This story is not dead! Sorry to those who've read the first few chapters. I got a new job that took top priority. Here's hoping it won't take another 8 months to write a chapter.
After 60 days of waiting, hiding, and fighting off Flesh-takers, Ian and Los watched as their children cracked out of their eggshells. It was strange to see three little creatures break out of the dirt-covered spheres, knowing that there was a bit of themselves in them. As the hatchlings chirped and flapped their underdeveloped wings, Los found himself lost in a cloud of questions and worry.
"Will they grow up to be capable predators? Will they live to fly, find mates, have children of their own? Will they ever talk like us? What do you think they'll talk about?" Los thought out loud.
Ian responded by resting her head on his. She applied just enough pressure to gently lower Los's head until it was one with the nest and he was at eye level with the hatchlings. The chicks playfully nibbled on their father's scales and ears. Thankfully they hadn't developed teeth yet and could only tickle Los.
"You're brilliant, Los, but sometimes you overthink things," Ian said as she nuzzled one of the hatchlings away from Los. Her head alone was more than twice the size of the infant, yet she handled the hatchling so carefully that her touch was the comfiest feeling the hatchling had felt since leaving its shell.
"They're here now, and all that matters is that we protect them. The rest will take care of itself."
As she spoke, one of their sons, a gray Rathalos half the size of a Velociprey, bit down on his smaller brother's tail. His little brother let out a pitiful shriek before stumbling away. Their identical Rathian sister ignored them and tried exploring the nest but kept tripping as she had yet to learn how legs work.
"Hey! Hey! Knock it off," Los scolded his kids. Ian shook her head at Los before she nudged the kids into separate parts of the nest.
"I don't think you'll have to worry about the biting son," Ian laughed. "He's already got the hunter's instinct." Suddenly, her ears pricked up, and she looked concerned as she turned her attention to the cave's entrance. Los noticed a foul smell drawing closer to the cave. He growled as he waited for the intruder to make the fatal mistake of trespassing onto their territory.
"Reeeeep! Reeeeep! Flesh-takers! Flesh-takers! Flesh-takers! Reeeeep! Reeeeep!" Velo's shouted from outside the cave.
Los and Ian instinctively roared at hearing another monster so close to their nest but relaxed as Velo could hardly be considered a threat. The Velociprey had grown considerably over the past month. He was still skinny from hunting without a pack, but he had grown longer and taller. Once Los could pick him up with only one foot, but now he would have needed two. His red head-crest was turning brighter too. Come another month or two, and he would mature into a Velocidrome. He smelled terrible as if a flesh-taker had thrown several dung bombs at him.
"I spotted Flesh-takers on the other side of the mountain, but I overheard that they're hunting Gypceros," Velo said, sniffing the air, not seeming to care about his own smell.
"I thought I told you to mind the turf?!" Los roared, "Why couldn't you tell us that from afar?"
"And why do you smell like that?" Ian said while recoiling after another sniff.
"I rolled around in dung so prey wouldn't notice me sneaking up. Also, it helps keep Flesh-takers away."
Ian turned to look at Los and whispered (not so quietly), "When are you going to get rid of him? He's getting bigger and braver, which isn't good for our kids."
"Please, don't kick me out," Velo interrupted. "I wouldn't dare hurt the eggs…did you say kids?" Velo blicked as the realization kicked in. "Do you two have hatchlings now? When did they hatch?!"
As if they knew someone was talking about them, the three hatchlings squicked and flapped their wings, demanding attention.
"Little chicks, little chicks!
A bright new world waits for you!
Do some tricks, do some tricks,
A big meal Velo will bring to you!"
As Velo sang his horrid sung, he crept closer to the nest, lowering his head to face the infants. That was when Ian lowered her own head directly in front of Velo.
The Velociprey lowered his body to the ground and hopped back. "Sorry, master Los's mate. I'm still used to living with a pack. It's very lonely living by myself. I'll leave, but…could I have some eggshells for my good work."
