Tailpin finally made it to the peak of the slope.  He skidded to a stop and took stock of the situation.  Three bear types in view.  Two had just finished killing the two bandits they had been chasing and were now headed back toward the group at full health.  One had just been destroyed by Mai'lo but he looked too worried for it to have been an easy win.  There was one other in view but it was deep into the yellow and was engaged by a man with a halberd who seemed to be able to hold it off for awhile.  It looked like the battle would be hard fought with no room for holding back or playing around.  Tailpin raised his bow and pulled an arrow, thinking to help finish the wounded bear before the other two returned.  But then he remembered something and froze.

He hadn't just seen two monsters when he was mapping.  He had seen two 'types' of monster.  One large and slow, the bears fit the bill.  The other had been sleek and smaller with a tail.  That kind of build would be suited to stealth and speed.  Tailpin swept his eyes over the other players with a different idea than before.  That one girl had to be Iris.  She looked like she'd been hit hardest of all.  The archer's eyes started behind Iris, scanning for any places of concealment where something could stalk her.  He almost missed it, a small movement in the shadow between a boulder and the side of the nearest mesa.  It's outline was hard to determine but it vaguely resembled a fox, if black foxes grew to the size of an average golden retriever.  It was still stalking.  It hadn't crouched to pounce yet but it was probably close enough to catch Iris by surprise if it did.

This was a nasty surprise to have so close to the starting town.  The bears are armored and can hold the best early level tanks at bay, keeping them occupied while these fragging giant foxes circle around to finish them off from behind.  [i]Kayaba, when this is over, I'm going to kill you if you're alive and piss on your grave if you're dead.[/i]  Tailpin wasn't sure that there was only one fox.  But, this one wasn't going to get its way.

He changed his point of aim and primed his new skill just as the fox crouched, bunching its muscles for a pouncing attack at Iris.  He couldn't kill it, or even hurt it much.  He had no time for further thought.  The prediction line swept across the girl as he swung it to intersect where he thought the beast would be.  Then he loosed the arrow.  It flew like a drunken shooting star, winding its way through the air in a wide arc that missed another player by only a meter.  But, close calls can be forgiven for the sake of results.

The arrow struck its mark, impacting the fox on the side of its head in mid-leap and turning it just enough that it missed Iris entirely and landed in the middle of the battle area with no cover and a brightly glowing patch just behind its left eye.  However, its hit points had barely twitched.  The skill had high impact force but sacrificed damage to deliver it.  Still, as fast and strong as it was likely to be, it wasn't armored like the bears and had lost the element of surprise.  Tailpin quickly drew another arrow back and activated his skill again.  This time he aimed for the wounded bear that was still fighting the man with the halberd and loosed.  Hopefully it would create an opening that could be easily exploited.