A/N: As always, thanks for qazse for some help with reactions.
Also, Coachcaptain101 is sadly experiencing several difficulties, so while he hasn't given up on 1-A watches Monster Hunter Lores, he's been severely delayed and says not to expect the story this year. so, if anyone else is willing in the mean time, I'm re-issuing the challenge. And don't worry, I'll still give the transcripts for all the monsters I've done so far to make things easier for the person who's willing to participate!
"Snakeskin... So, I'm getting a snake monster? That will be interesting." Coco said.
"I'm sure it will be amazing, Coco. Definitely worthy of being your monster." Velvet said, although looked a bit nervous about the potential of being around what would most likely be a giant snake all the time.
"I wonder how it will compare to a King Taijitu?" Cinder wondered.
"I mean, every monster we've seen so far makes the Grimm look like total noob stuff, so why wouldn't a giant snake?" Ruby reminded Cinder, who smiled and nodded.
"And you'll be expected to keep track of all its shed skin, Miss Adel. I will not tolerate finding giant strips of dead skin lying around." Glynda warned her.
"No problem, we'll probably be using that skin for purses and scarfs anyway, right?" Neo said.
"Oh, yeah. Snakeskin and silk. Our boutique will be flooded." Coco agreed.
"I do love me some snakeskin boots and wallets." Qrow admitted, holding up his wallet.
"And, it's surprisingly resistant, so it makes decent minor armor as well." Ironwood added.
"Alright, then. Let's start this up!" Katana declared, playing the video.
A misty jungle locale was shown, accompanied by strange music, but fitting to the atmosphere as a tail could be seen shaking, like how a rattlesnake shakes their tail. This vibration cut through the mist to a strange protrusion in the ground a similar color to the tail, causing said protrusion to also shake violently, causing the Huntress standing next to it to hold her ears in pain, before the strange protrusions detonated. The music then changed slightly as a young boy could be singing about how he was afraid of snakes as a strange, long body could be seen spiraling around the Huntress, before she quickly leapt out as the head of the creature passed her and it completely coiled up on the area she'd been in.
Then, the snake-like creature emerged from the mist and roared. "I'm a snaaake~!" A man's voice could be heard as the snake creature roared.
"Oh, that's sick-looking! The good kind of sick." Coco said.
Velvet giggled. "And the guy saying he's a snake was cute." She added.
"You say cute, I say obnoxious sounding." Emerald said, rolling her eyes. [1]
"Using mist to hide itself until it was ready to strike. Clever." Winter stated.
"Seeing the snake coiling like that gave me flashbacks to our initiation." Ren said.
"Meet then, fellow hunters, Najarala: the Snake Wyvern. In fact, it really is unique and its trying its best to. Look at it over there! Being only one of the two members of the Snake Wyvern class, the other being crappy little Remobra, that used to be a Flying Wyvern 'til it got reclassified!" Rage began, although it quickly sounded like he was breaking down and ranting about Snake Wyverns and this Remobra creature in particular as Aylia was seen observing a Najarala from a distance and climbing up a large pillar for a better view and to stay out of sight.
"Fuck you!" Someone cursed at the picture of a small, snake-headed Wyvern with a cobra-like head, only without the frill.
"Aww, it looks cute! Don't be mean to it!" Ruby pouted.
Katana sighed. "Picture, if you will a ten foot snake with wings and feet that flies above you, spitting globs of poison. Oh! And as one last lovely little chestnut, they tend to follow around Elder Dragons, so if you see those things, you'll most likely be attacked by a Lunastra." Katana explained.
"Infinitely less cute. Kill it with fire." Weiss said, horrified.
"Wouldn't they be easy prey for most Elder Dragons? It seems like a bad idea to follow them." Yang said.
"I'm guessing it's like sharks with remoras and pilot fish. They might be of some aid to the Elder Dragon while it protects them from anything large enough to eat them if they stay close." Penny theorized.
"You think you're so cool, Najarala! Well, you don't see Nerscylla over there being all 'La-dee-da!' about being the only Temnoceran, do you!?" Rage snapped as Najarala looked around and stuck its tongue out in a very snake-like manner.
A clip of Nerscylla walking upside down on the underside of her web was shown. "I actually quite like being the only spider, I just tend to just eat my friends, actually. If you'll excuse me-" Nerscylla "spoke" as she suddenly shot her mandibles up through her web to chomp down on a trapped Hunter.
Everyone laughed at Rage's rant about the Snake Wyverns. "Someone's extra salty today." Neo laughed.
Pyrrha smiled a bit. "Well, at least Nerscylla isn't alone anymore, right? Since they've discovered the new Temnoceran?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yatsukadaki, yes." Katana confirmed.
