“Hey there. Who’s a nice kitty?” Fletcher held out a hand to the cycat who looked anything but nice or even a kitty. Still, he could pretend.

  The sound of the jeep's engine faded away completely, and a small voice inside his head told him he was about to die out here. This was worse than getting tossed into a pit and sold to slavers, because if he remembered the end of that story correctly, that guy ended up being king of Egypt or something. Definitely not cycat chow.

  The smell of rotten meat pervaded his nostrils, a gift courtesy of Hernandez. Given the man had it on hand, it was obvious the trio had planned this little prank from the get-go. That was probably the only reason Hernandez agreed to go on patrol. Fletcher was extremely unimpressed with the people of Vesi Station, but as much as he wanted to curse them out, he was more concerned about the giant cat stalking his position.

  He held his gun up, and the cycat tensed, hissing with bared teeth. Two of those teeth were far longer than the others, protruding from his lips and down past his jaw. It was reminiscent of a [Vampire].

  “Come on. We don’t have to fight. I’ll just go my way, and you stay here like a good cat,” Fletcher pleaded. That also didn’t work.

  The cycat edged closer, its tail flicking back and forth, and Fletcher tried to recall every lesson he’d ever had regarding the creature. Native to most of the Telran continent, exceptionally dangerous, meeting one meant death, a certain subspecies had a unique type of blubber to keep warm in cold climates… yeah. Nothing useful.

  All his training had mainly been focused on shooting Unhumans, so he didn’t have any good strategies against something like this. The only thing he’d ever been taught was to simply avoid running into cycats, and if he met one, it was assumed he’d have a team to back him up. A group of soldiers was an even match for a cycat. A lonesome officer covered in rancid meat was not.

  Fletcher continued to back up, keeping his eyes on the cycat as it moved closer. He thought about running, but that thing was definitely faster than him, so he knew that would end poorly. He could shoot it, but it would take a lot of bullets to down it, and he was by himself and within thirty feet of it. That pushed the odds very far in the cycat’s favor.

  Still, he had to do something. If he was going to die, it would be better that he went down fighting at the very least. Part of him hoped that Hugo and the others were waiting nearby, dragging the prank out as long as they could, but he didn’t want to bank on it.

  The cycat was five feet tall even on all fours, and its muscles rippled under its tan and black striped fur. That thing could kill him in a minute or less.

  Fletcher adjusted his grip on his gun, still caught up in thinking in circles. But thinking wasn’t going to save him. He had to act.

  He was sure running was the wrong move, so he went with his only other option. Taking another breath, Fletcher put his finger to the trigger and unleashed a spray of bullets at the creature.

  The cycat howled and pounced towards him as the bullets sailed through the air. Some of them may have hit it, but the creature didn’t act bothered by it.

  Fletcher rolled to the side as the cycat landed in front of him, quickly getting his gun back up to shoot at the creature some more.

  Small bullet holes in its pelt leaked blue blood, but the cycat remained nimble and quick.

  Ducking under a paw as it swiped at him, Fletcher then jumped backwards in hopes of getting a little more space from the creature. Noticing how little good that did, he gave up on shooting and turned to try his hand at running.

  One of the cycat’s paws caught him, and hot pain spawned on his back as the claws raked across his skin.

  Grunting, Fletcher collapsed to the ground and spun to face his gun at the creature once again. Yep. Running had been a terrible plan. And now he was injured which was going to make things harder. Wait. He had a solution to that part.

  [Activating: Frenzy]

  New strength filled Fletcher, pushing away the pain. He shot at the cycat again, aiming for the head and face, but the cat had such thick fur that the bullets were hardly effective. That was one tough creature, though he had to admit it was beautiful. Terrifying and cruel, but beautiful with the striking fur and long fangs.

  The cycat lunged down with an open jaw, and Fletcher rolled away, barely avoiding getting bitten in half. This wasn’t working. He needed to think of a weakness. The head was too well protected, and he was too close to get a good shot at the eye. In fact, he was too close in general to get away from that thing with its incredible reach. He’d never get away from it.

  Away…

  Fletcher took a chance on the stupid idea that came into his head and dove forwards, to be underneath the creature. He put his gun up and unleashed more bullets into the stomach and chest of the cycat.

  The creature howled, dancing away from him as he continued his storm of ammunition into the creature. He found a weak point, but the cycat was fast enough to get away from him, putting him back out in the open and within paw’s reach. He tried diving towards its underbelly again, but the creature was smart enough to back away, keeping him from getting to his target location. He’d have to figure something else out.

  Fletcher stood up, breathing hard. Blood coated much of his back, and he felt some running down his legs as he repositioned his gun, aiming at the cycat’s head again. He shot off the last of his bullets, and the creature howled, but it wasn’t through with him yet.

