The sound of clawed feet digging into tough tree bark could almost be heard through the howling winds from the highest peek of the Ancient Forest.
A yellow smudge in comparison to the sheer size of the tree was making its way around the thick branches and tree crowns, occasionally popping its head out of the leaves in order to catch its bearings. Visibly distraught it chirped weakly and continued its search.
Having made its way all the way from the base of the forest to the very top had drained the tiny body of all the energy it had, and yet it continued its journey. The information it held was too important to not be heard by the correct ears.
Finally, a clearing could be made out. At the very top of the tree crown, a clearing of branches opened up to reveal a massive wyvern nest. The sorrounding area was filled with the remains of various critters, animals, monsters and even some skinstealers. It reeked of death for such a small creature as itself, and the musk of its inhabitants was overpowering.
In the middle of the nest were 3 large wyvern eggs, speckled with various metals. Guarding them, a massive Rathalos laid coiled around them like as snake. His silver scales glimmering in the afternoon sun and his chest heaving up and down with each breath in a slow, and meditational fashion. Fast asleep.
The Jagras had never spoken to, or better yet seen, the Council Leader, but it immediately recognized him by the musk its mistress had carried back home to her nest after her Council meetings.
"Oh mistress..."
Having found her decapitated head left in the lair after the Jagras attempted to fend off the massive skinstealer was soul crushing. Their kind and generous mistress who would even go as far as to hunt her own food when they couldn't provide her most basic necessities, now dead and gone.
When it had sucessfully managed to hide and survive their encounter with the skinstealer it had heard her plead for mercy, only to be cut off suddenly. It had fueled its heart with rage and regret for not giving its life for her cause. Now, there was only one thing it could do, share what it had learned with the most influential monster in the Ancient Forest, Garon.
With the hope of having Garon commit to the revenge of its master, the brave Jagras steeled its heart and chirped as loud as it can, defying all its basic survival instincts.
Garon's eyes shot open, his pupils contracting into slits as the sun temporarily blinded him. As he stood up from his sleeping position he shook his wings, almost blowing the Jagras off the edge of the nest. Garon's serpentine head searched the edges of its nest with a low rumbling growl for the foolish monster that had dared to wake him from his slumber.
"Who dares..?!" The air was filled with the stench of rotting meat and Rathalos musk as Garon spoke. It was almost overpowering and the tiny Jagras had to crouch down in fear of collapsing.
"Its just me Your Highness, ergh... Great Leader.. urrr.." The Jagras managed to stutter, in awe at the sheer size and power of the Silver Rathalos standing before it.
Garon blinked in confusion. Had such a weak and fragile creature awoken him in order to fight him? Did it harbour a death wish? Craning his neck down towards the inferior Jagras he asked;
"And you are..?" His words rolling of the tip of his tongue, exposing his pearly white teeth, sharper than knives and deadlier than swords.
"Uuuh, a servant of mistress Janna, sir.. uhhh..." The Jagras weakly responded. Every fiber of its being screaming at it to get as far away from this creature as possible. The very same feeling it had felt when fighting the Skinstealer, but this time it would not back down.
"I bring bad new-" It managed to mutter before;
"Janna!" Garon shouted. "Puh, who does that miserable wench believe she is! Sending her mongrels to my lair and interrupting my nap! I'll burn her alive!" Flames were licking the insides of his mouth.
"P-please wait! I came here of my own accord!"
"Hmm...? Do you perhaps truly have a death wish?"
"Uh.. n-no ...sir."
"Garon will do fine." He said, staring down the puny creature. "Now speak up, why have you come here?" Wincing, the Jagras spoke.
"Mmm.. Garon sir, mistress Janna has died.."
Garon's irises widened momentarily before contracting once again.
"Hmmmm, well it was bound to happen one day. All that eating of hers was fated to end her eventually..." Garon leaned in even closer, almost shoving the Jagras into his half open maw. "That does not explain why you came here however."
"Sh-she was killed..."
