You have descended from rocky, brisk heights down into the underbelly of this arctic ecosystem, your already ragged boots dredging through tough packs of dirty ice and caked mud. Your scouts have told you that your target Jak-Jak is an older mother, with her young just now starting to thicken their scaley hides and grow their black claws. She is still a ferocious one, however, especially around her babies; you were told to approach with caution.

You and your team keep descending, the smell of resting snow and compacted dirt surrounding you as you attempt to find your way to the Greater Jak-Jak's nesting area. The once tall trees above have now devolved into warped pines and stubby cypruses, the sub-species cluttering the frosty floor like overgrown shrubbery. Small, rodent-like mammals dart in and out of the diminutive foliage around you, little representations of rats and possums finding their way to their own nests in this icy labyrinth. Goodness, this place really is like a labyrinth; cold, unmerciful, and confusing.



The Greater Jak-Jak starts to rise herself up from her young, up and away from a snowy bed of dirt and under-brush providing any amount of warmth her babies need outside of her embrace. Bringing herself to full stature, a wiggle of her tail and abdomen throws off the crushed ice and snow that slowly covered her backside throughout her slumber. This female Jak-Jak was not as big as the sex got, but it was large indeed. Scars laid across her face from battles against predatory beasts that dare threaten its domain, settling in the skin as testaments to the monster's fortitude. Though she was a mother, she was fierce, and this was not her first batch; at the age of 67, this Jak-Jak had fostered 2 lineages other of her kind already. Successfully.

Nothing got past mama Jak-Jak.

The beast strolled outside, its great muscles creaking and shifting under the thick hide of old scales she wore proudly. Jak-Jaks lived into their early sixties most of the time, but this one had grown even stronger with age. She had the will to carry her kind's ferocity well over her own lifespan. After this host of children, however, she may lay down her supremacy and drift to a world beyond that. Yet, her job was still the same as long as she stood; protect, intimidate, dominate. She had fought off settlers last week, in fact, the puny human's spears bouncing off her skin like pencils thrown at a sheet metal. They ran off hurriedly, and mother Jak-Jak found it pleasing to see such a thing be so.

But here she was, another day of feeding her young, and another day of territorial struggles. As she exited her cold, shallow cave, the Greater Jak-Jak gave a mighty bellow that rang throughout the undergrowth. Mammals scurried into their trees, herbivores ran away from their frozen-over watering holes, and the trees swayed with silent tension. Jak-Jaks were no match for the beasts that trodded up above this labyrinth of caves and stubby plants. But, inside the Labyrinth, they could happily play their part as powerful, egotistical knights. The Greater Jak-Jak gave another final roar, tearing through the cold air with a vocal shout of caution and challenge to those who dare approach her domain. She made it extra loud, for good measure.

The Greater Jak-Jak wandered off to find some food for her young ones.

Kaze tromped through the snow, busting the frozen top layer and mashing down the softer powder underneath. He was breaking the way for the others who had accepted this job from the Guild. Every so often he would slow so they could catch up in the difficult terrain. The large man was pretty relentless, constantly moving forward towards the scouted destination. "Lets hope the snow isn't as deep..." He muttered as he brushed from snow from his beard. While he moved he observed their surroundings, taking in the dead trees and small pines. The falling of snow clumps echoed in the distance while rodents and small animals fled from the humans invading their home.

He was straining his ears for the sounds of something large moving, but nothing had echoed yet. Just the sounds of the people walking and breathing behind him. Soon the shrubbery started to close in and was proceeded to be stomped flat by him. The snow underfoot dampened any crunch of wood into that of a muffled pop. Every so often Kaze would reach out and brush his hand along the compacted dirt walls, leaving marks with his armored fingers. A labyrinth always needed a trail out and just following broken up snow and crushed plants wouldn't cut it.

A sudden wind picked up, making him narrow his eyes while resting his hand on the haft of his hammer. The wind was followed up by the bellow of a larger beast. "Think that's our target?" He asked the others as a second blast of sound rang out. Echoing down the labyrinthine halls. He slowed his pace so they could be more of a group instead of him possibly getting blind-sided while away from the others.

