An absolutely MASSIVE, rust-colored, quadrupedal dragon was seen slowly lumbering through a misty mountain pass. "Hello? Is this the way through the mountain? Because I REALLY need to get through!" The dragon "spoke", rearing up to its hind legs to show off its true size. He then apparently received an answer. "It's not? Awww... FUCK!" The dragon snapped, starting to lower back to all fours. "Okay..." The dragon grumbled in defeat, before backing out the way he came from, beeping like a semi truck.
The group was quickly awestruck by the sheer size of the beast. "Whoa, mama! That this is massive!" Qrow declared.
"It could probably look into Ozpin's office if it was standing on its hand legs!" Summer agreed.
"I don't even think Akantor and Ukanlos were that big! A Leviathan couldn't even stop something like that!" Cinder said in shock
"You mean the Grimm, right? Not the big swimming monsters like Lagiacrus and Mizutsune?" Emerald asked, to which her team leader nodded.
"It's... It's... IT'S SO SLOW!" Nora cried out, causing everyone to face-vault.
"Way to ruin the moment, Sparky." Coco grumbled.
"What! Look at it! That footage looks sped up and it still looks like it's going one mile an hour!" Nora told them all.
"Perhaps, Nora, but what it lacks in speed, I'm going to guess it more than makes up for it with power." Ren told her.
Then, a lot of them laughed at the backing up beeping. "It's beeping like a semi truck! It's definitely as big as one!" Jaune laughed.
"Okay, that makes this thing a lot less scary." Ilia giggled.
"Still, knowing Rage and how he sets up these monsters, that won't last long." Adam predicted.
Aylia was then seen walking on some elevated pathway with some kind of train tracks, looking ahead into the mist as the massive beast appeared. "Ancient Lao Shan Lung. Old Mountain Dragon. He is a sight to behold. Also, a lot of sight is required to behold the full him, because he's FUCKING MASSIVE." Rage explained as the monster lumbered down the path as Aylia watched on, slowly moving alongside on the ledge so as to not alert the beast. "A giant dragon. Few have seen it and lived to tell the tail. When on a rampage, it wreaks havoc on all in its path. The guild has built a fortress to repel the beast. But... Will it hold?" Rage questioned ominously.
"'Lao Shan Lung'... I like that. It has a nice ring to it." Ruby said appreciatively.
"Yeah, kinda rolls off the tongue." Neo agreed.
"Not bad. Doesn't sound as catchy as 'Yang Xiao Long', but close enough." Yang said while giving a cocky grin while everyone just rolled their eyes.
"Having to construct an entire fortress to repel a single monster? Just how powerful could this creature be?" Pyrrha asked in shock.
"And from the sound of things, that doesn't even sound like enough." Blake added worriedly.
However, this ominous tone was soon ruined when he spoke again. "Yes. Yes, it will hold. Any remotely competent group of four hunters is probably gonna repel him as he slowly ignores nearly everything you do in his effort to plow forward, because..." Rage continued as the creature reared to its hind legs and Aylia finally jumped down in front of it to prepare to take it on.
Then, a clip showed a man in a car, Lao Shan Lung's head superimposed over his own. "I'm not an ambi-turner." The man explained.
This threw everyone for a loop. "Uh... Was anyone else able to make any kind of sense from that? Because I definitely couldn't." Roman said.
"What on Remnant is an ambi-turner? I am positive that is not a real word." Weiss criticized.
"I believe the person meant it to be similar to ambidextrous, meaning you can use both hands, like Winter can with her dual swords. In that case, not being an 'ambi-turner' would mean the person has trouble turning in one direction over another. That seems rather ridiculous, however." Penny said.
"It's probably from a stupid comedy movie." Hazel grumbled. He didn't mind comedy movies, but just being stupid to try and be funny greatly annoyed him. It was basically the equivalent of Tyrian's insanity.
"That's nice that he ignores the hunters, though. He must be really calm." Velvet said in relief.
"He likely ignores them if they're in his way, as well. So they'd get stepped on and crushed." Ironwood pointed out in concern, causing Velvet to shrink fearfully.
"James!" The Beacon teachers scolded. He wasn't wrong or trying to upset the students, of course, but he should also know how to handle nervous teenagers as well.
