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: I know that the title sounds a little out of place, but trust me, as you read it you'll understand it. And I think you guys will really like what I did.
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Chapter Thirty-Five: Up a Tree
Two days had passed since Jacob returned from his seafaring journey. He remembered what to do about the Mernos and got it to head back to the hauler and her furry crew. He slept through the rest of the night and stayed on the couch through most of the day. Only when he needed to do necessities such as eat or go to the bathroom did he get up again.
Today he decided to do things a little differently. So after about three hours of training with weapons, he thought to keep up with something else important to him. He was currently sitting on the deck of the boat and was thankful that it wasn't too windy for what he was doing. He had a deck of cards sitting before him and had a few away from the pile in a straight line. He took one from the deck, looked at it and said, "So with this trap, I can protect my guy this way."
He set the card down behind one and thought about more strategies. He was stopped when a shape flew overhead and cast a shadow over his cards. Jacob glanced back to see a shape flying off. From what he could make of it, it had blue coloring. Feeling intrigued, Jacob put the cards back together and took them downstairs before heading out.
…
When he had gotten off the boat and was running towards the shaded forest. This time he sported his Iron Katana on his back and not much else. A couple of Kestodon bellowed down at him from the bottom of the slope, but Jacob ignored them as he rounded the corner and entered the shaded forest. He looked around for the shape and saw something flying off towards the fields where he first saw the Elder Dragon with the Jagras pack. When he found himself in the fields, Jacob looked around and just barely saw the tail slip through the trees to his right. Running after it, Jacob was once again in the woods.
The sounds of screeching made him look about for a moment before he continued forward. Jacob came across a small clearing and he saw the blue shape hunched over something between some trees. He could hear the snapping of bones while quietly coming closer. When the creature lifted its head, Jacob recognized it as the blue Rathalos from the Captor. The Flying Wyvern seemed to be eating a rodent or something else small when it pulled some flesh from its meal.
Jacob figured the poor thing must have flown all the way from the poacher's ship before it started sinking and began wondering where the little fellow had come from before being captured by the bad men. His gaze lifted from the young Flying Wyvern as he ate his meal and he became worried when he saw something sneaking through the other side of the trees towards the young Azure Rathalos. The young wyvern seemed to sense the presence of the new threat and growled in its direction. When Jacob could see it better, he sat that it was an Anjanath. But then he recognized it from the Anjanath he had seen days ago that had gotten into the fight with a Red Rathalos.
The Brute Wyvern growled down at the little flier and it growled up at him. The Azure Rathalos carefully backed away from the bigger monster as it took a step closer. Jacob knew that even if the little Rath had hot flames at his disposal, his lack of poisonous talons were another story. He looked around for something to help, and his gaze landed on a log suspended in the air by vines and held back by branches. He saw that with the length of the vines, he might be able to disorient the Anjanath with the environmental weapon. Quietly climbing up into a tree and out onto the branch, Jacob carefully made his way to the log.
(Cue Tarzan vs Sabor from Tarzan)
He reached the suspended log and stood on top of it. Jacob became very worried when the Anjanath leapt at the young Rathalos and the smaller creature squawked in fright before quickly moving to get out of the way. The Brute Wyvern landed on the spot with a heavy thud and it knocked the Azure Rathalos off his feet. It tried to deter the bigger monster by blasting a fireball at it. The Anjanath stepped back from the intense flames with a yelp but didn't stay back for long as it moved around them towards the younger monster.
Seeing this as the best opportunity, Jacob unsheathed the Iron Katana and started swinging at the branches that were keeping the branch hung. The Azure Rathalos tried to take off, but a sweep of flames from the Anjanath's nostrils caused him to flinch in fear. The Brute Wyvern came closer and opened its jaws wide. Jacob finished hacking through the branches and it started swinging from its perch towards the two. He gave a yell as he held on to a vine and it made the two look up. At the last second, Jacob jumped off the log and it smacked into the Anjanath.
The Brute Wyvern was knocked off its feet by the large log when Jacob landed in front of the young Rath with his sword pointed at the bigger beast. The Anjanath flailed its legs as it lay on its side before snapping its head at the teen with a growl. Jacob glared back at it while the Azure Rathalos panted and looked up to the human in front of him. Jacob slowly moved away from the young Flying Wyvern to keep the Brute Wyvern's attention focused on him. And it worked when the Anjanath came rushing at him with its jaws open wide. Jacob moved out of the way and the Brute Wyvern ended up eating dirt when its jaw scrapped against the ground.
Jacob turned and started running and ducked down when he looked back and saw the Anjanath coming at him again. But he grabbed onto a tooth on outer jaw and was lifted off into the air. Jacob then jumped from the Anjanath's head and onto the limb of a tree. The Brute Wyvern was quick to follow as Jacob used the tree branches to try and get away. Jacob's tree way soon ran out of branches and Jacob had to jump to the ground. He landed in a crouch before looking back to see the Anjanath still on his heels.
Jacob ran up a slope and the Anjanath rushed up after him. Jacob saw an entanglement of brush up ahead and thought that it would be too small for the monster chasing him. He ducked through the brush and crawled through the brush. His chaser was stopped by the brush and Jacob moved back from it. The smell of something burning and knew he had to keep moving. Seeing a botanical slope like that of the Ancient Tree, Jacob rushed for it just as a burst of flame incinerated the brush behind him. The Anjanath came roaring through after him and saw Jacob disappearing up the slope. Narrowing its eyes in anger, the Anjanath turned to go another way.