A cold chill made its way down Serra’s back as she trudged along through the snow. She had never really liked the cold too much, it made her feel like she couldn’t move as freely as usual. At least the hot drinks made it a little more bearable. She was glad that she didn’t have to be the trail blazer though, one of the others in the group had taken on that role for himself.

“He must be pretty used to this kind of place” Serra said to the group as she pulled her cloak tighter around her. She really wasn’t too familiar with any of the other members of the group yet, but it was always good to make small talk in situations like this. It was a lot easier to work together if you broke the ice a little bit before a hunt. Especially when you were coming up against something you haven’t fought before. Serra shifted her weight as she walked, moving her horn from one shoulder to the other. She usually left it on her back, but the large hunk of metal got cold quickly and having it on her back just made her even colder. Suddenly a loud roar rang out in the air, and she saw the man at the front of the group slow down in front of them. She hurried to catch up with him as the second roar sounded.

“I hope so, it sounds big” Serra said as a smile spread its way across her face. Her grip on her horn tightened as she peered further into the caves ahead. “Sounds like we are getting pretty close, so keep an eye out everyone” She said, turning to face the group for a moment before returning her gaze to the path ahead. She may have been stating the obvious, but she liked to make sure they were all on the same page just in case.

Despite the near sub-zero temperatures that formed in the bleak icy tundra, Lyra continues tromping along the frozen caked dirt confidently with a smile. While everyone else was holding onto their thick wooly coats, she was tromping along in her regular Wroggi attire, one that was painfully more suited to warmer climates, humming to a song. It's almost looks as if the cold never really bothered her that much. Is it because she took a hot drink or meat before heading out? Perhaps her bundle of raw energy alone keeps her warm? Whatever the case, it looks as if the cold won't be stopping her anytime soon.

As her partner Serra breaks the ice on the conversation with some small talk, Lyra couldn't help but to join in. "Of course, silly!" she replies in a friendly joking manner, "If you have Khezus, Barioths, and Popos living in these icy habitats, surely this creature is no different! I mean, the first two don't even have fur anyways. Oooh, I still wonder what our Jack-Jack friend looks like? Maybe a nice roar will suffice~?" Yet just as she finishes, a large bellow echoed throughout the ecosystem. It was an unfamiliar roar, nothing like any creature Lyra heard up to this point. Her eyes seem to sparkle, gasping as she looks in the direction of where the noise came from. "Oooooooh, is that her?" she asks aloud as she listens for the sound again.

Once again, another icy howl echoes through the land, this one being much louder than the previous one. Lyra makes a stupidly large grin as she giggles in glee. "Yup! That must be her!" she clarifies as she begins to trot faster, "This way everyone! C'mon!" With that she begins running ahead towards the direction of the snow, almost as if she has no care in being seen or heard by the creature. Of course she knows better than to simply walk in blind on a mother monster's cave right?

Riiiiiiiiiight?

Ailbe kept her head down, following the foot prints of the few hunters ahead of her. The snow made her movement even mores slow compared to usual. Her armor was freezing and it clearly was begging to effect Ailbe. Her weapons were heavy especially since she decided that the shield was more valuable than the sword, now she lugged around a giant metal plate on her back at all times.

Ailbe looked around at the others and began to feel out of place. The others were all a few years younger than her and the other females had much smaller figures than her larger stature. She felt a little uncomfortable from the differences but shrugged them off as nerves for her first hunt.

After the first roar, it seemed everyone in the group came to a halt. The man that was leading the group seemed to pull back a bit allowing everyone else to group up. The group finally began to talk and it seemed like a good time to create a strategy for the beast, and a bit of a rest for the heavy armored woman. But of course, there never is a break.

An oddly excited girl decided that it was time to charge into combat leaving the rest of the group behind. Ailbe looked mildly confused as she saw the girl running towards the sound of the beast. But she quickly realized that it was time for action. Following the blue haired girl in a labored jog, Ailbe quickly pulled the shield off her back and placed it on her forearm. “Wait up!” She called out trying to catch up to the younger and sprier hunter.

A dream. A nightmare, always the same. Awakening, the sun beating down on him--but then the world shook, a deep tremor shaking the foundations of everything. The instinct to move driving him, many suns and moons, through jungle and over plains and into the depths of the earth. All the others were moving too; further and further, in search of food, in search of shelter, he went on and on. He could no longer see the sun. Cold...numb...now more than ever, he had to keep moving...

