And so the cubs' call was answered. Stomping in from the left was a large Pokémon, sporting a body of pure muscle and thick bronze fur, undermining Jack's rifle as if it was a slingshot. Several long strips of thicker fur draped from its shoulders like the tassels of an old poncho. Four massive claws of diamond at the end of each limb, making Cleo's seem no more than old glass. It maw was a yellow-tan color, similar to the interior of its ears. Intense glimmers of sworn paternity and protection glowed in its eyes, now perceiving the threat to it and its family. It's most distinguished feature was a large, dark honey-colored ring on its underbelly, catching the immediate attention of both of the hunters as they froze in place, marveling at this region's most marvelous marking of misery.
It was a mother Ursaring. The ferocious Hibernator Pokémon feared by every traveler that dared to walk amongst the frozen north in all of history. Though they do not seek as much trouble or destruction as Sharp Claw Pokémon, they effortlessly dwarf them in might, muscle, and lasting impressions once provoked.
The mother Ursaring stood up on its hind legs and let loose a primal, raging roar at the human and the Sharp Claw Pokémon, stopping their hearts out of few for just a second. Jack's aim was snapped to the Ursaring's center of mass, but the intimidating roar severely shook his aim. His arms gave a nasty twitch and accidentally pointed the rifle up and to his right exactly when he pulled the trigger.
Bad idea.
The .308 round sped out of the barrel and embedded itself between the collarbone and shoulder blade of the mother Ursaring. A noticeable pang of pain coursed throughout the Hibernator Pokémon's upper body, and pissed her off to no end. It screamed an even louder roar of rage and started to charge at Jack on all fours at horrifyingly fast pace.
"Oh FUCK!"
Jack Hotchkiss threw his encore rifle to the right and desperately fumbled for the .454 Casull revolver on his left hip. Before his hand was even half way across his torso, the Ursaring tackled Jack with its wounded shoulder, making him yell as he flew backward several feet from the force. Cleo sidestepped the collision, frozen in place from consternation and cowardice from watching the Ursaring suddenly get on top of Jack. It dug its maw of thick chiseled teeth into Jack's chest, chomping down with heavy, frothing moans to mangle him as its powerful paws were getting wet from scraping across the human's fragile body.
The young man wailed the loudest he ever did from the sharpest throes of agony he ever experienced. He flailed and squirmed madly, doing anything to desperately get away from his attacker. His head was turned as far right as possible, seeing Cleo helplessly watch him getting mauled off to the side. The man screamed as his lungs out at the Sharp Claw Pokémon for assistance.
"CLEO!HELP!HELP ME! PLEASE-"
Doing so only made the mother Ursaring even more agitated. The Hibernator Pokémon clenched down on the man's right hip and dragged him back a couple of feet away from the Weavile, making him incoherently scream as he was dragged like a flimsy ragdoll. The Ursaring chomped down on the man's chest again and violently shook its head from side to side, sawing through his chest and coat. Out of desperation, Jack punched the Ursaring in the face several times, temporarily succeeding by making the Ursaring let go. However, the Ursaring immediately responded by crunching Jack's hand in its massive maw and twisting its head about far more dynamically, mauling the man even more and threatening to tear it off. With a final shake of its head, the Hibernator Pokémon whipped its head to the right and let go of the arm, causing Jack to roll over onto his stomach from the momentum. Now the Hibernator Pokémon was starting to dig tooth and nail into his back with hungry moans at fresh blood filling its nostrils; fabric and flesh alike were being excavated from the Ursaring's assault.
The hunter felt every tooth and claw cut through his clothing as if it was made of paper, throwing him into the deepest thralls of torment. All he could do was helplessly scream and squirm at being mauled by an Ursaring. Meanwhile, Cleo was sheltering inside the cave, watching her human companion suffer at the mercy of a much more terrifying Pokémon. Stressful memories of the Weavile scout she followed when she was a Sneasel clawed their way out of suppression, clouting her mind and sight.
