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: This chapter just came to me and it'll help out with a future chapter as well.

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Chapter Ten: Dealing With Egg Snatchers

Part One: Coming Together

Jacob was starting back to the waterfall and stood on the stepping stone before the waterfall. He was a little disappointed when the expedition didn't go as he had planned it, but he at least got to connect more with Nana Diabla and Valiantops. He was about to take his first step towards the tunnel to go back when he heard a familiar roar sound behind him. Turning around, he became very surprised to see a familiar shape flying through the sky towards him. The Rathian was coming in at fully speed and Jacob worried that she might end up ramming into him. He almost soiled himself when she stopped herself at the last minute and dropped down a yard or two before him. Jacob could see a worried look in her eye as she came running up to him and started giving worried growls. Not understanding what was going on, Jacob said, "Woah, woah. Easy there, girl. You know that I can't understand you."

The Queen of the Skies gave a few more growls while rearing up and looking back to a certain location. Having a feeling that something was up, Jacob asked of her, "Show me what's going on."

And show him she would, even though he wasn't expecting her to reach around him and grab the hood of his cloak. Jacob screamed as he was whisked off his feet and into the skies of the Wastes. He lifted his legs to avoid them being taken off by the rock bridge and the large arch before the muddy plains. The Rathian carried Jacob over the marshes and over the maze area. It wasn't long until they passed over the dunes. Jacob cried out when she suddenly banked to turn to the right, "Woah, woah!"

The Rathian began her descent into her cave and landed before her nest. Setting Jacob down, she rushed past him towards the nest. The Rathian looked to him and gave what sounded like a sorrowful growl. Jacob could really tell something was wrong from the sound of that. Walking up to the nest, he became very shocked to see that all three of the Rathian's eggs were gone. The Rathian let out another sorrowful growl as she looked about the cavernous space. Jacob walked up to her and gently rubbed the side of her neck, "Hey, it's going to be okay. We are going to find them.

"But we need to keep calm and find out who took them and to where." Jacob added when he started to look around for clues. His words seemed to make her calm down enough to focus. Moving away from the nest, the teen grimaced at the sight of the burnt Kulu-Ya-Ku corpse that had flesh taken from it. Stepping away from it, Jacob came across a peculiar sight. A group of orange feathers, but these didn't look burnt. Picking one up, Jacob looked at it closely and said, "These seem a little new."

The Rathian came over and leaned towards the hand holding the feathers. She sniffed them and then started to growl dangerously. Jacob looked down at the rest of the feathers. He saw some light imprints in the dirt and saw that they were fresh Kulu-Ya-Ku tracks. Pointing to a trail he said, "I think I got something."

He followed after the tracks with the Rathian close behind him. The tracks led up the slope and went out to the dunes of the desert. The further into the sand the tracks went, the more clear they could be seen. Jacob glanced to the worried mother and said, "Gotta be careful out here. We'll be in Diablos territory.

"We don't want to rile them up." He said and carefully started walking. The Rathian was a little nervous to follow, but followed the human teen nonetheless. The tracks seemed to go over just about every dune as they headed to the northeast.

Jacob and the Rathian had cleared one dune when suddenly the ground began to shake. Looking to her he said, "Move!"

The Rathian barely got airborne when the dune exploded. Jacob was thrown off his feet and was quick to push himself off the ground while spitting sand out of his mouth. He turned to see a Diablos and the Rathian roaring at each other. Taking a look at the sand burrower, Jacob recognized him and shouted, "Valiantops, wait a minute!"

It didn't seem to make the two Flying Wyverns stop as Valiantops tried to knock the Rathian out of the sky with his clubbed tail. But the Rathian moved her head out of the way before somersaulting to smack him with her own tail. From the looks of things, they didn't even seem to know that he was there anymore. Jacob groaned as he looked about to get their fighting to stop. He got an idea about how. The human knew that it was a pretty bad one, but it could work if he did it right.

Waiting for the right moment as Valiantops swung his tail again before trying to stab at the Rathian with his horns, Jacob ran for the clubbed tail. He ducked when it swayed as the two were moving about the battle field. With a well-timed jump, Jacob managed to grab onto the portion before the club and held on tight. The teen felt like he was going to throw up from all the thrashing that the Diablos was doing and gasped when he suddenly felt the heat from a fire ball from the Rathian when he flew past him and Valiantops. Maneuvering his body to where he was basically sitting on the tail, Jacob carefully moved his way up. Valiantops must have felt him on his back because the Diablos started jumping around. Jacob cried out as he held on to the sand burrower's back with each jump. Knowing that time was kind of limited for this, Jacob kept moving along the Flying Wyvern's back. Moving past the larger scales and up to the frill, Jacob looked over to see the Rathian coming around. To make things worse, the Diablos he was riding on was charging forward as well. Acting fast, Jacob hopped over the frill and jumped to where he could hang between Valiantops' horns and could be seen by both. Both the Rathian and Valiantops saw the human and tried to act fast. Valiantops and the Rathian swerved to miss each other, but the Rathian's tail unintentionally ended up tripping Valiantops while his tail knocked into her side. Both wyverns crashed against the sand and Jacob screamed as he flew through the air before taking a tumble in the sand not too far from them. With a slight groan, Jacob sat up again and looked back to the two Flying Wyverns.

