Adjustments (Open)

Within the Saiba wastes, not too far from the capitol, just beyond an impressive array of rocks and crags; a low tone howling would rumble through the air. It was the howling of a Saiba-wolf, and an indication that there was a pack on a hunt. As pack hunters, the group was vastly numbered; unlike their counterparts of other worlds which usually had packs of no more than five to fifteen, this group of saiba-wolves numbered over a hundred. As they ran across the dried landscape, their combined footsteps would echo through the area like a stampede. It was a common trend, and one heard most often in the dead of night as the pack used it's night vision to their advantage; this however, was a special occasion. For rather than go out in search of their prey, their prey would instead come to them.

Bounties to slay almost any number of the ever growing horde were always available; due to the saiba-wolves quick reproduction, even just slaying one would bring you in a hefty sum of zeni, enough for a decent meal for at least two days! Today, one such individual looking for a decent meal, would take it upon themselves to take part in such a bounty; danger be damned! Today, the hunters would become the hunted; any number would have done, but this hunter sought not only the fortune that came from the hunt, but the recognition for such a feat as well! Today, Zuqetta found herself in the midst of a variable horde of well trained hunters; and for the past twenty minutes had been trying to escape to no avail.

"DamnitDamnitDamnit!!!" Zuqetta would shout as she ran across the wastes, leaping over open crevasses in an attempt to outwit the beasts, "They're just saibas!! How the heck are they so smart!?!?" Throughout her escape, the saiba-wolves had coordinated their efforts; for unlike mere animals, these beasts had the ever evolving brains of the usually short lived saibamen. It seemed that no matter what direction she ran, or how fast she went, the saiba-wolves were always one step ahead; waiting, and perhaps even shepherding her without her realization. "Gahhhhh, I wish I could fly!!!!" She'd lament as she leapt up towards a towering rock formation and used it to kick off of in order to gain further distance.

She had already taken down several of the beasts before this point; but such was the saiba-wolfs strategy. In order to lure their prey deeper into their territory, sacrifices needed to be made; but as one wolf fell, two would rise up in their place. Until finally, the prey they sought would be surrounded. This form of bounty seemed to be one of lower class, yet was also one meant for veterans of the wastes; it was for those who understood all it's dangers. Where one saiba-wolf was weak, together as a horde they were strong. There was always the option of transforming into an Oozaru, but to do so would also entail making oneself a bigger target. And while escape may have been an option after transforming, to have fled while in one's Oozaru form would have been the greatest form of shame.

In no time at all, the distant sight of the city drew nearer; as embarrassing as it was, Zuqetta needed to escape. At her current pace, it may have been another fifteen to twenty minutes of full on sprinting; but she at least knew she was nearing her safe zone. Knowing the strength of having a group themselves, the Saiba-wolves knew better than to approach the Saiyan Capitol. Should the guards and soldiers have descended upon them in full force, they would have surely been wiped out. As such, they always maintained distance away from any cities or outposts; however, for the moment they were still far off enough from said city that they would continue their hunt relentlessly.

Zuqetta took this into consideration, and refused to drop her guard as saiba-wolf after saiba-wolf jumped at her; forcing her onto the defensive as she now needed to toss them aside as well as keep up her current pace lest she be overrun. Unfortunately, in her sprint, her eyes caught a glimpse of someone far ahead of her; a mere speck in the distance, but distinguishable enough that she could easily make out a humanoid shape. "Ahhhhh!!! Nonononono! Someone's out here!?!?" She exclaimed, approaching the figure faster and faster, with the boundless horde right on her heels, "HEEEEEEEYY!!! RUUUUUUUNNNN!!!!" She'd shout as loudly as she could, hoping to catch the individuals attention; now drawing near enough that she was about to make out the fact that he was clearly another Saiyan!

That child is going to be a thorn in my side yet! Zriracha thought with a cross expression on her face. For hours, the Satyr woman had been trying to catch up to Zerori but as her child grew more capable of utilizing her magic - the more difficult it became to track her power. Thankfully, it was growing at an unusually fast pace so she could sniff her out with relative ease when she was in battle. “If she would just raise her power once more, I could find her again,” Zriracha sighed. As she waited for Zerori’s power to spike, Zriracha had kept herself busy. Thanking, mostly, but also keeping her own skills as refined as they should be. Years of becoming indolent with her clan had made her battle power rusty but she was still the most powerful of their people… under certain conditions.