(It's… happening again. Except with him instead of the scout…)
It was just like last time. Only instead of a mother Pidgeot protecting her eggs from a Weavile, it was an Ursaring tearing apart a fully grown human without any chance of fighting back to protect her cubs. Jack's screams started to line up perfectly the cries of anguish the Weavile scout faced, making the past seem even more like the present. Her views of being an apex, unstoppable, top-of-the-world predator of the north were shattered at the sight and sound of a much bigger Pokémon maul her friend. If Jack couldn't fight back, what hope have she? Cleo would be torn to pieces in a second if she was in the same position as Jack! Her paws curled tightly out of not having the willpower to step in, at feeling as small and useless she was as a Sneasel in the eyes of her pack. For just a moment, the Weavile sobbed.
Cleo looked to the left to try to avoid at least seeing Jack getting mauled by the Ursaring. As she did, she saw the four Teddiursa cubs crept closer to watch and learn self-protection from their mother. They were watching on naïvely of how to maul a man, almost entertained by seeing their mother doing such a good job of taking care of the big, nasty, intruder.
(The cubs. They're reason we came here.)
Something inside of her snapped. Her feelings of cowardice and acceptance left her as fast as they came in. She started to contemplate leaving the cave and directly and dangerously contributing to the hunts as the others did before she left.
(And what happened next? Something about parents, food…and orphans…)
An intense calling for war and revenge was churning within the Weavile. Every second passed with her eyes glued on the Teddiursa cubs was another chain of restraint breaking apart, setting her a little freer. A little wilder. Somewhat more predatory. Cleo knew she could not fight the Ursaring head on. But, there was a weak spot she could exploit like her first encounter with the Sawsbuck and Deerling herds. But still, she wagered that the safer option was to remain hidden in the cave and letting Jack perish at the hands of the Hibernator Pokémon. It is what she was currently doing, and it was the smart thing because-
The Weavile's concentration was interrupted at hearing the Ursaring clamp down on a raw, exposed wound deep on Jack's back. It tossed him onto his stomach once more, dragging its claws directly down his shoulders, eliciting a stomach-churning wake-up call by him with his upper torso raised and eyes closed out of reflexive agony.
"CLEO-AAAWAAORAGGH!"
The last chain of mental restraint was broken as the hunter's companion made up its mind.
The Sharp Claw Pokémon bolted out of the caves, making a horrible screeching sound to draw away the Hibernator Pokémon's attention from Jack. One of her claws sliced at the Ursaring's side, cutting off a tuft of fur and overall being as effective as getting stabbed with a pen. A new, painful prick was felt at the Ursaring's side, and then a second one further along its right flank, forcing it to relinquish its hold on Jack and look behind it. There it saw the Weavile at the human's side it had forgotten, racing across the snow towards the Teddiursa cubs. The Weavile leaped forward with its arms stretched out, missing the cubs a few feet and face planting itself into the snow. All four of the cubs squealed in panic and awkwardly tried to get on their feet and run away from the Sharp Claw Pokémon. She picked herself up and brushed the snow off with loud hissing and screeching at the Ursaring, now fully getting its attention.
"[Here! Here I am! Better run for it!]" barked the Weavile at the Ursaring, briskly jogging at the Teddiursa that stopped to look at the chaos of the cubs.
"[What are you gonna do, huh?!]"
An extended moan of unrest bellowed from the back of the Ursaring's throat. It hopped off Jack and started to rush towards the Weavile.
The Weavile stopped chasing the Teddiursa and looked back at the charging Ursaring, getting just enough time in to sneak in a vehement, toothy smirk of officially challenging the protector of the cubs. She put herself into overdrive and sprinted as fast as she could on the frozen floor.
The Ursaring continued to give chase, recognizing the more immediate threat to her precious cubs. Terrifying roars and curses came from the Ursaring as it chased after the Weavile. Cleo was naturally much faster than the Hibernator Pokémon could ever hope to. However, she knew that a Pokémon with a build like that could eventually outlast her in the long run unless there was a tree to climb. All she needed to do was bide time for Jack to get his guns ready again and not get herself caught by the protective mother in the first place.
"[Come on! Come on you! Don't you want to protect your cubs?]" Cleo further taunted the mother, who was about a dozen feet behind her and stomping without exhaustion through the icy ground. She could hear the thundering march of Ursaring paws stamp onto the snow, and how they started to get a tiny bit closer with every full stride of the mother. The Sharp Claw Pokémon turned around for a fraction of a second and picked up her pace, adding more distance between her and the mother. The two continued to race around the frozen forest, leaving Jack all alone to himself, traumatized by the mauling. He used every bit of strength to roll himself onto his back yet again.
