"Malfestio? That sounds cool." Emerald said.
"And confusion and sleep are both up Emerald's alley." Blake added.
"Yes, I'd say it fits Emerald to a T." Cinder agreed.
"Hopefully it's one of the smaller monsters. We may have some issues at Beacon if all these monsters are 20 meters or longer." Glynda stated.
"That could be problematic." Ozpin admitted.
"I'm working on that. Anyway, let's get this started." Katana said, playing the video. [1]
The deep, dark forest was shown as a blue, white and gold owl was shown sitting in a high tree branch as a man sang about owls, before it changed to some kind of techno remix of some kind as the owl monster looked back and forth, almost looking like it was dancing to the music, before several more clips were shown of owls twisting back and forth on their perch as they heard music, once again appearing to be dancing, one owl even moving its head in a circle as it sat in the grass. The owl monster was then shown again, alongside the sound of a picture being taken as its name popped up beside it: "Malfestio".
Yang, Nora, Coco and Neo found the funky beat catchy and danced in their seats a bit. Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha and Velvet found the dancing adorable. "It's so cute!" Velvet shrieked.
"I want one!" Weiss cried out.
"Can they really dance?" Ruby asked.
"Well, it's not really dancing. Their hearing is SUPER advanced, so they're moving back and forth to aim their head and figure out exactly where the sound is coming from." Katana explained.
"Hello, my fellow hunters! Today, we discuss Malfestio... the nocturnal bird. I feel like they could've given it a better title. I mean, it's so beautiful and unique and majestic and I want its babies- what did I just say?" Rage asked as Aylia was shown sneaking up on the owl creature as it walked through a very shallow river, getting a small drink and getting out of the water, opening its wings to air them out and get the water out of them.
"It's magnificent. Easily one of the most majestic creatures we've seen so far." Ironwood said.
"Indeed, James. It's quite amazing how such powerful and fearsome creatures have come to make us appreciate nature again in such a way." Ozpin said.
Everyone laughed at Rage's little slip up about wanting Malfestio's babies. "Awkward slip up aside, I wouldn't mind having a baby Malfestio." Weiss admitted.
"Oh I know, can you imagine how cute they'd be?" Ruby asked, then went into day dream mode where Chibi Ruby went through life with a mini Malfestio resting on top of her head like a nest.
"But, it's just the nocturnal bird. But, he is just magnificent! Oh, what a pretty creature! Let's talk, by far and away, my favorite Bird Wyvern and indeed, a member of my top 5 favorite monsters of all time, Malfestio the Jester Owl. Now yeah, on the surface, superficially, it is just as the owl do and indeed, it has a lot of characteristics that is shares with them. Such as eyeballs that are nearly immobile in their sockets, which is why it does the twist-y head, 'I see you!'" Rage explained as Aylia was seen avoiding the attacks of the monster, before a different clip was shown, a heartbeat heard pumping as the Malfestio looked 180 degrees behind it to spot where the noise was coming from.
"Wait, owls can't move their eyes?" Nora asked.
"I didn't know that." Ruby said.
"Well you see miss Rose and Valkyrie unlike us and most animals, an owls eyes aren't spherical but tubed shaped like binoculars. Because of this they can't turn them in their sockets, which is why they're constantly moving and tuning their heads." Glynda explained.
"It's quite fascinating how creatures adapt features they way they do." Ren admitted.
"There is no sneaking up on this incredibly sensitive creature, its hearing absolutely flawless, the slightest rustle from a prey deep in the forest may as well be holding up a sign and yelling 'HERE EAT ME, I WANNA DIE!'" Rage declared.
This got a few laughs from everyone. "Still, that is some impressive hearing. I'm not even sure if my cat ears are that good." Blake explained.
"My hearing could probably give them a run for their money. I can hear everything." Velvet said proudly.
"Alright, bun-bun. It isn't a competition." Coco said, tickling Velvet a bit, getting her to giggle.