Somewhere in the Labyrinth, deeper than the Hunters, deeper than the Jak-Jak's nest, where packed snow and frozen mud had given way to walls of ice...deeper still, where there was no water left to freeze, sheer rock stretched into the distance and branched in serpentine paths. Luminous moss and mushrooms, their soft fluorescence a sign for creatures that would eat them and pass the spores somewhere else, were the only sources of light. The cold was only slightly more bearable here, the layers of earth providing some form of insulation. Things moved in the shadows, things with sharp eyes or sometimes no eyes at all, things with thick hides or things with blubber or fur. Things with claws and fangs.

He had no claws, nor fangs. His teeth were small, his jaws were weak. His hands were strong, but the nails were flat and too thin. He had a sharp knife, though, made from a fragment of rock with a vine wrapped around its bottom half. He had his weapons, made from thicker vines that had been braided and cured into ropes, glued with insect secretions to keep them from unraveling. He wore them now, as much to help his hands keep warm as to protect them from the rough cave floor. And he also wore the hide of an Anteka he had come across, out there in the snow--it made him look like a wooly, moving lump with a pair of antlers at the top. But his breath still steamed in the air, and he had to stop every so often and rub feeling back into his bare feet. The leaves that he normally wore for camouflage had shriveled in the dry tundra air, and were beginning to brown even though he'd only picked them recently.

The Jak Jak's roar echoed, even down here. He looked up at the sound, his eyes watching where the dust fell from the ceiling. Monsters...they needed to eat, too. Their nest had to have a way out, into the places where game roamed. If he found the Monster that roared, he would find his way out of these caves, back to the light and warmth of the sun, back to wood that he could use to make fire!

"GAH-KIIIIIIIIIIII!!"

A shrill cry, but the enclosed space amplified it and sent it rolling down the tunnels. In the wild, the cry was a statement. I am here. Be aware of me! or This is my territory! or a message to one's own kind...but Gaki had never seen any other creature like him, except for...He shook his head.

Listening for a response, he ran through the Labyrinth on all fours. When the echoes died away he roared out again.

"GAH! KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!"

The young man had been hesitant at best to hunt in a group as large as this. A four-man team, plus Palicoes, he was alright with. But in a group this big it meant that the spoils-- anything carved off the dead monster, any kind of secretions they gave off-- as well as everything that came from the employer, would have to be divvied up.

And it certainly didn't help that two of his party members were very attractive young women.

Rex had never been good with girls (even more so than most people), especially when they were attractive as the girl in Arzuros armor and the girl in Wroggi gear. Now that he thought about it, why the hell were they so scantily-clad (relatively speaking) when the weather was this horribly cold? Okay, so he would often wear shorts in winter when he was a kid, but showing off that much skin in these temperatures was dangerous. But what a view...! thought Rex. Blood abruptly trickled from one of his nostrils, and he took a handkerchief from his pocket to stop the bleeding.

SIR SPUD

The laybrinth of the Yak-Yak was a twisted maze of icy cliffs and frozen death traps. Standing at the entrance of this horrifying place, one could not help but feel like their legs grew roots from fear. In the case of monster/farmer/potao morphs, this was a legitimate issue they had to deal with. Spud sat down in the snow, his leg stool rooted to the ground, and used his pitchfork as a makeshift crowbar to pry his boots off the frozen dirt. It wasn't an easy job, as his tender roots instantly froze to the ice, and he had to put all his force into freeing his legs. He waved for the rest of the party so they won't forget him. "Go on then! The beast be in there sumwhere. Leave me and me good 'ol fork to free meself, and I be with you in a heartbeat."

The opening to the maze was several times larger than Spud imagined, and he only realised that the actual entrance was way further away when he finally catchged up to the rest of the party after a 15 minutes trekking on the snow and ice. But this time he was 99.9% sure that it was the entrance of the actual labyrinth, and he made sure to let the rest of the party know his expert opinion. "Well butter my ass and call me peanut, I betcha dis is the cave of da beast." He used his empty hand to scratch his chin and nodded a few times with a serious expression. Now it was time to finally face the beast, and stop the ol girl from eating half the annual crop production. Spud readied his pitchfork, grabbing the handle with both hands and getting a good grip on the creaking wooden handle. Despite the rust and indents on the weapon, it still shined in the bright light reflected by all the ice around them. Without much else to ready or care about, Spud pushed into the maze along with the others, his fork pointed forward like the weapon of the legionaries.