Jack writhed in absolute agony, only now realizing that the mother Ursaring was not eviscerating him. Jack stared at the sky through partially closed eyes, sobbing and hyperventilating from the physical suffering that saturated his body. His jacket, pants, and gloves were torn apart in every place and getting damp and sticky. Jack felt his body rapidly exchanging blood and body heat for dirty snow and stinging subzero air as he lay on the ground, hardly able to move. The edges of his vision started to blur and fade as he grew weaker with every passing second.
His left hand feebly stroked the left side of his body, feeling all of the tears and shreds marking his jacket. Then his hand went over his left hip, bumping against the chest holster give to him by his grandfather. Jack frantically patted the area around his hip, expecting the revolver to be there. When it wasn't there, he dug two thick digits into the holster. The holster was empty. Jack felt his heart getting squeezed.
The hunter started to sweat and breathe even faster from the magnum no longer being at his side. He struggled against every instinct of his body to sit still and recuperate, leaning up and scanning his surroundings in the faintest hope that it would still be around. He feared that because of the gun's white frame, it was in fact around him, but totally invisible and would miss the help right under his nose. But it clung on, knowing that it had a red front sight and pitch-black grip that would stick out from the surroundings.
(Where is it, where is it where is it please please where is it?)
Jack flopped around and started to crawl behind the scene of the mauling, thinking that it got could've have gotten knocked that far out of him. He painstakingly dragged himself on his belly towards the ravine, searching for the thing that could equalize the Ursaring encounter.
(Please don't tell me you fell off, please don't tell me you fell off, fuck fuck fuck, come on…"
He brought himself about eight feet from starting to slope off into the ravine when he saw something in the corner of his eye. It was a striking black object that contrasted more sharply than anything could have in the snowy biome. Jack cocked his head and held his breath, meticulously reaching for the black object and closing his hand around it. He picked it up and lifted it, feeling the sudden increase of weight and density. Relief washed over the tortured soul at getting the .454 Casull back in his possession.
Jack suddenly felt the pain in his right hand spike, forcing him to switch the gun to his left hand. It was the same hand that foolishly tried to punch the Hibernator Pokémon in the face, and got too damaged to handle firearms effectively. If Jack wanted to shoot the magnum, he would have to do it off-hand and hope for the best; an excruciatingly tall order that could get him killed. But just because the Ursaring was gone now, did not mean it would come back later and finish him off as a snack. Thoughts of the recoil when he first fired it plagued him, making him regret ever coming out here and taking it with him in the first place. Wilson said it was supposed to be Ursaring repellent after all, though if he was wrong about it…
Jack heard some more of those hellish grunts off the distance in addition to some familiar ones. What was going on?
Off in the distance, Cleo was still leading around the Ursaring to make space for Jack. She had been running around at full speed in circles, starting to feel some of her energy fade away. Her speed was falling, she was slowing down, and the angry Ursaring mother had no qualms about burning up some of its fat and stored energy to chase other Pokémon in the winter time. All of the running and exertions hardly made any effort on the mother Ursaring's endurance, even factoring in the single shot from Jack's rifle. At this point it was starting to get personal; Cleo wanted this Hibernator Pokémon to hit the ground dead soon, even by her hands. However, the smarter strategy was to keep giving it the run about. Why bother engaging in direct combat with it, why not keep doing what you know will work? While the Weavile continued to run and lead around the Ursaring on the nose, she saw Jack laying on his back in the snow with very subtle movements. It looked like he was fiddling with something from afar.
Maybe Jack got enough time to start moving and get back to fighting against the mother. It gave Cleo an idea. Perhaps she could end this right this right here, right now. Cleo was aware of the second gun Jack brought with him on this hike, that odd firearm that easily fit in the palm of his hands. If the mother could be lured into Jack's range and kept distracted just enough for him to take the hint, they might have a chance of bringing her down. The hardest part was to make sure that she was still the center of attention instead of Jack. This brazen chase had to end soon or later anyhow. Against the Weavile's better judgment, she opted to go for a gamble and start; if all else failed, it would probably give Jack just enough leverage to finish the Ursaring off himself.
