>”You understand where to go?”
>Sarat looked up from the ream of parchments she still held, signed and stamped by both the Guildmaster and archivist.
>Her blue/indigo feathers bounced as she bobbed her head to the older man facing her, almost as tall as she was.
“Yes, sir.”
>His enormous frame shook suddenly as he bellowed out a hearty laugh, before coming up to her side and giving her a firm pat on the back.
>It knocked the wind out of Sarat and made her worry that she might fall over.
>”None of that ‘sir’ stuff, y’hear? You’re one of us now!”
>In spite of the sting still running up and down from the spot the commander’s hand had connected with her, Sarat found herself smiling and holding the parchments a little tighter.
>She was one of them.
>”Alright, give all that to those lazy cats, see your hunter, then get something to eat. Canteen’s on your left as you head out here.”
>Yes, she’d passed it on her way to the office and the scents - of cooking meat, roasting vegetables, simmering stews… they were unlike anything Sarat had been used to before now.
>Perhaps she could even convince her hunter to join her for a repaste?
>His records said he tended to eat, sleep, and hunt alone but she was already familiar with a saying among hunters: “hunt together or die alone”.
>The thought of the hunter she’d been assigned to, even if her only knowledge so far was the collection of parchments stuffed in her satchel, was… not a pleasant one.
>It took the commander absently clearing his throat to bring Sarat back to the present and realise she’d been staring blankly at a wall.
>Bowing her head, she made to say that she’d ‘do so immediately, sir’, before recollecting herself.
“I hope he hasn’t eaten yet.”
>Sarat winced, realising how it must sound.
>The commander, however, simply gave an approving grunt.
>”They made a good choice.”
>With those cryptic words, she exited his office.

>In spite of the Guildhall still being under construction, she had to marvel at both the ingenuity and industriousness of the humans.
>They strode this way and that, many carrying large bones, logs, or with loads of cut stone, to be used to construct other parts of the halls.
>The air was filled with a mix of scents that were strange to her, wet concrete and fresh cut wood; the piquant scents of imported woods being burned, and the warbling meows of felynes talking with Guild staff and hunters.
>Her claws clicked against the stone floor but the sound was mostly lost under the bustle.
>Especially as a much, much larger white-scalled, purple-furred monster strode across the hall with a pair of hunters on its back.
>It paused to speak to one of the Guild staff and Sarat could make out only the honey-sweet and all-too-elegant sounding voice.
>The monster bowed its head at the answer, pink and white fins dancing in the air, before it resumed walking along.
>Sarat reflexively placed one of her claws upon her satchel and held it to her side as she kept walking; such large monsters were… not a sight so peacefully observed, usually.
>But the worry was quickly lost as she passed the canteen and heard the raucous laughter, cheering, singing, and meowing from within.
>And the smells!
>Whatever meats they were cooking, the scent mingled deliciously with that of the smoking wood.
>There were others that she didn’t recognise, sharper or sweeter or even bitter but somehow they all made her mouth water and had her flicking her tongue out over her beak-like mouth.
>Yes, surely her hunter would agree to accompany her if even the smells were any indication of what wonders could be found in the canteen!
>Most humans ignored her as she walked through the halls, with only a few pausing in their work to regard the tall monster, and more felynes retreating from her path, scampering away as if she was too arrogant to allow them time and space, or simply move out of their way.

>She sighed inwardly, hoping her meeting with the others further in wouldn’t be like this.
>And then she saw it - a hunter and her own palociraptor, as the Guild called them, chatting idly in the hallway.
>The palociraptor was about Sarat’s height and wore a strange, scaled armour that mostly hid her own scales and feathers.
>Whatever the two were talking about saw her laugh suddenly, the feathers on her head and neck bristling in delight before she reached down and scooped up her hunter, who gave a cry of surprise.
>The palociraptor hooted and made off in the opposite direction of Sarat who turned to watch them head for the canteen, her own heart fluttering like a Rathian’s wings in her chest at the thought of doing the same with her own hunter.
>Then she remembered the records; ‘quiet’, ‘withdrawn’, ‘prefers monsters’, ‘difficult’.
>Would he see her as a monster or like another human hunter to be avoided and not spoken to?
>Her claws clicked a little louder against the stone floor as Sarat redoubled her pace down the halls, passing under doorways being refitted and stairs.
>In the wide, open chambers, banners fluttered against the walls and hung from the high ceilings. They bore insignias she didn’t recognise but recalled being told were of the various felyne groups and organisations that worked with the Guild.
>Each almost glowed in the light that streamed in from the wide doorways that lead out.
>But right now her goal was a group of the felynes meowing and tossing bone dice about, passing zenny between themselves in whatever game they were playing.
>A few lay against carts or simply on mats, dozing away, while others in the massive chambers moved about with loads or were working on carts.
>Laughter erupted as Sarat approached, with a large black felyne tossing a pile of zenny angrily to another before crossing his arms in a sulk.
>Before she could stop herself, she was giggling at the sight, her own neck feathers rippling and making a little noise.

>The cats stopped immediately, all turning as one to her with wide eyes.
>”MEOWNSTER!”
>Every one of Sarat’s neck feathers stood out from her at the shrill cry and her claws dug into her satchel.
>Felynes darted about, many of them crying and adding their own calls of ‘meownster’, while the large black cat rolled his red eyes and caught one of his fellows, handling him roughly.
>”You scaredy-cats! That’s not a meownster, it’s one of the palociraptors!”
>His red eye turning to the felyne who’d stuffed his zenny into a leather bag, one who’d chosen not to run, he cocked his head.
>”Get the others back to work.”
>She was told to wear clothes, that humans found monsters like her who didn’t… distracting. So, like most of her kind, she went lighter; a simple brown covering over her chest and blue shorts to conceal what lay between her legs.
>They were light enough to stop the stifling heat of the Guildhall from becoming too much.
>But right now, Sarat only wished to rip the light top off her and let herself breathe properly; oh, why did her first assignment have to result in the felyne carters turning this place into chaos?
>The black felyne walked right up to her, adjusting the yellow neckerchief he wore, and looked up at her with keen eyes whose gaze wouldn’t have been out of place coming from the commander.
>”Something we can do for mew?”
>His voice was low and scratchy, not like the high-pitched ones she’d usually heard from the felynes and palicoes.
>But Sarat was here on a quest and while she’d already failed the subquest of not causing a ruckus, the least she could do was see it through to the end.
>So, opening her satchel, she pulled out the parchments she’d been instructed to give to the felyne.
“The uh, commander, he… wanted me to…”
>The felyne leaped up, grabbing the parchments before she could bring them down to him.
>He’d barely even flipped through them, clicking his tongue, before he looked back up at her with narrowed, feline eyes.

