Monster Hunter: This Rathalos Has Special Traits

Every collision was a contest of strength against strength. The Toxinbird's venom was potent, but the female Rathian's resistance to toxins was equally formidable. Aji's flames posed a threat, yet this experienced Toxinbird kept her locked in close combat, never giving her time to charge an attack. 

Thus, their battle devolved into pure brute force. The only difference was that amid this violent clash, a certain opportunistic bastard kept dive-bombing the Toxinbird like a scavenging crow, striking before immediately retreating to deny any chance of counterattack. 

Kael Drakethorne didn't land every hit, but each time he dove, he aimed for vulnerable spots—the neck, the eyes—forcing the Toxinbird to defend itself. 

And every time it did, Aji seized the opening to deliver a brutal strike. 

In this righteous two-on-one beatdown, even a Toxinbird as battle-hardened, resilient, and full of stamina as this one eventually sensed danger mounting with each failed exchange. 

So after one last clash, the Toxinbird endured Aji's tail swipe, forced its jaws open, and spewed a thick cloud of poisonous mist. 

In an instant, Aji and her opponent vanished into the toxic fog, leaving Kael Drakethorne hovering above with no clear target. 

Then, a second later, the Toxinbird burst from the other side of the mist, fleeing in a frantic scramble deep into the forest. 

Clearly, it had given up. No more fighting, no more territory—just surrender. 

The Toxinbird still had strength left, and with its single-minded focus on escape, neither Kael Drakethorne nor Aji stood a chance of killing it now. So Kael Drakethorne didn't even consider pursuit. 

Below, Aji flapped her wings to disperse the poison. Toxin of this level barely affected her—it was just an obstruction. 

After scanning the area and confirming the Toxinbird's absence, she roared in triumph. 

But when her gaze landed on Kael Drakethorne descending toward her, her expression turned complicated. 

Kael Drakethorne was exhilarated. This had been his first real battle—even if he'd only played support, it still counted. 

More importantly, it proved he wasn't the same helpless creature from a month ago, getting chased around by Hornetaurs. He had the ability to survive in this world now. 

He'd expected a touching reunion—Aji nuzzling him affectionately, celebrating their victory together. 

Instead, when he landed, he was met with hostility. 

"What… what's going on?" 

Kael Drakethorne didn't understand. Why was Aji acting like this? 

Every time he stepped closer, she growled low in her throat, even crouching defensively as if to drive him away. 

"Aji—" 

He tried approaching again, only for a fireball to explode at his feet. Aji stared coldly at him, though when she saw his stunned, lost expression, a flicker of conflict passed through her eyes. 

But then her resolve hardened. With one last icy glare, she turned and walked away without hesitation. 

Instinctively, Kael Drakethorne followed—only for Aji to whip around and roar at him, the sound unmistakably commanding him to *leave*. 

He thought he understood now, but still, stubbornly, he trailed after her from a distance. 

He watched as Aji, despite her injuries, effortlessly hunted down prey. 

He watched as she devoured the kill alone, leaving nothing for him. 

He watched as she picked up speed, returning to her territory, ascending the trees above her nest. 

There, a slightly smaller Toxinbird with wide, intelligent eyes froze mid-bite when it spotted Aji. 

After a stunned second, it spat out the toxic mushroom it'd been chewing and bolted without a shred of fight in it. 

"So *this* is the Toxinbird I know? Then who the hell was the other one?" 

Aji was just as baffled. She'd… mistaken one monster for another. 

But so what? The fight was over, the territory secured. What did it matter if she'd gotten the wrong one? 

The real issue was—her fledgling could fly now. He could survive on his own. 

He didn't need her care anymore. 

*** 

Aji returned to her nest. Kael Drakethorne tried to follow, only to be ruthlessly shoved back out. 

Hovering outside, he and Aji engaged in a staring contest. Every time he so much as twitched toward the entrance, she'd growl warningly—but never actually attacked. 

And so, the two dragons found themselves locked in an unprecedented standoff. 

*"Whine—"* 

"Aji, I'm exhausted. I can barely keep flying." 

Testing the waters, he stretched a foot toward the nest's edge. 

*"ROAR!"* (Scram!) 

"Okay." 

He pulled his foot back. 

A while later, he tried again. 

"Aji, I don't wanna stay outside." 

"Aji, the sun's scorching. It's too hot." 

"Ajiiii—" 

Aji's eyelid twitched. Kael Drakethorne's incessant whining grated on her nerves like claws on stone. 

*"ROOOAR!!"* 

*SHUT UP!!!* 

Seeing her genuine fury, Kael Drakethorne quickly quieted with a submissive whimper. 

Aji glared at him a while longer before finally settling back down, tail thumping the ground in irritation. 

Her fight with that random Toxinbird had left her with nasty wounds, but the worst was her wing. The initial impact had torn it open before the venom even hit, letting the toxin seep deep into the flesh. 

Now the membrane was rotting. 

What truly frustrated her wasn't the pain—it was the fact that until her wing healed, she couldn't hunt. Which meant days of hunger. 

She wouldn't starve to death, but the gnawing emptiness? She never wanted to relive that. 

Long stretches without food always dragged up memories—back when her brood of six hatchlings waited for a mother who never returned. 

