{The Creature Hunt} Argilla

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((for picture of beast, click on here... link))
The Argilla sat up, blood from the Hydra dripping from his fanged mouth and muscular arms. In his hands were bits of the fresh flesh of his kill. Around him lay the mangled and shredded Hydra in which he had feasted upon. A Hydra could regenerate its heads easy enough, but when its body is torn to shreds there is little it can do. The Argilla's strength outmatched the other great beast, an unbelievable thing, to see a giant gorilla with four arms outmatch one of the most feared creatures Avaleur had previously known.

The Argilla huffed out its mouth and stood up, banging on its chest with its arms before yelling in victory. Gloating really. The birds in the trees fluttered away at the sound and soon the creature was off himself, swinging through the trees, playing and doing what it enjoyed, finding something to overpower.

[Walter Grace]

Walter groaned loudly, slumping over a tree. He did not groan in pain- but in exhaustion. The walk had been brutal to get to where they were now, and Walter was far from impressed.

I shoulda looked at the damn sheet, he thought to himself with a sigh, running his hands through his hair.
I wouldn't have done this beast had I know it was so gods be damned far away.

He heard something in the distance, a noise that he wasn't exactly able to make out. This made him purse his lips- he didn't even know what they were up against here. But, pride was shining through Walter. The careless, stubborn demon.
He refused to ask to see that slip of paper.

"You heard that too, right?" Walter turned to look at Gwilym. "It means we're getting close...right?"
The knight was nearly relieved as he hoped that he was right- he certainly did not want to walk much longer, especially when they would need their strength for the beast.

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Gwilym kept on trudging his way through the forest. It had taken HOURS!!!! Brutally long hours of walking just to make it to the Avaleurian forests. Then a couple other hours later and they were within the pine forest.

The Stellio could feel his stomach gurgle for only a moment and he flicked his tongue out making note that he would have to eat later. A Stellio could go days without eating, sometimes even weeks. Their body used and digested every bit of what they took in. A large meal tonight would last him the rest of the week hopefully.

Because Gwilym spent his time with the pack, these forests were like a piece of home for him. Hunts often times brought him here. The noise was something he heard quite often.
He nodded, "Yes, that would be a Hydra. Feedin no doubt. The bloke'll be close too, and they don't stay full for long ither mate. Best be on your toes."

Gwilym himself took off one of his Goragonian desert blades and kept it at the ready as they kept trekking through the forest.
"And where the Hydra be, that be where the Argilla be Ah would reckin."

[Walter Grace]

Walter groaned once more as he stopped leaning on the tree and followed. He never realized his distaste for walking until now- he would have to take his horse out riding again soon. If it would let him.

"Why exactly is the Argilla probably near a hydra, might I ask?" the demon sighed, folding his arms across his chest with frustration. All he wanted to do was sit down, and not move.

Hours of walking really does that to a man.

Though he knew that soon he would have to pick up the pace- not only with the beast, but the hydra that was around as well. That made him purse his lips.

I swear on Almora if I have to fight both a hydra and an Argilla I'll be tearing a limb, he thought. He relaxed himself a bit as he continued to think.
All well. I'll reward myself with a few drinks when I get back to town.

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"Ya really should of read the sheet mate." Gwilym chuckled as he ducked under one of the branches, it wasn't a low branch by most's standards, but for Gwilym, it was.
"The Argilla hunts em. Tears em to bits and then feast on em for days at atime. Wouldn't be a problem really, if the bloke just hunted em it woulda been a fine thin, make the forests safer. But the reffit be as hot to the touch as a coal to the nillie..." He stopped for a moment as he thought about that.
"Territorial, mate." He clarified.

As they continued, the slithering, hissing, and occasional soft screech could be heard deeper in the forest.

[Walter Grace]

Walter pursed his lips as Gwilym told him the obvious- that he should have read the sheet. But would Walter read the sheet, even now? Nope.

He couldn't help but feel a little unnerved by the sounds they were hearing. He had never faced a hydra before, either. And he didn't really know what to do if they faced one. Hell, he didn't know what to do when they would face the Argilla.

"So," Walter began, looking over the man.
"Why are you hunting the creatures, then? I mean, if you didn't know about the contest, I mean."

