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 is going to start with a dream. After that, we go into the desert. I also hate what's going to happen in this chapter.

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Chapter Forty-Three: Mystery of the Wildspire Wastes

Jacob spent the rest of the evening with the Jagras pack and crashed with them in their cave. The pile was greatly different this time as it was all four girls covering him while the boys outlined the pile while he himself had his back propped up against the wall. But while the Jagras were all sleeping peacefully, Jacob was once again visited by an odd dream. His head slightly twitched against the wall of the cave as his dream came to him.

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Jacob's Dream…

Jacob found himself standing outside of a cave. Sand covered the ground and extended into the cave. The sound of growling made him look around, but he didn't see anything. This growl was greatly different than anything that he's ever heard before. As if part of a cutscene from a videogame, Jacob found himself pulled into the cave. Looking around, he saw a Diablos sleeping in the middle of the cavern. And it wasn't just one, another laid by its side. Jacob didn't understand the dream, but the growling came from overhead and saw a shape clinging to the ceiling. He yelled in fright when the thing lunged down with its fangs wide open. The last thing he heard in the dream was the sound of frightful cries.

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Jacob jolted awake and it caused the girl Jagras to tumble off his body and onto the boys. The nine of them were confused while the human teen looked about the cave. He took deep breaths before looking to the Jagras. He offered his apology, "Sorry. Scary dream."

He wanted to try and go back to sleep, but his dream continued to nag at him. Getting up onto his feet, Jacob grabbed his stuff and decided to head out. The Jagras growled after him and it made the human teen stop. He looked back and said, "Sorry to run off, but I think that there's something going on in the east.

"I have a feeling I need to head that way." He said with a determined look before leaving the cave. The Jagras looked to each other before scurrying after their packmate.

…

Jacob and the Jagras pack all walked through the shaded forest towards the area with the small opening that would get Jacob to the desert pretty quickly. He could hear the Jagras all lightly growling behind him. The teen wouldn't mind them coming with him, but he knew that they wouldn't really like the desert area. Jacob wouldn't hold that against them as they entered the spot. They all looked around for potential danger. When they didn't see anything, they relaxed and Jacob moved towards the opening. But before he entered, he felt something tugging onto his pack and looked to see Juni trying to make him stay. Jacob smiled and knelt down to the Jagras when the Fanged Wyvern let go. Lightly brushing his hand against the youngest member's head, "Everything will be okay, Juni. I'll come back."

Juni responded to this by rubbing his head against Jacob and the teen wrapped his arms around the Jagras' neck. The other eight joined them and swarmed around the two. The human ended the embrace by standing up and walking towards the opening. After climbing up, Jacob looked back to the nine before slipping into the tunnel. On the other side of the clearing, a pair of eyes had also seen the boy's departure to the desert.

…

Jacob hadn't realized how much he had missed the desert when he felt the cool air hit his skin when he left the tunnel. He made his way through the waterfall and up onto the bridge before the rock tower. After a small walk and a tiring climb, Jacob found himself standing on his rock tower that could see a lot in the Wastes. He couldn't see a lot right now because it was dark. Though he felt that something was off about the desert, he couldn't help but notice how peaceful it seemed during the night. Deciding to rest a little more and start again when morning came about, Jacob sat against a rock and let himself fall asleep again.

…

While he didn't mind the dryness of the desert, Jacob remembered that he didn't care to wake up hot and sweaty in the morning. Getting up and stretching his arms, the teen looked around for anything out of the ordinary. While the swamps and marshes to the south didn't seem to have anything odd, the north was a different story. From his spot on the tower, Jacob could see a large collection of birds circling around a spot a good deal past Nana and Valiantops' den. Pulling out his binoculars, Jacob lifted them up and looked to see what was going on. From what he was seeing, they were scavenger birds and there was a great number of them.

Jacob knew that it wasn't an entirely good idea to go that deep into Diablos territory, but the thought of his dream really nagged at his brain. Making his way down the tower, he planned to check whatever it was out. When he reached the bottom of the tower, Jacob decided to eat a little of his rations while going on his way.

