(Monster Hunter World RP, if interested please message. Want to try to keep the group size to 4 or fewer hunter players)<br/><br/>About six of them came through, moving fast. Heavier than average, either carrying a hunt or something else weighing them down, each one about the same size, that was a bit unusual. A group with this many usually meant they were taking out the young with them to teach them to hunt, but this was a full group of full grown adults. Maybe they were scouting? A conflict with another pack over territory? Seems unlikely that they'd be bringing back food if that was the case. Something about this wasn't adding up, but luckily it didn't matter too much. There had been a request...well not so much a request, but a grumbling and moaning complaint from some researchers that they couldn't get access to a cave system near the coastline leading from the Ancient Forest to the Wildspire Wastes because of what seemed like a pack of overly intelligent, very aggressive Jagras.<br/><br/>Strange thing that there were no Great Jagras tracks, the smaller ones didn't tend to get so gusty unless they were being emboldened by one of the bigger ones. From the vague reports of a couple of researchers that came out with their singular hunter escort it seems like they were just accosted by a well coordinated pack. The tracks seemed to support that, no Great Jagras tracks nearby. No other small or large beasts of any type, actually. Aside from the smaller endemic life, there hadn't been a single other beast in sight for the last half mile or so. Nothing bigger than a few hares, and Vespoids. Not even a Mosswine. Whatever these Jagras were doing, they weren't playing favorites, it was pretty unusual.<br/><br/>He adjusted his ghille mantle, and shifted the belt across his chest that held the greatsword in place before pushing through the underbrush, stepping around the tracks to avoid sinking his boots into the wet, slick mud. He closed the journal he'd been flipping through and tucked it under his arm into the harnessed satchel at his side. The expedition had always had to deal with the balance of more hunters than handlers, especially with the extra researchers brought around after syncing back up with the 3rd fleet, a group that was almost exclusively researchers and scholars, not particularly well equipped for hunting and their knowledge of monsters wasn't often practical for the field. So when his sister had reached out to him about some of the issues they were running into he'd offered to do a little bit of the foot work on her behalf, but he didn't expect it to be a five mile hike to find a soggy cave system filled with overly aggressive, coordinated Jagras.<br/><br/>Not that Jagras were a big problem, he'd dealt with much worse since his time with the 4th fleet, considering he'd spend about half his adult life in the new world (the Fourth fleet having been here for a decade before the 5th and final fleet arrived), but you didn't get to live this long in this place by thinking you were the smartest thing in the woods. As he came to the top of a hill, there was a break in the trees and he could see down to the coastline. It was a much easier walk if he went that way, a clear line of sight on anything that might be trying to sneak up on him, but he kept to the brush. By the time you spotted a pack of Jagras, they'd had your scent for a few minutes ahead of time, and as fast as a hunter was, they weren't likely to outrun a swarm of those 90 pound lizards (although from the earlier tracks these ones might be a bit bigger than that).<br/><br/>He made a mental note of where the coast line was, and where the researchers had talked about spotting the entrance to a cave system from one of their overhead fly-bys in their research vessel. Mostly his plan was to get a proper route mapped out from the base to the caves, get a feel for the situation and then come back with a full group if it seemed like this was a real problem and not just a bunch of book worms who puffed up their story to make themselves seem more capable than they really were. So far, between the unusual tracks, and the lack of any other beasts in the area, he was starting to think it was a bit more than hot air.<br/><br/>After another 15 or so minutes of walking through the eerily silent woods the treeline broke again, and the landscape curved down towards the coast. A series of sharp, stone fangs cutting up through the earth forming a wall that separated the sand from the sea. Pulling the eye standard issue binoculars from his supply pack he twisted the focus to try and get a clear view from the treeline. He could make out the shadows being cast from a stone entrance, almost definitely the cave the researchers had been talking about. The hard packed ground near the entrance indicated a high traffic area, and he was about to slide out from cover to take a closer look when the rapid beating of feet and claws caught his attention. Flattening down onto the ground, holding his breath for a moment he tucked the metal binoculars under his mantle so as not to risk an errant glint from the sun off the lens catching unwanted attention.<br/><br/>Down below he could make out a large pack of Jagras, just as he'd expected, much larger than average, also expected, but what they did next was not what he expected. Each of them were carrying what looked like the corpse of a Grimalkyne in their jaws. That was surprising, to say the least. Not only that they'd been able to hunt down the wily Lynians, but that it looks like they'd manage to get the drop on an entire clan. At least a dozen of the bipedal felines were being dragged into the cave by their scruff, limp and bloodied. As the last one slipped inside, a few moments later it poked it's head back outside and let out an unusual bark, one that he'd never heard before. After it echoed off the stone walls and into the distance there was a momentary pause and several similar barks echoed back from several different directions.<br/><br/>There was obviously a lot more of these overly aggressive Jagras in the area then he'd initially thought. Securing his gear, he turned and adjusted his ghille mantle, diving back into the brush. Definitely not a one person job, even if they were 'just Jagras'.