RP:Gathering the Amber, Part 1
Part of the Chasing Lightning Arc
Venturil Wilds
Jerica had made it through the castle unmolested, she had gotten past the guard tower with no problems but now that she was in the wilder lands of Venturil, she moved with more caution. Something was out there, she could hear it rustling in the over sized grasses. It sounded almost as though she were being stalked. That just wouldn't do. As she walked, pushing down vegetation with every step, the assassin drew her crossbow from it's loop on her pants and slid a bolt into place. Half raised, Jerica keeps an eye on the grasses for suspicious movements.
Whatever has caused the vegetation here to grow to it's super-floral sizes seems to have also been at work on the insects that crawl across the ground in the cover of the tall grasses. Over sized horned beetles the size of turtles move slowly through the shade of the grass, unafraid of the assassin also trekking through. Their shells strong enough and their bodies large enough to survive Jerica stepping on them with their full weight, indeed stepping on one would feel more like stepping on a large rock than a living thing. The beetles are peaceful herbivores though so neither the human or the insect has anything to fear about the other. However Jerica shares the grass with another creature, a two foot tall, feathered, winged dinosaur that's fallen in line behind Jerica, following her silently through the grasses.
Jerica paused to let the beetle pass and something like a smile crossed her lips. "Silly woman. It's a bug." Shaking her head, she moved on lowering the weapon in her hand as she relaxed in the overgrown grass. It didn't last long, that sense of peace, until a prickling sensation of warning was felt on the back of her neck. Rubbing at it with her free hand, Jerica used the action to glance as stealthily over her shoulder as she could. It had been so easy up until now! That couldn't last. No. It never lasts.
The beakless bird stops a few steps after Jerica does the same, the blades of grass concealing the reptile rustling as the creature comes to a halt something between a 'squawk' and a reptilian hiss can be heard from the spot the bony, feathered dinosaur stopped. The call may have been a signal of some sort as a second beast of the same species gliding silently through the air suddenly changes direction and moves into a dive bomb maneuver towards the intruding human, it's claws hyper-extending open to rake across the top of the woman's as it swoops quickly by. Meanwhile the original bird-like thing in the grass breaks into an awkward sprint towards the assassin and attempt to bit at her ankles with sharpened teeth.
Jerica jumped at the sound that didn't sound like a beetle would make. Even a giant one. Quickly she looked around. Down, around, up. Up was what saved her a nasty gash to her weapon wielding hand from wicked claws. Ducking she aimed up at the flying lizard-thing and fired the bolt. She didn't expect to hit it but it might think twice about dive bombing again! Keeping on the move probably saved Jerica a severed tendon in her ankle but it didn't save her boot from the razor sharp teeth. The leather was shredded and flopped on her foot as she scrambled back and reloaded to shoot the one on the ground. Dear Gods, could there be more? She hoped not, two bolts gone and she had one left in her hand. No way would Jerica have time to retrieve the others she had in the backpack she had with her. Not without wasting precious time.
The dive bombing Archaeopteryx has a difficult time retaining it's balance in the air after whiffing on the strike at Jerica and it is probably the wobbling flight and flailing of it's feathered wings that save the small beast from flying into the path of the first bolt the assassin fired. The reptile in the grass turns out to be less fortunate. While chewing on the bit of leather it managed to get a hold of from Jerica's boot the creature remained still enough for the second bolt to pierce directly through the center of it's taloned left foot, leaving the bird pinned to the ground by the projectile as it began to thrash wildly in pain and attempts to break free. Wild squawks come from the wounded reptile while the second Archaeopteryx finally rights itself and banks around to give chase through the air, not quite yet realizing it's lost the numbers advantage it had, though perhaps that wouldn't stop it anyway.
One more bolt, one more shot and it had to count. Jerica draws the string back, bending the arms back to get as much kenetic energy she could out of the. It wouldn't be long, she suspected, before the other came wheeling back. Her fingers fumbled, suddenly clumsy as she looked up and saw that, sure enough, it was coming back. Cursing as the bolt fell to the ground, Jerica scooped it up as quickly as she could and tried to breath normally while sliding it in the miniature trench just before the lock for the string. Calmer now, she took better aim and squeezed the triger to send the metal projectile sailing through the air right for the predator's chest. It -had- to count this time. It -had- to be perfect.
The small beast had just begun to angle it's body to bring it's claws out in front to deal the most damage when Jerica let the last bolt fly. It was too late to effectively change direction by now. The reptilian aviator's beady little eyes widen ever so slightly as one of it's last breaths is used to emit a "Raaawk" just as the bolt flies into the animal's chest, the force enough to stop the bird's flight rather close to Jerica, splattering small flecks of blood and bone onto the assassin, and send the Archaeopteryx dropping straight to the grass covered ground.
Jerica, covered in the gore of the first actual kill, ignores the blood that sprinkles her cheeks and the bits of small avian bone that found place in her hair to focus on the pinned archaeopteryx. That one had been chewing on part of her boot! That could have been her foot, sure, but a boot of that quality and enchanted was hard and expensive to find! Now, she had time to fish another bolt from her back pack and take her sweet time loading it into the miniature crossbow and take careful, careful aim for the animals head. "You and your friend are going to make me some nice new boots," she says through clenched teeth as for the last time she pulls the trigger.
The pinned dinosaur was still thrashing and squawking and hissing and biting at the air. When Jerica approaches she's met with hostility from the wounded bird-thing attempts at lunging at the assassin leave the creature sprawled out on the ground after it's pierced appendage keeps the creature from reaching the assassin. Another splatter of bone, blood, and this time simple grey matter splatter outwards from the impact point and the Archaeopteryx's struggle is ended.
Jerica stared down at the now dead creature with dispassion and sat down. Rubbing her hand across her forehead, the woman wondered what else she might come across to get a simple piece of Amber for the Ice Queen. Suddenly exhausted, Jerica does a quick visual sweep of the area. She shouldn't camp here. The smell of dead things brings out worse things at night. While the archaeopteryx would have made nice boots; she didn't have the time to gut and skin them or even to tan the hides if she wanted to. It would be best to gather the spent bolts, clean them off and find somewhere safe to make camp. Like in a tree or a cave. Maybe under a rock.
It wasn't long until some over sized insect scavengers found their way into the hole in the Archaeopteryx's head and into the chest cavity of the other dinosaur things like giant centipedes and colonies of beefed up fire ants picking away at the corpses. Once Jerica decides to move on she'll pass by a large praying mantis the size of her head sitting atop one of the large blades of grass, the Green predator seeming to wave at the woman as she walks by.