  The problem was he was out of ammo. He brought a backup magazine, but it was difficult to get it into his weapon when he was also dodging cycat attacks. He needed to get a little further away from it so he had the few seconds required to reload his gun.

  After a couple of attempts, he did get it, but when he went to fire his weapon, he discovered a jam, and not the kind he could easily clear. That was yet another problem, one that might get him killed.

  Fletcher jogged backwards, keeping his gun aimed at the cat as it sat in a position poised for an attack. Its butt was in the air, and its head was close to the ground. If it stayed there for just a couple of moments, Fletcher could fix the jam and get back into the fight. Given the cat wasn’t outright attacking him, he chose to believe that meant he’d done some real damage to it. Maybe he did stand a shot of defeating it after all.

  Taking his eyes off the cycat, Fletcher examined his gun to see the problem. A pounding of feet against the cobblestone below redrew his attention to the cycat which was dashing straight at him. He attempted to sidestep it, but it was obvious the creature was going to catch him. He was dead.

  Out of nowhere, a different creature flew through the air, latching onto the cycat’s neck and diverting its path.

  Fletcher didn’t waste time trying to figure out how the miracle occurred, and he returned to clearing the jam on his weapon. He had it fixed within another moment, and he raised his rifle up, pointing it at the cycat. It was back in the attack position but facing the thing which had attacked it.

  A… dog?

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Fletcher didn’t know that they had dogs all the way out here, but he didn’t have time to think about it too much. He still had an ornery cycat to handle. The cycat wasn’t paying as much attention to him, so he carefully slunk towards it, hoping the dog would maintain its attention a while longer.

  Once he was close enough, Fletcher flung himself to the ground, getting a good angle on the cycat’s stomach. Once again, he unleashed as many bullets as he could into it.

  The creature howled, raising up on its hind legs, and he rolled to the side, bracing for the inevitable strike. But it didn’t come. The creature collapsed on the pavement, panting as blood gushed from multiple wounds.

  Fletcher got to his feet, his rifle still pointed at the creature. Surely it wasn’t finished yet. His [Frenzy] remained active, and he supposed he should be grateful to his [Demanlic] heritage for the lack of [Mana] since it meant he could use [Skills] indefinitely if needed. He would have to be careful not to do so around others though, as that would spoil his greatest secret.

  Slowly he approached the fallen form. The cycat glared at him with its single yellow eye, baring its teeth.

  “Sorry, Trevor,” Fletcher said. Blood still leaked freely from the cuts the cat gave him, reminding him that he needed to get back to the station and seek medical attention. It was time to finish it.

  Raising his rifle, he aimed directly for the cycat’s eye, a definite weak spot that would result in the killing strike. His finger hovered above the trigger as he stared into the eye of the monster that just tried to kill him. One pull, and it was over for good. He’d won.

  Why was he hesitating? This was just a mindless creature, a wild animal. It attacked him. He fought back. Killing it was self-defense. He just needed to pull the trigger and be through with it.

  But Fletcher couldn’t do it.

  He couldn’t kill the cycat, not even after it nearly killed him. That wasn’t the way he wanted to live. He was better than that.

  Fletcher lowered his weapon as the cycat meowed at him, though he wasn’t sure if it was to curse him or question him. He wouldn’t kill it, but that was all he could do for it. If it was that tough, surely it could recover from a few bullet holes without his meddling.

  A new noise caught his attention as he turned to leave the cat to its fate. He glanced back and stiffened as he noticed something coming out of the building where the cycat lived. Another one.

  He held his gun up, and Trevor—the fallen cycat—screeched at him.

  No. Not at him.

  Fletcher dropped his rifle to his side once again he stared at the two much smaller cycats coming out of the building. Cubs.

  Glancing at “Trevor” confirmed it. Trevor was a female, a mom.

  His stomach dropped as he realized how close he’d come to ending her life and taking those baby cycats’ mother from them. Just like he had with Ruvo.

  The dog he’d nearly forgotten about barked and tensed up.

  “Whoa, easy boy,” Fletcher said, rushing towards him.

  The dog growled, perhaps at him, perhaps at the incoming cycats.

  “Easy.” He got closer to the dog. He wasn’t all that familiar with dog breeds, but this one looked to be a border collie given the black and white fur and guard instincts.

  The dog backed away from him, making a whimpering noise.

  “Whoa. Hey. I’m not going to hurt you.” Fletcher put his hands up.

  The dog whined again, stepping away as he tried to get close.

