FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The slow and methodical scrape of stone against steel rang out through that little inn room as the larger cat creature slowly continued to sharpen his blade. He was rather specific when it came to it's edge and angle, taking his time to carefully make sure it was just right. That left the smaller feline creature to sit back in his chair and take another sip of the drink he ordered from the tavern below as they waited for their special guest for the night.

"This better not be a dead lead," the smaller feline said out to interrupt that rhythmic scraping, needing to hear something more than that ear-splitting noise mixed with the general rumble of various discussions from downstairs behind it.

"Don't worry," the larger feline said with a gentle sigh, taking a small break from scraping to inspect his blade edge yet again. "This was a solid contact. I'm sure this is legit."

"Better be," the smaller feline shot back, taking another small sip of his drink and sighing a little himself. He played with his cup a bit, rolling the base around the top of the table as he let his body droop lazily in the chair he was sitting in.

Both of the feline creatures, a mix of human and feline referred to as Catturns by the humans around them, had been at this sort of work for a good while now. They had each started out on their own quite a while ago in seeking whatever mercenary or contract work they could find. Whatever they could do to buy food and lodging, even if it meant using their special skills and a large sword, they were on board for. Although the money wasn't quite the most important thing to either at this point. Doing this sort of work for any length of time made it clear that there were some bad people, or even bad creatures in the world. Call it a noble quest, but both felines seemed to enjoy straightening out wrongs rather than having a pocket full of gold.... not that a solid combination of both wasn't a nice thing to have of course.

Daiki was the smaller of the two felines, and he was more than happy doing most of the talking. He was usually the lead man, letting his natural energy carry him along. And where Daiki lead, Kenji followed. He was quiet, a bit reserved, and certainly a bit more cool and calculating than his explosive and energy packed partner. He made sure to clean up all the messes Daiki left behind. They'd been working as a team for a good few years now, seeming to complement each other perfectly. And this would be far from their first rodeo... if their employer ever showed up that is.

They'd gotten a tip through one of their contacts that this town had been having some issues with a creature, perhaps a ogre or some other type of large creature resembling one. It was all rumor of course as nothing had been seen or proven, or at least nothing was officially stated if it had been. A few of the townspeople's livestock had gone missing, and a bit of property was damaged, that sort of thing. But when a farmer and his wife disappeared a week ago, that really started to get people's attention and get them talking.

Worry started to spread, and the rumors grew and grew, disturbing the peace of the normally quiet little town. These sorts of towns were no strangers to woodland beasts occasionally sliding on in and doing some damage though, so the fear the townspeople had wasn't exactly without warrant. But without any hard evidence all there could be was rumor. That's what the feline pair were here to find out - if there really WAS a monster lurking about or not. And, if so, to make sure to send him packing.

It was a boring wait for the mayor of the town though as they were cooped up in their small in room, the mayor insisting in his letter back to them that they stay hidden and out of sight. Catturns were still rather rare among humans even in this day and age, so their sudden appearance in the village would no doubt only fan the flames of the rumors and possibly cause general panic.

Daiki looked as if he was about to doze off any moment as he placed the empty mead cup back down on the small table, giving out a soft sigh as his paws dangled over the edge of his chair. But finally there was a sound, and both feline's ears quickly perked up to tune to it. It was something different, not coming from the ruckus downstairs. It had to be the stairs creaking under the weight of someone walking over them.

"About time..." Daiki blurted out with suddenly, standing up softly and making himself presentable with a few pats down on his fur tufts. The sound just got a small grunt in response from Kenji as he finished up with his blade, reaching for the scabbard to sheath it for the time being. The last thing both felines wanted was someone walking in and seeing quite the unusual pair of creatures, with one holding a sharp sword after all... Catturns were already mostly mistrusted, so they knew better than to leave anything to chance.

They both listened in as the footsteps grew closer from down the hall, hearing two sets of feet walk up right in front of their door instead of just the one they were expecting. There was a little pause, and then came the firm knock on the door afterwards, leading to Daiki to stroll on over carefully reach for the handle. He pulled it open just a crack, giving the two figures on the other side a shadowy peak through the opening. Quietly and carefully he looked over the two figures, letting his eyes dart from person to person, as he softly said, "You Von Hammel?"

The larger of the two human men, in circumference but not quite height, pushed himself forwards and gave a soft nod as he extended a hand out to shake. "That would be me," he added in a friendly, political tone while he continued to stand there. Not getting much of a response to his handshake he slowly pulled his hand back though, motioning to his partner behind him as he added, "This here is Rudy. Town Sherrif. He's got most of the information you need to know."

