Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Monster Hunter, only how the story goes. The characters and world of Monster Hunter belongs to Capcom. The only thing that I do own are the OC's of the story. I do apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

A/N: The beginning of this chapter is going to be a time skip for our main character. And we'll see yet another turf war within this story.

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Chapter Five: Advancing To The Next Level

Three days passed since Jacob's near brush with death. The human teen had confined himself in the boat during that time to heal, plus a little nervous to go back out there. He really stayed inside when it rained a good deal on the fourth day. And for some reason that every time he looked out the window, Jacob could see the Anjanath standing on the cliff and looking down at the boat. For the food situation, Jacob made sure to eat what little he could to keep more food for later. Every now and then he would check on his wounds from the crab and could see that the spot was a faded scar after three days of rest and the healing potion. He had managed to clean off the crab on him and his dagger.

It was a light drizzle outside when he went up to the deck of the boat. Jacob didn't want to seem like he was a pathetic child or anything, but he was really starting to feel fed up after five days of being stranded here. Jacob glanced to his left and didn't see the Anjanath at the moment. He sighed as he turned to go back down. When he entered the living quarters he went to go lay down on the couch and fell against the cushions. Placing a hand up to his forehead he gave it a light rub. He groaned when he said, "Nearly a week of being here and there's been no sign of help coming.

"I guess I do need to do what I can to make it until I can get back home." Jacob deduced and lowered his hand from his head. Looking out the window again he saw that the rain was starting to let up a little.

Deciding to get some fresh air, Jacob rose from the couch and went up to the deck of the boat. The drizzle kept coming down when he made it to the top. Jacob moved over to the side of the boat and saw the carcass of the crab creature still laying there. Deciding to do something about it, Jacob came down the rope ladder and moved over to the body. Moving to the other side, the human teen grabbed a pair of legs and started pulling the crab creature towards the ocean. He strained as he pulled the limp carcass to the edge. Once he was but a few inches from the edge, Jacob moved back to the other side and started pushing. It took a little effort, but the crab monster soon fell over the side and into the water below. Jacob watched it disappear with a large splash before walking away.

He thought of going back onto the boat and waiting for the drizzle to lighten up, but decided to remain outside for a little while longer. Moving to where the path led from the outcrop to the cliff the human sat down to where he wouldn't get too wet. With his back against the cliff, Jacob looked out over the ocean and stared at the grey horizon. He knew that he shouldn't think about it, but he was wondering if Marie, Mort, Kris and AJ were starting to get ready to go back home. He remembered talking to them in school, thinking that they would be good friends. But then he also remembered them talking to a more popular, but less friendly group of students. This group for some reason liked to call people out on their flaws and make themselves feel good about having better things in life.

Jacob didn't think those teens were a good influence, but they seemed to have sway with his so-called friends. But he guessed that they were much better friends than they were to him. Jacob wanted to blame them for what was happening to him, but he also knew that he was mostly the one that got him to this crazy world. That and the storm that had brought him here. Jacob looked up to the sky and silently prayed to God that there was a way to get back.

The sound of shifting against stone made him look to his left to see that his 'neighbor' had returned. The Anjanath was laying on the stone cliff on its belly ad was overlooking the ocean. He and the purple theropod glanced at each other every now and then. Jacob was pretty curious as to why it wasn't trying to come after him like the other day, for he knew that the Anjanath was a carnivore thanks to the journal, but he wasn't going to complain about it.

Jacob looked down and picked up a small rock. With a fling of his wrist, he sent the stone flying before it landed in the water with a medium-sized splash. It earned a curious sounding grunt from the Anjanath and Jacob looked to see it looking down at him again. He shrugged when he said, "Yeah, I didn't really expect you to get it."

The Anjanath just turned its head away and Jacob decided that he had enough fresh air for the time being. Getting up, Jacob calmly walked back to the boat. Before climbing up onto the boat, he looked back to the Brute Wyvern to see it glancing at him again. Jacob then turned his attention forward again and started climbing up onto the boat.

…

It was an hour or so when the light drizzling finally stopped. Jacob glanced out the window to see if both the weather and the Anjanath were gone. Seeing that he had an opportunity, Jacob picked up his bag and made sure his dagger was secure before heading out again. He came onto the deck of the boat and glanced about to see if anything was watching him. When he didn't see anything, Jacob quickly made his way down and along the path. After pulling himself onto the cliff, Jacob quickly made his way down the path, through the tall grass and towards the opening that would take him to the cliff again.

