Two days had passed since she last saw him. And in that time, her fears and confidence hadn't changed. She still struggled with herself, especially after almost killing a person she was meant to help. That incident happened the day after meeting Jan Ren. If her boyfriend hadn't been there, things could have gone completely different than they had. She owed so much to Ko Lesalt for keeping her under control. Maybe she did need a leash.

She laughed to herself at the inside joke as she and Winter walked to an empty field near the farm. It was a beautiful field, full of really tall sunflowers. It would be easy to get lost among them. Some of them towered over the 5'4" tall teen's head. Still, they were pretty to look at.

According to the sky, it was mid-day or somewhere in that area. Possibly around 9-11 AM. The sky was clear, at least. It didn't look as though any bad weather was set to hit. At least, she hoped not. She didn't intend to get soaked in the middle of a field. Her little Snow Vulpix was exploring every scent and sight, smelling and rolling around in the flowers. Rinni couldn't help but smile.

Now though, she waited for him to show up. Jan Ren told her to meet him near the farmland in two days. She hoped she was in the right spot, or that he could find her among these extremely tall flowers. She sniffed the air trying to catch his scent, but the pollen must be blocking her sense of smell. All she could smell right now were Sunflowers and the pollen tickling her nose until she was prompted to sneeze.

Maybe this wasn't the best meeting spot. But the field was large so she looked for a more open area to make it easier for the Sinese and his friends to find her. She wasn't sure what he was planning, to be perfectly honest. He said he had a plan to help her. But how could he possibly help?

She moved through the sunflowers, gently parting them with her hands until she found a less crowded clearing. There she stood, looking around for any sign of Jan Ren or his associates. She didn't see anyone so far, besides herself and Winter. She idly sniffed the breeze that passed by, trying to catch any familiar scent on the air.

Stats:

Reaching the area after a light detour, the Sinese made his way calmly. However, he wasn't the first to arrive at the scene.

...--"Yo!!" A hand abruptly grabbed at Rinni's shoulder, as the man showed himself to be a dark-skinned man of relatively young age, dressed in all black and masking his nose and mouth; bearing on his back, the Blue Pegasus symbol. "No hard feelings, yeah?" He said as he gave her the good ol' thumbs up, waving her and standing nearby.

Following suit, --"Hey!" Another grabbed at her shoulder, this time from the opposite side. This time, it was a young woman, only an inch shorter than Rinni herself. Dressed in similar fashion, but singled out in her makeup and hairstyle. She too, smiled (through her mask) at the young woman before saying, "It ain't personal, you remember that!" --and taking standby positioning a short distance from the first to arrive.

Shortly, a couple of those reached, in small groups until finally, a party of 16 formed. All had greeted the brown-haired girl in their turn, not really going as far as to hold proper conversation beyond the simple greeting and assuming proper position, as they talked amongst themselves, waiting. The sunflower field wasn't a spot these guys had visited very often, so naturally this bunch appeared to show some curiosity. Despite their apparently menacing appearance, these guys were all in truth, members of Blue Pegasus.

And finally, he arrived as well. "--Sorry to keep you waiting!" He declared, emerging from the sunflower field as well, still shirtless as (recently-made) ever, assuming the regular pose. Hands behind his back, chest slightly puffed out as he marched with some pride. Mostly, for appearance's sake. Truth is, this request he made to his friends might have been too much, though they seemed eager to help out regardless. He'd feel guilty about this later, for sure.

"My apologies, Rinni. It's bad courtesy to keep a lady waiting..." Though he was truely sorry, his expression didn't suggest as such. Instead, it was a lot more welcoming. Glad to see her again, judging her mood to be, definitely better than in that incident two days ago. "As promised, these are my friends." He introduced, gesturing to his apparent gathered gang of ruffians; as they waved hello, voicing out their individual greetings. Such a quirky bunch, these guys.

"You probably didn't expect this many, huh." He joked, rubbing at the back of his head as he chuckled lightly at the potentially off-putting element of surprise he'd inserted.

---

Preparation Stats?:

Rinni had already been struggling with being shy and awkward on top of the future prospect of furry and dangerous. It wasn't very well placed with a random guy grabbed her shoulder, followed by a random girl doing the same. She had been so lost in her own thoughts, she hadn't even smelled them. How did they sneak up on her like this? She had no idea a fight was in her near future, but if it was a fight these people wanted then she had the advantage with plenty of places to hide. She lifted her left hand and started to activate her ring when a familiar face appeared among the gang of 16 ruffians.

