PL: 3,391
Rookie Bonus +65%

WC: 1,760

"Eh...?"

Amaranth, with his feet kicked up at his desk, arched an eyebrow at the officer standing across from him, who had just gave him the debrief on their next assignment. "You're telling me that the same bear killed 10 villagers within the span of one week...?" He asked. He took another puff of his cigar, and he adjusted his sitting position as he pondered the case. Apparently, the same bear had been routinely coming going back to a village on the Eastern Continent night after night and slaughtering the villagers. Normally, Amaranth wouldn't have felt it necessary to get himself involved. This was the Earth Defense Force after-all, not animal control. They could have just as easily sent a squadron of officers to investigate the situation and handle it effectively. There was something about this that just didn't sit right with him, though. It didn't seem like any ordinary bear that Amaranth had ever heard of. No one had been able to spot the bear at anytime during the daylight hours. On top of that, it was apparently far more aggressive than any of the other bears in the area, and it was hostile towards any living thing it came into contact with, even other bears.

"Where's the village?" Amaranth asked. "It's a small village on the Eastern Continent called Pepper Village. Here are the coordinates." The officer said, handing Amaranth a small device akin to that of a GPS. Amaranth crossed his arms for a moment as he came to his decision. "I'll check it out." He said with a nod, as he took the device and put it into his jacket. "Shall we assign a squadron to go with you?" Asked the officer in response. Amaranth rose to his feet and walked towards the door, passing the officer. He wasn't exactly in the mood to wait right now. "If I need help, I'll ring." He said, slightly annoyed, as he made his way down the hall and out the door. "Very well. Good luck Captain..." The officer responded. Amaranth stepped onto the street, and glanced at the device for a moment, before blasting off into the sky towards the Eastern Continent.

Flight was, without a doubt, an ability that came in handy immediately after Amaranth had learned how to do it. It meant that he could be places much faster than he used to be able to. He was able to get the hang of it rather quickly after learning it as well, having currently been much faster than he was when he first learned it. He wasn't satisfied, though. With the amount of attacks and conflict that had presented itself onto the Earth's plate as of recently, it had been made abundantly clear to both Amaranth and the Earth Defense Force that there was a shortage of powerful individuals that were fully committed to protecting. He figured that was probably why he was starting to climb the ranks as much as he was. Someone with both his natural ability and his dedication to proper justice was certainly hard to come buy, especially someone who was fully devoted to the well-being of the planet. At least, that's what his superiors had told him, alongside a myriad of scolding at the fact that he often disregarded the rules that were put in place by the organization. None of that really mattered to Amaranth, though. He was fine with whatever allowed him more freedom in executing his duties, and the promotions happened to do just that.

Amaranth's mind started to shift away from his position in the Earth Defense Force, as he started to approach the Eastern Continent. Outside of the continent he currently resided in and grew up in, this was probably his favorite continent to be on. The nature was frankly beautiful, and an array of the most diverse types of flora and fauna could be found on this continent. Which brought his mind back to the task at hand. He pondered why this particular bear turned out to be such a menace. Was it just bigger and more aggressive than all the rest? Or was there something more nefarious at play...? Oh well. It didn't matter. He would find out soon enough, and handle it. For good. He pulled out the locating device from his jacket. He was rapidly approaching Pepper Village. 'Good.' He thought to himself simply, as he began his descent towards the village.