Daiki looked over the two humans again before giving back a small nod, cracking the door a little further open as he started to back away from it. He didn't turn his back on the men, even at this point not really trusting anyone other than Kenji, but he did leave them some space to enter at least. One by one they both slowly started to slide in, the larger man coming in first with the more slender human following closely behind him. They both seemed to be a bit nervous as they stepped in, not having just one but two catturns with sharp weapons nearly surrounding them. The feeling was mutual as both of the felines were slightly on edge as well, their fur softly bristling just a bit as they stayed on alert. Of course they were pretty sure that things should be fine... but an air of uneasiness certainly was heavy in the room between the both species, each one not being able to shake that uneasy feeling all too easily. And when the door slowly closed behind the two humans everyone gave out a sudden little jump at the slam, but then tried to brush it off with a chuckle as they composed themselves in a moment of silence. But this was important business, and they needed to do what they needed to do. No one would get anything done just standing there and staring.

The larger man was clearly a politician though, doing his best to smile as he slowly and kind of quietly started the conversation with, "So, you're here about our little monster problem..."

That got a small nod from Daiki as he slowly adopted a slightly more relaxed stance. Perhaps the mead was finally kicking in just a bit to help with his nerves as those familiar words reached his ears. "So I hear," he added back with a little flick of his tail behind him. He slowly looked back from the large mayor towards the sheriff, smirking as the slender guy was doing his best to try hide behind the larger man. "So tell me what you know," he added with his best attempt at a friendly smile.

"Well," Rudy started with as he cleared his throat and found his voice, reaching into his pocket and slowly pulling out a little scroll of paper... which made both felines jump up on their toes for just a second at the sudden motion. But everyone relaxed a little bit afterwards as he slowly unrolled it and gave it a glance. "There have been a few incidences which seem related. There has been some damage to a windmill on the outskirts of town. Quite a few piles of dirt and mud have been dug up around it, looking like something large had been trying to settle in there. And the piles were found in conjunction with one of the windmill's blades being broken as well. It snapped about halfway down the blade, not near any of the joints or anywhere a blade would normally break. There had been no strong wind lately either to do the damage, so it remains rather suspicious."

Daiki just gave back a soft nod, making a mental note to check out the scene first to see if there was any evidence about what sort of beast they were dealing with. An ogre or some sort of tall creature would make sense, perhaps walking into the windmill blade in the dark by accident. "Sounds like something worth checking out," he added suddenly, looking over to his friend and getting a soft confirming nod out of him. "What else ya got?"

"Well," Rudy started off slowly once again, his eyes scanning down his page until he found what he was looking for. "As I've said before, some livestock have gone missing in the past week. We're pretty sure that we've collected a few of their bones in the storm drain grates around and outside the city. A bone every once in awhile is to be expected, but we've found quite the stash of large ones, fitting most of the creatures that have been reported missing. And that rules out a completely feral attacker as well. Something or someone is smart enough to use our drains to get rid of the evidence."

This got another nod from the smaller feline as he thought it over, the puzzle starting to come together for him. "Makes sense," he added with a little rub of his chin. "Of course, could just be a poacher killing and stealing the animal carcasses as well, disposing of the waste down where few would look for it. But for something like an Ox that would require quite the effort to kill and move..."

The slender human nodded a little bit in return, slowly opening his mouth to say back, "Exactly what we thought. But we do have some evidence that rules out both poachers and feral beasts..."

The feline's eyes poked up at those words, slowly leaning in as he gave a small flick of his tail. "Oh?" He says with a soft smirk. "Got an eyewitness?"

"Actually," the human said back, a little stunned that his big reveal had been blown, "Yes. A farmer on the outskirts of town heard a deep rumbling coming from beneath the bridge over Alabaster Creek right before sunrise a few days ago. He stopped to take a look underneath, and although it was dark and shadowy he swears by his life he saw some gigantic beast sleeping. We've told him to keep quiet about it, but as you may have heard through the walls there are rumblings of what might be out there."

Daiki just nodded softly as it all seemed to fit with an ogre so far. Stolen and devoured farm animals, broken property, and shelter under something rocky and secure. They'd taken that same bridge to get to the town, and they both knew it was suitable enough to give decent shelter to such a beast, in a pinch at least.

Daiki slowly took a second to consider things a little bit more, letting his ears and tail twitch softly all the while before slowly coming back with, "Not that many caves or other secluded places around this area, are there?"

Both men just slowly shook their head after a moment to think on their own, giving each other a small look before the Mayor slowly chimed in with, "No, this area isn't really known to have very many caves."

