A Sacrifice [Solo/Job][D-Tier]

Job Description:

"Hmm," Diego paused to check out the job board he happened upon. The board had several posts that seemed to be ranked on difficulty. He glanced at several and noticed a few that involved fighting some very notorious criminals. "Whoa, those guys are out of our league." Trixie snorted and sat down as he continued looking at the job offerings.

He was about to walk away when a leaflet with a Black Temple seal caught his eye. "Desert Crocodiles?!" Diego's eyes went wide with excitement. Trixie looked up from cleaning herself and tilted her head at him, as if trying to understand his outburst. "Let's go, Trix! I want to see this!" He took off, snatching the leaflet off the board in what he hoped was the right direction. Trixie bounded off after him, not one to be left behind, with a playful mew.

::Two Hours Later::

After stopping for directions, Diego quickly found the Black Temple. Carrying the leaflet in hand, he entered the temple looking for someone to inquire about the job. He was directed towards an elderly priest who told him where to find the beast and gave him a vial of poison to handle the desert crocodile. Diego thanked the man and ran back outside to Madam Trixie. She met him with a thud at his hip and began nuzzling his leg as he tried to keep his balance. Chuckling softly, he ruffled the fur on her head and with a click to urge her on, he took off towards the crocodile's pit.

He found the pit, which had several lotus trees surrounding a 20 meter pond. In the center of the pond was a small sandy island, where the crocodile was resting. Diego crouched low to the ground and using cover got closer to see the crocodile. Following suit, Trixie slinked along the ground next to him, sniffing the air. On the breeze, she could smell people, distant traces of food, nearby excrement, and an odd scent that she gathered was the strange creature out in the water. The long nose with teeth worried her and she was curious why a creature would have teeth in such an odd place, but she was comforted by her master's presence. She looked to Diego and he smiled before pointing at an area behind a lotus tree to the east of the pond and back at her. Tilting her head, she batted at his arm and let out a soft whine. She purred as his fingers firmly rubbed the back of her head. When he was done she stealthily crawled to where he had pointed earlier, hopeful to get more scratches.

[443/500]

Diego still in a crouch, moved off towards the west of the pond and settled behind a lotus tree opposite of Trixie's general direction. The crocodile was laying on his belly with his jaw open slightly with the bottom half of his body in the water. Diego realized he only had a couple of options. He didn't know much about crocodiles other than they could move fast and they had a wicked bite. If that was true, then getting in close wouldn't be the best bet until he gave it the poison. Deciding that baiting it might be the best option, Diego stood up and grabbed the vial from his sack. Waving his hands over his head, he shouted, "Hey! Big guy!" When the crocodile turned it's head to look at Diego, he continued, "I need to take you to the Black Temple, is that ok with you?"

The crocodile yawned and then slithered up to the north side of the island, over a hump so Diego couldn't see him anymore. "I guess it's not." Diego sighed and glanced at his kitty across the lake. She was making her way around the lake towards where the crocodile had vanished. Gripping the vial, Diego started heading around to meet her.

He was about halfway there when he heard something splash beside him. He turned his head and screaming he leapt forward to narrowly avoid the snapping jaws of the crocodile. It then clicked that the creature had used the lack of vision to sink into the water and wait him out. As the jaws snapped shut, Diego dropped his weight to his left leg, spun as he extended his right to deliver a blow to the crocodile's mouth. When it hit, Diego used the momentum to roll forward, away from the crocodile. He rolled onto his feet and got into a stance, ready to spring away if need be. He noticed the left side of his jaw where Diego's foot had struck had a tiny trickle of blood dripping down it.

[783/500]

Trixie's vision was blocked by a tree she was passing as she heard Diego scream. Alarmed, her ears perked up and she picked up speed, losing all pretense of stealth. When she cleared the tree, she saw Diego jumping out of the way of the creature's nose. Her eyes expressed the fear at seeing a creature open their nose in such a fashion and a spark of anger at seeing her master in danger. She ran forward along the shore of the pond closing the gap of five meters until she could pounce at the crocodile from the side. When she pounced, she noticed Diego dropping to the ground to deliver a spinning kick to the creature's jaw.

The crocodile snorted and with a roar of rage, charged towards Diego straining it's sore mouth at Diego's right leg. Too close to dodge, Diego did the only thing he could think of. As the crocodile's sharp teeth descended upon his leg, Diego ripped the cork out of the vial and threw it in the beast's open mouth. He let out a piercing cry as its teeth tore through skin and into his calf, deafening the sound of the vial crunching in the creature's mouth. The pain was so intense everything went black for a second and he barely heard a roar.

Trixie descended upon the crocodile in a fury, catching the creature's stumpy left leg in her fangs and ripped her head back and forth slightly tearing its muscles. Pulling her teeth out, she pulled back and quickly delivered two slashes into its side before leaping to Diego's side.

The crocodile roared in pain and lost its balance from Trixie's vicious assault on his arm. His mouth was bleeding with shards of glass stuck in its gums and tongue. As Trixie's claws tore through its side the pain was so intense it started to black out. Between the poison working though the crocodile's veins and the amount of energy it expelled the crocodile passed out as it tried to crawl into the water.

Stunned, Diego had watched Trixie's ferocious attack and even through the pain felt a surge of pride. Unfortunately, he realized as his senses started to dull and his vision got blurry, that the poison had seeped into his wounds. He would have cursed himself for the rash decision but it seemed better to rest his eyes and wait for a better time. Straining to stay awake he mumbled, "Good...job...Trixie.....now....to....the....temple..."

Trixie nudged Diego but he was fast asleep. She slowly rolled him over and by scooting under his body, she managed to get him on her back. Unsure of what to do with the crocodile, she remembered the big, black building they were at before. With a snort, she wobbled over to the creature's tail and gripped it in her teeth. What a sight it was for people as they saw a blood-streak white tiger with a man on her back, dragging a large crocodile in her mouth. It took the better part of the day, but she managed to bring both Diego and the crocodile to the temple. Strangely enough, no one harassed her along the journey.

[1318/500]
[60/80 Stamina]

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