Ian stood in front of the hatchlings and already had a fire burning in her mouth. The hatchlings didn't notice the possible danger and squirmed around their mother's legs playfully. When Velo saw the hatchlings, Ian slammed her tail against the wall, causing the whole cave to shake. Velo took another few steps back.
"Get out! You're not welcomed here!" Ian shouted.
The bird wyvern ran off, leaving behind only his putrid odor. As Ian calmed down, she heard a rustling noise coming from behind her. She knew it wasn't her children as she could feel them clinging to her feet. Looking back, she saw Los digging through an older part of the nest they were planning to toss out of the cave. In his jaws were some cracked eggs shells. Ian said nothing as she watched Los fly out of the cave and drop the eggshells from midair before returning home.
"I wish you hadn't done that. Now the little thief is going to think he can keep coming back for more."
"Yeah, he is pretty annoying," Los grumbled, "but he has been useful. It's been pretty fun bossing around another monster. I can see why his kind does it all the time."
Ian glared at Los. "We're not Velocidromes. We don't form packs. We look after each other and our hatchlings until they get bigger. Velo should never have entered our turf in the first place, and we've been letting him get away with it for too long. Soon he'll start attracting other Velociprey, and the mountainside won't be safe for our children anymore."
"We're not Velocidromes, but we're not typical Raths either," Los argued. "I don't know any other pair that has stuck together as long as we have."
Ian signed. "That's because I can trust you. I don't trust Velo. My instincts don't trust Velo. His species are opportunists at worst, food at best. It was your right to eat him for venturing into our turf, and if we lose sight of our children, he could eat them. Don't you feel any gut reaction when you see him?"
"I did, but he's helped me take care of a much bigger problem, so for that, he at least deserves enough scraps to stay alive."
Ian's eyes narrowed as Los finished his last sentence. "Los, what bigger problem did he take care of?"
"He helped me kill Asta," Los said casually.
Ian raised her head up suddenly as if she were expecting the deranged wyvern to come flying in at the mention of his name.
"How did that happen? When did it happen?" she asked franticly.
"Not too long after, I found Velo," Los responded. "He signaled to me that Asta entered our territory, so I was able to ambush that lightning freak."
"You never brought home any Astalos meat."
"Trust me, you didn't miss much."
"What I mean is I never saw any proof that Asta is really dead," Ian explained. "Please tell me you saw him die. Tell me there isn't a chance of him coming back."
Ian walked closer to Los as she spoke. The spikes and small tufts of fur on her back were raised in alarm, and her face was full of worry. She kept trying to make direct eye contact with Los, but he avoided her gaze.
"Los?" Ian pressed.
"He flew off," Los finally answered.
"Los!"
"He probably died from his injuries; we haven't seen or heard from him for a long time. Even if he did survive, he's not going to come back here after a fight like that."
"LOS!" Ian said with a snarl mixed with flames jumping out the corners of her mouth. The hatchlings took notice of their mother's fury and huddled together.
"IAN!" Los roared back, "why can't you see I'm being smart here? Velo helped me fight off a monster that would have attacked us any day now. He's also warned us about Flesh-takers and got us an aptonoth. If we had eaten him, we would have missed out on more food."
"Why can't you just listen to me? Can't you understand I'm thinking about the hatchlings?"
"So am I!" Los countered, spewing flames. "I would never put my hatchlings in danger. Why do you think a meek little pest like Velo is a danger?"
Ian looked back down at her kids, taking a deep breath and snuffing out any flames she still had in her. In her moment of silence, she could see Los smiling, like he had just caught a Flesh-taker in their own trap. A horrible memory came back to her, one that the primal part of her mind refused to ever let go of. She hated the mere thought of her past, but Los needed to see reason. He needed to hear this. No matter how strong or weak, talking or roaring, all of them were still monsters.
