A/N: Hello, everyone! Just answering a couple reviews before this chapter. Side note: for guests that leave reviews with big or important questions, just make an actual profile already so I can directly answer you...
Guest (Chapter 6): Uh, for the record, that was a Velociprey not a Velocidrome.
For anyone confused, they're referring to the raptor that goes straight up murdered by Astalos. No, it was a Velocidrome. You can tell by the large red claws on its hands and feet.
chaosb91: just to ask but since the beginning of this story was "supposedly" happening between marvel movies, which movies and is this all in one sitting or like every 3 or 4 monsters have another hero movie? also with Nora getting both lightning pony and adopted as thor kid is there a chance for a new hybrid between kirin and Odin's horse sleipnir, for a BAD attempt at a new subspecies name/pun the valkirin.
This story is taking place on the day after the first day they arrived, where they watched up to Captain America: The First Avenger. Glynda planned for them to have a break day from movies, where they train and do homework, but Katana showed them these lore videos instead. So, they have a day for watching the MCU, then a day for watching MH lores. As for the Kirin subspecies... No. Just no.
Pervy age: Give Penny the Equal Dragon Weapon so everyone can vomit...
You are a sick person... That's all I have to say.
Alright, then! Everybody caught up and understand everything!? Good. Let's continue.
"Aww, yeah! Team RWBY's monster menagerie is about to be complete!" Ruby cheered.
"Menagerie. Impressive vocabulary, Ruby." Weiss praised her young leader.
"Yep. And especially because the new monster is going to the princess of Menagerie! Excited, your highness?" Yang teased.
"Yang, cut it out! You know I don't like being treated like a princess..." Blake said, blushing.
"Princess?!" Neo asked, leaping onto Blake's lap, laying up against her. "Have I ever told you I was an activist for Faunus rights, too?" She asked, clearly trying to earn brownie points. Blake's response was to simply push her off, causing her to land in Velvet's lap instead.
"I think it's probably gonna take more than that, Neo. Especially since you work with Torchwick, who is very racist towards Faunus." Velvet told her.
"So, it's a fast cat, just like Blake..." Jaune said, trying to guess based on other monsters they'd heard of before.
"Is it Nargacuga? It looked rather cat-like." Pyrrha guessed.
"Correct, Pyrrha! I can see why she was one of Beacon's top students." Katana said.
"She is indeed. I consider all the students here, plus the rest of team CFVY to be the pride of Beacon." Ozpin declared.
"They've had varying levels of success, but they've since more than earned their spots here." Glynda agreed.
"Th-thank you, professors." Ruby said, blushing madly and tearing up a bit, along with the other students.
"Okay, very nice words, but now let's get on with it." Katana declared.
A silver-haired hunter in little to no armor was seen in a jungle-like area as Rage spoke eerily, accompanied by rather ominous music. "Picture the scene: You're lost in the forest, split up from your group. The trees foreboding and ever so similar. The humidity choking, clawing at your throat. Your eyes scan the thick foliage... a shadow, maybe? A presence, a little flittering of movement? You can't be sure, it could be the daze that you're in, the fear of never being found again. You step forward once more and..." Rage verbally painted a horrifying picture, before the sound of a twig snapping was heard.
Everyone jumped at the sudden noise breaking the near silence, but had nothing else to say.
"A branch breaks underfoot. You pause just a moment. You notice then, in horror, silence has descended around you. You feel a presence. You can't see anything, but somehow you know its there. You carefully creep forward-" Rage went on, hooking them and drawing them in more and more.
Suddenly, some strange music played and the image of a boy was shown, see through to still see the hunter as he tried to find his way. "Quiet! Quiet!" The boy said, syncing with the music a bit.
"Just like aura, how we can sense someone's there without seeing them." Jaune noted, Pyrrha nodding in pride.
"I'm having flashbacks to our initiation." Ren declared.
"I might like to hear the full version of that." Weiss said.
"It did have a nice beat to it." Cinder agreed.
"I think we're supposed to be more focused on the super creepy atmosphere and imagining something following us!" Neo reminded them.
"-Hearing nothing. You get a feeling, you turn around and empty space greets you... But you're sure now! The hairs on the back of your neck standing on end! The fear bubbling up inside you like a geyser! You start to run, you start to sprint! Flailing through the undergrove, crashing into the trees! You turn around, taking a moment to look and-!" Rage declared as the foliage was focused on as a dark figure with glowing red eyes jumped out of it with a panther-like snarl, the glow of the eyes soon being all that was seen.