Aylia rushed towards the monster as it lumbered forward with even smaller steps on its hind legs. "Though, to give it its due diligence, should your skills be called upon to handle this beast, there is a certain gravitas. For anyone whose never faced him before, he's unlike anything you could possibly prepare for. He was one of the very first monsters discovered, so as such, when he first appeared, we knew nothing about him. So for him to show up at the fortress' doorstep one day and the Guild pushes four random hunters out there and say 'deal with that', with no prior knowledge of this thing before... His scope was beyond anything we could have expected." Rage explained as Aylia attacked the creature's groin and stomach area, before being knocked away as the creature fell back onto all fours, the air pressure forcing her out from below it and slamming her into the wall of the ledge she jumped from.
Many were shocked at this. "Unbelievable! They are sending unprepared hunters to die! Sending random hunters after a creature they'd never seen or experienced before is beyond negligent!" Glynda snapped in disgust.
"Precisely. And one would think that a fortress such as this would have its own fully-armed and capable staff to defend the fortress rather than relying on hunters from nowhere. Much like, while we have them on call if they're needed, our standard military is more than capable of defending most major sites." Winter explained.
"Perhaps so, but Elder Dragons defy the very nature itself. And much like you just said, while certainly standard military or armed staff could handle things under most circumstances, Elder Dragons are unique circumstances that would sure require the extra aid of a hunter. I have the same issues as you both, but it's also important to understand when there are simply no other options left." Ozpin explained.
Aylia then climbed up a ladder and started loading up some kind of large cannon on train tracks. "And once or twice, some REALLY unlucky sod is pushed out on their own to deal with it. They must have been thinking: 'I don't know how I'm gonna do enough damage in time'. It's not the... Well- 'watching a painting of grass growing drying' affair it is with a well-coordinated team. So, you know, I can't just look at it through my 'now' lenses. Back when I was a young hunter, in my first few years as a hunter and I faced Lao Shan for the first time, I was just lost. I don't mind admitting that I failed a few times. Lucky some other hunters were called in to pick up the slack. But that was a long time ago before I became AMAZING!" Rage said in relief as Aylia fired at the monster from the cannon.
"Wow. And I thought Roman was full of himself." Emerald said with a smirk, glancing at the crime lord.
"Hey, if you can back it up, I say you deserve to boast as much as you want." Roman defended himself.
"Yes, because getting beaten up by a bunch of teenage girls is definitely backing it up." Cinder taunted as well.
"Are you all just ignoring the fact he just said they sometimes send ONE hunter to fight that thing!?" Ilia questioned.
"That's just asking for that fortress to get destroyed." Blake sighed with a facepalm.
Aylia the creature was on its hind legs once again and Aylia was attacking its feet. "But regardless of the fact that modern Lao Shan Lung farming essentially equates to..." Rage began.
Then it cut to a clip of a cartoon with sentient fish. A shark man turned and glared at someone off-screen. "How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man!?" He demanded.
It was then shown he was yelling at some old fish man with Lao Shan Lung's head superimposed over his. "I love the young people." The man said cheerily.
"Hey! Leave the old guy alone!" Velvet yelled at them.
"Velvet, chill. It's a cartoon. And even if it wasn't, he's talking about a giant dragon that will go stomping through villages in this case." Coco reminded her girlfriend.
"Oh... right." Velvet admitted, blushing.
"Not to mention, it sounds like they have no problem driving this thing off. It's sounding pretty lame for an Elder Dragon." Nora said in a bored tone.
Aylia was then seen fleeing from the creature. "But the creature itself... Well, is truly fascinating and... Kinda terrifying. I mean, just from the size standpoint, it's 70 meters long and can walk through a mountain like it's not there. In fact, essentially, that's what's happening, that's why Lao Shan goes, or at least attempts to go through the fortress. The common theory is whenever one shows up, they are being chased by a Fatalis," Rage explained as the creature in question appeared on screen. "The strongest, the most powerful... the GOD of monsters, a black dragon and the first amongst them." He hyped up the mighty beast as Aylia fired at Lao Shan Lung from a ballista.
Everyone had seen a few brief passing images or clips of Fatalis, but seeing it in full for the first time, alongside the description Rage had just given, as well as Katana's claim that the dragon could bully Salem, left them all shocked and intimidated. "To make something like Lao Shan Lung run away, that's 70 meters long... Fatalis must be the very definition of a monster." Adam said in shock.
