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 here is the ending to Zeus' mini-arc. I hope you all enjoyed this small journey with our Zinogre friend. At the end of the chapter, I'll give a small hint about the next monster's mini-arc.
\_|_/
Chapter 58: Zeus' New Home
The rest of the night quickly went by and the light of a new dawn peaked over the eastern horizon. When the sun rose over the trees and down into what remains of the first Ancient Forest camp, it hit the teen from another world and it caused Jacob to stir from his sleep. He knew he needed to get up, but the fuzziness of Zeus' fur made him want to stay sleeping a little longer. But the sounds of Boltia and the Jagras pack stirring caused him to get up. The human tried to pull himself out of the Zinogre's grip and found it a little difficult since it seemed that the wyvern wasn't allowing him to get out. The Thunder Wolf Wyvern's paw was pretty heavy to lift and Jacob began to wonder if Zeus was doing this on purpose.
With a small strain, Jacob managed to pull himself out of the hold and stumbled when he stepped over the Zinogre's appendage. When he looked back, Jacob saw that the Zinogre had a mischievous look in his eyes as he raised his head, but the human teen decided to ignore it for now. He turned his attention to the other ten Fanged Wyvern. The boy knew that he needed to get them back to the places where they called home. Turning back to Zeus he promised, "I'll be back, Zeus. Just be sure to stay off of that leg."
It caused the Zinogre to tilt his head in confusion. But Jacob was already on the move. The human walked over to the opening of the camp and looked to the ten friends he wanted to get back home. He could see that Boltia looked a little restless and rushed forward to the human. When she moved to where she was behind him, Jacob looked back to the Jagras pack. Tensions seemed to grow a little as they looked between their packmate and the bigger wyvern. Feeling that he would need to take them one wyvern group at a time. Figuring that it was the best thing to do for now, the human turned to the Tobi-Kadachi and said, "Come on, girl. Let's get you back home."
Boltia responded to this by tilting her head a little. Carefully moving through the foliage he then emerged o the west side of the river. He looked back and found Boltia quickly following after him. The two carefully made their way across the shallow waters and ignored the bellows of the frightened Aptonoth herd. When they made it to the other side of the river, they looked down to Tarkin's broken body as they passed by. Jacob wondered if he should do something about the body as they continued walking. Wanting to speed this up a little, Jacob started to run and Boltia bounded to keep up with him. The teen couldn't help but laugh a little as they ran through the tall grass and she moved a little faster and ended up running a little faster than him. When they reached the other side of the grass, the Tobi-Kadachi slowed down and looked back for her human companion when she left the grass. A second later, Jacob emerged from the tall grass and she moved closer to where she could nuzzle him. The teen laughed a little before guiding her towards the wall of vines that would take them around the Jagras' turf.
The two friends made their way up the wall of vines and continued down the path. As they kept to the outskirts of the pack's spot, Boltia gave a low growl when she turned her head down the path into the territory. The boy thought she must have caught a whiff of their scent and it was making her wary. Carefully lifting his hand, Jacob lightly brushed it against her side. Feeling his touch, Boltia looked away from the Jagras' territory and turned her gaze to the human beside her. With a small grin he started to walk again and she followed after him.
After a few more minutes of walking the two arrived at the familiar wall of vines that would take them into the next level of the Ancient Tree. Boltia was quick to jump up onto the cliff and pulled herself the rest of the way up and Jacob was right behind her as he started to climb. When he reached the top, he found Boltia waiting for him. The two walked up a bit before turning onto the path that would bring them to the botanical arena. When the two friends made it halfway across, Jacob stopped when he thought that he might not see Boltia again for a bit. And it made him a little sad since they had been able to reconnect with each other. The Tobi-Kadachi noticed that he had stopped and turned back to him. She walked up to him and noticed the look on his face. Boltia moved a little closer and lightly nuzzled the boy with her head. He laughed a little and gently ran his hands through her scaley feathers. Jacob then back way from the Fanged Wyvern and said, "Good-bye, Boltia. I'll try to visit you again.
"I'm really glad that we're friends again." He added, his grin never dropping once. The Tobi-Kadachi responded with a small grow and a quick lick to his face. Jacob laughed again and wiped his face off. But just as he started to walk down the path again, her forelimb suddenly wrapped around him and pulled the teen into another one of her embraces. Knowing that she would miss him, he sought to make her feel a little better. Jacob was able to turn his body to where he could hug her back and she gave a sad whine. Boltia released her grip on Jacob and he backed down the path to go back. He looked her in the eye and gave her a reassuring smile before turning around and went on his way.