>”Another one, huh?”
>Sarat ran a claw along the strap of her satchel, not quite sure how to reply to his question.
>”The Guild gets some mew kittens on the block and suddenly they don’t need us any more!”
>The parchments crinkle as he squeezes them in his paws and lets out a quiet growl.
>Sarat took a step back and found herself dearly hoping that she wasn’t the source of some new bout of trouble.
“I-I’m sure they still need you to-”
>”It’s not the same!” the felyne snarled. “We always took care of the hunters and now we’re stuck on delivery duty!”
>Oh.
>So that’s what it was about.
>Sarat had only heard a little, from other palociraptors, about how many of the felyne groups were upset at being replaced.
>Palicoes were still needed as ever but apparently being able to bring hunters to and from their quests was seen as a mark of prestige.
>One that would now belong to monsters like Sarat.
>In spite of the felyne still glaring up at her, she felt a little swell of pride in her chest at the image of carrying her hunter along the dusty, sandy plains and valiantly assisting him.
>Maybe it even showed, as the felyne scowled at her and turned away with a dismissive wave of his paw.
>”Fine! Whatever! I’ll talk to the commander about this…”
>With those words, he was off to corral the other felynes he oversaw.
>And Sarat… had to go speak with her hunter.

>The walk back from the veritable warehouse of the delivery felynes was a slower affair than to it, for Sarat.
>It was a simple delivery job - take the documents affirming that she would now be bringing her hunter to and from quests and give them to the felyne in charge. Yet somehow she’d managed to make a mess of it.
>A small groan broke free of her and the noise startled a passing hunter in the hall although Sarat barely paid him any mind as her thoughts turned her own hunter over and over.
>Her hunter.
>Now that made her stop dead in her tracks only to have a felyne bump into her legs with a startled meow.
>She turned about, peering down at the diminutive cream-coloured creature who shuddered and almost looked like he was about to start crying.
>Around him were a number of rolled-up parchments with more sticking out of a bag on his back. He was wearing one of those off-blue Guild robes that marked him as a researcher. At least, Sarat thought so.
>There was so much she was trying to remember and keep in mind…
>Scrabbling to pick up a pair of glasses, the felyne placed them on his nose and gave her a bow.
>”F-Furgive me, mighty meownster, I s-shouldn’t have been walking so close that I’d b-bump into you when you pawsed!”
>Sarat cocked her head to one side and the blue feathers on her head rose slightly. Perhaps this was an opportunity that fate had decided to afford her in a chance to make amends.
>Her long, lithe body bent gracefully as she lowered herself on her legs until she was, she hoped, not quite towering over the poor felyne.
>Recalling all too late that when her kind smiled, it sometimes revealed the small, sharp teeth inside their mouths and the felyne gave a yelp before covering his eyes.
“It’s okay,” Sarat said.
>She kept her voice soft and gentle and instead of reaching out to give him a comforting pat, she instead took up one of the rolled parchments and held it towards him.
“I stopped pretty suddenly, huh?”

>Further back in the hall she saw a hunter watching them silently. He was dressed in thick furs and looked almost as tall as the commander, though his face lacked the long lines of age.
>Around his legs peered a felyne dressed in leather armour and much of it covered in fur.
>It was the felyne before her that brought Sarat’s attention back to what was going on.
>He was looking up at her with wide, blue eyes that almost matched his robe and so Sarat gave the parchment in her claw a little heft for him to see what she was doing.
>Shaking paws rose to take it but his eyes never once left hers.
>Even when she picked up another parchment. And another.
>The felyne craned his head first over and then around the stack of parchments that began to fill his paws but something else happened - he stopped shaking.
>Well, shaking quite so much as he had been. The parchments he was holding didn’t look like they were going to leap out of his grasp, at least.
“There,” Sarat said as she placed the last one into the pile. “Would you like some help with these?”
>In a slow, deliberate motion the felyne shook his head around the stack but still managed to keep his eyes locked on hers. It was a little funny in how his glasses made his irises look much smaller but Sarat knew to keep from showing off her teeth again.
>”T-Thank you, miss meownster, but I’m sure you’re busy.”
>His inflection tilted up slightly at the end, almost as if he was hopefully asking if she was and while she dearly wished to share this load, to show these little creatures that she wasn’t a threat, there was something else she had to attend to right now.
>Perhaps, though, there was some small way to reach out a friendly claw.
“I have to go meet my hunter, yes.”
>And there went that Rathian in her chest again, beating her wings like she was taking off. Her claw went to the strap of her satchel again, fingering it idly.
“Do you… know where the hunters’ quarters are?”

