A/N: Remember to check out my brother's original video if you haven't already! It's titled "The Titan With Tusks! Barioth Lore" on his channel, Sai Blade. And, if you haven't, maybe be nice and subscribe? Not to diss my brother, but he needs all the help he can get.
Katana emerged from the room she had come from to find everyone snuggling happily with their monsters. "Aww, how sweet." She said.
Ruby looked up and smiled. "Oh! Hey, Katana! How was... whatever you were doing in there?" She asked.
"Pretty great, actually. I had a blast. Hopefully all you guys did, too. But not any literal blasts." Katana said, looking to Ironwood and Jaune, since their monsters had explosive abilities.
"Nope, it was just a nice and normal evening anyone else would have with their pets." Weiss assured her, still from high up on top of her Gammoth's head.
"If the pets were giant monsters, but yeah. It was still lots of fun." Blake said, nuzzling Ciara, nose to nose.
"That's good. I think we've got time for one more video before we turn in for the night if you guys are interested." Katana said.
"Sounds good." Jaune agreed.
"It's always nice to learn what we can about these creatures." Ren added.
All of the furniture was put back in place and the monsters shrank down to manageable sizes to sit with their owners in whatever seat they took and two more beanbags were added for Katana's daughters. "Very good. Because my brother recently made a new lore video about a certain monster a few of you guys have taken a liking to, but no one else gave enough time or consideration to do it." Katana said.
"Sweet. Which one?" Yang asked.
"Barioth." Katana declared.
"Sweet! The snow version of Nargacuga with steak knives coming from its mouth! That should be awesome." Neo said.
Blake's Nargacuga snorted at this. (Oh, please. Why would you ever want to learn about that pathetic cousin of mine?) A female voice rang out with an echo, but it sounded like it came out of her.
Everyone was shocked at this. "They can talk!?" Nora asked excitedly, before looking at her Kirin. "Sigrun! Say something! Anything!" Nora ordered.
"I gave them the ability of thought-speak as well. Basically telepathy, so they can speak up when they absolutely have to bring up something important, or someone has a question they can answer, but for now, that's about all the chatting they'll be doing." Katana explained [1]. "And sorry, Ciara, but we're still hearing about Barioth." Katana told the darker cat-like creature.
"Indeed. After hearing Rage complain about it for so long, it will be nice to hear a positive opinion about it for once." Ironwood stated.
"Yeah. My pet monster is a Barioth, so I get sick of the crap Rage says about it real quick." Razara grumbled.
"Okay, we get it, Barioth is great. Now how about we actually hear WHY it's great." Tekko declared, earning her a kiss on the forehead from her mother, before she started the video.
The video opened to a blurry screen with a large message: "Pseudo-Wyverns", written in the center of it in cursive. "Pseudo-Wyverns, an unofficial sub-classification hunters have deemed a unique sub-category of Flying Wyverns that differ from the standard variety of bipedal dragons whose forelimbs are still strong and fully-developed wings, such as the king of the skies, Rathalos." Sai gave a brief overview of the sub-category of Flying Wyverns as he and his handler were attacked by a Rathalos, which hovered above them with pride.
Ruby saw the word on the screen and tilted her head in confusion. "Pee-Pseudo-Wyvern? Pa-Pseudo-Wyvern? Puh-Pseudo-Wyvern? What's up with that word?!" Ruby cried out.
"The P is silent, Ruby. You don't try to pronounce it." Pyrrha explained.
"Ugh! I hate words with stupid silent letters! What's the point!?" Yang grumbled.
Penny took that as her cue. "Often, silent letters are actually diacritic letters. This means that rather than being pronounced, they change the pronunciation of another syllable. Compare the words 'fin' and 'fine'. The 'e' isn't pronounced, but it changes the pronunciation of the vowel by lengthening it." She explained.
"I've always wondered that myself. Thank you, Penny." Weiss said with a smile, placing her head against the robot girl.