"Then Gentleman," Daiki adds with a small smirk and a soft clap of his paws together, "I'd say the signs are good you have some sort of ogre or other hybrid beast in your midst. We'll take a look at the windmill, maybe the storm drain should we need it. But I think that if he's comfortable under that bridge that's where we'll find him. Just curious, that pair of humans that went missing... were they traveling over that bridge at any point beforehand?"

The larger man looked over towards the more slender one and gave a soft shrug, gently saying back, "We don't really know, but it's certainly possible. They do make trips to the next town over to sell produce, which is in that direction."

Both felines noded slowly at that as Daiki slowly opened his mouth to say back, "Yeah, figured. He has to be a loner - probably cast out of his tribe and left to wander. Might have not been the sharpest tool in the shed, and for an ogre that's really saying something..."

That at least got a nervous smile if not a chuckle out of both humans as they just slowly nodded in return. A moment of silence passes through the room before the Mayor slowly cracked open his mouth to say, "So you can deal with him? Kill him?"

The smaller feline just nodded, taking a small breath as he slowly said back out, "Kill him perhaps, if it's necessary. But then it's up to you to dispose of a whole body, and it's not a pretty sight. Especially in or near a creek like that - would probably pollute the whole area for a week or so just from the bodily fluids leaching out into the soil and water. And then there's the whole dismembering and carting away ogre parts..."

That got a nervous gulp from both men as the slender feline just smirked and swayed on his feet a bit, enjoying getting the upper hand finally and having some fun with the two humans. But finally he let out a soft sigh and gently slumped a bit, saying back rather seriously, "We'll try to give him a reason not to come back anywhere near your town though, that much I can promise."

Both humans gave a soft and reserved nod at that as they looked at each other, then turned their gaze back to the feline creature in front of them. "Very well," Von Hammel said back, giving back a little nod as he reached into his jacket. "I believe the offered price was thirty gold and ten silver. That still reasonable?"

Slowly the felines turned to one another, taking a moment to silently discuss it between themselves. With a small shrug from Kenji, and a similar one from Daiki, the smaller feline turns back towards the humans to say, "Yeah, seems fair. But that's not including this room for the night, or another drink or two down from the tavern... deal?"

"Deal," the rather round human said sharply, reaching out his free hand to shake. The feline hesitated a bit as one of the male's hands was still in his jacket, but when he pulled out that coin purse the feline relented and took the hand, shaking it softly. "Half before, half after sound fair?" Von Hammel added, slowly opening up the string and spilling out a few coins into his other hand.

Daiki just gave back a little nod, watching all the glittering coinage as the human counted slowly. Fifteen gold and five silver. He left it on the edge of the table and quickly stuffed the rest back into his jacket, giving the feline a little bow of thanks. And as if to solidify it he slowly smiled and said,, "Thank you both for your service. I hope you won't have too much trouble."

"Nah," Daiki said back with almost boyish charm shooting through him, smirking a bit as he put his paws on his hips. "One ogre is nothing. You rest well tonight, and tomorrow he will be gone."

"Thanks," both humans said almost in unison as they waved and started to walk back through the door.

"Just make sure that mead cup is nice and full," Daiki added with a smirk as he watched them both slide out of the door, grinning a bit to himself as Kenji just slowly shook his head in the background.

---

Daiki couldn't help but rub his temple as the pair of felines slowly slipped from the inn a little bit before daybreak, wanting to beat anyone out on the road just to make sure they weren't spotted. "Ow my head..." he added with another groan and tired yawn, making Kenji sigh softly and shake his head in response.

"Drink your water," Kenji called back yet again, taking the lead for a change as he pressed on towards where the windmill was located. "I told you that you were drinking too much mead last night..."

"It was good mead!" the smaller feline protested, but ended up with a little throbbing pain in his head for the effort. He gave a little grunt and did his best to crack his neck, trying to shake off the feeling as he finally reached a paw for his water canteen. He took a small sip and capped it again before he said, "And I'll be fine when we face him, don't worry."

"Eh," the taller feline said with a little shrug to his step. "I always worry about you..."

"Thanks, love you too..." he got back from Daiki, shelving his complaints for now as the pair continued their walk.

By sunrise they'd made it to the windmill, giving them just enough light to sneak up and give it a good look. Just as described one of the blades was broken - the twenty foot long blade snapped just about halfway up it's length. That was just about the right height for a beast to run into it, or reach up and grab it as the blade swung by. They couldn't exactly get a close look at the still spinning and still limping blade itself, so the felines started to hunt for the discarded blade fragment instead. And after a bit of searching they found it next to a small scrap wood pile, the edges clearly frayed and splintered where the blade was violently ripped away from the rest of it's support structure.

