Hunting Grounds (Open)

Darkroot Domain.

It was a natural death trap of vegetation and demonic teeth for some, and a hunting ground for others. The entire sphere had an uneasy feel to it, as if you were about to get jumped at any moment. And you would be right to trust that feeling, unaware travelers were often picked off within moments of wandering the sphere. The she-demon known as Eris was not the unsuspecting wanderer, but the deadly hunter.

Looking for her daily meal, the shape-shifter took on the form of a succubus, using the seductive demon's advantage to hunt from above. Almost any target would do. It was the first meal of the day, the first flesh, the first blood. And she was hungry. The fake succubus's movements were stealthful and quiet, moving unlike most real members of the demon family. She moved like an acrobat, performing well executed jumps and flips from one branch to another, extending her black wings to glide to trees that were out of reach. She made not a sound, wanting to snatch up the first victim she deemed worthy of a meal.

It was during these silent hunts that Eris had time to think and reflect. Most of this thinking was simply daydreaming about her next brutal murder, or how to ruin somebody's day. Rarely would she think about her mortal life, but it sometimes came up as a subject. This day was one of those days.

The black cowled Turks surrounded the block. They were monsters of men, all standing over six feet tall, each of them carrying an equally intimidating axe. The Orthodox priest, shouting out words of his holiness in a commanding tone, was a reverse image of the guardsmen. He was thin, standing at a pathetic five foot three, and had a bird-like face. She wanted to do nothing more than rip his head off, an ironic thought given her position. The words he spoke were perhaps more painful than the punishment that followed them. She tried her best to mute them, but they still pierced her ears like sharp spears. The words of God. Even her screaming couldn't blot them out. After what seemed to be a eon, she finally felt the axe's cold blade touch the back of her neck, causing her to scream out a final insult, "I'll rape you in He-"

Eris suddenly snapped out of her train of thought, almost causing her to miss a branch and fall to the jungle floor. Luckily, she was able to grab a lower branch and pull herself back up. Instead of jumping to the next branch, the demon decided to rest for a while. Perched upon a branch like a large bird, the succubus shaped demon kept an eye on the jungle floor, just in case some prey happened to come by during her rest...

The territory was marked for it were the den of the predator. That which reaps from the bounty of its spoils, to devour that which it has hunted, and destroy that which stood against it. It is the ultimate, the fastest, the deadliest. What sanctuary presided that none approached for many skeletons of myriads of creatures that thought otherwise are among the deceased. The living now made dead, for theirs is the ultimate fate of defeat. There was one that lingered forth into the forest of trees that be the Hellsprinter's den. Scarred and proud of all his accomplishments, those battles hard won and fought, and ultimately the devouring of those that came abundant with his vicious claws, mighty and powerful.

The reaper stalked from the tall feathery grass, high enough to camouflage his general scape of his being well under form. Hidden and watchful always, following the woman from underneath as she made leeway leaping branch to branch. She was fast, but the Hellsprinter was even faster. Not making a trace of sound. It were but something that could easily be mistaken for imagination. That flutter of grass that gave rustles, that wind that whistled, the scrape of the brown Earthen soil on the ground. This was his territory, and he was the chief of these forests. None dared venture forth here before and many have paid the price for their insolence. She did not know where she was, and surely the Succubus he saw before him, though unknown to the hunter for he had seen one for naught before.

A few minutes before...

The Hellsprinter devoured the flesh of his kin that dared trespass his territory marked and so. Surrounded among the bounty of his many kills, flesh piled atop one another like the mounds of a mountain, he ate. His was that of peace as of now, to feast, to fulfill his appetite. His battle was long over, his muscles barely ached, barely had any exercise out of the excursion. He wanted more THRILL. To battle FURTHER. To impart death MORE. It was in his nature to kill in excess and to eat. To kill not for sport, but for fulfillment. Necessity was but a second grade cause to him. It was only that from but many leagues away had his eyes sighted a peculiar sight before him.

Far aside the hunter were, out of her sight, watching the Succubus making way as from the branches did his interest kindle, and did the hunter drop what he were devouring. Furthering his stalking as he tracked the dame for but another game to add to his menu...

Present...

