The Cattle

Ryo gave a shrug of his shoulders hearing Victoria’s question “I would guess anything as small as a weasel, to as large as a bear. We should be careful. I think that we are likely to face coyotes, wolves, and possibly forest cats of some description. Just be on the lookout for this kind of thing.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the way that Imai was talking about how he was going to go after a many legged cat. He didn’t need to say anything as the island was there ready for him and his comrades.

He stood up dusting himself off and pulled out his pistol “Ace of Spades” He kissed the gun as it was the last thing that he had from the Mistress who had given him the gift of magic. It took an hour or so for the ship to land and as it did the gangplank was moved so that the trio could disembark. As they walked onto the shore however Ryo’s nose scrunched up and he recoiled violently. The wind had changed direction and now it was blowing the smell of cattle towards them. Ryo shook his head violently as he took an ace of spades playing card using his powers to morph it into a face mask to block the scent.

Ryo quickly put the mask over his face shaking his head lightly “I forgot how sensitive my sense of smell is.” He pulled out another pair of cards manipulating them to form into masks which he gave to his comrades before he continued to walk down onto the beach. He only had to follow his nose, along with the slightly obvious well-traveled trail that could only be for moving cattle from one pasture to another.

WC: 294

Sea Thread: https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t35735-the-cattle?nid=148#351494

"Eh, fair enough. I'm not too worried about the local wildlife since I'm running this job with a Guild Master and an Ace. The big guys are what I'm most worried about. Most bears can't breathe fire." Victoria said as she called out her magic shotgun. It had served her well in many battles before today and it would see her through today. It had decent firepower and a ranged option that turned it into a makeshift rifle. The Solid Slug was not as good as using a real rifle, but it often did the trick in a pinch. Few people expected a shotgun to fire Solid Slug without giving up its ability to fire buckshot.

"So, how do you want to do this, Ryo? I take it we stick together?" Victoria asked him. In this case it might be a good idea if the trio stuck together. She was a city-dweller by birth and by choice. Victoria was out of her element in the woods and on deserted islands. As long as the Jewels were good, she would go anywhere the job took her.

Victoria noticed a trail made by a herd of cattle. It was a no-brainer that that was a clue that the Sabertooth trio needed to follow up on. However, she would move only on Ryo's word. She was used to working alone, but she needed to become a better team player if she wanted to have a long tenure in Sabertooth. Even though it was necessary, the transition from lone mage to team player would not be an easy one.

[Word Count: 265]

“Oh… nice variety of animals for an island,” Imai commented. Regularly, it depended on the size of said island whether if its animal life was wide or shallow. In this case, though… he didn’t even know the shape or size of said island since he had never been there before. “… Fire bear.” Ok, that just came out of his mouth by Victoria’s comment. When they finally found themselves approaching a nice trail, Imai smelled the strong stink of good-old cattle too. His childhood hadn’t prepared him for this, so it was very apparent… but not that annoying. His sensory was focused on magic, mostly, so that was good.

Anyways, he gratefully took a mask from Ryo and put it on. The trail appeared to be used for moving cattle between pastures, so it was well-branched. However, for these types of pastures, there was a main or larger trail that lead to a main residence somewhere. “I say we follow the larger trail… it should be somewhere here,” Imai suggested with his more serious tone, “…” He heard the roar that affected his muscles. That was from a big cat according to that detail.

“Oh yes, I’ve been waiting for a Saber-“ he spoke up excitingly, to his misfortune spotting the approaching threat in form of a normal lion, “… Aww, it’s not a Saber Cat…” Already, he was in a warned position, his arms stretched to both sides to make himself look a tad bigger to scare the cat away. If it jumped to him, though, he’d trust his speed to overcome it and probably scare it away with a punch to the nose or something. Unfortunately, he didn’t possess taming magic…

WC: 283

Ryo looked over to Victoria and nodded his head lightly “I would want us to stick together. After all, if we were to get separated that would put said person at risk. I don’t want to risk one of you getting hurt, nor do I want to be caught off guard by the Orthrus should it be lurking around somewhere, and I see no reason to think that it isn’t lurking nearby somewhere.” He said getting ready.

They were moving down the larger trail that was clearly meant to take the cattle from one pasture to another. Ryo didn’t disagree with what Imai said, and in fact he didn’t mind just letting the Ace go ahead of him. That was when he heard the roar of the lion. It was a male lion and he stood further down the path. This wasn’t good as Lions were one of the few types of felines that actually worked in a group.