Sai was then seen wandering through the Rotten Vale, before ducking behind a nearby bone pile as he observed a Tigrex eating a carcass. "This sub-category is uniquely defined by their more quadrupedal stance and their forelimbs having developed back into strong, powerful legs, more developed as arms and legs, but with wings still attached for minor flight or gliding at best. Members of this esteemed sub-category include the fearsome Tigrex..." Sai explained, before the Tigrex turned its attention towards a rumbling sound, which turned out to be some kind of large rolling monster that almost looked like a Grimm, rolling right at Tigrex, who managed to catch it and bring it to a stop. "And the master of stealth, Nargacuga..." He finished as a Nargacuga was shown growling at Sai and his handler in the Ancient Forest, before being tackled by a Rathalos.
"Yeah, we heard about both of them already." Nora said impatiently.
(I know, I'm amazing.) Ciara declared in thought-speak.
"Looks like that Rathalos didn't think so." Blake said with a smirk as she flipped her miniaturized Nargacuga onto her back and began to scratch her tummy.
(Curse this small size! Stop treating me like a baby! I could eat you whole at my full size!) The Swift Wyvern protested, trying to claw and bite at Weiss' hands like any other feline demon getting tummy rubs. [2]
"Wow, that was epic! What was that thing Tigrex took down?" Yang asked.
"Radobaan, big ugly thing covered in tar and bones with a chin like Thanos." Tekko said, shuddering a bit.
"By the way, looks like your bro upgraded armor. Nice." Coco praised, liking the look of the armor.
"Alatreon armor. Made from the second strongest monster we currently know of." Katana declared, leaving everyone in awe.
"Those two are among the most well-respected of all monsters and the general monsters that come to mind when people think pseudo-wyverns. However, there is a third making up a trio for them and it is widely not given the respect it deserves. Especially by Ragegamingvideos." Sai declared as the Nargacuga began to overpower, then chase the Rathalos as it attempted to flee. As this happened, a note popped up on the bottom reading "technically there's Gigginox for a Quartet, but those aren't in the New World...". Sai was then shown in the Hoarfrost Reach, looking up at a large cliff above him, where a figure gazed down at him, silhouetted by the snow storm. "And that monster is... The Ice Tusk Wyvern, Barioth." He introduced the beast as it growled and moved closer to the cliff's edge, before lunging at him.. "A close cousin to both Nargacuga and Tigrex, some believe it to be a mixture of the two and yet it's treated far worse than both, despite being oh so much more than either of them." He declared as it roared in fury at him, both of them preparing for combat.
"Well, that's quite an entrance." Ironwood said, impressed.
"Indeed. Hopefully the rest of the creature's ecology proves just as impressive." Winter stated.
"I'm going to assume anything with that many spikes and fangs like that will be impressive." Cinder said.
Sai was then seen hanging onto a bug from a grappling line above Barioth as it walked up a slope out of a cave. "Barioth then is an apex predator who rules over most winter-like locations and frozen tundra's, such as the New World's Hoarfrost Reach, or the Old World's... Well, tundra. It is very well-suited for its role, as its white coloring perfectly allows it to blend in with the snow and winter colorings around it. Also, whereas Tigrex and Nargacuga respectively have their thick shell and tough, bristly hairs to protect against damage, Barioth uniquely has both of them." He explained the Barioth's natural adaptations as he followed the creature along a snowy mountainside, cliff edges easily visible only a small distance away.
"It does look very fluffy." Pyrrha noted, observing the beautiful white fur.
"Totally. We could make some nice hats out of that fur, too, Neo! Like fluffy versions of Roman's bowler hat." Coco declared, Neo nodding in agreement.
Sai then followed the beast to a higher cliffside, before they went through some kind of mountain pass. "A thick, tough shell to stop and even deflect some of the strongest weapons hunters can create and EASILY stop most claws and jaws of other Wyverns that might threat it. And blunt objects can be easily stopped by its thick fur that also insulates it from the harsh cold. Although it is important to note that, as cubs, this fur is not quite as well-suited for protecting them from the harsh winter weathers, so they are forced to stay in the caves where it is warmer, where they nestle up with each other and their mother." He explained as he followed the creature to another open area between the many gaps in the mountain.
