"Quickly Shiro, we need to get back to the village before the storm worsens!", Kirika shouted over the howling winds.
Shiro ran as fast as he could while trying not to drop the now soaked firewood. Harsh storms on the Grand Line weren't uncommon, but something about this one felt... unnatural. As they ran, a loud roar rang out, making them freeze. The duo looked up to see a large shape move through the storm clouds, while a smaller shape fell from the clouds. The smaller shape crashed into the woods to the North.
"What was that?", Shiro questioned.
"I'm afraid I don't know", Kirika replied, shaking her head, "We'll investigate in the morning after the storm passes."
The two ran back to their village as the storm raged, unable to stop thinking about what could have descended from the clouds.
The next morning Kirika and Shiro made their way to the northern woods. The storm had done quite a number on the forests, knocking down trees and flooding important paths. The excess moisture mixed with the heat of the morning sun created a high amount of humidity, which, when combined with the floodwater, thick mud and fallen trees, made traversing the terrain difficult.
The duo made their way, with much difficulty, to where the strange thing from the sky had fallen. They knew they were getting close when they reached a large section of fallen trees. They gasped in shock when they say what lied in the center of the fallen trees.
Before them laid a red wyvern, the size of a polar bear, curled up around a young woman and a strange cat. All three seemed to be injured, and when the wyvern saw Kirika and Shiro, it hissed and covered the human and cat with a wing protectively.
"Is that... a dragon!?", Shiro gasped.
The young woman coughed weakly and the wyvern turned his attention to her. It gently pressed its snout against her cheek and whined. It licked her cheek, trying to comfort her. Shiro noticed this and realized the dragon was protecting the girl and the cat. He carefully made his way towards them, telling Kirika to stay back, with his hand outstretched in front of him. The wyvern hissed as Shiro approached, flames licking the edges of its maw.
"Easy boy, we just want to help", Shiro reassured softly, "Can you stand?"
The flames around the wyvern's mouth dissipated, but it did not calm entirely. Shiro inched closer, slowly.
"We can help you guys, our village has a doctor who can patch you guys up", Shiro explained, now crouched just in front of the wyvern.
The red wyvern stared at his hand for a moment, before quickly turning to his human when she began another fit of weak coughs. His blue eye widened, and he slowly turned to face Shiro again. His human and her Felyne were badly hurt, and potions weren't going to be enough this time. Carefully he maneuvered the two onto his back on stood up. Shiro smiled at him and the wyvern could sense his pure intentions. He gently nudged his hand and slowly followed the two humans back to their village.
...
"..."
"...rus".
"Saurus..."
"Dragon Lady!"
"Quiet you idiot!"
I groaned weakly and opened my eyes, my vision still blurry.
"Nav...irou...Rath...a", I moaned weakly.
"Nya, she's awake!"
When my vision cleared I saw Navirou and the Strawhats standing over me. Navirou looked close to tears. I gave a weak smile and he quickly tackle hugged me.
"I'm fine", I said softly, "no need to cry buddy".
I noticed we were in the village doctor's house. I looked next to me and smiled in relief when I saw Ratha curled up next to me. His wounds would be fine now that they were bandaged, and a potion should speed up the healing process. I looked back to the Strawhats and noticed Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were bandaged up as well. I then shot up when I remembered Shiro.
"Where's Shiro!?", I questioned
"He's stable", the village doctor said, "He'll need to rest for a few more weeks before he can move around, and he'll have to use a crutch until I can get him a prosthetic leg."
I sighed in relief before standing up. I walked over to where Shiro was resting, giving him a look of disapproval. He just gave me one of his dorky grins.
"You could have been killed, dumbass", I said, kneeling down and thwacking him lightly.
"I lived though", he replied, sticking his tongue out. I grabbed his tongue and pulled it.
"Aww come ooohh, le ooh", he spluttered, "I wath yoking."
