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Description

STORY BELOW [written by the wonderful fuzzysherbet , edited by me]
art credit: sketch, colour, shading and background are by me, lineart by fuzzysherbet ]

2255 words || 19/182 acorns || tracker
-----------------------------------------------
TW: Violence, injury, arguments

2255 words

Archie had stood in the back of the crowd, idly combing a claw through one of her curly bangs, yet listening intently to the scout’s report. She may be far more skilled with combat than anyone who doesn’t already know her might expect her to be, but she’d never faced a megapredator before, and she wasn’t stupid enough to even consider charging into battle against any of them completely blind if there’s another option.

“...Now, the thing you have to remember with Frozen Hubris is,” the scout had warned, sounding rattled even as they made sure to project their voice for all to hear. “You cannot get close to it, under any circumstances.”
The crowd had erupted into sceptical murmurs at that point, and Archie had mirrored their sentiment with a cocked eyebrow. What tricks could a predator possibly have up its sleeve that mean you can’t even go near it?

“It earned its name because of its blighted state,” The scout’s long ears flicked with annoyance as they pressed on. “It’s afflicted with Frostmaiden’s Kiss, and it emits such a powerful aura of cold that anything that gets too close to it will begin to freeze in mere seconds.”
The crowd had gone silent; that would certainly do it, Archie supposed, as she’d wondered which poor bastard had been the one to help make that discovery. Whatever. Staying away from a flying megapredator shouldn’t be too hard.

“No point targeting it with anything but ranged attacks, but even then, beware,” The scout had explained. “It can breathe jets of extremely cold air, like concentrated blasts of its aura. Do not get caught in one of its blasts, or you’ll end up frozen just as fast as if you’d gotten too close to the predator itself.”
So that part is just a matter of not getting seen by the fuckoff huge predator you’re not supposed to get close to, Archie had concluded. How hard could it be?

Harder than it sounds, as it turns out.

Archie looks up at the gigantic bat-like predator, her five eyes widening with horror as she notices a cold shimmer forming in its gaping maw; Frozen Hubris is definitely aiming at herself and her wounded nemesis, and there’s no way either of them are surviving that particular direct hit. With barely more than a moment to process what’s coming, the twin-tailed folk whirls around with her thick pelt bristling.

“Get down!” She lets out a panicked yell to shut Fantasia up, and the aquatic folk’s pained and annoyed expression quickly gives way for one of utter confusion as they notice how suddenly Archie’s tone had shifted; and their confusion is replaced with outright alarm as they notice her bolting towards them. Knowing there’s only a matter of seconds before the blighted predator lets loose its attack, she frantically beats her skeletal wings in the hope that it’ll even slightly boost her speed; and she pushes Fantasia hard, shoving them as far away from where they both stand as she possibly can.

The next thing Archie feels is a brutal wave of cold air against her back, far more intense than anything than anything she’s ever felt before; even the close call she’d had getting swooped by the megapredator just a few minutes ago had only chilled her to the bone, where this feels more like she’s been chilled to her very core. The frigid blast knocks herself and Fantasia even further away into the trees, and both folks hit the muddy ground with a muffled thud.

Archie is left feeling nothing but an all-encompassing numbness as the sheer cold finally subsides. Frozen Hubris had only blasted them for a few seconds, the five-eyed folk is pretty sure, but the icy grip that seems to have worked its way into every fibre of her being won’t leave. Vaguely, she becomes aware of Fantasia’s one handed attempts to help her to her feet.
“...Sh-shit, Archie, a-are you okay?” the finned folk asks, their tusks chattering in a way she’d find rather amusing if it weren’t for literally everything else about their predicament.

“...S-seen b-better days,” Archie forces herself to reply through her own far more violent shivering, while simultaneously forcing herself upright; she refuses to rely on her nemesis any more than she already has today. “...We’re e-even now.”
Fantasia narrows their green eyes at the dark pink folk, an expression made even more severe by the plating beneath them, watching her struggle to keep her balance. “H-how are we even? Only one of us is b-bleeding…”

“H-hit me with your b-best shot, then,” she half-heartedly growls down at them, holding up her claws still stained with golden yellow blood.
Her fish-like nemesis glances guiltily aside, suddenly unable to meet Archie’s harsh gaze in the face of her dare. “...N-not what I meant…”
“That’s wh-what I thought,” the winged folk mutters, dragging Fantasia to their feet by their uninjured arm as they try to stand themselves. “N-not like you’d be able t-to do anything to me anyway.”

