While Johnson and Sherry set up the new camp, now that they didn't have to worry about a Kulu-Ya-Ku bothering them, Grogar, Patches, and Jaya were apparently free to explore more of the Ancient Forest, so that was what he spent his day doing, something that allowed him to fill out his map of this region. He got a good idea of where the various monsters had built their nests, as he had seen the Pukei-Pukei's after helping her out, the couple of Great Jagras were hidden in a way to make sure none of their enemies could get into their caves, he steered clear of the Anjanath, which seemed to be more like a wanderer, and he was able to see the red scaled Rathalos flying up in the sky. It was an amazing sight, seeing the flying wyvern in his domain, where he assumed the monster had build his nest up in the tops of the giant tree that happened to be the center of the Ancient Forest, even though he steered clear and remained out of sight, since the Rathalos was also a territorial monster and he didn't want to upset him. He also kept an eye out for the other monster that lived in the forest, the Tobi-Kadachi, but based on what he discovered it must have been avoiding conflict, as he didn't find a monster that matched what the pair of Jagras had told him when he first returned to the forest, even though he figured that he would find it in due time.
One of the other things he discovered was a number of feline doodles that matched the first one he had found and had the Scoutflies memorize them, something that allowed him to track down a light brown furred cat, one who was suited for living in a forest and wielded a spear of some kind, that also had a white tuft of fur around it's neck. The Felyne, or whatever the New World version of them might be called since they were different from Patches, turned and fled as soon as it spotted the trio, where he found that some of the vines could be used to swing from place to place and even ascend to new locations, to which he smiled before following the newcomer. What he found was that the Felyne was heading into the highest point of the massive tree, taking a route to make sure no one could follow it and Grogar was only able to do so because of the fact that he had the Scoutflies with him, eventually allowing him to reach what seemed to be an entrance into a hidden camp. Sure enough it brought them to a Felyne camp, where Patches stepped up and started talking to the newcomer, who revealed that they were called the 'Bugtrappers' and were surprised to find that Grogar didn't mean any of them harm, rather he wanted to learn more about them and even call them allies, possibly friends, at the end of the day, causing Trap Whiz, the Felyne in question, to hand over a device as proof of their bond.
What it was, as Grogar discovered, was a device that would allow Patches to deploy a flash trap, to blind enemies while a fight was going on, something he accepted before wishing the Bugtrappers well, all while hoping to work with them in the future, though once that was done he carefully headed back down the path and returned to the camp. When Grogar and Patches reached their destination they found Jaya sitting near Sherry, who had set up a fire and a new tent for them, but they knew that Jaya had stayed behind after realizing that the Felyne was using the swinging vines, something she couldn't use at all, hence why she let them go ahead and returned to Sherry's side. Once everyone was back together Grogar told them about everything he had found since they escorted the Kulu-Ya-Ku back to the Wildspire Waste, mentioning the new clan of Felyne and that there was a bunch of stuff he was going to have to share with the Researchers back in Astera, while finding that Johnson had returned ahead of them, figuring that they didn't need his help anymore. He even told her about the new gadget that Trap Whiz had given Patches, the Flashfly Cage to be exact, which made him wonder if each region of the New World had a clan of Felyne for them to discover and learn about, meaning each one would have their own gadget to collect and learn about, which brought a smile to his face.
Once he told her everything, however, Grogar found that it was getting dark and figured it was time to return to Astera, to which they turned to the Barnos and used them to return to their main base for the night, as he needed to track down the Commander and tell him what had happened since they departed, before checking with the Researchers and giving them his notes for their studies.
Sure enough he found Commander Shepard standing at the table he usually worked at, where it was easy for Grogar to give him his report on what happened in the Ancient Forest, though his Commander also gave him a warning, that there would be times where talking wouldn't work and that he would be forced to fight. Grogar understood that fact rather well, it was why he wanted to use his new power first and not rush blindly into battle, like how the other Hunters might do in his position, and he knew that the Anjanath would definitely be something he would have to fight, if he needed to do so, but other than that there wasn't much else for them to talk about. After that he made his way over to the Researchers, who were talking about the fragment that was near the gate of Astera, before handing them his notes on what he had seen and learned, as he knew they would be interested in it, before wishing them a good night as he headed up to the Canteen for a bit of dinner. Of course he wasn't too surprised to find that Sherry had gotten a seat and ordered for them, to which he smiled as he joined the others once more, finding that he could get used to this life, not to mention the mystery that they were here to solve, as he dug into some of the delicious food that the Meowscular Chef prepared.
