[center][b][u]The Mountain Trail Near the Cavern's Exit[/u][/b][/center]

"Nya... Rumors are abounding about this particular area of the hunting grounds, with a wyvern that SOUNDS like it belongs in the Elder Dragon class has made its home upon the abandoned temple at the peak of this mountainyao... Sightings and information are scarce, save that this particular one is likely the cause of the Feral Wyvern Virus that's been affecting several of the native species residing on this mountainyao..." The scholarly explorer cat stated as the rather oddly clad Hunters asked for info. Likely they came from a different reason, the Felyne thought after pondering. "The problem is that it has pretty unknown abilities other than infecting lesser wyverns with a disease that spikes aggressionyao and completely shuts down recovering abilities... Theorists believe that it then hunts the infected after they're done raging and unable to fight back, as several corpses of high rank wyverns have been seen scattered here and there..." Then the cat stared at Minato and twitched its whiskers in an affronted (yet strangely cute) manner before turning to the other questioners in a prideful huff that was genetic to all cats, sentient or otherwise.

"Most of this is merely speculationyao... none have been able to explore and confirm this new breed of Elder Dragonyao... due to not returning." The bipedal cat said, staring at the ragtag group for a moment. "A majority of you people aren't even clad in the armors and weapons made from wyverns... either you aren't Hunters or you're extremely new to this..." There was a worried undercurrent in cat's tone as it continued regarding them with worry. "But yet if you made it this far without relying on the fangs and scales of dead wyverns to hunt living ones..." Speculation was churning now, before the cat simply handed over a sheath of papers. Most were of geography, giving the lay of the land while a few showed off the diagram of dragons and notes describing characteristics and other important information. "If you continue your hike, it is imperative that you arm yourselves with knowledge..." Though the tone was calm, those who watched the cat would see its tail wagging back and forth in an excited manner, like a particularly fast metronome. "It might not be the info you're looking for, but it WILL get you as close as possible..."

 [center][b][u]The Forest[/u][/b][/center]

Ranma continued leaping about the place, heading above the tree tops and then actually bounding off several flying wyverns the size of a bus so quickly and agilely that they didn't realize that she had even used them as a launch point. As a result of a particular long horizontal jump, the girl was now bounding up the side of the mountain like a goat would. [url=http://mhtri.stilltruth.com/img/monsters/Great_Jaggi.png]Nonon would find herself facing a pack of raptors, several small ones and what was obviously the giant pack leader complete with frills and all.[/url] As the thing hooted out a sound that was reminiscent of a howler monkey's, a swarm of the other raptors darted out of the clearing and raced towards her in a zerg rush along with their bigger counterpart.

 [center][b][u]The Steeper Mountain Trail[/u][/b][/center]

As the Goa'uld shot his energies at a particularly dense swarm of Lightning Bugs, the things absorbed the power, swelled up, and then simply flumped to the ground in droves as they couldn't handle that much energy. Those that did survive though were now intensely bright and practically brimming with power, though a sizable portion of the swarm was destroyed by that attack. Balalaika's bullet would also find a relatively unarmored spot on the monster's skull and provide a fair bit of concussion before the bullet was bounced off by a skull that could bounce off lesser steel. The sticky substance was just icing on the cake for the Zinogre to continue its well deserved rage. By now, the painful distractions and the poison was influencing the giant canine and making it more prone to aggressive maneuvers due to the pain it was being caused. Howling, several bolts of electricity arced about in a certain radius about the beast as it reared up on its hind legs and began smashing the ground with its giant fore paws as it randomly went after all those that dared attack it, melee with paws and range with ozone searing jolts.