The Sharp Claw Pokémon stopped in her tracks in front of a tree for just a moment and faced the brown behemoth. It started to brace itself to take a swing at Cleo with its fierce right paw. Cleo held up her arms, beckoning the mother to keep on barreling towards her like she was trying to surrender. She held her breath and dived to the right at the last second, forcing the Ursaring's paw to cleave right across the tree. It hit the thick bark rather hard, carving in a thick gash in the bark, though the Ursaring fully expected her paw to cleave through the Weavile instead. From the mother's position, she could see Jack off in the distance, but being humiliated by the Weavile that dared to chase and threaten her cubs was far more important to attack. Cleo got back on her feet and called out about a dozen feet away from the Ursaring and closer to Jack,
"[What, is that all you got? I was standing completely still and you couldn't hit me? How typical of meatheads like you!]"
When the brown behemoth looked in her direction, the Weavile scampered back and climbed another tree, getting even closer to Jack for a better shot with his guns. She climbed the tree as fast as she could wall jeering the Ursaring, trying her best to stay unscratched while being the center of attention.
The Ursaring looked up at the Sharp Claw Pokémon hanging off about thirty feet from the tree, looking below and mocking her. Once again the brown behemoth charged towards the Weavile, hell-bent on settling the score with her. At the base of the tree, the Ursaring stood on its hind legs and sunk its claws into the tree, making it shake and rattle. It forced itself up a few feet and dug its hind claws into the hardened bark, then stretched its forelegs up and forced itself up again. It repeated this process with a look of pure anger on its face, go up much faster than the Weavile anticipated.
While Ursaring prefer to walk on the ground, they are also highly skilled tree climbers to help them reach food, a fact that the Weavile was not aware of at all.
Cold shivers ran down Cleo's spine as she saw the mother start scaling the same tree she was in at an alarming pace. Hollow barks of intimidation came from the Weavile, trying to scare off the Hibernator Pokémon. The Weavile panned her view up, at the canopy, fearing that she would be chased to the very top of the tree.
"[Hey-Hey! What are you doing? I didn't mean it! You can take a joke, right?]"
The mad mother ignored the Weavile's high pitched whines of worry as it continued to force its way up the tree, jaws salivating from a mix of hunger and hatred. The sounds of cold wood snapping and familiar Pokémon wails off in the distance perked up Jack, who sat up a little and gazed to his side. About fifty feet from where he was to the left, he saw a distant gray and red figure high in a tree with a large turning towards him and the base of the trunk, while fast moving brown figure was climbing up to meet it. He gasped and loosely pointed the revolver in the general direction of where the action was occurring.
(Cleo!)
Jack waved his gun around to Cleo, signaling that he still had life left in him. His Pokémon companion climbed just a few more feet and saw the incapacitated hunter she tagged along with making more lively movements. She yelled a few more frantic pleas at the hunter from the encroaching threat below, divided between continuing to climb and jump from a greater height, or sit there and get torn apart by a vicious pair of jaws. Cleo ceased climbing, scooted to the left a little, and waited until the last possible second to kick herself back and off the hardened tree.
The extra force from the kickback gave Cleo about a dozen more feet than she would've gotten by just dropping from the tree. Cleo felt the rush from soaring through the cold air from such a position, catching a closer glimpse of her human companion from the bird's eye point of view.
Unfortunately for her, she had a very rough landing, unable to curl her body into a better landing posture due to being at a terrible angle. The Weavile landed on her left shin first against a hard rock cloaked by the snow, completely botching the rest of the aerial stunt. She tumbled and rolled on the ground, getting rough spots on all parts of her body from the hard landing, especially her left shin. She didn't land; she crashed.
Thinking nothing of it, Cleo wildly tried to get back her feet from the plummet, only to slip and face plant again. She tried it again, and third time, with each fall hurting more than the last. Now the Weavile was starting to accept the pain and soreness in her leg, her body's message of jumping out of a tree and skinning her knee on a rock hidden by the snow.
The Ursaring was starting to climb down from the tree just as fast as it was climbing. The huntress turned around and saw that large, unstoppable vessel of muscle and teeth match the same elevation as her yet again, fearing for her life. Of all the times she could have been crippled, why now? Cleo dragged herself closer to Jack's line of sight, hoping that all of her efforts were not in vain.
