Stingers and Hunters [CLOSED]

Finished with his last kill's spoils, he moves across to the next one, getting faster at it while doing so, saying "You know, carrying all these plus some more is going to be a challenge down the line." and he tore what he wanted from the Grimm, walking over and crouching by another, getting into a rhythm.

[Time Skip - Few minutes after collection]

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Xarias gathers the last of the teeth in his satchel before wondering why their stalkers haven't attacked yet. The grimm in the woods have been there for a while but they haven't moved nearer to our position. Usually they'd just outright attack us, especially with this amount of blood in the air. Scanning the thicket he notices some rustling but it suddenly goes away after a few seconds, as if thy were being monitored by their opponents. As if they were wary of them.

"I don't know about you guys but I've noticed a couple of things in the thicket right there." Xarias says, motioning with his rifle. "They might be a bit shy, why don't we drop in and say hello?" Splitting his rifle in two, he gets his grappling blades ready but waits for the rest to start moving. He had to be more wary now, this wasn't how the grimm usually reacted. Better safe than sorry. I'm betting these are the Ursae but they seem a little too smart.

Spencer stance with his catch. "I'noticed 'em as well. Hold off, though. Perhaps we can come up wi' somethin'... Spencer goes off into his own world as he stares at the treeline. Picking up each of the enemies with his strong sight.
If only I were more skilled wi' rifles... After a few seconds, Spencer addresses Xarias without turning away from the trees. "Put y'weapon back togethe'."

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What are you thinking, you idiot? Lets go! Varius's expression stays the same but his eyes tell the story of frustration.

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"You two riflemen. Set up somethin' to steady y'weapons. A bipod o' the sort, if ya got one. Set up on either side o' me here." Spencer points to the forest and changes where he points as he speaks. "I can' see all o' them but I can spot a good few. It seems tha' some are hidin' in more than jus'shadow. Clever basta'ds.."
"I'll poin' out the ones I see based on an O'clock poin' o' view. I don' know how good both o' y'all eye sights are but, if y'can see one and you have a shot, feel free t' engage." Spencer looks at all the shades with red eyes he can see in the forest.
If I can't be a sniper 'an I'll be a spotter. Eithe' way, I'mma help.
[Likely, Kail would fall under the category of being able to engage without Spencer's help.]

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Varius is amused by the plan.
Hey, If I don't have to do anything. Sure. Free money.

[as long as he doesn't get over-run with monsters, yes]
Kail gazed to the many red glowing eyes in the foliage, placing his pistols together, once again forming his Sniper Rifle, taking up a position by a rather covering tree, making sure he is pretty hidden and determinedly saying "Just tell me when."

Kandata is still double checking every corpse of beowolves, making sure that there aren't any leftovers. The group finally decided to make the first move on the stalking grimms.

"Well, as long as they are in a pack and counts as an equal share, it's cool with me." Kandata said.

"I'll back you guys up whenever one of them gets too close." He said while preparing his thimble and threads.

Ugh, I guess that could work as well.

Combining his blades at their ends, Xarias quickly forms his partisan and folds it at the hinge forming his dual barreled rifle. Aiming down his sights he notices some of the grimm heading for the far eastern side while some remained where they were, staring down the hunters, possibly in an attempt to get them to come nearer in their own territory. "Seems like some are getting away. Though I can't be totally sure what kind they are because of the thicket. They might not be our targets." He said, now having his sights targeted on a moving spot in the bushes.

A group of around 10 ursae and some lesser grimm were in the area encompassing the ruins but do not enter for some reason or another. A large rumbling sound is heard as successive thuds and growls are heard deeper in the forest, approaching the area slowly but surely. The other grimm draw further back into the forest to avoid detection until a large roar is heard causing them to shamble and make way for the large figure heading their direction. Now on all fours the Ursa Superior, with it's tough armored hide and huge body build still towering over the much smaller grimm leads them through the forest and breaks the thicket before standing on it's hind limbs and roaring at the opponents in sight causing the other grimm to charge, more afraid of the larger grimm than they would a group of hunters.

