Closed Beginnings of Winter

[Luke]

Winter 3, 124

Fluffy finished all her chores and finally had some time to herself. She began walk along the path leading through the massive basin that she resided in. She thought that being away from others would do her some good. She'd borrowed a shortbow and she wanted to get some shooting practice in. She'd learned a little about guns too from her recent trip abroad but she didn't think she would ever prefer such a loud weapon to a bow. She wasn't great at using a bow either but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Fluffy walked without purpose. She knew what she should be doing, practicing combat, but her motivation just wasn't there. Feeling the sun on her face made her a little more cheery, but it wasn't enough to make her want to ache all over. The path was sprinkled with a light snow, and there were a few birds were singing in the nearby trees. She stopped to take in the beauty of nature.

When she reached a clearing, Fluffy took out her bow and started shooting at a tree for warm up. This was a commonly used target practice area. It was daytime however, quite early in the morning at that and that meant nobody was going to be using it. People around here were nocturnal after all.

The arrows flew through the air with speed, their tails streaming behind them as they made their way to the tree. Fluffy adjusted her stance, drawing the bowstring back until her fingers brushed her cheekbone. With a deep breath, she released the arrow and watched it embed itself in the trunk of the tree. She practiced her aim and was soon hitting the tree somewhat accurately.

After a few minutes of practice, Fluffy decided it was time to shoot at harder targets. She started aiming her arrows at birds in the snow tipped trees but she missed every time. After missing several shots, Fluffy decided to switch tactics. She tried to anticipate the birds' movements and then release the arrow when she had a good shot.

She wished she could hear a satisfying squawking sound of the bird getting hit in midair. Unfortunately she wasn't even close.

Kage was walking not too far away. He had been on his way back from work and his head was hurting. This was the kind of ache that wouldn't go away on its own even if he took a nap. He'd been up all night and the bright light of the sun made him wish he'd gotten home a little earlier. There had been a lot of paperwork to read through, briefings to give, etc. Nothing he would consider particularly exciting.

 

[Raya]

Abraia felt like she was walking through a dream sometimes. She wore some plants on her head in a wreath that sent out signals to her brain to make her happy. It was like being high all the time but in a good way. She would never suffer downsides from this drug so long as she kept replacing it every so often.

She walked by the place where Fluffy was training. She had warmed up to the fox girl a lot ever since living with Kage. He treated them both well. She also saw him walking by.

"Hi you two!!!!" she said with a lot of enthusiasm. She grinned and jumped up and down to grab their attention. The blood rush made her dizzy.

She felt differently now. She craved Kage's approval. She craved his attention. Life was so simple being his. The only times she got sad was when she thought about how she would eventually grow too old to be attractive because she would age much more quickly than him.

She thought she would prove herself to be good entertainment by challenging Fluffy.

"Fight me! Let's spar!"

 

[Luke]

Fluffy smiled in satisfaction at how lucky she was today and continued to shoot without caring much about precision. The birds fluttered away, startled by the sudden noise. After a while, she felt ready to take on something larger instead of these small birds. If she couldn't hit them after trying ten times then it wasn't going to happen today. She wished that there was a deer or something she could shoot at. It was winter so there wasn't exactly an abundance of creatures to choose from. She had to go find animals on her own. Thankfully the fresh snowfall made it fairly easy to spot tracks.

She followed some tracks, hoping to find the animal. After a few minutes, she spotted a small fox. She slowly approached the fox and got into position for a shot. She was careful not to scare the fox away, and eventually she was able to get a clear shot. Missed again. The fox bolted but Fluffy wasn't going to accept defeat this time. She started to chase after it while shaping into a large spider to give herself an advantage. Once the transformation was complete, she trampled over the fox and cut it in half with her pincers.

She was successful in her hunt and was able to get some fresh meat… but Fluffy didn't know what to do with the animal now that she'd killed it. Was she really supposed to drag it all the way back to the house? It was far too cold to be getting her hands all wet from animal guts. She decided to leave the dead fox there and to slowly turn back into her normal form.

Fluffy felt a wave of sadness wash over her. She had taken plenty of life before, but this felt different because she was just killing for the sake of killing. It also didn't help that it was a fox. She felt a sudden urge to give the fox a proper burial. She found a nearby tree and dug a small hole in the snow, so that it would at least cover the fox until it thawed out. She placed the fox in the ground, and held a moment of silence for it. Afterwards, Fluffy felt a sense of peace. She had honored the fox's life, and was glad she had done the right thing.

That was the point that she saw Abraia there making a ruckus. She'd been going a little heavy on the wreath wearing as of late. That had pros and cons. If she was going to be challenging her to fights… then Fluffy might have to put her in her place.

She frowned and said, "if you want to fight… I guess we can."

Kage stopped only for a moment to wonder why they were even out at this hour. He shook his head and kept walking, but then did a double take and circled back to see what the hell they were up to. He'd sit against a tree trunk and doze off if nothing exciting happened.

Fluffy: 3 master reserves (- 1 expert from a recent thread)
- 1 expert cast for Fluffy for a CR4 spider transformation
-1 novice cast for Fluffy to turn back to normal

 

[Raya]

Abraia saw Kage watching, waiting, sleepy. She moved closer when Fluffy agreed. The restless energy within her body caused her heartbeat to speed up while she kept bouncing on her toes. The plants in her wreath maintained her euphoric state while beneath it burned excitement. She wanted to impress Kage. She wanted to feel strong. The thing she desired most was to participate in the game.

After a short skipping step she lifted her fists into position. The way she stood was poor with unbalanced weight distribution and hands positioned too low yet she ignored these technical flaws. The movement and foolishness of her actions made her grin as she danced on her feet.

​

"Come on, Fluffy! You appear fearless whenever you hunt. Show me what you got!"