“I dunno,” Fantasia says rather indignantly, caught off guard by the sudden pulling of their arm. “Y-you really don’t look like you’re doing so great… should you b-be standing…?”
“You’re c-clearly freezing your ass off t-too,” Archie snaps at them through chattering teeth. “S-so I’d still be w-way better at fighting than y-you!”
The taller folk rolls their eyes as they stick their good paw under their injured arm for warmth. “...So the f-freezing is the problem then-”

“Ah, sh-shut up,” the lanky folk grumbles, her ears flicking irritably; she’s relieved to note she can at least feel her extremities again, but she’s still so cold. The two of them go silent for a moment, and somewhere above the mangroves they’re concealed by, Frozen Hubris lets out a screech; stupid bat still hasn’t decided to fuck off yet.
Fantasia’s pale, finned ears flatten at the sound, and their tail twitches with anxiety. “...Thanks, by the way.”

“F-for what?” Archie asks bitterly. “Clawing your arm t-to shreds?”
“For getting me out of that bl-blast,” they clarify, annoyance creeping into their voice. “Would still be nice if you a-apologised for the arm thing, though…”
“I’m s-sure it would be,” she mutters dismissively, flicking a single ear with irritation.
Fantasia hisses something softly under their breath, before changing topic. “...How’re we gonna get back…?”

The five-eyed folk takes a moment to think about that, as she curls her tails around her legs. “...I don’t know, b-bolt and pray, I g-guess.”
“Neither of us are exactly at our fastest right now, Archie,” They point out, flicking an ear at their blood soaked arm.
“Not like we h-have other options,” Archie argues back, and Fantasia goes quiet; they know she’s right, and for once, the winged folk can’t find a way to be happy about it.
—
The two folks stand at the edge of the treeline, listening intently to the sky. Rain has begun to fall, very slowly rinsing the worst of the built up blood from Fantasia’s still bleeding arm; much to Archie’s annoyance, it also apparently serves to intensify the chill that still won’t leave her be. After what feels like an eternity, Frozen Hubris lets out a haughty, distant scream; the blighted Blue Fangs is definitely quite far from the two of them now.

“N-Now’s our chance,” Archie begins, failing to stifle the chatter of her teeth. “Remember, w-we go for your bow, and g-get the fuck out, got it?”
Fantasia’s tail flicks apprehensively. “We can probably skip the bow-”
“Not a ch-chance,” the shorter folk interrupts. “I don’t w-want to be caught in another scrap on the way back with j-just my slingshot.”
“Yeah, but…” they seemingly ponder how to proceed. “Neither of us is very fast right now, y’know? Might be better to cut our losses.”

“Sp-Speak for yourself!” she snaps at them, pelt bristling even harder with anger than it already was from the cold. “Not my f-fault you don’t like walking on two legs!”
The aquatic folk’s fins flare indignantly at the slight, but they force themselves to keep a level tone. “You’re still shaking, Archie...”
“I’ll b-be fine,” Archie grumbles. “Moving will h-help me more than a-anything else, probably. So, l-let’s get going wh-while frosty fuck isn’t paying attention to us, u-unless you’ve got more to bitch about.”

Fantasia glares at her for a moment, but they concede with a quick bow of their head. “Fine. But if things go wrong enough, we’re ditching the bow.”
“Wh-whatever gets you to shut the fuck up,” Archie huffs in response. “C’mon, l-let’s go.”
Without giving the gilled folk a chance to interject with their grievances again, she darts out into the open wetland beyond; between the stiffness wracking her whole body and all the mud, it’s a struggle for the typically stealthy folk to keep her footsteps as quiet as she’d like them to be.

