Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Through The Panther's Eyes - The Hunt Begins

My journey began on the uncharted  island where Moga Village rested  There, the locals heartily welcomed me, unaware of my true greatness.  I kept my identity a secret, only going by my alter ego: Pantera.  I didn't want any special treatment and I am not using any of my superior demigod powers.  Only sinew and steel are my weapons.  Out here, the Kaiser doesn't exist.  I am reinventing myself.

My beginnings are modest.  I don't have the kick-ass weapons and armor that I borrowed when Ironbeard took me monster hunting before.  With a simple sword and shield and some leather armor I bought on the island, I heeded my first call of the wild.

The village chief asked me to hunt some of the local herbivores for steaks while I looked for his son, who was surveying the damage of the hunter base camp after an earthquake shook the island.  I came across a small herd of the beasts enjoying the waters of a nearby stream.  They seemed so gentle, so placid.  Slaying one would be easy, but I must be respectful to them and their kind.  They are a part of nature.  They mean no harm to anyone do not lust for the kill, like some of the beasts on this island.  There was a baby in the herd, so I didn't want to kill all the adults and leave it to die.  One adult would suffice.  I strode quickly up to one of them before it could notice me and let my sword bite deep into its flesh.  The tearing of muscle, the cries of anguish, the blood; these things are as natural to a hunter as the feel of air under wing is to a bird.  The remainder of the herd ran to safety while I said a silent blessing to the dead (a true hunter always pays his respects to the fallen).  I tore the meat from bone, taking as much as I could, and wrapped it safely in my pack.  The kill was done.  I ran to the base camp to meet the elder's son, who had some bad news for me.

The base camp had taken severe damage and would need to be repaired.  The village could provide the labor, but needed resources to build with.  Wood was relatively easy to come by, but they needed skins, bone, and tendons to fasten and seal their buildings.  The job of securing such things fell to me.  The chief's son told me that the fierce Jaggi had the best skins for the job, so I made my way to their typical hunting grounds.  The son warned me of the danger of hunting them, but I had dealt with them before.  I may have walked away with a few scratches, but they were no real trouble.  As I hunted them down, I noticed that the village had managed to clear out some of the rockfall that blocked the roads when the earthquake hit.  I took a look at my surroundings.  The night sky shone brilliantly; streaks of meteors cut through the black.  Under the cover of darkness, I made quick work of my grisly trade.  Blood, mine and my prey's, stained the grass.  I took from them what I needed and quietly left.

As the moon lit my path back to the village, I contemplated my new surroundings.  I was surrounded by the mountains that crowned this isle.  The late night breeze carried the sea to my nostrils.  For a while, I would call this place my second home, where Kaiser lies dormant, and a new creature, a fierce panther, stalked the island.

(If you want to know more about my impressions of Monster Hunter Tri, check out my "review" on Infinite Worlds.)

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