Monster Hunter World: Monsters and Magic

by Blackdrag-rose

Ballooning Problems

It took Sherry some time to get things ready, especially since they had to send a report to Shepard and inform him of what was going on right now, so Grogar spent it talking with Hiroko, discussing what he had seen in the Coral Highlands, due to the fact that there was a chance the Odogaron might be there. He knew that it wouldn't come if one of the Legiana were in the area, given that the flying monster was the apex predator of the highlands, but he had been surprised several times since his arrival in this world and he had no way of knowing if the Odogaron would remain in it's domain. Hiroko agreed with his assessment, there was no telling what the Blood Wolf would do, showing that among the nicknames he had created this was the one she liked the most, along with a warning that it was in the Coral Highlands to find food. Such a thing told him all he needed to know, that there must not be a lot of good food down in the Rotten Vale and it was either hungry enough to climb up here, just wanted to fight something different for a change, or it was providing for a mate, given what he had read about on the way to the New World.

In the end it really didn't matter which idea was right, as an Odogaron might ruin their plans to gather what they need to rig this ship and transform it into a floating ship again, so he needed to be ready, but Grogar knew that if it tried to fight him he would be in a world of trouble, since it was similar to Nergigante in terms of speed.

"Grogar, the Commander sent us his reply to our message," Sherry commented, which meant that one of the Barnos must have arrived while they were talking, and that she had been waiting for it to arrive for some time, before she unfurled the scroll that had been sent to them, "Let's see... he's thanking us for our hard work, even though he and several others are a little surprised that we haven't found a piece of Zorah Magdaros in the Coral Highlands, but everyone agrees with the plan to revive the airship, so while we're looking for what we need he'll be sending a few people to assist us."

"Okay, then we'll head down and find us a Paolumu... by then I'll come to terms with what needs to be done," Grogar said, though he was hoping that they would be able to find a weakened Paolumu and offer it a swift death, the first monster he would actually kill with his own hands, as the rest of them had either been slain by other monsters or knocked out, despite his anger towards them.

"I've never seen a Hunter like you, who cares for the lives of the monsters we share this world with," Hiroko stated, where it was easy to tell that she was still interested in Grogar and his ideals, given how different he was from everyone else in this world, but she remained on her sitting area and nodded her head a little, "but I wish you well in your endeavor to find the items you need."

Grogar nodded before he, Sherry, and Patches departed once more, heading down into the Coral Highlands once more, to the first camp since they hadn't taken the time to set up the second one yet, which might be what the people were coming to do before working on the soon to be airship. Of course he and Patches passed by the camp and headed down into the area they had found the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku in, while at the same time Sherry stayed back to keep herself safe, though this time around he quietly asked his Scoutflies to track one of the Paolumu that were in this region. A few moments later they, like all of the other times someone asked them to find a certain monster, scattered and he remained still for a time, allowing him to observe the Kelbi and Shamos that were in the area, not to mention the Raphinos that were in the air. One thing he noticed was that one of the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku happened to be walking through this section of the Coral Highlands and used the flash power they were born with to knock a few Wingdrakes out of the air, for it to munch on, which was fascinating to observe, like he wasn't even there.

When the Scoutflies came back he found that they followed the path to the left this time around, causing him to follow after each one as he spied some tracks, those that had to belong to a Paolumu, though based on what he was seeing it did look like tracking a flying monster was quite hard. Since it could fly from place to place he knew that finding it had to be a hard task for the little critters, so he trusted them when they pointed him in the direction he was currently heading in, all while ignoring the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku before it noticed him and Patches. There was a path he had to climb up, where Grogar was able to see that it was far shorter than what he had seen previously and meant he didn't have to use magic to climb it in a matter of seconds, which seemed to let him walk over an arch of stone as he tracked down his target. While he did that he kept his eyes and ears open, as he wanted to be ready in case an Odogaron showed up, because he had a feeling it might show up and ruin his day once more, while Patches kept his gear at the ready as they carefully made their way through the portion of the Coral Highlands they were in.

A few moments later he spotted a Paolumu floating through the air, like it didn't have a care in the world, though when it opened it's eyes, and noticed him staring up at it, the expected reaction happened within seconds, it freaked out as soon as it noticed him, flapping it's wings like it was in danger. Such a thing told Grogar that it had to be a younger Paolumu, as in a teenager based on what he knew, and that it had no idea what to do in this situation, hence why it seemed to be flying off in the direction of something else, or maybe the rest of it's family. That gave him an idea when he considered it, this Paolumu might lead him to a sick and dying member of it's kind, one that he could both put out of it's misery and gain the items he needed for the airship, though his thoughts were dashed as he noticed that a more mature Paolumu flew down into the area. If that was the case he was going to be in for another fight, one he suspected would be hard since he had no idea how such a monster fought, so it would be a learning experience and then some when he considered the information he was seeing, before his thoughts were interrupted as Patches tugged on his clothing.

