Annoyance was all around. Monica’s nose was stuffy and the room smelled rotten, like something had been burnt and then soaked in that thing Rick called vinegar. Every muscle in her body complained, her stomach made noises of hunger, and her head had rocks inside. Very loud rocks.

"I'm sorry."

She knew Dia was right to apologize. Monica had been yanked out of the bad sleep. Her claws were itchy and hurting. What was the use of this sleep-from-hunger if she was going to wake up with the bad-plants still stuck in her claws?

The pink-healer probably didn't even bring food!

"I. Am. Matina."

Even with the stink filling her nose, Monica could tell there were three heartbeats in the room. But the one who'd just spoken didn't have one, which was wrong. She could feel the power the no-heart had though, which was even wronger. Was it a fake dead? Monica’s head rattled and she groaned.

Squinting through the blur in her eyes, the Sabertooth sensed danger creeping up.

"That's not good." The one speaking was new, she had never heard them before.

Monica had to agree.

Grunting, she rolled over the side of the stone bed and kicked it hard at where the danger felt strongest. The heartless one let out a scream and light flashed out, but the stone blocked it all, so it was good.

The no-heart annoyance was still making sounds though. The light energy was scattering all around, but it was outside the room, so Monica didn’t care.

Rubbing her eyes, the half-awake Sabertooth looked around the room-cave at the three heartbeats. Dia and Eva were there, but their heartbeats were of prey, scared or mad or both. The third was the stranger, it was calm: a hunter.

"They're enemies!" Dia's voice was sharp, grating against Monica’s ears.

Monica let out a long sigh, shoulders sagging. She just wanted to go back to sleep, or at least shove some food into her mouth first. Maybe she could find some of the honeyed nuts Dia always kept around. They were probably stashed away near her work spot. Once she had eaten... a nap wouldn't be half bad.

The stranger with the covered face ripped off their shirt. Underneath, their skin was covered in shifting bright flowers. Monica scowled at the strange pollen floating in the air that came from her. And scowled more deeply when the stranger lunged at her.

The stranger was “sharp,” her elbows kept close to her body, chin protected by a slightly lowered head, and her steps were small but quick. She tried to strike with her elbow, followed immediately by a knee thrust. Monica found herself slower than she would’ve liked, but still made to swat the stranger away with a backhand.

Her arm froze in mid-motion.

Vines writhed under her skin, twisted and turned, burrowing deeper and itching.

"Time to stop," the stranger said, not a request but a command.

She went for the knee, hand jabbing upwards towards Monica’s neck, a small green object clenched tightly in her fingers.

The Sabertooth leaned back to avoid it, raising her leg and placing her foot against the stranger’s chest. "Bleh," she retorted, her tongue sticking out right before she kicked out forcefully.

The stranger hit the stone wall with a satisfying crunch. Though there was no scream, and she was not dead. Monica had sensed the stranger had done something to cushion the impact.

"Legs work fine." Monica stepped closer to finish the job.

"But your arms are mine," he grunted back from his crumpled position on the floor. She made a gesture with her hand, sending pollen at her. The pungent smell of vinegar in the air began to mix with a different, unfamiliar acrid aroma. "Up," she directed.

Monica’s claws reached upwards, clamping onto the ceiling. They dug into the hard stone, securing a firm hold. She glared at them, they were her arms and they weren’t doing what she told them to!

"YOU!" An annoying voice cut through the room.

That irritating green thing at the door was making noise again. The wriggling vines sparked a vague sense of familiarity in Monica, but she couldn’t quite place it. Not important enough to care though; she had to break her hands from the rock.

Flipping her legs upwards against the ceiling, she pressed against the stone until her claws began to pull out. And with a thrust, the Sabertooth launched herself towards the stranger. She spun mid-air, aiming her feet to crush the stranger rather than use her claws.

Vines lashed out from the green creature, colliding with her legs, breaking her trajectory, and embedding into her thigh. Monica spun, landing back on her feet, her glare never leaving her opponent. The injury was bad, but more annoying than bad. She tried reaching down to pull the vine out, but her claws refused to open! She’d bite it if she wasn’t sure that’d only get vines in her mouth too.

Bleh.

The stranger was too beaten up to make a move, but she noticed her hands were glowing with the same sort of healing power she'd seen Dia use. She was healing herself? Monica really wanted that nap.