When Eris was on the branch having broken her train of thought, the demon already found his way atop. It wasn't even a moment to give her to rest to find her pray, that a blur flashed towards her, claws glistened with a deathly intent as the distance and the gap between the not-succubus and the Hellsprinter was closing within nanoseconds, and FAST. Deigning to rip her asunder from her ribs, without even a warning but a subtle rustle in which the Hellsprinter acted so fast, so quickly, and well within her moment of temporary vulnerability exposed.

Something reeked like rotten flesh around this area. She hadn't noticed it before briefly stopping, but it was now overwhelming. She quickly looked around, hoping to find the source of the smell, but had to turn her attention to something else. In the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of fur. She knew that flash, and instantly jumped up, attempting to take flight. Unfortunately for the she-demon, she was too late. The succubus felt a sharp pain on her leg. It was obvious that the cat monster had made contact with it's deadly claws, but it was only a scratch. The Hellsprinter would have a perfect opportunity to grab onto her after making contact, and possibly even rip her wings off if he wanted to.

Accounting for this, the shapeshifter flew in a direct vertical path, trying to get as high up as quickly as possible. Her bat like wings were now frantically flapping rather than elegantly gliding. By this time, she was going at least twenty five miles per hour, ascending into the forest canopy. The thick branches and trees made this task difficult but nowhere near impossible. The lesser demon was actually attempting to fly through the smallest openings between the sharp branches she could find in an attempt to knock the Hellsprinter off of her, if it even grabbed on in the first place. If it hadn't, doing these maneuvers would at least make following the winged seducer more of a challenge.

After several miles of leaves, thorns, and trees, Eris finally pierced the canopy, making it out into open skies. She only flew up a few meters above the trees, not at all looking to run away from this fight. if the cat demon grabbed her, she would at this time attempt to grab it's head and quickly dig her thumbs into the beast's eyes, hopefully causing it to lose it's grip and fall to it's death. If it didn't grab onto her, she would wait for the creature to leap out of the trees, ready for it's savage strike. She had fought Hellsprinters before, and this one certainly wouldn't be the one to do her in.

The Hellsprinter instead of attempting to grab unto the girl's leg, given the opportunity, instead poised to strike through her flesh and take off a chunk with its deadly claws. To satisfy its hunger with but that chunk of meat, and in fact with primal intelligence acting through its brain, not chase her upwards. The Hellsprinter saw only folly in such deeds, strangely enough. The Hellsprinter only waited for her to take ascendance, this is HIS forest, and she wouldn't be outsmarting him in THIS terrain. The Alpha Hellsprinter only shrunk into the thickets of leaves and branches, enveloped and concealed into camouflage by the many greens of the jungle trees. He only laid there, shrinking back into the shadows as the only thing that gave proof of his imposing presence still existed in his forest were those red cast hungry eyes of his. That too soon faded into the shadows as he camouflaged, giving one hiss before what followed suit as the Succubus flew up was but nothing but silence. Had he swiped a chunk off her leg to devour, there would be no doubt he would be devouring it by now, that if such a thing occurred, munching and a purr of satisfaction would follow suit, though subtle as it may be. He wouldn't be worried, for the not-succubus would be high above the skies where the only separation between the two were distance. Regardless, the Hellsprinter it seemed to have experience fighting against aerial opponents before, especially seen on his scarred hide with many proof of its battle against demonkind and the like. It was out of view now, silent as the winds whistled through the trees, and the hunt was only beginning. The night was young.

After a minute of hovering above the canopy with no results, Eris came to the conclusion that the Hellsprinter hadn't followed her. If she wished, she could simply fly off now and not worry about it. But she was pissed. The cat ripped off a large portion of her skin on her leg. Nothing that wouldn't heal in a few hours or so, but still. Nobody got her like that. In a rage, she shouted down to the forest below her, making sure the hell cat would hear her. "Here, kitty kitty! Come out and play!"

The fake succubus flew into a nearby tree. She made sure nothing was around before she quickly changed her form. Her wings returned to her body as her mass mysterious changed. In a mere second, she had taken on the furry form of a Hellsprinter, the same thing she was trying to kill. The new creature sniffed the air, looking for her own blood. Before long, she had located the enemy's general direction. She also knew that her foe most likely did something similar, due to her leg wound that transferred to her new form.