>The felyne bobbed his head eagerly and his glasses slipped down on his nose. He shifted the parchments in his grasp before realising his own limitation and instead pointed a single claw down the hall.
>”Down here, and the second stairway on the left!”
>Back down this hall? She’d been building a mental map over the last few days she’d been here but this structure was so unlike the natural, winding caves of the mountains or the simple constructions of her own kind.
>She’d mostly gone in a straight line to get to the felynes and had followed the same route in the hope of reorienting herself or at least she could find the commander if she needed to return to the commander with her crest fallen to ask for directions. But if she kept going back this way…
>It’d take her in the direction of the canteen! Of course, the way to the hunters’ quarters was right across from it! There’d been a steady stream of them coming down those steps to head straight in to eat, earlier.
>Catching herself just as she was about to smile in warm satisfaction, Sarat kept her beak shut and her lips closed and gave the felyne scholar a nod.
“Thank you!”
>Ah, but now the question remained as to whether she should rise first or wait for him to move around her; there was so many tiny minutiae when it came to dealing with the humans and even felynes that worked with them that it was a struggle to keep the etiquette and the Guildhall layout and her training and item recipes and…
>She barely noticed when the felyne before her first stepped gingerly to one side, then scurried off down the corridor with his pile of parchments precariously balanced in his paws.
>The hunter and his felyne who had been watching, were nowhere to be seen when Sarat came to.
>She was left alone there briefly, until hunters and felynes began to file past with the occasional palociraptor accompanying them who would nod at her politely with a little flick of their crests.

>Feeling the scales at her cheeks darken, Sarat stood back up upon realising she was still bent down; it had been drilled into her that certain motions and behaviours were not appropriate around the humans and that included bending and stretching in such ways that might expose her chest. And while she still had trouble understanding the taboos, the last thing she wished to do was make a name for herself as a troublemaker before she even had a chance to go on her first hunt!
>Oh, a hunt!
>A little thrum of giddiness rushed through her as she turned back to walk along the hall and her blue-indigo feathered tail swished with each step.
>She’d been in the training yards with the others and tested out what the humans called a ‘bowgun’ and found it most agreeable. The humans struggled to control it after each shot but her size and strength led an ease, and what some of them called grace, to her handling. Swords seemed so pointless when she had claws of her own but the bowgun would allow her to keep a distance to support her hunter and avoid injury, so she might rush in for a rescue if needed.
>Maybe-
>Sarat frowned.
>She was getting ahead of herself again. So much so that she was once again walking along the halls without paying attention to the felynes who scrabbled about to avoid her and other palociraptors. So very much so that she’d wound up following her nose, instinctually, towards that most delicious and delightful array of scents and smells that wafted so invitingly from the canteen.
>Well… maybe that was the answer? Surely her hunter wouldn’t think ill of her after a hearty, tasty meal like that, right?
>She’d eaten some of the foods the humans had in the earlier days when she was going through the tests for Guild entry but they were conducted outside and in other places. Sarat hadn’t thought to ask if she could enter the Guildhall but hadn’t thought of any reason before now.

>More hunters filed down the stairs as she rounded onto them, giving a last forlorn look to the chatting, laughing crowd that was making their way into the canteen and wishing she could join them.
>She could even see the palociraptor from earlier! Her beautiful blue-indigo scales and yellow-white feathers shone in the light of the torches and braziers and while Sarat couldn’t see more from this vantage, she just knew the hunter was sitting at her side, enjoying that company.
>Click-click-click.
>Ascending the stairs, the noises and voices from lower down in the Guildhall died away until there was nothing save the sound of the wind passing through these halls. That and the few hunters she passed on her way gave way to empty corridors and stairs.
>The silence permitted her the opportunity to reflect once more upon her situation and she couldn’t help but pause after coming to the base of another flight of stairs.
>From her satchel, she took out the collection of parchments that had the information about her hunter; he was quite high in the massive building, residing in one of the higher quarters. Away from most others.
>Sarat’s feathers rippled at her neck as she let out a sigh and she found herself turning to sit down on the stairway.
>Anonymous, male, his age, weight, height, physical description. Information about his hunting style, notable quests, she’d read all of it but much still had little meaning and wouldn’t until she got to know him and the Guild better.
>Her claws tapped against the parchment as she went over it again and she found herself frowning. He’d dismissed his… palico, yes that was the name for the felynes that worked with hunters.
>No complaints about the felyne, quite the opposite, but the records stated again that he preferred to work alone. There was even a note from a name she didn’t recognise suggesting he might not be cut out for the Guild if he was such a loner.

>She had no other against which to gauge the records of failed quests but the Guild wouldn’t have kept him on if he was incompetent, would they?
>No, she wasn’t given a list of hunters to choose from, rather she like all others of her kind were tested and measured and interviewed to determine who’d be the best fit for them and as she thought of that her mind drifted back to the palociraptor she’d seen scooping up her hunter and happily setting off.
>”Hunt together or die alone.”
>It rang grimly in her mind once more and she found her jaw hardening; her kind had been afforded a golden opportunity by the humans to work and live alongside them.
>She had proven her resourcefulness, her intelligence, and her courage to be selected to work within the Hunter’s Guild.
>If this ‘Anonymous’ was a part of it, he must have done the same.
>Among her own kind, no one was allowed live entirely apart and alone because to do so was to invite death upon oneself. There was always someone to look out for them.
>Well, she would not fail her hunter.
>With a new sense of resolution, Sarat rose and made her way up the flight of stairs and then another, and another flight. With her long strides it was easy work and then she stood outside a door. A particular door with a wooden panel slotted into a holder near its top that held the name of her hunter.
>And below it, hers.
>Curious.
>There were others along this hall, lit mostly by tall, thin windows through which light and air wafted in. It was cool and clear and wonderful for clearing her earlier misgivings from her head.
>But this one was her door and beyond it lay her prize.
>And while she was sure there was something she was meant to do, some gesture or point of etiquette that came from entering rooms with these doors closed, it escaped her right now.
>Besides, she had a hunter to help!
>Standing tall and straight, Sarat took the handle of the door and pushed at it with only a small creak coming from its hinges.

>The first thing that hit her was the smell: it was slightly musky, male, with some remnants of the scents that came from the canteen accompanying it. There was another, sort of bitter scent, and as she looked over at a desk and saw the ink pots and quill, she suspected that was the source. The commander’s office had a similar air about it and the halls near the archives were almost overpowering in the scents of mustiness and ink.
>The quarters, like much of the rest of the Guildhall, was made of stone blocks with wood beams to help reinforce it. It still felt odd to be inside such a structure but she couldn’t help but take a step forward to get a better look around it.
>Two beds, one decidedly larger than the other but both looking impossibly comfortable, at least compared to what she’d been used to back in her home. Two desks. Two large trunks and chests of drawers, everything in here was doubled.
>Except the human staring at her.
>The human with a bare chest and shorts not unlike her own that clung to his legs and around his waist. Although where hers had no real adornment, these had decorative patterning at the sides that was, Sarat had to admit to herself, rather eye-catching.
>Without scales to sit over skin, the shape and contours of his body were clearly visible and she could see what his musculature was like and how his bare skin looked in the light that streamed in through the windows.