That force needed to pull such a strong piece of wood apart had to be either natural with a strong storm, or unnatural with a very large creature forcing the tip away from the rest of the blade. But as they inspected it further they noticed something unusual - dirt clumped together in a firm cake around the tip of the blade. And as the felines took a look around the area it was pretty clear why. Those piles of dirt the Sheriff was talking about weren't exactly piles, they were more like mounds. And of course that dirt had to come from somewhere, leading to one large and crude pit being dug against the mountainside right next to the windmill.

Putting the evidence together it was clear to see what had happened. Needing a shelter the creature felt comfortable with, it started to try and dig a little cave as there were none occurring naturally around the area. It had probably started with just it's hands, but that was a slow process for sure. And in trying to find a tool to help dig it snapped off a blade from the windmill to use as a shovel, as there was nothing but skinny fields of wheat nearby to aid him. Whether the creature actually slept in it's little cave was hard to tell, but it did move a good bit of dirt in the process, making quite the mess and drawing lots of attention to the area. Hence why it probably didn't use this spot more than one night.

"Certainly something cave dwelling," Daiki soon said, gazing over the pit and stepping into the shallow but large indentation in the soil to get a better perspective.

"I'd say so," agreed Kenji as they both looked over the pit in a moment of silence, each feline grasping the hilt of their sword and knowing it would probably be going into use soon enough. "But there are plenty of creatures that could fit that description."

"Unfortunately" Daiki says back to the larger feline creature, slowly letting go of his own sword hilt and giving a little stretch to shake off the slight hangover. "Could even be a hybrid - we've seen a lot of those recently. Lots of inter-mingling in the beast population as they get less and less usable habitat away from the humans. And half breeds aren't exactly welcome in most of their societies, hence why they're out searching for their own resources..."

That got a small nod from the larger feline as he silently agreed, giving out a soft sigh as he continued to stare over the pit.

"So, what's the plan?" Daiki asked back suddenly, looking over to the larger feline as he took a moment of silence for himself to think.

"Well, we go to the bridge and pay him a visit," Kenji added with a soft smile, turning and starting to walk over towards the road once again. The smaller feline nodded softly as he hopped out of the pit and quickly caught up to his side once more, both starting the journey to that large bridge they'd passed over not one day ago.

---

The sun had fully risen over the horizon and nearby mountains when the felines reached the bridge, both of them carefully sliding off the road a good half mile before it and carefully sneaking around to some foliage near the creek that passed underneath it. Being part feline they were rather silent sneaking through the brush, even doing their best to hold onto their weapons firmly and light armor to minimize the sound they made.

Most cave dwelling beasts had very bad eyesight, and just about very bad everything else, but one thing they were good at was hearing. So the felines had to be extra quiet, even when sneaking up through the brush more than a few hundred yards away. They relied on hand and tail signals to keep quiet and to help point out which way to go instead of anything verbal, careful to keep as silent as possible. With every branch they bent back they made sure to let it slowly fall back into place, not even taking the risk of a few rustling leaves giving them away. Kenji took the lead as both felines slowly worked along the brush and creek bed, steadily making their way closer and closer to the bridge.

And once they reached the edge of their leafy cover both felines slowly sat down and started to go into observation mode. They searched around and eventually found a comfortable pair of rocks to take a seat on right by the river's edge, knowing they might be here a while. It was always hard to tell in such a stake-out whether or not you'd be called into action right away, or have to wait and watch for hours before making your move. It was always better to be prepared with a good seat though, experience had taught them both that. It was always a bad idea to charge forwards into an enemy with sore and tired legs from standing a few hours...

The water gently cascaded and trickled around them as both felines started to relax just a little bit, letting their breathing return to normal after all that tense sneaking. And as they waited and watched into the distance, Kenji slowly reached for a pouch at his side. With a careful and quiet tug he pulled out his slightly worn but still trustworthy spyglass, well maintained and cared for like most of the other feline's equipment. He gave a small shuffle to adjust his angle before bringing the tube up towards his eyes, doing his best to lean in and try to focus through the dull morning light as the tube extended farther and farther.

The bridge was still a distance away, and there were plenty of shadows rippling across the landscape at this time of day. So getting a good focus on such a dark and far away target was tough with just the naked eye. They weren't birds of prey after all, although a catturn's eyesight wasn't anything to scoff at either. And try as hard as he might with whatever squinting Daiki could twist his face to make, he couldn't see past the ripples of dark and light towards the darkness underneath the bridge.

