Monster Challenge Part 2

-Mysterious Canyon-

Diana arrived outside the Mysterious Canyon with the goal of hunting another animal. A day ago she had received a challenge from the same person who had issued the first challenge, claiming that her kill of the Flame Goblin a few days ago was only due to luck and not skill. Diana thought that she detected more than a hint of jealousy coming from the letter, but she took the job anyway because she was the huntress. Armed with the job notice and the letter in case someone questioned the nature of her business in the canyon, Diana had made it to Mysterious Canyon without incident. Now she had to find her prey and bring it down for the mysterious person so that she could both make the Mysterious Canyon a bit safer for travelers and claim the reward money for killing the animal.

Wearing a white long-sleeved t-shirt and a navy blue skirt along with some recently purchased tan boots for long-distance travel, Diana surveyed the scenery ahead of her. The mouth of the canyon was wide as if beckoning the blonde to enter its dry confines. It was a good thing that she had also purchased a hydration pack that could hold a little over two liters of water, eliminating the need to carry plastic water bottles that weighed quite a bit and took up a lot of space in a backpack. She had a feeling that water would be hard to come by within the arid location; even if she did find water, there was no guarantee that it would be safe to drink. Diseases from unsafe water could easily weaken her, if not outright kill her.

Maybe she needed to buy some water purification tablets, but that was currently a low priority because the bulk of her jobs took place in cities with plenty of reasonably safe drinking water on tap. Speaking of water, Diana should start her search for the animal there because animals tended to congregate around watering holes in dry climates. However, the blonde needed to find a water source before she could begin staking it out. With that goal in mind, she took a sip of water and walked into the canyon. This would be her first real job in the wilderness and she needed to be careful because she had left the comforts of civilization behind... if she got hurt she would be in deep trouble.

[Word Count: 408]
[Total Word Count: 408/2,000]

Slowly starting to bake under the rays of the midday sun, Diana stood in place for a moment and wondered where a water source could possibly be. Maybe it was in one of the caves that dotted the canyon wall, something like an underground aquifer that had been there for centuries. She did not know, but she was going to find out very shortly because she wanted to bag that animal and time was money. She also wanted to get out of the sun, so going into a cave was starting to become more appealing by the second. The blonde spied a cave just to the left of her that two small jackals had darted into... maybe she should follow them.

Diana walked to the cave entrance and peered inside of it. She produced her Suppressed Handgun in case a dangerous animal like a mountain lion or a pack of wild dogs was waiting inside and peered in using her night vision. The blonde spotted nothing dangerous, so she went inside to escape the burning sun and to cool off while she searched for a water source that the animal could possibly be drinking from.

-Inside the cave-

Diana stood inside the cave just out of the reach of sunlight and felt immediately cooler, particularly around her head; long hair was a liability in hot places. She kept her night vision on and began looking for clues where to proceed next, but there was only one way forward. If there was only one way forward, then common sense dictated that she go forward until she either found what she was looking for or found another way to go. Diana switched to infrared vision to spot hidden lifeforms and was rewarded with faintly glowing footprints that must have been left behind by the jackals that had entered the cave ahead of the huntress a minute or two ago. When in doubt, follow in the footsteps of those who knew where to go.

Diana walked slowly through the dark cave with handgun at the ready in case something was waiting for her just around the corner. The blonde was not the only one who was looking to escape the hot midday sun... there was no telling what she might run into further inside the tunnel. She followed the trail of fading footprints while feeling her head get cold from the accumulated sweat cooling down. She hoped that she would not get sick from that, but she could deal with that later. Right now Diana needed to find that animal and bag it so that she could get paid and show the person sending the challenges that the huntress did not have to rely on luck to get her quarry.

The eerie calm of the cave was mildly unsettling to someone used to the hustle and bustle of civilization. It was so calm and quiet that she could hear her heartbeat and hear the faint rustling of wind blowing through the cavern's entrance. This was not something that she experienced in civilization... it was strange and unsettling to hear nothing but silence, but it was also oddly relaxing too. If she did not have to support herself and had not just joined a guild, she might just find a cave somewhere and live in it for the rest of her life.

[Word Count: 558]
[Total Word Count: 966/2,000]

Diana kind of enjoyed the solitude of the cave because she did not have to deal with other people. All she had to do was follow the trail left by the jackals and she was golden. No other people to deal with, no mask that she had to wear just to appear normal, and no cloak-and-dagger operations. It was just a simple animal hunt with a simple goal. She followed the trail to its end and soon found herself facing a medium-sized underground lake that was beautiful to behold.