"And then Malfestio, basically is like, 'Alright'. And he flies off, ever so silently, the feathers in his wings angled in such a way that he slices through the air like a hot sword and shield through Moofah butter. And this means that they do not know what is happening until his claws have already sunk deep into their flesh. Owls in real life do fly near almost imperceptibly silently and Malfestio is proud to bare this trait proudly." Rage spoke of the creature's amazing talents of being able to fly incredibly silently, a brief clip of an owl shown soaring just off the ground, accompanied by beautiful music.
"That's so cool!" Emerald said in awe with stars in her eyes.
"That's pretty fitting for you, too, Emerald. You were pretty sneaky and silent in the doubles round when you brought down Coco." Jaune told her.
This got Coco to glare both at Jaune first for a moment, then at Emerald for much longer. "I still owe you a butt-kicking for that." The fashionista told her.
"Great. Thanks, Jaune." Emerald said, glaring at the knight boy. Sure she won in the forest with lots of cover, but anywhere else and that minigun would have turned her into Swiss cheese.
"But what's Moofah butter?" Nora asked.
"Butter made from a Moofah. Duh." Neo said obviously, getting a pout from Nora.
"But what is a Moofah?" Penny asked.
"They're basically alpacas. Their milk makes Moofah butter." Katana explained.
"God, owl's are such good hunter! Like, I love lizards, alright? I do. But just below that, owls, man! They're just, they're such specialized deadly fucking predators. I just... OH my god." Rage fangirled for the nocturnal birds as Aylia dodged several high-speed flying charges from Malfestio, as well as strange rays coming from its wings as it held them open and moved its body in circles.
"While he could be a little more "professional", I do agree in his love for owls. They're not only the perfect nocturnal predators, but they're just so beautiful." Winter said, deeply admiring the creatures.
"And they can be quite cute, like the burrowing owl. They're dilated pupils, small frame and stubby oval heads are just so adorable." Glynda cooed.
"I never knew Goodwitch was such an animal lover." Qrow whispered to Oz.
"Are you kidding, she still occasionally watches documentaries. She's also been pushing me to schedule a trip for the zoo ever since I brought it up." Ozpin whispered back.
"I always told Salem she should make an owl Grimm, but she never listened to me." Cinder huffed. Owls were her favorite bird. [2]
"It probably goes somewhere explaining why I love Malfestio so much, honestly. I would love to have a pet one, if it wasn't for the razor sharp talons and the throwing up of balls of the bones of their victims." Rage said, awkwardly at the end.
"Eeeewwwww gross!" Ruby, Weiss, Nora, Yang, Coco and Jaune all cried out in disgust.
"But that's what they do. Owls can't digest the bones, fur or feathers of their prey, so they have to spit up the remains once the meat is dissolved." Penny informed her friends.
"Penny's right children, I know it sounds gross but that's just part of their biology." Ozpin reminded them.
"We'll... try to keep an open mind professor." Pyrrha said, although it was clear she was trying to hold back the contents of her stomach.
"So! Nocturnal, indeed and during the day fast asleep at the tops of trees to avoid, well, any would-be ground dwellers. And, also it works quite well against unprepared hunters." Rage said, a bit awkwardly towards the end as Malfestio was shown sleeping peacefully in the tree branches as Aylia stood impatiently down below.
"WAKE THE FUCK UP COME ON, PLEASE! LET ME KILL YOUR SEXY SELF!" Aylia screamed up at the sleeping owl beast.
"Oh I am SO using that when I see a Grimm in the distance." Yang laughed.
"Excuse me?" Weiss questioned.
"GET THE FUCK OVER HERE! LET ME KILL YOUR UGLY SELF!" Yang shouted to explain what she meant.
"Easy with the language there, Firecracker." Qrow told her.