After the meal, and a bit of rest to let their stomachs settle, Grogar and the others returned to their quarters and turned in for the night, as there was no telling what Commander Shepard would assign them in the morning and that meant they needed to be well prepared for whatever task he might throw at them.
When morning arrived, and Grogar and Sherry were sitting at the table, neither of them were surprised to find that they were being called to speak to the Commander, to which they finished off the rest of their meal before heading down to see what sort of mission he had for them this time around, especially since Grogar had made it possible to recover a piece of Zorah Madgaros the previous day.
"Ah, Grogar, Sherry, I have a new mission for you two to tackle," Shepard said, speaking as soon as the pair came to a stop on the other side of the table that he worked from, where Grogar found that there was a map of the New World resting on the table, along with a few other pieces of paper that allowed the Commander to do his job, "As you no doubt know, we're hot on the trail of Zorah Magdaros and the piece of evidence you collected yesterday has allowed us to understand more about him, at least the Researchers seem to be sure of that and will no doubt be handing over their findings to you in the next few hours... however, that isn't why I called for you two. I called you both here because we've received a report of a second fragment resting in the Wildspire Waste, and several Scholars are getting ready to leave so they can recover it, just like what you did yesterday, so I want the two of you, along with Patches and Jaya, to escort and protect them while they recover this new fragment."
"We'll make sure that they get there safely." Grogar replied, while at the same time Sherry nodded her head to show that she agreed with his comment, though he did find it rather interesting that they had found a second fragment so soon, on the day following when he helped recover the first one, but he wasn't about to let the Commander down.
Shepard didn't have anything else to say after that, so Grogar and Sherry got ready as Patches and Jaya headed over to the area that the Scholars were gathering in, three of the smaller Wyverians, the final state of one who wasn't altered in some manner, like Grogar assumed had happened to Alexia. One thing they discovered was that their group was going to have to carefully make their way through the Ancient Forest and reach the gate between areas, telling Grogar that there was a chance that they might run into that Anjanath at some point, if they were unlucky anyway, but this time he knew that his magic would come in handy if such a thing happened. After reaching that point the Scholars would point out the path that they had to take to reach the second fragment, which would increase their understanding of Zorah Magdaros, though he was fine with that, as they had spent more time on this continent than he had and he trusted their judgement on where to go, so he was going to focus on guarding them. All his preparations were basically making sure all three of the Scholars had what they needed to do their job, while Sherry's seemed to be making sure they had some food for this trip, since they had no idea how long they were going to be gone, but she made sure not to get anything from the Canteen, cooked to be exact, since the smell might attract the monsters to their location.
Once they were done, and both Grogar and Sherry were sure that they were, Johnson opened the gate and they left Astera with all the haste they could muster, heading out into the Ancient Forest once more as they kept their eyes peeled for the Anjanath, though for right now they were able to head down the path without attracting attention.
Based on what they discovered most of the monsters seemed to be resting while they walked through the Ancient Forest, or at least most of them were since Grogar heard the roar of the Anjanath and noticed a flume of fire that had to be from the Rathalos, meaning the two monsters he had been thinking about were somewhere else. It allowed them to reach the gate between regions with ease, where they passed from the lush forest and walked into the Wildspire Waste, a region that was basically a large desert with dunes, unexpected swamps, and not a lot of vegetation, according to the Scholars as they entered the place. There was a small fragment of the Wildspire that was like a forest, where it was said that a Rathian, the female counterpart to Rathalos, lived, so this area was diverse and told Grogar that there was much he could learn if he stopped and took the time to study the monsters that called this place home. Off in the distance there was a massive and long line of earth that seemed to be spiked in some manner, cutting them off from everything else that happened to be in the New World, meaning they would either have to find a way through it or maybe Zorah Magdaros would smash his way through it for them, before he shelved the thought as they entered the new region.
"We've waited a long time to get our hands on any sort of evidence that might be related to the Elder Crossing and all of the Elder Dragons we've seen," one of the Scholars said, who spoke in a jovial tone, like he was very cheerful and friendly, while at the same time he and his fellows pushed the cart as Sherry helped them out, leaving Grogar, Patches, and Jaya to walk beside them, guardians keeping their eyes out for potential hazards, "and we're incredibly lucky that two pieces of information have been left behind for us to study. Don't let the monsters harm us, alright?"
"Don't worry, I'll make sure we get to the fragment in no time." Grogar promised, as that was the truth of the matter, all of his spells and abilities would make sure they reached the area that the fragment had been left in, without being attacked by any of the monsters that were in this area, hence why his focus was on the surrounding area as he made notes on what they passed, adding to his map as well.
