Country Bear

[John Black]

John had just arrived in the countryside, it took him a few days to reach the location of one of the most recent attacks that had taken place across the local countryside. The path of destruction was slow but steady. Even so, he was at least two days behind. His usual means of transport was by boat, and unfortunately for him, this particular location was miles away from any sea he could have used to reach it quickly. And so had been forced to rent a car, having grabbed a jeep since he expected plenty of off-road travel to take place.

The scene of devastation around him clearly displayed the power of the demon he was after. It might have only been a single creature, but the paw prints it left behind were well above average. It was tall enough to claw through the roof of two-story homes and broad enough that it could casually knock over a full grain silo before tearing into it. This wasn't going to be an easy hunt, and John wasn't entirely sure if he was actually capable of dealing with such a threat by himself. He was by no means weak, and maybe he could figure something out. But off the top of his head, he felt like Jack facing a giant at the top of a beanstalk, only this giant was more bestial in nature.

[skeletonscannotcry]

A job, like any other. A demon, like any other. Debts to pay, like any other man. These are the reasons Anahis took up this hunt. The hunt for the demonic bear would pay well, which means he gets to get the cash to repair his old place, along with the necessary materials. So, scythe resting casually on his soldier, wielded by his left hand, Anahis tracks the massive behemoth via tracks, close on its tail. He knew he'd catch up, wait for the demon to rest.

Humans are persistence hunters. So, he was taking more of a casual stroll, rather than a full sprint. That is, until he found a passing car. That could give himself a bit of a boost...

A sudden thud on top of John's car, as a stranger, Anahis, lept atop the roof, riding it down as he watched the tracks. It'd probably be *fairly noticable* that a man had just lept onto the roof of afformentioned car.

[John Black]

Driving along John was pretty shocked when there was a sudden thud on the roof of his car, a man he has passed suddenly jumping onto it. Although it would have been hard to tell since his internal feelings didn't express themselves much on the external. His face gave a brief twitch, but he kept driving. He wasn't sure what this man was about, but he'd thought him strange even while passing him. After all, he was walking around with a scythe well away from any farms he could be working. How many farms even used a hand scythe these days anyway? He figured that most farms had long since modernized and made use of machines for most of their farming needs.

The tracks of the demon were easy enough to spot, but he was using his nose more than his eyes to track the beast, and what a stench it had. He doubted he even needed his superhuman perception to track the thing, a normal human nose might have been enough.

John had his main weapon laying in the back seat, a large double-edged sword that was metal shimmering red and gold. Very much not made of any normal metal, the red of the blade showed like veins that pulsed with inner heat, and the gold sparkled rather unnaturally, in a way that was meant to draw and tempt the eyes of those who looked upon it.

John eventually decided to communicate with the man hitching a ride on his jeep. "Hey, you up there. I assume you are hunting the demon as well then?" He questioned, doubting he was any sort of normal man, seeing as he'd managed to jump on the jeep with no real trouble. John could have done the same of course, but he was a half-demon. Was this man also a half-demon then?

[skeletonscannotcry]

The tracks were obvious, and the stench was getting closer. The demon must be close. Though, he flinched slightly at the man speaking. Right, there was a person driving the vehicle, he had nearly forgotten. At the mention of a demon, he had decided to respond in-kind. “Yup. Huntin’ the demon. Guessin’ from your knowledge of said demon, you’re hunting it too, and prob’ly from a different employer. How’s about we both take separate proof to said employers, ‘n we both get full pay?”

The scythe, now being holstered on the oddly-dressed man, also had a very unique appearance to it, almost ceremonial. Definitely not used to cut crops normally, or at the very least, not reliably. It looks modified, sharper, and a much larger edge. The weapon was also ebony black on the hilt, and shimmered like spilt oil. There was something even stranger, though. This man was a human. Purely human. No demon blood in him whatsoever.

His method for staying on top of the speeding jeep was evident, leaned forwards and riding with each bump. Anahis, once a year or two ago, had a fixation on bull riding, and flashy stunts such as this was all committed to muscle memory. “So, stranger. What’s yer name? It’ll be easier to communicate once we get t’ the demon if I know it. Mine’s Anahis.”

[John Black]

"Considering the size of the tracks this thing is making I doubt you'll have any trouble getting your evidence. You just need to get it before the demon melts away." Most demons did melt away after they were killed after all, and he wasn't sure this one would be any different.

