The Hunting Grounds III - Second Most Dangerous Game

[Halae]

The goddess of the hunt watches with anticipation and a grin. The hunts progress as she wills. Across all her territory, warriors and beasts fight in her name.

The Plains, both Snowy and Grassy are where large beasts lumber along. many wary creatures, all dangerous in their own right, give wide berth to others. but always, always, you see a hunt occurring. Or you don't, if the attacked is striking from the shadows.

The Forest, like the plains, becomes snowier as you go north, though it's clear of such things further to the south. Be warned; dangerous creatures stalk these woods; shadowy beasts willing to tear apart enemies if given half a chance.

West of the forest is a set of Mountains, at least one of which is volcanic. Flying creatures often roost here, and the dangerous things that can survive both the altitude and the other beasts that call this place home. Deep, dangerous Caverns exist beneath the mountain range.

In the rain shadow of the mountains is a wide Desert. Creatures of the sand make their home here, even going so far as to have developed land sharks ready to destroy unwary intruders. In the center of the desert lays a massive Marble Tower, apparently made from a single solid block of marble. There are no apparent entrances, but it stands there all the same.

To the the East is the Ocean, and who knows what lives within its sunless depths? Nothing safe, that much is assured.

And finally, though it's hidden from view below and above, by obscuring clouds, there is a Floating Island, out above the water. Nobody has ever been there, so what horrors exist upon this island are unknown... right now.

Spoiler: Huntside

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Huntside

So reads the sign posted outside of this small but bustling community, driven into the ground with a rather large stake and built of thick wood, as if expecting trouble for such a simple furnishing. Under the name reads "Keep your Weapons Holstered" in red.

The town looks like it could barely hold a hundred occupants, but those that are there are certainly capable. A small but defensible wall tightly surrounds the town, with a gate at each cardinal direction. These walls are mostly concrete and stone, although some bits seem to have been repaired or reinforced with metal. Each gate is made of thick wood and metal, as stone is a bit heavy for doors. The buildings, few though they are, all seem to be either made of or reinforced with non-flammable materials, though several instead seem to have been reinforced with rubber or more exotic materials instead. Many seem to be made from salvaged materials, and the few that are made from more sturdy bricks have colors that don't quite match, as if they'd been built alongside existing walls and no one had bothered to hide it. On one side of the town is a number of small fields, the largest space thought sustainable with the place's location. The risk is likely still great, but to such an isolated place resources can be scarce if trade slows. A dedicated team of Felyns, (small antropomorphic cats) dutifully maintain them.

Also outside the walls is a small station on the east and west side, including a large platform with a crane and a number of small structures. These are used in the hoisting and butchering of hunts of tremendous size, which are uncommon but not enough to devalue such things.

The fields are noticeable from a distance, but two other things are equally as eye-catching. The first is a great tree, stretching at least fifty meters in height, which dominates the center of town, its broad branches extending over the entire central square. A small wooden building, squat and round, is built around one side of it, acting as the meeting place of a small circle of druids and the temple of the Hunting Ground's patron goddess, known simply for her role: The Huntress. She has been ever mysterious, so much so that few act as her clergy, as no one knows quite what that would entail. As such, there is simply a modest but well-built altar of the finest wood in a prominent place at the heart of the building, against the trunk of the great tree. Behind it on the walls are six plaques: One depicts a perfectly round hill in the forest. One depicts a dead caldera. The third, a floating island over a tower. The fourth an island in the ocean. The fifth, a seemingly out of place mountain in the middle of a desert, and the sixth a shrine in the tundra.

Around the Tree and the Temple is the town bazaar, covering almost half the town and employing a very solid chunk of its population. Three circles of booths and stores surround the Tree. Closest and smallest are the weapon and armor vendors. This is mostly because the town's dedicated artisans have their own permanent shops on the streets proper, so the small vendors are usually temporary, small-time, visiting, or employed by the masters. The second circle is for food and other essentials, and the third is effectively everything else; jewelry to backpacks to books.

