Chapter 7 - A Long Night

She was sleeping peacefully in the tree— well as peacefully as she could be sleeping in an uncomfortable position that is— when she suddenly heard a sound that woke her up from her sleeping position, shooting up in response.

Shortly after the sound that woke her up— came a shaking throughout the tree that almost caught her off-guard and knock her off from the branch she was on.

But thankfully, she reacted quickly enough and grabbed onto the branch tightly, keeping herself in place.

Quickly looking over the edge of the tree, she saw something barely moving around in the darkness of the light at the bottom of the tree.

She could barely make it out due to how dark it was, and her eyes hadn't adapted to the darkness yet because it didn't experience it enough.

But as the creature attempted to climb up the trunk of the tree she got barely a glimpse of it— yet it was all she needed to know what it was.

A large cat that was yellowish in color with black spots all over its body. So big in fact it was somewhat larger than her current small form.

Yet she knew what it was thanks to all the animal documentaries that mentioned it as a prime hunter in the forest— a jaguar.

A large wild cat that was known to hunt by blending in with the areas around them in order to sneak up on prey. They were also great climbers and enjoyed resting in trees apparently.

'God dammit.'

She said to herself in her mind with a sigh— she was annoyed naturally.

She wasn't annoyed that she was attacked— she wasn't even annoyed that she was attacked by a rather strong predator— she was annoyed that she was woken up.

Sleep was blissful.

It allowed her to clear her mind and give in fully to the instincts that flowed with her blood— relishing in the feelings that it entailed.

Being awoken was like being pulled from that bliss— it was annoying.

But she had a target to take it out on, the big cat before her.

While a jaguar was definitely not what she would hope to fight on her first night here, she would have to make due.

She would've preferred to fight something weaker, like a boar, or even something weaker than that, like a wild rat or something.

But with her physical capabilities already being above a normal human— she wasn't too worried.

That didn't mean she wasn't going to be cautious— overthinking one's capabilities and overlooking the opponent's chance was one of the easiest ways to lose a battle.

And lose a life.

She had no intention to do that, so she quickly tried to think up a plan.

She knew that the creature was prided for its agility and speed, especially its ability to jump from tree branch to tree branch, so she knew that staying in the trees wouldn't help her too much.

But it would give her a good vantage point while the creature attempted to climb up.

'I need a weapon, something to pierce its skin.'

While she was strong, piercing its skin would be problematic with her bare hands, especially with the fur that covered its body.

So a weapon was needed for her to have an easier time.

Unfortunately, she had nothing that would be a good weapon, so she would have to make due.

Looking around she searched for a branch that was thick enough to use as a weapon— but also one she could break off.

She found the perfect one a few inches above her, but reaching it would be a hassle. She would need to climb up higher in order to get to it, but the branches leading up to it were spaced out.

She was also worried about the creature leaping upwards as she was climbing and catching her off-guard— it would be very bad then.

'Fine, I'll do something I didn't want to risk doing.'

Her mind ordered the worker mimic that was part of her hive to stop what it was doing and return, which was easy since it wasn't too far away.

She then ordered the creature to move around quickly in the bushes around the area in order to draw the attention of the jaguar to it.

It was a risky tactic because this could lead to the jaguar destroying her only worker right now, but the loss wouldn't be higher even if she did lose it.

She would just need to eat some more.

Plus the gains were better— it would give her enough time to get to the branch.

'Come on you overgrown house cat, take the bait.'

She thought to herself as she watched the jaguar slowly shift its attention to the ruffling of the bushes around it.

'Great, now quickly.'

She quickly stood up and pushed herself up the tree with the strength in her legs, gripping onto the trunk with her hands hugging around it to give her a good grip.

She used this position to climb up the tree the best she could, quickly making her way up to where the branch was located.

It was a bit high, but she was able to reach it by stretching a little, so she didn't waste time climbing to the same height and instead stretched her hand up to the branch.

Breaking it off wasn't too hard thanks to her strength, but it did put a strain on her muscles to stretch and then use her strength to break something at the same time— making her hand feel somewhat weak.

'Thankfully it's still distracted.'

She could see the jaguar was still struggling with finding her worker through her connection with it. Splitting her mind like this was as simple as breathing to her— thanks to her hive.

She could also tell it wouldn't stay that way for long, since the creature was clearly getting frustrated with looking for something it couldn't find.

But with the weapon in hand, she was finally ready to attack it.

Hopeful she would even be able to kill it, which would allow her to devour it and adopt some of its traits.

Or if that didn't work she could just use its body to get mass.