- 20 -

Pandora worried that the shaking she struggled to hold back might cause her shotgun to misfire. She pulled her finger from the trigger to be safe. There was always a bit of fear when fighting a youkai, but it was hard to suppress this time. Usually, hunts took place after days of observation and research. She was used to fighting monsters she understood. Now, she was charging into the unknown unprepared hoping she could stay alive on luck long enough for observation to fill the gaps in her knowledge.

Before Pandora could swing open the ornate double doors to the smoking room a looming figure darted around the corner. She drew her shotgun up at the shape. A large man dressed in the same uniform she had seen that morning. Was he another security officer? Pandora glanced down at the shotgun the man had leveled at her. Small scars dotted his hands and his left pinky looked to be missing altogether. No, these men weren't simple security; the ship had hired hunters. Did the company know there would be a youkai on board?

"Return to your room. We can handle—"

He was cut off by a deafening caw from inside the smoking room. Pandora's speculations could wait, they wouldn't help stop the rampaging creature inside. But she did take note of the sound it made. It's cry reminiscent of a bird. That matched with the feather she had found earlier, but helped narrow the field down. A sphinx or harpy would have feathers, but would their human head produce a sound like that? A pegasus didn't make sense either, for much the same reason.

"Whatever, do what you want."

Pandora had nearly forgotten about the hunter in front of her. It's not like she would have left just because he told her to, but this did make things easier. She didn't have his approval, but she did have something approaching permission. There was a crack as the ship hunter kicked in the set of doors that led to the first-class smoking room and they both entered together.

Pandora couldn't see the youkai as she rushed in, though its chirps echoed through the space. The smoking lounge had a U-shaped layout that didn't allow you to see the full room at one time. The creature must be around some corner, possibly lying in wait for them. She returned her finger to her gun's trigger and headed further inside.

As she crept forward, Pandora was struck by the duality of the space. Meticulously decorated but thrown into disarray. The room's green color scheme was contrasted with rust-colored smears of fresh blood. The chips and cards from unfinished poker games were scattered across the floor. Many of the room's armchairs, upholstered in a brilliant emerald, lay on their side. Some with men cowering behind them others with corpses strewn over them. Several of the dead men were adorned in the same uniform as the ship hunter. If only the stained glass depictions of goddesses lining the walls had given them their blessings.

A limp body flew across Pandora's periphery followed shortly by a loud crash. She spun and leveled her shotgun at an upturned chair still rocking from the impact. With held breath, she stepped forward and more of the lounge revealed itself from around the corner. A brilliant fireplace stood as the centerpiece of the room, and beside it stood a drunk old man brandishing a fire poker. What he was fighting off was still obscured from her position, but the fear in his eyes told her what she needed to know. She had found the youkai.

Pandora readied her weapon and burst forward. The ship hunter must have had the same idea as he set off at the same moment she had. With two hunters there was a good chance to save the old drunk's life assuming he could last until they could reach the fireplace. He would be alone for those few seconds; more than enough time to die.

The man stabbed his makeshift spear forward but it stopped dead with a loud click. A long black beak wrapped around the fire poker. The metal swayed gently as the creature twitched a birdlike head around, seemingly trying to align the man in its sight. It had the side-mounted eyes typical of prey. With them would come alertness and a wide field of view. Ambush would be difficult. Pandora would need to fight the creature head-on.

The creature blinked as the old man continued to pull at the poker with all his weight. With a simple flick of the beak, the youkai sent the poker clattering across the ground. The weapon spun in place as it came to rest by the far wall, well out of reach. Suddenly lacking something to pull back against the drunk stumbled, but as if by some miracle he managed to regain his balance. Pandora slid into the space between him and the youkai, then pressed a hand to his chest and shoved him even further back.

"Run, dumbass!"

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The drunk man scurried away and Pandora turned her attention to the youkai. The bird man towered above her beating its wings against its body. Pandora assumed it was pissed that she had interrupted its hunt.

Then you're really gonna hate what comes next.

Pandora slammed the trigger of her gun filling the room with smoke and fire. A second explosion sounded at her side. She looked over to see the ship hunter with smoke pouring from the end of his short-barreled shotgun. Yet again, his actions mirrored her own. Hopefully, that meant he had the skills to survive this encounter. But then, without a positive ID, she still worried if she even had those skills.

The gun smoke formed a thick cloud in front of the two hunters, obscuring the creature. Pandora chambered a new round and tightened her grip on her weapon. She knew the creature wasn't dead; hunts never went that smoothly. The time was best used to consider the beast's next move.