Noting the scent of the man was entirely human, it was even more surprising than the fact the man had jumped onto his jeep. Was that kind of strength even possible for normal humans?

He'd met plenty of skilled humans, some of them even had supernatural abilities they could call on. But did this man use anything to increase his strength to accomplish that? Perhaps magic to strengthen his body? Surely it could not be pure raw strength. Humans could do some impressive things, but there were limited to what they could accomplish physically before it required a supernatural explanation. He wasn't sure if jumping onto a moving jeep like that was humanly feasible or not. At a minimum, it had to be walking a tightrope though. Or so John was going to assume for now. Maybe it didn't quite require a supernatural explanation yet, but he could not be sure.

"I'm John." He replied back after getting the name of the other man. "I guess it's nice to meet you, Anahis. Let's hope the two of us will be enough to take this demon down." And by now a massive shape was coming into view ahead. Slow, and lumbering, shifting its immense towering weight side to side. A truly giant demon of a bear lay before them, having yet to take notice of them while it walked casually, its steps could probably even be felt shaking the earth with each rise and fall of those massive paws.

[skeletonscannotcry]

The human looked ahead. The demon was here. First, he analyzed while he kept his balance on top of the moving jeep, his eyes darting around to look at different parts of the creature. “Bit too large t’grapple… quick slashes’ll be the way to go, ‘n deep gashes. Scythe mode’ll be best here.” Anahis took the scythe off of his own back, the blade catching a shimmering light against the dark, steel-like metal. Anahis lept off, and landed on the ground after the jeep stopped, pursuing the lumbering titan on foot.

Anahis’s supernatural strength and stamina comes down to two things. Natural strength and stamina, from his time on the barn, and magical strength and stamina, originating from his enhanced magical soul. He is unaware of the soul side, but even his natural strength is impressive. Even with a supernatural amount of stamina, Anahis paces himself, running, yet not sprinting towards the massive construct of sin in the shape of a bear.

So, Anahis did the clearly most reasonable thing, and lept onto it’s back, running down the length until he reaches the head. A dive forwards, and the human slashed the scythe downwards in a crescent motion, cutting a deep gash into the nape of the massive behemoth bear. As he descended, Anahis was falling facing towards the creature’s face, due to the flip necessary for the earlier slash. He made a swift cut across the eyes, and began leaping backwards afterward to gain some distance, to avoid any retaliation from the creature. He trusted John to take advantage of the opening he hopefully created.

[John Black]

The massive bear clearly did not expect anyone to do what Anahis was doing. And if not for his supernatural strength it was unlikely the man could have done any real damage to the bear whether he used that special scythe or not.

The bear paused and shook as it felt the blade tear at its nape, digging into the fur and flush beneath to draw out a gout of blood. But the beast was significantly larger than the man cutting at it, and though the blade seemed to cut deep it was hard to tell just how meaningful that was to the bear.

It wasn't until Anahis went for the eyes that the bear truly began to react. It had been slow to react up until that point when the scythe caught one of its eyes and let lose a mighty roar so loud and long that it shattered the windows of the jeep while John was climbing out.

John had to cover his ears, dropping his sword which stuck tip first in the ground, as the roar was let loose, otherwise, he thought his ears would be likely to bleed or make him go deaf. This was unfortunate for Anahis because he was even closer than John was to the roar of the beast, taking the full brunt of it if he didn't react quickly enough. It could easily leave Anahis dazed and deaf.

But the situation only grew worse from there because the big bear was totally pissed, with one eye damaged if not destroyed it targeted Anahis, and one big paw lifted to swipe at him with all the force of a runaway wrecking ball.

John quickly picked up his sword and made his way to dash under the belly of the bear, intent on aiming for soft spots, hoping that Anahis could hold out against the now enraged giant beast.

[skeletonscannotcry]

Anahis was not fortunate. He took the full force of the roar, himself instantly gripping his ears by instinct, before nearly passing out as his eardrums ruptured. Blood poured down from his ears, completely deaf and disoriented. Hard to… think. Ringing… MOVE! His thoughts raced as he saw the paw hurtling towards him. So, Anahis ran towards the bear's face. Concentrate. His whole mind was racing.

Thankfully, Anahis had managed to clear the paw's swiping range, but was now still underneath the head of the bear. So, he thought quickly, despite the only sound in his ears being that of running blood. Can't hear. Have to watch out. The human thought of some way to provide John more openings. Then, he got it.