"Two layers of protection. That could prove rather useful." Glynda stated.
"That's a lot of extra bulk, though. And Barioth looks pretty big as it is. Could weigh him down a bit." Qrow noted.
"I'd like to know what that fur feels like, though." Velvet said longingly.
"Ooh, are there any pictures of the cubs!? I wanna see the babies!" Neo insisted.
Katana smiled and produced a picture of a trio of baby Barioths playing in their den. "OMG! TOO CUTE!" All the girls cried out at once.
"Barioth is also quite well known to intimidate other, lesser predators such as the Great Baggi or Khezu, easily chasing them out of their own territory or driving them away from any kill they may have just won themselves. On the topic of food, Interestingly enough, despite its massive tusks that could easily cut through just about anything," Sai began, before a message dropped from the top of the screen, reading "Note: EXCEPT the thick, tough shells of Elder Dragons like Kushala Daora, who it regularly flees from". "Barioth prefers only the soft internal organs of its prey, which consists of the thick and meaty Popo's, the lithe, but very meat-y anteka's and, back in the Old World, Lagombi. Back to what I was saying, however, they only tend to eat the soft internal organs of their prey, rather than the tougher meat and tissue of, well... the rest of the body. A bit wasteful, one might say, but it's the apex, it's bound to be a bit spoiled." He finished his notes on the creature's dietary habits as it went back the way they'd come from and jumped down to the ledge they were on.
"Absolutely shameful. If you're a predator that need to take another life for food, you should at least eat all of it so it doesn't go to waste!" Ren complained.
"Oh, man, Ren. You would HATE dolphins. They tear open the stomachs of cute little penguins to eat the fish they ate, then leave the rest just lying there. Same with otters and ducks. Why are the cute animals always the most evil?" Razara groaned. [3]
"Chill, Ren. Most predators leave a lot behind, so the environment usually has plenty of scavengers that will clean up after them." Emerald, surprisingly, assured him.
"It's also sad it has to run out other monsters out of their homes, though." Jaune said. He didn't exactly feel sympathy for Khezu, but he knew other, less horrifying and phallic-looking monsters also suffered a similar fate.
"Sadly, another tragic part of nature, Mr. Arc. Everything is a competition. Some are bound to lose. What's important that they can recover from these losses and learn to avoid them again in the future." Ozpin stated.
Sai then followed the creature along a narrower cliffside. "Apex as they are, they are not quite unchallenged. Things like Tigrex, Zamtrios, Ebony Odogaron, Glacial Agnaktor- generally other apex-level that could be in the area, as well as the classic invaders, Rajang and Deviljho could give it a run for its money, but it is not a guaranteed victory for them. Barioth can certainly hold its own, but as stated previously, they have the advantage of being camouflaged in their natural environment. They can hide in even only a few mere inches of snow and can leap out to ambush their prey or rivals and drive those deadly amber steak knives into their opponent's throat, for an almost guaranteed death blow. And if not, the victim of the attack will most certainly have a heavily bleeding injury that will prevent them from carrying out the fight." He listed the creature's defense as he followed it around the underground ice cavern.
Everyone cringed at the thought of that. "Yeah, I definitely don't want those things digging into me." Yang said fearfully.
"Definitely. The neck is one of the most vital areas of the body. And with how big those tusks are, they're likely to stab or cut through just about everything important." Blake said, rubbing her neck fearfully.
"Even with aura, I can imagine those fangs would do grievous amounts of damage to us. Especially considering they're serrated." Winter added.
The two were then seen outside on the large cliffside. "During the mating season then, Male Barioth are well known to travel around, showing off their very sturdy and lengthy, impressive..." He began, running around in front of the monster.
The more mature members of the audience felt dread when Sai brought up the mating season and began to explain things with suggestive adjectives. "Oh, no..." Yang said, preparing to cover Ruby and Neo's ears.
"Please tell me he's not about to say what I think he's going to." Cinder said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Tusks." He finished as it turned its head towards him, bring the fangs into very close view.
"Oh." They all said at once, then sighed in relief at this.