Using the sprinter's hellish speed, Eris crawled from tree to tree, traveling on all fours. She was moving quickly, but not directly at her prey. She used the environment to hide her movements, using the thick leaves to her advantage. Her enemy would have to rely on it's sense of smell to find her, as she was doing. The scent was becoming stronger. The target was only a few meters away.

She noticed a few branches rustling, but instead of striking her target, she prepared to pounce on it once it approached her. Hopefully, she would be able to confuse the cat by taking the form of it's own kind, attempting to catch the beast off it's guard. The fake hellsprinter was prepared for almost anything at this point, or at least she thought.

It's ears shivered with what playful tunes that entered it so, the Hellsprinter was more than ever aware of her position that she did not flee. How costly this would be, as the jaguar demon would soon bare its claws, licking the blood. He already picked up the scent, even as the Succubus flew away, the Hellsprinter merely smelt her out. It was hard to lose the scent of something so close and something already familiar to the Predator's nostrils. Thus, the Hellsprinter made for his descent down from the branches, and unto the tall grass. Unlike his brethren, he were not static, or slow, or stupid. It took cunning to survive this long in the jungles, otherwise, you'd only become chow, food, the meal of the next top thing. What came next was an unfamiliar scent from whence the winged meaty meal were, that of its own kind. The Hellsprinter was not deterred, it mattered not, it made cannibalism of its own kind. The Hellsprinter at the ground, noticed also a rustle above at the tree branches, but did not act upon it. What approached from its strong scent was the prey. The Alpha Hellsprinter instead moved around a tree and waited...

Upon her arrival, from her back the Alpha Hellsprinter leaped. It was by comparison a foot and two larger than your average Hellsprinter, now that the forms are being compared, and an albino to boot. Baring its claws once more within a blur given the speed it was traveling whilst going for another strike behind Eris, having cleverly sneaked around as to flank her and penetrate her rear guard. The intention was simple, it was to swipe at her back, with one of its claws threatening to pierce her spine, hence clear as day, to make her immobile. It clearly shown it has further intellect than one knows of the Hellsprinter, and ferocious pragmatism to boot.

Earlier though before he moved to the tree, the means to which he has inspired his scent to be fuming upon further inspection would be urine left in the place. Stronger enough to hold sway over any nostrils strong enough to pick up on it.

She waited in the branches for almost a minute. It didn't seem like the cat-demon had any intention on coming after the fake one. Interesting. The shape-shiftier thought to herself, noticing some movement on the forest floor. But this is an obvious trap. The she-demon smiled at this attempt, as it was a nice counter to her equally as obvious trap. Due to this, she removed her Hellsprinter form, reverting back to her original form.

In an elegant leap, the acrobatic demon landed on the forest floor, purposely landing herself right in the hunter's trap. Not even seconds after this her form began to change once again. Her mass grew much larger than it was through unknown means. Eris' once pale skin morphed into a thick purple hide. Thick horns sprouted form her skull, and her legs bent and contorted into hooved limbs. Out of flames of hellfire spawned a great axe in each of the monster's hands. It was one of Inferis' most feared demons, and one from a different area entirely: The Taurus Demon. Sometimes brute strength was the best strategy.

If the hellcat still wished to pursue it's attack, it would leave a large gash into the bull creature's back, but wouldn't do any structural damage like it would have to Eris' other forms. Upon feeling this scratch, the large demon would attempt to swing around and promptly gore the Hellsprinter on of of it's powerful horns. Regardless if it hit or missed, the minotaur would follow up it's goring with one of it's famous unstoppable charges for about one hundred yards. The charge was completely linear, but was also going in the general direction of the cat-demon. If the Hellsprinter was gored, it would be finished off after being smashed against several trees and other obstructions that the charging monster would simply just plow through. Otherwise, the battle would just continue as normal one hundred yards away.

It's eyes widened, it was out of genuine surprise. Nothing EVER catches the Alpha Hellsprinter in surprise. Not something of this degree. Never had he encountered something like this, but as a predator, it must adapt, though inopportune it may be. The pivotal mass of the Hellsprinter thrown him across at the clashing of the horns against its ribs slugging it from the non-pointy ends, feeling some bones rupture and crack under the strong pressure and yet, adrenaline surged throughout its body. The pain alleviated as rage makes for one Hell of an anesthetic. It's back though felt the rough hide of the trees scrape against its back, puncturing the skin as it left for several tears, seeping down blood.

