paradigm [closed;solo]

Through the treetops Stoatfur could catch brief flashes of the thin moonlight. Given the time of the moon, it was little more than an ailing sliver, slowly diminishing until it would soon be no more. This, coupled with the coverage of dying leaves, meant little filtered to the forest floor. Something was both comforting and overwhelming about the darkness that clung to his pelt like rain saturated air. It did not seem like it would rain, or even snow for that matter. He had yet to experience the snow but if it was as cold as some mentioned, surely that would be something he would despise alongside the nipping chill.

Sunset made it worse. There were no warm rays to bask in, the night seemed to strip the world of what little heat managed to creep into the forest. Stoatfur would have been tucked nicely into his nest if it weren't for the way his mind tossed and turn. The churning sensation was one that had plagued him relentlessly since kithood. Sometimes it would curl up, coiled tightly like a snake hidden in a safe crevice. But it never stayed back for long, striking at the most inopportune moments. Recently, with the drastic life changes, that snake had twisted into a den of adders. It did not lunge or sink its fang but rather knotted into itself, curling, twisting, dancing...

He hated the feeling.

It had been what pried him from the mossy nest and the heat that radiated from the pelts of his denmates. Underneath the shelter of the warrior's den, it was easy to block out the whistling winds that sought to strip him of what little warmth his short coat could maintain. But the deputy needed to get away, to clear his head. The role had certain perks, like allowing himself to easily be excused from camp with little more than a brief nod to the guards. They might have questioned it silently, but neither cat made any motion to stop him. And that was just the start of his journey to Snakerocks.

This place had become somewhat of a sanctuary for him. Although tiny pinpricks from the sharpening teeth of snakes were tucked neatly underneath his brown and white fur, the thrill and distraction of bounding around and chasing after an opponent seemed to push away the many things that threatened to fall him. Perhaps it would have been healthier to speak to another cat, Minkstar or Thrushnose, but the idea caused his throat to close and his pawsteps to quicken. The clan's leader had hinted to his inability of his a couple moons before, digging at it like an embedded thorn. He'd learned a little. Not enough, it seemed.

Only a couple sunsets ago, he'd come here with Appledapple. The sensation of relishing in the moment with another cat was one he hadn't quickly forgotten. But he hadn't quickly turned around to bring her back, there were things to be done, duties that strapped all of his clan in the effort to keep themselves alive and thriving. This was only going to get worse, get harder, and he could not stop thinking about what they were padding into. Thankfully, the glinting eyes of a snake peered at him just from underneath the edge of a rock. A target to distract him from this, as it always did. Rarely did he kill them, opting instead to stun them and throw them back for another time.

Tonight, well, draining the life away might make him feel better. Besides, the clan could use the prey, they always would now. Stoatfur grunted and darted forward with claws extended, looking to scoop out the scaly beast and throw it from the hiding place.

Roll for Serpantine Movement. Roll successful, attack hits.
Stoatfur used tail yank, dealing 4 damage and using 15 stamina. The snake is stunned for 1 turn.

Stoatfur
HP: 45/50 (disadvantaged stats)
SP: 75/120

Snake
HP: 11/15
SP: 75/75

The member 'Ripped' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 2

It was yanked from the comfort of its home underneath the rock in one fluid motion. Hooking it with his claws, Stoatfur jerked it through the air. As soon as it hit the ground, the warrior lunged forward to sink his teeth into the scales, pulling back to straightened it awkwardly into a rigid state. There was no doubt that such a motion would stun any creature. Satisfied and noting the brief delay in his opponent's motion, the little brown and white tom took the opportunity. He jumped, pinning the frozen body beneath his paws. Then, came the teeth, sinking in deep just beneath the base of the head, through scales and muscles.

The snake had just begun to regain its ability to squirm before the fangs of Stoatfur stilled it for the last time. It became permanently limp. He panted once as he lifted his head, sucking in the air and letting it pierce his lungs like fragments of ice. There was some relief after all of this but little satisfaction. In more ways than one, the snake had stopped writhing. As he settled back on his haunches, the little brown and white tom's head slumped forward. Out here is was cold and barren. Deadened leaves and a lifeless snake were his only companions.

Stoatfur drew in another deep breath, relishing in the sensation as he stared at the slivers of silver light that speckled the ground like ill-placed splinters. It almost looked like wounds. As he sucked in the air, slowly drawing it in, feeling it pierce him, the tom felt a certain recognition creeping in. Out here - he was utterly alone. There was no cat witnessing this moment, or that would ever know unless he were to tell them; which he would not. This kind of loneliness could be maddening, condemning, even underneath the brief guise of comfort.

Worst of all, it was all a circumstance of his own design.

He pulled the scaled body close, feeling the finite warmth the was slowly drifting away from its body. That in itself was a small comfort. It reminded him of moons ago, of kit-like ignorance where he had once snuggled at the soft underbelly of his mother. The entire thing was less of a memory and more a vague sensation of something that he thought he remembered, longed to remember. Stoatfur hadn't been that close to another cat in so long, he didn't want to be. But as he sat there with his shoulders hunched and the only solace the deadened buy of cold-blooded creature, he begun to register something nagging from the depths of his pelt.

Something that could only be recognized as a profound sadness. And for a moment, the deputy left himself feel it, let himself be doubled over by the crippling sensation that he ignored every other moment for so many moons. For these brief snatches of time, Stoatfur conceded to himself.

Only the moon was there to bear witness to it.

Serpentine Movement is inactive due to stun.
Stoatfur used killing bite, dealing 11 damage, and using 10 stamina. Snake is defeated.

Stoatfur
HP: 45/50 (disadvantaged stats)
SP: 65/120

Snake
HP: 0/15
SP: 75/75