)

Salutations, greetings, and many great hellos!

So, the idea for this admittedly random and goofy story just popped into my head one day as I was thinking of ideas for a multi-chapter novelization of Monster Hunter Stories. Basically, I was thinking of possible different Monsties to set the MC up with, and then I realized how funny it would be if Lute had found a non-Rathalos egg in the first anime episode. And thus, this story was born!

DISCLAIMER – I do not own the Monster Hunter franchise.

Without further ado, here are sixteen Monsties Lute probably shouldn't have started with.

Monstie #1 – the Strange Poison Bird

Lute stared at the mossy old egg held firmly in his hands. There was no way that this ancient thing could have hung onto life for all the years it had been sitting at the shrine. Indeed, Cheval and Lilia didn't look like they believed such a thing, and Navirou was flat-out skeptical, the unhelpful little snot.

But somehow, Lute thought otherwise. There was something about this egg that just… spoke to him. Somehow, he could feel the sleeping monster within its crusty old shell, waiting for a Rider to bestow upon it his blessing and awaken it.

"It's alive," he whispered, to the shock of his friends. "I can feel it."

"HA!" Navirou immediately scoffed. "Here he goes again with his 'I can feel it' business. Meanwhile, his feelings haven't been right about a single thing yet!"

Ignoring the annoying talking animal, the young boy took his intense gaze off of the egg and leveled it at Lilia. "Do you have any idea how we can hatch this thing?"

Feeling put on the spot, the knowledgeable girl shifted her feet uncertainly and answered, "Hatch an egg? Well, I'm pretty sure we need a Kinship Rite to do that. And that would require a Kinship Stone."

"That's a problem…" Cheval noted in his soft voice. "We haven't gotten our Kinship Stones yet."

"But by tomorrow, we will have!" added Lila. She protested, "Come on, Lute, can't hatching this egg wait just one more day?"

Lute wanted to say yes. He knew that it was the smart thing to do. Instead of staying out here in the Forbidden Land – which were infested with Arzuroses by the way – they could take the egg back to the village and request to hatch it at the ceremony.

However, this time it wasn't Lute's rash, excitable nature that convinced him not to wait. Rather, it was the feeling he got from the egg between his palms. It was inexplicable, but he could feel the unborn monster's desire to hatch immediately – right now, by his hand.

And so, that was what he said… "I feel like this guy wants to hatch now."

Cheval and Lilia were taken aback by the certainty in his voice. They were shocked, but did not argue further. The only girl in the party of four found them flat rocks to hold in their left hands, and together they formed a triangle around the egg.

"But these are just plain old rocks," complained Cheval.

"Hey, quiet down!" Lilia yelled at him. "This ceremony is sacred!"

Okay, so one of them argued further.

Once they'd all settled down and held up their rocks, a hushed silence fell on the shrine and surrounding forest clearing. Eyes closed reverently, Lilia began the holy Rite of Kinship.

"Oh holy Kinship Stone.

Please, with thou bind together Lute with this slumbering creature.

And now, for the moment of new life.

Awaken!"

It was not long before the egg began to crack, small glowing crevasses zigzagging every which way along its mossy shell. The egg tipped over onto its side, the glow from its many cracks growing brighter and brighter with every passing second. Eyes blown wide with wonder, Lute watched as the pieces of eggshell shuddered and fell apart, the light abruptly dimming to reveal…

"A Gypceros!" the brunette boy praised. "Wow, I'm so happy to have you as my Monstie!"

-.-.-.-.-.

Two days later, Lute was eating his words.

The overgrown turkey he had named 'Gyppy' was rapidly proving to be more than he could handle. That would've been fine if he'd hatched something like, say, a Rathalos – at least a Rathalos only had fire breath as the worst thing it could do to harm the village if it acted up.

No, Gyppy had poison breath, and anyone who got too close to the bird wyvern during Lute's Rider training classes would get a face full of venom and needed to be carted off to the healer's.

"Come on, Gyppy! Why don't you do what I say?!" Lute cried indignantly, while in the background a grumpier-than-usual Genie escorted a vomiting Hyoro away from the Monstie stables to see the healer.

The baby Gypceros simply squawked and continued its tantrum, eventually throwing Lute right off of its back before running for the hills. Lute allowed his shoulders to sag with a dejected sigh as he watched his Monstie shrink to a mere speck in the distance.

"Gee, you are definitely not in top form today, Lute," sighed the senior Rider, Dan, with an exasperated shake of his head. "Don't worry, Stone is out gathering Smoke Bomb materials with his Popo. Once your Gypceros reaches him, he'll get it to calm down in no time."

Frowning now, Dan added thoughtfully, "It is strange that we've run out of Smoke Bombs so quickly, though… I could've sworn we gathered more materials last week…"

Lute winced and looked away, trying not to draw Dan's attention. He didn't have the heart to tell his trainer that Gyppy had quickly got into the bad habit of stealing anything that caught its eye and stashing it away in the house that Lute shared with Navirou. It seemed to have a penchant for shiny things, including Mrs. Vlau's necklace (Lute still had no idea how he was going to fess up to Cheval), and now Smoke Bombs if Dan was to be believed.

Just then, from somewhere beyond the hill in the far distance, there was a sudden flash of light.

"What was that?!" Dan exclaimed.

"Gyppy," Lute muttered hopelessly. "Lilia says that Gypceroses bang their crests against their beaks to create a blinding flash when they get startled."

"I hope Stone's alright out there," the older Rider remarked.

There was no way Lute was going to tell him that his kleptomaniac Monstie was probably going to ensure that Stone came back wearing nothing but his underwear.

"I'm so sorry I have you as my Monstie," he mumbled to himself.

Monstie #2 – the Charging Wyvern

Three human children closed their eyes solemnly as they held their faux Kinship Stones high in the air. Lilia's calm voice rang out into the forest clearing as she spoke the sacred words of the Rite of Kinship.

