Colossus By Choice: Book 1 Verse 19

3001 P.G.E. (Post-Godzilla Era)

[Universal Date: Day 119]
[Planet: Pyrestar]
[Capital: Silver Sun City]

[Location: City wall limits – eastern inner farmlands]

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Great Jaggi

[Height]: 444 centimetres (average)
[Length]: 934.4 centimetres (head to tail) (average)

[Category]: Bird Wyvern
[Title]: "Dog Wyvern”
[Threat Rating]: Low

[Appearance]:
> Has a classical raptorial Bird Wyvern appearance with a theropod body type and a slightly thicker centre mass
> Has somewhat short forearms that possess 2 short claws and 1 extremely large middle claw each
> Moderately proportioned legs have feet that resemble the hands with 2 short claws flanking the middle toe with 1 extremely large middle claw
> Long tail has several small spikes running down either side
> Has a thick line of white fur-like feathers running down from the middle of its back to the middle of its tail, as well as another line running down from the back of its head to its shoulders
> Has a prominent frill coming off of either side of its head with a colouration that fans out from the centre in the order of prominent light purple, a line of orange, and outer edges of white
> Overall body is mainly light purple with lines of orange on the edge of the purple shade, along with a beige underside

[Observed Characteristics]:
> Will provoke and be aggressive towards larger and stronger Monsters despite its relatively low position in the food chain compared to them
 > Can call forth Jaggi as part of its pack up to over a dozen if given the opportunity and will periodically howl for reinforcements should enough Jaggi be slain
> Doesn’t coordinate with its pack, preferring to send the young Jaggi out as a mob to overwhelm prey while it rushes in without any care about injuring its own pack
> Mainly fights with leaps, bites, tackles, and tail slaps without much finesse or skill
> Is surprisingly strong, agile, and fast despite its size and threat level and can easily knock around even experienced hunters should they underestimate it and let themselves be taken off-guard

==
==

The Great Jaggi, leader of the Jaggi pack.

The mob boss of the Dog Wyverns reveals himself as the mastermind behind this attack on the wheat fields. Though Jaggi aren’t unheard of within the territories bordering outside of the main city, they’ve never come this far in to actually invade the inner farmlands; the chaos of the forced Monster migration has completely shaken up the local ecosystem. This particular pack has wrought some immense damage to this sector of the wheat fields, cutting huge swatches and leavinglarge patches of the grain stalks barren.

The Bird Wyvern alpha snarls and growls as he stares down Taum, Skrill, and Yun-Tao; he’s approaching them much more cautiously now than is normal. This is highly unusual behaviour compared to the species normal gung-ho attitude and aggression against almost any creature aside from the most aggressive wyverns and Elder Dragon-level beasts; said caution doesn’t go unnoticed by the group.


(Taum): He’s cautious.

(Yun-Tao): Yeah, so?

(Taum): That means he’s waiting on us for the first move now that he’s revealed himself. Great Jaggi don’t wait their turn unless something much bigger and stronger is threatening their hold on territory.

(Yun-Tao): And how does that help us right now?


The young Draconi doesn’t immediately answer his Oxbul companion’s question; instead, he’s scanning the environment for clues as to how to proceed next. In his scan of the surroundings, Taum takes note of patches of burnt crops further out past the acres of wheat they’re in currently; he also sees that the Jaggi pack are relatively thin despite their apparently frequent raiding of these wheat stalks. Finally, the insightful youngling notices that none of the Dog Wyverns are barking and snarling anymore; this is despite the fact that the young Jaggi are always vocal when confronting enemies alongside the alpha.

All of these clues tell Taum exactly what he needs to know about how to approach the current situation. Unfortunately, this introspective analysis ended up costing him more immediate situational awareness.

He only manages to duck underneath the Great Jaggi’s snapping jaws mere moments before it connects; the alpha Dog Wyvern ends up bumping his head against Yun-Tao blocking with her Greatsword. The boisterous Oxbul bruiser is pushed back slightly, but her block holds against the pack leader’s jaws. The alpha wyvern steps back a bit and goes in for another bite, but he ends up receiving a rising slash right into the bottom of his chin that knocks his head up and causes him to stumble backwards a bit. As his head comes down, Taum jumps off of the back of one of the Jaggi running around and attempts to land a jumping charged attack onto the Great Jaggi’s vulnerable frilled face.

