A/N: Thanks as always to qazse for suggesting this monster, as well as giving some reactions!
"Barroth, huh? Sounds pretty close to Barioth, don't you think?" Jaune asked.
"Kind of. Especially since they were discovered around the same time." Razara agreed.
"That must have made things pretty confusing. And I should know, being Ruby, the leader of team RWBY." Ruby said.
"I told Ozpin it would be confusing, or make you sound arrogant, but he didn't listen." Glynda stated.
"Looking back know, I can see how it was questionable. But there weren't many other color names I could come up with." Ozpin defended himself.
A familiar logo of multiple triangles was shown, before Strawfoot's name appeared beneath it. It then opened to the seasoned hunter wandering through the Wildspire Waste of the New World. "Today's research mission again has us exploring the vast region of the New World known as the Wildspire Waste. I'm searching for a Brute Wyvern: the heavily-armored Barroth, often referred to as the Landslide Wyvern." The researcher stated his objective as he moved through a narrow canyon pass. "The Wildspire Waste may look dry and barren, but life here is plentiful and there's enough natural resources here to support a large variety of monsters." Strawfoot assured the audience as he picked a small handful of mushrooms.
"Indeed, one should never assume at first glance life cannot be sustained in any given location. Vacuo is a similarly a harsh desert to live in, but if you can survive there, there is more than enough resources for all." Ozpin said with a smile.
"Yeah, it may not be the paradise it once was before the other kingdoms ruined it, but it's still an alright place as far as deserts go." Qrow agreed.
"If only the other kingdoms could be as accepting as Vacuo, life on Remnant might really be perfect... Well, except for Salem and the Grimm." Blake added.
"I know we'll get there one day, Blake." Yang told her.
"The Barroth is an insectivore. It commonly eats insects such as carpenter ants, hercudromes and bitter bugs. It even sometimes eats larger neopterans, such as the Altaroth and even immature Celtas and Celtas larvae." Strawfoot explained as he continued through the desert, before he was shown kneeling in front of a line of ants that were practically the size of newborn kittens. "These ants are small, but rich in protein. They're one of the Barroth's favorite food sources." He stated, before moving on to continue his search, the sun starting to set. "The Barroth we've been tracking hasn't made an appearance yet. It might be sheltering from the intense dessert heat. Or, more likely, it's been scared off by this Pink Rathian, which has been prowling the area as of late." He explained as he observed a Pink Rathian from a good distance away with a pair of binoculars.
"Something that big only eats bugs?" Coco asked in disbelief.
"It is somewhat surprising, but a number of sizeable animals, including some primates, make certain kinds of insects a large part of their diets. As Strawfoot stated, insects are surprisingly high in protein, which many animals use as their primary source of energy." Penny explained.
"Is no one else disturbed by the fact those ants are practically the size of a kitten!?" Weiss cried out.
"Right here." Emerald said, raising her hand, looking horrified at the insects.
"Well, we saw that those bullet ants in Ant-Man got pretty big." Ruby reminded them.
Upon seeing the Pink Rathian, Nora, Neo, Velvet, Ruby and Summer all loved the pink coloring on the Queen of the Land. "It looks so cute in pink!" Velvet said excitedly.
"Funny thing about Rathalos and their female counterparts Rathian. They both can come in a variety of colors. Including, pink." Katana informed them.
However, this distance apparently wasn't good enough, as the Rathian spotted him and charged towards him. "The Barroth is a large, bipedal monster, classified by the Hunter's Guild as a Brute Wyvern. The Barroth's most distinguishing feature is the large, armored crown structure atop its skull, which houses its nostrils." Strawfoot gave a brief description of the beast as he fled from the Rathian.
"Wait, he was only maybe only 50 feet away! Why would you need binoculars for that when you're looking at a giant dragon?!" Neo asked incredulously.
"Right? You could probably see that thing perfectly from where he was. Pulling out those binoculars just wasted time he clearly should've spent booking it." Roman agreed.
"Or at least he should have been crouched down and out of sight." Ilia agreed, disgusted as a master of stealth over the failure of stealth Strawfoot displayed.
