-=Fingard Forest, 12 years later=-
"Hssss," I hissed in pain. I quickly caught myself, however. Loud sounds were not good. That attracted the big ones. That scared away the food ones. But it was too painful. A big fur one found me in his territory. He was an especially big one. He slashed at me, and I turned into a quick furry one and ran away, using my small size as an advantage to run under the big bushes. But he had still hurt me. With only one slight slash, only the tip of the claws entering my body, he managed to tear up the fur and meat. Even if I did turn into a big fur one like him, I would still be smaller. Maybe about the size of a newer-older one?
I was still hungry, though.
I weaved around the trees and the branches, jumped over the bushes, and splashed across the streams. Once I had finally reached my own territory, I sat down and licked at my side. It was still leaking blood, though it had clotted and dried somewhat on my fur. I whined, safe in my territory. It was a small territory. I need to expand it more, or else I wouldn't have enough for the great cold.
I laid down on the dry floor of my sheltered area. It was sheltered by a giant tree, its lower branches drooping down to naturally form a dome at the base. I had stacked more branches and grass onto the dome, so it was now even better.
Whenever I shifted more than three times in many beats, I would be very tired. I once tried to shift four times. That had made me puke all my food up, and forced me to sleep.
Then I got the monsters and shadows that always came with my sleep. That time, it had been of two shadows screaming at each other. It shouldn't be scary, but it was.
I sighed, something that I picked up from the quick furry ones. It was always easier to turn into a quick furry one, though I always looked slightly different from them. The two shifts that were the easiest were of the quick furry ones and of a weird two-legged form that was useless. It was slow, its senses were dull. It had no claws, fur, scales, or any other protection other than a furless, white-pink body. It reminded me of a wiggly thing. The thing that liked to dig into the ground and get eaten by flying ones.
Quickly eating some of the safe berries from a nearby bush, I laid down and waited for my wound to heal in my two-leg shift. The one thing it was useful for was that it healed very quickly compared to my other shifts.
But I had to stay alert, or some of the weaker big things that always tried to take my territory might attack me.
Laying down for a time long enough to feel many thumps that came from me, I sat up. Checking the wound to make sure it had been healed enough for quick movement, I stood up and shifted into a quick furred one, and left for a different territory. I have to secure a bigger territory for myself, unless I wanted to go cold. Which I didn't.
The owner of this territory was a long slimy one. She was a bit like the bumpy water ones, but her tongue was very, very long and slimy. Plus, she was bigger than the bumpy water ones. She was also slightly weaker than the big furred one, too. I also know that her tongue was her weak point, but the weak point was only exposed when her tongue was stretched to its fullest, which revealed the fleshy base of her tongue. The fleshy base was the weak point, but the long slimy was very quick. Her back legs were like my two-leg form, but they were much more powerful.
I bounded through my territory, then stopped. I stuck my nose into the air and inhaled deeply. The scents of everything came to me, but I ignored them all, and instead focused on the familiar scent of the long slimy one. As much as she tried to hide it, the slightly stinky smell of it distinguished itself from the other scents. I knew it especially well because on windy days, I would be constantly smelling it.
Making sure I was downwind of the long slimy one, though I was pretty sure she couldn't smell as well as me, I began to slowly creep up to her. It was slow and boring and agonizing, but I knew better than to charge right in.
The nights of burning wounds and empty bellies taught me better.
Then, I finally reached her. She was still crouched right next to a filthy pond. Her usual place. She liked to stay crouched in one position until she had to move, and when she did, it was only for her tongue to stick itself onto some unlucky food one. Or it was when she was defending her territory.
Her back was dry and bumpy, with countless scars littered across.
My claws weren't enough to pierce it, but my teeth were.
I pounced onto the back of the long slimy one and bit down onto the shoulder of it, immediately drawing blood, even though said blood was maybe one or two drops that were squeezed out of my pathetic bite mark.
She jumped back, using her powerful legs to slam me into a tree behind her.
That's why she stands there. I realized.
My breath was driven out my body in one powerful gust, but I had to hang onto her. She slammed me over and over into the tree, and I held on. I dug my claws into her back quickly and instinctively, even though I felt something crack from hitting the tree multiple times. Once she had given up using the tree to get me off, she opened her wide mouth, and struck with her tongue. It was long, slimy, and fleshy. It was very nimble and flexible. It stuck to me easily enough, and she began to pull.
I held on. As she tried to pull harder and harder, I felt my teeth and claws pull painfully, until I could taste my own blood, and feel some claws detach themselves from me. Every time she pulled with her tongue, her mouth would widen slightly. I knew that from my multiple attempts to kill her.
Every time her mouth widened, it wouldn't be closed back up again. So, like this, her mouth would be eventually opened enough for me to reach the base of the tongue. I wonder why she didn't close her mouth back up? I would've discovered this weakness already by now, but she never did.
But the mouth was still opening too slowly. Most of my teeth were being teared off, and my claws had all been detached or dislocated. My mind could only process agony.
Her mouth opened slightly. Then a hint of fleshy pink peeked forth. My jaws were yanked off, and my claws detached, but the long slimy one forgot that like this, it wouldn't be able to control its tongue as quickly.
So like that, I reached my bleeding paws in its mouth and held on. My remaining claws easily pierced into the base, and for the first time, the long slimy one let out a cry of pain. Blood quickly spilled out, covering my paws in them. I pulled my head forward, and bit down.
Blood poured forth quickly. The long slimy one bellowed in agony, moving its body around, slamming into trees and bushes, digging its head into the dirt. But I held on. And in moments of slight stillness, I would begin slashing at the base, until the base was a mangled mess of flesh.
The long slimy one had very short forearms. She couldn't reach me. Her tongue was useless, and her arms were too short. Even if I didn't manage to kill her, she would die anyways.
Slowly, she stopped moving, until finally, she slumped over, and the blood began to slow down.
I continued to slash and hack, until her whole mouth was bloody.
I puled my upped body out of her mouth, and breathed in a breath of fresh air.
I finally did it. I bared my fangs at the now cooling long slimy one. She was lazy, and so she cooled, laying at my feet.
Shifting into my two-leg form, I hid under a tree surrounded by bushes. Hopefully, that would block my blood scent enough that scavengers wouldn't take a chance with me.
I couldn't stay awake anymore. I lost too much blood.
Against my mind, my body shut down, and I slept.