Phantom – Part 2
Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine.
Edited by: Hoenn Master96 and Thomas A. Hawk
This one-shot is CANON with The Lost Civilization
I usually don't recommend music for chapters, but I couldn't resist. On Youtube: /watch?v=b_-i9aMfias
(If it doesn't show up, just look up the Phantom Uragaan theme music from Tri.)
Ellie darted forward, closing the distance between herself and the Phantom. She heard Levin and Richard rush after her, as well as Cassandra loading her bowgun and trailing after them with heavy steps.
The Uragaan growled at them as they approached, slowing its charge and coiling up to swing its tail at the approaching hunters. It wasn't hard for Ellie to slide to a halt before the rocky appendage swept a few feet in front of her. However, she was caught by surprise when a couple fist-sized chunks of stone were dislodged from the creature's tail, flung through the air at her. She yelped and snapped up her shield, deflecting the stone off to the side with a ringing sound as it bounced against the ancient materials.
The Uragaan she and Levin had fought in the southern mountains hadn't been able to do that! Though, she'd heard Uragaans could stick stones to themselves using cooled magma, so maybe tossing rocks was something it could only do near volcanos? As she shook her arm, pushing away the aching feeling, she glanced down at the rock the beast had flung at her, and was surprised to find it was… smoking. Puffs of hazy red smoke and ash were hissing out from the top of the lump. She didn't recall seeing this type of rock around the Volcano before…
"Watch out for those!" Richard shouted as he and Levin rushed past her. "They explode if they're hit or shaken too much!" Ellie winced fearfully, leaping back from the stones next to her and eyeing them warily, before returning her gaze to the Uragaan.
Both Levin and Richard had begun attacking the small creature, but the pygmy's stature made it a challenge, as the bulbous knobs which lined the Uragaan's back were hard enough to deflect the blades, despite their sharpness. The brute wyvern was smart enough to keep its body low so most of the swings risked striking the creature overhead, as neither of the hunters had weapons which afforded low strikes easily. Whenever the hunters did sideways strikes, aiming their weapons more carefully at the beast's more vulnerable hide, even then they couldn't get much leverage; the Uragaan's hide and scales were surprisingly strong, and the blades couldn't cut them easily. They were managing to break some of the smaller scales and leave shallow cuts, but were doing little more than agitating the creature, even with the elemental damage each swing was sending into its hide.
The beast growled furiously at the pair of them, sweeping its chin left and right in an attempt to ward off the two hunters, but it was relatively easy for both of them to leap out of the way before the attacks could hit. Both hunters lunged again, but the brute abruptly slammed its chin down onto the obsidian beneath it. By all rights, such a small creature shouldn't have been able to do much with such an action, but the sheer force of the impact splintered the stone beneath it, sending a spider web of cracks through the earth and making the earth around it shiver.
Levin and Richard stumbled as the rocks shifted beneath them, making them waver and giving the Uragaan enough time to turn to face Richard. The Uragaan lurched towards the long sword user, closing the gap and swinging its bulbous tail around at him. The hunter managed to recover in time to leap away from the appendage, but was unable to dodge the rocks which were dislodged from the Uragaan's tail. Two heavy, smoking stones smacked into his armor, one against his shoulder and the other against his lower abdomen, knocking the long sword wielder onto the ground and winding him.
The Uragaan bellowed in satisfaction, lurching towards the hunter as he began pushing himself back to his feet, but before the creature could strike, the sound of bowgun fire rang out behind them, and a trio of Pierce rounds punched into the Uragaan's leg. With the Uragaan's thick skin, the shots hardly damaged the beast at all, but it agitated it enough to pull its attention away from Richard, allowing the long sword wielder to get back to his feet and pull back from the brute wyvern and recover.
Several more rounds bounced off the Uragaan's solid chin and rocky frill as Cassandra kept a constant stream of Pierce rounds flying through the air towards the beast. The Uragaan bellowed in anger, turning her direction and starting to lumber her way, but the barrage of bowgun fire against the creature's face and frill constantly made the Uragaan wince and shudder with each round which came ricocheting so close to its eyes.
Ellie lunged at the pygmy creature as it continued to flinch under the barrage, bringing her short sword down on the Uragaan's hide, shattering scales and cutting into the Uragaan's hide with a spark of its latent dragon element. But the wound was shallow, just as Levin and Richard's attempts had been, and Ellie was able to do little more than leave thin slices across the beast's body. Levin caught up with her a moment later, rushing around to the other side of the creature and cutting into the Uragaan's hide close to the tip of the tail.
The brute wyvern grumbled angrily as it continued to receive attacks on three sides. With a bellow, the Uragaan smashed its chin down, fracturing the obsidian around the two hunters and making her and Levin stumble to keep their balance.
As the earth around them shook, there was a sudden detonation from the other side of the Uragaan, and Levin yelped in shock as a small explosion knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling across the rock flat. Two more blasts followed almost immediately afterwards, just far enough apart for Ellie to realize it had been the small smoking stones the Phantom had thrown at her not long ago. Another trio of blasts detonated a moment after just to Ellie's right, the explosive rocks the beast had flung at Richard, and nearly sent her flying as well. Damn it, Richard had said the rocks could explode if struck, but she hadn't thought the earth shaking would be enough to set them off!
With a satisfied grunt, the Uragaan lurched its way towards Cassandra again, lowering its face to the ground to decrease its chances of getting shot in the face. Rounds occasionally struck against the creature's chin and head, but with the beast's size, they either deflected off its spinal fringe, struck the ground underneath it, or missed completely, soaring past the pygmy brute and against the rock wall behind it. Ellie was quick to assault the creature again, however, and Richard had recovered as well, and both hunters assaulted the Phantom. Again the Uragaan bellowed in frustration and smashed its chin into the obsidian, splintering the earth and forcing the two hunters to pause in their attacks to keep from losing their footing.
With a low grumble, the Uragaan took a few steps backwards, pulling itself away from Ellie and Richard. The brute reared itself backwards, the unmistakable sign that the creature was about to roll into a wheel and rush towards the hunters in front of it. Ellie stepped back, preparing to move if she needed to; an Uragaan's roll was dangerously fast compared to their regular stride, but if the Phantom's regular strides were any indication-
However, as the Uragaan swept its head down under its chest, curling itself a wheel, the creature blasted forward like a cannonball, tearing across the earth towards her. Base instinct was the only thing which saved Ellie as she pulled her shield up on impulse and tried to slide to the side, but the Phantom Uragaan still clipped her as it blazed past, the ridges along its spine slamming against her shield and throwing the huntress backwards.
