12 First Prey

Tyrant did not dare underestimate anything unfamiliar in this world. He took the hunting method he was most familiar with, ambush.

Thus he familiarly concealed his presence.

His fur was originally dark, and it was night, so even if he was rusty, it was easy.

He silenced his footsteps, crouched low to the ground, and crawled slowly through the brush.

He observed the animal closely. It looked nervous, it must be cautious, and slightly aware of danger. It's ears were long, likely to hear better. He saw how heavily underdeveloped it's forelegs we're compared to it's hind legs, and figured it was more used to running. It's eyes looked unfocused as if it had trouble seeing. It's forelegs we're like sticks to him, and looked as if it wasn't used to do anything but eat with. But what could it eat?

Something like a diet based entirely on vegetation was simply unthinkable to an Abyssal, whose circle of life consisted entirely on eating each other.

A weak species like this would go extinct within days in the abyss, but here it was. Tyrant was trying to see if there were any strange trump cards this species might have, and if it's weak facade was just to draw in unsuspecting prey.

Nonetheless, no such features were found. No slits or pores that might have hidden blades or fangs, no distinct signs of venom or poison, no signs of a high resistance to ice or fire, which might suggest some glands that can produce and emit it. If anything was hidden, it was hidden very well.

Tyrant finally decided that it didn't matter if it had any trump cards if it died without time to use it.

He noticed the small signs of breathing from its nose and the slight palpitations that originated in the center of its chest, and confirmed that it had the same vital points as usual, which made him relieved.

He approached silently, and probed it's area of detection. By the time he got within a meter of it, the grass beneath him crunched. it's ears twitched, Tyrant immediately froze, he made a mistake. He wasn't used to walking on the vegetation covering the land, and was more used to hard stone or ice, though he thought he did considerably well considering he made it this far. It's hearing was also sharper than he expected, as the sound was just slight. He waited for its response. Would it confront him, make some distance, or run away at the first signs of danger? No matter what, Tyrant was prepared.

But it did not move, and continued to drink water. For a weak looking thing, it was strangely arrogant, not taking action at any sign of danger. The only reason for this response was that it truly was hiding something, or that his stealth wasn't actually seen through.

So he pounced.

He couldn't help the vegetation being disturbed as he pushed off the ground, so the prey was alerted immediately. As he expected, it instantly turned tail, with no intention to fight.

It was too late for it though, he landed on it's back and sunk his fangs into it's neck, causing a cry of pain.

Tyrant figured that his teeth weren't as sharp as it used to be, as it did not die instantly. It struggled, but not the fighting kind, the worthless kind that was trying to run away from his clutches.

Pathetic. Even a lone rat bites when cornered, this animal was obviously worse than a rat.

Although, in the abyss, rats were the weakest of creatures, but they survived due to their numbers and razor sharp fangs. They always attacked in groups of hundreds, and they were usually a little bigger than this animal in his grip. A lone rat would usually be helpless against any beast.

But even then, although they were the weakest, they still struggled to give at least any wound before it died, for the sake of the rest of it's pack.

So this rabbit was either alone, without pack nor partner, or pathetically spineless.

It died without incident. It went whimpering pitifully, like a coward's death.

He bit into it's flesh, it was strangely soft, a testimony to how weak it is, as it likely did not fight much. Tyrant honestly thought that it was not that bad. One of the better things he has eaten.

This was not strange as weak animals often had the tenderest flesh, this was often why younger, weak beasts were targeted.

He savored the meal, as he was indeed quite hungry, it was the first things he's eaten since he's arrived. He devoured down to the bones, then ate the bones too, as they were not that tough, and rather thin, and still had nutrients.

Abyssals often ate bones, as no part of prey should be wasted, the only reason to keep them would be when you're strong enough to keep them as trophies, or the bones are too tough to eat.

The latter was the reason he did not eat the bones of Pluto, along with there being no time before the Abyss was annihilated.

Suddenly he felt a presence. He tensed up. All the signs were there, the sound of rustling and light breathing, the slight impact on the earth, the smell of its hide, the change in the air. Tyrant was well versed with all these signs.

It was still at least a dozen meters away, and he grew wary, he immediately concealed himself next to a tree in some brush. He did not climb the tree as that would make it harder to detect the threat through vibrations, the most accurate method.

He felt the presence freeze, as it noticed that that something was off about the area it was encroaching, but then it continued, on second glance he didn't notice anything odd.

Soon he felt more presences, they all had similar breathing, so he knew they were of the same species, likely a pack.

They had only gathered, and seemed to be searching for something, probably prey, they did not seem to have noticed him. He started to sneak away, he didn't know if he was their opponent yet.

"AOWOOOOOOOOH!!!!"

A powerful howl pierced through the air. Tyrant froze.

Suddenly the pack of beasts started to encircle the area he was in.

Tyrant was shocked, was he discovered?!

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