A white bunny streaked through the tall grass she had once made home.
[Lvl 16 [Wingblade] has been used!]
The bunny leaped over the translucent window. Overhead, a creature soared, casting a shadow large enough to swallow something ten times her size.
Her life had been normal. Then, the windows had appeared, pushing her into horrible awareness of her existence. She didn't understand anything, only that the creature was going to kill her, and she didn't want to die.
[Due to the overwhelming difference in level, [Fear Paralysis] has been applied! Your stats will now be decreased by 30%!]
The bunny wasn't afraid- no, she was fucking terrified, terrified enough to know that allowing fear to paralyze her meant death.
[[Fear Paralysis] has been negated! Unlock [Status Window] for more details...]
The creature dove towards her, wings blurring as they sliced through the grass. A chunk of meat fell on her white coat, and she forced back the taste of vomit.
[Class: Eagle. Skills: Wingblade-]
His talons stretched out to grasp onto her. She dove to the right. His talons raked across her back, leaving fiery trails of pain.
[Health: -6]
The bunny lost her balance, tumbling through the grass. The ground became sky and then ground again, and when she finally stopped rolling, a long trail of flattened grass and smeared blood lay behind her.
She staggered upright, a gaping wound carved into her shoulder. The world blurred, tinged at the corners with red. The white bunny dragged herself back into the cover of grass, not that it provided any protection. She gritted her teeth, willing herself to silence. Crying only drew coyotes, gleaming yellow eyes hungry for easy prey.
The eagle made lazy circles around her. White tufts of her fur fell from his talons, drifting through the air. His black eyes glinted cruelly, knowing she was dead meat the moment he dove for the finishing blow.
No. She would not, could not die here.
Think.
She hadn't been fast enough to run. There was nowhere to hide. Her red eyes narrowed, lucid despite the horrible pain gnawing on her bones.
The only option, then, was to fight.
But how?
The sun setting slowly, the scent of blood hanging in the darkening air. Blood steadily flowed from the gashes on her back. She swayed once, twice, then collapsed on the bloodied, torn grass again. The bunny whimpered. The sound of pain and scent of fear were palpable in the air, a promise of an easy kill for any predators lurking nearby.
[System: You're a clever little thing, aren't you?]
Even with her eyes closed, she could still see the blue window. It was a contradiction, one she would worry about later. The wind had just changed, carrying a certain sharp, familiar scent.
The coyotes moved slowly to disguise the shifting grass as the wind. Saliva dripped from their fangs. Their eyes gleamed, yellow and hungry.
Eagles were creatures of the day, relying on sight to track their prey. But coyotes.... coyotes were creatures of the night. They were scavengers that relied on scent and sound to hunt, so when they scented blood, heard a whimpering animal...
The coyotes lay in wait. And when the eagle flew back into range, they lunged.
[Lvl 1 [Bite] has been used! Lvl 1 [Bite] has been used!]
Fangs sunk into wings, tearing through feathers to find blood-
[Lvl 16 [Wingblade] has been used!]
Or they should've, at least.
The coyotes stumbled backwards. The eagle screeched in rage, unable to believe a dog had attacked it. The proud bird stretched its wings in anger-
One of the coyotes to lunged again. The coyote aimed for the eagle's exposed chest, and this time, his claws sunk through the feathers.
The eagle let out a terrible shriek of pain. The bird dove at the eagles again. The three of them dissolved in a mess of blood and fur and feathers, and in the midst of the chaos, none of the predators noticed that the tiny white bunny had disappeared.
The bunny dragged herself forward. She couldn't stay in the grass, not like this. She needed to get distance. Her blood trail was too easy to follow.
Her gaze drifted towards the forest. It was an ominous thing at night, all dark trees and darker shadows. No animal from the grasslands would dare venture into the forest, and in her circumstance, that was exactly what she needed.
The bunny limped into the forest. The trees seemed to grow taller as she walked, branches stretching and twisting towards the moon. The bunny did not dare to venture too far in, for fear that she wouldn't be able to find her way out.
