The Lycan was flung backwards from the force of her tail, letting out an almost pitiful yelp as it impacted with the ground. Meanwhile Darren was still delirious from the blow to the head but then suddenly he was filled with adrenaline, he refused to die here.

He got up suddenly and took aim with his handgun, firing bullet after bullet into the beast. The silver tipped ammo would burn the lycan quite severely, leaving nasty marks all over where it was shot. Darren however was in too much of a bloodlust filled rage to stop, firing until he ran out of ammo and kept pulling the trigger afterward despite the clicking. By now the Lycan was quite dead and bleeding out.

Bella froze in place, quietly watching as Darren suddenly unloaded his gun into the lycan, and now stood over its corpse, ceaselessly pulling the trigger. After a moment she walked over beside Darren and reaching up, her hand returning to a more human shape, the bruise still present, and she placed it over his and gently pushed down on the gun, signaling him that it is over.

"You did it, cher, you got him," she said softly. She looked at his head, noting the wound, before turning to tear off a sleeve from her dress and going to wrap the wound on his head. "At least you weren't bitten, but... I was reckless... sorry."

The whole ordeal was too much strain on him, so he dropped his weapon and fell to his knees in a mix of fear and stress. He barely acknowledge Bella tending to his wounds, his expression vacant but with clear trauma in his eyes. Nearby though hidden in the trees they were being watched.

A pair of eyes was fixated on them both, a slight smile on the face of who they belonged to. This shadowy being appeared to be a small girl who had been observing the fight since it began.

Bella watched as he fell to his knees and she too knelt down beside him, her concern only growing. She had little attention to give to anything else, staring into his eyes. She wasn't intent to forcibly move him in worry it'd only cause shock and was rather, instead, intent to see if he just, instead, needed time to gather himself. She seated herself beside him.

"I understand I'm far from human, far from everything, but if there is anything I can do, or be," she began, before stopping and sighing. She didn't know how to get through, and she wasn't going to force it. "I don't remember myself, I don't remember what I was before I was this, I just remember fear and anxiety, a need to be... something, anything. That's why I consumed beings for a while, and only found myself only more isolated as a result. I..."

She paused as her senses kicked back in, giving her a feeling that they were still not alone.

Darren finally came out his trauma induced daze once he sensed the peculiar figure nearby as well. He went to go pick up his gun despite being completely out of ammo.

The figure did a very calm and sinister laugh directed at them both. She kept herself in the shadows so her appearance was obscured. "Well, you took care of that beast fairly well didn't you?" She spoke in a callous tone, as if she was expecting all of this.

Bella stood up, mussing Darren's hair as he came to his senses. "Welcome back," she said. "But let me handle this, cher, you've had a bit too much excitement for one sitting."

She then turned to the figure, wearing her typical grin. "My, my, such a pugnacious tone you have chile, where are your ma and pa?" she asked, tilting her head. She knew quite well that this was no mere child, but all the same, if she was still a child, even by mind, she would be treated no different. "And that beast? It is regrettable, a victim dealt a poor turn, but something had to be done."

The little girl changed positions into the trees above them, yet looked like she didn't make a single move. Her silhoueted appearanced still hidden by the shadows, she made it hard to see what she looked like. "I would certainly hope you would, I'm the one who put it here." She spoke again in that callous tone, but this time with a hint of sadistic coyness.

There was a moment of silence from Bella, her brow shifting as she thought on those last words, her tail softly swaying and tapping the ground.

"Put it here," she said, repeating it with a bit of disbelief. "First off, how does one simply... put... a werewolf somewhere? You make it sound like you dropped a toy off in the way of others just to watch them stumble over it. Secondly... what is your intent?"

"That's a tale for another day, just know that Replica was here." She cackled at them both before vanishing before their very eyes.

Darren was in disbelief watching everything unfold, quickly standing up once she had vanished.

"What a strange... strange little being," Bellatroix commented before turning to Darren. She paced around him and got very close, leaning over his shoulder. "Are you feeling better, cher? Nothing broken, your head okay? We really should return to civilization."

"Let's just get paid already." Despite the whole ordeal he still managed to find his sense of humor, cracking a small smile. Her leaning on him nearly brought him to the ground due to weight difference between them.