"I watched a Velociprey eat my sister."
All the confidence and aggression Los had a moment ago evaporated. "What happened?" he asked.
"Nothing else happed," Ian said defensively.
"Ian, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Los asked, giving her a gentle nuzzle.
"It was so long ago, and I can't remember everything. All I knew was that my sister was smaller than the rest of us and just didn't wake up one day. I didn't understand it at the time, but my parents could tell right away that she had died, so they threw her out of the nest. I watched a pack of Velociprey fight over her corpse before my father chased them away. Every night I dreamed about falling out of my parent's cave and being surrounded by predators."
"No, if you still remember it, then it is important," Los said. "I'll chase off Velo before he gets any bigger."
Ian spat out a mess of chewed-up innards and flesh in her mouth. She lowered her head close to the hatchlings and carefully opened her jaw wide enough for the children to eat. As she watched them eat, she thought about how peaceful the past weeks had been. There had been no surprises or unnatural lighting storms. Los had made life so much easier than if she had mated a dumber Rathalos.
"If he's still useful, I'll allow him to stay near our turf. But that goes away the moment he ventures back into our cave, or he starts chasing off prey."
"Agreed," Los nodded as he curled up next to Ian as the two watched their children eat.
Once their fight was over, the wyvern couple's life returned to being peaceful, happy, and restless. Ian stayed at the cave more often to offer camouflage and protection in the past. However, now that the kids were moving about and making more noise, Ian's camouflage became less effective, so the two parents took turns hunting and watching the hatchlings now. This also meant the two had become much more territorial. The entire mountainside had become off-limits for any living being save for the Rath family. Velo was allowed to stay so long as he never approached the cave, which he thankfully did because it seemed like the hatchlings had a death wish.
A week after the children hatched, Ian returned from a bountiful hunt to see Los struggling to control the three chicks. The hatchlings loved to wander around the nest, which was understandable considering all they had known previously was their cramped eggshells.
"Little one, come back! Where's the girl now? Right next to me? No, you're one of my sons. You stay put while I look for your siblings. Alright, there you are, now hold still so I can bring you back to the next. WHERE'S THE BOY? I TOLD HIM TO STAND STILL!"
Ian laughed as she spat out her catch and helped Los gather up the children so they could eat.
"Ian…who gave you your name?" Los asked wearily.
"I did," Ian answered, "but I guess the Flesh-takers are partially to blame. They call females Rathians, so I deiced to call myself Ian."
"Why did you do that?" Los asked.
"Never really thought about it. I suppose to stand out if I ever mated with a Rathalos I could talk to. Which I did. Why do you ask?"
"I think we should give our kids names. So we can tell them apart."
Ian looked at their three hatchlings. Their daughter was flapping her underdeveloped wings until her bigger brother rammed into her for no apparent reason. While it would be practical to give them names, coming up with a new name was difficult for someone who had never done so before.
"Ian two, and Los two?" Ian suggested.
"We still have the smaller boy," said Los, looking towards their tiny son. He was currently pecking at something he saw on the underside of his wings, completely uninterested with his siblings. "Calling him Los three would just make things more confusing."
"Well, what else can we call them?" Ian asked. Los didn't answer her right away and decided to look over the three hatchlings again.
"Let's see, we named ourselves after what the Flesh-takers call us. We're not the only talking Raths out there. Ratha has probably been used, and so has Los and Ian. We should name them after…something about them."
Ian shook her head at this. "We haven't known them for too long. But, we need to give them names. Why don't you name the first one."
"Alright…we'll name him…Scales, because he cleans his scales," Los said, looking over their littlest son. "Your turn."
"Lasher," Ian said, looking at the stronger son, "because he lashes out."
The two things looked at their daughter, trying to fly again. "Wing!" Los and Ian both said at once.
Ian repeated the names in her head repeatedly, mulling over them before telling Los, "That was…interesting".