The beast shuffled through the thick snow, its pale blue scales reflecting slightly in the grim winter sun. The Jak-Jak uprooted vines and shrubbery from the forest floor, foraging the remaining greens from the hard, frozen ground. The monster brought it's head up from its grazing, vines and bushes hanging from its tusks like racks holding food. It sniffed around its area. Something in the air was musky, metallic, and all around... warm. It was as if a new kind of creature had encroached into the Jak-Jak's territory, something the beast would not like one bit...

"GGGGAAAHHHKKKIIIIII"

As if to justify it's concerns, a territorial cry rang out from the very heart of the arctic labyrinth. The Jak-Jak, features perked and disposition deadly, cried it's own war call out into the grand, icey bowl it called it's home. And that's what it was going to be; it's home.

The Jak-Jak's back arched as it charged towards it's den, ripping through packed snow and small trees alike. The vegetation that the monster had placidly put onto its horns was flung away with the power of the Jak-Jak's movements. The skeletal crunch of the cold ground gave an intimidating sound to the Jak-Jak's presence, the sounding becoming louder and louder as it approached the group of monster hunters.

---

Whoosh would be a correct way to explain the Greater Jak-Jak's entrance, the limbs of trees flinging through the air as the beast brought itself into the front of the adventurer's party. Thick snow made a hazy mist around the monster, it's gleaming eyes and horns the only thing visible in the aftermatch of the charge.

The villagers from a week-ago had obviously come back. They had trudged themselves back into the Jak-Jak's realm, and now they came with the smell and sounds of dangerous intruders. An angry mother Jak-Jak would never allow such an offense to stand.

Flaring its hunky, scaled wings into the air, the Jak-Jak brought it's battering utensils down onto the party, creating yet another screen of white, snowy smoke erupt from the frozen ground. Brining its snout up into another charging posture, the Jak-Jak barreled into the party's past, lined-up positions. Move or be squashed, puny hunters.

As soon as she enters the cave, Lyra hears some guy roar with his own battle-cry. It didn't come from her group however, so it's clear that they weren't the only hunters here. Yet why would that guy give his position away so soon is unclear to her. Arguably she's running in blind, but at least she tries to make herself decently quiet.

Or maybe that guy INTENDED to give away their position.

Suddenly, Lyra hears stomping noises coming towards them. This wasn't the sound of hard rocks however... it was a combination of snow, slush, and twigs.

The monster wasn't in the cave after all.

The Jak-Jak bursts into view behind the hunter gang, with large branches flying to the side upon her reveal. It was a big mama indeed, and while despite being covered mostly in snowy mist, she still looks rather imposing. It's pure-white eyes gleam through the cloak of white, with her front silhouette of large front legs and gnarly horns being visible as well. However instead of trembling in fear like most people, Lyra simply grins stupidly in the face of possible death.

"Heehee!" she chuckles, "Fancy seeing you here, Big Mama. You wanna come and play?"

With that her grip on her switch axe tightens, as its handle and blade extends, ready to do combat with the beast. It's bright orange color, made from the scales and skin of the giant Tetsucabra, makes her presence fairly known through the thick snow, almost as if it was a flag. With that she quickly runs in a curved motion parallel to the Jak Jak. She quickly finds a small ledge in which she swiftly jumps off of and raises her axe as she attempts to mount the monster with a cry of her own.

Rex almost crapped himself when their target abruptly charged at the group from behind. Luckily he'd already gone ahead and loaded a pair of Paint Shot rounds into his Bowgun. However, Little-Miss-Wroggi decided to charge in with her Switch Axe and attempt to jump on their target's back. He was a good shooter, but not that good just yet. The young man cursed under his breath, and ejected the magazine of paint rounds, and slapped a magazine of Demon Shot into his Hunter's Rifle. He swung the barrel of his weapon towards the other members of the group.

The young man had a particular expression whenever he was in combat: a blank, cold look befitting a serial killer. Without a word he squeezed off a pair of Demon Shot.