Both Valiantops and the Rathian groaned as they rose from the sand and Jacob moved to get between them. When both creatures turned to each other, Jacob held up his hands and said, "Before we think about getting into another tussle, let's chill out, okay.

"We don't have time for a turf war or anything." Jacob reminded the Rathian. She looked away, even though he had some merit to his words. Turning back to the Diablos, the human said, "Valiantops, we apologize for the intrusion. But we're on a mission to find an egg thief."

Valiantops seemed to calm down a little more from hearing that. Jacob took out the feather they had found at the nest and held it up to the Diablos. The Diablos could see the feathers and looked about as if to look for the egg thief. Jacob then deduced, "I know why the Kulu came out this way.

"They were hoping you would get into a fight and buy them time." He added. All three pairs of eyes widened when they felt the ground shake again. Glancing to Valiantops he asked, "Uh, that's Nana Diabla, right?"

But he got his answer when multiple shapes suddenly burst from the sand around them. Jacob and the Rathian were all very surprised to see multiple Diablos surrounding them. Doing a quick count, and not counting Valiantops who was already present, there were six new Diablos. Neither Jacob nor the Rathian felt very comfortable with so many sand burrowers who could kill them in one place. The new Diablos took notice of the two and took a step towards them with growls all around. Valiantops gave a high-pitched roar to make them back off. The newcomers were very confused by this and everyone was once again surprised to feel the ground shake again for a third time. Next to Valiantops, the ground exploded and Nana Diabla came out of the ground. She looked about the situation before seeing Jacob and the Rathian. She gave a small roar as if asking what was going on.

Jacob was very surprised to see the new six suddenly crowding around Nana Diabla and Valiantops. Glancing up to the Rathian he said, "Never thought I would see something like this. But you learn something new just about every day."

The Rathian gave a gruff roar as if in agreement. Nana Diabla and Valiantops looked between the other six as they all gave worried sounding growls. One of the new Diablos looked to the two and looked intently at Jacob and gave a growl. Jacob could have sworn he heard a record scratch to a halt when all eight Diablos suddenly turned to him. Some of the Diablos broke away from the two and tried to attack Jacob by lowering their horns. The Rathian quickly moved in front of the boy to protect him. But neither had to worry when a big roar came from Nana Diabla and made them stop in their tracks. Everyone looked to the elder Diablos as she growled for them to move. They all looked to the teen again and he stepped around the Rathian. Jacob wondered why they not only listened to Valiantops and Nana Diabla, but why these six were here. As he stepped in the middle of the nine Flying Wyverns, he noticed a couple growling to each other before one started to rub against the other's chin. Getting an idea, Jacob looked down to the feathers he was holding. Holding them up Jacob then asked, "Is this the reason you guys freaked out?"

At least three of the Diablos gave low growls at the sight of the feathers, indicating his hunch. Looking at the ones that were looking a lot more intimidating than the others, Jacob guessed, "Something tells me that we've got a common problem on our hands.

"And if I'm guessing right, then there must be a lot more Kulu's at play here." He hypothesized while scratching his chin. Shaking his head, "What I don't get is how they managed to slip by you all without any warning."

All the Diablos tilted their heads in confusion. Noticing this, Jacob gestured to the Rathian and said, "They managed to take her eggs too."

One of the Diablos just rolled their eyes as if she hardly mattered. Seeing that, Jacob pointed to them and glared when he said, "Hey! This is something a lot bigger than fighting each other over territory.

"This is about the survival of those unhatched eggs." He said, thinking on those words. Looking to Nana Diabla and Valiantops he asked, "I know that this won't be an easy alliance, but think we can work together to save the eggs?"

Nana Diabla looked to the teen before glancing to the Rathian. Like the other mothers present, the Rathian was as worried about her brood as the rest of them. Seeming to be moved by the human's words, she gave a slight nod. And by the looks of Valiantops and the other Diablos, they seemed to agree to the temporary alliance. Jacob then said, "Okay, we need to pick up the trail. A lot of sand got kicked up when the ground exploded."

Nana Diabla gave Valiantops and the other six a bit of the stink eye and they all sheepishly took a step back. Having an idea, Jacob moved over to the Rathian and asked her, "Think you can pick up their scent with this?"