"It's a powerful flyer, then, on top of being silent, its wings beating with tremendous force, and it can be agile and as quick as the best of them, its smaller frame allowing it to venture to larger Wyverns simply cannot. But past flying, its wings hide a deadly secret. Sheathed within them, folded and hidden away when calmness is in its heart are blades. Length of similarly colored feathers, sharpened to a razor point, used to scythe away would-be aggressors. When in an enraged state, fanning outwards in a true glorious visage for reaping in a scything arc, cleaving all in front in twain." Rage declared as Malfestio learned forward and roared, revealing noticeable gaps in its feathers, which revealed the aforementioned scythe-like feathers.
Velvet jumped at this, clinging tightly to Coco. "Whoa, that's eerie sight." Neo said, getting a chill from the sight.
"I know right. Can you imagine walking in the middle of the night minding your own business, when suddenly you turn and see THAT diving towards you? Of course with how quiet they are you wouldn't even realize it's coming until it sinks it's talons into your body and flies off with you." Coco said dramatically. This, of course, made Ruby and Velvet hold their knees close and shiver in fear.
"Stop it!" Velvet pouted.
"Don't worry, Velvet. You weren't the only one who was caught off-guard by that." Blake assured her fellow Faunus.
"Despite primarily being covered by plumage of brilliant plumes of blue and gold and... those two specifically, it does have scales upon its feet, its feet Zygodactyl in nature for gripping thoroughly, two toes forward, two toes back, they lock together in deadly vice. It is powerfully strong, able to carry prey that dwarf even itself, able to combine with its wings to propel into a kick that not only shears through armor, but sends hunters spiraling in pain as they are flung across the battlefield." Rage explained as Malfestio tried to cut Aylia down with its wing blades or indeed slam into her while flying at high speeds.
"Impressive. Most of our airships struggle to carry anything close to their weight, there's no way they could carry something larger than themselves." Ironwood said, impressed by the Bird Wyvern's strength.
"That's so cool. Maybe they could be mail owls like this one books series Blake had me read." Ruby said, thinking back to the series.
"I don't know about that one, Ruby. But that would be really cool." Jaune said.
"Adorned with slight red plumage akin to war paint and contrasted so beautifully by the white of its face, angled inwards and used to catch the soundwaves as it becomes a natural radar dish, pinpointing everything in its environment with such-" Rage started off strong as glowing red feathers could indeed be seen by the ear-like feathers, which were erect with rage, but then the host began to struggle with his words. "Precise Precision! But even then, that's essentially the same word twice! Look, he gonna know where you are!" He cried out as Malfestio flew away from the area Aylia was in.
Everyone laughed at this. "I suppose that's what happens when you don't have a script to rely on." Penny said.
He's definitely messed up enough he should learn to use a script." Cinder agreed.
"It's simply the way he feels most comfortable. It's likely if he did stick to a script, neither he or the audience would enjoy it nearly as much." Ren said sagely.
"His horns of azure plumage are there for both intimidation purposes and to attract mates, to form a glorious crest atop this jester's head. The larger they are, the more worthy he is in courtship. The wings themselves, then, are mysterious in their pulsing patterns." Rage explained the mating nature of the owl creature, moving onto the abilities of its wings, which were now shown shimmering brightly, letting off some strange waves. "Never quite still, the feathers rustling ever so much, gently, preparing one of his most deadly weapons. To lose yourself into a Malfestio's wing is to know true peace, true beauty. To be inspired of a glorious slumber that you will never wave up from. One should never look for too long at that... glowing..." Rage went on, before sounding calm and blissful, almost like he was lost in ecstasy. "I think it's so wonderful..." He said with a sigh, before the sound of someone snapping was heard, snapping Rage back to reality. "Shit! Don't- don't do it! Guys! It's so, so, SO pretty, but it's so dangerous!" Rage warned, slightly panicked.
Everyone laughed at this. "What an idiot! You knew about it and everything and still got hypnotized!" Neo laughed... before everyone heard a strange muttering, turning to see that both Ruby and Nora were in a daze; with spiral eyes and drooling.