Even so, Fantasia’s footsteps are far louder than her own; the aquatically inclined witch was never as light footed as she is to begin with, and the five-eyed folk can tell they’ve followed her lead without even turning around to confirm or deny.
“F-fuck’s sake,” Archie hisses under her breath at them, not prying her gaze from their bow and arrows ahead. “Could you walk any q-quieter?”
“Oh, trust me, I’d be worse on all fours,” they hiss back, sounding rather irate. “This is the best I can do right now.”

Muttering a string of curses, Archie begrudgingly decides to drop it. A good chunk of this is technically her own damn fault, after all; she’s the one who needed saving first, she’s the one who tore Fantasia’s arm up. They can give each other hell about it all later, if her nemesis still wants anything to do with her after she’d attacked them, that is. It had been pure instinct, sure, but with everything else Archie puts the finned folk through, she wouldn’t be surprised if actually hurting them were the last straw; the thing that finally makes the penny drop that she’s exactly as bad as she and everyone else thinks-

A screech pierces through the air; still distant, but too close.
“Ah, shit- it’s onto us, Archie!” Fantasia calls out urgently, dropping any attempt at staying quiet. Immediately upon hearing their raised voice, Archie quits trying to stay stealthy herself, and she pushes through the chill in her bones to bolt for the abandoned weaponry at the edge of the treeline. As Fantasia overtakes her, the winged folk drops to one knee, a little too clumsily for her liking, and grabs her nemesis’ bow; now, she just has to find an arrow in the mud…

“Huh-” The taller folk almost mutters in shock, before switching to outright yowling at her. “What are you doing?!”
“T-Taking a shot,” Archie snaps, finally tracking an arrow down and nocking it with shaking hands. “What the fuck does it l-look like I’m doing?!”
“Archie, it’s too-” Fantasia calls out, quickening their pace to catch up to her, but their voice is drowned out by another piercing screech from above; and frankly, the five-eyed folk was inclined to ignore them anyway.

Trembling, Archie draws back the bowstring, and aims skyward. She’s met with the sight of Frozen Hubris swooping down on her, far closer than she’d expected, and faced with the cold growing stronger again, she fires in a panic. By sheer luck more than anything, the arrow lodges in the blighted predator’s chest; it halts for a moment, with a wailing cry that sounds shocked and offended. In the next moment, she’s dragged back into the mangrove forest.

The dark pink folk lets out an indignant yelp of her own as a plated arm loops around her shoulders; having learned quickly, Fantasia withdraws before Archie gets a chance to raise her claws in defence. She bites back the urge to berate her nemesis, instead opting to hastily scramble further backwards like the finned folk is currently doing, while listening intently for any signs of where the massive Blue Fangs could be.

Irritated screeching growing more distant soon confirms that at least for the moment, Frozen Hubris has lost interest again; and Archie faces Fantasia with a shaky snarl.
“Wh-What the hell do you think you’re d-doing?!” She growls, her diamond shaped ears pinned back.
Her nemesis meets her furious display with narrowed eyes, panting as they clutch their wounded shoulder once more. “Attacking it was not part of the plan, Archie!”

“It’s wh-what we came out here to do,” Archie grumbles stubbornly, turning around out of spite. “I-In fact, I’m g-gonna go-”
“No.” Fantasia cuts her off with a stern growl, and the five-eyed folk whips back around, equal parts incredulous and infuriated.
“No?” she questions the finned folk, almost daring them to stick by their answer.

“No,” Fantasia asserts, tail thrashing behind them. “Neither of us is in any position to keep going; my arm’s shot, you’re shaking like a leaf-”
“Am n-not,” Archie lies, suddenly overcome by a particularly poorly timed and violent shiver. “...I-Ignore that.”
The taller folk sighs. “We… we need to turn back, Archie. We did our best. What else can we do?”