"J-Jan Ren?! Wh-what is this?" She looked at everyone, and recalled their choice of words.

No hard feelings, yeah?

It ain't personal, you remember that!

Those were words you would use before attacking someone.

Wait. A fight? That was the Blue Pegasus's plan? How was this going to help her? She wasn't entirely sure what the hell he was expecting out of this, but she was here now and (being surrounded and outnumbered) it was too late to back out. Her ring was activated and in a second, her armor and headband were in place, bow in hand. She was going to keep her new dagger as a surprise for any dumb enough to get too close. She just hoped she didn't get carried away in this fight like Tomoe did in his.

"A fight? This is your big plan? You're crazy, Jan! There's no way that'll end well!" Rinni shouted in desperation, though she had a feeling deep down that this was happening rather she wanted it to or not. Even Winter could sense the tension in the air, her fur standing on ends as cold visible breath came from her nose, fangs bared.

Stats:

Truthfully, he hadn't quite planned how the ramble would go. Only that it needed to happen, for specific reasons. Despite that, he knew nothing of the young girl's practical abilities, and seeing her ring manifest all those clothes and equipment out of nowhere, made the impression upon him that they were dealing with a Requip mage, if anything. Regardless, if her primary weapon was to be a bow, that would be quite tough on his men.

"--Now now, don't go throwing accusations just yet! It's impolite, Rinni." He defended, though his smile remained still; underlying message being, he knew the idea was outrageous at first glance. But had to stick his ground for it to properly go through. After all... She magnificently took the bait!

Something told him that this snow fox she had there was far more intelligent than any normal animal should be. He did not account for this.

No matter. "But you're right. This is basically what's going to happen. So before we engage," The Sinese momentarily stopped, turning to the band of ruffians behind him - bearing his back, on it the purple Blue Pegasus symbol on complete, full display. "Let's establish the rules!"

"No maiming, no dirty tricks, no hitting the eyes or anywhere sensitive and especially, no throwing rocks at people!!" Jan Ren commanded; "The last thing we need is for Master to scold us for being careless!" So, he has acknowledged his carelessness. To his seemingly commanding yet light presence, the thugs agreed, each with their individuality showing. Despite their agreeableness, especially with the Sinese, they each were their own person and had their own lives, you know!

"...Now." With the terms laid out, Jan Ren turned back to Rinni, giving her a somewhat uplifted smile. Staring into her eyes, with all the benevolence of an older brother figure.

...Or a conman. As abruptly, the Sinese turned tail and sprinted Faster Than The Human Eye, past his men and out of sight. "Good luck!!!" Yep, he wasn't sticking around to see this.

On cue, the band all roared out loud battle cries as their legs began rushing, all running towards Rinni at the same time (save for maybe 2 who stayed in the back, missing the cue). Incoming 14 Blue Pegasus grunts!!

---

Stats:

She couldn't believe this. What was Jan thinking? This had to be a joke or mistake, right? Why did she trust a complete stranger and walk into an obvious setup? She was such a nieve little kid sometimes. Did Jan Ren really think he was helping her? One look at his tattoo quickly reminded her why she trusted him. Blue Pegasus. They were good people, right? So, why did his friends look like street thugs? As Jan Ren laid out the rules, the fact he had to state any of these things implied these 'friends' of his were nothing but troublemakers when left unchecked.

'Great...'

Winter growled preparing to attack if it comes down to it. Rinni hushed her companion. She could handle these guys without Winter, she was sure of that much. They didn't look that tough. Plus, she was first a Ranger and secondly a Werewolf. She had her own personal advantages against these guys. She was also fast. They didn't look that fast. Though, she was surprised with Jan Ren took off in a blink of an eye. Whoa, he's fast. That's problematic if it comes down to a fight between her and him.

Her heart pumped loudly.

What was that?

Her eyes widened in realization.

She was craving this fight. The werewolf in her wanted this. Desired this. And, secretly, so did she. So much had happened lately that she really needed a proper outlet to vent. Jan Ren and his little gang were offering her that outlet. She wasn't about to turn it away now that it started. Jan wasn't giving her the choice, anyway. She only hoped she doesn't transform during this and hurt someone.

No sooner did Jan take off out of her view (not a problem, she could track his scent later) the thugs all lunged at her in unison. Fourteen of them charging from all sides. She noticed two of them had stayed back. Was that intentional or were they just not paying attention and legit late to get the memo?

"Guess I'll need you after all. You know what to do!"