…
A few minutes later, the human from another world returned to the ruined campsite. He had washed himself a little in the river to get rid of Boltia's scent on him to avoid a repeat of the two's skirmish from when she smelled the Jagras' scent on him. As he walked into the small clearing he was grateful to find that the Jagras weren't attacking the Zinogre. The nine smaller Fanged Wyverns were keeping their distance from the bigger Fanged Wyvern while Zeus laid there on the ground. On the outskirts of the pack were Jupiter and Julius with their eyes focused on Zeus while the others stayed behind them. Knowing that he needed to get them back home, Jacob gave his attempt at a Jagras call to get the pack's attention. Each of the large lizards turned their heads and gave happy sounding screeches when they saw their human packmate. All nine of them rushed over to him and nuzzled against him when he keeled down. With a chuckle he gently pushed them back. A slight gesture of his head behind him he said, "It's your turn to go home."
He got up and started back down the path. As he neared the brush he looked back to the pack to see if they were following him. The first to follow after him was Jupiter. After him came Jenna, Juno, Julius, Joss, Jess, Jumpa, Junker and Juni. The ten walked together back through the trees and soon came out to the river. They all turned northward and walked by the flowing water towards the opening that would allow them back into the Jagras' territory. They all ignored the bellows coming from the Aptonoth and soon came to the bend. Human and Jagras feet splashed when they waded into the water as they made their way across.
Soon they made their way on the other side of the bank and took to the path that would take to the arch before the wyvern's territory. When they reached the opening, all nine of the Fanged Wyverns passed through with Jacob following after them. Jupiter, Jenna, Juno, Julius, Joss, Jess, Jumpa, Junker and Juni all spread out amongst the familiar trees of their turf. Jacob moved to where he stood by the entrance and watched as some of them rubbed against the trunks of the trees while the others climbed up to the branches. Jupiter was the only one to remain back close to the entrance. The teen carefully made his way to the edge of the path that rimmed the territory and moved to sit down. Jupiter looked back before moving to be next to his packmate. Jumping up next to him, the Jagras leader gave a small growl before rubbing his head against the human's. With a playful grin, Jacob reached an arm around the wyvern before pulling him close and rubbing his knuckles against Jupiter's head. The Jagras gave a small growl and pulled himself from the human's grasp. Though he gave his human packmate an annoyed look, the teen gave a small shrug before getting up. Jupiter gave a small growl to his packmate and Jacob said, "You guys be sure to take care of yourselves. I'll try to visit you again in the future. I wish I could stay, but there's someone else really needs me at the moment."
He started to head back for the opening. But another growl from Jupiter made him look back. While the Jagras hadn't moved, the other Jagras were facing the opening now. They all gave the human a screech to say farewell. Jacob gave his own attempt at the screech to say goodbye. The human teen walked backwards through the opening and when he was through, he turned to head back to Zeus.
…
A small walk back and another quick rinse off he made it back to the remains of the first camp. Zeus was still laying on the ground where he last left him. The Zinogre lifted his head to see Jacob coming closer. Tilting his head a little and asked, "Kind of a dumb question, but feeling any better?"
The Zinogre answered this with groan when he rolled his shoulder a little. This made Jacob look to the Thunder Wolf Wyvern with a sympathetic look. When Zeus looked at him again, Jacob wondered what he should try and do for the wyvern. He knew that the Zinogre wouldn't be able to move very well until his wound healed, and that would cause issues with hunting and defending himself. He didn't really need to worry about bringing fresh water since there was that creek not but a few feet behind Zeus. The boy also wondered if he should make some kind of shelter for the wyvern to keep him dry when it rains.
Deciding to start with the shelter first, Jacob looked around for what he had to work with. He kind of wished that he could have at least saved the tent to help with this, but knew he would have to work with what he had. Moving about the ruined camp, Jacob managed to find some branches that looked long enough for what he had in mind. He also thought to use the supports from the tent since they were just laying there on the ground when he removed the fabric. He placed the long branches and the tent supports against the rock wall of the small clearing. He then moved to get something to tie them together. As he moved back and forth with the materials, Zeus watched from his spot with slight curiosity. When he felt he had enough, the teen grabbed the supports made it to where it would hold up the roof. When he managed to tie the long branches to the poles, he tested it out. The roof of the makeshift shelter slanted a little, but Jacob thought it would be big enough for Zeus to fit under. He stuck the ends of the supports deep enough into the ground to keep them from falling over. With an extra stick he moved the roof of the makeshift shelter to where it was propped up high on the rock. Taking a step back, Jacob looked over to Zeus and said, "Not my best work, but it might keep the rain off ya."