Jacob was thankful that he didn't run into anything in the shaded part of the forest. He came down the tunnel and remained alert as he passed under the shaded tunnel. When he came before the cliff, Jacob looked up to see if the Pukei-Pukei was back, but the area seemed to be quite clear of Bird Wyverns. Looking about to see if anything else was around, Jacob quickly hurried to the wall of vines and climbed up them. When he reached the top, the human teen quickly whipped out the journal again and turned to the map of the Ancient Forest again. The spot he was looking for seemed to be in the corner of this spot. But it seemed to be covered with thick vegetation. Moving to the spot, Jacob moved some limbs and vines out of the way. He was met with a surprising sight. A hole, actually a tunnel, that was large enough for him to slip through with him only having to bend slightly.

Thankful that he had thought ahead, Jacob reached into the bag and pulled out a glow stick that he had managed to pack for the trip. He got it glowing before stepping into the hole. The tunnel seemed to go on forever and Jacob's curiosity only made him venture further. Every so often, he would glance back to see the opening to the Ancient Forest growing smaller with every step he took. After walking for about ten minutes, he began to notice that the tunnel not only started to dip, but also expanded in width and height. He was thankful that it wasn't a steep drop as he made his way down. When the ground evened out again after a little while of walking, Jacob found himself at another surprising sight. He came to what looked like a pretty big chamber. It wasn't the size that could fit a town, but it looked big enough like it could have acted like a throne room of sorts. Looking up he saw a large crevice that allowed sunlight to peer down into this dark place. There were also other tunnels that seemed to go in different directions, but they were all blocked by large piles of rubble. Jacob didn't recall any place like this from the journal, but thought that it could come in handy. He turned to the tunnel to his right and looked down it. Even from this side of it, Jacob felt warm air, much warmer than that of the Ancient Forest. His curiosity deciding his actions, Jacob walked down the path.

The walk down this tunnel seemed to take a lot longer than the tunnel that led to the chamber. But when he neared the exit, it seemed a little darker to Jacob and he could hear water running too. Coming to the end of the tunnel, Jacob found out that the running water was because of a large waterfall. There was a bit of a gap between the falling water and the tunnel that allowed him to walk around. He moved to an opening in the water and stepped into a running stream of water. Jacob grimaced a little from the feeling of his shoes and socks getting really wet. The falls filled a river that ran down through some towering rocks and to who knows where. Moving to a spot where he wasn't standing in running water, Jacob brought out the journal again and looked at the maps. The map after the Ancient Forest was labelled the Wildspire Wastes. It was a desert area that housed both many an oasis and dunes all the way to the sea.

Jacob looked to a spot on the map and saw that he wasn't too far from another one of those camps. Putting the journal away, Jacob made his way down south. He walked down the path that was conjoined with a rising bridge into what looked like a cave. Deciding to save that for later, if he wasn't being chased or anything. He came to a clearing that had a small herd of deerlike animals roaming around. Thanks to studying the various creatures during his time of confinement, Jacob recalled the name of the Kelbi. When Jacob slowly approached the clearing, the Kelbi looked up before quickly bounding away.

Knowing that he had nothing to worry about them, Jacob tried to remember where the camp was and looked to his right. He saw a wall of dried out looking vines and figured that it was the best place to look. Making his way over to the wall, he started the climb. He reached the top and found himself in a greatly shaded spot. Looking about he wondered, "I guess just about all the other camps out here are under some sort of shade.

"Now, let's take a look around." He said before walking up to the camp. Jacob was greatly surprised to see that this camp was in a lot better shape than those he had seen back in the Ancient Forest. The tent hadn't fallen apart and nothing was torched beyond recognition.

Jacob walked up to the chest first and carefully opened it up. He coughed from the desert dust and waved it away with his hand. Looking down, he found something entirely different than what he normally found; it appeared to be a gauntlets of sorts and the left one had what looked like a crossbow attached to it. Lifting it out of the chest, Jacob examined the crossbow and saw that it looked to be in perfect condition. He slipped it on and found that it fit like a glove to him. The teen quickly tried on the other one before looking over his left arm. There was both an empty slot on top while a grappling hook was fitted into the slot below. Acting a little playful at the moment, Jacob started waving it around and jokingly said, "All right, put 'em up, partner."

But when he squeezed his hand a little, he became a little surprised when a grappling hook shot forward and it became embedded in a large boulder. Jacob yelped when he was yanked forward and became worried when he said, "No, no, no!"

He wheezed when he comically slammed into the rock before falling backwards to the ground. The grappling hook dislodged from the rock and retracted back into the gauntlet. Taking a deep breath he made a mental note, "Don't play around with this stuff, got it."

