Wild Hunters

Chapter 1

Strangest of Strangers

NOTE: This story here is more like a mini-episode to the story: The Monster Trapper. So Wild Hunters can be treated like a bonus history story to certain characters. Who knows, there might be more, this is just one of the first, so happy readings and please review.

SECOND NOTE: I do not own Monster Hunters and Wild Kratts, wished I did on Monster Hunters, but oh well.

[Listen to the Hylian Ensemble Minuet of Forest on YouTube]

During the bright sunny afternoon, there were sounds of creatures being active and roaming about in the dense jungle area. A really large jungle that covers the land over miles around, so dense that and huge that it seem like a giant maze. There are ancient ruins about that had been consumed by nature itself, and quite many creatures, both large and small had named this place their home.

To beings outside this jungle, it's not just a place that can easily get lost in, but an adventure. Many hunters had venture through that jungle, hunted or captured creatures, collected materials from the land, and even enjoyed the peaceful life of the beautiful place.

This jungle area had been giving a name, and many humans, felynes and melynxs call it, Everwood, an Expedition Zone. An Expedition Zone is at times labelled as three different areas across the continent, and at times there are really rare and beautiful creatures that chose to make their homes in these zones. And of course, there are creatures trying to survive in this land, either from predators such as carnivores and hunters. So it's not a wildlife preserve like other special "Sanctuary" places.

And right now, in one part of the dense jungles, on the path that goes around huge trees and ruined walls, came a group. The group consists of three beings, one hunter and two palicoes.

The hunter known as Josephiroth, he stood about six feet and four inches tall, and is currently wearing his red pigmented nerscylla s armor. Carrying on his back was a sheathed sword and large shield known as the Arachnoscale Charge Blade.

To his left walked the three feet tall palico in nerscylla armor herself, regular grayish-white colored armor and a scythe-like weapon on her back. Her name is Slashuur.

And to the right of Josephiroth was Nealerea, a three feet tall palico who is also wearing nerscylla armor but is blue pigmented and she too was carrying a scythe-like weapon upon her back.

The trio kept on walking through the pathway in their current area, Josephiroth in the lead and the two palicoes walking behind him.

Within the area with them were some bird-like creatures grazing about, each of them stood eight feet tall and often stood close to a water source. The Gargwas is what their called, Gargwa have very small, likely vestigial wings. Like most species of Herbivore, they're normally docile creatures but will attack and flee when they're threatened. They coexist with the people of Yukumo village as livestock, but they have been known to attack Hunters from time to time.

Their current mission of the day for being in this part of the Expedition Zone was not because of the Gargwas, and seeing no point of bothering the creatures, the trio walked around them, letting them to eat in peace. Well, except one…

"Ooh, bird legs!" Slashuur meowed; seem to be very happy to see the Gargwas. She pulled her scythe off her back and was about to charge.

"Oh, no you don't," Nealerea said as she had grabbed Slashuur's tail and started to drag her away. "We do not need to hunt Gargwa today, so if you're hungry, just eat your ration, sister."

Slashuur groaned, "But I want chicken legs!" She pouted, crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Then I'm sure Joseph can buy you some when we get back to Dundorma City later, right Joey?" asked Nealerea, looking to the hunter. He nodded in reply, more focus on listening to their surroundings as they go. "See, he agreed too, so stop pouting and come on."

Slashuur sighed, "Fine…" And she followed her sister and their hunter as they kept on travelling onward.

They ignored the peaceful Gargwas, who were focus in eating and enjoying their peaceful moment. The Gargwas were likely happy that the hunter that came into the area wasn't interested in them.

So they kept on going, but as the trio near the exit of their area, Josephiroth stopped and held up his right fist up, telling his allies to stop and be quiet, for he heard something.

"Is the Najarala close, Josephiroth?" Slashuur whispered to the hunter quietly, till her sister whacks her on her helmet, mainly to tell her to be quiet, "Ow!"

Josephiroth shook his head in saying no, for he didn't hear the sound of the large snake-like predator, but he did heard yelling. And it sounded close, like in the same area close, just further behind them. He placed his left hand to the side of his helmet, like trying to listen to the wind clearer, but it was mainly to tell the two palicoes to listen as well. Since the felynes have better ears compared to humans, well at least Nealerea does since Slashuur hardly cleans her ears.

But even so, those two palicoes became silent and listened, than they heard.

"Oh this is so awesome Martin, it's like a giant prehistoric turkey!" said one voice.

"Oh yeah Chris, it is likely is the ancestor of a turkey, but also the ostrich no doubt. It's so adorable too!"

'Turkey, ostrich, what the heck are those?' thought Josephiroth, and he could see his comrades looking confused as well. Telling his teammates to be quiet, he crouched down and started to crawl in the direction of those two voices, the two palicoes got onto all fours and slowly followed behind their hunter as well.

