Chapter 8 - Aufgelaufen:
Author's Note:
A chapter on Wednesday? Why? I can hear the questions and confusion now as I'm writing this, but there's a good reason! Today's my birthday! My first year on fanfiction I wrote a chapter for my birthday all in one day and released it that day. It was stressful but incredibly rewarding, as a little present to everyone reading my fics. Last year, though, I didn't write anything, which was a disappointment now that I look back on it. Which is why I decided to pick the tradition back up again this year!
There's also the fact that I don't want this story to sit very long, since if I don't get this chapter out now, it won't be out for another two weeks, probably. So now's the best time to do this. And, since I'm writing this chapter all in one day, it's a little bit on the short side. Please, enjoy!
XXX
Aufgelaufen: Stranded.
"Ah… shit…" Ruby hissed as she pulled the needle from her arm. It was the last serum Dr. Steele had given her and she was finally out. Now there was nothing left between her and the bottomless void that was the frenzy. She tossed the needle against a tree only a few meters in front of her, shattering the glass against the bark.
She reached back into her backpack and pulled out a well-done steak. She was running low on food, but that wasn't her immediate concern. When she finally fully succumbed to the frenzy, she had no doubt she'd be able to hunt for herself. "I hope eating raw meat won't kill me while I'm frenzied," she grumbled, before biting into the steak.
She still wasn't entirely sure what she was doing. Three choices, all of them awful. But out of all the choices, this one meant not giving birth to a… well, a monster. Even if going Apex was the hardest out of all the options, she had to figure out how to do it. She had gotten good and lost, just to make sure she wouldn't accidentally stumble back to Bherna after she succumbed.
It had taken a few days to find a good place to hunker down and focus on conquering the frenzy. And in that time, she had ran out of the serum. And she had no idea how to even start down the path to going Apex. Her original idea was to find an Apex monster and try and talk to it.
But she hadn't even seen a single monster as she trekked through the Frontier. Let alone an Apex one. With her one and only idea practically shot, she had to try something different. Ruby tossed the bone that the well-done steak was wrapped around aside, before hopping up on her feet.
Ruby did a few stretches, cracking a few joints as she did. She had managed to find a nice little oasis in the Jurassic Frontier. The water was fresh, the shade was nice to escape the heat, and there was a little cave that seemed to have been made by a Bullfango. It was the perfect place to stay. "Now… I just hope I can remember where this place is when I lose control," Ruby muttered as she headed out of the oasis.
She had brought with her only a single bag of very limited supplies. She had not brought her bow or any armor. She wouldn't have any need of them, regardless of how this went, and she didn't want to accidentally damage them either. The only thing she had left was a few well-done steaks, but they'd only last another day at most.
The sun was high up in the air, casting a warm glow onto the Jurassic Frontier. It was time for her to do… something. She didn't have very long until the serum ran out, and she still wasn't sure what she was going to do. For all she knew… she was already screwed.
She made her way out of the oasis and just started walking. She figured at the very least she'd establish some sort of territory that she could hunt in and defend. Maybe acting more like a monster would give her an idea. It wasn't like she'd have much of a choice when the serum wore off.
The oasis was nothing more than a small clearing surrounded by the trees of the Jurassic Frontier. Much of the Frontier was covered in forest, and it would make it incredibly difficult for Ruby to find her way out, even if she did go Apex. She was a little worried about even being able to find her way back to the oasis… but if she didn't go out and try something, there was no way she'd ever be able to survive.
Ruby walked for several minutes, trying to memorize the path back to her little oasis. She was just looking for any signs that there could be any monsters living in the vicinity. Anyone she could hopefully talk to. Maybe they had more insight into the frenzy virus than humans did, since it affected them differently than humans.
She heard something approaching her at a rapid pace far too late. She spun around just in time for something to ram into her, knocking her off her feet. She hit the ground and rolled a few feet away from her attacker. She stayed on the ground for a second, just to be sure she wouldn't be attacked immediately, before hopping to her feet.
Her bare skin was caked in dirt and grass, but luckily, the strap covering her breasts hadn't come undone. It was a little superficial, considering she could feel blood running down her back. With the serum still in her body, she didn't have access to her highspeed regeneration, and it could take some time to stop the bleeding naturally.