"Rage did say it was a god. If they are as truly dangerous as he and Katana have said, Lao Shan's fear of it is well justified." Ozpin said in understanding.
"I trust you have no plans to bring those to Remnant?" Ironwood asked.
"Oh, no. Don't worry. You guys have enough to deal with without those things running around." Katana assured them.
Lao Shan Lung then roared and caused boulders to fall from the cliff above Aylia. "But, at the same time, Lao Shan Lung's... are not the smartest cookie, because... You know when you play an RPG and you wanna get from one location to another, but there's a mountain in the middle, so instead of like, finding a way around, you just spam jump up the mountain, trying to get yourself stuck in weird geometry until you can just power through? That's how a Lao Shan Lung do." Rage explained as the beast dropped back down to all fours.
Yang, Ruby and Jaune chuckled a bit, knowing full well what Rage meant. "Oh, yeah. I've tried just trying to climb over mountains in games before." The blonde knight admitted.
"I can't count how many times I died trying to do that. But that just makes it all the more epic when you actually clear it!" Yang agreed.
"Or, you could just go around it like you're supposed to. I GUARANTEE I'd save more time going around the mountain than you do jumping over, dying, reloading and eventually getting over." Neo said with a roll of her eyes. After all, her whole style is about avoiding the hard stuff and finding the easiest route around her problem to her goal.
"Why do they even put stupid mountains in games, anyway?" Ruby demanded with a pout. Unlike her sister, she had never been successful in clearing a mountain by jumping.
Weiss rolled her eyes at her partner's antics. "Because there are mountains in real life and many of the games you play are based on real world locations. You're going to have to go around mountains sometimes as a huntress, Ruby. No use in whining about it." She scolded her leader.
The beast slammed into the cliff wall once more to rain down more boulders, making close combat unsafe, so Aylia ran back to the cannon. "He doesn't believe in alternate pathways. He will try very much to just go through: settlements, fortresses, the very Earth. He doesn't care for the tiny beings whittling away at him, or the tiny beings screaming as they are passively crushed by either his weight and clawed, apocalyptic, rending claws, or the earthquakes he sends trembling out with every step, rubbling buildings and disintegrating structures as everyone flees and is silenced. He doesn't care! But, you know, the fact remains that, passively, he causes A LOT of damage. Hell, he is known as the first and true walking natural disaster. And its quite a shame he's got that title, because he's quite a swell guy, one of the calmest and well-tempered monsters of them all." Rage admitted as Aylia fired the cannon at the behemoth once again.
"But why can't it simply find an alternate path? Surely there has to be one that would be easier than going through a massive fortress and being attacked all along the way." Pyrrha said in concern.
"Perhaps any alternate paths would take too long. Rage did mention it's being chased by Fatalis. Also that it isn't the smartest monster, so it may not even consider alternate paths." Ren theorized.
"Well, despite the fact it won't care if it tramples a village, it is nice to know it doesn't actively seek out conflict. And I find it fascinating that it is the first monster to be known as a walking natural disaster." Penny added.
"Impressive title, indeed. And it definitely looks like it's earned it, if just it's roars break boulders off mountains." Hazel agreed.
The cannons, however, didn't even faze him. "Now, he likes to live in volcanic or mountainous areas and his hide is grown as, passively, minerals affix to him and thicken his already mighty plates that can repel all but Dragonator level attacks." Rage informed the viewers.
Suddenly, Lao Shan Lung was seen in front of the final wall of the fortress, before four massive, drilling spiked shot out from the castle wall and stabbed deeply into the beast, but not enough to kill it. Definitely enough to hurt, though. "OW! OOHHHHHH! NOT COOL!" The massive beast groaned in pain.
While many cringed and felt sympathy for the massive beast being jabbed and nearly impaled by the four massive spikes, they couldn't argue they were interested in the weapon itself. "Whoa! Did you guys see that!? That was so awesome! Those giant spear things just shot out of those big holes!" Ruby cried out.
Several more immature audience members snickered at this. "Phrasing, little red." Roman said, to which Cinder smacked him in the chest.
"But you're right, sweetie! They shot out so quick and they seem to act like drills, which probably tears away skin and flesh and does even more damage! That was really super cool!" Summer said, bouncing excitedly like her daughter was.