"Eek!" Velvet squealed, leaping behind the couch and hiding behind it, although her bunny ears still poked up over it.
"Whoa! Easy, Vel!" Coco called after her teammate.
Ruby gently pet Velvet's ears. "It's okay, Velvet. The scary monster's not gonna hurt you." Ruby told her. Velvet popped back up and slowly took her place on one of the beanbags, but moved it closer to Coco and leaned against her, her leader holding her close.
"It's perfect..." Blake said, her eyes sparkling in what little she'd seen of it.
"Oh yes, my fellow hunters, meet Nargacuga! My joint second favorite monster!" Rage explained as the panther-like creature they'd briefly seen in passing was now shown in all its glory as it roared from a large tree branch and leapt out to face the hunter. "This, I guess, panther-hawk-dragon is simply a marvel to behold and one of the few monsters that has a human form." Rage explained, as a clip from a movie was briefly shown charging into battle alongside an army of tribal warriors.
"He looks so cool!" Nora cheered.
"Who was that!?" Ruby asked in awe.
"That was the Black Panther... You'll see him soon enough, he's the star of his own movie and a star in several others we'll see in the future." Katana explained, shedding a small tear. [2]
"He seems like a pretty cool hero." Blake said, amazed, blushing a bit.
"Aww, do you want his kitties, Blake-y?" Yang teased, leaning against the Faunus princess. Blake pushed her back with a small pout.
"Alright, so! Nargacuga then, is technically a flying Wyvern, though he takes the more grounded frame of Tigrex, where the front wings have evolved less for flying and more for walking~ and that's just what they'll do~ One of these days, those wing blades gonna slice on right through you~!" Rage sang as a Palico in Brachydios armor was seen taking on a Nargacuga as it dashed past the smaller feline several times, before an clip of Nargacuga was shown that made it look like it was bobbing its head to the music.
"Blades on its wings. Fascinating." Ironwood said in awe.
"And how they operate as both wing and leg. I wouldn't have thought something like that could function efficiently." Glynda noted.
"That likely means the wings are less developed than a Flying Wyvern's like Astalos or Khezu. I would imagine it glides rather than actual flying." Penny deduced.
"Man, not even five minutes in and we've heard two catchy songs." Qrow said, bobbing with the music as well.
"So, to the nitty gritty, then! Nargacuga is an apex predator and a finely honed one at that, perfect in its natural environment and entirely adapted to dominate it. Able to move almost silently through the undergrowth, not disturbing nary a rock, an ambush predator in the truest of sense! Relying on getting as close as possible, waiting, stalking, preparing for the right moment and then before its prey even knows what's hit it- boom! It has landed upon it, claws rending, the size of machetes lining each of its limbs, it's mouth chomps down, a sharp, serrated beak for rending and tearing, a row of teeth longer than your hand waiting within, gripping down on the neck of the poor victim, throat torn and bleeding out." Rage declared as fast-paced panicked-sounding music accompanied this terrifying explanation of the creatures abilities as it tried to chomp at the Palico fighting it, who managed to avoid its attacks.
"Smart, striking when its opponents are at their most vulnerable. And certainly at their most vulnerable areas, generally the neck." Ozpin nodded in approval.
"And with such speed. And it's natural weaponry. That may rival Glavenus' sword tail or Zamtrios' ice armor." Winter said, amazed.
"Yikes. Getting bit by teeth like that would be nasty." Coco said, looking at her hand and imagining a tooth longer than it, shuddering.
"But! Do not let its hunting tactics fool you. It is more than capable in a straight-up brawl, because it is powerful, but more than that, it is quick. Ridiculously quick and agile to boot, one of the most athletic monsters to exist, especially on its home turf. A Rathalos flying above a forest would still fail to get to the other side of it before a Nargacuga on the ground. They are able to flow through dense foliage like, well, water. And, essentially to put their speed in context, you kind of had this going on." Rage explained as the fight between the Nargacuga and Palico continued, the Palico managing to stagger the beast, but the panther-dragon also managing to land a couple devastating hits on the much smaller cat creature.