James and Ozpin, however, were quicks to turn their heads as Nerscylla was seen snapping at the Hunter in her webs. "I still can't believe how two of the worlds greatest huntsmen can be so scared of itsy bitsy spiders?" Cinder teased.
"THAT IS NOT AN ITSY BITSY SPIDER!" James and Ozpin shouted together.
Everyone just snickered at their outburst. "Man, I'm having a hard time believing I work for you guys right now. How are these kids supposed to face their fears if you can't?" Qrow questioned.
"So, yes! Najarala is fascinating because it's a low-tier, beginner-level monster that most hunters fight fairly soon on in their hunting journeys, but it's unlike anything that many have seen up to that point, or indeed for the most part, afterwards if you don't count Dalamadur, who's technically an Elder Dragon, but does kind of give the appearance of 'Let's take Najarala, but like... ALL the way to Eleven!'. But you have this absolutely gigantic slithery, writhing... Well, snake monster, despite its stubby little legs that are surprisingly powerful, enabling it to plow through the Earth as it tunnels and surprises foes from underneath in brutally efficient ambush assaults. Also allowing it to support itself as it rears up, coiled around, ready to strike." Rage gave an idea of just how unique Najarala was as it rushed towards Aylia, who jumped off the pillar she was stood on and brought her greatsword down on the beast, knocking it to its side and getting several good hits in, before it got up and roared, spinning around her in a circle and paralyzing her with its bite.
"But, if it has legs, then isn't it not a snake?" Ren asked.
"What else would you call that?!" Jaune demanded.
"That would be a skink, Mr. Arc. They have long bodies, but also short legs further apart than many other animals have, so they move similarly to snakes, but also have legs to help them with obstacles." Glynda stated.
"It is just visually intriguing, the hard plate frills lining the top of its head, giving it an imposing, yet beautiful crest, the body curving 'round with overlapping segments of hard scale that it can rattle and send flying at you with a swish, a barrage of deadly, pointed ammunition that only can pierce through armor, it can generate a piercing noise, vibrating through the air and especially so when it lands, like a triangle being struck." Rage explained as a Najarala was shown hitting Aylia with its tail, knocking it back to her and trying to crush her in its coils, before burst out of the ground beneath her, then flinging its scales at her, before a triangle was shown being struck as Rage had said.
The Faunus girls flinched at the triangle being struck. "Oh, come on! They have fire, water, ice, thunder and dragon to choose from, plus all the statuses, do they really need sound attacks, too!?" Blake complained.
"It's nature. They adapt whatever they need to survive." Ren stated.
Emerald held Blake's hand. "It's alright, Blake. I'll always make sure to pack you some earplugs, just in case." Emerald promised, to which Blake smiled.
"And this disorients foes. And then, once embedded into the ground, they are not yet done. Najarala can vibrate, at great speeds, its crest. And this sends shockwaves through the air that are, just so happened to be the frequency required to destabilize the embedded projectiles and causing them to burst apart in a shower of lethal shrapnel. And if it wasn't enough to be filled with a fresh set of bleeding perforations across your entire body, the rattling of the waves through your being, the jostling of your organs, of your brain inside your skull... Well, will leave you dizzy, confused and stunned, awaiting the mercy of this beast that will surely not be delivered." Rage added ominously as Najarala indeed flicked around several more scales and shook its frills to detonate them, even releasing a massive sound blast from its mouth, connecting with two other scales send Aylia flying.
"Wow, that's so cool! It's like it has exploding throwing knives!" Ruby cried out.
"It is pretty neat. And it fits pretty nice with your Seregios, huh, Vel?" Coco asked.
"Yeah, but I don't like the sound of the piercing roar or the scales vibrating and exploding, though." Velvet admitted.
"Definitely sounds like another monster Faunus should steer clear of." Blake agreed.
"And this is just the start of Najarala's party tricks. It has a unique mastery of sound and vibrations that really is of a class of its own. The plates atop its head lead and connect to an organ located in its skull that allow it to generate and project explosive amounts of sound, ricocheting through the air, bursting ear drums, before eventually exploding outwards from point of impact, forcing all caught in clamor to be sent sprawling in all directions." Rage turned his explanation to Najarala's sound capabilities as the clip was repeated of Aylia being sent flying by the sonic burst, before everything went black. "This brutal and impressive attack is directed by its parrot-like beak and it really can fuck you up just as much as a parrot fucks up... Well, just everything." Rage declared, before a clip was shown of a parrot standing on an open dishwasher door, grabbing the silverware from the dishwasher and dropping it on the floor as a rather mean song played.
