Fighting Burns!

-BOOM!-

'What was that?!'

Off in the distance an explosion sent a cloud of dust into the air.

'Hmmm what do I do? I'm not supposed to leave the nest but a fight is breaking out just over there. Oh shit!'

-BOOM BOOOM BOOM-

Fire balls rained down towards Lucius leaving craters and blowing debris all over the place.

Out of the smoke came flying out a small orange and red bird.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

Rubbing his forehead Lucius notices the small bird on the ground struggling to get up again.

"Woah who are you little guy? And who injured you so badly?"

-SKkKKRrReEEEee-

Blowing the smoke away with its descent a menacing purple bird wyvern unleashed an ear piercing scream causing Lucius flinch in pain.

When Lucius saw it he froze. He told his body to move but it didn't. In his years of experience as a hunter he had come across this many times, like when the Ukanlos first made eye contact with him. It was fear. An instinctual fear of something much stronger than you.

The bird wyvern focused on Lucius it unleashed another round of fireballs.

"AAAGGGHHH!"

Covering the injured bird Lucius bears the full brunt of the blast. Getting away with only his fur being burned in a few places, Lucius grabs the bird and bolts into the tree line.

'Shit! Shit! Shit! Bird your lucky I've had pets before and happen to love birds!'

Lucius swears in his mind because of his misfortune and inability to leave the little bird behind. While Lucius is strong compared to other Nargacuga cubs he is still nothing compared to an Apex level monster. He weaves in and out of the undergrowth trying to shake the bird wyvern but it doesn't give up. Each and every step is followed closely by a fireball right behind.

"AAAGGGHHHH!"

Finally running out of luck Lucius gets hit causing him to drop the bird and barrel into a tree.

"Aghh that freakin hurts! If it's a fight you, want come and get some!"

'Dammit! Because I froze up earlier and got injured I can't outrun it. Mom hopefully all that training comes in handy, if not help me!'

-ROOOAAAARRR-

-SsSSkKKrRRrEEEee-

Roaring as both a challenge and as a call for his Mom Lucius initiates a stand off and finally gets a good look at his assailant .

'A Yian Garuga, that must mean that bird is a baby Yian Kut-Ku. Of course I have to fight the screeching poison wyvern. Hopefully Mom gets back soon. This isn't going to be an easy fight.'

Cursing at his opponent because of the bad matchup Lucius prepares to attack. The Yian Garuga is covered in poisonous spines so Lucius needs to either stick to ranged attacks or end the fight before the poison can incapacitate him.

Eyeing each other down waiting for the other to move Lucius breaks the stalemate by whipping his tail to fling the razor sharp scales on it at the Yian Garuga.

The Yian Garuga easily dodges them with a flap of the wings moving it out of the way. It returns the favor by launching a barrage of fireballs like a machine gun trying to mow down Lucius.

"Hot! Getting hit by a few more of these won't end well. And I have to make sure stray attacks don't hit the injured Yian Kut-Ku.

Running back towards the nest Lusius takes advantage of the various paths among the tree branches that he knows like the back of his hand. Sneaking in some scale shots the Yian Garuga isn't slowing down. Besides some scratches its still in peak condition. Lucius, on the other hand is feeling the hurt from those fireballs.

In a do or die move Lucius whips around jumping towards the Yian Garuga. Using his momentum Lucius ducks his head down and curls his body causing the force all along his body to travel down his spine and end at his tail. In an aerial front flip his tail collides with the top of the Yian Garuga's head.

-CRACK-

Hitting the Yian Garuga's head with that much force caused it's beak to fracture. But with its head having great force pushing down towards the ground it did the exact thing Lucius did.

-BANG-

The Yian Garuga spins around hitting Lucius in his ribs and like a comet Lucius plummets to the ground.

"Agghh"

The impact with the ground knocked the air out of Lucius' lungs and fractured a lot of his bones. His ribs were probably broken and he was poisoned now. Lucius wasn't going to be getting up any time soon.

'Aagggghhhh. Gotta get up!'

Try as he might Lucius wasn't going anywhere. The Yian Garuga lands and the look in its eyes were practically gloating. The Yian Garuga walked up to Lucius readying to finish of its prey but.

-ROOOOAAAAAAARRRRR-

Out of the foliage Lucy pounced on the Yian Garuga. Using her bladed forelimbs she proceeded to launch a flurry of attacks not giving the Yian Garuga a chance to retaliate. In just a few moments the Yian Garuga was down.

Lucy "Lucius are you okay!"

"Hahahaha no but you dont look to good either."

While Lucius was beat up Lucy looked like she went to a slaughter. She had blood dripping down her face, back, and sides, with gashes and cuts everywhere.

Lucy "Well that wasn't the only Yian Garuga. But I'm still standing. Your not. C'mon let's go back you need some rest."

Lucius was a bit shocked that the Yian Garuga he fought wasn't the only one. But seeing how beat up his Mom was there probably weren't just one or two more.

'That's strange. Yian Garuga are known for being solitary, so why were there so many? It must be related to the changes Mom mentioned earlier. The forest is really getting dangerous.'

"Wait! Mom there was a baby Yian Kut-Ku, can I keep it?"

Lucy 'Lucius you really are a strange Nargacuga. Well just as strange as I am I guess. Most Nargacuga calfs leave after the first 5 years when they become adolescents and become aggressive towards the parents. But you keep surprising me, you are smart, kind, and now this. Hahahaha keep growing my son. I hope you achieve great things.'

Lucy "Hmmmm. Would you tell my why you want to Lucius?"

"Because it'll die on it's own and because it'll keep me company when your out hunting."

Lucy "Hmmm. Okay you can keep it. But once you recover you'll have to get it's food yourself."

"Thank You Mom!"

Lucy "Your welcome Lucius."

Lucius tried to hug his Mom but as soon as he grabbed her his ribs started to shoot pain up his back. Lucy has gotten used to Lucius' strange way of conveying affection not questioning where he got it from. She assumed he made it up but the truth was Lucius forget that monsters don't hug and freaked out that he might have been caught. But Lucy didn't seem to question him so he kept doing it.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow."

Lucy "Be careful Lucius, do you remember where the Yian Kut-Ku is?"

"Yup over there."

Lucius and his Mom made their way over to where Lucius dropped the baby Yian Kut-Ku. When they arrived they saw it laying down resting from the injuries it sustained. However when it saw Lucius it hobbled over to him.

-Chirp-

Lucy "Looks like it imprinted on you Lucius. But, it looks different doesn't it?"

Looking closer Lucius saw that the Yian Kut-Ku wasn't the pink and orange coloring it usually had. It was a light indigo with green highlights on its frills.

"It's fine he's just special than."

Picking him up Lucius set the baby Yian Kut-Ku on his back and started the trek back home.