Letting one shot loose at the first thing to break the bushes, Xarias continues firing but notices the figure merely get up and ignoring the bullets like a person would beads from a straw. It's been a while since I've seen an Ursa superior. But what about the other grimm? Just as the shots hit the beasts reinforced mask, the other grimm break out of the thicket and head straight for the hunters. A large group of around 6 ursae, 5 beowolves and 5 boarbatusks charge straight for the hunters, apparently being forced forward out of fear of the larger grimm. Knowing that shooting the larger grimm would be pointless with it's thick hide and armor, Xarias aims for 3 boarbatusks and successively shoots them down without a sweat. "Get the smaller guys first!" He shouted. "Normal bullets won't hurt the big one over there!' Letting out one more shot Xarias takes down a beowolf with a high velocity round before getting up from his mid crouching position.

Well, there goes all planning tha' I had!
"PLAN B-OPEN FIRE!!!" Spencer draws Candy and aims at an ursa for an easy kill with the target's large kill spots. The white-glowing sights aim on its head. The wielder, taking advantage of the unusual calmness instilled within him, keeps a soft heart beat as he pulls the trigger.
Spencer yells above the gunfire at the boy setting up his cannon. "HEY! YOU! URSA MAJOR! TAKE IT DOWN!"

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"YEAH~YEAH~YEAH!" The blades are already formed into a bipod and set up. Varius takes aim at the center mass of the largest ursa, like he was going to do anyway. You seem to have a lot of guts. Lets see what they look like! The air erupts in sound and another shell of fire is flung into the chest of the large grimm.

Kail's eyes widened at the sight of the ursa superior bounding in, but he kept his cool. He inserts a white Crystal into a slot of his Sniper Rifle and fires upon the closest Grimm, a few bullets rushing to meet in turn: A rather agressive looking Beowolf, two boarbatusks that seemed intent on not being blown to bits, and an Ursa's hindquarters.

"welp... that went down sooner than I expcected..." Kandata sighs and readies his threads.

He then pulls out his threads that he had set up before picking up the loots. His traps activated as soon as the advancing grimms approach the group.

"Good thing I prepared before all this... But I doubt my threads will be sharp enough for the big guy." Kandata said referring to the Ursa Major.

Spencer's bullet tears straight through the charging ursa and it tumbles to the ground crushing a beowolf right in front of it as it did. Trying to avoid the incoming fire a beowolf leaps but is met by Kail's bullets and ends up falling short of his target, the bullets rip through the boarbatusks, killing them instantly. Once one of the bullets hit the ursa's hind it roared out in anger, a bit ticked more than injured by the attack and charges straight to kail but is stopped short by Kandata's carefully prepared threads. The threads easily cut through multiple grimm, leaving them limbless or dead, a gruesome repeat of events earlier but do naught to the Ursa Superior(not major) that merely kept walking towards them. The groups firepower manages to take out most of the smaller grimm but the leader lumbers forward, dragging the threads that trapped it's allies. Roaring towards the hunters it is suddenly met with a large explosion to it's chest, leaving the area in a cloud of smoke.

Is it dead yet? Best let the smoke clear before we approach, these things are way tougher than the average ones.

Keeping his sights on the enormous grimm's last position, Xarias grins as he spots a large claw swipe through the smoke causing it to part and reveal the Ursa Superior injured but still standing. Most of the armor on it's chest has begun to crack and fall apart, revealing wounded and singed flesh all over, a somewhat gruesome sight considering it was still moving while blood gushed out of it's wounds. Roaring at the group the grimm gets down on all fours and starts charging towards them, keeping it's head lowered and protected as well as it's injured chest.

"I'd like to correct some of you." Xarias said as he extended his rifle to form his lance. "That's no Ursa Major, it's an Ursa Superior." Lowering one barrel end to the ground he shoots to leap forward towards the beast, ready to stab at high speed at the shoulder but the grimm's armor was too thick to be penetrated that easily by a normal blade and causes Xarias to glance off and roll behind it. Groaning as he got up behind the charging grimm he watches as it heads for the rest of the group. That won't work then. Better aim for the joints or the chest next.

