//------------------------------//
// Rough Landing 
// Story: Monster Hunter World: Monsters and Magic 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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The sky crackled as lightning flashed among the dark gray clouds that filled it, something that would normally signal rain or a storm and that was what the resident of the land was expecting, though those clouds were the only thing that one could see if they stared at the sky for a couple of moments, as they prevented any form of sunlight from touching this place, which made sense given the nature of this realm. The individual that looked up at the sky for a few moments said nothing as they resumed walking down the hallway that they had stopped in, resuming the walk they had started earlier, though it wasn't worried about bumping into anyone since it was alone in the realm that it was trapped in, the infamous Realm of Darkness that the medieval city known as Tambelon resided in since it was banished to the realm. The sole creature that called the dark city home had once been trapped with others at one point in time, where it had them construct a magical bell that would have allowed the city to return to Equestria, the land all of them had hailed from, only its plans backfired as the rest of the trapped individuals took the bell and used it to return to their homeland, before shattering the bell to prevent it from joining them. While that would have been a major setback, and it was when the creature thought about it, it was able to secure a small fragment of the bell before the fragments were totally destroyed, one that had faded back into the Realm of Darkness and appeared in the part of the city where the bell had been resting, allowing the lone creature to tend to it and prepare for what the future had for it.

Grogar sighed for a moment as he paused when he reached the end of the hallway and stared at what was the first room of a castle, the entrance that servants would be cleaning or opening the doors of so visiting nobles and whatnot, but he was alone in this realm and he knew that such a thing wasn't going to chance, hence the reason he was putting the last touches on a new plan. Grogar was a male ram that was somewhat taller than the majority of the ponies that lived in the land of Equestria, save for the alicorns since they were even taller than he was, where he had a moderate cornflower blue coat and had a short mane on his head that was a light cobalt bluish gray coloration, though in addition to his mane he had a short tail that had the same color as his mane, just like the ponies did. In addition to that he had a pair of curved horns, just like a normal ram was supposed to have, and his were a dark azure color that allowed him to channel his magic and cast spells, though he also had a red collar around his neck that had a few golden bells, spherical ones, that really did nothing and were purely for decoration, since the bell that was supposed to rest in the middle of the collar was gone, due to his plan backfiring. He carried the bell fragment with him at all times, to prepare for his newest plan, not that such a thing mattered since he was alone in this world and none of the creatures that lurked on the borders of Tambelon came into the city, no doubt observing him and what he was doing, or at least that was what he was assuming since none of them had bothered to show themselves to him and the others over the years.

Being banished to the Realm of Darkness had an interesting effect on him and the other residents of the city, as they had spent five hundred years in this twisted realm and had their individual times paused, meaning that if someone went into this realm when they were eighteen they would still be eighteen when they left the realm, though since the rest of the residents had betrayed him, something he really should have been expecting, he had been forced to spend another five hundred years in solitary confinement. That basically put him on the level of sentences that the other villains of Equestria had been given when they were faced in the past, like Nightmare Moon being banished to the moon for a thousand years, Discord being trapped in a statue for that amount of time, or Sombra being sealed away for the same amount of time, and the only reason he knew all of this was due to the fact that he could use a portion of his magic to see some of the events that were happening in Equestria, though it was incredibly hard and very taxing, even for someone like him. In fact, based on the passage of time in the land he used to call home, he could tell that he had passed by the thousand year anniversary of the villains being imprisoned and were subsequently defeated by a group of six very special mares, which was made up of two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies, and were accompanied by a baby dragon, before one of the unicorns became an alicorn, but that was something he would worry about in the future. His reason for not escaping the Realm of Shadows at the same time as the other villains broke out of their prisons and returned to Equestria was due to him being curious as to what was happening and so he could gain some information to better plan for the future, though part of him determined that, individually, the villains would lose no matter what they did, but if they banded together and formed a small group, however, they might actually stand a chance, which would be hard to do since having villains join forces lead to interests conflicting and driving them apart at some point in time.