"Oh holy Kinship Stone.

Please, with thou bind together Lute with this slumbering creature.

And now, for the moment of new life.

Awaken!"

To the shock of all those present, the egg cracked immediately and put forth a faint yet undeniably powerful glow. It fell over on its side and wiggled continuously, the cracks spreading and the glow brightening with every struggle. Eventually, the fractured eggshells exploded outward, allowing Lute to see the magnificent beast that lay within.

That is, if your definition of 'magnificent' was slimy white skin, stumpy wings, and an eyeless muzzle that looked uncomfortably like part of a human male's anatomy.

Even Lute was cringing as he regarded the little eyesore. "Ugh… is that a Khezu?"

"Looks that way to Navirou," the cat shrugged.

The baby Khezu let out perhaps the ugliest squeak any of them had ever heard in their lives.

"Well…" murmured Cheval, trying to be optimistic. "At least what you hatched is sorta unique. None of the other Riders are likely to get a Khezu."

Brightening, Lute agreed, "Yeah, you're right! I've went and got myself a super-rare Monstie! All right!"

Now, all that remained was to give it a name and take it back to the village. Hmm… now what else to call it other than 'Penis Monster'?

-.-.-.-.-.

Somewhere in an alley in the city of Gildegaran, an old man raised an intrigued eyebrow at Lute and the information he'd just divulged.

"Now wait a sec," rasped Nadon. "You've heard about Kinship Ore?"

"We're traveling the world, finding and purifying all the Kinship Ore tainted by the Black Blight," Lute confirmed.

The shifty-eyed elder wisely stroked his beard. "Oh yes, sure. Kinship Ore's gotta be clear as crystal, or else it don't kinship! M'dear ancestor coulda never saved the world without them rocks."

The wannabe hunter Debli (and wannabe con artist, come to think of it – his hustling was not nearly as good as he thought it was) nodded sagely at the wisdom coming from his teacher's mouth. "See, Lute?" he bragged. "Isn't Nadon just the greatest ever? He can help you find that Kinship Ore for sure!"

"Don't hafta," Nadon grunted, making Debli double-take in surprise. "Our young Rider friend can just have that there Monstie of his sniff it out."

He pointed casually at Zuzu, Lute's Khezu, who had curled up next to its owner for a quick nap while they chatted. The brown-haired boy turned around to stare in bewilderment at the pale white wyvern, scarcely able to believe what the old man was saying.

"Wait, Zuzu can really do that?" he asked in awe.

"Sure, sure," insisted Nadon. "No monster's better at sniffin' stuff out than a Khezu. Why, that beastie of yers could track a Felyne through a forest, that one could. Why don't ya take it for a spin, see if it can find yer Kinship Ore for ya?"

The epiphany struck Lute like a thunderbolt from out of the sky. It made total sense. If he'd been using Zuzu to track down the blackened Kinship Ore from the very beginning, all of their struggles in the desert could've been completely avoided!

"Oh wow! Thank you, sir!" Lute burst out, ecstatic. "Our quest will be over in no time!"

Nadon began to retreat back toward his rather pathetic bed in the corner of the alley. "Welp, if that's all ya need me for, feel free to come back on over and tell me how it goes. That Monstie won't steer ya wrong, son!"

Lute, Navirou, and Debli exited the shadowy alleyway and walked back into the city proper, followed by the Khezu. There were more than a few passersby that were shocked to see the ugly monster standing in the middle of the street with the oddly-dressed children and mutant Felyne, but they paid it no more heed and continued about their business.

"Okay, Zuzu, let's track the scent of that Kinship Ore!" said Lute, holding out his left hand. The blind wyvern obediently bent its head to give his Kinship Stone a couple of sniffs.

"Navirou still thinks you could've just trusted in his exceptional navigation skills to find that ore, you know," Navirou uttered as he watched Zuzu become familiar with the stone's scent.

For once, Lute completely ignored the cat instead of giving him a snappy reply, and lowered his hand once he was certain that Zuzu had enough of a scent to lead them onward. The Khezu paused, turning its head left and right as it sniffed tentatively at the air. This went on for a few moments, but then it let out an excited grunt and began to run off down the street.

"It's heading toward the market!" Debli cried.

"Whoa, that was fast!" cheered Lute. "Good job, Zuzu! Lead us to the Kinship Ore!"

They took off at a run, their arms and legs madly pumping as they pursued the Khezu. There was no way Navirou could keep up at the pace they were going, so he smartly clung onto Debli's backpack so he'd be carried along for the ride. Their feverish pace was justified for two reasons – one being the Kinship Ore, and the second being that they didn't want to risk leaving Zuzu unattended in a city crawling with monster hunters.

Zuzu led the trio on a relatively straight path, with only the occasional turn down a different street. The chase ended in a crowded marketplace occupied exclusively by morning shoppers and street vendors hawking their wares for the public to purchase. Lute and Debli found themselves on a clear path as Zuzu charged through the crowds without regard for the safety of pedestrians, and thus their mouths moved constantly as they called out apology after apology to those they passed by.

Finally, Zuzu stopped, and the two humans almost crashed into it. They walked to either side of the leech-like wyvern to see what it had found – and they simultaneously face-faulted, as they certainly weren't standing in front of any Kinship Ore. Rather, it was…

"DONUTS!" screeched Navirou. The obsessed Felyne literally dove right into the piles of pastries that were displayed on the table, shoveling them into his mouth one after the other. "Mmm, Navirou finds himself in heaven, surrounded by such delectable donuts! Zuzu, Navirou's palate thanks you a thousand times for leading him to such a paradise!"

"Wow," Debli said, surprised. "Teacher was right when he said that your Khezu had a good sniffer!"

The seriously annoyed merchant yelled, "Hey, are you going to pay for all of those?!"

