Mirabelle let out a whoop of exhilaration as she sat in the underbelly of the Hydra, whipping the turret pod back and forth. Kincade watched off to the side, giving a genuine laugh as he watched the gryphon have so much fun acclimating to the controls. She was following the targeting laser to get a feel for where the fire would spray out when the turret was armed.

"Feels great, doesn't it?" he encouraged her, "I definitely regret all the years I spent solving my problems the hard way. Freelancing is the way to go!"

Mirabelle's heart was racing but she felt collected. The wild uncontrollable anger that flared up inside her was now focused, directed, purposeful. She was starting to regret all the years she had spent trying to control it and put it out now that she knew it was something she could have been harnessing.

"This is seriously so cool of you." she said as she climbed out the rear; the Hydra's underbelly turret meant it couldn't fully lower to the ground like other walkers, so she had to climb down a ladder bolted onto the outside of the frame.

"Hey, I'm just glad I finally have a use for this flamethrower again! I almost unloaded it a few months ago, it's so situational and the fuel goes bad over time. But sometimes you just gotta set a whole bunch of stuff on fire. And when you do? There's nothing better." he reached up to help her from the last step to the ground, her lightweight avian form easily supported by his thick ursine arms.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Mirabelle's boots thumped to the ground, still new and unscuffed. She had bought them for this trip, and was finding herself more and more comfortable in them as they crept across the cosmos towards Baldwin's Fall.

Seeing that she was in thought, Kincade gave her an affirming pat on the back. "Having second thoughts?"

"Not at all." she said without hesitation, "I'm looking forward to it. I think killing Buster Harkness is going to make for a great start to my new resume."

Kincade clapped his paws together with a grin. "I'm happy to help you, Mirabelle. It feels so good to be friends again. I can't believe I let Buster take this away from us."

She tried not to let her smile waver. She still remembered their old days. Remembered that she had been the one to tell Buster to stop hanging out with the grizzly bear who had an unrequited crush on him. She hadn't corrected Kincade when he first approached her because she was afraid he wouldn't want to be friends again if he knew, and now it was too late to admit it.

"Me neither." she agreed, "It's so exciting, once we get him and the bounty we can go anywhere. Do anything."

"Yeah, that's why I'm so good at my job. I don't get greedy." he explained, "Even with 'only' half, this will still be the best payday I've ever gotten for a single target. And I've been flying solo for awhile, I wouldn't mind taking on an 'apprentice' for a few years and showing you the tricks of the trade. I'm thinking of this like an investment rather than losing out."

Mirabelle looked up at him, her piercing sunset raptor eyes meeting his beady brown ursine eyes. "I don't have anywhere else to go. And I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be."