Chapter 1 – Traumbild:

Author's Note:

Wow… it's been over a full year since Weltschmerz was finished. Weltschmerz did fairly well and there was quite a bit of support behind a sequel, and I was more than happy to give everyone what they wanted. But I wanted it to be special… just like how Weltschmerz came out the first day Monster Hunter Generations came out in America, I wanted Rache to come out the first day Double Cross came out. Unfortunately… Double Cross never came to America, and the moment I heard that it wasn't coming out here, I scrapped what little I had of the story and set it aside out of sheer disappointment.

But… Monster Hunter World was announced soon after! I didn't find out about World until a few months ago, but the moment I heard it was coming out on PC, I picked this story right back up! I finished the story board and I wrote the first chapter months in advance, ready for this moment. I did have a small internal debate over whether I should release the first chapter when World came out for PS4 and XBOX 1, or if I should wait until I actually got it on PC. Once I found out that it wasn't going to be out on PC until AUTUMN, I decided to go ahead and prepare this story for release as soon as World came out on PS4. So… I don't actually have MH World right now…

So, to do a little recap about what happened in the previous story: our main hero, Zim, found out that he was a human-monster hybrid (with a Rajang, specifically) when he contracted the frenzy virus, before eventually overcoming it to go Apex. Zim decided, upon going Apex, that he was tired of being forced to hunt monsters by the Hunter's Guild, and felt that the Guild was wrongly hunting monsters. He questions the history of the guild and even the practice of hunting itself. So he bands together a group of monster-loving humans known as the Knights of the Wolf and several Elder Dragons to attack Dundorma. After a lengthy struggle, and an encounter with Zim's mother, the Hunter's Guild is pushed back and Dundorma is taken.

This story takes place just a few months after the revolution. The Harmony Guild is formed with Malakai as its Guildmaster, and he has successfully led several campaigns against the remnants of the Hunter's Guild (taking back key cities like Bherna and Cathar), pushing them back even farther. But the war will not end until the Hunter's Guild Guildmaster is dead.

And that's all you really need to know! A nice little summary for those who haven't read Weltschmerz in a while, or for those who haven't read Weltschmerz at all (I would highly recommend reading Weltschmerz before reading this story, but to each his own, I suppose). Just a quick note, though, before we continue. I'm going to try and keep doing chapter titles in German, just like I did in the last story, and I'll give their definitions after the author's note like I did in the last story too. And with all that said… please, enjoy and happy hunting!

XXX

Rache: Revenge.

Traumbild: Vision.

"Breath in… and breath out," a woman with pure white hair said as she sucked in a breath, before letting it out moments later. She was clad in brilliant gold armor, though she wasn't wearing a helmet and there were a few scuff marks on the chest plate. A campfire illuminated her face, otherwise it would have been difficult to see her in the darkness, with only the moon as a light source.

On the other side of the campfire sat a bare-chested man with his eyes closed. He wore similar golden armor as the female across from him, though only below his waist. He followed the woman's instructions, breathing in on command, before breathing out when prompted. A gentle breeze blew black locks of hair into his face, but he didn't seem to react. Whether he didn't care or just didn't notice was difficult to determine from someone as deep into a meditative sleep as he was.

The white-haired woman continued to repeat her instructions, and the black-haired male followed them to the letter. They were in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by forest. Their fire was small, but the warmth it provided staved off the slight chill of the breeze. The relentless buzzing of Bnahabra could be heard all throughout the clearing, though the small Neopteron avoided the fire like the plague.

A loud roar echoed across the Jurassic Frontier, where the two humans were busy meditating, but neither of them stirred. The monster sounded rather far away and was neither of their concern. Besides, hunting monsters wasn't something they did anymore. The two humans continued to focus on their meditation, ignoring the territorial roars of the unidentified monster.

"Focus inwards," the white-haired female requested as she stuck out both of her arms, palms facing upwards. The male continued to breath slowly, in and out, before copying the gesture, though he made sure he set his hands on top of hers, palms facing down.

"A Rajang does not produce its own electricity. After years and years studying them, I have never been able to find a source of their electric power," the female said, speaking slowly as if her words were penetrating a mental barrier around the male's mind. Despite that, her tone was quite soft, though her voice bespoke wisdom and age incomprehensible to most. "But I have been able to construct a number of different theories on how they manage to generate such powerful lightning."