He had endured such trifles before, battles grizzled him, and he had fought bigger. It was a surprise, a fluke, it HAD to be a fluke, nothing more or less. Averted from the path of the minotaur's destructive charge, the Hellsprinter stood up, its legs still strong with the might of a Hellsprinter, and its pride that be to hunt without delay or harm. Aye, it was the epitome of it all. It could lay down and consign itself to the fate itself, be defeated like many before it. To be prey and accept the defeat... tempting thoughts. Tempting thoughts for a DEFEATIST. NEVER. Never shall it accept defeat till even after its last breath passes. It won't ever lose, not while it can even move an inch of its muscles.

Invigorated, the Hellsprinter would not wound up as to rip apart the Taurus Demon's back, instead, with speeds hard to track, like a blur, its claws deigned to take a huge chunk off of the posterior ligament, the knee pit, otherwise also known as popilateal fossa. There were major muscles there, and to take that away was to bring the minotaur down and make it get kneed. He had to reach the head, and this was its best way. Having made all possible movements to get behind the Taurus, NOT CARING for the damage at all that it would incur as it would make its one sole goal is to rip out the muscles from there and render its calf incapable of movement. A tunnel like vision that it had attained as the goal is obvious.

"HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS... GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWR!" He let out a proud boastful roar, it wanted this freak shapeshifter to KNOW it will NOT GIVE UP. This was its proclamation to the jungle it WILL fight to the death.

Eris felt a sharp pain on the back of her knee at some point during her charge. The flesh was tearing away from bone, such a delightful feeling. It really made one feel so alive. Using her powerful hooves and axes as a stopping mechanism, she halted her unstoppable charge. Did this kitten really think he could topple her? Almost five hundred years is a Hell of a long time. A long time of scavenging, living in the shadows, eating off of other people's scraps. Not anymore.

Actually feeding off of the excitement the pain gave her, the Minotaur let out a mighty roar in response to the Hellsprinter's battlecry. The hellish demon threw it's powerful axes into the ground, making a small quake around the battling demons. The massive creature stepped towards the axe that was closest to the wounded knee. The monster didn't have much time, whether she enjoyed the pain or not, soon there would be no muscles to support her large form. The Taurus Demon's opposite arm to the wound came reaching for the cat-demon, aiming to grab it and rip it off of her body.

At least that's what would appear to of happened.

While the Hellcat was hopefully distracted by her grab, the shapeshifter would let her wounded leg fall free, soon followed by her healthy one. The creature was intending to sit on her target. A Taurus Demon was quite the hefty demon, weighing more than two small cars. This 'surprise attack' would cause a great deal of pain, and most likely crippling injury, smashing nearly every bone in the lightweight demon's body if it were to hit.

The ground rippled underneath the Hellsprinter's feet, that its run found itself stumbling to find footing on the grassy grounds, and yet due to its nature, it were easily found. The dirt sunk in as the Hellsprinter's feet pushed itself against the ground, lacking the need for traction as it found himself balanced henceforth and once more. Though it found itself facing a swipe towards it, a hefty one with a mountainous strength and the vice grip of a condor, both unfavorable and otherwise unfounded in retrospect to what it would be a plausible alternative, which is to say sacrifice. It always is.

The arm that reached out for it sweeped the Hellsprinter off its feet, as the Alpha Hellsprinter toppled on top of the hand rather than be caught, a last moment spur had driven it upwards in a leap and over the hand as it rolled around, hearing further fractures of its ribs keeling over from the pressure. The rigors of its activities were drawing upon its psyche. No help was expected, this jungle was solitary for a reason, and would continue to be so given its presence... but if it were gone, there would be chaos here once again where it would be a feeding frenzy. The Hellsprinter was not driven by sentiment, but by territorial aggression, and this trespasser would just NOT KEEP STOPPING. What drive is there? It wants death so badly? The Hellsprinter shall gladly indulge its wants.