Only three of them survived. 

Cracking one eye open, she caught Kael Drakethorne stealthily edging a claw into the nest—only to yank it back when she noticed. That mix of cowardice and stubbornness left her torn between anger and amusement. 

But watching him hover so effortlessly outside, another thought struck her. 

Among her siblings, she'd always been the outlier. 

First to fly. Strongest. Smartest. 

When their mother vanished, she was the first to leave the nest and scout the area. The first to hunt while the others still huddled together, crying for food. 

Without her, those dim-witted siblings wouldn't have survived—let alone learned to hunt as a pack under her direction. 

They'd eventually split up not just because she deemed them capable of independence, but because she couldn't tolerate their stupidity any longer. 

Yet even with all her exceptional traits, at Kael Drakethorne's size, she'd only just mastered flight. She certainly hadn't been strong enough to join battles like the one earlier. 

Kael Drakethorne's performance? That wasn't normal for a fledgling. His combat instincts, his decision-making—she'd never seen anything like it outside herself. 

Her dumb siblings couldn't even follow basic commands, much less adapt mid-fight or exploit advantages. 

Kael Drakethorne, she suspected, was like her. 

And at his size, he *should* still be clinging to a mother's side. 

Yet his skills *were* undeniably self-sufficient. Aji couldn't pretend otherwise, couldn't keep treating him like a helpless hatchling. 

That dissonance was the root of her conflict—why she *wanted* to drive him away but couldn't commit. 

Truthfully, it came down to this: Aji wasn't his real mother. She'd only been mimicking how *her* mother raised her. 

She'd never been cast out herself. Her natural talent spared her the hunger and desperation her siblings faced after their separation. 

And Kael Drakethorne wasn't just a fledgling—he was a *male* Rathian. That added another layer of uncertainty, leaving her no choice but to tolerate his persistence for now. 

Outside the nest, seeing Aji close her eyes again without driving him off, Kael Drakethorne relaxed—until his stomach growled. 

No helping it. Today's meal had been a single Archaeopteryx as a snack, followed by hours searching for Aji and then that battle. He was *starving*. 

Glancing at Aji, who seemed to be sleeping off her injuries, he turned and soared toward the Wildspire Waste's depths. 

The moment he left, Aji's eyes snapped open. She stared blankly at his shrinking figure, an odd sensation prickling her chest. 

Maybe it was just the rarity of seeing another of her kind. 

That's what she told herself, anyway. 

Padding to the nest's entrance, she watched until Kael Drakethorne vanished into the golden sands, wondering if they'd ever meet again. 

But with his skills? He wouldn't die easily. 

Settling back into her nest, she shut her eyes—though the restless thumping of her tail betrayed her agitation. 

Aji *had* expected to see Kael Drakethorne again someday. Just… not *this* soon. 

She hadn't even fully dozed off before he returned, dragging a Kelbi carcass behind him. 

Before she could muster a reaction, he dropped the kill and immediately took off again. 

Aji stared at the cleanly dispatched Kelbi lying before her, mentally typing out three question marks. 

…What. 

When Kael Drakethorne came back a second time, he brought another, smaller Kelbi—but this time, he didn't offer it to her. Instead, he planted himself right outside the nest and started devouring it. 

Between bites, he even shot her a confused look, as if wondering why *she* wasn't eating. 

Aji felt her understanding of Kael Drakethorne needed another overhaul. 

*Weren't you leaving? I'd already braced myself, so why are you back?* 

*And this food—is this supposed to win me over? You think I'd just let some fledgling bribe his way into staying?* 

*Who do you take me for? Some common Rathian who'd roll over for a hatchling's pathetic offering?* 

*"Chomp—"* 

…Tastes pretty good!! 

*** 

The next day, before the sun even reached its zenith, Kael Drakethorne—buried in his own wings—was rudely awakened by a nudge. 

Bleary-eyed, he looked up just as Aji shoved him harder, bulldozing him toward the nest's exit with single-minded determination. 

"This fickle female—!!" 

Kael Drakethorne spat the words through gritted teeth as he took to the skies. Yesterday, after eating that Kelbi, she'd let him back in without protest. Now she was kicking him out *again*? What was her deal?! 

Fuming, he flew aimlessly until his stomach growled. Glancing up, he realized this was usually when he'd be snacking while waiting for Aji to return from hunting. 

Then it hit him—Aji *had* been shoving him out earlier, but it wasn't the same as yesterday's outright rejection. 

No aggression. Just insistent nudging with her head and wings. 

"So… it's mealtime, and she's kicking me out to hunt?" 

Kael Drakethorne turned it over. Aji's wing injury wouldn't heal overnight, meaning she couldn't hunt. Meanwhile, yesterday proved *he* could. So when hunger struck, she'd logically booted him out to provide. 

Wait. If she expected him to hunt now, did that mean she wasn't exiling him anymore? Had their relationship changed? 

*Eureka!* 

When fledglings gained independence, parents drove them out to fend for themselves. 

But while Kael Drakethorne *was* a fledgling, Aji wasn't an adult either! 

So now… they were equals? Partners? 

A male and female Rathian supporting each other—made sense, right? 

That would explain today. Injured and unable to hunt, she'd passed the responsibility to him. Simple logic.