Suel skittered and crawled over the craggy rocks that dotted the rough landscape with the kind of mindless pursuit that only a predator could bring to light. Being a shifter xhe had no true form, but the shape that xhe preferred when xhe was out hunting was that of huge, shaggy beast with curling horns, razor sharp claws and long, thick limbs that ambled with little care over the hard earth beneath it. Xhir mouth slavered and twitched as the rows and rows of knives within awaited the succulent feast of nightmares and fear that came from xhir chosen prey: man.
For a moment, Suel felt a pang of pity for man. They were a poor, divided creature, split between male and female. They fought not only against the world around them but against each other, fighting their other half every step of the way. Nothing like Suel, who was neither, for xhe was a whole being who had no such disagreements to contend with. What's more, xhe was a shifter and a Rakshasha, so xhir might was great and expansive when xhe wished it to be.
Xhe slowed to a crawl as xhe approached the place where xhir prey had stopped. They had retreated to a cave beneath a jutting overhang which had blended into the potted landscape around it. Suel hadn't noticed it until too late and now they took up a guard around the entrance, spears held high and keen eyes searching for anything that might be out of place in the shadow of night.
Suel retreated to speckled boulder near the entrance to the cave and considered changing into something less fierce for a moment, but rejected the thought in the end. Xhe knew that it was was this shape that they had come to fear in the last few weeks and to change form would only serve to weaken their fear for xhir. Besides, xhe wasn't sure xhe had the strength to shift back if xhe did change. No, xhir best bet would be to creep past the sentries and strike fear into their hearts while they were unaware. It was risky, true, but if xhe succeeded there would be a veritable feast of fear laid out and xhe wouldn't need to hunt again for days, weeks if xhe was careful.
After prowling around the overhang, Suel noticed a small pile of stones that had fallen in front of a slit in the rock face. Xhe stalked over to them in silence as the slightest noise might alert its prey and remove some of its fear. Lesser hunters might consider alerting the wretched things so as to cultivate a more delectable aura of fear, but Suel knew better than that. Men were fearful creatures but they were also keen hunters and to alert them in such a manner would make them more dangerous, no matter the fear it generated. Better to remain safe and take in a fulfilling meal than to take unnecessary risks for a slight chance of a feast.
Stone by stone, xhe unblocked the slit until soon the crack revealed itself in full to xhir. It little more than two feet across at its largest point and the ends of it quickly tapered off, leaving xhir only the smallest space to work with. All things considered, Suel wasn't even sure that xhe would be able to fit through it but given that xhir options were to squeeze through a crack or to charge at a mass of spear points, xhe didn't think xhe have much choice. Xhe'd spent too much time tracking and influencing this herd to give up now, so in xhe went.
It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. It would have been one thing if xhe just needed to get in, since then xhe could have hammered at the crack until it burst open. The problem with that approach was that, again, it would have alerted them to xhir presence. Or at least, it would have set them on edge, which could be just as bad if done improperly. Instead, Suel put xhir forearms through first and once xhe was sure that xhe had a good grip on the wet cave wall within xhe began to pull xhir body through.
Xhe was able to shift into a form that was slimy enough to slither through the entrance and make xhir way through the crack. The occasion rocks and other blockages that xhe ran into while xhe worked xhir way down made it more difficult as xhe was forced to use more power than xhe would have liked to sustain the form that xhe would return to, as it needed to be the same one or they may not fear it as much as was needed. When Xhe reached the cave, Suel shifted into xhir prior form and reoriented xhirself.
The roof of the massive cavern was out of sight and the only indications that Suel hadn't just tunneled back outside was the fact that the 'stars' above and around xhir shifted positions constantly, falling between patterns and chaotic blobs of light with regularity. As xhir sight adjusted, Suel began to notice the fields of stalagmites that dotted the floor of the cave and the clutches of stalactites that doted down into view sometimes, both of which were interspersed by pillars that were sometimes as big around as xhe was long. The floor slopped ever downwards and Suel thought xhe could hear rushing tides of water off in the distance. Overhead xhe heard a chattering squeaks and noticed that the air above xhir was not a solid wall of darkness but was rather the first layer of a veritable swarm of bats and other cave dwellers, all of them crawling over each other and competing for prime spots within the caves.