"If they don't like them, they can change them when they've grown," Los replied.
Ian nodded at this. Scales, Lasher, and Wing. Her kids, Los's kids, a little bit of her and him. Her instincts dictated she protect her offspring so that her legacy would continue, but now that she had named them, she felt a new feeling inside her. It was like the day she first met Los. Instincts dictated she find a new mate every season to have a diverse brood of offspring, and she was sure Los had instincts to mate with other Rathians to increase the chance he'd produce more offspring, but even at their lowest, they had stayed together. It didn't seem practical, but perhaps there was a reason they were drawn towards each other, just like how she was drawn to these noisy hatchlings.
The following days were peaceful (for a Rathalos and Rathian). No Flesh-takers had been spotted, prey animals were becoming plentiful again, and Los and Ian took turns watching their newly named chicks.
"I think Lasher is still hungry," Los said as Lasher bit into Scales, who was trying to nibble on a bone. Ian nudged Lasher away before she responded to Los.
"They're growing Raths. They're always hungry."
"Whose turn is it to hunt?" Los asked.
Before Ian could answer, she heard a familiar voice cry out from far away.
"Reeeeep! Reeeeep! Flesh-takers! Flesh-takers! Flesh-takers! Reeeeep! Reeeeep!"
"I blend in more with the cave, and you fly faster," Ian told Los as she gathered up their kids.
"I'll snag the first piece of meat I find, and I'll come right back." And with that, Los nuzzled Ian before flying out of the cave.
Ian watched her children crawl around the nest as she waited for Los to return. While she was confident that no Flesh-takers knew where her nest ways she couldn't take any chances. Other monsters would gladly snatch a helpless hatchling for an easy meal. She corralled her children into the center of the earthy nest before curling herself around them, lifting one of her wings over them to keep from climbing out. Wing squeaked from the sudden darkness, so Ian gave her a gentle nuzzle. Scales ran to the nearest warm body for comfort, which just so happened to be Lasher. Lasher bit Scales' ear only to lick Scales and rub his head against his, much to Ian's surprise. Once her children had calmed down, the family waited in silence for Los to return.
…
…
…
Ian woke up to the cries of hungry hatchlings and something tugging on her ears. At some point, Ian had fallen asleep, and Lasher saw it fit to climb onto his mother's head and pull at her ears. After shaking him off and growling at her children to get them to quiet down again, Ian sniffed the air for any sign of Los. There was nothing she could smell but herself and her children. Walking to the edge of the cave, Ian could see the sun was beginning to set.
For the first time in her life, her instincts were torn. Her first thought was to stay at the cave and protect the kids, but she knew she couldn't wait for Los forever. If Los had been taken by Flesh-takers, Ian wouldn't have a partner to help her raise the hatchlings. A Rathian can not care for hatchlings alone, not when they were this young and defenseless. If Los was still out there, she needed to find him before the children starved. However, doing so would leave them without a protector. Her claws dug into the ground as she pondered what to do. Should she keep waiting and risk losing her mate, or search for him and risk losing her children? She soon decided that if Los was in danger, then her children would be doomed regardless of if Ian left the cave or not. Spreading her heavy wings, Ian turned to her children:
"Wing, stay with your brothers. Scales, keep being quiet. Lasher, protect your siblings. I'll be back soon."
With her goodbyes finished, Ian flew off into the evening sky. Even with the sky turning dark, Ian could see the land and creatures below her. Rocks turned into scrubs, which turned into the thick forests at the bottom of the mountain. At some point, she saw the distinctive blue scales of Velo, but thankfully he was moving away from her mountain. She still roared at him just to remind him not to get too close.
With each moment she spent outside the cave, she became more worried. Had Flesh-takers stolen Los from her? He had always driven them away, but even the strongest monsters were prey to the Flesh-takers. If they did kill him, Ian at least wanted to find his body so she would know they hadn't captured him. Sometimes, Flesh-takers would take a monster alive, but no one knew what became of captured monsters. Then she thought about her hatchlings. Afraid, hungry, and confused without either of their parents. She had worked so hard to build a family, it couldn't just end so suddenly.