"So she couldn't outrun an Anjanath or Deviljho, so what?"
Bowing down as far as its legs allowed it, the Jagras braced itself once again.
"By a skinstealer.."
"..."
Garon backed away from the quivering Jagras and turned towards the exit of the clearing. Walking over to the very edge of the tree crown he raised his wings fully and let the wind caress his wing membranes. Basking in the remaining sunlight he turned his head towards the Jagras.
"Are you certain? They haven't been active in these lands for almost a full season now."
"I- I am certain." The Jagras dared to gaze upon the magnificent specimen of a Rathalos and his glittering scales whispered only one word into the Jagras's ears. Beautiful.
Humming contently he turned back towards the edge of the clearing. His eyes darting across the horizon as the setting sun soon became dusk. He sucked in as much air as he possibly could before roaring towards the horizon with all his might. The surrounding branches shook due to wind pressure and the Jagras's eyes almost rolled into the back of its head. It stumbled as it regained its balance.
He shut his mouth with an audible clack and listened intently. After some moments passed he smiled to himself and walked back towards the Jagras. He laid down in his nest and curled himself around the eggs once again, this time resting his head on his tail as he spoke to the Jagras.
"You have done well informing me brave Jagras." The Jagras looked surprised. It was being praised? Even its mistress had never done that before. "Tell me your name brave one."
"I don't have a name, names are for the strong and us Jagras aren't worthy of such luxuries." It spoke out loud, feeling a bit more at ease now that it didn't feel threatened.
"I see, then, your gender atleast?"
"Female, sir."
"Female?" He asked, mildly surprised. "I thought the male's were the one to do the exploring and dangerous stuff?"
"They are." She confirmed. "Is my gender troublesome to you Garon, sir?" She asked worriedly.
"Oh far from brave one, far from... Just curious is all."
He licked and cleaned the scales on the edge of his spiked tail as he spoke. Constantly keeping eye contact with the female Jagras.
"So why did you come here and not your male counterpart?"
"..." The Jagras looked down once again as she remembered the faces of her fallen family. "I am the only survivor."
"... The only survivor of what?" Garon asked.
"Of the skinstealer. We were tasked to.. to defend mistress Janna."
Garon stopped grooming himself and looked.. empathetic?
"That coward couldn't deal with her own problems and ordered you to do the dirty work for her huh?" He questioned.
This made the Jagras angry, their mistress had been so kind! Leaving scraps from her meals for them and even marking her territory every month! She had done far more for them than any other Great Jagras she had met!
"That is not true! Mistress Janna would never do something so despicable!" She hissed, forgetting who she was speaking to for a brief moment. Garon's eyes sharpened.
"Hmmm, easy there."
The Jagras felt as if though she had just swallowed a piece of rotten flesh. She had overstepped her boundaries. She was dead. Totally dead.
"As a governor of subjects I know what its like to be in Janna's position, in a sense."
She wasn't dead?
"I too, often shove my problems on to others. Yes. Problems..." A vague smile crossed his reptillian face.
Suddenly, the flapping of wings could be heard. Multiple wings. Garon snapped out of his inner thoughts and looked up, basking in the sound of the wings.
"Aaaah, they're here." He said.
"Who's here?" She asked timidly.
Garon glanced back down at her. A humorous look dawning his face.
"My mates."
The branch clearing shook a little as three loud thumps could be heard shortly after the creatures landed. Two new wyverns entered the large nest, one green, the other pink. Rathians. The pink one was slightly larger than the green one, but only by a negligible amount. She had slightly meatier legs than the green one and a girthier tail, but other than that their builds were very standard for a Rathian. Not something a lowly Jagras would know of however and as she stared she completely forgot about the third wyvern.
"Yohoo darling, how's the kiddo's?" The pink one lightly hopped into the nest and laid down next to Garon, crooning as she pressed her face into Garon's.
"Turqie, please stop disturbing Garon, we are just his call girls. Besides that spot is reserved for Titania." The green one spoke, her tone wasn't as dainty as the pink one. More monotone and unempathetic.