But even in front of the enormous spread of the Bazaar, the town hall dominates the landscape. Constructed from the bones of some leviathan, its ribs arcing over into a roof after being covered in the strongest wood, scales, and leathers possible, it is certainly an imposing structure, even if some would call it a bit gaudy or unnecessarily complicated. It is here where Clans and hunting Guilds go and register themselves, and where most official business is conducted. It is easily the most recognizable part of the town, even compared to the size of the Great Tree. On a board outside the town hall itself is a number of bills posted for various monsters seen in the Grounds. Each has a hand-drawn picture. Apparently the idea is to inquire inside if you require more information, want a requisition, or other things the town would care about.

Spoiler: Huntside Mess Hall

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The Huntside Mess Hall is a long, sturdy wood building running north-south with a few bricks for its chimney and such, and a lot of opened windows, which is nice to keep the place a reasonable temperature but the smells have a tendency to make everyone hungry. The staff aren't complaining. It's mostly an open cafeteria, with its cooks stationed on the west side at a number of grills, spits, ovens etc. behind a number of counters. Many are laden with empty plates for the wash, but many are still active.
Because you know what's the best thing about missing breakfast?
You're just in time for brunch!

Most people can't afford to wake up late enough to catch the Huntside Brunch special, which has a rather small window before the lunch menu starts, but that doesn't stop head chef Duzur from making it every day. Or so he claims, in reality he hasn't been doing it that long, he just felt like cooking waffles about a month ago and started doing it since without really telling anyone.

Duzur himself is a very portly blue Seeq of middle age (although it's hard for most people to tell, since he doesn't have a head of hair, he's the same size he's been for years, and his voice is always gravelly due to his face and mouth structure), and that's portly by their standards, which is to say that a human his size would likely not be merrily walking around with a spring in his step. He is doing so now, dressed in his usual attire. Which is to say, he's wearing an apron that was probably white at some point, and not much else besides the minimum to cover his modesty, having apparently subscribed to his race's normal fashion sense coupled with "it's hot in here." It's something most people don't care about. After all, between the Druids and Hector being animals half the time, the felyns wearing what they feel like and nothing else, and the reptiles like Hector not caring about mammalian definitions of modesty, the people are pretty loose about that sort of thing.

It's worth noting that anyone of a normal lifestyle would be appalled at the amount of calories (and frankly everything else) this fellow puts in his food, but he'd respond to any hypothetical accusations of serving unhealthy food by saying that if a Hunter can't burn off what he serves, they're not doing their job. And knowing the Hunting Grounds? He's pretty much right. Those who are only merchants tend to stick to the subordinate chef's counters. These other chefs consist of three humans, two Felyns, one other Seeq, an Ogier, a Twi'Lek couple, and an ifrit (his specialty is flame-broiling ), in addition to three halfling boys from town who work their family's stand but help clean up the place after meals. And every last one of them is a bit round, because no matter what Cielnoir sets as a limit for Duzur he always ends up making more food that's needed, and he adamantly refuses to throw away good food. In the end, they don't complain.

Spoiler: Important People and Businesses

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Roran Highwind- Huntside's chief courier. The town has a few dedicated couriers, although none compete with their leader's efficiency. The seven-foot bipedal dragon might not be as fast as a griffin or harpy, but few can match his endurance. He's also a complete workaholic, which means that he has his own staff to cover the actual mail-processing duties when he's out doing deliveries (read: most of the time).

Hector Lon- This fellow runs the only library in town. It's a rather modest little brick building off in a corner but still rather valuable, as who wants to go on a hunt unprepared? He also doubles as one of the few dedicated mages in town. He's also the first to see if you were bitten by any strange animals, as he's a werewolf. Of course, no one's ever seen him as not wolfish, so some debate that label. He doesn't seem to care much.

Reorx- this stout dwarf works the town's main forge, placed just outside the Bazaar circle. It's an open building mostly of reused bones and leathers forming tents, but the forges themselves are all stone. Despite the heat of his work he's never been seen without his steel helmet. He rarely talks, and as he's never told anyone his name people refer to him by the god whose holy symbol his helmet bears. No one is more skilled in arm and armor-craft than he, with any materials.

Hound- this tall, imposing Yautja acts as the leader of Huntside's hunters, those dedicated both to its defense from roving monsters and continued raids into the Grounds for resources. He is strong and capable as both a leader and a fighter, but he is often irritable with outsiders.

