AND JUST LIKE THAT, the cadence of footsteps crunching through the grass can be heard. Mari inhales, stiffening for a beat while she mentally prepared herself for whatever came next . . . then relaxed on the exhale, just before her breath would have come into earshot.
"Greetings, friend," A stranger appears, face half-obscured by a cowl around his neck. He lifts his hood down, features seemingly tired and friendly. Mari turns toward him, casting a wary stare.
"Ah, I don't mean any harm," Says the stranger, raising his hands placatively. "You're a rider, yes? I have a monstie in need of rest. We're looking for some place safe to bunk for the night."
Mari narrows her gaze. "What gave it away, the Rathalos?" She mutters, just as she feels presences nearby. A monster behind the fellow, probably the aforementioned beast of his. But a second one further away.
. . . If her guess was correct, then there were reinforcements. Probably plotting an ambush of their own. The rider turns her head away, and strategically glances in the direction of Streak.
He hadn't moved yet. Good.
"More or less. May I?" Replies her new company, gesturing towards the fire. Mari leans back, and nods after a long pause. For several minutes, there's nothing but small talk between them. Mari guesses its an attempt to get her guard down—to make her and Ratha, who was across from her, easy targets.
If not for the fact she could sense the second monster in the shadows, it might have worked.
"Lulucion, eh? That's quite a ways away from here." Says the man, after leading his aptonoth to drink from a nearby trough. He moves back towards his seat towards Mari, strategically placing himself behind her as he does.
. . . Mari can sense the other monster much closer now. It was behind her own. Her gaze darts towards Kyle, watching and waiting, before she senses alert from Ratha. It's all the rider needs to know that the well-disguised foe was about to strike from behind.
"KYLE! THE ONE BEHIND RED, NOW!" Mari swings back her elbow, aiming for the man's solar plexus but succeeding instead in parrying a dagger. Ratha rises to his feet with similar swiftness, and swings his tail around; knocking a stalking Great Baggi to its feet.