As Ellie struggled to keep herself upright, her gaze followed the brute in shock as it continued to rocket across the terrain. Cassandra was just as caught off guard by the creature's speed as it curved its trajectory towards her, kicking up stones and shrapnel as it tore across the obsidian. She dove out of the way as the brute shot past her, rolling back to her feet and preparing to fire upon the creature. However, the Uragaan tilted itself sideways, and in a fraction of a second the brute had spun about completely while losing hardly any momentum, and was barreling across the earth towards Cassandra again.
This time the huntress wasn't able to get out of the way quickly enough. The Uragaan's quick turnaround had not given her the time to dodge properly, and though she managed to swing her bowgun's shield attachment around to block, the pygmy brute wyvern's momentum struck the metal plate with the force of a wrecking ball, throwing her to the side and tumbling across the ground. The bowgunner slid to a halt close to Ellie, and the short sword user dashed over to help the other huntress back to her feet. Several dozen yards away, the Uragaan unfolded, skidding to a halt on the obsidian and turning back to face the hunters again.
"Mercy! What the hell is with this thing?!" Ellie hissed. "How can it go so fast, and still turn on a dime?"
"No kidding," Cassandra muttered next to her, groaning in pain before frowning thoughtfully. "Wait… what's a 'dime'?"
"It's… I'll explain later; now's not the best time!"
Ellie yelped as the Phantom Uragaan reared back, before rolling into a wheel again and rushing their way. Ellie could hear shouts from Levin and Richard as the hunters charged after them, trying to pull the creature's attention off of the huntresses, but the Uragaan was completely focused on the two women at the moment.
The two huntresses leapt aside as the brute raced between them, pushing themselves back to their feet in case it turned around and came back for them. Sure enough, about thirty yards away, the Uragaan spun around and rolled towards Ellie again. The sword and shield user dashed to the side, trying to sprint out of the creature's path, but the Uragaan curved as well, intent on colliding with her. At the last moment, Ellie slid to a halt and leapt backwards, and the brute blazed past her once more. Thankfully, this time the creature unraveled rather than turning around again, extending itself and sliding to a halt a couple dozen yards away. The Uragaan turned about and bellowed threateningly at the hunters, though it had to shake its head a little bit, its eyes slightly out of focus and dazed.
"We need to think of a plan," Cassandra grumbled, catching up with Ellie. Levin and Richard had finally caught up and had surrounded the Uragaan, trying to keep it from rolling into a wheel again, but the beast was doing well at keeping them back with wide tail swings, flinging its explosive stones at the two of them. "As long as it's rolling around like that, we can't fight against it. It's just too quick! But there's got to be something we can do to combat it when it's rolling! It's small enough that we could make short work of it if it would only hold still, but…"
"It looks like it gets a little dizzy once it pulls out of a roll," Ellie noted. "But it always stops so far away that you're the only one who could hit it before it recovers and starts rolling again."
"We need to find a way to keep it from rolling so much… larger Uragaans are unstoppable once they get going, but this one should be small enough to do something against."
"Can we try and find a speed bump or something?" Ellie caught herself as Cassandra gave her a confused look. "Oh, right, they're… they were used to keep vehicles from going too fast, like big bumps in the road. But this obsidian's so smooth…"
"Like a big hole in a cobblestone street? Well, it's worth a shot," Cassandra replied, looking around before motioning over towards several protruding rock stalagmites which jutted up from the ground near the lava flow. "Those might work."
The bowgunner spun about and fired a few Pierce rounds at the Uragaan, which clattered off the beast's frill. The creature's attention immediately snapped towards them, and the two huntresses dashed towards the stone pillar, as the Uragaan bellowed, rearing back and rolling after them despite Levin and Richard's attempts to keep its focus on them. Ellie could hear the beast tearing across the obsidian, but pushed herself to get to the stone pillar.
The pair of them just barely reached the stone pillar before the brute wyvern reached them, sliding around the far side. The rolling creature tried to curve away to avoid the pillar, but clipped the base of where the stone sloped upwards, which was enough to arc it a couple feet into the air. As the beast smashed down onto the obsidian once more, Ellie could see that the Uragaan's balance had been thrown off, and the wheel was now wobbling a bit, even as it turned. The huntresses dashed around the side of the pillar as the Uragaan looped around again, still intent on running them down, but again the beast clipped the incline. This time, as it hit the ground, its grip on the obsidian vanished, and the creature was sent skidding across the rock flat, directly for the river of molten earth which swept across the side of the mountain.
There was a soft ploop sound as the Phantom Uragaan hit the lava flow, creating a small splash as the creature vanished under the molten rock. The hunters stood in awkward silence for several moments, waiting for the creature to reappear, before looking at each other uncertainly.
"Um… did we win?" Levin asked as the two hunters finally caught up with the huntresses.
"I'm not sure…" Richard admitted, staring out over the molten river. "Uragaan are all resistant to lava… but I'm not sure if diving into a pool like that is something it can survive, considering its size… I don't think Uragaan can swim, or whatever the equivalent in lava is."
A few moments passed, and Cassandra glanced inside her hunting pouch before her husband's shoulder. "Rich, I need more ammo, mostly Pierce please."
Richard nodded and reached into one of his hunting pouches, producing a bag of Pierce clips. "Anything else?"
"Not right now," Cassandra replied, placing the shots into her own ammo satchel.
Meanwhile, Ellie grew more concerned as the Phantom had yet to reappear. "Should we… fish it out or something?" she asked, looking out over the magma. "This seems rather cruel… I didn't mean for that to happen."
"Well… if it doesn't come up for air in a few minutes, I suppose it would be safe to assume the creature's dead," Richard replied, keeping a wary eye on the lava flow before them. "We were supposed to bring it back alive, but…"
However, before Richard could finish his thought, a glowing yellowish-red wheel shot out from the molten earth, tearing across the ground towards them and spraying flecks of red-hot lava through the air in its wake. The long sword wielder dove out of the way as the creature shot past him, and hissed under his breath as splatters of molten rock smacked against his armor. The spinning wheel turned, spinning towards where Ellie and Levin stood, forcing the two of them to leap out of the way to avoid being run down. Ellie hissed in pain, however, as several flecks of magma flew off the creature's body and splattered across her back. Her armor was fire-resistant, thankfully, but lava was a whole different level, and a scalding heat seeped through the metal plating.
A couple dozen yards later, the Uragaan unraveled itself and slid to a halt before turning to face the hunters again. A few small pockets of glowing lava still lingered within its spinal ridges, sliding down the brute wyvern's body and dripping to the stone below. The creature shook itself a bit, sending a splatter of lava to the ground before growling at the hunters again. The brute wyvern glowed slightly as trails of molten earth slid down it, but the beast hardly seemed to notice or care.