As they neared, they heard the voices get louder, it's like those two men want the whole jungle to hear them. 'Okay, by the sounds of it, these two are reckless teenagers who think they're good enough to lure in creatures by talking loudly, morons,' Josephiroth thought as they neared.

The trio soon arrived and stood behind crumbling old walls that were covered in vines, trees and bushes. Quietly moving through the bushes, Josephiroth was the first to poke his head out from the top of the bushes, his red helmet visible. The two palicoes stayed hidden in the bushes, being hidden but were able to see.

Ahead of them, they all see two humans acting weird around a Gargwa. Heck, they're not even wearing armor or carrying weaponry, are they complete fools to come out here defenseless?

The tall one, likely the same height as Josephiroth is, stood six feet and four inches tall. He was wearing boots, short pants, and a blue long-sleeve shirt made from strange materials and it had black stripes running across the sides, the sleeves were rolled up though, heck their clothes are strange, kinda reminds him of one of those people who try to look like normal working people or something. They both have tan skin, so it was obvious that they'd been outside a lot, heck no doubt haven't even wear armor. Still, the tall one of the duo has blond-brownish hair and big blue eyes, and seems to be acting like a child around the Gargwa.

Then the other one, stood about five feet and ten inches tall, and wore similar boots, similar short pants, and a long-sleeve shirt that also had black stripes running across the sides and the sleeves were rolled up. It also has a bit of opening, what seems like a white shirt underneath. He has spiked brown hair and light brown eyes. And out of the duo, he seems to be much more of an observer compared to the other.

They seem to be lucky that they didn't agitate the Gargwa to attack them otherwise they'd be feeling bruises for a week if the bird wyvern attacked them.

"Whoa Chris, this bird is so pretty and majestic," said the tall one, smiling as he looked up at the Gargwa whom stood tall and looking down at them. "It stands at least eight feet tall bigger than raptor I think." He then smiled, "Think I'll call you Majestic."

"Going for something simple, nice Martin," the small one replied with a smile, so that's their names. The small one is Chris and the big one is Martin.

'Sure they are nice, looking peaceful creatures, but calling one majestic... but really?' Josephiroth thought, looking confused at the two men. He could tell Slashuur and Nealerea were looking confused at these two.

Chris had gotten behind the Gargwa; seem to be viewing its butt, till he saw something. "Martin, look! Majestic is a girl, a hen, it looks like she's about to lay an egg," Chris said, getting his brother's attention.

"Oh so Majestic is a girl, not a guy, still cool," Martin said with a smile, and both humans watched the Gargwa lay down and out came an egg.

'All Gargwas are hens, they self-reproduce, never seen a male Gargwa before,' Josephiroth thought, still looking confused at them. 'Are they like students to the school in Dundorma City, just out here observing creatures of the wild? Don't they know that the Gargwa is likely frightened of them? Gargwas do lay fake eggs fast enough so to distract predators while it flees.'

And then the two boys gasped as they saw as the Gargwa gotten back up, there lying on the ground was a golden egg. Looks like the two boys are having a lucky day.

"No way, she laid a golden egg!" Chris exclaimed in surprised.

"It's like in that fantasy story, Jack and the Beanstalk, a real live goose that lays golden eggs!" said Martin; both of them were looking down at the egg with wide eyes, likely seeing it being so adorable.

Slashuur likely would've spoke out in annoyance at those two, if it weren't for Nealerea keeping her sister's mouth shut. While Josephiroth looked more confused, he thought to himself, 'What the heck are the Jack and the Beanstalk story?'

"Hey, where she's going? Come back, your leaving your egg!" Martin called after Majestic whom fled from the two men. He ran off after the Gargwa, while Chris seems to be examining the egg.

Then suddenly he pulled out a strange item and it made the egg glow for a moment. He was looking at it before he called, "Martin waits! Come look at this," and the tall boy came back and looked at it. "Do you see what I see?"

Martin looked surprise, "Oh it's infertile, Majestic is like a giant chicken!"

"She likely laid the egg so to distract predators while she flees," Chris said, he smiled. "Cool creature power, producing fake large eggs to distract predators while it flees."

"So Majestic saw us as a predator," Martin said, and then he turned and went and chased after the Gargwa. "Wait Majestic, we're not predators, we're friends!"

'Why do I get the feeling these two are more likely to get a Gargwa coop so to collect eggs?' Josephiroth thought to himself, looking really annoyed, he does hate egg poachers after all, even if the egg is infertile. But then again, it could also actually be fertile, no one truly knows unless the egg hatches in a few weeks. There are two theories on the Gargwas with their egg laying method, the most common thought is leaving an egg behind so to distract predators while the Gargwa could escape.

There had also been reports of people keeping the egg after found and weeks later the egg hatches into a Gargwa hatchling. Some eggs don't though, so it's rather difficult to tell if the egg is fertile or not.