However, 3 of the Jaggi mobbing around leap up and tackle him out of the air; they start biting and scratching him while he’s down and surrounded by them. Before they can make any real progress, they receive a wide slash from Yun-Tao that sends them flying away. Another raptor jumps up to pounce on top of Taum, but Skrill comes in with a double round slash of his Dual Blades that quickly knocks it back down to the ground; he then fires off his Clutch Claw and latches onto the Great Jaggi’s left leg.

The Dog Wyvern pack’s alpha shakes off his brief daze and takes notice of the small Radent man latched onto his leg; he immediately begins bucking, flailing, and spinning around wildly in an attempt to shake Skrill off. This intense movement prevents Skrill from properly performing any further attacks, but it also serves to help keep the rest of the pack under control and off balance by constantly knocking them away anytime he so much as bumps into them.


(Taum): I have an idea!


The Draconi ex-City Scout quickly loads his Slinger with a sonic bomb and fires it off into the distance; the loud piercing shriek briefly irritates the hearing of the Jaggi pack, though they quickly shake it off. This temporary lull allows Yun-Tao, who had previously been knocked down by one of the Great Jaggi’s flailing tail slaps earlier, to get back up; Skrill takes this opportunity to collect some stones from the ground while he’s still latched onto the large Bird Wyvern’s leg. He then quickly switches up positions to latch onto the Great Jaggi’s face and aim his Slinger at it at point blank range.


(Skrill): Heads up, Yun-Tao!


Skrill forcibly sends the Great Jaggi running across the ground by firing all of his stones into its face at once for a powerful Flinch Shot; the pack leader is sent on a collision course for Yun-Tao, who has her sword drawn and charging, while Skrill is launched off and lands on his back next to Taum.


(Yun-Tao): Surprise!


The middle-aged Oxbul, still holding a charge with her Giant Jawblade behind her, brings it over her shoulder and down on the Great Jaggi’s head, though it only manages to cut across the left side of his face; this still causes him to reel his head back and stumble backwards a great deal. As the Bird Wyvern alpha’s head comes back down and he begins to shake off this blow, one can clearly tell that he’s sustained some major damage; his left eye has been gouged out entirely, the left side of his frill has been cut off entirely, and there’s a large gash running down from his eye to the bottom of his jaw.

Yun-Tao smiles at having landed this grazing cut.

The Great Jaggi is none too enthused at this battle damage and seems to be reconsidering this fight now. After a few seconds looking at his enemies and his fallen pack members, he raises his head to the sky and howls loudly; the remaining Jaggi all immediately cease their attack and howl in unison. The mob boss proceeds to turn tail and run away through the wheat fields, further down into the farmland valley; his pack members follow suit.

Skrill helps Taum back up to his feet while Yun-Tao unsheathes her Greatsword and prepares to run after the Jaggi pack.


(Taum): No! No need for that now!

(Yun-Tao): What? Why? We have them on the run, we can finish them off!

(Taum): We don’t need to do that. A friend will be taking care of that for us.

(Yun-Tao): I don’t understand…..

(Taum): Trust me. Let’s go and see the show.


Taum walks ahead and leads Yun-Tao and Skrill towards a tree that overlooks the rest of the valley they’re in; they can see across all of the farmlands for many kilometres out. When they look down at the incline that the Jaggi descended towards, they can see that the Great Jaggi and his pack members are still running through some of the crop fields; Taum’s companions look at him with confusion at him apparently letting the Monster go free.


(Taum): Wait for it…..


A loud roar sounding off in the distance catches the attention of Yun-Tao, Skrill, and the Great Jaggi and his pack; Taum’s companions start coming to a realization while Taum looks quite proud of himself. A large figure flies out from the trees that the Jaggi pack was heading towards; the Dog Wyverns stop in place and begin to panic a bit as they realize what’s coming. The alpha attempts to run back in the direction he came from, but a sudden red blur dives down on him and pins him down with one of its taloned feet.

A Rathalos.

The Rathalos quickly unleashes a plume of flame in a line on the ground in front of him that blows away all the Jaggi, killing them in a single strike. He then puts his other foot and clamps down around the Great Jaggi’s body and neck; the helpless Bird Wyvern is flailing and howling wildly, all to no avail. The King of the Skies flaps his wings and lifts himself off the ground with ease despite carrying the weight of the large Jaggi pack leader; he takes off back towards the direction he came, no doubt planning to kill and eat his fellow predator competitor.