He didn’t care about the lion he could see, he was far more interested in the ones he couldn’t see outright. He glanced towards the foliage never moving his head. He whispered softly so his guildmates could hear him “We are surrounded. They are starved just look at them. They won’t back down, they won’t flee, they are desperate and desperate animals are the most dangerous.” In one fluid motion he brought up his pistol and turned to fire into the foliage. His eyes picked out the gleaming eyes of a lioness and he pulled the trigger five times in such a quick succession that anyone listening would’ve sworn he had the gun on full auto. Only a true gun lover and shooter would be able to tell the semi-automatic nature of his pistol.

The cards shot into the foliage and with a pained roar of the beast; blood began to flow out from under a bush towards them. Ryo slowly opened his mouth exhaling behind his mask licking his lips as he could scent the blood. The hunger was always upon him, granted he staved it off as best he could, but being what he was, and who he was. There was no end to it. Now the fight was on however, he would enjoy his kills later.

WC:378
Lions: 6, (5 female, 1 male) ((1 female is dead that leaves 5))

Victoria wordlessly followed Ryo and Imai as they proceeded down the path. She listened out for anything out of the ordinary, but Ryo and Imai beat her to the punch. Rather, a small pride of six lions had found them first. One of them, a male lion, barred the path. The remaining five were concealed in the bushes flanking the path.

Ryo acted first, firing his semi-automatic pistol with such speed that to the uninitiated it would sound like a fully automatic weapon. The Guild Master was a good marksman because all five shots hit the female lion he was targeting. Victoria did not have a fancy semi-auto pistol, but she had a small arsenal of other weapons to call upon. She already had a shotgun in her hand, which was the perfect weapon for this situation.

Since Victoria could not completely see the female lions, buckshot would be able to hit them without having to have down-to-the-millimeter precision. She could fire in their general direction and she could still get a hit due to the nature of buckshot. The brunette made sure that Ryo and Imai were clear of the weapon's muzzle before aiming towards a bush with a tawny brown face peeking just out of the greenery. She held her breath and squeezed the trigger, sending a cloud of buckshot in its direction. The female lion recoiled and leapt clear of the bush, exposing itself to attack.

Victoria was ready with another shot. She carefully aimed and fired a Solid Slug at its body, nailing it in the shoulder and eliciting a loud roar. It flopped over onto its side and Victoria fired another Solid Slug, hitting it in the head and ending its suffering.

Two lions were dead, but four more remained. Imai had better be ready to fight. The lions looked hungry and the Sabertooth mages were on the menu.

[Word Count: 314]
[Lions: 4 (3 females, one male) (One out of the remaining five was killed, which leaves four)]

These lions looked like they hadn’t eaten in ages. How long could lions even go on without food? Either way, Imai wasn’t ready to be on the menu, and neither were his guildmates. Therefore, he quickly dashed forward, taking the male lion by surprise and kicking it in the chin. It was launched a good amount of feet back, before it tried mauling him with its claws - upon that moment, it realized that Imai had grabbed its mane and flung it towards the shrubbery.

By then, firearms had been released. Ryo had his sweet pistol and even Victoria was an adept with a two-handed firearm. Imai… well, he didn’t have any firearms, but he did possess magic. Accepting his own style of combat, he eyed the four lions remaining after the blur of a shot from Victoria’s shotgun had died down and killed a lion.

The bushes were used as hiding spots for the lionesses. In an attempt to aid Ryo and Victoria, the star mage made sure to not affect their magical signatures with a new spell that he had created. Clenching a hand, he threw what looked like a small, black orb towards the middle of the shrubbery. Slowly, the lionesses were suddenly pulled towards the black orb, exposed for the next attack.

Grabbing two rocks, Imai hurled them at two lionesses one by one; each rock gained acceleration alike a small meteor with a burning tail and all, furiously drilling into each lion and killing them instantly. The last lioness and the male lion was still struggling to get off from the gravitational pull from the miniature black hole.

WC: 273
[2 Lions (1 female, 1 male)] (Killed two lionesses)

The shotgun blast caused Ryo to flinch ever so slightly, he was almost convinced that he had been shot with the damned thing. If it had been his gun firing, he didn’t think that he would mind, but with the gun not being his and not being fired by his hand he was sure that he would die. Still, he was grateful that it didn’t strike him and instead he turned his attention to the true task at hand.

