Desert Wyvern Egg

ooc:
Jati wouldn't be able to SEE the water in the cave, but he'd know of it since he was with us when we saw it before (when the Plesioth attacked).
Getting the Plesioth out from the cave water to the Rathian would be impossible though, since the cave exits are so small. The Plesioth would have to come out from one of the other bodies of water (each of which may or may not be connected), and then a whole bunch of other details (getting Rathian to see it, getting them to want to fight, etc.)

I'm waiting a little more on Andras to post, for what the Rathian does (but I'll bot him again if I feel I should).

-

Even with a more thorough scan of the area, nothing of danger seemed to be present besides the Rathian outside. The fact that Aveket's eyes were reaching the peak of adjustment helped reassure that.

OOC: DB do you think it's time you bot Andras?

ooc:
Yes.
I saw him post on Minegarde a day or two ago, but I'm starting to get concerned.

-

Leo's looking back on the Rathian payed off, as he could see her motioning for the infamous fireball blast. The two hunters outside could see her head rear back as well, while her tail swung about wildly encase they were to attack her while she was occupied.

"GO-GO-GO!" Leo ordered Andras, his voice echoing loudly through the stone chamber, uncertain in his ability to hold off the coming attack. Andras followed the command and started faster down the tunnel, exchanging caution for speed.
The first fireball hit Leo hard, but he was saved from any critical harm by his dense shield on his arm. None the less he was knocked back a collection of steps, and the tight inclined cavern added to that.

Then another fireball came flying down the tunnel, slamming into Leo's shield again and worsening his stumbling exponentially. He semi-purposely fell to his knees, to not fall onto Andras and shatter the egg.
Finally the third fireball came, which knocked Leo over into an awkward position with his knees on the ground and his back almost touching his heels.

Andras came onto the floor with Aveket and stopped, waiting for the leader to lead the way and tell him anything he should be aware of, namely any monsters in the cave.
Leo came clambering out of the tunnel a moment after, painfully soar in the shield arm. At least the three were safe from the Rathian, though Arsen and Jati still had to get around her.

Once she'd launched her three fireballs down tunnel, the Rathian turned her attention back to the two hunters she knew where still around. She began to turn back towards them, her head coming from the left from their perspective.

-
ooc:
Sorry for such a long winded post.

"Shit! Are there any injuries?" Aveket asked his compatriots. "Is anyone going to die?"

"I'm okay, but I don't know about the others." Leo said getting steady on his legs, disregarding the pain in his arm. He looked up the tunnel, and if he could see anything, it was that the Rathian's head was no longer facing down at them.

-
ooc:
It's worth mentioning the map isn't as accurate as it should be. It's not a big deal though.

OOC:# of players is really lacking right now. It's just me, you, and KKB. Where did Andras go?

ooc:
Andras I am not sure about. He's been gone for about a week now. I saw him post once on Minegarde during that time, but haven't seen him anywhere else.
The only lead I've got is that Coyote said that he was "on leave of work" or something.

SRK we know had an accident.

Gemneroth has been a.w.o.l. so long I just figure he won't be coming back. Coyote took over his character anyway.
Sort of the same for Spawn (though I think he'll be back eventually, just not for this RPG).

I asked Coyote if he wanted to take over Leo or Aizen, to play with us and help us out, but he kind of said no.

I guess we gotta make due with what we've got.
I'm determined to see this one through to the end.

OOC: Wait, you've seen Andras on Minegarde? What exactly did he say over there?

ooc:
He made a post in an RPG over there. The log reads that he posted on "16 March 2011 - 02:57 PM." The log seems to be an hour behind where I am (Massachusetts), if that means anything.
All the post said was:

"What the hell!?" Andras blurted, drawing his Barioth blade whilst advancing at a hard run on the gunfire.

-
Nothing about his absence.
I sent him an email (just now) to check in on him and see what's up.

OOC:And this was a couple days ago?

ooc:
Yeah.

Occ: im back nd from wut i know i got hit with a drive by from ian, andys gone (although i saw him on psn the other day.) so wut else did i miss? Db coverd me today nd ty but its time for me to be semi/partly back lol

ooc:
Basically the egg runners all ran down into the cave, with Aveket leading the way with a torch.
The Rathian shot down at them with three fireballs, which Leo blocked with his shield (described recently).
Now the egg runners are all down inside the cave. There doesn't seem to be anything else down in the cave.

The Rathian is right next to the cave entrance from the outside. Arsen and Jati need to get around her first.

The egg runners are free to start moving.
The two outside (Arsen and Jati) are sort of waiting on Jati (I might bot him if things drag on too long).

OOC: Hey guys, sorry for not posting. I've been admitedly lazy. I'm worried about Andras too. Did he answer your email DB?

"So how do you want to go about doing this?" Jati asked Arsen.

ooc:
He has not replied to my email yet.
I'm suspecting something bad happened. I guess all we can do is hope and wait.

-

As the Rathian turned around back towards Arsen and Jati, counterclockwise about herself, Arsen followed around her backside. He didn't bother stating his plan to Jati, to save his breath.