>That was to say, while he was not the veritable mountain of muscle like the commander, the life that hunters lived was written clear across his body and her keen eyes took in every detail from the smooth lines of his stomach to the gentle rise and fall of the muscles that ran along his arms and legs.
>No feathers or fur at all, apart from some patches here and there but otherwise it was bare skin and what a curious sight it was. Not an unpleasant one, however.
>Oh, she’d seen humans in various states of undress (though none were naked, at least yet) but she and they were too busy at those times for her to get a true appraisal of their forms. Truly, the Guild did only take the best if this specimen before her-
>The sound of a throat being cleared roughly tugged her from her reverie.
“Eep!”
>Oh no. No. Her kind did not squeak! That was not a squeak, it was a perfectly normal exclamation of surprise that was just a little higher-pitched than usual!
>After all, she only wanted to make the best impression upon… her… hunter…
>Her crest began to shuffle, her skin flushed under her cheek scales, and her eyes widened dramatically.
>Her hunter!

Yes, yes, am retared. I forgot about Pastebin going to shit years ago (this is what I get for using Ponepaste for so long as to forget why it exists) so I’ve put this on Rentry for your viewing pleasure:
This is a bit slow, I know, and I hope that’s alright. Don’t worry it’ll get to the fun stuff I know you want to see.

>She could even see the other palociraptor from earlier! Her blue scales glimmered in the light of the torches and her beautiful yellow and white feathers shimmered and shivered as she held her hunter on her shoulder. The human had a large wooden mug in her hand which she swayed about as she sang, something Sarat could hear even out here.
>And her palociraptor had a mug of her own! One from which an amber liquid sloshed from. And her cheek scales with a peculiar pink-ish, with her lips curled back in a wide smile.

>And there, still, was the palociraptor from earlier. Except different; instead of the hunter by her side or carried in her arms, she was sitting on her shoulder! There was a large wooden mug in her hand that she waved from side to side as she sang. Her palociraptor had her own, commensurately larger, mug and an amber liquid sloshed over its edge as she swayed her body in time to her hunter’s singing.
>There was a little redness on her blue cheek scales and her free arm was wrapped tightly around her hunter’s legs to hold her in place.
>And she was grinning like

>For a moment that felt like it stretched on and on, Sarat just stood there looking at the hunter who looked at her looking at him looking at her…
>”Hello… Sarat.”
>His voice almost trailed upwards at the end, as if it was a question he was trying not to inflect.
>Sarat’s feathery tail swished behind herself and her eyes lit up upon hearing her name; so her hunter already knew who she was! Hah! So much for the other humans dismissing him!
>Every worry she’d been nursing through her ascent of the hunters’ quarters melted away as she fought off the urge to rush over and grab the human. He didn’t have feathers of his own and that almost made her want to rub hers against his neck even more.
>She would be his partner now, and had to work to help take care of him and a partner without feathers was either sickly or… well, Anonymous wasn’t that but it still stirred up protective feelings in her.
>So instead, she stood where she was and swayed her tail back and forth gaily and bobbed her head in a nod.
“And you’re Anonymous!”
>’My hunter…’
>Her hunter who turned from her and began to stalk towards another part of the quarters.
>”You should’ve knocked before coming in.”
>His tone wasn’t cold, not exactly, but Sarat still felt her tail slow and then stop, finally hanging sort of limply behind herself. That wasn’t the greeting she was expecting at all.
>But he was right, wasn’t he?
>The humans had given her parchments full of information about etiquette and norms and all that and she’d gone over and over and over it, sure that she’d make a good impression upon the Guild.
>Now here she was, after bothering the felynes, causing one of their scholars to be disrupted in his work, and now committing a faux pas with her own hunter!

>Her neck feathers flicked out nervously and even the tip of her tail twitched as she watched the hunter begin to tug on clothing similar to what she’d seen many of the other humans around the Guildhall wearing.
>They were an odd mix of pale green and cream, not dissimilar from the colouration of her own scales. Were the humans coordinating what colours to wear with each of the palociraptors?
>There were covers for his legs and another one that went over his upper body and down his arms. Her neck feathers fell back against her neck at that sight - why did the humans have to cover themselves up when their bodies weren’t at all unattractive? It wasn’t like they were slagtoths.
>Ugh, just the thought of those half-melted looking things made her feel like her feathers were getting all ruffled!
>Would they stick her with one of those things after this? She’d seen the humans keep some in pens and the thought of being consigned to some duty with those monsters…
>But it was no good just standing here feeling sorry for herself! She stepped forward through the quarters until she was standing beside the desk while still keeping what she believed should be a respectful distance from her partner.
“Forgive me, Anonymous, I… I’m still getting used to some of your customs.”
>It was so much easier when one could walk freely between huts and expect a welcome each time.
>Across his broad upper body, the hunter drew a jacket and then began to fasten it along the front. He’d been keeping his eyes off Sarat and the pointed way he was ignoring her made her struggle to keep from fidgeting with her claws, even if her tail began to twitch more insistently.
“I-If there’s some way I can-”
>The human stood suddenly.
>“No, it’s alright.” But his brusque tone did little to leave Sarat believing his words. “You’re new, it can’t be helped.” And that sounded like exasperation.

