---

Business had drawn slow. Something ate at the people and kept them inside, not even the warmth of feminine wiles could tempt the wayward to the bar in recent days. Even before then she had grown restless. Prey was slim, the thrill of mortality lacking when one did not feel the possibility of losing it from anything other than sheer boredom. She had turned to the bounty boards in Shanton, scoffing at the low pay and sheer absurdity of the sole job within her home hunting grounds. Eating a cupcake. Ridiculous. 

Many that were newly posted requested the target be delivered alive, a request that would be a bit more difficult for her. She thrived on striking fast, accurately, and deadly. If her target was given plenty of time to fight back, she wasn't well versed in long, drawn out fights. Her skills were entirely self taught, and as such revolved around a style she had learned worked well for her. In short, she would rather build her talents before trying to expand her specialties. 

It was a collection of debt that piqued her interest. A target wanted alive or dead. She would rip the notice from its pin, looking closer at it. The Vufrien wilds. A long trek, but there was little here to keep her attention for a time. No one darkened the safe house and even fewer of the undead had she sighted in Shanton in recent days. Gundabarar Mear it was. 

Standing in the mountain cold now, however, she cursed the wretch. Despite all of her furs, the winter chill had settled deep into her bones. Between the unrelenting wind and the snow that devoured up to her ankles, the hunt had turned to misery. A chance that she was going to give the debtor to live should he cooperate had long left her realms of mercy. She would also demand more from the pay out as well considering such inconvenience. The last village she had passed had confirmed that the man she sought had indeed passed through, and she was arriving near where a trapper had claimed his camp was set up. 

The silver of her sais felt comfortable, almost warm in her hands, unhidden for the first time in so very long from the shield of her fans. She let the roll within her grasp, her shoulders rolling as she made her way into the deep shadows to conceal herself. Stalking. Felinal. Golden eyes searching the throes of the light from the camp fire for the face she had only seen in the wanted ad.

---

Attentions roamed the snowy tree line in hopes to find anything that could spark a sense of knowing. Something that would tell him where it was he wandered and if he were any closer to assigned destination. It was supposed to be quick. Get there and get back with the requested materials, the man at the counter would have everything ordered. Though first he had to actually get to said store front. Alexandria trusted him to do this and the boy wasn’t about to let his mother down. Even the slightest utterance of approval akin to high praise from her lips. If he did this right, if he got everything back in good shape. Fineás wasn’t going to let this chance slip through his fingers. Failure was not an option and yet…

Had he not followed the map correctly? Such a parchment lovingly marked by his mother’s own hand lay unfolded before him as he looked it over once more. Those fields, he assumed, had been past on his way out of Crue Efros and yet these collections of trees all looked the same to him now. No matter what had been described in person or even jotted down seemed to dispel uncertainty of just where he stood. None of it offered much help. All he could really do was keep walking, hope that he encountered another willing to point him in the right direction. Hopefully he wasn’t too far off course from getting to Odersten. Surely he had passed into Vufrien territories by now, those with a scribbled note of ‘Will Bite’.

But what didn’t? If it wasn’t the hungry eyes of a blood starved vampire then apparently it would be the feral mind of a wolf. Why couldn’t some creature just keep its mouth off of things for once? Apparently it was too much to ask for after all that had been heard, each encounter witnessed when another could no longer control themselves. Maybe it would be different out this way, he doubted it but one could still hold on to that shred of hope.

Feelings which kindled even brighter at the smell of burning wood, the crackle of a fire not yet heard though the promise of it now guided his steps. That wandering path holding at least temporary destination now as a map lay carefully folded and tucked away. However, as he strayed upon the camp it was… empty. Partial gaze flickering in slow inspection only to find no trace of humanity to linger about a flame’s warmth nor rooting in the small collection of belongings setup alongside it. Maybe they had stepped away for a moment? Why else would their fire still burn so brightly?

Questions asked to none but himself yet they would be those swiftly answered in the gruff snarled tone of a stranger, “What’re ya doin’ out here kid?” Suspicion behind the piercing stare that glared down at him. Did this man think him a thief? Some vagabond come to ruin his livelihood? If so this was just a simple misunderstanding, all he hoped to gain were a few directions. And yet he found himself frozen, unable to answer as that wolven frame lumbered closer only to pause before those features twisted into aggression, “Ain’t alone here are ya.”

“Wh-what?” Of course he was alone! While Naza always said never to admit that, to him it was painfully obvious that none stood at his side. Entirely unknowing that those animalistic senses picked up traces of another lurking in nearby shadows, unknowing this man held a price upon his head. To Fineás there were none but himself and one who grew increasingly agitated. Though it is not until paces quicken and one of those taloned limbs reaches for him that he retaliates. A small blade loosed from where it lay hidden at his side, never forgetting a mother’s insistence to carry, before a smooth arch carved its path. Touch of silver slicing cleanly into the grasping beast’s forearm.