Then, a clip from a cartoon was shown where a woman with yellow skin and a tall column of blue hair gazed out of a roof-less jeep, viewing something through a pair of binoculars. "He doesn't look so fast to me." She said as it was revealed she was viewing a cheetah with Nargacuga's head superimposed over its own, at a large distance away from the look of it. But she suddenly lowered the binoculars to reveal the big cat was right in her face.
"Whoa! That's super fast!" Ruby said, excitedly.
"Agreed. If a Nargacuga is truly that fast, it should be able to keep up with you easily, Blake." Pyrrha agreed.
"Right. But the video just started, so we've probably only learned the bare minimum of what it can do." Blake reminded them.
"So, yeah. When you try and keep up with one in combat, it's not easy. Their powerful hind legs give them incredible jumping ability. Able to leap over a hundred feet in the air, but do more controlled, faster bursts on the ground to flank enemies, get behind them and, well..." Rage began to explain as the Palico was smacked away by the Nargacuga's tail.
"Omae wa mou shindeiru." The voice clip from the scene they'd seen once or twice before played over the scene.
"Whoa! None of us can jump that high, even with aura!" Yang said in shock.
"No, but I've been working on flying with my Maiden powers. Although, without the full power, it's sadly temporary." Cinder noted.
"An issue we may soon have to address." Glynda told her fellow Ozluminati members. Since it was clear to them at the point they were taken, Amber's time was quickly drawing to a close. And with the Atlas machine transferring half the remaining power to someone else being untested, their best, or really only option, may just be for Cinder to take all the power.
"The mouth, while able to quite effortlessly rend and tear, is really his weakest asset. Next in line are his bladed wings. Adapted, as I said, to become more leg-like, the claws at the end allowing him to climb up a tree in much the same way as a tiger can." Rage declared as a clip of a tiger was shown climbing a tree to reach a bag tied to the top of it, likely filled with meat. "And, they in fact, like to spend their time when they're not hunting and prowling and looking for mischief, actually resting and sleeping at the tops of the highest ones they can find. It gives them safety, especially when they're vulnerable and feeling a little bit dozy, protecting them from any hunter who feels like they might have a little cheeky go while the creature is essentially defenseless. In fact, a lot of the time, it is quite literally impossible for hunters to sneak up on a Nargacuga, due to where they like to call its home." He elaborated as the fight continued.
"Smart. Stay out of reach of your enemies. That's essentially how humans have survived for so long." Ren stated.
"Good thing. Attacking a sleeping enemy is cheating." Nora declared with an angry pout.
"Yeah!" Ruby agreed.
"Guys, they're fighting giant monsters, I think the hunters need any advantage they can get. Heck, humans would be extinct if we didn't find dust." Neo said.
"Excellent point, Neo." Weiss said, giving her a few pats on the head. Neo was a bit shocked at this. Usually only Roman, Cinder or Emerald gave her head pats. She wasn't against it, but she wasn't prepared for it.
"The rest of the time, the guild very much advises simply waiting and preparing for the Narga to come to you. Trying to flush one out of the forest is likely to get you a claw in the back. Very much a needle-haystack situation, but the needle is in camo mode and is capable of biting your face off." Rage advised how to properly go after Nargacuga, before the image of a needle with Nargacuga's head at the end slowly drifted across the screen, accompanied by scary music, to which he laughed. "So, yeah: stealth, speed, power. That is the Narga's triumvirate of success." Rage explained, the fight still continuing, not much having changed.
"Minus the stealth, that's usually the most effective method for most Huntsmen and Huntresses on Remnant." Winter said.
"Indeed. On average, the success of this method of combat is 75%." Penny declared.
"I suppose the saying goes, 'If it's not broke, don't fix it'." Pyrrha stated.
"The arms themselves, then, the wings have become more akin to blades, they still let him glide, but there isn't any fighting happening. The edges are serrated, honed like an actual sword and he can use them to ridiculous cutting effect. Rock is no problem, flesh evidently less so, your armor a mere bump in the road for its deadly arc. He will attempt to carve his enemies in twain given a moment's opportunity, but even these impeccable examples of natural weaponry pale in comparison to what Nargacuga got going on in the back~" Rage said in a sly tone as suggestive music began to play.
"Ooh, that's one more way it matches you, Bellabooty~" Yang teased, pinching Blake's butt, causing her to leap onto the back of the couch, hissing like a cat and swiping once at Yang.
