( open ) i'm guessing that i've grown horns

[bigbaddy]

Who: Bigby and you!
What: If there are animal tracks anywhere in the area, you know the big dog's got to chase them down.
When: During April.
Where: First prompt outside the populated areas towards the rockier areas in the wild, second prompt back in Milton.

Content Warnings: Nothing in the log itself, if anything comes up in a thread there will be a warning in the header!

( 1. outside town )

[ Maybe you decided to go along with Bigby out on a little trip - or maybe he invited you along, if he knows you. Maybe you even came out here by yourself, and Bigby ran into you.

Either way, you're standing here now together, out in the rockier area between the mining camp and the ravine - staring down at some tracks in the snow. Even if the fog constantly hanging around is making visibility more of a problem, at least it's still very much possible to just look down and stare at the rather feline tracks in the snow. ]

See? [ Bigby points out to you. ] This is what I was talking about. I haven't seen this here before, but.. judging by the looks of it, that's got to be one big cat.

[ More than just a cat, really. That's why the man's eyebrows are drawn together into a concerned frown as he stares at the tracks, but then looks back up and over at you. ]

It's usually not been a good thing when new tracks appear around here.

( 2. in milton )

[ Running around in the wilds seems to have done very little for actually managing to find whatever animal is out there.. and instead seems to have done a whole lot more to Bigby himself.

After all, with the weather being the way it is, it feels incredibly exhausting to be out there. Let alone going out day after day, since he's so determined to find that thing. And between that and everything that's been happening the past few months, and the stress of the situation and the worries about the Darkwalker..

.. well, Bigby isn't doing so great.

It might become obvious when you see him coming back into Milton after another day of futile tracking. It's like he has to drag his feet to keep on moving as he's walking across town to head back to his place, lines of exhaustion visible in his face. But apparently he's not exhausted enough to no notice someone staring at him, since he'll lift his head to look over at you after a few moments, noticing you there. ]

.. Is something up?

[ For once he doesn't even sound gruff as he's saying it.

Bigby just sounds tired. ]

( ooc: replying with either brackets or prose is fine! i will match! c: )

Comments

cw continues

[bigbaddy]

[ There's no direct response from Bigby. No confirmation. But it seems like the man has gotten the message all the same, because his actions show that he's doing exactly what Maccready is asking for here, figuring that it means he's got some sort of plan here as to how he can shoot this thing as well.

So he moves to the other side of the cat - so he's no longer standing between Maccready and the creature, but instead at a point where he can easily lead the animal further away from Maccready's sniping spot instead as long as it'll follow him.

And Bigby is sure planning on making sure the cat follows him. He lowers himself a little, just enough to seem a little more like an animal himself, especially with his face half-transformed like this, and then lets out another one of those weird animalistic sounds. It seems like it's enough to draw both the cat's attention and aggro at the same time, like it's considering something on a similar level as itself as more of a natural threat here.

It starts to move towards Bigby, and Bigby moves backwards at the exact same rate - making sure to keep some distance between himself and the creature so it hopefully can't leap at him and tear out his throat. ]

[heckofashot]

[ For a second — just a fraction of one — Maccready questions whether this is a good idea at all, the reliance upon others, of allowing other people to rely on him in turn. It's an errant thought, one that rears its head from time to time, and one that's pushed easily to the side as Bigby begins moving, shifting to the cat's flank and luring it away. It's replaced with a new thought, that Bigby truly is what he said at the town meeting; not that Maccready had doubted him, it's just… difficult to wrap his head around. Or was, he supposes.

Still, questions of how human someone is or isn't, they aren't particularly relevant when there's a killer cat around.

Maccready keeps still, silent as Bigby leads it away, lest he draw attention to himself again. It's eerily impressive, the way the man keeps pace with the animal, and the move further and further back in tandem almost — for each threatening step forward the cat takes, Bigby moves easily backwards. He has no intention of allowing the game of cat and proverbial-mouse to continue longer than necessary, though.

The second he sees an opening he lines up a shot, from there it's just a matter of waiting for the right moment, the right angle. Ensuring there's no risk of a bullet tearing its way through the cat and catching Bigby. Just a slight adjustment in trajectory, the cat looking ready to pounce.

He hits the upper thigh of it's back leg, that pounce it had been readying leading nowhere as it instead roars, a strangled sort of sound, louder than he'd imagined it would be. He's the one with the cat's eyes on him now, turning to narrow yellow eyes at him as he reloads, empty rounds falling into the snow below. Bigby's axe really better not be for show. ]

[bigbaddy]

[ Bigby doesn't have any clue when the shot is going to come, but that's fine. He's dealt with surprises before, and he at least does know that it's coming. He'll just have to trust Maccready enough to believe the other will know the right moment to shoot. That Bigby can keep moving without being too worried about accidentally ending up in the line of fire.

And it seems he was right about that one. When the shot rings out, it's the mutated wildcat that's downed, not him. The timing of the shot seems perfect too with the way the creature ends up on the ground. Maccready doesn't even have to say anything - like Bigby wordlessly knows what he has to do.

Which is to finally swing his axe again - and downwards, hitting the creature's neck.

It takes a second swing, considering the strength of the mutation, but when Bigby swings the weapon down again, the cat's head is cleanly separated from its body. Blood sprays up enough to land on Bigby's weapon, hands and coat, but the man doesn't seem to mind in the slightest.

Instead he gazes up with his glowing eyes towards where Maccready is, just to see if he can still spot the other's form there. ]

You alright? [ He calls out, a little more confident in raising his voice now the danger's gone. He doubts there's more of these things anywhere nearby, or surely they would've approached after the first shot rang out. ]