Imai had proven his prowess once again and it was truly impressive to see that little black sphere that was pulling the last two remaining lions towards it. He was happy to see that Imai was able to kill the lions with no great difficulty. If he had struggled it would’ve been a serious concern being that Sabertooth was truly only as strong as its weakest member. Ryo was determined that none among the Aces were weak, the job that Sabertooth performed for the people of this world, and for fiore was far too important, and the aces knew exactly what that threat entailed none could be weak or thought of as weak.

This made Ryo smile and he pulled his gun aiming it at the male lion. He pulled the trigger another five times in the same rapid-fire method that he had used earlier, and the male lion was just a limp form. He tucked the pistol away back into its holster with a wider smile “Well done the both of you. Victoria, you have the honor of the last kill. Kill this lioness, we shall leave their bodies so that they may nourish the remaining wild life around here. I don’t wish to bring down more attention on us than we have to, and with these fresh corpses here I find it highly unlikely that we will be facing much more opposition than we must on our way forward.” He said with a jaunty smile and a small bounce in his step. He was growing very happy with this mission.

WC: 340

Victoria panicked when Ryo reacted to her shotgun going off. Had she winged him or Imai with an errant blast of buckshot? No. He was just reacting to the noise of the weapon, which was rather loud. Shotguns were not stealthy weapons.

Imai had taken down two more of the lions with a magic sphere that had acted like a black hole to pull the lions towards him, leaving only one of the predators alive. Ryo had given her the honor of bringing it down. Victoria was willing to comply.

"OK. I'll make this quick." Victoria said, stepping forward so that she could be absolutely certain that neither Ryo nor Imai would be in the line of fire. The mage wanted to switch to her suppressed sniper rifle, but if she missed her first shot she might not have the chance to fire again before the lioness pounced on her and turned the tables. A sniper rifle required more precision than a shotgun and made a poor close-range weapon.

She stopped walking after taking six steps forward and aimed at the lioness, which was tensed and ready to pounce. It was not going to die without a fight, an attitude that Victoria could appreciate. She knew what it was like to be cornered by a gang of larger animals with no way out except to fight. She had been through that countless times on the streets of Capital Crocus when her scavenging activities had taken her into gang territory and a gang of toughs had taken umbrage to her intruding on "their" turf. Victoria aimed at the lioness' head and fired a Solid Slug.

The lioness seized up and fell over on its left side with a large hole in its forehead. Victoria remained in place and carefully aimed, firing another Solid Slug at its head to be certain it was dead and not just badly wounded. The animal flinched from the impact and lay still, blood pouring out of its wounds. The fight was over. The last of the lions had been killed.

"It's over." Victoria announced succinctly. She had pulled her weight in the fight. She had also made sure that the lionesses she shot were not left to suffer from their wounds. That was the least that she could do.

"Sorry about the noise, guys. Maybe I should have used a suppressed weapon, but I wasn't going to take the chance that I miss my shot and get pounced on. We're a long way from medical help and I don't want you two to have to drag me around. I also don't wanna die from infection." Victoria apologized to the pair for announcing their presence with her shotgun. Anything with working ears had heard them by now. She was certain that her choice of weapons did not help.

[Word Count: 471]
[Victoria has killed the last lioness, leaving no lions alive. The fight is over.]

Alright, then! His magic proved useful to aid Ryo and Victoria in their last actions to seal the battle and kill the remaining lionesses. As Victoria got the last honor, Imai smiled and made sure to make space for her and her splattering shotgun rounds. Those could do some serious damage and leave deep marks on any target hit within its range, and Ryo was visibly surprised as well by the effects of her weapon. It almost made Imai want a weapon himself… you know, other than his telescope. Perhaps a glock at first? Or was he more of a close-range battler? Maybe a bravesword or a long staff would suit him?

The lionesses were taken out quickly and swiftly. Despite the violence, their pain was over in an instant thanks to their teamwork and coordinated attacks. “Alright, then; cows are waiting for us to bring them back to the mainland,” he informed them - an obvious piece of information, but it was meant to stimulate them right after a violent encounter, “Let’s keep following the main road, and we’ll encounter the big shepherd who guards these cows sooner or later.”

Imai was bent to follow the main road from now on alongside Ryo and Victoria, and with his enthusiastic and lively attitude, he wasn’t afraid to walk in front and look after dangers in the shrubberies next to the roads. The lions from before must’ve not been alone, and he assumed the possibility that many other wild cats would come to their fallen comrades’ aid sometime. However, he wouldn’t let it frighten him or make him nervous. This mission would be completed with their help.