Though it were interrupted. It was not quick enough. His left feet was smothered by a great tonnage as it heard fractures. He lets out a pained growl, hissing and roaring loudly enough to shake the calm atmosphere above into a frenzy, as what avian features flew upwards and scattered into the skies. His leg up to his knee was crushed, it was a moment where the Hellsprinter was trapped for the first time in his life, but NO. IT WILL NOT BE HELD DOWN. MANY TIMES OVER PAIN HAS COME TO CLAIM IT, but MANY MORE TIMES, it has shown DEFIANCE. It has made SO MUCH MORE SACRIFICES, that in the face of this newcomer, this prey that DARES fancy herself a predator, a King of the Jungle, it will NOT MAKE A-DO feasting on its corpse. No, none shall claim to have ceased the existence of the Alpha Hellsprinter, one of the wiliest and wildest of its kind.

Without even a thought to spare, his claws bifurcated his knee unto two, separating him from the crash as he had used what one good leg to leap out of the way. Blood pooled as it formed a trail to which it went away, furthering farther from the Minotaur Shapeshifter's flank, hopping awkwardly, stumbling to find its bearing. He had not much time to live, and knew it, the blood drained it of its color more so than usual. It wouldn't leave so easily, not without taking a companion, and it saw whom to take to the end of infernal existence itself -- Eris.

In one final and defiant leap, never to bow down, the Hellsprinter's claws, so infamous for carving through steel so easily, had brought to bear against the Minotaur's throat, the form of the feline gracefully hovered above the bull demon with a tenacity unseen since the times of Zemor Keym.

Crack! Had she finally taken down this unrelenting pest? No, it couldn't be that simple. He sitting maneuver had failed, only partially crushing the demon's foot. It was lethal damage, but it just wasn't enough. The mighty hellcat was able to hobble itself to one foot in an awkward motion. It was going to the death, it seemed.

How violent. Blood poured out of the back of the minotaur's leg. Unlike her opponent, however, her regenerative factor was slowly starting to kick in. Her slashed leg was already starting to scab up, and it wouldn't be long before her torn knee reformed itself. Yes, a battle to the death will do nicely. The Taurus Demon made a series of uncomfortable noises as it's bone structure began to change again. It was a particularly painful process when wounded, but that only fueled the demon's rage, he motivation. In fact, it felt good.

In a counter to the Hellsprinter's final coupe de grace, she attempted one of her own in reaction to it's magnificent leap. While in the midst of transformation, Eris stood on her new and smaller form's hands, lifting her legs into the air. As the final steps of the body change took place, powerful blades sprung out where her feet once where. The goal of this was very simple: to remove the arms at the shoulder.

It was the only way to end it. After all, the limb ripping trend had already started. The blood form her wounds covered her Leaper body making her a foul red color. She let out a terrible scream, a shout to dethrone the ruler of these lands.

There. The alpha saw his target, knew what he would do. He was on the full-aggressive now, laying it all on the line, blinded such by his own rage that he didn't even begin to notice as the massive Taurus demon's form shifting once more, to a much slimmer body, that of a Leaper. It was fury, furious adrenaline that drove its moves as it fell on her, as if in slow motion, claws and teeth bared, despite the pain from its stump of a leg, still bloodied by the self-inflicted collateral of his escape from her weighty hold.

Time passed as fractions of microseconds, as the thing's face, utterly filled with violent aggression, slowly shifted to a new expression; one colloquially known to most as "FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU-" It noticed the legs pointed at it, and knew that mid-dive, there was no way it could stop itself now. It clamped its eyes shut, and attempted to pull its arms together at its chest. As she let out a dreadful scream, he too let out a primal roar of defiance; this is my kingdom, yet, foolish one. I am the master of my domain, and I. Will. Not. DIIIIIIIIE!! And it would certainly not be over til the fat lady sang.

Little did he know that her song was that of pain and humiliating defeat as the Leaper's legs pierced his shoulders, shearing through the iron-like solidness of its powerful muscles like a hot knife to butter. The legs speared through, severing both limbs almost instantly. The Hellsprinter roared, as if to spit in the face of his opponent one more time, to rub in the fact that he was still very much alive, despite her efforts. To go to the reaper, fully accomplished in afterlife.