As one of the other Scholars mentioned that they hadn't slept last night, due to being overly excited by the piece that was in this region, Grogar found some little critters that looked like rabbits with slightly longer bodies and no fur, rather they were suited for living in a desert, though he made a note of them as he followed the Scholars. The path they were walking along right now seemed to head around a curve, since there was no easy path to what seemed to be the lower section of the Wildspire Waste, and off to their left was one of the ways into the forest area, which it looked like they were going to pass through before reaching the fragment. Grogar was still amazed that the New World could be divided like this, into a number of unique and interesting ecosystems that were different from each other, as the Wildspire Waste was different from the Ancient Forest, and that meant that all of the monsters would be different as well, or for the most part since they hadn't seen anything else since entering this area. Sherry, of course, asked a few questions as they walked, which caused the Scholars to take turns answering them, while Grogar listened and studied the surrounding area that they happened to be passing through, before eventually reaching an area that gave them a good view of this place, where Sherry joined him and the others for a time, taking in the sights as the Scholars headed down another path.
A few moments later, however, Grogar nearly froze as he joined the Scholars and discovered what was currently resting in the forest area, as there was a Rathian, a green scaled version of a Rathalos that was slightly smaller than the male one, walking around this area, to which they carefully moved forward, going at a much slower pace so she didn't see them and attack, since they were in her territory. For a few moments it seemed like his plan worked like a charm, the Rathian had no idea that he and the Scholars were even in the area, though he didn't have much time to mentally celebrate their safety, as she started to notice that something was intruding on her territory and glanced in their direction. He quickly realized that they weren't her target, even though they were in clear view of where she was currently positioned, rather her target was none other than his own partner, as Sherry was returning to their side so they could reach the fragment they were after, all while making little to no noise as she did that, but yet the Rathian sensed her coming. It reminded him of what he had seen back on the ship, all of the monster parts, and wondered if she might be part monster in some way, like a Wyverian, but for now he had to move, as the Rathian was gathering flames as she targeted Sherry, who was only now realizing what was going on in this area.
Sure enough the Raithian launched a large fireball at Sherry, intending on wiping her out and getting rid of her, and in that very moment Grogar teleported back up to where she was standing, where he gathered his magic for a moment before he called up a shimmering bit of magic that looked like a mirror, stalling the fireball before it hit his partner, who was stunned by what she was seeing.
"Sherry, join the Scholars and get out of here... and make sure Patches and Jaya join you." Grogar said, where he used his power to make sure the fireball was totally stopped, something he was able to determine rather easily from the area that he was standing in, before he found that Sherry was nodding her head to show that she understood his order, though he let a small smile appear on his face, "I'll be sure to distract this Rathian and make sure she doesn't follow us... once that's done I'll rejoin you guys so we can continue our mission."
Not a few moments later Sherry rushed over to where the Scholars were positioned and got them moving once more, but while she did that, and both Patches and Jaya understood that they should stay out of this, Grogar moved his hands a little and repelled the fireball, sending it back towards the Rathian. Sure enough she dodged her reflected attack, which rushed into the air and disappeared without doing any damage to anything else, though as he expected she continued her attack, focusing on him as she loosed more fireballs down at him, to which Grogar picked which ones to use magic on and which ones to totally avoid. His plan was simple, he was going to distract the Rathian with her own attacks and, once he was sure that Sherry and the others were safe and sound, some of his magic would be put towards disappearing so he could leave and make sure nothing followed them, even though he knew that simple plans could fall apart with ease. When the next volley of fireballs came, however, Grogar smiled as he mixed his magic into them, so when he repelled them it looked like he tripled the attack with his own fireballs, even though it was merely an illusion and it seemed like the Rathian was caught off guard by what he was doing.
With the sky covered in fireballs, preventing her from seeing him, Grogar used his invisibility spell and disappeared, where he headed for the path that Sherry and the others had gone down earlier, though he paused for a few seconds and made sure that the Rathian departed before returning to his companions, who he found a fair bit away from the forest area, just like he intended.
"Fascinating. When this is done, we must discuss your powers and where you came from." one of the Scholars said, where Grogar wasn't even surprised by that fact, as the Commission was interested in him and that had fueled Shepard's earlier decision to make him a Hunter, even though he would have gotten some information on him regardless of his position in Astera and the Fifth Fleet.
Grogar nodded his head a little as he paused, as he wanted to make sure that he wasn't exhausted before heading deeper into the Wildspire Waste, though he found that he hadn't burned through a lot of his energy, despite the spells he had just used, meaning that coming to this world must have boosted his power, so they were able to move forward, only to find a trio of new monsters coming towards them.