WC: 276

Ryo smiled and waved his hand gently “Don’t worry about the noise. It only startled me as I am not used to such loud noises around and them not being directly aimed at me. Still, pay no mind, and worry not. Now then.” He said before looking to Imai who suddenly spoke up informing them of what they both already knew.

He couldn’t help a proud smirk gesturing for Imai to take the lead walking behind him “Of course, you’re right I don’t mind at all.” He walked along with Victoria and nodded his head at her “You did very well. I am impressed with you. You only need to grow more comfortable working in a team setting. Don’t be afraid to take some initiative, take chances, make mistakes, or get messy. After all, so long as you and your team come back alive anything can be fixed.”

He pats her shoulder gently as the path continued to lead them through the foliage. The smell continued to grow stronger as they neared their destination. As they continued to move however, Ryo could suddenly hear the sound of cows mooing, and making a whole lot of racket. The path continued until the foliage had all be cleared away. In front of them was the giant pasture with only a simple two beam wooden fence holding them in. On the far end was a huge figure that had to clearly be the rancher in question.

Ryo’s attention however was instantly drawn to the giant twin-headed hound that was patrolling the fence. He pointed it out to the two companions he had “That is Orthrus, and he is very deadly as I said. I say that we lure him towards us and fight him out of sight from the big guy. If we don’t then we will have to fight them both, and that will likely be a tougher fight than we need.”

WC: 320

Victoria listened to Ryo's comments concerning her need to work with a team and found them to be valid comments. The mage was used to working alone because it was easier to avoid friendly fire incidents if there were no friendlies nearby. It also meant that she did not have to worry about anyone but herself, which was selfish but a lot easier on her because her more powerful spells tended to be destructive. However, by joining Sabertooth she committed to working with a team of other mages and would simply have to get used to working as part of a team if she wanted to have a long career in Sabertooth. She could live with that if it meant making the Jewels.

"You're right, Ryo. It's no excuse, but it's been awhile since I've worked with other people." Victoria told him plainly as she recalled the Sakuramori job with Seth and Itazura. Ryo was the Guild Master and she had to obey his commands, but he did not seem to care for servile guild members who hung on his every word. He seemed to favor people who were not afraid to take initiative and act when the chips were down. In that vein, Victoria dispelled her shotgun and brought out her suppressed sniper rifle in order to get a better view of the two-headed guard dog named Orthrus. A quick view of the beast through the scope showed a large, muscular two-headed dog that was looking for prey.

"That's a face only a mother could love." Victoria commented on the two-headed dog's facial features. She recalled Ryo's plan to lure Orthrus away from his master and then kill it so that the trio did not have to fight a guard dog and its owner. She was down for that plan, but how were they going to pull it off? They would need to get far away from it and hide somewhere that was not flammable, but there were no nearby convenient rocky outcroppings to hide on. Even if they hid on top of one, if Orthrus could not see them its master certainly would.

"I've got a suppressed sniper rifle in my hands. I could shoot him and lure him towards us right now, but I'm worried about it being smart enough to set the brush on fire and smoke us out. You and fire don't get along, so that's another concern. We don't need to get trapped in a ring of fire and risk smoke inhalation or being burned." Victoria said to Ryo and Imai while watching the dog patrol the pasture near a simple two-beam wooden fence that was deceptively sturdy for its design.

"Maybe Imai has an idea on how we can pull this off." Victoria suggested while watching the dog through the scope of her weapon. It was not deviating from its pattern in the slightest. That was good because the Sabertooth mages needed time to figure out how to pull off luring the guard dog without accidentally dragging the shepherd into the fight. They wanted a three-on-one fight, not a three-on-two fight.

[Word Count: 518]

(OOC: Imai is a very sad boi right now ;c)

”Oh, what? It looks so cool…!” Imai mourned in compassion to the marvelous giant far off in the distance. What, you thought he would be despised by the horned shepherd and its vile, goblin-like features? It was phenomenal! He could see its horns stick out from the hills several miles away or something! Even its dog birthed more awe in his heart than fear or digust. He wanted to pet it, but he knew very well that a shepherd’s dog was very hostile towards strangers - especially those who meddled with the shepherd’s field and cattle.