So how does that strange device tell the difference within the egg?

"Aviva, are you getting this?" asked Chris, he was looking at his strange device.

"Loud and clear guys," said a female voice, it seem to come out of that strange looking item. "But I doubt I be making a creature power suit of Majestic, heck I don't know what it's actually called. Koki, what do you see in your database?"

"Nothing, zilch, nada," said another female voice. "It's a creature never recorded, the X-Ray you guys sent shows no fossil records in our time."

Chris suddenly looked very happy, seem surprise, "So it's a never before seen creature, a new-I mean old species. I got to get some pictures of it."

"Wait Chris," said a male voice from that strange item. "Don't forget the golden egg, man!"

"Why Jimmy?" asked Chris.

"As a souvenir you guys got from that awesome bird," the boy known as Jimmy replied. "Who knows, maybe its egg shells can be used to make money for the Tortuga, and I could make a large chocolate cake from that single egg."

"Did somebody say chocolate?" asked Martin who'd return, sounds like he likes chocolate.

"Yeah, and in a way, Majestic did give us this egg, maybe as a gift or a peace offering," Chris said. "But first, we best make sure if Majestic wants her egg or not."

"Right Chris," Martin replied with a smile, than he went to pick up the egg. But he grunted as he tried to lifted, "Whoa, this egg is heavy!"

"Its shell is golden bro," Chris said with a chuckle. "But hold on, I'll help you out." He went and stood beside his brother and took hold of the egg, easy the burden with his brother. "Now let's go bro!"

"Right bro!" replied Martin and the two brothers rushed off, carrying the egg with them as they went after the Gargwa.

Once those two were gone, Josephiroth stood up in the bushes and back away, with the two palicoes following behind him. As they go, Josephiroth thought, 'Well then, they might not be egg poachers, but still be cautious. They seem like observers, they're likely scientists. But strange words they used.'

"What are those two idiots doing?" Slashuur meowed, still annoyed about those two brothers. "They just come to the Expedition Zone without any form of protection, talk about stupidity!"

"Don't need to be rude," Nealerea replied. Then she nodded, "But I do agree, those strange people had been acting so weird. Three voices from nowhere and those two are acting like children around a pet creature. It's nice that they decided to transport the egg to the Gargwa, leave it to the bird wyvern to decide for her eggs."

Josephiroth nodded in reply as the trio walked on, then as they go he said, "Let's just continue our mission, capture the Najarala and send it to Sanctuary."

"Heh, maybe you can tame this one too, huh Joey?" Sasha meowed, looking up to him, whom seems to just ignore her question. "If not, then sweet epic battle to come!"

They soon left the current area and walked along on their path, it didn't last long but eventually the three of them arrived to what looks like a large clear grassy area with a wall cliff covered in vines to climb up. There was no path up there, but it's a good jumping area.

And the group weren't alone in the area, for they saw the snake-wyvern, it stood twenty feet tall. Najarala is a large Snake Wyvern with bright green skin adorned with large orange-yellow plates on its back and tail. It has a long serpentine body with small though fully functional fore- and hind-limbs that aids it in moving around on uneven ground. Najarala also has a large beak-like mouth similar to that of a parrot, along with a small pair of tusks.

The creature seems to be exploring about, till it senses their arrival. It turned towards the trio and growled before releasing a loud roar, "ROAR!"

The Najarala called out a challenge, in which Josephiroth replied with his own after he unsheathed his charge blade and held his large shield in his right hand. He took a deep breath before yelling out in reply, "ROAR!"

He answered that call with his own, and by doing so, the Najarala slowly nodded and coiled its body. Then it growled, getting ready to do combat with the hunter.

Seeing this, Nealerea looked to her sister and nodded over to a nearby tree. "Challenge accepted, one-on-one duel between them, let's go collect some bugs while they battle," she meowed to her sister.

"Sweet, a little show for us to watch," Slashuur replied as she walked away with her sister, heading to where the tree was and seeing some bugs to collect.

With that, both Najarala and Josephiroth faced each other. Najarala slithered to its right and Josephiroth moved to the right as well, they were circling each other. Then with a loud growl, the Najarala slithered toward the hunter, beginning its attack.

The Wild Kratts' base, the Tortuga, was currently parked on a large, flat, grassy area. The Tortuga is designed to look like a giant turtle, it is very and its main color is teal-aqua. Like real turtles, it has a very detailed shell. Its legs are in place, and its head had opened to reveal a ramp stairway that leads into it, like an open mouth.

As for where it was parked, close by to it is a place called, "Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre". Their moveable base was currently in Morden, within Manitoba, which is in Canada.

And currently right now, outside of the Tortuga lies what looks like an archway, a mechanical circle with pillars on either side of it to stay standing. It was also teal-aqua in color, and had a ramp leading up into it. Currently the device was offline.

