Chapter Text
What Yuri had found out thanks to that Teostra was too important to keep a secret. As soon as she was taken back to Astera, she went to the leaders of the First Fleet and asked them to call a meeting with all members of the Research Commission, because she’d made a discovery that changed everything. Interested and concerned at the same time, the Commander did so right away and had someone blow the horn announcing the start of an assembly. In minutes, all the hunters, scholars and technicians of Astera huddled up before the assembly table, ready to listen. Yuri cleared her throat and began her speech with a question:
“When you recruited me, you told me the Black Blight was never found in this continent until now, right?”
“Exactly. We neither saw nor documented it for forty years. Infected monsters showed up literally out of nowhere,” the Commander’s grandson replied.
“Good. When I read the Guild’s notice on the Black Blight outbreak here, I had a vague suspicion on where it might come from, but I ruled it out almost right away. But now an infected Elder Dragon showed up and I have no more doubts: there are corrupt Riders behind this epidemic. Only a person with an infected Kinship Stone can transmit that disease to Elder Dragons, otherwise they’d be immune by nature.”
A hunter of the Fourth Fleet raised a hand to ask a question:
“Who are corrupt Riders?”
“The name says it all: they’re criminal sects of Riders who fell into madness, whose Kinship Stone was tainted by the Black Blight. They worship it, depend on it and live completely detached from society. They can infect monsters and even control them, if they want to. It’s like when a normal Rider like me imprints on a monster just hatched, except they don’t need eggs or hatchlings: the whole process is forced and unnatural.”
“That’s definitely unexpected. They clearly settled here who knows how long ago, without any of us noticing. What kind of criminals are they? Please, tell us how we should behave, in case we deal with one of them,” the Commander asked.
“Riders with corrupted stones despise humans and monsters alike. In their eyes, people are inferior creatures to subjugate and monsters are tools to achieve their goals. They might’ve embarked on one of the fleets with you, or undercover on your argosy. It goes without saying that trying to reason with them is useless: if you meet them, stay away from them or try to defeat them – there are no other options. After all, you’ll have to get rid of them sooner or later: I may purify as many monsters as you wish, but it’s going to be a wasted effort, as long as they keep infecting more.”
Then the Commander asked her to give him the floor and announced:
“Have you all understood, hunters? From now on, I want each of you to keep an eye out more than ever! Explore the continent as thoroughly as you can, look for signs of people who look suspicious to you and warn us immediately, if you believe you have a lead! Am I clear?”
Everyone nodded.
“Good. And of course, don’t stop reporting every single monster infected by that disease and pointing out their locations. After all, the Rider’s just said that they’re responsible for the contagion, so the monsters may help us get to them. Never lower your guard, obviously! Anything else?”
Yuri shook her head:
“No.”
Actually, there was one more detail on that disease, which was the greatest, most terrible threat that plague could bring forth; but she’d personally taken care of that forever, two years ago, so she decided to omit it.
“Very well. Hunters, this assembly is over. You’re all dismissed!”
The crowd dispersed and Yuri went to the monsters’ platform to pay Ratha and Legi a visit. The two monsters were happy to see her and she stroked both for a while, smiling. After that, however, she finally went to her lodging to rest: she had a feeling those would be very tough days for her. She was right, but it turned out to be even harder than expected.
A nightmare. For the Rider, that was surely the best word to describe the following month.
After the assembly, she asked the blacksmith of Astera to forge a new armor for her, and she also commissioned two saddles: Ratha’s had been left on the boat she’d used and Legi needed a customized model. But eventually, only Legi’s was needed: the Rathalos’ saddle had been retrieved by the piscine researcher of the Commission, during one of his fishing expeditions along the shoreline.
The blacksmith just had to measure and observe well the Legiana’s physique to craft a model fitting the shape of her back. Yuri had to wait longer for the armor: the Second Fleet Master and his apprentices had spent thirty years forging equipment for adults, so there were only molds and measures of that size, and they needed to adapt everything to Yuri’s small frame. There were no issues with the materials, since Xavia gave away hers, so it was all a matter of retrofitting. In the end, after a couple of days, Yuri finally got an armor which suited her perfectly.
The blacksmith made an Odogaron armor for her, a species she hadn’t encountered yet, but she was looking forward to sighting one. When Yuri began to get around wearing that armor, she started to overhear some people cracking jokes about her being a minor and the body areas which the women’s model generously left bare. The girl didn’t get those jokes and Xavia refused to explain them to her, when she asked her what they meant.
The nightmare started in the following days for Yuri: with an abrupt change of pace, the sightings of infected monsters tripled, and maybe there were even more than that. The corrupt Riders had likely figured out they’d been discovered, and had subsequently begun to act more insistently. Yuri never stopped receiving reports, she was busier than ever. She spent her days soaring in the sky with Legi, and after a while, she even had to write down a list of the sightings, so as not to lose count and remember which ones had been taken care of and which ones hadn’t.
