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: While I don't really want to do the beginning of this chapter, but for the sake of drama, it made great sense to me. I do hope that you all may forgive me for writing it.

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Chapter Twenty-Nine: Spats, Not Seashells, By the Seashore

The sun barely rose over the horizon as Jacob was accompanied back to the shaded forest with the nine Jagras. The air had greatly warmed up since the Elder Dragon left the Ancient Forest. As he walked, he remained on guard to whatever may be lurking within the Ancient Forest, but the teen kept thinking about the recent encounter with the Elder Dragon. It was very different from his last encounter, and not just because there were more than one. As they entered the shaded forest, Jupiter suddenly stopped and it made everyone else stop. Looking around, Jacob wondered what it could be when the sound of snorting in the distance made him think of those large hairy pigs. Jupiter growled to the others and they started to move out to intercept their breakfast. The lead Jagras looked to the human of their pack with a look as if inviting him for the hunt. Jacob smiled and said, "I would. But I need to be getting back.

"Go on ahead with the others." He gestured with his head for him to go. Taking the hint, Jupiter came closer to the human and pressed his head against Jacob's hand. Jacob smiled from this before kneeling down and wrapping his arms around Jupiter. A little startled by the gesture, Jupiter returned it with a small nuzzle of his own to Jacob's shoulder. When Jacob released him, Jupiter started to follow after his pack. Watching the Fanged Wyvern go with a smile for a moment, he turned to head back to the boat.

As he came up to the opening to the shaded forest, a growling noise made him look ahead. Another smile quickly grew on his face when he saw Boltia coming up the path. The Tobi-Kadachi seemed to be happy to see him when she rushed up the path to meet him halfway. Jacob lightly laughed when she circled around him and took a few sniffs while he said, "You won't believe the last two days that I just had.

"Nearly being swallowed whole was not fun." He shook his head and earned a curious look from her. Boltia came up a little closer and took a few more sniffs of the boy. He looked back to where he had seen the Jagras go and said, "Luckily, I had some help. And then-"

The teen turned his head back to her just as her eyes widened from what she had smelled on him. Jacob was greatly surprised and confused from the deep growl and angry look coming from her. He took a couple of steps back and noticed an angry look in her eye. He tilted his head when he asked, "What's wrong girl?"

(Cue Ancient Forest: Medium Sized Monsters from Monster Hunter World)

But then he yelped and ducked down when she leapt at him for some odd reason. He lifted his head and looked back to see her turn herself around. Feeling threatened at the moment, Jacob readied his shield with one hand to protect himself. She came aggressively with a swing of her claws and it knocked Jacob back a bit. As he got back onto his feet, he noticed that it was much more intentional than how they trained. Boltia came at him with her jaws wide open and got a hair too close to him when he moved out of the way. Quirking a brow he questioned, "You're really trying to hurt me, aren't you?"

He got his answer when she turned a full circle and swatted him with her tail. Jacob was knocked back again and he turned with a bit of a glare. With a shake of his head, "What is up with you, girl?

"You never really acted this way before." He tried to rack his brain. Then he guessed, "It's not because I was with another manner of dweller of the Ancient Forest, was it?

"Because you never acted this way when we were in the company of Grumper and the Rath family." He pointed out. A snort came from Boltia and a thought crossed his mind. Tilting his head he questioned, "Is this because the creatures in question are Jagras as they too are Fanged Wyvern?"

It got a reaction out of Boltia when she leapt for him again and he ducked to move out of the way. After she had landed, Jacob turned to her and said, "I can't believe you're acting this way just because I was with other Fanged Wyverns."

She rushed up at him again and Jacob dodged to the left when she snapped her jaws at him. Really fed up with her attitude, and since he was defending himself, he lashed out with his shield arm and landed a blow on Boltia's shoulder. It made the Tobi-Kadachi staggering back and she had a look of disbelief on her face. Knowing that he was in for it now, Jacob pulled the Iron Katana from its scabbard. He didn't really look to hurt Boltia with it, but he did want to show her that he wasn't taking her jealousy lightly. The fur on Boltia's back rose up and he took it as a sign that she was agitated.