A watering hole was then shown with two Aptonoth getting a drink while some small stone structure was seen floating in the water. "During the intense heat of the day, the Barroth submerges its body beneath the mud to stay cool, breathing through the nostrils atop its crown." He explained as a Great Jaggi and two of its underlings approached the two Aptonoth. "Its body is covered in rigid plates of armored hide that reflect the heat of this harsh desert environment and protect it from predators and other large monsters." He went over the beast's defenses as the three raptors surrounded the Aptonoth, the Great Jaggi and one of its underlings stepping into the water to do so. This caused the rock formation to turn towards them and approached quickly. "Although normally a docile Wyvern, disturbing a Barroth while it slumbers beneath the mud is a poor choice, as this Great Jaggi is about to find out." Strawfoot declared as the Barroth burst from the water and sent the Great Jaggi flying with a roar and a hit from its powerful head crest.
"It has five nostrils? That are on top of its head? That's weird." Weiss said.
"That may be, Miss Schnee, but it is effective. By having its nostrils elevated on its crown, that leaves the rest of its body able to be submerged and protected from the sun while it can still breathe through its crest. It's quite the effective adaptation." Glynda assured her.
"It's not uncommon for many desert-dwelling creatures to spend most of their time in mud to protect from the sun's rays." Winter agreed.
It was then shown to be night time in the Wildspire Waste, as the Barroth was then seen biting and snapping at a large spire. "As night falls on the Wildspire Waste and the temperatures cool, the Barroth we've been tracking leaves its muddy watering hole, seeking out colonies of ants living in the wildspires, rolling in mud to cool itself and marking its territory with mucus and fertile mud secreted from its crown. This territorial marking behavior serves as a deterrent, a clear warning message to other Barroths and large monsters to stay clear of the area." Strawfoot explained as the Barroth was indeed shown leaving some mud and mucus behind on a wall. The researcher was then seen walking alongside the beast as it paid him little to no mind. "The Barroth, as you can see, is a docile monster. Our muddy friend here may look threatening, but this gentle giant rarely attacks unless provoked." He assured the audience as the monster continued on its way.
Ren was surprised by this. "Huh. I wouldn't have expected something that seemed so territorial to actually be docile." He stated, smiling a bit.
"I believe the phrase is not to judge a book by its cover." Penny said.
"We got a pretty good look at its cover when it sent that Great Jaggi flying." Jaune said fearfully.
"Hey, Strawfoot did say it was resting in its pond there. If someone woke me up from sleeping off a hangover, I'd send them flying, too. Or if they hit me with a rock for no reason..." Qrow said, growling at the end as he remembered that punk from Beacon hitting him with a rock. But he got him back with that epic flying punch.
The sun was then seen rising as the Barroth returned to the swampier area of the Waste. "As the sun begins to rise and temperatures climb, the Barroth returns to its watering hole to rest. Unfortunately for this Barroth, another large monster has taken up residence here in its absence: the Jyuratodus, an extremely aggressive Piscine Wyvern. It prefers to pray on smaller monsters, such as Aptonoth or Gajau, but being an opportunistic hunter, it won't hesitate to make a meal out of our Barroth." Strawfoot declared as the Barroth encountered a monster that looked like a large mud fish on legs, which went under the water, then burst out from under the Barroth, launching them both into the air and causing Barroth to come crashing down with the Piscine Wyvern on its back, whereupon landing, it coiled around the Brute Wyvern, getting on its back again to bite its neck as the Barroth got back to its feet, but the Barroth was luckily able to swiftly turn and throw off its aquatic attacker.
"Whoa! That's one gnarly fish!" Yang said in surprise.
"Jeez! I've seen sharks less vicious!" Neo yelped in shock.
"Yeah, even I might keep my distance from that fish." Blake admitted.
"Probably for the best. It's covered in mud, remember?" Emerald told her.
The Barroth was then seen limping away from the fight. "The Barroth escapes this time, but just barely. I better follow its example, or risk becoming a meal myself." Strawfoot stated as he fled from the watery area, the Piscine Wyvern chasing after him up until he reached the dry land with no more water for the beast to take advantage of.
