He twisted and turned down the ramp leading down the mountain, knowing very well what would happen if he stopped. The strong wind began to pick up, and he felt his helmet get blown straight off of his head, but he paid no attention to it. He'd rather face the cold than what was chasing him. He should have known that he wasn't ready for this.
Spotting a small crevice just big enough for him to roll through, he sped up and skidded to a halt, quickly crawling inside. He quickly scrambled as deep as he could, although he could tell he had just made a big mistake. The cave was getting smaller and smaller, to the point where he couldn't move any more. And behind him, he heard the scraping of the beast's mighty claws and its angry snorts and growls. At one point, he struggled to shut out the noise as it roared down the crevice, before giving up, withdrawing, and he almost wanted to cry with relief as it flew away.
Quickly, he backtracked out of the crevice and looked around, checking for any monsters he may have missed, and then ran in the direction of his camp.
This hunter's name is Suzaku. And that monster hunting him was a Tigrex.
He sharpened his longsword and stared into the blade, looking at his reflection. He traced his fingers down a bleeding slash on his cheek. He heard a metallic clang to his left and glanced outside, and saw his helmet stuck on one of the tent poles, shaking in the wind. He sheathed his longsword, ventured outside, took his helmet down from the pole and placed it back on his head. He would finish this. He had already come this far.
He tore down the mountain, his eyes landing on a soaring shape in the sky, landing at the base of the mountain. He had already disposed of its left wing and given it some pretty bad wounds. Now, he just had to kill it.
He flew past the herd of Popo, and through the new nest of Genprey, and then on into the clearing where the Tigrex had landed. It was quick to spot him and give him a deafening roar of greeting.
"Nice to see you too, buddy." He hissed, drawing his longsword and charging at the Tigrex's rear, determined to get some hits in before it launched an attack. The Tigrex beat him to it and spun around, using his left wing to swipe Suzaku away. He was quick to get back to his feet, and ran with his Longsword directly for the Tigrex's face, enraged. His longsword began to glow brightly, almost the glow that you'd expect from a Lagiacrus' spikes, and the Tigrex, mesmerised by it, was still, until it got a slash down its snout.
It roared in pure rage and reared back onto its haunches, unable to do much else. As it dropped, Suzaku rolled out of the way clumsily as to miss its body slam.
While getting back to his feet, he lost his grip and fell onto his back, and he discovered with increasing horror that the Tigrex was upon him. He found himself gripped down by the Tigrex's huge claws, and the Tigrex opened its mouth wide for Suzaku to see its two rows of jagged, bloodstained teeth.
The Tigrex suddenly shut its jaws and looked up, distracted by something. A small family of Popo had just entered the clearing, and the second they spotted the Tigrex, they were quick to try and turn around again. The Tigrex moved like a spring, jumping across the clearing in an attempt to get there faster. He gripped one of the Popo in his claws and bit into it. Suzaku winced as he heard bones break, and realized that he was wasting a good chance. He could take the Tigrex out right here if he moved fast.
He got to his feet and ran as fast as he could at the snacking monster, unsheathing his mighty longsword as he went. He brought the weapon down on its tail, severing it with one, clean strike. The Tigrex howled and reared up onto its back legs, and Suzaku jumped at the chance to get some materials from the tail. He sheathed the longsword and quickly pulled some scales and spikes from its still moving tail, and packed them in his bag. As he shut the bag, he noticed with horror that the Tigrex had charged and was only a few steps away from slamming into him. Suzaku quickly rolled out of the way, getting back to his feet and unsheathing his blade. The Tigrex, winded, spent a few precious seconds regaining the energy it needed to turn around. Suzaku took that chance and launched several clean strokes at its head.
Suzaku, expecting it to attack, quickly jumped away as it roared and began to shake in pain. Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, the beast collapsed and fell still. The clearing around them was eerily silent. Suzaku could do little more than stare at the fallen horror, taking in its features as if expecting to get up and start moving again. The jagged, turquoise stripes that lined its side, the pointed shoulder blades that connected its wings to its body, and its head too large for its neck. He had no idea how the Tigrex could move so fast, pulling its head around like that.
Getting what he could from the Tigrex's body, he began to set off back towards his village.
On returning, expecting to be congratulated from all sides, he was met with panic and shock. On speaking to the village chief, he was told that a Teostra that had, surprisingly, protected the village from other big monsters like the Tigrex, had suddenly vanished. So, after leaving his Tigrex carves with the blacksmith, he took his longsword and set off up the mountain towards the Teostra's domain...
