There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it never care for anything else thereafter.

Ernest Hemingway

Name: Erik Hansson
Age: 31
Race: Human mutant (self-healing)
Occupation: Ranger, specializing in hunting crazed supernaturals

Name- Mela Oira (Love Eternal)
Age- somewhere in her 20s
Race- Fox Hybrid

Erik Hansson dismounted and tossed his horse's reins to the waiting stable boy.

"Take good care of him," he admonished. "He's worked hard today."

The boy gulped a little and nodded. "Okay--"

Erik frowned.

"I mean, yes, sir."

Erik nodded once in approval and went inside, adjusting his clothing to reveal the seal on his sword hilt.

"Password?" The bouncer looked bored but competent.

"Bath'pa du shaka," Erik murmured. Curse the fiend.

The bouncer nodded and stepped aside. "She's been waiting for you."

Mira looked around as the day was already growing late and quickly ran through the park to where she knew food would be. She was glad she could shift into an actual fox but she just had to be careful about letting her wings out. She soon came to a stop as she sat at a clear pond that had fish and grinned in her fox form as she went to work catching two of the larger fish. She knew that you weren't supposed to take these fish... not even the animals were supposed to but that didn't stop her as she quickly grabbed them and ran off to her cubby hole that she had hidden under a large tree to eat.

"Her name is Mara or Misa or Mali or something," Estelle said, handing Erik the composite sketch.

Erik frowned at the doe-eyed girl on the page. "What did she do?"

Estelle raked keen eyes over his face and body language. "She hurt innocent people. She broke the rules. Don't let her appearance fool you, Erik; remember what happened last time you did."

Erik's mind flew back to the memory unbidden; Estelle was good at making people want to obey.

"I got confused," Erik said. "I saw what I wanted to see and missed the monster behind the mask. I nearly got myself killed."

Estelle nodded once.

"I won't let it happen again. This I vow," Erik's fingers sought out the stamp on the hilt of his sword, reaffirming his commitment to the guild, to his boss.

Estelle smiled. "You will kill this monster," she began, the ritual as old as time.

"I will kill this monster," Erik echoed, his eyelids growing heavy under the weight of his promise.

"You will take back what was stolen. You will right the wrongs."

"I will take back what was stolen. I will right the wrongs."

"You will restore the balance; you will bring justice."

"I will restore the balance; I will bring justice." Erik strangled out.

"This I witness; this you vow."

"This you witness; this I vow," Erik breathed as his knees buckled and the floor rushed up to greet him.

(oh damn it's like a cult XD nice post btw)

Mira smiled as she ate happily tearing the two fishes apart easily but left some meat on the bones as she finished and picked them up going and finding a wolf pup that had been abandoned and gave her the rest knowing it would be enough to fill her up for the night. She then smiled to herself and ran back to the pond and started to drink out of it quickly knowing she couldn't stay there for too long.

{Hehe yep ... Thanks! Mira's eating habits are fun to read while having breakfast.}

Erik awoke precisely at midnight, when the bell in the church tower tolled twelve times. Despite having gotten only two hours of sleep, he felt rested and was more than ready to begin his hunt. He threw off the bedclothes, tugged on his boots, and splashed some ice-cold water over his face.

As he hastily pulled on his cape and secured his sword, he caught sight of his reflection in the small mirror over the washstand. His skin was pale, his hair wild, and his normally blue eyes almost black. Grinning wolfishly, he glanced over the room for anything he'd forgotten and raced outside, barely resisting the urge to howl.

The same stable-lad he'd seen earlier was waiting for him at the gate with a fresh horse and provisions.

"Thanks," Erik said as he secured the pack and took the reins.

The boy flinched and shrank back.

Erik laughed and leaped aboard, urging the mare quickly into a gallop.

Watching from an upstairs window, Estelle nodded once and let the curtain fall.