So while he considered the downfall of the other villains, and the failure of their plans, he waited for the perfect moment where the ponies and creatures of Equestria were distracted by something, enough to where they wouldn't notice what he was doing, not to mention a point in time where the Princesses would be busy as well, so none of them got in his way, due to the fact that he knew that one alicorn would be enough to stop him if they sensed the portal he would be making once he was sure the way was clear. Based on his observations it seemed like today was a good day for him to put his plan into action, hence why he happened to be walking towards his destination, eventually coming to the part of his prison that held where the bell could be used, or at least focused to the point where its magic could open a portal back to Equestria, where he used his magic to raise the bell fragment and studied it for a few seconds. Once he was sure that there were no flaws in the fragment, given that what it had been part of had been shattered by those who had been imprisoned with him, he did what he came to do and channeled his magic into the fragment, something that caused the power inside it to flare not a few moments later and surged into the area he focused on, the barrier that rested between the Realm of Darkness and Equestria, all so he could create a temporary portal. Not a few moments later the air in front of him shuddered as a spiral of magical energy appeared, condensing into an oval shaped portal that had a dark azure coloration, though he paused for a second or two, just to be sure that it was stable enough for him to safely arrive in Equestria, and once he was positive of that fact he braced himself as he charged forward and jumped into the portal he had just created, knowing that it might collapse on him if he didn't act fast enough. It wasn't long before he appeared in the destination he had picked out, which just so happened to be an area that looked like it had been a moat at one point in time, though with no water around him and the sheer height of the rock walls this was more like a gorge these days, before he quickly glanced at the tallest part of the area he found a number of trees that indicated he was in a forest, no doubt the Everfree Forest since that had been his ultimate destination, where he was pleased to find that his plan had worked.

The downside to all of this was that he had planned on being at the top of the rock walls that made up the gorge, instead of resting in the depths of it, due to the fact that he planned on visiting the ancient ruins he knew were up there and this just meant he would have to make a change of some kind, before he noticed a cave that seemed like the perfect place to hide for a time, and allow him to ensure that no one came looking for him, to which he quickly headed inside it and walked down the tunnel he would be in for some time.

"Hm, I recognize this cave," Grogar commented, where he glanced around him for a few moments, mostly to take a look behind him and discovered that the temporary portal had closed, meaning if someone followed the magic they would be cut off and left in the dark for some time, allowing him to focus on the walls and what he recognized, since it had been a long time since he had been in this special place, for a few moments before he even considered what his next move was, or what he might do if someone found him.

Of course he knew that it felt weird for him to be back in the real realm, especially when he considered the fact that he had been betrayed and had been forced to wait for the fragment of the bell to be charged up, but despite what he felt he also knew that he would get used to it in no time, allowing him to think about what he was going to do next as he focused on the walls of the cave and recalled the events he had seen in the past, that were related it this place, including the ones that were connected to the six mares he had observed, and it didn't take him all that long to reach the end of the cave, where a large crystalline tree stood in the center and had six powerful gemstones in the branches.

"Ah, the Tree of Harmony, which means those are the Elements of Harmony," Grogar said, as he recognized what was in front of him and knew how dangerous they were to the various villains of the land, though now that the Elements had been returned to the Tree he suspected that such a problem wouldn't raise its head to ruin any plans he might make, but the same couldn't be said for the mares who had wielded them once upon a time, a problem that needed to be dealt with at some point in time, "I should make a new camp nearby, as that will allow me to spy on this place and stay out of the way so that those mares don't realize I'm... here..."

What surprised him was the fact that he was suddenly feeling exhausted, something that sort of made sense due to the fact that he was in the real world once more, though based on what he knew it seemed more like a magical sleep spell had been cast on him while he was distracted by the Tree, though before he could do anything he staggered for a moment and realized that something was horribly wrong, before his world shifted and he collapsing on the ground, which was when he blacked out and remembered nothing more.





