[Zerco]

"Got it." Shiro said as she gave a reassuring smile to Cara.

Shiro stood next to the tree Eamon climbed up on and assumed a wide stance while she was waiting for instructions and fiddled with her guns.


Nothing much for Shiro to do at the moment.

[Flooberoid]

Cara gave Eamon a hearty pat on the back and marched, almost skipped, merrily along. At this rate, they would be at their destination in half an hour or less. Team morale was certainly high enough to last several times that long, and in Cara's eyes that was all they needed.

The group continued on until they reached an open clearing, nearly 20 meters in diameter. A shallow stream ran through the far side, obstructing the way forward. When Cara reached the edge of the clearing, she immediately signaled the party to stop. A large Ursa stood with its back to them, hunched over as if drinking from the stream. When Cara scanned the area, she could see no other threats. In a low whisper, she decided to consult with her teammates. "There's a lone Ursa ahead," she started. "We could certainly take it in a fight if need be, but it hasn't noticed us yet. If you want, I bet we could sneak around..."

Then again, I've heard that riding an Ursa can be mighty fun... I bet it could take us across that stream, too... Why this thought crossed Cara's mind, she did not know, but it deeply disturbed her.

[nathan67003]

Helena stopped when her signaled for it. Ooooh, an Ursa.

After listening, she said in a hushed tone "I think we could easily do whatever we want about it, but I'll go with what you guys decide upon., accompanied by a large grin. She was ready to put Artemis to use, her right hand hovering in front of her in case she needed to nock an arrow.

[Vwyx]

Eamon sized up the large ursine creature from their vantage point. "Unnecessary fights are bad for risk management, but if we run into something just past it, we'll be surrounded," he noted. Breaking his weapon down into its easier-to-manage gun form, he looked to Cara.

"Either way has its pros and cons. We'll follow your lead, fearless commander!" He saluted with his rifle, a cheery grin on his face.

[Zerco]

When their leader signalled to stop, Shiro looked in the direction of the Ursa and readied her pistols.

"It's up to you Cara!" Shiro said while she looked at Carnation with a supportive smile after listening to her.

[Flooberoid]

They said that, but... every single one of them was clearly itching to put those weapons to use. "Well then, how about we use this as a practice round? Cover me, I'm going for it! Cara charged forward, keeping herself on the Ursa's left so as to protect herself with her raised shield. Moments after she stepped into the clearing, a mid-sized Nevermore dove toward her from behind. The bird's screech caught Cara off-guard and alerted the previously unaware Ursa, which turned to face her. Surrounded, Cara called to her teammates for help. "Woah! Take down that bird for me, yeah?"

[nathan67003]

Helena, in an almost instinctive fashion, immediately drew Artemis to its maximum power and sent an arrow flying straight at the now-turned Ursa, aiming at the unprotected sections in its chest. It was that, or aiming a longbow at something even closer, which sounded dumb. Er.

Right after that, she slung her bow back on and unsheathed both of her daggers, ready to take on the new arrival with her teammates. Cara had asked for cover at first, but then asked for the Nevermore to be taken down, and Helena wasn't going to let her leader down.

[Vwyx]

Eamon had Bretwalda's barrel aimed straight at the Ursa, after he jumped to the monster's right as Cara approached, ready to support his leader by knocking the massive Grimm off balance with a well-placed shot. He was possessed of precisely the type of single-minded concentration that gets you startled by a sudden appearance of Jonathan Crane's worst nightmare.

With a deep, manly shriek, he shifted his aim to the newly arrived corvid, firing both barrels of the shotgun ammo at the wings in pure reflex. "Call your targets," he gasped, when he had recovered. "I'm on the bird!"

[Zerco]

Shiro followed Cara and Eamon's dash towards the Ursa at first, positioning herself between the two so she can have a clear shot but was cut off by the Nevermore as she was a bit further behind them. She instinctively shot the Nevermore with her guns while rolling to the side so she can get a grasp of the situation.

"I'll get the bird!" She said as she pointed her guns at the Grimm.

[Flooberoid]

The shots from Eamon took all the thunder out of the Nevermore's divebomb. It clawed wildly at the ground while shakily sprinting in Cara's general direction. Unsure of which way to dodge, Cara shifted right and got lucky, just getting out of the Nevermore's way. The Ursa's claw came down and nearly made contact with Cara's upraised shield, but the shot from Helena threw it and Cara off rhythm somewhat. The Ursa lost balance and nearly tumbled over Cara, who fell backwards in response.

"Ack! Leave the bear to me, yeah?" Cara shouted to her teammates, particularly Helena, as she scrambled back into ready position before the beast's next attack.

[nathan67003]

Helena waited only for the word. "Alright! Bird it is!", she yelled happily.

Seeing the aforementioned birdy run away/towards somebody who was in the opposite direction, she quickly switched weapons again and, after briefly ensuring her aim was true, fired an arrow shot at the Nevermore's throat. Oh well, she was better at this sort of thing anyway.

[Vwyx]

Now that the Nevermore was lower, Eamon snapped his weapon back into its polearm configuration. Dashing to the ground, he lunged forward, spearpoint extended. "I'll waste you to paste, debased wastrel!" he cried.

[Zerco]

Shiro shot the Nevermore with both of her pistols multiple times in rapid succession, aiming at its upper half and neck area. She didn't want to waste her special ammo on the first enemies they encountered. "You alright there Cara?" She shouted.

[Flooberoid]

"Just fine, thanks!" As the Ursa made another attempt with its right arm, Cara parried it with her shield. As the shield went back, Cara thrust her sword inside of it, combining the two into a massive edge which she brought forward in a lethal upper slash. The Ursa lost its arm and fell to the ground, starting to dissolve.

The Nevermore had already collapsed by the time Helena's arrow and Shiro's bullets landed, but hey, it probably wouldn't be fully dissolved before Eamon reached it? Cara giggled. Maybe sending all three of them after one weak target wasn't so necessary after all. Still, no matter how weak the opponent, she shouldn't have been caught off guard like that.

Cara looked at the dissolving Ursa, then at the stream... She felt a little let down that she didn't get a chance to ride it across.

[nathan67003]

Seeing the two opponents start to dissolve, Helena trudged forward, picking up her arrows from the within the wisps of pitch black... Grimm stuff evaporating? Smoke? Mist? Anyway, her set was complete again.

"That was kinda fun! Although, a bit too short-lived to be truly enjoyable. Oh well, guess we'll have other occasions!"

Striding closer to Cara with a slightly worried look on her face, she said "Are you okay? Sorry for the arrow, I was still trying to cover you and almost made it worse..."