"How could you possibly enjoy that?! It's clearly sabotaging your hard work as you film it and let it happen!" Winter cried.
"I find the parrot's antics quite humorous actually." Penny admitted.
"Like if Neo had the power to turn into a bird." Cinder said.
"Hey! I am offended by... No, you're totally right." Neo accepted it.
"God, I want a parrot!" Rage declared as the screen went black.
"Same!" Ruby, Nora and Neo all declared.
"Now, Najarala is a capable fighter and an even more capable hunter. An ambush predator specifically, lying in wait either underground or coiled deep in foliage, hidden between the leaves, masking its presence, its coloring sitting so lovely against a jungle backdrop, before it will STRIKE!" Rage declared as, indeed, the Najarala lunged at Aylia, slamming into her and knocking her down with a powerful slamming sound. "With deadly precision and paralyze its foes with a venom produced in the fangs growing out from its lower jaw. Then it will begin to constrict, coil around, tightening and tightening until bones are crushed, cracked and crunched, the body collapsing in on itself as life is forced out and then it will drag its meal to its den where it can eat in safety and without competition." He continued in great detail as Najarala was again seen constricting Aylia, only she was barely seen as the snake attempted to crush her in its coils.
The students shivered at the though of being unable to move as something squeezed the life out of them. "If my fight with the King Taijitu had gone wrong, that could have happened to me." Ren stated fearfully.
"Don't worry, Renny. I wouldn't let any snake crush you! They'd have to go through me first." Nora declared.
Katana looked a bit nervous at this. "Maybe you should just avoid snakes in general, Nora." Katana advised in concern. [2]
"Of all the ways to go, that's REALLY far down there on the list." Blake said nervously.
"It is not a nice way to go, in fact, one of the most horrifying and painful any monster could do to you, the strength this creature could apply with its body fully embracing its victim is nigh unimaginable. It would be able to crush buildings at a moment's notice if it could be harnessed in such a direct way. When asked specifically: 'Najarala, why do you put your prey through such horrific ends?' Well, he only had this to say." Rage declared as Aylia dodged bites and tail swipes from the monster as she tried to get some hits in with her greatsword.
A man in a green shirt with some kind of hat that looked like a snake biting down on his head was shown. "'Cuz I'm a snaaake~! I'm a slithery- look at my tongue!" The man declared, repeatedly sticking his tongue out and making a weird noise, clearly pretending to be a snake himself.
"I have... Just... What?" Weiss asked in confusion.
"Well, I suppose he's just... expressing himself?" Pyrrha asked, not wanting to be too harsh.
"Hey, he posted it for anyone to see, so clearly he's got a good sense of humor." Qrow said with a shrug.
"Still, the strength to crush a building. To think that a snake has that, it's quite impressive." Ironwood said.
"Najarala is also extremely skilled at using its environment outside of basic ambush, camouflage skills that you learn in Junior Monster High. He can even use the mist that slowly emanates out the ground of many of his natural habitats to hide him from plain sight, becoming one with it, before slowly and surely creeping closer, until its too late. He can use his coils and agility to make great speed adjustments 'round the battlefield, outflanking enemies and attack always where they are weakest." Rage explained as Najarala was indeed weaving and sliding in ways that allowed it to easily avoid Aylia's attacks or turn its body so its hard scales deflected her sword, before knocking her away with a flick of its tail.
"Whoa, that snake can move!" Jaune said.
"Yeah, the way it just slid away from Aylia's strike was super cool!" Velvet agreed.
"Indeed. There is a reason many have based their fighting styles off of the movement of serpents." Ozpin pointed out.
"And it's through this combined, veritable Swiss Army Knife of tricks, tactical awareness and surprising size that lets it compete with monsters that you might not think it would. It can go toe-to-toe, or wavy body to more rigid body, with the likes of Gore Magala, with the likes of Tigrex, with the likes of Nerscylla. Hell, even Rajang have been reported to not being able to take down the beast, at least with the caveat of 'before it escapes'. Elder Dragons prove, of course, another challenge altogether, one it avoids virulently, though needless combat is something it strives to be all about, as much like Nargacuga, it is much happiest when no one knows it's there." Rage informed as Najarala continued to outmaneuver Aylia. She managed to get a few hits in, but the snake monster was still clearly in control of the battle.
Coco gave a smug smirk and looked at Yang. "Ha! So my monster can take yours on. Just goes to show, no matter how much brute strength you got, it can't beat skill and experience." Coco declared.
"It just said Rajang have a tough time beating them before your monster runs like a chicken. I bet if it couldn't escape, Rajang would kick your monster's butt!" Yang countered.
