The salty, humid sea wind swept in the New World's distinctive scent-a mingling of pollen from the Ancient Forest and dust from wyvern nests-and blasted through Astera's lower harbor.
The immense shadow of the steel vessel Homeward Bound loomed over the bustling docks. Ropes creaked against winches, and the sailors' rough work chants mingled with the shouts of workers hauling supplies.
Under cover of all that noise, a figure crept furtively along a towering stack of wooden crates.
The Sapphire Star, the brightest star of the Fifth Fleet, a hunter showered with countless honors such as "the White Wind of the New World" and "the Sapphire Star Who Lights the Way," was now hunching her shoulders like a rookie hiding from an Odogaron on her first day. She tried her hardest to tuck her entire body beneath her shabby, inconspicuous old cloak.
For fuck's sake! What White Wind? What Sapphire Star? And now they want me to lead the Fifth Fleet?
She nervously scanned her surroundings, making sure there were no familiar field team members or confidants of the Commander nearby, while furiously ranting to herself.
Holy crap! What kind of New World joke is this?!
Images flashed through her mind: Shara Ishvalda's earth-shaking roar, Safi'jiiva's crimson core drawing energy from the veins of the earth, Alatreon's world-destroying elemental inferno, and that pitch-black dragon perched at the pinnacle of all things forbidden, seemingly capable of devouring every last ray of light-Fatalis. Every battle had been a dance with her life balanced on a blade's edge, and every victory had brought unforgettable exhaustion and scars.
I'm just a longsword player! How the hell am I supposed to lead a fleet?!
The longsword that had accompanied her as she cut down countless elder dragons, the Fatalis Demolisher, now lay quietly inside a specially made waterproof pack. Its heavy weight reminded her of both the glory and the burden of her past.
Slaying dragons and leading a fleet... those are two completely different things! All that paperwork, coordination, personnel management, decision-making... just thinking about it makes my head hurt! She rubbed her temples, as though she could already see her miserable future, buried beneath mountains of reports.
The calm, composed, even slightly aloof face of her close friend Lone Bird surfaced clearly in her mind.
That bird's strength was unfathomable, yet he always kept as low a profile as a reef, going about alone and watching everything.
On this trip back to the Old World, she would make a run for it if she could. If she couldn't, she would lure Lone Bird back to take her place as fleet leader.
He's smarter than me, more levelheaded, and better at weighing the pros and cons... yeah, he doesn't talk much, but authority matters more for a leader! That settles it!
This plan to foist her troubles onto someone else instantly lifted her spirits, even leaving her a little smug. She glanced back one last time at Astera's buildings towering into the clouds, the Astera Workshop gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.
This place held so many of her adventures, bonds, and memories of growing stronger, but it was time for a "strategic retreat."
Enough said. It's come to this. Time to run.
She growled those words to herself, then seized the moment when the sailors' attention shifted to a freshly delivered crate of Barrel Bombs. Ducking low, she darted out of the shadows and dashed up the Homeward Bound's broad, slightly slippery gangway in a few quick strides.
The Sapphire Star's heart pounded in her chest. Only after she was certain she was fully concealed in the shadows of the cargo stacked on the upper deck did she let out a long sigh of relief.
She cautiously poked her head out. The figures at the harbor had already grown small, and Astera was gradually shrinking into one enormous silhouette. Relief at escaping her responsibilities mingled with excitement for the unknown journey ahead, spreading through her heart.
"Yay... finally slipped away. Heh heh heh~"
Leaning against a cold cargo crate, she shed a little of the burden of keeping up appearances and let the sea breeze play through the few strands of hair her cloak's hood hadn't quite covered, carrying the New World's distinctive scent away.
The outline of the Old World almost seemed to shimmer on the far side of the horizon. In her imagination, even Lone Bird's usually expressionless face now seemed tinged with the resignation of someone "about to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility."
"Heh heh heh. Once I get back to the Old World and trick Lone Bird into coming here, if he refuses, I'll bring a big hammer down on him. Heh heh heh~"
But just as she began to relax and was plotting how to find Lone Bird immediately after disembarking and begin her "persuasion-or rather, swindling-efforts," a steady voice, familiar enough to make her scalp prickle instantly, rose like a ghost from the shadow of another cargo crate a few steps behind her.
"Sapphire Star, your heh-heh-heh was rather conspicuous..." The voice was perfectly calm, yet carried an unmistakable force.
"No matter how far the star of the New World sails, her light will always guide Astera. And... I'm holding on to the key to the fleet leader's office for you for now."
The Sapphire Star's body went rigid in an instant, as though Nergigante's spikes had nailed her to the spot.
That voice sounds a little familiar. I'm screwed.
Slowly, with immense difficulty, she turned her head. Her pupils abruptly contracted when she made out the figure standing in the shadows with his arms folded, looking as though he had been waiting for quite some time-
It was the Field Team Leader! The man sharper than a Palico and more relentless than a Deviljho! When had he boarded the ship?! And when had he spotted her?!
No, she should call him the Commander now.
The Homeward Bound's horn sounded a long, booming blast, announcing its departure.
The Sapphire Star stared at the "just as I thought" smile on the Field Team Leader's face, then at the New World receding farther and farther behind her. A wave of "I'm screwed" despair surged through her, mingled with the absurd realization that her plan had collapsed before it had even gotten going.