Ruby, Pyrrha and Velvet quickly got mad at the Piscine Wyvern for chasing the Barroth from it home. "Hey! Leave him alone, you big bully!" Ruby yelled at the fish monster, pouting.
"Exactly. That was Barroth's watering hole. You had no business being there, let alone trying to take it for your own!" Pyrrha snapped.
"Yeah! Strawfoot already said there was plenty for everyone." Velvet agreed.
"Some creatures are greedy and want more than what they need. They're the kind I thought I was fighting against at first. The kind I should have been fighting instead of blindly going after every human." Adam stated darkly.
The Barroth was then seen limping through the canyon in the middle of the day. "Sadly, it appears our Barroth has been wounded in its battle with the Jyuratodus." Strawfoot said regretfully, before he was seen firing upon the Barroth, with ammo that let out clouds of blue gas. "I'm going to attempt to capture this specimen and return it to the Research Commission for further study. In order to accomplish this, I'll need to exhaust it first." Strawfoot explained as he continued to shoot at the beast over a period of time.
"Uh, yeah, it got it's ass kicked by a giant fish. It looks PREEEETTY exhausted to me." Roman stated.
"Hey, everything gets a second wind. Maybe it just had to get away from the Jyuratodus and catch its breath." Coco suggested.
"Indeed. Not to mention, it also likely got a boost of adrenaline to keep itself going once Strawfoot attacked it." Ozpin added.
A Barroth was seen roaring and charging at Strawfoot, who rolled out of the way, but the beast already found a new target in the form of the cart a small ways ahead of it. "The Barroth is comparatively small for a Brute-class Wyvern, weighing far less than other monsters that share this classification, such as the Uragaan or Glavenus." Strawfoot explained as he ran after the monster, rolling ahead of it and grabbing some kind of fruit on his way past, loading it into his slinger and firing it into the Barroth's eye, causing it to stagger into one of the spires.
(What a shrimp.) Guillotine declared with a chuckle, proud of his superior size over the smaller Brute.
"No need to be mean about it. It still seems pretty cool." Jaune reasoned with his monster, who simply mentally laughed again.
That quickly stopped however, when the Glavenus suddenly shrunk to about Zwei's size, falling into Jaune's open arms. The Wyvern glared at the blonde knight, realizing he wished for the size change. (You're despicable...) The Brute Wyvern grumbled.
"I'm more impressed by Strawfoot's shot. There are a number of factors that makes landing such a shot nearly impossible, yet he hit his target with perfect accuracy." Ironwood praised.
The Barroth was understandably enraged by this, however and turned to face off against Strawfoot. "But don't let its small size fool you, this Wyvern isn't defenseless. When angered, the Barroth uses its armored crown as a battering ram. And the mud it has accumulated over its body has hardened, now acting as a second lair of armored plating. It also has the ability to force out any lingering wet mud, or the fertile mud made from its crown that flows over the rest of its body, to launch out large masses of thick, sticky mud to trap prey and opponents like wet cement or quicksand, weighing them down as the water from the mud seeps into their armor and clothes, making movement far more taxing and exhausting, as well as leaving the opponent open for a devastating charge attack. I'd better stay out of its way."Strawfoot said as he followed the limping Barroth back to its safe haven.
"A full force direct attack. I can respect that." Hazel declared.
"And, while it's filthy and below me, making armor out of mud is quite impressive." Adam added.
"Not to mention the way it can shoot mud to trap hunters? So cool!" Nora cheered.
Summer smiled nostalgically at this. "It reminds me of back when Ruby and Yang were kids, always playing in mud after a it rained. Giving them baths every time was a nightmare." She groaned, remembering one of her tougher jobs as a mother.
"Mom!" Both girls whined.
"Exhausted and gravely wounded, the Barroth returns to its watering hole once more to sleep. I'll use this opportunity to set up a pitfall trap and tranquilize the Wyvern so that it can be transported back to Astera for further study." Strawfoot explained as he placed down a device that deployed a next covered in leaves, before backing away on the other side of it from the Barroth. The Brute Wyvern charged at him, only to fall into a hole that left it trapped from the waste down, unable to attack or fight. "Once our Barroth's injuries have fully healed, we'll release this monster back to the wild where it belongs." He assured the audience as the beast threw its head back and let out a loud, tiring yawn, before collapsing the upper half of its body to the side and falling asleep.