Considering today was a nice, bright sunny day, they had decided to do a special, important project. Two girls and a boy, the girls were currently inside the Tortuga, watching the large computer screen, while the boy was relaxing on a lawn chair, likely to keep a watch on the portal device. Resting on the fold-out table beside his chair looks like a joystick, which he carries around with him for most things.

The boy is about five feet and ten inches tall, Caucasian, and he is a red-head with a blue-green baseball cap worn backwards. He is wearing a grey t-shirt with a video game character on it, a white long sleeved shirt under the grey t-shirt, red plaid shorts, and white tennis shoes. He has some facial hair on his chin and some freckles, and his eyes are light blue. His name is Jimmy Z.

The two girls inside the Tortuga are Aviva and Koki. They both stood about same height of five feet and eight inches tall.

Aviva is a Latina girl with bushy brown hair that is tied back in a ponytail, and her eyes are dark shade of gray. She is wearing a yellow jacket with a blue stripe running down both of the sleeves. A black belt with a bolt on it is worn crookedly around her waist. She also wears blue jeans and white converse shoes.

And Koki is an African American. She is a brunette that wears a red, short sleeved shirt with a white star on it, yellow pants, and red shoes, each with two green stripes coming down from the laces to the sole. She wears a yellow headband on her head, and one pearl earring and two hoop earrings on each of her ears. She also has some freckles.

And currently on their large computer screen, was showing what looks like a jungle area, with the Kratt Brothers running along a path, they working together carrying the golden egg. And they were following the path where Majestic took.

After making the comment of the idea of making a large chocolate cake out of the big golden egg, Jimmy Z had went out to wait to activate the portal device.

"It's bizarre," Koki said, sounded confused.

"What is?" asked Aviva as she looked to her friend.

"That bird, there is no fossil records of it period," Koki replied, she presses a few buttons on the keyboard. On the viewing screen, what they're seeing of the Kratt brothers had shorten down so to show a camera picture of Majestic, the large, turkey-like chicken, and an X-Ray picture, showing its skeleton. "I did a quick background check, there is still nothing coming up telling us what that bird actually is. Nothing and I even sent some messages to archaeologists, to see if they know if there is any fossils resemble the bird."

"Well maybe there are no fossils of it dug up yet," Aviva suggested.

"I'm still not sure," Koki said as she crossed her arms. "Sure it was awesome that you had completed your project 'Time-Gate', and had sent the brothers to the time of the dinosaurs so to do actual research on the ancient giants and how they live. But the place their in, it's so strange. It gives me the feeling of wild jungles, but it also holds something like a mysterious aura."

"Well we don't really exactly know what the usual life was for the dinosaurs back then, mostly just theories," Aviva replied. "But even so, thanks for the compliment by the way, but I'm quite confident that very soon, the Kratt Brothers will find some dinosaurs and we'll get some images. Then we'll know the correct time period their in."

"Yeah, but well," Koki said as she returned the viewing screen to view the Kratt Brothers. She still had a strange feeling about the place the Kratt Brothers were in, she just couldn't figure it out.

"Whoa!" yelled the Kratt brothers as they seem to slip and fall down a slippery hill. They had dropped the egg; it shattered upon the ground, revealing it was infertile.

"Chris! Martin!" yelled the girls, than Aviva asked as the two brothers finished their slide down the hill into a large area with streams of water. "You guys alright?"

"We're fine Aviva," Chris replied as he got up, while holding the Creature Pod in his hand so he could talk into it and the girls could hear him.

"Yeah, but the golden egg is broken," Martin moaned as he got up, look depress, "now Majestic won't get her egg back."

"Martin, the egg was infertile, the scan showed it was," Aviva stated.

"Wait a second Martin, look over there!" Chris said quietly as he pointed with his right hand.

Switching area views to the Kratt Brothers, Chris was pointing his right hand towards what looks like the flocks of the giant chickens. Martin gasped as he smiled; he lifted his creature pod device so the others could see the creatures from the little screen.

"There are more Majestics here!" Martin said in excitement.

"Yeah, it's a whole flock of them," Chris said, and using his creature pod and started to take a few pictures of the creatures.

As the brothers walked over to the big birds, the birds seem to not care as they walked near. But some of them were watching. And the brothers were observing them, learning what they see.

"They're omnivores," Chris stated after he saw some of them were eating insects, fish and vegetation, even fruits too.

"And boy do they eat a lot, likely because the side of their bellies," Martin said as he was standing close to one. Then he turned and recognized one of them, "Hey, there's Majestic! Hey girl thought we nearly lost you."

He walked over to the giant chicken he recognized, the creature was currently eating what looks like weird looking bugs. Martin knelt down by the bugs, and he said, "Huh, these look weird, not any normal bugs I had ever seen."