  “Look, I have to take care of this. And then I’ll worry about you, okay? Just don’t start a fight. Please.” Fletcher stared at the dog, willing it to understand what he wanted. It continued to whine, but he turned his attention back to the fallen cycat and the two cubs near it.

  He couldn’t leave her to suffer and die. He had to help her. Somehow.

  Fletcher stepped towards the cycat, keeping both hands up. “Easy, girl. Easy. I want to try to help. You have to let me help.”

  The cycat hissed at him, attempting to sit up but failing as she howled in pain.

  The cubs both stared at him with their wide eyes. They were adorable, no doubt about it.

  He took another step towards her. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m… sorry. I—we both just acted on instinct, okay? You wanted to protect your young, and I wanted to protect myself. But that’s over. Let me help you, and then I won’t bother you and your family again.”

  Maybe it was the soothing voice or maybe the cycat was just in too much pain to care, but Fletcher was able to approach her. He knelt at her stomach near the most violent wounds. Wounds caused by him.

  “I wish I could [Heal] these,” he murmured.

  To his great disappointment—and mild confusion—he didn’t gain the [Skill].

  He didn’t know why he could gain some [Skills] with a thought, but others not so much. Maybe he could ask Addy about it when he saw her again… which might be in years. Jeez. Yeah. Coming to Vesi was a terrible idea.

  [Skill] or no [Skill], he had to do something to help the cycat. Tugging open one of the pockets on his utility vest, Fletcher removed a set of bandages. There was no way they would be long enough to stretch around the cycat’s enormous torso. Digging elsewhere in his vest, he removed a small thing of tape. Not ideal and perhaps not comfy for the kitty, but that would be something.

  After setting those to the side, he then dug out a set of pliers. That wasn’t definitely not going to be comfortable.

  “Um, I need to get the bullets out,” he said.

  The cycat stared at him with wary eyes, but as soon as he put a hand on her, she howled and nipped at him.

  “Right. I didn’t think that would work so well.” He stared at the cycat, thinking of how he could safely do his medical work. She was too large for him to have any hope of restraining her, and he didn’t dare try to pull bullets out without it.

  So he turned to his medical supplies again and found the anesthetic. Would it work for a cycat? He had no idea. He carried several doses, but he figured something this large would need all of them.

  Taking the lids off of all of them, Fletcher gently approached the cycat once more, moving extra softly. He went to one of the legs and glanced at the cycat. He really hoped this would work. His mind conjured a million different ways this could play out horrifically, but he was going to risk it anyway.

  In one fluid motion, Fletcher pressed the injectors against the skin of the cycat and released all four of the needles. The cycat screeched and kicked him back, but the drugs were in her. Now he just had to wait and see if it would do anything.

  Fletcher crawled backwards, his chest aching from the blow. He was still bleeding freely, but [Frenzy] kept the pain back so he could focus. That was a later problem. Glancing around, he realized the dog was gone. Well, he appreciated the help, but it was unfortunate he didn’t get the chance to properly thank the canine for its assistance.

  While he waited for the drugs to work through the cycat, he did his best to wrap a couple of bandages around his back in hopes of keeping himself from bleeding out before he got back to the station. As he tied the last one, he noticed the cycat’s pupil was dilated and staring off into nothing.

  “Thank the deities. It might have worked,” Fletcher breathed. Standing up, he once again cautiously approached the creature. The two cubs remained nearby, but they didn’t seem bothered by him.

  “Easy there, girl. Are you ready for me to help you now?” he asked.

  She didn’t respond as he crouched near her stomach. He placed a hand on her chest, but she didn’t move. Good. The drugs worked. He prayed that he hadn’t given her too much, but there was no way to know, and he couldn’t worry about that now.

  Taking his pliers out, Fletcher began the uncomfortable work of digging out the bullets from the cycat. It was painful, mostly for him since the cat was stoned out of her mind. Yeah. He probably gave her too much. Oh well.

  It took a long time, but eventually he got all the bullets out. And since the cycat was still peaceful thanks to the drugs, he went ahead and just taped all the serious wounds closed in hopes that would hold it long enough for her body to heal without sticking around too long to cause other problems. But that was it. That was the best he could do. He only hoped it was enough.

  “Alright, Trevor. I think that’s everything. I hope you get feeling better.” He looked at the two cubs who were off wrestling. “And you two had better behave while your mom’s recovering. No funny business, alright?”

  They ignored him, but he smiled as he watched them, enjoying the innocence of the young animals. It was odd to think only half an hour ago he’d been willing to kill the cycat, but he was glad he didn’t. That was the right thing to do. And a decision like that wouldn’t have flown at any other base or outpost in the whole world, but at Vesi, no one cared. Fletcher was free, even if it came at a steep cost.