Fire in the Skies

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Verdant Hills, Arcolis Region, The Old World

Day breaks over the forests and grasslands of the verdant hills as the sun's rays begin to peak over the nearby cliffs. A gentle breeze from the north passes through the trees, causing some of the leaves to be blown away into the sky.

Flipping and rolling through the air, one of them is pushed up towards a cliff. As it continues its journey, the green leaf narrowly dodges a waterfall before getting blown into a cave. Just as it begins to settle onto the ground, the leaf is suddenly pulled in by a gust of air, before getting launched backwards by another going in the opposite direction. This continues for a few seconds before it is finally sucked partially into a nostril.

Feeling the foreign object tickling the inside of its nose, the owner lets out a loud sneeze, dislodging the leaf, and unceremoniously launching it across the cavern. As the creature awakens from its slumber, it uses its wings to help it get up before stretching them out, yawning as it does so.

Once it's done stretching, the massive creature walks towards the cave's entrance as sunlight poors in from the outside world. Exiting the shadows of its dark cliffside cavern, the animal can't help but squint as its blue eyes adjust to the change in lighting; once they do, Red, a fully grown Rathalos looks out over the land.

 Exiting the shadows of its dark cliffside cavern, the animal can't help but squint as its blue eyes adjust to the change in lighting; once they do, Red, a fully grown Rathalos looks out over the land

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As he keeps surveying his surroundings, Red begins scraping his talons on the ground, giving the granite beneath his feet yet another set of scars. These new additions quickly disappear amongst the collection of markings around the cavern he and his mate have left behind, as signal to other creatures that this cave is part of their turf, and that they should stay away.

Once he's done scraping the ground, the Rathalos lifts up the foot he just used to make the markings and begins using his teeth to pick out dirt and flakes of stone trapped between his toes. It doesn't take long for him to complete this task and move on to the next. Getting himself comfortable, Red lifts his left wing, and begins gently nipping off some patches of dead skin. This both acts as a way for him to stay clean and to dislodge any parasites that may have latched onto him. Once he's done on one side, the Rathalos repeats the same process on his right and then stands up.

The light bounces off his cleaned red scales as the king of the skies lets out a deafening roar, sending a clear message to all that this is his territory. He does this every morning to see if any challenger will return his call which can travel for many kilometers from this height; however today, everything is quiet, except for his echo and the audible breathing of his mate, an adult Rathian.

 He does this every morning to see if any challenger will return his call which can travel for many kilometers from this height; however today, everything is quiet, except for his echo and the audible breathing of his mate, an adult Rathian

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