Life of a Rath Couple

An Azure Rathalos was spending his day as he spent many of them: Patrolling his territory for either other threats or for food. The occasional Yian Kut-Ku caught his eye, but he ignored them as he made another pass. They wouldn't even put up a fight if he decided to go after them, the cowards.

Snorting to himself with a brief burst of flame, he made a slight course adjustment to the left.

This time, something else caught his eye. Reflective in nature, moving at a comparatively slow pace...

A human, armored head to toe in some sort of metal armor with a large metal sword strapped to its back. Azure wasn't close enough to distinguish the human's gender or anything else of real value. Closing in was his only option, one that he disliked for reasons of personal safety. Azure's brother had recently been killed by a band of these humans, ones they called "Hunters."

Whether or not this one was a hunter had yet to be determined, though it was very likely. The wyvern swooped down and landed in the trees, peering down through the thick supporting branches. The human had stopped when it heard the canopy move, though it hadn't been able to see him.

Azure took in a deep breath. Testosterone, copious amounts of it...a male human. He was alone at the moment, though the wyvern couldn't be sure of whether or not he had companions. More often than not, the answer was yes. While physically frail compared to  Azure, they were capable of setting up traps that even he would fall into on occasion. Luckily, they would either fail to trigger or be ineffective as the wyvern hastily beat his wings to escape.

Might be why he only had a scar on his face instead of missing his face entirely, as other Rathalos tended to have happen.

Azure's mate was in the area, but she was tending to the nest. It would be suicide for *him* to go in there right now, as hormonal as she was (hence his patrolling). An invading human or two would be ripped apart, pure and simple. He wasn't worried.

The human made some sort of signal, a waving motion directed behind him. From around the bend came three other humans, as heavily armed and armored as the first. This made Azure more than a little worried. He remembered tales from his mother about the terrible humans and the sheer destruction they could sow. About a war that both his kind and the humans had waged long ago, with only fringe survivors of each to go on.

Those thoughts made the wyvern shudder involuntarily.

No, he had to clear his thoughts.

The path they were taking would lead them straight to Rosa's nest. He wasn't yet sure if they were brave, or just very stupid. Taking wing again, he headed them off at the next clearing, intent on stopping them cold.
---

Azure waited patiently. Much more patiently than he should have, if he were honest with himself, but he waited. Perched on top of a rocky outcropping, he could easily see the only path the humans could take into the immediate area...and yet, they weren't here. As he contemplated what could have happened, he heard Rosa scream from the nest. Adrenaline hit his veins like lightning as he turned towards the source, and saw two armored figures on the cliff itself.

They actually climbed up the cliff instead of going around the path!

Hastily taking wing, he flew towards the two on the side of the rocky wall. With a snarl, he brought his talons to bare and slammed them into the wall, impaling a hunter clean on through. The human gasped in brief shock as the light left his eyes, Azure's virulent toxins working quickly to still the man's beating heart. Damage caused from the wounds themselves weren't helping him.

Azure pushed off of the cliff with his other foot, allowing the rapidly cooling corpse to fall into the forest below. The other hunter had vanished, likely back up into the nest. Scowling at his own carelessness, Azure flew higher up, then announced his presence with a talon drop into the back of an unaware hunter. His great sword, currently caught in Rosa's jaws, was of no use to him as Azure's razor sharp talons cut into the leather around the man's back.

He too fell, though was still breathing as Rosa tossed his weapon off the cliff side. The furious she-wyvern rounded on another hunter as her weapon bit into the Rathian's thigh scales, not getting so much as a grunt out of the savagely hormonal wyvern. Rosa backed up for room to use her tail, the hunter rolling just as Rosa performed an acrobatic backflip, her poison-loaded tail missing the human woman by mere inches.

Fire built up in Azure's throat, and as the woman came out of her evasive roll, he let loose with a ball of fiery saliva hot enough to melt rock. It struck the ground and exploded, tossing the woman clear across the nest and into the wall. She groaned and lie there for a moment, shaking her head to clear it.

Azure and Rosa ignored her, instead turning towards the sole male survivor, a man with a metal lance. The very man that Azure had seen leave his comrade to die by Azure's own claws, in fact. Loosing a sound much like a chuckle, both wyverns went in opposite directions around him. He couldn't keep an eye on both of them, and Azure was sure to catch him if he were to try and run.