She’d taken to relaxing along the long branch of a powerful tree, even as it wept with some odd form of liquid and gas. It hardly bothered her, but Zriracha could feel the fumes and poison infect things around her. Already, she’d had to blast quite a few of the varied Saibien creatures away to earn even a few moments of peace. However, as she made to relax again and continue to think about what she should do - the sound of screams caught her attention. Oddly.... Familiar screams?

She leaned up, levitating off the branch to look in the direction it came from. “They're not far from me,” Zriracha noted before she glided through the air to follow the direction it was going. High above the tree line and far from danger, Zriracha would scan the area to see a very familiar armor set being chased by a sizable number of Saibien Wolves. She recognized that scent and gave a soft scoff of laughter, “Two of the same, it seems,” Zriracha commented, amused that Zuqetta also seemed to have a penchant for finding trouble.

She’d observed a boy rush after Zuqetta and try to bring her to safety, rubbing her chin curiously, before giving a shrug.

In a matter of seconds after they were within the cliff crevice, a veritable hail of blasts would come raining down - absolutely decimating a large number of the wolves that had threatened to kill Zuqetta and - now - her new friend. As she landed in front of the opening of the two Saiyan’s hiding place, Zriracha could see that these wolves weren’t just hungry… they were ravenous and felt little fear even as their own companions were blown to gory bits.

The Satyr woman turned, standing at an intimidating 6’ 4”, looking at the two over her shoulder, but mostly speaking to Zuqetta with a cocky smirk, “Have you not yet learned to fly, Child? I do believe that was something I taught Zerori to do as a toddler. A pleasure, by the way, young man.”

Zuqetta would furrow her brow in annoyance as Zriracha took to the sky once more; it wasn't simply her, Vennel and Vocado could fly too, and the latter of those individuals is who annoyed her the most to have such an ability. Still, now was no time to fester on such thoughts, she'd been working on controlling her anger and now was one of the best times to put her discipline to the test. "Hmph, have you assist ME old goat..." Zuqetta muttered before turning her attention back towards Atomos, "Sounds good ta me! With the three of us, we can't lose!" Zuqetta declared, focusing her energy around her form before dashing off toward the center of the fray opposite of Zriracha, "I'll keep em distracted while you two pick em off!!" She yell, charging in immediately upon one of the saiba-wolves; her tail quickly whipping out to grab one and slam it upon another.

If there was one advantage Zuqetta felt she held over the wolves, it would have been her dexterity. They were fast, but she barely outpaced them; they were strong, but she could slightly outmatch them. However, when it came to their maneuverability, Zuqetta completely outclassed the saiba-wolves. She could stop on a dime and change direction without any loss of momentum if needed; as well, thanks to her continuously challenging battles, her instincts and reaction speeds had improved more than she ever thought possible.

"Know what!? Before I beat you, you need ta teach me to fly, ya old goat!!" Zuqetta would yell as she darted between the saiba-wolves, "It ain't gonna be fair if only you can do it!!" She continued, grinning as she showed off her ability within the steadily decreasing horde.

As she moved about, she'd allow Atomos and Zriracha to fight as they saw fit, doing her best to simply stay out of their way. She was successful in her task, gaining the attention of a great deal of the saiba-wolves, with only some few stray straggler venturing away to strike at the other two. The rest would be ripe for the picking as she acted as the most annoying nuisance that the wolves simply couldn't ignore. With Zriracha's mention of a price however, Zuqetta got just a bit worried; with Zriracha likely doing all the work to kill off the remaining wolves, she wondered what the odds would be of Zriracha also absconding with the whole of the bounty later!

“Rensou? Very well; a pleasure to meet you Rensou,” Zriracha acknowledged, politely ignoring the constant use of the young girl calling her an ‘old goat’. Was that going to be an ongoing nickname for her? Carefully, she aimed around the limber Saiyan as she bounced around, twisted and turned and made quick work of disorienting the wolves at their own game of speed and endurance. Zriracha’s lips twisted into an impressed smirk as the sudden call from Zuqetta, shaking her head as she thought silently to herself, And now she boldly demands my tutelage? Well, what right do I have to say ‘no’? Within moments, the horde was nearly non-existent and left to scrambling runts and uncoordinated cowards.