Lute facepalmed and shot a withering glare at his Monstie, who was getting its acidic drool all over the donuts. "That's it, I'm going with Penis Monster from now on."

Monstie #3 – the Bubble Fox Wyvern

"Oh holy Kinship Stone.

Please, with thou bind together Lute with this slumbering creature.

And now, for the moment of new life.

Awaken!"

No sooner had the words left Lilia's mouth than the egg reacted, cracking all over its round surface and bringing forth a glow from within. When the egg exploded, the fragments fell apart to reveal the monster that had awakened.

It was unlike anything the group had seen before. Its body was serpent-like and covered with pink fins and white scales, while its tail and underbelly possessed soft purple fur. Fish-like whiskers twitched as its elegant snout stretched open in a cute yawn. Curiously, its overall appearance seemed like a combination of fish, reptile, and mammal.

"What is it…?" Cheval murmured in wonder, bending over with his hands on his knees to more closely examine the newborn monster. "I've never even seen a monster like this in books."

"Lilia, you're the all-knowing one," Lute spoke up. However, his eyes never left his mysterious new Monstie. "Do you know what this is?"

Navirou had a sage look on his face as he answered him before the girl was even able to open her mouth. He said in a tone of deep thought, "Navirou can tell you that it's… um, you know, one of those. It's, uh, that monster. You know, the pink one with the fancy fins. Navirou is sure that you can figure it out from his helpful hints."

Without missing a beat, Lilia explained, "I think it's called… Mizutsune. Yes, that's it. But I don't know much about it. No Rider has ever had one as a Monstie, or else we'd have more information."

Amazed, Lute's eyes were fixed upon the miraculous fox-snake-looking monster. The baby blinked innocently up at its star-struck Rider and yipped at him.

All at once, an ecstatic grin stretched across Lute's face. "This is so awesome!" he enthused, bending down to cradle the Mizutzune's head in his hands and let it nuzzle him lovingly. "A Monstie no-one's ever ridden before! We can be the ones to discover what it can do! I can't wait for Rider training with Dan!"

-.-.-.-.-.

A few days later, Dan and Genie led the apprentice Riders out to a field near the stables and told them that they would be having a mock battle. The idea was to get them used to fighting other Riders, since Hakum Village was by no means the only village where Riders existed, and some of them could be hostile. Besides, fighting in a mock battle would prove to further strengthen the still-growing kinship between the kids and their new Monsties.

Lute was instructed to go up against Hyoro in the first mock battle. They squared off at opposite ends of the small field, each of them already perched confidently on the saddles strapped to their Monsties' backs – Lute on Mizu and Hyoro on his Bulldrome.

"Hyoro, just because this is a mock battle doesn't mean I'm not expecting you to win," Genie said sternly, from his position beside his brother.

"But Genie…" the timid boy mumbled. "We never learned anything about Mizutsune in our training. None of us know what Lute's Monstie can do…"

Raising his voice slightly, the blonde snapped, "Look, it's not that hard. It's a leviathan, which means it's most likely better in the water than on land. Your Bulldrome is powerful on flat ground, while they have a disadvantage. Do I always have to point out the obvious to you?"

Hyoro muttered something offensive under his breath, which his pushy older brother fortunately didn't catch.

"Alright, let's start the battle!" shouted Dan.

Going off of what he'd been told, Hyoro immediately had his Bulldrome charge straight ahead at Lute and Mizu. Lute hesitated, not expecting the bold move and already feeling cautious because he didn't know anything about Mizu either. But the water fox reacted instinctively at the last second, jumping to the side and landing on its smooth-furred belly. Its own momentum allowed it to slide over the grass as if it were ice, leaving Hyoro to sloppily turn the Bulldrome around and try again.

Time after time, Mizu would slither away far more easily than it should have been able to on the grassy terrain – Lute gaining confidence all the while as he got a better idea of how to work with his mount. Hyoro was sweating, becoming more and more discouraged every time he had to steer his Bulldrome back towards his opponent. He made up for it in recklessness, with each of his charges becoming more desperate than the last.

Finally, the Bulldrome stumbled when it made its next turn. Lute saw the chance to strike and took it.

"Okay, Mizu! Let's attack!" the brown-haired boy yelled.

With a high-pitched squeal, the Mizutsune tightly coiled its body and made a quick spin, throwing its tail out in front of it. The long appendage lashed out, frothing with some kind of fluid and launching three pearly spheres straight at its target. Lute watched with great anticipation as the projectiles flew at the Bulldrome, waiting with bated breath for them to make contact…

…but instead of shattering or exploding or anything like that, they popped. They popped with the most harmless popping sound he'd ever heard, and left the Bulldrome's fur covered in soapy suds.

"Bubbles?!" Lute cried out. "You're joking!"

Under his hat, Hyoro blinked with surprise and lifted his hands up to wonderingly examine the bubbles sticking to them, as if amazed that he'd been hit with harmless bubbles and not something significantly more damaging, like a fire blast or something. The knowledge took several seconds to sink in, but when it finally did, Hyoro clutched the saddle and leaned forward with his mouth set in a determined line.

"Let's go, Bulldrome!" he cried, for once not mumbling. "If bubbles is the best it can do, we can charge it without worry!"

And so, the Bulldrome charged Mizu at full speed.

But Hyoro – and everyone else, in fact – had failed to notice a critically important detail. The entire field was coated with a thin film of slippery soap from Mizu's constant movements, making the grass underfoot dangerously wet and slick. It must have been that suspicious secretion that allowed the beautiful leviathan to lubricate the terrain and thus travel so easily over land. And as proven by Hyoro, it was an effective defense against enemy monsters.

How was it proven? The Bulldrome ran three steps forward and slipped.

… At fifty kilometers an hour.

"OH CRA–" Lute tried to shout, but never finished before the out-of-control wild pig hit him like a Tigrex.