Gearhead- If Reorx can't forge it, it's probably impossible. If it's impossible, ask Gearhead. This tall, barrel-chested ork is named such for his distinct skull, which has a very large portion of its back and left side replaced with a brass cap with several gears sticking out, eternally spinning and clicking. His head was impaled by a Retriever years ago, but he assured his comrades it was a flesh wound and shot it dead before finding himself some replacement parts, ignoring all claims that his brains were splattered over the ground, that gears were not a suitable replacement for brains, and that they have no actual power source keeping them spinning.
Oddly enough he has proven time and time again an extremely competent engineer. Most of the buildings he designs stay standing when build by ordinary architects, and his methods of maintaining guns involves actual tools and logic. The ones he makes though, most people don't bother to really inspect besides asking how to aim, shoot, and keep from exploding. All in all, his stuff is incredibly reliable, as long as you don't think too much about what's going on in that head of his. His workshop is a ramshackle affair covered in every bit of metal imaginable across from Reorx's, and of course painted bright red.

Cielnoir- The Chief and leader of Huntside, he's been largely credited from turning it from a tiny outpost into a functioning community, even if it is still mostly a trade outpost. He's been described as intimidating, shrewd, subtle, and cunning. He has been called a master hunter and unrivaled with a firearm. He has been rumored to have once beaten a pit fiend in poker, and tossed it out on its ass when it accused him of cheating.
He's also been described as an irritatingly cute little winged bunny-man, because he's a Moogle.
Do not make fun of his pom-pom or his "Kupo." They are very effective ways to get shot. Still, the "fuzzy little leader" as Rory calls him has proven time and again his competence, and defended his title over many challenges. His home and office are in the Town Hall, within the skull of the beast used in its construction.

Huntside is a trading post first and foremost. It's a place people pass through as a stop on their way to the Hunting Grounds, but slowly it developed into a small town built around preparing people for its hazards and the hunting business in general. Although its size is small, there are few places that could be called so incredibly specialized and so well-prepared in that field. But for this reason, its defenses are mostly only to protect against monsters. All are welcome if they follow the rules are the town, which are largely basic logic save for the one on its sign.

Enjoy your stay, and happy hunting.

Spoiler: Job Board

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While there are currently no Monsters to be hunted right at the moment put up by players, there are always ones being put up by NPCs. Ask in OOC if you want a beastie to hunt down.

Let the Hunt continue.

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2
Rules and Notes:

Spoiler

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So, here's the skinny, partly stolen shamelessly from other threads.

1. This is an open thread. Anybody can stumble across the hunting grounds if you want them to, but keep in mind that anybody here is fair game to be attacked by the other players, including with their monsters.

2. Anybody can introduce a new monster without consulting me first. If you want a lightning unicorn? Go for it. Just remember that anything made here has to have a way to be killed. That isn't to say it can't be extremely difficult, but it should be capable of dying.

3. This is a high lethality thread. Fights will happen here constantly, so don't complain if you get eaten by some terrible monstrosity. However, this leads us into the next point...

4. If you character (or monster) proves themselves, they will be resurrected a few days later in a relatively safe location. To prove yourself, you need to show the goddess that you are a hunter. Creatures of humanoid intelligence will find their minds degrading slightly every time this happens, though this is eliminated if you prove yourself once more. Weaklings however? Die without the goddess resurrecting them. They can be raised by other means, but the goddess will not support a weakling.

5. Every time a character or beast makes an impressive kill, they are rewarded in some way. Perhaps a swordsman is given a sword made from the bones of the dragon he just killed, or a wolf that kills a bear is given saber teeth to hunt larger prey. The rewards are always personalized, and I'll work with you to decide what they'll receive.

6. If you have a Monster you want hunted, go ahead and place the monster on the job board outside the Town hall. Chances are, someone will pick it up.

[Lost_Deep]

[Huntside]

Who's got four hooves and is now staring at Punch with aghast silence?

Sunder!

That's who!

"Killed? People who are weak are killed just for being weak? Holy hell, that's cold," Sunder replies after she gets over her shock. "I mean... I heard that pegasi used to toss foals over the edge of their cloud cities to teach them to fly and the ones that couldn't would just splat. But I don't even know if that crap is true or not."

Ancient pegasi culture was totally based on Sparta.

They had the Greek warrior culture and everything!

Probably not the nicest place to live for flower arrangers.

"It was comparable to that, but with the added pressure of each of your 'friends' being encouraged to push you. Between that and the romantic requirements that are forced upon you, many do not make it to adulthood, and no one is really... emotionally stable."