Kaze scowled at the sound of a shout deeper into the labyrinth of the Jak-Jak. Of course some nimrod had to alert the monster that people were here. They also had to leave behind some farmboy who somehow rooted himself to the damn ground. Why do people come along to hunt if they're incapable? He thought to himself as he stomped his way through the snow. Cracking the crusted top and mashing down the powder underneath so the others would continue to have an easier time. The sound of thundering footsteps started coming along, something bigger and heavier than a human.

"Great, it knows where we are thanks to that shout earlier..." He growled just before the beast revealed itself. If it wasn't trying to kill them he would have considered it to be pleasant to look at. The white and pale blue scales matching their surroundings perfectly. Of course the big mother was pissed they were here and charged the group. As Kaze moved out of the way he pulled his hammer from the sling on his back. He wasn't paying attention to what Rex was doing and the girl in Wroggi armor was already trying to get on the Jak-Jak's back. "It's to early for that!" He hollered, having never mounted a monster so early. Normally he tired it out a bit before even attempting that.

Changing directions back towards the mother he lunged at her rear legs. Aiming a strike at her calf with the more pointed end of his hammer. He had seen most people go for the powerful and muscular thighs of monsters, but that was a lot more meat to go through. He'd go for the thinner and more vulnerable lower legs and the feet instead. Not many could walk, never-mind run, on a broken limb.

“Finally!” Serra yelled as she threw her cloak to the ground. She might be a little chilly without the extra layers, but it would help her move better. Plus, if the blue haired girl could stand the cold in her ‘armour’ then how bad could it be. She swung her horn around her head, playing a long and deep note before circling around the charging monster. She suddenly felt a strong sensation run through her body. It felt as though she was filled with extra strength.

“Thanks for that!” She said as she glanced to the man with the bowgun. It was good to see that there were others that had decided to be a bit more supportive too. His facial expression was a little unnerving though, but everyone had little habits when they fought. She swung her horn again, sounding off two more notes before taking a deep breath and playing a defence boosting song. The sound of the song echoed through the caverns, and she was sure that all her allies had heard it. And with that out of the way, she quickly assessed the situation. Some of her team had already moved around to attack the more vulnerable sections of the monster, so she thought it was a good idea to try and draw some attention.

With that she made her way in front of the creature, before charging towards her head. She let out a loud cry as she approached, readying her hammer for a quick upward strike. She might not be the strongest person there, but she didn’t have to be. Right now, she just had to try and be the most annoying target. She smiled wide as she brought her hammer up, aiming straight for the creature’s head.

Rex nodded at Serra in thanks before rushing a short distance from the group, loading a magazine of Paint Shot as he want. Once an acceptable distance from the group and the Jak-Jak he dropped to a knee and peered through his Bowgun's scope. He felt better, thanks to the defense boost provided by (who he had come to mentally call) Ms. Arzuros. He exhaled slowly and squeezed the trigger. Luckily the round hit his target, and he quickly swapped out the magazine for some normal ammunition.

Maybe I should have asked about this thing before we set off... he thought. Rex inhaled, and exhaled again before firing. From sheer appearance it had the basic appearance of an Elder Dragon but it didn't give off the same feel as the one he'd encountered as a child...

---

Rex couldn't stop shaking, despite the flames around him. On his knees, the boy's legs wouldn't respond to his brain's orders to run. The glowing, red eyes piercing his own somehow sapped his will to flee. His father-- a lifelong Hunter before he passed away-- had always driven into him that the creatures he hunted were animals, driven by the same instincts as your average cat, dog, or bird.

However, wreathed in flame, the monster before him looked downright demonic. But he felt why it was enraged. And, further driving the point home was something behind the ire burning in this beast's eyes.

Intelligence.

This beast had come here with a distinct purpose.

It hadn't been hungry.

Its territory hadn't been invaded by hunters in the village.

It had attacked the village all because a certain little boy had stumbled on its nest, and taken an egg to sell to someone.

And everyone around him had died because he'd wanted to make some quick cash.