Everyone who was spectating the mock battle immediately got out of the way as a Bulldrome, a Mizutsune, and two human kids slammed into the fence around the field's perimeter with enough force to completely flatten it.

Slowly and painfully, Lute and Hyoro extracted themselves from the awkward tangle of hooves, limbs, and tails that now sat on the ruined fence.

"Ow…" muttered Hyoro.

There were flabbergasted expressions all around as the other apprentice Riders peered at the aftermath of the disaster in confusion and horror. Even Genie, never one to pass up an opportunity to make a criticism, was speechless.

The only one who wasn't struck dumb was Dan. "Hoo boy, now that's what I call top form!" he guffawed.

Lute looked down at himself and reacted with disgust when he saw he was now covered in slimy soap and clingy bubbles. "Ugh, now this stuff's all over me!" he complained. "Can someone help me clean this off?"

His complaints immediately turned into panicked spluttering as Mizu promptly hosed him down with a jet of water powerful enough to send him flying into the nearby river.

Monstie #4 – the Crushing Wyvern

"Oh man!" Lute exclaimed with utmost enthusiasm when a blue brute wyvern crawled out from the remnants of its egg. "That's a freakin' Brachydios, isn't it?!"

"Wow, Lute, that's such a rare and powerful Monstie!" gushed Lilia, clasping her hands together with excitement. "You hardly ever see a Brachydios in this region! Good for you!"

"Yeah, that's lucky alright," Cheval smiled supportively at his surrogate brother.

Blushing, Lute replied, "Aww, thanks, you guys. But I'm sure you're going to get some awesome Monsties tomorrow too."

A small chirp uttered from the Brachydios hatchling's jaws as it stumbled uncertainly forward on its wobbly legs. It instinctively brought its paws to its mouth and licked them, causing a strange green slime to start oozing from its porous knuckle pads.

"He's kinda cute," Lute remarked. "Aren't you, Brachy? Aren't you a cute Monstie?"

The little blue dinosaur looked up at him and chirped happily, then abruptly made a strange face and sneezed. The force of the sneeze brought it down on its rump, sticky green stuff dribbling from its rounded horn like snot from a sick infant's nose.

"Cool, it's already gotten its mold production started!" Lilia commented.

"Mold production? Now what could Lilia be talking about, Navirou wonders?" Navirou spoke his thoughts aloud as he stepped forward to take a closer look at Brachy.

It, already about the same size as the deformed Felyne, responded by taking another step forward and hugging him with its forearms loosely clutching him. It even rubbed its glowing green horn against Navirou's face, seemingly having already accepted him as a sibling or a playmate.

Kind of sweet almost, in Lute's opinion.

Cheval agreed. "Hey, Navirou, it looks like Brachy really likes you."

Unfortunately, Navirou didn't share the sentiment. "Ick!" he retched, shrugging himself free of the blue Monstie's grip. "Navirou doesn't know what it is, but he certainly knows that he doesn't like having that slime all over him!"

"No, it's actually really interesting!" the green-eyed girl insisted. "That mold has a symbiotic relationship with Brachydios! It transports the slime from place to place so it can spread, and in return, it gets to use it as a weapon!"

The two boys and Felyne exchanged a glance, not having the foggiest clue about what Lilia meant.

"Seriously, you three?" she said with an unimpressed scoff. "Don't you guys ever read the Monsterpedia? The mold on a Brachydios' arms is its deadliest weapon because of its volatile nature! In other words, it's highly explosive!"

Navirou's eyes sloooooowly wandered down to the thick green slime coating his arms.

Then, just as slowly, they went over to a puddle of water reflecting the image of his slime-stained face.

Then over to Brachy, who seemed to smile as much as a Brachydios possibly could.

Finally, the last gear in his head clicked into place. While all of this had been conspiring, the patches of mold stuck to his fur had gradually changed color from inert green, to steaming yellow, to boiling-hot red. The sizzling of the red slime could actually be heard as it got hotter and hotter.

When the realization hit, Navirou's pupils shrunk to terrified pinpricks.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA–"

His scream was cut off by the sound of the boom.

Monstie #5 – the Great Boar

"Awaken!"

The final word of the ceremony had been spoken. Lute, Cheval, Lilia, and Navirou watched with bated breath as the egg started to crack and glow, more light pouring from its innards with each passing second. The suspense grew until they could practically taste it.

That is, until the newborn monster actually hatched out. The feeling of awe faded incredibly fast when they saw the snoozing brown lump of fur and tusks slumped where the egg had been.

"A Bulldrome?" Lute muttered, disappointed. "Aw man, what a rip-off."

"Well, what were you expecting?" Cheval questioned matter-of-factly. "The only monsters we ever see around Hakum Village are small, unimpressive ones like Aptonoth and Velociprey. I'm actually surprised you got a Bulldrome."

Nodding, Lilia added, "Yeah, Lute, what were you expecting? A Rathalos or something?"

Of course, Navirou was quick to join in on the teasing. "Lute got his hopes up and thought it would be the egg of a rare monster! But what a surprise, it turned out to be just a common Bulldrome! Naturally, if Lute had trusted in Navirou's heaven-sent navigation skills, Navirou could have led him to a much more impressive egg!

"And that's," the cat finished, striking a pose, "a Navi-rule."

"Oh, get real!" Lute yelled with a scoff. "You couldn't lead us to an egg even if you had a map!"

"Navirou is as real as real gets!" he screeched.

"Oh yeah?" challenged Lute.

"Yeah!" Navirou replied.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"YEAH!"

"OH Y– GAAAAAAAGH!"

Cheval and Lilia both flinched as their friend was sent tumbling painfully into the dirt. All of his yelling had only served to wake up the sleeping Bulldrome.

And, of course, the first thing the Bulldrome did upon being startled awake… was to charge.

-.-.-.-.-.

