Reincarnation Junkie
I'm not good at this. Shit, I never thought I'd have to be.
I was spoiled in my previous life, not to mention the start of this one where I was surrounded by beings who had no chance of harming me. Even humans had a sense of caution that dispelled any threat that I felt from them.
In other words, this creature was annoying as hell.
After getting my paw stomped and forcibly ignoring the brittle, throbbing pain that radiated from it, the creature had managed to graze my mane with its hooves as it kicked, nicking my ears and shoulders. I saw a light plume of bronze fur rise from both occasions followed by a burning strip of pain at those parts. Even though I could only see the world in shades of blue, those pruned hairs were remarkably red.
After running a certain distance away, the creature gave up on using its hooves and began to creep along with its head, elongating its neck and peeling off its hide once more.
This was the pattern I was looking for. I thought as much with a hint of bitterness as the single wound I inflicted before revealed itself once more on the creature's side, a measly little scratch that was already beginning to coagulate.
Well, I couldn't see the full effect of it from the distance that I stood at. The forest was dark except for that ambiguous blue glow. I strained and saw the dried blood in a half-second before dashing away from the chasing head, deeper into the darkened forest.
The head of this creature probably didn't have any vital organs besides its eyes—that was the impression I got after hitting it and feeling its hollowness. In fact, those eyes might not even be eyes. Either way, I decided not to pay too much attention to it and focused on the fact that its tough hide slid off whenever its head strayed from its body.
When the hide was peeled from its body, I could attack its flesh directly. Blood was a good sign of damage, and it felt much more productive to aim to bleed rather than aim to hit a buoyant head.
The hooves were a problem. I only got hit a few times, and yet I could feel my bones rattling each time. There were too many to be wary of, and the creature didn't need a strategy in order to deal some damage to me -- it just needed to flail and hope to hit me. Luckily, the creature's legs were normally passive and only really fought in desperation when the head and hide was fully attached to its body.
So, the plan was to lure the head away and rush forward to attack the body once the hide was peeled away. Rinse and repeat.
Only, my front right paw was pounding and feeling rather awful. I couldn't run as I usually could. Would I be fast enough to do this sort of plan? Wasn't there too high of a margin of error?
What else could I do? Tie up the creature's neck so that the hide permanently couldn't rebind itself to its flesh?
...Oh, yeah, I could probably do that.
I transformed into a human and was slightly alarmed at the weight on my face and body. That's right, I had the robe and mask from Mercy and Michael. Well, clothing shouldn't be a problem, I spent years wearing clothing after all. It was only recently that I became a nudist.
My right hand was mostly useless, as I couldn't even hold it in a fist. Besides the pain, this wasn't too big of a problem, since I only needed to manipulate the creature into tying itself up for me.
I caught my breath and stood ready as the head advanced.