"Do snakes have butts, technically?" Nora asked.
"Need I remind you, you'll all be on the same side?" Glynda told them.
"Yeah, but there's still nothing wrong with a bit of competition." Coco said.
"There is if it destroys the school, which sounds quite possible with Rajang alone. And I'd have to fix it!" Glynda grumbled.
"The beak is razor sharp and can split tree trunks in half and rip flesh from bone as if it was already liquid. They are very powerful animals and masters of their environment and you really don't want to be on one's bad side. Honestly, they do remind me a lot of my skink, Nyx: a snake-y, wavy body in how they move, but with legs to help them get around the place and let them do things that they otherwise couldn't. Though, Najarala's a bit more ferocious than my guy." Rage admitted, before showing his skink as it was hiding in a fake rock cave, flicking its tongue out as intense music played.
"Exactly what I was saying before." Glynda said confidently, crossing her arms and closing her eyes with a smirk.
Ruby and Winter both cooed at the reptile. "It's so cute!" Ruby declared.
"And the blue tongue is absolutely adorable! It seems out of place, but it just adds so much charm!" Winter agreed.
Ironwood looked down a bit at this. (Perhaps I should relieve her from military service and allow her to move out of the kingdom. It's quite hard to keep reptiles for pets in a place where warm-blooded humans and Faunus can freeze to death.) He thought.
Qrow seemed to notice this and smiled. "Thinking of someone else for once. I'm proud of you, buddy." He said, grabbing Ironwood's shoulder and giving him a friendly shake.
"Though, despite them being able to battle such fearsome opponents, their prey mainly consists of herbivores, the odd Yian Kut-Ku and... Sometimes a Congalala!" Rage declared, sounding like he was about to cry, before an inky, colorless clip of Congalala's eyes looking around was shown, accompanied by sad music. "Congalala, no!" Rage sobbed as Aylia was knocked back by another snap of the Najarala's jaws.
"Congalala, yes!" Weiss, Winter, Cinder and Emerald all cried out.
"Najarala, best snake EVER. Not just snake Wyvern, either. Snake creature on the planet." Neo declared.
"Honestly, just because it passes gas, you condemn it? Then you basically condemn everything else on Remnant!" Glynda scolded the girls in question.
"Especially Zwei and his night toots." Blake reminded them, shuddering at the thought of her enhanced smell picking up the dog's odors.
"But, it is nice to know that even a Deviljho is gonna have to work real hard to break through this creature's arsenal. Hell, even just on getting through the shell is gonna take some work. It is sturdy. The tail specifically can repel even the sharpest weapons that hunters can musters from their greatest craftsmen." Rage pointed out as Aylia leapt off a ledge towards Najarala, swinging her greatsword, only for Najarala to flick its tail and deflect the greatsword, sending her flying back.
"He smacked her away like a tennis ball! That tail does make one hell of a racket!" Yang said, before realizing something. "Ha! It's a double play! It looks like a giant tennis racket and it makes noise when he shakes it!" She declared.
This actually did get some chuckles from the others. "That was certainly one of your better ones, miss Xiao Long. I think you'll find comedy comes best when you don't force it." Ozpin told her.
"Still, it is quite impressive that its tail could not only withstand the impact of such a weapon, but actually push it back and knock her away without even taking damage." Ironwood added.
"I think Najarala is really unappreciated and largely forgotten, since it's another monster of relatively low status that hunters don't routinely go after for parts and they don't often disturb human settlements. And it is a shame that it's forgotten and ignored like that, because it really is one of the more unique, interesting and fun monsters you can fight against. The first time you get encircled and you're like, 'What?! Where?! How am I gonna- How do I get out- what the hell!?' As you try to run out of that spin of death! It really is a moment and you remember it!" Rage said fondly as Najarala burst from the ground and repeatedly circled around Aylia, who each time just barely managed to avoid getting coiled up and ensnared by the beast.
"What kind of sane person could consider being paralyzed and slowly crushed to death fun?" Winter asked as if Rage was insane.
"Well what kind of sane person considers fighting Grimm fun?" Ruby countered.
"She's got ya there ice queen." Qrow told the Specialist.
"Yeah! Fighting Grimm is super fun until you get bit in the butt by a Beowulf!" Nora explained, stopping briefly to rub her rear. "Just don't let the snake bite you in the butt! Or anywhere else." Nora stated.
"I worry about her." Penny said worriedly.
"We all do." Weiss assured her.
"But, Najarala does come in another flavor, the Tidal Najarala! This one is beautiful!" Rage declared as a striking blue and purple Najarala was seen in the tundra, facing off against a group of hunters.