"Argh, Green, stop being such a spoilsport, you must enjoy the fruits of your labor while you can you know?" Turqie, the pink Rathian quipped. Green huffed and laid down outside of the nest, behind the Female Jagras, blocking the exit.
Garon laughed, loudly. "Haha, as endearing as ever, the both of you. The children are fine, thank you for asking, and I don't really mind some affection from you too every once in a while, Green." Green, the green Rathian only eyed the Jagras intently.
"But I do, Garon." A more mature voice called out.
The Jagras leaped into the air in surprise as the voice had called out from behind her. Turning around 180 degrees she had to look up at a towering Rathian, clad in gold. She was roughly the same size as Garon, equating to about twice the size of Turqie, but much more muscular and queenly in gait and appereance. This had to be the previously mentioned, Titania. In her maw she carried the bloody corpse of a monster she had never seen before. The golden Rathian stared down at the puny Jagras in digust and dropped the corpse right down next to her. Its dead body smacked against the ground, only the whites of its eyes were visible. Its back shell had been pierced by the Rathians teeth, leaving bloody holes in the carapace.
"An Apceros again Titania? I would like some diversity in my diet you know?" Turqie quipped. She only received a cold glare in response. Titania walked over to Garon's right flank and laid down in a similar fashion to Turqie.
The sight was quite something to behold for such a low ranking monster like a Jagras. She was unable to muster a single word. Here, before her very eyes, were 4 creatures capable of eradicating her entire species if they so wished, but out of sheer benevolence, they had decided not to. She was so grateful she immediately bowed down again to the power display, laying her face in her paws in the second most submissive stance she could think of.
"So, who's this weakling Garon? Gotten tired of fucking Green already so you're going interspecies now?" Titania stared at Garon with raging eyes and words laced with venom. Green shuddered and Turqie looked on amused.
"Oh, honey, after all these years and you're still caught up on the most trivial of things." Garon shook his head and Titania only huffed in reply.
Suddenly feeling quite unwelcome the Jagras quickly went back on to her feet and began to move towards the exit, but Green only growled and she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Now now brave one, no need to be in a hurry." Garon spoke.
"But, I have told you everything I know...?" She replied.
"Ah yes, but not everything, not yet. I must debrief you first." Garon smiled, now however she did not feel as much at ease as she used to.
"De-debrief...?" This was a new word to her.
"Mmm, yes. In a sense. You see, I must tell you a story first."
The Jagras was confused, but she sat down quietly as Garon began.
"You see, some days ago I received a report from a subject of mine, a Rathalos named Red. When out hunting, he and his mate had spotted the skinstealers lair."
The skinstealer lair? Garon knows where they reside?
"I can see you're already quite invested. I will carry on then. According to his sightings their lair was empty, there were no one there. No living creature inhabited the place. The land had been reshapen and covered in wooden dragons, with tiny caves drilled into them acting like nests for these skinstealers."
The Jagras's ears were fully perked and she listened intently. There was so much information to be gathered.
"He then came with a request. A daring one. He wanted to move his nest. He wanted to move away from my territory and establish a nest in the skinstealers lair! Can you believe such insolence?" Garon asked intrusively. She didn't reply as she felt he didn't need affirmation. He knew he was right. He always was.
"Now, I had always envied Red for his mate. She was so beautiful, ordinary, but beautiful nonetheless. During mating season I simply couldn't stand listening to them howl towards the moon together, it left me with no passion for Titania, and so I saw this as a... 'golden' opportunity." He lovingly gazed towards Titania who only granted him a cold glare. Green shuddered once more and closed her eyes.
"I told him I agreed. I would let him move on one condition. He would inform me if any skinstealers were to arrive and he would fight to protect his new nest with his life if so need be. A good deal for me hm? I would no longer be troubled by Red's bewitching mate, I wouldn't have to worry about some pesky skinstealers as they had no place to return to and I could rekindle my love for Titania."
"And me!" Turqie interrupted.
