What's With Ratha?

Salutations, greetings, and many great hellos!

I must say, I'm really enjoying all that Monster Hunter Stories has to offer so far! This is a oneshot based on a silly thought I had while playing the demo upon its release – nothing too serious. I'm also considering writing a fanfic based on the events of the game once it's out… but nothing's set in stone yet.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Monster Hunter franchise.

Let's start the story in top form!

Another day of training for the apprentice Riders had come and gone, and it had passed by pretty much as usual. Genie scolded his little brother Hyoro, Mille argued with anyone who so much as looked at her funny, Cheval kept to himself, and Lute couldn't control his Monstie at all. By the time training was done, the senior Rider in charge of instructing them, Dan, had a resigned look on his face as if he was having serious doubts about their progress toward becoming full-fledged Riders.

"Alright, I'd say that's enough for today," Dan sighed, as his Qurupeco carried him forward to address the four apprentices. "Go take your Monsties back to the stables and feed them, so that they'll be in top form by tomorrow."

"Yes, Dan," they chorused, sighing in much the same way their instructor had.

"And Hyoro, I expect you to do better next time," scowled Genie.

The timid boy pulled his hat farther over his face and mumbled something incoherent.

The apprentice Riders followed Dan's advice and got their Monsties situated in the stables. The light of the setting sun shone through the windows and cast an orange glow over the inside of the building. But while Mille, Hyoro, and Cheval chatted amicably amongst each other while they shoveled hay into their Monsties' pens, Lute remained quiet and dejectedly tossed fish into Ratha's mouth.

"I wish you'd just trust me enough to do what I say, Ratha," he lamented to the juvenile Rathalos. "We're supposed to have Kinship, but we barely even know how to work as a team."

Ratha simply stared at him intensely, and Lute got the feeling that he would've said something important if he had been able to speak.

"Don't worry about it, Lute," a new voice spoke up, and the boy looked toward the door to find Lilia entering. "Remember, you did hatch Ratha without a Kinship Stone, so maybe you two just need a little more time to warm up to each other."

She handed him a donut, and he accepted the treat with a smile of thanks to his friend.

The second the pasty was in Lute's hand, however, a tan-colored blur flung the stable doors open and tackled him in the stomach.

"That donut belongs to Navirou!" the Felyne demanded, standing on Lute's chest as he grabbed at it with his paws.

Even lying on his back, Lute managed to raise his head and glare at the annoying talking animal while holding the donut out of reach. "Knock it off, Navirou! Lilia gave this to me so go bother Mrs. Vlau if you want a stupid donut!"

"Navirou wants that donut and that donut wants Navirou!" he screeched.

"You don't make any sense!" Lute shouted, wincing as the Felyne's foot inadvertently stomped on his nose in his attempt to reach the donut.

"Navirou's sorry if his logic flies over Lute's tiny little head!" Navirou shot back angrily.

"Oh yeah, well your head's full of nothing but hot air!" he bellowed. He threw the donut away just before grabbing the selfish cat with both hands and holding him at arm's length.

On the sidelines, Lilia sighed in exasperation while the other apprentice Riders simultaneously sweatdropped at the sight of their livid friend keeping a squirming, furious Navirou at bay.

Ratha finally had enough of the noise that the two were making and coughed out a small fireball. It floated right into Navirou's face and burst on impact, leaving him covered in soot.

Laughing, Lute dropped his assailant and reached over to pat his Monstie on the head. "Hey, thanks for that, Ratha."

"See? You two do get along!" smiled Lilia. "Give it a bit more time and you'll be going together as well as an Herb and a Blue Mushroom!"

Footsteps crunched on the dried hay scattered along the floor, and Lute and Lilia turned around to see Cheval approaching them. The red-haired boy had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What's up, Cheval?" Lute asked, concerned.

Softly, his friend replied, "Nothing really, it's just… Lilia's comment made me think of something."

The girl in question tilted her head. "Huh? You mean the Herb and Blue Mushroom analogy? Oh, I know, it made you think of how tired you were after training and how much you wanted me to fix up an Energy Drink for you!"