As soon as she managed to straighten her back, her claws went straight back up, digging into the ceiling. Her shoulders tensed in frustration, but everything from her elbows all the way to her claws were not responding. It was even slightly numb, and the sensation was trying to reach her shoulders.

All the while, the stubborn vine from the green-dead-thing had wrapped itself around her leg, holding it in place.

“ANNOYING!” The word boomed off the rocky walls.

“Quit your squirming,” grumbled the stranger, coughing blood into the cloth that covered her face. She sat, back resting against the rough stone wall. “Or I’ll have you kill the other two.”

Dia and Eva were rooted to the spot, their wide eyes reflecting the dim light in the underground room. Their faces were as pale as the stone walls around them, and their breaths came in short, sharp gasps. Their hearts were weaker, dimmer and more afraid.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Just a simple paralytic,” the stranger chuckled, the sound weak and raspy. “My little ones make you immune, but I can control you well enough without it. Like your sister.”

“LET ME SQUASH HER!” The green thing with no heartbeat screamed, stuck in place, the vine tightening around Monica’s thigh.

“It’s impressive you still keep enough of a mind, but ultimately it is detrimental to the experiment.” The stranger laughed weakly. “I will make sure to learn how to avoid that in the future. Let us be done here, there is a human to deal with.”

“She wants to hurt Rick!” Eva spoke through gasps.

Monica rolled her eyes and huffed, every time she looked away he’d get himself into trouble. He was worse than a kitten! Not like she’d let them get to him anyway. She breathed in, filling her chest and gut with the stinky air. She pushed her power into her belly, making it swirl and swoosh and get tighter. All around, shadows stretched and deepened, and the feeble light in the room dimmed.

Her chest felt like it was about to explode. She set her glare on the stranger and smirked.

“PROTECT ME!” The stranger screamed.

The green entity lunged forward, pulling the vine out of Monica’s leg.

Monica’s ears laid flat and swiveled backwards, and with a mighty roar, she let it all out. She unleashed her hoarded power as a black-black-darkness, covering everything in every direction. The sound was also the loudest she'd ever heard. The stale air in the room whipped wildly, the stone cracking.

It made Monica wince, headache only getting worse. Everything was black-black, so even she couldn’t see, but it didn’t matter. Tearing herself out of the rock again, she pounced at the two weaklings and wrapped her tail around them.

She pulled them into the other-shadows, jumping through them out of the underground cave. When they took a breath, they were outside, cloudy dark night sky above and fire all around.

The dumb stranger would think she was going to attack, but Monica was smart, she knew that the pollen was bad. Fighting inside would be bad. Also, fighting while her arms were being mean to her was bad.

With a loud snort, she looked around. It was Rick’s city-place, but it was burning. There were lots of people running around. None got close to the dark-dark she’d left in the stone place though.

Where was Rick? Trying to focus on him left her feeling like he was somehow very very far away and not very far at the same time.

Letting go of the weaklings, she squinted for a better look. Their bodies shook slightly, barely able to move.

“Blood,” Eva managed to wheeze out, teeth gritted. “Quickly, please.”

The stranger and the green-thing would figure out the dark-dark was a trick to escape soon. Better get moving. Monica knelt slightly, letting the wound on her leg drip into the weak-one’s mouth.

Monica huffed.

It wasn’t fair that Eva got to eat and she didn’t!

“Arms no good,” Monica grunted, claws clenched tight, everything from her elbow down still annoying her. “Rick?”

“He’s… safe,” Dia managed to spit out, she was having a harder time against the paralysis.

Monica did not like her tone or her scent, too afraid for her liking. But she wasn’t lying, and now was not the time to be picking fights. “Need arms back,” she demanded.

The weaklings exchanged glances, their stench reeking of worry and uncertainty. Eva was the first to break the silence, her gaze flicking from her odd-looking spear to Monica’s arms.

“The flowers helped her control you,” she blurted out, her eyes widening, fighting to get herself to her feet. “We need to get you to Rick’s lab.”

The house grumbled from the inside, a clear sign the pests had figured out her magic trick. “Go, I follow,” she barked, her tail scooping up Dia and falling in step behind the little one. Dia was a hefty load, what with that spiky black armor, but nothing Monica couldn’t handle.