That was how she spent her days during that long month: seeking out monsters and cleansing them. She didn’t even have time to take zoology classes from the scholars on the magnificent species native of the New World, from the Ancient Forest to the Elder’s Recess. But she couldn’t bear such a strain forever. One evening, as she landed in front of the market in Astera with Legi, she mumbled:
“I can’t take any more.”
She threw her hands in her hair, while getting off the Legiana. She’d lost count of how many infected monsters she’d healed by now. Legi turned to her mistress. She let out a concerned trill, gently rubbing her head against the girl’s sides. Yuri wished she could tell her:
“Relax, I’m fine.”
But she clearly wasn’t: she felt so drained that she staggered on the wooden planks and almost fell. Legi had to hold her with her head not to let her collapse. Yuri’s head span like a top. She forced a smile and whispered:
“I’ll be better tomorrow, you’ll see.”
Shuffling her feet, she took Legi to Ratha and returned to Xavia’s private lodging. Since Yuri started to sleep in her room, the huntress had added a sleeping bag for herself, leaving the bed to her daughter. On Yuri’s request, she’d added a small desk and a stool for the girl to write down her discoveries – which she seldom did, because of all the assignments she had to take care of. As she stepped in, Yuri whispered:
“I’m back.”
She looked around, hoping to see her mother, but her gaze fell upon the small table near her bed. A few stripes of jerky and a jug of water lay on it, as well as a folded piece of paper. Yuri took it, sat down on the bed and unfolded it. She recognized her mother’s handwriting, since she’d already seen it a couple of times, when Xavia wrote reports for the Resource Center.
Sorry, I’ll come back later than usual tonight: I took on a Kushala Daora hunt in the Elder’s Recess, I’m going to catch it off guard while it’s sleeping. Enjoy your dinner!
Love, mom
“Oof… fine.” Yuri sighed, saddened.
She sat down at the table and quietly munched the jerky, trying to relax as much as she could.
Xander stared at his sister and complained:
“Are you still empty-handed, Mikayla?”
She nodded hesitantly, with her arms folded and looking down at her feet:
“Sorry, Xander, I just can’t keep up with her. Ben and Felix are infecting too many monsters at once: I have no time to get close to her after a cleansing, before she goes away!”
“Then why don’t you attack her while she’s fighting? Don’t you think it would be easier that way?”
“I don’t know, I wouldn’t like to wound her or the monsters to hurt her,” she justified herself.
Xander got irritated:
“Don’t be ridiculous, sis! You’re skilled enough to take down a Deviljho on your own, it would be child’s play for you. I’ll tell those two to stop for a few days, but I want to know why you’re hesitating. Right now.”
She couldn’t reply: she kept staring at the ground, knowing she didn’t have the guts to look him in the eye. So he gave her a sarcastic smile:
“Actually, I already know: you’re scared!”
Mikayla finally had the courage to look up and confront him:
“Why would I be scared of my own niece?”
Xander made a smug expression and kept provoking her:
“You’re scared of me, not her. You don’t want me to do to her what I did to you and the others, because you can’t stand it may happen to the only Aros with no tragedy in her past.”
“I… yes. Yes, you’re right: that’s why I can’t do it,” she murmured, distressed.
“It makes no sense for you to empathize with Yuri so much. I mean, you’ve not seen her for fifteen years! Am I to believe that you have compassion for her or her mother now? After you did nothing to stop Fang from attacking Xavia? Sure, he failed to kill her, but that’s not the point.”
Mikayla shed a couple of tears, as she stared at her older brother and was blinded by fury:
“No! Don’t you dare! Don’t even try! I couldn’t know! You told me about it only after everything had already happened and it’s your fault if I couldn’t return to Xavia and help her! Don’t you dare put a guilt trip on me!”
In response, he burst out laughing:
“Hahahahaha! You know, it’s always funny, Mikayla.”
He approached his sister, laid a hand on her head and stroked her hair, disturbing the swarm of fulgur bugs nested in it. The bugs buzzed around the cave for a few seconds, while she wiped her tears, before hiding in her reddish-brown hair again. At that point, Xander claimed:
“Anyway, I’m tired of your hesitation. It’s time for you to get serious.”
His sister barely had time to look up and see him open his Rider bracelet, uncovering a glowing red stone.
“No, please, not her!”
“You had it coming.”
Mikayla felt a stabbing twinge of pain in her chest, followed by an even worse one in her head. She screamed and bent over, pressing her temples with one hand and her heart with the other. She fell on her knees, and the tips of her hair tapped the rocky floor. She kept screaming and panting for a few seconds – then, all of a sudden, silence fell in that cave in the Elder’s Recess.