Jordie dove straight from the top of the tree to directly above the charging khalkotauroi cow's path, lasso in hand and ready to try something incredibly stupid.
As the khalkotauroi cow got closer and closer, Jordie threw out the lasso and managed to just barely hook it around one of the cow's longsword sized horns. Once it was in place, Jordie pulled on the rope as hard as he could.
In his head, he figured he could yank the khalkotauroi mid-charge and into the ground like he had seen professional cowboys do at rodeos. Normally this would require a horse, but he figured throwing himself off a tree and using gravity would work in a pinch. Unfortunately, he forgot to take in a few factors.
In no particular order, he wasn't a professional, his strength was only about average in comparison to the khalkotauroi cow and the aforementioned cow was several times larger than he was. In essence, reality was going to go very different than what he had in mind.
When Jordie yanked one the rope, he had managed to stop the khalkotauroi cow's charge but had also inadvertently launched himself towards the khalkotauroi cow's backside.
"Moo?!"
"Crap! Ouch! Oof!"
Luckily for him, Jordie didn't end up "rear-ending" the khalkotauroi, but he was now on it's back. The momentum of his action was strong enough to cause Jordie to faceplant onto the khalkotauroi cow's back, bounce a bit and somehow perfectly mount it.
The khalkotauroi cow threw her head back to see who had the audacity to mount her in such a manner. Her death glare becoming more intense once she realized who her new "rider" was.
"Uh oh", Jordie said with a groan.
[Providing shock absorbing services for baby Minos,] the System suddenly declared in his head, [Host is advised to hold on tight!]
Heeding the System's advice, Jordie quickly wrapped the rope around his arm and tightened his legs' grip on the khalkotauroi cow's back. This turned out to be a bad idea.
Feeling Jordie's sudden brace, the khalkotauroi cow began flailing and bucking about in an attempt to throw her unwanted passenger off.
As Jordie hung on tight to the khalkotauroi cow's back, his mind wandered back to when he was alive on Earth.
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A few years back, he and his friends had somehow ended up getting drinks at a biker bar. The details as to why they were there eluded him, but he remembered something about helping a friend get his dog back from a crazy ex-girlfriend who had a habit of visiting animal shelters for... materials.
Hurray for repressed memories...
While Jordie and his friends were getting smashed at the bar, repressing the dark sights they've seen that day, one of his friends noticed a mechanical bull in the corner.
Out of drunken boldness, Jordie had made his way over to the bull and cranked the dial to maximum.
He lasted a grand total of ten seconds before being launched directly off the thing and out an open window. It was honestly surprising that he didn't die that day.
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"Well this is about a hundred times worst!", Jordie thought to himself as the khalkotauroi cow began to run around in tandem with bucking and flailing, "But I'm not the only one who's at risk here!"
Jordie gripped tighter on both the khalkotauroi cow's back and on the lasso wrapped around his arm. He wasn't empowered by sheer drunken stupidity this time but pure paternal instinct.
For a solid five minutes, the two were stuck in this stalemate. The khalkotauroi cow kept stomping around in order to throw Jordie off her back, while Jordie kept clinging on tighter and tighter to avoid getting stomped, burned or gored.
However, that was about to change in a few seconds.
His spirit was willing and so was his flesh, but Jordie neglected the rope on the horn. Everytime the khalkotauroi cow flailed her head back and forth, the rope around her horn started to get looser and looser.
A few more seconds passed until the lasso was undone and Jordie's upper half was left flailing to the wind.
"Oh crap!"
If Jordie had managed to lasso the neck, this situation wouldn't have happened.
Jordie tried to force himself to bend downward and grab onto the khalkotauroi's back but it was too late. The khalkotauroi cow sensed the sudden release in force and began to violently shake even more. Eventually, Jordie was forcefully dislodged from the khalkotauroi cow's back and was sent flying through the air.
"Daaanngggiittt!," Jordie cried as sailed through the air. He was a bit ticked at this moment, but he had the common sense to maneuver his pack to the front and use his body as a shield to prevent it from being crushed.
"Oof!", Jordie exclaimed as he landed on his back. Luckily he didn't take too much damage and the pack was still in one piece.
"Phew."
"Moo!"
"Uh oh."
Jordie's relief was shortlived however as the khalkotauroi cow began to slowly make it's way over to his prone form. Jordie had just barely managed to get to his feet when the presence of the giant cow monster looming over him caused him to pause.
Jordie and the khalkotauroi, for the third time in a day, locked eyes once more as an awkward tension filled the air. He was ready to run for his life again, but he was too exhausted to do so. The khalkotauroi cow began to take a deep breath as fire built up in it's throat.
"Hey System?"
[Yes host?]
"Minos will be fine if I die, right? He won't die with me?"
[When a tamer dies, the contract dies with them. Minos will be a free monster.]
"Oh...can you at least keep him safe for me? Until you can find another host and a parent for him?"
[...Yes.]
"Good", Jordie said in relief. He closed his eyes as he readied to greet death once more.
The khalkotauroi cow was just about ready to turn Jordie into barbecue, when a sudden cry broke the silence.
"Mooowaaah!"
"Moo?"