Reaching the edge before the cactus grove, Jacob looked for any signs of Nana Diabla or Valiantops or any other Diablos in the area. Having a feeling that it was safe for him, Jacob continued on his way. Reaching the dunes that surrounded the Grand Spire, the teen pulled out his binoculars to see how much further his destination was. The birds were still circling behind the Grand Spire and Jacob hurried across the sands to get his investigation done.

Never once did Jacob feel the sand stirring beneath his feet as he ran towards the large flock of birds. He stopped on top of a sand dune when he found his destination. A large mound of rock that had sand along the sides. And like a gaping maw on the south east corner of the mound was a large cave entrance. He saw some of the birds descending towards the mouth of the cave and making their way inside. Knowing it best to remain on guard, Jacob removed his Iron Katana from its scabbard and made his way to the opening.

Slowly approaching the entrance, the birds lingering outside squawked in surprise at the human's arrival and took off with a flap of their wings. As he came up to the opening, Jacob smelt something like rotting meat coming from inside. Holding his sword at the ready, Jacob carefully leaned to look inside the cave. He didn't see anything moving and kept the sword at the ready as he made his way inside. The inside of the cave was eerily quiet, for not a sound other than the human's footsteps could be heard. There were a few holes in the ceiling that allowed both light and sand to fall into the cave. There were still many of the scavenging birds in the cave and Jacob was about to scare them off when the sounds of heavy foot falls caused them to look around. When they looked in Jacob's direction, they squawked in alarm before taking flight and Jacob covered his face as they flew past him.

The fleeing scavenger birds were soon gone and Jacob became greatly worried about the owner of the foot falls. Keeping his sword at the ready, Jacob quickly turned around to face the cave. It was then he saw two shapes standing there and relaxed a little when he saw that it was Nana Diabla and Valiantops. When the two Diablos saw the boy standing there, Nana walked up to him with Valiantops keeping back. The elder Diablos came to a stop a few feet from the teen and nodded her great horned head. Jacob returned the nod with his own and said, "I see we're investigating the large collection of scavenger birds.

"Perhaps they were the result of my dream last night." He wondered as he looked about the cave. This made Nana tilt her head and Jacob told her, "I think there's something off about this cave.

"The smell. Almost like blood." He described before moving around. As he came around a small dune, Jacob looked to his left and saw a couple of shapes laying in a heap on the floor. Nana moved to where she could see before giving a growl to Valiantops. Her right talon wyvern quickly made his way towards them.

(Cue Quest Failed from Monster Hunter World)

Jacob and the two Diablos moved over to the shapes and found themselves before a couple of lifeless Diablos. Jacob felt as if this pair was familiar to him and his mind drifted back to months back, during their rescue of the eggs. This was one set of parents from that time. He looked up to see the two growling worriedly to one another. Looking around the cave, Jacob wondered where the young wyverns could be. The sound of tearing flesh made him look towards a rock not too far from them. Slowly approaching the rock, Jacob looked over it to see a horrifying sight. A lone scavenger bird was picking at a partially eaten baby Diablos. The baby was missing its right wing, the shoulder connecting to the wing and a pool of blood stained the sand around it. And laying not too far was its sibling, looking like it had died from something else. Jacob shook his head at the sight. With a quick wave of his sword he scared the bird with a, "Ha!"

The scavenger bird squawked before taking flight after the rest of its flock. Jacob shook his distraught head and asked as he placed his weapon back in the scabbard, "What could have done this?"

(End of track)

A small growl made him look back to see Nana Diabla and Valiantops over looking the bodies of the parents. He cast one last glance at the two young wyverns before moving to join his friends. Looking over the bodies, Jacob saw that like the one baby, they had died of some bad wounds. And these were from bite marks that looked like they came from something with a wide mouth, a lot wider than a Diablos. Jacob scratched his chin when he noticed, "No puncture marks besides bites.

"A few light scratches from claws, like from the feet." He guessed when he saw a few gashes on one's side. But the gashes looked like they were caused by only two claws.