What he discovered sent a chill down his spine for a moment, as an Odogaron was up in the Coral Highlands, causing him to drop down for a time as he observed the monster, where he found that the more mature Paolumu hadn't noticed his presence yet and the Odogaron didn't seem to know he was in the area either. Sure enough he found that neither one of the monsters had any idea that he was watching them, where he carefully made his way over to the circular rest area that seemed to be where the Paolumu was heading towards right now, all while the Odogaron noticed it and growled before it moved to track it down. As he expected both monsters were gunning for each other, seeing the other as a threat to their domain, even if he knew that the Odogaron was supposed to be down in the Rotten Vale, and it wasn't long before the two clashed with each other, one tearing up the ground as the other moved through the air and seemed to fire bursts of air, or concentrated air, at their foe. It reminded him of what happened earlier, with the poor Tzitzi-Ya-Ku that was slain and the body was dragged down into the depths of the Rotten Vale, most likely for food when he considered the area once more, and it wasn't long before the Paolumu to decide that this wasn't a good idea, looking like it wanted to leave.

In the following moments the Odogaron leapt up into the Paolumu's face and chomped down on it's head without delay, forcefully dragging it back down to the ground so it couldn't leave, before shaking it's head for a few moments to inflict a bit more damage to the flying bat, though once it was done it hurled it's foe into a rock wall. Such a thing told Grogar more about the monster, the Odogaron was fast, it had impressive and shocking speed, and it had impressive leg strength, the last one allowing it to reach a monster that was higher in the air, meaning it was a dangerous foe and if he fought it he had to be ready for anything and everything. The Paolumu, now understanding that flying away wasn't going to help, especially since there was a chance that the Blood Wolf might track it back to it's den, picked itself back up and rushed back into the battle that Grogar knew it was destined to lose, though it didn't seem to be thinking about that, rather it was thinking of those it was protecting by not returning to the den it had come from. Grogar knew they were somewhat lucky, as he had no idea if the weaker Paolumu would have enticed the Odogaron to track it instead, but this way the rest of the odd bat monsters would be safe, at least until either the Legiana returned or the dangerous Odogaron came back.

As he started to shift his stance, so he could move in and see if he could fight off the Odogaron before it dragged the poor Paolumu down into the Rotten Vale, he heard the sound of a horse in the distance, where he turned his head and found a sight he wasn't expecting to see, a new monster had appeared in the arena. It was a four legged beast that looked similar to a unicorn, as it was a horse creature of some kind, though it seemed to have a face that was more like a lion's and most of it's body was covered in icy blue to black scales, with a majestic white mane and tail that stood up. The blue horn on top of it's head told Grogar all he needed to know, this was a Kirin, the Elder Dragon rumored to be somewhere inside the vast domain of the Coral Highlands, and after his encounter with Nergigante he wasn't in a rush to tangle with an Elder Dragon, especially one that commanded the power of lightning. The Odogaron turned it's head and noticed the imposing figure as it entered the area, where it looked like it was going to stand it's ground and fight the Elder Dragon, a foolish decision if it started to fight the Kirin, all while he inched slightly closer, to at least try to help the Paolumu that had been downed by it's fight with the Odogaron.

What he discovered was that, after a few moments of staring at the Kirin, the Odogaron huffed before rushing out of the area they were in, heading right for the Rotten Vale, showing Grogar that not even the vicious Blood Wolf would fight one of the Elder Dragons, or maybe it was tired and wanted to rest before trying it's claw at besting the Kirin, to which Grogar moved into the area and knelt by the Paolumu.

"Shh, it's okay... I'm not here to hurt you." Grogar said, as when he reached the monster it weakly tried to move away, but the wounds that the Odogaron had dealt caused it to go nowhere, all while he was aware of the fact that the Kirin was still watching him, no doubt curious as to what he was doing, before he let out a sigh as he checked the other wounds, as the news wasn't good, "I'm sorry, the Odogaron it... it crushed one of your wings, I can seen broken bones in your feet, there are gash marks all over your body and head, and that thrashing has done some serious damage to your head... I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to help you."

As he said that he heard the sorrow cries of the other Paolumu, causing the weakened one to try to glance at the sky for a few seconds, though it wasn't long before it collapsed and went still, where he found that the Kirin stood nearby, as if it was paying it's respects, before departing for another part of the Coral Highlands. With that done he had Patches return to Sherry and pass on the news to Johnson, as he would know how to find the components they were looking for, while he planned on staying nearby to make sure the Odogaron didn't try to come back with the disappearance of the Elder Dragon that had drove it off. He knew that Hiroko would be interested in the sudden arrival of a Kirin in the Coral Highlands, if she didn't know already since he just now noticed the storm clouds that had formed above his head, a sure sign that the Kirin was on the move, though he was hoping it would move on, otherwise using the airship might be harder for them, but he and the others would deal with that in due time. Other than that there was nothing much he could do save use his magic to shield the fallen Paolumu, to make sure none of the remaining monsters tried anything funny, though it looked like the sudden arrival of a Kirin, of an Elder Dragon, had spooked them as well, which he was fine with.

