Prologue

Carved along a mountainside, Yukumo was a bustling center of activity among fellow hunters. You could thank its famous hot springs for that. The oriental village had made it a must to welcome anyone with the hot, steaming baths at the center of town. To most hunters, this was a relief as it was situated right inside the hunter's hall, making it easy to access. Today was like any other day here, village folk going through their daily routine, felynes causing minor dilemmas, and hunters looking for new quests to take. One of these brave hunters was Saito Hiraga.

Saito was busy squeezing through the crowd of eager hunters, hoping that there was at least one quest he could take for today. He was setting his sights on upgrading the armor he had. Gently caressing his sword's dark sheath, he remembered the hard work he did for that one crucial piece alone. Yes, the Shadow of the Moon longsword was a trophy in itself. Nargas were tricky beasts, quick on their feet and hard to see in the dark of the night; the only indication of it being there were the glowing, red eyes that seemed to stare down to your very soul. One night almost sealed the deal, marking him with three large diagonal slashes on his back. The hunter sighed; now was not the time to be deep in thought.

"Okay..." Saito muttered under his breath, scanning through the quest board. "I need a few high-rank armor spheres for my hat and armbands... so... I'll take this one!" The hunter grabbed the piece of paper pinned at the quest board and proceeded to squeeze his way towards the reception desk. Behind the desk was the reception girl. Dressed in pink oriental robes topped with an equally pink hat, the girl cheerfully waved Saito.

"Saito-kun! Great day, isn't it?" The bubbly girl greeted with an equally bubbly grin.

"It is." The hunter clarified. "Today is a great day for getting some items." Saito casually handed the piece of paper to the receptionist. He was confident that he won't even have to draw his sword during this quest. It was just a quick scavenge for some ores that a blacksmith wanted to acquire, but was too scared to go. Saito didn't blame him; a Great Furogi's poison could easily kill you if you weren't careful enough. But tricky as it could be, he was confident that he won't have to fight it.

"Okay! You're all set." The receptionist declared, handing over the paper that was now stamped with a seal. "Be careful there! You're too young to die so early!"

"Hey!" Saito huffed angrily, waving his arms in exaggeration. "I'm 19! My age is quite fine for a hunter!" This merited a giggle from the girl, much to the hunter's annoyance. He then proceeded to head towards the baths.

There was steam, lots of steam. It opened the pores on Saito's skin as he proceeded towards the hot waters of the spring. By his side was his felyne comrade; a melynx breed that had a few stray fur strands that stuck out of his forehead. The felyne had quite an observant look that suggest high intellect on his part. His golden slit-eyes were steady and careful. He seemed on the edge, yet his posture was calm.

"What's wrong, Miguel-kun?" Saito asked. Sitting down on the rocky surface of the hot spring bath, he was half submerged in the clear waters of the spring.

The felyne had taken a sip of the Yukumo Sake he had, eyes resting on the small ripples caused by his feet. There was something bothering him, but he doesn't know what. He turned his head left and right, desperately looking for something off, but was let down to see that everything was normal as normal could be. The felyne sighed.

"It's nothing, Saito-sama nya~" he explained. "Just being paranoid." Saito was skeptical at first, but shrugged it off. He stood up from the waters and headed towards the changing area.

It was currently past noon as a single airship floats above the clouds, accompanied by a few birds that seemed to take a liking towards it. Saito was busy sharpening his longsword at the deck. He had equipped his high-rank Yukumo Armor (S), along with a few jewels inserted here and there (mainly for status buffs). On the other side was two of his felyne comrades, Miguel and Ryoku.

Ryoku was a blue alteration of the main felyne breed; he was a tad bit skinnier than most, but that didn't suppress his speed and power. He was a brave warrior who easily got along well with Miguel, constantly exchanging new forms of strategy. The blue felyne donned a high-rank Yamato armor that went well with his Narga shuriken. Miguel, on the other hand, had a high-rank Jinouga armor paired up with another Narga shuriken.