However, as Ellie continued to curse to herself, scraping away the lingering lava off her armor with the flat of her blade, the Uragaan took notice. Its eyes darted over to Richard as well, who was doing the same with his hunter's knife to remove the molten rock which had been sprayed onto his armor. Ellie couldn't help but shiver slightly as a downright contemplative look crossed the Uragaan's expression, and the creature shook itself again, allowing even more of the lava in its frills to pour down its body.
With a grunt, the Uragaan lurched forward, lumbering across the ground towards the hunters, rather than rolling. It was making a beeline towards Levin, as the switch axe user was the closest to it, but as the creature approached, Ellie realized the brute wyvern was carefully circling around to Levin's side. It wasn't nearly fast enough for the creature to actually flank the hunter, but to Ellie's shock, the Phantom was actually trying to maneuver itself so Cassandra wouldn't be able to fire upon it! Levin hadn't realized it yet, but the Uragaan had made it so he was standing directly in the path of the bowgunner's shot.
Levin continued to warily approach the Uragaan, however, while Richard circled around to the side, trying to slide in and attack from the creature's blind spot. The brute was being much more cautious than it had been before, though it couldn't stop the hunters from getting close. As Levin swung his switch axe out at the creature, the Uragaan twisted around, trying to deflect the blade with its frill. With the creature's attention focused on Levin for a moment though, Richard used the chance to rush forward, lashing out with his long sword at the beast's other side.
Though the edge of the weapon managed to cut a shallow line through the beast's hide, hissing violently as the weapon's latent ice element bit into the creature's flesh and hardened the trails of lava dripping down it, the Uragaan continued to attack both of them by twisting its tail around in a wide sweep. Both hunters were forced to leap back to avoid the appendage, but were caught off guard as molten earth swept down the creature's frill and a wide spray of red-hot lava was thrown at them alongside several smoking stones. Levin and Richard both yelped, wincing in pain as scalding magma splattered against their armors, even despite their armors' heat resistance. Both of them staggered away from the creature, cursing in pain as the lava splattered to the ground around their feet, leaving smoking sear marks along their armor plating.
The Uragaan bellowed victoriously at the success of its tactic as Levin and Richard struggled to pull away to scrape the lava off with their hunter's knives, and shivered again to allow more of the molten earth to dribble down its body. The creature curled its body, ready to sling another wave of lava at the pair of them, when three heavy thumps of bowgun fire sounded off as Cassandra finally got herself a good line of fire. A moment later, three heavy rounds smacked into the beast's side, followed by three powerful explosions which detonated with enough force to knock the pygmy creature off of its feet. The Uragaan dropped onto the obsidian floor, cracking the fragile stone beneath its bulk as a splash of molten rock splattered from its frill onto the rock below.
Ellie dashed forward, eager to put some damage on the creature before it could recover to its feet, but not before sliding to a halt near Levin to ensure her husband was alright. The switch axe user waved her on as he scraped the still-glowing lava off his armor. She'd have to watch out; despite their armors being made from Silver Rathalos and Gold Rathian materials, even the most heat-resistant materials couldn't repel lava.
Secure in the knowledge that Levin was fine for now, she dashed towards the Uragaan as Cassandra fired another string of Pierce rounds at the creature, making it flail in pain as it struggled to get upright again. Coming upon the brute wyvern, Ellie was forced to swing low due to the beast's size, cutting her blade into the creature's underbelly, and there was a satisfying tug against her sword as she finally cut into a softer point in the Uragaan's hide. The pygmy creature squealed in pain as the blade drew blood, leaving a long gash from the beast's side up to its mid-chest. The cut still hadn't dug too deep, but Ellie realized she'd have to pull her punches a little if they were to capture the Phantom like the Guild wanted them to.
That didn't mean she wouldn't be damaging the monster though. As the Uragaan twisted its body, trying to roll itself upright, Ellie slashed down at its hide with a flurry of swings, cutting into its side, right around where the thick scales on its side gave way to the less durable hide on its underbelly. The creature squealed in pain as sparks of dragon element jumped across its body, trying to fight against the slashes cutting into its hide, as well as the bowgun rounds which continued to strike its jaw and frill. But finally the creature managed to get some leverage and swung itself upright, nearly smacking Ellie full-force in the gut with its hips.
With a bellow of anger, the Uragaan spun about, swiping its tail at the short sword wielder and intending to fling a spray of lava at her. But as the creature did so, the huntress realized the brute's supply of molten earth had run dry, the spray it had sent at Levin and Richard emptying its frill of most of what it had collected, while it falling over had drained what was left. Trails of lava still dripped down the creature's body, darkening as it hardened, but it wasn't available as a weapon anymore.
That didn't stop the creature from dislodging several small, smoking stones however, clanging loudly against Ellie's shield. Though the creature was clearly disappointed to find the huntress not covered in a layer of molten earth, the pygmy brute recovered quickly, swinging its jaw down and smashing it into the earth. The shockwave hit the stones a moment later, and Ellie yelped as the rocks detonated with enough force to knock her off her feet back through the air.
Ellie thought she'd hit the ground, but was surprised when she collided with someone. There was a grunt of pain as the pair of them toppled to the ground, and Ellie looked up to see it was Levin who had caught her. It was a good thing too; looking behind him, Ellie spotted a lava flow not fifteen feet away. Had he not caught her, she might have tumbled into the molten earth, and there was no way to survive that.
"You okay?" he asked worriedly as they got to their feet again.
"Yeah, I'm fine… thanks for the save, Levin." Her vision swam a bit due to the blast however, and she grimaced in pain as her chest and side ached from the concussive force of the explosion. She reached for her pouch, but Levin already had a potion out for her, and Ellie accepted it gratefully.
"Take your time," he told her concernedly, but he grinned a little. "Show a little caution, Miss Ellie. I am rather fond of you, after all, and I'd hate to lose you to something like lava. Besides, I'm supposed to be the reckless one between us, remember?"
Ellie laughed a little as she downed the potion. "I'll try, Mister Levin. But maybe you should show caution too. After all, I'm rather fond of you as well, yet you find yourself in quite a few more sticky situations than me, oh self-proclaimed 'reckless one'."
Levin grinned sheepishly at the accusation. "Yeah, well… You can't deny I've gotten better about it over the years."
"Not by much," Ellie scoffed, "and only by getting the sense knocked into you by the monsters… and no small amount of luck."
"Yeah, well… whatever works," Levin chuckled. "Don't knock luck. It's served me well over the years."