"See anything?" whispered Daiki after a moment of sitting there and staring off into the distance, only to get a slightly larger headache for his trouble.

"Shhh," Kenji replied softly, gently angling himself a little more to get a better view. Then, with a little jump, he spotted something. He slowly stood up and began to lean his body forwards as he worked on the focus to his spyglass "Wait," he added back in a very quiet whisper, just above the bubbling of the stream, "I see an outline... Yeah, there it is, gotta be..." He took a few more moments to make sure before he nodded and quickly said back, "Yeah, it's certainly there alright."

"Well, what's it look like?" Daiki asked back rather impatiently as he gave a soft swing of his tail behind him, eager for any news.

Kenji ignored him for the moment as he continued to look on, trying to make out whatever detail he could. "Hooked horn and beak on the front of his face... long claws... tusks I believe... or else some kind of helmet... hard to say..." He slowly moved the spyglass from one eye to the other as he hoped a fresh view could give him more detail. But just changing eyes didn't do it for him, leaving him to slowly crawl up to another vantage point and stare out into the distance. "Looks like... something reptilian almost. Scales, claws... feet are more like talons than humanoid feet for sure. Has to be some sort of... wait..."

Kenji gave a little shuffle as he leaned in just a bit more, focusing hard and taking a second to process things before he said back, "Think we have a cyclops on our hands... yeah, one eye definitely..."

"So," Daiki said back with a curious expression on his face, "Part lizard, part cyclops?"

Kenji nodded slowly as he continued to stare, switching eyes once again before gently squeaking out, "Yeah, I'd say so. A Greenback Cyclops I believe it's called. It's wearing armor too - a serious set of gear. Looks battle ready."

"Well fuck," Daiki said back rather plainly as he gave off a little shiver at the thought. "Not exactly a friendly guy then, is he?"

Kenji didn't really go for the smaller feline's humor at this point, giving a little sigh as he continued to stare over towards the bridge. "To have a set of armor in it's size though... it had to have some kind of purpose wherever it was from. It was a serious member of its tribe for sure. Why it's going solo is anyone's guess, but maybe this a test of it's might? Or perhaps it angered someone in the tribe?" He took a little pause to slowly put his spyglass away, folding it up carefully and slipping it back into his pouch. "But one thing's for sure - this isn't going to be easy..."

The smaller feline nodded back with a little bit of a gulp, reaching down to his sword hilt yet again to give it a reassuring squeeze.

"I saw signs of a struggle around the bridge as well..." Kenji added back with a gentle sigh, processing things in his mind all the while. "I think he's certainly restless..."

"Hasn't been any disappearances lately," Daiki added back with a little flick of his tail, trying to think back on any other information they'd gotten from the tavern last night. "He's probably hungry..."

Kenji noded a little bit at that before he quickly said, "Yeah... normally he'd be sleeping by now - would be easy to swoop in for a wake-up call. But he's up... and looks stressed. Rocking around a bit... listening... scratching under his armor..."

The hair on both feline's bodies started to bristle up just a bit the more and more they thought about it. There it was, their target... waiting for them. And it was cranky, hungry, and probably in quite the bad mood... survival was certainly kicking in, and a desperate beast is the last thing they wanted to deal with.

"Well, we could just leave him alone," Daiki said softly with a nervous and hopeful smile. "Could starve him out if we just told everyone to avoid the bridge..."

Kenji just slowly shook his head at that as he softly said back, "Could take days... a week even. And with all the panic and commotion of such a public warning, no doubt he could grab something in the chaos anyway." He took a small pause before continuing with, "We've gotta take care of him now. The sun is up and people are going to start coming over the bridge. He's gonna grab someone, or at least try. That much I can totally see."

Daiki gave back a reserved, but knowing nod as he slowly added in, "So, you got a plan?"

"Don't I always?" Kenji added back with a smile.

---

It was a simple plan, but then again when dealing with a simple creature a simple plan was usually best. They needed to make a good bit of noise walking up the road to the bridge, making sure the beast could hear them coming. But at the same time they needed to keep their swords, armor, and gear from clanking around too much. They didn't want him to know they were armed. They needed to be easy targets, that way they could guarantee the beast would go for them. And they decided to increase the odds even further in their favor on the slow and careful walk back towards the path. It was decided that Kenji would stop before the bridge and take a little break, leaving just one lone and defenseless victim on the bridge for the beast to strike at. Hopefully that would be enough to get it to make the first move, and if the catturns were ready for him they could quickly and easily strike back.