After taking a moment to let his bruised chest and ego to subside, Jacob rose to his feet again and dusted himself off. Looking at the crossbow portion of the gauntlet, he wondered how it worked exactly. Glancing down he saw a stone lying at his feet. He reached down and picked it up before placing it against the wire of the crossbow. He pulled the wire back easily via the stone until he heard a click. Jacob didn't think it would be that easy to ready it. When he squeezed his hand to try to fire it, he panicked when the grappling hook fired again. With a slight wave of his arm he managed to make the hook scrape against another large stone and let it retract again. Wondering how the contraption worked exactly, Jacob tried a small squeeze of his ring and pinkie fingers. He became surprised when the rock shot from his arm before smacking against the wall of rock across from him. Making another note about his new acquisition he said, "Squeeze hand, grappling hook. Squeeze last two fingers, fire the crossbow portion."

It did make him wonder about the previous owners of this stuff, and how long it took them to get the hang of it. Deciding to see what else there was, Jacob returned to the chest and saw another vial of healing potion and a blue vial of potion. He guessed that the blue vial might have been the Antidote Herb and that it was useful against poisons, venoms and other sort of toxins. Removing the two items from the chest, Jacob placed them into the bag and then walked over to the tent to see what else he could find. Opening the flaps he found that a couple of cots that could still be used for sleeping. Jacob made a mental note to return here at nightfall in case he was unable to get back to the tunnel.

Deciding to do a little more exploring, Jacob walked away from the campsite and descended down the vines once again. The Kelbi kept their distance from the human while he walked over to a cliff that over looked another portion of the Wildspire Wastes. He saw a path that led to a small outcrop before continuing on to who knew where. An opening was a good deal before them with small amounts of vegetation growing. Lots of dry grass, leafless trees and what appeared to be cacti also could be seen.

Jacob walked around and came to a declining path that led to the places that he had seen. Carefully making his way down, he stopped when he came to the opening and peeked around it. He was met with a view of a marsh and a new sight. At first he thought they were Aptonoth, but these were greatly different. For one they shared many characteristics with a tortoise, with their head shape and the protective shell on their backs. And their tails to were greatly different as they were mace shaped with spikes on them. Jacob breathed in awe, "Apceros."

Making sure to keep his distance, Jacob moved to the edge of the marsh to watch them. He stuck to the tall grasses of the marsh and lowered himself to keep out of sight. The Apceros didn't seem to notice him as they continued grazing. The human smiled from the sight until the sound of low growling made him and the herbivores look to the side. Another new creature, a large bipedal Brute Wyvern came into the marsh. It had a large crown structure atop its skull, which houses its nostrils. Its body is covered in rigid plates that help protect it from the harsh desert environment. A pair of small red eyes and a mouthful with numerous long, peg-shaped teeth could be seen under its crown. Jacob didn't move out of concern of the Barroth happening to notice him. Its presence was enough to put the Apceros on edge as they formed a defensive circle with their tails raised, ready to strike in case the Barroth were to make a move.

(Cue Rulers of The Wildspire track from Monster Hunter World)

But the Barroth didn't seem to be concerned about them as it stopped but a few yards from them and turned over onto its back. A grin returned to Jacob's face when he watched as the Brute Wyvern started to squirm in the mud to coat itself with mud to keep the harsh sun off of it. But it didn't last when Jacob could see something moving within the marsh. It looked almost like the ground itself was rising, but his eyes grew wide when two dorsal fins appeared from the mud. Whatever it was moved towards the Barroth just as the Brute Wyvern got back up. Jacob jumped when something erupted out of the muddy ground and wound itself around the Barroth. He gasped when he saw a Jyuratodus, a bipedal coelacanth fish. Along with the two dorsal plates on its back, it had two pectoral fins and two pelvic fins and a long thick tail.

The Barroth struggled as the Jyuratodus continued to squeeze. The Brute Wyvern roared when the Piscine Wyvern landed a bite to the back of its neck. In retaliation to that, the Barroth suddenly jumped backwards and landed to crush a part of the Jyuratodus underneath it. The fish-like wyvern squealed in agony from the crushing force and released its grip on its opponent. Deciding to get a little further away, Jacob quickly made his way back while keeping his vision between his escape route and the fighting creatures.

The Barroth and the Jyuratodus seemed to be circling each other and growled at each other. The Barroth lowered its head and rushed at its more slippery foe. The Jyuratodus managed to jump out of the way at the last second and seemed to be a little smug when it used its thick tail to slap the more hard headed beast upside the head. The Barroth fought to keep itself from falling over and looked to the Piscine Wyvern with what Jacob could only guess as a look of anger. It lowered its head again charged once more. This time it managed to connect its rock hard against the Jyuratodus' body and sent it flying a few feet. The fish-like creature tumbled in the mud before picking itself back up. Jacob watched in anticipation to see who would win the duel.