(breakfast? It's almost ten at night XD )

Mira slowly walked around outside for a little while before her ears twitched some hearing a horse and quickly ran and hid in a cubby hole in a tree so the ranger couldn't find her. She had only harmed those people because she was trying to protect herself and the wolf cub... she knew the rules and she tried to fallow them, but the woman that ran the area just did not like her... she hadn't since she came to the park... she was a hybrid... not even half of two different creatures... more like quartered really and the woman hated her for surviving that.

Erik pulled his horse to a sudden, uncomfortable stop when they reached the middle of the woods. The sky was dark, but with the moon glowing almost directly overhead, both of them could see pretty well. It didn't hurt that many of the trees in this place had lost their leaves and branches during Erik's last hunt.

A twig snapped behind them, and Erik whirled the mare, capitalizing on her own frightened instincts. "Who's there?" he called authoritatively.

Of course, nothing replied. Still, Erik knew from experience that the one who spoke first often had the upper hand. At the very least, he had proven he was unafraid.

"I seek only the monster called Mari," Erik told the shadows, hoping he'd picked the right name. "I will not spree tonight."

Erik never spreed, but the darkness did not know that.

There was a slight shuffling around him, and then silence. Erik knew that whatever it was had gone-- probably to warn his quarry. Cursing, he kicked his mare into hot pursuit. He only spurred harder when he realized he had hit upon a likely method for finding the monster quickly. The shadows would howl tonight.

Mela listened to the male and scoffed at him quietly without making a sound but stayed where she was. His mare was drawing closer... but that didn't mean she was going to move. No she was going to stay right where she was, hidden under a tree just barely peering out so it would be hard to see her eyes.

Erik chased the specter for nearly half an hour before he realized he'd been duped. Wheeling his sweating mare, he spurred her savagely back to the trees. When they got there, the mare was panting and trembling.

"Speak, monster!" Erik roared, not at all fatigued.

His mare hung her head. All was silent.

"Speak now, monster, or I swear on the Seal of Galabah that you are dead where you stand."

Not even a breeze whispered.

Cursing, Erik threw himself off his horse and listened, feet planted, eyes closed. He would find this creature, and he would make it pay.

Mela sneered as she listened to the male and then grinned when he moved away quickly and quickly scurried out and up one of the larger and fuller trees so she could watch him without being seen. She knew how this went by now and knew that if she could drag this out for at least two weeks the male would give up and go home... she hoped.

Erik heard the faintest whisper of moment behind him and to his left-- north. It could have just been a breeze, but Erik's gut told him it was more than that.

He'd learned to trust his instincts; they were only right about 70% of the time, but something told him this wasn't one of the 30%. Stepping carefully to avoid leaves and anything else that might make noise and scare his target away, he crept backwards, eyes open, searching out any detail he could.

The creature was gone by the time he got to the place he believed the noise was, but it had been a little careless. A single tuft of fox-hair had snagged in the bark of one of the fuller trees. Erik sniffed it, filled his nose with its scent. He would not easily forget it.

He resisted the urge to look up; instead, reached into his pouch and brought out flint, kindling, and a measure of extremely flammable oil.

Mela's eyes widened as she watched the male and saw what he pulled out and knew what might happen so she quickly jumped to another tree. She repeated this on two other trees but when she tried to get to the third she had accidentally miscalculated how strong she branch was and it snapped under her. She didn't have time to be afraid or scream as she soon felt her back hit the ground making her cough up blood and gasp frantically for air. It was over... he was going to kill her... and all because of a misunderstanding... something that she couldn't find her breath to explain.... she just hoped that he made it quick and painless.

Erik nearly dropped his flint when he heard the thud behind him. He'd expected the rustling tree branches. He knew the monster was cunning and would probably figure out what happened and jump to another tree; he didn't mind. He'd burn down the whole forest if he had to.

But the thud threw him. In truth, part of him thought the monster's miscalculation made this too easy. Still-- he would be glad to finish this job in good time. Carelessly throwing down all his fire-making tools, Erik stood and turned toward the source of the sound.

A young woman lay on the ground, gasping and coughing up what appeared to be blood.

Funny-- she didn't look dangerous. But Erik knew from long experience that looks could be deceiving. He drew a dagger from his boot and approached her cautiously.