She turned to face her attacker, before narrowing her eyes. It was a relatively small monster, a pink bird wyvern called a Yian Kut Ku. It let out a loud cawing sound, before doing a little strut, clearly pleased with itself that it had knocked Ruby off her feet.
"Oh fuck you, you little pink bastard," Ruby snarled as she wiped dirt off her skin aggressively. She supposed she had wanted to see a monster… though she had really hoped it would be something else. She'd rather see a Zinogre over a Kut Ku. "Can't you tell I'm unarmed?"
The bird wyvern, however, only flared its wings and opened its yellow beak wide to let out a loud scream. Ruby's eye twitched. A Kut Ku's 'roar' wasn't anywhere near loud enough to cause her to flinch, but it was certainly annoying. "Hey, hello? Can you understand me?" Ruby called out over the sound of the bird wyvern.
The Kut Ku let out a clucking sound, before charging at Ruby, its head bobbing back and forth like a chicken. Ruby rolled out of the way just as the Kut Ku came to a stop, pecking the ground in front of it, before accidentally ramming its beak into the ground. "Don't fucking tell me your brain is too small to understand me," Ruby growled, glaring at the bird wyvern.
It would be an interesting experiment in cross-species language. Why did some monsters understand humans and some couldn't? Was it because their brains were too small? Was it because the language Ruby and the other Knights of the Wolf could understood was something only some monsters could speak? Or maybe it was because some monsters just didn't know how to understand English, irrelevant of brain size.
As fun as it might be for the scientist inside Ruby to ponder the many different questions and answers, she had to be ready for the next charge. A Yian Kut Ku was an extremely weak monster, barely deserving of the title 'monster' to begin with. This one definitely wasn't G-rank… with the hit she took, she'd guess that it wasn't even high rank. But with no weapons and no armor… even a low rank monster could pose a threat if she wasn't careful.
Unless I lose myself to the frenzy sometime here soon, she muttered internally as she held up her fists, getting ready for a counter-attack. The bird wyvern let out another cry, before racing towards Ruby again, but it stopped short and lobbed a fireball at the human. The fireball hit Ruby's guard, knocking her off her feet again.
The fireball was unexpected, and she had barely had time to protect herself. Of course, all she had done was burn her arms. The Kut Ku didn't give up, however, racing towards Ruby once again, even though she was still on the ground.
Ruby rolled to a stop, before trying to push herself back up onto her feet. But her singed arms stung far too much for her to do more than roll onto her stomach. The Kut Ku began pecking the ground once again, its beak slamming onto the human's back. But it was nowhere near as hard as she was expecting. But things were about to get much worse…
Because instead of the pain of the Kut Ku's beak piercing her flesh, she felt the uncomfortable feeling of cloth rubbing against her sensitive skin. It was at that moment she realized that the Kut Ku hadn't ambushed her to pick a fight. They weren't usually known as aggressive animals, after all.
No… the Kut Ku could have easily killed Ruby in a single hit if it had aimed for her spine… but it wasn't aiming for her spine. It wasn't trying to kill her. The Kut Ku pulled away from Ruby, holding the piece of cloth she had been wearing around her chest to cover her breasts.
Ruby sat up immediately, instinctively covering herself as she turned to glare at the Kut Ku. They weren't aggressive… but they were certainly inquisitive. And this one seemed to be a prankster of sorts. "Okay, okay, fine, you got me… give it back," Ruby growled, holding one of her arms out. Maybe the beast could talk to her, and was just toying with her.
But the Kut Ku only warbled and raced in the opposite direction, its head bobbing back and forth. "H… hey!" Ruby called out, before racing after the bird wyvern. What the hell was it doing? Maybe it can't understand me and it's just being an ass, she growled internally as she jumped over a fallen log, doing her best to keep up with the more mobile monster.
No matter how hard she tried, however, she couldn't keep up with the Kut Ku. It was just too fast. It easily cleared the debris on the forest floor, while Ruby continued to trip and stumble, losing even more ground. Eventually, the Kut Ku broke through the forest line and raced into a huge field.
By the time Ruby had finally made it through to the forest line, her teeth were bared and her canines had elongated from the effects of the frenzy. The serum had begun wearing off, but her sheer frustration and rage had pushed the virus to fight the nulberries. She was still in control… but only barely.
