As I sat there meditating, I slowly drifted off. To what was either a terrible nightmare or a wet dream let's not question it... This perverts putting weird thoughts in my head waking up in a sweat with a hand resting on my engorged junk I quickly pull away and crawl out onto the branch letting the cold air cool down my lower half as I stare out into the darkness. Getting bored of the little bugs and harmless birds smaller than me that are out hunting bugs I lay back wings spread out to keep me firmly on the branch as I look up through the branches at the starry sky partially visible through my mist cover. As my mind wonders about curious of if any of those stares in the night sky is where I used to be from or if my tree self or bacterial self were even on this planet I decide to shake myself out of the useless questions, partially due to my trust of Alex whoo definitely seemed to imply it was and begin to half meditate as I focus on my mist cover and feel all the motion within 40 feet of the tree feeling the subtle shifting of the ground as things speed by beneath it at an unknown depth and the bugs flying about doing their own little nocturnal jobs some collecting leaves some hunting the leaf collectors some fleeing from the small birds killing all the above.
With a twitching sensation in my head, I focused in on the newest little invader of my mist cover a rabbit. Or many... a parade of 10-20 rabbits rush into my mist cover before the leader halts its ears twitching about as my mist forms the shapes of wolves on its own... Hmm, so that's how the mist illusion works. The rabbit leader immediately called out with a screech before the forest turned silent and the parade ended and the little rabbits turned a defensive parameter and their little ears begin to light up before a gust of wind is swept up and forms a dome of spinning air around the rabbits because it's only circling around them very little mist of mine is even effected as the mist is still all around and partially inside most of them so I don't lose sight of them as they begin to launch out attacks at the 'wolf pack' that surrounded them. The mist around them clears with every shot before settling again but before long the little guys grow tired and the wolves are still there. Eventually, they stop shooting and just focus on defense as clearly it wasn't working but the defense clearly isn't needed either after a while of silence as no attacks come.
"Owwwooo"
After the rabbits after dropped their guard a howl breaks out and I'm startled... My mist can't do that right? The rabbits look around vigilantly but don't see anything new as the wolves in the mist just stare at them unable to attack but suddenly I feel something large figures darting about in the dark before they stop in the shadows nearby the wolves of mist seemingly there for backup. Little wolves seemingly entirely made up of shadows dart about in the night before they bring their little claws forward as they surround the rabbits and swipe forward as they do I feel my mist part in three sections along a trail from each wolf as a screech of pain sounds in the distance. Focusing on the rabbits I can see them immediately put their air dome back up after a few of their white fur dripped with what I assume is blood claw marks clearly present along their little torsos. "thud, mrnn" startled by the sound from behind me I spot Ellie shifting about stretching her arms looking for something... With a sigh, I walk over and let her arms wind around my body as I focus in on the battle. The rabbits begin to launch attacks out of the dome again at a much slower pace than before aiming for where the claw attacks came from occasionally missing as the wolves dodge but a couple struck home and a quit howl of pain could be heard in the distance as I feel the wolves that are hurt crane there necks up and howl. Good... tire one another out and I'll steal everyone's kills... Before long I felt a strange tugging sensation in my torso and looked around to spot little shadows that have somehow snuck into the hole and are pulling at the backpack trying to get it open. Out of annoyance, I form claws to attack them but they dodge way too fast and I feel what they actually are... hummingbirds? Super fast-moving wings support an inch-long bird body in the air the feathers putting off a subtle glow as they dart about annoyingly long pointy claws at the end of their legs and a sharp blade-like hook as a beak I can't help but wonder when hummingbirds became carnivores.
Shouldn't these little guys be sucking nectar from flowers? As I debate the question the little birds dart towards me and Ellie as they decide the claws are our doing. Quickly I fill the hole with clouds as I push against the birds as they shoot towards us, slowly one of them to a halt as they began to fall to the persistent temptation of gravity their little bodies slamming into the tree as my claws slice into them.
"-40"
"-53"
... theirs 5 of them...
Angry caws broke out as the little birds wings begin to struggle to flap harder and harder the little bodies entirely unable to leave the ground as my claws swipe out again and again their little bodies trying to dodge but they can't dodge as fast standing on their little talons so they abandon that though as they begin to dart towards me and Ellie on foot beaks pointed forward. Wings spread I block the little beaks to protect my mount as I wrap them all up into a ball their little beaks still stabbed into me as my claws begin to persistently claw out at them.