They stood little chance to her final few blasts. When all was finished, Zriracha would land on the ground with an audible clack of her hooves against stone before turning to Rensou and giving him a playful grin. “Quite a demand walking under the disguise of a question; no matter,” She bowed politely, “I am known as Zriracha of Chakkapak, a Demon from the Realm of Demons and I am… currently looking for my daughter. I just so happened to be nearby when someone-” Zriracha passed a glanced to Zuqetta, “-seemed to find themselves overwhelmed.”

Leaning back up, the Demon took this moment to talk about Zuqetta’s earlier demand, “You wish to learn to fly? Out of fairness…?” After a moment, she shrugged as if it was of little consequence to her, “Very well, but it will cost you-” She trailed off, tapping her bottom lip as she thought and looked around briefly to come up with a good trade.

As her gaze landed upon the corpses of their kill, an ida came to mind. “These wolves. I will take them,” She turned back to Zuqetta, smiling victoriously with the thought that she’d come up with the most appropriate and acceptable offer.

Little did she know of Zuqetta’s insecurities regarding said wolves; a bounty was the last thing on the Demon’s mind, as Zriracha would clarify in a moment with a fanged grin, “They will make adequate food for some time!”

Zuqetta was glad that Rensou seemed to be on her side when it came to the wolves; and even better, it seemed like he was even willing to help teach her to fly. Though, that didn't necessarily mean she had to completely ignore anything Zriracha was willing to teach either. And as luck would have it, it seemed that Zriracha was making attempt to show herself off a a possible instructor of sorts as she used her strange magic to transmute a saiba-wolf before their very eyes. As the smoke cleared, Zuqetta would look upon the many hotdogs in awe; ironically being reminded of her encounter with the hungry child that was Zerori in the process.

"Woah! That was awesome!" She'd exclaimed, looking over and inspecting the pile, "Hm, I don't see the claws or fangs anywhere, those are important." She chastised, "But still, super cool!!"

Zuqetta knew that turning in the bounty that was the Saiba-wolf carcass would net her a lump sum of zeni; but was also aware that the lump sum was substantially less than the actual worth of the wolf. She had no skills to process the corpse however, and was keen as to how such trade interactions impacted the economy as a whole. While the guild would buy the bodies for a small sum from the hunters, they would in turn process the bodies and sell the parts for an even greater sum to smithy's and food vendors. There would be a much greater profit to be had to ask Zriracha to process the saiba-wolves into their raw materials, and then selling that; but she had no idea how that could impact the market. If the guild lost heavy profits due to this, would they have needed to shut down? Hardly, but it was likely they would lower the rewards of future bounties.

"Hmm, maybe you CAN be useful go- err, Miss Zriracha~!" Zuqetta chimed, an idea hatching in her head, "If you don't need all the bodies, awesome!" She began, "Let's split it evenly! But I wanna make a request of you and your weird powers!" She continued, giving Zriracha a wide grin as she paced around the pile of saiba-dog/hotdogs, "I'll give ya half of my take of the Saiba-wolves! But as for the other half, I'd like ya ta do that weird magic again and turn them into raw meat! But uh, don't forget to leave their fangs and claws alone too!" She requested, "Oh, but only to half of that half! I still wanna turn in at least a small amount to the guild ta help them out!"

Though her intentions seemed pure, her request didn't seem as though it was going to end their. She gave Rensou a knowing nod, he was free to accept his portion of the evenly distributed good and also do what he wanted with them; but if he was still up for it, then she would still accept his offer to teach her how to fly.

"Hmhm, but that's not all!" Zuqetta declared, "If you accept, you can sans the meat! I'll give you that other half of a half! So seventy-five percent of all my portion! I only ask that ya give me the claws and fangs; and in exchange, I want you ta train me like you said you'd do before!" She finished, crossing her arms with a confident expression; with how easily Zriracha had transmuted that earlier wolf, it seemed like such a task would have been no issue for her at all, and it certainly seemed like Zriracha had wanted the entire hoard of wolves before. Piecing it all together, Zuqetta felt that this would be a near perfect deal of exchange; as not only would she make a new friend that was willing to teach her to fly, but she'd also have a second instructor! And if possible, she hoped Rensou might want to join in on this little 'business venture' she was currently taking part in!