Varius raises Umbra from the ground and lets the canon retract back to it previous position. "I'm not too big a fan of the sidelines anyway." Varius rotates the handle of Umbra and lets the repulsion dust flow around the edge of the blade increasing its ability to cut. "If fire won't work how about some cold steel." Varius charges forward toward the beast. After killing so many grim but not being able to slice them up face to face Varius had begun growing agitated and his more bestial traits wanted surface.  He charged toward the Ursa with a ferocious look in his eyes and jumped into the air when he was close enough. Varius swung his blade down with tremendous force toward the Ursa's shoulder trying to sever its arm.

"Tch..." Kandata clicked his tongue as the Ursa Superor, didn't go down with all the attacks they threw at it. But it seems like the creature is more in a pinch now, it may go down anytime soon.

"Man, these guys..." Kandata said as he thought that his group is stronger than he expected.

He then notices Varius charging towards the huge beast. "Well, there goes my kill..." Kandata sighed.

He then replaces the spool of his Silver Lining, loading a thicker set of threads. Then he launches another set of threads towards the injured Ursa Superior. But this time, Kandata isn't going for the kill, he is using a much thicker thread to withhold the huge beast and bind it down.

Kandata's threads encompass the beasts legs for a while causing it to slow down a bit just as Varius comes crashing down with umbra in hand. The large blade manages to find a thinner part in the beasts thick hide and armor and makes a thick gash across the grimms shoulder but not cutting the whole arm off due to some resistance from the armor. Just as Varius lands to the ground a shower of blood hits him and the grimm starts pulling against the wires holding it down, roaring in defiance to it's upcoming fate.

Seeing an opening to take, Xarias dashes from his position by shooting a high velocity round behind him then leaping a short distance while spinning his lance in the air before making a cut right behind the beasts right knee, causing it to buckle and land on it's side and expose it's neck. "Cut it's neck already!" Xarias yelled from behind the beast while avoiding the occasional kick from it's injured leg.

With his allies handling the small fry for Spencer and his low count of ammunition, he only ended up having to expend one other shot from Delilah, leaving each weapon at a comfortable four shots left. Now he stands in front of the ursa *superior, just out of it's arms reach and ready to fire Delilah at his hip. Left hand over the hammer to quickly fan it. If he cannot get close enough for his smaller blades, the least he can do is set it up for another possible way of finishing it.
Open your mouth~... The ursa struggles but neglects to give Spencer the shot he wants. If the mouth were to open even for an instant, he could place the four shots into the beast and completely negate that armor. Making it no better than a larger ursa. Open your damn mouth~!... With both of his hands on the faster of his two weapons though, he cannot open it himself.
"Somebody poke this thing or something!"

Varius lands with a thud as his blade slices the Ursa. A look of frustration appears on his face as he curses the Grimm's thick armour. His ears perk up at the sound of Spencer's request and he makes a frown looking almost like a demon as he is drenched in the Ursa's blood. "YOU WANT A POKE? I'LL GIVE YOU SO MUCH MORE!'" Varius digs his heels into the ground and holds on to Umbra with both hands. Using all his strength he begins to spin around bring the blade with him and using the momentum to add an incredible force to it. The enormous blade swings all the way around and comes toward the Ursa's belly for a horizontal slash, even if the strike wouldn't kill him it would at the very least force the air from its body and open its mouth.

As Umbra slashes against the beasts' belly, the grimm roars out and tries biting out at Spencer, pulling against the wires and testing their durability to hold it down. Now forcing itself up despite the wires strength it raises it's jaws and attacks Spencer with it's mouth open wide, ready to tear into the hunter should he miss the opportunity.

Adrenaline rushes. The attack leaves no time for thought. Just movement and dust floating among the chaos.
The crack of what sounds like a longer-lasting single gun shot erupts and each of the four shells that were left in Delilah's cylinder are empty. An adrenaline rush, there's nothing like it...
Stillness, dust, and now echos.

100/64

Sudden silence befell the battleground only to be interrupted by the sound of the grimm collapsing and letting out one last breath before it's eyes lose their color. It's head falling merely inches from Spencer's position the large grimm, now merely a corpse, leaves a cloud of dust in it's wake which then later settles down to reveal a lifeless Ursa. In the distance, Leonard Strave adds a new entry to his scroll then sends a message to the hunters.

      It doesn't seem like that beast was part of the hunt but nevertheless I shall add additional incentives for the lot of you. No need for collection from the Ursa Superior but if you wish to bring a souvenir of such a size such as new pelt, I'm not stopping you but I highly encourage against it. 