Everyone was awestruck by the colors of this new serpent creature. "It is beautiful." Coco said.
"Wait! Snakes shed, right? So if that thing sheds, it's basically snakeskin. That's an amazing color for some scarfs or something." Velvet told her.
"And it will be super strong, too! So those will be some top quality scarfs!" Nora agreed.
"Purple-y blues streaking down it, it lives in icy wastes and gains the ability to spit frozen globs of water on top of its already frightening array. It's a little bit larger, a little bit stronger, a little bit faster, you know the subspecies drill. And it now has to compete with the more frozen denizens, like the Zamtrios, like the Stygian Zinogre and it does so well! Even sometimes managing to, at the very least, hold its own for a little while against the Kushala Daora. But the Tidal's most impressive display of prowess is using its plates to bounce water around the battlefield in order to both confuse enemies and strike them with pinpoint precision!" Rage declared as the Najarala shot out more scales, but rather than shake its crest or tail, it fired a thin jet-like beam of water from its mouth, blasting off of the scales with unreal levels of precision and hitting a hunter nowhere near it at an angle almost the exact opposite from where the Najarala was facing.
"That's incredible! It took me years of training to be able to launch things from glyph to glyph. Especially when it came to launching myself." Weiss cried out.
"Indeed. To see such intelligence from an animal is rare, even from primates." Glynda noted.
"Snakes have been discovered to be surprisingly intelligent. They're capable of learning and adapting however they can to make it easier to find and/or catch prey." Winter explained.
"Still, I'm not trusting this one any time soon." Blake said suspiciously.
"Yeah, I think I'll keep my distance until I'm positive it doesn't do many sound attacks." Velvet agreed.
"Najarala can also swim! It is very comfortable in the freezing waters and likes to surprise those from underneath, much like the Zamtrios does. More than anything, though: this subspecies is more intelligent, it is more cunning, it can plan a lot better and work its environment to a level normally only seen by the much higher upper echelons of monsters. It really is quite the bad luck to bump into one when you're already, more than likely freezing to death." Rage finished as the Najarala snapped at the hunters near it, then knocked them all away with one final huge sweep from its tail, aided by its incredibly long body.
"That is one smart snake." Emerald said, impressed.
"And being able to tangle with Elder Dragons and Rajang... The King Taijitu have nothing on that." Cinder agreed.
"Yep. That's one awesome snake I'm getting." Coco said confidently.
"So, thoughts?" Katana asked.
"The coiling and constricting was kind of creepy, but everything else was super cool! Flinging its scales like throwing knives, making them explode, giant soundwaves and bouncing a water jet off them! Awesome!" Ruby cried out.
"It was quite unique. More than I was expecting from a snake." Weiss agreed.
"As long as it's not trying to constrict me, or blow out my eardrums with sound... It's cool." Blake agreed.
"Yeah! I still don't think it can take down my Rajang, but it was pretty cool. And it's good to know they eat those farting freaks." Yang said, referring to Congalala.
"And the colorings on both of those are beautiful, but especially the Tidal." Coco agreed.
"Yeah. And imagine when it sheds. How long that skin will be?! Think of all the purses and stuff we can make!" Neo declared.
"Along with your Ahtal-Ka stringing up some clothes, we'll be set for life!" Coco said, high-fiving the former mute.
"It is pretty cool. And it's kind of like Seregios in a lot of ways, so I hope they get along" Velvet said.
"I find them fascinating and I look forward to observing them when they're brought to Remnant." Penny stated.
"Agreed. We may be able to base new technology and weapons off of the way they fire water off their scales." Ironwood said.
"They might be a concern for Zamtrios and I, but I still look forward to the chance to see them in action." Winter added.
"So, Coco: who's next?" Katana asked as Coco looked between the members of the Ozluminati.
"Let's see what Qrow's getting. Something tells me you've got an epic monster planned for him." Coco said.
"Finally! Looking forward to this." Qrow said.
"I'm expecting something that makes Congalala look elegant." Glynda scoffed.
"I don't know about elegant, but it would make a light snack out of Congalala. Prepare yourselves for... Odogaron!" Katana declared.
A/N: Thanks as always for reading! I hope you all enjoyed it!
[1] Oh, man. If she found Ruby to be annoying just being cheerful, imagine how much she'd hate most YouTubers that TRY to act stupid, goofy or obnoxious.
[2] As we all know, Nora is based on Thor. In the legends, Thor dies when battling Jormungandr, the world Serpent. So, since we haven't seen a King Taijitu since season 2, I think Nora's safe. But if we ever see another King Taijitu or any other snake-type Grimm or Snake Faunus villain in the show, PANIC!