Once the danger was confirmed to have passed, Valen descended back down the stairs, after which somebody asked. “It’s over, right?”

  Valen nodded. “It is over. We are currently heading towards Astera, and I believe one of the ships will stay to observe Zorah until they lose sight of him, after which they’ll rejoin us at our port. I’d suggest everybody start preparing, we’ll arrive in a few hours.”

  Aiden then posted himself next to Valen. “Our journey is coming to an end, and we’ll soon be able to start our true mission.”

  “I’ll however warn that a couple of us, Hunter Rapha?lle and Handler Sophie, are missing. The last I saw them was when they were climbing Zorah’s shell to try to rejoin us. I think they’ll still get to the mainland, but I’ll go with the search party to make sure they arrive safely at Astera once we are there.” Valen said.

  Aiden remarked “I believe they were one of the few that received one of the slingers of the ship. So if they’re smart, they’ll hitch a ride on one of those Wingdrakes.”

  “Good point. And if anybody wonders, I don’t have one because I have some spare materials from my hunt so that I can have a specialized one crafted for me once we arrive.” He scanned the room, looking at the various expressions visible on each member, some were relieved the danger had passed, others were happy the journey was at an end, and some were anxious about what would come next. “I wanna conclude by the fact that I’m happy that you all kept your cool while the crisis happened. Keep that same level-headedness during your hunts and you’ll climb quickly!”

  Everybody cheered and agreed with him. Then everybody dispersed towards their rooms so they could suit up, Valen followed their example and headed towards his to suit up his armor. Adem had joined him on the walk and told him he was sorry to not be with him during the crisis. Valen simply told him that it was fine and it allowed him to not have to worry about the Felyne.

  Once in the room, Adem helped the Hunter put on his armor, as it was a task more easily done with one more pair of hands, as short as they were, and thus only a few minutes later, Valen was suited up and ready. Valen helped Felyne get into his armor, his trusty Mizutsune set.

  This task done, they grabbed their weapons, climbed back up to the upper decks, and joined the captain at the steering wheel, who was giving directions to the pilot. Once he finished he turned around and looked at Valen. “We should be there in less than a couple hours. I see you are already suited up.” He smiled. “I hope you’re ready for a long night since it’s always better to have some help emptying the ship.”

  “Actually about that captain, I believe the urgency of our missing pair takes precedence… I’ll try to join the search party for them to make sure they make a safe arrival at Astera.”

  The Captain hummed. “You are right indeed. Making sure all of our A-Listers arrive safely at our destination takes precedence. I’ll help you explain the situation to Commander Arcos once we arrive… Get yourself comfortable, and let’s finish this last stretch home!”

  Valen nodded and he went to find a spot to wait on until they arrived. Inside him, tension… Yet excitement rose, how would Astera look like once they arrived, would the leaders there accept him? And most important of all… Would he manage to meet with Nikki without rousing suspicions? All of these questions were at the forefront of Valen’s mind during this journey.

  However, with his mind thus busy, a couple of hours passed in a flash for Valen, who was only snapped out of his internal monologue when Adem thumped on his leg. When the Hunter looked questionably at the Felyne, he only pointed out a direction to him. Valen looked in that direction and gasped.

  Astera was now visible, in all its glory, as an outpost made out from what remained of the ships of the previous fleet, and would also be the fate of the entire fifth fleet: they would be cannibalized so that they could serve to expand Astera. It was one of the decisions of the Research Commission for Astera: They would build only from what they brought so that they could leave the local ecosystem as untouched as they could so that they could learn the most from it. This tradition started in an accident when the lone ship of the first fleet got caught in a typhoon, which left wedged at the top of a rock outcropping. Said ship was now clearly visible to Valen, being illuminated with multiple lanterns, giving it a majestic appearance, dominating the rest of the outpost with its massive frame.

  Valen whistled at the sight, he had for sure never seen anything like that, and even though he had not been at Port Tanzia, he knew that due to the way it had been built, there was nothing quite like Astera.

  He could see the light of the forge, being the only building made out of something other than wood, which was logical given its use. There was also the other, fainter light of the canteen, which seemed to be in high activity. Valen supposed they were currently preparing a feast for their arrival.