"Oh, Apceros." Sherry remarked, seeing the quadrupedal monsters coming towards them, which reminded Grogar of the Aptonoths they had seen in the Ancient Forest, though these had a hardened shell on their backs, no doubt for protection, and their tails ended in a circular ball with spikes on it, like a mace.
"Yes, there an herbivore that's native to this region... though it appears that they're taking up a defensive position," one of the Scholars replied, as the Apceros were positioning themselves in a circular manner, using their shells to protect them while also raising their tails like they might be expecting a monster to attack them at some point.
Grogar approached the Apceros for a moment and raised his hand, showing them that he meant them no harm, and was able to learn that there was something dangerous in the next part of the Wildspire Waste, some sort of monster that they claimed was below the sands and that this was their best course of action. It wasn't what he was hoping to hear, but it was information that he and the others needed to know if they were going to recover the fragment that had been left in what had to be the furthest point from Astera, so he rejoined the others as they continued to move forward. A few moments later they entered the area that the fragment was in, as it was hard to miss the piece that had fallen off of Zorah Magdaros earlier, to which he made sure Sherry and the Scholars approached it, that way once the cart was in position he could use his magic and move the process along without having to worry about being caught by whatever the Apceros had warned them about. As he approached the fragment, however, the Scoutflies came out and danced around it with their blue light, which seemed to be linked to Elder Dragons while green was for everything else, save for red, which meant danger was on it's way or was upon the Hunter they were assigned to, though as Sherry joined him they heard something break nearby, all while the Scoutflies turned red and disappeared.
The cause of the event was a large bipedal monster that seemed to be covered in hard ridges, no doubt to protect it from any of the other monsters in the Wildspire and the harsh conditions that were around them, though it also had a crown of some kind on top of it's head and some rather sharp looking teeth. The Scholars were surprised by the arrival of the new monster, a Barroth as they called it, to which Grogar beckoned with his head and Sherry nodded, as there would be time for them to get the fragment once he was sure the monster was subdued, in his unique manner. As such she moved the Scholars out of the area, in case a fight broke out, though he found that the Barroth was staring right at them and seemed like it wanted to take them down, as it roared a little before moving towards where Grogar and the others were standing, or at least that was what it looked like to anyone else. The reality of the situation was different, as he could see that he and his companions, as in Patches and Jaya, weren't the ones that the Barroth was interested in taking out, rather it was eying Sherry as she lead the Scholars to a safe area, that way they were out of the way, though it confirmed something for him as he readied himself, Sherry seemed to be a monster magnet.
In that moment he ducked to the side, to avoid the charge that was coming his way, before finding that his assumptions were right, the Barroth was interested in Sherry, to which he formed a somewhat foolish idea and rushed forward, where he threw himself at the sand in a way that would allow him to slide and get ahead of the monster, allowing him to loose his magic in a flash of light, blinding the Barroth for a moment and caused it to crash into another pillar.
The 'Solar Flare' spell was designed to blind foes so one could either escape or position themselves while their foes were unable to see them, though the Barroth didn't seem to care as it regained itself and roared as Grogar found himself as the new target that it wanted to take down. Grogar found that the monster was rather powerful, due to the fact that it crushed another stone pillar as he quickly moved around the area, smashing it to pieces with a simple headbash, meaning that he wanted to avoid being struck by the Barroth's crown, or it's tail and the sides of it's body for that matter. Patches and Jaya dodged the attacks as well, which was smart since he had a feeling that a single attack would seriously hurt one of them and he was worried that the other would be crushed with no hope of survival, though as they dodged the attacks Grogar also discovered something interesting, his foe could wield mud. What he meant by that was that the Barroth was able to swing it's tail and loose bursts of mud at whatever it was targeting, creating an area designed to slow down foes if they got hit by it or walked into it, though it looked like the Barroth might be able to coat itself in mud as well, an extra layer to keep itself safe from harm.
Grogar was even surprised when he found that the triple barrier he called up, to stall the Barroth, was smashed by one of it's charges, meaning his power was either weaker than he thought or the monster was far stronger than he thought, but in that moment something interesting happened, the sunken sandy area burst open as another monster appeared, one that had a pair of dangerous looking horns. Fortunately he wasn't caught in the middle of the attack, rather the Barroth had been on the area in question and something triggered the sequence, where he was able to see a sandy brown colored wyvern, like a Rathalos that was more heavily armored, had a pair of bull like horns, and a club on it's tail to knock enemies away from it. The newcomer lifted the Barroth into the air and slammed in into the ground it had emerged from, breaking through whatever layer of earth remained and sent them both deep underground, though Grogar held a hand out to stop his companions from rushing over to him, just to be sure that the monster didn't emerge again, as while the Barroth was a dangerous foe he was sure the bull horned monster was even more dangerous. When he was sure that he and the others were in the clear, as he waited for a few moments to be sure that nothing happened, Grogar got up and walked over to the area that Patches and Jaya were standing in, where they regrouped and headed for the fragment of Zorah Magdaros, as it was in sight of Sherry and the others.