The bunny looked around. The leaves were all varying shades of dark green and brown. If her white fur had been obvious in the grass, it would be a dead giveaway here.
She used her paws to kick up the dirt, coating herself in dust. Her fur became matted and brown, and she ignored the uncomfortable feeling in favor of survival.
Once her fur was so dirty she was indistinguishable from the dirt, the bunny pushed into the undergrowth. She ignored the pain from the thorns digging into her wounds, knowing the thorns would serve as an invaluable deterrent against predators roaming around.
[Stealth: +2]
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She was fairly camouflaged from sight, and only coyotes hunted on scent. It wasn't the perfect resting spot, but it would do for the night.
She glanced at the strange window. Several of them had appeared today- one of them large enough to cover the whole sky, if her memory was to be trusted.
The screen glowed with blue light, yet none of her surroundings were lit up, suggesting it wasn't entirely... real, the way most things were. Not only that, she had seen it even with her eyes closed; the window had spoke to her.
You're a clever little thing, aren't you?
The mocking voice rang in her mind, notes of amusement weaved through the cruel words.
She shivered. Something had just gone very, very wrong with the world.
Eagles did not hunt in the grass; coyotes did not get deflected when they sunk their teeth into flesh.
Something had gone wrong, and this window was somehow related to it all.
Experimentally, she pressed a paw against the translucent window. She had expected to meet no resistance- it would make the most sense if the window was only a figment of her imagination- but to her surprise, the window wasn't only solid, but it expanded, words rearranging themselves into a longer message.
╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
-Tutorial Quest: Hunt or be Hunted-
As prey, the only way to survive is to outlast your predators.
Time Remaining: 16 hours
Requirements for Completion: Survive for 24 hours
Reward: Unlock status window, ??? skill points, new ??? skill
Penalty for Failure: Death
╚═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╝
It was the first window she had seen- the one in the sky. She hadn't understood it then, but now- her eyes flicked down to the last word: Death.
Her tail swished in amusement. Wasn't that always the penalty for failure?
The promise of skill was interesting- while she had managed to escape this time, she knew those kinds of tricks wouldn't work forever.
The bunny closed her eyes, the scent of her blood making her dizzy. She would deal with it in the morning. For now, what she needed most was some sleep...
━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━
The bunny stirred slowly, and it was not to golden, dappled morning light. The silver glow of the moon filtered through the leaves, casting dancing shadows. It was still the middle of the night.
Her ears pricked up. Something was moving through the forest, leaves crunching under their weight. Her red eyes scanned the clearing. She couldn't see through the darkness, the shadows that dripped from the trees and bled into the undergrowth. Tilting her head up, the bunny sniffed the air.
[Lvl 1: Sixth Sense activated!]
The creature's scent was muted, as if it had been washed away by the soft whispers wind. She recognized the faint scent of gentle streams and sweet berries, a hint of something musky underneath.
The creature wandered around carelessly, tripping over roots and noisily digging through bushes. It didn't seem to have any particular path or purpose, other than creating as much noise as possible.
Her tail twitched as the creature drew closer. She couldn't detect any killing intent, but just because something wasn't a killer didn't mean it wasn't still dangerous.
She tensed her muscles, but fleeing wouldn't be so easy. The only- no, the first problem was that her fur was tangled in the bush. It would be fine if she moved slowly, but if she tried ripping through the thorns, she might just take the whole bush with her.
The other, bigger problem was that in her current condition, she wouldn't make it very far.
The creature prowled closer. She tucked her tail in tighter, making herself as invisible as possible. Her heart hammered in her ears, the scent of her own fear spilling into the air. The bunny hated that sharp, bitter scent. It marked her as prey; it showed she was weak.
Luckily, there were no coyotes around to catch it, or else...
The shadows spilled forward, elongating into the shape of four distinct paws, and-
[You are up against a vastly superior enemy!]
Her blood ran cold. She wasn't in the grasslands anymore. Coyotes were no longer the only creatures who hunted on scent, and there was a reason the scrawny, underfed beasts avoided the forest.