"Bro, we're not in our right time period," Chris said as he walked over, but before he could see what the bug looked like, Majestic ate one more before the bugs burrowed into the ground. "Darn! I didn't get a –"

ROAR!

A roar distant from their area echoed through, scaring the giant chickens.

"Whoa, what was that?" asked Martin.

"I don't know, but we should go check it out," Chris said and they both started to run off together, leaving their current area.

"Uh guys, you're really running to where the loud roar came from?" asked Aviva, sounded confused.

"What if it's a carnivore looking for prey?" asked Koki, trying to get a suggestion into their head.

"Nah, that wasn't a hunting roar," Chris said as he and his brother was running along the path together, heading through the dense forest.

"Yeah, it sounded like a challenge or a battle-cry, there must be two large predators duking it out," Martin replied. "And don't worry Aviva, Koki, we'll be careful."

"Be so, we still don't know if the teleporter will work with the Time-Gate," Aviva stated. "It could be impossible to send you guys your Creature Power suits."

"Don't worry Aviva," Chris said as they both continued to run. "If things get hairy, we'll get our side of the Time-Gate active and jump through."

"And it's currently inside my pocket, compacted down into small size like all the other great inventions of yours, Aviva," Martin complimented with a smile.

They kept on running, but as they neared, they hear the sounds of a battle going on. There were sounds of growling and slamming impacts, along with sounds of blades clash and booms of explosions. The sounds of blades and explosions had confused the brothers, and far ahead, there was a sighting what looks like blinding flashes.

"Whoa! Maybe the creature has some kind of ability to blind their foes with flashes of light!" Martin suggested as they continued their run together.

"It would make things easy for the predator to catch their prey, but it would also make an awesome defense mechanism for the prey to blind the predators!" Chris said, smiling. "Oh I can't wait what kind of creature this one would be!"

Soon the brothers had arrived, but they didn't enter the area, they hid behind bushes so they could see. And what they saw both amazed and shock them.

"Chris, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" asked Martin, gawking a bit.

"What do you guys see?" asked the girls on the creature pod.

"A giant snake," Chris said quietly, amazed by the sight of it. He lifted the device in his right hand and showed the girls on the small screen of what was happening. "And it's fighting a bipedal creature too!"

What they're seeing, first the giant snake, it was twenty feet in height, huge with yellow stone-like scales and piercing fangs. It's like a viper mix with a cobra and a rattle-snake because of its tail vibrating.

And the bipedal being stood about the same height of a human, and covered in what looks like red colored insect-like armor, and carrying what looks like a battle-axe in its… hands?

Martin muttered in amazement, "A Neanderthal."

"Must be," Chris said with a smile. "This is perfect; we now get to see the ancestors of our kind do battle with what looks like a giant snake." Chris used the creature pod to take a few pictures.

"Yeah, hunter versus hunter," Martin smiled as well. They watched as the giant snake tried to coil around the armored Neanderthal, whom quickly leaped out of the way and started to swing his broad-axe down upon the tail. "And it's using tools, and armor? Huh?"

They had just noticed as the armored being leaped away once more, the being's axe suddenly split into two, forming a sword and shield. And uses the shield to block the snake's bite attacks, and uses the blade to strike back at the snout.

"Are our ancestors really smart back then?" asked Chris, sounded surprised. "For some reason, he reminds me of a knight…"

Martin blinked in confusion, turned to the creature pod, "Aviva, you sure we're in some kind of dinosaur period?"

"Positive!" Aviva stated, looking very confused. "I just don't get it! How can that ancient being be so smart to make wicked looking armor and weaponry?"

"Uh guys," Koki said, getting their attention. "I did an X-Ray scan on them; the armored Neanderthal isn't a Neanderthal."

The Kratts' eyes widen in shock before they looked at the screen, "What do you mean, Koki?"

"I had to do multiple scanning checks," Koki stated, she sent the images to the brothers so they could see. "First off, the armor he's wearing is some kind of insect bone, which at first I thought he could be some kind of bipedal insect. But after doing more scans, look at this."

Once the image shown, both brothers and Aviva gasped in shock, Martin uttered quietly, "Its human."

What they see on the computer screen was an X-Ray image of a human skeleton within the armor. Many of their current theories were blown out of their minds, but now there was a new question, how is there a human in this timeline?

Aviva then had a thought and she suggested, "What if I'm not the only one who invented a time machine? And this human is actually a poacher or a hunter, hunting ancient creature back then?"

"Well whoever he is," Chris said as both brothers started to look serious. "We need to protect that snake, and to do so, we need to stop that hunter."

"Right," Martin said, he turned to the creature pod. "Now's the time to test the teleporter to see if it can send our power suits through time, guys."

"Right!" said Aviva, she called for Jimmy, who ran back into the Tortuga and went over to the teleporter controls. To their side, Aviva throws in the green and blue power suit vest and gloves into the teleporter.