The plan was easy enough to start as both felines casually strolled down that same road, hopping back onto it where they'd originally taken off. A few steps towards the bridge and the banter had already started, both cats talking about their recent long night at the tavern and inn: how much they'd drunk, how hungover they were, and how one of them even got lucky with a female. Whether it was believable or not didn't really matter. There was no way to tell whether the beast spoke their language, but he could for sure pick out the tone of their voices. So the felines just did their best to sound like two lone travelers coming back after a night of fun - too tired to put up a fight.

Of course they were both really on edge as their paws never moved far from their sword hilts, especially when they got within a few hundred feet of the bridge. Their pace began to slow a little bit there as Kenji started to lag behind just as planned. Daiki giving a soft but nervous smirk as he reached down to grab the hilt of his sword to hold it firmly in his paw. "What's a matter?" He asked with a little motion towards the bridge, getting a small nod back from Kenji. "Feeling tired?"

"Yeah," the other feline said back with a sigh, slowing down to a crawl as he slowly continued with, "Can we take a break here?"

"Oh come on," Daiki added in, planting his first foot carefully on the bridge before he slowly said, "At least let's cross the bridge first. It's right here..."

"You go ahead," Kenji called back, eyes focusing a bit more on the scene as he waited and watched for movement in the shadow of the bridge - wrapping his paw tightly around the hilt of his own sword as well as he was ready to slide it out at a moment's notice. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."

That was all Daiki needed to hear as he took a deep breath and started his journey on the bridge. Slow and steady but firm steps fell onto the stone as the feline made sure the cyclops underneath could hear him. His eyes were busy scanning and his whole body was on alert as he crept farther and farther, knowing the midpoint was probably where the beast was going to strike. But he passed on over it with just his nerves tingling, no motion coming from underneath the bridge. Not even a small rustle or the deep breathing of the cyclops could be heard as his footsteps pattered down on the firm stone. And the feline's ears up and on alert to anything, making sure not to miss a single sign of an incoming attack.

And then, as if a strong breeze was about to hit his back, he felt a sensation in the air - almost a sixth sense coming after him which made him quickly spin around. And just as he did that huge clawed hand started to close, those fingers and claws right up to and almost against the feline's sides. Anyone else would've been snatched up and grabbed down to their doom no doubt, but the feline wasn't your normal person. Even so he just barely managed to spring backwards with a surprising reflexive reaction, barely missing a claw as it slid through his fur but not his skin. Not even thinking at this point, just acting out of pure instinct, he quickly drew out his sword and gave a firm slash across the beast's now clasping hand. Those scales gave the beast some good protection, but they were not enough to stop a finely sharpened sword blade from slicing right on through. And as that blade slid across and off the other side of that armored hand there was a heavy ringing roar from underneath the bridge, quickly followed by a bright green gash appearing over the beast's large knuckles.

Daiki's breath was quick and heavy from the close call, but his body was on autopilot now, relying on his training as he went in for another firm slash across those fingers. But the beast was quick, faster than most of the things the feline had dealt with before. That arm surged back underneath the bridge to softly nurse at the wound, the beast's agitated grumbling nearly shaking the foundation of the solid rock bridge all the while. The felines wasted no time in getting into position though, straddling the ends of the bridge as adrenaline began to surge through their veins. Their swords shimmered brightly in the morning light, blades up and at the ready as they moved through the air ready to strike at a moment's notice.

The beast now knew they were there, and the felines obviously knew the cyclops was there as well as they heard a heavy and now angry grumble come from underneath the bridge as he poked his head out. He looked back and forth between both felines on either side of him, giving a heavy grumble as he said something back out in a heavy growling tone. To most it would just sound like the angry rumble of an injured, angry beast, but it sounded familiar to at least one of the felines. Kenji listened in closely and nodded a bit as he understood just enough, doing his best to clear his throat and shoot back something of his own in a deep, rumbling tone. He was far from fluent in cyclops, but the few phrases that were important enough to remember he shouted back as best as he could.

The beast poked his head in Kenji's direction as he spoke, as if a little surprised that he was being told to go and being threatened harm if he didn't. But soon that just made him angrier as he processed it in his brain. The scaled cyclops quickly slid out a bit more from underneath the bridge and stood up to his full height, a bit taller than the bridge itself. He said something back with a little grunt that made Kenji tighten his grip on his sword, leading to him giving a soft twitch of his body and take a cautious step back. But at the same time, since the beast's attention was focused onto Kenji, that give Daiki the opportunity to sneak a little bit closer. He was damn near silent as a few cautious steps landed on the bridge again, gently inching up higher and higher to get a good look at the occupied cyclops.

