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Description
The heads were more of a problem than Yucca had expected. While the body of the beast was a slow, lumbering thing on land, the heads were quick, and with three of them whipping around, things got quickly complicated.

At first, she’d tried to think- to predict and strategize like the guild teachers had taught her- or at least, tried to teach. Thinking was not her strong suit even under clear skies and open fields. In a closed ring, with a monster bearing down, her higher thoughts found themselves stuttering over lessons, rules, frantically sifting for something that she was supposed to do, to win this.

By the time she had the thought to DODGE the monster’s teeth were grazing over her shoulder, combing through the thick fur to hook and tear through flesh!

“That’s one!” Hamish shouted from the sidelines. His voice was steady, if a bit concerned. Yucca sucked in a breath.

That was the real test. It wasn’t whether she could kill the monster, or survive the fight- Killing it might be a tall order, but mere survival had always been her strongest trait, and Hamish had already assured her he’d step in if the fight got too dicey- no, the test was in subduing the monster while taking as little damage as possible.

“You can’t eat hit after hit forever,” Hamish had said, “Eventually, your wounds catch up with you, one way or another.”

Yucca darted toward the creature again- one head, nearly half the size of her body, swung toward her. She rolled left- into the path of another swinging head. Right- into another. Dodge one way, and there was another head gearing toward her. If she thought too long, the teeth closed in. If she didn’t think enough, she’d never wrangle this thing.

Maybe she should’ve chosen a longer weapon. That would’ve been real planning.

She clutched her fingers around the handle and brace of her knuckledusters. Too late to change that now- she had to work with what she’d brought.

Dodging became easier, the more she did it, sinking into the realm of automatic as she adjusted to the sense of this Thing bearing in on her. It was the only way to consistently avoid all three heads- to trust in that ‘gitchy feeling’ Hamish liked to go on about. She could almost feel herself zoning out as the two fell into a stalemate of strikes and dodges- she couldn’t get any closer without one or more of the heads blocking her path.

She chanced a glance at Hamish- how long would he let this go on, before he realized she wasn’t going to pass? She could charge ahead, take the gashes of all those little teeth, and end this quickly- and she would still fail. She could keep dodging, almost endlessly, and fail. Hamish just watched her, expression unreadable.

It was several long, agonizing minutes of this- fruitlessly ducking, rolling, jumping, back and forth, and Yucca wracked her brain for some sort of strategy, anything to make this work. She turned to one side to avoid the leftmost head as it careened past her, almost a full second later.

That was half a second slower than it had been. Its dead, lidless eye stared back at her as it sluggishly pulled back.

The light sputtered on in Yucca’s head. It was slowing down. Something that big couldn’t keep up that speed forever. She wasn’t fresh herself, but with the realization came a second wind. Ducking under one lumbering head (Slow enough she could tap its jaw this time with her knuckles as she passed), and flashed Hamish a confident, almost manic smile.

She could not outspeed, or outthink, or outpunch the beast- but she could outlast it.

=============================

Yucca starts to develop her own fighting style based on her personal strengths: She's not always the fastest, or the strongest, but you don't HAVE to be if you just wear your opponent down to the point where they can't fight back properly.

Aka... guess she's a persistence fighter which, she always kind of was, but now with fewer hospital bills! Bitch found the dodge button!!

I like to imagine in the wild this thing "preys" on leviathans. Doesn't kill them, just takes a big ol bite and drinks their blood. Can't have shit in Scatterstar, even at the top of the food chain.

Focus Character’s Reg Sheet: Yucca
Guest Characters Reg Sheet(s): N/A
Your Curio’s Guild: Hunter
Prompt: 1/2 - Extra Option: Sparring with a captured monster.
EXP Payout: Shaded Fullbody:6EXP + Simple Background: 4EXP + 500w Story: 2EXP = 12EXP

Description
The heads were more of a problem than Yucca had expected. While the body of the beast was a slow, lumbering thing on land, the heads were quick, and with three of them whipping around, things got quickly complicated.

At first, she’d tried to think- to predict and strategize like the guild teachers had taught her- or at least, tried to teach. Thinking was not her strong suit even under clear skies and open fields. In a closed ring, with a monster bearing down, her higher thoughts found themselves stuttering over lessons, rules, frantically sifting for something that she was supposed to do, to win this.

By the time she had the thought to DODGE the monster’s teeth were grazing over her shoulder, combing through the thick fur to hook and tear through flesh!

“That’s one!” Hamish shouted from the sidelines. His voice was steady, if a bit concerned. Yucca sucked in a breath.

That was the real test. It wasn’t whether she could kill the monster, or survive the fight- Killing it might be a tall order, but mere survival had always been her strongest trait, and Hamish had already assured her he’d step in if the fight got too dicey- no, the test was in subduing the monster while taking as little damage as possible.

“You can’t eat hit after hit forever,” Hamish had said, “Eventually, your wounds catch up with you, one way or another.”

Yucca darted toward the creature again- one head, nearly half the size of her body, swung toward her. She rolled left- into the path of another swinging head. Right- into another. Dodge one way, and there was another head gearing toward her. If she thought too long, the teeth closed in. If she didn’t think enough, she’d never wrangle this thing.

Maybe she should’ve chosen a longer weapon. That would’ve been real planning.

She clutched her fingers around the handle and brace of her knuckledusters. Too late to change that now- she had to work with what she’d brought.

Dodging became easier, the more she did it, sinking into the realm of automatic as she adjusted to the sense of this Thing bearing in on her. It was the only way to consistently avoid all three heads- to trust in that ‘gitchy feeling’ Hamish liked to go on about. She could almost feel herself zoning out as the two fell into a stalemate of strikes and dodges- she couldn’t get any closer without one or more of the heads blocking her path.

She chanced a glance at Hamish- how long would he let this go on, before he realized she wasn’t going to pass? She could charge ahead, take the gashes of all those little teeth, and end this quickly- and she would still fail. She could keep dodging, almost endlessly, and fail. Hamish just watched her, expression unreadable.

It was several long, agonizing minutes of this- fruitlessly ducking, rolling, jumping, back and forth, and Yucca wracked her brain for some sort of strategy, anything to make this work. She turned to one side to avoid the leftmost head as it careened past her, almost a full second later.

That was half a second slower than it had been. Its dead, lidless eye stared back at her as it sluggishly pulled back.

The light sputtered on in Yucca’s head. It was slowing down. Something that big couldn’t keep up that speed forever. She wasn’t fresh herself, but with the realization came a second wind. Ducking under one lumbering head (Slow enough she could tap its jaw this time with her knuckles as she passed), and flashed Hamish a confident, almost manic smile.

She could not outspeed, or outthink, or outpunch the beast- but she could outlast it.

=============================

Yucca starts to develop her own fighting style based on her personal strengths: She's not always the fastest, or the strongest, but you don't HAVE to be if you just wear your opponent down to the point where they can't fight back properly.

Aka... guess she's a persistence fighter which, she always kind of was, but now with fewer hospital bills! Bitch found the dodge button!!

I like to imagine in the wild this thing "preys" on leviathans. Doesn't kill them, just takes a big ol bite and drinks their blood. Can't have shit in Scatterstar, even at the top of the food chain.

Focus Character’s Reg Sheet: Yucca
Guest Characters Reg Sheet(s): N/A
Your Curio’s Guild: Hunter
Prompt: 1/2 - Extra Option: Sparring with a captured monster.
EXP Payout: Shaded Fullbody:6EXP + Simple Background: 4EXP + 500w Story: 2EXP = 12EXP