Since fire was a no go to Ryo, they needed a solid plan to lure the dog over here without alarming the shepherd. He was watching the giant ogre through his telescope and waited for a moment where the shepherd looked away from them. “Maybe if we lure out one of the cows away from the rest… then it’ll come to lead it back, and we can take it from there,” he suggested as he snuck his way towards one of the grassing, horned meat and milk producers. Their horns and leathery skin put them apart from the type of cattle found in the more human-inhabited parts of Earthland.

And in a very awkward and desperate attempt, Imai pfft’d at the cow to follow him and leave the cattle. The Orthrus caught notion immediately, and its preying eyes watched over the cattle from its position to see if its ears were lying to it…

WC: 250

Ryo looked at the two of his companions. The idea about the sniper rifle was very intriguing. He thought about the comments she was making, and he gave a shrug “I have some ways to mitigate the fire, but I would agree we do not want to be around anymore fire than we absolutely must be. Still, you shouldn’t be worried about such a thing. I will handle myself. Don’t put yourselves at a disadvantage for my sake.” He said genuinely encouraging as he didn’t want to hinder the two of them. He wasn’t one who wanted to put his comrades in danger.

Looking over to Victoria he nodded his head lightly “Yes, I think your sniper rifle would serve us very well. After all, we would be able to injure it as it came close. Not to mention the sound would be silent.” He looked back to the herd and saw that the giant was going out of the line of sight of his hound, and this would prove to be a very useful thing.

He was about to comment to Imai when he noticed that Imai was already on the move. He recalled a plan that the youth was explaining to him. He looked around to see that Imai was down near the cows and was trying to….coax? one away from the rest of the herd. He did however start to draw the attention of the Orthrus as he was doing this. Slowly Ryo pointed to the twin-headed hound and spoke to Victoria “Go ahead and shoot it. If Imai doesn’t lure it over with his antics, then you will with your bullets. I’ll keep it from getting too close to you, but we need to shoot it before Imai can get attacked.” He said drawing his silver sword taking a stance that would allow him to react with ease.

@Victoria Sheridan

WC: 322

Victoria was not sure what Imai was trying to do, but it involved luring away one of the cattle from the rest of the herd. Unfortunately for the Guild Ace, the Orthrus caught wind of what he was trying to do and was listening intensely for the red-haired mage. Victoria had received the go-ahead from Ryo to take the shot before it could attack Imai, so she started to take careful aim. While she was aiming Ryo got ready to fend off the two-headed dog with his sword. Victoria took a deep breath... once she took the shot it would be time to fight.

"I'm about to take the shot." Victoria whispered to Ryo.

Victoria aimed carefully at the one of the heads of the dog and slowed her breathing. She kept her aim on it and gently squeezed the trigger. After what seemed like an eternity the trigger was finally squeezed back and the shot was fired. The Kinetic Shot streaked towards the hound and hit it squarely in the forehead and made its head snap back, drawing its attention away from Imai and towards her. That was exactly what Ryo wanted.

"Here it comes!" Victoria warned the Guild Master. She raised her weapon again and began to take further shots at it, but she could not hit the beast because of its speed and the fact that a silenced sniper rifle worked best as a surprise weapon. Now that the surprise was blown, she needed to use another weapon. Victoria put her hands together and aimed at it, then waited for the right moment to fire a Hand Cannon spell. Once she had a clear shot at it she fired a magic projectile at it.

The good news was that it hit. The bad news was that it hit its left front leg, hurting it but not stopping it completely. Victoria had to decide what weapon to bring out now; she did not think that a shotgun would be of much use against the giant dog. What would be a good weapon to use?

[Word Count: 350]

… Oh shit, it was on to him, wasn’t it? The big Othrus… it caused Imai to shiver down his spine. He had to hurry up and lure the cow, so that the Orthrus could get a little more carried away. He realized that Victoria and Ryo were already ready to shoot it, so when the Orthrus was attacked, then it would most likely lure the big giant towards them as well. The three-headed ogre whose horns could still be seen in the distance.

Imai noticed that the cow didn’t cause all the other cows to follow it. He had hoped that they, as flock animals, would follow troop whenever someone else moved away, but perhaps these species were an exception. The only event that caused the others to follow up was the Orthrus that charged by towards Victoria and Ryo, and perhaps the cows were obliged to follow the giant hound. That would definitely make things much more difficult, since Imai didn’t have leashes enough to force every single cow with him.