>The human strode up to her and she had to keep from stepping back as his boots thumped against the stone floor. His eyes were set firmly on Sarat’s and while she wished nothing more than to look aside, perhaps this was some kind of test?
>So she stood straight, met his eyes evenly, and said nothing.
>Those blue eyes were quite piercing, however. Blue was unheard of among her own kind and the longer she looked into them the more her tail calmed as she felt almost like she was looking into the pools that dotted the hills around her home village.
>”Hmm,” the human hummed and gave a little nod before turning back to his desk.
>Sarat followed his eyes and saw an array of parchments with human script on them in what looked like a pair of different styles, sort of like some of the parchments she’d received.
>And written on one, stamped in the official script of the Guild she’d been quickly picking up on, was her name.
>”We’re going to be working together.”
>And again, his intonation almost suggested he was asking her but this time it sounded less unsure.
>”They say we don’t need the cats to bring us into the field any more because you’ll be taking care of that.”
>Sarat reflexively rolled her shoulders; the humans had given her an admittedly comfortable harness as part of her training, to which a human could mount and hold onto. It felt odd but slightly familiar, as if she was carrying a hatchling.
“A-And fight with you.”
>As awkward as this first meeting was going, she felt a little spark of excitement once more at the thought of showing her hunter what she could do.
>But as her eyes wandered from the parchments to a tray she hadn’t paid attention to initially, she realised the remaining canteen scents were stronger here and her stomach quietly rumbled.
>Anonymous let out a small sound she’d heard only a few times from the humans when she’d had difficulty with one of the tasks they’d shown her, before going over it again with her.

>”You haven’t eaten yet?”
>It was the first time he’d asked a question openly and funnily enough, it was one Sarat found herself not particularly wanting to answer.
>The thought of sharing a meal with her hunter was one that’d buoyed her spirits but if he’d already eaten, well, as hearty as the appetites of hunters were from what she’d heard, they couldn’t be so gargantuan that Anonymous would put away more food.
>Could they?
>Sarat gave her head a shake all the same, wondering if perhaps he was going to send her off to eat alone.
>After all, the records said he was a loner and from the way he was speaking to her so far, she was beginning to get the impression that she was more an imposition than a welcome addition. The memory of the other hunter and her palociraptor giddily running off came unbidden.
>”C’mon then.”
>She’d expected the human to lead the conversations and so his request for her to follow was one that saw her fall into line behind him as he exited the quarters. Boots thumped and claws clicked as the two made their way to the stairs and then down them.
>As much as Sarat dearly wished to strike up some kind of conversation, she wasn’t sure exactly what to talk about. His records hadn’t made for the most pleasant reading and she was still getting to know the ins and outs of the Guild, never mind wider human society. She would rely on him to teach her as much as he relied on her in hunting.
>Hmm…
“D-Do you… have a quest scheduled for today, Anonymous?”
>It was pointless to ask given she was told they’d have the day together to get acquainted and then after could assume quests as they pleased, train, spend more time in the Guildhall, whatever would be best for them.
>But there had to be some way to pry a few words from her partner.
>”No.”
>Sarat waited for him to elaborate but when no further comment was forthcoming, even her shoulders slumped.

>What followed was the mixed sounds of boots, claws, and the same lonely whistling of wind through the stairways.
>Craning her neck forward, Sarat tried to get a better view of the human’s face. She was still getting used to the lack of feathers and tails of the humans but their faces could be remarkably expressive if one paid careful attention.
>But as they did so, the sounds from the canteen began to become perceptible and Sarat’s neck feathers flicked out. There could be no way that even this grump could resist the cheer of such a place! Even if he’d already eaten, the array of scents, the laughter, the talk, it’d have to pluck up his spirits!
>The closer the two of them got, however, the slower Anonymous proceeded. Sarat slowed her pace to match his but with her head still craned forward, she could see the hardening of his facial features.
>His expression almost looked like a wyvern that was committing itself to a difficult fight and was drawing up strength and courage. Or maybe a Rathalos that was pouring energy into its flame-organ.
>Alighting upon the floor of the hallway, the two found themselves opposite the wide entrance to the canteen in which an array of hunters and palociraptors milled about and sat on long benches together. A cacophony of sounds and smells wafted free and Sarat found her neck feathers rising again.
>Her hunter, meanwhile, was standing steadily beside her. She’d seen that position before, when her brother Nem was working up the courage to go talk to the female he’d been spending much time around. Sarat’s tail flicked in curiosity as she watched the hunter simply stare towards the doorway.
>A pair of other hunters, in the meantime, came striding up the corridor and turned into the doorway, chatting all the while. There was the tiniest of twitches in his leg that Sarat caught after pulling her head back.

>Just as suddenly as he’d stopped, her hunter was walking again although now it was markedly slower than their descent from the quarters. It was almost like he was trudging through thick mud but she didn’t wish to crane her head around again to see if his expression had changed, this close to others; it could look impolite.
>Besides, with every click of her claws closer to the door, those tantalising smells became more and more intense and complex. So many were unfamiliar to her but each little sniff at the air made her tail swish in anticipation.
>Warmth washed over her scales as she stepped through the doorway and the noise that had come from within here, surrounded her. Voices, laughter, clanking of metal, and music! Song!
>Her head immediately turned to the left and she saw that large, long white wyvern from earlier with the two hunters standing against high windows at one end of the canteen, raised above the benches and tables on a podium.
>One of the hunters had a long, stringed instrument that he plucked at with a hand, shifting the other up and down along it. His eyes were closed and, if the way he moved his head was any indication, he was focused on the song he was playing.
>The other hunter was tapping lightly at a drum, one small enough to fit under his arm. But his voice was lifted in song and it filtered out across the crowd, loud enough for Sarat to hear even over the voices and noises.
>When she was being tested, outside the Guildhall proper, the humans had occasionally sung and played instruments but they were quieter affairs and she got the impression, from how they gathered around together, that it wasn’t a performance for all to witness.
>This, however, was a true spectacle, a treat for those assembled in the canteen much like her own people would gather together to sing and dance and celebrate. And the more she saw of how the humans were, the more she began to appreciate and take comfort in the similarities between them.