The water was so clear that she could see the bottom of the underground lake. The water's reflection sparkled on the rocky ceiling and on the walls, only adding to its beauty. The place gave the impression of being a sacred site; for a few moments Diana did not feel like that someone like her had any right to be here. Someone who was as tainted as Diana probably did not belong in the world at all, but for better or worse she was still here and she was going to be here for a while longer if she had anything to say about it. She had a job to do, so she stopped being introspective and started looking for animals in the immediate area.

The underground lake was ringed by animals like jackals and desert foxes drinking from the water, creatures that had not noticed her yet. Diana dropped to a knee and brought out her suppressed sniper rifle. She was going to use the scope to see if she could spot the target and confirm its identity before she began shooting. Ideally she could pick it off with her rifle long before it got within range to retaliate, but nothing in life was guaranteed. She checked her sides and her back to make sure that she was not the one being hunted, then focused her attention on the lake.

It was time to play the waiting game and see if the quarry even showed up for the huntress to spot, let alone shoot at. Thankfully Diana was patient enough to wait as long as it took for the quarry to arrive. Patience tended to pay off in more ways than one.

[Word Count: 372]
[Total Word Count: 1,338/2,000]

Diana Winchester rolls one Normal Die.

The member 'Diana Winchester' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Normal Dice' :

Diana's patience was rewarded when she spotted a dark four-armed something appear just behind a jackal and stab it with all four pointed arms simultaneously. The jackal yelped in pain and struggled for a few moments before going limp, which spurred the other animals gathered around the lake to stop drinking and run for their lives. They scurried away and right past Diana, which drew the shadow creature's attention to her. It turned to her and looked into her eyes with its own magenta eyes, which gave her just enough time to shoot it once, making it flinch before it disappeared again. Diana dispelled her sniper rifle and brought out her suppressed submachine gun... its rapid-fire capabilities would help her make the most of her limited windows of opportunity to shoot the creature.

Diana stood up and waited for it to appear again while remaining calm. The creature wanted her to panic so that she would lose focus and be an easier target for its ambush attacks. Diana would not play its game. She would remain calm and wait for it to appear, then squeeze the trigger of her weapon and put as many shots into it as she could while it was tangible. At least that was the plan.

She looked around her surroundings and noticed a dark purple blob drifting towards her feet. It traveled using the shadows... that made it somewhat predictable since it could not travel without shadows. However, predictable did not translate to easy to kill. Many a hunter succumbed to complacency and found themselves on the wrong end of the hunt when an "easy" target turned out to be much more dangerous than they thought it could be. Diana was not going to be one of those statistics.

The creature waited until it was a foot away from her to materialize. It popped up and gave a sinister grin as it extended its top two pointed arms at her. Diana ducked and opened fire with her weapon, hitting it with a three-shot burst to the chest and forcing it back before its arms could be fully extended. It shrieked and dropped down into the shadow from whence it came, retreating along the wall of the lake before speeding up and dropping out of sight altogether.

Diana quickly stood up and faced the area behind her. It was probably going to use the shadows to get behind her and attack from there. Her suspicious were confirmed when she spotted the familiar dark orb dart past her right foot and pop up inches from her face. She spun and fired another three-shot burst into its torso, harming it just as its top left arm punctured her shirt and just missed her shoulder. Diana clenched her teeth and fired again, harming it further before it retreated into the shadows once more.

The huntress hated playing hide-and-seek with the shadow creature, so she stood her ground and waited for it to reappear for another attack. She did not have long to wait. The target popped up inches from her face and drew back all four arms to attack. The blonde flipped the selector switch to full-auto and opened fire, hitting it with shot after shot until it finally shrieked and disappeared into a puff of black smoke, leaving behind a black sphere with a swirling purple interior. She guessed that was what was left of its body.

It was not the full body that she was hoping to retrieve for the challenger, but it would simply have to do as proof of the kill. Diana dispelled her submachine gun and took the sphere into her hands. It was about the size of a basketball and weighed a lot less than she thought it would. She clung onto the treasure as she started walking forward and out of the cave. As much as she was captivated by the beauty of the underground lake, she had a bounty to collect and other targets to hunt.

Diana killed her target and collected her pay, then moved onto the next challenge, never staying in any one place for too long. That was the way of the huntress. It was a lonely lifestyle, but it was the only one that Diana knew how to live. Even joining a guild did not mean that she could give up that lifestyle... or would give it up, for that matter. She did not keep too many attachments because attachments meant giving her enemies more ways to find her.

The way of the huntress was a solitary lifestyle with few attachments. The blonde would not have it any other way. It was the only way the blonde knew how to live.

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[Word Count: 784]
[Total Word Count: 2,122/2,000]