All the while it was quiet and tense as no one wanted to make the first move. The large beast still huffed heavily as his eyes focused down onto Kenji, his gently bleeding knuckles dripping softly onto the ground with his deep green blood the entire time. But as the beast stood there and did his best to look angry and threatening, both felines slowly started to move, pinning him in between both of their sharp swords as they gently closed in on him. Daiki had the high ground on the bridge, but Kenji was still the focus for the large beast as his head didn't really move away from him.

But the beast wasn't as dumb as he looked as he lured the feline's into a sense of security. He seemed all too easy to move towards where they wanted him, big sharp swords pointing in his general direction. Then all of a sudden an arm was sent flying back towards Daiki on the bridge, crashing into the stone hard and shaking the whole bridge from the force. The rocks cracked and crumbled underneath the strain, leaving a small crater full of shards and chipped rock right where the feline was standing just a moment earlier. Thankfully he was able to see the arm coming, using his feline reflexes to hop back and out of the way. It was another close shave for him though - his fur left a little more ruffled as that scaled fist came within inches of crushing him. Luckily his shins had a bit of light armor as he wasn't quite fast enough to pull both of them back, those scaled knuckles bouncing off the leather instead of pulling out all of his fur on their pass by. But another miss got the beast another slash across his inner arm this time from the feline's sword, nice and ready to dive in for some good damage this time. Of course it caused the beast to yell out in pain once more as another heavy green gash appeared in his scaled skin, but he wasn't done with his trickery quite yet. Kenji quickly surged forwards, seeing an opportunity to attack now that the beast was occupied on his other end. But almost as if he knew it was going to come, the cyclops gave a heavy counter-swing over towards Kenji, using his momentum and gravity to send his other arm flying quickly.

The beast was fast - much faster than either of the felines expected. But Kenji was just a tick faster, sliding out of the way as he gave a swing of his sword towards the beast's elbow. He missed, but as the beast twitched out of the way to avoid it that left an opening for Daiki to rush forwards. He lifted and then swung his sword hard towards the little opening he could find between the beast's armor, giving the large creature a firm gash on his now displayed back. It didn't quite cut down to the spine thankfully as the feline pulled back at just the last second. He wasn't supposed to kill the large beast, just persuade him to leave after all. Nevertheless that sudden slash made the beast froth with rage as he let out a deep and heavy bellow. His head and arms quickly swung back around to glare angrily at the smaller feline, making Daiki gulp as that gaze shot through him.

He knew the cyclops was going to strike, and if he did then the bridge was certainly going to take another heavy shot in the process. One crater was enough collateral damage for the feline's to feel uncomfortable about, but any more anger infused hits could really make the bridge crumble into a pile of rocks if they weren't careful. Doing his best to avoid critical damage to the bridge, the feline did something the beast probably wasn't expecting. He took a quick step forwards and jumped down in front of him, right as the cyclops swung hard with both arms at the same time in an attempt to crush the feline between them.

It was a risky move for sure. The threat of getting kicked or stomped by the beast's foot was a real possibility. But the quick and nimble catturn did his best to run right in between both of them before the large beast could react, giving a few slashes to his legs and inner thighs all along the way. That made the beast howl out loudly yet again, loud enough for everyone in the town to hear him no doubt. And with the sudden burning pain in his legs the beast looked a little uneasy, twitching and spasming for a moment or so afterwards. But before long the pain surged to new levels as the full weight of the creature was pressed into them once again. He attempted to spin around and swipe at both felines behind him, but that motion was too much for the creature to bare. His legs finally buckled and gave out, sending the large beast toppling forwards with a heavy splash into the stream. Thankfully Daiki was quick enough to turn right, yet again just barely evading that mountain of flesh as it fell down into the stream with an earth shaking crunch. And before the beast could get his bearings and start to push himself up, he found two sharp sword blades pressed against his throat and head to convince him otherwise.

That was enough to keep the large beast down and steady, knowing full well what a quick twitch of a wrist could do to him. He was big, and could certainly outmuscle the scrawny felines should it come to that, but sharp steel against throat flesh was a universal sign of losing a battle. Both of the felines were breathing hard, staring down firmly at the defeated beast and not letting their gaze move for an instant. And as he gave a firm grumble and started to tense up the felines applied a bit of pressure against his scales, letting him know that they were in control now. They kept the beast down there in the cold water until the realization sunk into him, leaving the beast breathing heavily as his large, scared eye traced back and forth between both felines.