A dominating, beastly roar shot deep from the Ursaring's throat, forcing both hunters to look at the bronze behemoth of an enraged mother closing in to claim their lives for the protection of her cubs. She immediately ran as hard and fast her hurt body allowed through the snow, eyes and teeth deadest on the new threat, the Weavile. With every step came primal growling as the mother thundered across the landscape, planning to maul the Sharp Claw Pokémon far worse than she did to the human with the guns.
Jack's heart was drumming while every last drop of adrenaline was circulating in his body, sharpening his senses and will to live. His right hand was still in terrible condition, but managed to disengage the magnum's cylinder from the frame. It plopped out to the left, giving Jack a view inside.
Six bullets. Six shots. Six three-hundred grain chunks of metal traveling over sixteen hundred feet a second. More than enough kinetic energy per payload to rip through anything made of flesh and bone, no matter how thick or monstrous it may be.
Ursaring repellent.
Jack Hotchkiss held his breath and sat up in the bloody snow. The cylinder was snapped shut and ready to fire at will. His ruined right hand pulled the hammer down, rotating the cylinder to the next chamber and setting it to a crisp single action pull like his Encore. The same hand clutched a death grip on the magnum's black handle while Jack's more intact left hand was placed over it, trying to match the tightness. He didn't care at all about the recoil or shooting it with his non-dominate hand. It was now or never.
The Ursaring was now roughly thirty feet from Cleo, and about forty feet from Jack, ample range for the magnum. She was still focused on Cleo, who was deathly afraid of the massive Pokémon coming closer, seeing the damage it did to Jack. Fear, uncertainty, and leg pain shackled Cleo down, forcing her to stay put to accept her mangling, muscular end. Now six feet from being able to rip through the Sharp Claw Pokémon. Five feet. Four feet-disembowelment range with the Ursaring's far superior claws of diamond compared to the Weavile's claws of glass. The Ursaring roared again like she did just before tackling and mauling Jack, ready to repeat the endeavor.
Jack Hotchkiss's right eye stared down the front sight post of the magnum, aiming at the Hibernator Pokémon's center of mass, knowing there was no way he could miss now.
His left index finger pulled the trigger, no longer holding back the hammer from dropping forward and smacking into the firing pin with a precious force, hitting one of the hot magnum loads exactly in the middle of the primer.
{BAAAANNNNNGGGGG}
One of the .454 Casull rounds shot out of the barrel. A deafening sonic boom cracked the icy air and echoed far throughout the ice domain with a substantial smoking barrel dispersing a waft of burnt powder. The bullet struck the Ursaring in the side, whizzing past its neck and right shoulder blade from being at an angle. It pierced the formerly Ursaring's nigh- impervious hide and traveled about three-quarters of a foot through its thick walls of muscle, tumbling and missing its organs. Sharp throes of burning, burrowing pain rippled throughout the body of the Hibernator far in its sides from getting shot by a far more powerful round. Jack could only hope he hit his mark through the tinnitus in his ears.
Instantly, the rampaging Ursaring stampeded towards the incapacitated human that stole the center of attention from the Weavile. It could smell the smoke and burnt gunpowder, feeding its rage on top of the pain starting to amplify in the lower section of its body. Another gunshot rang out of the barrel, striking the Hibernator Pokémon in the right shoulder blade before Jack was swamped by the familiar agony of being caught in the trashing jaws and paws of a protective Ursaring mother.
Again the air was filled with screams of excruciating pain from Jack being at the mercy of the mother. With only his left hand giving a death grip on the magnum, Jack did the best he could to point it at the Ursaring's center of mass and fire it point blank, making the gunshots even more impactful. In the middle of his chest in between her jaws, Jack stuck the gun directly in the Ursaring's other side delivered a point-blank blast. Most of the bullet's energy payload was deposited into one of its rear ribs and lower intestinal track, destroying them and converting the excess energy into a deadly, disruptive shockwave turbulently absorbed by the surrounding muscle; it retained just enough energy to punch through the other side of protective layering.
As punishment, the Ursaring raised its left paw and brutally scraped the side of Jack's head, peeling open a large flap of muscle layer above his right ear, trying to tear it off and expose his bones for cracking. Right afterward, the Ursaring used its almighty paws to shove off against Jack's body, pushing him a few feet back closer to the drop-off and giving him his bloodiest, most agonizing wounds yet. He tried his hardest to use his wounded right hand to cup and protect the large laceration freshly carved into the side of his head.