Seeing him run by through her peripherals though, the Rathian ceased turning, and instead swung her tail at Arsen.
Because of the suddenness of the attack it lacked power, but was also hard to foresee. Arsen took the end of her tail in his chest, and though physically he was okay, mentally he was deeply frightened.

"L-lure her away!" He said after catching his breath, backing away from the wyvern.
The Rathian then turned fully towards each of the hunters.

-
ooc:
For the record, the two would be separated by a few paces, not right next to each other.

Jati didn't bother with a reply. He sprinted for the rathian at full speed, yelling at her as loud as he could as he did so. "Hey you big ugly hag! Over here! I STOLE YOUR BABY!!!" Jati tried to run in a direction that would take him just past her left side. He kept his eyes on her mouth and tail just in case.

Andras huffed as he trudged through the caverns. Hearing the fire wyvern spewing fireballs made his adrenaline pump, forcing him to run harder. As he heard them collide with Leo's shield he could not help but be relieved, and fearful for the hunter at the same time. "Leo!! Are you alright man? Get down here, quick!! That bitch can't reach us in the depths...."

As Jati ran at the Rathian, the Rathian went to grab him in her jaws, taking a step forward and extending her head towards him.
The hunter shifted his run to the side and ducked, successfully getting away from her jaw and underneath her wing.
As the tail came around to get him, he went back in tight against the Rathian and ducked low, successfully getting underneath the long limb.
All that was needed to get into the cave uninterupted was to sprint faster than the tail could swing back again, which he did.

Watching this happen, and rather shocked at the outcome, Arsen ran for the cave entrance while the wyvern was distracted.
She noticed him out of the corner of her eye, and directed her second swing at Jati towards him.
Taking the opposite approach, Arsen tried to get over the tail rather than under. Though it was less than graceful, and he more rolled over the tail than jumped over it, he got by.

Like Jati then he sprinted into the cave entrance. "Go-go-go-go-go!" He directed nervously while disregarding and caution, wanting to get out of the tunnel as soon as possible, less the Rathian blast him from behind.

-
ooc:
Andras is back everyone. I'll let him do the explaining.

Not needing to be told more than five times, Jati sprinted for the cave. He didn't bother to try and evade any attacks that the rathian might atempt. He hoped his speed would get him to the cave in one peace.

Despite the two hunters' panicked run, they were unable to avoid the fire ball the Rathian shot down at them the moment her face was at the entrance. Rather, Arsen wasn't able to, whom for better or worse acted as a shield for Jati.

The fiery mass hit him in his lower back, and it added to his already high forward momentum.
He ended up falling forward flat to the ground, just beyond the inner entrance of the tunnel, letting out a cry of pain the moment he was hit.
He forced himself back up onto his feet after though, and forward, which was a good sign of his health. Regardless he must have been in considerable pain, and the scaled portions of his Velociprey armor were covered in the flaming solution, likely to catch fire themselves momentarily. The wooden scabbard of his longsword, which probably saved him a little, was likely to do the same.

For whatever reason, likely inability, the Rathian only shot the one fireball.
Her subsequent roar echoed loudly down the tunnel and into the cave.

Panting from exhaustion and fear, Arsen looked up at the tunnel with his hands on his legs. Though now they were safe, he greatly suspected the worse for Vlad. "Shit..." He muttered to himself, looking back down.

"Im good Andra, how you and ur baby doing?! Is he kicking?" Leo shouted to try to ignore the fact he was in serious pain. Leo finaly reached Andras. "Alright were to sir?"

"You ok Arsen?" Jati asked the hunter. He was panting next to him and looked at him with concern. "If you can run let's go!" he said, cringing at the roar from the rathian.

"Yeah... I'm alright." Arsen said panting, putting off the pain in his back. Working through pain was part of a monster hunter's job, physical and mental.

"Where're we headed now?" He asked, withdrawing the folded and wrinkled map from one of his item pouches, then opening it up.

OOC: So were all in the cave now right?

ooc:
Yeah.

"Well I think we should catch our breath and regroup before we try and out run the rathian again." Jati said through large gulps of water from his canteen. He wiped his mouth and returned the canteen to his pack. He then proceeded to remove his sheild and gauntlet of his injured hand. The skin under his arm was tender and bruised but he would live. Jati washed several small cuts with water and put his armor back on.

"Out run? Fuck that!" Aveket said in response to Jati's suggestion. "Let's try and take an alternate route, so that no one else gets hurt."

Arsen likewise took a moment to quench his thirst with water from his canteen. It was getting low, but he'd gotten a second just for that reason. Filling it up at the pond in the cave was a possiblity, though the Plesioth from before made him think twice and thrice about that.

He held off on drinking from his hot drink, since his body heavy from so much activity kept him well warm enough for the time being.

OOC: So we entered the cave a little bit above C5 right? And now we're slightly below C5?

"I'd say that our best bet is to get out of this cave the same way we came in the first time. Provided that there aren't any Apceros, we should have an easy time, especially if we use some scent masking fluid."

"I was simply stating that we should catch our breth before we exit the cave IN CASE we have to out run her." Jati explained. "No matter how we plan this out there is going to be a substantial amount of open desert between us and the camp."