A city was shown with Vegeta's face seemed to be on the Jumbotron, everyone sighing in relief over something. "Thank god, I thought he meant penis!" A random man in the audience said with dread in his face.
They all facepalmed at this. "Such vulgar foolishness." Glynda stated.
"Yeah, Uncle Sai! He totally tricked you guys!" Tekko laughed.
"Oh, man. I could hang with this guy." Qrow said.
It then returned to Sai and the Barioth. "To the females in hopes of attracting a mate. Some of the bolder members are even willing to go so far as to invade a female's territory in order to show off and hopefully propagate their genus. However, this behavior is risky, as if the female has already mated, or finds herself unimpressed by what the male Barioth has to offer, she will attack him and MESS his whole world up. Yeah, they have to be careful if they're going to go as far as to enter the female's territory, they better make sure that A: no one else has come around to show off to her first and win her favor, or that they better be PACKING." Sai declared as they made their way through another mountain pass.
"Well, that's quite brutal for members of the female side." Weiss said disapprovingly.
"To be fair, the males were invading their territory. And if they'd already mated, that would make them a threat to their cubs." Pyrrha reminded her.
"Yeah. That'd be like if Mercury barged into your dorm one day without pants on. Spoiler alert: his metal legs are DEFINITELY compensating!" Neo said with a smirk.
"Neo!" Cinder and Emerald cried out in anger and shock at the smaller girl.
"When did you even see Mercury... Like that!?" Emerald asked.
"I accidentally walked in on him as he was getting out of a bath." She admitted. [4]
Sai continued to follow the Barioth as it patrolled and marked its territory with claw marks and such. "And when the females are ready, they will find themselves a nice, deep cave in which to have their precious cubs. They are... Vivipa...Vivapar...Viva... That word." Sai struggled with the word he was attempting to say while he followed the beast, before the word "Viviparous" appeared on the screen. "And have two to three cubs at a time. It is unknown if male and female Barioth mate for life, or at least until their pups have reached full maturity, but it is likely, as the females surely must stay close to the pups during their infancy, lest they either freeze to death or, worst case scenario, find themselves at the mercy of a hungry Khezu or Gigginox. And any smart hunter knows those two species are not well known for their mercy." Sai stated ominously as he continued to trail behind Barioth, observing it from a distance while being shrieked at by some small creature, which he promptly attacked. "Shut up, Boaboa!" He snapped at the creature.
"I'm with him, anyone else not know what that big word means?" Coco asked.
"bringing forth live young that have developed inside the body of the parent." Penny stated.
"If any Khezu or Gigginox even thinks of harming those precious babies, I'll turn 'em into pancakes!" Nora shouted.
"If you could get to them before cut them to pieces." Ruby said darkly.
Sai was then latched onto the Barioth's tail as they were descending a slope into a cave. "One might find themselves wondering, then: 'But wait... Yes, Khezu is a relatively low monster, but still, should one find themselves alone with it in a cave, even mighty Tigrex and Nargacuga, who are also know when to bully the lesser Wyvern, at least when it's out in the open, in caves they surely find themselves at a disadvantage and can even be made the creature's prey, but why not Barioth?'" Sai questioned as he managed to bring the beast down and continued to attack its tail as a number of Gajalaka appeared and started blasting at it to assist him, although a message popped up after his statement, reading "Or at least a fully grown Barioth".
"Yeah, that... That's a pretty decent question." Jaune admitted.
"I'm sure they're about to tell us." Ren stated.
"Well, that would be due to its fur once again. In addition to insulating from the heat, it is also a surprisingly insulated pelt against electricity, Khezu's bread and butter which Tigrex and Nargacuga are both chiefly weak to, so while those two may fall to thunder monsters, Barioth can, but is far less likely to. However, all this insulation against the cold does make the obvious point that it is vulnerable to the heat and fire. Also, their immune system is not the greatest. They are also quite weak to poison, so any hunter possessing a dual-wield of a fire and poison weapon will find themselves quite capable against a Barioth. Wyvern Strife for the win." Sai stated confidently as he moved around the creature, dodging weaving and attacking, even managing to cut off the beast's tail. However, he was soon smacked away and knocked down. "Ow." He groaned.