Suddenly you could hear a child screaming something before a little black haired girl with wolf ears and a tail came running and stood between the male and Mela. "DON'T HURT MOMMY! She's not a bad person please!" the little girl cried but you could tell she couldn't really see to know exactly what the male was going to do... she was mostly blind and only knew that something was going on because she had heard Mela fall and could smell that the man had been close to the cruel woman that ran the park. Slowly Mela turned over and coughed more before "Hauna... no... d-don't g-go near him." Mela said quietly before coughing again but the girl stayed where she was.

Erik's eyes darted from the adult female to the immature female and back again.

"You cannot possibly be this creature's mother." It was not a question.

Still, he could not kill the monster in front of a child-- even mutant demon spawn.

The wolf-kit would have to die, as well, before it could turn into a devious killing machine like its ... what? Protector?

Erik took a step toward the wolf-kit, dagger raised. The best path was to end it quickly.

Yet, as far as he knew, the wolf-kit had done nothing wrong. His orders were only to kill the she-vixen called Mila. He stopped, conflicted.

Another thought drifted through his mind. He reached out for it, realized what it was, and released it. "Hauna"-- that was the wolf-kit's name, was it not?-- "What is your relationship to this creature?"

Hauna looked at the man not knowing that Mela was gasping about and thought some. " "Momy's taken care of me since before I can remember... I know she's not my real mommy but she protects me and keeps people and other creatures from hurting me." she said softly and Mela slowly caught her breath and sat up. "Please... Hauna has done nothing wrong don't hurt her... I've been trying to protect her since I found her abandoned... that's probably why I'm in trouble... I attacked a few people that tried to take her away from me... I was scared that they were going to kill her." she said softly as she wiped her mouth from the blood but couldn't get up just yet... sure she could heal quickly but that still really hurt.

Something twisted painfully in Erik's chest. Unbidden, his free hand flew to the seal on his sword hilt.

He took another step forward.

And another.

Hauna backed up slightly fearful knowing that the male was getting closer but wasn't sure what was going on. Mela watched the male move worriedly before slowly moving to get on her knees weakly before panting and then standing and moving Hauna behind her. "She's fallowed the rules... please don't hurt her." she said looking the male dead in the eyes and you could tell she wasn't a fighter... but she would protect the young girl no matter what.

Something faded slightly behind Erik's eyes, but it was almost impossible to see in the dark.

Erik knew his job. This woman-- this creature-- had upset the balance. He was doing his duty. He took pride in his work. It was necessary.

Still-- there was something about her eyes.

His hand slipped from his sword hilt, but he kept walking.

Mela looked at the male worriedly but stayed where she was standing wondering what he might do to her or the little girl she took care of.... really she didn't care what happened to her so long as the little girl didn't get hurt... it wasn't her fault her mother abandoned her and she had never done anything wrong... it was only Mela who had been trying to protect her from some poachers.

When Erik reached the vixen, he bent forward and scanned her injuries. She appeared to be ... healing?

No wonder Estelle had called him; he was one of the few with reflexes fast enough to deal with a fast healer like himself.

The least he could do, though, was give her a quick end. Maybe he could take the wolf-child and find her a home with someone in town.

He tightened his fingers on the dagger and raised it up, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder for stability.

"No! Please don't hurt my Mommy! Please!" Hauna cried in a panic and held onto Mela's waist as Mela stayed completely still and placed her hand softly on Hauna's head hoping to calm her at least a little... but she was too scared and upset to be calmed. Mela was trembling but wouldn't dare run... if she did the male would probably kill them both and she didn't want that... she never wanted Hauna to be hurt.

The dagger drew a single drop of blood from just under her jaw, but Erik couldn't bring himself to follow through.

Letting go of the dagger, he pressed his thumb to the cut he'd made and used his hands around the woman creature's neck to yank her forward so he could search her eyes for honesty.

"You will explain yourself. You will tell me your dealings with my guild, and how you came to hurt the people I protect." He poured his frustration into his demanding voice, his tightening hands, making no effort to hide the snarl of anger and confusion on his face.