Erica looked at the sky for a moment as she sat on the dock of the ship that she was riding on, mostly because it was odd for it to be so calm in comparison to the storm that they had been forced to ride through some time ago when they left the Old World, before she sighed as she looked in the direction of the sun, because it was a nice change of pace and there was no telling how long it would last. That was the reason she was on the deck of the ship, reading some of the books that the Guild had supplied her and the other members of the Fifth Fleet with, familiarizing herself with the possible monsters she and the others might encounter in the New World, or at least what the other Fleets had spotted during their long stay in the New World, though while she took a break from what she was studying she looked out at all of the other people that were being transported to their destination. Erica was a human, a creature that stood on two legs and had two arms, had short brown hair, and was wearing some light green attire that was made out of both leather and metal in places, though she also had a white scarf that was wrapped around her neck and had blue tips that rested in front of her neck, something that was uncommon among the Hunters, Handlers, and the rest of the crew who made sure that the six ships that made up their Fleet reached their destination. In addition to all of the humans there were bipedal cat creatures, who came in a number of varieties of fur colors and expressions, that were called Felyne, or Palico as some of the Hunters commonly called them these days, so it all depended on what they felt like calling them, though at the moment she spotted a few of them running around the ship, transporting supplies and making sure everyone that was on the deck had everything that they could possibly need before they headed back to the eating hall or the rooms everyone slept in, of which there were plenty of them for everyone aboard the ship.

As she thought about all of that she noticed a short red haired individual, who was wearing the same attire that she was wearing at the moment, minus the scarf, though he had some armored sections on his arms, legs, shoulders, and the rest of his body, which made sense due to the fact that he was one of the Hunters and he specialized in using the sword and shield technique, and right now he didn't have either of those because he wanted to rest and relax for a time, before they reached the New World, something she knew he could do plenty of times since they had a good deal of time left in their journey. She was his partner, as she was the one that handled all of the assignments that he was given and checked off the ones he either did or made sure to mention which ones he hadn't done yet, a very simple system that was successful back in the Old World, so there was no telling what would happen when they reached the New World and learned if there were any changes to the system they were used to. Her partner, on the other hand, was the one who took on quests, went out into the wilds, and fought all sorts of monsters, as in he risked his life to further the understanding of the Commission in what the monsters did, and while his name was Aiden he was known as Aiden 'the Excitable', and he had an outstanding personality that made others think he was remarkable and impressive, which she had to admit that even she considered that at times. There were other Hunters and Handlers aboard this ship and the other five that were near them, along with researchers, scholars, and engineers, so they were prepared for whatever the New World had to offer, which was when she turned back to the books that were nearby and focused on what she had been reading before her partner appeared on the deck of their ship, leaving him to do whatever it was that he wanted to do while he was up here, even though she did have a feeling that it might involve her in some manner.

Of course, even as she went to do that, Erica spotted someone out of the corner of her eye, where the individual was a brunette with short hair and had freckles, though she also wore the yellow attire of the Commission, which had blue cloth pieces above her chest that wrapped around the top of her arms and connected to the back of her attire, which Erica knew that some of the members of the Fifth Fleet jokingly referred to as wings, and she was incredibly energetic despite the odd fact that she currently had no Hunter to work with.

"You know, I figured she would be depressed by the fact that she has no partner," Aiden stated, where he sat down to the right of where Erica was sitting and they both stared at the other Handler that was on the deck at the moment, who either didn't notice them or was too caught up in watching the sailors that were making sure they got to the New World in one piece, despite the storm they encountered a few days after leaving the Old World, "if it were me, I'd be spending my time trying to figure out what sort of role I would pursue once we finally reached the New World... maybe she could help the chef taste some new meals or something."

