Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or Silent Hill
A/N: Hound's thoughts while he was trapped in Silent Hill and after Sunstreaker died.
Warning: You need to read Silent Hill: The Unmaker's Pit to understand this story.
Italics: Fragments of Hound's knowledge.
Silent Hill: Laws of Nature
They had been outside, scavenging, when the alarm rang. The monstrous, human figure had appeared right then. It walked slowly, it's body covered in blood and grime, dragging a very large sword and letting out cries and moans from inside the triangular shaped helmet. There were other creatures that were busy running away from the pyramid headed creature and its giant sword.
They had ran away from them as fast as they could. The monster with the sword, moving slowly but surely towards them. Cleaving and tearing apart any creature that stood in front of him.
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Prey animals are those that most often can be found in a herd or group setting with family members.
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The only one to fall behind had been Cliffjumper. The small red haired man had twisted his ankle while running away. He remembered looking back at Cliffjumper's cry of pain…
He remembered looking back before turning away.
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Fight or flight is the instinctive behavior of a herbivore to flee or evade capture by a predator. The Fight or Flight instinct, tells the prey animal to defend itself or run away. In any instance where a prey animal smells, hears, sees or otherwise senses a predator in the vicinity, the prey animal will immediately react. Prey animals exhibiting a "Flight Instinct" or response will run away from a predator.
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He had left Cliffjumper behind to die.
And because of what he did, Sunstreaker was now dead. Cut in half by the creature's sword after saving Cliffjumper. Leaving his twin brother all alone for the first time since they were sparked. Breaking his soul and shattering his mind in a million tiny pieces.
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A prey animal exhibiting the "Fight Instinct" will exhibit signs of self defense in the form of stomping the ground with front foot, charging the predator, head butting, rearing or even defensive grunts, bugles, roars and other sounds including snorting.
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And it was all his fault…No… Not his fault… He only followed the orders this new found body told him were right. He'd only followed the instincts that came with his human nature. Nature has never been wrong… no matter how cruel it could be…
Why couldn't Sideswipe see that, if anyone was going to carry any blame, it had all been Cliffjumper's fault? If he hadn't been weak, Sunstreaker would've never turned back. The yellow-clad twin would've never use this moment to prove he had the heart of an Autobot by rescuing one who was meant to die.
Because all weak creatures were meant to die. It was the law of nature itself. The one rule which governed this tiny little organic planet. One of two rules that this Pit-forsaken town seemed to follow.
Only the strongest survived…
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Mobbing behavior is an antipredator behavior which occurs when individuals of a certain species mob a predator by cooperatively attacking or harassing it, usually in order to protect their offspring.
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And it frustrated him that every creature that inhabited Silent Hill was stronger than them. They had to combine their strength to deal with the weakest creatures this place had to offer them. It wasn't fair at all!
But nature was never fair… it just was. And in order for them to escalate in this miserable food chain they seemed to be trapped in, the head predators must fall.
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The Mesopredator Release Hypothesis is a relatively new hypothesis which describes the phenomenon of tropic cascade in certain terrestrial communities. It states that as top predators decline in an ecosystem an increase in populations of mesopredators occurs. Mesopredators are medium-sized predators such as raccoons, skunks, snakes, cats, and foxes.
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It wasn't revenge that drove him. He had nothing to avenge because it wasn't his fault. Sunstreaker's demise had been his own doing. The twin had simply been unable to understand the laws of nature like he did.
It wasn't revenge that had him leaving the bar where they'd taken refuge. He was simply doing this to protect the group. Because, like Sunstreaker, they couldn't understand what they had to become to survive. Because to be the strongest you need to follow the second rule of nature…
Kill or be killed…
And he knew very well that none of them would do it. They would rather hide and remain prey than go out to hunt the creatures and become predators…
But he will do it for them. He will track them and kill them. He will hunt them down and savor the thrill Mirage had often spoken about when he told Hound about hunting turbo-foxes back on Cybertron.
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Prey drive is the instinctive behavior of a carnivore to pursue and capture prey. In all predators the prey drive follows an inevitable sequence: the search, the eye-stalk, the chase, the grab bite, and the kill bite.
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Killing the creatures proved to be more satisfying than he thought possible. Hound wondered if that was why Mirage had loved hunting so much. The power rush of holding another life in your hands was intoxicating. The crunch of their bones under the heavy blows he delivered were cathartic in nature. The sight of the blood oozing from their wounds always seemed to make him smile.
But they were just random creatures. Bloodied bandaged dogs whose heads split open to attack. Puppet like creatures resembling human children that hanged from the ceiling and tried to strangle him. Giant insects. Killing them, while challenging for him alone at the beginning, now offered him no satisfaction.
He needed to go after bigger prey. And he realized that the farther he was from the others - the deeper he entered into the town - and the stronger the creatures became.