"Give… it… back!" Ruby roared, before breaking out into a full run. The Kut Ku had paused in the middle of the field, clearly waiting for her. This was just a game to it… it wanted her to follow it.
The Kut Ku warbled again, clearing enjoying its game, turned around to start running once again. However, Ruby had gained speed as the frenzy began overwhelming her, and she was finally catching up to it. The Kut Ku, hearing Ruby let out another roar, squawked in fear as it let loose a burst of speed, pulling ahead once again.
It had no idea that humans could be that fast… or sound that angry. Ruby sounded much bigger than she actually was, which terrified the relatively small bird wyvern. Sure, it had learned that humans wearing those weird skins and furs and carrying those pointy sticks were not to be trifled with… but the other humans were good fun! Why was this one suddenly so scary?
The Kut Ku kept running, unaware that it was crossing a nearly invisible threshold. It didn't have the time to stop and scent the air. If it did… it would know that it was walking into claimed territory. Something evil lived nearby, and if the Kut Ku knew, it would've preferred Ruby over what was coming for it.
Ruby roared again as the bird wyvern gained more ground, but a black shadow overhead caused her to skid to a stop. Her frenzied mind wasn't too far gone to realize the threat as something swooped down from above, slamming into the Yian Kut Ku. The sound of snapping bones filled the air as the Kut Ku was practically crushed under the weight of its assailant.
Ruby took a step backwards as she saw the much larger, purplish-black bird wyvern delivered three accurate pecks to the Kut Ku, killing it immediately. The low rank monster was unable to withstand the blows from the stronger Yian Garuga. Ruby's eyes could only widen as the Garuga turned to glare at her.
Unlike a Yian Kut Ku, a Yian Garuga was incredibly aggressive and territorial. "I don't suppose you can talk either?" Ruby at least tried to calm the Garuga down while she still had the mental capacity to. But the Garuga only let out a terrifying scream, if it could understand Ruby, it didn't care what she had to say.
"Guess I'm not getting my top back then," Ruby growled as she turned on her heel and raced back towards the cover of the forest. She wasn't sure where the Garuga's territory ended, and she wasn't sure if it would stop pursuing her even if she crossed out of it, but she hoped at the very least she could lose the bird wyvern in the trees.
The Garuga gave chase, as was its nature. Its run was equally as awkward as the Kut Ku's, but it was twice as fast. Even with the frenzy slowly taking over Ruby's mind, healing her wounds and enhancing her muscles, she was maintaining a very small lead that was shrinking rapidly.
Ruby pushed her body as hard as she could, the edge of the forest was so close… yet too far away for her to make it. The Yian Garuga slammed into her back, knocking her over. She turned over onto her back before it could pin her and held up her hands to try and catch the Garuga's beak before it could make impact with her face. Her high speed regeneration wasn't good enough to take more than a few hits from the Garuga.
She managed to catch the Garuga's beak before it hit her face. The bird wyvern was strong… very strong, it took every ounce of her strength to keep the monster's beak from impaling her. They remained locked like that for nearly a minute, before Ruby felt its strength wane.
I guess I have more stamina, Ruby grinned as she readjusted her grip, before twisting the bird wyvern's head roughly, snapping its neck without a problem. Much like a chicken, a bird wyvern's neck was rather weak. The light died from the Garuga's eyes as it slumped to the side, allowing Ruby to slip out from underneath it.
But it didn't last very long. Despite having its neck snapped, the Garuga's neck cracked back into place, its high speed regeneration kicking in. But Ruby was already running again. She had no intentions of standing there, waiting for the Garuga to right itself to fight again. Hopefully after an injury like that, it would retreat.
The Garuga let out another scream, before chasing after Ruby once again. "Of fucking course not," Ruby snarled as she made it to the tree line. But at least she would be able to lose the Garuga in the trees. Or at least, she had thought so.
Right as she made it into the forest, the Garuga launched a fireball at her. Much like the Yian Kut Ku, the Yian Garuga can fire off fireballs… though usually with limited range. But by taking a running start, the combined momentum of the fireball and the running Garuga allowed it to lob a ball of flame far enough to smack Ruby in the back, sending her back down to the dirt again.