"Simple design, but it's clearly incredibly effective. What are those?" Ironwood asked.
"Those are Dragonators, one of the most powerful weapons used against monsters in our world. It uses pressurized steam to launch the weapon. The steam is provided by a coal-fed fire. The weapon itself consists of massive rod-like objects which are propelled by the steam at high velocities at the target area. The weapon can be as simple as iron spears, or as complex as spiky, spinning drills. There can be multiple rods launched from each Dragonator." Katana explained. [1]
"AWESOME!" Ruby, Summer and even Penny and Winter, all screamed.
The creature was then seen continuing down the path as Aylia watched on. "Now, this is a slow process, mostly coming from fine particles in the air settling and fusing with his mighty carapace. And this is what leads the Guild to believe that Lao Shan Lung, or at least the ones usually seen attempting to pass through the fortress, are thousands of years old. It's known as the Old Mountain Dragon for a reason. Now, there is... Let's say a popular theory that these Lao Shang Lungs are still juveniles and it's one that I think definitely has merit and it's one that I think would be fun to feel is true, because if that's the baby, what's the big one!? But, more likely, more accurately, there is more evidence to suggest that he is fully grown and then some." Rage continued as Aylia attacked for several moments, before breaking away and climbing back up the stone wall.
Many of them, particularly the adults, sighed in relief at the fact it was a rumor. "Thank goodness. A juvenile being that size is simply unfathomable." Winter sighed in relief.
"And, besides that, imagine how much larger an adult would be and how much more destruction they'd be capable of." Glynda added.
"They'd probably be able to step right over the fortress." Qrow said, unnerved by the thought.
The huntress then hurried to where the cannon was and hit the button to wheel it down the path towards the dragon. "Wise beyond years, they are long lived until... Well, nobody really knows, but hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of years are a fair guess to be made. In fact, we have no idea what actually goes down with the juveniles: where are they born, where are they protected, where are they grown? there is a lot of mystery surrounding this enigmatic behemoth. But what we do know is that it's horn is absolutely... horn-like." Rage said, getting a bit uncertain towards the end. "I forgot what I was gonna say! But yeah, guys, his horn? It is horn-like." Rage assured the viewers as Aylia hit a switch for the giant cannon.
"Whoa. So one of these could be as old as Professor Ozpin and Salem?" Jaune asked.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha scolded her boyfriend.
Jaune realized what he said and became nervous, frantically waving his arms. "I-I'm sorry, Professor Ozpin! I-I didn't mean it like that. You're still young in THIS form. I-I just meant that, in total, with all your reincarnations, you've been around for a while and-!" Jaune rambled.
Ozpin chuckled, but held a hand up. "It's quite alright, Mr. Arc. I understand what you meant and I'm fine with the occasional joke or jab. I DO work with Qrow after all." The headmaster said.
"Hey!" The former drunk said in mock offense. Then, they all facepalmed at Rage messing up when describing the horn, but didn't have much else to say about it.
The cannon then lowered and began to charge up power for a shot. "It can pierce even the thickest hides and is a symbol of status for a Lao Shan Lung, it growing over the course of his years. They rise to prominence with this beautiful ornament, declaring proudly the power and majesty of this dragon." Rage declared as the cannon shot out a massive fireball the landed in a large white circle Lao Shan Lung was stood in, creating a massive explosion, accompanied by an enormous pillar of fire.
Ruby and Summer were practically drooling at the sight of the mighty weapon. "So... Cool..." They said longingly.
Even Ironwood and Winter struggled to hide their amazement from the weapon. "Such power. Surely even Megaliaths would be vaporized by that. Possibly even Wyverns." Winter said in amazement.
"How could it contain ammo like that? That looked like it was simply a giant fireball." Ironwood said in awe.
"That would be the Demolisher. It's loaded with a Dense Marcoal and that wasn't a fireball... It was a concentrated blast of pure Dragon Energy." Tekko said with a smirk.
"Penny?" Ironwood said, looking to her.
"I have already created a rough schematic for my father and other scientists to observe upon our return to Atlas, sir." Penny acknowledged.
