Chapter 3:

Rakshasa's hunting

Rakshasa's lair


Waiting for the roar was unnecessary: the mere sight of those hellish eyes urged Golden Star to run away in the opposite direction after screaming in terror. Hence, the monster missed him by a little margin and brutally landed on the ground. But in his race, the tiger boy catches his paws in a pile of bones and falls. On the ground, he turns his head towards his attacker, widening his eyes at the sight of its appearance.

The beast, the one that human rumors call Rakshasa, reveals its silhouette under the moonlight. It looks very much like a tiger, but differs from it by its smoother and rounder outline as well as its thinner and more slender physiology. This attack from the trees, this overall appearance, this perfect union with the darkness; all those are the characteristics of only one predator.

The sole carnivore in the jungle inferior to the tiger but superior to all the others.

Golden Star stands up and leaps into the first bush he can see, without waiting for the man-eating black panther to turn its attention back to him. The feral child crawls backward in the darkness, guided only by the sound of the swirling leaves, by the sensations of his skin, but also by the demonic feline's roars and aggressive growling as it mows the leaves with its sharp claws.

Knock.

That's it; the little Seua Saming can't go back. His back has hit something of which he recognizes the texture : tree bark, just like the kind he's used to scratch his back against. The tiger child raises his head, discerning the shape of the branches, and lowers it at once; Rakshasa's incandescent eyes glare at him as the panther curls its lips, revealing its nightmarish fangs once again monstrously and bizarrely.

Are the smell of blood and rotting flesh making Golden Star hallucinate? Or is this monstrous beast just... smiling?

As the leopard snarls and pulls itself further into the thicket, Golden Star turns and pounces. Digging his claws into the tree trunk, he climbs it with the speed and skill of a monkey.

Rakshasa stops a few centimeters from the trunk. With its body's lower half entangled in the thick bush, it raises its head towards its fleeing prey, one it won't be able to follow the trajectory. Looking up, the panther growls hatefully before disappearing back into the foliage.

Golden Star, guided by the moon's light, trots to the end of a branch and leaps to the next tree, progressing towards its trunk. He then leaps to another orthogonal branch, leading to another tree. While land running is not his strong point at his current age, agility definitely is. The only sounds he hears are those of rustling leaves and the occasional cracking branch. No growling, no visible red light.

While he sees the branches that can lead him to the canopy, or at least what he can glimpse thanks to the moonlight - returning in the darkness is out of the question -, he's overwhelmed by a single desire: to flee, to return to his mother who will be able to protect him.

A whole tree path stands before him, conjuring up his skill. A few more leaps, a crazy race to the top of the trees and-

RrOoOoOoOaAaAaAaAaAr !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The branch in front of Golden Star disappears in favor of a black mass illuminated by two scarlet globes. Having caught up with its prey with a relentless climb, Rakshasa clutches the end of the feral child's perch. As Golden Star howls out of pure terror, his pupils narrowed to the extreme, the leopard pulls itself up before flinging its jaws towards its meal.

Slit.

The black panther's sharp fangs scratch the Seua Saming's torso, as the latter has abruptly retreated until toppling backward into the tree's hollow trunk.

Golden Star digs his claws into the wood, slowing his fall before it even begins. Clinging to the opposite wall of the cavity, he turns his head towards it. In no time, Rakshasa's red eyes and black fur almost obstruct his view.

Golden Star slams himself against the wall, gnashing his fangs because of his torso injury, but avoiding a few claw swipes from the snarling black panther. Crouched against the wood, the golden-eyed child looks through the entrance: Rakshasa has withdrawn its paw after its unsuccessful attempts, and the feral child can clearly see its scarlet, glowing eyes. But Golden Star hears the wood creaking; the leopard forces its way in. In a few moments, it will be there.

Golden Star looks around. Further down, there is another cavity to escape; further up, where the moonbeams pass through, there is a tangle of thinner cavities but wide enough for a child to pass through. Golden Star starts to climb towards these exits, pulling himself up with his claws and arms.