"How have you survived this long again?", I asked rhetorically, letting go of his tongue. I then hugged him tightly. "Don't ever do that again, dumb dumb."
Shiro hugged me back.
"I'll try not to", he replied cheekily.
Before we could let go, Ratha tackled us to the ground and started licking our faces. We held our hands up to try and push him off and stop the rain of dragon slobber.
"Okay boy, down", I chuckled, shoving him off, "go give Luffy and his friends kisses", I pointed over to Luffy, Zoro and Sanji.
Ratha ran over to the boys and tackled them, drowning them in dragon kisses. Zoro and Sanji covered their faces with their arms, while Luffy just laughed as Ratha licked his face. They managed to shove him off and he came running back over to us. He shoved his head under my hand to get some well earned scritches. I pulled a potion out of my pouch and uncorked it. Ratha opened his mouth and I gently poured the tealish green liquid into his mouth. Once he drank the potion his wounds began to heal, slowly but surely.
I looked over to Luffy and his friends then back to the potion. Normally only hunters and riders drank potions since the liquids were very strong and could make anyone unused to them, or anyone with a weak stomach, sick. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Try drinking this", I said, holding out a potion for them, "they're normally meant for hunters and riders, but if you can keep it down it can speed up the healing process."
The trio tried drinking the potion, but, as I thought, were unable to keep it down. I quickly handed them some water as they tried to get the taste of the potion out of their mouths.
"Shit, you guys okay? I was hoping it would help", I asked concerned.
"We'll be just fine, Saurus-Chan", Sanji said, his eyes becoming hearts. Weird.
I sighed.
"Guess you'll just have to heal the old fashioned way", I said.
...
The rest of the day saw me, Ratha and Navirou helping the villagers rebuild. Prior to that I told them what happened to Kirika and, after retrieving her body, we held a small funeral for her. It wasn't easy for the village, especially her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. I still felt like I hadn't avenged her death, seeing as Kushala Daora killed the Nargacuga, not me. Shiro assured me that I did what I could, but I still felt that I hadn't done enough. Even now, I felt I wasn't doing enough. It would be well over a week before the village was fully rebuilt, and the Kushala was still alive.
"We'll find him", I kept telling myself, "We'll find Kushala Daora and get home."
The Strawhats helped out as well, since they wouldn't leave until the next morning. Shiro insisted I go with them, saying they could help us get home, but I was still unsure. Even with the remaining wild monsters dead, there was still the looming threat of both Pirates and Marines. Without me and with Shiro badly injured, there weren't enough strong fighters to protect the village.
Deciding to clear my head I had Ratha fly us to our spot on the cliff. It was the highest point on the island and the most isolated, giving us a great view and allowing few to disturb us. I sat down on a log and looked out over the ocean.
"Are we even cut out for a life as pirates?", I asked myself.
"So this is where you ran off to", someone called out behind me. So much for not being disturbed. I turned to see Nami walking over to us.
"What brings you up here?", I asked.
"Luffy originally wanted to check up on you, but the doctor won't let him go out anywhere til morning", Nami explained, "he says he wants you to join the crew."
"I know he does", I sighed, rubbing my face, "but... what if we can't make it back home?"
Nami seemed confused, so I explained the basics.
"That dragon that attacked the village, the Kushala Daora, is the reason we're here", I explained, "so it has to be our key to going back. But, what if we never see it again? What if we're stuck here?"
Nami rested a hand on my shoulder and smiled.
"We'll help you get back home", Nami said firmly, "Knowing Luffy, he'd travel the entire world if it meant helping a friend. If that dragon is your ticket home, then we'll help you find it. And I won't even charge you for it." She smiled and winked.
I gave a soft sigh and smiled back.
"Thanks, Nami", I said as we stood up.
...
Nightfall came and we managed to rebuild a few of the smaller houses and the main shop. The villagers, along with the Strawhats, were celebrating. Even Luffy, despite the doctor's orders. I sat by the fire with Navirou and Ratha eating a grilled piece of meat, feeling much better about our situation. If Nami was right, then my best chance was with the Strawhats. It was settled, I was joining them.
