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: And now we begin the next story arc, the New Friends. And this arc actually consists of a few mini arcs, each with a new friend made. The first one is with our mystery monster from the end of the fight with the Khezu.
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Chapter Forty-Seven: Blades of the Desert
It was a few hours after the sun had risen when Jacob and Grumper woke up from their slumber. The human was woken up when the Anjanath gave a yawn before moving to get up. Jacob sat up as well and dusted the sand off of him. He looked around and saw that neither Nana nor Valiantops had gotten up quite yet. He did see the corpse of that mysterious beast still laying where it had died. Jacob grimaced a little at the sight of the dried blood at the stump of the creature's neck and where it's head was.. The Anjanath quickly turned to head for the entrance on the west side of the lair. Jacob looked to the entrance to the falling sands chamber and wondered if the two Diablos had woken up yet. A small growl from Grumper made him look over to the Anjanath. The Brute Wyvern was looking back to him and was waiting for Jacob to join him and the human moved a little closer. Gently placing a hand on the Anjanath's side, Jacob told him, "You go on, Grumper. I'll see you back in the Ancient Forest."
Grumper didn't look so sure, but decided to go on. The human teen watched his friend exit the cave and walk up the hill. But the Brute Wyvern gave a small groan and looked back to his friend once more. When the Anjanath disappeared from sight, Jacob turned back towards the corpse of the mysterious monster. He moved back to where he could see the mark on its hip. He wasn't able to look at the marking for long as thudding footsteps made him look back to see Valiantops and Nana Diabla coming out of the falling sands chamber. They looked around and Jacob said, "He went back home.
"And I'll be leaving myself too." He added and moved away from the body. He watched as Valiantops moved closer to the headless body. The Diablos lowered his head and slid his horns underneath the corpse. He did his best to use his horns to lift the headless body off the ground. It looked quite awkward as the lifeless limbs dangled in the air and the body looked like it was going to fall off. Valiantops moved towards the opening and moved his horns and its cargo over the edge. With a tilt of his head, the Diablos let the body of the mysterious creature fall over the edge. Jacob heard it smack into rocks on the way down. There were a few more smacks before it stopped. The teen thought that either the body was too far down to be heard or it had reached the bottom.
A small groan made him look up to Nana Diabla and Jacob gently placed a hand on her wing. He gave an understanding nod, "It's okay.
"And thanks for having mine and Grumper's backs last night." He gratefully said. She responded in kind by wrapping a wing around him and pulling the teen close to her. Jacob gave a small laugh as he placed a hand on the side of her head. When she let him go, Jacob looked over to Valiantops who only gave the teen a small nod of his head. The teen collected his things and placed them back on his person.
"I'll try to visit again." Jacob promised and made his way out of the lair. He reached the opening and looked back to the two. Both Nana Diabla and Valiantops gave the human boy small growls as if saying they were wishing him well. Jacob returned it with a nod of his own before turning to continue on his way.
…
Instead of heading for the tunnel immediately, Jacob had decided to take the opportunity to climb up the rock tower. When he reached the top, Jacob sat down and pressed his back against the stone wall. With a sigh he said, "It's calm moments like these that I learn to appreciate."
And with the calm moment, Jacob thought back to the marking on the beast, and thought back to both the Captor and the Argosy. He knew that it was all connected somehow, but couldn't quite fit the pieces together. The boy frowned as he didn't know how they all tied to each other. He thought that maybe if Floot were to send another message to him he would ask. But for now he would try to wait to see about a way home or to keep surviving until the day.
With a small shake of his head, he pushed those thoughts away for the moment. He remained on the tower for another few minutes before deciding to head back home. The teen climbed down the tower and entered the small passage that would take him to the bridge before the tunnel back home.
When he reached the spot where the waterfall sat before the tunnel, Jacob happened to notice something on the rock wall across the bridge. He moved to go and see what it is. As soon as he stood before the wall, it looked like a horizontal slash had cut through the rock and he could smell as if something had been burnt.
Getting a bit of a bad feeling about this marking, Jacob looked down for more signs and gasped when he saw a large, three toed footprint. It didn't look like an Anjanath's, nor did it look like a Deviljho's either. It looked to be a new monster of some sort, given the smaller shape and how it looks a lot neater. And one that could slash by the looks of the mark on the wall. The burning smell came from ahead and Jacob moved to go and see what it was. But had he been looking behind him, Jacob would have noticed something big lurking in the shadows of the south opening to the forest area.
