Shivering again, Marcus took another swig of his Hot Drink before pulling his helmet back down, doing his best to ignore the blisteringly cold winds of the Frozen Seaway. This arctic place was always a target of a good portion of his annoyances; his armor was never designed to handle such a cold climate for very long. He had literally no idea how Varrick was remaining calm; the Hunter currently mounted atop the Seregios and resting atop an icy peak, staring down and a roaming herd of Popo, trudging through the dense snow and doing their best to stay alert of any and all predators.

He knew that most predators they encountered could be staved off; something like a Tigrex or even a Zamtrios would easily overpower their ranks and kill them. But, that was the cycle of life.

And here he was, to break it. Shamefully.

"Alright," The black book was tugged out, and Marcus was reviewing the next creature Willow wanted slain, and the next piece thing needed to clear his "debt" to that bitch. "A Zamtrios…well that's obvious…and she wants a Zamtrios Sawtooth…great." Those were hard to get; meant getting lucky and quite literally knocking out a few teeth from the frog creature. "Let's get ready…do you smell it?" He knew the Zamtrios had a very sharp scent; pungent and yet at the same time, oily. He could already smell it to an extent; no doubt, Varrick could smell the same. The Seregios didn't even need any further direction. He just picked the scent up, and shot off the perch, soaring through the air as Marcus kept one hand firmly on the saddle, the other on his glaive, before the Flying Wyvern slammed down…and sure enough, the very beast was ahead of them.

The Zamtrios was devouring a Popo, with a few Zamites nearby. The shark-like frog's head shot up, and its eyes were on Marcus and Varrick; the latter already snarling.

"Varrick! Now!" The glaive was spun, and the red tinted paint splattered against the Zamtrios' fin. The Seregios was quick to screech and shoot upwards, spinning sharply and hurling a sharpened scale for the Zamtrios…said scale being embedded in durable, icy armor.

In the time of Varrick lifting from the ground, the frog monster had encased its body in icy armor, and shot underneath the ice, shooting for them.

"Dive roll!" It made his stomach hurt, but Marcus shot right for the fin protruding from the ground, his Seregios shooting airblade scale after scale at the icy fin before the Monster surfaced.

By which, it erupted from the ground with cataclysmic force…right for them.

The impact to Varrick was hard; hard enough to snap the belts that affixed Marcus to him; the Hunter swearing profusely as he felt the world spinning, and was soon met with sharp pain in his shoulder when the spinning stopped. He took a solid minute to realize he was against an icy wall, and Varrick was on the ground nearby, rearing back up and shaking his head, snarling and bearing his teeth at the girthy beast. Marcus wanted longer to recuperate, but he didn't get it; the Zamtrios was barreling for him with breakneak speed.

His feet left the ground…and he felt something gripping his arm sharply, the hunter dangling in the air by an unseen force. His eyes shot upwards, and he saw the underbelly of Varrick; the Seregios acted faster than he could, and shoot to grab him and tug him out the way of the attack.

"…thanks, bud…now let's finish this fight." He gripped his glaive tightly, and he turned it slowly. By some miracle of fate and logic, Varrick seemed to understand his intent…his desire.

The Seregios released him, and he fell.

Spinning his glaive rapidly, Marcus slammed the bladed tip into the Zamtrios' head, piercing the icy armor it wore and hearing the beast screech in pain, as he held firm, feeling it shape and attempt to wrench him from its back, the man dropping to a kneel and unsheathing his carving knife, stabbing it into the icy armor fervently, working to weaken and damage the icy armor…he just needed the Zamtrios exposed enough to snag a tooth…and then the thought came.

Marcus ripped his glaive from its back, and vaulted off; twirling the glaive around and firing a scent marker for its maw; the red tinted paint splattering against one of the Zamtrios' teeth.

SLING!

Varrick didn't even need to be told; the Seregios' scale already slashed through the Zamtrios' maw. Painfully, sure, but it cleaved out a few of said Sawteeth from the beast that Marcus collected; whistling to the Flying Wyvern and feeling himself be snagged again, flying away from the now agonized, enraged Zamtrios.

Sure, they didn't Hunt it…but who was Willow to prove otherwise? Not like she'd go out to find a corpse.

"Varrick…good job." He finally spoke. The Seregios had planted himself somewhere in a snowy plains; away from the fight that had transpired earlier. Marcus reached for the bag on Varrick's saddle and deposited the Sawteeth into it. "We're almost done…we have to fight a Hermitaur…and then a Rathian. The crab we can handle but…I'm not sure about the Rathian."

The dismissive warble from Varrick made him chuckle a bit. "I know we can do it…but…a Rathian's one of the few Flying Wyverns we're gonna have trouble against; they can actually keep up with you in combat. Not to mention the fire…my armor's not good against fire…like not at all." He had to factor that into the equation as well. And, of course, this led to another warble. He couldn't even understand the Wyvern; he just picked up on the vibes. "But…we just need a tailspike…so…maybe we can just severe one's tail and call it a day…then again…Rathians are extremely determined creatures; we wound one in such a way, she's following us home." That was something he couldn't allow in the slightest; if a Rathian got to his encampment…it'd lead to so much chaos and the undoing of all his hard work.

"So, we're fighting the Hermitaur next…it'll work out…" He'd have to check to see what Willow wanted…hopefully nothing serious. His own book was out, pen in hand as he mounted the saddle on the Seregios, writing as the beast took flight and returned home

The bond between Varrick and I is…growing. He's able to understand more complex things and commands…almost without me speaking. Baffling to think, that just a short while ago he and I were foes in the Everwood; surviving because we had no choice. Now, we're inseparable friends. It's clear proof we can domesticate and befriend even the most dangerous Wyvern…with the right encouragement. I'm very sure we can do it! I'll keep at it…there's no other choice. I want this future to happen; I'm willing to fight as hard as possible to ensure it comes to be…but…let's try to avoid dying.

There's no one else to record this information in the advent of me vanishing; I should really see about finding some Hunters willing to learn from me.

-Marcus

He had to keep working. If he slacked for even a moment…the future he wanted wouldn't come into fruition. His struggles would make it all work in the end…and therefore…he had to go on.

For the Wyverns in his flock. He had to be strong. As Varrick shot off into the cloudy sky, Marcus was already devising new plans and tactics to defeat the next Monster he needed to defeat…but first, he'd need to get home.

He needed to fix the belts for the saddle, otherwise the next time Varrick did a roll, he'd find himself in an intimate relationship with the ground…

To Be Continued…

(So, it's been a while. I've been going through a lot in life and working some stuff out; getting serious about a novel or two I was working on and trying my best to make it work. I do deeply apologize to my fans here as I've been gone for a year; some reviews and emails told me people still enjoy my work, and so I see no reason to let those go unanswered. So, as a result, I'll do what I can to also write here and bring you guys something, as long as I can. It'll be hard, but I'm willing to put in the effort, and make things work. Until then, thank you all for the continued support; I'll hear from you all soon enough.)