Aylia then jumped down from the stone wall and rushed to face the beast. "Now, quite possibly the most fascinating aspect of Lao Shan Lung is not he himself, but his involvement in a legendary story. A tragedy. The incident of the five." Rage informed the viewers as Aylia attacked the creature's face.
"A legend? And a tragedy?" Emerald questioned, a bit nervous.
"It must have done something that shocked the entire world. In that case, we may have underestimated if after hearing that modern hunters treat it like a joke." Cinder noted.
"Well, hopefully the story isn't as slow as the monster is." Roman said.
Neo elbowed him in the side at this. "Learn some tact, dum-dum." She scolded.
"A hunting party was sent after Lao Shan Lung. From Kokoto village, five Wyverians answered the call of Lao Shan Lung, including the village chief and his fiancée. The battle that raged was fierce, Lao Shang uncharacteristically fighting back. It was brutal, it was bloody and one of those hunters did not make it back... the chief's fiancée. The other four retired after the hunt and this story spread throughout the land. Even with the successful defeat of Lao Shan Lung, the loss was felt across many hearts. And those of superstition, hunters everywhere... they took it as a sign: it became known as bad luck to hunt with five or more hunters. So many ended in tragic ends for friends and family to many. In order to stop this, the Guild added a rule: a sacred law that only four hunters at most could ever hunt together. There are a few exceptions: for emergencies, for monsters that can bring such wrath to bear that humanity is threated. But for the most part, if you step out with five, ruin will fall upon you." Rage told the grand tale in his echoing, mystic voice as Aylia retreated.
Many were saddened at the sacrifice this group made. "I feel bad for those Wyverians. Especially the chief and his poor fiancée. She died before she could get married and have the happiest moment of her life and the chief lost the love of his life." Ruby sniffled a bit.
"They risked their lives and one of them gave their life protecting the innocent. They should be respected now and forever as heroes." Pyrrha said.
"Yeah. They did more than anyone could ever ask of them. They were the best." Jaune agreed.
"Still, after one accident for five to be a bad omen? That's a bit much, don't you think?" Summer asked.
"Superstition's a powerful thing, Sum. That's how I got my name, remember? If people think it's gonna keep them safe, they're gonna do it." Qrow told her.
"Still, even our Huntsman Academies have always been in groups of four. I wonder if something like that happened in our world?" Ironwood questioned.
"That was simply the choice made by the King of Vale." Glynda said.
"That was me. I was influenced by that Mistralian Fairy Tale of the Hunter's Children." Ozpin explained. [2]
Aylia then ran and climbed back up the stone wall and rode the cannon until it was in front of Lao Shan Lung. "So really, it's right unlucky what happened to those sods, because Lao Shan Lung spends most of its time asleep deep beknow- beknow? BEKNOW..." Rage mispronounced his intended word, then laughed at the mistake. "Deep below mountain ranges, where occasionally it will wake and gorge itself upon mineral-rich rock that it will extract what it can from and use it to fuel its body. If it was a simple meat eater, the volume it would need to consume is... well, unsustainable. This also lends credence to the 'fleeing Fatalis' theory, because to see a Lao Shan Lung so set on getting somewhere, SO rattled, so... Well, active and moved, something has to have caused it." Rage explained as Aylia used the heavy artillery on the beast.
They were relieved when they found out it wasn't a meat eater. "Thank goodness it its rocks and minerals. Without fortresses in the mountains like what they have here, we wouldn't be able to stop them from invading our cities and eating countless citizens." Glynda said thankfully.
"Man, it's at times like this where I REALLY wish the Grimm weren't just made of smoke and could be eaten." Yang said.
"That would probably end hunger as we know it on Remnant, honestly." Ilia pointed out.
Aylia then moved back to the switch for the Demolisher. "He can also stand on his hind legs, his mighty tail acting as anchor, rearing up to full height and..." Rage began.
Suddenly, the beast was then shown on its hind legs, letting out a massive roar. Suddenly, it then cut to a clip of an Asian man running up and pointing. "Ruuun! It's Godzilla!" He screamed.
Suddenly, another Asian man ran up beside him, pointing as well, but he was far more calm. "It LOOKS like Gojira, but due to International Copyright Laws, it's not!" He corrected.
The first man was still horrified at this. "Still, we should run like it IS Godzilla!" He screamed again.