>”Sarat!”
>It was when her tail came to a sudden stop and stood stiffly that she realised she’d been gently swaying it in time to the hunter with the drum.
>Anonymous was standing further away and with a cock of his head, he beckoned her to follow him.
>Her feathers lowered back against her head and neck; of course, for Anonymous, this was all probably ordinary and uninteresting. As she turned to walk to him, she caught some of the others in the canteen singing with the hunter on the podium and wondered at that - she’d have to learn their songs so she could join them!
>And there were many, many hunters here. And palociraptors, too. Row after row of benches and tables had been set out and the whole hall was illuminated both by the high windows at the performers’ backs and with overhead torches.
>It was a stark contrast even to the halls of the building and Sarat found herself suffused by a mixture of homesickness and warmth to be surrounded by so many. For such a social, communal species as hers, being alone wasn’t just dangerous, it felt unnatural and now that she found herself in a press of bodies as Anonymous led her up through the canteen, her earlier worries started to fall away like old feathers.
>Hunters sat on benches next to one another, some leaning close, others jostling playfully. Interspersed among them were palociraptors in every hue and colour she’d seen from her home.
>A red-scaled male laughed at something his hunter said and lifted a large, wooden mug to his beak to drink something from it. When he withdrew the mug, his eyes shut and he continued laughing. There was redness under his pale cheek scales that Sarat could see even from here.
>Everything she’d seen in the guild so far had filled her with hope and excitement about what lay ahead for this new partnership.
>Not least of which was the new and fascinating foods the humans brought with them!

>It became impossible to ignore, as she and Anonymous joined a line of hunters, that there was an enormous area at the rear of the canteen dedicated to cooking.
>There were pots and huge cauldrons around which gathered felynes to stir; great bushels of vegetables and other plants hung from chains and ropes and occasionally one of the cats would grab a ladder and pull from them; fires dotted against walls over which stood metal or stone shelves with sizzling cuts of meat that filled the air with savoury and even sweet scents.
>Felynes busied themselves chopping red, orange, yellow, green, even purple vegetables and others were cutting meats and fish of kinds Sarat had never seen before.
>Not to mention the foods she had no name for! Strange brown lumps that steamed as they were pulled from shelves similar to the ones the cuts of meat sat on.
>Her satchel still sat at her side, too distracted as she’d been to leave it in the shared quarters, and as she touched it, she wondered if perhaps the felynes would allow her to take something with her when she left. Of course, she could come back for more but just watching the way one of the felynes was pouring an oily substance over one of the pieces of cooking meat and the smell that wafted over from it, she knew she wouldn’t be able to wait.
>The line inched forward and Sarat watched as each hunter and the occasional palociraptor in turn would say something to one of the felynes who would mewl out to his compatriots. Then, as they moved along the back of the hall, they’d be met with another felyne who presented them with a massive wooden tray with some sort of metal bell-like device sitting on it.
>She’d seen those before a few times from hunters who’d returned to the yards after being inside the Guildhall, pulling the metal cover up to reveal an assortment of foodstuffs. It was her first time seeing what wonders lay inside this place and helped strengthen her resolve when it came to passing the tests.

>”Just some beer.”
>It was the first time she’d heard Anonymous speak since he yelled her name just inside the hall and the sound was clear even over the din surrounding them.
>She’d been so lost in her thoughts that Sarat hadn’t noticed they were now standing right in front of the cooking stations.
>The black and white felyne that took her hunter’s order turned to her expectantly.
>Except, of course, Sarat had no idea what to say. She’d missed the menus posted on the walls on the way and her hunter had declined to inform her of the process for this.
>”I said, what’ll it be?”
>The felyne, with a ladle in one paw, was bouncing it impatiently as he turned his chestnut eyes up at her.
>Sarat, however, could only look over the massive array of foods and struggle to think of what she should or even could say.
>”She’s new. Give her today’s special.”
>Relief flooded her as her hunter dutifully took the reins. The felyne turned and bellowed back at his compatriots, with surprising volume and vigour, for a ‘special’ and Sarat’s turned to the human who was already shuffling along with the line that’d resumed moving.
>A special meal? For her?
>She flicked her tail contemplatively and had to shoot an apologetic look at the hunter whose legs she’d struck, not that he seemed bothered. The last thing she wanted was to make further poor impressions in the canteen, however.
>Still, Sarat found her thoughts turning back to Anonymous; ‘difficult’ came up in his records and she was certainly having difficulty understanding him.
>The human who had been training and testing her, Chief Olek, was an older human like the commander and about as gruff. And while he pushed her as hard as her old hunting mentor, Frazz, there was that same grudging respect as she took to the lessons. When she was able to slide toward the target column, snapping her bowgun together and unloading a trio of shots into it, he just smiled and nodded and said she was ready.

>And he was the first human to congratulate her upon passing the tests, telling her he looked forward to seeing her progress and how well she’d get along with the hunter she’d wind up being assigned to.
>But understanding him was straightforward - he began tough and severe but softened as they got to know each other.
>Anonymous didn’t give her enough to go on.
>As she contemplated the human, she watched as the felynes busied themselves preparing meals. She saw some cuts of cooked meat, a bowl of some kind of stew, skewered fish and… the dizzying speed at which the felynes worked left her struggling to keep up.
>By the time she got to the end of the line with Anonymous, there was a covered tray waiting for her with one of those large mugs she’d seen the male palociraptor with earlier, and a much smaller one for Anonymous. It held an amber liquid but with the scents from the cooking filling her nostrils, she couldn’t smell it.
>But as they took their respective meals, Sarat looked out over the packed hall with a new and appraising eye - where were they going to seat themselves?
>With her height it was easier to scan about and even with other palociraptors obscuring some of the view, she picked out a gap. Just one. And with all the hunters and their partners milling about, it was only a matter of time before one of them snapped it up!
“C’mon, Anon!”
>She didn’t pause to consider how she’d shortened his name, she just knew that every second would count as she took his smaller hand in her claws and pulled him along.
>”Wait-”
>With mumbled apologies to the humans, palicoes, and palociraptors she had to push her way through, Sarat brought her partner back through the hall until she came to a bench that miraculously had a gap at its edge.
>The very bench with a blue-scaled palociraptor sat at!
>She chirped upon seeing Sarat and leaned towards the opposite side, patting the bench as she eyed the tray in the other’s claw.