"Enjoying the party? You seem to be in a much better mood", Shiro said cheerily, suddenly next to me.
"What the hell are you doing out of bed Shiro?!", I questioned exasperatedly, "you just lost your damn leg, you need to be resting!"
"I'll be fine", Shiro replied with a wink, holding up a wooden crutch, "so, have you decided on whether or not you're joining Luffy?"
"How did you know?", I asked.
"Are you kidding? The kid kept talking about the 'Dragon Lady and her Talking Cat' joining him", Shiro replied.
"Yeah, I'm gonna join them", I said, "If that Kushala is our key home, I have to find it."
"Just make sure you visit me again before you leave", Shiro said with a soft smile.
"Don't worry you dork, I will. You're pretty hard to forget", I said, hugging him.
I stayed with Shiro the rest of the night, making sure he didn't hurt himself trying to walk. He got a stern talking to from the doctor, though the man gave up after a while knowing he couldn't talk any sense into Shiro or Luffy.
I smiled as I watched Shiro pet Ratha. If he had been born in our world I had no doubt he could've been a rider. He seemed like such a natural when interacting with monsters. I peered into my satchel, staring at the monster egg within. This was the only egg I had on me before we wound up here, and thanks to its hard shell it survived the trip. I looked back to Shiro, then back to the egg. I knew it would be much safer with him, and, when it hatched, it could help Shiro defend Kori Village. Even if he wasn't a real rider or had a kinship stone, I knew could take care of it. His heart was as pure as any rider.
When morning came we met the Strawhats at their ship, the Going Merry. I talked everything through with Luffy, who was overjoyed to have me join, and the others just as much, although Usopp seemed rather nervous, and Zoro was asleep, again, so he didn't seem to care. Before I boarded the ship I pulled the monster egg from my bag and handed it to Shiro. The egg was a bronze color with rust colored stripes on it.
"I think it will be better with you", I said, "it can help you walk and defend the village when it hatches."
Shiro seemed surprised at first, but happily accepted the egg.
"I'll take good care of it", he said.
"The monster in that egg is an herbivore, so feeding it should be pretty easy", I explained. Shiro nodded and carefully headed back to the village, egg tucked under his arm.
I boarded the Going Merry and walked over to Luffy.
"So, where to captain?", I asked.
"To Little Garden!", Luffy shouted cheerfully.
...
Rathalos Ecology
High above the sprawling plains flies a top predator. Soaring above his territory on crimson wings is a Rathalos. This massive flying wyvern is known as the king of the skies, and fears predation from little aside from larger wyverns like Akantor and Deviljho, and the rarer Elder Dragons.
Below he spots a herd of Aptonoth; large, rhino-sized herbivores resembling hadrosaurs. Their bodies are mostly grayish brown with dark brown stripes. Their heads have long, backwards facing crests that split at the top, and their tails end in multi-pronged clubs armed with spikes.
Rathalos flies lower and picks a target, an older male Aptonoth. He dives down, his presence spooking the herd causing them to stampede. The old bull Aptonoth is too slow to keep up, and is quickly caught by the Rathalos's large, venomous talons. The much smaller herbivore is killed instantly by the impact, his spine snapped. The rest of the herd flees, not wanting to end up as the king's next meal.
The Rathalos roars, grips his meal tightly and takes off. This meal will last him for around 3 days if necessary, but the king is always eager for seconds.
...
Next time...
The Strawhats reach Little Garden, a prehistoric island crawling with ancient life.
Our heroes decide to explore, but unknown to them, the wildlife is the least of their concerns.
The terrifying Baroque Works makes their presence on the island known. Will our heroes survive?!
Next time on Monster Hunter: Open Ocean...
Rumble in the Ancient Jungle. The Terrifying Little Garden!