The sun was setting on Naubaka Island, marking the last day of Lute's time at the friendly and accommodating village of Felynes. As good as the inhabitants had been to him and his friends, especially Navirou, it was time they moved on with their quest to save the world from the Black Blight.

At present, Lute found himself with a rare moment to himself. The locals were throwing Navirou a farewell party in the center of the village, which Debli and the Numbers were attending as well. The Monsties were resting in the stables that had been generously built just for them, having exhausted themselves in the terrible battle with the blighted Lagiacrus, and Avinia was tending to them.

So, Lute opted to spend his time down at the beach, far away from the village so he could appreciate the peace and quiet while he could.

For a long time, the only sounds in his ears were the lapping of the waves upon the coast and the soft crunch of his footsteps on the sand. His mind was free to wander with this simple, soothing rhythm playing in the background. At least, until someone joined him – he turned around at the addition of a second set of footfalls to the twilight ambience, and found himself meeting Avinia's cool blue eyes.

"Zenny for your thoughts?" the pretty blonde Rider asked, falling into step beside him.

"I'm just thinking about what lies ahead for me," Lute explained without thinking too much of it. "Soon, Navi and I are going to be moving on in search of more Kinship Ore to purify."

"I see," she murmured. "I'll be leaving to continue my own journey as well. And Debli, I assume, will go back to Gildegaran."

"Yeah, but we'll see each other again," laughed Lute. "Riders stick together, you know?"

He turned his head to look at Avinia when she didn't answer, and saw that she was looking away from him with her mouth set in a hard line. He almost chuckled at the sight – she was always acting as though she didn't care, trying to maintain a cool and independent image for reasons that Lute couldn't grasp for the life of him. Like the time he'd caught her cuddling with a bunch of Felynes earlier that week. She denied enjoying any part of it, but he'd seen right through it.

"I thought you were taking care of Frostfang and Bully," he spoke up in an effort to get her to talk, referring to her Barioth and his Bulldrome.

She seemed annoyed at the question. "I was. I'd treated their wounds adequately and found myself with nothing else to do."

"So you decided hanging out with me was more fun than Navirou's going-away party?" Lute joked, grinning at her. "Geez, I didn't know you thought so highly of me!"

"It's not like that," she huffed, sticking her nose up at him. But she was blushing slightly, giving away what she was actually thinking.

The pair of Riders stopped walking and stood in front of the vast ocean spread out before them like a shimmering blue blanket. The light of the setting sun made the water sparkle magnificently. A short distance from the beach, two Felyne-shaped rocks stood atop a tiny spit of land surrounded by water, both of them leaning up against each other like a loving couple.

For a moment, Lute became very aware of Avinia's presence beside him, and swallowed nervously to distract himself from the sudden uncomfortable warmth flooding through his skin.

"Wherever your journey takes you, I want to wish you luck," he spoke sincerely, turning his eyes to the darkening sky.

There was a pause, and then Avinia quietly answered, "Th-Thank you, Lute. And the same to you."

A strange sensation came over Lute just then, a feeling that he hadn't expected to experience in a million years – that of the girl Rider's warm hand twining its fingers around his own. They looked deeply into each other's eyes, and –

"LUTE! WATCH OUT!"

*THUD*

"YAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Avinia grunted with surprise as she was roughly shoved to the ground, the breath driven from her lungs. Startled, she bolted into a sitting position, her mouth already open to cry out with worry for Lute. But it never made it past her lips, as the sight of a Bulldrome charging away from her with Lute caught on its tusks abruptly rendered her mute.

"BULLY!" Lute's furious voice floated back to hit her ears. "You're supposed to be resting! BAD Bulldrome! Do you have to charge into me every ten minutes?! BUUUULLYYYYYY!"

After taking only a quick second to brush the sand off of her clothes, Avinia took off in hot pursuit of the rogue boar. Soon, however, she was joined by Debli, who had heard Lute's angry shouts and was now huffing and puffing after him alongside her.

"I thought his Monstie was resting!" Avinia exclaimed as she ran. "What's gotten into him all of a sudden?"

"Huh? You didn't… know?" Debli replied, trying not to sound too out of breath when he spoke. "Bulldromes… will charge… anything that moves. From what I've seen of… them, Lute's Bulldrome… likes to ram him at… every opportunity. It's sort of… a bad habit."

"WHY MUST YOU DO THIS? I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN, BULLY! STOOOOOOOP!"

With a wince inspired by a pang of sympathy for Lute, not even able to imagine how difficult it was for him to own such a disobedient and bad-tempered Monstie, Avinia said, "I can see that. Hurry up, Debli, we need to save him before the wounds the Lagiacrus inflicted on him have the chance to open again."

Somehow, the tubby Rider wannabe managed to shoot her a skeptical look despite his weariness. "Huh… I didn't know… you cared so much for him."

Delivering a piercing glare, Avinia was about to give Debli a piece of her mind when Lute's shouting cut her off.

"I'LL MAKE YOU INTO BACON, YOU HEAR ME?! BACON!"

… She could snap at Debli later. Right now, despite not wanting to admit as much to anyone else, her priorities were elsewhere.

She ended up chasing Bully and Lute up and down the beach until after the sun was long gone.

Monstie #6 – the World Eater

"Oh holy Kinship Stone," Lilia intoned to begin the ceremony, "please, with thou – wait, what?!"

The four of them stumbled back, their eyes blown wide open as they witnessed the egg begin to hatch before Lilia had even completed her speech. It shook, cracks scattering all across its surface, and small chipping sounds coming from inside as the newborn fought its way out of its shell. After rocking back and forth for a while, it finally split apart to reveal its occupant.

For the longest time, the three humans did nothing but stare down at the newborn, unsure of what to say.

The baby monster stared back, its expression equally as unreadable as theirs.

At last, Cheval spoke up.

"… That's a Deviljho," he said blandly.