Her heart rate spiked when she finally caught a faint scent of Los. She practically plummeted to the ground, hoping to find Los. In the forest clearing, there was no Los, just a partially eaten chunk of meat. Ian sniffed it and found that it had a sour smell of mushrooms. While the aroma was odd, meat was meat, and she still needed to feed her kids (and herself). As Ian opened her mouth, the scent of Los grew, and Ian forgot all about the meat. Looking above her, she could see Los gliding down towards her.
"DON'T EAT THAT!" Los yelled. A fireball was launched from his mouth and incinerated the meat. Now that he was close to the ground, Ian could see fresh cuts and bruises around his body. Some of his red and black scales had also been torn off him.
"What happened?" Ian asked.
"Flesh-takers did something to that meat. They attacked me, and I couldn't fight back! I couldn't move my body!"
Ian had never seen Los so panicked before. His eyes kept darting as if he expected the Flesh-takers to materialize out of thin air.
"What are you doing here? Where are the kids?" Los asked.
Fear struck Ian again as she looked back at their mountain. Flapping her exhausted wings, she hurled herself back into the sky and could hear Los flying right behind her.
"I came to save you!" she said to him as they flew home. "You've been gone for hours."
"I've been trying to lure the Flesh-takers away."
"Did you?" Ian asked, looking down below for any.
"I wouldn't be flying back home with you if I thought I was bringing danger to the kids."
"Ka ka ka ka! Asta Asta!" Velo's voice echoed from the mountainside.
…
…
The wind felt colder, and the night seemed to become darker. In the distance, Los could see a flash of green light blazing down next to their cave. The battered Rathalos struggled to stay airborne as his mind fell into pieces. Despite his injuries, Los forced his wings to carry him back to the cave faster than ever before, and he soon passed Ian. He could hear the frantic beating of Ian's wings from behind him and the manic laughter of Asta from inside the cave. The wyvern couple almost crashed into each other as they scrambled into the cave. They charged into the center until they saw a horrific sight that froze them both in their place.
Standing over the now tattered nest was Asta with his broken horn, torn wings, and metal band around his swallow ankle (which now looked more bloated and off-color than last time). Dangling limply in his mouth was was a young gray Rathalos. It was Lasher. Asta tilted his head up and swallowed the hatchling whole in a flash. Despite how enraged Los was, he could feel no fire in him. The whole world suddenly felt numb and distant. It was as if he had eaten that tainted meat a thousand times over. Next to him, Ian stood still as well, paralyzed by emotions she never knew a Rathian could possess. Anger, sadness, fear all at once, burning inside and out.
"How is Asta still alive?" Los thought to himself. "He looked so close to death just a few weeks ago. He should be dead! Why is my child dead and not Asta!"
Los flew up and tried to skewer Asta with his talons while giving a tremendous roar. Now fully alerted to the couple, Asta ran under Los and rammed him into a wall. While Los was recovering, Asta lunged at Wing. The Rathian chick tried in vain to fly away before Asta's sharp beak bit into her with a sicking crunch. The Astalos then tossed her mangled body into the air. Asta caught her in his mouth and swallowed her just as he had done with Lasher. Ian and Los had lost two of their children in only a few seconds.
Ian rushed at Asta, determined to tear apart his guts and rip out her children from his stomach if she had to. Ian did not stop to consider that her children would be dead, nor the fact that Asta's lightning was dangerous to her. She wanted nothing more than to destroy this monster. With lightning-fast reflexes, Asta squirmed around Ian and zapped her with electricity.
Upon seeing his mate get electrocuted, Los lept back into the air and tackled Asta. Once Asta was on the ground, Ian recovered, rejoining the fight. The three monsters blindly clashed, sending sparks of lightning and flames all over the cave.