"Is this to help me conduct my own electricity or to help your research?" the male grumbled during one of his exhales, as to not break his meditative cycle. His eyes stayed closed, and he didn't move an inch, trying to remain as deep in the meditative state as possible.

"Quiet," the female hissed, clearly unhappy about his comment. "For your information, it's both. But that's besides the point… the point is that while most monsters that control electricity have some sort of sac that helps produce the charge, but the Rajang has no such electro sac."

The male held back a snide comment as he continued breathing slowly, managing to enter an even deeper meditative state. "However, after observing and studying Lagiacrus' ability to generate electricity, I believe that Rajang's lightning works in a very similar way," the white-haired female explained. "As in, the golden hairs on a Rajang draws in an electric charge and it somehow harnesses it into its beam attack."

"I don't have golden hair," the male grumbled.

"My eyes work fine, Zim," the woman rolled her eyes as if to under line her point. "However, a normal Rajang isn't golden all the time, as you should already know. The golden fur only emerges when a Rajang is enraged."

"So how is meditating supposed to help, Shiro?" Zim asked, raising an eyebrow, though his eyes did not open. "Shouldn't I focus on getting angry instead of calming down?"

"It is true that a monster's enraged state comes from well… rage, but that's not the only time a monster enrages," Shiro explained. "A monster might enter its enraged state if it's tired and running out of stamina, yet can't find anything to eat, out of fear for being killed when it realizes its regeneration is about to wear out, or even simply because there are other monsters in the area during mating season."

"Still doesn't explain the meditation."

"The idea, young one, if you would actually focus on meditating instead of backtalking, is to try and force you into an enraged state with the use of fear," the white-haired woman said, smirking slightly. "Up until this point, whenever you get angry, your apex state takes over, substituting for a traditional enraged state that most normal monsters have. We're just going to try a different tactic."

"So you're going to try and scare me into an enraged state?" the black-haired male scoffed. To him, it sounded like the stupidest idea he had ever heard. In his mind, nothing frightened him anymore. He had no need of fear, so he had abandoned it, as the apex state would protect him from harm, or any reason to fear anything.

"Not exactly, but you're not too far off," Shiro shrugged. Zim hadn't noticed her move one of her hands to reach into a pouch on her belt. She fished around blindly for a moment before pulling out a needle. Noticing that Zim was starting to realize she had moved her hand, she quickly jabbed the needle into one of his arms and pushed the plunger down before he could do anything.

He let out a surprised snarl as he felt something stab him, though it didn't feel like a blade. His eyes snapped open to see a syringe still sticking out of his arm, causing him to roll away from the white-haired woman, putting some distance between them. "What did you do?" he let out an angry growl as he ripped the needle from his arm and crushed it in his fist.

"Oh… just a little something I whipped up to help frighten you," Shiro smirked. "I had a feeling it would take more than just a jump scare. You should already be beginning to feel the effects…"

Zim stumbled to his knees as the world around him began to spin. His heart beat faster and faster as he felt a cold tingle jolt down his spine, forcing a frightened whimper from his throat. He had forgotten what the icy grip of fear had felt like, and as his brain struggled to figure out where the threat was, panic began rising in his chest, making his rapid heartbeat even more erratic.

But there was no threat to be identified. There was nothing he could fight, nothing he could run from, nothing he could even cower in submission to. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He let out a loud scream, before collapsing onto his side, everything still spinning around him as darkness crept into his field of vision.

Shiro watched as Zim fell onto the ground, staring blankly up at the ground as he did. "Well that didn't work," she grumbled as she watched him pass out. The serum had done exactly as she had hoped it would. Zim had felt truly paralyzing, scream-inducing, panic-filled fear, and yet she had not seen a single golden tuft of fur, nor even the slightest flash of electricity. Even the air didn't feel ionized.

I guess I'll mark that down as a failure, she sighed to herself, as she looked back down at the fire. He would likely be out for at least a few minutes. Even though she had given him a very small dose, the serum was powerful. But, she realized a moment later as the cackling flames continued to illuminate the hollow, He didn't go apex either.

XXX

Zim's eyes snapped open as a loud roar echoed throughout the area. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, before a hand shot up to his pounding head. It felt like a Duramboros had smacked him, causing a dull throbbing pain to lance through his skull every time he even thought about moving.

But, despite his aching head, he forced himself to look around as another roar echoed through the area. Luckily he didn't need to look far to discover the source of the roars. A massive Deviljho stood only a few meters away from him, releasing loud roars every few minutes.

