Tom Cat

My daughter was sent flying. She had braced for the impact, so she would survive. This was going to be the hardest fight of my life. Bastet was an old High Apostate and could call on the Snake Ancestral Spirit at the same level of young snakes.

She didn’t like drawing on her life for something like this. Which is why she had never used this move before to win one of our fights. I rushed into the sawmill as the massive head smashed into the ground behind me. It then swept upwards, ripping off the roof and shattering the walls.

I dodged behind some equipment as the massive snake peered inside, hoping to catch me in its vision. That bought me a couple of seconds. The massive Ancestral Spirit rose up and moved forward, smashing its way into the sawmill.

Debris went flying everywhere. I kept dodging and retreating as the massive snake searched for me. Our only hope was to wear it out. That was the best way to deal with Ancestral Spirits. Unfortunately running wouldn’t be simple. Snakes had a creature sense. In this cold with only Mittens and myself around, the moment we retreated, it would be able to follow us.

The only saving grace was that this creature sense wasn’t precise. It gave me enough breathing room to stay just ahead of the wave of destruction. I raced out of the warehouse. I liked Ancestral Spirits summoned by kiddie cults a lot more than this nightmare.

Racing behind a log pile, I came to a stop. The massive head slammed down in front me. I had to keep changing things up to stay ahead of its attacks. If it got me, Bastet won. If I lasted longer than Bastet could support the Ancestral Spirit, I would win. The snake suddenly jerked as the massive head spun away from me.

Mittens

I needed to stop aiming for a kill strike and aim for wounding strikes. I leapt at the massive tail that had smashed down near me. My claws dug into the scales. Black smoke poured out. The tail flicked, and I was ready. I adjusted my trajectory to fly horizontally to the ground. I landed easily, flipping once to bleed off the momentum.

I rushed back in, while keeping an eye on where the head and tail were moving. Those were the two dangerous parts. That was when I realized that the middle of the Ancestral Snake Spirit was on the ground, and I wouldn’t be able to be removed from that location.

The entire snake twisted, and I had to adjust my course as the massive scales undulated near me. Leaping up, I landed on the middle portion of the snake. My claws dug in deep. I put my back into it, as my claws dug into the massive scales. Black smoke poured out from the shallow wounds.

The snake’s head spun towards me, but this time I was ready. I leapt off the snake in the opposite direction of its head. I landed on the snowy ground. The tail came sweeping out towards me. I flipped over it, since it was dragging across the ground. I left more wounds along the tail with my claws as I twisted around in midair.

The snake’s head darted out, but I near some trees at the outskirts of the lumberyard. I spun around the trunk and darted to the side. The tree I had been hiding behind and several around it broke into splinters as the massive head moved towards me.

As snow went flying everywhere, I rushed back towards the snake’s head. I leapt up. Its eye focused on me. I reached out used my claws to pull myself around a tree before I could be petrified. Spinning around the tree, I leapt forward.

I was too close to the snake as its eye darted towards me. My claws struck it and dug into it. Massive amounts of black smoke poured out. I barely kept my arms inside the eye, as the massive snake head jerked upwards.

The snake angled its head to the side, so the side I was on was pointing towards the ground. It began rapidly moving its towards the ground, with the hopes of crushing me. I pulled my arms out of the eye, and allowed my body to roll around the snake’s head as it plummeted towards the ground.

It impacted the ground with massive force, blasting away the nearby snow. I came plummeting down and adjusted my body. The snake’s other eye looked upwards and saw me plummeting towards it. My arms plunged into the other eye.

“HSSSSSS!” The massive snake hissed out in pain. It began shaking its head rapidly, but I wasn’t shaken free. It then began to turn its head against the ground. I pulled my arms free and leapt away. I hit the ground and rolled away. I quickly retreated as the snake slammed its head into the ground several times.

Racing in a half circle, I came back at the snake towards the middle of the snake. I leapt on it and dug my claws into it. Twisting around, I dragged them through the scales on the other side using gravity to aid me as I descended towards the ground. Using a similar strategy I had on the tree, I dragged my claws through the snake in a half circle.

