The wind and sky water seemed to calm down the further Small One got from Cold One. The air grew warmer, and soon Small One stopped shivering. Her tiny heart was pounding loudly in her ears, but she could hear the sounds of prey even through her own rushing blood. Most of the denizens of the forest had hidden themselves away from the elements, but a few small feathered things dared to perch out in the open with feathers ruffled for warmth. Small One found herself wishing her wings could carry her into the canopy after them. That would teach them.
Instead, she was forced to growl and hiss at them, taking spiteful pleasure in scaring them off. The empty feeling in her belly had only grown worse since encountering Cold One. She needed to find something small and stupid enough to kill. Every time she scanned the area, all she saw were feathered things on high alert, or the tails of furry things disappearing into holes too small for her to follow. After rediscovering the brook and pausing to lap at it, Small One folded her legs and lay down for a short rest. The clouds still hadn't cleared, but at least the sky water had eased up.
Small One scraped her head along a nearby rock. The stubs that crowned her head were itching, and rubbing them on the rock offered a pleasant relief. She knew in the back of her mind that her horns would be important once they grew in. They would be for claiming territory, for fighting off threats, and for wielding the forces of nature itself. But for now they were just tiny, irritating nubs, and Small One wished they would grow a bit faster, or at least stop bothering her.
As flaky old scales sloughed from her horns, to be replaced with the new ones underneath, movement caught Small One's eye. Slowly, she turned her gaze toward a nearby log, where a long, sinuous creature lay trying to soak up any heat it could. Its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth every now and then, and though its eyes were open, it seemed sluggish and non-responsive. Small One rose to her feet as carefully and quietly as she could. The long creature didn't move, save to flick its tongue out again.
Doing her best to keep dead leaves from crunching underfoot, something which was helped by the sky water, Small One crept up to the log where her quarry had draped itself. The prey didn't so much as twitch even as she moved to position herself perfectly behind it. She wasn't sure if it could see her, with its big buggy eyes, but it gave no indication that it could. As far as Small One was concerned, it was the perfect time to strike.
With a snarling battle cry, Small One leapt at the long prey, catching the end of its tail in her jaws. As soon as her teeth sank into the scaled flesh, the prey began to flail and thrash wildly. Small One tasted its blood and felt its scales crunch in her maw, but her target didn't die nearly as quickly as she had hoped. In its mad writhing, the long prey twisted its body and lunged at Small One, mouth wide open to display a set of glistening fangs. Small One instinctively pulled her head back, but the tip of one fang grazed her nose, causing her to squeak and release the prey's tail.
Now free, the creature quickly slithered off, but Small One wasn't going to let her prey get away so easy. Leaping at it once more, she pinned it down with all four legs, preventing it from striking at her again. One final crunch of her jaws on its head, and she had made her second kill. She snorted as her nose began to burn. This prey was more troublesome than it had looked. Small One dipped her head and sheared a chunk of meat free. The scales were pleasantly crunchy, and the flesh was lean and had a pleasant taste to it. The bones were thin enough for her to snap with minimal effort. All in all, Small One found she much preferred the long prey to the swimming prey.
By the time she had eaten her fill, Small One's entire face was burning. Suddenly feeling rather tired, she glanced up at the still-cloudy sky. She couldn't see the sun, but she imagined it must be at least two-thirds of the way across the sky by now. There was still meat left on the carcass, so Small One grabbed its tail in her teeth and dragged it through the underbrush as she sought a safe place to rest for the day.
By the time Small One discovered a hole big enough for her to crawl into, her entire body felt odd, burning in the absence of fire. Each step sent pain shooting up her legs, and though she knew the day was not unbearably cold, she shivered uncontrollably. It was all she could do not to collapse out in the open, but she knew that doing so would be inviting death.
She hardly registered herself regurgitating her meal, and the scavengers who picked at her kill went unnoticed as she fell into a deep sleep.
Does Small One catch the snake? (Finesse = 6)
The snake's Weakness to Cold affects Small One's roll (+1)
Small One rolls a 10 + 1 = 11 (required 14). Partial Success.
Is the snake non-venomous? (Luck = 10)
Small One rolls a 6 (required 10). Failure.
We have our first partial success here. A partial success is where Small One succeeds at what she's doing, but not without consequences. Rolls for luck can never be partial successes (since they're usually based on outside factors rather than things Small One herself does)
To Raptorex: Yes, Cold One is a Kushala Daora and he killed a Slagtoth.