When they reached the fragment, however, Grogar found a person standing near the piece in question, who had a Slinger attached to his left arm, what appeared to be one of the Insect Glaives he had read about, one that had a flag baring the emblem of the First Fleet attached to it, and he was wearing some gear that meant he was a traveler, with a hood over his head, though Grogar could tell he was a Wyverian, due to his hands and legs.
"Are you part of the Fifth Fleet, stranger?" the traveler asked, confirming that it was a male speaker, based on what Grogar heard as he turned his full focus on the figure in question, though he could tell that the figure was studying him as well, as he was unique among the people of this world and everyone had to stop when they laid eyes on him.
"That I am. You're part of the First Fleet, right?" Grogar inquired in turn, all while Patches and Jaya faced the Wyverian for a few seconds, where he found that the stranger was interested in who he was and why he had a small monster with him, all while he was interested in who this person might be, since Commander Shepard hadn't mentioned him.
"Yes, though I have not been back to Astera in some time... the fact that there's a Fifth Fleet means that the Elder Crossing is upon us once more," the traveler said, something that interested Grogar, since he was sure that whatever he learned he could bring back to Astera and tell Commander Shepard, since it looked like he might have stumbled on one of his old and dear friends, before he glanced at Grogar as he pulled back his hood, revealing that his hair was black and braided, while his eyes looked focused and wise, "the years fly by faster than I can count them. Might I ask that you share your tale with me?"
Grogar nodded as the traveler informed him that they would be heading to his camp, to which he told Jaya to follow them to it and then, once they knew where it was, to head back to Sherry so she could lead them back to it, once they recovered the fragment that was near them. With the task received Jaya followed after them as they headed for an area that was very close to the gate between the Wildspire Waste and the Ancient Forest, one that was well hidden and required knowledge of the area to figure out where the hidden slope was that brought them to it, though given everything that was nearby he knew that the monsters wouldn't be able to find it. Once they came to a stop at the camp, as there was a tent and an area for a campfire, Jaya turned around and rushed out to find Sherry, though once that was done Grogar and the traveler took their seats as Patches set up some drinks for them, that way they wouldn't have sore throats while they talked, where he learned that his new friend was called Anzix, and he was the Seeker of the First Fleet. After that Grogar answered each and every question the figure had for him, as he was interested in who and what he was, since this was the first time the figure had seen someone like him, before eventually moving into the Elder Crossing and the fact that they were following a beast called Zorah Magdaros.
By the time Grogar ended his tale he was sure that they had been there for an hour or two, and Anzix made sure to pour some tea for them to drink, thanking Patches for helping them out, though he could tell that the Seeker was interested in him and less concerned by the existence of a new fleet.
"You are an interesting fellow, Grogar... you might be the key to figuring out this mystery," Anzix commented, though as he said that he glanced at the container that held a small piece of Zorah inside it, as Grogar had taken a small bit for himself, before leaving the fragment behind, which he handed back to Grogar after seeing what was inside it, "It seems so easy, just follow the trail and find the truth... but I have spent a long time following the trail, never getting closer to the truth of the Elder Crossing. After hearing about your powers, and seeing your ability to speak with the monsters that we share this world with, I'm convinced that we might be able to figure this out."
"That is my hope as well." Grogar said, because he had a feeling that the mystery of the Elder Crossing would be revealed at some point during his time in the New World, as his powers seemed to be the key, as Anzix had said, though he had no idea how to go about figuring things out, hence why he was focused on Zorah Magdaros.
"Well, I had best get going," Anzix stated, where he set his cup down before standing up, meaning there was stuff that he had to check and double check now that a new piece was on the board, while grabbing his weapon as well, before taking a moment to glance at Grogar as his new friend stood up as well, "however, I would ask that you pass on a message to the Commander. Tell Shepard that I am safe and that I will return in due time, but some force compels me to take this journey and I intend on seeing where it takes me."
Grogar nodded his head for a moment, allowing Anzix to depart from the camp as Sherry and the Scholars arrived, though he made sure they rested for a while before they made their way back to Astera, though he had a feeling that this would surprise Shepard once they returned and made him wonder what would happen once they got back.