  Since the ship Valen was in was the one leading the expedition, it was for this reason that it ended up being the first to dock at the outpost, which triggered a lot of cheering from the port, as every resident of the outpost seemed to be out there to welcome them in.

  Valen smiled, if that was how they were greeted, he hoped that they would stay as cheery and friendly during his stay there… Which probably would be for a long time.

  Right before they started the docking procedure, the Captain said to Valen, “You should be the first outside. You are after all considered the leader of our ship, no matter what you think.”

  Valen stared a bit at him, then sighed. “I wanted to avoid that… Okay, I’ll do this, but I’ll step down once one of the Hunters rises through the ranks so that they are the leader of this Fleet. I’m just the backup if anything world-changing happens.”

  “I’d suggest you give in and accept that you'll be important no matter what. But I also believe that you are not the kind of guy that loves attention, so just do what you think is right…”

  Valen nodded, then headed toward the spot where they would install the ramp once the docking procedure was complete. Hunters parted before him to give him the way, with most of them dipping their heads in respect, and even a couple bowing at him. Valen nodded in return to everyone, and stood vigil at the exit of the ship, making his best effort to look impressive.

  The sailors at the ship threw ropes at their counterparts at the dock, who secured these ropes to metallic pillars spread around. They worked in pairs to help drag in the ship, and once it was close enough, tied up the ropes to the pillars, securing the ship and preventing it from drifting away. Then finally, the ship sailors brought in the gangplank and secured it at the dock. One sailor nodded to Valen, who immediately started walking out of it, to the cheers of everybody present, both ship-side and port-side. He even believed he heard the other ships cheering him on. A glance behind confirmed him that nobody was following him, aside from Valen riding on his shoulder, which confirmed his suspicion that the leader wanted to welcome him personally and that he had the responsibility of representing the whole fleet.

  This was the reason that everybody at the dock made way to let a single, middle-aged, and tanned man pass. His hair was graying but was still whole. He had his hands put behind his back and was looking at Valen with a smile.

  Once Valen had descended and was face to face with the man, they stared at each other, and then the man spoke. “I was not aware that the Sky Piercer was sent with the Fifth fleet. I will not complain though, we have heard of your feats even there.”

  Valen nodded. “I am not surprised. My tales spread farther than I imagined.”

  “In other news, welcome to Astera, Fifth Fleet!” He said with a booming voice. “I’m the Commander here, and you’ll refer to me as such!” Then with a lower tone, he said to Valen. “I hope you had a safe journey?”

  “Something… Came up right before we arrived, but we should allow them to start disembarking before we discuss this.”

  The Commander frowned. “How serious was it?”

  “It’s important, we have a missing pair due to this, and we should render assistance as soon as possible.”

  “Let’s discuss this in detail then, but first let me finish.” He now faced the whole fleet. “I hope you’ll find yourself at home in Astera, and may the Sapphire Star light your way!”

  Resounding cheers came from the whole fleet in response to this, and Valen smiled. While the cheers were going on, the Commander gestured for him to follow, so Valen did so.

  As they exited the main crowd, his leader exchanged a few words with a young hunter, given the Greatsword stowed on his back, who nodded and seemed to head towards the gangplank.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Valen was led through the large dock towards the prow of an old ship, now converted as a meeting location it seemed. It was open to the elements, but he supposed they kept it as such due to an old tradition.

  “I’ll allow you to call me Arcos, I know you deserve the respect to call me as such.”

  “Only if you call me Valen. It is only fair.”

  Arcos smiled for a moment then his face became serious. “Tell me what happened, it seemed important.”

  “Let’s just say that when we arrived at the shore… Zorah Magdaros emerged from the ocean… Right below my ship.” Arcos’s eyes widened at this revelation. “Everybody that is on the ship is fine, but a Hunter and Handler pair got thrown off the ship while this happened, and they ended up on the Elder’s back. They attempted to rejoin the ship that was at the time wedged on the shell, but it was dislodged and slid down back to the ocean before they could do so. I hope that they managed to hook on one of the wingdrakes and land back to shore that way, they would have the ability as luck permitted they were among those that received the slingers that were stashed on the ship.”

