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 I didn't say this in the last chapter, but I do apologize for being gone for so long. But I did work on this and the next couple of chapters. And I'm actually pretty happy with how they turned out.

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Chapter 57: Poacher's Defeat

Jacob watched in horror as Zeus fell to the ground after taking a bullet for him. The Zinogre gave a pained whine while the wound on his shoulder bled pretty bad. Knowing that he needed to hurry and end this fight, the human from another world turned his attention back to Tarkin. The poacher kept his smug gaze between him, Boltia and the Jagras pack as they gathered closer to him.

Tightening his grip on his Dual Blades, Jacob rushed forward with a yell to attack the poacher. Tarkin prepared himself for the incoming teen as he tried to prepare another round for his large weapon. But Jacob threw one of his blades at him and it made Tarkin use the bow gun to deflect the weapon. The blade bounced off with a clang and fell to the ground with a clatter. Jacob quickly took the opportunity to drop down and slide right by Tarkin. With his remaining blade in hand he delivered a slash to the man's leg. Tarkin screamed from the cut and fought to keep on his feet. Getting back onto his feet Jacob said, "That was for Zeus."

"Why you little-" Tarkin started to say as he turned around to face the boy. But Jacob quickly stopped him with a fist to the face. The punch made Tarkin's head snap back and he stumbled back a bit. With a growl he raised the weapon to try and hit Jacob with the butt of the bow gun. Jenna, Juno, Joss and Jess all rushed forward to attack the poacher. Jenna lunge for the man's wounded leg with her jaws wide and clamped down hard on the appendage. The poacher let out a scream while the other three females bit down on his other leg and both arms.

Seeing the perfect opportunity, Jacob placed his blade on back, moved forward and grabbed the bow gun with both hands. The two entered a bit of a tug of war, but Tarkin was unable to keep his grip on the weapon as the teen ripped it from his hands. Jacob backed away with the weapon in his grasp. With bloodshot eyes and a pretty insane look on his face, Tarkin yelled as he managed to throw both Joss and Jess from his bloodied arms before grabbing Juno and ripping her off his leg. With a glare to Jenna he kicked her off and she scrambled to get away from the poacher. Tarkin then turned his attention to Jacob who was holding the bow gun at him. Tarkin looked around the remaining Fanged Wyverns and saw that they were keeping their distance. With a half grin the poacher questioned, "So, either you're going to kill me with my weapon, or your little pets are going to finish me off."

"They're not pets. They're my friends." Jacob said with a glare at the poacher. He then looked at the bow gun in his hands. Pointing the barrel at the weapon at the poacher he said, "Killing you would seem like the best solution. But I don't think I'd be the one to do it."

His gaze was stolen to movement behind Tarkin. Lowering the weapon towards the ground, Jacob took a step back as he shook his head, "But like I told your captain on the night that he died, this isn't really something that's up to me."

His words seemed to confuse Tarkin for a second until a large shadow fell over the poacher. Slowly turning around he found himself face to face with the Rajang that he had captured and tortured into his services. The man became very frightened judging from his breathing while Boltia and the Jagras pack gathered around Jacob. The Rajang reared up on its back legs, beat on its chest with its fists and lets loose an angry roar in the man's face. Tarkin let out a scream of terror and tried to run away. But he hadn't taken a single step when the Fanged Beast grabbed a hold of his leg. The man gave a frightened yelp as he was yanked off his feet before the Rajang started to slam him against the ground multiple times. Tarkin cried out in pain each time his body was smashed against the dirt. On the final slam, the ape-like monster released its grip on the human. Tarkin gasped in pain from the abuse he received and tried to crawl away to save himself. But he didn't go but a few inches when the Rajang stepped on one of his legs. This earned an agonizing scream from the poacher. The sound of snapping bones made Jacob and the Fanged Wyverns shutter. On the ground and breathing heavily, Tarkin shakily looked behind him in fear as the Rajang started to raise its fists into the air. Jacob, Boltia and the Jagras pack could only watch as the Fanged Beast brought its large fists down on the beaten man. The snapping of bones and pained screams sounded when the blows from the Rajang's fists connected with Tarkin's body. The Rajang repeated its fatal pounding and Jacob winced for each one.

After the final slam of its fists, the Rajang ceased its violent acts and panted as it stepped away from the unmoving poacher. Jacob could only stare at the bloody mess Tarkin had been turned into. But his gaze rose up to the Rajang when the Fanged Beast turned its attention to them. The eleven remained on their guard as it looked over each of them with narrowed eyes. The ape-like monster's gaze fell upon Jacob and softened a bit, though there was still some anger left. With a roar the Fanged Beast turned and ran off into the Ancient forest, going who knows where.