The sound of clashing steel sounded from the side as Richard and Cassandra approached the beast, duking it out with the creature. The bowgunner fired at the creature's face again, forcing the Uragaan to flinch as Richard approached it in an attempt to keep it from rolling into a wheel again. However, even though the bowgun rounds were clouding its vision, the pygmy monster managed to spot Richard coming, and before he could get close enough, the Phantom rolled itself into a wheel and rocketed towards the long sword user.
Richard braced himself to dodge the beast, but was shocked when the Uragaan completely missed him. Or rather, the beast hadn't been aiming for him in the first place. The brute wyvern shot past the long sword user, curving slightly on the slope of the obsidian as it rolled into the lava flow at a sharp angle. A spray of molten earth flew up into the air behind it as it spun in circles through the more shallow areas, before rolling back up onto the obsidian and unraveling itself once more.
The beast bellowed at the hunters, once more coated in a fresh layer of lava as it lumbered towards them once more. Cassandra pulled her bowgun to bear, ready to fire, but before she could, the brute rolled itself into a wheel and shot towards her. The huntress yelped and dove to the side, dodging the Uragaan itself, but was splattered by a spray of molten earth as the beast passed by. It didn't seem to affect the Uragaan-armored huntress as much as the rest of the hunters, but the heat still made the huntress hurry to scrape off the lava as she staggered back.
The Uragaan continued to roll, turning about and tearing across the obsidian towards Levin and Ellie. The huntress dove to the side and pulled up her shield, wincing as molten earth splattered against the dark metal plate. The switch axe user dodged as well, raising his more-armored left arm fearfully to block the lava which the beast continued to spray everywhere.
"Damn it!" Levin cursed, shaking his arm and slinging the lava flecks to the ground. "How is this thing so smart? How'd it figure out to use lava against us like this?"
"Of course it would be smart!" Richard shouted back, irritation at the Phantom clear in his voice. "It's tiny! It would have to be sharp-witted to survive this long!"
"Well we can't exactly fight against it when it's covered in magma like it is!"
"Clearly you've never fought an Agnaktor before!"
There was a crumbling sound as the Uragaan skid to a halt a couple dozen yards away from Ellie and Levin, shaking its head as it chased away the dizziness, before turning to the face the hunters and lumbering towards them. The four of them were forced to pull back as the Uragaan shivered, allowing the molten earth to splatter to the ground around it.
Cassandra moved to fire on the creature again, but like before the Uragaan lumbered around at an angle, trying to keep the other hunters between her and itself. This time, however, the other three hunters worked to spread apart, giving the bowgunner a better shot, and the pygmy brute bellowed in frustration as a barrage of Pierce rounds pelted its hide once more. With a grunt of anger, realizing that it wouldn't be able to sling lava at the hunters with its tail, the creature pulled back, rolling itself into a wheel once more and rocketing towards the hunters. Both Cassandra and Richard were forced to dodge aside as the beast tore past them spraying lava. It wasted no time in turning its direction and aiming towards Ellie and Levin, forcing the two hunters to turn and run from the oncoming beast.
"Over there!" Ellie shouted, motioning towards a protrusion in the rock flat, where a thick rock jutted up from the earth, creating a low mound. The two of them sprinted towards it, the rumbling behind them urging them to move faster, and dove behind the mound just before the Uragaan reached them.
Ellie gaped in shock, however, when the sound of rolling continued as the Uragaan rolled up the incline and over the mound, rocketing over the tip and sailing over their heads. She and Levin watched, dumbfounded, as the Uragaan flew through the air. At the top of its arc, nearly a dozen yards in the air, the Phantom unraveled, flailing about it terror upon realizing its predicament and letting out a horrified wail as its trajectory carried it towards a towering cliff face.
The miniature Uragaan hit the rock wall like a meteorite, crashing into it with its ridged spine and completely punching through the stone. A huge swath of the cliff face fractured, splintering apart like a broken window, and hundreds of tons of rock cascaded down to the earth below. Levin cursed as a wave of shrapnel and debris rushed towards them, and Ellie leapt in front of him, pulling up her shield and deflecting the shards of stone and ore which pelted against them as Cassandra did the same, placing herself in front of Richard and blocking the debris with her bowgun's shield attachment.
A large section of the rock flat was now covered in a swath of boulders and sheets of stone, making for tight quarters within. As the dust settled, the hunters braced themselves, unsure of what to expect from the Phantom Uragaan now. It had been buried under the rubble, but that hadn't done anything to it when the creature had knocked down the rock shelf to get to the ore earlier. Sure enough, a few moments later, there was an irate grumbling through the debris, and several large slabs of obsidian were shoved out of the way.
The Uragaan lumbered out of the smoke from behind a pair of towering boulders, bellowing angrily at the hunters as it shook debris from its frill, though it was hardly their fault it had been slammed into the wall. The pygmy creature reared its head back, and Ellie braced herself, bringing up her shield. However, before the creature could roll towards them, it suddenly stopped. Glancing around cautiously, the Uragaan instead lumbered towards them between the boulders, rather than rolling. There was a moment of confusion between the hunters, wondering why the creature would refrain from using its most dangerous attack, but as the beast lurched towards them, they prepared to meet it.
With the creature no longer coated in molten earth as it had been they were able to approach it more boldly than before, attacking from each side. With the debris around them, they only had so many angles they could attack from without attacking directly from the front. The Uragaan grew agitated as their blades and shots pierced into it, however, and each of its swings became wilder and more dangerous, smashing apart the boulders around it. The shrapnel flew wildly with each shattered stone, forcing the hunters back. The creature also slung more of the volatile stones from its tail, and in the close quarters, the hunters were forced to concede even more ground in fear of the explosions blasting apart the earth around them.
But still they were managing to damage the Uragaan bit by bit. With the creature refusing to roll for some reason, the hunters were able to cut into it little by little, eventually culminating when a shield bash on Ellie's part actually managed to create a long diagonal crack along the Uragaan's thick chin. This time, as the Uragaan bellowed angrily and reared back to roll, and Ellie cursed and dove to the side as the brute wyvern came towards her first, rocketing across the obsidian towards the short sword user.
However, before the creature could reach her, the beast got too close to a couple of the fallen boulders, and clipped the side of one of the larger stones. Ellie braced herself for shrapnel, expecting the creature to completely destroy the stone as it continued to roll around, but upon striking the boulder, the Uragaan's trajectory was wildly thrown off. Though the side of the massive stone was smashed, sending spider-webbing cracks across it, the beast ricocheted off to the side, wobbling uneasily as it rolled away from the hunters until finally the beast toppled over onto its side, flailing its arms and legs pitifully. After a few moments, it managed to right itself and reared itself back to roll at them again, but it paused, looking awkwardly between the boulders around it before lowering its chin again and bellowing at the hunters instead.