Cursing to herself, Ruby quickly rolled onto her feet, her high speed regeneration healing the burns on her back. It was incredibly shameful, being hit and knocked over so many times. She was a hunter not too long ago, and a damn good one too! Even without weapons or armor, she should easily be evading the Garuga's attacks.
Maybe you're just not as good as you thought.
The thought echoed through Ruby's mind as the Garuga charged her again, quickly closing the distance between itself and the human. Ruby ground her teeth together so hard that it hurt, her rage boiling over. Black mist seeped from tiny pores in her skin, creating a type of miasma around her as her pinkish eyes turned blood red.
Maybe you should just give into the frenzy.
Ruby shifted her stance as the Garuga got closer, but remained rooted to the spot. She wasn't running anymore. The Garuga, not realizing the sudden danger it was in, slammed into Ruby at full speed. But the human once again grabbed the Garuga's beak and put all her might into stopping its charge.
You were never going to go Apex in the first place.
The Garuga let out a squawk as it was stopped in its tracks. Ruby had only skidded a few meters from her original spot before successfully halting the monster. The bird wyvern tried to break free from Ruby's grasp, but the human held on tight, her fingers digging into the monster's beak, and prying it apart.
It's time to just… surrender.
Ruby growled and grunted as she began pulling the Garuga's beak apart. Much like the Kut Ku, the Garuga could open its mouth quite wide, but that fact didn't save the bird wyvern from having the top half of its head torn off. The Garuga's body dropped to the ground, a bloody gurgle escaping its throat as Ruby tossed the top half of its head aside.
"Die," Ruby snarled as she brought her foot down on what was left of the Garuga's head. "Die… die… die!" she roared as she continued to stomp on the bird wyvern, what remained of its head to mush, crushing and cracking even the tough beak of the monster.
Ruby finished her rampage and took a step back a few minutes later. There was no way the Garuga would be able to recover from such a wound, it was dead. It had died five minutes ago, but that hadn't stopped Ruby's frenzied mind from making absolutely sure. Not even an Elder Dragon could recover from such a beating.
Ruby stared at the corpse for a few minutes, before another roar slipped from her throat. A roar of triumph, instead of rage and anger. She was victorious! She had made her first kill while frenzied, and this was only the beginning. Now that she had given in, it was time to go on a rampage. It was the only thing her frenzied mind could think of. The thought of going apex had all but been abandoned.
It's time to embrace the frenzy!
XXX
The night passed and the sun slowly rose the next morning. Rachel lay huddled around her hatchlings, but she had not slept a wink. And not just because her stomach was growling. All their stomachs were growling, as they had not eaten for nearly a day. The hatchlings needed food soon or they'd die… and Rachel wouldn't be able to continue healing unless she got some food.
But that wasn't why she hadn't been able to sleep. Her neck was craned awkwardly on the floor as she stared at the mouth of the cave. She couldn't take her eyes off of it… as every second that passed where he didn't come back was torture.
It was getting harder and harder to have any hope. She didn't want to believe that he wasn't coming back… but it was beginning to look like that was the case. And it was all her fault… all because she was just being too nosey. He had gotten offended and then… he left.
The sun rose, casting streams of light through the mouth of the cave, but not once had Rachel heard anything that sounded remotely like the unique sound Val made when he flew. It was probably hopeless to just sit here and wait. Her hatchlings were hungry… and so was she. They needed food, and they needed it now.
With a low grunt, she stood from her nest, her hatchlings still very much asleep, before heading towards the mouth of the cave. They'd hopefully stay sleeping while she hunted… she wouldn't go too far from the cave. Just far enough to get water and food.
She sent one last glance at her hatchlings, before leaving her cave for the first time in days. And the moment she stepped out into the light, she couldn't help but instinctively spread her tattered wings. The sun felt so good on her scales… it was something she had missed dearly. She had been cooped up in her cave for far too long.
She glanced at her wings and let out a sigh. For a moment, she had forgotten she couldn't fly. Her wing membrane had begun to regenerate, but not nearly enough to allow her to fly. So she folded her wings back, keeping what she had healed protected, before hopping off the ledge the mouth of her cave was embedded in.
It was only at that moment she realized it wouldn't be easy getting back into the cave. The ledge the cave was on was taller than her, and without front limbs or wings to fly, climbing it would be a challenge. But she forced herself to forget about getting back to her hatchlings… she had to hunt first.
