Shoved down in place by the weight of the Frostfang, I stopped and couldn't move forward.
Slowly, as I realized that it was on top of my shell.
I began to panic.
'Sim!' I thought as I looked up to check if he was alright.
Moving my head, I tried to look past the grey-white mass of hairs and legs for Sim.
Bi-segmented, eight long legs jutted out from the sides of its head. It's abdomen, round and covered in hairs, hovered above my shell behind it.
As if it felt my gaze, the Frostfang turned adeptly and tilted its head down towards me.
Our eyes met.
Its eyes, shining like eight spheres of white light, gleamed as it looked down on me from above. Full of intelligence it seemed to taunt me as it bobbed its body up and down on top of my shell as I moved my head.
It looked like it was laughing as it was doing so as if it was enjoying the whole situation.
I stopped and I glared angrily at it.
As if it seemed to understand, it lifted one of its legs and I had a glimpse Sim's shell.
It didn't last long.
Like a magician performing a magic trick, it allowed me to see Sim's shell for a brief moment before it blocked my vision of him again.
'It's toying with me, but it seems Sim's alright.' I thought.
Shifting its weight again, it revealed Sim's body once more before raising a single sharpened leg into the air.
Slowly, as if it was taunting me it brought it sharpened tip closer and closer to Sim's shell while watching me in the process.
'No. I won't let you.' It thought to myself.
Trapped by my own weight and the filament floor that my body was sinking into, there was only one thing that I could do.
Swing.
Shifting my shell side-to-side, I knew I had to get the Frostfang off.
Seconds passed as I rocked as hard as I could.
Right, left, right, left. I rocked and shook my shell in an attempt to dislodge my unwanted passenger.
It didn't work.
I kept my eyes locked onto its body as I kept shaking.
Perfectly balanced, it had anticipated my movements.
Producing a filament from its abdomen, it attached itself on top of my shell. Using its sharp-pointed legs, it cut small pockets into my shell. Gripping hard, it held on as I rocked.
The Frostfang held on.
Taunting me once more, it raised a few feet at a time. It was teasing me as if it didn't even need to hold on - that I should stop trying to shake it off.
I stared furiously at it.
Its eyes shone with delight as if it was having fun on an amusement park ride as I tried my best to get it off.
I grew angrier.
'Let's see how you hold on through this you stupid creature.' I thought to myself as I changed strategies.
With more force, I bent my body sideways.
Slamming with all my might, I wanted to crush its body beneath the weight of my shell into a satisfying splatter of organs and guts.
Expecting a crunch, I felt parts of its body being pushed into the filamentous floor.
'Yes!' I thought as I celebrated prematurely. Only clipping the ends of its feet, I basically missed.
Deftly, it dodged around the top of my shell as if my shell was its domain.
Drawing extra strength from my shell bouncing off the surface of the floor, I tried once more.
No satisfying squish.
I missed again.
Stopping briefly to recover my half-spent stamina, I looked up at the Frostfang.
Our gazes met once more as it seemed to gleam with pleasure at my failure.
Hopping up and down, it was happy and it clearly wanted to show me.
I, instead, grew angrier. 'How dare you make fun of me.' I thought.
Seeing that my attention was back onto it, the Frostfang turned its attention back to Sim who had remain attached to my shell through the whole ordeal.
Raising a foot into the air, it slowly draped it across Sim's shell.
Soon, a new white streak joined the two other streaks - marks of the previous attack.
"Stop!" I yelled, but it didn't listen or couldn't have listened.
Unable to stop it, I felt frustrated and angry that I couldn't do anything as it tried striking Sim's shell instead.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Specks of dust fell off of Sim's thin shell it continued.
I felt myself burning up inside even more as it continued to attack Sim. Although it wasn't fatal, I began to see chips and holes through Sim's shell as it lost its integrity.
'I need to do something.' I thought as I felt my impatience increase.
If its goal was to taunt me, it seemed to work as my thoughts were jumbled.
My mind was in turmoil.