"It's the boulders!" Levin called out. "It's too small to plow through them like a regular Uragaan, so it can't roll around with all those rocks around getting in its way! If we can spread out the larger rocks and create more clutter-"
"Got it!" Cassandra shouted. The huntress slid several heavy Crag rounds into her bowgun and promptly aimed her weapon at the ceiling over the areas with less rubble. She fired several rounds, each one striking the overhang several dozen yards apart, and a few moments later there was a trio of explosions and small cascades of stone plummeted down from the destroyed ceiling.
The Phantom Uragaan, caught in the middle of the falling boulders, bellowed fearfully as it lumbered out of the way to avoid getting crushed. Cassandra wasn't done yet, however, and soon another trio of blasts were detonating more craters into the ceiling and raining down stone onto the battleground. The explosives weren't doing too much damage to the ceiling of the area, thankfully, so there didn't seem to be any risk of causing a cave-in or collapse, but there had still been enough boulders blown free to thoroughly coat the ground in dozens of large, bulky stones.
The miniature creature looked around as the dust settled, grunting worriedly as it seemed to realize its predicament. It was almost completely surrounded by boulders and sheets of stone, and while it could certainly do damage to one of the stones, so many would make it impossible to roll around as a wheel for very long without being knocked over. With a bellow of fury, the Uragaan lurched forward, smashing its chin against the closest of the boulders, and the stone fractured, sending hundreds of shards flying outwards. However, the effort had done little to help it, and there were still dozens of the stones which needed breaking if it were going to try and roll around again.
"Now's our chance!" Richard shouted, leaping over the rubble, and the other hunters tailed close behind him, rushing the Uragaan.
Ellie had thought it wouldn't be too hard to deal with the creature now that it was avoiding rolling around, but with such tight space, it was almost easier for the brute to fight back. The hunters only had so many directions they could attack from with all the debris, and the Uragaan still had the power to completely splinter the earth under it with every smash of its jaw, making the area increasingly treacherous. Each misaimed swing from the creature had a chance of striking one of the boulders as well, and though the beast was too small to simply roll through them, it had more than enough strength to fracture the stone with its jaw and tail, sending sharp shrapnel flying left and right with each smash. Though their armor was able to deflect such small stones, they had to be careful not to let the shards strike their faces or eyes.
It quickly became apparent the hunters would need to rely on Ellie and Cassandra to battle the brute wyvern, since Ellie's short sword could be used more freely in the tight quarters, and Cassandra didn't need to get as close as the blade wielders did. Levin and Richard were forced to stay back, waiting for a clear opportunity. Even then, the Uragaan's sheer destructive ability kept the huntresses back for the most part.
Finally though, they managed to get some leverage on the beast. As Ellie was cutting into the beast's side at one point, the Uragaan swept its chin around at her. Instinctively, the huntress swung her shield around to block, and in doing so crashed the metal plate against the side of the beast's head. The brute wyvern was caught off guard by the motion, and staggered backwards in a daze, its head wobbling dizzily from the blow. As it staggered, Cassandra took the opportunity to fire, and several Pierce rounds punched into the Uragaan's hide, one of which was fired low enough that it struck the creature in the ankle.
With a yelp of pain, the Uragaan toppled over, crashing into the side of one of the boulders. Seeing an opportunity to strike, Levin and Richard dove towards it alongside Ellie, bringing their blades down towards the creature. The brute wyvern put up a fuss, however, lashing about on the ground and smashing its jaw and tail into the earth, breaking the obsidian under it.
Levin managed to break through the creature's defense, however, the length of his weapon allowing him a great enough reach to take swipes at the Uragaan's tail without the appendage striking back. The weight of the blade must have crashed down on a gap in the brute's scales, because with a single heavy swing, the axe tore through its appendage and completely severed just over a foot of the Uragaan's tail from its body. The pygmy creature squealed in pain as nearly a foot of the appendage was sent rolling across the ground, blood oozing from the wound.
The Uragaan fought even harder now, lashing out furiously and smashing apart the ground underneath it. The hunters pressed on though, trying to take advantage of the creature's weakness, but were forced back as the Uragaan suddenly quivered and unleashed a hot, glowing red gas from its backside. Ellie yelped in disgust as she and the others leapt back from the creature, the red mist coating the ground around the beast; tiny glowing flames licked up from the ground where the mist landed, and Ellie was immensely glad that she hadn't gotten any of it on her.
With a grunt, the Uragaan used the moment of relief to finally roll itself back to its feet, sparing a dismayed look back at the remains of its tail before unleashing a tremendous bellow at the hunters. Rearing its head back, the pygmy creature smashed its jaw down powerfully, and the earth around it fractured, devastating the earth around it for nearly two dozen yards in every direction. The hunters were forced to scramble away as the ground grew uneven, pulling back until they were almost completely out of the boulder debris Cassandra had dropped from the ceiling.
"Now might be a good time to trap it!" Ellie shouted. "If it gets out of those boulders, it'll be able to roll again!"
"You're right," Richard replied, pulling his trap out of his pouch. "It should be weak enough to capture now, and the last thing we need is for it to get its advantage back. Get ready to tranq it!"
With a twist, Richard activated the shock trap, and the metal disc flared to life in his hands. The Lagiacrus crystals in the core of the machine glowed vibrantly, and the long sword user flung the trap through the air towards the small creature. With a tinny clanking sound, it bounced off the obsidian floor, sliding across the earth towards the beast.
Before the trap could activate, however, the Uragaan bellowed angrily as it spotted the trap coming, swinging its chin around and smacking it against the metal contraption. The pygmy brute squealed in surprise as a jolt of paralyzing voltage shot through its body from the trap, sparks of electricity jumping between its frills. However, the force from the creature's chin was still enough to knock the trap away, and the metal contraption clattered between the rocks before falling into a pool of lava and disappearing below the molten earth. The Uragaan was still twitching a bit from the shock it had received, but was quickly shaking it off as it roared angrily at the hunters.
"Blast it! Does anyone else have a shock trap?"
"All I've got is a pitfall trap!" Levin shouted back.
"Same here!" Ellie replied.
"We'll have to risk it!" Cassandra called out. "Put one down!"
Ellie glanced at Levin and the switch axe user nodded, swinging his weapon back into its sheath and pulling back to prepare the trap. Ellie rushed in towards the Uragaan, intent on distracting the beast long enough for Levin to get the trap ready, and it didn't look like it would be too challenging to do so: the pygmy brute was still infuriated over the loss of its tail, and just seeing Ellie approaching was enough for it to bellow in rage and lumber towards her.