Bellatroix grinned, putting her weight off him and straightening and dusting him off a bit before ushering him along. "Then onward, Toto, to the yellow brick road," she said jokingly, before heading back, humming a little song. Confirmation of her partner's well being, perhaps, was enough to put her in jovial spirits. She then stopped her tune, and scratched her cheek a bit. "Or... am I the Toto?"

"If you're toto, I'd better find the ruby slippers." He cracked a smile at his own joke, looking up at her. He no longer saw her as some inhuman being, but as an equal. As they approached the building other hunters were joining them, collecting the bounty of their hunt. If one listened in you could tell they were B rank hunters and were coming in to collect a bounty on a wyvern.

She cracked out a laugh, snorting a bit as she did so. This was the first time she had actually out-right laughed since they had started, and it wasn't particularly the first thing that comes to mind when someone imagines a witch laughing... or the second. She then overheard the other hunters collecting a bounty on a wyvern.

"I've had it once, but I wouldn't recommend the flavor," she said, being rather impish as usual. "Do you think I'd make a good Wyvern? That could be fun," she continued, grinning. She then cleared her throat as they approached collection. "Oh... oh... but ah, the bounty, yes, the lycanthrope! You know, impressively, the killing blow was performed by Darren himself! I was mostly on guard for the battle. Not bad for a rookie, right? And guess what? Nobody was bitten! Aside from cows, but y'know, better cows that villagers, right?"

The person behind the desk looked at the two with a fairly bored expression on their face. They readjust the glasses they were wearing before writing something on a slip of paper. Wordlessly they handed Darren a check worth a couple hundred for the contract. Darren looked at it with amazement, never having possessed this much money let alone having earned it.

Bella looked over to Darren, a bit perplexed by his reaction, leaning in to stare at the money as well, with something akin to a cat's curiosity.

"Ah, that a lot?" she asked, an almost child-like naivety in her tone.

As they both were taken by the reward money for divergent reasons, a small dispute has broken out about one of the jobs. Apparently a paper had been placed on the board rather hastily, by a child no less who had thought to partition for their services. As expected, the job was crudely written, full of errors, and the hunters were having none of this. It was an awkward situation all around. The boy was a pretty average child, around ten in age, skinny, a bit dirty and worn out. Obviously from looking, the kid came here by bicycle, as one of equal grime was nearby.

"Where's your parents? Do they even know you are here?" one asked, looking around in hopes they'd suddenly appear to take the kid home.

"Look, kid, there are procedures, and honestly, this just sounds like a bad dream. Too much junk food before bedtime, maybe?" another said, trying to just push the issue aside. "Besides, there's no such thing. Parents make this stuff up to scare you into behaving."

"But-I... b-but... he's real!" the kid pleaded, fumbling his words. "I've seen him!"

The scene had attracted Bellatroix's attention, shifting from Darren, she silently and quickly stepped over beside the two hunters, and knelt down to the kid all in one unbroken motion. The hunters at first unaware what had happened, until shock took them as they became aware of the currently human-like creature.

"What's the matter, chile?" she asked, honestly intent to hear what the boy had to say.

"Eh, don't bother, it is just another creature in the closet, monster under the bed, y'know, we get these all the time," one of the hunters managed to utter, giving a dismissive shrug.

"And you dismiss it just like that?" she replied, giving a stern look.

"W-well, I mean, it is just one child's account. If we had something, wouldn't there be more witnesses?" the rookie responded, trying to apply logic to the situation.

"But they, he..." the boy began, clearly distraught, until his body seemed to undergo a seizure, his body jerking for a moment, before shakily raising his hand, finger to his lips, and shakily let out a hiss of breath. "Shhhhhhh..." To the rest it just looked like he was being dramatic, for the observant, his facial features were stiffened, the very way he twisted his hand seemed forced and bizarre.

"What did you just..?" Bellatroix asked, reaching out to grab the boy's hand. There was a strange look on her face, somewhere between shock and anxiety. Something was there, like a deep distant memory echoing back to her. "Where have you seen that?"

The boy stepped back and away from Bellatroix, staring at her for a moment. There was this brief moment of silence, an unsettling glimmer in the boy's eyes that sent a chill through the old beast. He then went back to his bike and left without a word.

"Guess he came to his senses," the rookie said, giving yet another dismissive shrug.