Weiss just pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh please don't tell me those dolts actually got hypnotized by its wings." She groaned.
"Huh, I guess it's just a perfect Dream come true for Emerald's partner!" Yang declared. Weiss now wasn't the only one groaning.
"Well, truly the creature is gifted." Ozpin said.
"If that works on the Grimm, we could truly have a game changer on our hands." Glynda agreed.
"Ruby! We've got some fresh, hot chocolate chip cookies just for you!" Blake declared, snapping Ruby out of her delusion.
"Nora! Pancakes!" Pyrrha called in sing-song, snapping the orange-haired girl back to reality.
"What he can do, though, is detach these tiny feathers of such brilliant hue into the air, where they will quickly disintegrate into sparkling fairy dust, which he can then, with delicately controlled wing beats, send spiraling in a tunnel of brilliant blue that, should it pass over you, well you will breathe it in and fatigue will grip you, your strength sapped and a slumber your only destination. But this is not all, his light orange scales adorning his legs can be detached, too. They also break apart in the air and form great clouds of bursting orange light, floating so gently on the breeze. Though, should this enter your system, your mind will grow confused, unsure of itself, unsteady. Your left becomes your right, you are disoriented beyond compare and you must wander around, lost in strangled thoughts, as you are now easy pickings for the Malfestio before you." Rage explained as Aylia was both made weary and tired by the blue vortex from the wings, then later engulfed in an orange cloud and began moving erratically, as if this was her fist time walking.
"This one has sooooo many useful tricks" Neo said, amazed.
"Owls are definitely one of the most adaptable and successful hunters of the animal kingdom." Penny stated.
"I don't hate owls but... Not fan either, Had a few close calls in Crow form with them." Qrow said, shuddering at the memory.
"I wonder if there's a snow owl variant?" Winter questioned with a smirk, hoping she could mess with Qrow with the winter owl.
"Still, for a chemical compound to induce confusion and disoriented, so much different from its sleeping compound, the nature of its scales must be super complicated." Nora pondered.
"Malfestio can be found anywhere thick with tree and foliage, both for making its nest and for its preferred prey. Though it cannot hold its own against the more powerful Wyverns. Nargacuga competes for the treetops it likes to call its home, more often than not though, a sleep or a confusion and a quick flap of its wings and it is gone to safety. It is a trickster, a bag of abilities that it can always pull from, an arsenal of weapons to deploy at any time, it is clever. It can be led to anger, where its attacks become a little bit more direct in its approach, but this is very much the rogue of monsters. Able to do whatever it can to cheaply win the fight while looking dazzling in the process." Rage explained as Aylia was now in the dangerous situation of fighting a Malfestio and a Tetsucabra as they danced a three way dance of death.
"It certainly does the looking dazzling part right." Ren stated.
"Agreed. Depending on what mine is, I may spend more time with Emerald's monster than mine." Cinder said.
"I'm sure yours will be even better, Cinder." Emerald assured her.
"Even if it isn't, that would be neglecting your own monster, which is poor form, Miss Fall." Glynda scolded.
"There is nary a more combined beautiful, yet terrifying sight of a Malfestio roaring in defiance. They are birds like none other and by far and away, the best bird wyverns, if you disagree then I guess your welcome to that wrong opinion. But ya need to look hard at yourself and try and understand were your values, truly lie." Rage declared as the Tetsucabra picked up a rock to try and smash Aylia, but the Malfestio flew into the air and slammed down, crushing the rock and staggering the Tetsucabra, as well as releasing its orange cloud, likely confusing the beast.
"Well that's just arrogant. Yes Malfestio is beautiful but I'm sure their are other graceful bird monsters out there." Pyrrha defended the other Bird creatures.
Katana thought for a moment, even checking the wiki and finding the best-looking Bird Wyverns after Malfestio were Coral Pukei-Pukei and Yian Garuga. Most of the others just looked ridiculous. "Define graceful." She said. [3]
"It's also rude to shut down everyone else's opinions like like that." Ruby declared.
