Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
Posted September 17, 2019 / Adelaide Chappel
It was chaotic, but Addy knew as well as the others that she couldn't panic or give in to the confusion of tumbling bodies and squealing horses. Still, it was no easy task to stay clear of stamping hooves and swinging heads, and in the end, she just released Shade's horse and held onto Arabesque long enough to wrench her rifle free of its scabbard.
As Arabesque darted away, Addy stumbled back, but there wasn't time to worry about what was going on around her...the bear was getting close, turning to bear his wrath toward Aurelian and Speed, but that gave her the barest opportunity to actually aim at the massive head, fortunately above the heads of the men, so there was no chance of accidentally hitting them.
She squeezed off a shot, the recoil causing her to stagger back and land on her butt, but in an instant she was scrambling to her feet, in case the bear started to come at her.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Posted September 17, 2019 / Henry S. Guyer
Scrambling, dodging, trying to reach his rifle, Speed was unsure of the animals around him as they too were panic stricken. Gunfire , screaming horses and the snarling and roaring from the beast filled the air, along with random shots and and a steady stream of curses.
His hand gabbed the stock of the Sharps at the receiver and he tugged at it trying to pull it free of the underbrush as chaos raged all around him. The fifty caliber came free and lying on his back Speed brought it to bear. He all but had a clear shot as the grizzly reared up on his hind legs. He thumbed the hammer back and sighted in on the bears skull. Just as he squeezed the trigger, the beast dropped back down, his shot going nowhere!
The report of the buffalo gun startled the already panicked horses and before he could reload, Speed had to dodge hooves hearing another rifle report he looked seeing Addy knocked back but the recoil. Then another skittish horse blocked his view to see if she registered the hit ending this melee, forcing him to roll out of the way.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted September 18, 2019 / Old Satan, The Bear
The chaos around him was maddening. The screaming horses and gunshots made the bear angrier. He had long since forgotten any fear that he may have once had of humans. The bear's fevered brain was driving him into a frenzy. It also affected his judgment and balance. Most of his attempted strikes went awry. In a fury, the massive grizzly charged at another of the terrified horses only to pull up short as the animals scattered.
The sound of the human's weapons was even more deafening than the noise from the horses. Most of the shots went wild, but some hit their mark without doing significant damage. Still, the pain was driving the bear away from reason, such as it was in any animal. In the past, it would have only taken the sound of one shot to send him running. Now, he just wanted to get close enough to rip one of his tormenters to shreds.
The great Kodiak bear shuddered as another round hit him, tearing through tender flesh and vital organs. He was dying but that had not registered in his fevered brain. As pain ripped through his powerful body, he roared and rose up on his hind legs in an attempt to make himself look more frightening. Another shot rang out as the grizzly dropped back to all four feet.
Roaring again, the bear charged at the human that had fired his weapon last. It did not matter that that was not the one that was killing him. All that mattered was the sweet taste of human blood. Amazingly, he picked up speed...
Then his great old heart exploded. The bullet that had torn through his organs had lodged in his heart. The next rush of adrenaline and his attempt to charge, to run, finally took its toll. He fell to the ground almost at the man's feet. The bear gave a shuddering sigh and died.
At long last, Old Satan, the terror of Montana's northwest territory, was dead.
Posted September 18, 2019 / Quentin Cantrell
Quentin sat on one knee up the hillside, still several dozen yards short of the bear. He had realized he was never going to catch the running avalanche, so he had slid to a stop and knelt. He had snugged the trapdoor to his shoulder and fired, seeing a puff of red erupt from the body. He popped the breech, thumbed in another round, cocked the hammer and fired, not seeing an impact because of the haze of smoke around him. Quentin popped the breech and thumbed another round home. He pulled the hammer back to full cock as he realized that suddenly things were quiet. His ears rang from the punishing bangs of the rifle as he peered through the smoke. Quentin rested his thumb on the hammer and pulled the trigger, easing the hammer down to rest on the breech.
The white haze cleared slowly and he saw the mass of bear laying still. He could see a few people around it, but he was unsure who at this distance. One of them turned and waved their rifle over their head. Quentin exhaled and waved his empty hand toward them. The smile that started to spread across his face fell off like broken glass as he saw Shade's horse standing far on the other side of the dead bear and their own spare mounts.
"SHADE!" Quentin roared, turning and running back along the trail toward where their column had been when the monster had attacked.