Jacob climbed up the slope and found himself before a small dip. Carefully making his way down, Jacob kept his sword at the ready for wherever the Anjanath was going to strike. The sound of sloshing water made him look to the side to see a dam of fallen trunks just like the one at the Rath's nest. He was put on alert when the Anjanath roared from behind and turned to see it coming right at him with its jaws wide open again. With a small spin of his body, Jacob landed a long cut to the Brute Wyvern's leg. The Anjanath stumbled away while Jacob kept his sword pointed at the beast. A quick look to the bleeding mark made the Anjanath look to Jacob with a deep growl, with which the teen answered with a snarl of his own.
The two started circling each other as they waited for the right time to strike. Jacob was put on the defensive when the Anjanath lunged forward again. But he was knocked off his feet when the bigger creature knocked into him with a hip bump. Jacob glared up at the Anjanath as he got back onto his feet. But the Anjanath didn't let him stay up for long as he swatted the human away with his tail. Jacob ended up dropping his Iron Katana in the process.
Jacob became worried at the loss of his weapon. He looked back to see the Anjanath coming towards him again and moved to get out of the way. Jacob backed against the dam and glanced up. An idea started to form in his mind just as the Anjanath came at him again. But when it tried swinging its head again, Jacob quickly removed his carving knife from its sheath and swung it. The weapon managed to cut the arm of the beast and it seemed to cause it great pain when he reeled back.
Jacob grew worried again when a spurt of flame was seen in its mouth. But he couldn't move just yet as he waited for the right moment. After taking a few steps back, the Anjanath lowered its head and rushed at the human. Jacob jumped out of the way at the last moment and the Brute Wyvern's skull collided with the dam. Jacob allowed himself to roll down the hill and he stopped next to his dropped sword. But just as he grabbed it and stood up again, a shove of the Anjanath's head knocked him a few feet away and he landed on his back.
(End of track)
Jacob looked up in worry to the Brute Wyvern standing over him. But before it could attack him again, they both froze when they heard the sound of creaking behind the latter. The Anjanath looked back with a startled just as the dam burst and a flood of water came towards the two. Jacob braced himself as the water washed over the two of them. The Anjanath yelped as the rushing water knocked it off its feet and it pushed the two of them towards an edge. Jacob tried to do his best from going over, but in the end, both he and the Anjanath fell over the side.
The boy screamed while the Brute Wyvern roared in a panic from the fall. Jacob turned his head and saw a large body of water quickly coming up. He saw some trees and twisted his body before using his grappling hook to catch himself. He swung in the air while the Anjanath crashed into the water below him with a large splash.
The Brute Wyvern was still alive from the fall as it thrashed about in the water. It groaned in pain as it tried to get back up. Giving that the Anjanath didn't sink, Jacob figured that the water wasn't too deep and thought about coming down. But before he could even think about getting his grappling hook free from the tree, he spotted a shape moving through the deeper section of the water. Jacob yelped when the grappling hook suddenly came loose and fell into the water not too far from the Anjanath.
Landing face first with a big splash, Jacob spluttered as he sat up and spat any remaining water out of his mouth. He stood up with a groan just as the Brute Wyvern managed to find its footing as well. The theropod looked to him with a growl and Jacob held the sword up, ready to defend himself. But his attention was stolen when the shape quickly came through the water towards them. And just as the Anjanath started to lunge for the boy, a shape suddenly burst out of the water next to them. A large set of jaws grabbed a hold of the Brute Wyvern's throat, causing it to roar in pain. When he saw a large bite mark on the Leviathan's shoulder, the teen instantly recognized her from the other day. Jacob was greatly surprised to see the Lagiacrus here as he stared up at her in awe. The Anjanath continued to roar as the Lagiacrus lifted it up and shook the helpless creature around like a rag doll. Then with a twist of her head, she slammed the Anjanath hard against the floor of the pond and Jacob winced when he heard the sounds of bones breaking. The Anjanath dangled in her jaws when the Leviathan raised her head. With another twist of her head, the Lagiacrus threw the lifeless body of the Anjanath across the pond. Throwing back her head she gave a loud roar of victory.
Jacob became worried when the Lagiacrus turned her head towards him with a low growl. He slowly placed the Iron Katana and held up his hands to show her that he didn't want any trouble. It seemed to do the trick as her growling stopped. The Lagiacrus lowered her head to his level and looked him right in the eyes. Jacob did his best to remain calm as she stared at him, not breaking contact. It was then that he happened to notice that the same look he had seen when she killed the captain of the Captor was still there. He gingerly reached a hand forward towards her snout.
The Lagiacrus snapped her head back with a growl and a worried Jacob brought his hand back. The Leviathan turned and moved towards the deeper part of the pond. She started to sink deeper, and just before she dived down, the Lagiacrus glanced back to the human. Jacob watched the Lagiacrus dive down into the depths of the pond and swim away. The waters of the pond became still and he figured that she was gone. With a sigh, Jacob started the long trek back to the boat.
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Author's Note: Man, I'm really getting this story done. And yes, I based this chapter on the World Prototype. It just seemed to fit into the story so well. We're still not done with the Song of the Sea arc. We've still got some chapters to go through before we move on. 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 all next time.