The fog obscured the vision of those who intruded upon the Cloudy Jungle. Aria and Catherine traversed through the dense vegetations where the shadow of the canopy enveloped their surroundings. With their small torches and the occasional flickers of the bio-luminescence insects as their only reliable source of light, they persisted until they reached the middle layer of the Cloudy Jungle.
"From here onwards, the danger level increases due to the presence of the wyrms; especially when the sun had yet to peek out from the horizon, they can ambush us at any point. Do you trust me to lead?"
"You have been in the adventurer's business longer than I have. I trust your experience in traversing through this wretched jungle more than I do myself. I know you can lead me through the least dangerous path."
"Hehe, that is something I am quite proud of." Catherine slowly led Aria through the maze within the dark and cold. Soon, they reached a rocky area with flowing streams that seemed to have originated from the inner layer of the jungle. The fluttering of the bio-luminescence insects along the banks of the water bodies lighted the entire area, creating a vivid image that captured the few instances of nature's wonder.
"As discussed, this is where I will lure the beast out of the inner layer to, through that gentle slope." Aria pointed at the slope where water flowed down gently into the valley's stream. "Rathian can fly and I will try to latch on to it as it flew over this natural wall. When that happens, I want you to remain at a safe distance while pelting it with your arrows and remain cautious of its fire attacks. Climb up to higher elevation or stay near a body of water to reduce the chances of getting burn, but it is best if you never get hit in the first place. Also, take this."
"What is this?" Catherine observed the 2 small wooden vials that she received and opened the cover to smell the content before flinching at the musty smell. "Ugh. This is strong. It smells just like the forest floor mixed with dirt."
"Earthy smell. I can see that it is not something you enjoy, but these vials contain antidote that can counteract the poison inflicted by the beast from its tail. You should drink it when you are hit with Rathian's tail for the poison will slowly eat away at your health before rendering you unconscious due to shock or worse, death."
"In that case, you should hold on to these instead since you are facing it up close."
"I have 3 with me. I only managed to craft 5 worth of vials due to the limited ingredients. Besides, I will not be able to face your mother if something happen to you. This is my own problem."
"... Seriously, are you really younger than me? You sound like an experienced adult. Anyways, please be careful."
Aria nodded and began her approach to the second checkpoint in order to enter the inner layer surrounded by gigantic cliff. Aria presented her pass given by the guild master to the ranger who was keeping watch within the cabin. The ranger was suspicious at first, but relented due to the validity from the guild master and allowed Aria to pass through the only flat opening into the heart of the jungle.
Aria made her way along the wide path in between 2 steep rock face. The path was sloping up as she exited the middle valley layer of the Cloudy Jungle and after several turns along the crack, the opening greeted her with obscurity.
The sun had peeked over the horizon and heated up the tips of the western mountainous range that were perpetually covered with snow. As the snow melted slightly due to the morning heat, the cold vapour sunk down along the slope, entering the heart of the jungle encased within the cliff and fogged up the entire area. The vegetations were denser and taller with an even more convoluted web of vines compared to the middle layer. With sharpened senses, Aria traversed through the maze towards the reported location of her adversary.
The fog loomed over the entire canopy of the forest and as Aria ascended, she was feeling as if she was walking among clouds. She decided to climb up a nearby rockface and unto a tree branch to get a better vantage point of view. As she scaled the tree, the canopy came into full view with patches of clouds hovering all over the vast greeneries while several trees shot up well above the cloudy layers as if piercing the twilight sky.
Aria spotted several creatures flying in groups at a distance which she presumed to be the Green Wyrms waking up in order to hunt for preys. The wyrms, though far, could be heard giving out a high-pitched growling shriek and Aria could estimate that they were way larger than the Green Wyrms she had encountered in the middle layer. Over the horizon, she spotted a nest resting on an assembly of trees with several taller trees looming over it as if to protect the content. She had found her target.