Cheval instantly turned white. "Um… n-no thanks, I'm good," he insisted, not wishing to taste another of her revolting concoctions for as long as he lived. "I mean, it was your comment about Lute hatching Ratha without a Kinship Stone that made me think of something."

Now Lute was curious. Even Ratha seemed to be interested in what Cheval had to say.

Getting comfortable against an unused pen, Cheval closed his eyes in deep concentration before speaking his mind. "I've always found it odd that Ratha's egg hatched without a proper rite. I mean, what have we learned about what all Monsties have in common?"

"Well, they're usually hatched from an egg after the Rider performs a Rite of Kinship," Lilia answered, her voice taking on a thoughtful tone.

"Yeah, and they always grow super-fast until they get to a size where the Rider can get on their back," Lute added, playing along.

"And Navirou thinks all Monsties stay the same size so the Rider can easily ride them," interjected Navirou, his fur miraculously devoid of ash.

He did have a point – the apprentice Riders plus Lilia had known Dan, the oldest Rider, all their lives, and his Qurupeco had never grown so much as an inch in all the time he'd had it as his Monstie. It had never been something they'd given serious thought to, but now that Navirou brought it up…

"Yes, that's right," Cheval told them, opening his eyes again. "So, what if we were to assume that the last two things were a direct result of the Rite of Kinship?"

It took Lute, Lilia, and Navirou a second to digest that. On the other side of the stables, Mille and Hyoro had overheard them talking and were now listening intently.

"So, the Kinship Stone not only awakens a Monstie's hidden power upon hatching, but also keeps them at an optimal riding size. Is that what you're getting at?" Lilia inquired.

"Sort of, yeah," replied Cheval. "And now consider this – we found Ratha's egg in a nest high up in a tree, correct? And then Lute hatched Ratha without a Kinship Stone."

There was an even longer period of silence as the kids mulled that over in their heads. In the end, the one who broke the silence wasn't the one anyone expected.

"Um… so… if there was no rite… then why did Ratha hatch?" asked Hyoro, his voice barely audible even in the quiet stables.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Mille asked of Cheval, straight to the point as usual.

"I'm saying, what if it was just a coincidence that Ratha hatched when he did?" the red-haired boy explained. "What if it had nothing to do with Lute, and everything to do with when his egg had been laid?"

Navirou's whiskers twitched. "So Lute isn't anything special whatsoever? It was just dumb luck that Navirou's excellent navigational skills led you to that monster nest right in time to see the egg hatch?"

"Oh, come on!" Lute groaned.

"Sorry, Lute, but… yeah, that pretty much is what I'm saying," Cheval said, apologetically.

Frowning, Lilia scratched her head. "But if Ratha is a perfectly ordinary monster that hatched under normal circumstances…"

She trailed off, and joined everyone else in slowly turning around to stare, dumbfounded, at Ratha. The Rathalos grew bored of watching them and curled up in his pen to go to sleep, soon snoring away without a care in the world.

Gulping, Hyoro timidly finished Lilia's sentence. "…h-how long before we have a fully-grown Rathalos living in the village…?"

Ten Years Later

"Run for your life, Itsy-Bits!" the old mad scientist shouted frantically, pushing bushes and tree branches out of his way as he booked it through the forest as fast as his legs could carry him. "Run as if a rabid Deviljho was chasin' you, my boy!"

Panting heavily, the elderly man's much younger assistant trailed behind him, his arms and legs pumping furiously. "It'th tho important, you thaid it twithe, Doctor!" he screamed.

Somewhere above the trees, a ferocious roar blasted through the air. From the sound of it, the dreaded beast was still a ways behind the fleeing pair, but they knew better than to assume they could outrun it. In their minds, they had no doubt it was already catching up to them with every second that passed.

The forest abruptly ended, and the two shady characters squinted instinctively as they found themselves exposed to the bright midday sun. Long grass whipped at their legs, their pace already increasing as the welcome sight of their parked airship graced their sore eyes.

