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+--- Thread: Practice makes... pain, apparently (/showthread.php?tid=11625)
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Mirrikh - May 14 2024
It was true, they were spreading further, but Mirrikh had the fairy's eye view from the air. Their eyes focused on yet another mouse, their tail lashing in agitation like a feline's, and then they went into the dive, going for a scratch.
This time, like Anala, Mirrikh succeeded, if barely. They had managed a stonerot injury, around the front shoulder of the mouse. It seemed not to know how to move. The next attack would be crucial, they knew, though.
While this one was unlikely to get away injured like that, especially since Mirrikh was small enough to get into most crevices the mouse could, it still might put up more of a challenge than the other one they'd caught.
@Anala
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Anala - May 14 2024
![[Image: ioaINSW.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/ioaINSW.gif)
Energized by Mirrikh's similar luck, Anala attempted another strike. It was rather odd, she thought, for two predators to be failing so miserably to acquire a decent dinner. At least Mirrikh would likely need to consume less than she would, but perhaps she would have had better luck with bigger prey. Maybe rabbits, next time? Would there be a next time? She hoped so. It was less boring to hunt when it was for more than food.
"One! Finally! Now we're even!" She called out through a full mouth as she finally caught a snack.
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Mirrikh - May 14 2024
It took a bit of effort, and Mirrikh winced on behalf of the mouse as they twisted a bit wrong, but they used their small hands to sharply break the mouse's neck, close as it was to them.
"Ha! Even you say?" Mirrikh's voice was proud and playful both, even as they knew they would not be able to eat two mice. They could always share with the wolf afterwards... The uh, non-calcified bits of mouse, at least, which was most of the two.
"Two isn't equal to one, last I checked!" they announced dramatically as they took to their air to see if there were more mice in sight.
A thought suddenly occurred to Mirrikh. "Uh. What are the win conditions, actually? Like, how many?" they wondered aloud, a bit distracted as they realized in all their glee to compete, they'd forgotten an essential component.
The mice were scattered throughout the cave even as they talked though. "Want to call it and share my mice?" they wondered, but kept an eye out for their next prey in case the other declined.
@Anala
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Anala - May 14 2024
"How?!" How in all the caves was this tiny little creature, maybe a tenth of their size, winning?! In a hunting competition! She didn't know if she should be more impressed or disappointed in herself.
"We can call it here... IF I DON'T GET ANOTHER ONE!" She bolted, snapping away at one last mouse. She had to at least give it one last, honest shot!
"Ha! Take that!" She called out again after a nice, clean kill. It had been her best one of the day, and she was clearly very proud of herself given the speed of her tail. "First to three?"
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Mirrikh - May 14 2024
Mirrikh eyed Anala with consideration, then their lips moved to reveal their tiny yet dangerous serrated teeth grinning at her. "First to three, it is!" the fairy proclaimed, then immediately dived towards the mouse they had been gradually approaching, just in case.
This time they were aiming pounce on it right on the neck to break said neck immediately. Mirrikh really wanted that win, and their usual hunting techniques were two part, so they'd have to risk this.
Dramatically, they dove, landing on the mouse's back and tearing out the mice's throat even as the stonerot set into the wound.
A pleased purr left Mirrikh. "It seems I win!" they announced with delight.
@Anala
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Anala - May 14 2024
Anala gave a sigh of defeat, wandering back over to Mirrikh and their collection of part-stone mice. She was glad they weren't her, that was for sure.
"You sure gave me a workout!" She laughed, ultimately glad for some good competition. It was something to work for, in the future, to be able to beat them. "We'll have to do this again for sure!" She declared before poking at one of the mice. "You, uh... can't finish them all, can you?"
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Mirrikh - May 15 2024
Mirrikh gave a cheerful laugh, a warm sound. "Yeah, that was fun!" they agreed happily. They couldn't believe they had won.
They considered their mouse collection. "Give me a second to rip off the stone bits with my hands- no venom there, I'll eat that. I don't think it'd be good for you to eat the stonerot-touched bits," they commented, as they began to do exactly that.
One backlimb, one front limb, and the entire neck upwards of a mouse they ripped off with sharp nails. "There we go," they took their venom-touched bits to munch on.
They weren't sure if digested calcified tissue worked for other gembounds, nor what the effects of eating used up venom were, so better safe then sorry. "The rest should be good, I used my hands to break their necks mostly. Except the last one." The last one had a torn out throat, courtesy of Mirrikh's teeth, hence the removal of the head.
Unlike other gembounds, it was perfectly well for Mirrikh to munch on these calcified stonerot bits.
@Anala
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Anala - May 16 2024
Anala watched and waited, patiently, as Mirrikh tore off the calcified parts of the mice. It was interesting to watch, given the fact that she had yet to encounter a creature with any similar mutation. "Does it... taste? Does it taste good? I know you can chew it, and you can digest it but..." She left the rest unsaid as she nibbled on a decidedly not-stone part of a mouse. Was it enjoyable to Mirrikh? She didn't know what she would do if the prey she ate was tasteless. She often tried to vary her prey for that very reason!
She was thankful that Mirrikh cleared those bits off. She wasn't very keen on trying to bite through what was essentially rock, nor did she even want to imagine the flavor. Hopefully it tasted less like chalk to the fairy.
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Mirrikh - May 16 2024
"Hm? ...Oh, yeah, I can't taste," Mirrikh admitted with ease after a slight pause. It had taken a curious question from their father to figure that out, since Mirrikh hadn't even realized anything was missing. They stuck out their tone, partly playful, and part to demonstrate its serpentine shape, split as it was.
They retracted their tongue after a moment. "See? Different tongue. It can smell things, actually, but so can my nose, so its a bit redundant," the fairy told Anala. Then they were biting into the calcified tissues with their sharp serrated teeth, easily breaking down the mouse fragments into further pieces that they could digest.
In their mind, so long as their stomach got full, a meal was a good meal. Taste didn't factor into matters at all, since it just wasn't one of their senses.
"Does yours taste good?" they asked, a bit curious as to what the big deal was with taste, but mostly just making small talk. They wouldn't ever be able to taste anyway, so why worry about was their thought.
@Anala
RE: Practice makes... pain, apparently - Anala - May 18 2024
Anala was more than a little surprised. She shouldn't have been, given all the different traits she had seen in various gembounds until now, but still! To lack a sense? Well, if someone could be blind, and someone couldn't feel... Perhaps it wasn't so strange after all. She did wonder how smelling with a tongue worked, though. She stuck out her own tongue in response, laughing, before she ate another bite.
"Is it weird, smelling things in your mouth? I guess you'd be used to it, right?" She pondered, pausing her meal to lick at the air and wonder.
"It does! Different lessers and the occasional berries I eat all have different tastes, so I don't like to only hunt mice. It must be easier though, focusing on food just because it's food- Do you prefer mice, given their size?" Mirrikh was clearly capable of hunting some larger lessers if they chose to, but would they? Did they hunt only for food, or sometimes for sport? Anala preferred not to play with other living things, and instead to practise on stationary or willing targets.