As Aria was about to descent, the distant Green Wyrms scattered in a frantic flight while giving out a loud shriek. Just then, a large creature charged through the cloudy canopy and hunted the fleeing wyrms. It had a dirty green colouration on its posterior that blended well with the foliage of the jungle while the anterior portion of its body are creamed coloured. The body was covered in hard spiky shells that resembled armour while the wings that spanned longer than its entire body had both spikes and scales dotting the entire structure. The tip of the mouth resembled a black beak with a long sharp spike sticking out of its chin. The talons were just as sharp as its spikes with 4 large digits resembling a hand; one of the digit resembled a thumb and this aided it in grabbing its prey such as the Green Wyrms that it was currently hunting. Its tail stretched as long as its entire body with a bulbous tip covered in needle-like spikes that were poisonous. The beast was flying at a distant, but Aria estimated that its entire length was around 17 meters.
Aria steeled herself and made her way to the nest through the foggy undergrowth. The path was rugged with slippery moss covering many surfaces with occasional streams coming into view. Several small critters were scurrying around, hidden in plain sight.
A sudden tingling sensation stopped Aria on her track and as she expanded her senses, a distant noise entered her ears. She laid low and crawled along the surface with minimal noise. The foreign noise grew clearer with its munching and the cracking sound of flesh and bones. Aria surmised that a predator nearby was having a meal and decided to take a detour through the high ground. Along the way, she could hear the dreaded predator roar on several occasion, likely as an intimidation to ward off any potential thief. "It would be a pain if that black beast notices me."
Soon, the nasty noise dissipated into thin air as Aria managed to maneuver around the threat and she breathed a sigh of relieve before continuing. The track became uphill the closer she got, but she managed to reach the root system of the targeted trees. She climbed up the laid out path formed from the intertwining branches of other vegetations.
The top of the tree was decorated with sturdy vines, twigs and foliage that spread out across various trees of different height; the nest sat comfortably on the throne. Aria stepped out of the shadow and basked under the rising sun as she was greeted with 2 creatures staring at her from the middle of the nest. "The Rathian had produced 2 offspring, huh."
When Aria was thinking about using the offspring to her advantage, the sudden arrival of their mother perished her thought. The beast roared at the intruder as it hovered above before releasing its fireball towards Aria. Being agile, Aria rolled away and got behind the beast while simultaneously unsheathing her blades to get ready for battle. "I am sorry, but I need your bounty, Queen of the Land."
The Rathian landed and gave out a loud roar that made Aria covered her ears before charging at her enemy. With a swift movement, Aria slid diagonally while simultaneously delivering several spinning slashes onto Rathian's side. With each attacks, lightning was generated like magic and dealt extra damage to the beast. Rathian, however, with its defensive shells and scales, shrugged off the slashes before charging at Aria again. The Rathian's behaviour repeated until it got fed up and started to shoot out several fire balls that engulfed the nearby foliage. The fire weakened the vines that were gripping the entire structures and the battlefield started to tilt.
"You should have built your nest on a rocky surface instead of this canopy." Aria positioned herself on the higher ground against Rathian and slid down, followed by a jump attack that landed on the latter's head. With the impact, Rathian flinched a little as it spun around trying to knock Aria away, but Aria ducked underneath the spinning beast and unleashed several upward slashes.
The Rathian finally took flight, but in the process, swept its spiky tail towards Aria who was directly in the line of attack. Aria dodged by hair's breadth and targeted the poisonous tail as she unleashed a flurry of powerful slashes onto the hovering tail, hoping to sever it. In the midst of the combo however, Rathian did a tail flip mid-air. Aria was surprised, but was able to avoid the poisonous spikes by rolling to the side, creating a considerable distance. The Rathian landed and roared again before shooting out more fire balls that scorched the platform at the location of impact. The heat emanating from the burning foliage was licking at Aria.