---

Fin
70/70 HP
50/50 SP
Injuries: None

34. slashes Mear across the arm with a small knife (-10 HP)

Gundabarar Mear
110/120 HP

---

Her keen sight squinted, sifting through the deep puddles of dancing shade cast by the licking flames and the generous moonlight that dappled through the shifting canopy. It all served to obstruct, to distort the surroundings that her target could very well be hiding within. A dog. He very well could have winded the foreign scent of her presence upon the first wayward breeze. Though she had been careful up until this point, there was no way to veil it any longer in such a proximity.

The snap of a twig bid her sight to fixate to a movement. Gilded eyes couldn't help the way they rolled, though she bit back the irritated sigh that came with the intrusion of another. A big kid, should she have any estimation of the youth. However, his presence was not only noted by she alone. "What’re ya doin’ out here kid?” The malicious snarl drug itself from the debtor's maw, and her grasp would momentarily tighten upon her blades before relaxing, a mental preparation for the rush ahead.

Already, she was making her way towards them, golden gaze sutured to her target while also lapsing her surroundings and the intruder on her mark. The notion they were working together - or at least continuing their partnership - vacated as the lumbering beast snapped out once again, “Ain’t alone here are ya.” There was no one else. Only she. Yet her location still seemed to elude the brute.

Good.

“Wh-what?” the youth managed to stammer out before the beast lunged towards him. Using Maer's distracted focus, her pace quickened, lunging towards his left side as he struck. "Be faster than him if you want to live, boy." The silk of her vocals had lost their sultry edge that wound like perfume through the air of the bar. Here, they were biting - just like the duality of her sais as they punctured into the sinew of the wolf's shoulder.

The wolf snarled, but she was long gone, prancing footwork carrying her backwards and into the arms of safety as he turned his head towards her.




Adnali: 70/70 HP
50/50 SP

Gundabarar Mear: 100/120 HP
Summary: [86 - full hit] stabs maer in the left shoulder with her sais.

---

Flash of silver repelled those talons though a mind could not help but to race. What had sparked such aggression within the wolf? He knew the warnings over them, that some nights they lay blinded by rage and yet the accursed moon had passed. It wasn’t the spark of twilight fueling attack. Nothing had been taken from the camp, nothing added but a few steps. There was none but - silent musing quickly turning on their heel upon the appearance of another. Half sights flickering toward her for but a moment before rapidly returning to the beast.

Briefly teeth grit together for he knew what had to be done in such situations. Alexandria had been sure to ingrain each motion within his thoughts, action that could have been done in his sleep at this point. Yet even still he was wholly unprepared to kill if it came down to it. But he wouldn’t have to right? And neither would the unknown? If this wolf could just calm down a little they could talk this out like civilized - what the hell was he thinking? There’s no way it would play out like that.

Maybe in his wildest fantasies sure but with the venom dripping behind that snarl and the steady stretch and roll of sinew, it foretold the beast’s future. This was a creature to subdue. Only the fates could decide if one would be forced to watch the life drain from another’s eyes. It wouldn’t come to that, it wouldn’t. A phrase he kept telling himself and yet those sharp phrases pierced the veil.

It was second nature to snap back, “Do you think I don’t know that?!” Irritation, annoyance. Tone he would not dare use with his mother though word brought focus. A knife turning in his grip, reaching out only for a behemoth to lurch for the huntress with jaws agape. That thick hide wrenched from his grasps before the length of a blade could truly find its mark upon a furred back.

---

Fin
70/70 HP
50/50 SP
Injuries: None

41. somewhat slices Mear's back (-5 HP)

Gundabarar Mear
95/120 HP

---

He didn't seem to be here for the same reason she did, a fact that was near obvious at the look upon his face. Was this his first true attempt at a battle? Was this the first blood his weapon had tasted? She couldn't read exactly, though in the same breath, she had little need or interest in such a farce as well. It didn't matter if this was his first or hundredth, he was here now, and he was caught in this web just as much as she. The only case she pondered was if he knew this cretin was a wanted man at all. How to split the reward.

“Do you think I don’t know that?!” She would laugh, a girlish ring that was accompanied by the snap of those ravenous jowls. The first lunge she would evade, followed by the swing of those vicious talons as she leapt ever backwards, unwillingly leading him from the bite of the unknown youth's blade as well. She found no opening for her own strike, a flurry of angry slashes keeping her at bay and on her toes. One she was not quite so quick to avoid as those nails raked along the side of her thigh, narrowly missing the swell of her chest and abdomen on their furious pursuit.

A sharp tch! fled her as she felt the warmth of her own blood welling within the sleek fit of her trousers, words spoken from between her teeth as her brows drew, eyes rolling as the sai in her left hand twirled idly around the tip of her finger. Distance placed between she and the wolf as she cocked her hip. "These are my good pants, asshole." She sneered, a smug grin as the wanted snarled, muzzle rippling with growing blind aggression.




Adnali: 55/70 HP
50/50 SP
Injuries: Mild gash on her thigh, not too deep
Summary: [85 - miss + retaliation] a swing and a miss, gets sniced by claws on the thigh

Gundabarar Mear: 95/120 HP

---

Whoever this beast may be it only become clearer he was one set on violence. Aggressive mannerisms heightening upon the click of razored fangs as they met nothing more than the empty air. The very sound of those teeth echoing in his ears before snarling reverberation swiftly took its place, dashing all hopes of ending this calmly until after adrenaline could fade. Once a body was too weak to keep going would he finally still? Allow a chance to settle this without any meeting their death? Yet no matter the questions which haunted him there was one thing he knew for certain.