Although untrained in fighting Abraia possessed natural instincts. Standing still seemed like a dangerous choice according to her instincts. She kept moving from side to side while circling around the pretty girl because she wanted to understand her opponent even though she had no clue what she was doing.

Then, without warning, she lunged.

 

[Luke]

Fluffy was taken aback by Abraia's sudden movements. She didn't take the woman for much of a fighter, especially given that pose. Fluffy wasn't formally trained either, but Fluffy had the ability to shape shift so she could make up for a lack of skill with sheer size or speed. In her base form, she wasn't all that great at fighting against someone who was expecting her to fight back. So, when Abraia attacked she would be successful.

Kage raised an eyebrow in amusement. Was this what his pets did when he was off at work? Fighting for dominance on some nonexistent totem pole? He didn't care if either of them were good at fighting. If they died, they died. He could replace either of them with enough time and effort.

Fluffy would do her best to force herself not to overreact to the punch(? I'm assuming punch). She would grown and then bare her teeth at her. She started to hunger for the woman's liver. That always helped her get violent. She swung her own fist at Abraia and snarled.

 

[Raya]

The punch Abraia threw with her right hand displayed more excitement than proper technique. The fight became uncontrolled because of the energy from her excitement instead of following any strategic plan. Fluffy attacked back as a way to get revenge. Abraia was surprised to see that Fluffy was testing her own fighting abilities and gaining experience from facing an opponent like her.

Abraia took the punch to the jaw and could have sworn it had been broken because of the pain that radiated around her cheek. The wreath was knocked off. Her ears experienced the rushing wind from her punch. She turned her body with a single foot movement to launch an uncontrolled left-hand punch before repeating the motion. She lacked speed but her unpredictable body movements aimed to surprise her opponent. Sloppy, yes, but erratic.

"Whoa!" The punch made her dizzy while she was laughing as she swung too far away from her target. She experienced a dancing sensation instead of actual fighting. "This is fun! Come on, Fluffy!"

She didn't stop, didn't pause. She continued the fight with another attack as she threw punches in a way that resembled a schoolyard fight instead of real sparring. She probably believed that her movements would distract Fluffy enough to keep her off balance. She believed she possessed a genuine opportunity to beat her. She hyperventilated, smiled, and passed out from overworking her lungs while high.

Abraia would not want to wake for a while. When she did she went looking for her workshop to finish up some orders before she went to get some dinner.

 

[Luke]

Fluffy ended up getting pummeled by the woman. It hurt and if Kage had not been there watching, she might have actually turned into a big tiger and crushed her to death, or at least hurt her enough to knock some sense into her. Smashing half her body to a pulp might have taken it too far, however.

Instead, she turned the other cheek, which was fortunate because Abraia somehow passed out from all her attacks. What was wrong with that one? She shook her head, then looked to Kage with a curious expression.

"She's hopeless," Kage said as he got to his feet. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. She's…"

"Out of her mind. I should adjust her doses." Kage smirked and scooped the unconscious woman off the ground and threw her over his shoulder. "Let's get back home. Well, I'll take her. You can get back to doing whatever you were doing."

"Yes, of course."

Fluffy gritted her teeth and went back to shooting for a while. The fight still tugged at her mind. She had to think of something to get her mind off of it. Her gaze flew to the trees around her, her plan forming in her mind. She quickly grabbed a thick branch as she passed one of the trees, spinning around and jabbing the end of it into an imaginary man's stomach. She imagined him doubled over in pain, giving Fluffy the chance to sprint away. She could almost hear him cursing behind her, but she was too far away for him to catch up. Fluffy breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that her quick thinking had saved her from the nonexistent threat. Now she wasn't even thinking about Abraia anymore!

Fluffy took a roundabout path back to the trail. She got lost a couple times which was very demotivating because of all the snow. Fluffy had always had a determined spirit, and she often loved to go get her blood pumping but not like this. As she was walking, she saw a deer in the distance and she crouched down and watched it. She knew that this was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up and finally, after a few moments of hesitation, she pulled back the string on her bow and released an arrow.

The arrow flew true and glanced off its antlers. She felt elated that her shot had been successful, but also a bit guilty that she had tried to kill it just because she was angry. Was she turning into some kind of psycho that just enjoyed killing? Needless to say, the deer didn't stick around for long. It pranced away without a care in the world. Fluffy quickly ran up to the arrow she'd shot and retrieved it. After confirming that it was still useable, she took a few moments to see if she was lost again.

Kage wasn't available because he was in his room sleeping with the door locked. If Abraia had knocked on that for no reason, she would have had to been punished. Thankfully, she seemed to have enough respect to not make that mistake. When he did get up, he found Abraia in her workshop. Good. It was nice to see her working hard.

She had a magical touch for making weapons that ought not to go to waste. He had heard that many people had been interested in her work and brought lots of special projects. Her success made him more popular as well, an obvious plus.

One thing that worried him was her potential desire to escape. He didn't suppose he could really stop her from leaving if she ever decided to… Though so long as she didn't have ill will he didn't think he'd mind if she decided to pursue other things. He was starting to feel like she deserved a trip abroad, though he had been informed that she had a troublesome contact that he needed to keep an eye out for…He would have to tread carefully.

 

[Luke]

Thread Title: Beginnings of Winter

Thread Summary: Fluffy and Abraia have a go at each other for a short while.

Expected Rewards: 18xp for Kage, 6xp for Abraia

Thread Link: https://antarok.net/threads/beginnings-of-winter.502/
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[Vicissitude]

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❀ Rewards ❀

Kage

+18 XP

Abraia

+6 XP

❀ Comments ❀

This would be wholesome, but now knowing their grim fates, it has a different sort of feel to it, lol.

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