"Reeeeep! Reeeeep! Flesh-takers! Flesh-takers! Reeeeep! Reeeeep!" Velo screamed. Not one of the three wyverns noticed or seemed to care. Los and Ian outnumbered Asta, but that was their only advantage. Asta had recovered from his wounds, while Los still had his new flesh-taker wounds. Ian had also exhausted herself flying over their entire territory as fast as she did. Rathians were better runners than they were flyers. Then there was the fact the Rathalos and Rathians were vulnerable to lighting attacks. Despite their wounds and exhaustion, Los and Ian continued to fight on.
The two managed to bite down on Asta's wings and slammed him into the rocky walls, shaking the entire cave. As stalactites fell on the stunned Asta, Los and Ian let go of his wings and began to launch fireball after fireball on him. Tears fell from Asta's glowing eyes as he laughed uncontrollably. Electric currents ran through Asta's body and convened at his damaged horn. In an instant, a blue blade of lightning flashed from Asta's horn and slashed into Los and Ian. Their eyes burned, and their muscles stung with every move, and all they could see was a yellow blur they assumed was Asta. The blur flew up and glowed brighter, only to fall down screaming. Voices could be heard from the cave entrance…they didn't belong to any monster.
"I knew you'd show up!" Asta said, trying to contain his unstable laughter. "Flesh-takers love to see this! Monsters fighting monsters! Monsters killing, monsters dying, it's all for amusement, right? Am I putting on a good performance? Are you amused? Are you having fun? I'm having the time of my life!"
As the wyvern couple's vision returned to them, they saw a group of Flesh-takers had entered the cave. One of them was wielding a large weapon with two limbs on its side and a muzzle that fired sharp stones. Los believed the Flesh-takers called it a "bowgun." Enraged at the sight of these Flesh-takers, Asta lept over Los and Ian and shocked the ground the Flesh-takers were standing on. The jolt threw all four Flesh-takers out of the cave, and Asta chased after them. Los and Ian could barely stand as they listened to the fighting outside grow more distant. Once the fight had grown silent, raindrops began to methodically thud outside.
Three children. They had three children, yet they only saw Asta kill two of them. Scales was still unaccounted for. While it was likely that Asta had eaten him before they returned home, Los and Ian still searched every part of the cave, hoping to find their last hatchling. No other thoughts entered their minds.
Ian wandered deeper into the cave and heard a small creature breathing heavily. Perhaps Scales had survived, and while his siblings' deaths were tragic, at least they could still have a family. She followed the breath to a fallen rock which she knocked away with her tail. Behind the stone was a mangled Scales. His wings and legs were bent, and blood trickled out from the corners of his mouth. As he struggled with every breath, Ian began to wish Asta had just eaten him so he wouldn't have to suffer. She suspected Scales had been knocked into the wall by one of the adult monsters during their battle.
"Los…I found Scales," Ian stammered.
Her mate appeared and froze up when he saw Scales. He hesitantly nuzzled their son, trying to comfort him, but Scales only whimpered with pain.
"No, no, no. Who did this? Did one of us hit him?" Los moaned.
"No! I don't know," Ian cried out. There was no way to know for sure. The fight had been so frantic, and with all of Asta's lightning attacks, there were moments where Ian could barely see what she was doing.
The two wyverns collapsed next to their child. Injured, starving, and exhausted, the two struggled to breathe almost as much as Scales. If Asta or the Flesh-takers returned, there wouldn't be any fight.
"I left the nest," Ian confessed. "I was so scared to lose you. I didn't think I could have a family without-," She stopped as she could not finish saying another word.
"I attacked Asta the day I brought home the Yian Kut-Ku. I wanted him dead, so this wouldn't happen. I thought I killed him. I should have just left him alone."
The two said nothing to each other for the rest of the night as they listened to Scales's heartbeat until they could hear it no more.