>Sarat didn’t need to be told twice and gingerly set the tray down before sliding herself onto the bench, still holding Anonymous’ hand. It was only when she turned back to see the human that she realised and not only that, but his clothes had a few wet patches on them.
>Her feathers rose and her tail curled up as she saw amber dripping from his jacket.
>Oh no…
>But Anonymous said nothing. He simply sat down by her side and placed his mug which, thankfully to Sarat’s eyes, looked like it still held most of whatever drink the hunter had been given.
>Deciding it best not to bother the soggy human just yet, Sarat turned to the blue palociraptor at her side and trilled, letting her feathers quiver.
“Thanks for the seat!”
>The blue girl giggled and Sarat picked up a warm, curious scent on her breath.
>”No problem! Always nice to meet another here!”
>There were a collection of empty bowls and plates before her, as well as two more of the large wooden mugs which also sat empty.
>She tilted her mug towards Sarat and bobbed her head, her own feathers rippling along her neck.
>”I’m Killi.”
>Sarat leaned towards her.
“Sarat.”
>The two extended their heads until their necks rubbed together in the traditional greeting.
>Although, Sarat thought to herself, Killi’s movements felt a little wobbly for some reason.
>”Oh!” the other palociraptor exclaimed after they parted. “This is my hunter, Mia!”
>She leaned back on the bench, so far her back almost touched the hunter behind her, to reveal the human in the armour Sarat had seen earlier. Same light fur on her head pulled back and into a long braid.
>”Nice to meet ya!” she said and lifted her small mug.
>Sarat blinked and turned to her tray, picking up her own mug and tilted it towards Mia in a similar gesture.
“Yes, you too!”
>Over the voices and the music and singing, she was finding herself speaking more loudly than even out in the halls
“And this is my hunter.”

>She leaned back similarly to Killi, exposing the human on her left who barely turned to acknowledge the other hunter and her palociraptor, only giving his mug a little tilt in his hand.
“Anonymous!”
>Something flashed behind Mia’s eyes, Sarat thought, although given she was still getting used to the humans she didn’t want to start assuming it was concern or anything as dramatic as that.
>And since her own hunter had proven, so far, to be of few words, she didn’t want to force him into a conversation he might not want.
>Instead, she leaned back towards the table with Killi doing the same.
>”How do you like the Guild so far?” Mia asked, leaning forward around her palociraptor, before she tilted her mug down towards her own assortment and bowls and plates. “Can’t complain about the food, if nothing else.”
>Oh! The food!
>The table was large enough that Sarat could lift the metal cover and place it in front of her tray without interfering with the hunter opposite her.
>And what she saw before her… the smells that rose to her! There was a cream-coloured liquid in a bowl with coloured vegetables floating in it that smelled savoury-sweet. Large pieces of that brown foodstuff, which she could see now was white inside that outer part, that had an odd but incredibly inviting earthy scent.
>Cooked meats both familiar, some obviously taken from Aptonoth and Anteka from the mountains, and others that looked more exotic. But all looked and smelled utterly divine.
>There were what looked like fruits and some kind of large fish, she wasn’t that familiar with the coastal tribes and what they ate, perhaps one of their number would recognise these.
>And this was a ‘special’ meal?
>She glanced to Anonymous who was sipping from his mug but otherwise looked uninterested in saying anything.
>Hmm… perhaps her hunter was more a person of actions than words and this was his way of showing her the same affection that had radiated from Killi and Mia earlier.

>Well, if that was the case, she could maybe show him the same affection later.
>Right now, Sarat turned back to Mia who was looking at her dishes with a degree of hunger.
>”Start with the creamed vegetable soup,” the hunter said with a tilt of her mug at the bowl of rich, creamy liquid. “I don’t think you would’ve had something like that before.”
>Heedless of the spoon on her tray, Sarat simply took the hot bowl in the tips of her claws and brought it to her mouth, tilting it back to drink the broth.
>The smell couldn’t do it justice! It was indeed sweet and savoury but its texture was thick while still being silky smooth and ran down her throat to leave the palociraptor cooing in delight and her feathery tail sweeping against the floor as she quickly went back for another draught.
>It ran down her throat and left her feeling warmed from the inside out in a way that almost made her want to laugh. She could only imagine what this would be like to share with her tribe during the colder season as they gathered together.
>And the vegetables in it! They too were cooked but still retained a satisfying crunch as she took one in her beak and shifted it into her mouth. Mixed with the broth, the pale root that was sometimes mashed to feed to hatchlings took on an entirely new and wonderful flavour.
>And this was just one of the delights that sat before her!
>The meal went on like that, with Sarat switching between the meats, fruits and other items. Each time she thought the humans couldn’t possibly top what came before, she was left almost recoiling.
>Through it all, both Killi and Mia watched her with excited and satisfied smiles respectively.
>The palociraptor revealed that she’d been with Mia for a few days and already had been on a quest together with her. And while Sarat revelled in the warmth of their voices, what truly made her feathers fluff up was seeing the way the two were so physically close; to think that her kind and humans could be like that!

>The quest wasn’t anything too special, mostly involving scouting out some of the western reaches for the Guild, near the mountains, but they’d run into a territorial Rathian which gave them a bit of excitement near the end. Killi expressed disappointment she didn’t get to show off any of the skills she’d learned and Mia just gave her a pat on the back and said there’d be plenty of time for it.
>And as they conversed, Sarat barely noticed as new mugs of the amber liquid were brought to the table.
>It was the strangest thing - thin like water but… bubbly! Her first sip made her giggle and then trill, her feathers all the way down along her tail bristling in delight. And the more she drank, the more engaged in the tales Mia shared, she became.
>So much so that she barely noticed Anonymous’ silence and didn’t notice when the space next to her on the bench was empty.
>Instead, as that long, white wyvern began to sing along with the hunters in a voice that called out clear above the noise of the canteen, Killi slipped an arm around Sarat’s shoulders and Sarat extended their own.
>Mia somehow wound up sitting between them, on their shoulders! And she swayed from side to side with her mug in her hand, singing along with the wyvern as many in the canteen did.
>If it was some kind of celebration, Sarat didn’t know and between the drink, the food, and the company, she found that she didn’t care. This was what she had expected her first time sharing a meal in the Guild’s canteen to be like. Except…
>When Mia had clambered back down off them, Sarat’s head recoiled when she realised that the windows behind the musicians and their unusual singer no longer cast light into the hall and only the torches overhead allowed them to see anything.
>Her head recoiled and the world spun around with her. It was only Killi’s arm still around her that stopped her from just keeling back into the hunter that was behind her on another bench.

