Sticky business

After his hectic trip to the city Stratus crept back to the woods. His goal was to better harness the troublesome slime that had nearly ended him. His first step was locating the lake first. Hopefully the water would help should he get in trouble again. He made his way through the forest to the lake he had used earlier. His second step was figuring how he had activated the slime in the first place. The first time has been at this very same lake, and the second had been after eating that human. There were almost no similarities between the incidences. He sits in thought, the birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees the only sound in the small clearing. The birds were singing? He recalled that he had been suppressing his signal during both times. He might have just triggered it accidentally during that process the first time. He began compressing his signal, but tried to focus it around his right hand, nothing happened. This was something that was a part of him; he used his left hand to feel his right arm. It felt like muscle and bone, squishy yet firm. Then he felt something like a burp travel through his right arm. Green liquid started to form on his palms then slowly drip down like honey. Before it hits the ground he swings his arm out and the green tendril latches onto a tree. The tree is perhaps only foot thick. The thin green strand stretches between the tree and Stratus, it’s end still connected to his hand. He pulls the strand lightly, but it doesn’t release from the tree. A harder yank and the strand stretches, but then tenses. He pulls harder and the tree groans slightly as it bends. It’s much stronger than he expected it to be. He shifts his focus to suppress his signal and the strand comes free from his hand, there is no residue. He tried again with his left with similar results. “Well that works, but just dripping isn’t useful.” Easily said, but he couldn’t figure how to get it to come out faster. Instead he spent the rest of the day using the slime to climb trees. Normally he could use his claws or jump, but he was testing the strength of the stickiness. He was able to hang from a tree with one hand using the slime. As the day ended he noticed the tree he had used as a target. There was no trace of the slime on the tree. Well it was good to know it didn’t last forever, but he wished he knew the exact time limit. It was a shame he didn’t have a watch. He sighed, all the work had made him hungry. Stratus turned toward the direction of the city and leapt into the darkness.

After working so hard on his new skill he tried to incorporate it into his latest hunt. He would leave a large puddle of slime in another part of the city. Anyone walking down that path would be stuck and he would have his meal. First he tried to locate moderately busy street and for a good vantage point. He did want to have someplace secluded; just because he was invisible he didn’t want to be seen. He was also worried about another shinigami; another could show up looking for the missing one. He didn’t sense anything in the area. So he laid out his trap. Making a good size puddle took time; it took several of minutes to a puddle big enough for his foot. Several moments later he completed his task. The glistening puddle covered the side street completely. Anyone coming through would be caught in the trap. He then hung himself from fire escape over looking the side street’s entrance. And so he waited what seemed for hours. No one had come by. He had opened his senses partially and felt a few signals worth eating but none, came close to his spot. A bit irritated he decided to simply abandon the trap, and hunt one down. The signal he hunted was closer than expected, he found a man on a rooftop smoking a cigarette, he was shouting at someone on a cellphone. Stratus snuck up behind the man and crushed cellphone along with the man’s hand in one motion of his claw. His hand grasped the man’s face muffling his cries. Through the clawed fingers the man’s eyes grew wide with pain and fright. It was abit too easy, but it was a good meal. Satisfied he leapt back to the forest.

The moon was nearly full in the sky giving Stratus some light in the woods. He decided to try to work on his skills again. He had nearly perfected his hands; it was time to work on his feet. The trap he set that night was similar to what had happened when the slime had come from his feet. He could hardly see the usefulness of sticky feet, but wanted enough control to avoid problems in the future. When he tried the same process as his hands the result wasn’t as profound. It was very awkward similar to when he tried to used his toe on the back of his heel. Time and time again, he couldn’t seem to make the stickiness appear. In the end he relied on more systematic approach; first the toes. Focus on his toes and push like he did with his hands. No effect. Okay, next the calf. Nothing happened. Next up was the thighs. Just when he was about to give up he felt a hint of something. He tried to feel it out, push it down through his legs and finally to his feet.
Stratus lifted his right foot to see a coating of slime underneath. It had taken long enough, but he had pulled it off. It was a good thing he was standing on dirt rather than a harder complete service. The stickiness on his feet didn’t restrict his movements too much. He walked to large tree. He shifted his focus to release the slime from his feet. It fell off easily. Good, now he had to reapply the slime. His mind shifted to his thigh then his foot again. He raised his right foot and placed it against the tree; his foot stuck to it. Then a sudden idea hit him. Without taking his foot of the tree he leaned forward and secreted slime from his hands, and then his left foot. Without his claws he slowly began climbing the tree. The flat of his feet with a small layer of slime and his palms stuck to the tree. Sometime bark would rip free, but he would catch himself with his claws and resume. It was slow since he was still shaky with building and releasing from his feet, but he made it to the top without falling. Next he walked out onto a branch. Stratus recalled holding himself on a branch with only his toes; perhaps he could do the same with the slime. He leaned out and allowed himself to fall forward. He focused on his thighs downward as he moved and pushed feet against the branch. This proved to be a bad idea. As with the climbing the slime stuck only to the tree bark and ripped it free. Stratus dropped face first to the earth. There was at loud thud that scared a few of the smaller animals away. He could only guess it would be more effective on a more solid material. He was glad there was no one around to see the embarrassing moment. The night was far from over, so he went back to practicing. Stratus now worked on speeding up the process. It would take time, but he had plenty of it. In the hours after dawn he finally gave it a rest. The end results of his training made him capable of keeping a thin layer of slime on his hand and feet. It was like wearing sock and gloves made of double sided tape. It was sticky but not hindering his ability to function. It didn’t take much focus, but he had to ‘refresh’ every so often due to dirt and what not. Stratus hard work would pay off eventually, but until then he would reward himself with a double meal that night. It was still early and the sun was rising fast. A nice nap would do him well.