  “This is a priority indeed. I’ll send a rescue party. I assume you want to be part of it?”

  “Indeed, I know I should have been part of the welcoming feast, but I believe this takes precedence.”

  “Alright then, I know who to ask for help. Give me a bit, I’ll look for him.”

  “No need, I am here, Arcos.”

  Both of them turned to the side and Valen could see somebody that he would describe as a ‘Veteran’, this man screamed of having a lot of experience fighting, the worn-down state of his armor, the large gash on top of the helmet, the old but well-cared for Longsword sheathed on his back. He also… Jogged a memory for Valen, as if he knew who that was.

  “Blue Flare. I was not aware you were nearby.” This made Valen’s eyes widen, this was the legendary hunter that had departed with the First fleet. This was the man that Valen was supposed to help in his role.

  “I noticed you getting away from the main event while I knew you usually attend them, I knew then something was amiss. And it seems I was right, we have a wayward pair of hunters right?”

  Valen regained his composure and nodded. “Indeed, as they don’t have any weapons and only have their slingers to defend themselves, I think trying to escort them back to Astera would be appreciated.”

  “Let’s head out now then. The more time we waste, the less in danger they will be.”

  Valen raised his hands. “I believe that figuring out on the map where Zorah Magdaros landed would be a necessity before we head out blindly.”

  “Good point. Let us ask the question to your captain and head off, we have no time to waste.”

  “In the meantime, I’ll go back to organizing the unloading of the ships. Good luck to the both of you, I trust that you will carry out this task.” the Commander said.

  Both Valen and the Blue Flare nodded to the Commander, and having no time to waste, they both went back to the boat so that they could carry out their new task.

  They would ordinarily have waited for a moment where the Captain was free, but due to the time-sensitive nature of the mission, they got him to show on the map where the encounter with Zorah happened, and with cross references with the maps that the Blue Flare had drawn, they managed to pinpoint the area where they could start their search. So they said their thanks to the Captain and headed out the gate of Astera, which led to the wilderness beyond the outpost, accompanied only by Adem.

  The Blue Flare looked at Valen. “Ordinarily we would have taken wingdrakes to the location, but given the recent passage of Zorah, I imagine they are quite agitated right now, and I see you don’t have a Slinger yet anyways.”

  “You’re right Blue Flare, it’s a delay but I’m used to walking.”

  “Oh, you don’t need to call me by my title, Valen, everybody in Astera knows me as The Huntsman. But you, you deserve the right to call me Jake.”

  Valen snapped his head to the right, staring at the slit in Jake’s helmet. The stare was returned in kind, and then Valen smiled behind his helmet. “Eh, I'm still getting used to the fact I’m still technically your peer. Even though it has been more than half a decade, it still hasn’t fully sunk in… I haven’t met many of the Named either…”

  Jake nodded. “Yeah, we tend to keep to our chosen hunting grounds. It is only for the true threats that we are called up. I had to step up a couple of times here in Astera, but surprisingly it has been calm for now. Maybe it is also because we don’t actively hunt and mostly study our immediate surroundings. But as you know, it is going to change soon, as the Fifth Fleet's task is to finally unravel the mystery of the Elder’s Crossing completely.”

  Valen hummed in response, and they fell into silence, keeping an eye on their surroundings, making sure nothing would ambush them. Though the fact it was a night meant that they relied more on their hearing than their sight… Adem especially, since Valen’s disability meant that he was at a disadvantage.

  Looking above, Valen could see the night sky that stretched all around them, it was a bit different from what he was used though… With one exception: the Sapphire Star seemed to be even more prominent among its pairs for some reason, shining even more than what he was used to. He didn’t know if that was simply a trick of the eyes or if something made it do so. It held a certain beauty to it though, reminding us that it was a guide to all hunters should they get lost in the night, never faltering in its position and beauty, but with the single drawback that its shine made it so that she didn’t have neighbors, rendering her alone in her corner of the sky.

  Valen looked at it for a moment more before he focused back down to the earth, keeping his ear and eyes peeled for any disturbances, as they had a mission.

  The sun had already risen from the horizon when they finally reached the shore where the fleet met Zorah Magdaros. Immediately Valen and Jake looked around for signs of their wayward Hunters, though they were distracted for a while by the still smoldering vegetation around the large gap in the forest that denoted the journey of the Elder.