Winter opened her mouth releasing a rush of cold air in front of her. The cold air created a layer of ice over the ground, 2m wide and quite slippery. As the thugs charged, each other hit the ice and slide on their asses pr flat onto their faces. Rinni took this opportunity to run into the sunflower field, disappearing just as quickly as Jan Ren had earlier.

But she wasn't after Jan, not yet. First, she'd pick these guys off one by one to make sure they don't get in her way. A part of her was enjoying the thought of this, anticipating the fight to come. She saw Jan Ren as a boss fight and these guys just practice for what was to come. Her heart raced and she quivered at the reality that she was secretly enjoying this.

Now lost amid the tall flowers, taking them out would be a breeze. She quietly moved through the field, using all her advantages to get around undetected. Assuming Jan Ren is probably watching from somewhere, she kept her senses on high alert for any ambush attacks he might have planned. Also assuming the last two thugs were looking for her, she prepared to deal with them first. She was right. She could smell them in the field with her. She smiled to herself. This was going to be fun.

She crept around, tracking their scent, always staying out of sight. When she spotted them, she readied her bow. There they are. Time to take care of them. She drew back her bow, and an arrow constructed of her own mana appeared. She released the string and fired, repeating the same action on the second guy. Both of them were hit in the ass with an arrow and knocked flat on their faces.

Rinni then took off into the fields, tracking the remaining 14.

Currently:

Sprinting at admittedly never-before-practiced speed, Jan Ren covered a huge distance away from the scene of occurence, dashing swiftly and effortlessly through the field of sunflowers. He'd be surprised to see that these flowers ended up being even taller than he was, something he has definitely witnessed few times (not to call those out). Eventually, the Sinese would come to another, awfully conveniently-placed clearing in the middle of the field, something even akin to a ring of sorts. As if someone had trampled with the field and created this circular clearing straight in the middle of the flowery fields.

Strange, he'd never seen this before. But he wasn't about to complain about it. "...Okay, this seems far enough." He silently voiced out, talking to himself rather than to anyone else. Regaining his breath, the Sinese looked back to the direction from which he came. Unable to see a thing through the wall of sunflowers, unable to hear much from the distance he covered in that short time. For him to watch? Absolutely not! These guys were capable, they could handle their own arses without him babysitting them.

"Now, Rinni. ...How will you tackle this?"

...

---

The ground under the Blue Pegasus thugs immediately turned icy, a beautiful bright-blue layer covering the ground entirely. The guys, obviously, didn't expect this. "W-Woah!!!" The sight was far too amusing to pass up. Shame Jan Ren wasn't there to witness it. Tough-looking guys falling flat on their faces, on their behinds or on their stomachs, skidding on the ice in a straight line, either unmoved or spinning rapidly.

Except for this one female grunt who seemed to, despite the obstacle, use this chance to display her ice-skating skills, of all things. Effortlessly skating on the icy ground (even adding the fanservice of a well-executed double-axel jump!) and gaining momentum into the sunflower field, ahead of everyone. In a few seconds, the rest entered the field as well.

Two unfortunate grunts were hit with Rinni's precise arrows, straight in the butt.
"Yaargh!!! Yelled one, forced to leap up as he held at his bottom, face clearly showing pain.
"Ahn~" Moaned the other, forced to leap up as he held at his bottom, face clearly showing ecstasy.
Regardless, they were both down for the count.

The two grunts who missed their cue, snapped to their senses and immediately rushed into the sunflower field as well, chasing the young woman; as they did get the chance to see where she'd snuck herself into. Meanwhile, the remaining twelve shimmied through the field, in frantic search of the brunette. Eventually... "There she is!!" --Declared one of them, a certain girl. While Rinni's senses were keen, the bunch were entirely surrounded by sunflowers, while the grunts' sheer number and body odor would have probably, served to mask them enough for a sneak attack. ...Hopefully. Opening her palms, she leapt at the young huntress with her whole body, aiming to knock her down, while her friends would trace their position and rush to help.

"Follow JayJay's voice!! She's over there!!"

Grunt Status:

No matter how silent she was, it didn't do any good if they saw her. Likewise, no matter how good her scent, it didn't do any good with all these flowers obstructing her nose. She tried to distinguish between odors and directions, but this was new to her. She wasn't sure how to sniff out one target among millions of smells. She caught the whiff of some of the gang but couldn't quite distinguish their position.

As she ran, a sudden yell and blur from her peripheral vision got her attention. She turned in time to see the female lunging at her through mid-air. Her eyes widened and she activated her Pocket Dimension Ring, summoning her Arcing Dagger into her off-hand. Holding the bow with her left, she pulled her right hand in front to defend as the girl landed on top of her, knocking her off balance.