Zeus looked at the makeshift shelter before shakily getting onto three of his good feet and limped over to take a closer look. When he was close enough, the Fanged Wyvern sniffed at the structure as best as he could. The human from another world thought that the wyvern would break it down with a swing of his tail or barrel into it with his body. The Zinogre seemed a little wary of the makeshift shelter when he stepped back from it. While a little bummed that Zeus wasn't liking the gift of staying dry at the moment, Jacob thought that he would come around when the time came. But he moved his mind on the next thing that Zeus would need.
While the Zinogre slowly moved back to the spot where he had been laying down, Jacob tried to think of a way to feed him while he rested. The teen placed his hands on his head as he tried to rack his brain for the solution. He doubted that he would be able to herd any Aptonoth into the camp, so it would have to be something else for now. It was then that a new idea came to mind. And he thought that the idea wasn't too far from them.
Removing the carving knife from his belt, Jacob started for the path that would go among the rocks. He was stopped when Zeus gave a small growl. The boy looked back to the Zinogre and said with a small smile, "Don't worry, Zeus. I'll be right back with something for you to eat."
This made Zeus tilt his head. Without another word, Jacob quickly made his way down the path. He thought that one of the large fish from the pond would help Zeus a bit. The path soon brought him to the pond where the two large fish swam. From the edge of the ledge he was standing on, he could see them swimming about in the water. Carefully coming down the wall of vines, Jacob kept the knife in his hands at the ready. He kept low as he walked over to the left side of the pond while keeping low. Picking up a rock, he tossed it in his hand once or twice before flinging it to the other side of the pond. The small stone sailed through the air before splashing down on the shallower side of the pond. But it did the trick as the two fish started to swim towards where the stone hit the water. Seeing that he needed to move fast, Jacob quickly moved around the pond to intercept. When they all reached the end of the pond, the boy quickened his pace before jumping at the fish closest to the shore.
The large fish started thrashing about in the water as Jacob wrapped an arm around it and stabbed at it with the knife. The other fish quickly turned and swam the other way to escape. Jacob tried to keep a good grip on the fish's body, but it's body was kind of slippery a little. He tried to be careful, but the teen gave a small pained yelp when he felt something cut his leg. But he brushed the pain aside for the moment and gathered his strength when he wrapped both arms around the fish. With as much strength as he could muster, he twisted his body to where he could throw the fish onto the bank of the pond. The large fish tumbled on the rocks before stopping on its side. The big fish started to flop around and tried to move itself back into the pond. But Jacob was already on it again when he sloshed out of the water and attacked once more. A few more stabs to its side and the fish went limp from the blood loss.
Panting a bit from the brief struggle, Jacob then hissed in pain from the cut on his leg. He looked down to where the wound was and saw that the fabric of the pants around the knee had been cut. Carefully moving the fabric where he could see it, he saw that it was a pretty big cut. Brushing it off for now, he started to wonder how he was going to get this fish back to Zeus. The way he had come was the quickest, but the wall was also the biggest obstacle of that plan. Plus, the smell of the fish's blood would attract just about every predator in the Ancient Forest. But any other path would take longer and the thought of other predators still came to mind.
A not so great idea popped into his mind. Putting the knife away, Jacob used his free hand to extend the grappling hook's cable. When he felt that it was long enough for what he was planning, Jacob then did his best to wrap it around the fish's body. Making sure it was secure around the lifeless marine creature, he grabbed the tail and dragged it towards the cliff he needed to climb. Once he was standing at the bottom, the boy kept his slinger arm facing the ground to the dead fish and started to climb. The climb itself was a struggle with only one arm, but Jacob managed to make it to the top of the cliff. Hoping that this plan would work as he turned around to the cliff, he made the cable retract. The dead fish started to move towards the wall of vines and started to lift off the ground. As it slowly rose through the air, Jacob was worried that the fish would slip from the cable or that a predator would come through the area and see it as a free snack.
