Now my horrors have become quite real
The Forest again? He’s become so predictable. Or was it that Beqanna was getting too small? He can never tell these days. Either way he’s here and there’s no changing that, so he might as well make the most of it. From the canopy where he rests he peers down, round eyes darting to the ground coverage below in search of a late afternoon meal. It would be easier, he reasons, to do the business as a bird. Swooping from behind at breakneck speed was a surefire way to catch something without expending a great deal of energy. However, he’s already decided to make the most of this social outing so he intends to do things the way he likes them done. Slowly, carefully, painfully precise. So, the shape of a leopard will do for now.
The spotted cat rolls easily enough off his perch, dropping head-first to land in a silent crouch, tail sweeping over the low-lying foliage that litters the woodland floor. Curved ears twitch, focusing in on individual noises here and there while the large feline waits in motionless patience. It had taken time to master the ability to become so focused on a singular goal, but Wyrm found that once he’d unlocked the puzzle of it, suddenly everything else in his world had become crystal clear too. In his youth, he’d been rash; boasting about his abilities. Now? Now he preferred to perfect them, realizing that so much more could be accomplished by saying less and showing more.
To his right the scuffle of furred feet snap his head around, body lowering while his tail stills. In a breathless moment, he is like marble and the world around him disappears. He exhales and in the same breath leaps, soaring over a low hedge to ensnare an unsuspecting rabbit. The creature squirms uselessly and with a smile Wyrm pins the poor thing, thumping solidly down on his belly to enjoy his success. The animal quivers, wide eyes nearly black in fear as the jaguar flips it on it’s back, exposing the soft underside. Wyrm lowers his massive head, inhaling the fur and closing his eyes with the intoxicating smell of fear. There was nothing in this whole, strange world that ever came close to that particular smell.
He extends a single claw, ripping the tender stomach open to watch the innards spill over in glistening release. The rabbit screams and Wyrm only shakes his head, trying ironically to shush the terrified creature. It was never fun if they died quickly, before he could catch the last breath or feel a final shudder, but this one struggles to hold on for a while, painful squeals pealing out into the now quiet maze of trees. With a chuckle Wyrm clicks his tongue, “No bunny friends here to save you.” And then his paw descends over the narrow little face, muffling out those sad, quivering notes, pushing incrementally until at last he hears the click of bone snapping and the screams cut short.
With a pleased sigh the leopard rises once more, shaking loose the thick skin over his shoulders before stretching out his back lazily. He glances sidelong at the flattened, split rabbit and flicks his tail nonchalantly before padding over it, leaving the body behind to let other creatures finish the business.
Guess he hadn’t been hungry to begin with.
My nightmares breathe new life
W Y R M
ooc: Um ... yea. @[Megz]