Beast Within

Chapter 17:

Hunter and Prey

Two Months Later...

I stooped down low to the ground, gently tracing my claws over what appeared to be a fresh imprint. The leaves around it, along with the snapped twigs, supported this theory, along with the relative silence of the forest around me. I couldn’t hear a single bird, nor any creature at all for that matter, despite being near the very heart of the woods.

My prey was near, then.

“Alright, bub,” I growled lightly, adjusting the straps on my pack. “Playtime’s over.”

Running down the path on all fours, I kept myself close to the ground, running at a speed that let me cover the most ground while observing my surroundings. As I ran, I had to reflect on how even this, the crucial procedure of hunting down my prey, had become all too easy. Everything, from predicting their next move, to the actual kill itself, came to me easier than almost anything else I had experienced in this form. I was addicted to the adrenaline that pumped through my system more willingly than blood, to the thought of taking down another monster that preyed on the weak.

That seemed to be the epitome of irony, though. Because that’s exactly why I was hiding in the most dangerous forest in Equestria.

Because everyone, all manner of pony, gryphon, or whatever else was out there, thought I was little more than a monster.

Yeah. Shocking, isn’t it? I didn’t even see it coming...

The heavy sound of thick breathing snapped me out of my thoughts, demanding my attention. I recognized the way the air would rush out in slow, uneven bursts, as if whatever it was had been sprinting for a full marathon. Of course, there was another type of breathing that went right along with that. The labored breathing of something that’s been charged with adrenaline. And there are only two things that happen to someone in the Everfree Forest to induce such a state.

You either have to be hunting...

Or you have to be the hunted.

I brought myself to a stop right on the edge of a wall formed by a fallen tree that had been completely covered in moss. There, right in the center of a clearing, I spotted it; an enormous mound of coarse, torn fur, with enough muscles to ward off even the most foolhardy of hunters. Sharp, bony spikes erupted from its back, around its claws, and the back of its head, adding another level of worry and intimidation to the monster. Hellish red eyes burned with a feral rage, as its gaping maw tore into the carcass of a doe, feasting upon the meat it had rightfully won.

This was my target; a Dire Bear...

Odd, that it should be this rampant, I found myself thinking as I slowly moved to a better vantage point. Dire bears are a rarity, to be sure, but they aren’t known for being as violent as this one is...

The monster paused for a moment, its muzzle still stained with crimson, its gleaming white teeth a stark contrast to the blood flowing down them. Before it could make another move, I launched my arms out, grabbing onto a low hanging tree branch that was just above the bear. Letting out a fierce roar, I pulled myself over to the monster, and slammed both of my spiked boots right into its snout.

Surprised, the bear reared back onto its hind legs, drawing itself to its massive height. I was suddenly acutely aware of just how short it made me look in comparison, as it let loose a mighty bellow that shook the leaves off of a good number of the trees around us. The very force of just the bear’s roar was enough to push me back a couple of feet, allowing it to swipe its ridiculously long claws down at me in a ferocious double-pawed attack.

Letting myself fall back to my own instincts, I tucked myself up into a tight ball, and rolled forward, avoiding the attack entirely. With the momentum still carrying me, I brought my right fist out into a leaping uppercut, catching the monster square in its ribs. Bones cracked sickeningly as they shattered beneath my strength, and the bear was forced to roll to its side, or risk facing more permanent damage. As it did though, the bear managed to catch me with a kick from its rear leg, tossing me into the air and into a nearby oak.

“Oof!” I grunted as I crashed into the tree with enough force to shake off some of its branches and nearly knock its roots out of the ground. “You’re not making this easy!” I growled to the bear as I fell to the ground.

I picked myself up just in time to see that the monster was charging at me, its head bowed low enough to bear one of the spikes on its forehead at me. There wasn’t enough time to dodge, or even try to duck under its legs. Growling all the while, I firmly planted my boots into the hard ground beneath me, and braced my hands in front of me. The very moment the bear was on me, I grabbed its jaw with one hand, and used the other to catch it straight in its neck. Roaring in fury, the bear was suddenly lifted right up into the air, and slammed into a nearby boulder, its back bending sickeningly for just a moment.

Not one to lose this opportunity, I started tearing into its belly with my claws, ripping apart fur and sinew, intent on nothing but the kill. With my own enraged roar, I lifted the monster once again, and started to pound away at the boulder with it, brutally breaking the bear’s spine with a crack that could have been heard for miles around.