The thought of an enraged Deviljho caused Zim to panic, despite the pounding in his head. He immediately hopped to his feet and attempted to enter his protective apex state. Only to find, after a few seconds of trying, that he was unable to call the black mist to him. But, upon further inspection, the Deviljho seemed to be targeting something else.

Clutching his head again, Zim turned around to see a Rajang on the opposite side of the clearing they were in. The Rajang was clearly glaring at the Deviljho, but wasn't responding to the forest green colored monster's roars with roars of his own. The Rajang's fur was spiked up and had turned golden as electricity sparked around its body.

The two elder dragon level monsters were in a deadlock, staring each other down, while the Deviljho let out the occasional roar. Zim, who had yet to be able to activate his apex mode, decided it was best if he got as far away from the two monsters as possible. So he, as quietly as he could, took a step backwards. But that simple action was what seemed to cause the two to break their stalemate.

The Deviljho let out an even louder roar, his veins pumping excess blood throughout his body, causing his muscles to swell and old battle scars to become visible again. The Rajang finally let out a roar in response, rearing on his hind legs and beating his chest as even more electricity sparked and surged around him. His arms had taken on a reddish glow, increasing their strength and defense.

The Deviljho struck first, lurching forward with surprising speed. The ground thundered from each of his footsteps, causing Zim to nearly loose balance. Though the hybrid's headache did get worse with each step of the World Eater. The Rajang didn't move from his spot, watching the Deviljho close the distance with a surprisingly calm expression, for a Rajang.

But, in an instant, the Rajang sucked in a breath and exhaled a beam of lightning. The beam sliced through the Deviljho, electrocuting its insides. The Deviljho lost momentum as he screamed in pain, lightning being one of his key weaknesses. The monster's high speed regeneration began repairing the damage the moment the Rajang stopped firing its beam, but the Golden Lion didn't give the World Eater even a moment to heal.

The Rajang rushed forward, and punched the Deviljho across the face, breaking the World Eater's jaw with a loud crack! The Deviljho let out a squeal as the sheer force of the blow nearly knocked him off his feet, but the Rajang still wasn't finished, as a flurry of punches slammed into the World Eater's side, the sound of bones breaking still audible to Zim.

The Deviljho attempted to counter the Rajang with a furious bite, but the Golden Lion leapt high into the air, far outside of the Deviljho's reach. The World Eater was unable to move out of the way with his injuries, and was subjected to a back-breaking attack by the Rajang. The Golden Lion curled up into a ball and began spinning as he plummeted back down to the floor, slamming into the Deviljho's spine.

The World Eater was forced onto the ground from the sheer force of the blow, not to mention his spine breaking. His high speed regeneration was having trouble keeping up with all the different wounds he was accumulating so quickly. But the Rajang still wasn't done. He rolled off the Deviljho's back and skidded to a stop on the ground, before immediately firing another lightning beam at the brute wyvern's side.

Zim actually had to take a step to the side to avoid being hit by the beam, as once again the beam sliced right through the Deviljho's flesh and disappeared into the void around the clearing. Once the Rajang closed its mouth, ending his lightning breath attack, he didn't continue the assault. Rather, he stood there and panted, waiting to see if the Deviljho had survived the assault.

To both Zim and the Rajang's surprises, the Deviljho had survived. A sizzling sound filled the air as the World Eater's flesh and muscles began repairing itself, before the monster's bones snapped back into place. The Deviljho hefted himself off the ground with another loud roar, his muscles seemingly getting even bigger as more and more blood pumped through his veins.

The Deviljho sucked in a breath, before whipping around as fast as he could, exhaling his dragon breath. The red and black cloud of dragon element blasted out of the Deviljho's mouth, heading straight for the Rajang. The Rajang, however, simply ignored the dragon breath as he once again rushed into the fray.

The World Eater did not let up, however, continuously backing up and using its dragon breath, hoping to force the Golden Lion to stumble, giving the brute wyvern the upper hand. But eventually, the Rajang caught up to his foe, before giving the Deviljho a vicious uppercut. The World Eater's jaws snapped shut with a painful clack and his dragon breath attack was forcefully ended.

The Rajang wasted no time in grabbing the brute wyvern's neck and wrestling him to the ground. Zim watched, fascinated, as the fanged beast grabbed the Deviljho's upper and lower jaws, slowly and forcefully prying them apart. The Deviljho struggled against the Rajang's pure strength, but with its miniscule arms, it couldn't reach the Golden Lion to pry or push him away.