"Sending them your way, Kratt bros," Jimmy said as he pressed a button.

To the Kratt brothers, suddenly with a quick flash (Luckily the current fighters didn't saw it), their power suits appeared. They both cheered as they put them on.

"It worked guys!" Martin said; they looked to their creature pod that now part of their gloves.

"Great, now what kind of creature power discs should you guys use?" asked Koki. "Wait, what about the creatures themselves, I doubt there are our modern creatures existing in that time."

"Don't you worry Koki, we just need to send one of our collected samples that they can use," Aviva said, smiled to them. She looked to the Kratt brothers from their view screen, "So what will it be?"

"We don't need to battle, we just need to distract that poacher," Chris said.

"Yeah, just long enough for the big snake to escape," Martin said with a smile. "And good endurance to keep that bad guy occupied. You know what I'm thinking Chris?" He smirked to his brother.

"I think so Martin," Chris replied, then they said in unison, "Send the Wolf Power Discs."

Within moments, their teammates had teleported the power disks to the Kratt Brothers, and a small packet with wolf fur. With that, they put the discs into their torsos and touched the fur in the packet.

Within moments, their bodies glowed brightly.

Josephiroth had blocked the next swipe attack from the Najarala with his raised shield, than he went and slash his tail upon its tail. He quickly did a few more strikes till the sounds of bits and pieces of the Najarala broke off.

As Najarala roared in anger and pain from such, Josephiroth made another leap, avoiding the chance to collect any fallen materials that fallen off the tail. Many hunters would go for it, but not Josephiroth, this duel was too much important right now.

'So far so good, the tail is weaken, now to work on its back,' Josephiroth thought as he leaped again to avoid the next strike from the Najarala, this time the big snake had tried to the circling trap, he had managed to get through the opening to avoid it. Once he made sure to put some distance between them, he looked up to it, got his sword and shield at the ready. 'Alright Najarala, do you still want to continue to fight, by that smile you got, it's either a yes or you respect me?'

The big snake was keeping its gaze upon the hunter, from his view; it looks like it was smiling, despite the injury of its tail showing. The duel between hunters, whoever is victorious will earn the respect from the other.

The Najarala likely assumed that the hunter wins, it's a goner. But throughout their battle together, the hunter seems to avoid its weak spots. It either assumed this hunter is a beginner or experienced.

After all, the hunter did accept its challenge. And in a way of sense, the Najarala could tell this hunter respected it and refused to back down or call for allies. This Najarala plans to enjoy this battle, and if it wins, it'll get to live and remember defeating a hunter while sleeping in its nest.

While to the hunter, Josephiroth thought to himself, 'Are there any climbing areas that I could use to try to leap onto its back?' So far the Najarala was only gazing at him, then it started to slither to the right of it, and Josephiroth moved to the right, they circling each other.

With the movement, they faced each other; seem to keep their eyes upon each other. One good thing for Josephiroth's nerscylla red-colored s helmet had the transparent eyeholes he could look through, and tried to pinpoint any climbable walls or trees, or any small jumping cliffs he could use to leap upon the giant snake's back.

So far, there was none in this area, so Josephiroth thought to himself, 'Got to get this one to a different area, need to paintball it first.'

Quickly sheathing the sword upon his back but kept his shield out, at that same moment, he had to leap out of the way from the Najarala's swift strike move, tried to bite him. He managed to avoid its lethal bite; he would've blocked it with his shield if he wasn't focus on getting out of his inventory pocket.

Checking quickly he has a paintball, he pulls it out, than he throws it outward. It flew toward the giant snake.

SPLAT!

His eyes widen as something just leaped between him and the Najarala, someone in strange garb had fell on its back. A man in blue garb, looked like he was wearing a furry blue suit, a black vest with a felyne paw on the chest, where the paintball had splattered upon. The man even had a tail, and animal-like ears.

"Oof!" yelled the man in blue furry garb. "Whoa what a throw, that was hard!"

"Martin!" yelled a similar garbed man, but with green coloration. He was also wearing what looks like black vest with a felyne paw on the chest. "Bro, you alright?" he asked, looking worried.

"Yeah I'm fine, but man what a throw, didn't saw it coming," the one known as Martin, he accepted the furry gloved hand of the one known as Chris and he helped him.

Josephiroth recognized them instantly, as the two humans he spied on before, being so 'wowed' over a simple Gargwa. But the only questions that race through his mind was, 'What? Why are they interfering? Where did they get that strange garb? Are they stupid to interrupt the battle between us? Why are they glaring at me?'

Both of the strange humans stood before him, they glared at him, with slight smirks. Then the green one spoke, "Hold it right there, man. Back off, and leave this giant creature alone."