"It is," Lute agreed.

More nervously, the redhead added, "Which is a problem."

Lilia didn't even jump in with her own two zenny, since she was busy trying to process the fact that the Deviljho had already gotten to its feet, pried her bag off of her shoulders, and started eating the edibles inside.

… On the plus side, Lute and Cheval wouldn't have to worry about being force-fed one of her god-awful Energy Drinks for a while.

"So… uh…" Navirou started awkwardly. "Navirou notices that the egg hatched before you could complete the Rite of Kinship."

"… Yeah, so?" replied Lute, still feeling kind of numb.

"Remember that discussion we were having about hatching a Rathalos without a Kinship Stone?" the Felyne continued.

Lute did, indeed, remember. But it still took him a few seconds to understand what Navirou was getting at. Once he did, though, his eyes went wide. So did Cheval's and Lilia's.

"You hatched it without a Kinship Stone," the brunette finally spoke up.

"I did," Lute answered.

Echoing Cheval's earlier statement, Lilia said, "And that's a problem."

-.-.-.-.-.

In the barren forest clearing, the infected Kinship Ore put out an ominous glow that brought a purple light to its surroundings. All of the non-Riders cowered at the edge of the pit behind dead trees or rocks, watching from afar as Cheval and the others worked together to battle the ferocious blighted Diablos.

Lute was there too, watching with horror as the Diablos took down Dan, Genie, and Stone with disgusting ease. A rage-driven Cheval, backed up by Mille and Hyoro, mounted a counterattack on the Triceratops-headed monster. They were successful at first – the Aptonoth and Bulldrome pounded from either side, while the Rathian rained down fireballs and tail strikes from above – but the Diablos quickly struck back, using its sledgehammer-like tail to swat Mille and Hyoro away like flies, and then let loose a sky-shattering screech that knocked Cheval out of the sky.

"Rider, you must go out there and help!" the former Wyverian Chief of Albarax pleaded to Lute, causing him to double-take. "You are the only one that can save us now!"

"I-I don't know…" Lute stammered, starting to sweat from nerves.

"C'mon, kid, your friends are countin' on ya," urged Reverto, giving the boy a frown.

Sighing, Lute supposed he didn't have a choice. He stepped out from behind the tree, resignedly raised his Kinship Stone, and called, "Ride On! Deviljho!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHH!"

Instantly, a roar that sounded more like a force of nature than a monster exploded through the air to startle everyone who heard it. A fifty-foot-long green behemoth burst out from between a pair of dead trees – sending wood chips everywhere – and landed in the clearing beside Lute with a tremor that shook the entire forest.

The Diablos, probably because it was blighted, didn't seem too impressed. Instead of backing off, it charged like a Bulldrome gone mad.

Lute climbed up his Monstie's leg and got into position in the saddle, looking for all the world like a beetle sitting atop a crocodile. "Let's go, Jhoey!" he shouted confidently. "We're going to show this blighted Diablos not to mess with us!"

(In his defense, "Jhoey" was not his first choice of nickname. He'd tried Jho, Jhonas, Jhohnny, JhoJho, G.I. Jho, Pillsbury Jhoboy, and Pickle Dinosaur before conceding the naming rights to Lilia, who'd dismissed everything he suggested. Girls.)

Jhoey charged forward with a ferocious roar, rampaging to meet the maddened Diablos head-on. Their skulls smashed together, and the two struggled for dominance. Normally, a Diablos would win a head-smashing contest no problem, but Lute's Deviljho was backed by tons of muscle and was also the most stubborn monster he'd ever met. Slowly but surely, Jhoey started to push the Diablos back.

Emitting another roar, Jhoey braced itself and threw its head upwards, sending the Diablos staggering back. Then, when its foe tried to counterattack with a punishing tail whip, Jhoey simply opened its hungry jaws and clamped down on the muscular appendage. With a tearing sound, the Diablos' sledgehammer tail was ripped right in half, eliciting a pained scream from the victim.

Lute and Jhoey had the upper hand in the battle pretty much from that moment onwards, finally dealing the decisive blow to the Diablos' neck after a minute or so of exchanging blows. The dinosaurian beast planted one of its feet on top of its foe's fallen body and roared to the sky triumphantly.

"Alright, go Lute!" Navirou popped out of hiding with a cheer. "Now you can purify the Kinship Ore, and Navirou will even let you share his Well-Done Steak!"

Lute, who had been smiling with elation and relief from his victory, heard Navirou's enthusiastic words and stiffened.

Had the cat just said… Well-Done Steak?

Slowly, Lute turned his horrified eyes to where Navirou was hopping up and down near the edge of the clearing. He was little more than a speck at that distance, but the great big hunk of meat in his right paw could be seen with all too much clarity.

Jhoey turned as well, the words 'Well-Done Steak' echoing in its primitive brute wyvern brain. Deviljhos were certainly not the smartest monsters in the world, but this one had been along humans long enough to learn to associate those three words with a delicious treat.

And sure enough, Jhoey's beady little eyes caught sight of the steak in Navirou's clutches.

Eyes gleaming with avarice, Jhoey lurched forward so fast that Lute nearly fell off the saddle, roaring at the top of its lungs. If the Deviljho could talk, it would be shouting one thing, and one thing only – "MEEEEAAAAAAAAT!"

Navirou screamed and ran the heck out of the clearing, with the multi-ton stomach on legs pursuing closely behind, and Lute dangling from the saddle and yelling in fear.

"NAVIROU DOESN'T WANNA DIE!"

"I DON'T EITHER!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!"

A gust of wind pushed a tumbleweed across the landscape as the bystanders, including the now-conscious Riders, watched them go in complete bewilderment.

Monstie #7 – the Black Eclipse Wyvern

"CHAAAAAAAAHH!" the Gore Magala screamed its animalistic scream as it burst out of the volcanic crater and flew into the open air.