With a screech Boltia lunged for Jacob and a swing of his sword made her back up. Jacob didn't want to hurt her, but Boltia here wasn't giving him much of a choice. Jacob swung his sword to keep her back while making his way towards the opening. On one particular swing, he accidentally knicks her in the shoulder with the blade. Boltia yelped in pain from the cut and they both look to the wound. A wide-eyed Jacob shook his head as he moved back from her, hardly believing that he hurt her in the slightest bit. He became even more worried when she glared at him.

Without even thinking about it, Jacob turned to run. The Tobi-Kadachi gave a roar before rushing after him. The human and the Tobi-Kadachi came down to the fork in the road and the latter jumped over the head of the former. Jacob came sliding to a stop when she landed before him and turned around. Not knowing what she would do to him, Jacob planned to defend himself without trying to hurt her too bad. She came at him with another swipe of her claws, and Jacob moved the shield to slap her talons away. With a turn of his body, he landed a kick to the side of her head. But this allowed her to get her foreleg under his own and trip him up. Jacob fell onto his back with a grunt and he cried out when Boltia came down at him with her jaws. Moving his head out of the way, she ended up eating dirt and he kicked at her underbelly. This only seemed to annoy her as she grabbed him with her claw, raised him up a little before slamming him against the ground again. Though a bit disoriented, it was Jacob's turn to be in disbelief of what she had done. In a moment of desperation, he turned his head and bit the wrist holding him down. While it didn't do much damage, it did distract her enough for him to slip out from underneath her. Reaching up with his sword, he slightly jabbed her where the arm meets the shoulder. He made sure not to stick her with the blade, but mostly to surprise her. The jab caused her to yelp and she moved away from him. Jacob had been hoping for this as he knocked into her with his shield. The blow ended up sending her over the side and into the pond down below.

(End of track)

Boltia crashed into the waters below with a big splash and Jacob glanced down to see her thrashing to right herself again. Though was still mad at her for attacking him for being with the Jagras, he was mostly disappointed with how this had gone. The teen hoped that maybe after a little time, they would have calmed down enough to still be friends. With a sigh he turned and walked away just as Boltia managed to get her feet underneath her again. The upset Tobi-Kadachi glanced up and gave a small sad whine when she didn't see him there.

…

Jacob could still hardly believe of the fight he had with Boltia as he returned to the lower level of the boat. He set his pack, the Iron Katana in its scabbard and the shield down against the wall in the living quarters. Memories of him and Boltia together crossed through his mind. From the day he had first seen her, saving her from the Pukei-Pukei that had been bullying her and it's poison, her saving him during his first encounter with a Deviljho, her helping him train. Then there was the time they, Grumper, Papa and Mama facing against said Deviljho.

With a huff, Jacob shook his head to clear those thoughts and sat down on the couch to calm himself. He grimaced as he felt sore from their spat and reached for a vial of Healing Potion that he kept in a cup on the table. He downed the whole thing and wiped his mouth with a sigh. Feeling a little tired he laid down, turned on his side and closed his eyes to sleep a little more.

…

Jacob probably had his eyes closed maybe for a few hours when he heard an odd noise and opened an eye. Sitting up again, it was a constant sound, almost like a bell to him. Deciding to go out and investigate, walked up to fetch his pack and a weapon. Settling for his Dual Blades, he placed them and his pack on before venturing up the stairs.

The sound of the bell still rang when his feet touched the ground. From the sounds of it, the ringing came from the west. Jacob huffed at the long walk and headed up the path to the cliff. When he made it up, he went through Grumper's usual way through and came out to the tall grass. The sound still came from the west and Jacob moved to go see if he could find it.