On the wheel was another felyne, Curtis. He was in-charge of the ship. He was gold striped with the fur on top of his head combed backwards. He wore the standard Yukumo armor for felynes, paired with a highly-crafted Yukumo Wood sword. The felyne was barking orders at the rest of the crew, specifically the navigator. The navigator was Sarah; she was a Violet Melynx that wore a Rathian armor set, wielding a Bnahabra dagger. She was busy spotting potential threats with her telescope (you won't believe how much incidents there were with Kut-Kus alone).

There was another Melynx- this time black. His name was Tsuki. He was currently mopping the floor to pass the time. He was equipped with Narga Armor and carried along a Narga Shuriken. Satisfied with his work, the black melynx returned the mop and bucket back to the storage room; he then proceeded to doze off below deck where the Felyne Chef was. Kuchi was rather plump, and was named Kuchi for obvious reasons. He was a red-striped felyne that wore a chef's vest and and hat. He was in the midst of preparing a quick meal for everyone, handling multiple tasks. This didn't bother him quite that much as he was used to it.

Above the deck, among the ropes and erm... balloons, were two more felynes; both of them were twins. The first was a normal breed that had been equipped with a Bone armor set, a Bone Hammer at his back. He scurried along the deck, looking for loose knots to tie. His twin had a reverse coloring. She wore Arzuros armor and had an Arzuros Club at the ready. She was tying up the few loose knots that she and her brother had found. Their names were Tsuchi and Sora, respectively.

Miguel was still on the edge, feeling that something bad was about to happen. He turned to his comrade Ryoku to find him also tensed. He did not like the atmosphere. He stood up from his resting position, along with Ryoku as they feel a wave of dread hit them like a tsunami.

"Nya~ Did you feel that Miguel-san?" Ryoku asked, switching to high alert.

"Un." Miguel nodded. The two scurried as fast as they can to the front of the deck, only to be shocked at what they saw.

At the distance, was a colossal chunk of gray clouds. The cloud formation was swirling inwards, creating an 'eye' at the middle. This would have seemed like a normal typhoon, if only it didn't have streaks of lightning jolting wildly from all directions. This storm had only one plausible reason: an Amatsumagatsuchi.

"Curtis-kun!" Yelled Sarah. She, Curtis, Saito, Miguel, and Ryoku were the only ones left above. The felyne twins were already below deck, waiting for the others to do the same.

"On it, Sarah-chan!" The golden-striped felyne tried his best to steer away from the ever-growing typhoon, but was unable to do so. Still, he tried his best to prevent too much damage.

Saito had was currently helping his felyne comrades store the barrels outside. He hurriedly carried the weapon's tray inside the store room and locked it shut. The three then proceeded to tighten what was left of the loose knots Tsuchi and Sora missed.

"All clear, Saito-sama!" Miguel yelled across the deck, scurrying towards the hatch that led below.

"Ryoku-kun! Are you done?" Asked a frantic Saito as he tied the last knot on his side. He quickly glanced at the Amatsu-induced typhoon. It was getting closer; the winds were picking up quickly.

"Nya~ almost done, Saito-sama!" Screamed the felyne back.

Curtis was busy securing the wheel as Ryoku,and Sarah went inside to safety. The felyne knew that the ship wouldn't survive the typhoon intact; he just hoped that the crash wouldn't be that much damaging. After all, this ship was built with the sturdiest materials (and the most expensive); it would be a shame for it to just be another overly-priced wreckage.

"Curtis-kun! Get inside!" Shouted Saito. The golden felyne practically jumped from the wheel and into the hatch. This left the young hunter alone. He spared another quick glance towards the direction of the storm and went inside.

Below the deck, the young hunter was frozen in thought. He quickly shook it off. It was funny; he could've sworn that he saw something green inside the storm. Must have been his imagination.

(A/N)

Uh... hey!

*crickets*

Yeah... um... I'm CrudeSketch. This is my first fic. Anyway, I hope you guys liked what you read. This really was just an idea in my head, so it's really nothing much... Um... Leave a review guys. It really would help me a whole lot. Yeah...