With the danger of Tarkin now passed, Jacob and the ten Fanged Wyverns around him were able to breathe a little easier. The sound of pained whimpering made the human teen look back to see Zeus still laying there on the ground. Turning to the Zinogre, Jacob ran to be by his side. When he was next to the Thunder Wolf Wyvern's head he knelt down and fearfully asked, "Zeus?"

The Zinogre scrunched up his eyes for a moment before opening them to look at Jacob. He gave a small groan before closing them again. The human teen turned his attention to Zeus' wound. The bullet had grazed the wolf-like monster's shoulder and it still bleed pretty badly. Knowing that he needed to do something before Zeus bled out, Jacob moved a little closer to look at it. He could see that the round from the Bow Gun weapon still embedded, but didn't look too deep in there. But he knew that he couldn't take it out just yet, or Zeus really would bleed out.

Taking a deep breath to keep himself calm to help his friend, Jacob tried to think of something to put on the wound after removing the bullet. But he could barely think straight when the leaves of the trees from the other side of the river started rustling from strong winds. But when he looked in the direction of those trees, an idea came to mind. Looking back to Zeus he promised his friend, "I'll be right back."

He took off running to the first Ancient Forest camp. The human splashed through the river before making it to the other bank. Jacob kept running for the camp and all the while hoped that his plan would work. Coming into the camp he went straight for the tent. Grabbing the fabric of the tent he pulled it down. The poles fell to the ground with a clatter while Jacob took a step back. He inspected it and saw that only a few spots had fungus and were raggedy. He found that the rest would be quite useful to him. Taking out the carving knife, Jacob started to cut long strips of the fabric. When he had all that he needed, Jacob gathered it all together in his arms. Knowing that he needed to hurry, the teen quickly ran back to the river.

Emerging from the trees he saw Zeus still laying there on the ground. But now Boltia, Jupiter, Jenna, Juno, Julius, Joss, Jess, Junker, Jumpa and Juni were all surrounding him. A little relieved that they weren't attacking him or each other, Jacob once again ran through the river. Making his way to the injured Zinogre, he placed the cut up strips of fabric on the ground. Turning his attention to the wound, he saw that blood still flowed from it and it made him a little nervous. Taking a deep breath the teen reached up to the wound. But when the gloved hands barely touched the Thunder Wolf Wyvern's wounded shoulder, Zeus tensed up with a growl. The action made the human lower his hands again.

Jacob wondered what he was going to do when a few Thunder Bugs suddenly flew out of the Zinogre's fur. The insects landed on Jacob's gloves and he watched as they started to spark with electricity. The human was amazed that the lightning didn't move past the gloves to the rest of him, but he shook those thoughts away to focus on the task at hand. Jacob lifted his hands to the Zinogre again and the lightning lightly danced on the Thunder Wolf Wyvern's scales and fur and he didn't tense up when the human touched him again. Taking a deep breath as he did his best to get a grip on the round, Jacob prepared himself to pull it out. But just as he started to tug on the round to pull it out, Zeus gave a pained yelp that startled the human. He moved as if he were trying to get away from what was causing him more pain.

Deciding to treat it like he would a Band-aid, Jacob gripped it as best as he could before giving it a good tug. The round popped out of the Zinogre's flesh, earning a pained yelp from the Fanged Wyvern, making Jacob jump a little. Dropping the round as the lightning from the Thunder Bugs subsided he needed to get to work on the next part. Wiping what blood that stained his gloves on the ground, Jacob turned and picked up the fabric of the cut up tent. Holding the fabric in one hand, he used his free one to rummage around his pack to pull out a Healing Potion. With his teeth he opened the vial and poured a good bit of the content onto the tent fabric.

"Here we go." Jacob said to himself and raised the cut up fabric to the wound. When the portion with the potion on it touched the bullet wound, Zeus gave a howl of pain and tried to move away. Jacob started to worry about what to do, but a small screech from Boltia made him look to her. The Tobi-Kadachi rushed forward and used her forelimbs to do her best to pin the Zinogre in place. Knowing that he needed to act quickly, Jacob stepped up to the struggling Thunder Wolf Wyvern and placed the cut up fabric onto the wound again. It made Zeus tense up and try to move again, but thanks to Boltia he couldn't get away as easily. Keeping one hand on the fabric against the wound, Jacob did his best to wrap the rest around the Zinogre's forelimb. Once it had been fully wrapped around the wound, he tied the ends into a knot and tightened it a little. The pressure caused Zeus to give a pained yelp. The teen from another world was quick to offer his Zinogre friend, "Sorry about that, Zeus."