"Yang, quit it!" She snapped, staying on the back of the couch, much to everyone's confusion.
"Are you... Gonna come down?" Jaune asked.
There was a short pause for a moment. "No." Blake refused.
"Oh, yeah! His tail is a THICK trunk of muscle, much like a snake's body. It is dexterous, it is prehensile, able to aid the creature in climbing, grasping and general slaughter, it will occasionally slam it against the ground, causing powerful thumps and shakes and quakes as a warning sign for anything getting just a little bit too close, the 'Any closer and I'mma separate the top half of your body from the bottom' display. But outside from the acrobatic feats where it can jump in the air, summersault, slam it down into the Earth, crushing ground and hunter beneath, it has its own hidden weapon. When angered, when the adrenaline is flowing, when the blood is pumping, well... Specially designed, edged scales, will start to erect and cover his tail like a veritable pinecone of doom. These spikes, then, give him an extra little bit of an edge. Essentially, imagine going from a mace to a... spiked mace..." Rage explained as the image of Nargacuga was shown with its tail spikes on display, then the image of a mace similar to Cardin's, then a morning star. [2]
"Yep! That's what you're here for! Top quality descriptions of your favorite monsters!" Rage cried out, sounding far away from his mic, clearly upset over his word choice.
"That almost looked like Cardin's mace." Jaune noted.
"I believe Rage was mistaken, however. That second quote-unquote 'mace' was actually a Morning Star." Pyrrha corrected.
"What's the difference?" Coco asked.
"They are similar in function, but the Morning Star is considered deadlier, as it has spikes for piercing, whereas a mace is a pure bludgeoning weapon that can have, at most, flanges like Cardin's, or small knobs." Ruby explained.
"Huh. So, ironically, his description with the pictures actually fixes his verbal description." Weiss realized, surprised.
"Still, that's one impressive tail, but one I'm in no hurry to get anywhere near." Qrow said.
"This, then! Evidently, gives it a little bit of a bump in offensive prowess. It comes at the cost of when he slams into the ground and misses, he will anchor himself there for a moment, having to wrench his tail free, but the benefits are worth it. Not only does it add savage cutting power to his potent strikes, able to smash through tree trunks with effortless ease, he can also freely detach these with a whipping motion of the tail, sending what is essentially a fan of knives hurtling at the hunter. And on top of all of that, it is stretchy, able to nearly double in length with the right momentum, it has deceptive reach and has caught many a foe off-guard. So, that is how the Nargacuga do the kill." Rage brought the lesson on Nargacuga's offensive onslaught to a close.
"And it even has its own projectiles! These monsters are incredible. But what kind of world do you live in that creatures had to evolve and adapt into this?!" Ironwood asked in disbelief.
"A very, very hectic one." Katana explained.
"Anchoring itself in place could prove quite problematic, though." Glynda warned.
"I'm sure miss Belladonna would protect her monster companion if it were in danger." Ozpin assured her.
"Of course, sir." Blake confirmed, still on the back of the couch.
"Now, for once, this is actually quite the calm and calculated creature. They will defend their territory, if they find themselves, you know, next to another monster or hunter, then yeah it's 'Fuck you, fight me!', but they won't seek it out. They don't patrol with a bloodthirst. They're not howling with pure bloodlust as they desperately trying to kill all the things, like a lot of monsters tend to do. It's quite the smart animal, it picks its battles, it chooses the conflicts. It engages when it is holding all the cards. That being said, though... They do enjoy the fighting once it begins. They thrive on it. They lose themselves in the thrill of glorious battle. If a Nargacuga could smile, it would be grinning ear to ear when forced to bring its full arsenal to bear. Yeah, Nargacuga really likes to ask master if it's okay to go all just this once." Rage explained as the fight between the Nargacuga and Palico began to pick up, the Nargacuga using the tail attacks Rage had just explained.
"Now, it's starting to sound more like Yang." Weiss said with a smirk.
Yang gasped. "Weiss, you actually delivered a burn! I'm so proud of you!" Yang said, hugging her, Neo returning the favor and giving Weiss head pats.
"Just goes to show, when the blood gets flowing, anyone can have fun in a fight." Qrow said, nodding.