Ruby smiled. "I'm glad they're going to take care of it." She said.
"It's an important research specimen, so it only makes sense to have it in the best condition they can." Penny told her friend.
"A pitfall trap? I wasn't aware anyone used those outside of Guerilla warfare... and cheesy cartoons." Winter stated.
"Indeed. The first thing we should do upon returning to Atlas is come up with more effective trapping systems and tranquilizers." Ironwood said.
"I'd actually recommend spreading around hard light devices to coastal cities and largely populated areas to protect against serious Grimm or monster attacks. Another benefit to giving hard light towers to Menagerie and Argus in case of Ceadeus incidents, is that it might improve your relationship with the other kingdoms. I mean lets be real, Atlas and it's people aren't exactly viewed in a positive light these days. And most your citizens having snobbish attitudes, superiority complexes and bigoty ain't doing you any favors neither." Katana told the general.
"She does have a point James. Plus your vast display of weapons and warships doesn't put the kingdoms at ease. Some of the more paranoid council members are even considering Atlas may one day invade their homelands. Especially Menagerie. But if you give these kingdoms some of your technology as a will of good faith, to make the peoples lives safer, and easier. Then they'll start to trust Atlas more." Ozpin sided with the ice demon.
James sighed "...You're right. Perhaps it's time we share our advancements with the kingdoms, instead of keeping them to ourselves." He agreed.
"That's what I like to hear. Though I imagine a certain senile short stack in your ranks will have issues with this." Katana stated.
"Ugh, can we PLEASE not talk about her." Winter groaned.
"I assume your referring to Special Operative Caroline Cordovin?" Ironwood asked.
"Do you know any other midget old hag that serve in your military?" Katana asked.
James pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Look I know she can be, difficult-" He began.
"Sir, with all do respect, that woman is an insufferable wretch with an ego that can rival my father's and while loyal to Atlas, preaches about our kingdom to the point of sounding like a zealot. Not to mention she thinks that anyone that isn't an Atlesian, human and Faunus, are beneath us. In fact I'm pretty sure she's the reason why some are think we'll try to conquer the other kingdoms, on the account she boasts how Atlas could take on the world and win." Winter reminded her general.
"Okay fine, Cordovin is unbearable to deal with. And her over exaggeration of our kingdoms accomplishments makes her sound more like a cult leader then a military one. Also to be honest, that's why I always talk to her through scroll, rather then in person. Even I can't stand to be around her. Regardless, I assure you Katana, we'll give the other kingdoms protection and an easier life for both humans and Faunus. With or without Cordovin's approval." Ironwood promised.
"Good enough for me." Katana accepted. [1]
"So, thoughts?" Katana asked.
"It is officially the second dirtiest monster I've seen." Weiss declared, before shuddering. "First place still goes to Congalala." She stated.
"While a filthy and unsanitary tactic, using mud for armor, as well as attacks is quite effective. Impressive for something on the lower end of the monster food chain." Winter declared.
"Well, we saw Razara's kinship and what it can do with a big enough mud ball, that's certainly impressive. And quite unique as well." Ironwood agreed.
"Well, lucky you guys won't have to deal with them. I don't see those things hanging around a place like Atlas." Qrow said.
"Actually, there are Jade Barroth, which live in cold climates like Atlas and use ice instead of mud." Razara explained.
"Well, it eats those giant bugs, so I'm happy." Neo said.
"Definitely. And that head crest it has is totally awesome." Yang declared.
"I know, right!? The way it smashes through rocks is so awesome! And its so cool it can even breathe from the top of its head while everything else is underwater!" Ruby said excitedly.
"I could definitely see these being an excellent monster to spar against." Pyrrha said.
"So, what's next then?" Cinder asked.
"Well, let's just roll right along and find out." Katana declared, making her daughters groan at her pun, knowing that she'd likely be bringing up Uragaan next.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed as always.
[1] Another thanks to qazse for this scene. He made this a while ago and I almost forgot about it because I couldn't think of a good place for it, so hopefully, where I put it was good enough.