Jacob looked around for anymore clues and found something a good deal away from the bodies. What looked like oddly round toes with one really short, he could only guess that this was the perpetrator. Looking to the two Diablos he waved, "There are tracks going this way."

He moved after the tracks with the two behind him. The tracks went towards a back door in the cavern. The opening was on a small ledge and Jacob happened to notice something odd on the wall above the entrance. Resheathing his sword, Jacob then lifted his slinger arm up to a spot above and fired the grappling hook. It sailed before becoming embedded into the rock. Jacob zipped up into the air until he was level with what he was seeing. It looked like the odd bite marks that were found on the Diablos parents. Jacob didn't know what to make of it. But when the sound of cracking made him look up, Jacob grimaced as he didn't like what he was seeing. The rock his grappling hook was embedded in was starting to give. He started to say, "Oh-"

But he didn't get to finish when the grappling hook came loose and he fell to the ground. Lucky for him, he had friends to watch his back as Valiantops quickly moved to catch the teen on his back. Jacob landed a little hard and wheezed from how hard he smacked against the scales. He carefully slid off of the Diablos back and he wobbled a moment when his feet touched the sand. Pointing to the sand wyvern he took a deep breath before saying, "Thanks."

He then looked down and saw the tracks continuing out of the cave. Jacob followed them out with Valiantops close behind. After exiting the cave and going an extra few yards from the structure, the footprints stop. Both the teen and the Diablos looked around for any other tracks belonging to the mystery creature, but did not see anything. With a sigh, Jacob wondered aloud, "What will we do about the family.

"I'd rather not leave them for those scavengers." He shook his head. The teen looked back when Valiantops turned back towards the cave and went inside. But before disappearing inside, he looked back to the boy and motioned for Jacob to follow. The human quickly ran after the wyvern and found Nana Diabla gently pushing the bodies of the parents together. A low growl made him look up to Valiantops and the Sand Wyvern looked to where the two younglings laid. Getting an idea on how to help them, Jacob jumped down from the ledge and moved towards the hatchlings.

Doing his best to lift the poor young wyvern without doing anymore damage, Jacob carried the one missing its wings over to the parents. He strained to keep a good grip on the small creature as it hung limply in his arms. Nana Diabla had left a little space between the mother and father and Jacob had a feeling that he was to put the hatchlings between them, to make them look whole in a way. Setting the baby down between the two bigger Diablos, he moved to get the second hatchling.

After the last baby had been put down next to its sibling, between the two parents, Jacob took a step back. Nana Diabla gave a small push with her wing and Jacob moved back even further. He climbed up the small ledge and turned around. He watched an incredible sight unfold before him. Both Nana Diabla and Valiantops started to burrow into the sand. But they didn't fully submerge as they started to circle around the family of four. The sands started shifting the faster the two of them went around. Soon the two fully submerged, and the four Diablos started to sink underneath the shifting sands. As he watched, Jacob couldn't help but shed a tear for the family. It didn't take much longer for the four Diablos, cruelly taken from the world, to sink beneath the sands. Only when they were fully buried beneath did Nana Diabla and Valiantops burst out of the sand a good deal where the family was buried.

When he felt that it was okay to come down, Jacob slipped off the ledge and walked to the spot where the four had been buried. The two Diablos moved to stand beside him and they looked at the spot for a moment. Nana Diabla and Valiantops were the first two to leave as Jacob remained behind for a moment. He placed his hands together and bowed his head. With a heavy heart he said, "May you find peace in the next life. And may He watch over you."

Jacob then turned to leave with the two Diablos. The three exited the cave and didn't look back once. But had they, they would have noticed a three toed foot with sharp talons stomp into the cave.

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Author's Note: And I think I'll end the chapter here. I do apologize about the Diablos family, and know that I didn't want to do it. I bet you're all wondering about the newcomer at the end, but I won't be telling anything right now. You'll have to wait and see. And great news; I have beaten Shara Ishvalda and have made it to the Guiding Lands. I am so excited. 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.