She headed away from her cave, her nostrils flaring as she picked up the scent of prey. She was used to spotting prey from their air, so hunting by scent was new to her. But not something she couldn't figure out how to do. Vespoids buzzed around her head, but she ignored them as she rounded a corner and headed towards a small pond that she knew of. It was the best place to start looking.
She made her way through the Verdant Hills, or at least, that's what Val had called it, as quietly as she could. Approaching from the air was so much easier than hunting on foot… and it was stealthier too. But eventually, the Rathian made her way to a small pond not too far from her cave. And there were a few Kelbi drinking the water.
Chasing down Kelbi would be difficult… she'd have to use her fire. She took a moment to judge the distance between herself and the Kelbi, before letting out a roar. The Kelbi jumped out of their fur, but weren't fast enough to get away as three fireballs screamed towards the small herd in rapid succession.
Only one of the fireballs missed, just singing one of the deer-like monster's legs, but the other two connected. The strength of the fireballs blasted the Kelbi off their feet, scorching their rumps, and rendering their back pair of legs useless. The rest of the herd raced away from the pond as fast as they could, another one of Rachel's roars echoing after them.
It felt so good to hunt again! And the fact that she was able to bag something on her first try made her feel all warm inside. She padded over to the closed Kelbi and bit into its stomach, eagerly digging in. Her fireball had cooked the back half of the deer-like creature quite well, if she wasn't so hungry, she might've blasted the Kelbi again to finish cooking it.
But starvation urged her to just eat, and eat she did. She tore the Kelbi apart, devouring its skin, muscles, and internal organs. She avoided the bones, as her jaws still hurt a bit, and she didn't think she could crack bones at the moment. But once that was all that was left of the Kelbi, Rachel made her way over to the pond to clean her face.
It wasn't very sanitary to leave blood stained all over her scales, and it certainly wasn't very attractive either. She didn't think of herself as a vain creature, but she dunked her head into the water nonetheless. She pulled her head out of the water and shook it much like a canine might. Droplets of water flung around the clearing, but at least she was cleaned of any blood.
Rachel waited for the water to settle before dipping her head back in. This time for a drink. But she paused before scooping up some water. The water was quite clear, showing the Rathian's reflection in the pond, gentle ripples causing the image to curve and bend slightly. There was something… different in her appearance.
She didn't normally get the chance to look at herself… she really didn't think of herself as vain. But she was sure she was a vibrant, forest green color. It was tough to see in the small pond, but she could swear her normally green shell was looking a lot more… purple. Maybe it's just a trick of the water, she thought, though she continued to stare at her reflection for several minutes.
Eventually, she realized her face was still dunked in the pond, and she pulled away while scooping up some water to drink at the same time. The ripples shattered the image, distorting it beyond recognition, but the little change did make Rachel curious. Perhaps she should ask one of her hatchlings to get a better look at her shell.
Nodding to herself, she grabbed the second Kelbi and marched back towards her cave. She was careful not to bite down too hard on the deer-like monster, she wouldn't want to cake her face in blood again, or squeeze out any of the flavor her hatchlings would love. She rounded the corner again, and stalked towards the ledge her cave was on.
This is going to be embarrassing, she muttered to herself, before tossing the carcass up onto the ledge. Getting herself up there was going to be a lot harder, however. She craned her neck, setting her head on the edge of the ledge, before using her neck muscles to hoist herself up as much as she could. Her back legs scrabbled against the dirt on the ledge, helping pull herself up.
It was absolutely the most embarrassing thing she had ever done. She looked a pathetic human struggling its way up a cliff it shouldn't be able to scale. But eventually, she hefted her weight onto the ledge, and pulled herself up. She picked the Kelbi back up and headed back into her cave, triumph returning to her eyes once more.
Only for her to halt in her step, dropping the corpse back onto the ground. Her heart started beating rapidly, as if it was trying to burrow its way out of her chest. Is this a dream? she wondered internally.
But it wasn't a dream. There, in the center of her cave, feeding her hatchlings bits of meat from his mouth, was Val. "You're back!" Rachel called out. How had she given up on him so easily? Why had she given up on him? Of course he was going to come back to her! Her heart continued to beat rapidly as she raced over to the Elder Dragon with a grin on her face.