After the Flying Wyvern leaves the area, Taum turns to his comrades.


(Taum): I told you guys a friend would take care of things for us.

(Skrill): How did you know—

(Taum): Simple, my thieving friend. Do you see over there behind us, out in the other acres of wheat fields?


Skrill and Yun-Tao turn around to look back at the crop fields they were fighting in earlier. Taum points to some particular patches further out from where they encountered the Jaggi that look different than the other eaten areas; these areas are the same burnt and charred patches of wheat stalks that Taum had taken notice of earlier during the fight.


(Taum): Those burnt areas were no doubt the work of a flame-wielding Monster marking its territory, and one that was dangerous enough that even the Jaggi avoided those particular patches.

(Yun-Tao): Oh, I get it now! We drove the little rascals out into the open and let big red take care of them for us!

(Skrill): And since he was only marking his territory, he’s not an immediate threat to this farm!

(Taum): Precisely. In time, that Rathalos will need to be taken care of, but for right now we’ve completed our side quest’s objective. Let’s head towards their homestead.


The mercenary trio heads back through the wheat fields; the 3 of them make their way to the large homestead situated right on the edge of the fields.

As they come to the doorsteps of the owner’s home, there is a stark and noticeable difference between this homestead and that of someone of lesser socioeconomic status like Pianoto the Gameran honey farmer. This is a tall and very well-built house made from very fine Ancient Dragonwood; there are decorative trimmings and designs engraved into the pillars supporting the roofing over the entrance, as well as all along the window frames; it’s been painted almost entirely with a snowy white colouration, with no bubbles or brush marks to be found at all; and despite its age, it’s very clearly extremely well-kept, as scratch marks and weather damage are nowhere to be seen.

The owner of this homestead and the wheat fields outside of it is clearly quite well-off.

Yun-Tao knocks on the door pretty hard, as is to be expected of the average Oxbul. After a few moments, the door opens up.

Rather than a Draconi or Gameran country bumpkin like what Taum is used to, a tall and very sharply dressed Rapteaglet greets the trio. He’s a head taller than the Draconi youngling, though still a head short of Yun-Tao, and is clearly well-built and muscular despite his dapper white suit jacket covering all of his upper body; he’s done his fair share of labour work in spite of his obvious success and likely management position.

What’s most prominent of all, however, are the natural features of his that can be seen poking out from his well-dressed clothing: long, lanky, yet toned raptorial digitigrade feet poke out with dark greying feathers near the top of his long ankles covered in yellow scales that end in sharp taloned feet; a similar-looking set of 5-fingered hands poke out from his sleeves; he has the head of an ancient raptorial bird that’s covered by a coat of dark greying feathers on top, pale white plumage with black spots running down his throat, and yellow beak tipped with a black hook; and of course, one can’t possibly miss the large folded up bird wings jutting out from his back of the same dark greying top layer and pale white underlayer with black spots.


(Tyrann Falc): Yes, may I help you—


The wheat field owner looks down and sees Skrill in between Yun-Tao and Taum; he gives him a rather dirty look. The elderly Radent smuggler suddenly hisses and leaps onto Yun-Tao’s back, only poking his head over her shoulder.


(Tyrann Falc): Judging by your company, I take it you’re here to rob me? Because if so, I’ll have you know that I am Tyran Falc, owner of the largest wheat field farm in the entire eastern outer territories. You do not want to make an enemy of me.

(Taum): Nothing like that, sir. We’re here because of your official quest posting back at the Defence Watch’s eastern command centre. See here?


Taum pulls out the official papers denoting that him and his team were the ones to take up Mr. Falc’s request. The esteemed farm owner takes the papers from the Draconi youngling’s hands and looks at them intently before handing them back; he seems somewhat amused, which puzzles Yun-Tao and Taum a bit.


(Taum): This…. this quest was for you, right?

(Tyrann Falc): Yes yes, this job posting was for the Jaggi infestation of my crop fields. But I wasn’t the one to post it. That would be my daughter. Cerato, your request was taken up!


After shouting for his daughter’s name, the young woman in question comes down the stairs behind Mr. Falc, or rather comes sliding down the railing and jumps down beside her father. Unlike her old man, she looks the farmer part much more closely than him with her blue jean overalls and simple red undershirt. In addition to her clothing, while she looks similar to him and is obviously related, she’s still noticeably different; she has pure black feathers compared to his dark greying feathers, has 2 little tufts poking up from her head compared to Tyrann Falc’s completely round head plumage, and is much slimmer and only as tall as Taum.