"And that said, when it does lose itself, when the blood flow and the smell is too intoxicating and the enrage happens... Well, you really know about it. The blood flowing heats up and, from behind its eyes, has an almost iridescent quality. Glowing through in crimson red, a blood moon twins, peering at you from the gloom, a ghostly trail of Ruby essence. And this is when you REALLY don't want to fight it. It gets faster, more aggressive, it sinks more into its battle trance, berserker-like in nature, mind fleeting as it exerts itself beyond what should be possible to put you down." Rage explained as a pair of Kelbi were seeing walking through the forest, when a Nargacuga noticed them through the brush and leapt into the air. The Kelbi looked around fearfully, about to run, before Nargacuga leapt from the grass, eyes glowing as it took out the two Kelbi in the blink of an eye.
"No! Poor Kelbi!" Pyrrha cried out.
"Such speed. I know he's given us many examples, but that was simply astonishing." Ren stated.
"It's eyes are so cool! I want glowing red eyes!" Nora declared.
"I've got silver ones that glow when Grimm are around!" Ruby declared proudly. After Katana explained how they worked, Ruby trained her Silver Eyes and now at least could use them at will to turn the monsters into stone, but still not outright vaporize them.
"This is why, while enraged, it can fall for pitfall traps and while calm, it very much glides over them with its soft, stealthy paws. And as we all know, any monster that can work around a pitfall trap? Yeah, serious business! Nargacuga tend to very much exhaust themselves into an almost vulnerable, submissive state, after a good little bit of-" Rage explained as an exhausted Nargacuga was shown sleeping, before suddenly waking up as the Palico circled it.
However, the explanation was abruptly interrupted when a clip of a furious man in a blue leotard and strange armor was shown. "I'm gonna (bleep)-ing kill you!" He snapped.
Everyone jumped at both the man's sudden and furious appearance, along with the threat he gave. "Who is that?" Cinder asked shakily, getting a vibe he was as dangerous as Salem.
"Oh, that's Vegeta. He's Goku's rival and the prince of all Saiyans. All two of them." Katana explained.
"So, he's evil?" Weiss asked.
"He used to be, but he's gotten a lot better since then and now he's probably a better hero than Goku. And he's the father of one of my daughters." Katana admitted.
"What?!"Everyone shouted in shock.
"We were drunk, it was a one night stand." Katana explained.
"Does he know you had has child?" Ozpin asked.
"Of course... I needed the child support after all. Saiyans eat A LOT! Even half-Saiyans!" Katana defended herself.
"Nargacuga's less obvious biology, then, is equally fascinating. One of the very few larger monsters that doesn't have a thick, hard shell, it simply has scales and fur. This gives it a much lighter frame, letting it achieve that legendary speed and agility in its natural forest home. It's found in multiple forests, from the thick, tropical jungle all the way to a more normal wood that you might find towards your back yard and its even spent time in the misty peaks, along with Zinogre and Mizutsune, who it holds a healthy rivalry with. In terms of its place in the larger power, it still of course, gets decimated, by the Elder Dragons, but it could fairly comfortably take a Rathalos and it can have quite a little pop at, really, any of the other apexes that you might care to mention. It's simply very good at what it does. Brachydios-level at actually being a savant in combat. But more than that, then, the hair that is on it is incredibly bristly, thick. It hurts to touch, its scales like sandpaper, if sandpaper cut your fingers off. You don't want to carelessly touch them." Rage explained.
"Well, that might make it a little hard to pet it." Neo said.
"I likely could, but I'd lose my artificial skin, which the general doesn't approve of. So I likely wouldn't by allowed to pet it." Penny stated.
Several glares were sent towards James. "It's expensive and difficult to make. Even Pietro advised against any activity that could easily damage it." He explained.
"I'm sure there must be some safe areas to touch. And it still has to be like regular hair, smooth in one direction, rough in the other. I'm more surprised by how skilled it is. That will make it a good training partner." Blake reminded them.
"They live in tight, familial units with a few little cubs and, generally, a hunting parent and a nest-guarding one." Rage explained as an animation of a baby Nargacuga was shown. "Yeah, who's a little kill monster? Who's gonna grow up to be a little murder machine?! Yes, you are!" He talked to the cub like a baby as it called out, likely for its parent or guardian, looking incredibly sad and worried. [4]
"It's so cuuute!" All the girls squealed.
"Aww, but why does it look so sad?" Velvet asked sadly, looking to Katana in concern.