As the dance between the 2 continued, an intruder interrupted; Rathalos, the male counterpart of the Rathian, swooped in and used its claws to attack Aria. Sensing the danger, Aria managed to avoid the deadly claw. "Its seems that you have called your partner with that last roar."
The Rathalos had similar design to its mate, but had a different colouration and tail design. It had rusty red colour with several black streaks running parallel to its entire body. The chin spike was shorter and stubbier compared to the Rathian's and its bulbous tail did not have the needle-like spike of the Rathian. Instead, several thick and bony spikes protruded out along its circumference.
Aria was prepared at the encounter and without a second thought, reached for something in her small pouch and threw it at the Rathalos. At the impact, the ball exploded with a puff as it dispersed foul smelling powder that coated the beast. The item thrown was called the dung bomb that was used to chase away monsters using irritants and foul odour.
The Rathalos, however, did not leave immediately and started shooting fire ball at Aria. Aria rolled away, but was immediately struck by Rathian's charge where she was sent hurling in the air from the impact against Rathian's leg. The pair of flying wyverns seemed difficult for Aria to handle alone, but luckily, as the dung bomb began to solubilise on Rathalos body, the male beast began to feel uneasy from the foul smell that assaulted its senses and began to fly away from its current location. "Finally, that irritating King of the Sky has flew away. Now then, I have to repay you for all the damages you have dealt on me."
The beast and Aria continued their battle and as the damages accumulated, the nest crumbled on one side, sending the Rathian's cubs down the canopy into the mangled maze below. The beast's motherly instinct took over and tried to rescue her children as it dived down. Aria caught on a nearby branch as she witness her target fleeing down into the fog before following it down. When she reached the base of the trunk, she saw the Rathian holding on to its 2 children, one on each claws and softly placing them on a nearby bush.
The caring mother turned its attention to Aria; furious at her, she roared as her mouth was filled fire and charged ferociously. As Aria rolled away, it pelted her with several fireballs before taking off again to bite its enemy. With every attacks, Aria only had a small window of time to counterattack and was unable to deal proper damage.
Finally, an opportunity arose as Rathian took flight in an effort to poison Aria with its tail flip, but Aria threw a bomb in front of the flying wyvern. The bomb exploded softly, but immediately engulfed the entire battlefield with bright light that stunned the beast. Rathian's keen eyesight came to its detriment from the sudden change in light intensity as it flailed mid-air before falling down and was squirming from dizziness.
"The flash bomb is always effective against you." Aria unleashed her full power as she wailed at the head and tail of the fallen beast. The flurry of slashes danced across Rathian's head and tail with sparks of lightning exploding from each strikes. The attack came to an end as Aria exhausted her stamina and the Rathian rose on its hindlegs, seemingly angrier at Aria as it began to chase her.
"Good. Now that you are blinded by anger, I believe you will chase me till the end of the world." Aria began to lead the beast towards her desired location while constantly dealing several damage onto its head and tail. Along the way, Aria was hit multiple times, but her new armour set boasted better defensive capabilities and prevented her from sustaining any life-threatening injuries. She healed herself with potions she crafted whenever there were openings to do so such as hiding behind the convoluted roots or rocky formations.
"Almost there!" Aria could see the edge of the hill where several streams were flowing to and accumulated into a small lake that constantly overflowed to the edge of the rocky cliff. She continued on her track downhill while occasionally climbing up to avoid the attacks from the furious Rathian. She was continuously pelted with several fire attacks, but the density of the vegetations allowed her to take cover behind several large trees and due to its size, the Rathian had slowed its chase so as not to crash into the thick trunks.
After awhile, they reached the edge of the water body and Rathian became exhausted from the continuous attacks. It stopped on its track and drooled, giving Aria an opening to attack. She began by channeling her magic throughout her whole body and wailed on Rathian's head. She used her every ounce of strength on every slashes and it resulted in several cracks forming on Rathian's head before a powerful double downwards slashes gave Rathian a concussion. The beast dropped onto its side from the sudden pain and struggle to get back its feet. "Fire. Burn the particles of the air. Air. Coalesce your energy to strike your enemy in a flash. Lightning Hammer!"
