Hog Hunting

-On a farm, Era-

Diana heard that there was some trouble with wild hogs in Era, so she traveled there in order to put her new philosophy of killing only things that deserved it into practice. A pack of wild hogs ravaging the crops of farmers and even killing a couple of farmers who attempted to stop the hogs from destroying their livelihood qualified for "animals that needed to be killed." Since this job was put up by the Magic Council, she did not need to sneak about to harvest the hogs. She could hunt them openly and not have to worry about getting arrested for poaching. The only problem was that she would have to bring proof of the kills, but that was not a deal-breaker because she spoke with a local farmer who agreed to help her transport the corpses as proof in exchange for getting rid of the porcine predators.

That same farmer also provided a good location to begin looking for them, which was in one of his cornfields. He informed her that the six animals always stuck together like a family and that an attack on one elicited a response from the remaining five hogs. That made hunting them with melee weapons a nearly impossible task, but Diana did not hunt with melee weapons.

The animals liked to congregate at the edge of the cornfield and tear down the crops before eating them... Diana could use that to her advantage. She would set up at long range in a sheltered position like a tree, which should give her enough time to pick them off with her silenced sniper rifle before they could get to her and use their tusks to tear her apart. She thanked the farmer and hurried to get into position before the hogs could get there because she wanted to be in place for them.

-In a tree, one hour later-

Diana had climbed an apple tree and was sitting in one of the bottom branches with her back against the trunk and with a clear view of the field. It was a precarious perch, but the blonde did not intend to be here long enough for balance to become an issue. As soon as she killed all the hogs, she would get down and enlist the farmer's help to transport the hogs to the Magic Council to claim her reward money. At least that was the plan. In order for the plan to happen, she needed to wait for the six hogs to go into the field so that she could get a clear shot on them.

Diana brought out her sniper rifle and waited, viewing some intact crops at the edge of the field through her scope and waiting for the targets. She waited for thirty more minutes and then saw a large flash of brown with yellow tusks attached. It was a hog!

Diana followed it with the scope and spotted five smaller hogs, though "smaller" was a relative term when the smaller hogs were nearly six feet tall and around ten feet in length. She watched as they began to knock down the crops and eat some of them, sticking together the whole time they were ruining the field. She waited until one of them turned its side to her, then aimed for its head and squeezed the trigger, letting a Full Metal Jacket round fly at the target. Full Metal Jacket might have been excessive, but if one of them got to her she would have wished that she had gone for the overkill. She watched as the shot connected with its head and made a cloud of pink mist fly into the air... it was down for the count.

[Word Count: 623]
[Total Word Count: 623/1,000]

One smaller hog might have been down, but there were still four more and the mother to deal with and they were actively looking for the source of the shot. Only the fact that the rifle was suppressed saved her from facing down a swarm of angry pigs. Diana would use that fact to her advantage and wait until another one presented its side to her before firing again. She was looking for shots that had a minimal chance to spoil the meat with ruptured kidneys, bladder, or other organs because the farmers might want some boar meat for a change and they would certainly enjoy the poetic justice that came with eating the creatures that ate their crops.

One smaller hog finally presented its side to her... Diana carefully aimed for its head and fired another Full Metal Jacket round that hit and made a puff of pink mist. It went down silently and another one presented its side. The blonde huntress fired another Full Metal Jacket shot to the brain and got the same result to raise the body count to three hogs. That left only two children and the mother, who were now frantically sniffing for the person who was picking off their family. Diana would re-unite them in the animal afterlife... she did not believe in torturing targets and always went for a quick, clean kill.

The blonde waited until another hog turned sideways, then lined up and fired another FMJ shot that scored a headshot. The last small hog was now sticking to its mother's side and facing forward while sniffing the air, which made getting another clean shot difficult. The scene would have been sad if Diana had not done this kind of thing before. She had to wait ten minutes before the opportunity for a kill shot presented itself, but when it finally did, she was ready to take it. She squeezed the trigger and fired again, shooting it through the side of the head and watching it stand transfixed before falling over onto its right side.

Only the mother hog was left and it was facing her with its nose in the air. It sniffed five times and let out a loud squeal... the jig was up. It charged in her direction, but Diana was ready for it and led the charging boar with her crosshairs. She waited until just the right moment and fired, hitting it right between the eyes and causing it to flip over and skid along the ground thanks to the momentum it had built up. The giant boar gave off a low squeal and feebly kicked its trotters at the air, so Diana fired another shot into its head and made sure it was dead before she climbed down from the tree. The farmer came out to help her with a lever-action rifle and saw the result of her handiwork lying in the partially empty cornfield.

"I'll be... you did it! All the boars are dead! Now lemme get the cart I promised you! I'll be right back, Missy!" He assured her as he turned around and ran for his barn. Diana looked over her work and felt a sense of satisfaction. The blonde dispelled her rifle and let the wind blow through her hair as the farmer and three burly helpers began to load the dead animals into the back of the cart so that Diana could confirm her kills and collect her reward. Today she had killed for the right reasons and saved the lives and livelihoods of the farmers in Era with her work. Not every job would be this morally clean, but she would keep going and work towards redemption until she finally obtained it.

Once the animals were loaded, Diana and the farmers rode to collect her reward. Once the kills were confirmed and the hogs were no longer needed as proof the farmers would be having a barbecue with the meat she had harvested for them. Today was a good day for the huntress.

[Word Count: 673]
[Total Word Count: 1,296/1,000]