"It looks like even demons get a little too cocky from time to time." Blake said.
"Well, remember, we tend to hold back when we're out hunting monsters so no one knows we're really demons." Razara told her.
"Still, to insulate both from extreme colds AND electricity, that's quite the impressive pelt. I could see Barioth becoming a favorite amongst Atlesian Huntsmen." Ironwood stated.
"But what's Wyvern Strife?" Cinder asked.
"They're the swords he was using at that particular moment. One sword has the fire element, the other has the poison status, so Sai was doing as much to weaken it as he could." Katana explained.
"It still fascinates me how far your world as come with inventions in the place of Dust." Ozpin said, amazed.
Later, Sai was seen on another hunt, following what had to be a new Barioth in the cave, as this one still had a tail. "Where Tigrex is a fight of pure strength and Nargacuga is a battle of speed, Barioth conversely, is a battle of wits. Among the three, it is considered the most intelligent and while an apex predator, it is surprisingly not very territorial or aggressive. It is quite happy to share its environment with me as long as I give it its proper respect and distance, as it knows I, as a hunter of the Research Commission, am not a threat to it..." Sai explained, confidently at first, but that confidence soon faded as the Barioth roared at him and lunged forward, preparing to engage him in combat. "Th-that was the because of the Boaboa, th-they're the threat." He stammered, before quickly fleeing the scene.
"Yay! Not territorial! That means I can walk with them! And maybe play with the cubs!" Ruby said happily, daydreaming about travelling through Atlas with a family of Barioths, cuddling with the babies as she had stated.
"But, he also said you need to keep your distance and show it proper respect, so I doubt it's be too happy with you messing with its cubs." Blake told her.
"You ruin all my dreams, Blake..." Ruby said tearfully.
"But Barioth is the smart one. That's pretty cool." Emerald said.
Sai was then shown running circles around the Barioth, still trying to focus on the beast while not engaging it in combat. "But, while Tigrex and Nargacuga are intelligent, they are rather straight-forward creatures, merely charging, pouncing and swiping with their claws and/or wing-blades. Not to say Barioth does not do the same, but it has a far more varied arsenal: leaping from great distances to attack quickly and disengage just as fast, it also is known to leap onto and off of walls in order to properly set up its next attack and pounce on a hunter from a position that the hunters cannot reach with most melee weaponry, so it can set up its attacks without threat of being attacked itself." He explained the creature's main mode of physical attacking.
"Using the environment to its advantage. Fascinating." Penny said in awe.
"Agreed, especially how it gets away from most hunter's attack range. Very smart." Pyrrha agreed.
"Too bad for them we have guns, too!" Coco declared.
"They also uniquely add elemental attacks to the Pseudo-Wyvern experience, being able to cough up powerful balls of ice that somehow create ice tornadoes. In the Old World, this attack also came with the unique property of freezing a hunter into... basically a giant snowball, restricting their torso movements completely and leaving them as essentially a helpless human snowman that can only run away from such a dangerous beast with no means to defend themselves, but apparently in the New World, hunters have found a way to circumvent this problem, as it has not been an issue since the arrival in the New World. Also uniquely, while Tigrex and Nargacuga are able to glide with their wings, it is temporary and they cannot sustain themselves in full-fledged flight. Barioth however, is actually capable of lifting its body into the air and remaining there for quite some time." Sai further explained the creature's methods of battle as Barioth was indeed seen creating small, but very icy tornadoes and flying in the air while attempting to attack Sai.
The scene from Thor: The Dark World was shown where Thor and Loki were hijacking the strange alien spaceship. "Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?" Thor questioned with a smirk as a cinematic text was put over Thor, reading "Barioth" as a pixelated text over Loki read "Tigrex and Nargacuga", as if the frozen Pseudo-Wyvern was dissing his more popular cousins.
"Wow! Amazing! Those wings don't look strong enough for flying, but it's really doing it!" Velvet said in amazement.