It took a minute or two for Levin to set up the pitfall trap behind her, since the trap needed far more space to work with than the shock trap did, forcing Ellie, Richard, and Cassandra to keep the Uragaan occupied. But eventually there was a shout from behind them, and the three hunters began to pull away, slowly leading the pygmy brute in Levin's direction. Glancing back, Ellie could see that Levin had been forced to retreat fully clear of the debris, which meant they had to lead the Uragaan a good twenty yards away to the trap. The huntress hoped this would work; the obsidian of the rock flat might prove a challenge for the Saturnian within the trap, but it had worked well enough, and the earth had been ground into a soft black powder.
But the indentation was enough to catch the Uragaan's gaze, and the creature eyed the trap warily, even as the hunters egged the creature on, trying to pull it closer. The Phantom wasn't budging though, keeping itself clear of the Saturnian-dug pit and bellowing at the hunters. Ellie cursed to herself; if this kept up, they'd never be able to capture the beast!
"Hey! Phantom!" The Uragaan's attention shifted at the sound of Levin's voice, looking over towards the switch axe user. The creature's eyes widened in shock and fury however, upon realizing the hunter was holding up the severed end of its tail in one hand and waving it around tauntingly. Immediately, the creature bellowed in rage, pulling its head back before trying to roll into a wheel, but in its anger it rolled directly into the pitfall trap.
The Uragaan squealed in shock as the earth plummeted out from underneath it, dropping it nearly a full yard down into soft earth. Ellie could hear the pygmy creature howling in fright as it struggled to pull itself free, even though she could just barely see the top of its frill over the top of the hole in the ground. All four hunters dashed towards the pitfall, and Ellie could already see Levin pulling tranq bombs out of his pouch, and Cassandra was sliding several tranq shots into her bowgun. Even before he reached the edge of the Saturnian's pit, Levin was pulling back his arm to hurl the tranq at the beast, and as soon as he could he hurled the orb towards the Uragaan.
And the bomb sailed just over the top of the creature's frill, splattering against the soft ground behind it with a pinkish-red poof.
"Are you freaking kidding me?!"
A moment later there were three more puffs of tranquilizer smoke as Ellie, Richard, and Cassandra all tossed or fired their own tranqs down towards the pygmy creature. With a bellow of frustration, the Uragaan inhaled a healthy dose of the substance, and the creature groaned drowsily. Its wounds and exhaustion were too great for the creature to fight against the effects, and with a groan, the beast slumped face-first into the sifted stone. A few moments later, the Phantom Uragaan let out a deep breath and began to snore where it lay.
Ellie sighed in relief, glad the fight was over, and the other hunters relaxed a bit as well. That was tougher than she'd thought it'd be, considering the Uragaan's size, but they'd managed to come out on top in the end.
However… she glanced over at Levin, and could feel a smirk growing at the edge of her lips. The switch axe user noticed, and her husband's face blossomed a vibrant red, and he turned away from her, staring down the slope of the volcano. "Shut up…" he muttered.
"I didn't say a thing," she giggled, sauntering over to him. "So… Levin."
"I said shut up."
"I seem to recall you saying when we were apprentices that you weren't the best shot in the world…"
"Ellie…"
"A poor bowgunner you said! Couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside you said! Honestly, I thought you were exaggerating, but clearly you were being generous to yourself!"
"Come on…"
"Seriously though! A wounded Uragaan stuck in a pitfall trap, and you missed? You completely missed?"
"Dang it Ellie!"
"Oh, our poor daughter will be dismayed at such an abysmal display of hunting prowess! Our dear Sonia doomed to live a life in shame for such a pitiful showing! Just think of what the people will say once the story gets out!"
"Don't you dare…"
Ellie turned and smirked at him. "Oh, don't worry, my dear Levin. I'm definitely going to make sure people hear about this. Just imagine what the people back home will say once I tell them how you-"
"Nope! Nope," Levin said, sweeping towards her. Ellie squealed and laughed as the switch axe user hauled her into the air, throwing her over his shoulder. "You're keeping this a secret or I'm tossing you into that pitfall trap."
"Oh, go ahead and do it!" Ellie laughed. "This is way too good a story to avoid telling. You'll have to do worse than this to keep this story from getting out!"
Levin hovered near the edge of the pitfall trap, clearly contemplating tossing her in, but eventually the man sighed, putting her back on her feet and hanging his head in embarrassment. Ellie laughed in amusement, patting his shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, Levin, I'll make sure it sounds very heroic when I tell people you completely missed a trapped Uragaan with a tranq bomb."
"Gee, thanks…" The sound of chuckling could be heard nearby as Richard and Cassandra approached them. Levin groaned again, turning away from the pair, but the two hunters kindly refrained from teasing Levin any more than Ellie was.
"Good hunt, the both of you," Richard told them, taking off his helmet and smiling as he appraised the downed beast. "Not bad for your first real hunt within the Volcano hunting grounds proper… Well, your first Guild-approved hunt at least, as strange as it ended up being."
"Yes indeed," Cassandra agreed. "We even managed to capture the Phantom Uragaan as requested. I imagine the researchers back in Frost Town will be quite surprised when they lay their eyes on this little creature. They got the monster they wanted to study, certainly, but not in the way they wanted it; they were looking forward to a monster that can turn invisible, I think, but a pygmy creature like this one ought to pique their curiosity as well."
"Yes, a few of them are some of Harker's researchers from the Compound, so I'm sure they'll be pleased, no matter what we bring them." Richard glanced again down at the Uragaan, still sleeping deeply within the pitfall trap. "Now all we need to do now is make sure the Uragaan gets safely back to Frost Town…"
Ellie grumbled to herself as she and Cassandra made their way through the shops and forges of Frost Town. Mercy, she'd been hoping for some relief from the heat once she left the hunting grounds, but with as many smithies around, the heat was nearly as bad as the Volcano itself! She didn't need to use cool drinks, but it was still sweltering with forges and workshops burning away on both sides of the road. It was no wonder Cassandra and Richard were fine with traversing the mountain like they were, if the core of Frost Town was this hot on a regular basis!
At least they were close to their destination; as they rounded the bend, she spotted the smithy Monique and her husband ran these days. The pair of them were sitting in front of the store, Monique at a small workbench working on a bowgun, while her husband, Richard Sr., worked his way around the display table, trying to hawk their wares and services to passing hunters. As the huntresses approached, the aging man caught sight of them and waved, pulling his wife's attention from her own work.
"Welcome back, girls," he said with a smile.
"Thanks. Where are the children at?" Cassandra asked, looking around after taking off her helmet.
"They're out behind the shop, playing hunters." Monique replied with a smile. "Edgar's out there with them, playing the monster. He'll probably be regretting not wearing some leather armor, though; those kids can hit hard with those wooden swords when they want to."