[Recaiden]

[Cave: Time to go]

Leah rises, puts her gauntlets back on, and tunes up the light amplification of the helmet's lenses.

"Lead on."

She's not fond of climbing, but if Slim hasn't brought equipment for it, it will probably be okay.

[Rebonack]

[Huntside]

Sunder whistles at that. "Sounds harsh. With ponies it's all 'friendship is magic' and stuff. Y'know, herd animals and all. Stand together or die together."

Which is pretty darn different from the troll focus on back-stabbing and front-stabbing.

And then something occurs to her!

"Wait, romance? I thought you said you didn't have dads."

This is very confusing!

[Lost_Deep]

Huntside

"We don't. It involves the royal drone, pails, and the mother grub. If you really want to know, I'll send you the link to the cultural guide sometime." Punch shakes her head. "Suffice to say that if you don't get in good with two different people in two different ways, you die, and pails and pail-like objects are taboo."

...after hearing that, most people wouldn't want to know more.

[Rebonack]

[Huntside]

"This is getting into too much information territory for me," Sunder points out.

Looks like she counts as most people.

"Let's just go beat the crap out of things."

That's far less awkward and confusing!

[Lost_Deep]

Huntside

"Agreed. Let's find something big this time. I want to bash something big enough to eat me." She cracks her knuckles.

[Rebonack]

[Huntside ==> The Forest]

Well, in that case Sunder will let Punch climb on again before taking off at PCHOOOOOOOO! speeds!

Before long a whole buncha generic trees will be zooming past below them. Deciduous? Evergreen? Arid and dry or moist? Who knows! It's just a really generic forest. As a matter of fact, it seems almost patchwork, with one chunk of forest giving away to a completely unrelated type of forest. There used to be a The Forest thread back in the day like that, maybe it moved over here?

Anywho!

Looming ahead of our heroes is a huge rock outcrop sticking out of the trees, covered in all manner of moss, scraggly pines, grasses, and even a few mysterious looking ruins. Sunder lands atop the thing and lets Punch off.

The raised location gives them a commanding view of the surroundings!

Here and there in the distance trees wobble and birds fly into the air, no doubt evidence of huge, ponderous things moving through the forest.

[Lost_Deep]

The Forest

Punch points at the evidence of something big and scary and likely carnivorous. "Should we give it fair warning or simply meteor it?"

[TechnoScrabble]

Desert-Two Weeks Ago...

Sunset, hot wind over the dunes. Red and blue dancing in the sky, a violet cavalcade flanking the fleeting light of the day's last battle. A poetic moment to be sure, as coarse sand danced around the figure seated atop the dune, but then again, Griffin hated poetry. He never did have a way with words.

He sat, eyes towards the sunset, flicking back and forth, watching the silohouettes in the distance as the day's beasts went to sleep, and the night's rose to hunt. His rifle sat in his lap, scope gleaming softly. He could pick it up, he could squeeze the trigger, he could end any one life he saw. But would he enjoy it?

His rifle was a weapon of war. Oversized rounds and overprecise workings were fine when more was at stake, but Griffin didn't fight wars any more. He'd lost them all so far, anyways. Some warrior he was. No, no, he was a hunter. Or rather, the rifle was the hunter, and he was just a glorified spotter. There was no personality in it, none of the emotion. Maybe the GunWizard, old coot though he was, was right. Maybe Griffin had been too pragmatic.

He patted the hellhound at his side as the last dying rays of sunlight flickered out behind the horizon, and X-Com's work on once ruined eyes kicked in, the desert ligjtonf back up in a dizzying array of infrared light and thermal signals.

"Boy...I think it's time we took a step back. Got a better view of it all."

He scooped up a warm handful of sand, heftomf it and testing its weight, then set it aside. Then another handful, and another, and another...

Desert-Now...

Three black shapes move, in the night quietly hissing between each other. Large, quadrupedal, and blacker than the shadows around them, they open wide, zipper like mouths and breath in deeply, pit glands along the insides of their maws picking up heat and scent from the environment around them...

[Fenric]

[Cave: Time to go]

Leah rises, puts her gauntlets back on, and tunes up the light amplification of the helmet's lenses.

"Lead on."

She's not fond of climbing, but if Slim hasn't brought equipment for it, it will probably be okay.