"Yeah, it was living peacefully I bet, you shouldn't disturb its peaceful life," Martin said. "Now stop and go back and leave this poor creature be."

All they said mostly confused the hunter, he thought to himself, 'Are they actually trying to defend a Najarala… wait!' He quickly looked upwards, towards the giant snake.

First there was the look of surprise, then a growling frown, and its eyes burn with anger, as though it was robbed of something it felt before.

'Aw crud,' Josephiroth thought with a groan, it was going so easily, with a high chance of him capturing the giant snake and send it to Sanctuary where it could live in peace.

But now it was mad, likely furious as the respectful battle between was shattered and assumed that he called for allies, making him seem like a disrespectful hunter.

It roared out in a fury, heading to strike at the two brothers. Both of them were clutching their ears from the pain.

Josephiroth ignored the roar and charged forward, reached them just merely feet away from a lethal bite. With his large shield arm, he had managed to push the two strange men out of the way.

But had exposed and suffered a swift strike bite to his armored chest, sending him flying backwards and landing upon the back.

The Najarala roared out as it went into a rage and continued on with its attack upon them all.

To Be Continued…

Hello you reader fans, welcome to the first chapter of the Wild Hunters, please review on what you think of this chapter. Just please remember that this story is a mini-episode, a little history background.

But now, one added bonus for each chapter of 'Wild Hunters', the details of each creature and their ecology! For any future writers who plan to write your own Monster Hunter fanfictions, you can look at this or look to Monster Hunter Wikia for information. Just know this will have my own theories of these creatures myself, and my own thoughts on them.

Now the creature of the day is… the Gargwa!

Name: Gargwa

Titles: Round Bird

Height: 8 feet tall

Physiology: Gargwa have very small, likely vestigial wings. Like most species of Herbivore, they're normally docile creatures but will attack and flee when they're threatened. They coexist with the people of Yukumo village as livestock, but they have been known to attack Hunters from time to time. (In a sense, they're like giant chickens, with a mix with turkeys and ostriches in a way).

Type: Bird Wyvern, they're not meat-eaters like most of the group of Bird Wyverns, but like Bird Wyverns (Some or most of them), these creatures still have lively colors. They're just not a predator type.

Habitats: They are regular seen in places such as Misty Peaks, Ancestral Steppe, and Everwood. It is rather unclear they live in places like the Deserted Island, but they had been seen in the Forest and Hills. They're most likely like most modern birds that live in the warmer climate most of the time.

Biological Adaptations: They're omnivores; they feed upon insects, fish, vegetation and fruits. So it's rather understandable that these birds do not dwell nor able to adapt to extreme climates such as the frozen Tundra or the Volcano, rather too dangerous for them, for the temperature would be more hazardous to them it would seem. They cannot fly since their wings are so small compared to their bodies, but their legs are definitely long enough to allow them to flee when in danger, they're good in running great distances. So this creature mostly is and would likely always be a prey.

Ecological Niche: They're definitely important for the environment for most places, there are many in several flocks. The Gargwas are part in the food chain, important they are truly. See, they're the common prey for several predators; creatures like the Great Jaggi, Tigrex, Gore Magala, Arzuros, Rathian, Rathalos, Nargacuga, Zinogre, and yes, sadly enough and most basically true, including Deviljhos. So it's rather understandable that the Gargwas are important to their environment, if they suddenly died out, then the large predators would have difficulty finding new replacement for their weekly meals, and are likely would die out themselves. People also have the need of the Gargwas of course; they're a livestock in places like the Yukumo Village.

Behavior: The Gargwa are mostly docile among humans, though they will attack if harassed or cornered. Thinking of this, it makes sense, humans are not the size of their prey they feed on, and are still smaller in comparison. So to the Gargwas, they don't view humans as possible meals, but they will fight back if they're provoked to defend themselves. Of course the only method of their fight is a peck, and even that would just leave a bruise on smaller beings, beings who're not wearing armor. So they're more passive and even if they're in flocks, they don't hunt larger prey; they're more like cattle and chickens on a farm-like sense. And like prey animals, when their instincts kicked in, such as 'fight or flight', very few actually would try to peck back, while most would flee for their lives. But the Gargwas do one thing before they flee, and that is to lay a simple egg. Now why they do this, there are theories on this method, would be explained soon.

Items: What people can get from hunting a Gargwa, and those listed are: Gargwa Feather, Gargwa Egg, Gold Gargwa Egg, Gargwa Guano, Raw Meat, and Monster Bone S. To get the Raw Meat and Monster Bone S is to simply hunt the Gargwa, but to get all the other items; one doesn't really need to kill the Gargwas just to get them.