When he reached the river, he saw the Aptonoth herd grazing like usual. Some were eating while others had their heads looking in the direction of the bell. Jacob was about to keep going when he and the Aptonoth jumped from a loud boom coming from the same direction. Not too much later another boom followed after the first one. Rushing across the river, he went through the big opening and went down the left path. Moving past the destroyed camp, Jacob came to a stop at the edge of a small cliff. He didn't see anything at first, but then he noticed something behind the rocks. Trying to find the best way down, he did his best to keep from sliding down a steep hill.

Jacob reached the bottom of the slope and found himself down by the shore. He had never really explored the beaches of the New World, plus not really an ideal place to get a tan either. He made his way to the rocks were he saw the thing. Water sloshed as he walked up to the rock and looked around it. His eyes widened when he saw a very large sea ship sitting not too far from the shore. This ship was quite large, almost as big as the Titanic from back home, but from the looks of it, it wasn't for cruises. This ship looked like something from old pirate movies, though he never recalled seeing one quite this large before. The sounds of the bell were coming from the ship and Jacob saw up to seven canons on the main deck. Lowering his gaze, he saw a small encampment. Even from this distance, he could see that they were all brown in color. Thinking it to be people, Jacob looked for a way to get to the camp.

He saw that the best way to get over there was probably through the forest. Moving back amongst the trees, Jacob carefully went about his way while keeping the shore to his left. But as he got closer and closer to where the camp was, he heard the sounds of voices from ahead. Slowing his pace, he looked around a tree to see a couple of guys down a small hill. They looked a good deal older than he was. One was a bit taller than the other, but they both looked like they weren't taking very good care of themselves with how greasy they were looking. Odd anime like hair adorned their heads. Both were dressed in camouflaged leather, almost like what he was wearing. But unlike his leather gear, there's almost looked like that of pirates given the designs, minus the menacing looking slingers on their left arms. He heard the short, chubby one say, "Can't believe the captain and those rats are making the two of us do small animal detail while they're hunting the Lagiacrus we spotted."

"They probably thought they had all the man power that they needed to get her away from her clutch." The tall one said and it made his friend scoff. He glared when he said, "Oh, please. Dealing with an inexperienced new mom protecting her first clutch isn't something we haven't handled before."

"Well, let's just continue finding whatever critters we can and get back to the ship." The tall one suggested before applying something to his slinger. A white bird flew by them and he shot his slinger at it. A projectile launched from the slinger and a net expanded as it flew through the air. The white bird squawked in fear as the net wrapped around it before pulling it back. The avian in the net panicked and caused the net to flail around while the two chuckled from its attempt to escape. The tall man removed the net from his slinger before placing the captured bird in the net on a hook on his belt.

As he watched them, Jacob remained behind the tree, not too sure about revealing himself just yet. The way that they spoke about this Lagiacrus and what they just did with the bird didn't sit too well with him. The two men soon started to leave the area and back into the direction of the large ship and camp. Keeping quiet as best as he could, Jacob moved around the tree and followed the two through the trees. Jacob had to stop following them when they came to edge of the forest by the shore. The two men walked across the sands towards the small camp.

Jacob wasn't exactly sure how he was going to cross over after them. He decided to wait until they were a good enough distance before starting to make his way over. When he watched them make it to the tents, he kept himself low and quickly walked over. Making sure to keep his feet from kicking up the sand to avoid drawing any attention to himself Jacob made it to the outskirts of the tents. He moved to where he could use the tents as cover before glancing around to see the two men walk into another tent. Making sure that the coast was clear, Jacob started tiptoeing through the camp to get a layout of the place. He suddenly stopped when he heard the sound of a tent flap being moved and thought someone was coming out of one. And he was proven right when he heard the sounds of footsteps moving towards him.

Looking for a place to hide, Jacob rushed into one of the many tents without thinking of where he was going. He stumbled in and moved out of the way of the opening to avoid being spotted from the outside. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the teen mentally kicked himself in the rear for rushing into a camp of unknown humans in another world. But as he looked around the tent, he breathed a sigh of relief to see that there wasn't anyone inside. His eyes scrunched up from the foul smell of the tent and what he was seeing made his eyes go wide; corpses. Monster corpses of different varieties to be exact. He saw some fliers, some swimmers and some insects. One looked to be that of a juvenile Deviljho and while he did have some rough feelings about the one that caused him and his friends some grief, Jacob felt greatly sad for the youngling. Dried blood was caked up on the corpses and tables as it looked to be a place where they got cut up. This made Jacob wonder if they had gotten ahold of all these guys just today or they had been on the New World continent for a little bit.