"Not to mention all those ice attacks. I think it might even put some of your moves to shame, Weiss!" Yang said with a smirk.
"There's no way a monster will outdo me!" Weiss declared, then looked away. "Although... it was rather impressive." Weiss admitted.
"Ooh! I remember watching that scene in Dad's second movie!" Nora cheered.
"Oh, man! That's still such a burn! And now I'm really imagining Barioth saying that to Nargacuga and Tigrex." Neo laughed.
(Hmph! If it said that to me, I would shoot my feathers at its face!) Ciara scoffed.
Sai followed the Barioth as it once again went through that mountain pass from earlier. "It is often considered that Barioth is the weakest of the trio of pseudo-wyverns, or at the very least, weaker than Tigrex. However, I would contest that this theory, as Tigrex has never been shown to do THIS..." Sai declared as it was revealed a massive, furred Brute Wyvern with giant moose-like horns had been chasing him until they encountered the Barioth, the new monster even picking up and flinging a boulder at the demon, which instead hit the Barioth.
"Whoa! That's a big boy!" Qrow said in shock.
"Indeed. It might prove to be quite a problem for Barioth." Winter agreed.
"Yeah, you'd think that, wouldn't you?" Tekko asked.
This, however, only seemed to get both monsters angry at Sai rather than each other. "Any time now, boys." He told the two monsters awkwardly as it appeared they would both attack him, before looking at each other and roaring. The Brute Wyvern charged towards Barioth, who sidestepped it and tackled it to the ground, the two rolling a few times to gain dominance. "While the pseudo-Wyverns often brawl with Brute Wyverns, Tigrex and Nargacuga have never been shown to be able to throw around large Brute Wyverns such as the Banboro with ease, such as Barioth had just displayed the ability to do." Sai explained as Barioth bit the Banboro around the next, spun and released the Brute Wyvern, throwing it into a wall like a ragdoll. Although another message popped up, reading: "Except when Tigrex ends Banboro like nothing! Facepalm."
"That was awesome! It sidestepped it like nothing! I'd expect something like that from Pyrrha!" Jaune said excitedly, earning a blush from his partner.
"But at least he's willing to admit when he messed up somewhere." Weiss noted.
"He wasn't really wrong, though. Yeah, Tigrex stopped the Radobaan, but it's not really that strong. It's bulk and bone armor are its only real advantage. And Tigrex only pushed it over, didn't send it flying like Barioth did." Razara defended both her uncle and her monster.
"To throw something the same size as its self that distance, its strength is truly something to admire." Glynda praised.
Sai continued to follow the Barioth as they know walked along some form of ice bridge. "So how is Barioth so suited to rule over the Hoarfrost Reach and other such frozen climates with such effectiveness? It is equipped with the most perfect natural weaponry. Its thick forelimbs allow it to easily power across the terrain and the thick, powerful claws at the end ensure that if can firmly grasp onto any surface, no matter how thick or slippery upon it, the ice that accumulates most surfaces in the area may be. Not to mention its wing arms are also equipped with these impressive, also thick and powerful spikes that allow it to sink deeply into any surface it may latch onto, such as the wall during combat, much like ice climbers with their pickaxes, sinking deep into the ice walls to ensure they will not come tumbling down." Sai noted the beast's physical adaptations, getting closer to get better views of its forelimbs, claws and spikes like he had just mentioned.
They once again came back to the area with the broken patches of ice over the water. "Also, the tail is equipped with much similar spikes, as well as being a two-pronged weapon itself that can also sink deep into the ice and will certainly ward off any wayward attacker. And lastly, but most obviously, its powerful and impressive amber fangs that cannot even be contained by its deadly jaws. Powerful and serrated, nearly as long as a human arm, they will surely sink not most targets with ease, no matter how thick their hide and cause gruesome damage that will likely end in the target bleeding out. A cruel way to go, but quick and effective. These ensure that the Barioth will not be taken down easily." Sai declared as he finished his lesson on the beast's natural weaponry.
"Now that IS effective. It's like the perfect winter monster... At least, without the insane power of an Elder Dragon." Cinder stated.