A powerful heat that dispersed the fog spread across the surrounding air before collapsing into a whirling cloud above Rathian and burst forth a powerful shot of lightning onto the struggling beast. The powerful magic attack dealt considerable damage onto the resilient beast as it stood up and began to flap its wings. Aria, who had climbed up to higher ground, jumped and gave a powerful downwards blow onto Rathian's wings, flinching it again. Aria took the opportunity to climb up and rode on the beast's head where she tried to stab its vulnerable area with her dagger. The Rathian was thrashing around to shake off Aria, but Aria was able to hang on although she was unable to properly stab her enemy with the dagger.
The beast took flight and rammed itself into a nearby tree , causing it to tilt with several vines snapping. Aria grabbed a nearby vine with her right hand while her left hand stabbed onto Rathian's neck to anchor herself. In a swift motion, Aria used the vine to rope the struggling beast by its mouth and controlled its direction. "The vine will not hold!"
Aria yanked the vine towards the lake, known as the 'Spilling Soup' and as expected, the beast flew towards her desired direction, albeit with violent inertia. Aria was almost thrown off, but she continued to guide her rodeo and as they neared the edge of the lake, the beast roared in anger as its mouth spewed fire that burned the vine. "Oh no!"
The vine was about to snap, but Aria used its remaining integrity to yank the Rathian into the lake. The vine snapped and it felt its freedom, Rathian flew erratically above the water body, but was still moving in the general direction that Aria had wanted. "Air! Coalesce around my foe and unleash your pressure! Windy Stream!"
A sudden change in pressure moved the surrounding air as it punched Rathian down and forward over the edge of the lake. Aria was thrown back from the sudden movement as she lost her grip on the lodged dagger. However, Aria managed to grab onto Rathian's poisonous tail as it dived over the cliff edge of the Spilling Soup lake and into the middle layer of the Cloudy Jungle. Aria, who was hanging on its tail, managed to cross over as well, but was close to hitting the edge of the cliff and losing her grip. She and the Rathian fell and rolled along the steep hill into the valley region.
"Ugh! That was too close." Aria tried to stand up, but her body was battered and poisoned from Rathian's tail spike stabbing her during the dive. Aria reached for the antidote in the pouch, but the Rathian, who had miniscule injuries from the fall, loomed over her, about to unleash a powerful fireball at pointblank. "Oh no-"
A sudden impact exploded onto Rathian's head, saving Aria from the unavoidable attack.
"Oh boy. This arrow is no joke when it comes to fire power." Catherine sniped the beast with her new weapon called Pulsar Bow by unleashing its powerful Dragon Piercer attack. "Aria! I will distract it! Use that time to recover!"
"Thank you! I owe you another one!" Aria quickly consumed the antidote and potion to recover. She immediately created some distance with the beast, but the Rathian closed in with its signature charge. Aria dodged and countered, maintaining her offense on the tail. The beast pelted the entire area with its fire, causing a small forest fire that damaged the surroundings and limited the hunters' movement. Aria tried to lure the beast into her traps, but it just remained in the same area while shooting several fire and charging around. In the midst of the hunt, Aria instructed Catherine to shoot at the cliff that was leaking water with her Dragon Piercer.
"Are you sure?!"
"I am!" Aria attacked the beast's vulnerable head to attract its attention, giving Catherine the needed time to charge and unleashed her attacks. "When it is about to crack, hold on the last arrow and unleash it on my signal!"
The powerful arrows continuously pierced the same spot on the rocky surface as the cracks grew larger with each consecutive hit. Finally, the rock crumbled as more water spewed out. Rathian took flight, as if sensing the danger, but Aria threw a flash bomb in front of it, causing it to fall. "Now!"