Kenji slowly started to clear his throat as the pressure on his blade didn't relax for an instant. His still spinning and racing mind made his words come out a little rough and unfocused - probably hard to understand under the best of conditions. But just in case the cyclops didn't catch his meaning, and somehow spoke a little bit of their own language, he slowly repeated with, "We want you to leave this place, this town. Go far away from here back into the mountains. We will let you go with your life. But if you come back we promise you will be dead." And as if to drive his point home the feline slowly lifted up his sword, leaving Daiki to cover that area with his own sharp blade, before he suddenly cut downwards with a fast twitch of his wrist.

The beast grunted and tensed up with a heavy gasp as his eye watched that sword rise on up, only to quickly close it shut with a quick shiver as he saw the feline send that shiny blade back at him. But with a heavy clunk at first impact, and then a firm clink as that blade bounced off the rocks underneath the beast, the first few inches of his horn fell free from his face with a splash into the water. The scared cyclops slowly opened up his eye at that noise, looking quickly at his now missing horn tip with a little squirm at the realization. The felines let the beast come to terms with suddenly missing the tip of his once proud horn before Kenji slowly kneeled down to pick it up, taking care to make sure the beast didn't make another sudden move as Daiki kept his blade firmly up against his neck.

Kenji reached into the cold water and slowly grasped that horn tip, pulling it up to show off right in front of the beast's one giant eye. He gave it a little shake back and forth as he said something in cyclops, before he quickly repeated it with, "This is how I will know it's you. Come back here and you're dead."

It was hard to know whether the beast understood what the feline was saying or not. His large and scared eye simply stared back up at them in an intense, but almost merciful pleading gaze. Both felines took a quick look at each other and finally gave each other a nod, taking a few quick steps back as Daiki pulled the sword away from the beast's neck. He looked a little surprised at the mercy, slowly starting to get up with a huff as both cats grabbed onto their hilts firmly to get ready for another attack. But it seemed that the beast was hurt pretty good, and in no mood to fight back. His body was certainly bleeding from a few places, staining the water downstream a little weak tint of green as he shakily rose up to his feet. Another moment of tense silence hung in the air before Kenji slowly raised up his sword once more, pointing it at the mountains in the distance.

"Go," he added back before giving a small grumble in cyclops as well, wiggling his shining tip a bit to make sure the beast knew what he wanted. The large beast slowly turned around to look at the horizon, letting his gaze fall off the felines for the first time in a while. But soon enough he turned back around, staring back at the felines with a heavy defeated breath. It was hard not to feel sympathy for the large beast as he was just trying to survive, but murder and theft were not going to be tolerated to make that happen.

Still, Daiki couldn't help but lower his sword a bit as he softly said out over towards his partner, "Tell him we'll get him one last meal if he promises to go back to the mountains."

Kenji slowly batted an eye over towards his smaller friend with a slightly confused look, but Daiki was firm in his decision as he slowly said back, "One final meal. He's weak, he's hungry, he's bleeding... if he knows there is easy prey here then he'll be back. Gotta send him off with something he can take to keep him moving."

Kenji gave a heavy sigh at that, but quickly decided that his friend was right. With a little nod, and a second to think and figure out how to say what he needed to say, he gave back a few heavy growls and grumbles at the cyclops to pass on the information. And once those words were out he gave another little wiggle of his sword tip towards the horizon, saying, "We will drop off a cow for you there. At the foot of the mountain. Then you will leave forever. Now GO!"

The cyclops took a little time to process the information before he slowly turned his back on the felines once more. He took a few careful and pained steps around the bridge as he started his journey towards the horizon, not using the stream or road as a pathway but blazing his own slow and lumbering trail across the plain. The felines continued to watch as the beast lumbered on slow and steady, watching his large frame slowly disappear into the brush further down the stream.

It was only then that the felines finally let their guard down, letting out two heavy sighs as they cleaned off their swords in the stream and slowly sheathed them again. "You alright?" Kenji asked first, making sure that horn tip was in a safe place in his pouch - their token and proof of victory after all.

"Yeah," Daiki said back, still a little shaken from the close calls but doing better now as his nerves were fading. "Was faster than I thought though..."

"Yeah," Kenji added back with a soft sigh, shaking off the adrenaline of battle as he gave his back a soft stretch. "Yet you still wanted to give him mercy and food."

"Heh," Daiki added back with a little groan, giving a little stretch himself as he said, "It's not coming out of our paycheck after all. I'm sure the mayor would be happy to part with another cow if it meant no more... what did you say... Greenback cyclopses terrorizing his town?"

"It's your job to convince him," Kenji added back with a huff, slowly turning around as he looked back towards the small town off in the distance.

"Easy with my charm," Daiki said back with a smirk, doing his best to hide behind his humor as both of them start the slow walk back.