SIR SPUD

As the Jak-Jak appeared it sent a wave of ice and snow at the hunters in the wave of a massive gust. The other hunters didn't pay attention to it as their clothes reflected this accidental attack, but Spud felt the effects of frostbite as the cold air ran straight through his thin farmer clothes. His limbs became numb and stopped responding to his commands, essentially turning him into a frozen statue. The good news was that he was still pointing his weapon in the general direction of the Jak-Jak. The bad news was that the monster could easely get him.

Thankfully, the hunters began their attack on the Jak-Jak before it striked Spud, and one of the hunters made sure she destracted the attention of the big guy. Her song sent a surge of energy running through the body of Spud, but it barely helped with the frostbite.
"Thanks honey, you saved me skin. Just you wait till I get meself to move again and hit that damn bastard in the face." Of course, he would have to actually free himself to make sure he keeps his word.

He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing to harness his monster powers. "Okey, focus Spud. Use your inner strenght. You are one with the Potato and the Potato is one with you." He felt a strong breeze run through his skin, and Spud opened his eyes to see what was going on. Throughout his entirey body his skin started to peel of like starch, rejecting the frozen tissue and replacing it with a soft new tissue not affected by the frostbite. Slowly but surely he could feel his limbs again, thought he felt kinda weak. It would take several minutes for his regenerative powers to heal him up to full power again, but this was a good fisrt step. He raised both his hands in the air to celebrate this newfound streght, only to fall face-first into the snow without the support of stable ground below him.

Spud spit out a handful of snow before standing up, and cleaning the snow off of his suit. He quickly grabbed his pitchfork, and reoriented himself in the battle. A dozen seconds barely passed, but it felt like an eternity to stand up from the snow. His skin itched but he could move at leasty and thanks to the previous buff of the hunter gal he could barely feel the cold now.

The Jak-Jak was being attacked by multiple hunters with excellent equipment, and Spud knew that if he tried to do the same, he would only becom mashed potato. So instead he rushed to the aid of the gal trying to distract the hunter to help out the rest of the hunters supportively. He stopped a few feet away from her, and began furiously poking her pitchfork toward the Jak-Jak, as if the old beatenup tool could suddenly became poweful enough to slay such a massive beast. "Look 'ere ya big beasty. You want a taste of me? I can see you're into nice tasty potatoes! You just can't resist to take a bite outta the best potato in the whole word, amiright? Then come and catch me if ya can!"

A small and petite creature lobbed itself at the Jak-Jak, the beast's bulky eyes straining upwards to see Lyra trying to fall upon it. Bringing it's gigantic tail up into the air, the Jak-Jak swatted the girl towards the ground, a satisfying thump signalling her descent. The Greater Jak-Jak continued its attack, bringing its armored tail down to try and pin the girl.

Next was a colorful barrage, the pigments of bright plants splattering onto the Jak-Jak's hide. Bringing its bulky right wing into position, the Jak-Jak created a barrier between the shots of paint and itself. It quickly turned its attention away from the paint, as to focus on a much more dangerous target.

Crack. The Jak-Jak felt a large vibration go through it's back leg. Twisting its head around with a terrifying snarl, it posed its tail to wack away th-


The Jak-Jak roared as the power of a hammer-instrument and a Demon Shot collided with its body all at once. It tucked back its shielding wing closer to its gigantic body, and recoiled its head away from the hunter in front of it.

---

A blinding ferocity began to egg itself into the Jak-Jak's body, the heating anger of its kind cauterizing its damaged pride. The furnace of a monster began to swing open, the white-hot rage of a Greater Jak-Jak manifesting full force. How dare these puny beasts try to claim the Jak-Jak's life? This is not their domain, nor will it ever be!


The Jak-Jak tipped its head quickly forward as it caught the instrumental girl on its curling horns, charging into the women before curving its body to face the man responsible for distracting the Jak-Jak. Arching its back and bring its head down, the Jak-Jak charged at the bulky, Giaprey-clad man with full force, pummeling the pinned girl into the snow along the way.

Oh, and don't think mama Jak-Jak forgot about you, potato.

The Jak-Jak flung its tail from behind its charge, swinging it madly from side-to-side as it finally struck the previously charging farmer. An inspiring crack of tree-branches let the Jak-Jak know the strike was definitely a home run.

As the Jak-Jak came into collision with the bulky and, ultimately too slow, Kaze, it flung him and the captured girl away with the force of its bulky momentum. Up and away, puny scavengers. Now, how many more were left?

