The hunter at sunset

Story by Kisu Composer on SoFurry

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The sun sank low in west, setting the sky ablaze in fiery golden hues, the clouds undersides turning a deep shade of violet. The trees of the large forest grove swayed gently, their thick foliage casting dabbled shadows that swayed and danced as the gentle breeze that blew in from the north played gently through their lofty boughs. A small flock of birds fluttered in and nestled down in one of the larger trees, preparing to roost there for the night, chirruping their goodnights to eachother. A lone chicada hummed in the diminishing heat, its loud warbling call cutting through the evening silence.

A small herd of deer graved near a small stream, the water gurgling past happily to itself as a few fish leap out, snapping at a few bugs foolish enough to buzz down near the surface of the water, before splashing back down into the stream. It wasnt a very large herd of deer, a few does with fawns under hoof. Standing in the midst of them stood a large 12-point buck, standing proudly over his grazing herd, the setting sun making the shadow from his horns extend well into the forest, eyes and ears alert for any sign of predators.

Lurking deep within the deep foliage, down wind from the herd of deer, a large creature stalked through the forest, eyes locked firmly on the prey before him. It was a large white lion, built sturdy and ready to take down anything. His fur was white save for a strange blue cresent moon pattern that ran down the middle of his chest down to his belly. His mane and tailtip were a shocking silver colour, gleaming brightly in the evening sunlight. His tail flicked from side to side as he neared them, each large pawpad settling down quitely, deftly avoiding any dead leaves or twigs. As he neared, the forest seemed to go quite, as if in anticipation of what was to come. The deer lifted there heads, eyes wide, ears swiveling to pick up any trace of sound, nostrils flaring in fear.

When he drew near enough to the buck which was standing a little ways from the rest of the heard, the large lion crouched low, powerful muscles in his hind limbs bunching, before propelling him onto the back of the buck, forepaws grasping the creatures neck with his forepaws claws, digging into its side with his hind legs, kicking and tearing. The buck reared out of fright, but fell quickly beneath the large lions weight. The other deer screamed in fright as well and ran as fast as they could, leaving the buck for dead. The lion got to the bucks neck and bit down hard, plunging his large canines into the creatures throat, cutting off the flow of air. The buck gave a few failing kicks before it died due to lack of oxygen, and the lion released his grasp, stepping back, panting heavily from the struggle.

As the lion stood, he slowly started to change, his animilistic form becoming more that of a human, legs elongating, forelimbs turning into arms, paws turning into hands with dextrous fingers. Before long he stood there, muscles rippling powerfully beneth his thin soft fur, blue cresent moon shining slightly in the quickly fading light. He looked at the lowering sun, eyes squinting against the light, then whent back to his kill, hoisting it up over his shoulders with a small grunt of effort, and carrying it off to the south east, towards his den where he would prepare it to be eaten.