The winged folk crosses her arms and pouts. Much as she hates to admit it… the fish might have a point.
“...F-Fine,” Archie begrudgingly concedes. “But y-you owe me.”
Fantasia’s fins flare at the audacity, but they keep their opinions on the matter to themself. “...Fine. Whatever gets you back to camp…”

Description

STORY BELOW [written by the wonderful fuzzysherbet , edited by me]
art credit: sketch, colour, shading and background are by me, lineart by fuzzysherbet ]

2255 words || 19/182 acorns || tracker
-----------------------------------------------
TW: Violence, injury, arguments

2255 words

Archie had stood in the back of the crowd, idly combing a claw through one of her curly bangs, yet listening intently to the scout’s report. She may be far more skilled with combat than anyone who doesn’t already know her might expect her to be, but she’d never faced a megapredator before, and she wasn’t stupid enough to even consider charging into battle against any of them completely blind if there’s another option.

“...Now, the thing you have to remember with Frozen Hubris is,” the scout had warned, sounding rattled even as they made sure to project their voice for all to hear. “You cannot get close to it, under any circumstances.”
The crowd had erupted into sceptical murmurs at that point, and Archie had mirrored their sentiment with a cocked eyebrow. What tricks could a predator possibly have up its sleeve that mean you can’t even go near it?

“It earned its name because of its blighted state,” The scout’s long ears flicked with annoyance as they pressed on. “It’s afflicted with Frostmaiden’s Kiss, and it emits such a powerful aura of cold that anything that gets too close to it will begin to freeze in mere seconds.”
The crowd had gone silent; that would certainly do it, Archie supposed, as she’d wondered which poor bastard had been the one to help make that discovery. Whatever. Staying away from a flying megapredator shouldn’t be too hard.

“No point targeting it with anything but ranged attacks, but even then, beware,” The scout had explained. “It can breathe jets of extremely cold air, like concentrated blasts of its aura. Do not get caught in one of its blasts, or you’ll end up frozen just as fast as if you’d gotten too close to the predator itself.”
So that part is just a matter of not getting seen by the fuckoff huge predator you’re not supposed to get close to, Archie had concluded. How hard could it be?

Harder than it sounds, as it turns out.

Archie looks up at the gigantic bat-like predator, her five eyes widening with horror as she notices a cold shimmer forming in its gaping maw; Frozen Hubris is definitely aiming at herself and her wounded nemesis, and there’s no way either of them are surviving that particular direct hit. With barely more than a moment to process what’s coming, the twin-tailed folk whirls around with her thick pelt bristling.

“Get down!” She lets out a panicked yell to shut Fantasia up, and the aquatic folk’s pained and annoyed expression quickly gives way for one of utter confusion as they notice how suddenly Archie’s tone had shifted; and their confusion is replaced with outright alarm as they notice her bolting towards them. Knowing there’s only a matter of seconds before the blighted predator lets loose its attack, she frantically beats her skeletal wings in the hope that it’ll even slightly boost her speed; and she pushes Fantasia hard, shoving them as far away from where they both stand as she possibly can.

The next thing Archie feels is a brutal wave of cold air against her back, far more intense than anything than anything she’s ever felt before; even the close call she’d had getting swooped by the megapredator just a few minutes ago had only chilled her to the bone, where this feels more like she’s been chilled to her very core. The frigid blast knocks herself and Fantasia even further away into the trees, and both folks hit the muddy ground with a muffled thud.

Archie is left feeling nothing but an all-encompassing numbness as the sheer cold finally subsides. Frozen Hubris had only blasted them for a few seconds, the five-eyed folk is pretty sure, but the icy grip that seems to have worked its way into every fibre of her being won’t leave. Vaguely, she becomes aware of Fantasia’s one handed attempts to help her to her feet.
“...Sh-shit, Archie, a-are you okay?” the finned folk asks, their tusks chattering in a way she’d find rather amusing if it weren’t for literally everything else about their predicament.

“...S-seen b-better days,” Archie forces herself to reply through her own far more violent shivering, while simultaneously forcing herself upright; she refuses to rely on her nemesis any more than she already has today. “...We’re e-even now.”
Fantasia narrows their green eyes at the dark pink folk, an expression made even more severe by the plating beneath them, watching her struggle to keep her balance. “H-how are we even? Only one of us is b-bleeding…”

“H-hit me with your b-best shot, then,” she half-heartedly growls down at them, holding up her claws still stained with golden yellow blood.
Her fish-like nemesis glances guiltily aside, suddenly unable to meet Archie’s harsh gaze in the face of her dare. “...N-not what I meant…”
“That’s wh-what I thought,” the winged folk mutters, dragging Fantasia to their feet by their uninjured arm as they try to stand themselves. “N-not like you’d be able t-to do anything to me anyway.”