[Deleted]

Why had he entered into this hunting spree of creatures? In truth it was a long and deep, complex answer. He felt a sense of need to protect, to keep the boys, Olaf, Razor, and Chase, safe. To keep the city safe and its people. He felt a desire to better himself, to train, to conquer to become the man he had seen Seth say he was in the future. However crazy that was, but no, he wanted to be even beyond that still! He felt responsible, knowing how it felt to lose something from these people that if they had any chance of being a part of this, he was in to stop it... but none of these things he would say. Perhaps it was his not liking anyone to get to know him attitude but he thought it was best that they didn't.

Gwilym shrugged, "Keeps me busy mate." He simply stated.
The Stellio stopped as the sound of snapping branches and small trees could be heard in the near distance. Either a Hydra, or something else, was approaching.
"Ready erself there mate. Ah think a tuss be on its way."

[Walter Grace]

(( Omg that was fantastic LOL I don't know why I found that so funny. It's all dead and serious, then he just says...that. You're fantastic. ))

Walter stopped just a step behind Gwilym, fluffing out his wings slightly. He was at a disadvantage here- it would be very difficult to fly here. And that was his best way of not getting hit.

The man flexed his claws, which slowly began to dance with dark magic.

"Let's try not to get a limb taken off, or poisoned this time, alright?" Walter jokingly stated- but all the same, meant it seriously.
He listened to the snapping sounds draw nearer and nearer, realizing with every snap how unprepared he was that moment.

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"Righty mate."
The two of them did have one thing going for them. Out of the species of Hydra that existed in the world, the Hydra in the Pine Forests were really not that huge of a deal. They were fairly small and their flesh was normally pretty soft and weak. Without any predators to fight against for food or to kill them off, they were free to roam and so they didn't need to be any bigger or stronger.

Just passed them, not seeing them yet, slithered by the snake type forest hydra. Rather than legs and large, thick heads that could launch fireballs or other deadly blasts, this type was young and hadn't even developed its tentacles yet.



"Jus be a wee bloke mate. It won't have much of a tuss in it at all."
As he said that, one of the heads heard and turned. Once noticing them it screeched to its brethren and after a chorus of screeches and cries, it began to slither towards them.

[Walter Grace]

The demon scowled, clenching his teeth together at the screeches.

With one quick movement he hurled two regular dark magic balls at the hydra, hoping to slow it down as he moved to the side.

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The balls of magic connected with the Hydra's flesh and bore a hole where it made contact. The blood from the wound poured but the heads only came closer still.

Gwilym was about to go in, when out of seemingly nowhere, a flash of large leather hide fell from the trees above and landed on top of the Hydra. Bones could be heard snapping as the Argilla landed and began to pummeled the Hydra. Blood splattered as it kept going, slamming its fists down in quick succession, only stopping ever so often for one of the arms to reach up and pull of one of the Hydra's fanged mouths from its body.

Gwilym watched in awe and a bit of fear as the Hydra was literally pummeled to death. Its screeching growing to a soft cry, and finally only the huffing of the Argilla could be heard.
Gwilym was silent and stood still as he looked at Walter.

[Walter Grace]

(( I honestly pictured their faces here to look like this when I first read it: ))

Walter's jaw dropped slightly as he slowly turned his head to look at Gwilym, then slowly turned his head to face the Argilla.

This was going to be harder than he anticipated.

Once more his claws danced with dark magic, but the demon did not move, in high hopes that the beast would not spot them. Highly unlikely. But Walter knew at that point he did not want to face this beast.
If only for the sheer fact that if it caught either one of them, Walter had no doubt that would be the end.

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(((Lol wow... That is pretty much perfect XD)))

The Argilla sat with its back turned to the two of them as it tore off large chunks of flesh from the Hydra and raised it to its mouth in order for consumption. The sound of it chewing on the leathery hide and the huffing from its mouth and nose was all that could really be heard.

Gwilym saw the same expression on Walter's face that he felt his own had... It turned out this was going to be a tuss.
Slowly, earth began to creep up onto Gwilym's body. First coating his feet and legs in a layer of earth an rock before continuing on up, he sure was going to need the extra protection with this one.