Garon paused for a second before staring at her, smiling sickly sweet. "Ah yes, of course, and you."
"Anyhow, 2 days ago I went out for a small night flight while Titania was hunting and Turqie watched the eggs. There I saw one of the Skinstealers wooden dragons swimming through the ocean. And it was heading right towards Reds lair! Oh no, how terrible!" He sarcastically said.
"Then an idea struck me, instead of burying my lust for Red's wife, why not just take her? And so, instead of warning Red I let the skinstealers ambush their nest. They drove out Red and his mate and when they least suspected it I swooped down to Red and had a little talk with him. Long story short, I killed him for not being able to keep his promise to me.
Garon's gums were showing through his massive grin and he stared down the Jagras.
"His mate was now, by Wyvern law, mine. And that was how I got Green! My splendid, second concubine"
"I-I see..." The Jagras said, disturbed by how easily the Council Leader had sacrificed one of his inhabitants in order to favor himself.
Wait...
Her eyes widened. A cold shiver went down her spine, but this time it wasn't the wind.
"Hmm, you're smarter than you look." Garon's smile faded away to his old, terrifying self. "Anyhow, for the debriefing..."
She stood up. "I-I-I wo-would rather n-not sir, uh, your highness..." She said as she slowly crept away from the now foul smelling corpse of the Apceros. She realized now what a fool she had been. She was pinned down by a large claw and she shrieked in pain at the presure put on her spine. Green had grasped her and held her down, her eyes were watery and her voice wavered slightly but she spoke as monotonous as before.
"My mate was talking to you."
The Jagras stared back at Garon, eyes wide as saucers. Turqie smiled devilishly beside him, but Titania didn't even seem to care for what would happen to her.
"I will now ask you a series of questions and you will answer truthfully, remember Red? Disobeying me isn't exactly a wise option."
She nodded in understanding, hoping she might escape with her life intact if she beckoned to his needs.
"Did Janna send you?"
"N-no sir."
"Is Janna dead?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are you the sole survivor of the skinstealer incident?"
"... Y-yeah."
"Will you speak of what you have learned here today with anyone else?"
"No..."
Garon hummed contently once again. Sensing a mild chance of survival the female Jagras became hopeful. Maybe she would live? Maybe she could escape from the Ancient Forest and find some other Jagras pack to live with, another mistress to serve. Somewhere far away from Garon and his mates. Somewhere safe?
"Have you spoken to anyone else of the skinstealer incident?"
"No, no sir. I went straight to you."
"Good, good.."
The sun was now sending out its last rays before the night would overtake the sky once more, and all the nocturnal predators would go hunting again. Its final light reflecting off of the Wyverns magnificent scales conjuring hypnotizing patterns within the walls off Garon's nest. It was truly beautiful.
"I thank you for your cooperation, brave one. Green, release her. And Titania, we must make arrangements for the annual meeting a bit earlier than expected, it would seem the council has much to discuss."
An enormous weight was lifted of her shoulders, quite literally, and she staggered on to her feet once again ready to leap out of there as fast as she could.
"I can leave? I can leave! Leave! LEAVE!"
"But before you go, brave one... Turqie, you mentioned you wanted some more variety in your diet, no?"
Then, everything went dark, as the night overtook the sky once more, and the real predators revealed themselves.
Author's Note
Hello readers! Uria here. I have split the paragraphs into multiple parts in order to make it easier to read, hope this helps!
Also, sorry beforehand if there are many errors and typos in this chapter, literally wrriting this at 2 in the night here in Europe so yeah, bear with me. I'll correct my typos when I'm fully awake and find the time to do so admits my studies and life.
Last note, I really appreciate any recomendations or critique you might have of the layout or pacing of the text etc. It allows for me to improve upon the story and make the experience a bit more enjoyable. Update schedules might be irregular and I might suddenly stop uploading because I'm a regular human like you so I also have school and all that snaz, but I will attempt to keep things consistent.
Alright, goodbye, thanks for reading!