Equipment: The only kind of equipment people would get from getting materials of the Gargwa is the Gargwa Mask. The Gargwa Mask mostly acquires three Gargwa Feathers, and ten Iron Ores. Blade-Master and Gunner types of hunters can actually wear this simple equipment, there is no difference in its design, and it is simply a mask. Likely the one wearing it could fool a Gargwa, whom wouldn't be frighten of smaller creatures until they're provoked. This makes me thing, if it could fool a predator, why would one wear it with the risk of getting eaten? It would make a good Halloween mask though.

Theories: Now then, there are two known theories about the Gargwas, mostly involving their egg laying method. Theory number 1: They lay unfertile eggs to let predators feast upon the egg instead of the fast running Gargwa. This might make sense, but humans would likely go for the egg too, but hungry predators that tend to eat meat instead of the egg? All it takes is a simple attack to knock down the big bird, and the predator got both of them. Theory number 2: They try to propagate one more time before possible dying, as a method for their species to continue to live. Now if this is true, the question is on how they learn, or do they just get their instincts after hatching and learn how to survive on their own till they're big enough? Do predators actually wait till their fully grown to eat them, like waiting for a turkey to stuff themselves? Or does the Gargwa hatchling get adopted by an adult Gargwa when found alone? Who knows really, these are just two known theories so far.

My Theory: Do I have a theory on these Bird Wyverns? In truth, it's actually plausible for both theories to be correct. It's a survival method, it gives the predator a choice of either a) pick the defenseless egg, or is) kill and eat the adult Gargwa. Basically by the decision of life and death, one survives while the other dies. Then here's another detail, the eggs could actually have high or low chance of being fertile or infertile, basically 50%/50% chance there. There is an actual chance that the eggs are fertile and if left alone, will eventually break and a Gargwa hatchling will come out.

My Thoughts: Why do hunters actually have missions to go hunt Gargwas for eggs and such? Why can't all the other villages make Gargwa farms like what Yukumo Village done? Is it because of the temperature of the other villages, which can be easily solved in trying to construct the right farming ground environment for the big birds? Hell, Gargwa farmers would likely actually get big money loads by taking care of so many Gargwas. Gargwa feathers are sold about 280 zenis each; I mean one single Gargwa Feather actually is worth that amount of zenis, so a farmer could actually be rich by picking up shed feathers of Gargwas after their molting. And people actually want Gargwa feathers, for their used as fashion accessories. Then there's the Gargwa Guano, their dung, which are worth 25 zenis if sold. But from what is learned about their droppings, they can be dried and powdered for medicinal use, meaning farmers can actually get temporary medical supplies and pass them off to healers who would take and try to make healing stuff out of them.

Then there's the eggs, which I have no idea what the price on the Gargwa Eggs are, but I can tell that a Golden Gargwa Egg must be worth over 10,000 zenis (Correct me if I'm wrong on that people). Eggs laid by Gargwa, which are a common ingredient in food, and tend to be quite expensive. When learning that fact, the only reason their expensive is because there are no Gargwa farms! Gargwas produce eggs, they don't need a rooster with them (Hell I doubt there is even a male version of Gargwas!); they live in flocks, and can actually produce eggs daily, like chickens. Then the golden Gargwa eggs, I believe it's just the coloration of the shell, for it can be cracked apart and its yolk would fall out, maybe Gargwas who come out of it are somehow albino? No one knows really since it's used for different purposes (I would like to ask a Gargwa farmer if golden eggs actually hatch), there are many theories for the reason of the color. One reason I assume is that the Gargwas ate something really rare, something in their diet, they eat fish and insects along with herbs and fruits, so what if they ate Golden fish are very rare bugs that produce the coloration? It's their diet that affects their eggs really, so a healthy diet for them would mean they would lay good amount of eggs.

Then the items such as raw meat and monster bone s, they can be acquired from Gargwas when their lives expired, or killed. Their bodies would be harvested, bones and meat collected along with any leftover feathers.

So my question for this, why are there no farmers outside Yukumo who take care of Gargwas? I'm pretty sure that if Gargwa Farms are in several villages, people won't need to hunt Gargwas at all, chefs won't need to hire hunters, and they could just buy an egg from the farmer. Fashion designers could get feathers from the farmers. Or do they do the cheap way of just hunt a wild Gargwa?

As for me liking the Gargwas, they're okay I guess, nice friendly birds. I used to live on a farm, my parents kept chickens, and chickens flee from larger beings. I get the feeling that even though Gargwas are docile, timid creatures, they can actually be quite friendly, like good pets and creature partners; they're actually strong to pull wagons.

Josephiroth: "Even if the eggs are infertile, I still won't be eating eggs, and definitely a big no for taking one. And yeah, they're quite friendly creatures, hence why I don't hunt or try to trap them."

Next Time on Wild Hunters: The two strangers stopped a duel between hunter and predator, and brought out the rage within? Will they survive the Najarala's wrath? Or will they be fleeing from the hunter when he tries to get a hold of them for interfering? Find out next time, on Wild Hunters!