A female, and a male. Both scrawny, and both kneeling on the ground stoically. What a putrid offense, to not quiver in fear before the might Jak-Jak. Bringing its gigantic wings to the beast's front, the Jak-Jak created a huge, front-facing surface in order to plow towards the remaining duo with. Clashing the appendages to its sides, the beast began another heated charge, snow and small organisms being kicked up viciously in its angered wake. It looked like the most fearsome snow plower alive in that moment, its scales and eyes now gleaming with a much more malicious glow.

The Greater Jak-Jak started to become tired, but with that, its enraging temper only grew.

As Lyra descends upon the monster with her massive switch axe, it appeared as if she was foolish enough to go in without expecting a counterattack from it. Indeed, before her blade met the creature's dark-blue skin, she would get slammed towards the ground by the Jak Jak's massive tail. The strength of the tail almost knocked the breath from the overconfident hunter as she finds her self pinned by it.

"Ghhhgh!" Lyra groans as she tries to squiggle out of the massive armored tail, "That's friggin' smarts!"

Meanwhile around her, the rest of the hunters began to open fire and attempt to slash at the dragon. Some succeeded in getting a hit on her, mostly those coming from the ranged hunters and from the person with the armored horn, while some weren't so lucky. However, surprisingly to Lyra, just these intro hits put the massive beast into a rage of fury! Of course such a monster would get mad by getting hit several times on such a caliber, but this quickly?

With a mighty roar, the Jak Jak charges into the hunters in front of her, which also causes Lyra to roll right into the frigid snow, pummeling head first. As she slowly gets up, her head began to turn for a quick moment before finally snapping to her senses. She clenches to her switch axe as she watches the creature from a distance, attempting to figure out where she'll do next. She sees that the creature is making another charge towards two hunters. There was no time to loose. Judging her distance between the beast and the hunters, perhaps she can intercept one of the beast's legs before it stops. She runs diagonally between it and the other two hunters, running as fast as she can, before being only several meters from the line of a steaming organic locomotive of a beast. Then using her axe, she swings it at the creature's front leg, hoping that it'll stop her advance and have it topple to the ground.

Lyra can only hope.

Kaze eyed the jak-jak as it turned its head and snarled at him. He gave a growl of his own as he reared his hammer back to crash it into that leg again. Seemingly hellbent on snapping the bones beneath the scales and muscles. He whiffed it though when the jak-jak backed off and tucked its thick wings about its face. Seemingly stunned by the hunting horn bashing into its chin. Well he was wrong on the stunned portion, the jak-jak was pissed and started charging about the place. Knocking the farmboy away, catching the hunting horn girl in its horns.

Kaze was already trying to move out of the way but he wasn't going fast enough. So he braced his legs and used his hammers broad head to act as a shield when it slammed into him. Grunting he held for a moment before he and the girl caught in the horns were launched away. The pair landed in a tangle of arms, legs, snow, and ice. "Dammit..." He growled as he moved away from her and got up. The snow sloughed off his armor as he dragged his hammer up out of the frosty powder.

Reaching out he dragged the hunter horn user to her feet before he charged at the jak-jaks blind side. She wasn't even paying attention to those who had gone down while it charged at the two stationary targets. A yellow glow started to appear around his hammer as he held it behind himself while he ran forward. That telltale glow was the start of a Superpound just for the jak-jak.

SIR SPUD

The good news was that the Jak-Jak did indeed pay attention to him. The bad news was that she payed too much attention to him, and after swiftly removing Spud's taunt partner, he became vulnerable target for the beast's raging attacks. After swiftly dodging a few swipes of the JJ's tail, Spud lost his bearings for a second as a wild gust of snow decided to help out the monster by rudely forcing itself into the eyes of the farmboy. Blinded by the snow, Spud was in no condition to dodge the next attack and the quick attack sent him flying through the air, his flight was quickly interrupted by a large Pine tree.