"We're only eight days into a three week journey, so she has plenty of time," Erica replied, though even as she said that the other lady, Sherry as she recalled, tripped over something, either a loose part of the deck or an item that had been left where it shouldn't have been left, but seemed to catch herself before she hit the deck, which was followed by her making sure everything was just fine before she continued to walk towards whatever part of the ship she happened to be heading to, where Erica had to guess it was the kitchen given that Karen was known for being a foodie, "I heard that she was much more serious and focused than this, one of the top A-Listers like us, but so far everything I have seen leads me to believe otherwise... the stress of not having a partner must be getting to her more than we thought. Hopefully the Commander pairs her up with someone, as it would be a waste of her talents if she was stuck doing something other than what she learned how to do."

"I'm sure there are plenty of Hunters in the New World that would be willing to work with her," Aiden said, as he, like many of his companions, knew that there were four Fleets that had made the long and arduous journey to the New World in the past, where they knew they had set up the main camp that would be their home for the foreseeable future, at least until they figured out whatever was happening there and told the Commission about their findings, meaning there had to be a number of Hunters that Sherry might be able pick from, before he glanced up at the sky, "I mean, its not like her partner is going to drop out of the sky or anything."

Erica started to open her mouth so she could say something, mostly to make a comment about how such a thing would have been impossible, though before she could do that there was a crackle in the air and everyone glanced up at the sky as what she assumed was lightning danced between some of the clouds for a moment, making her and the others wonder if a storm was going to develop right on top of them. That was followed by what she guessed was a rainbow colored light bursting out of the area the clouds were in, one that made them look away for a few seconds, before something appeared in the sky, which she believed was a human like her and the others, as odd as it sounded in her mind when she took a few seconds to think about it, before the figure fell feet first into the water from about a hundred feet in the air, as tall as the highest point of their ship. Erica quickly threw a bookmark into the book she had been reading and placed it on the small stack she had brought outside some time ago, where she and Aiden ran over to the part of the ship that overlooked where in stranger had fallen into the water, and, sure enough, they were joined by Sherry and some of the other members of the crew, who were already gathering some safety gear so whoever had hit the water could be saved. From what they could tell the stranger had landed behind the ship, in the wake interestingly enough, and it wasn't long before one of the sailors arrived with a tube that floated on the water and had a rope tied to it, to which he tossed it into the water and waited for it to land near the stranger, as once it was still he dived into the water and swam over to the figure, leaving the other sailors to pull him back once he secured whoever had landed in the water.

Erica, Sherry, and Aiden watched as the sailor secured the individual in question and they helped pull the rope back so the pair could be brought back to the ship, which gave them a chance to stare at the odd person who had fallen out of the sky in such an odd way, since none of them were expecting something like that to happen and the rest of the crew joined them in waiting to see what they had found. No one was actually expecting what they discovered, as at first the individual that the sailor had rescued looked like a human that happened to be wearing some ragged robes over its body, but at the same time the stranger's skin had a moderate cornflower blue hue to it and his hair was a light cobalt bluish gray color, an odd color to be sure, and that wasn't the strangest thing they had seen, as the man, where they were sure it was male due to the slim build to his body, had a pair of curved horns on his head, which were dark azure colored. Then it got weirder when he was hauled entirely up onto the ship, as he had a short tail that seemed to resemble a ram's tail, which went with the hooves that his feet ended in, making it look like he was a hybrid between a ram and a human, something that had never been seen before in this world, though at the same time it looked like hitting the water had knocked him out. Since he was out cold, and they had no idea how long it would be before he woke up and questioned where he was, or whatever he might ask when he came to, Erica decided that they might as well take him down to one of the rooms, the empty one that would have gone to Sherry's Hunter partner, who somehow missed joining up with them, and let him stay in it while they determined what they were going to do with him when they reached the New World.

Of course that meant they would have to send a message ahead to the New World, so the Commander would knew what to expect when they finally arrived at their destination, but Erica was willing to set up the stranger with a room and tend to his body for a time, to learn more about him before he was handed him over to the one who she and the others would be answering to for the foreseeable future, though she had the feeling that things were going to change a little now that they had a new passenger aboard the ship.