Hunting

The forest seemed to close in around Maxime. Every step was a struggle. Every breath, a wrench. He ran breathlessly, hunted like prey. Behind him, a guttural roar split the air, wild and carnivorous.

The humanoid tiger charged through the foliage. Its jaws snapped. Its claws ripped through the trees. Death in motion.
"He's right behind!" Maxime gasped, terrified.
Perched high up on a branch, Shadow watched. He inhaled. His heart was beating fast, but his eyes remained fixed.
"Now's the time..."
He jumped.
His body sliced ​​through the air, heavy with determination. In his hand, a thick branch. It crashed down on the monster's skull with surgical precision.
BAM!
The impact made the creature stagger. It reeled, groaned, confused.
“GATHER!” Trafalgar yelled. “NOW!”
The group lined up in a tight circle. Trafalgar took the lead.
“Shadow, Basse! Immobilize him! The others, find some big sticks! We'll knock him out together! GO!”
Without hesitation, Shadow rushed at the monster, grabbing its right arm. Basse, for his part, grabbed his waist, squeezing with all his might.
But the humanoid tiger roared with rage. His muscles bulged, his veins throbbed.
CRACK!
He raised his arms and violently threw Basse against a tree trunk. Shadow was wrenched from his grasp, thrown like a common sandbag.
Trafalgar, Arnaud, and the others appeared at that moment, brandishing massive sticks.
“NOW!”
The blows rained down. Wood against flesh, wood against bone. Sharp sounds echoed throughout the forest. They struck relentlessly, with one goal: to slow the beast down.
But the creature was taking it. And suddenly, with a devastating roar, it spun around and swept the entire group away.
BOOM!!
They were all thrown far away. Bodies scattered. Branches broken. Moans.
Shadow and Arnaud crashed to the same side, at the foot of a tree. Dizzy, panting, but alive.
On the ground, right in front of them... a flash of red.
A fruit. Perfectly round. An almost unreal brilliance. And, above it, a golden inscription floated slowly, as if etched in the air.
Meanwhile, the tiger slowly turned.
Its bloody eyes fixed on Maxime's.
The monster's snout brushed against his face. He sniffed. Then he straightened up.
A merciless roar rose up. It was over. He had won. The mission was accomplished.
He raised his paw, ready to deliver his sentence.
Maxime closed his eyes.
It was over. His first death. Sure, he would come back... but dying is still dying.
The beast's terrifying paw was about to strike down on Maxime's face.
Trafalgar, Basse, Albert—tears in their eyes—yelled in unison:
— MAXIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!
Then... the silence broke. Abruptly.
THWACK!
One in the right cheek. The other in the left.
Shadow. Arnaud.
The monster's head swiveled under the impact. He staggered.
Shadow continued: straight leg, kick to the face.Arnaud leaped and smashed its stomach with a diving heel.
The humanoid tiger was thrown back, dozens of meters.Its breath became ragged.
It collapsed with a monstrous crash, breaking three trees in its fall.The trunks cracked like twigs.The ground vibrated. The birds took flight.
Silence.
Dust.
The group, in the distance, frozen. Mouths agape.But relieved.
Shadow and Arnaud slowly straightened up. Shoulder to shoulder.One pointed at the beast with his right hand.The other with his left.
And in a calm but authoritative whisper:
"It's show time."