Moments later, the volcano exploded in a dramatic eruption, no doubt due to the environment-altering effects of the Black Blight that had corrupted the Kinship Ore there. Lute, Navirou, and Debli had only just managed to get out of the crater alive thanks to the efforts of the Numbers, and of course Gala, Lute's eyeless Monstie.

"Land Gala down there!" Debli called over the sound of the wind, which was intense up at this altitude. "There's a cliff on the side of that mountain over there!"

The Gore Magala only just made it, its wings giving out on the very last stroke and sending all of them tumbling onto the hard rock in a heap. While Navirou crawled out from underneath Debli (Lute did not envy him), the Hakum Village native stumbled to his feet and went to check on his Monstie.

"Hey, you alright, Gala?" he asked softly.

In response, Gala lifted its muzzle up to "look" at his Rider, growling quietly to assure him that it was alright. Fortunately, when Lute looked the Gore Magala over, it seemed as though it was only exhausted from the intense fight with the Mecha Agnaktor in Dr. Manelger's lab.

"Looks like we can finally catch a break from all that madness in the volcano!" cheered Debli, spreading himself out on the rocky ground as if ready to relax.

Unfortunately, the universe wasn't willing to let him relax just yet, as a series of fireballs shot down and impacted violently against the cliff, causing tremors that shook everyone off their feet. With no shortage of drama, Cheval appeared on the back of his Rathian, silhouetted against the setting sun and clad in Azure Rathalos armor.

Gala sprung to its feet, exhaustion forgotten. Those fireballs had proven that Cheval hadn't come with friendly intentions, and the Gore Magala knew they were in danger. Black mist appearing around it, Gala opened its mouth and shrieked a battle challenge.

"I think I spoke too soon!" Debli wailed, and dove behind a convenient rock to cower.

His voice filled with sizzling fury, Cheval swung his sword in Lute's direction and announced hatefully, "Your Gore Magala has become infected with the Black Blight! I've come to destroy it!"

At first, Lute was shocked and horrified beyond belief to see his surrogate brother make his reappearance like some kind of vengeful sky lord and announce his desire to take the life of his most precious companion.

Then, the shock wore off, and he just became confused.

"Wait, Gala? No he's not," he protested.

Cheval faltered, then shook his head and scowled harder to make up for it. "Don't play dumb with me, Lute! That monster is a danger to us all, and it's my duty to kill it!"

Lute turned around to face Gala, whose cape-like wings were fully spread and muscles tensed in a protective stance.

"What are you talking about, Cheval?" he asked, facing his former friend again. "There's no Blight. He's just mad that you made Rathi shoot fireballs at us."

"QUIET!" Cheval bellowed. "If you're so blinded by your kinship with that monster, let me point it out to you – that black mist surrounding him! It's obviously the Black Blight!"

Lute and Navirou took one look at each other and burst out laughing. Debli joined in from his hiding place, although more hesitantly. Their unexpected response completely shook Cheval up.

"What?!" the redhead demanded. "What's so funny?!"

"Th-That's n-not… That's n-not the Black B-Blight!" stammered Lute, trying to rein in his chuckles.

"Yeah, we found out from Lilia and the Scriveners that the Gore Magala naturally produces that stuff," Debli added matter-of-factly, complete with a sage nod. "They called it the Frenzy virus. It's easy to get the two confused."

Cheval blinked, then turned his eyes to Gala. The Gore Magala folded its wingarms back over its body and calmed down, apparently deciding that now was the perfect time for a nap and curled up on the spot, surrounded by a cloud of its virus.

"Just don't breathe any in, you'll be fine," Lute advised, now calm as well. "It's been a while, buddy. Come down and have some dinner with us!"

"Navirou brought donuts that he's willing to share this one time!" volunteered Navirou, pulling a pile of pastries out from absolutely nowhere.

Sweat dripped down Cheval's brow as he looked from human to Felyne to back again, his face stuck in a mixture of astonishment and outrage.

"Donuts? Count me in!" cheered Debli, hopping out from behind the rock to join Lute and Navirou around the beginnings of a campfire. "And I've even brought some Well-Done Steak for the occasion! Cheval, stop sitting like a bump on a Monstie and come eat while it's hot!"

"Hot? We haven't even started cooking yet!" Lute replied, and the two boys chuckled.

Cheval didn't react, still too shocked to comprehend what was going on. He had been so, so sure that the Gore Magala was infected with the Blight… but to hear that it was something he'd never heard of, something completely unrelated to the hated pestilence that had killed his mother…?

"N-No matter!" he attempted to recover his dignity by pointing his sword again at Lute. "I challenge you to a battle! It's time to decide once and for all who's right and who's wrong!"

Rathi, who was still hovering in place, looked questioningly up at her (somewhat insane) Rider. If looks could speak, hers would've said, So do I just keep hovering here, or…?

With a shuffling of limbs, Gala crawled over to rest by Lute's side, and used his virus-imbued fire to set the kindling alight. Soon, the Well-Done Steaks were cooking on the spit and the two humans, one Felyne, and one Gore Magala were chowing down and having a grand old time.

"Stop this nonsense!" Cheval yelled, stamping his foot on the saddle with frustration. "Pay attention to me, damnit! I've come here to kill your monster!"

Rathi felt sorry for him and growled sympathetically.

Monstie #8 – the Crimson Colorful Bird

It was time for the ceremony that would mark the four children as official Riders. Lute, Cheval, Hyoro, and Mille had all received their Kinship Stones straight from Chief Omna, under the watchful eye of Dan the senior Rider. Each one of them had an egg placed in front of them, ready to be hatched by the Rite of Kinship.

Solemnly, Chief Omna stood at the altar in the single beam of sunlight that was cast down upon the temple. He raised his staff reverently, and began to speak the sacred words.

"Oh holy Kinship Stone.