And he does. Sometimes narrow, sometimes low, sometimes precarious, sometimes damp... it's just a plain old natural cave. He takes a path that leads fairly consistently upwards, and is occasionally even open to the surface. After a bit over an hour, they reach a spot where several wooden beams are propped up against boards on the ceiling.

Slim speaks in the barest of whispers

That's thar's the way up. Hole's way off to one side, near'n the back exit to the latrine. You'd ruther not know how'n I know that.

[Recaiden]

[Cave: Time to go]

Seems like they could have gone above-ground half the way. But that would have made it more likely some hunter or predator would find them. And this path was definitely long enough.

Leah faces Slim and nods. No need to make any more noise than necessary. It's pretty clear what to do. Take the boards down, head up, and rush in. Check the gun, yep, still here, and then heads up to carefully open the way.

[Rebonack]

[The Forest]

"Eh, we should at least get a look at the thing first," Sunder replies with a wing-shrug. "Things should at least get to look you in the eye before you smash their bucking face in. It's polite."

...

Not sure if smashing random monsters' faces in is polite, Sunder, but whatever floats your boat.

The pegasus leaps off the huge rock and begins sailing down into the trees!

Though she can't help but think she might have forgotten something...

[Fenric]

[Cave: Sneak Attack!]

The boards come down gingerly, and Slim takes a small knife and carefully slices through the canvas: taking his time so the noise is minimal. Slim has left earth and rocks making rough steps upwards, so while climbing is not trivial it doesn't require a professional rock-climber either.

Up in the tent, the four leaders are snoring: three in cots in the center of the tent, and one way off in an alcove in an approximation to a normal bed. Lights from outside show the silhouette of a guard in front of the front entrance, but no one appears to be awake inside.

Slim draws an unpleasant looking knife and creeps over towards the first cot.

[Recaiden]

[Cave -> Camp: Sneak Attack!]

Leah sets the armor to its weakest, quietest settings and climbs slowly, carefully up the rough steps. It's not a fun climb, but not impossible. Not the worst thing she's had to climb.

Once up there, she draws a short, curved blade, its handle styled to look like a viper, and creeps towards the alcove. Best to deal with the leader first, in case something goes wrong.

[Fenric]

[Camp: Sneak Attack]

Slim's first target is conveniently sleeping on his face. The knife is nearly silently pounded through the base of the hunter's skull, and there's one less to worry about. He moves on to the second sleeper.

[Recaiden]

[Camp: Sneak Attack]

Leah glances back to the dead man on the cot. That certainly settles (almost) any doubt of this being a trick.
On to the alcove.

Should this maybe feel wrong? Unsporting at least? To some, maybe. Leah's never really participated in but one fair fight.

How to strike? She realizes she has no idea how to kill someone silently. The neck, possibly. The heart maybe? The eye? She examines the sleeping figure, presumably the Huntmaster, and stabs the blade at what seems to be a vulnerable place.

[Fenric]

[Camp... not so sneaky anymore]

(( Why didn't you just eat him? ))

The Huntmaster groans as he is struck. Slim curses quietly and slits the throat of the second sleeper before running over to the awakening but totally confused third man and plunging his serrated blade into the man's heart.

Slim leaves his knife and pulls out his pistol as the guard comes in: Slim's cursing becomes rather louder

Quiet time's over, Leah!

[Recaiden]

[Camp - Fighting Time]

((Would have taken longer. He'd probably taste bad too.))

Leah releases the blade and draws her own MP, firing wildly in the guard's direction, hoping he's too confused to fight back yet.

"We did what we needed. Get him!"

[Fenric]

[Camp Attack: 10 Enemies Remaining]

The guard collapses to the ground and Slim charges out with a whoop!

I'm ahead! Can y'all catch up?

He's going to cause as much mayhem as he can while the junior hunters are still disoriented, which in his book means treating as many tents as he can to a hand grenade before anyone actually gets out.

Score:
Slim: 3
Leah: 1
Both: 1

[Recaiden]

[Camp Attack: 10 Enemies Remaining]

Is he treating this like a game? That's both horrid and exciting.

"You know it!"

She has to down six of the junior hunters just to tie though. Not going to be easy.

After racing out after Slim, Leah goes more after the people; a short burst of shots at each tent nearby, to slow them mounting any sort of response safely.