It lunged at her again. It was kicking off of its single, final, limb, eyes bloodshot with rage, pain, and all the markings of a true Determinator. The beast would not be stopped so easily as by petty flesh wounds, as its powerful jaws opened for a last attack, knowing its time had come, and it had crossed the finish line. It wanted to take her with it.

Eris' body was further coated in demonic blood as she cleanly loped off both of the Hellsprinter's clawed arms. The demon's weapons, it's honor and pride, without them, the cat was nothing, if it hadn't already bled out from the excessive wounds it had received. It was over, and about time, at that. Still in her Leaper form, the she-demon flipped over to get right side up and turned to face what surely was the dead and bleeding remains of tonight dinner.

But no.

As Eris turned around, she instead faced the Hellsprinter moving about and preparing for yet another attempt at the final coupe de grace. "You've got to be kidding me." The remark was distorted in the tones of the Leaper, something barely understandable. As the kitten haplessly hobbled and attempted to pounce on the blade legs, she simply stepped aside, just avoiding the deadly bite by the skin of her teeth. Nice try.

The long plated tail of the beast swam through the jungle dirt like a snake as it retracted back into the many mouth monster's body. The bloodied blades retracted back into it's legs as they straightened out, the many plates and spikes of the body turning into smooth pale skin. The disgusting maw of the Leaper turned into a beautiful face with a full head of luscious black hair. Once more, elegant jet wings of black sprouted from her back. As the transformation was nearing completion, the demon's effeminate features grew proportions, finishing the transaction. Succubus.

Eris slowly approached her fallen opponent in a dainty and confident manner. She was just prolonging his death at this point, at least that's what she thought. The sadistic shapeshifter would promptly plop down on the Hellsprinter's back with her sizable posterior, likely displacing a few more bones in the demon's back. With a jolly chuckle, she would begin to pet the dismembered demon as if it were a common housecat. She would slowly stroke the blood stained mane, then quickly working her way up to scratch his diseased eyes and then...

SNAP.

...Would all that would be heard, as she would quickly attempt to turn her hands, snapping the powerful cat's neck all while joyfully laughing. Madness was beautiful.

"You've got to be kidding me."

The Hellsprinter heard the words spoken, but even if it were intelligent enough to grasp the meaning behind them properly, it could only hear a piercing ringing in its ears, and a deafening muffling in its ears, like when you tightly cover both of your ears for a few minutes. But one can cease that when it begins to be uncomfortable. Not in this case.

It had no arms, it had no legs, yet still it inched its way towards her; one would truly have to commend the blasted thing, as it truly was one Hell of a demon. No pun unintended. An alpha male of its kind, it was quite possibly one of the fiercest adversaries in Inferis.

It had been defeated.

The resilient feline looked up with somewhat glassy eyes, watching as the Leaper before it transformed, rigid plating giving way to softer flesh. It wondered as to how she was doing such things. It wondered what her blood tasted like.

Alas, it seemed destiny would only tease. It could not taste such powerful elixir in its lifetime, as even then, it could smell the musky scent in the air; over the deafened ringing, caused by rapid blood loss and head injuries, it could hear the hooves of a galloping pale horse. Death was coming to claim its soul. There was little it could do.

The succubus sat down on the Hellsprinter, earning a weak growl, as she snapped its back in several places. But no, its suffering didn't end there.

She began to pet it.

Had she no decency? No sanity? An honorable death was fitting for a warrior such as itself. It had been alive for centuries! It was... It was an outrage to be mocked like this in its final hour! Could it not merely die?

No... No, she wouldn't have that. Even as it could only helplessly lay there, growling with the ferocity of a wounded bobcat, she mocked it. Petting its mane, the glorious Sampson-esque fur that displayed its dominance. It was a disgrace.

When she reached for its eyes, the alpha could only hope with fervent desire that she'd tear them out, offering it a little solace.

Instead, she gripped its neck. By this point, the beast had given up hope. Death was welcome. Even as she cackled like a mad jester, breaking his neck cleanly in two with a powerful snap, the big cat had ceased its growling. Finally it could die a proper death...

And perhaps its restless soul could be reincarnated into another...

...Perhaps they'd meet again, so to speak.