"It's mother just left to go get it some food. This is the first time she's been gone while it noticed, so it doesn't know if she's coming back." Katana explained.
"Does it?" Jaune asked in concern.
"Yes. Of course, it comes back. It always comes back... Every. Single. Time. It comes back..." Katana said, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head, as if trying to beat that truth into her own head. By this, everyone could figure out. Eventually, the mother didn't come back.
"We have to make a rule, here and now, that if these creatures are brought to Remnant and must be hunted, they are to be captured, studied, released and relocated. Never killed." Ozpin declared.
"Unless they appear in a city where countless lives are at stake." Ironwood added. He, too, didn't want to kill any of these amazing creatures, but surely there would be scenarios when human and Faunus safety would have to come before the monster's.
"But hang on, I thought Rage just said there's TWO parents looking over multiple cubs." Qrow said.
"I'm sure not every single Nargacuga pair is the same. With their high intelligence, surely there must be some exceptions." Winter noted.
"And their hearing then, is phenomenal. You know how a shark, a Great White, one drop of blood from a mile away and it will like 'Ooh!', Nargacuga is the same, but with audio. Throughout the entire forest, it will home in and pinpoint the sound of something making its way clumsily through the thick vine, snapping them and it's like 'That sounds like its large enough for a good bit of supper. Honey, I'll be right back!'" Rage once again spoke on a monster's behalf, before its roar was heard, indicating it went to attack and kill whatever it heard in the forest. "It's a very useful adaptation! It's also a great roar to imagine coming out of other creatures." He added, a Bearded Dragon being shown, before it opened its mouth, Nargacuga's roar coming out of it.
A few people laughed from the roar coming from a small lizard, while others... "Is he going to do that for every monster?" Coco asked, annoyed.
"No. Just the ones he likes the most. And I think this is the last time he makes their roar come out of another animal." Katana explained.
"Aww, come on! Those were funny! It had most of us in an... UPROAR!" Yang declared.
"Able to call any given forests and a few other select locales its kingdom, it is a perfect predator. 20 meters of silent, deadly living weaponry." Rage finished the description of the normal Nargacuga, before game show-esque music could be heard. "And it comes in various flavors!" He declared excitedly.
"There's no way they can be any better. I don't believe it." Blake said.
"I'm pretty sure we thought that before and were proven wrong." Jaune said.
"Yeah. Like Berserk Tetsucabra! Explosion rocks!" Ruby cheered.
"So, there is a subspecies that, well... you might be there thinking 'whoa, whoa, whoa! How can this majestic creature get any better?!' How can it?! It seems perfect!' And I know, it's lovely isn't it?! I love it so much." He gushed over the panther-dragon.
Everyone chuckled as Blake blushed in embarrassment.
"Well! Prepare yourself, because... A select group of Nargacuga's are..." Rage built up hype for the subspecies, even adding a drum roll as everything went black for a moment. "They're green, they turn green. There's some green ones. They blend more into the forest and they're a bit more skilled. They can do like, an extra jump or two... And like a combo of tail slams. They get a red tip. Mostly, they're green." Rage said, disappointment clear in his voice.
"Okay, yeah. That's lame." Yang said.
"It may help it blend into the forest better, but... it just looks like those colors don't belong on that creature." Ren stated.
"Lizards often have quite extreme variations in their pigment, resulting in a broad number of different colors, often not properly matching with the area they live in. Nargacuga is still a dragon-like monster, so it could theoretically still be a reptile." Penny explained.
"But! There are just two flavors left! That's the subspecies, but let's talk rare species. And, in case you're wondering, a rare species is still TECHNICALLY a subspecies, but if 500 out of 2000 Nargacuga's are green, well then ONE out of 2000 are... LUCENT..." Rage explained rare species, then told of Nargacuga's rare species in a mystifying tone. Some misty ruins were then shown, an impressive area, to be certain, but no Nargacuga could be seen there. "Look at it! Lucent Nargacuga! What a pretty animal. Oh, I absolutely adore it! The slight purple hue shimmering along its thickened blade wings. Even while not enraged, the spikes permanently protruding out of its tail, ready to inflict maximum damage!" He declared, but all the while there was still no sign of ANY creature, let alone a Nargacuga, anywhere in the area.
"Is he trolling us?" Neo asked.
"It definitely feels like he's trolling us." Coco agreed with the smaller girl.