Coming to the area where the first desert camp was, he found a smoldering corpse of an Apceros lying on the path that lead to the marshes. From where Jacob stood, he could see the shell of the herbivore had a few slash marks on the side and some flesh was missing from the middle. Not wanting to be here should whatever did this was to come back through, Jacob turned and hightailed it back towards the bridge.
But when he ran onto the stone bridge and looked towards the tunnel, he gasped when he came face to face with the new beast. This new creature, a Brute Wyvern, looked to be very dinosaur-like in posture. It had dark red scales covering its body. Two rows of blue, bony plates run along its back, going from the eyes to the tail. Its underside is more of a cream color. It's head, having horns like the back plates, kind of reminded him of a Carnotaur like from that one movie. And even from where he was standing, Jacob could see the beast's tail and was very surprised to see that it looked like a giant sword that was the same color as its back plates. The beast was currently sitting on one of the big, flat rocks in the middle of the stream and had its eyes closed. It's sides moved from the steady breathing.
(Cue Scorching Blade: World Version from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne)
Thinking that it would be best to leave and try the tunnel again later, Jacob tried to sneak across the bridge. But he hadn't taken but a couple of steps forward when a low growl made him stop. The human slowly looked towards the Brute Wyvern and now saw its eyes open. The creature with the sword for a tail slowly rose off the rock. The large, bladed tail swished from side to side as it looked up at the worried human.
Jacob nervously looked between the beast and the opening that wasn't but a few feet from him. The teen was about to start running when a sudden fireball to the wall made him jump back. The intense heat made him back away a few feet. When he was back at the beginning of the rock bridge, Jacob looked back to the beast who was getting agitated a bit as it had taken a stance. Seeing that he didn't have much of a choice, Jacob reached for the sword hilt. When his fingers wrapped around the weapon, the beast seemed to grow more excited as it gave a loud roar.
Though still worried about this confrontation, Jacob pulled the sword out of the scabbard and held it at the ready position. The teen was wishing that he had gone with Grumper or at least had a way of getting to the Diablos for help. The large beast turned its body to where both its head and bladed tail were pointed at its smaller foe. Above them, a small bird cried out before flying away. The fiery beast used this as a signal to start the fight when it gave another roar and charged right for Jacob. The teen quickly moved out of the way of the beast's open maw and turned to swing his sword. The sword scrapped against one of the beast's horns but didn't faze the wyvern much.
Jacob quickly went on the defensive when the Brute Wyvern turned its head and tried to bite at him. He counted himself lucky that the teeth missed him when he moved out of the way. The human smacked the broad side of his shield arm against the beast's head and it seemed to disorient the creature for the moment. Jacob took the opportunity try and make a run for the tunnel. But just when his feet splashed into the water, he was quickly stopped when the bladed tail slammed down in the water before him. The teen turned around to see the beast giving him an unamused look.
Jacob ducked down when the bladed tail tilted as it was swung at him. He jumped backwards to avoid being stomped on and scooted backwards when the creature moved towards him. After managing to get up again, Jacob held his sword at the ready and swung it at the beast. But the fiery Brute Wyvern managed to block his sword with its bladed tail before pushing the teen backwards. Jacob stumbled backwards and twisted his body to avoid the beast's tail when it stabbed the appendage forward. The teen then held the blade with the tip forward and lunged forward. The Brute Wyvern moved to where the blade merely scraped against the plates on its back.
Jacob was defenseless against a swift hip bump from the creature and ended up falling onto his back. The action caused his sword to fall out of his hands and it landed with a clatter. With a pained groan he sat up and looked up to his adversary. He became very surprised to see that the fiery wyvern stood over him, but didn't move to attack him again. Jacob was greatly confused by this and when he got up, the creature looked to where his sword was laying. It then gestured for him to go to it.
Very slowly, Jacob reached down and picked up the blade. The creature repeated its stance from a moment ago. The teen did the same and the Brute Wyvern was the first to make a move by turning its body and swiping its tail at him. Jacob moved back to avoid the sharp appendage before moving to swing the sword again. Once again, the wyvern managed to move its sword tail to block his weapon.
Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere trying to fight it, Jacob planned on changing tactics a bit. He ducked under another swing and used his hand to dig into his pouch. He managed to pull out a Flash Bug and applied it to his slinger. Quickly backing up, he fired it at point blank and closed his eyes. He heard a startled yelp from the beast and opened his eyes a little. The new monster waved its head wildly around and Jacob took the moment to start running for the direction of the camp.
The fiery monster heard the sound of him running when it turned its head in his direction. Jacob had made it past the rocks and to more open space when he looked back. He gasped when the beast came running even though still blinded and watched as it leapt into the air. The human stopped short as the beast managed to twist its body to where it slammed its bladed tail on the ground. The appendage seemed to get stuck in the ground for a moment and Jacob moved to start running again. But before he could even think about going back, a fireball landed before him and he turned back to face the Brute Wyvern as it shook its head to clear its vision.
The beast was no longer blinded and looked ready to continue the fight with him. Jacob held the sword with both hands and kept the blade pointed at the fiery wyvern. The monster surprised him yet again by twisting its tail around and catching the bladed appendage in its mouth. Jacob winced from the loud scraping sound as the beast pulled the bladed tail across its teeth. He became worried as the blade started to glow red and he could smell as if it were burning a little. He was knocked off his feet by the wind created when the monster pulled its tail out with a spin of its body. As he laid on the ground, Jacob was glad that nothing had been cut by the maneuver. He got back onto his feet and readied the sword as the beast unleashed another of its roars.
Growing really worried about this, Jacob was really put on the defensive when the Brute Wyvern swung the still heated tail at him. The heat from the bladed tail and the fight was really making the boy sweat. With a twist of his body, Jacob swung his sword and the maneuver made the beast lift its leg to avoid getting cut. The blade ended up scraping against the ground and leaving a small mark. The human was quick to follow up by rushing forward and using his shield arm to hit the monster in the jaw. Though it wasn't a hard blow to do much damage, it did make the beast stumble back a bit. Jacob kept it on the defense this time by coming closer and swinging his sword in wide arcs. Jacob was quick to tuck and roll to the side when the beast tried to get another hip bump in. Turning as he rose to his feet, the human tried to slash at his larger opponent but it moved its head back to avoid being cut.
Jacob quickly moved around the monster when it tried to take a bite out of him. When he turned to face his opponent again, he had to quickly move out of the way to avoid another bite coming his way. The human suddenly found himself on the defensive when the beast started swinging its tail at him. He barely managed to block the heated tail's strikes with either his own sword or the shield and was forced back with each strike.
It wasn't long when Jacob's foot scraped against the edge of a small drop. He looked back to see the ground but a few feet from him. He thought that he could drop down and try to get away, but felt like this monster wouldn't give him a moment's peace even if he did escape. A growl made him look back to his foe to see the Brute Wyvern slowly moving to the side. Holding his blade at the ready, Jacob wondered if this next attack would be it. The beast leapt into the air and twisted its body before slamming its tail down in front of the teen. The impact created a small explosion and Jacob cried out while trying to shield himself from the intense heat. Combined with his exhaustion from the fight, the heat from the small blast over took him and caused the boy to lose consciousness. Jacob started to fall backwards just as the beast's tail fully stopped glowing.
(End of track)
But just as his sword fell from his hand and he was about to fall off the edge, the beast was quick to turn its body and catch the boy in its jaws. Jacob grimaced from feeling the teeth against his skin, but blacked out and went limp. The Bladed Tail Wyvern looked to the human held in its maw before looking down at the sword lying on the ground. The creature waited a moment or two for its tail to finish cooling before bringing the appendage around. When it felt that it was safe, it opened its jaws enough to allow Jacob to fall onto the broad side of its appendage. It had to fight to keep Jacob from sliding off and it felt slight discomfort trying to keep its tail in the position for the boy to lay there. Knowing that it didn't have long, the wyvern leaned down and grabbed the Iron Katana in its jaws before walking off to Lord only knows where.
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Author's Note: Yes, the first monster to become friends with Jacob in this arc is a Glavenus. I understand that you must be asking, what does this fiery wyvern have in store for our young friend? But you'll have to find out in the next chapter. The whole carrying Jacob on his tail was my idea. I know that it wouldn't really do something like that, but I thought it was a nice touch. I'm gonna try to make the smaller arcs last up to between three or five chapters, six at most. And you know something, as I was reading over my prologue, I kind of wish that I had added more monsters to the little game. But I can't turn back the clock and might do something later. 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.