  It was only when they reached one of the base camps of the Ancient Forest, which by sheer coincidence was nearby that Jake hailed Valen. “Look, some items are missing, including one of the maps, I’m sure it’s the two of them. This is the best-case scenario, as they’ll know where to go toward Astera. And there’s some faint footprints, looks like they are being careful about the signs they are leaving behind.”

  “Then let’s follow them, with a bit of luck we can catch up to them and make sure they arrive safely.”

  Jake nodded and they resumed their journey, following them through the territory of the Jagras, yellow-scaled fanged wyverns that were led by an impressive member of their species, though thankfully no recent signs of its presence were visible.

  However they heard shouts in the distance, and they didn’t even need to glance at each other so they both started running. They barreled through the thick vegetation in front of them, offering no resistance to their frames, and branches snapping from their sheer momentum and jumping above thick roots or fallen trunks.

  They saw movement beyond the trees, and as they exited, they saw two figures running away from what he was sure was a Great Jagras, its yellow scales, lined up with green, the scaly tendrils giving it the impression of a mane covering his shoulders, and it was pursuing the two lone Hunters that were trying to escape it.

  Valen pushed himself and ran faster, bending forward as much as he could, and activated the booster on his back, which propelled him through the air at a rapid pace, however, his aim was true, and he landed on the back of the Great Jagras, who immediately tried to roll over so to dislodge him.

  So the Hunter dropped from the monster’s back and jumped back in once it completed the rotation. Now that the monster knew it wouldn’t dislodge him by rolling over, Valen looked at the Hunter and Handler pair and shouted. “Go! Get through this path, I’ll distract it!”

  They didn’t let him repeat himself and dashed through the road, Jake on their heels to cover them. Adem though stayed around, occasionally throwing his boomerang at the Fanged Wyvern’s face to get its attention when it looked like it was about to roll again.

  Valen held on the back of the Great Jagras for several minutes, until he heard a roar coming from the direction where the group ran, he swore and dropped off the back of the wyvern, grabbing a canister from his pouch and shouted: “FLASH!” then threw it at the ground, closing his eyes.

  Extremely powerful bright light emerged from it, which was visible through his eyelids but the pained roar that he heard told him that it had the effect he desired. And the Great Jagras began to thrash widely around, blind to its surroundings, then he nodded to Adem and they ran towards where the group headed.

  He ran for a couple of minutes and spotted Jake fending off a large brute wyvern, whose back was covered in dark fur, but its head was covered in pink scales and which had a large bony nose extended from its muzzle. It was roaring occasionally trying to scare the Hunter off, and to reach the two unarmed women that were running away, but was held at bay by quick cuts on its face.

  Valen ran the distance separating him from the Brute Wyvern, that he wasn’t sure what it was called, and drew his weapon in Sword mode, scoring a large gash on its leg.

  The wyvern immediately turned around to face Valen and tried to kick him, but he dodged the hit.

  Then Valen saw the Huntsman rummaging around in his pouch while the Wyvern was distracted and retrieved a brown canister from it, loading it on his slinger. Valen immediately guessed what it was and made to run towards the other side of him, dodging the bite the Wyvern made at him, and it tried to follow him, however exposing its nose to Jake, who lined up his slinger and fired it.

  Brown goop exploded on the pink face of the wyvern, and a foul smell started emanating from it, which didn’t bother Valen that much, his armor blocking most of it, but it was very effective on the monster, who immediately tried to shake its head to dislodge the Dung Bomb that splashed at him, to no avail, the stuff being sticky enough that it stayed.

  The Wyvern was disturbed so much by the smell it roared weakly at them and turned to leave, most likely to find a stream to wash its face off.

  Valen released the breath he was holding and sheathed his weapon, nodding at Jake. “Let’s go catch up to them.”

  “Good job with the Jagras, we should hunt them only when no other solution is available, so it’s good that you only made it run away.”

  Valen nodded “That is what I suspected, let’s catch up to the girls and make sure they get safely to the outpost.”

  And thus they ran until they reached the pair, and they all traveled together back to Astera, the danger passed.