“W-What am I gonna do now? C’mon, c’mon… the big dog is distracted by those two, so now’s our chance to-“ He had to cut himself short due to the strange lacking feeling of a small, cute alien on his back, “… S-Sei? Sei, where are you?” He darted his head around like a goofy cartoon character only to see his extraterrestrial friend literally, borderline literally, pick up the Orthrus by its back by using Flight as a buoyancy. It was right when the Orthrus had gotten its left front leg damaged by Victoria’s Hand Cannon spell, which made its resistance less effective. Sei seemed to do it in order to give its teammates, Vic and Ryo, a clear opening.

“G-God damn it, Sei, outshining me like that…!!!” Imai expressed in disbelief, “I-I won’t let you carry me through this! C’mere, cows, get moving!” His body lit up in a bluish contour to signal his use of Heavenly Body Magic, which drastically increased his movement speed, as he consecutively pushed the cows forth - every, single one. It seemed to be another test on his huge magic reserves that he lacked so much experience and skill to utilize fully.

WC: 372

Ryo watched the whole scene continue to play out, and he was certain that it wouldn’t go well if Imai couldn’t figure out how to make the cows leave the pen. Though when the twin headed dog lunged for Imai it took all he could not to rush out and botch his carefully made plan. His eyes became pools of black oil, and his fangs grew more elongated with his desire to protect his guildmates who he viewed as his family. Still, he had to let them learn how to handle things on their own, otherwise he would be harming them more than helping them.

His eyes went wide however as he saw the strange little creature that Imai had with him fly over and try to pick up Orthrus. It was managing to do something, and with the beast injured it made the resistance it could offer much less. Reaching into his coat he pulled out a tarot card that had a sheathed katana on the front of it. He sent a pulse of magic into the card and it began to glow with a soft purple light. As soon as it was glowing, he flicked his wrist making the card look as if it had jumped. The action caused the katana on the card to come flying out and into the air.

Ryo snatched the katana out of the air and tucked the card away. Drawing the silver blade from its sheath he rushed forward as the Orthrus turned of its heads back towards Sei in order to breath out a stream of flames towards the little creature that was trying to lift it off of the ground. The other head turned on Ryo and exhaled a cloud of poison at him. The poison wasn’t a big deal to Ryo, as he didn’t need to breathe so it was highly advantageous for him to fight the creature while this close. He used his sword and quickly delivered a series of three slashes across the beasts’ belly spilling its blood onto the ground before he leapt out of the cloud of poison and watched the creature as it thrashed angrily around snarling.

Ryo pulled out three playing cards and threw them at the beast delivering more impacts. The beast was now very weak, but still putting up the best fight that it could manage. Ryo looked to Vicotria “Kill it, I’ll go help Imai with the cattle and keep the big ogre from attacking him.” With that he began to move forward to get to Imai. The creature was on its last legs so it should be easily for her to kill, at least Ryo thought that.


WC: 448
@Victoria Sheridan
@Imai-chi

Victoria had gotten her marching orders from the Guild Master himself. Thanks to the combined efforts of the trio of Sabertooth mages, the Orthrus was on its last legs in more ways than one. It should be a simple matter for her to finish it off, but what weapon should she use? She had no shortage of options to choose from, but she needed to choose one and choose quickly because despite its wounds the large canine looked like it was getting ready to try and take one of the mages with it.

The Light Machine Gun would do nicely.

It had the perfect combination of rate of fire and damage to finish taking down the beast long before it could get within striking range. Victoria summoned the weapon and felt its heft as it dropped down into her hands. She shouldered the weapon and aimed at the limping Orthrus' right head. A Five-Round Burst to one of its heads should do the trick.

Victoria aimed at its head and held the weapon steady for a second as the two-headed canine looked her in the eyes. Victoria then squeezed the trigger and fired a Five-Round Burst that hit it in the forehead and dropped it with a yelp. It dropped to the sand and lay motionless for about six seconds before its left head opened its eyes and snarled at her, eager to renew the fight!

"Damn!" Victoria muttered as she leapt back from the shock of the unexpected surprise. She had forgotten the simple fact that two heads meant two brains, which meant that it could lose one head and keep fighting, albeit at a disadvantage. The head continued to snap and bite at her, but she knew what to do. The brunette aimed the weapon at its head and waited a few seconds, then fired another Five-Round Burst to end the Orthrus' misery. It was done. The giant two-headed dog was dead and now all that remained to do was get the cattle and kill their giant watchman.

Victoria hurried past the corpse of the fallen dog and tried to catch up with Ryo and Imai before they got too far ahead of her. They would need her firepower for the fight with the giant.

[Post Word Count: 384]