A quick glance around showed that most of the kesh had already thrown their projectiles at Dominic, though there were a few which still had one or two. Those, Dominic avoided but kept an eye on, preparing to dodge. The ones which had already launched the rocks and nuts were turning away, clearly preparing to go and get more.
Dominic could see their strategy: pin him down with a few rocks here and there, then drown him in them again when the majority returned with their ammo replenished. Unfortunately for them, Dominic didn’t feel like cooperating.
Fixing his leonine eyes on one of the kesh which appeared to be descending to the forest floor to grab one of the rocks there, Dominic shifted behind a tree trunk. Using it as temporary cover from the still-armed kesh, and the few rocks which had been directed his way, he prepared to leap at the right moment.
As the kesh, apparently unaware of his regard, dropped to a branch just above the floor, Dominic poured power into his muscles, using the higher level of Quick Strike to add just that bit more impetus.
The lion flew across the space between, slamming right into the kesh. His aim was true; his teeth buried themselves in the kesh’s throat and bit down. Crushing Bite was overkill, perhaps, but Dominic would rather be sure.
[You have killed Kesh (Basic Beast level 5)]
[You have earned 19 PP]
Perfect, Dominic grinned mentally, quickly Consuming the body and licking up the Core. He still didn’t know what ability these creatures were giving him – hopefully not something useless like ‘Third Pair of Limbs Optimisation’. Nonetheless, he didn’t want to accidentally lose the small marbles among the rocky floor of the forest so he took them where he could.
A rock landed near his head and he quickly jumped sideways, his rapid response allowing him to avoid the follow-up blow which would have landed on his head. Darting a look upwards revealed that the kesh had surrounded him. It was just the small group which had remained behind the larger one, but they looked angry, baring their teeth at him and screeching.
Dominic just bared his own – larger – teeth at them and snarled fearsomely in return. Crouching, he launched himself up into the trees. They had tried to move out of his reach, but clearly they had underestimated just how high he could jump now as they were still well-within jumping distance.
This time, though, they seemed more prepared for the tactic and his target, despite having been turned away at the time, was alerted by the noises of its companions. It jumped away hurriedly meaning that Dominic failed to catch it directly.
An idea struck Dominic as he reached the arc of his jump and realised that he was going to return to the ground empty-handed. Instead of letting that happen, he reached out with his paws and grabbed at the branch.
Claws fully extended, they bit into the wood of the branch, slowing and then halting his downward movement.
‘What are you doing?’ Leo asked, sounding alarmed. He didn’t normally interrupt Dominic in the middle of a conflict, but clearly this was more than he could stand by and watch. Or sit by. Or whatever.
‘Didn’t you ever climb a tree?’ Dominic asked a little facetiously, even as he tried to hoist himself up onto the branch. It took some effort and lots of wiggling, but eventually he managed to do it. He probably looked rather ungainly doing it, but at least his jerky movements allowed him to avoid three of the five missiles which were directed at him from the kesh around.
The two that hit were ones aimed at areas which stayed relatively still: his head and his shoulder. Out of those, the one at his head was the most painful, and even half-stunned he still managed to keep pulling himself up.
‘Only as a cub,’ Leo admitted.
‘Well when our enemies are in the trees, we might as well join them,’ Dominic told him more cheerfully than he felt. Joining the kesh on their battleground might turn out to be a good idea, or it might be a terrible one. He hadn’t practised manoeuvring in the trees; if it turned out that he couldn't use any of his normal attacks, he could be even more of a sitting-duck than he was on the ground. Then again, if that turns out to be true, I’ll just drop back to the ground. Nothing lost except time, he added quietly to himself.
‘Even leopards don’t face a troop of baboons in the trees,’ Leo complained. ‘We’re not a leopard. And these are more dangerous than baboons.‘
‘Let’s just give it a go,’ Dominic told him with a bit of exasperation. ‘Nothing lost in trying.’
‘Not unless we get surrounded by these things and torn apart while we can’t defend ourselves,’ Leo rebutted darkly. ‘I don’t understand why you’re so focussed on combating these pests face-on. We should just make our way through the forest until they give up.’
For a moment Dominic didn’t reply, too focussed on keeping his balance on the branch. Fortunately, by this point using his tail had become instinct and it whirled around in circles, acting as a gyroscope to counter-balance his weight. Also fortunate was the fact that he’d had sufficient time since reaching level 10 to get to grips with his greater size and weight.
A rock flying towards him was partially avoided by swinging his head to one side, but that just meant it slammed into his neck instead. His gorget meant that he didn’t take any damage, but he still felt the impact. Claws grabbing at the branch below his feet with a hint of desperation were the only reason he didn’t lose his balance then and there.
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Damn monkeys, Dominic grumbled as he finally felt like he’d got his feet under him. Looking around, he saw kesh staring at him warily. They appeared to be a bit non-plussed with the situation, perhaps not used to their targets suddenly taking to the trees. Dominic decided to show them why they shouldn’t have attacked this lion.
