Snippet #2054917

Irene continued the exercise, adjusting to her new weapon, getting to know its quirks and nuances from what she had previously trained with. Soon, she was completely comfortable. With this, she stopped firing entirely. She remembered that they were to face a stronger opponent soon. Irene wondered if it was something they would face as a team, or merely some things that each of them would face alone. Using both her naked eye and the scope, Irene scanned the barn in front of her and its surroundings. Her finger lightly resting on the trigger, she was prepared to fire in an instant.

The next thought that came to her was the possibility that the next, stronger target might not come from that direction at all, but from behind or to either side. From her position, it was impossible to see farther than ten feet in any of those directions, and even less with any clarity. Uneasily, she loosened her dagger from its sheath, ready to pull it out at the first sign of danger. She was not prepared to give up her position and stand, and she continued to scan the barn area for the opportunity of a shot at the target. She watched distractedly as her teammates destroyed several of the dummies, carefully noting their skills. It seemed she was the only one with an especially long range weapon.

Suddenly, several animals burst out from various locations. It looked like each of them would have their own opponent, so she was on her own. Her eyes quickened their search as she didn't want to be caught off guard by her enemy, and there were sounds of fighting a ways behind her. Suddenly, she heard something odd above her, like tremendous, flapping wings. Her eyes turned upward just in time to see a massive bird of some sort swooping down with large talons outstretched to grab her. Each talon was probably as long as her arm, and lethally sharp. She rolled to the side just as the birds talon's hit the ground, effortlessly leaving deep gashes and uprooting grass as it flapped heavily to gain altitude, circling above her. It's plumage was dark brown, with streaks of red and flecks of tan on its belly. Its head and neck were entirely black, its beak a brownish, dirty yellow.

As soon as the colossal bird missed her, Irene stooped and snatched up her sniper rifle. in one smooth motion, she snapped the stand closed, brought it to her shoulder, and took aim. At least it's a large target, she thought grimly, tracking the bird in its swooping and turning. Just as she was about to fire, the creature suddenly turned sharply, now moving almost in the direction it came from and heading directly toward Irene for another dive.

"Big mistake," she intoned without any emotion. She fired off one shot, two, three. The immense bird came crashing to the ground, sliding just five feet in front of her before hoping to his feet. Just standing there, it was nearly seven feet tall. Irene was already prepared to fire another shot as the injured beast lunged toward her, opening its sharp beak to snap her head off. Mid-lunge, there was the sharp retort of another shot, the bullet going through the bird's gaping maw and out the back of its head, and it fell with a crash, making Irene jump out of the way. Still aiming the loaded rifle at its head, Irene gave it a solid kick to make sure it was finally dead.

Her rifle still at the ready, Irene looked around to see that her other teammates had prevailed against their opponents as well. With a small sigh, Irene briefly smiled, her confidence in her new team increasing.