Looking over the bandage, Jacob could only hope that it would hold out for a good while. He wasn't sure if Zeus would be able to walk for a while because of the shoulder wound. The teen took a step back when the Thunder Wolf Wyvern tried to get up onto his paws. But when he tried to put weight on his injured limb, Zeus let out a pained yelp and fell back down.

Deciding that he needed to help, Jacob moved forward to the wyvern and used what strength he had to help Zeus at least stand up. The teen only hopped that the Zinogre wouldn't fall on him and crush him. The Zinogre had a look of pride in his eyes when he looked down at the human trying to help him, but with a small growl allowed himself to literally and figuratively lean on the human. Jacob felt the heavy weight of Zeus' limb and thought that he wouldn't be able to support it for long. Having an idea that wasn't too far, Jacob helped Zeus walk in the direction of the remains of the first camp. The two waded through the river and onto the other river bank. They walked out and made their way to the tree line. The Zinogre struggled a little bit to climb up the rocks, but with Jacob trying to keep strong they were able to get him up them.

After a short walk through the trees and down a small hill, a straining Jacob and a struggling Zeus entered the clearing that once was the first camp of the Ancient Forest. Taking a few more steps close to the rock wall, Zeus moved away from the human and with a tired sigh he dropped down on the ground to rest, a pained whine coming from him. Jacob had to take a few deep breaths after supporting the Zinogre's arm and felt a little sore from doing it. He was just glad that he didn't have to try and carry the whole Fanged Wyvern. That would have been really impossible for someone like him. When he relaxed a little, Jacob watched his new friend lay there. With a determined look, the teen vowed to watch over Zeus until the wyvern could take care of himself again. Rustling in the brush behind him made Jacob look back and Zeus raise his head. But one relaxed and the other slightly relaxed when they saw that it was Boltia and the Jagras pack. They all stopped in the clearing and remained wary of each other. Boltia gave a warning growl to the yellow lizards and moved away from them. Each species of Fanged Wyvern kept their distance while Jacob remained in the middle of them all.

Having a feeling that the other Fanged Wyverns were still sore from the fight with Tarkin and the Rajang, Jacob hoped that he had enough Healing Potion for all of them. Making his way over to the large chest of the ruined camp, he opened it to get to one of the many stashes of various potions that he had put away just in case he would need them. Taking a few of the vials out of the chest, Jacob carefully set the lid back down. Turning back to the Fanged Wyverns he saw that they were all laying down to rest from the battle.

Walking up to whom he believed was the most stubborn of the Fanged Wyverns here, Boltia raised her head when she saw her human friend coming towards her. Jacob thought that the Tobi-Kadachi would put up a fuss like she did months ago, but was very surprised to see her sitting as still as best as she could. Thinking that it might have something to do with them not seeing each other for a while, Jacob uncorked one of the vials. Carefully coming closer to the Tobi-Kadachi, he checked her for where she was bruised or cut. She gave low growls when he touched and then applied the medicine to her wounds, even when he thought he was being gentle. When he finished, Jacob lightly patted her shoulder and said with a playful yet proud grin, "Atta girl, Boltia. You're much tougher than last time I had to do this."

The Tobi-Kadachi responded to this with a playful tap to his chin with her snout. It earned a small chuckle from the teen as he rubbed the spot she touched. With one friend down, the boy then turned to the Jagras pack. All nine smaller Fanged Wyverns turned their heads to him as their human pack mate walked up with more potions in his hand. They all swarmed around him as he kneeled down. Jacob was almost knocked over as the nine started to fight for who would get treated first. A moment later, Julius was the one to be the others as he moved up to Jacob and stood still to be treated.

Due to their smaller size, the Jagras pack had their injuries treated a bit quicker than Boltia's. When he finished with Jupiter, he thought about treating his own. But he looked over to the Zinogre and thought that the Thunder Wolf Wyvern was still sore in places other than his shoulder. Said wyvern was trying to get at a spot on the back of his shoulder with his teeth. The spot in question was on the arm where Zeus had been shot. Zeus whimpered as it kind of hurt him to stretch like that. The Fanged Wyvern turned his head to the boy as the human slowly moved towards him. Thinking that the spot in question might be itchy or something, Jacob carefully raised his hand to the spot. Zeus gave the human from another world a warning growl and it made Jacob stop and lower his hand.