Jack thought that if he could somehow could a clean shot on one of its vital organs, it could cease its assault and be killed instantly. The gun's hot muzzle managed to wriggle underneath the massive mother and poke against her belly, lining it up for a fourth shot. This time, a point blank gunshot clipped the underside of its heart and the top portion of its liver, dealing significant damage to its vital organs. Out of spite, a fifth shot followed suit from most of the recoil also being absorbed by the brown mass, allowing Jack another quick shot in roughly the same location. The barrel still traveled up along its chest before the fifth bullet went out, puncturing a sizeable chunk of its lung. But the gunshots hardly made a dent in the Ursaring's performance. Its body was too hopped up on adrenaline and fury to bother pulling back from organ damage.
And all Jack had left was a single round of .454 Casull before the gun would be nothing more than a thick hunk of metal for bludgeoning. All the other gunshots had failed to quell the Ursaring's rampage. Although the effects were affecting the body and would eventually bring it down, the Hibernator Pokémon was too hopped up on adrenaline and fury to bother pulling back from organ damage. It would eventually succumb to its wounds, but Jack needed it to succumb now. He knew that he was a few seconds of mauling and a couple of lacerations away from dying.
Yet he also knew of the one spot that if shot, above all areas at this distance, would guarantee and instant death with no further animation. It was all or nothing.
Jack Hotchkiss pried himself a few inches back from the Ursaring using his legs, willingly dragging her claws through his chest all for an iota of improved leverage. The hunter made a cry so chilling and agonized from deep wound channels being etched into his torso that even the Weavile shuddered at hearing it. But he knew that he had to do it. Otherwise he would wind up forever frozen and forgotten in northern Unova. Pure adrenaline and the natural will to survive against all strife gave him the motivation to ignore the suffering and make a final, most effective bout for his own life. With his body freed from the exact amount of weight, Jack Hotchkiss forced the blistering hot muzzle of his grandfather's magnum into the bloody maw of the Ursaring.
His arm was as far back into the mother's throat with the barrel pointing as high up towards the Ursaring's skull as possible, scraping and branding the delicate walls of her inner mouth. The maw snapped shut with sharp teeth digging into Jack's wrist and clashing against the robust metal frame of the firearm. His left thumb pulled back the hammer in spite of his hand getting crunched by the Ursaring. Hair trigger set, cylinder in place, locked and loaded with the ruined hand gripping it to aid in firing it.
With one final scream, Jack Hotchkiss pulled the trigger on his grandfather's revolver, firing the sixth and last bullet.
Hands upon a dead man's gun and looking down the sights, heart won and seems atone for being given a reason to fight. All the pain he's been facing about to come into the light.
BANG
The final bullet sped out of the chamber, punching through soft mouth muscle. It effortlessly broke through the armor-like bone of its lower cranium, shattering it into hundreds of fragments of skull beyond repair. Now with no more hard material in the bullet's path, it came into contact with the most vital organ of them all.
The brain.
The bullet annihilated every chunk of brain matter it physically touched, pushing it out farther and wearing it down to an elegant pink and red mist. The majority of the energy exploded across the Ursaring's brain in a violent, disruptive shockwave that knocked loose, deformed, and destroyed surrounding brain tissue from the original channel. What energy remained carried the bullet out through the top of the Ursaring's cranium, smashing through more bone and thoroughly exiting the Pokémon's head. A trail of skeletal and carnal destruction was left in its wake.
With a destroyed brain, all significant body functions immediately ceased as the Ursaring's perceptions turned into instant still blackness, not even perceiving the deafening blast of sound or blinding muzzle flash. All other wounds and internal damage fully came into play, rapidly shutting down whatever organs could persist a second of operation even with a destroyed brain.
The moment Jack fired the final cartridge, he and the Ursaring were knocked back against the cliff, added by the gun's untamable recoil. It was just enough power to send both bodies backward and over the edge of the cliff. The two bodies tumbled back and down an icy, steep slope with the Pokémon still on top of the human. They tumbled and stumbled downhill, plunging towards the bottom like ragdolls, the fall getting rough with every foot they fell. The human shut his eyes and hoped for the best as he and the Ursaring hit the bottom of the slope, silent as snowfall.