"I think he's building up to it." Velvet guessed.
"Oh, yeah! Lucent Nargacuga is invisible." Rage finally remembered the issue as a lighter Nargacuga suddenly appeared from thin air, to which he burst out laughing. "I bet you didn't SEE that coming!" He declared, to which he began laughing even harder.
"Oh, great. Not only did he trick us, but he added a pun." Weiss groaned.
"It can turn invisible?! That's unreal! If we could apply such tech to our androids, or even ourselves..." Ironwood said, running the idea in his mind.
"James, you're jumping to conclusions as always." Glynda warned him.
"Still, it'd be like we'd have Ren's semblance! For as long as we wanted!" Jaune said.
"It likely has to show itself at some point. I highly doubt the ability to turn completely invisible is incredibly easy to use. It must be taxing on the creature at minimum." Ozpin theorized.
"But, yeah. Legitimately, it can turn invisible and is that not just right cracking?! So, this one as a rare species would imply, is BLOODY RARE. Less than ten have been found [5], almost a myth appearing on dark, foggy nights in secluded locations, they are a treat to encounter. Research is desperate to get hold of one, the guild keen to understand it. Much larger than their green and normal brethren, cresting 25 meters. It is, well, the epitome of stealth. The only thing you know before you are eviscerated is the glow of its eyes will still remain, drifting ghostly in the air, a slight warning that something is not quite right." Rage explained as the Nargacuga fought like a regular one, but then turned invisible, only the light purple trail of its eyes being seen as it slashed on of the hunters facing it.
"That rare?!" Blake asked, shocked.
"It's movements are so majestic. And the trail its eyes leave in the glow is simply mystifying." Winter said in amazement.
"But how does it turn invisible?!" Ruby cried out.
"So, you might be wondering, 'How does it do this'?! Well, the dapples on its skin, the little spots of color are essentially mirror-like in quality, they reflect the light around it, giving it sort of a Predator-like cloak. That's the guild's explanation, but it personally doesn't sit right with me. Likely, it's more akin to a cuttlefish, controlling the pigment in its skin to match the background, but in an extreme, beefed up way. Outside of that, it's essentially just a normal Nargacuga, but on steroids. It is able to even produce a toxin within them that can kill a human in MOMENTS. It would also put down a Rathalos in not much more time, either. A Lucent Nargacuga is only challenged by Elder Dragons and even then, it will give them a proper good run for its money. Even they cannot fight what they cannot see." Rage explained as the Lucent Nargacuga continued to turn invisible and outnumbered the hunters that, at this point, were simply trying to figure out what was going on.
"That is so cool!" Yang said in amazement.
"Damn. Of all the things I've been jealous of in my life, I never thought a dragon-cat would be one of them." Cinder cursed.
"Jeez, at that point, the poison just feels like overkill." Qrow stated.
"Wow, rare species are awesome if they can take on Elder Dragons." Jaune said, amazed.
"Indeed. But if that's true, imagine how much stronger the next form is." Pyrrha said, everyone shocked at the sudden realization.
"The thing is these guys ARE very aggressive, they VERY MUCH don't want anyone near them, they want to live solitary lives. Which is why it's such a MOMENTOUS occasion when a breeding pair is found, mainly because nobody knows how they fucking found each other! But what we DO know is personality is everything in Lucent Nargacuga dating circles." Rage warned of the negative personalities of the Lucent Nargacuga as the fight continued, neither side seeming to gain any ground.
"That's nice that even monsters like them still care about personality." Blake said with a smile.
"Makes sense. No one wants to be stuck with a jerk for the rest of their lives." Ruby said.
"And even worse if you're basically forced to." Weiss said sadly as Winter pulled her into a hug, both of them thinking about their mother and how, while they've gotten away from him, she's basically stuck with him for the rest of her life.
One more Nargacuga was then shown, this one with light grey patches of hair over most of its body. "Finally then, we have the Deviant, unique and changed in some way that is not normal for a Nargacuga. This, then is the Silverwind and, essentially, it looks like a Nargacuga that looks like it's getting a bit old, getting a bit on in years. It's got silver-y grey hair, lighter grey fur everywhere else, it's not too special, visually. But, again aside from being a Nargacuga on steroid, even by Lucent Nargacuga steroids, the power creep is kind of real. TL;DR..." Rage elaborated, before a song explained it was harder, better, faster and stronger while it swung its tail and seemed to send out spinning blades of wind that soared toward the hunter, who struggled to dodge, before it was made to look like Nargacuga was bopping its head to the music again.