He held up the feather and the Queen of the Skies took a big whiff. With a growl she looked about to see where the scent was leading. Her head turned to the left and Jacob moved in that direction. Moving past all turned up mounds in the sand, Jacob walked up to the top of a dune and noticed something sitting on the sand. Moving to take a closer look, Jacob found not only more feathers, but more tracks that led across the desert. He waved to the nine Flying Wyverns, "Trail goes this way, come on!"

He started running along the trail with the nine following after him. The trail of Kulu-Ya-Ku tracks led away from the Grand Spire. The group traveled by foot for a few hours and the sun had climbed higher into the sky. The trail went further and further than what Jacob was used to. They came to a peculiar sight, multiple Kulu-Ya-Ku tracks started to converge with one another and it led up to a spot between the spire and the mountains to the north. A small plateau stood before a big hill and the ten made their way up it. Jacob moved to the top of a dune and knelt down against the hot sand. The others came up behind him and he motioned for them to stop. The Rathian, Nana Diabla and Valiantops moved to where they could keep low while seeing what he was seeing. Though he knew that this was the place, Jacob couldn't see anything because of the great distance between them and their objective. He remembered the binoculars and quickly looked around his bag for them. Pulling them out, Jacob looked through them to the plateau.

Through the binoculars, he could see a large gathering of Kulu-Ya-Kus all gathered around what appeared to be a cave near the summit of the structure. The cave seemed to have two openings and a line of the Bird Wyverns walked in one at a time before coming out the other opening. Jacob tried tweaking the binoculars and found it helpful when they started moving. Tweaking the binoculars to where he could see closer, Jacob looked into the cave and saw a large cluster of eggs sitting the cave. They seemed to have been placed to where the Kulus wouldn't step on them as they walked by. As he scoped the rest of the place out, Jacob noticed something about the sand before the plateau moving and lowered the binoculars to get a better look. The sand moved as if something were burrowing underneath it. Having an idea of what it could be, Jacob followed the thing as it moved through the sand. A moment later, a shape burst out from underneath and a Diablos seemed to give its high-pitched roar. Taking a closer look, he recognized this particular sand burrower. He became very surprised when he saw a couple of Kulu-Ya-Kus walk up to the Flying Wyvern and lay something down at its feet. Lowering the binoculars, Jacob backed away and the three moved away as well. The other six walked up to them, looking curious as to what they saw. Jacob looked to the nine and said, "Okay, I've got good news and bad news. Good news, I've seen where they've got the eggs. Luckily, they're being held in that cave at the bottom.

"Bad news is, they have a bodyguard. A Diablos." He told them. This caused the other six to look at each other in surprise. Looking to Nana Diabla and Valiantops he said, "It's the one that we meet earlier."

Valiantops gave an angry snarl as he turned his head in the direction of the plateau. But before he could take a single step, Jacob moved in front of him and said, "Hold up, big guy. We need to do this smart.

"We go charging in there with horns up and fire raining down, we may put the eggs in danger." He pointed out. Nana Diabla gave her friend a small huff and he reluctantly stood down. Jacob tried to think of a plan to get the eggs back. They not only had to secure the eggs, but find a way to get them back to their nests without letting anything happen to them. He looked to his left and saw a small forest. He smirked, "I think I've got a pretty decent idea.

"We need to double back to that forest. Follow me. I'll explain when we get there." Jacob said before rushing back the way they came. The nine Flying Wyverns all looked to each other with uncertain looks, but followed after the human nonetheless.

…

The group of wyverns and a human made it to the forest unseen. Stopping just outside the woods with the plateau still insight, Jacob turned to them and said, "Okay, we need to act fast if we're going to pull this off.

"So first, we need to not only get the Diablos out of the way, but those feather brains as well." Jacob said, picking up a stick. He started drawing in the dirt. He drew a circle, his attempt at Diablos' horns and placed the feather on the ground. Pointing to the circle he said, "Okay, work with me here. The eggs are being placed in the plateau.

"We'll need a distraction to get all parties out of the way." Jacob deduced. Looking to the Rathian he said, "I think you can draw out the traitor Diablos…

"And once he's out in the open, we have some of you guys keep him busy." He looked to the six while crossing out the poorly drawn horns with the stick. Then gesturing to himself he said, "With the guard out of the way, I'll use myself as bait to draw out the Kulu's. The Rathian and Valiantops will have go at them while I rush back to help Nana Diabla and the remainder of the group get the eggs out."

The Rathian gave him a questioning look as if to ask how they would get the eggs out. Moving to one of the trees, he was thankful to find it hollow. Looking back he said, "We can use the wood from the dead trees as a makeshift sled to pull the eggs to a safe spot.

"We just need to get a little creative with it." Jacob said with a grin and moved to a few vines laying on the ground. The nine monsters seemed to be on board with the plan.

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Author's Note: And so ends part one. I've decided to do a little carving and crafting in the next chapter. Next we'll have the rescue mission, a small brawl and witness a miracle. This was an idea, one of a few that I have in mind, given to me by a good friend of mine, .luki.2001. 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.