"You're absolutely right Ruby, everyone is entitled to their opinions." Weiss said in a dignified manner, patting Ruby's head, before looking away. "Even though most of yours are wrong." She muttered.
"Huh?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing." Weiss quickly said.
"Its tail, then, completes the jester look, extending out into three prongs, like a fancy set of coat tails and again adorned with with just beautiful blue feathers. It just looks so good! It really does! And when it enrages, the swap... the eyes flaring up... oh, god. Look, I'll admit, there's not a lot of lore to Malfestio. He works as he works. He's got some lovely abilities in combat. He is incredibly resilient, trying everything and anything to swooping scythes, to fierce hits," Rage explained while Aylia continued to fight the owl beast, even knocking it out of the air as it tried to leap back, sending it to the ground with a heavy hit.
"Hey, short but sweet. There's no problem with that." Yang said.
"Yeah. I pretty much have all the information I need. It's an awesome owl monster that puts people to sleep and makes them confused. Nice and easy." Emerald agreed.
"Not everything has to be a boring 45 minute documentary that puts me to sleep!" Nora agreed, clearly annoyed.
"Ah! Shit!" A deep voice cursed as if it were meant to be Malfestio reacting to the damage.
"To all of his tricks to... somehow having the ability to expand his body into a ball?" Rage listed, questioning the last ability uncertainly, before a clip of Malfestio doing exactly that, expanding into a ball and crashing down to the ground with some kind of bell of gong noise, which Rage replicated.
"Okay didn't see that coming." Neo said, thrown for a loop by the unexpected attack.
"Seriously, first Zamtrios now Malfestio? What is with these apex predators inflating into balls?" Cinder questioned, finding it ridiculous how such powerful creatures used such goofy attacks.
"Aw come on Cindy, I think it looks cute and funny." Nora defended the monster's behavior with a small giggle.
Cinder paused for a moment, processing the nickname. And deciding she hated it. "...Never call me that again." She warned.
Rage then listed the many reasons he loved Malfestio so much (which many of the viewers agreed with), before finally continuing. "And, well... it doesn't stop there, because there is a Deviant: the Nightcloak Malfestio. Whew, this guy." Rage said, a bit intimidated as Aylia desperately tried to sneak away from a much larger, darker, almost evil looking Malfestio.
"Okay not gonna lie, that one is rather intimidating." Qrow admitted.
"It's red eye's certainly put a Grimm's to shame." James agreed.
"Next to Salem, that may be the most intimidating thing I've ever seen." Ozpin declared.
"His wings shift from the azure to the crimson and he looks all the more intimidating for it. Larger, more powerful in every way, able to fire wind blades infused with his confusion pollen, the scales rotating 'round as they form gusts, shredding through anything they catch, ripping through trees and rocks like they were not there. It has golden scales now on the edges of its wings, its blades enhanced and hardened and they really are just inexorable in their deadliness and its tail now four pointed and taking on the form of a claw. But, of course, the main factor here, what we care about is the invisibility." Rage explained as the dark creature fired wind blades at Aylia, or rushing her down while flying towards her again.
"Invisibility!?" Everyone shouted.
"I believe Miss Schnee may have a point about these creatures being impossible and unable to suspend disbelief for. How can an owl possibly turn invisible?!" Glynda questioned.
"I NEED to find out now." Winter said eagerly, leaning almost far enough forward to fall off the couch.
"Scattering a new type of scale that it has grown, a mutation at birth, well it can use it to refract the light around it, interacting with its own plumage to hide it from sight. Essentially like grabbing a handful of glitter, throwing it over yourself and while its still floating around in the air, no one can see you because you're wearing a special glitter reflection suit." Rage explained awkwardly as indeed, several times throughout the fight, the creature appeared to vanish in thin air.
"Yeah, science!" A young man in a beanie declared as he sat at a table.