The massive snake was clearly weakening, since it was easier to cut into it from the repeated attacks. Unlike a real snake, an Ancestral Spirit this large and strong would weaken before dispersing. Racing away from the thrashing of the snake. I saw its head come up and slammed down behind me. I reversed directions.

I felt the ground shake from the impact. The eyes were still leaking black smoke but were recovering. The head spun towards me as the tongue darted out. I dived for the ground and twisted. My claws slashed out above me, damaging the tongue, black smoke poured out. My back hit the ground, and I was already twisting back around to scramble away.

The snake jerked back and then slammed its head back down where I had just been. I raced next to the snake, dragging my claws through its scales. It rolled towards me, but I leapt up and raced on top of the snake, jumping down on the other side, and then dragging my claws through it once more.

After passing the halfway point, I quickly moved away from the snake once more as it quickly began to move. It tried to encircle me with its body, but I easily escaped that trap before it could, running through the snow. Despite the cold, my body felt warm from all the movement I had been doing.

Still, I was tired, and my breathing was heavy. I couldn’t keep up with this pace I had set and that earlier blow that had sent me flying and bruised me heavily. I was glad my vitality stat was higher, so I could resist more damage. That had been smart of Mes to recommend that. If they hadn’t I would probably have broken bones at the moment.

I retreated and saw my father. “You okay?” he asked me while looking me over.

“Just bruised and tired. You?” I asked.

“Just tired and a bit roughed up. You really did some damage, nice work. We might have a chance of living through this,” my father said.

“Doubting me?” I asked.

“No, but Bastet is committed to killing us and can channel the Ancestral Spirt for a while, based on the size of it. Ready for round two?” my father asked me as I shook my arms. I looked at the massive snake in the distance as it fully healed and turned towards us.

“Yes. I am good. Let’s end this,” I said and rushed forward. My father rushed in right beside me to my left. The Snake Ancestral Spirit rose up and let out a hiss. It opened its massive mouth.

“Poison! Back!” my father shouted.

“I am fine!” I shouted as he retreated. I kept rushing forward as a massive cloud of poison was exhaled at me. I took a deep breath and powered through it with my eyes closed. I felt my skill working over time. I burst out the other side of the poison cloud. The snake’s head was in front of me.

I leapt forward and landed on top of its snoot, breathing heavily. I was above its nostrils. While Ancestral Spirits weren’t fully real, they could still act like the creature they represented, which including exhaling. My claws dug into the scales between its massive eyes.

The snake shook its head. I was jerked to the side, and my claws dug through the scales, black smoke poured off. But I was losing my grip. I came down on the eye again. As the snake jerked its head back the other way, I used the momentum, to force myself into its massive eye. There was something viscerally horrible about this.

The snake turned its head and slammed into the ground. I was in the eye cavity and safe. As it brought is head back up, I stuck my head out to get some fresh air and not breath in the black smoke it was letting off from the wound.

My claws kept constantly moving about, digging out portions of the snake’s eye. It slammed its head down on ground, again, and again. The scales around its eye were broken and leaking black smoke as well now. It was damaging itself to try and kill me. Bigger was not always better.

This was the spot I could do the most damage and I wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

Tom Cat

My daughter was insane. She rushed through the cloud of poison. My heart almost exploded out of my chest at that. I rushed to the side. She emerged and then leapt onto the Ancestral Spirit. “Mittens!” I shouted but she didn’t hear me.

The snake reared back and shook its head. Please let go! She almost slid off and then went into its eyes. Black smoke poured out. The snake slammed its head down. I rushed forward. I needed to save her before she was poisoned to death, or her body was shaken apart.

I leapt on the snake, my claws dug into its scales. I tore into the snake, but it didn’t notice me as it kept slamming its head to the ground over and over. It suddenly twisted and its tail came flying at me. I flipped out of the way as it slammed into the ground.

Moving in and out, I kept damaging it as the snake thrashed about. After a minute it suddenly burst apart.

Mittens fell from the sky, twisting about to land on her hindpaws. She was okay. I let out a sigh of relief. Bastet appeared and fell to the ground, dead. My daughter stood up straight and looked at me and gave me a grin. Mittens, you are going to kill this old cat with your antics.

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