Good hunting (BD, RD, Open

[Sir Lighter of Elsewhere]

Jackal sat trapped in the net, cursing to himself. Even with his years of guerrilla training, he had still fallen for a net trap. He pulled out his butterfly knife, flipped it open, and cut himself out, landing on the soft dirt five feet below. He brushed the dirt off of his jacket and jeans, and checked his quiver for arrows. He still had a good number of chainsaw arrows, and a few others. His bow was still in good shape, and he felt strong enough to use it. His horse was elsewhere, probably eating something. Jackal looked around at the high trees and dense brush.

Fifty yards off, he saw a slight twitch in a bush. He began running through the woods, leaving a trail of broken branches behind him, hoping to reach the disturbance. But, it was gone. Jackal found himself alone, in a hostile forest filled with traps and a dangerous predator hunting him.

Suddenly, a spear flew past him, sticking deep into a tree. Jackal drew an arrow, holding the massive bow steady, hoping to spot his hunter. He stood, panting heavily, drenched in sweat, unsure of what to do next.

(OOC: Sorry for my tardiness, but I had a much better post. And then my internet crashed.)

[BD]

Kite was still unhappy at the recent turn of events plaguing his life recently. While the internal affairs investigation ordered by Samus turned up nothing that would incriminate him, his already interesting reputation had taken a hit. The other staff's previous regard for him as a maverick was manageable, but people were suspecting him of being a double agent due to the investigation.

He was planning to request a transfer out of the arena in order to try and get a fresh start. His current plan was to apply for Blane's former position as head of the angel police; but, even that seemed like it might not put enough distance between him and any remnants of the investigation. But there was still the nagging doubt in his head that made him want to finish his investigations into the beta killings before he filed for his transfer. This doubt led him to the jungles of North America, where there was talk of multiple players going missing. Upon further investigation, the 3 missing people were all beta testers, albeit weak ones. Kite was hoping for some sort of lead that could give him the edge in beating Samus to solving the case.

Samus...

Kite felt his temperature rise when he thought about his coworker. While the worst of the effects were over, Kite was still considered officially off the beta killings, and she hadn't bothered to reinstate him, despite the fact that the investigation was moot and his antics in HQ basically jumped the case miles ahead. He still held quite a bit of contempt for her in that regard and was slowly becoming obsessed with solving the case before her, just to prove that she was an idiot for not trusting him in the first place.

He walked trekked through the jungle until he heard a strange sound. He went in the direction where he had heard the sound coming from and saw the spear still rattling slightly in the tree as he spotted a lone hunter with a rather large bow. He decided not to draw his weapon for the moment, in an effort to show he meant no harm.

"Hey, you with the bow, are you all right?"

[Sir Lighter of Elsewhere]

Jackal swung around, drawing his bow the full length. Suddenly, the meaning of the man's words made sense. "Yeah, I'm fine... a bit banged up, but more or less good."

Jackal slung his bow over shoulder, and he approached the man. "Well, what in the hell are you doing here? Or are you the son of a bitch who decided to try hunting me? 'Cause I swear that I will put an arrow right through your pretty little face. No, I'm just kidding you." His bright green hair had been plastered on his face from all of the sweat. Jackal brushed it aside, and extended his right hand.

"Who might you be?"

[BD]

Kite was taken back a bit by the hunter's seemingly initially conflicting emotions, but he brushed it aside as he shook Jackal's hand.

"Name's Kite Mcknights, i'm the staff rep for Square Enix."

He flipped the hair from his eyes as he reached out and yanked the spear from the tree, studying it closely.

"This is handmade; no weapons vendor would be caught dead selling a spear without some form of a metal shaft running down the middle of the rod. Whoever the hell is out there, he's damn good at what he does if he can make a spear himself."

He flipped the spear and examined the spear head with a slight smirk on his face.

"Definetly handmade, the cutting edge is lopsided, helps to compensate on throws for various factors the thrower might run into. This guy knows how he likes his weapons."

He held the spear out to Jackal in the most nonthreatening way possible.

"You want it; I don't really have an interest in this type of weapon."

[Sir Lighter of Elsewhere]

Jackal looked over the spear, took it, and snapped the shaft of wood over his knee. "Don't want that coming back at us. By the way, I'd be Jackal. And no, I won't bite you. You seem a bit... on edge. Like I would do THIS!" In one fluid motion, Jackal drew his Butterfly knife, opened it, and pressed it to Kite's neck. Laughing, he put it away, stepping out of reach of the man.

"Got ya... Heh heh heh... Yeah, I've been out here for weeks, and this guys been getting me at every turn. Less than twenty minutes ago, I was in a net, hanging. He knows what he's doing... I've seen glimpses of, but he's always just out of range for a good shot, or hiding behind some damned bush. He's like an army..."

Jackal checked his quiver, and removed one of his chainsaw arrows. He wiped of the delicate arrowhead, cleaning the dirt off of it. He held it up too the light, making sure that it remained straight, even after his previous fall. When everything checked out, he put it back, and started to walk on. "So, what's your story, Mr. McKnights? You didn't seem to thrilled when you said you were staff... Can't blame ya, but still." Jackal powered through the forest leaving a definite trail of destruction.

