Chapter 18.fluffy?!

There was... a lot less flesh there than she was expecting. The bird jerked to the side and she went rolling off, claws and mouth filled with feathers and not much else.

She cringed at the tinkling sound of shells as they spewed from her pouch amid the rolling.

The bird steadied itself and spread its wings.

Oh no you don't!

She threw herself back at it, this time aiming lower, aiming for a leg.

She almost stumbled with the realization that it only had two of them!

It's kind of like a thinker in that way! I wonder if… Not the time!

She admonished herself as she plunged forward, latching on to its thigh. This time she managed to hit flesh. It shrieked in pain as she forced the thing to tumble over. She jumped back with her mouthful, swallowed, and grimaced a bit. Still a lot of feathers in there.

She wasn't going to give this thing a chance to grab her with those nasty looking talons. She quickly circled to the wounded creature's back before pouncing again.

This time she dug until she hit something solid. Another chomp and its struggles ceased.

She shivered as the tension slowly left her body.

These counter-ambushes seem to work pretty well.

Glancing at the ground some of her excitement at her victory was tempered. Her shells were all over the place.

I guess that's why there are flaps.

She'd been leaving them open. While she could just manage to close them, it was not an easy task. There was a thin strap you needed to wrap around a button that would hold a flap closed. She couldn't really manage the task at all with her paws. She could probably have done it with her mouth if the pouch was in front of her, but she was stuck using her tongue when her pouches where on her sides.

It was hard to grip the strap tightly enough to get it securely fastened. The thought of having to fasten and unfasten it every time she came across something interesting was daunting.

She set herself to re-collecting all the dropped shells. It was probably fine to only secure the flaps when she was planning to travel fast. This sort of situation shouldn't happen all the time… hopefully.

It only took a little while to get everything gathered.

This time she did close the pouches. She grabbed the bird and set off toward the cave.

It was easier said than done. Despite the bird being a much higher proportion of fluff than she'd been expecting, it was still quite large and heavy, and its size made it hard to get a good grip on. Even after filling up her belly (and doing her best to avoid eating feathers. They were actually very unique looking, and she collected a few.), it was still unwieldy.

She ended up getting it slung awkwardly across her back, head bent to the side with it gripped in her mouth to keep it there. She bounced a bit, trying to get it to settle into a more comfortable position. She'd closed her pouches this time so she wouldn't lose anything on the trip.

Not ideal.

She was going to be pretty exposed trying to run like this. Her head was locked to the side so she wouldn't even be able to keep an eye out.

Well maybe I can use the shadow fluff?

She wasn't that far from the cave, and her… inner strength? Had been getting better. She felt like she should be able to keep the fluff going for long enough.

If she could remain shadowed the whole trip she could avoid any likely ambushers.

It was as good a plan as any.

She dropped herself into shadow, a feeling of pressure inside her as the energy seeped out into the world. She checked herself over. It seemed like the shadows were covering her widely enough to cover all the extra things adorning her body.

She could feel the strain, but she thought she could maintain this for the trip, so she set off.

The trip passed uneventfully, even with all the jingles and jangles of her pouches. What she didn't expect was the reception.

It was just getting to be light out once she made it back, and Annie and Jonas were both up, packing their things away in their backpacks, when Jonas looked over at her as she entered the cave, what with all the noise she was making.

"Annie! Ready yourself!"

Jonas dropped the things he had been packing and whipped his sword out from his hip, dropping into a combat stance, pointing his sword at her. Annie spotted her a moment later and did much the same, dropping what was in her hands and setting them to glow. There was a distinct difference in the light they gave off, and she could swear the squiggles had changed somehow. While the healing light had felt warming and welcoming, this light felt fierce, like the burning light of the sun.

Shadow stood there frozen.

What's happening?

"Show yourself, Beast!" Jonas shouted.

Why are they suddenly angry!?

Her shadow fluff was still on.

They don't know it's me!

She dropped her fluff, eyes wide, stance pulled back and cowering. She'd dropped the bird on the ground once she realized she might need to bolt.

Annie dropped her hands.

"Shadow?!"

"It's dark attuned!? That's not… Shadelings are mundane beasts!"

"...Apparently not all of them."

Annie's eyebrows were trying to escape toward the fur on her head, while Jonas looked affronted somehow. He glanced at Annie before slowly putting his sword back.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!

She looked over at the bird she dropped and grabbed it. She dragged it over to the still-tense pair and offered it up.

This is for you!

Annie looked down at the bird. A pained look flashed over her face before quickly switching to a smile.

"Oh, you've hunted for us again. Thank you. We'll... deal with this later. Jonas, would you mind cleaning the owl?"