"Indeed, many things are refined with age. combat being one of them." Ozpin said with a nod.
"True, but you also gradually weaken with age, so for this creature to be even stronger than a Lucent Nargacuga..." Ironwood started.
"I can't even begin to imagine how strong it must have been in its youth. It must have been unstoppable amongst its peers." Winter said.
"But, what it does have going for it is an incredibly unique skill that is oh, so much fun to fight against. You know in anime when somebody swings a sword with such force the air it generates is like a wind blade, it eviscerates through a building, Zoro style." Rage described as the image of a green-haired samurai with one eye scarred and closed, holding three swords was shown briefly as the hunter continued to dodge the Nargacuga.
"Whoa... That guy looks cool!" Ruby declared.
"Three swords? How could he possibly wield them all at once?" Pyrrha asked.
"Ooh! Maybe one in each hand and one in his mouth!" Nora suggested.
"Miss Valkyrie, that's impossible and incredibly foolish." Glynda dismissed.
"Nope, she's actually right on the money." Katana told her.
"Swinging hard enough to send cutting wind blades. I wanna do that." Jaune said.
"I CAN do that. Maybe I'll teach you a bit and eventually you can do it yourself, kid." Qrow offered, leaving Jaune in awe.
"It has that going on for it. Every tail swing sends a razor sharp blade of air that cuts deep into flesh, causing grievous bleeding. All Nargacuga fights are an elegant dance of death as you both expertly dodge each other's blows until one of you makes that first mistake, but none more so than Silverwind. You have to deal with some serious combos, its aerial shenanigans is incredible and then on top of that, blades are flying at you. You can cut off its tail to lower the effect of them, but even still, they remain. The most potent of its species ever to be found, it is one heart-pounding fight." Rage finished the story on the deviant and with that, the monster as a whole.
"Oh, wow. Nargacuga is so cool!" Ruby said excitedly.
"Indeed. And it does match Blake in several ways. It certainly seems like it would be the perfect partner for her." Weiss admitted.
"Yeah, but all of them seem like an amazing choice. Which one do you think you'd choose, Blake?" Yang asked.
"I think I'd go with the normal version. Nothing wrong with any of the others... except maybe Green Nargacuga, but the normal one, I think just fits me best. Plus, Lucent would probably be too aggressive and Silverwind might be a little too old to bring into battle against giant hordes of Grimm. I don't feel like we'd have many years together." Blake explained.
"That does seem to make the most sense." Ren agreed.
"Well, it's your decision, Blake. Whatever you think is best." Pyrrha assured her.
"Alright! Now we've been hearing about this Tigrex thing over and over, I think it's finally time what we see it's all about! Let's watch that one next!" Nora demanded.
"Some of us are still waiting to see our monsters, you know!" Coco snapped at her.
"We'll get to 'em eventually! I'm just tired of hearing about Tigrex and Deviljho and not knowing what their deal is!" Nora declared.
"Is she always a brat like this? She's putting Neo to shame." Cinder said.
"Hey!" Neo complained, pouting.
"It will be easier for all of us if we just let her have it her way." Jaune told them.
"Very well. But Miss Valkyrie, don't think throwing a tantrum will always get you what you want!" Glynda warned her.
"Okay, here we go. Oh, by the way, here. You might need these." Katana told them, a pair of ear plugs appearing in each of their hand, before she started the next video.
A/N: As always, I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you liked most in the reviews!
[1] I know it's been a while now, but it was still so sudden how we lost Chadwick Boseman. May he rest in peace.
[2] Yes, this is a real thing. There was an actual difference between the two images Rage showed in the video. They were NOT, in fact, both maces.
[3] It's about time the woman got to shoot an attack off in one of these scenes!
[4] That animation is why I will NEVER kill a Nargacuga in Monster Hunter. I legitimately cried after watching it.
[5] I had to change this because it didn't make much sense. Rage says one has been found, then says it's an incredible occasion when a breeding pair is found, which implies, or basically says a breeding pair, or simply even more than one, has been found. Heck, even the information he brings up later could likely never be found from just one Lucent Nargacuga, especially if we're to assume it was killed rather than captured.