[Lost_Deep]

[The Forest]

"Eh, we should at least get a look at the thing first," Sunder replies with a wing-shrug. "Things should at least get to look you in the eye before you smash their bucking face in. It's polite."

...

Not sure if smashing random monsters' faces in is polite, Sunder, but whatever floats your boat.

The pegasus leaps off the huge rock and begins sailing down into the trees!

Though she can't help but think she might have forgotten something...

She is followed shortly by the sound of air-punches. Punch tries to maneuver over the thing, to get a good look at it from above. She doesn't try to follow Sunder exactly, for all her air-punch skill she can't really come close to the aerial agility of someone born with magic wings.

[Fenric]

[Camp Attack: 6 Enemies Remaining]

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

The grenades begin going off in succession as their fuses reach the end. Leah's firing into the tents certainly adds to the difficulty of the junior hunters scrambling out of bed and getting equipped. Unfortunately, due to the earlier deaths, not all of the tents are occupied. Chaos and dismay, and a lot of shouting (and just a bit of screaming) is going on.

zzzzzzCRAK

Oops... somebody further along is ready enough to shoot at Slim

Y'all shoot like a ninny! Here's how it's done!

rat-tat-tat-tat

Score:
Slim: 4
Leah: 4
Both: 3

[Rebonack]

[The Forest]

But isn't magic super-fake?

Though... to be fair a lot of trolls have psionic abilities, which are basically space magic when you get right down to it. But, eh, who cares about that, right?

Anywho!

Above the monster!

Imagine, for a moment, a tortoise. Then cross it with a walrus and a sarcastic fish. No, not sarcastic in the sense of a fish that's really snarky. Sarcastic in the sense of those horrifying looking fish with Predator-style mouths. Things are freaky! And if that weren't bad enough, also make the monster the size of a school bus. Just a lot wider and filled with fewer screaming children.

...

At least I hope it's filled with fewer screaming children.

[Recaiden]

[Camp Attack - 10 minus 6 equals 6?]

True. A good half of those shots would be at empty targets.

The Hunter takes a few steps towards the direction the electric crack came from, but Slim's got it.

"Nah. Like this, Slim."

Points at a hunter scrambling out of a burning tent, -tat-, one shot.

Grenade tossed casually at a tent that hasn't been hit yet. Probably no one near it, but why take chances?

[Fenric]

[Camp: 4 enemies remaining]

(( And to think I'd double checked... and still did it wrong. Next time, I'll set it up in Excel first. ))

They've made a lot of noise, and really great progress... and the tents are all empty now.

I didn't see nobody leave.

*BANG*

a .30 caliber soft nose from one of the hunters returning from patrol spins Slim around. He drops and rolls to the side, narrowly missing being shot three more times before ineffectually returning fire.

Goldurnit!

[Recaiden]

[Camp: 4 Enemies patrolling?]

Leah turns to the sound of the shot, and opens fire on the first one to shoot.
rat-a-tat-tat-tat.

"Give up, Tenjinite! The whole camp's dead."

Given their tendency to be fanatic martyrs, though, little chance of anyone listening.

[Lost_Deep]

The Forest

Having seen the creature, Punch will then try to maneuver after Sunder, hoping to land near her. She isn't really surprised by the creature's size or mouth.

After landing, she starts doing some stretches. Must warm up before a strenuous workout!

[Fenric]

[Camp: Make that 3 hunters scurrying back from patrol]

Slim is cursing profusely, mingled with things like

Dam fool idjits finally take up patrols the one night I'm out to get 'em!

The first one's partner was not far behind, but notices the noisy Slim rather than the hard to see Leah

*BANG*

Slim is far from an easy target, though

rat-tat-tat-tat

but his aim has gone downhill pretty badly and the hunter scurries behind a pile of supplies, leaving Slim to crawl out of plain sight. The ground is wet where he was laying.

Score:
Slim: 4
Leah: 5
Both: 3

[Recaiden]

[Camp - Reducing the number of hunters]

Leah creeps around the edge of the supply pile. He just needs to stay focused on Slim for a moment longer.

There. -rat-a-clk-clk-clk.

Well of course she lost track of how many bullets were left. Fumbling with another magazine, she runs towards the patrol. Maybe a distraction for Slim now.