The raising of the earth caused a stick to snap and Argilla quickly turned around, dropping the flesh and showing his blood covered front. He huffed a few times before standing up and pounding his chest, the thuds like something of a tree falling and hitting the ground.
It gave a loud cry, exposing its large and sharp mouth full if teeth before beginning his charge at the two.

"Welll mate, Ah be thinkin it is now or never then." He nodded and readied himself, waiting for the right moment to strike with Walter in order to try and make any significant damage.
"Don't lose a limb now."

[Walter Grace]

Walter went white in the face- this would prove to be much harder than expected.

"You as well, mate," the demon gave a sort of laugh. A nervous one, of course. Before throwing some exploding magic at the creature in the hopes that it would hurt it. After all, it looked like normal fur, and skin. He suspected it would hopefully react the same.

As he did that he readied himself to jump to the side.

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The blast made great contact with the Argilla, easily burning flesh and causing large sores that spewed blood, but it just didn't care, and it didn't phase it.

Gwilym's rock armor launched off of him like Dax's shadow clone did from time to time and tackled the beast.

The shear force and speed from the large chunks of rock and earth took it to the ground but it wasn't long before the pile of earth was seen hurling through the air before shattering and busting into thousands of tiny bits against a tree.

The Argilla hopped up to its feet once again and pounded its chest before ripping up one of the late trees and hurling it at the two of them.

[Walter Grace]

Walter was in a near panic as his magic didn't seem to phase the beast.

But even as it seemed that what Gwilym did slowed it down, it didn't.
The demon scowled, jumping to the side to avoid the tree, and having an idea.
Gwilym seemed to be much better at fighting this thing already- so why not take the creature's attention off of him?

While rushing to the side, Walter threw another ball on magic at the beast, non-explosive. Hoping to get its attention.

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The ball sliced open the Argilla's shoulder and upper arm as well as doing the intended trick. It was now fully focused on Walter. It turned and dashed towards a tree, climbing it swiftly before swing round and around, from branch to branch and tree to tree around Walter.

Gwilym on the other hand was hit dead on by the tree, his inability to be very quick without premeditation and lack of flexibility made him like a sitting duck for the large object. He covered his face with his forearms and to the blow. The tree rolled with him under it and only came to a stop after bouncing a few times and having to trees stop further progression.

Gwilym laid on the ground for a moment, gathering himself before standing and leaning on the trunk of the fallen tree. He wiped the blood from his cut brow and huffed, every bone in his body ached at the moment from that.
He starred down at the tree for a moment before noticing one of his quills stuck in it, a bit of poison leaking out from it and running down the side of the tree. He had just hatched an idea, too bad it meant he would have to get very, very close to the Argilla.

[Walter Grace]

The demon was growing more nervous by the second. He knew if the argilla was able to grab him, he would be a goner.

With clenched teeth he turned to face the argilla, throwing magic at it. Missing for the most part.
His hands shaking, the demon felt dark magic around his claws as he slowed down. Ready to dodge another attack, or swipe at the creature if necessary.

[Deleted]

The Argilla took to tearing limbs off of the heights of the trees and letting them fall down below as it jumped from trunk to trunk. He continued to let them drop and dodge the dark magic until finally diving into the air and beginning to fall down from the air over Walter, if he didn't move the Argilla would land on top of him.

Gwilym sheathed his blade and used all the energy he had to lift himself over the tree, grunting and wincing as he did so. He landed with a hobbled and began to make his way back toward the other two as fast as he could, but with his nearly broken body and horrible limp, it was going pretty slow.

[Walter Grace]

The demon cursed under his breath, expanding his wings and jumping back, using his wings to fly slightly away from the beast.

For a brief moment he looked over at Gwilym, limping towards them. What was he doing? Walter couldn't figure it out. But, the man was going towards them- not away.
The demon decided to slow down more, to give Gwilym more time to catch up.

Taking a huge chance, Walter surrounded himself in a bubble of protective magic that was slightly visible. He knew that if it broke, he would be a goner. But he was slightly prepared with a backup- if it did break, Walter would have his magic ready to explode on impact. Hopefully.