"If I break crap, it gives me a line of sight back. And a firing range. I have lines like this all over... My flower of death."

[BD]

Kite smirked slightly as he watched Jackal's mannerisms. His thoughts drifted as he realized how much Jackal reminded him of Dranzer. He seemed competent, which gave Kite a slightly better feeling out in the middle of nowhere.

"Well, working for the staff is like getting paid to eat bees. I'm probably not getting enough for it, and it stings you even when you think you're doing your job."

He tossed his hair again and leaned against the tree as he scanned his surroundings.

"Even if he's a one-man army, I don't see how he could carry the equipment to stalk for days just on his person. He must have some type of base camp set up. That should be our objective."

[Sir Lighter of Elsewhere]

Jackal broke out laughing when he heard Kite's speech about working for the staff. But suddenly, he shifted back to being more serious. He pushed through the thick underbrush, stopping every so often to make a little mark on a tree.

"I think our hunter has started to think that he knows what these mean... I'm trying to get him to the center of the forest, or at least into one of my ranges. I just need one shot, and he's mine... But as for a camp, I've been all over through here, and I haven't seen anything. I spent a week just in the trees looking through branches... I torched several miles of forest trying to flush him out... He's good. My guess, those spears, he makes them as he needs them. He carries say, a knife and some carving tools, and he makes the spear on location. I've only seen him throw one at a time. And there are plenty of animals that he could eat, and I've seen bears that could eat the remains..."

Jackal stopped, took out his bow, and drew an arrow. He looked deep into the forest, trying to spot the movement. Two-hundred yards off, a large deer walked slowly, unaware of the two men. Jackal drew the bow to its full length, and released the arrow. He smiled as the arrow burrowed itself in the deer's eye. He sprinted to his kill, and removed the arrow. A little portion of brain remained on the head of the arrow. He wiped off the arrow, and placed it back in his quiver. Jackal then cut several portions of vine near by, and tied the carcass between two trees in the middle of the range line. He slit a vein on the deer, and watched as blood dripped slowly.

"A little trap of my own. With any luck, the hunter will pass under the deer. He'll pick up some of the blood on his foot prints, and give us an easier trail. You see, even if the blood dries before he walks through it, he will still pick up some small residue. And I have amazing eyes, and can see even the slightest remains... Which concerns me... He doesn't seem to leave a trail... He covers it, or masks it. Or perhaps he moves through the trees, monkey style. But maybe this blood idea will work."

Jackal walked away, careful to avoid the small pile of blood coagulating below the deer.

[BD]

"Well, at the worst, it gives an idea of how he's moving," Kite said as he walked off next to Jackal.

He kept pace with with Jackal. For once, he was relieved to meet a real person just out in the wild, instead of some nutty cultists, insane mercenaries, or fan girls. He relaxed slightly as he observed the woods.

"You seem like you could use a hand with this guy, want my help, or should I just keep walking?"

[Sir Lighter of Elsewhere]

"Some help would be nice. I'm not much of a swordsman, and if this guy gets in behind me, close rang, I'm toast. Plus a second pair of eyes can do wonders for tracking stuff."

Jackal walked on, carefully looking around his surroundings, hoping to spot any trace of the hunter. "I wonder if this is some kind of ghost... or maybe the forest itself wants to kill me. If I were a forest, I'd try to kill me. Wait... hang on."

Jackal sprinted up a few yards, and then dropped to his knees. he pulled out his knife, and cut away a vines and branches covering the ground. A large foot print lay in the dirt. "Hm... about an inch deep. Probably something man-size. But I've never seen any shoe print that looks like that. Is this yours Kite?"

[Akanyara]

The shadows of the jungle danced over the face of a tall young woman leaned up against a tree, a large black wolf at her side sitting quietly. The woman held a white cloth in her right hand, and a bright and shining black pistol in her left. The stern look on her face tightened as she chipped away the grime left behind by the previous owner. A certain compassion flowed through her fingertips into the metal of the gun. That man might still be alive and holding this beautiful piece of weaponry if he'd properly taken care of it. Regardless, it would be handled and cleaned very well now.

As the last bits of dirt and rust fell off of the now shining handgun, she tucked the cloth back into her pocket, and holstered the gun at her hip. She straightened the gloves on her hands and forearms, and bent over to tighten the laces on her boots. Ah, these boots. The well shaped leather gave them a unique shape, but still they were very heavy and rugged in appearance. With a shrug of her shoulders, she brought her shirt straps back into alignment, feeling the warm air on her back where the laces left her skin exposed. She flipped her shining black hair over her shoulders and pushed her lips together to smoothen the bright red lipstick back down. Bangs fell lightly over her left eye and she looked deep into the darkness of the forest before her.

The sound of voices caught her ear and she pulled her dagger from its sheath, walking slowly and cautiously over to the opening in the trees where a man's questioning voice spoke to his companion. She smirked slightly, signaling her wolf to stay put as she pulled her pistol from her side and stepped into the open, "No, no dear. That's mine."