"This so wasn't worth the money..." He muttered, shaking like a leaf. Azure and Rosa cringed a bit when they smelled urine, and the she-wyvern gave Azure a roll of her eyes. He nodded, then took wing.

As the man turned at the sudden distraction, Rosa incinerated him with an explosive fireball. The ashes that were once his body blew away in the wind, his charred head and boots launched towards the other side of the nest. Rosa would more than likely take care of that during her neurotic cleaning sessions.

The only one left was the woman.

She was still recovering, holding her head. The last thing the huntress would see would be the flashing jaws of a furious mother Rathian.
---

Azure was back on patrol the next day, after keeping very close for the rest of the day. He was trying to convince Rosa to move the nest, as she had yet to lay her eggs, and could delay it herself for up to a month if she had to. Killing a hunting group was sure to irritate the humans, and there would be more to follow. The easiest way to avoid them would be to simply move. Flying left no tracks to follow, and they both could fly for a good while before needing to touch down again.

Came with the territory of being named "King of the Sky", naturally.

Rosa was debating for right now. It was more than likely that she *would* move, but she needed more time to decide. The nesting spot they had right now was absolutely ideal, with easy access to prey and fresh water. Going elsewhere meant that they may have to fight for territory, and Rosa was wary of fighting another capable wyvern while pregnant.

Azure shook his head, diving down to nab a fish from the lake. His claws plunged in and came up empty, the fish scattering just moments before. Growling, he gave up. He was never any good at this 'fishing' business, and likely never would be. He settled for the kelbi drinking from the lake not too far away, ending its life in a flash of blue scale and razor sharp claw.

The blue wyvern huffed to himself while he ate. Rosa was always slow to make decisions, even ones that were time critical. It wouldn't take long for whatever human settlement to realize that their Hunters had failed, and they'd send more that were better armed and armored.

No, that wouldn't do. They had to leave now, preferably before the end of the week. Azure would go on ahead, find a spot and clear it. Rosa would be right behind to build a new nest and prepare it.

In fact...

Sure that Rosa would be fine for a little while, Azure finished his meal and took wing to do exactly that.
---

Azure had been flying for hours now, looking for a spot to call 'home'. Eventually, he found it. It was on the edge of the jungle, in a cave that had easy access to a river of fresh water and the sky. A sole pillar that was more than ideal stood alone near a waterfall. Impossible for local scavengers and, more importantly, Hunters, to reach. Just needed clearing of the local Velociprey population, and it would be ready.

The dark blue wyvern plunged out of the sky, talons outstretched to grab one hapless 'prey. He took it high into the air and simply...'fumbled' it. The Velociprey managed a few panicked sounds before messily hitting the rocks below, causing the rest of his packmates to lock their eyes to the larger wyvern.

Azure flung fireballs from relative safety in the sky, the impacts either killing them outright or forcing them away. The Velocidrome was last to leave, however reluctantly. One last sweep of the area, and the male fire wyvern was satisfied. He turned and went back to his mate, ready to push her out by force if he had to.

He didn't have to.

In fact, she was already en route. He nearly collided with her on the way back, the panicked Rathian looking over her shoulder towards the old nest. Her whimpers and injuries told him all he needed to know: Hunters. Better ones than the ones before, judging by how many injuries the Rathian was carrying. Nothing life-threatening, but definitely painful.

Still, now that they were both moving out of the area, the Hunters should stop coming after them. If not, Azure was ready to defend his mate to the death.
---

Three weeks had passed. Rosa had laid her eggs, and was currently guarding them jealously. The Velocidrome from before had come back with its packmates. The Velocidrome was perhaps too brave for his own good, shouting at Rosa for a fight to sole rights to the cave. He was so concerned with her that he completely missed Azure as he made his return trip.

The Velocidrome made a nice snack for the two fire wyverns.

Time continued on peacefully, and their young finally burst from the eggshells. Azure and Rosa were all smiles (or the wyvern equivalent, anyway), teaching their young like they had been taught, passing down knowledge that they had gained either on their own or from other sources.

Time zoomed onwards, their young eventually leaving to find territory and mates of their own. Rosa and Azure continued to use their nest, doubly so when Rosa approached Azure about being pregnant again...