The Jyuratodus dived back into the muddy ground and the Barroth kept its eye out for any suspicious movements. The muddy like ground rose as the Piscine Wyvern moved through it. The Jyuratodus suddenly erupted from the ground again and maneuvered its body to slap the Barroth again. The tail made the Barroth stagger away a few feet before it shook its head to clear the cobwebs. With an angry snort, it rushed at the falling fish and rammed its big head into the mud swimmer's side. The Barroth's blow sent the Jyrutados flying not only across the marsh, but over what looked to be a cliff as well.

(End of track)

Seeing that the fight was over, Jacob quickly turned and started to leave just as the Barroth started to do the same. The Barroth left through an opening to the marsh to the south west while Jacob was going to the one further to the north. After a small walk, Jacob found himself back before the wall of vines that went up to the camp. Jacob looked up into the sky and saw that he still had some time before the sun were to set. Curious about that path that led to the cave, Jacob started walking in that direction. He came upon the bridge of earth and made his way up. Coming up to the cave, Jacob checked to make sure that there were no dwellers within. Seeing that he was in the clear, Jacob went in.

The cave wasn't too dark or go on a good deal, so Jacob soon found himself on the other side. The path he was on went in two different directions. One that took a turn into what looked like a forest, and the other that went up to a wall of vines. More curious about the wall of vines, that's where Jacob decided he would go. Walking up to the wall of vines, Jacob started the climb. The climb ended halfway up what seemed like a tower of stone. And not too far from him was another thing of vines. Jacob took a quick glance back and seemed to appreciate the view a good deal. Wondering what it was like at the top, Jacob went over to the other collection of vines and made his way up. When he reached the very top of the tower of stone, Jacob looked out and was awestruck that he could see just about the entire Wildspire Waste from up here. He could see the marsh where he had witnessed the battle, he saw what looked like a large maze within the rocks below him and to the north east he saw the beginnings of what lead out into the dunes of the Wildspire Wastes and beyond the horizon of the desert. At the beginning of the dunes, Jacob was greatly curious as to what looked like a gigantic tower of stone. He reached into the bag and pulled out the binoculars and lifted them to his eyes.

What he was looking at looked to be a large spire of sorts. It looked as if it were made of stone, but from some reason, Jacob felt that there was more to it. Jacob kept looking around with the binoculars and could see the Apceros and more of those frilled critters like in the Ancient Forest, the Kestodon. Even from the distance, Jacob noticed a large bird-like creature walking around in the maze. Jacob couldn't recall the name of it at the moment. But before he could try to do anything, a sudden roar made him tense up. Lowering the binoculars, Jacob looked up to see a draconic shape rising from the far side of the wastes. He thought that it might be like what he saw the other day, but from the look of its tail, he could see that it was greatly different. The Flying Wyvern came flying in his direction and Jacob dropped down to the ground to try and avoid being seen. He didn't seem to be noticed when the wyvern flew right by the rocky tower. It descended down into the forested area nearby.

When he was sure that it was okay to get up again, Jacob shakily rose back onto his feet and tried to look to see if he could see the wyvern. But the tree limbs prevented him from seeing anything. He then noticed the color of the sky starting to change color and turned his head to the west. The sun was starting to set and Jacob decided to head back to the little camp for the night. But before he left, Jacob noticed something that he hadn't before. It looked to be a beehive of sorts hanging on a low branch. And something yellow was dripping out of the bottom of it. Using the hand that didn't have the crossbow on it, Jacob placed a finger to the bottom of it and collected some of the substance. He eyed it for a moment before taking an experimental lick. While it wasn't sweet the way it was back home, he felt that it truly was honey.

Thinking that his curiosity filled for the day, Jacob began the climb back down. When he reached the bottom, he could hear sounds coming from the opening. Thinking that it might be the draconic wyvern, Jacob quickly turned to go back down the cave while saying, "Nope, nope, nope!"

He ran all the way back to where the wall of vines led to the small camp. Climbing up them, Jacob made his way to the tent and slipped inside. Laying down on one of the cots, Jacob looked to the fabric above his head and wondered what other things were out in this crazy world. And he once again wondered if he would ever get back to his own.

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Author's Note: And I think I'll end it here. Next chapter, we're still in the Wildspire Wastes, but we're going to see another camp, a confrontation, another near brush with death and something you'd never really see in film or in the games. Also, I know that I should have mentioned this a few chapters ago, but Jacob Daniel Orr is actually based on my in-game avatar. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.