"Ha, yeah I figured."
"So the mission was successful, was it?" Richard Sr. asked.
"Yes, indeed," Ellie replied with a sigh. "Though it was rough… That thing was nasty, all things considered…"
"But we got through it in one piece!" Cassandra said cheerfully. "No broken bones or anything!"
"Oh, that's good to hear," Monique replied, glancing around. "So did Richard and Levin stay behind to make sure the Guild collected the body for transport?"
Cassandra giggled and shook her head. "No, we were kind of deep in the hunting grounds at the time, so they chopped a plank of wood off a tree we found nearby and Jerry-rigged a makeshift sled to bring it back themselves."
Monique and Richard Sr. glanced at each other for a moment, their expressions blank, before returning confused gazes to Cassandra, who was still smiling eagerly. "They made a sled… to pull an Uragaan?"
"Yep," Cassandra replied simply.
"Just the two of them?" Richard Sr. asked, clearly hoping for clarification.
"Well, the plank of wood was surprisingly large, especially for a tree in the Volcano hunting grounds. And Ellie and I volunteered to help, but they were being stubborn about the whole thing. Said they'd do it themselves." The huntress smirked and rolled her eyes as she looked at Ellie. "I mean, sure they were doing well on their own, but I still say we could have gotten back in at least half the time if they'd let us help."
Ellie was holding back laughter at the sight of Monique and Richard Sr.'s expressions, but managed to keep it in, though she couldn't keep from grinning. "I guess you're right. I mean, if they'd just let us help, those Rhenoplos wouldn't have caught up with us and knocked it off the sled, and the Uragaan wouldn't have rolled onto Richard."
"It what?" Richard Sr. gasped, but Cassandra waved her hand.
"Oh, he was fine. I mean, it was heavy, I'm sure. But Levin and Richard had cut off a bit of the tail, so it wasn't as heavy as it could've been. Once we chased off the Rhenoplos, Levin pushed the thing off of Richard and back onto the sled and we were off again." The bowgunner paused thoughtfully. "Oh, and speaking of the tail, did Levin bring it with him?"
"Yeah, he did," Ellie replied, still smirking at the dumbfounded expressions in front of her. "He wanted to put it into his item pouch, but didn't have room, so he had to give me a bunch of his stuff to make space."
"Levin put an Uragaan's tail in his item pouch?" Monique asked.
"Well, not the whole tail, of course. That would be silly. It was only about… a quarter of the tail at most? That's all he managed to cut off during the fight. It was a tight fit, but we got it in there. That leather material the item pouches use is surprisingly stretchy."
"At least we met that farmer on the outskirts of town who let us borrow a wagon to haul the Uragaan the rest of the way," Cassandra sighed. "But those men… The farmer offered to let us use his Aptonoth to haul the beast the rest of the way, but no! Richard and Levin had pulled it all that way by themselves, and they were determined to drag it all the way back."
"Stubborn male pride," Ellie agreed, shaking her head.
"To be fair, Richard did say he was doing it for the training…" Cassandra added, almost as an afterthought. "But still, he doesn't need to do such ridiculous things to impress me."
Monique and Richard Sr. looked at each other in confusion again, and Ellie could barely contain her laughter at the sight of their utter confusion. Richard Sr. shook his head in dismay. "Cassandra, forgive me, but perhaps I'm missing something here. An Uragaan is… I just can't imagine how what you've told us could be-"
"Hey! Coming through! Monster in tow!"
The retired hunter turned in surprise at the shout, glancing down the street. Ellie smirked in amusement as she spotted Levin and Richard pushing a wagon down the road, and interested onlookers glancing inside in curiosity. She could hear a few shocked exclamations and laughter coming from the passerby, as well as a few stunned hunters and other trailing behind.
Ellie turned as the sound of scurrying feet sounded from the smithy, and four small children rushed out from behind the smithy, followed by a weary-looking and slightly bruised hunter. He was Richard Jr.'s former hunting apprentice, Edgar, now an experienced hunter in his own right. Apparently, Richard had volunteered to train him a few years after the death of the Alatreon, once he was old enough to become an apprentice, taking him all the way from Loc Lac to Frost Town. The fact he'd managed to do so well was impressive, especially considering the dangerous monsters which called the Volcano hunting grounds their home.
Three of the children rushing out were Richard and Cassandra's children, two boys and a girl. Next to the boy in front was Sonia, and at the sight of her mother, the little girl darted towards her, giggling happily as Ellie picked her up. The other three children darted towards Cassandra, gathering around her and chattering excitedly as she got down on her knees to greet them. All four children's attention turned, however, as Levin and Richard closed the distance to the smithy before sliding to a halt in front of it, both hunters grinding to a halt and gasping for air.
"Alright… That's… that's far enough I think," Richard panted wearily, hunching over. "I think… the Guild can take it the rest of the way…"
"Yeah, I'm done," Levin groaned, dropping down and sitting on the cobble in front of the wagon. "Oh, man, that was painful… Whose idea was that again?"
"It surely must have been yours," Richard replied, pulling his helmet from his head and wiping sweat from his brow. "I know most of the recovery team in this area, and I know they're skilled enough to have gone and recovered the Uragaan, no matter how deep it was in the hunting grounds, so I would've had no scruples about leaving it there for them to gather. You must have been the one to suggest this plan."
"No, I'm not that masochistic," Levin wheezed. Sonia called out to him from Ellie's arms and waving her hands, and the switch axe user pulled his cap off before tossing it to her so she could slide the oversized armor on over her own head. "I do enough of that kind of thing working with Harker. Most of his experiments have a lot of equipment, and since he's only got one good arm and nobody else is willing to work with him, I have to do a lot of heavy lifting. It had to have been your idea."
The two hunters continued their argument as they gasped for air, while Ellie carried Sonia over to the back of the wagon to look in on the Uragaan. The creature was still snoring soundly where it lay, deep under the effects of the tranquilizers. Sonia gasped at the sight of the creature, urging her mother to let her down before darting over to the back of the wagon.
"It's so small!" Sonia shouted, rushing up and poking at the pygmy Uragaan. The tiny beast grumbled in its sleep, swatting its severed tail a little as the little girl prodded it. Ellie quickly pulled her away as the appendage smashed down onto the wagon bed, nearly splintering the wood.
"Heavy, though," Levin groaned, rubbing his shoulders. "It was a lot easier to pull this thing once we got the wagon."
"You could have just left it for the Guild recovery crew to gather up, you know," Cassandra chided.