Anahis rushed from under the bear. If he can't grapple the bear, then why not hike it using the scythe? He used the blade to dig into the side of the bear's head, and instantly pull himself upwards using his supernatural strength, pulling him and his scythe up. He did this repeatedly to make his way onto the nose of the bear. With style in mind, despite the predicament, Anahis gave a wave, then a salute, and a quick word, silent to only himself. "Good night." He then proceeded to dig the point of the scythe into the eye by kicking it in.

Anahis, knowing this won't finish it, pulled his scythe out if the beast's eye, and began running along the back of the beast, hopefully where it can't reach.

[John Black]

Well at least there was one positive aspect about the fact he was now deaf, and that was that if he was already deaf he didn't need to worry about the roar again, more or less. Although getting his hearing back later might be an issue, who could say what kind of damage this might end up leaving him with in the future assuming his supernatural body would not allow him to make a full recovery? At least in John's case his ears would have burst and been regenerated within a few seconds because he was a half-demon.

However seeing as Anahis intended to go for the other eye as well, John was about to experience the same pain that Anahis was if only briefly. From under the bear, he could not be sure what to expect, he could not see what Anahis was doing. So he could not prepare himself for the next roar that came when Anahis took out the other eye beyond the knowledge that the bear likely would roar again.

His own ears popped and blood poured out from his ears, all the while working to repair themselves. John just pushed past the pain with a grunt, all the while preparing his next strike.

Flames gathered around the blade of his sword, hissing and sputtering with anger, the grass under his feet caught fire before he swung up to unleash a burst of flame in the form of a wave that took the belly of the bear.

Suddenly the awful smell of burning fur filled the air in a choking cloud as the dragon fire that shot from John's sword did its work. It would likely affect all of them to some degree, the scent, but the bear being the biggest of them, and being the one on fire almost seemed to gasp from the sudden pain that covered its burning belly, and inhaled a cloud of the smoke, cuddling its roar somewhat short, and sending it into an even greater panic as it was blinded, and burned at the same time. It coughed and choked on the smoke of its own foul burning fur, jumping around, its massive form shifting and bouncing with titanic force, unsure what to do with itself. Its world had suddenly become pain and darkness.

John was forced to move out from under the wild bouncing demon bear, his job was more or less done anyway. With the bear on fire and steadily being eaten by the gathering flames all that was really left for him to do was see how much damage it could do in the end. And looked for Anahis to see what he would do from there. His ears were ringing as they healed, giving some measure of his hearing back, listening the sounds of the world gradually returning to him.

[skeletonscannotcry]

The now-burning creature's smoke reached up to Anahis's nostrils, as he dug his scythe into the back of the bear to hold on, and keep his own balance. However, when the bear began wildly shaking and moving, He knew the bear was in its dying moments, the last wild swings of a soon-to-die animal. So, that was his que to get the hell on out of there. Anahis unstuck his scythe, and used the blunt end of the scythe, put all the force he could into smashing the blunt side into the bear's back, to fling himself off and away, conveniently near whatever safe distance John was at.

The smell of demon blood, smoke, and his own blood didn't mesh well with his sense of smell. Anahis, landing on the ground, nearly threw up due to gag reflex, but placed a hand over his own mouth, and swallowed it back down. I want to sleep... can't now. Not yet. Beast is nearly dead. His ears were still pouring blood, as his vision was beginning to blur. He spoke, despite not being able to hear his own voice, were John nearby. "If it's strong enough, it'll drop that 'proof' we're lookin' for. A claw, or a tooth." Still focused on the mission. "Don't bother respondin'. I can't hear anythin' right now."

He watched the burning beast, turning his head to look at John every once in a while, waiting for if he may need to dive back in yet again into the fray to finish it. But otherwise, he collapsed to one knee, and tried to ignore the pain. Tired...

[John Black]

When Anahis landed beside him, John looked his way, noting how ragged the man seemed to be. Likely from his ears being popped he supposed, and all that running and hopping around while in pain. That too was an inhuman level of stamina though, he doubted any professional athlete could have matched the level of stamina that Anahis had just shown.

John himself was hardly winded, but then he'd barely done much of anything this time honestly. He'd driven his jeep, guarded his ears against the bear's first roar, cut at its belly a bit, and then lit it on fire. In retrospect, it really didn't sound like much.

Meanwhile, Anahis had never stopped moving, never stopped fighting. He was like a damned badger in that sense, with endless non-stop aggression, cutting into the bear every chance he got, aiming for its eyes, digging into its thick body, wound after wound.