Walking up to the beast's head, Xarias prods at it with the end of his lance until he was certain it was dead, looking up at the gaping mouth, he could see four bullet holes that left clean but devastating wounds on the hard palate of the beast. "Yup, seems dead enough to me." He said. "Looks like we got a message from the informant."

Delilah gets flicked forward until the bottom of her body touches the back of Spencer's fingers. Right away, he pushes up on the gun and uses the momentum to spin Delilah back twice and then half catches her before slipping her in the holster. A small click and the holster locks once again.
"What could he want? That seemed to go out without a problem." *Click* The scroll opens up and reveals its contents.
"...Well that's both depressing and good. I'm glad there's a bonus but this day is going to be longer than I thought it'd be." Spencer sighs and takes out Delilah again to reload.

With the Ursa finally down Varius looks down at the beast which once stood so tall and smirks. Bears don't beat lions. He turned to the others and put Umbra away. As he did he noticed how much blood he had actually been covered in and scowls. He looks all over his body and sees he is drenched in blood. "Dammit! None of you would happen to have a huge amount of water would you?"

"Nah... I doubt there would be a lake nearby." Kandata replied to the blood-drenched comrade.

"Better keep it like that though, the scent of blood might attract other grimm. Makes our job easier that way."

Kandata then takes out his scroll and reads the new message. Dissapointed that the beast is not part of the list, Kandata put back his scroll on his pocket. "Man, this'll take longer than I expected."

"So, basically, this is no ordinary hunting job. Seems like the guy's testing us or something." Kandata said.

The cylinder is spun then flicked closed and put back in the holster on Spencer's waist. Candy is taken out to reload the single shell spent. "Looks like we've got ourselves an official tank," Spencer says in reference to computer game MMOs. Then the subject of the ranger comes up and Spencer starts to feel investigative. "I've been wondering about that as well. The only time a bounty is placed on a target is when that target did something to get the attention of the employer. I can't imagine this many different targets making a party, let alone one guy angry. What do all of these beasts have in common?... Candy clicks shut and is twirled forward once before being put back. Spencer looks down at the massive beast slain by the combined effort of all five of them. "Uncommon strength."
"The way I see it, we either have been employed someone who loves action, making sure grimm don't slip under the radar of hunters, or..." He looks back up at the group. "he has something else in mind for us. I'm curious as to what that would be."

"Well so far we know absolutely nothing about our employer except that he pays well." Xarias said. "We might find out more once we find the next targets being..." Opening his scroll he marks the next known location. "North east of our position. Now let's get a move on."

Now that I think about it this might be a test but not for us. Nobody would put up jobs for random people to take just so they could test them. It's just to insignificant a number when compared to the number of fighters out there who take on grimm. Taking into account the odd behavior of the grimm, could it be that they are testing these grimm of emerald forest? But for what reason?

Pondering on his thoughts, Xarias splits his bi-ended lance and forms his two gunblades while approaching the trees. "So, you guys ready or do you want to take a break?" He said before looking at their blood drenched companion " Or perhaps a bath? I think there might be a lake or pond nearby but I can't be sure."

Kail reloaded his sniper rifle, standing up and checking the message. He sighed and began to walk north-east, answering Xarias "All I did was lay down and fire bullets, if you're going to take a break, I'll scout ahead, see exactly what we'll be fighting." and he fragmented his Rifle once more, continuing to move.

"I'm good either way. As long as I'm getting paid, that's all that matters." Kandata said with his arms crossed at the back of his head.

"But still... finishing this before sundown would be a better plan. Just saiyin'"

Spencer starts walking. "I don' need no res'. I been swiped at an'nearly bit in half. The fun only jus' begun." Spencer smirks his usual smirk and takes off at a steady pace over to the next designated area. I could ask for a ride but there ain't no way I'm letting jus' anybody carry me.

Varius was getting increasingly annoyed. Enough time had passed that the blood was no longer fresh and it was getting stickier by the minute. "I would refer if we just moved on. I want to leave this forest or find a river as soon as possible." I'm covered in blood and it wasn't voluntary I hope somone dies on this trip, I deserve the raise in cut.