It would seem that his fears about the former scenario were justified as the fish looked like it was starting to slip out. From where he stood at the top of the cliff, Jacob could only hope that the cable could retract with the fish fast enough. His nervousness only grew more and more as it seemed like the fish was starting to slip more and more and looked like it was about to fall back to the ground below. When the dead fish was close enough to the top it started to fall, but thankfully Jacob was quick to grab it with both hands. He strained to pull the dead fish up the rest of the way and laid it next to him as he laid on his back. He panted from the exertion but knew that his work wasn't done yet. Getting back up on his feet, Jacob untied the cable from the fish and then grabbed it by the tail to start dragging it. The weight of the dead fish made the boy look down at it and comment with an arched brow, "Just what do these things eat? They're two fish stuck in a pond!
"Unless there's some way out of there that I don't know about." He guessed with a shrug as he continued down the path with his prize. The fish's blood slightly smeared against the stone path as Jacob dragged it all the way back to the ruined first camp.
A couple more climbs and a little more dragging later, Jacob finally made it back to camp with the big fish in tow. When he walked into the small clearing, he found the Thunder Wolf Wyvern laying where he had left him a little bit ago. It looked like the wyvern had dozed off for a little bit. The Zinogre lifted his head as Jacob walked up with the dead fish behind him. When he was close enough, Jacob set the tail down and backed away from Zeus and his potential meal. He was out of breath as he wheezed from carrying the fish while he waited to see what his friend would do.
Shakily getting off the ground again, Zeus stepped closer to the provided meal and leaned forward to sniff at it. Jacob thought the wyvern would either leave it be like he did the shelter or bat it away because of pride. But a small grin grew on his face when the Zinogre started to eat the fish. Zeus held it between his paws and started to bite at its side. Cancelling out the sounds of tearing of flesh the best he could, Jacob turned his attention to himself. Moving to where he could sit down, the teen opened the cut fabric of his pants to take another look at the wound. He lightly touched the cut he got and it made him hiss from the pain as he removed his hand from the wound. He looked to his fingers and saw a little blood on them.
The noise made Zeus look up from his meal. The Zinogre gave a worried sounding growl when he saw the cut in his pants and could smell blood coming from it. Jacob looked up from what he was doing and saw Zeus staring at the wound. Not wanting the wyvern to worry about him, Jacob waved it off, "Don't worry about me, Zeus. I'm gonna be fine. Just got a small cut when I was fishing."
"Just go on and eat your breakfast." He gestured to the fish in front of Zeus. The Zinogre looked down to the fish carcass for a moment before him before looking back to the human again. Jacob moved to open his pack and found another vial of Healing Potion in it. But as he opened up the torn fabric to start applying it, the teen groaned when he saw that it was starting to bleed again. The boy was about to start treating his wound when the sounds of heavy footsteps made him look up. He surprised to find Zeus standing before him and wondered what the Thunder Wolf Wyvern was wanting. He was unprepared when the Zinogre leaned forward and ran his tongue over the wound on his leg. Jacob cried out from the pain he was feeling when the saliva from the Zinogre's touched the cut. The human tried to push the Zinogre's head away from him, but he was unable to get the wyvern to back away as the tongue remained moving against the wound. After wiping the blood from the cut, Zeus took a step back from the teen. While he was a little ticked from the Zinogre doing that, Jacob knew he shouldn't really complain about it as he wiped the saliva off of him before applying the Healing Potion and using what he had to cover up the cut. While he had his gaze down at his leg, Zeus moved back over to the fish. When the makeshift bandage was nice and secure, the teen breathed a little easier for the moment.
The sound of his own stomach growling made him feel like he should find something to eat himself. But before he could get up and try looking for what could be his breakfast, Zeus growled again as he started to tear the fish in half. Jacob looked to see the Zinogre separating the head of the fish from the rest of its body. Once the fish had been split apart, the Zinogre picked up the head of the carcass with his teeth before turning back to the human. Jacob was really surprised to see Zeus lay the fish head down in front of him. There was still a good deal of meat on it and Jacob was hungry. But he thought about getting it for Zeus and was about to decline when the Thunder Wolf Wyvern slowly pushed it closer with the paw of his injured leg. Seeing that he didn't really have much of a choice, Jacob picked up the fish head as he got up and moved to where he could cook it. He may have accepted the meal, but it didn't mean that he had to eat it raw.