"Hurry, Itsy-Bits, we're almost home free!" the man yelled. Sweat flowed down his brow like a waterfall of perspiration as he pushed himself to his absolute limit. "Get to the ship! Get to the ship, I say, before that Rider and his –"

"DRAAAAAAOOOOOOORRHHH!"

Even as they ran, the duo turned their heads to look behind them, and they immediately regretted it. Over the tops of the trees came a Rathalos, the King of the Skies, its forty-foot wingspan blotting out the sun and shrouding the hellish monster in black shadow. The look on its half-reptile, half-bird face was borderline murderous as it stooped down with its talons fully extended.

Dr. Manelger normally prided himself on being composed in the face of danger, but he threw that out the window when he saw the wyvern coming right for him. And when a blue light glinted from the dark figure perched atop its back, he completely lost it.

"RUN!" he shrieked. "RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN –"

"SKY-HIGH DIIIIIIIVE!"

The Rathalos burst into flames and, like a meteor from the depths of outer space, slammed directly into the vehicle in which the doctor and his assistant had planned to escape.

Suffice to say that there were no words in any known language that could have accurately described the spectacle of fiery destruction that promptly ensued.

On the plot of devastated land that had once been an airship on a patch of pristine grass, the Rathalos touched down with a flap of its great wings, the sun shining off of its deep red scales. The Rider, bedecked in ruby-red armor that looked identical to the wyvern's carapace, jumped out of the saddle and fixed Manelger in a cold glare.

"L-Lute, my b-boy!" the old doctor stammered, attempting to keep a jovial attitude about him. "It's been s-so long, hasn't it? N-Now, just let me explain myself…"

"You mean explain the poor Gypceros you left in the woods, chained up and ready to be transported to wherever you've built your newest secret laboratory?" the man growled, not falling for his enemy's friendly act.

Lute advanced slightly, causing Manelger and Itsy-Bits to fall on their rear ends in their haste to keep their distance. They scrambled across the bare, sooty earth, but stopped when Lute's shadow fell over them both.

"I-It was for a good cause!" Manelger insisted, his nervous grin widening. "We were going to capture it and study its venom for use in the medical industry!"

"Your geniuth planth never fail to inthpire me, Dr. Manelger, thir!" Itsy-Bits lisped, managing to praise his superior even while shaking in his boots.

"Please! We're begging you!" the scientist pleaded, raising an arm as if to protect himself. "If you let us go, I promise you we'll make it worth your while! Yes, it'll be worth your while if you let us go free, my boy!"

"He e-even thaid it t-twithe!" his assistant chimed in shakily.

Having enough of their blathering, Ratha opened his jaws wide enough to swallow a man whole and roared. Dr. Manelger and Itsy-Bits wailed in terror before flopping to the ground in a dead faint.

"Come on, let's get them to the village," Lute chuckled. He took a rope out from his supply bag and added, "We'll let them explain themselves to Dan and Chief Omna. Then we have a Gypceros to free."

After strapping the troublemaking pair to each of Ratha's legs, the Rider and his monster – as Ratha certainly couldn't be called a Monstie anymore – took flight over the idyllic Pondry Hills, heading for the distant sight of Hakum Village's distinctive red windmills.

Suddenly, Lute chuckled to himself. It's funny, he thought. Even to this day, I still can't believe that Cheval was right.

While this is based on the anime, I did take one detail from the game – the fact that Lute found Ratha in a nest rather than at an abandoned shrine. Ratha's egg in the anime was supposed to be really old, which puts a hole in my theory that Ratha just happened to hatch naturally when Lute found him.

The idea that Ratha is not actually a true Monstie is further supported by what happens in the game. At the beginning of the demo, he's injured by a monster and knocked off a cliff while he's still hatchling-sized, and then he disappears. However, I know from Japanese trailers of the game that Ratha returns later. This means that it would've taken time for him to grow to Monstie size, and it also implies that he'll continue to grow until he becomes an adult.

Also, disclaimer – the anime is still unfinished at this point, so I have no idea what becomes of Dr. Manelger and Itsy-Bits. Their role in this story was purely for humor.

I've played the demo twice and still having a blast! I highly recommend trying it out at the very least. The full game comes out on September 8, so keep an eye out for it!