Eva clumsily dove into the shadows, Monica wanted to huff as she followed without jumping in. Eva was slow and noisy in the shadows, no sneakiness at all. But it was faster than her running. Monica just followed her above the ground, she’d used a lot of energy in that attack and she’d need to save for the fight.

The itch in her arms had stopped. The vines had gotten lazy, which was good at least.

As they moved, the city kept being annoyingly chaotic. Everyone was moving around trying to put out the fires. The fear mixed in with the smoke. Monica was half-sure there would be a feral rush, but there weren’t any ferals. What was the word Rick had used? She tried to focus on the word, it was right at the tip of her nose…

“Behind… us…” Dia coughed out.

Monica grunted, her eyes darting over her shoulder. A streak of light shot up into the sky, there was a lone creature inside, clawing its way towards the clouds. No stranger? Had she died? Monica scowled, feeling the hostile gaze sweeping across the landscape, stirring up goosebumps on her skin.

Well, the annoying one had gotten out. What now? Would she swoop down with those vines again? Monica glanced at the streets. Maybe there was some way for her to kick the annoying one into one of the burning houses…

Her neck hair prickled up in alarm.

She leaped for cover, her body hitting the rough pebbly ground right as a beam of light struck where she’d been at. “Heh, missed.” Monica declared with a snicker, glancing at the glowing hot rock.

Wait.

She’d fought this annoying one before!

As soon as she realized this she flinched. She’d also let the annoying one go, she’d thought that squishing her would be enough. With yowl, the Sabertooth tucked herself behind the taller walls to make it harder for the green-thing to see them.

She would definitely not tell Rick about the failed hunt, or he’d think this was her fault!

With a huff, Monica started thinking trickier. Like the hogs she’d practiced throwing rocks at, they would not hit if you didn’t know where the hog would go. She knew the annoying one was above trying to get to hit her, so she was going to be harder to hit.

Her tricks were many, and she was very proud of them. She’d slow down or go faster randomly. Sometimes she’d duck behind a wall and come out right where she’d gone in rather than the other side. And from time to time she’d duck into the shadows to come out somewhere else entirely.

With every attack the annoying one missed, Monica grinned wider. Annoying the annoying one was fun. The constant screams and bad words almost made up for the headache and hunger and itchy arms.

Following Eva’s trail, she eventually found the place that stank like the bad-vinegar from the rock room. She used her shadows to get around without being spotted from above. She pretended to go deeper into the city and then snuck back around with more shadows. The annoying one was tricked, attacking other buildings, trying to find Monica.

Entering the stinky house, she dropped Dia and covered her nose with her tail. She gagged and yowled. This was Rick’s place!? Bleh.

"Over here!" Eva was already by a barrel, an open one filled with the same stinky liquid. "It’s the same acid Dia used to hurt the vines a little back in the room. It’s going to hurt, but it should-"

The sooner they got out of there, the better. Monica didn’t wait, plunging her claws into the barrel. They stung right away, her claws clenched tighter, the itch became fire, then stabbing. Lots of stabbing. The vines were panicking, breaking her skin and wriggling like worms, turning brown. Monica winced, it was painful, and the wounds hurt even more when they pulled out. But it was hurting the vines-things!

“Pull out, now!” Dia barked, body moving stiffly. “Come, quickly.”

"Don’t drip any acid on her,” Eva warned.

Monica just rolled her eyes. Of course it would hurt Dia more than it did Monica. Dia was weaker.

Extending her arms, she let the spiky-armor pink-haired one to look over her wounds. The hands glowed healing green, which helped the pain and itchiness. Monica’s paws relaxed, finally opening up and twitching the way she wanted them to. "This… is not good, Monica. The damage is extensive, and there are still traces of the parasite in there. It will come back if we leave this be."

"No matter, Monica make it quick," she grunted back. "Need rock."

"Rock?" one of them echoed, a hint of confusion in their voice.

"Annoying one above, throw good rock, she fall. Monica kill." She explained, her words simple and direct. “Maybe sting-stink-water help.”

Eva and Dia shared a glance, understanding passing between them.

The blood-drinker spoke first, glancing at her weird spear, and then at the barrels around them. "I think there’s something better than rocks we could use."