A few minutes later Jacob built a fire in the oven and started to cook the fish head. He looked over to Zeus and saw that the Zinogre hadn't started eating his half again. Wondering why, he turned his attention back to the fish as it cooked over the fire. When he felt that it was ready, Jacob started to eat at what meat he could get. He glanced back to Zeus to see that the Fanged Wyvern was once again eating. The Zinogre glanced over to the boy after tearing a piece of meat from the fish and the teen couldn't help but smile at the wolf-like monster. The two looked back to their meals and continued to eat in silence.
When they finished their halves of the fish, Jacob carried the bones of his half over to the creek and dropped them over the small waterfall. He watched as the bones fell at the bottom, drifted down the creek and disappear further down the way. The teen walked back to the clearing and saw Zeus once again laying on the ground. But before he could come up with something else to do, the sound of thunder made both him and Zeus look up to the sky. They could see dark clouds starting to roll in overhead.
Thinking that it was going to start raining any minute, Jacob moved to get himself under the shelter. He sat down and turned his head back up to the sky. A minute or two later and it did start to rain. It started a little light before becoming much heavier. While there were a few drips here and there under the shelter, it wasn't that bad the human believed. He looked over to Zeus and saw that from the look of the matted fur and the annoyed expression on his face told him that the Zinogre looked pretty miserable. The two were really surprised when the Zinogre's fur suddenly started moving. Like small glowing rockets, the Fulgur Bugs quickly shot out from Zeus' fur and flew right at Jacob. The teen nearly fell over as they all latched onto his body. The Fulgur Bugs covered the human from the neck down to his feet. He felt some slight discomfort as they pinched to stay on. This little move from one being to another made Jacob wonder what the Thunder Wolf Wyvern would do. He looked over to the Fanged Wyvern to see what he would do. Zeus gave a huff before shakily getting up on his three good legs again and slowly moved towards the shelter. The human teen made room for the wyvern by moving closer to the rock wall. It was a bit cramped as the Zinogre moved himself in, but when he was under the shelter he laid back down with a groan.
Feeling that he should return the insects currently covering his body, Jacob slowly raised his right hand. Placing it on Zeus' left shoulder, he looked into the Zinogre's eyes while remaining still and unmoving. They both watched as the Fulgur Bugs started crawling from their temporary shelter back to their original host. They all moved in unison as they crawled up his body or across Jacob's arm.
When all of the bugs had been returned to Zeus, Jacob then lowered his hand back down. With a sigh he moved to press up against the stone wall and moved to sit down again. The rain continued to fall pretty heavy as Jacob and Zeus watched from under the shelter. As the rain fell, Jacob looked down at the gloves on his hands. He figured that since there was no longer a need to wear them or keep them out of a villain's hands, it was time to take them off. He started to remove them when a small growl from Zeus made him look up.
With his good arm, the Zinogre lifted his paw. Lightly touching the gloves with his paw the Fanged Wyvern growled again, but had a calm look in his eyes. Taking it as a sign to keep them on, Jacob then left them alone for the time being.
The two friends then turned their gazes back out to the falling rain and watched it fall. With a small yawn, Zeus laid his head down on his good fore arm while Jacob pulled his legs closer to this body. After a minute or two, the teen glanced over to Zeus before looking up at the bandage tied to his shoulder. He knew that it would take some time to heal, but he hoped that he could help his friend through it.
…
Sometime after the rain had stopped, Jacob thought that it was time to take care of something that needed to be done. Getting off the ground, he started to make his way towards the path to the river. A growl from behind made him look back to see Zeus lifting his head. With a slight downward motion of his hand, Jacob promised him, "Just got to go and take care of something. I'll be right back."
The teen once again left the clearing of the ruined camp. When he was out at the river again, he looked to the spot where Tarkin's body laid. The body hadn't been touched in a few hours but the teen from another world knew that it was a matter of time before something would be drawn to the smell of decaying flesh. Making his way across the river and walking over to the body. Kneeling down next to the dead poacher, he reached towards Tarkin's face and closed his lifeless eyes. He saw that a lot of the poacher's spilled blood had dried during the night and under the sun from the last hour. Moving it to where he could lift Tarkin's body off the ground. Jacob slightly strained as he held the body and turned to take it to a spot to bury the man.