Please, with thou bind together these Riders with these slumbering creatures.

And now, for the moment of new life.

Awaken!"

The children all raised their Kinship Stones as one, and the eggs started to shudder and crack. One by one, the shells shattered in individual bursts of light. Cheval got a Velocidrome, Hyoro got a Bulldrome, and Mille got an Aptonoth. Nothing special, but they were nevertheless delighted.

Lute looked excitedly upon the egg he had found in the Forbidden Land yesterday – he had, for once, been patient enough to take his friends' advice and wait until the ceremony to hatch it – and gasped with awe when the shell finally broke apart to reveal his new companion.

"A Crimson Qurupeco!" he exclaimed.

Instantly, Dan leapt up as if hit with a Khezu's lightning attack and demanded, "WHAT?! You got a Qurupeco?! Let me see, let me see!"

The older Rider rushed to Lute's side to gaze upon the newly-hatched Monstie. A colorful bird stared back up at the two of them, its scales a bright red while its beak was a pale yellow and its feathers iridescent blue-green.

"YES, now that's top form!" Dan whooped.

Dan, who himself rode a Qurupeco, was quite a fan.

-.-.-.-.-.

Because Dan was so taken with Lute and his Crimson Qurupeco, he had decided that he and his Qurupeco would be the ones to train Lute personally. Stone and Nod, the other seniors, had agreed to Dan's request with some amusement, while Genie just scoffed and waved his hand dismissively.

Today was their fourth training session since the day of the Rite. Lute was already mounted on Crimmy's beautifully-colored back, and Dan on his own Qurupeco's. The two bird wyverns and their Riders were standing in the grassy field face-to-face, while Cheval and Lilia watched from some distance away on a small hill.

"Okay, Lute, are you in top form?" said Dan. "Today, we'll be working on Crimmy's mimic ability. As you already know, the Qurupeco's unique throat sac allows it to imitate the calls of other monsters when it's in a jam."

Uncertainly, Lute rubbed the back of his head. "Uhh… should I know that?"

He got a facepalm from Dan by way of answer, and he blushed with embarrassment. In hindsight, it probably hadn't been worth skipping that particular day of classes.

"Anyway…" the senior Rider grumbled. "Your Crimson Qurupeco can call for aid from other monsters in order to distract your foe long enough for you to counterattack, or flee to fight another day. Like so!"

His Qurupeco raised its head, inflated its bright red pouch, and let out a series of high-pitched shrieks. In moments, a curious pack of Velociprey stampeded through the field in search of the member of their species that had called for help.

Once the raptors were gone, Dan gestured to Lute. "Okay, now you try!"

When Lute gave the order, Crimmy puffed up its throat sac and produced a long, drawn-out howl. Before either of them could ask what monster it had just imitated, the sound of running feet through the grass reached their ears. Seconds later, they found themselves surrounded by a pack of smaller pink raptors.

"J-Jaggi?!" stammered Dan. "How is that possible? There are no Jaggi in Pondry Hills! Shoo, you little pests! Back to Naubaka Island with you!"

A few Smoke Bombs later, they had successfully chased off the Jaggi and gotten back to the lesson. Dan got Lute to demonstrate Crimmy's mimic ability again. The bright red bird wyvern repeated its action from before, and this time the noise it produced was somewhat more familiar – a series of cat-like meows.

At first, there was no response from the local wildlife to Crimmy's odd choice of imitation. However, once Lute and Dan had waited long enough, a cloud of dust became visible on the horizon, coming from the direction of Hakum Village.

"MAKE WAY, MAKE WAY!" Navirou screeched. "NAVIROU HEARD FELYNES TALKING ABOUT DONUTS!"

The deformed Felyne raced right past them without so much as pausing, disappearing into his own cloud of dust as he continued on his path.

On top of the nearby hill, Cheval and Lilia both facepalmed.

"One more time, Lute!" encouraged Dan.

"Crimmy, give it everything you've got!" Lute shouted.

With an affirmative squawk, the Crimson Qurupeco stood as tall as it possibly could and puffed up its throat sac, its voice coming out as the loudest sound it could imagine in order to please its Rider.

"GRAAAAAAAAGGHH!" The roar carried far and wide across the plains and into the forest beyond.

Lute and Dan looked puzzled for a second as they tried to figure out what roar that was, but they just couldn't put their fingers on it…

"Hey, why are Cheval and Lilia screaming and waving their arms at us?" Dan asked, suddenly noticing them doing just that.

Scratching his head, Lute replied, "I don't know, I can't hear any–"

The trees at the edge of the nearby forest exploded.

Cue the Deviljho.

-.-.-.-.-.

By the time the day had concluded and the Deviljho had been driven away, the Riders had learned a valuable lesson.

As a law of nature, no monster, regardless of size or status, was immortal. Even the mighty, omnivorous Deviljho had a weakness. There were substances on this vast, mysterious planet that even its bottomless stomach couldn't stomach, so to speak.

And today, they had discovered such a miraculous substance. It was so foul, the Deviljho had taken one taste of it and keeled over, paralyzed with shock. It was so potent that, once the shock had worn off, the Deviljho had booked it back into the forest as fast as its legs could carry it.

This heaven-sent substance was Lilia's homemade Energy Drink.

1. Starting things off with the ugliest monster.

2. Continuing with the straight-up worst monster.

3. A bubble wyvern would be good for a few laughs.

4. A Brachydios would be a difficult house pet to keep. You'd have to explosion-proof the whole house, somehow…

5. You know how Bullfangoes always manage to charge you at the worst possible times? Yeah…

6. Deviljho would be even worse than Brachydios.

7. It's hard to be edgy when you have no idea what's going on. Cheval's so confused right now, pls help our poor little edgelord.

8. When a Qurupeco appears, you can be sure a Deviljho is soon to follow. (RIP Jho, cause of death: Lilia's terrible home cooking.)