"But then we wouldn't have been able to get in some really intense training," Richard replied jokingly, before releasing a tired sigh. "Trust me, dear, we've been arguing about this the entire way down the mountain. I think it's best to just agree that a poor decision was made by one of us, and we will likely never figure out who came up with the idea in the first place. And perhaps if we're lucky, Levin and I won't be teased relentlessly for dragging the Uragaan all the way down the mountain without realizing it was completely unnecessary."
Cassandra chuckled to herself, nudging her husband with her elbow. "Oh, trust me, I doubt either of you are going to be that lucky."
Richard grinned wearily. "I was afraid of that…"
Most of the onlookers around them, especially the hunters, seemed to share the same shock at the beast's miniscule physique as the hunters first had, and there were several nervous whispers in the crowd wondering if it wasn't just an elaborate hoax. However, the snoring and occasional grunt or twitch was more than enough to rid them of their doubts. Both Richard Sr. and Monique were staring, flabbergasted at the diminutive size of the Phantom Uragaan. They shared a look with each other, before turning frustrated looks on Cassandra.
"I believe you neglected to mention that the Uragaan was this small when you told us Richard and Levin had dragged the beast all the way back from the Volcano hunting grounds on a makeshift sled, Cassandra," Richard Sr. huffed.
Cassandra blinked in surprise at the words, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, didn't I? Hmm… maybe I didn't. Oh well. But you didn't think Richard and Levin were dragging back a full-sized, fully-grown Uragaan across several miles of rocky terrain all by themselves, did you?"
"Well, you weren't exactly clear about it," Monique sighed. "I'm no hunter, but the smallest Uragaan I've ever seen the Guild transport through town could lay on top of four smithies and still have room to spare."
"Trust us, we were just as surprised as you were," Ellie admitted as she lifted Sonia back into her arms. "More so when we realized it was a miniature cannonball when it started rolling."
Calls from nearby could be heard as several red-suited Guild workers pushed their way through the crowd towards them, approaching Richard and Cassandra before catching sight of the creature. As with many of the hunters and other bystanders, their jaws dropped at the sight of the beast, and several of them had double- or triple-takes, not believing their eyes. There were some disbelieving murmurs, and Ellie chuckled to herself as some of the Guild workers poked at the Uragaan as Sonia had, clearly thinking it was a fake. This time the creature's tail swatting at their pokes really did splinter the wood, sending a large crack along the length of the wagon.
"I'm not going to pay for that," Richard told them simply, earning a few odd looks. "Looks like the Guild owes a certain farmer a new wagon."
There was some grumbling from the Guild workers, but eventually they got down to business, summoning a pair of Popos to haul the Uragaan away. A small crowd of hunters and civilians tailed after, chattering eagerly to themselves as they stared in wonder at the beast. Many others stuck around, pressing the hunters for a story to accompany the strange sight they'd witnessed. Monique, however, was quick to shoo the onlookers away.
"Now, now, your story is going to have to wait until later! For now these four need rest and some food. You gawkers can return when they've had their fill of both."
There were a few disgruntled grumbles in the crowd at the words, but people began to disperse. A few hunters, those who Richard apparently knew, called out to him to meet at some local hunter's bar once he was rested, before heading out and disappearing into the maze of smithies and forges in the area. Edgar was hesitant to leave, but a few calls from some other hunters in the town, some friends or hunting partners of his, pulled him away and he soon disappeared along with the rest, calling back that he'd be back to hear the story as well.
"Now then, just give us a few minutes to close up shop, and we'll head back home," Monique said to the hunter.
As the artisan entered the shop, pulling the display goods into the store, Richard Sr. paused first, smirking at the hunters. "Now, while your mother may have postponed telling your story to the rest of the hunters in town, son, I do expect the lot of you to give us a good tale during dinner. I'm not patient enough to wait and hear how in the world a creature like that gave you trouble, considering its size." The man grinned, nodding towards the children clustering around Monique and Sonia. "At the very least, I'm sure the little ones would like to hear about their parents' most recent adventure."
Ellie grinned as Sonia's eyes lit up excitedly. "I think we can manage one good story telling over dinner." She shot a wicked look at Levin though, who frowned and muttered under his breath. "I know one bit of the story which should prove entertaining, at least."
"You're a cruel woman, Ellie…"
"Oh, I know, Levin. But let's get out of this part of town, why don't we? Any longer in this armor around these forges and I'm liable to burst into flames, and I had more than enough of that fighting the Uragaan…"
Richard Jr., Cassandra, and their children, as well as Monique, all belong to Hoenn Master96.
Edgar belongs to A Jack Frost Guy
Surprisingly, Richard Sr. is mine.
Author's Note: Please Review!
This is actually a pretty solid comparison to my own first encounter with the Phantom Uragaan, with the whole issue of mistaking it for a Rhenoplos, horror at the speed it could roll, and even being unable to cap it because my tranqs kept flying over it. It always irked me that your avatar seems to only have two levels of item usage, 'drop on ground' and 'go long', and tranqs fit firmly in the second category. You have no idea how happy I am that they changed paintball and tranq bomb mechanics in 4; you can actually just drop a tranq at the ground like a smoke bomb and it works if you're close enough to the monster.
Uragaans are pretty annoying, especially with their rolling turning buff in 3U, but I still really like them. Truth be told, I really like the Brute Wyverns in the MH games in general (except Duramboros, which can suck it). I never played any of the games before Tri, so I've never really gone through a game without them. I think that's going to be the biggest disappointment for me once 4U makes it to the west: lack of Brute Wyverns. The Deviljho and Brachy are still around, but I'm really going to miss the Barroth and Uragaan.
Now, I'm going to throw this out there again, but I might not be able to post the next chapter in two weeks. It may take a little longer than that. I've got a big, multi-chapter story coming up, and it's proving to take a long time to write. Hopefully, I'll have plenty of time over Thanksgiving break to put a hefty dent into it, but I'm not going to make any promises on my schedule. It should be worth the wait once I actually start releasing it though.
Finally… woo, Pokemon Alpha Sapphire! And also Super Smash Bros for WiiU! Both on the same day! My writing schedule is going to be shot! Anyway, if anyone's interested in sending me a friend code for the 3DS, let me know! We can probably trade Pokemon once I've gotten a little further into the game.
Reading: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohika Araki, Horimiya by Hero, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, Teppu by Futada Moare, Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari by Aneko Yusagi, Spellcross by Stefan Martello, The Silent Kingdom by Freedan the Eternal
Playing: MH3U, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors
Listening: Hello Internet Podcast, Collective Soul, Adem, Blind Guardian, Saves the Day, Ween, Klute, AC/DC, Travis, Pet Shop Boys, Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Soundtrack
Watching: The Five People You Meet in Heaven, GenerikB livestreams, MH4U livestreams YEEEEAH