The World Eater was helpless as the Rajang pulled his skull apart, ripping off his upper jaw and brain case. The Deviljho collapsed onto its side without releasing even so much as a squeal. After repairing so many lethal injuries, the brute wyvern's regeneration couldn't regrow his entire brain.

The Golden Lion let out a victorious roar as the Deviljho died, standing up on his hind legs and smashing his foe's skull in his hand. The Rajang dropped back down on all fours and turned around to face Zim. The hybrid's eyes widened as the monster began making its way towards him with a noticeable swagger.

Once again, fear shot through the hybrid's chest, as he still was unable to call upon the apex state, and the Rajang was getting closer and closer. Zim stood rooted to the spot as the Rajang made his way up to the hybrid, before stopping only a few feet away, the monster's golden fur receding back onto his back. "And that's how you fight a Deviljho, Zǐ," the Rajang smirked.

Zim blinked up at the Rajang, before checking behind him to see if the monster was addressing someone else. But, after a quick scan of the clearing, Zim and the Rajang were the only living things in the area. "Ha! Speechless, eh? Serves you right for doubting me," the Rajang chuckled as Zim looked back at him.

He's talking to me, Zim realized as he licked his lips slowly. This was his chance… he had no idea what had happened, or where he was, but this was an actual Rajang in front of him. Perhaps he could ask the Golden Lion about his lightning. Mustering up his courage, Zim looked the Rajang right in the eyes and asked, "How do you gather the lightning required for that beam attack?"

The Rajang cocked his head, looking at Zim as if he had grown a second head. "What? That's the third time you've asked me that, Zǐ," the fanged beast said, narrowing his eyes. "And for the third time I've told you that I can't tell you until you pass your trial."

Zim glared at the Rajang, muttering to himself about how 'of course it wasn't this easy.' "Then could you remind me what my trial is?" he asked, desperately searching for clues to the secret of the Rajang's lightning.

"You have a very poor memory, Zǐ. Xiānbèi told you that your trial was…" the Rajang trailed off as he looked up at the sky. Zim's eyes narrowed as he too glanced up, only for his eyes to widen as he saw something red rushing towards him and the Rajang.

Neither of them had time to react as a screeching sound filled their ears, before something big and fast landed between them, blasting Zim off his feet, and throwing him across the clearing. The hybrid hit the ground hard as a dull ringing filled his ears. Darkness quickly overtook his vision before he was able to see what had happened to the Rajang, though he did manage to catch a glimpse of what had hit him.

It was a slender silver dragon standing on four legs with a massive pair of wings on its back. An elder dragon, no doubt. And from the tips of its wings came a continuous jet of mysterious red energy, almost like a flame, but somehow closer to the Deviljho's dragon breath. The monster glanced at Zim just in time for the hybrid to see its blue eyes, before he lost consciousness.

XXX

Ah, finally, the first chapter of a long-awaited sequel. The first chapter is always the hardest, even if you have a story board ready to go. I struggled a bit with whether I wanted this to be a prologue chapter, where it focused more on Zim's inability to draw lightning, or an actual chapter, throwing everyone right into the fray with action. In the end I decided upon a hybrid of sorts… definitely not a prologue, but it still explores a bit of Zim's key struggle throughout this story.

And a lot, quite a lot, of you wanted to see Zim go 'Super Saiyan' in the last story. And, while I agree that it would be cool, it didn't quite fit how I wanted it to in the previous story. And whether or not Zim actually manages to go 'Super Saiyan' in this story is yet to be seen…

For those of you who are just finding out, Rajang don't actually make their own lightning, like a Khezu does. Rather, they get their lightning from another source… more like a Zinogre might. Those of you who already know how Rajang generate their electricity probably already know what the trial the Rajang in Zim's dream spoke of is.

On another note about the Rajang, I decided to give them a special thing, like I did for Fuun and for Nova. While Nova speaks German and Fuun Japanese, I decided to make Rajang vaguely Chinese. The Chinese words the Rajang uses were found via a dictionary, and hopefully mean what I want them to mean, as I don't speak the language. But I won't translate them for you now… that'll come later down the line.

Clearly the dream Zim had was a premonition of some kind. So the questions must be asked… why did that Rajang treat Zim like a companion? Why was that Rajang showing Zim how to fight Deviljho? And what the hell was that elder dragon at the very end? All that and more… next time!