After decimating a few branches on the tree, the ensuing avalanche of snow created a soft pile below him that broke his fall. Still, someone without Spud's regeneration might not have stood up from such a grave fall. Spud was knocked unconcious by the attack, and lied in the snow without control of his body. But something inside him kept aware of the situation he was in, and reminded him that he cannot give up by staying unconcious. Whatever it was it slowly started to fill his chest with a warm feeling, and invited him to an unknown destination. He wasn't sure where he was anymore and he didn't even know who he was, but he still decided to follow this mystical voice. Then accompanied by a bright flash of light, he woke up coughin up his own blood onto the ground, melting away the snow with small red droplets. More like orange-ish to be honest, but it still resembled human blood. Mostly. Still, the fact that he even woke up after receiving such trauma was only possible thanks to his regenerative powers.

"Well I be damned right on the spot. If this wasn't a Hail Mary then I don't know what it was. Thank the virgin for saving my starch." Then he followed up by coughing up another batch of blood on the snow. "That monster be damned. As long as blood flows in me veins, I'll avenge the death of me brothers by killin da beast meself." After looking around for his weapon, he found his pitchfork broken in half, and all tips but one bent beyond recognition. His hlemet's visor was also missing, with no sign of it anywhere on the horizon. "Now you gun' and done it." Spud grabbed the remains of his pitchfork, and broke off the last remaining sharp piece. The took the back half of the tool and atatched it to the spike, making a small makeshift spear that could be used to pierce or cut anything.

He leaned on the spear as he stood up as most of his bones were hurting like hell from the impact. But he could feel his body slowly rejuvenating as his monster powers surfaced with the lack of self control caused by anger. Thought he lost all sense of direction in the air, turned out he wasn't thrown too far away by the Jak-Jak, thanks to that Pine tree that was in the way. As he finally stood upright, he saw two of his fellow hunters who were kneeling in the snow, facing the of the Jak-Jak head on as it was preparing to charge them. Spud knew he ad to do something, but his rational mind wasn't working and he began walking towards his comrades. His vision was clouded and adrenalin pumped through his veins, reinforcing his weak steps to make them a march to battle.

He firmly gribbed his spear and started shouting towards the Monster, hoping that it would be distracted yet again. If he could just make it ignore the chain in front of it and help trip the monster, he and the other would have a perfect oppurtinity to attack. He coughed up another batch of blood, and began his speech towards the raging monster, hoping that it would focus on him. "Listen 'ere you big fat ugly potato! You broke me 'fork and me helmet and now you have to pay for it. You can break my body and you can break my spirit, but you can NEVER break my potato poking fork and my spudknight helmet. I'll shove this spear so deep down ya throat, you'll think of yourself as grillmeat on a stake when I be done with ya." He used the sleeve of his shirt to clean some of the blood from his face, and spit the rest on the ground, along with a broken tooth. "Now come 'ere and finish the job you started. You killed me two brothers and I am the next in line."

“Nice hit!!” Serra yelled with a grin. The hammer landed soundly, and the monster’s head recoiled away. She glanced to the man that had joined her to distract the monster. He looked a little… odd with a pitchfork and some less than pristine condition armour. Looked a little more like a farm boy than a hunter, but one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Serra’s grin disappeared as she realised that her hit hadn’t done as much as she had hoped. She felt the thud of the horn, and for a few moments she was at the mercy of the Jak-Jak’s enraged attacks. She felt herself smash into the snow before being thrown along with one of her team mates. Her limbs felt heavy in the snow, and she was having trouble even catching her breath, when she felt someone helping her up.

“Thanks” She said, but the man had already run off to face the monster again. She looked around for her horn to see that it had been dropped some distance away. She made for it, grabbing and downing a small jar of green liquid as she did. She grabbed her horn and was about to charge after the others when she stopped for a moment. This thing could do a lot of damage if it they let it throw its weight around, so maybe a better plan was to stop it, then focus on taking it down. Making her way to a more open part of the room, Serra sorted through her bad, looking for a metal disk from her bag. It took a few moments, but the Shock Trap was set up and ready to go. She just hoped that her other team mates would be able to avoid the creature’s charge.

Serra swung her horn around her head, playing a few quick notes before blowing. She was playing a song to help her team mates rejuvenate after the hits they had taken. It wouldn’t do much, but she was too far away to charge in at this point. She stood in front of the trap, ready to dive out of the way if the monster decided to go after her instead. This thing had already landed one too many hits on her, and she was ready to repay the favour.