She slashed the dagger at the girl, hitting whatever she could as she had no time to aim. She then kicked the girl off her and scrambled to her feet taking off through the field again. But it was too late, the other 10 who had followed her now had her surrounded. 'Shit...'

She scanned the area, breathing heavily as they closed in on her. She drew her bow, pulling back the string as an arrow materialized. She fired at one of the grunts, then took off running at the first opening, drawing her bowstring to fire three more times on the way through. She was getting tired, she needed a place to hide so she could mentally regroup and plan her next moves.

Winter in that moment decided to help by blowing chilling cold air at the gang. She stood in their path releasing a controlled gale to distract them as Rinni made her escape. Hopefully, it was enough.

Currently:

With the distance covered, Jan Ren couldn't quite pick up on what was going on, but through several voices and what seemed like muted yells (being that far from them) he managed to understand that at least, a fight had broke out properly. His men could handle themselves, he was sure; and Rinni wasn't the type to seriously injure those guys, seemingly so. She was quite distressed over the mere thought of hurting someone once she's transformed, he could only think what caution she would take while still a human.

...He just thought of them as his personal men. "Oh, no no." He refused to admit it. Seating himself down on the ground, legs crossed comfortably as he spread his hands over his knees. "They're not my subordinates. ...Though they do act the part." He voiced out, to nobody in particular. Seeing how he was alone in this wide clearing, he was certain none would hear him. The thought was a little lonely, but nothing the Sinese wasn't used to. Closing his eyes, he prepared for meditation, calming down and pondering over what approach he should take, when the young huntress inevitably reaches the Final Boss. "Now then..." Breathe deep in, then exhale out slowly.

Repeat.

...

Hit hard against the dagger, the woman's eyes widened as her face grew pale. "Urk...!!" Sweat rolling down the side of her face, she dropped down to the ground right beside Rinni as the young girl kicked her away. But by the time she had prepared to materialize her arrows, the grunts had already entered proper range, chasing her through the field of sunflowers. "Get her!!" Ignoring the downed body of their comrade, the bold woman simply remaining motionless on the floor.

"S-Someone, help...!!"

Though before the gang could reach the huntress, the tiny snow fox appeared out, with a harsh cold breath disturbing the thugs' flow. "Ack!!" Three on the forefront took the full brunt of the spell, parts of their bodies and clothes encased in snow as the cold air froze them; falling backwards and shivering. "Oof...! The fox!! Get the fox!!"

While the snow fox would continue to expel its breath, one brave grunt leapt forward. "Leave this to me!!" He yelled out, plowing through the sunflower field and instantly picking the fox up by its sides; raising it up to make it snow. "I got this! Because... I'm used to the cold!" What a lame reason!! But it proved worthy. With his support, the rest of the grunts could continue. With none of Rinni's arrows hitting their presumed targets, the thugs assumed the victim was getting tired after all.

They were going to finish this before Jan Ren even had a chance!

Status:

Winter yelped and squirmed thrashing about in the strange man's grasp as she attempted to free herself. Rinni kept running, unable to go back for her companion. She knew Winter wasn't in real danger, so she continued on her way as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she still felt guilty abandoning her companion like that. 'I'm sorry, Winter. I hope you know... if this was a real fight against someone trying to kill us... I wouldn't leave you....'

Winter released a chilling howl causing the one holding her to let her go, not expecting it. The little fox then took off running into the sunflowers looking for Rinni. But Rinni was long gone. She trusted Winter to manage on her own, but she had over-exerted her stamina and couldn't run anymore. She could smell her pursuers, their scent mixed with the aroma of the sunflowers.

She was skilled at moving without making a sound, she just hoped no one had seen where she went. How many were left, anyway? She wasn't sure but she knew she was still outnumbered and had to recover before they could find her. She ducked down among some exceptionally tall foliage and watched them run past her, counting them as they go.

4...

5...

6...

7...

8...

Eight left. She could have sworn there were more than that. She paused long enough to catch her breath, but just as she was about to stalk the grunts, the other two joined the fray, coming up behind her and grabbing her arms. They thought they had her, but she kicked at their legs causing them to stagger and lose their grip. She then activated her Pocket Dimension ring, once more gripping her Arcing Dagger.

More focused this time, she carefully sliced at one grunt with the flat side of the blade, then used the hilt of the blade to knock the other grunt upside his head. With them both down, she took off once more into the sea of flowers.

