《I'm A Monster, A Harpy》Chapter 7 - Deadly Meeting
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The two stare at each other, a bear with ice in its fur, almost as if generating the cold itself, on one side, its claws have met many that weren't fortunate, having sharpened and still bearing blood on them, although it's now dry, giving them a crimson red color. On the other is a Harpy, creatures known for its tactics in teams, making up for their inability to use conventional weapons like humans or other demihumans usually do.
Ariara can notice the bear coughing slightly, icy breath coming out of its mouth as it seems to be preparing a barrage, moments later in fact sending out a weapon that sometimes dragons use, an elemental breath, specifically the cold favoring the bear.
With a sidestep the Harpy tries to avoid the thick of the attack, nevertheless being in the trajectory she moves her right-wing forward, no intention of running away being found in her eyes, two sparks of fire heading for the side of the attack to block the breath from attacking her, none of the two fire attacks reaching the bear, being swept away by the cold air.
Despite this the Harpy doesn't see through it, being alarmed only slightly after as the Bear rushes forward, trying to rip in Ariara a new hole like the sword one. As she grimaces for the hit however it never happens. The bear being stopped midway by a nuisance to it's well being: a sharp javelin of light being thrown at it on the move, blood spilling on the floor as it retracts backward, growling at the pain coming from one of its arms, that got penetrated by the magic weapon.
Ariara immediately turns to the direction it was thrown, a familiar horned bunny standing there, light glowing coming from its horn and a panicked expression on its face, she knew it, it was definitely no normal bunny, now she was sure of it. But now was definitely not the time to pat herself on the back for recognizing a not normal animal when she sees it, turning back to the bear she could definitely see it wasn't done yet, instead, preparing for another barrage; its eyes showing a rage Ariara is used to.
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With a dash forward towards the bunny the bear tries to take advantage of it recharging, either being smart enough to know such a strong skill probably has takebacks or in its rage targeting the individual that dealt the most damage. Two more magic spells are caster as the bear progresses, a sharp pain going through its back as the main antagonist of ice, fire, melts into the icy furred back of the bear, leaving behind an exposed piece of skin, clearly injured by the use of its weakness, but not as much as when a blade enters into his skin, the Harpy trying to combo the two skills for a better effect, seeing success in the means of dealing massive damage to the bear.
The bear, however, keeps on moving, defying the fact it's impaled by a grass blade, turning around as the weapon disappears, leaving behind a hole. It was not done for, in fact, she had ironically put oil in the flame, its red eyes screaming the need for vengeance, a swift arm grappling the bird girl's wings, throwing her onto the ground as it piles on her, the air getting out of her lungs as a very heavy bear starts choking her, the shocked expression of the bunny explaining to her what's happening: her face is not the normal color, as is expected without air.
The missing of air doesn't last much, soon enough the dead body of the bear lying on the Harpy, blood cold as ice and the same color of it falling down in front of the Harpy Eyes. Ariara soon pushing the bear off of her with some panting, this was... Yet another near-death experience for her, the breath quickening fastly as she realizes just how close she was to death this time, she was being chocked by a... Kinda muscular bear now that she looks closely, the questions in her head multiplying about why her neck didn't just get split in half when such a creature tried to choke her.
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Another thing, however, takes her attention, the bunny staring straight at her, the horn dropping liquid, the blood of an ice bear. With no other explanation, Ariara chalks it up to yet another of the skills this... Weird bunny has, wondering if it, too, has an ability like hers to steal others... Before shaking her head at her own thought, a unique skill like this would make anyone incredibly powerful with time if honed correctly, in fact, some would even describe it overpowered... Not her though, which almost died three times in the first two days of her new life...
Nevertheless, she feels the need to check her sheet but decides against it momentarily, instead opting to do two things beforehand; checking in with this rabbit which seems to stick around her, and inherit the skills this... Monstrous creature wields, to wield them for herself.
Ariara closes her eyes, focusing and slowing her breath down, with that over she looks again to the rabbit, sitting down to look at it.
. . . There's silence, the only thing making noise being the wind moving along blades of grass, the fur of the horned rabbit gently swaying in the air due to their lightness. The two staring at each other for a few minutes, neither really knowing how to interact with the other, after all... When Ariara does temptingly try to say hi in the only langue she knows, the bunny tilts its head, and with a sigh from both parties the awkwardness continues, the body of an icy bear bearing witness to this very unuseful moment of quiet.
With the conversation going nowhere, Ariara shakes her head, she's write... But she doesn't have palms, and writing with talons, which already seems hard, on the ground, which should make it harder, is something she doesn't have the will or time to do, instead of getting up and sighing to herself as she knows what she has to do in a few moments, steeling her nerves for the self plucking she'll have to do, once again. Stripping her wing of a feather with her mouth once more, whining silently at the pain that it causes every time, the Harpy lets it fall on the remains of the bear, the brown color of it altering, changing to a light blue true to the icy bear's fur.
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