The second man then leaned in a bit. "Though, it isn't." He assured everyone, before they both ran off screaming as the dragon was shown again for a moment.
Everyone got a good laugh out of that. "Oh, man. If we ever wind up in Argus and see a Leviathan, I'm TOTALLY doing that!" Nora declared.
"Fortunately, we have giant mechs that can take out Leviathans before they reach Argus. But after seeing it take those Dragonators like nothing, I'm not even sure they could handle such a beast." Winter noted.
"Well, keep in mind those Dragonators were off to the side, not dead center. So while they did a lot of damage, I'm sure that giant drill arm of Cordovin's robot could... probably do the job." Tekko said.
"Assuming it doesn't bulldoze it with a shoulder slam or something." Razara added.
It then showed the beast back on the targeting circle for the Destroyer. "And it will let loose roars SO forceful, very cliffs will break apart, shatter and come crumbling to Earth as deadly missiles. It really is just such an awe-inspiring, naturally powerful creature. It doesn't go out of its way for any malice, nor does it go out of its way for any good. It simply exists, but its existence can be devastation for those around it." Rage explained as Aylia fought the beast as it moved to the next area of the fortress, but as it went on its way, it repeatedly smacked her back and forth with its tail swinging from side to side as it walked on.
"Oh, great. Another monster that Faunus can't be within a mile of." Blake said.
"I don't think ANYONE should be within a mile of that thing." Velvet added.
"It's hard to believe that just by existing that monsters can be so dangerous to everything around them. And there' at least three like that." Weiss said in disbelief.
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about Gore and Shagaru." Jaune said, shuddering at the memory of the two creatures that actually deserved to be called monsters.
Then, Aylia was shown preparing to face the beast in the final area. "And it is quite sad that we have to put him down or at least repel him on his way. A simple misunderstanding, you could say causing such conflict, but that sometimes is what the hunters must do. The monsters don't often deserve their deaths, they're often in the wrong place at the wrong time, acting out, doing what comes natural, surviving any means that they can. It just so happens that humans are more than willing to do the same. And it's quite a sadly poetically beautiful part of hunting monsters to me, that this conflict is not good versus evil, it really is just the essence of surviving in such a cruel, harsh and frightening world where your average creature can RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF as soon as look at you! Okay?!" Rage gave a surprising gem of wisdom as Aylia awaited on a bridge above, waiting to jump down on the beast.
A lot of them were feeling sorry for the dragon. "Poor creature. It's not fair. It's not aggressive or acting out of malice, it simply wants to escape its predator, but it can't because a poorly placed settlement just happens to be in the way." Pyrrha said sadly.
"Still, with such a massive bulk and sheer size, every step it takes is a disaster. That's not something an environment can handle. Like he said, it's not simply it passively crushing people in its way, but each step is a miniature earthquake and roars break apart mountains. That would surely destabilize the land and destroy any hospitable terrain for both humans and animals to live." Winter added.
"It's a sad thing, students, but sometimes it happens. Like predators preying upon herbivores or Kulu eating eggs, survival in nature is survival of the fittest, those who can't adapt are doomed to disappear. Nature isn't good vs evil. It is simply survival. And for certain things to survive, others must perish." Ozpin told them remorsefully.
And once in place, Aylia did drop down onto the middle of the creatures back and placed down a couple of barrel bombs nearly the size of herself. "So that's the Lao Shan Lung. There's really not a lot to say: it's part of a legend, it is legendary, but in how it works, it's not too crazy, it doesn't have a lot going for it, it just throws its weight around." Rage explained as Aylia leapt down just as the bombs went off, causing the beast to fall to its side.
"In my experience, that works quite well." Hazel admitted.
"Yeah! Sometimes all your need is to be straight forward and rush in, guns blazing. Works for me every time." Yang declared proudly.
"Really? Every time?" Neo asked with an eyebrow raised. "Because I seem to recall I kicked your butt on the train when you tried to use brute force on me." She teased.
Summer sighed at this. "Tai didn't teach you any tricks on dodging or blocking, did he?" She asked.
"He taught me enough. I'm still one of the toughest students in Beacon!" Yang defended.
"true, but you will have to learn, Miss Xiao Long, that one method will not always be enough to rely on. You will have to diversify your fighting style in the future. While your style has worked for you so far, Miss Politan has made it clear that it isn't, in fact, enough." Glynda told her harshly.