“I dunno,” Fantasia says rather indignantly, caught off guard by the sudden pulling of their arm. “Y-you really don’t look like you’re doing so great… should you b-be standing…?”
“You’re c-clearly freezing your ass off t-too,” Archie snaps at them through chattering teeth. “S-so I’d still be w-way better at fighting than y-you!”
The taller folk rolls their eyes as they stick their good paw under their injured arm for warmth. “...So the f-freezing is the problem then-”

“Ah, sh-shut up,” the lanky folk grumbles, her ears flicking irritably; she’s relieved to note she can at least feel her extremities again, but she’s still so cold. The two of them go silent for a moment, and somewhere above the mangroves they’re concealed by, Frozen Hubris lets out a screech; stupid bat still hasn’t decided to fuck off yet.
Fantasia’s pale, finned ears flatten at the sound, and their tail twitches with anxiety. “...Thanks, by the way.”

“F-for what?” Archie asks bitterly. “Clawing your arm t-to shreds?”
“For getting me out of that bl-blast,” they clarify, annoyance creeping into their voice. “Would still be nice if you a-apologised for the arm thing, though…”
“I’m s-sure it would be,” she mutters dismissively, flicking a single ear with irritation.
Fantasia hisses something softly under their breath, before changing topic. “...How’re we gonna get back…?”

The five-eyed folk takes a moment to think about that, as she curls her tails around her legs. “...I don’t know, b-bolt and pray, I g-guess.”
“Neither of us are exactly at our fastest right now, Archie,” They point out, flicking an ear at their blood soaked arm.
“Not like we h-have other options,” Archie argues back, and Fantasia goes quiet; they know she’s right, and for once, the winged folk can’t find a way to be happy about it.
—
The two folks stand at the edge of the treeline, listening intently to the sky. Rain has begun to fall, very slowly rinsing the worst of the built up blood from Fantasia’s still bleeding arm; much to Archie’s annoyance, it also apparently serves to intensify the chill that still won’t leave her be. After what feels like an eternity, Frozen Hubris lets out a haughty, distant scream; the blighted Blue Fangs is definitely quite far from the two of them now.

“N-Now’s our chance,” Archie begins, failing to stifle the chatter of her teeth. “Remember, w-we go for your bow, and g-get the fuck out, got it?”
Fantasia’s tail flicks apprehensively. “We can probably skip the bow-”
“Not a ch-chance,” the shorter folk interrupts. “I don’t w-want to be caught in another scrap on the way back with j-just my slingshot.”
“Yeah, but…” they seemingly ponder how to proceed. “Neither of us is very fast right now, y’know? Might be better to cut our losses.”

“Sp-Speak for yourself!” she snaps at them, pelt bristling even harder with anger than it already was from the cold. “Not my f-fault you don’t like walking on two legs!”
The aquatic folk’s fins flare indignantly at the slight, but they force themselves to keep a level tone. “You’re still shaking, Archie...”
“I’ll b-be fine,” Archie grumbles. “Moving will h-help me more than a-anything else, probably. So, l-let’s get going wh-while frosty fuck isn’t paying attention to us, u-unless you’ve got more to bitch about.”

Fantasia glares at her for a moment, but they concede with a quick bow of their head. “Fine. But if things go wrong enough, we’re ditching the bow.”
“Wh-whatever gets you to shut the fuck up,” Archie huffs in response. “C’mon, l-let’s go.”
Without giving the gilled folk a chance to interject with their grievances again, she darts out into the open wetland beyond; between the stiffness wracking her whole body and all the mud, it’s a struggle for the typically stealthy folk to keep her footsteps as quiet as she’d like them to be.