From a high vantage point, Catherine released her arrow that finally burst the rocky formation, causing a huge amount of water and rocky debris to crash into the valley area, flushing the local residents down the stream. Aria narrowly escaped by climbing a giant tree and as she perched on one of the branch, she saw her target swept along the rushing water while struggling to escape.
Aria and Catherine chased the beast through the convoluted branches and arrived downstream where the water had calmed for the Rathian to recover. Without a pause, Aria unleashed several powerful slashes onto its tail while Catherine shoot at its head. Finally, Aria managed to cut the tail where the bulbous portion that contained poison was removed from the main body. Without its tail, Rathian had a little problem with its balance as it fell when its tail was severed and struggled to get back on its feet. "Aim at its head and wings!"
The hunters switched their focus and continued the onslaught. Despite the injuries, the beast retaliated and spun around to ward off the attackers before taking flight to escape. However, as usual, Aria grounded it with the well timed Flash Bomb. "That is the last of my Flash Bomb."
The hunt was going well as they slowly chipped away at Rathian's enormous health and vigour. The beast was exhausted and quickly flew away, creating a small gust that blew Aria away and moved Northeast in search for a safer place to rest. However, before the beast flew beyond reach, Aria threw one of her blade that severed a vine, causing several rocks that were supported by the vines to fall and hit Rathian's right wing. Grounded once again, the beast opted to escape on foot.
Aria, despite her exhaustion, retrieved her blade and followed the escaping beast with Catherine in the lead. They soon caught up with the beast consuming several local species such as the Green Wyrms and Common Ground Hog that the wyrms might be consuming before the Rathian arrived. Aria and Catherine continued the hunt, but was halted by the raging roar of the beast. It charged at both Catherine and Aria with higher speed. It shot out more explosive fire balls that scorched the surrounding area again.
"Woah! Dangerous!" Catherine was unable to counter attack like Aria. When she created distance, she was rained with explosive fireballs, and with Rathian's signature charge, the distance was gone. She tried to climb up to a higher vantage point, but the beast would take flight and drilled towards her position. Aria too, noticed that her blades were getting dull and hid behind a buttress root for cover while sharpening her edges with a portable whetstone.
"Hey! A little help here! You should have sharpened your blades before chasing it here!"
"My bad!" Aria hastily returned to the arena, slid underneath the beast and attacked its vulnerable underbelly.
"These weapons are supposed to be effective in killing this beast, right!? Why is it shrugging off our attacks and still charges at us with such vigour!?" Catherine was getting impatient and was performing the riskier Dragon Piercer moves in higher frequency.
"Calm down! Do not recklessly shoot out the Dragon Piercer! You will be left vulnerable to Rathian's attacks!" Aria tried to warn her companion, but it was too late as a fireball struck at Catherine, causing her to fall off a branch that she was perching on. With a swift motion, Aria caught the falling hunter and laid her gently on the ground. "Catherine!"
"Ugh, I am sorry." Catherine sustained severe injuries on majority of her skin as the exposed nerves throbbed in pain from contact with the air. She reached into her pouch and retrieved a vial of potion to drink.
"I will distract the beast while you recover!"
"Much thanks." Catherine took several gulps of the recovery liquid and her wounds began to heal. She got back on her feet, knowing that 1 vial of potion was insufficient, she chugged in another vial and returned to the battlefield, bearing more cautiousness.
The dance among the 3 attracted the attention of many individuals within the vegetation. Several rangers headed towards the commotion where the temperature spiked due to the fire produced by Rathian, causing the normally foggy morning to clear up. "What in the Lord's name is happening?"
"Several local critters were running amok and this is the source of it." The rangers, who were trying to figure out the anomaly, were greeted with the rare forest fire which they tried to put out using water from the nearby streams. They continued with their efforts until the appearance of a gigantic beast charging in their general direction startled them. The beast tripped and rolled on its side, exhausted. "This..."