"That... may be the least reasonable answer so far." Penny stated.
"And for something as insane as invisibility! I demand a better explanation!" Weiss demanded.
"I don't think we're going to get much better than that, Weiss." Pyrrha told her.
"But that's another kind of glitter to add to our clothes, as long is it doesn't interact with the light like the plumage does." Coco noted, Neo nodding.
"It's not the most scientific answer the Guild's ever produced, but it's all we got, okay? It gets the job done and lets you throw glitter everywhere, which is always a bonus." Rage said as Aylia dodged another pair of wing blades and another flying charge.
"So, this guy really punches up a notch when it comes to the weight class. He can handle a Nargacuga with ease, Tetsucabras are snacks... Hell, even fight off a Glavenus, should the mood strike. And now, it also gains its signature melee attack, able to absolutely catapult itself into enemies and running them through like it was made out of tissue paper." Rage explained the power difference between normal Malfestio and Nightcloak, then after mentioning the attack, it was shown in all its glory as it flew forward, spinning like a drill through the air, stopping in front of Aylia and sending her flying with a cross slash from its wings.
"Even a Glavenus is in trouble against these guys!? They're some kind of monster!" Jaune cried out.
"Glavenus may be smart, but it simply cannot contend with that level of trickery. confusion and inducing sleep, plus invisibility. I'm not even sure how we'd handle that." Ren said, a bit nervously.
"I'm sure we'd come up with something together. We always do." Velvet said supportively.
"And it can also steal. Yep, it is very intelligent. It knows what hunters do, knows the items that help them so and will try to specifically target the healing potions strung to their belts." Rage added with an unnerved breath as the battle between Aylia and the Nightcloak continued, Aylia dodging more attacks and managing to clip the bird with her greatsword.
"Well, just one more reason it's a good fit for Emerald." Ruby said, annoyed since Katana had showed them Emerald had pickpocketed Ruby to gain some information at least once.
"This is the best bird ever." Emerald said.
"Well, don't forget, I'll be keeping an eye on it and you from now on, Miss Sticky Fingers." Blake warned her playfully.
"It is said to have a demonic nature, which is actually where 'Nightcloak' comes from. Not the invisibility, like you might think. But it is known to be the devil of the forest, the evil trickster in the night, luring you before sending you to slumber and tearing out your heart." Rage finished as Aylia dodged one final flying rush from the dark bird beast.
"Malfestio is incredible. We NEED to finish these so I can get it right now!" Emerald declared.
"If we had those on Remnant, the Grimm would be so toast. Confuse them to make them run into trees and stuff, then just take them out with its wing blades!" Ruby declared.
"I like the way you think, Ruby." Cinder praised the younger girl.
"And its scales could be made to make sleeping agents for those with insomnia." Weiss said, her inner businesswoman threatening to escape for a moment.
"I just think they'd be simply beautiful to see in the wild, or really anywhere." Winter said.
"Indeed. They are magnificent creatures and I'd love to see how they fare in Remnant." Glynda agreed.
"Well, Emerald? You decide whose monster is next." Blake reminded her.
"Oh! Right. Well then, I'd like to see Cinder's next." Emerald answered.
"FINALLY." Cinder declared. She was really starting to get impatient.
"Alright, then. Prepare yourself, because this will be one heated video." Katana gave them a hint on the next monster, before playing the video.
A/N: Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
[1] So, I have two plans for this. One, the more obvious, make them monstie-sized like in the game, or Katana will use magic so that they to make them conveniently small enough to fit into whatever room they're entering, but full-sized whenever they're in open areas.
[2] Hopefully RT doesn't bring in an owl Grimm in Volume 8.
[3] No offense to anyone who likes the other Bird Wyverns, but you do have to admit, other than Malfestio and Yian Garuga, most of the Bird Wyverns look goofy. Even Coral Pukei-Pukei does, but its feathers make it a lot prettier, plus it's fun fight.