Even so, Fantasia’s footsteps are far louder than her own; the aquatically inclined witch was never as light footed as she is to begin with, and the five-eyed folk can tell they’ve followed her lead without even turning around to confirm or deny.
“F-fuck’s sake,” Archie hisses under her breath at them, not prying her gaze from their bow and arrows ahead. “Could you walk any q-quieter?”
“Oh, trust me, I’d be worse on all fours,” they hiss back, sounding rather irate. “This is the best I can do right now.”

Muttering a string of curses, Archie begrudgingly decides to drop it. A good chunk of this is technically her own damn fault, after all; she’s the one who needed saving first, she’s the one who tore Fantasia’s arm up. They can give each other hell about it all later, if her nemesis still wants anything to do with her after she’d attacked them, that is. It had been pure instinct, sure, but with everything else Archie puts the finned folk through, she wouldn’t be surprised if actually hurting them were the last straw; the thing that finally makes the penny drop that she’s exactly as bad as she and everyone else thinks-

A screech pierces through the air; still distant, but too close.
“Ah, shit- it’s onto us, Archie!” Fantasia calls out urgently, dropping any attempt at staying quiet. Immediately upon hearing their raised voice, Archie quits trying to stay stealthy herself, and she pushes through the chill in her bones to bolt for the abandoned weaponry at the edge of the treeline. As Fantasia overtakes her, the winged folk drops to one knee, a little too clumsily for her liking, and grabs her nemesis’ bow; now, she just has to find an arrow in the mud…

“Huh-” The taller folk almost mutters in shock, before switching to outright yowling at her. “What are you doing?!”
“T-Taking a shot,” Archie snaps, finally tracking an arrow down and nocking it with shaking hands. “What the fuck does it l-look like I’m doing?!”
“Archie, it’s too-” Fantasia calls out, quickening their pace to catch up to her, but their voice is drowned out by another piercing screech from above; and frankly, the five-eyed folk was inclined to ignore them anyway.

Trembling, Archie draws back the bowstring, and aims skyward. She’s met with the sight of Frozen Hubris swooping down on her, far closer than she’d expected, and faced with the cold growing stronger again, she fires in a panic. By sheer luck more than anything, the arrow lodges in the blighted predator’s chest; it halts for a moment, with a wailing cry that sounds shocked and offended. In the next moment, she’s dragged back into the mangrove forest.

The dark pink folk lets out an indignant yelp of her own as a plated arm loops around her shoulders; having learned quickly, Fantasia withdraws before Archie gets a chance to raise her claws in defence. She bites back the urge to berate her nemesis, instead opting to hastily scramble further backwards like the finned folk is currently doing, while listening intently for any signs of where the massive Blue Fangs could be.

Irritated screeching growing more distant soon confirms that at least for the moment, Frozen Hubris has lost interest again; and Archie faces Fantasia with a shaky snarl.
“Wh-What the hell do you think you’re d-doing?!” She growls, her diamond shaped ears pinned back.
Her nemesis meets her furious display with narrowed eyes, panting as they clutch their wounded shoulder once more. “Attacking it was not part of the plan, Archie!”

“It’s wh-what we came out here to do,” Archie grumbles stubbornly, turning around out of spite. “I-In fact, I’m g-gonna go-”
“No.” Fantasia cuts her off with a stern growl, and the five-eyed folk whips back around, equal parts incredulous and infuriated.
“No?” she questions the finned folk, almost daring them to stick by their answer.

“No,” Fantasia asserts, tail thrashing behind them. “Neither of us is in any position to keep going; my arm’s shot, you’re shaking like a leaf-”
“Am n-not,” Archie lies, suddenly overcome by a particularly poorly timed and violent shiver. “...I-Ignore that.”
The taller folk sighs. “We… we need to turn back, Archie. We did our best. What else can we do?”

The winged folk crosses her arms and pouts. Much as she hates to admit it… the fish might have a point.
“...F-Fine,” Archie begrudgingly concedes. “But y-you owe me.”
Fantasia’s fins flare at the audacity, but they keep their opinions on the matter to themself. “...Fine. Whatever gets you back to camp…”