Roots Of Ruin (Monster Hunter Fanfiction)

The jungle was silent.

Too silent.

The lead hunter, a seasoned scout named Alden, paused mid-step, raising a gloved hand to signal the others behind him. The team of three halted immediately, their trained instincts keeping them still, listening. The absence of birds, of skittering insects, of any familiar nighttime ambiance—it wasn't natural.

They had been tracking the Pukei-Pukei for hours, following the twisted remnants of its trail. At first, the signs had been subtle—a missing scale here, an odd discoloration in a patch of saliva there. But the further they went, the more unmistakable the strangeness became.

Deep claw marks gouged into trees at unnatural angles. A half-eaten carcass of a Mernos, its body stiff with coagulated venom and something else—a fibrous, root-like substance creeping from its wounds. And the footprints… the Pukei-Pukei's usual three-toed tracks had warped, talons digging deeper into the earth as if its gait had become heavier, unbalanced.

Alden knelt by one of the prints, brushing his fingers over the damp soil. The edges were sharp, freshly made. The thing they were tracking was close.

Behind him, the second hunter, Mara, exhaled slowly, adjusting the grip on her bow. "This doesn't feel right," she murmured.

"It's sick," the third, Jorren, replied. His voice was steady, but his hand hovered near the hilt of his longsword. "We've seen monsters act strange before."

"Not like this," Alden said.

A distant rustling broke the stillness.

The three hunters tensed, eyes snapping to the thick underbrush ahead. Something was moving through the jungle—slow, deliberate. Heavy wingbeats stirred the humid air, sending loose leaves fluttering to the forest floor.

Then they saw it.

The Pukei-Pukei emerged from the undergrowth, but it wasn't the creature they knew.

Its vibrant feathers were slick and uneven, some bristling unnaturally while others had fused together in chitinous patches. The monster's once-rounded eyes had a glassy, unfocused sheen, veins pulsing faintly beneath the surface. Its tongue hung slack from its mouth, grotesquely elongated, the tip split into writhing tendrils that glistened with a viscous, venomous ooze.

The hunters held their ground, instincts warring with the dread curling in their stomachs.

Then, the Pukei-Pukei moved.

It didn't charge. It didn't lunge. It simply… twitched. A slow, unnatural shudder rolled through its body, and something in its chest cavity shifted beneath the skin. A bubbling croak escaped its throat—wet, garbled, like something drowning in its own breath.

Alden's grip on his glaive tightened. "Steady."

The creature's wings flared.

And then it struck.

The Pukei-Pukei moved faster than it should have, wings carrying it forward in a burst of momentum. It spat—a thick, blackish-green venom—not in a single stream, but in a wide, erratic spray, as if its body could no longer control the function properly.

The hunters dove apart.

Jorren wasn't fast enough.

A guttural yell tore from his throat as the venom coated his arm and shoulder, sizzling against fabric and flesh. He staggered, but before he could recover, the Pukei-Pukei was on him. Its tongue lashed out, wrapping around his leg, the tendrils tightening, barbs sinking in.

"JORREN!" Mara screamed, notching an arrow in a single motion.

She fired. The arrow buried itself deep in the creature's side, but it barely reacted. It lifted Jorren effortlessly, dragging him toward its maw.

Alden moved without thinking. His glaive cut through the air in a deadly arc, severing part of the grotesque tongue. A shriek tore from the Pukei-Pukei's throat—inhuman, layered with something else. Jorren dropped to the ground in a heap, writhing, his limbs twitching erratically.

Mara rushed to him, but Alden didn't take his eyes off the monster.

The Pukei-Pukei stumbled back, its tongue retreating, its venom sacs pulsing erratically. But it didn't flee. It lingered, watching.

No, Alden realized. It was learning.

The jungle had gone silent again.

Jorren's breathing came in ragged gasps. "S-something's—" He choked, his body convulsing.

Alden risked a glance.

Beneath Jorren's skin, something moved.

The infection has taken root