"But it works for Lao Shan Lung and I doubt anyone can tell him otherwise." Penny stated.
A darker grey Lao Shan Lung was then shown stomping down the path. "There is, however, a subspecies: the Ashen Lao Shan Lung. And this one is simply a denizen of volcanic regions where ash in the air, as well as the minerals have fused to his exterior and given him a much darker, deadlier look. They are a little bit larger, they are a little bit more powerful, but by in large, they are still the same Lao Shan Lung you know... AND HOPEFULLY LOVE." Rage explained, although with a bit of a darker tone as it was shown roaring on its hind legs. "Thought it does to roam a bit more, spending a lot less time in hibernation, it likes to get around and see the world, which makes them a lot more of a problem for, well... humans in any of its paths, but you know, what are you gonna do? It's just a GIANT MOUNTAIN DRAGON! You know, it's not his fault if he happens to roll over you!" Rage laughed awkwardly at the end as if it was no big deal as the creature got back on all fours and continued its march of destruction.
"Hm... Not bad. I like the darker colors. Makes him look like he means serious business, which he definitely does." Coco gave her seal of approval.
"While it fell flat for a lot of monsters we've seen, for once a simple color change is quite effective. It really makes you feel the danger you're in." Cinder agreed.
"But you know, it feels like a weird choice to put a village in a big mountain pass. Like, surely they must have known that there could be giant monsters that could use these paths and would stomp through any village in its way. Isn't that why they built the fortress in the first place?" Summer asked.
"Yeah. You'd think it would be way easier to just tear down and move the village, rather than build a giant fortress that always needs constant protection from creatures such as Lao Shan Lung and Shen Gao Ren." Weiss agreed with her leader's mother.
"Aylia's partner said something very similar." Katana said.
"You mean Cotton?" Neo asked.
"Yep." Tekko confirmed, changing the video.
Aylia and Cotton were in the mountain pass, the pink-haired hunter oblivious of Lao Shan Lung emerging from the fog. "I need you to be ready." Aylia told him.
The huntress was dumbfounded by this. "Look fucking behind you!" She yelled.
Cotton slowly turned around with the sound of a drawbridge being brought down, before the cartoonish lightbulb of realization was heard. "Oh." The noob hunter said simply, causing his mentor to laugh like a hyena. "Papa Rathalos!" He declared.
A Rathalos was then seen flying with a white beard superimposed on its face muttering in an annoyed fashion. "Them dang kids!" It grumbled.
"Uh, what?" Ruby asked.
"He's convinced himself Lao Shan Lung is a giant, old, wingless Rathalos." Razara said, facepalming.
Yang tilted her head back and forth. "Eh. I can kind of see it. They kind of have a similar head shape." She admitted.
"I've certainly heard wilder stories. In fact, I even work for one." Glynda admitted, looking at Ozpin.
"What does this have to do with what Summer said?" Qrow asked.
"One second." Tekko assured them. "And no, before you ask, Aylia often drags him on these hunts before he knows what's happening, so he often doesn't know why he's there." She explained.
"That's mean. He should know what he's up against." Ruby said with a pout.
"Not only is it mean, but it's incredibly negligent. As his senior hunting partner, Aylia should make sure he's 100% prepared for anything they might encounter. By not telling him what they'll be up against, he can't possibly prepare and that lack of preparation could get him killed." Ironwood snapped.
"Easy, James. These hunters are tough. She's just messing with the rookie. It's not the nicest, but there's nothing wrong with it." Qrow said.
"Right? I'd totally do the same thing!" Yang agreed, laughing with her uncle, until both were silenced by Summer clearing her throat and glaring at them.
They were then seen in front of the main wall of the fortress, attacking the beast while it seemed to completely ignore them while they attacked it with one large and one MASSIVE sword. Even stranger, they could have a casual conversation while attacking and swinging these weapons. "We need to stop him! This fortress is our last hope! If we lose this fortress for stopping large monsters-" Aylia began while attacking its legs.
"Then what?" Cotton asked.
"Disaster!" Aylia declared. "There's a village on the other side. It will get trampled if he walks past it." She elaborated.
Cotton was dumbfounded at this. "Well, then maybe we shouldn't have put a path that leads directly to the village!" He yelled incredulously.