Suel looked up and saw a crest of rock and mud topped by the little fires that were man's telltale mark. No other beast would intentionally mark out where it was in the dark like that, yet the men had no real reason to be afraid. Any creature that charged them head on would perish unless they either had some sort of aid from within the clan or were powerful enough that a clan of men held no fear for it.
Suel got down on all fours and slunk towards the fires, making certain to leave no strange or distinctive shadows behind xhir, no matter how dark it was down in the depths of the cave. A couple of time xhe slipped backwards on the slick mounds of mud that covered the rise in the cave, but each setback was met with a deathly silence on xhir part as xhe made sure to not let even the hint of a sound alert xhir prey before xhe was ready for them.
As xhe crested the hill, Suel took a look around to see what xhir prey had gotten up to since establishing their herd the cave. There were little clusters of fire scattered throughout the entrance cavern surrounded by terrified males, females and younglings, most whom hovered near their mothers. The more decoratively dressed males and females gathered around a large central fire while the poorer dressed ones hovered around the edges.
One pair, a mother and a youngling, was quite far from the fire, further still from any other members of their herd. They sat right at the edge of the entrance to the cave, bracing their bodies against the weather outside. The youngling was a lean, hungry little thing whose deer pelt looked ragged. It tried to wander in closer a couple of times but was shoved away from the fires by the other younglings and females, so it ultimately returned and curled up next to its own mother, who looked much worse. He couldn't see a male around them, but assumed it was somewhere nearby.
Suel curled up a lip at this show of rejection. It wasn't right to starve a youngling, no matter what kind of youngling it was. Still, as it wasn't really xhir concern at the moment, xhe turned xhir head away from the pitiful pair and found a spot near the edge of the fire deepest in the cave and waited for the opportune moment, relaxing as xhir large, sensitive ears perked up to catch relevant conversation.
"We're pinned like cattle in here. It's just what the demon wants. I saw we go out and hunt it down and kill it once and for all," said a dark haired, broad shouldered male near the central fire. Suel could sense the passion and lust it drew from the several of the females in the cave and a couple of the other males. He chuckled at its bravado, though, as this male was one of the primary sources of fear in the cave.
"What, and leave the women and children unprotected? It only comes at night, leaving now would just expose them to it," said a lean male with lighter. He had no fear and seemed to be the most alert male in the bunch, yet the other males just laughed. Still, Suel made a note of him. If not for the crack, he would have been correct in his statement.
"Night or day, let him come! I'd like to see him taste my spear," said the broad shouldered male, guffawing at his fearless counterpart. Suel grinned at his statement. If that wasn't a good line to attack at then xhe didn't know what was.
Suel gave out a ferocious roar and leapt from where xhe was into a central cluster of fire pits. The light from the fire danced in brilliant patterns across xhir black fur and the herd erupted in a panic, their fear and panic surging towards Suel. Xhe bared xhir teeth and snapped at a few of them as they ran, absorbing their fear as they did so. One of the males threw a spear at xhir, but Suel had taken in enough fear by then that not only was xhe able to dodge it, but xhe was in fact able to catch it in xhir mouth and snap it in half.
Xhe turned to snarl in the direction where the spear had come from and saw the boisterous male from before was the only one without a spear. Xhir eyes were now quite wide and the fear began to radiate from xhir with more intensity than Suel had ever sensed from any other being xhe'd ever encountered. The fear in the males around him began to intensify as well as they felt the fear radiate from the boisterous male.
Suel roared and pounced at the boisterous male, xhir dagger claws fully extended as xhe slammed into him. There was an audible crunch as xhe pushed the male to the ground and his fear magnified that much more. The boisterous male's face wrenched up in terror as Suel feasted on the fear that now consumed him and Suel left him as little more than a withered husk once xhe'd sated xhirself. Xhe looked up to see that the other males had backed away, leaving xhir in the center of a ring of spear points. Suel wasn't threatened by them now, though, since xhe could see that their spears trembled in their hands, acting more as totems of protection than things that could hurt xhir. This left the lean male as the only one who might hurt xhir, since he alone was unaffected by the chaos unfolding around him. As such, he was the next one that Suel charged.