It yelped in pain, but stubbornly tried to swipe at me with its claws once again. It was a tough bastard, I had to give it that much. Still, that wouldn’t change the ending results. Once it was immobile upon the ground, I leaped onto its throat, and started using my own claws to finish off the beast once and for all.

Weary from blood loss and pain, the Dire Bear finally submitted, its eyes dulling with each passing moment. I was panting heavily over its body, my own fur soaked with red hot blood. As the adrenaline of the kill worked itself out of my system, I was able to notice something...disturbing...

A dark wisp of black smoke curled out of its eyes, and vanished.

That’s it. No explosion, no cry of death. Just a simple wisp of smoke. One that looked extraordinarily similar to the way a Shadow-Stalker would disappear once “killed”.

“This can’t be good,” I told myself as I watched where the smoke had been.

A twig snapped behind me, yanking me out of my thoughts. I whirled around just in time to see a white blur shoot off into the forest, leaving a very distinct set of tracks.

“And now I’m gettin’ spooked by rabbits,” I muttered. “Great. Maybe it’ll attack me when I skin this thing.”

With that said, I shook my head, and set about the grisly task of skinning the bear of its fur and teeth. It was dark, to be sure, but I could use it to earn more bits. After all, I’ve still gotta eat. My safe-houses were to only be used in emergencies, and I didn’t want to waste them. If I ever had to go on the lamb, or bunker down, those were my only shot at outlasting whatever problem would come my way.

For now, I just had to scrape to get by.

You know, a lot of people sometimes put too much time into a disguise. Fake skin, fat suits, wigs, all of that can really be a hinderance. If you don’t know how to carry yourself with extra weight, you’ll definitely make it incredibly clear that you’re wearing a disguise. Wigs can sometimes just be cumbersome, especially if you don’t know how to style them just right. And I don’t even need to get into how people overthink accents, backstories, lies, and everything like that. It’s ridiculous.

Really, with all the advances in using a disguise, we’ve forgotten just how effective a simple cloak and slouch can do.

It wasn’t surprising when I had wandered a nearby town (I didn’t bother remembering the name; wasn’t important) and only got taken for a diamond dog with a back problem. A large one, sure, but I was able to walk around without being hindered by anypony. And the pony at the apothecary gave me a decent deal for the remains of the Dire Bear. It was enough money to purchase another month’s worth of supplies, a heavier cloak, and still leave some left over for an emergency fund.

A flurry of activity caught my eye as I started the trek out of town, causing me to stop for a moment. It was dangerous and risky, but something stood out enough for me to at least give it a look. There, nailing a poster to a wooden announcement board, was a golden-armored Earth Pony, one of Celestia’s personal guards. Not too far behind him, an entire platoon watched with a sort of anxious interest, as if they were itching to get a move on.

That worried me. What was so bad that they had to send the Royal Guard all the way out here? Curious, I pushed through the small crowd that had gathered around them, and eyed the poster warily.

Maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me at that point, but it was a detailed sketch of...well, myself. It was off on some of the little details, but anyone who had seen that drawing would be able to recognize me almost instantly. Underneath the picture was written, WARNING - EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. $3,000,000 REWARD. DEAD OR ALIVE.

The poster went on to cite a list of crimes I had supposedly committed. Arson. Murder. Assault. Vandalism. Destruction of Property. It didn’t go into detail, but it showed a few examples of my “handiwork” by naming some of the towns that had been burned to the ground, making sure to emphasize the fact that there were no survivors.

As for a name, it only kept referring to me as “Warclaw, the Beast”. I felt my teeth clench angrily as I tried to puzzle out what was going on. I hadn’t done anything to them. Ever since my meeting with Cadence, I had forced myself to focus on tracking down Torrentican and the rest of his blood portals. I’d been laying low, trying to avoid attention. So imagine my surprise when guards and bounty hunters start trying to bring me in.

I...I’m not proud of what I did to some of them.

But that only served to incite the rest of them even further. I had to stop fighting them, and go on the run. Every time something tried to kill me, I had to turn and run the other way. It was the only choice that let both sides walk away without the needless loss of life.

It was the only choice that reminded me I wasn’t a beast.

With all of that said, I still had to wonder on several things. Who was framing me? How had they done it? And, most importantly...why?

As I considered these thoughts, a pony stumbled over my cloak...accidentally pulling it down to reveal my face to everypony around me. Soon enough, nearly every head in that crowd was turned towards me, gasping in shock and fear at the sight of the monster on the poster.

And of course, that entire squad, some dozen ponies, were all heavily armed.

Fantastic. Next Chapter: 18) Tactical Retreat Estimated time remaining: 17 Minutes