Amaranth landed in the middle of the village with a large BOOM. A couple of villagers scattered away in fear, as Amaranth stood upright, and peered from villager to villager. He took his sunglasses off, took out a cigar and lit it, before speaking to the nearest one. "Where is your leader?" He asked the young villager. "Right here." An elderly sounding voice emerged from behind him. He spun around to face what was obviously the village elder slowly approaching him. Amaranth looked the man up and down. This man had to be at least a hundred years old, and he wasn't in the best condition, using to large wooden cain to aid his gait. "I'm Captain Amaranth of the Earth Defense Force. I'm told you have a bear problem?" Amaranth asked. The elder nodded. "Yes, yes. We were told to expect a team of you to come out and handle it...is the rest of your team anywhere nearby...?" The elder asked, searching around for any sign of more officers. Amaranth simply shook his head no. "I assure you I'm more than capable to handle any wild animal that may be giving your village trouble. He said, crossing his arms, and taking another puff of his cigar. The elder looked down for a moment, before looking back up at Amaranth. "I see....in that case let me tell you all about this bear over a meal. I'm sure you must be hungry." The elder said, as he started to walk towards a hut that was obviously larger than the rest, expecting Amaranth to follow him. Amaranth sighed, and looked down to his stomach. He...was a bit hungry after-all. He followed the old man to the hut.

Hours passed, as the elder told Amaranth not only about the bear that was attacking their village, but also gave him a comprehensive history of the village. Apparently, the elder was on his last legs, and his son was ready to take up the title as soon as he passed away. That was all fine and dandy, but Amaranth was just about ready to get on with this little bear-hunting fiasco of his. "It looks like its getting dark. Your village can sleep peacefully knowing that I'll be keeping watch over it tonight." Amaranth assured the elder, as he got up, and walked out the door to go keep watch for the night. He flew over to a nearby hill, and sat, so that he could keep watch over the village. As the sun went down, it wasn't too long before he began to drift off to sleep...

"BEAR!" 

A shriek accompanied by a significant ki signature snapped Amaranth awake. He jumped to his feet. It was dark but, thanks to his good eyes, he was able to see exactly what was going. He flew over to where the scream came from and landed right in front of a bear that seemed to be in the process of attacking a woman. At his arrival, the woman ran away. Amaranth cracked his knuckles "Alright you damn bear. Your killing spree is over. I'm about to...wait a second." He said, squinting at the 'bear'. It was snarling, walking on two feet, and had a long tail, and red eyes. "You're not a bear at all...you're a werewolf!" Amaranth concluded. Immediately, the werewolf jumped at him, attempting to bite him. Amaranth moved slightly backwards to dodge the attack, before punching it in the face. The werewolf winced in pain as it was sent backwards, before turning around and darting off into the woods. "Where do you think you're going?" Amaranth said, as he darted off after it.

The beast was fast, that was for damn sure. Amaranth's sprint had turned into a full on flight, and he still couldn't catch the damn thing. He would've easily lost it in the darkness of the night by now if it weren't for his eyes. He continued to pursue it, flying after it, as it zoomed through the forest.

Amaranth wasn't exactly sure how long he'd been chasing it by now, but he knew it was a long damn time, as he noticed that the sun had started to come up. As the sun continued to rise, the werewolf started to go slower and slower. Amaranth was initially fully intent on putting the damn thing down, but this would probably prove to be even more satisfying, as it was clear to him that the werewolf was turning back into its human form. He watched as the beast finally came to a stop, and after a couple moments of transforming, finally returned to its human form. "Lets see who you are..." Amaranth said, as he walked towards the human, and pushed him over to reveal his face.

It was none other than the village elder himself!

"Well this is damn ironic isn't it..." Amaranth said, as the village elder slowly started to return to consciousness. "Wha...what happened...?" The elder said, as he sat up. Amaranth kneeled down beside him and sighed. "That bear that was attacking your village...it was a werewolf. And I'm not sure how to say this but...." He trailed off. The elder simply looked down and sighed. It was clear that he understood. "I knew that wolf encounter from weeks ago would come back bite me..." The elder said, defeated. Amaranth thought it over for a moment, before extending his hand for the elder to take. "Come with me back to the station. We can hold you for a while so that you won't do anymore harm to your village, and we can figure out if there's a way to get rid of this curse of yours. I can't guarantee that you'll be able to walk free after that happens...but at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing your village is safe." Amaranth offered him. In his mind, that was a pretty fair tradeoff. The elder thought it over for a moment, before taking Amaranth's hand, and agreeing to his proposition. For now, it seemed as though the village was safe.