Posted September 20, 2019 / Aurelian Redmond
Total chaos, fear, and upclose mortal danger.......Aurelian had been fixated on survival and on doing whatever he could to kill that thing. But fortunately someone else, the woman no less, finally brought the huge bear down. Someone else fired a few more rounds into the now still bulk of the creature but it was definitely dead. Thank the Lord! With a huge sigh of relief he lowered his now reloaded carbine, he was going to be able to go home to his beloved children.
Stepping closer then to Addy he smiled, "Nice shot. Just in the nick of time too."
Quentin suddenly was yelling Shade's name though. Aurelian couldn't see Shade at all from where he was. Oh lord, did the bear get one of them afterall?
"Hope that's not what I think it might be," Aurelian said to the woman then headed in the direction of the shouting.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Posted September 23, 2019 / Henry S. Guyer
Suddenly there was a silence, not a complete silence as the animals were still skittish and moving around sounding their displeasure. No longer was the bear voicing his threats to the group of hunters, in fact, he was making no sound at all.
The a voice called for Shade, and with a final jerk his own weapon came free and he sprang to his feet looking about, hopeful the beast had not claimed another at the end of his reign of terror.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
Posted September 23, 2019 / Adelaide Chappel
Addy glanced at Aurelian as she scrambled to her feet, not exactly sure that hers had been the kill-shot, so much as a combination of all the shooting...not that it mattered, the beast was still.
As for the shout, it held a level of alarm that meant that it was more than just a call, it was trouble. "Don't sound good," she answered his question, but as he ran toward the others, she glanced at Speed. "Gotta get th' horses," she declared. After all, without the mounts they'd have a long time getting back to any help they might need.
She gave Speed a nod, then headed for the nearest animals...Arabesque and the remuda horses, tangled with each other, still for the moment, but snorting nervously, liable to try to bolt at the slightest provocation, and that would only be bad.
‘Over the Mountains of the Moon, Down the Valley of the Shadow, ride, boldly ride, The Shade replied - If you seek for El Dorado
Posted September 23, 2019
Somewhere in the distance, someone was calling his name, yelling for him actually. Shade could not place the voice at first. His mental processes felt sluggish and disconnected from everything. And, his head hurt to the point that even opening his eyes to the light of day was painful. Gradually, Shade remembered the danger. They, he and someone else, had been hunting a huge...a huge what?
Shade knew he needed to get to his feet or at least try to respond to the voice that was calling his name. He got his eyes opened which did not help much since everything was blurry. Reaching out, he touched what felt like a rock. Grabbing hold, he started to pull himself up but stopped halfway when his right leg tried to buckle beneath his weight. Giving up since neither his head or his leg were cooperating, Shade simply leaned against the boulder.
The voice yelled again, and suddenly everything was crystal clear. He had been tracking the bear when it mounted a counter-attack. Shade's head still hurt horribly, and so did his leg, but he knew who was yelling his name now.
"Quentin!" Shade yelled, now worried more for the hunting party than for his own situation. "Quentin! The bear...." He slid back down the boulder to sit at its base and leaned back on it. Now, what had he been about to say?
Posted September 23, 2019 / Aurelian Redmond
The woman had the same thoughts but she went for the horses, which made sense so they didn't lose them due to panic. It was a long enough ride to get this far let alone get stuck walking. Besides, they may well have a wounded one in their party...........or worse. He hoped not as he rushed toward where Quentin was also heading.
Reaching Shade, it only took one quick look to see the bear had gotten him but he was still conscious and seemed to have all his limbs so that was a good thing. There was blood alright but he hadn't been ripped wide open.
"Take it easy...let us check you over," he advised but was going to let Quentin handle that task.
Posted September 23, 2019 / Quentin Cantrell
Quentin slowed until he could see Shade half laying down near some rocks and brush. He slung his rifle across his back while he covered the remaining distance and dropped down beside Shade, helping him lay back down and stop trying to get up. He heard running and glanced up as Aurelian arrived next to him. Quentin looked back at Shade as he ran his hands along the other man's clothes. There were bloodstains all over but there did not seem to be any marks on his torso. Quentin kept moving down and checking but his hand stopped above one thigh as he felt the heat from the blood. He saw the slow but steady oozing around the fabric. He moved on down but could find no other damage.
"Looks like the bear got his leg pretty good. He's not walking out of here. You best go grab some of the mounts and the others and get back here. Bring the medical supplies!"