Jacob carried the body back across the river and to a spot to where it wouldn't be easy to get to by big predators. Setting Tarkin's body down, the teen started to dig a hole in the dirt. It took a deal of time, but when he thought that it would be big enough for Tarkin's body he stopped to take a breather. Jacob glanced to Tarkin's still face and said, "You'd probably think I'm soft or crazy for doing this for you…
"But lucky for you, it's just a part of who I am." He added before lifting the body again. Setting it down in the hole, Jacob was about to cover Tarkin when he thought to bring the poacher's weapons to bury with him. Rising off ground, he walked back to the river to get the poacher's weapons.
When he reached the spot where Tarkin had been when he had the Rado-whip, he also found the customized bow gun where he had dropped it after the fighting. But just as he was about to pick the weapons up, he noticed something laying there in the grass. He remembered that was where the poacher had fallen around the end of the battle. He also remembered the bit he used to control the Rajang snapping apart. Moving to take a closer look, Jacob saw that it was the piece that Tarkin had to keep the Rajang looking forward. It was quite big and it was practically intact minus the straps. Picking up the piece, he was a little shocked to see something that truly disgusted him.
The piece that he had picked up had a couple of sharp metallic points built into the two sides of the device. He could see a little dried blood from the Rajang on the tips. Figuring that this was another way to torture monsters, Jacob was really glad to have stopped the poachers. He thought it a good idea to bury this with Tarkin and his weapons. Holding onto it while grabbing the two weapons, Jacob carried them all to the grave that he had dug.
After a small walk and stopping before the hole Jacob looked down to the body of the Tarkin. While he was disapproving of what the man did in life, he did know that it was better to try and forgive him since he was gone to the next. Placing the Rado-whip and the bow gun on both sides of the body, Jacob then placed the bloodied torture bit on the poacher's chest. He then went to go and find the man's hat. A few minutes later he came back with the piece of clothing and placed it on his head. With everything of the poacher's returned to the body, Jacob started to push the dirt over Tarkin's still form.
A little time passed when he completely covered the body. He covered the dirt with some rocks and tied a couple of sticks together into a cross. Placing the cross in the dirt, the teen then rose up and took a step back. Jacob thought to say something for Tarkin, but since he didn't really know the man he could only think to say, "May you rest in peace.
"Sorry, but it's the only thing I could say." He shrugged with a slight grimace. With that said, Jacob turned and walked away from the grave. He looked into the sky and saw that it was the afternoon now and night would soon follow.
Jacob soon entered the ruined camp and his entrance made Zeus raise his head. A tired teen just looked to the wyvern as he moved over to the spot he had been sitting and sat back down. Zeus gave a small growl to him, but Jacob was already closing his eyes to rest. But just as he closed them, he heard shuffling in the dirt and gasped when he felt a weight on his lap. Opening his eyes again, the human found the Zinogre's head laying across his lap. The Thunder Wolf Wyvern's eye had a mischievous feel to it as he stared at the human. With a chuckle Jacob said, "You can be really annoying, you know."
The wyvern just gave a small growl and closed his eyes. Feeling that he wasn't going to go anywhere for a while, Jacob too closed his eyes to rest for a bit. The two friend's took a deep breath and enjoyed the silence.
…
3 Weeks Later…
After some time had passed by after certain events of battle and making new friends while bonding with old ones, Jacob was currently sneaking up on a lone Aptonoth. He was currently hunting the herbivore as he was keeping low in a nearby bush by the slope that lead down to the sea. The herbivore gave a small snort and then grazed on some leaves. It didn't seem to sense the human or even smell him. With a rock loaded into his slinger and the carving knife in hand, then prepared to make his move.
Quickly jumping out of his hiding place, Jacob fired the rock from his slinger. The rock smacked against the ground next to the herbivore and it did the trick when it startled the Aptonoth. The frightened herbivore jumped and it looked around for where it came from. Jacob quickly made his move by coming at the Aptonoth from the side with the knife extended. This really scared the poor creature and it quickly turned to run away from the human. Without a second thought, Jacob ran after the harmless beast. The two ran through the tall grass with the Aptonoth weaving around rocks and tree stumps with Jacob followed and was closing in from behind.
As they approached the river Jacob slowed and stopped in the shade of the trees while the Aptonoth kept on going. The frightened herbivore slowed itself to a stop when it was close to the river. It looked back to see if it was still being chased by the boy. The Aptonoth saw the human just standing there at the opening and started to bellow at him. But Jacob didn't leave it alone nor did he come closer. This caused the Aptonoth to somewhat relax a little while remaining slightly wary.