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Prey detection is the process by which predators are able to detect and locate their prey via sensory signals. Sensory systems used include the visual system, olfactory system, auditory system and the somatosensory system. Some predators may use all of these senses in pinpointing their prey, while others may depend mainly or entirely on a single one.
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He had the sudden realization that the stronger the creature, the more grotesque it became. Rotten torsos with two infant-looking heads moving with their hands. Bald humanoid monsters with a trio of sickle-like blades grafted on to their severed wrists and legs bound by layers of dead skin. The creature with its head between its legs and blades for arms and legs. They proved harder to kill than most creatures, but the environment itself helped him to take down his intended prey when his skills failed him.
Most of the stronger creatures fell down to the fiery pits below the town.
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A predator trap is a natural hazard such as a tar pit. Predators become attracted to struggling animals that have become entrapped in viscous or glutinous material, such as a heavy sedimentary deposit or tar and, in the process, become entrapped themselves. More predators, scavengers, insects and birds become attracted to this mounting accumulation of carrion, until a wide variety of animals are caught and ultimately killed by the hazard.
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And when killing these creatures was not enough, he turned back to his original goal: strength. He had to become stronger if he wanted to defeat the pyramid-headed creature that killed Sunstreaker. It wasn't revenge that drove him. It wasn't guilt. It was just nature being what it was… unmerciful…
Thank Primus he met her…
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The definition of camouflage involves concealment and obscurity, whether applied to the natural coloration of animals, or the paint schemes used on military vehicles. The use of camouflage, no matter what the specific application, has certain basic requirements that must be met. First, the camouflage must be tailored to the observer. Second, the camouflage must deceive the observer into making a false judgment about the camouflaged object. The strategies of camouflage can be broken down into up to four categories, which are cryptic, disruptive, mimicry, and countershading. Each of these deals with a different method of deceiving the observer, and often strategies are combined increase their effectiveness.
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Her name was Dhalia and she deserved to be called Gray. She looked to be everything that Silent Hill was, yet she wasn't one of the creatures. She, like him, was a survivor. She, like him, was strong enough to withstand anything the town threw at her.
Her speech was cryptic. Her words strange. And sometimes she seemed lost in her own little world. The weakness of her mind was the only thing that made her not worthy enough to kill. Her knowledge, in the end, proved to be invaluable.
For she knew where the top predators liked to appear when the town changed. She told him where the gray humanoid with the elongated limbs and bladed-head lurked. She sing-songed to him where the male creature with the female fused to its back liked to hunt. She whispered where the men with the open torso and throat covered in tumors preferred to spew its toxic gases into the air.
And better yet, she showed him how to lure them out…
Bait.
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Competition can be defined as an interaction between organisms or species, in which the fitness of one is lowered by the presence of another. Competition both within and between species is an important topic in ecology, especially community ecology. According to the competitive exclusion principle, species less suited to compete for resources should either adapt or die out. According to evolutionary theory, this competition within and between species for resources plays a critical role in natural selection.
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She showed him where the humans that used to live in Silent Hill had holed up. Their church and their faith marking them as prey until the end of their pathetic lives. She had bared her teeth, like a lioness faced with a threat to her cubs, and told him they'd been marked for death.
Like lambs to the slaughter… And he had agreed with her.
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Intraspecific competition occurs when members of the same species vie for the same resources in an ecosystem.
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He had once confused the enemy with his holograms. He now confused the humans and led them to their deaths. Using his prey's distraction with their meal to make his kill.
There was no guilt. Everything that had a weakness to be exploited deserved to die.
His thirst for the hunt grew. The human bait and the traps for the creatures were slowly being abandoned as he grew strong enough to deal with the creatures on his own.
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The term "mutualism" describes any relationship between individuals of different species where both individuals derive a fitness benefit.
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And Dhalia had been there to tell him there was bigger game to be found in Silent Hill. She spoke of a creature she called Butcher. She described to him a female centipede-like creature whose body was a fused mass of female bodies. And she told him the story of little Scarlet Fitch, dismembered by her own father to appease a demonic god, and whose vengeful spirit lived on within every doll on the town of Silent Hill.
She told him these creatures were off limits. She told him her daughter would be mad if they were harmed. For these creatures had their own revenge to take… their own hell to pay… and the hands that would deliver the killing blow were not his.
She had gained nothing by telling him this. She had gained nothing, yet she claimed she had gained everything. Hound couldn't understand the way her insanity worked, but she was alive were others, like Sunstreaker, had fallen. So he would follow her advice for now.
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Commensalism describes a relationship between two living organisms where one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed or helped.
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He would go back to the others and he would hunt the weaker creatures. He was strong enough to protect them. To kill the threats that he knew the group would encounter. He will satisfy his bloodlust with random trips to use the remaining humans as bait. For they were not his species, no matter what his current form said.
It wasn't revenge. It wasn't guilt. It was just nature.
Edited 6/17/09: Fixed typos and edited some parts.