AughGRAAAAAAWWWWWW! RAAAAAAAAAHHHGG!
A ferocious roar resounds out of the ancient forest, loud enough to travel beyond the canopies and fierce enough to scare the smaller wildlife. The fleet commanders of Asteria pause in the middle of their meeting as they hear the cry of an anjanath. Grace, who had been studying the maps of the new world they have been able to piece together, Immediately looks up from her work. Then, without a word, she grabs her bow and sets of for the Gate. "Oi! where ya going lass?" The second fleet master scratches his beard in mild confusion.
"I'm going to check on Evans Obviously. Do you know any anjanath's loud enough to be heard from here?" She rolled her eyes while helping her palico gear up, as if what she said was the most obvious thing to say. The wing drake shrieks as the harness is hooked by Grace's slinger and before the others could object, she was off. The commander gives off an exasperated sigh as he says "That girl really is a handful." Yet unseen by the other fleet leaders, a small smile could be seen.
By the time Grace made it to the Nest, she found that the hatchlings, now about two meters tall, were prodding at the colossal figure of fur. As if getting a scent, all of the anji hatchlings simultaneously turn their heads to look at the female hunter. They sniff the air in both curiosity and slight apprehension. Seeing as she was not being torn to bits yet, Grace, much to the anxiety of mittens, took slow careful steps forward to the nest. "Its okay. I am a friend, not a foe...or food. I just need to check in with our unique friend over their."
The hatchlings chirp and trill, as although they don't understand what the tiny creature was saying, they could smell she meant no harm, as the threatening scent never reached their olfactory senses. They go back to prodding Evans, ignoring Grace as she walked towards the other side. "Oh Gog[1]..." Grace holds her hands to her face as she looks upon Evans' form.
Lacerations mar his muzzle from top to bottom, with his face also sporting at least a dozen more. Tilting her head, she can also see the puncture wounds dabbled on his left side, as if needles had dug into his skin repeatedly. If anyone told her that Evans had been tossed into a blender, she would have slightly believed it, if not for his large physique. A wheeze like hiss escapes from his maw, the air forcing back the foliage Infront of him.
Done with her inspection, Grace decides to leave, but not before lending a hand. "Mittens, do you have any vigor wasp nectar on you by any chance?"
By dawn, Evans opened his eyes. Slightly stretching for a bit, Evans fed the hatchlings their portion of Kadachi cutlets before venturing deeper into the ancient forest. He knows that he should be heading to Astera but he has already fought a literal typhoon of metal, so they can wait a bit longer.
"This feeling of itchiness in my throat has been bugging me long enough lets see what it can do." Evans breaths in a large amount of air. Yet unlike the other times he took a deep beath, The air began to swirl and condense in his jaws. With a great exhale, a ball of air was launched towards his latest testing dummy- a stump that had once been a tree before Evans had arrived.
The ball of wind crashed into the stump, the air bursting in full force. Scratch marks could be seen all over the stump by the time the gust fully dissipated. Satisfied with gaining some control over the wind, Evans Made his way towards Astera, thoughts of further training swirling in his mind as he traveled.
When he reached the large gate of bones, he finds that the top dogs of Astera had already gathered outside, with Grace waving at him. Not in the mood to waste words, Evans relayed "Kushala Daora has been eliminated. I will not be handing over the body however." Besides the chief Ecologist, who visibly wilted at the sentence, The others paused as they processed the information they had just received. "All right! Thas one less problem to deal with. Ohohohoho!" First to react, the tech chief laughs at the great news.
The commander soon after regains his composure. "While that is true, we still have two more elder dragons to hunt down. As it happens, we have just begun spotting tracks for a Teostra." At the mention of the flaming emperor, the huntsman's grip on his longsword unconsciously tightens. "Hold it workaholic. while i'm more than happy to beat up a flaming cat, I'm in no condition at the moment to do so. You will have to delay for a bit."
[1] Gog, short for gogmazios, is a play on words to god for describing an elder dragon that was the final boss of one of the monster hunter games