Right now? It was hardly the time for peace as talons swiped eagerly in their bid for flesh. But it was that laughter which plagued him, teasing toward the tone taken and yet she did not scold as she danced away from raking claws. Each step back filled just as quickly while the mad hound bore down upon her path and with it, came refusal of his own to allow the wolf from his reach.

Paces chasing after them until there came pause enough to strike, an opening beneath the very arm that lashed out to slash and tear at the unknown's thigh. Something eyes could not help but to be drawn to as her hip turned out in examination of an injury… yet it was not the mark of blood alone that he found a gaze tempted by. Focus daring to drift for but a moment before it become a glance he quickly averted from taking. Returning that gaze to the way silver sank cleanly between the hound’s ribs.

His own frame clinging as closely as possible to the beast so that a deadly maw could not twist upon him with ease. It was frightening to feel the way a snarl rumbled in that chest, how it seemed to roll over the wolf’s body as a whole as muscles shifted beneath layers of fur. Though before curving talons could meet him in turn that blade was drug back, freeing itself entirely before a figure darted away. Claws clipping to nothing more than retreating fabrics. The vibrancy of that piercing stare dancing over him in a blind quest for vengeance.

---

Fin
70/70 HP
50/50 SP
Injuries: None

44. shanks Mear between the ribs and definitely doesn't look at Nali's hip/butt (-10 HP)

Gundabarar Mear
85/120 HP

---

The youth wasted no time in chasing after the intended target. It had been obvious in the beginning that this was not his first intent, but it quickly had become as the brute had lashed out first at him before the assassin had revealed her presence. Perhaps it was partially her fault, at least the blame could partially be shifted to her shoulders, and yet they would merely roll it off should she be accused. It wasn't by her hand that the whelp had made his way here, and she hadn't merely stood idly by while the beast sought to devour him either. No matter the good distraction that could have made for her.

She also didn't miss the wander of his eyes, a slow smirk unfurling across the cusp of her lips, only continuing to bloom as he quickly averted his partial stare. "You've a few more years before you can look," she taunted, a tease as that sharp blade delved between Mear's ribs, only serving to further annoy the beast. As it was now, the creature had already proven quite resilient. It was amazing the amount of damage those cursed with lycanthropy could take before their bodies would finally give out. She hoped her unwilling assistant would be able to keep such a pace up and see the task through to the end. However, then came the debate of payment. She could always... keep her lips sealed over the matter of the man being among the wanted for one reason or another.

Attention turned away from humor and entertainment as her grip instead switched upon the handle of the sai, the dagger's edge glistening with the already dark smear of her prior strike. The seeking tip plunging into the hard sinew of the feral's shoulder, remaining there as she was forced to dodge yet another snapping salivating bite. She had no intention of joining the cursed this evening, and even if those talons found her again, that was a preferable outcome in comparison to finding those envenomed jowls upon her flesh.




Adnali: 55/70 HP
50/50 SP
Injuries: Mild gash on her thigh, not too deep
Summary: [72 - full hit -10HP]

Gundabarar Mear: 75/120 HP

---

It seemed no matter the blows dealt the wolf refused to falter in its assault, the snap and swipe of fangs seemingly fixated upon the woman. One who was no doubt seen as a greater threat in the way weaponry was handled or perhaps in the confidence which extruded from her very being. Attentions easily bid to wander over that frame in exclamation of her dismay over torn fabrics. Brazen at first before that faint worry of being caught staring haunted the mind. Though it was gaze averted too late as those lyrics chimed the moment a blade had driven itself into flesh. Lyrics rising in retort, “And what’s gonna stop me from looking now?” He still held half his sight and that eye could see all it roved to.

Yet he could not hide the way embarrassed flush temporarily colored his features. Silent shame over being caught in the act even if she hadn’t exactly sounded mad about it. Notion clung to as he pulled back from promised swipe of talons as that hulking frame spun to face him. Wolven lips curling against the snarl reverberating deep within the beast as paws shifted forth. Only to whirl and snap toward another who’d drawn far closer. Saliva dripping from powerful jowls as fangs clinked against nothing but air as the fiery woman danced back despite how weaponry still lay embedded.

If the towering creature could not find fixation upon a target then perhaps this could work to their advantage. Pain seeming to be the driving force to gain its fury, so before the accursed hound could ready another strike the boy would act. While he could not quite reach the other’s embedded blade with the way the beast shifted, could not yet attempt returning it to her, Fineás still held his own. One briefly readjusted in his grip before it embedded deep within the wolf’s thigh, hopeful to catch an artery as a strike drug back just as quickly as it’d entered. Praying to evade the loaming snap of fangs.

---

Fin
70/70 HP
50/50 SP
Injuries: None

92. attempts to stagger Mear's by slashing the main artery in one of his thighs (-10 HP)

Gundabarar Mear
65/120 HP