"Needlewing level 4 slain exp + 20
level 6 exp 50/250"
...
"Needlewing level 7 slain exp + 25*2
level 6 exp 100/250"
...
"Needlewing level 8 slain exp 25*3
level 6 exp 175/250"
As there were only two left bound in my wings they began to struggle even more violently shaking their heads back and forth and pulling their legs out from under them as their little talons began to bite into my skin and their wings slaps and pushed against me. Annoyed I dug my actual claws into their bodies and snapped my jaws shut on the little one's head so he couldn't shake about anymore biting harder as the larger one fights gritting through the pain.
"Needletoes level 10 slain exp 50*5
level 7 175/300"
As the little one in my jaws stops moving I dig both my claws into the biggest one before flapping my wings to drop the corpses of his friends and biting down harder on the guy whose razor-sharp beak is stabbed into his shoulder as my cloudy claws scratch at it's back over and over I dig my actual claws into its neck it's feet clawing at my stomach. Its struggle slowly became less violent before it laid down after giving up and I delivered the final blow to its head.
"-24"
"Shardbeak level 19 slain exp 100*13
Level 10 exp 425/450"
Finally, level ten again... Dropping the corpse to the ground I move my perspective to the battle in the distance, and seeing both sides very exhausted and covered in wounds I begin to form cloudy claws out of the mist inside their heads getting ready to strike their brains. After setting up all the claws in each of their heads I start swiping and suddenly the whole battlefield comes to a grinding halt.
"-90 to -103"... Rabbits times 17
"-72"... Rabbit leader
"-43 to -56"... wolves times 13
"-32" Wolf leader
All the animals began to look around vigilantly trying to figure out what hit their heads as I swipe again before they suddenly shift their focus to the mist. Then they collectively begin to run towards the way they came but I have already formed my claws inside them so unless they phase through something I am good so I keep slicing as I form cloud walls to push against them slowing their escape the rabbits start falling first giving about 10-20 exp a piece mostly being low leveled before the wolves start to go down giving 20-50 exp the wolves seemed to be called shadowclaw and the rabbits blownhair... what a name... I mean I know they are wind rabbits but fuck you whoever names these guys after the rabbits have all died off and half the wolves the rabbit leader lets out a screech and falls.
"Eargust level 13 Exp + 100*3
lvl 12 exp 290/550"
Oh wow that names shittier than its little friends... Luckily I wasn't born as one of them...
Six more wolves then the leader to go... swipe swipe swipe as they get close to escaping my mist cover that they were only ever half in I had gotten five of the lower wolves down some of which would have given a multiplier before I leveled up just now... the sad fate of the strong right? They all gave 50 exp as they died as they were all higher level than the previous ones. Then with a howl, the last mob wolf went down.
"Shadowfang level 15 exp 100*4
level 13 exp 390/600"
As the last of its companions falls to the ground the leader turns around with a sole tear falling from its right eye and howled to the sky I almost forgot to strike as I watched the scene... almost...
"Shadowheart level 20 exp 200*8
lvl 16 exp 40/750"
As the night became silent once more and the last body fell to the ground warm blood leaking out of its eyes and many wounds everything ended. Feeling around the cowering harmless creatures seem to slowly calm down before all going out of their hiding places and continuing their nightly tasks like none of it happened. The rustling and caws of birds and bugs quickly filling the silence once more turning back around I see Ellie eyes staring at me... Well, of course, she would have woken up to the fighting or the lead wolves howl... despite the distance the sorrow, rage and helplessness seemed to have empowered that wolf to break the bank with his last howl that was louder than anything else. As I walk back to her side she doesn't seem concerned with the corpses or the howls but immediately starts to check my wounds I gently pat on her hands with my wings before I begin to suck up the mist to heal myself. As she tries to reach out for the wounds to try to treat them she sees them closing up and vanishing like they were never there and hand slowly pull back and her eyes blaze in curiosity and amazement.
"How'd you do that?" Is she asking me questions now? I am incapable of speaking weirdo...