"Kai, stop that!" Rain snaps, yelling at the weasel who was busy munching on the severed stinger, without recoiling from the sizzling and pungent venom that trickled down its chitinous surface.
The weasel whimpers, backing down yet twitching its whiskers furiously.
"I need that for the treant hunt." Rain coos, smiling at the weasel's antics.
He runs his fingers across its back, gently caressing its silky fur.
"Okay, you can have a little bite." He coos, "Just a little."
The weasel's ears perks up at his words, rushing back to the stinger and having a feast– sounds of chewing and muching at its wake.
Rain lets out an amused chuckle.
Upto this day, he'd never come to terms with how his little critter looked.
Kai was like an abberation never ment to exist.
How can a weasel-reptile hybrid normally exist?
And it even had a nack for toxins at that.
Despite his weird physique, Kai was a good creature to be around, his every action amused Rain.
Kai's intelligence was out of this world, its eyes gleamed whenever Rain spoke to it, as if understanding him, only words failing to come out of his tiny maw.
He couldn't even begin to fathom about its __ origins. At this point, Kai had already become family.
Back to the matter at hand, Rain was high on a cliff, observing the activity on the valley down below.
His eyes track a clan of forest guardian, the treants he was aiming to hunt.
Not all of them, but just one.
Heck, taking down that one treant would prove to be a challenge in on its own, not to mention a clan of them.
But it had to be done.
It was either that or live constantly looking behind his back.
He needed the mask he would carve out from their faces.
A plan was coming to mind, he would really need a big distraction.
"Kai, enough!" Rain mutters, rushing to pry off the weasel lest it consumes all of the corrossive venom.
Kai licks his lips as Rain grabs him, keeping him as far as he could from the scorpion stinger.
Rain proceeds to pry open the chitinous stinger, he enters a state of extreme focus, one wrong move and he'll get his arms burnt from its venomous viscera.
His dagger reaches in, stabbing apart the carapace which loosens with a crunch, dislodging a dark green venom sac.
Kai rushes in, licking off the dripping venom.
Rain grabs the freed venom sac, a chime sounding within his mind.
[You have been poisoned]
[Resisting the toxin...]
He exhales, wiping the venom sac on the grass to get the ichor cleaned off.
[...]
[Toxin resisted]
[Poison resistance upgraded]
"Lets go, boy." Rain whistles, grabbing the venom sac by one hand, feeling a slight burn.
The other hand grabs Kai, his gaze locks onto a shadow in the valley down below.
His figure flickers and disappears, silently reappearing down below.
It takes a second to re-orient his spinning mind, and he triggers [Shroud] blending in with the shadows of the grove.
Rain's figure skitters and skulks, moving closer and closer to his target.
He keeps the clan of treants at the edges of his vision, lest they detect his gaze.
His oblivious and blissfully unaware targets walk around, their barky feet thudding as they struck the ground whilst walking.
He gulps and swallows, shrugging off creeping doubts.
His eyes locks onto a gaunt yet shorter treant, when compared to its other kin, flashing [Appraise] and diving into the shadows.
[Juvenile Treant]
Rank: Tier 2
Remarks: Blessed guardians of nature
A rank above his own, Rain deduces.
He flashes more [Appraise] , his face pales with horror, realising that the rest were tier 3's , equivalent to Expert rank!
The only rank tier 2 were the first one and other three.
He almost backs down in fear, only steeling his resolve and reminding himself of the risk in failing to complete this mission.
As he is fighting off the urge to scamper his eyes glimpse on the tier 3 treants, aged lichen and moss covering their figures, their hooked upper limbs grazing the earth as they sauntered within the grove.
He directs his gaze back to the designated target, gulping at the face of the daunting task ahead.
His instincts scream that he must be so careful or death would be the least of his worries.
And so, he bids his time, waiting for the treant to step into shadows cast by the great oaks.
Now!
The venom sac in hand gets hurled, whistling as it cut through the air.
It lands on the treant with a splat, sending its corrosive contents covering its figure.
Simultaneously, the shadows at its feet churn, struggling to swallow its gaunt and towering figure.
Grrrrkkh!!
A ___ cry echoes through the grove, garnering the full attention of the clan of treants.
Rain struggles to drown the treant in shadows and plunge its figure into the realm of shadows.
His attempts see success for a few moments before the treant starts to claw, its root-like limbs grabbing the oak branches for support.
Seeing his imminent failure, Rain bursts into action.
His figure cuts through the air, his dagger blades gleaming against the evening sun.
Shik.
Rain's wrist twisted, the dagger biting into the rooty treant limb, yet failing to sever it.
Shik.
His arms lash out yet again, but failing to sever the limb.
Shik.
He strikes again and again, his brows sweating as the other treants charge at him.
Shik.
Shiiik.
Shik.
The limbs gives way, plunging the treant into the pool of shadows.
Whoosh.
Wooden spikes cut streak through the air, aiming to skewer Rain's figure.
*Fuck!*
He curses as he dives into the same shadow that had swallowed the treant.
Shik.
A spike impales the earth, failing to go through the pool of shadows that had reverted to their elusive and intangible form.
Grrkh.
The treants roar, sending birds screaming as they scamped out of the towering canopies.
GRRRKKHH!