Thread: Hunter or Hunted? (Atroxa & Effigy)

Varena and Rordan were two of the best Hunters in the guild, but for the last few years, their rivalry had been from a distance, the two managing to avoid one another. It looked like her lucky streak was over though since he was tailing her now, bothering her. She ignored him though, she hadn't gotten where she was because she needed the help or opinions of others. It was rare for women to join the Guild, she'd faced more than her fair share of disapproval and prejudice, as while women were allowed to be soldiers and knights, it was uncommon, and the Hunters' Guild was practically a fraternity. It was so dangerous, most women just avoided it if they were going to go into any sort of combat-related career. Varena though was fast and strong, more so than some men, and she had good instincts. Very good instincts, it had always seemed that the woman knew how to anticipate her opponents, to get in their heads and know how they thought. She didn't know how she did it, it just happened. People were another matter, and she didn't entirely trust them, and she especially didn't trust Rordan, not after how he'd screwed her over in the early years when she'd become a full fledged member qualified to accept contracts on her own. There was no way she was going to fall for that again, she wasn't nearly stupid or trusting enough for that. Varena wasn't the most helpful person either, she wasn't the most popular person among the members of the Guild, things could get competitive among the Hunters and she wasn't above doing what she had to to secure the contracts she wanted. She didn't employ underhanded tactics to the level of Rordan though. Another reason why she was slightly unpopular wasn't just because she was successful, which inspired a bit of jealousy, it was why she was successful. Most of the guild members had at least heard stories of Varena in action, a woman of her skill was regarded with a level of suspicion. People suspected either something unnatural about her, or that she paid people to help her on the side without writing it in the Guild logs. The Huntress rolled her eyes as he kept insisting that she should listen to him, following her as he kept going on and on about how she wasn't used to this kind of terrain, and that no one would think less of her for giving up the contract. Every word he spoke made her temper flare hotter and hotter, until when he finished she felt like her blood was on fire, gritting her teeth in angry. Varena finally whirled around to glare at him hatefully, Will you shut up ?! She snarled at him as quietly as she could, yet still managed to sound like she was yelling at him, before she turned and looked around them, having realized just before she snapped at him that things had gone quiet. She unsheathed her sword slowly, the rasping of steel against leather the only sound before there was a deafening roar to her left and the cacophony of something crashing through the trees coming right at them. Varena rolled out of the path of the charging beast, coming out of it crouched on her feet with her sword and shield up, trying to get a good look at the creature as it crashed to a stop and turned give another snarl. The Huntress cursed loudly when she saw it, a long tail, short, bowed back legs, powerful front legs, and five lizard-like heads. A Hydra. She glanced at Rordan, moving slowly, trying to get around to it's flank, Well I wasn't expecting that !