"All of that, along with the ability to fly and create freezing cold tornadoes, this creature truly is not one to be trifled with." Ozpin agreed.
However, something must have gone wrong, as he was now seen fighting the beast again. "However, should the spikes and claws on its arms be damaged, the Barioth will lose its ability to keep traction on icy surfaces and its ability to move around the terrain will be greatly hampered, causing it a massive disadvantage against just about anything you could name. The talons and spikes being broken off a Barioth's wing arm is effectively as death sentence." Sai stated grimly as he attempted to climb to the high ground and get an advantage on the monster.
"That makes it more like Ruby, essentially defenseless without its weapons." Penny noted.
"Penny!" Ruby cried in shock and betrayal.
"Poor thing. One small injury basically spelling your end and taking away your greatest advantage. It's truly devastating." Winter stated.
The situation had somehow calmed down after this and Sai was shown peacefully walking alongside the monster once more. "But hopefully from this, you have all gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the underappreciated third member of the trio of pseudo-wyverns. Truly, it is not a mere carbon copy of Tigrex or Nargacuga, but a monster all its own. And some might even say it's better than its more popular counterparts. Don't at me, Ragegamingvideos." Sai declared.
The scene then changed to a cartoon of some strange-looking person who seemed to be a guard of sorts, whistling as he walked along, with "Ragegamingvideos" put in the middle of the screen as if Rage was supposed to be this guard. "Hey!" A girl called to get his attention. He then turned to see a sign that had been covered by a pixelated message, reading: "Barioth is better than Nargacuga and Tigrex!" It then zoomed out to reveal a girl, with bold text to her left reading Barioth and a strange creature to the right, pixelated text to his right reading "Sai" and a long line of text in the center reading what the sign had previously said, so it looked like Sai and Barioth were rubbing the message in Rage's face, cutting back to him gasping in shock.
Everyone got a laugh out of this. "Oh, man! That's a burn on Rage!" Yang laughed.
"Although, the message could have been better edited. It wasn't even on the sign in that third part." Weiss criticized.
"It's the best he could do. And give him credit: he can only have one line of text for each clip, so to get all that text in, he had to keep exporting the clip after each bit of text and edit it again. So he had to do that like 6 times." Katana said. [5]
"So, does your brother have some kind of rivalry with Rage?" Qrow asked.
"He wishes. Honestly, he's just a big fan and wants to work with Rage, but he's not a big enough name to be known by Rage, or really anyone yet." Katana explained. [6]
Sai was then shown entering a new cave area they hadn't been to before, finding a much larger, icier-looking Barioth. "However, there is just a bit more to Barioth's tale, as there are two more forms of the creature: the Sand Barioth, which dwells in desert regions... but not in the New World, so I couldn't get footage and the very recently-discovered Variant, the Frostfang Barioth. Far more aggressive than its normal counterparts, this Barioth has a control over ice that dwarfs its counterpart. The reason for this is unknown, perhaps as a Variant, it has lived much longer than a normal Barioth and has discovered new ways to increase its power, or perhaps similarly to Shrieking Legiana, who its powers very much match, it has something to do with the presence of Velkhana. Perhaps Velkhana bestowing some form of power upon it, or perhaps its ice having to be a grade above what it once was in order to compete with the mighty Elder Dragon." Sai explained as he seemed to be having trouble fighting the beast in such a confined space with little room to dodge its attacks.
"Wow, that one looks pretty... COOL." Yang said, to which everyone groaned.
"So, can Velkhana really imbue other monsters with its ice powers?" Neo asked, before jumping in front of Glacies. "Do me!" She declared, but Kin pulled her back beside her with her golden threads before Velkhana could freeze the former mute.
