The Hunt...
First there was a bright flash.
Its echo was drowned out under the drumming of the rain.
A massive Oak,
Its arms outstretched to catch life
-light, air, water-
shuddered in agony.
When struck, the tremor of fallen life reverberated throughout the land.
Fallen were the ashes,
Once life but now life-less.
Death hung in a thick miasma.
Silence became oppressive.
Then from Death sparkled a Life,
Or many deaths, as it was both.
Fire
Sheltered from the storm it grew until it was all consuming.
Soon it was monstrous;
It's host, protector, the first to fall victim.
Great plumes of smoke arose.
The crack and spark of its eternally growing body warned of the ever coming danger.
The formerly silent, storm raged forest was now filled with screams of terror.
What was once a haven of innocence became a place of pain;
Peace had morphed into mind blowing panic.
Amidst the inferno stalked a hunter-
He no longer needed to be cautious.
Calm in the midst of the fury- precise.
He faced the fire without fear.
Reflected in crimson gold, it flickered.
In that moment it was life; the fire that nothing can dim until the spirit inside has surrendered.
He waited, but not for long.
His prey, the miko woman belonging to his brother,burst through the underbrush;
fleeing one fate for another.
In a fluid movement of muscle, he sprang.
There was one moment of freedom- from life, from responsibility, from gravity - before he connected with flesh.
This was her end, they both knew it.
But that didn't stop her from trying to escape.
She bucked,
Thrashed,
Twisted,
And turned.
The whites of her wide eyes were bright in the almost twilight.
Warm fluid ran down her back and legs, making her skin lustrous in its darkness.
Then there came the moment,
-utter surrender-
She collapsed, her spirit expunged.
And in that deathly moment, her heart pounded the last of her life's blood to feed her attackers hunger.
A/N - I wrote this poem when I was 13 and had previously posted it on Spark. I stumbled across it while cleaning my room and although it has been 12 years, it still holds a place in my heart. I blew off some of the dust and hope some new blood can enjoy it.