Aria and Catherine chased the fleeing beast and their sudden entranced shocked the rangers as much as the appearance of Rathian. Using the openings, both hunters unleashed their devastating attacks on the beast. Catherine first unleashed her Dragon Piercer that impacted Rathian's head followed with Aria's demon flurry rush and demon dance.
The beast got back on its feet as Aria finished her combo, but was immediately hit with another Dragon Piercer that Catherine charged during Aria's combo. The beast's head relented from the continuous damage and broke, stunning the beast once again. Their attacks continued as the rangers were left speechless from the flashy display before snapping back and relayed the information back to the city while some remained to contain the fire.
Aria and Catherine was so focused on their target that they ignored the onlookers. Their attacks finally paid off as the beast stood up and limped away from its attackers. "It is weakened! We are close to finishing it off!"
Rathian took flight to escape. Aria tried to reach into her flash bomb, only to realise that she ran out of it. "Oh no, please do not head back into the inner layer."
Her wish was unfortunately, not granted as the beast faced the looming cliff that separated the middle to the inner layer and gained altitude.
In the clutched moment, Catherine gambled with her shot to its wing. She had no time to charge up her Dragon Piercer and thus, unleashed her regular arrow that she drew as much as she could within the limited time. As the the arrow made contact, Rathian's left wing broke and the beast careened down as it crashed onto the cliff.
"Nice one Catherine!"
Aria quickly dashed towards her target while chanting. "Fire. Burn the particles of the air. Air. Coalesce your energy to strike your enemy in a flash. Lightning Hammer!"
As Aria finished, she had reached the Rathian and unleashed a powerful lightning blow upon her stunned foe. The beast, although weakened, withstood the attack and stood up before desperately spinning around to ward off any oncoming attackers. Aria slid underneath its belly again and unleashed her flurry of demonic slashes. The beast jumped in order to stomp Aria, but in the nick of time, she managed to avoid being crushed as she slithered away.
As the hunt was nearing its end, an intruder welcomed itself; the mate of the beast, Rathalos, having shaken off the effect of the dung bomb, returned to aid his weakened partner. It started to pelt the whole battlefield in fire before honing in on individuals to poison them with its claws. Aria, the first to sense the incoming beast, prepared to throw her spare dung bomb, but was knocked away by a smaller creature who tackled her, dropping the bomb as the result. The 2 Rathian offspring had apparently hitched a ride on their father's back and were now squaring off against Aria. "The 2 of you are not my target. But if I must..."
The weakened beast, driven by its motherly instinct, rushed to protect its younglings from Aria who were about to attack and was hit by Aria's combo. Seeing their mother in pain, the 2 juvenile Rathian flanked Aria with their bite. The juveniles, still several weeks old, were large enough to stand above Aria and not wanting to suffer more injuries, the latter retreated. "Tch!"
Catherine was busy avoiding the incoming patriarch while passing her antidotes to the rangers who were poisoned. She tried to counter attack with her arrows, but Rathalos was too agile for her to deal proper damage to.
Rathalos, having dealt with the surrounding attackers, changed its sight to his ailing partner and honed in towards Aria. Distracted from the juveniles, Aria stumbled from the incoming Rathalos as she tried to defend herself with her dual blades and lost her grip on one of the blade; she was near her limit.
"Aria!" Seeing her companion losing her means to defend herself, Catherine threw her bow and arrows towards Aria from a nearby tree branch. Aria first caught the bag that stored the arrows which had not much ammunition left; she used the arrow head and her remaining blade to cut away at the juveniles who were charging at her while she was stumbling.
After fending off the children, she threw her blade that she managed to hold on to towards Rathalos, hitting it on its jaw that was about to shoot out a fire ball, but due to the impact, exploded prematurely around its mouth. With her remaining hand free, Aria caught the bow and charged her Dragon Piercer. She aimed and released the shot that landed on the exhausted Rathian's head.
The powerful sound of impact rang across the arena as Rathian's head shook from the impact. It stumbled around before falling like a puppet whose strings was severed. The Queen of the Land had fallen.