>”Careful!” Killi’s voice sounded a little funny to Sarat. “Gonna… Gonna hit another hunter and then you’re gonna have to… take him back with you to apologise! Hah!”
>She leaned over and lowered her voice conspiratorially.
>”I bet Anon wouldn’t be happy…” She trailed off that word, letting her warm breath waft over Sarat’s face.
“Nah, he-he doesn’t… doesn’t care…”
>Sarat wobbled on the bench and had to look down at the collection of empty mugs before her.
“Won’t even… talk t’me…”
>She mumbled discontentedly to herself and rubbed her claws together on the table.
>”Awww!” Killi rubbed up against Sarat and made sure their neck feathers pressed together. “I bet… I bet he’s just lonely!” She nodded dramatically, almost looking like once she’d started she wasn’t able to stop her head moving. “Y’know… humans sleep alone!”
“WHAT?!” Sarat squawked.
>Sleeping alone? What if something came into the village? What if he got cold? That wasn’t right!
“Buh… Buh he’s my hun’er…”
>Her head wobbled around to look at the doorway to the canteen and the stairs up to the quarters beyond it. Those lonely stairs to the lonely quarters where her lonely hunter had to be.
>“Hey… Hey!”
>That was Mia, leaning over the table and around Killi with one of her arms over the palociraptor’s back.
>”You… hic you should go… cuddle ‘im!”
>Sarat whipped her head back around and- Oh no, that was a bad idea because the world suddenly began to behave like a waterfall with all the water churning around and around and around at the bottom.
“Uhhhh…” she grumbled, half in confusion, half in bleary dizziness.
>”Yeah!” Killi said with a thump of one of her claws on the table. “Cuddle! Like in- Like in the villages!” She puts her other arm around Mia, pulling the much smaller human even closer and Sarat has to force her head to stop moving around to focus on them. “Now we do it… all the time!”
>”Mmmmmhm!”
>Mia nuzzled up against Killi’s uncovered side, giggling.

>”You’re my cuddly hic scaly hic Arzuros!”
“Ar-Arzburos?”
>It sounded nice… Whatever it was.
>And getting all cuddly with her hunter? Like she did back in the village with her tribe? Well, that just made sense. The humans wouldn’t expect her to sleep alone, that was silly.
“Okay…” Sarat mumbled, resolutely placing both claws on the table and slowly, slowly pushing herself up. “Gonna… go cuddle…”
>She paused and slowly, carefully craned her head back to Killi.
“You wait here.” It took every ounce of her focus to speak clearly but this was important. “I’m gonna go… and come… and tell you. Gonna… gonna be an… Arburdos…”
>Without even thinking about it, when she shuffled out from between the bench and table, she landed on all fours.
>Her kind did still do so for stability at times and Gog, did she need stability right now with the way the world still felt like it hadn’t escaped that churning waterfall.
>Still, as she stepped out of the canteen and towards the stairway, her tail waved happily behind her. Whatever that magic elixir the humans had concocted was, every mug of it made her feel more and more relaxed and even though she didn’t know the songs, she still found herself trying to participate.
>Ascending the stairs to the quarters seemed a daunting task at the bottom but after the first few on all fours, it was just bothersome. Why did all this distance have to sit between her and her hunter?
“Anon~” she whispered into the quiet halls before a trilling giggle escaped her.
>Even if, after getting to the floor that her and Anonymous’ quarters resided on, her head felt marginally clearer, the idea of sleeping with him was one that still felt appealing. It really would be just like home and while she and the others had made sure to sleep together during their training, they knew when it was over it’d end.

>With those thoughts in her bleary head, Sarat finally came to a floor that looked familiar and as she walked along the doorways, she struggled to make out the human script.
>Garn… Sid… Anonymous!
>Getting back onto her two legs, Sarat leaned against the door and searched for the handle before depressing it and allowing her bodyweight to simply push it open.
>The interior of the room was dark with only the moonlight from the window to provide a little illumination. There was a lump, barely visible, in the bed opposite the doorway and Sarat had to huff at how her partner was already asleep.
>Didn’t he know it was rude not to wait for others?
>Her claws began to pull at the top that banded her chest which she discarded on the floor, before tugging off the shorts around her hips that were unceremoniously thrown onto the desk. When sleeping together, you had to make sure to share the closeness of your body to stay warm, after all.
>Click-click-click…
>Even the human’s breathing wasn’t loud enough to cover the sound of her claws against the stone floor. Nor the soft ruffling of the bedclothes of the all-too-small bed that Sarat struggled to bend herself into.
>”Unnh… whuh…”
>Her partner was beginning to turn about in it but Sarat was used to latecomers and had the unfortunate shame of being late a few times to join the others already asleep, back in the village.
>She knew how to get close without stirring the sleeper.

>Her feathery arms wrapped around the human’s bare back and she let out a quiet, comforting coo.
“Time for sleep… Anon… not talk…”
>That little tuft of fur on the top of his head was so soft and the rest of his body… soft and warm! Warmer than even any of the others back in the village.
>”Mmmh…” the hunter sleepily mumbled, slipping one of his arms over her in turn.
>A sigh passed through Sarat’s beak as she drew the human into a warm cuddle, keeping his head pressed tight to her chest so his breath warmed her heart.
>Truly, she couldn’t have hoped for a better way to finish her first official day with her new hunter.