'You have to die. I need to kill you.' I thought as I could only watch as it played with Sim's shell. The Frostfang clearly had enough strength to break Sim's shell, but it didn't.
'Quick. I need to attack quickly. I need to destroy you quickly, yet slowly. The feeling of not being able to do anything, I want you to feel it...'
All I wanted to do was to bite into its body and rip it apart. I wanted to crush its body under my body for taunting me. I wanted to tear of its limbs, one-by-one until it was legless. Then watch it, as it struggled to get away from me as it ate it... piece by juicy piece.
My anger was growing. My hunger was growing. My thoughts were growing as well - they were growing more irrational.
'I'm hungry, I wonder how delicious you'll be within my mouth.' I thought as I felt my mouth watering.
My gaze remained locked on the Frostfang.
"Stop," I said as my body moved.
The stop wasn't for the Frostfang. No. It was for me but my body didn't listen.
Acting on its own, I raised my eye-stalks into the air.
I tried to pull them down again, but I couldn't.
My body stopped listening to me.
Swinging hard, I attacked the Frostfang.
Slowed down by my negative statuses, I knew it wasn't going to connect.
And guess what?
It didn't.
Tilting its body, it dodged my swing as hopped up and down on top of my shell to taunt me once more.
Without control, I swung once more.
Barely glancing against its body, I missed once more.
But it didn't.
Stabbing forward I tried to react, but I couldn't. I didn't have control over my body.
Soon, I felt a burning sensation as one of its legs punctured the side of my eye-stalk.
It went dark.
Having lost the ability to see from my left eye, the sound of a familiar metallic voice filled my head.
[Status: Icy] (Stackable)
- 15% speed
- 15% strength
Stacks: 3
[Status: Blinded]
- 30% accuracy
- loss of depth perception
[Warning: Health Points under 50%.]
Jolting from the pain I regained control of my body.
Instantly, I pulled my gaze away from the Frostfang and hid into my shell.
I needed to calm myself down.
I needed to think.
Biding for my attention, it bounced up and down on top of my shell.
Ignored it.
'Don't leave the shell.' I told myself as I tried to recall what had just happened.
Seconds later, a thought and a conclusion.
'It seems to be able to taunt me into attacking it. That's right, I only grew angrier when I saw it.' I thought to myself. 'It's strategy, its... brilliant. If it keeps stacking its poison, I'm done for...'
Other thoughts entered my head as my mind begun to clear.
'I can't let it be alone with Sim for too long. I need a plan.'
I thought more deeply as the Frostfang stopped bouncing on top of my shell.
'I can't let this be a one-sided battle... But I need to attack it but how? Can't use my foot, it's too risky. I can't take another hit of its poison...Move? ....Can't move when I'm pressed down... ranged attack? Mucus? Will mucus work?' I asked myself. 'Even with less accuracy, if there is enough of it, it'll hit.' I convinced myself.
With that thought, I quickly produced some mucus and prepared to pop out of my shell.
'3...2...1' I counted down in my head. I needed to attack the Frostfang swiftly before its taunting controlled my actions once more.
'0'.
I jumped out.
Whipping my foot radically, I launched a quick shower of mucus over the Frostfang's body.
I watched as droplets fell over its body.
I had hoped that it would at least slow it down or limits its movements as it stuck to its body.
It didn't.
Suspended, the droplets that hit its body didn't seem to stick. Propped up by the hairs that covered its entire body, the droplets of mucus slowly froze and rolled off like a droplet of water on a leaf.
It celebrated.
Hopping up and down once more, this time, even higher. I felt my body sink up and down with its jumps. Before I could even think, I reacted.
I knew I had a chance and I took it.
Unable to react in midair, I knew I did it.
I hit it.
Like swatting a baseball out of the air, I smashed its body with my shell. I watched as the filament that connected its abdomen to my shell stretch and snap as its body tumbled into the chilly mist.
Feeling a large weight literally being lifted off of my body, I moved forward once more.
...