It took a while for Johnson to arrive in the Coral Highlands, but when he showed up Grogar lifted the Paolumu with some of his magic and they departed for somewhere that was far safer for him to work in, which ended up being very close to where their camp was located, and he could hide them better with a simple spell. With Johnson hidden, Grogar made sure to keep an eye out for any monsters that might stumble upon the area that they were currently hiding in, which allowed the man to start carving open the fallen Paolumu so they could find all of the parts they needed. He didn't watch, as his attention was better served maintaining the barrier and keeping the other monsters away, while Patches helped him out, so they could be done with this and get moving before something like the Odogaron tracked them down. Johnson did his part of the work without delay, carefully making his way through the Paolumu's body as he carefully extracted the pieces he was told that they needed to collect, as he was far more experienced in this field than Grogar was and was glad that his magic was keeping them hidden.

Once they had everything they needed, and Johnson was sure of that, Grogar dropped the magic and they regrouped with Sherry before heading back to Hiroko's ship, to get started on the balloons they were planning on using to lift the ship into the air, or at least that seemed to be the plan in his eyes.

Upon their return Grogar stood outside as he watched the sky, because if the storm didn't pass they wouldn't be able to set the plan in motion for some time, while Sherry and Patches helped Johnson and the group from Astera get to work on the balloons they had brought supplies for. It still surprised him that Shepard was able to come up with a plan, with the aid of the Researchers and Scholars that were in Astera, in such a short period of time, but that just spoke to his genius in this field, hence why he was the Commander of their forces, even though Grogar was sure there was an Admiral, who was missing in action right now. It was an odd thing, to have one of their most valuable members be absent for so long, but if the figure was like the rest of the First Fleet, and Grogar assumed he was, he was spending his time tracking down any sort of disturbance or monster that might lead them to the heart of the Elder Crossing. Other than that he didn't have much to think about, though he found Hiroko joined him on the balcony, eager to hear his tale on what happened this time, even though she did seem surprised to hear that an Odogaron was sighted so soon after the first time, but nodded as he told her of the Kirin, meaning they had three Elder Dragons to worry about now.

After some time Johnson and the others declared that the balloons were ready and deployed them a few seconds later, as the storm had cleared at long last, meaning either the Kirin was asleep or it had moved elsewhere, where they watched all of them for a time as it lifted the downed ship into the air without wasting time.

"Good, now we can get closer to the Rotten Vale, and whatever secrets it holds," Grogar commented, where he stared out at the open area of the New World that was in front of them and spotted a flock of Raphinos in the distance, a flock that rested between them and their destination, while Sherry and Patches joined the pair.

"Yes, and while you're down there, searching for Zorah Magdaros' trail, I'm curious as to what you'll discover," Hiroko said, meaning there had to be something special about the Rotten Vale that he didn't know about, hence her line about it, but after saying that she turned her attention to the flock and considered what it might mean, "though with all the Raphinos in front of us we might run into some trouble."

"Don't worry, we have Grogar on our side... if a monster shows up, he'll talk to it." Sherry remarked, which was the truth, he preferred to speak to monsters and get them to leave them alone so they could get back to their mission, but he still had to fight occasionally, like with the Anjanath, and this showed her trust in his abilities.

Grogar barely nodded his head as he stared out at the Coral Highlands, even though he was amazed by the fact that the ship could fly while resting in a diagonal manner, without tilting, before they watched as one of the Legiana flew through the air and started to hunt some of the Raphinos that were in their way, meaning it was in their way as well.

"Excuse me?" Grogar said, using a spell to carry his voice to the Legiana, who paused for a moment before staring at the airship they were using to cross the sky, while he gestured to Sherry and had the ship stall, as they didn't want to move into the side of the monster, and sure enough it screeched before coming to a stop in front of them, "Listen, me and my companions are trying to reach another section of this land, and we mean no disrespect by intruding on your hunting domain, not like the Odogaron, the Blood Wolf, that stalks your domain. So, can we pass you by and get on with our lives?"

All it took was the comment about the Odogaron hunting while it wasn't there to cause the Legiana to permit them to pass through the area, while it headed down to track down the offender, who Grogar was sure had returned after seeing that the storm had faded, to which the others got them moving again as they focused on the Rotten Vale and whatever secrets it held for them.