He soon reaches the top of this dead tree, and this wooden prison's bars are within reach. Golden Star is about to grab them to go through when he suddenly stops.

The noise of the cracking wood has stopped. There is no grumbling. Golden Star doesn't climb anymore; he looks down briefly; the cavity he entered is completely clear. Rakshasa has disappeared ag-

Crack.

Golden Star, suddenly plunged into complete darkness, looks up. This time, only two red stars far too close and deadly blades gleam in the darkness obstructing the lunar rays.

"EEEEEYAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!" Golden Star screams, terrified.

Rakshasa shatters the wood with a violent claw swipe. Golden Star, plastering himself again against the wall he's climbing, narrowly avoids the attack while screaming. Feeling the point of the murderous claws graze him and stir up cold air on his furless skin; the young humanoid is taken by a shiver running through all his spine. Without even waiting for a second assault from the leopard, he lets himself slide against the wood while clinging to its claws.

The wild child, pupils narrowed and tears in his eyes, raises his gaze to the sky. The mass of darkness has disappeared, revealing a large cavity in the middle of the wooden bars. Golden Star's heart drums until it takes over all his hearing. He doesn't even hear the sound of his claws tearing the dead wood, he doesn't even hear himself leaping through the cavity he had spotted below, landing on the branch that extends it. He only faintly hears this branch, more fragile than the one above him, cracking under his steps. Only one thought preoccupies him: to flee.

Nothing else enters his mind, neither his or-

RoOoAaAaRrR !!!!!!!!!

Golden Star raises his head: Rakshasa dives into him. The feline child hurls himself at the end of the branch so he can bounce back, but the leopard lands hard at half its length.

CRASH.

The branch breaks under the leopard's sheer strength. Golden Star falls, and Rakshasa too.

The tiger kid hits the ground hard, his eyes closed and his body rolling. He stumbles against something, stopping him in his roll. Sore and groaning, the young boy half-opens his eyes. His vision is blurred at first, and he can only make out a dark mass highlighted by the moon's rays. As his eyelids spread, his surroundings become clearer and clearer.

The savage widens his eyes when his vision becomes clear again and he suddenly steps back, screaming.

This dark mass is one of the unfinished meals of Rakshasa. A full-grown Seua Saming, savagely lacerated and devoured, safe for his feline fangs and one of his tiger ears. The mere sight of a slain, fanged creature is enough to make Golden Star's heart skip a beat, even if he doesn't recognize his own kin.

As the child backs away, he hears a growl that tells him to stop in his tracks. He slowly turns his head, stunned by terror.

Rakshasa dangerously approaches, but it takes its time. As it enters the moonlit perimeter, the man-eating leopard licks its lips. Golden Star tries to escape, but fear, fatigue, and pain prevent him from moving. He can only watch, powerless, his executioner taking shape and consistency under his eyes. The moon allows him to discern the soiled fur, the musculature, and the body of the black panther, this panther which had only appeared to him as a red-eyed silhouette until then.

The demonic beast rolls its lips up, revealing again its fangs as sharp as blades, tinged with the blood of many humans and the little hemoglobin he drew from Golden Star. The latter crouches down, burying his face in his arms. Trembling like a leaf, he doesn't dare to meow anymore. Tears bead on his face, just as the blood of his fellow creatures flows along his ebony tormentor's fangs and chin.

With all claws out, the beast slightly bends down, ready to pounce on its prey. Here's one more meal to add to its mountain of-

ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR !!!!!!!!!

A roar resounds and tears the shadows, breaking the domain's macabre silence. It is a roar that Golden Star knows way too well. The tiger child slowly raises his head, and what he sees surprises him.

Rakshasa shivers. For the first time in its life spent tracking down, killing, and devouring countless humans and Seua Saming alike, the black panther is shaking. Something has vibrated through it, down to its bones.

The leopard turns its head. Two azure gems glow in the shadows. But Rakshasa barely has time to distinguish them clearly when Khamot drags him to the ground the next instant with a mighty leap.

Moon
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muishiki
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Elukard
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