The Thrill Of The Hunt [OPEN]

Namek was a… unique place to be. She’d not even been planetside for ten MINUTES before mistakes had been made and she had to sit through an explanation as to why she needed to be more careful. It wasn’t horrible, especially when it was explained by her new friends that called this planet home, but to say it was embarrassing was a bit of an understatement. After they’d parted and Zerori had decided to explore the more rural areas of Namek (mostly to get away from people) it was the Guru Forest that had caught her attention first. Maybe it was the result of her raising or the fact that there was a significant LACK of people in the forest, but she was attracted to the idea of having a little camp out like a fly was attracted to honey.

It didn’t help that her mother had decided this was also the PERFECT place to set up a little ‘Home Away From Home’ for a little while.

Whilst her mother had been comically humming along to a tune while materializing odds and ends for their camp site, Zerori had been looking out for any creatures that would make a good meal. Sword long since abandoned by the campsite, the five-foot-ten woman would stalk between the trees quietly as she looked for any kind of animals. It was weird because since there wasn’t any kind of nocturnal night time to speak of, nothing really had any kind of stealth to speak of. Honestly, as she started to come up short and only see little small herbivores to select from, the water and whatever kind of fishing was looking a LOT more appealing.

Until something brushed along her senses and made her change course nearly immediately. It was stronger than normal and certainly didn’t fit in with what Zerori would have assumed was a native predator. Between the trees, eye narrowed in scrutiny, Zerori was watching one predator stalk the other as a wolf that clearly didn’t belong on Namek took a keen interest in some bear-like creature that fit the bill of what Zerori was searching for as well.

She could have just materialized some food and left it at that, left the wolf to it’s (very likely rare) meal, but something felt off about these two.

So, in a show of magical prowess, Zerori would throw out her hand and materialize a bright red rope that would appear below the bear-like creature and wrap around it with such speed and finesse that it would have little time to react before being bound. Casually, Zerori walked from the trees she’d stayed behind and approached her catch, “What the hell are you, I wonder…” She mumbled before looking over at the wolf and giving a grin, “Sorry but first come, first serve, Pup! You can kill it after I’ve had my fun, yeah?” Talking to it like any other animal, Zerori would return her attention to the bear to take in it’s features.

Little did she know that this wasn’t any ordinary wolf.

Returning her attention back to the bear in question, Zerori would give it a once over as it writhed and roared from within her magical restraints clutches. However, like whispers in the back of her own mind, the sound of a coherent conversation caught her attention and she listened in without showing any reaction. Imagine her surprise when the wolf was capable of speaking through it’s mind to another! In the span of seconds, she’d questioned whether this wolf was special or if ALL animals could speak to one another on a telepathic level and she was only just NOW realizing that!

However, in spite of the conversation, Zerori would soon find herself being confronted by the voice the wolf contacted and this one wasn’t an animal at all. As she turned to him, one of her ears twitching in acknowledgement of his bellow, the man would very quickly have a change of heart and… retry his introduction and damn was it a pretty badass one, too! Thoroughly intrigued, Zerori cocked her head at him with a grin, “With that many titles, you must be big shit back home! I like that. Names Zerori of the Chakkapak. As for this thing-” Casting a quick glance at the bear, Zerori would give a short hum of thought before she turned to Ryuseki, “I was mostly investigating it and maybe bring it back to my camp to eat but if you want to hunt it and eat it for yourself, that’s fine with me.” Given how much this planet flourished, she was certain there was other food. “Gimme, like, ten minutes and that I’ll release it and-”

Just before she could finish her sentence, however, the sound of something much bigger had begun to approach quickly and Zerori stopped - eyeing the furiously approaching beast with a frown. As the other two noticed the danger approaching, Zerori would give a ‘tch’ before her hair would begin to float as if an updraft of wind had took root from under her, “Never mind,” She brought a hand up to grasp for her sword that she kept on her back, “-You can have the small one and I’ll take the-” Only for her hand to reach nothing and her eye to widen in sudden realization. “... ohshit.” Just before the beast would ram into her in an attempt to see her young. With a grunt, Zerori would be bodily THROWN from her feet and soon crashing into a handful of trees.

It was rather impressive that the bruin was strong enough to catch her off guard. Being as strong as she was, Zerori was rather confident that the beast was going to be an easy take down but leave it to her to be distracted enough to get taken down so quickly. After having smashed into the trees, Zerori found herself skidding along the ground and falling straight away off the edge of a short drop off into water. Thankfully, the shock of the water was enough to shock her back to consciousness and with a shake of her head the Demon woman was bursting from the surface of the green water and bounding back onto the ground. Water dripped from her clothes and hair, leaving the wild lockes to droop comically from its own weight. Her visible eye stared ahead toward what she could see of the conflict with a dry expression. “Yeah.. that wasn’t cool at all,” and given she’d only just met the guy and his dog for all of fifteen seconds?

It was gonna be hard to save face now.