But this proved to be a big mistake on the Aptonoth's part. For a second later, a large teal shape slammed into the herbivore from the side. The two slid across the ground a little with Zeus on top of the herbivore. The Aptonoth gave a pained bellow from getting crushed by the larger predator. It tried to escape from the Zinogre's grasp, but a quick bite to the neck and a loud crunch later put it out of its misery. The Aptonoth gave one final bellow before its head fell to the ground lifeless.
With the hunt now done and over, both Jacob and Zeus panted from the chase and the very quick attack. The human slowly approached while the Zinogre picked up his catch with his jaws. The Fanged Wyvern looked over to his human friend and the teen had a smile as he stopped a few feet from his wyvern friend. Zeus turned his head, making the corpse of his prey in his mouth scrape against the ground as it moved with his movement, towards the direction of what remains of the first camp. Though he was wanting to, the human felt that it was high time to return to where he needed to be. With a slow shake of his head he told his friend not this time. Moving a bit closer he said, "I'm sorry, Zeus. But seeing that you're able to hunt and move much better now means that you'll be able to take care of yourself again.
"And it was fun while it lasted." He nodded, his grin growing a little bigger. He could see that the Zinogre was slightly sad due to the look in his eyes. Jacob then promised him, "But don't worry. I'll be here if you need me. And I'll visit you.
"Just don't feel you have to steal me or anything." He lightly joked, earning an eye roll from the Fanged Wyvern. The Zinogre set his catch on the ground and made his way over the human. Jacob wondered what he would do when Zeus stopped before him. The two looked to each other before the Zinogre hook his bandaged foreleg around the human and pulled him close to himself. The teen had to turn his head to keep Zinogre fur out of his mouth. Looking up to Zeus's head as it hung and he had his eyes closed for a second, Jacob just grinned as he lightly patted the Thunder Wolf Wyvern's neck.
His attention shifted up to the cloth wrapped on Zeus' forelimb when he turned to the appendage. Even though the strip of tent fabric had been changed a while ago for a fresh one, he felt that it had been on long Zeus' arm long enough. Starting to reach for the fabric he said, "Better go ahead and take this off of you. You won't really be needing it anymore."
The teen became confused when the wyvern suddenly backed away from him. Jacob then took a step forward while raising his hand to try and remove the cloth. Zeus turned the shoulder away from the teen and it made him lower his hand again. From the look in the wyvern's eyes, the boy could tell he wanted to keep the wrapped fabric on as a memento of their time together. Deciding to respect his friend's wishes, Jacob just nodded that he understood what the Zinogre was wanting. Zeus then turned and walked back over to the catch. They saw that a few scavenging birds started to gather around it, but the Thunder Wolf Wyvern scared them off with a growl. When they were gone, Zeus picked up his meal and carried it across the river back to his new home. After watching the Zinogre wade through the water with his head held high to keep the catch out of the water, Jacob too turned to walk back to where he called home. But just as he made it to the shade of the trees, a howl from behind made him stop to look back. He saw Zeus standing on the rocks with his head thrown back and him still howling. Figuring it was his friend's way of saying goodbye, a grin grew on Jacob before he threw his own head back and tried to match his friend's howl with his own.
After a moment both friends stopped howling. Jacob and Zeus looked to each other once more. It was then that the Zinogre squinted his eyes at the human. This made Jacob curious to what he could be looking at it. The boy noticed that Zeus was looking up at his hair. He reached up and found it standing up, like it had static electricity in it. The Thunder Wolf Wyvern gave a big growl and the teen from another world's hair started to shake a bit before a couple of Fulgur Bugs flew out of it. The two insects flew back to Zeus and disappeared into his fur. Jacob couldn't help but smile to this. His smile was still there and though the Zinogre wouldn't really be able to hear him from where he was standing, Jacob couldn't help but say to him, "See you around, my brother."
The two then turned to go their separate ways for the time being. As he walked into the tall grass to go back to the boat, Jacob wondered if he would run into some other beast and befriend it. All he did know for sure is that it would be an experience.
\_|_/
Author's Note: I sure liked the ending to this mini-arc just like how we ended with Ares. And kind of ironically, I think that this arc was a little longer, chapter wise. And I think we all have the same feeling that the torture device Tarkin used will come up again in the future. But now it's time to move on to the next part of the New Friends story arc. The next two monsters' arcs are actually together as we're about to see a couple of familiar faces. One we haven't seen for a while and the other we've seen recently. 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.