WELCOME TO MY MONSTER HUNTER-ORIENTED SIDEBLOG! I follow at the url @neontheporpo. I use this blog to share art, headcanons, etc. related to Monster Hunter and my Monster Hunter blorbos. My main focuses in the franchise are Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin and Monster Hunter Wilds. Please enjoy your stay!
IF MARI WAS THERE: PART SIX. THE IN-BETWEEN ARC. Aka when shit hits the fan and unfortunately for Mari, some unsightly characters have been tipped off about her whereabouts by some schemers in the Guild.
I like to think there's maybe a 3-6 month timeskip between Low Rank and the start of HR. At this point, Mari's own past and traumas has been kept under wraps since it really isn't the Guild's or anyone's business for her to bring up. I imagine some members of the Expedition are curious and get the sense that she's got more going on than what she lets on, but they don't pry for obvious reasons. She is after all, tangently related to the expedition, having gotten involved unofficially rather than assigned.
. . . So what happens when old foes who are fleeing from the law themselves learn that their very undoer is lurking with their prized sacrificial lamb, well outside the boundaries of her homeland? Sit tight folks because the Cult of Oltura is here.
MHS2 leaves things pretty open-ended for the most part. Zellard is implied to have turned himself in, and the Scriveners are busy working (presumably with the Guild Knights) to find and pick off any other conspirators that still roam free after the Oltura incident. However, humor me for this and say there are other conspirators and cultists out there, now more dispersed and more desperate after their failed attempt to revive the Elder Dragon they worshipped.
After the events of Low Rank, Mari figures that her job here in the Eastlands is done and that she's ready to resume her quest to locate a cure for the Frenzy outbreak back home. At this point, Nata is considering joining the guild officially as an apprentice hunter, and preparations are being carried out so that Fabius can pay a visit.
Unfortunately, it is just a few days before Mari is planning to head out that, while doing one last hurrah with Avis Unit (The Hunter and Alma mainly,) shit hits the fan, and the group are ambushed by mysterious armored riders who attempt to kidnap Mari and Ratha and collect the others as collateral.
Initially, it seems like the attempted kidnapping is gonna go off without a hitch, but luckily the Hunter's SOS flare comes in clutch and several other unit hunters step in to overwhelm the conspirators before they can succeed. Avis Unit's Hunter notes how on edge Mari seems, and how she seemed familiar with their attackers.
While Mari is recovering, basically all of Avis Unit + Olivia and Erik check in to confront her. The Hunter states their hunch that there's a deep connection that Mari has with the Riders, and Mari stubbornly tries to refuse information, not wanting the others to get involved.
The hunter, showing an act of concern for Mari, retorts that they are already involved, and that they will continue to be after everything she's done for them. Though apprehensive, Mari finally budges and finally reveals that she had felled an Elder Dragon in the south known as "Oltura" and that Ratha's abnormalities are traced back to him being a Razewing.
Cue all the fascination that comes with it (specifically from Alma and Erik,) at hearing that Mari had felled a catastrophic-level Elder Dragon at only the age of seventeen. Alma suggests sending a report to Fabius, but the Hunter ponders how the Cult would have known to find Mari out in the Eastlands, leading them to suspect that someone might have tipped them off.
When Mari begins to ponder leaving on her own, the Hunter argues that the Cult might be expecting that, and that she should stay until at least Fabius arrives to decide the next step. At the very least then, she and Ratha have back up.
Arc where Mari briefly starts pushing others away in fear that she'll endanger them otherwise engage. Basically, girl's gonna be on edge and haunted for a bit.
The Hunter's decision to slay the Guardian Arkveld kinda hits hard for Mari and learning about said decision is what drives Mari to comfort Nata after he's dragged away from the scene. Given that she was pressured to basically have Ratha be put down the moment he hatched because of superstition, and having the bear with the possibility that she may have to slay him later down the line if the rumors turned out to be true, Mari basically was in Nata's shoes at first. She stuck to her guts and tried to figure out the truth for herself, and thankfully that's what led her to discover that Ratha's whole thing was conspired and that the true threat was an Elder Dragon.
Which, she still ended up having to fell a monster for simply existing. Mari still had to make the call to slay Oltura for the betterment of the environment, even with the understanding that all it was doing was simply trying to live its life as an animal. It wasn't necessarily malevolent, or benign. It simply existed, but unfortunately Oltura remaining alive would mean possibly altering the ecosystem to an unrecoverable degree.
It's a bittersweet thing for Mari to learn that Nata's come to care for the Guardian Arkveld in a way, even if she ultimately agrees with the Hunter that it needed to be slain for the sake of the environment. To her, it shows that he's grown to respect monsters as living things and not just as dangerous obstacles. To her, its enough that he's come to care, and she reinforces that when she talks to him about the matter.
at the point where im just blocking people who vocally hate nata. dont talk about my son like that its not his fault you didnt get his character arc because you barely paid attnetion to the story