There was no finesse in what xhe did; no attempts at amplifying fear. This was animalistic viciousness, pure and simple. The lean male did what he could, jabbing his spear upwards at Suel as xhe landed on him, but that only served to snap the thing in half as Suel hammered into him. Suel felt the male scrambled beneath xhir, reaching out for the tip of the broken spear, but xhe would have none of that. As interesting as the lean male was, letting him survive would only lessen the fear of the others so Suel bent down, opened wide his maw, gripped the lean male's head within it and ripped it off. Xhe reared up and crunched down on it before tossing it aside at one of the other males.
This last show of power was enough to break their spirits and the now the whole tribe poured out their fear to xhir as they scrambled over one another in their attempts to get away from xhir lest they be the next to die. Suel roared at them a couple times and chased them a little ways for effect, but for now xhe was content to just absorb their fear as they ran screaming from the cave.
Within a few moments, the cave was empty and Suel was sated. This had been a good harvest and xhe knew that xhe wouldn't need to hunt again for a few weeks at least. Xhe went up to the entrance to make sure that no one from the herd had remained behind to make some feeble attempt on xhir life. When xhe was certain that the whole herd was running off screaming into the distance, Suel retreated into the cave to rest beside the blazing bonfire at the center of the entrance cavern where the males had been gathered around before.
Xhe had just settled down to rest, relax and recover from his meal when xhe heard a small sniffling sound come from the corner. Xhe looked and saw the youngling from before struggling to move its mother, prodding it and trying to pull it away from the cave to join the others. When it saw that Suel was looking at it, it grabbed a spear that was several sizes too large for it and began to wave it at xhir. Suel sighed and got up. It wasn't sporting to use xhir now considerable strength against a lone youngling, but xhe didn't want to risk it trying something while xhe rested.
Xhe prowled up to it to roar and chase it out of the cave when xhe realized that xhe couldn't smell anything from the youngling's mother. No fear, no anxiety, nothing. Not even a wisping dream emanated from the female. It was dead.
Suel didn't know if xhe'd killed it while xhe fed or if the female had died after falling where it lay now, but that didn't matter. Xhe'd chased off the youngling's herd and without them to protect it the youngling was as good as dead also. What's more, its male counterpart had vanished, so now it wouldn't even be able to think well enough to act before it died.
Suel sighed and shook off xhir bloated, terrifying body and shrank down into xhir preferred form; a sleek, bearlike thing with a stumpy tail, speckled fur and short pair of horns. Xhe went over to the large fire and found a large piece of roasted deer flesh and took it over to the youngling, dropping it in front of it. When it didn't respond, xhe nudged it with xhir wet nose until it looked up at xhir.
Its big, green eyes were bloated red from crying and it almost cried out again until it realized that xhe'd dropped a piece of food in front of it. It looked at the meat, then at xhir, then back at the piece of meat.
Then it kicked xhir hard in the shin and retreated behind its mother.
Suel yelped and retreated back to the fire, more from surprise than feat of it. Besides, xhe knew that it wouldn't grow any fonder of xhir whether xhe stayed close or far, so xhe rolled next to the large fire and settled in for the night. Xhe kept a wary eye on the youngling as xhe rested though, just to be sure it didn't do anything rash.
The youngling watched xhir for some time, but after a while it went over and began to pick at the food that had been laid in front of it. It was clear that it was afraid of xhir still, but hunger soon won over the fear and within moments it was tearing into the meat like it hadn't eaten in days. Suel mused that it probably hadn't as xhe watched.
When it had finally eaten enough that it could eat no more, it lay down beside its mother and went to sleep. Suel listened to its breath and it wasn't long before its short, desperate breaths gave way to the deep sighs of sleep. Content that the youngling rested and would be no issue, Suel closed xhir own eyes and joined it in slumber.
A/N This was meant to be a one-shot, but the more I wrote it the more I realized that I wanted to learn more about Suel and his youngling charge, so I think that I'm going to keep working on it. I realize that this is very different from the movie, so sorry to anyone who came in here expecting something else but I wasn't sure where else to put it so here it went! Feel free to leave a review if you like it!
A/N 14 July 2014 Made a few changes since I first put this out there. Might read a bit differently than before.