His ears picked up some commotion coming from outside the tent. Quickly moving behind some of the tables, he dropped down and hid underneath the table that had monster parts hanging over the edge. The sand around his hands had dried speckles of blood from the corpses in the tent. It wasn't a moment later when he heard the flaps to the tent open up and a voice, greatly different from the first two men he had seen, speak, "It be great fortune that we discovered that Greatest Jagras carcass."

Jacob's eyes widened and slightly jumped when he heard something slam on the table. Figuring that it's more body parts, a new smell came to him and he guessed that it was fresher blood. He couldn't see anything from the parts obscuring his vision but dared not to move anything lest he give away that he was there. The voice then said, "The captain and the group with him will have the Lagiacrus brought in by the time our partner arrives."

"Only if those noisy hairballs are able to haul the beast in." A second voice pointed out. The first agreed by saying, "True enough. I honestly don't see how their ancestors or that of commission was able bring in beasts twice their size were able to do it."

"Mostly man power, if one thinks about it." The second voice said and Jacob assumed he was shrugging with the answer. The second voice then said, "But you remember what captain said, we need to start packing up. No doubt the Guild will be sending someone our way."

"I know. I know." The first voice said with irritation in his voice. Moving closer to the tables the first said, "Between the Lagiacrus and her brood, plus what we have here, we're liable to gather a good fortune on the black market."

"But those eggs are already spoken for." The second said, as if reminding. Then they said, "They'll be transported to the buyer for who knows what.

"What do you think they'll do with them?" He then asked, sounding a bit worried. The first voice scoffed, "Who cares? Eat them, keep them as pets or make them fight to the death somehow. They can do whatever they want with those things as long as we get paid. As for the mother, she's liable to breed just to make more."

Jacob's eyes widened to this and felt sorry for whatever this Lagiacrus could be and disgusted by the actions of this group. The voices sounded like they were leaving when the first said, "Let's go and see if we can't find one of those mangy hairballs to help us load these up."

"A see lots of blood in their future." The second voice chuckled and it made the first give a deep laugh. When he was sure that he was in the clear, Jacob got out from underneath the table. Dusting himself off, he felt like he shouldn't stick around any longer.

Carefully sticking his head out of the tent, Jacob looked around to see if anyone was coming. The sudden sound of shouting and running made him look to the left to see everyone in the camp making their way to the shore line. Curiosity compelling him yet again, Jacob carefully followed behind to see what the hullaballoo was all about. When he came to the last tent, Jacob saw a majority of what he guessed to be the crew standing before the waters of the sea. The salt water lapping at the shore as everyone watched something coming inland. Not quite seeing what it was, Jacob reached into this pack and pulled out the binoculars. When he raised them to his eyes, Jacob looked to see a small fleet of vessels heading for the shore. And while he couldn't see much of what was going on behind them, he noticed something thrashing about behind the boats.

Jacob nor the people on the beach had to wait much longer for the small fleet of vessels to come close. They started to turn around and Jacob soon found out why, the boats were tethered to something; their prize. The water continued thrashing from whatever it was and Jacob's eyes widened in amazement when a long serpentine neck shot out of the water. Jacob figured he was looking at the Lagiacrus when the beast gave a loud roar.

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Author's Note: I think I'll stop it here. Yes, the Song of the Sea is centered around Jacob and this female Lagiacrus. And I tell you now that this story arc will surpass the previous two in both number of chapters, words and twists. The next chapter will feature a bit of cosplay and meeting some potential allies. Also, please do vote. After all, two monsters on the board have now been revealed. 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 all of you next time.