John simply nodded when Anahis spoke since the man said he was deaf right now anyway. John figured as much since he'd practically been point-blank with the bear when it let loose that first mighty roar.

However, for the moment they watched the blind bear burn. It actually lasted a minute or two before the bear finally fell over. Its body was left pink and black when the fire finally burned out. Its breathing was ragged, it's body shook with unfathomable pain as every inch of its body was covered with burns. It was dying for sure. It didn't even have the energy to stand now after having been turned into a living bonfire, its body was half-melted.

"Seems it survived." He noted, mostly to himself before waving a hand to Anahis to get his attention. Then making a motion with his hands to suggest that he could go cut a couple of the claws off the bear. Anahis was the one to suggest proof. John didn't really need evidence himself, but he would take it anyway. Maybe something could be made from the claw at least.

So John stepped forward making his way towards one of the back feet of the bear, lifting his sword, and bringing it down to cleave a pair of claws away, grabbing them, and bringing them back over to Anahis, tossing one to him, and keeping one for himself. At this point, they were just waiting to see the bear take it's final breaths before it melted away.

[skeletonscannotcry]

The man sighed a long sigh, using his scythe to push himself back up, hoisting himself after noticing John's wave. Anahis walked forwards towards the bear, still calm in breath, despite his head pounding. Anahis kept up the appearance of composure. Once the two had made it back to the bear, Anahis took a look at one of the claws, placing the scythe on his own back. Then, he grabbed the claw, put his foot on the paw, and...

RRRRRRRIP!

With his bare hands, Anahis ripped one of the claws from the bear. After that, he walked over to the bear's face, using the scythe to pry open the dying demon's jaw. He grabbed hold of a tooth, and...

RRRRRRRIP!

The tooth was dislodged into his hand. "One fer me, one fer the client." He spoke, explaining his action to John. Both, the tooth and claw, was hoisted over his shoulders. "Could I get... a ride? Not sure 'f I've got much gas in my tank."

[John Black]

John wasn't exactly a squeamish guy, but listening to the sounds of a claw and tooth being ripped away was somewhat gruesome for him to hear. He supposed the sounds were unlikely to bother Anahis even under normal conditions considering the ease with which he performed his actions, but at that moment John wished he was still deaf so he didn't have to hear it.

Luckily for the demonic bear at least it probably felt none of it, at least not compared to its burned and crispy body. In that sense, John had caused the bear far worse pain, but it had been an effective method of dealing with the bear, so though he didn't take any special satisfaction in the bear's demise, he didn't regret his actions either.

"Yeah, I am fine to give you a ride back to town at least. That's not a problem." He said looking to the jeep with a grimace. "Guess I'll need to pay for the windows. I wonder what I'll tell them." He mused as he moved to climb into it. The jeep was totally fine aside from the windows.

He waited for Anahis to climb in so they could get going.

[skeletonscannotcry]

Anahis inhaled deeply, stumbling over to the car. His stamina was excellent, and his strength was beyond human, but his durability left much to be desired. Just a little further. I'll get to one of them witch doctors to heal up my ears, or probably just a regular doc. Hope the damage isn't permanent, that'd be rather annoying... his thoughts whirled about his brain, but despite this, after swiping off the broken glass on one of the seats with his scythe, he plopped down on a seat. He was tired. "Nearest town'll do. Would prefer one with a doctor." Anahis rolled over onto his side. "Hope to work with you again sometime. You're pretty good."

[John Black]

“Sure. I’ll take you to a doctor to get checked out then.” He agreed, nodding his head and trying to make physical replies that Anahis could identify when looking his way.

He also gave a small smile though it was mostly for himself. Pleased with the praise he was given this time around. His first time hunting demons had gotten him labeled a rookie in the past. So did he count as a veteran now? He wasn’t sure he could classify himself as a pro yet, but he figured he was getting there.

Anahis would have time to rest and recover while John drove them to the nearest town he knew of and stopped in front of a hospital to let Anahis off.

John could have taken him back to an HQ of the Umbrel Witches for treatment, it likely would be just as if not more effective than a hospital, but he wasn’t sure he should bring an new acquaintance to such an important place unless Anahis intended to join up. But John figured they would meet again soon enough, and maybe he could bring the topic up later. If Anahis was part of an organization already then he might abandon the idea at that time. But for now he merely wished Anahis good luck, until they would meet again.