At the sound of the human yelling out about not getting his face attacked, Zerori decided now was as good a time as any to haul ass. At the very last second, Zerori would kneel into a readying stance before she was literally gone - moving so fast with the Speed of a Demon that within the very moment Ryuseki had finished his yell - the tired bear would find herself suddenly several feet from where she was and Zerori floating in mid air with her leg swung outwards. She landed on the ground, a frown on her face as she glared in the bear’s direction, “Not lookin’ so tough are you now, huh?!” She would yell in the mother bear’s direction before she turned to Ryuseki and whispered to him. “Pst-hey. Pretend you didn’t see me get bodied by a bear and we’ll call me saving your face even, yeah?”

It was at this moment the mother bear would groan, likely injured and tired, prompting Zerori turn return her attention by to the shockingly durable animal. “What are these Namekian beasts made of? Oi!” She called over to Shem. “Think you can distract it again?!” She turned back to Ryuseki with a grin, “I got a plan to knock this bear out for good. Got any weapons on you?” If she hadn’t left behind both of her weapons back at camp this would have definitely been over in seconds but since they wanted to avoid vaporizing the beast they had few options. “If you and your dog can distract it, I’ll focus a really small attack - as small as I can get it - and try to kill fast and clean. Ya’ll dig?”

With Shem on board and getting right into the thick of battle, Zerori turned her attention to Ryuseki as he admitted to her that he didn’t have any weapons… per say. She watched as he removed the gloves from her hands to reveal hands that burned with an emerald flame Zerori had never seen before. Her eye widened, blinking a couple times, before she cocked her head at the odd color. “Wow, that’s… one hell of a condition!” She turned back to see Shem’s agile and rather impressive method of distraction before she turned back to Ryuseki, “Sorry, sorry! Yeah, that’ll work!” With a nod, Zerori watched as Ryuseki launched into a combination of attacks with his flaming fists in action. For a moment, Zerori just appreciated the look of him - the gears in her head turning as she imagined what kind of magic she could pull off in the same vein.

Nope! Stop! Focus! Zerori admonished herself before she raised a hand of her own and began to ignite a Blaze Blaster. It was one of her weaker attacks but that would make it easier to condense.

As the black and red energy crackled violently around her hand, Zerori’s eye would stare at it in deep concentration as it shrank smaller and smaller until it was little more than a quickly spinning black and red ball in the middle of her palm. It spun so fast that Zerori was almost worried it would fly off wildly, “Shit, okay,” She looked up, slowly pulling her arm back and waited for a moment to throw it.

She didn’t have to wait long! The moment the mother beast was disoriented, Zerori grinned, “Hell yeah! Let’s hope this works!” She cried out before closing her fist around the tiny orb and pushing it through her finger - the action resulting in a narrow beam that would rush toward the bear’s head and - in an instant - pass through with all the consistency of a hot knife through melted butter. For a long moment, the bear would move as if it wasn’t hit at all but giving a pause and slowly falling backwards onto its flank.

Unfortunately, Zerori noted with a disturbed frown, the bear didn’t die immediately and the low groan of pain it gave would indicate that she’d not killed it cleanly and instantly. “Shit…” Should she just snap its neck up close? A distance away the sound of it’s young giving of cry of distress had Zerori turn to see that it was trying it’s best to claw out of her materialized restraints to get to its mother. Silently, Zerori felt frozen on the spot as the emotions she usually suppressed when hunting started to rear their ugly head. This wasn’t just her hunt, however, as she turned to the other two, “Sorry. First time I’ve done that. Must have missed the brain by that much-” She started, approaching the mother beast. “You, uh… want I should finish her off or either of you guys want the honors?” Calling it that felt gross.

In spite of keeping to herself, Zerori was secretly preening just a bit at the exchange Ryuseki and his companion, Shem, had about her and tried not to get a big head about it. Instead she looked at Ryuseki in surprise at his sudden realization and excitedly signaled to his friend before taking some steps back from the beast. Equal parts confused and curious, Zerori quickly looked between the two before she focused on the flame-handed fighter with visible intrigue. What’s he got up his sle-... feet? She corrected herself as she watched him comically march in place faster and faster. With a wide eye, she witnessed him not only jump upon his companion’s back but ALSO find out that his friend could transform into a human-thing?! “Oh shit!” She barked in surprise before the surprises didn’t end there and he’d soon materialized a sword!

She didn’t really know why he had to jump on his friend’s back to do so but she wasn’t going to judge anyone’s flair for the dramatic. Watching his rise into the air, sword in hand, Zerori had to grit her teeth as he launched into a downward dive in a bid to finish off the bruin. While she witnessed a struggle between their power she was relieved to see that he’d finished her off quickly - if a bit messily. With hands on hips, Zerori approached with a mask of indifference on face while looking at the beast before she looked up at Ryueski and Shem with a quickly applied grin. “Not bad!”

Giving the bruin one last once over, Zerori’s gaze would be brought back at the compliment, “Am I? Heh, I actually thought I was a bit rusty there but I do tend to ‘hoof it’ in the wilds a lot!” She laughed at her own joke for a moment before realizing it wasn’t the same kind of funny since her mother wasn’t here with… well, the hooves of the joke. Clearing her throat in an attempt to recover, Zerori turned to Shem, “Transforming into a Human, eh?! Not a bad trick! Useful in a pinch or to blend in! So, which is your favorite? You feel more comfortable with fur or clothes?” She spit-fired, incredibly curious but also just trying to move past her blunder of a joke.