Status:

While Jan Ren was meditating, the scene continued to unfold. The two grunts figured they could get an advantage over Rinni if they approached from behind and distracted her, though things haven't really gone according to plan, with the two dispatched rather quickly with a quick oomph. Both falling down to the ground quickly with barely a second of struggle; it appears that the difference in strength was far too vast!

However, their efforts weren't entirely in vain; as the direction the young huntress ran off to, was wherever the grunts had passed her from. And with the two grunts' dispatching, they were just alerted quick enough to know where she was headed. That was when. "Now!!!" ...They all, unexpectedly, leapt at her. All eight grunts, jumping up to assault the young girl, each with their personal style. Be it an aerial kick or a punch, one even attempted a headbutt. Whichever it was, they were not going to let their fallen comrades' defeat be for naught! Despite their dwindled numbers, the bunch was very much determined to pin Rinni down to the ground.

Because... With no weapons at their disposal, their biggest advantage for a good struggle would be, if the brunette was pinned to the ground. They could then commence on a good beatdown to secure their victory, if only it would work!

...Though the distance covered was far enough, the Sinese -- amidst his meditation, finally heard his people's loud announcement. He wouldn't be snapped awake from that, but simply took note that it looks like the plan was set in motion. Yes, much to his apparent deceit, Jan Ren did go over an idea of a plan with his crew; and with the conditions met, they could now attempt it. "(Didn't take too long. I suppose it's my turn soon...)"

The young man would lie to claim he wasn't getting a little giddy. If his men would be down for the count this quickly, this meant he would have to bust more of his skill than he would have liked, just to keep up with his opponent. Which ultimately would make the lesson on itself not meaningless as much as it would turn out anticlimactic, and that, the Sinese wouldn't have.

Status:

Now!!!

The shout came out of nowhere and startled the Encan to skid to a sudden halt. Her brown eyes widened as she realized all 8 men were jumping her from different directions, trying to take her down. She had to move quickly and without hesitation. She lunged toward the one that was coming at her with a kick, hoping to dodge under him. It was too little too late however as he kicked her in the chest, causing her to fly back a few meters.

It hurt and was a setback, but it caused the others to crash into each other, knocking themselves out in the process! This left only one for her to deal with. Winter had just emerged on the scene, finally catching up with Rinni as the last grunt lunged at Rinni, attempting to beat her down.

Laying on her back, she readied her bow, pulling back the string as the man came down on top of her. Midfall, she fired the arrow straight into his chest dealing enough damage to knock him away from her and to hopefully knock him out. She then stood up panting and looked around. It appeared her task here was done.

With that, she headed off closely followed by Winter. She followed her nose until she picked up Jan Ren's familiar scent. She recognized it from when he held her in his arms a couple of days ago. She grinned as the scent led her straight to him!

"Jan Ren!" She shouted as soon as she spotted him. "Looks like you're next!"

Stats:

-To be Continued...-

Much to the Sinese' dismay, the first part of this challenge seemed to have ended much faster than he had anticipated. He knew his fellow guildmembers to be more on the goofy side, but he would admit to himself mentally that perhaps he had come to underestimate Rinni's skill as a fighter too. Put two and two together, and the end result was all logical. Granted the young man wasn't physically in the field of the skirmish, but the brunette's early arrival was enough indication. He had expected at least two of them to 'rise up from the dead' and attack Rinni when she was off-guard, but... It appears that the lot has given up on the attempt.

That, and the thread has been going on for too long, right? We are getting pretty impatient here.

With a deep breath, in and then out; the Sinese slowly opened his emerald eyes, meeting unpleasantly with the sun's rays as he made out the shape of the young huntress, his vision slowly returning to him properly. That's as far as meditation would take him then. "...Well well." He started, ever-calmly picking himself up from the ground; a hand on his knee to support his weight, pushing himself up to his feet. "You've made short work of them, alright. I see that they did roughen you up a little bit, huh." He teased, having absolutely no indication of such. If anything, it was an empty guess.

God, he'd hoped they left at least some number on her.

A proper look as his sight came back in full, told him that despite his hopes, the young girl wasn't separated from her companion after all. Shame. This means, he'd have to deal with both at the same time, huh... Surely the snow fox would jump in to help her owner should things get tough. "Alright, okay. Then you know what's coming now. But before that, I must ask..."

The Sinese' calm and welcoming demeanor changed, as did the air around him when he exhaled; the smile on his face fading into a hint of a glare, as his eyes sharply locked in with the huntress' from afar. Not swaying an inch from her, confidently staring as he clenched his fists in preparation.

"...What are you?"