"Of course," Val replied simply, not at all fazed by how quickly she rushed over to him. "I see you went hunting… impatient, huh?"
"Val… I'm so sorry!" Rachel all but wailed as she pressed her face against his. It was the closest thing to a hug she could achieve. If she could cry, she would probably be bawling her eyes out. "I was so rude to you! And you came back despite that! I thought I scared you away for good…"
"Shh, shh, shh…" Val soothed, and to his credit, he didn't pull away from Rachel like he normally would. "I overreacted, it's not your fault… and I'm sorry I took so long… I just needed to clear my head."
"I'm just… so sorry… I promise I'll never be that rude or pushy again!" Rachel promised, pulling away from Val before he could complain. She didn't want to push him away any more than she already had. "Why should I care about what you do? I should just be happy you're here helping me recover!"
Val stared at her for a moment, before eventually sighing, "You should feed your hatchlings. They're still wary of me." He stepped aside, allowing Rachel to take his place. He had caught a Ludroth, something that Rachel had only seen a few times when flying out over the sea.
Rachel bit her tongue, the reason her hatchlings were still frightened of him was because he had practically attacked her. But she didn't dare say that. "If I knew you were coming back, I wouldn't have caught that extra Kelbi," she said, before tearing into the Ludroth. "You can have it, I already ate."
It wasn't even really a request to eat, it was just an offer. She was going to uphold her promise. She held the chunks of Ludroth over her hatchlings, letting them reach up and tear off smaller bites, chewing them up, and then swallowing them, before going back for more. They were happy to just have some food.
"Are you sure?" Val asked, glancing at the Kelbi Rachel had caught.
"I didn't know you were coming back, so I already hunted something for myself," Rachel replied honestly, before grabbing another chunk of Ludroth for her hatchlings.
Val remained silent as he padded over to the Kelbi. He hadn't eaten in quite a while, and he was sure Rachel was telling the truth. After clearing his head and realizing he needed to apologize just as much as Rachel did, he figured the least he could do was eat something she caught.
Rachel caught Val eating the Kelbi out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't turn towards him. She didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable than he already was. She just focused on feeding her hatchlings.
Several minutes went by where the monsters in the cave just focused on eating. The only sound echoing through the cavern was the sound of tearing meat and breaking bones. Val finished the Kelbi off first, leaving nothing more than a bloodstain behind. The Elder Dragon stood up, stretching as he did.
Rachel once again caught Val moving out of the corner of her eye, but this time he was heading towards the mouth of the cave. "Are you leaving again?" she asked as her hatchlings lied back down, done eating.
Val paused, but turned his head slightly to look at the Rathian. "No… I'm just going to go clean my face," he said, before taking off, flying out of the cave at a speed only he could achieve. Rachel's heart fluttered again, a smile spreading across her lips. She felt as though they had made progress… but all she really cared about was that he was back.
XXX
Ah… that turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. But I just tore through this chapter, I couldn't stop typing! I guess I feel incredibly motivated today… which is why I released the chapter as early as I could. Originally, this was just going to be a Ruby chapter, but I finished that part off so early that I couldn't stop myself from writing more! So instead of a short chapter, you all get a long one instead!
There's a lot of fun things to say about this chapter. Firstly… I fucking hate Yian Garuga. Poison, fire, roaring, flying, surprisingly well armored, and looks like a fucking chicken are all sins against that monster. Not to mention the fact that in MH4U its hitboxes are surprisingly janky, and it inflicts way more damage that it's supposed to. It's just an awful monster that I hate… but its cardinal sin is the fact that its armor is good. The game practically forces you to hunt it. At least in MHG aerial style makes everything your bitch.
With that out of the way, I would just like to quickly clarify that Ruby has not gone Apex. Just in case anyone was confused, she's not conquered the virus yet… that would be too easy! Oh no, she's going to suffer for a bit… and whether or not she'll actually conquer it, well… I guess you'll have to wait and find out. As for Val and Rachel, they seem to have cooled off a bit, and hopefully Val is ready to start being a bit more open. Who knows? They may actually become more than just friends. All that and more, next time (which hopefully won't be more than a few weeks… I hope…)!