(Cerato Falc): Yeah, papa?

(Tyrann Falc): It seems your little quest was taken up by these bounty hunters.

(Cerato Falc): See, I told you the city would send a team to take care of those darned Bird Wyverns!

(Tyrann Falc): And I told you that our residential militia would handle it.

(Cerato Falc): But they didn’t come! They were busy elsewhere handling problems at the other farms! I was this close to grabbing my Bow and—

(Tyrann Falc): Enough of this!


The 2 Rapteaglets continue to argue about their apparent disagreement in how they should’ve handled their wheat fields being besieged by a roaming pack of Jaggi. During it all, Taum, Skrill and Yun-Tao are left confused and feeling a bit awkward about this predicament; they aren’t sure whether or not they should intervene or speak up in this decidedly family matter. After what seems like forever but is in actuality only a few seconds, the homeowner throws up his hands and heads up the stairs, leaving his daughter to deal with the contracted mercenaries.

(Cerato Falc): I apologize for my daddy’s stubbornness. He made his fortune out here where Silver Sun City doesn’t often send direct help, so he didn’t take to me asking for your help.

(Taum): It’s fine, Ms. Falc, we just—

(Cerato Falc): Oh don’t be so formal! Papa may like to prop himself up as the superior type of person, but I get down and dirty alongside all the other workers!

(Taum): Alright, Cerato. We’ve already taken care of that Jaggi pack. You can check the bodies out there for yourselves if you need proof.

(Cerato Falc): I’ll take your word for it. Come on, let’s discuss your payment somewhere a bit less stuffy and filled with superiority complex.


The heir to the Falc family’s wheat growing business pushes her way through Yun-Tao and Taum and starts walking around the house; the trio follows them, though Skrill is still clinging onto the Oxbul forge-widow’s back. As they continue to follow her to the back of the house, she bombards them with an absolutely endless load of questions and facts about the family business so rapidly that they can scarcely even respond; she doesn’t take much notice of their inability to respond as she leads them to a picnic table behind her home.

She motions for them to sit, to which Yun-Tao and Skrill reluctantly do so; meanwhile, Taum sits down with Cerato and seems quite happy to meet another country bumpkin like himself.


(Cerato Falc): Alright, now that we’re all gathered out here where there’s fresh air, tell me the juicy details! How much extra do I need to pay you? I want to make sure you’re compensated for everything!

(Taum): Okay, so we snuck up on the Jaggi real stealthy like, but then we made a noise!

(Cerato Falc): Ooh, so close! Keep going!


Taum continues to give Ms. Falc all of the details about their recent escapade in taking down the Great Jaggi and his underlings, making sure to go very in-depth on every little action that happened; he also embellishes the moment-to-moment feelings of their little adventure to an almost exaggerated degree. Throughout this recounting, Taum is more outgoing and expressive than he’s ever been while Cerato is absolutely in awe and excited greatly by what she’s hearing; the 2 seem to be quite ecstatic to be partaking in this little exchange, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Yun-Tao and Skrill.


(Yun-Tao): *whispering* So…. What do you think? Those 2?

(Skrill): *whispering* Papa’s gonna object for sure, but I have this sneaking suspicion that daddy’s little girl is the rebellious type. And believe me, I get a lot of sneaking suspicions.

(Yun-Tao): *whispering* Well I think these 2 country bumpkins have the spark of hitting steel perfectly with a hammer.


After what seems like eternity but was in actuality only a few minutes, Taum finally finishes up his recap of the Jaggi hunt.


(Taum): And that’s when a Rathalos came in, just as I predicted, swooping up the Great Jaggi like a common Aptonoth while simultaneously taking out all the remaining Jaggi!

(Cerato Falc): Wow, that was amazing! And that all happened right in our own fields?

(Taum): Yeah!

(Cerato Falc): All of that clearly deserves compensation for going above and beyond! This is all my own money, too, direct from everything I’ve saved up.


Cerato Falc pulls out an extremely large personal chest from beneath the picnic table and places it on top for all to see. She opens it up, revealing an extremely large reserve of saved-up earnings far in excess of what Taum, Yun-Tao, and Skrill were expecting; Skrill in particular is almost salivating at the huge load of loot before him.


(Cerato Falc): Go ahead, Taum! You and your friends have earned it!