Fuck.
[Due to the overwhelming difference in level, [Fear Paralysis] has been applied! Your stats will now be decreased by 30%!]
The creature prowled closer. It had no use for stealth, not against a cornered enemy. His fangs were the size of her body, vicious enough to swallow her whole.
[[Fear Paralysis] has been negated! Unlock [Status Window] for more details...]
Gold, gleaming eyes stared at her through the thorns. He was close enough that she could feel the heat emanating from his body, see the rippling muscles beneath his black coat.
Fuck, fuck, fuck...
[Class: Wolf, Predator. Specialization: None. Skills: ??? Additional Attributes...]
A wolf, a wolf, a name wouldn't save her from those teeth.
She wasn't going to die here, not from such a stupid mistake. She wouldn't allow it.
[Conditions have been met! [Time of Death] is now available. Activate?]
She clenched her teeth. She hated being cornered into things like this, but she had no better options. Whatever [Time of Death] was, it couldn't make the situation worse than it already was. She pressed activate.
[Lvl 1 [Time of Death] has been activated!]
Adrenaline surged through her veins. Her heartbeat raced while her breaths evened out, eyes turning crimson.
[Time left: 00:29]
Her mind had always been a swift, vicious thing, but now it whirled so fast she could barely understand it, taking in all the new information her heightened senses were providing her.
[Time left: 00:28]
In order to kill her, the wolf would have to get rid of the thorns first. The thorns would cut his tongue, so he wouldn't use his teeth- he would use his claws, cutting through the vines in a single powerful blow. Then, he would deliver the killing blow, clamping on to her throat with his teeth.
[Lvl 1 [Sixth Sense] has been activated! Its effects have been combined with the active skill, [Time of Death]!]
The sequence played out in her mind, every move in full detail. Despite the visceral spray of blood that came when he ripped her apart, she felt a strange sense of calm.
[Time left: 00:21]
She knew, with complete certainty, what would happen as he struck. The split second after the wolf destroyed the thorns, she would have a clear path before he struck with his teeth-
The bunny calculated it all precisely, understanding exactly where the tips of his claws would end, where the thorns would end up.
[Time left: 00:16]
The bunny narrowed her eyes. She focused at a spot exactly six feet away and eight inches above the ground, envisioning the [Tutorial Quest] window appearing in the spot.
If she could touch the screen, why couldn't she jump off it?
The wolf didn't react- it only existed for her, and that made it perfect. She had been wondering at the possibilities as she fell unconscious, and now she knew it would work- it had to.
[Time left: 00:11]
The wolf shifted his weight to the left, picking up his right paw to strike.
[Time left: 00:09]
The wolf lunged forward, right paw outstretched-
[Lvl 19 [Silver Slash] has been activated!]
The thorn bush fell away in a silver flash of claws. The bunny sprinted forward in a streak of dirty brown fur.
[Time left: 00:08]
She leaped on to the [Tutorial Quest] window. Her legs barely grazed the blue screen before she leaped again, higher this time-
[Time left: 00:07]
She closed her eyes, desperately visualizing the screen appearing beneath her paws and-
[Time left: 00:06]
The bunny landed on the tutorial screen again. She didn't pause to celebrate her victory- the wolf was already spinning around, eyes wide in confusion-
[Time left: 00:05]
Jump into the air, nothing in front of you. Envision the next screen. Barely manage to land on it, and immediately jump again-
[Time left: 00:04]
Her heart pounded through her chest, paws scrambling to keep going, keep going-
[Time left: 00:03]
Distantly, she registered that this might work better if she had another screen to land out. The timer screen, perhaps? She didn't have the time to debate how to do that- tutorial screen, please, please, please-
[Time left: 00:02]
She had put a decent distance- and, more importantly, height between her and the wolf. Another dozen more jumps, and she would be safely out of reach. She closed her eyes, reaching out again-
[Time left: 00:01]
What was this timer for, again?