"No, that's just a theory that Rage came up with and Sai didn't look into enough. He was half right, though. Apparently, it's because it's an older Barioth, but it also wandered out further than a normal Barioth, finding itself trapped in a horrible blizzard that even their incredible ice resilience couldn't handle, so it had to adapt and its ice attacks became much stronger." Katana explained. [7]
"Whatever the case, this Barioth's control of ice is quite terrifying and impressive, capable of shooting wide streams and pathways of frigid air and frozen liquid, freezing the ground in front of it in a large margin and should a hunter be trapped within the ice it has created, their feet will be frozen to the ground, forcing them to struggle to free themselves, at which point they are all but at the mercy of Frostfang Barioth. And mercy, it will not show. Its fur is thicker, its hide is stronger and its fangs are harder than any ice a hunter may come across, allowing them to pierce through even Elder Dragons, bringing a swift end any unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of those mouth daggers." Sai declared ominously, as his own feet became stuck on a patch of ice and he was crushed as the beast leapt into the air and came crashing down on him.
"Wait, if their feet are on the ground and get frozen, that makes sense, but it looks like Sai just stepped onto that ice and got stuck. It's ice, not glue!" Emerald complained.
"Emerald, you have an owl that can hypnotize people, put them to sleep and turn invisible. Penny has a Rocket-Powered Elder Dragon and I have a hawk-panther with blade wings and projectile feathers. I think sticky ice is pretty believable." Blake told her.
"That HAS to be terrifying, just being frozen in place and helpless, waiting for the monster to finish you." Nora said fearfully.
"Wow, Barioth is so awesome. And oh, my god! Those tusks are so cool!" Ruby cried out.
"Yeah, they are. Those things are long enough to be used as swords." Emerald agreed.
"They actually are. The fangs are used in the creation of many Barioth-based weaponry." Razara said, but it was clear this fact angered her.
"Definitely. I might have to get one of them. We CAN have more than one monster, right?" Cinder asked.
"I don't see why not. There's several riders out there with multiple monsters." Katana confirmed.
(Why would you ever need one of those inferior snow cats when you have me?) Luna asked proudly, shaking her head and whipping her hair back and forth.
"Well, from this video, it's clear that Barioth is anything BUT inferior." Ironwood stated.
"Yeah! They're super awesome!" Nora declared.
"Indeed. Your brother was quite informative, Katana. If perhaps a little unfocused. Perhaps next time, he should memorize his script, rather than reading it during his recording." Penny said.
"Actually, he didn't have a script, so he was trying to come up with what to say on the fly. He had a list of bullet points, that's it. I told him to make a script, but he didn't listen." Katana explained.
"Well, in any case, I believe it is time for bed, students." Glynda declared.
"Yes, Ms. Goodwitch." They all agreed, heading to the bathroom and doing their nightly routines, before hurrying to bed.
Ruby sighed happily as she flopped onto her bed. "But now bed time's gonna be a lot more fun! 'Cuz now I have TWO cuddle buddies!" She said as she hugged Zwei and Crimzon close to her, the black and white dog licking her face as the black and white Wyvern cuddled her cheek, before they all went to sleep. Velka placed her trunk over Weiss as almost an extra blanket or security device, Ciara and Quickshot wrapped their wings around Blake and Velvet respectively while Naga and Kaiser gently coiled around Coco and Glynda respectively.
A/N: Thank you for reading as always! Hope you enjoyed!
[1] So, there you go! If you're wondering if they'll be able to talk at some point: Yes, but only when necessary, otherwise adding all their reactions as well as the Remnant crew would take forever and a day!
[2] Seriously! The last time I rubbed my cat's tummy, I had to go to the hospital and get stitches. And one of my grandmother's cats scratched open a vein in her wrist! Why are they so evil!?
[3] This is a thing that happens. I live close to a park and in it is a decently common sight to see duck corpses that had their stomachs torn open by otters, but otherwise untouched. It's like, why not just eat the duck at that point!? How much nutrition can they even get from already half-digested fish!?
[4] I'd imagine Mercury has to take baths, as he can't really shower with metal legs that have open electronics in them.
[5] This is true, I was around when Sai was editing that part. He says it was the most difficult part of the whole video.
[6] Sorry Sai, but it's kind of true.
[7] Sai told me this after hearing it from Xenthas the Zinogre like THE DAY after he made the lore video. So if this turns out to be wrong, too, blame them and not me.