Nightshift 31: Greenhouse

[hotlittledragon]

[from hereIt was even hotter inside. Though Kurikara did extremely well in heat, this place was downright uncomfortable for other reasons. There was just something about it that made his skin crawl. He clutched his trowel, feeling somewhat idiotic. It looked an awful lot like he was trying to menace the plant life

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[damned_monsters]

Kurikara wasn't the only thing in that room with goals and intents. Even as he wandered in, searching the isles for that one special something, other somethings searched the aisles for him. Perched high above, the stench of their half-rotted bodies hardly concealed by the sweet smells of the earth and its growth, two bats spread their wings, let out their eerie howls before releasing the branches that held them up.

Darkness was their time, after all. Their time to hunt and feed, to sink teeth into flesh and savor the fresh taste of blood.

And though he was little, this one seemed the perfect meal, a convenient wanderer into their world. So they screeched and yowled, and swooped down from above, with teeth and claws ready to rend their prize from bone.

[Tad ♥]

[hotlittledragon]

That was it. The cloying scent of impure flesh, rot and death. His feelings had been wavering back and forth since the previous night but this had nothing to do with feelings. They were stupid predators: they shouldn't have warned him with the noise, no matter how small and harmless he might look.

He clenched the trowel tightly at once. The heat of his ki flowed into the edge of the makeshift weapon, making it hot enough to compensate for the dullness of the blade. Where it did not cut, it would burn. He judged their distance by the high-pitched shrieks, pivoting once he knew they were too close to pull out of their deadly dives in time. He swept the weapon back in a wide arc, hoping to catch them both in the same swing before they got him.

[damned_monsters]

The creatures recoiled, those screams that warned Kurikara in turn warning the bats, serving as their eyes. And while they couldn't recoil from their dives, they could twist away with a grace that defied their managled bodies, clearly showing that these supposedly stupid predators should not be taken quite so lightly.

Kurikara's blow didn't go entirely without success, however. The dull tip of the blade cut into the wing of the first bat, a howl of pain resounding from its throat as it tried to recover. The tear made its flight unsteady, though it stubbornly tried to turn, tried to get at Kurikara's body with it's claws in retaliation. The second bat was barely missed, its path sending it past Kurikara, up in a wide arc, then back again, going for the dragon's back.

[hotlittledragon]

Kurikara noticed the graceful way their bodies dodged his makeshift weapon. He still thought if he had Murakumo that simple move would have sliced them in half despite their ability. After all the sulking he'd done today, it was probably a good thing that he still had that much ego to cater to.

It would pull energy too steadily and warp the trowel if he tried to keep it hot, so he cut off the flow of ki and changed tactics on the fly. He let the bat that he had cut come close and snarled when he felt claws and teeth find purchase in his forearm. He grabbed for one of the membranous wings, trying to find strong purchase with claws of his own.

Though the struggle moved them partially away from the second bat's path, it seemed to be otherwise ignored, giving it a clear shot at sinking claws or teeth into its target's small shoulders.