The growl from the Zinogre earned warning growls from the Tobi-Kadachi and all nine of the Jagras. This in turn caused all ten of them to look at each other in slight confusion. After waiting a few seconds, Jacob moved a little closer and reached for the spot regardless of another growl from the Thunder Wolf Wyvern. Once his fingers touched the Zinogre's fur and scales and he lightly started to scratch at the spot the growling stopped. Making sure to keep away from the wounded area, Jacob kept scratching as best as he could. He looked to the Zinogre's face and saw the wolf-like monster adopt a look of relief. This in turn made the teen smile that he could be helpful.

After finishing the scratching, Jacob got one of the vials of Healing Potion ready to apply. He looked into the wyvern's eyes and said, "Sorry in advance for any discomfort."

The Zinogre grunted and growled when Jacob gently applied the potion to the sensitive spots he found. After finding a few spots on the Zinogre's back and sides, the teen remembered the spot on Zeus' stomach where the Rajang had punched him pretty hard. He then gave a few light taps to the wyvern's side. It made Zeus look back to him and Jacob placed a hand close to the Thunder Wolf Wyvern's middle. He assumed that the Zinogre understood where he needed to treat as he carefully lifted his injured limb and moved to where he was laying on his side. With the wolf-like monster's belly now showing, Jacob could treat it much better. He applied the potion onto his friend's belly and rubbed it in. As he lightly rubbed his hand against the Zinogre, Jacob was slightly surprised when Zeus gave a happy sounding growl. He looked to see the wyvern's tongue sticking out. Then he turned his head to see the Zinogre's back leg kicking like a dog's would.

When he was sure that he had applied enough of the potion to the Zinogre he stopped. Feeling him stop, Zeus slowly returned to the position that he had been laying prior. Seeing that all the wyverns had now been treated, Jacob felt that he could focus on himself. With the little potion that remained in the vial, the human started to treat his own wounds. He rubbed the potion on his torso, arms and legs. The teen was about to apply some to the cuts on his face when he heard Zeus give a small whine. He looked over to the Thunder Wolf Wyvern and saw his tongue sticking out again. Jacob couldn't really remember if the Zinogre had suffered a blow to the mouth. But wanting to do right by his new friend, Jacob walked over and did his best to shake the rest of the vial's content out. The green substance splattered onto the wolf-like monster's tongue. But instead of retracting the tongue and closing his mouth, Zeus suddenly lunged forward at the human. Jacob was completely unprepared to have his face covered in a mixture of Healing Potion and Zinogre saliva. The human teen sputtered as he took a step away from the large wyvern. The teen gave the Fanged Wyvern's smug looking face a small glare while lightly wiping his face off.

Knowing that they all needed to rest now, Jacob felt it might be time to try out one of the sleep herb concoctions he tries to make in his spare time. Carefully reaching into his back he pulled out a few Sleep Bombs. Glancing around, the teen thought that the wyverns would be a little ticked off with him for doing this and hoped that they would forgive him for it. He saw that they weren't looking in his direction and sprang into action. With a quick flick of his wrists he launched the Sleep Bombs. Two of them were sent at the Jagras pack and they all gave startled shrieks when the bombs landed in the middle of them. Large purple clouds billowed around the group of nine wyverns. The sounds of alarm made Boltia and Zeus turn their heads and Jacob launched the remaining bombs. They struck at the ground in front of the two Fanged Wyverns and the purple smoke billowed around their heads. All ten of the Fanged Wyverns inhaled the cloud around them and immediately became drowsy. A moment later, they either collapsed on the ground or laid their heads down.

A moment later, a symphony of snoring came from all the Fanged Wyverns in the ruined camp. With a small grin, Jacob sighed and decided to keep a look out for any trouble for a little bit. Carefully making his way around the sleeping beasts, he moved down the path to where he could see any danger. Lowering himself onto his knees, Jacob began his vigilance.

…

Some time must have passed and Jacob had dozed off during the night for a little bit. His head slightly hung while he remained kneeling on the ground. But he was awakened when he was suddenly a bit jostled from behind. Groggily opening his eyes, the teen found a large teal arm wrapped around him. Slowly rotating his head he saw the fabric he used to treat the Zinogre's wound and that same forelimb was now around his person. When he looked to the Zinogre's face he saw that the wyvern's eyes slowly closing again. A moment later Zeus sounded like he was sleeping peacefully. Unable to stay mad or wanting to try and get out of the hold for now, Jacob made himself comfortable against the neck of the Zinogre. Taking a deep breath Jacob closed his eyes to sleep again.

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Author's Note: Our friend Zeus' mini-arc is about to come to an end. And it really does end in the next chapter. But this has been so much fun to write. 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.