Pick on Something Your Own Size

Cloy had spent her share of recovering after dragging herself back to camp, covered in bear-inflicted wounds. It took longer to heal than bites and bruises obtained from her fights with the other kin, but the obelisk was not a patient creature. Like before, the relief from its hounding was wasted on rest and miserably lying around in pain. She was eager to force herself up to get away from the flickering purple light before the haze fully set in again. As such, she did a lot of pacing. It was careful pacing, as she didn't want to tear any scabs open, but restless nonetheless

She'd grown good at pushing her legs to carry her despite the damage they bore. It wasn't long before she was wandering from camp again, on the search for peace. She'd seen kin bringing in new prey in the form of birds and their eggs instead of the usual hares. What was more, it seemed like there were a lot of them to be had. It'd be a good, albeit somewhat reckless exercise, she thought. If she could snag a mouthful of feathers, it'd be a good sign that she was well on her way to being able to safely roam the mountainside again. At least...until something else happened. It was bound to eventually

[Roll to catch: success]

Finding where the birds were roosting was easy enough. They were mottled white speckles against the dark rock, standing out due to the sparse snow. What was more, there were visible signs of disturbance that gave them away. There was signs of struggle, with the ground torn up and the scent of blood on the air. Though it seemed like...an awful lot of blood. As she slowly approached, she cast a confused glance at some of the crimson patches on the ground. She hadn't know ptarmigans to be so full of liquid

She had to push the thoughts from her mind, as she was getting too close to the flock to be clumsy now. One misstep could send them all into the air. She crouched low in the wiry grass, measuring the sparks of pain that fired off in the process. Deeming it sharp, but not intolerable, she began her approach. Her eyes locked on a bird pecking around just a bit too far from the rest, she weighed each step before taking it. Thankfully, the things seemed almost oblivious to her presence despite the fact that they had surely been attacked before

Then, she was close enough. She heaved forwards, forcing herself to move faster than comfort. Her prey let off a call of alarm, but it was too late for it. Her jaws snapped securely around its plump body before it was able to fully get into flight. She quickly ensured that there would be no more struggle. As the rest of the flock began to wail and take to the air around her, she surveyed the nesting area casually. Many of the bundles of dried grass had pale eggs tucked away inside them. There were far too many to carry, but she tried to make room in her mouth for at least a few. Any little bit helped. Pleased with her haul, she slowly turned and began the walk back to camp

[Take dmg from birds: rolled 12, 0, 7, 2]

Birds were prey animals. Though a few brave ones might swoop in for a brief attack, she didn't expect trouble from them. Her fur would likely be thick enough to deflect a beak anyway. Thinking this, she was in no hurry to make her leave. Her body was slightly achy from the excursion, so she figured she'd take it slow on the return trip. But, with her back turned on the flock, she felt like they were getting a bit loud... Sure, she'd upset them, but they should be swirling helplessly in the air until she left. This sounded like they were getting closer

By the time she decided she'd better look over her shoulder, the entire swarm of white feathers were almost on top of her, all furious sharp edges. For a second, she was almost too shocked to move. Then, they were all on top of her, hooking into her pelt wherever there was a free space. They went to work immediately, snapping and tearing at her. She yelped in alarm as great tufts of her orange fur were thrown onto the ground, accompanied by splatters of blood. She had to drop her prey to flail open-mouthed at the birds in a wild attempt to dislodge them. They were killing her! She couldn't be killed by birds! She bit and kicked at random, the world around her just a whirl of feathers. Sometimes she'd feel blood spurt between her jaws, others it'd be just down or nothing at all

Thankfully, she started to do enough damage to the flock that she could at least see some of the world around her. But they were coming back. After dipping her head to pick up the carcass of her original catch, she reared into a full sprint. The motion dislodged many of the ptarmigans and even more struggled to rival her speed, even with her legs as ragged as they were. It was too far to gallop back to camp, so she took the first sight of relief she spotted: an outcropping of stone that would block out the sky. She ducked into the makeshift shelter, with angry squalls still lingering behind her

HP: 19/40

[Roll to steal: fail]

Her head was spinning, but regardless, she hunkered in a defensive position. Thankfully, the stone over her head and the short distance she'd run seemed to be enough to dispel the most of the flock. Some fierce bearing of her teeth and aggressive-looking snaps at those who continued their assault was enough to convince them they'd gotten their way. The stubborn few that remained, she made a point of downing and dragging into her hideaway

When the air finally began to grow still, she let herself collapse in a heap of ragged breathing. It was all shock and pain and confusion. She just needed to assume every living thing she encountered here would try to kill her, she told herself. With the panic of the attack subsiding, she was able to focus more on her hurt pride and new wounds. Turning her head to lick at a particularly sharp gash on her shoulder that near tore one of her scales off, she couldn't help but want a bit of vengeance of herself. Sure, she had some bodies to bring back to camp, but the flock was relatively unphased. They were getting away thinking they were the winners here. The obelisk buzzed angrily in her head. It wasn't fair...

[Roll to steal: success]

The ridge in the rock continued back the way she'd come, snaking along the mountainside as a narrow line of cover. Cloy eyed it skeptically as she cleaned away the worst of the blood from her fur. Despite her attempted hesitation, the insistence of the shards won her over. Leaving her catch behind for the moment, she scraped herself to her hooves and started to creep back towards the site of the attack. She found her tail lashing back and forth as she did, anger rising up in her chest like a wave. The urge to simply trample the nearing nests was strong. She wanted carnage. But, she had to grimace through the burning, those were valuable resources. Destroying them would do more harm than good

The birds noticed her approach, but most were clearly less than willing to dart into the crevice to attack her. She had the high ground and she made sure to snarl at those rows of beady little eyes, gloating as she stood over a few sheltered nests. Though she knew she had more corpses to carry back than before and therefore less room to carry things, she scooped up as many eggs as she could cram in her mouth. She'd figure out the placement of them later. Now, she just wanted to prove her superiority

After only a few moments, she was turning back the way she came. The occasional attacker still swooped at her, but she lashed at them with sharp hooves. She wouldn't let them get the jump on her again. She might even be back to terrorize them again, she thought, as the urge to kill was still swimming in her head. For now, though, she returned to her already caught prey. It took her a good while to sort out the mass of feathers and eggs without leaving any behind. In the end, she had to place most of the birds on her back. She'd need to walk very evenly back to the obelisk in order to not dislodge them, but she didn't mind. She was full of undue confidence, emotions scrambled up by the crackles in the air. And...she had many new wounds, now. She could run, but it felt a bit better to hobble