Gathering his feet under him, he leapt for the closest kesh. It…didn’t quite go as expected.
It wasn’t the graceful movement he’d visualised: his leap knocking the kesh off its position by gripping it by the throat, and then landing on the vacated branch. Instead, he got two out of four right.
He did leap, and he did knock the kesh off the branch. However, he missed grabbing its throat, instead seeing it go tumbling to the forest floor. He also fluffed the landing, almost completely over-balancing and going head-first himself to ground-level.
Please don’t throw a stone at my ass; please don’t throw a stone at my ass, he chanted as a repeated refrain. He could just imagine it: a kesh with a malicious glint in its eyes as it lined up a shot, then threw, the stone offering the impetus to send him straight to the ground.
The moment hung in the balance, his eyes fixed on the kesh he’d sent flying. It had taken damage from the landing but was still at more than half-health. Damn. Then the moment passed as the wild gyrations of his tail started making an impact. He pulled back from the edge, able to gain his feet once more. Relief suffused him as he turned to face the other kesh, only to get a faceful of stones.
Dominic growled as the stones hit him dead-on, unable to avoid them with his precarious position. Worse, the impact was enough to destroy the delicate balance he’d managed to create and he found himself about to fall again.
Damn it, he sighed to himself, but didn’t fight it this time. Clearly he needed to do more practice fighting in the trees before he could even hope to take on these kesh in their natural environment.
Knocked off the branch, he let his bodily instincts do the hard work for him in preparing for the landing. Bringing his front legs around to point at the ground, his back legs were then pulled around to do the same. A second later, he landed, his legs bending as they took his weight, perfectly cushioning his impact against the ground.
He was completely unharmed; better, he was actually in a perfect position to then spring at the still-downed kesh, ripping the rest of its health bar from it.
[You have killed Kesh (Basic Beast level 5)]
[You have earned 19 PP]
‘I guess the saying is true: cats always do land on their feet,’ Dominic remarked to all and sundry even as he Consumed the corpse of the kesh and licked up its Core.
‘Most of the time we don’t do stupid things like chase baboons in the treetops,’ Leo countered, sounding just a bit aggrieved. ‘Now you’ve made a fool of us, perhaps you’d care to answer my previous question.’
‘What was that again?’ Dominic asked. Honestly, it had completely gone out of his mind. Leo huffed angrily.
‘Why are you insisting on facing these creatures? We do not need to kill them, and we appear to be at a significant disadvantage in trying.’ Dominic idly dodged a few missiles that flew at him as he paid attention to Leo’s question.
‘I…we need Prey Points,’ he responded after a moment.
‘We have enough for another level. Chasing more for no other reason is likely to lead us into more danger than necessary.’ Dominic had to admit that he had a point. ‘Any other reason?’
‘It’s…I don’t want to be…’ Dominic huffed as he tried to put his other fear into words for Leo, then gave up and shoved the whole feeling at Leo. Let him sort it out.
‘Oh, I think I understand,’ Leo replied thoughtfully after a moment. ‘You suspect that there may be something guarding the Place of Power, and do not wish to have enemies at your back when you face it.’
‘Yes, that’s it,’ Dominic replied, relieved that his companion had been able to turn his morass of feelings into words, even if part of him felt like, as the resident human – kind of – it should have been his job to do that. He leaped to the side as a hail of missiles came at him again.
He had to make another hurried jump as a second wave started. Looking up, he noted that a number of the kesh which had previously exhausted their stocks were back. There are just so many of them, he moaned to himself. Apparently not quietly enough as Leo responded to his thoughts.
‘There are, but I still don’t think that trying to wipe them out is feasible, or even advisable. We are probably in their territory; they are defending it. If we travel far enough out of their area, I doubt they will follow us.’
‘So you think we should just…leave them?’ Dominic found the idea difficult to agree with. The kesh were walking bundles of Prey Points, and a danger besides. What if he was in a fight further into the forest and had to run back this way while being injured? What if he survived whatever was potentially guarding the Place of Power only to be killed by a well-aimed rock?
‘We cannot wipe out all the threats in the world,’ Leo pointed out all-too calmly. ‘And if we were at the point where a single rock could kill us, then we would be at risk of anything. Including falling face-first onto the floor, or running into a tree,’ he continued pointedly. Dominic growled a little at the reminder, jogging in an ‘s’ shape to avoid the rocks which came for him again.
‘Alright, I take your point,’ Dominic groused. ‘I’ll try to be more careful.’
‘If a kesh comes too close, by all means strike at it. Remind them that we are not prey to be toyed with, but a predator they simply wish to chase off. But do not waste our time and health on chasing creatures which do not pose much threat to us.’
Dominic sighed, but had to admit that Leo had a point. He wanted to find a Place of Power, and a pride of female lions. Exterminating a load of not-monkeys wasn’t on his list of to-do tasks, especially not considering how annoying it was to hunt them.
‘Fine. You win,’ he gave in.