"No, this is a natural mountain pass. That's why we put a fortress in it." Aylia corrected him.
He still didn't buy it. "Alternatively, we could've not put the village in a giant pathway!" He yelled.
"Alright, look! Peasants be stupid! What do you want from me!? But we have to protect them all the same!" Aylia told him as she continued to attack the feet while Cotton climbed the wall and got on the ballista.
"In a world that obviously has giant monsters that don't care where your villages are, you would not put your village right here! That's all I'm saying! Like, this is dumb! Poor decision making process!" He declared as he fired the ballista.
"Took the words right out of my mouth there, pinky." Roman agreed.
"If those settlers are stupid enough to build their village in a mountain pass giant monsters would clearly use, it's their own fault they get killed." Adam said.
"That's my opinion when people get attacked by jaguars and tigers because their populations are too big and they keep building their cities into the jungle." Katana added.
"But even then, with how big and slow Lao Shan Lung is, you'd think they would be able to spot it coming and evacuate long before it reaches them. Surely they must have scouts or something at the the edges of the village to warm of giant monsters stomping towards them. If they don't get out, that's their own fault." Emerald said.
"Heck, to be safe, they should evacuate the town as soon as it's spotted near the fortress." Neo pointed out.
"Yeah. Bunch of dummies if you ask me." Nora agreed.
"Nora, that's incredibly rude. Even if it is true, you should only think it. Not say it." Ren scolded.
"So, what do you guys think?" Katana asked.
"It was awesome! It's so big and strong they had to make a giant fortress to hold it off, but even that barely works!" Ruby said in amazement.
"Totally epic! I'd love to try and take one of those one! I'd send it running back to Fatalis!" Yang declared.
"Yang, if those giant spikes and cannon barely slowed it down, I don't know if you'll be able to do that much." Weiss told her.
"Still, it's a shame that, like Rage said, it's only trying to go on its way. It's not their fault a bunch of idiots can't move their village out of a clear mountain path AT LEAST two giant monsters try to go through PRETTY regularly from what I'm gathering from this video." Blake said, annoyed.
"Yeah, right? From the way Rage made it sound, A LOT of hunters have to do this pretty regularly to stop them from getting through the fortress and destroying the town. It sounds like a needless risk to a lot of hunters lives and civilian lives if Shen Gao Ren or Lao Shen Lung get through them." Jaune agreed.
"Exactly. And either killing it at the fortress or repelling it back to meet its end by Fatalis, they're condemning it to death. And that's not fair." Pyrrha said sadly.
"Can we have a happy monster next, please?" Nora asked.
"I agree. Something more lighthearted would be appreciated after that." Ozpin agreed.
"Well, luckily, my brother just came out with another lore video." Katana said.
"Back to him already? That was pretty quick." Qrow noted.
"Well, we're close to the end of Rage's list of videos and he's been slow about making new ones, so I asked him to make some more lores so I still have stuff to show you." The hostess admitted.
"Well, let's see it, then. I'm guessing it's another ice monster?" Cinder asked.
"Well, it mostly lives in icy regions, but no. It's not necessarily an ice monster. So get ready, everybody. It's Banbaro time~!" Katana said in sing-song at the end, playing the next video.
A/N: Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed it as always. So, yes, the next chapter will be Banbaro and the video the script is based on is called "The Benevolent Brute! Banbaro Lore", which you can find on my brother's YouTube channel, Sai Blade.
On a serious note here, please check out his channel, share it around with your friends on social media if you are already subscribed and please subscribe if you haven't already. He's not getting nearly as many subs as he'd hoped for by now and he's getting REALLY depressed about it, which has me really concerned. He doesn't have to do these lores, he really only did them because I asked and with us quickly running out of Rage's videos, Sai is helping to extend the life of this story, plus he's making lores for monsters that, apparently, no one else has bothered to or even thought of making. He's helping us out, so please do what you can to help him.
[1] Yes, I looked it up. I always thought, similar to Rage, that the Dragonators were spring-loaded or something like that. Apparently not.
[2] I looked this up, too. The reason Huntsman teams are teams of four are because of that fairy tale and the king of Vale, who was one of Ozma's reincarnations, made it that way because of the fairy tale. Look up RWBY Huntsman Academies.