An enraged caw rang out from behind the smoke screen followed by the sound of flapping. The dark cloud shifted to envelop the hunters. Pandora dropped to the floor to avoid the tainted air. Even burning through as many cigarettes as she did each day, the smoke still sent her into a coughing fit.

Using our own gun smoke against us? Just how smart is this thing?

Smoke and tears forced Pandora's eye shut and without air, dodging would be difficult. This was the perfect opportunity to kill her. The youkai would no doubt think the same thing. Pandora slammed the butt of her gun down to the ground and raised the bayonet up in front of her.

She felt the blade pierce flesh well before she could make out the youkai through the smoke. It rushed straight at her exactly as she had imagined, straight into her bayonet. Using her gun to redirect the monster's momentum, Pandora flipped the bird man over her body and threw him with all her strength. The stock acted as the pivot point and the creature swung in a wide arc. It skittered across the floor before smashing through a table and into a couch. The furniture splintered under the impact leaving a loose pile of wood and cloth.

Pandora felt the warm trickle of blood down her body. The beast's claws had still found her shoulders leaving a deep cut on her left arm and another at the base of her neck. A direct attack would have been death. Instinct had saved her life this time, but how much longer could she last?

The creature rose up from the aftermath, and with it rose a pained yelp. Not avian, but a distinctly human cry. The ship hunter stepped over Pandora and raised his gun at the beast. She shot her hand up and pressed his weapon down.

"Wait."

"Let go. Wait for what?"

The youkai's arm reached down behind the ruined couch and lifted a young man with a messy brown mop of hair. Talons pierced the man's chest giving his cries for help a watery quality. The creature must have punctured a lung, meaning a rescue would need to be fast if the man had any hope of living.

"Fuck, it took a hostage," mumbled the ship hunter.

"Our shotguns might hit the boy. Especially with yours lacking a barrel. If you've got a blade take it out."

Pandora raised her bayonet and rushed forward. She was certain the youkai would try to use the man to block her blade, but she was just as certain she could redirect her strike. She was experienced with the weapon; confident in her abilities. She never even got close to them.

Pandora landed on her ass at the ship hunter's feet. As her mind raced to understand what happened, glass shattered across the lounge. She looked over and watched the creature flying off beyond the ruined stained glass windows. It had broken out of the room, the force of its take-off enough to blow Pandora from her feet.

The ship hunter dashed forward and jumped through the window to chase the beast. As soon as Pandora had pulled herself up, she did the same. Broken glass buried itself into her bare feet, and she sliced her hand mantling through the window, but adrenaline pushed her forward. She ran until she ran out of ship; stopped by the railing at the edge of the deck.

The two hunters had reached the final border in their fight. Another step forward would only be met with a drop into frigid oceans. They were forced to watch the youkai carry its victim higher and further away by the second.

"We've lost our chance to save that man, but we can still kill the youkai," shouted the ship hunter, raising his gun into the air and firing twice. Pandora brought her hand to her ear as the shotgun erupted next to her head. None of the pellets reached the creature. Pandora doubted her gun would fair any better, even with its marginally better range. The monster had flown too far away.

The man jammed two fresh shells into his weapon. Pandora pressed her palm to his chest, leaving a bloody handprint. "Please, spare my eardrums. We would need a rifle to have any chance of hitting it at that range, and even then it would be a hell of a shot."

The ship hunter lowered his weapon, then drove his first into the railing. "Damn it!"

Pandora let out a breath and shaking overtook her body. The fight was over and the adrenaline had run dry. She felt drained; as if every bit of her energy had fallen away. Every thought, every emotion. Gone. All except the hopelessness.

Pandora looked up at the youkai flying in the distance. She saw it drop the mop-headed man. Watched him falling back to earth. She was too far away to help, but not too far away to hear the screams. The fear in his voice would haunt her dreams, if she could even get to sleep that night. She whipped her head away. Pandora couldn't bring herself to watch the man hit the water, but there was no escaping the splash.

"It's leaving."

Pandora turned to the hunter, then followed his pointing finger out to the youkai. The creature moved into the distance until she couldn't make out the black of its feathers against the black of the night. In the space of half an hour, the monster had killed half a dozen men, made a fool of two hunters, then flown off into the horizon.

"There's nothing but ocean out there for miles," Pandora said. "It's going to get tired then it will have to land, and there's only one place to do that. It'll be back."