WARNING: gore and violence is in this one-shot, hence the M-rating.
The darkened rain clouds promised harsh weather soon. However, this did not hamper the spirits of the group of children walking home from their last day at school. Their respective Mother's care had made sure that they were wearing their raincoats and had their umbrellas just in case the weather got too rough. Although this would protect the children from the elements, it would not protect them from the two predators lurking just out of their sight.
"(When are we gonna take them! I'm starving for some juicy children,)" grumbled the first shadow, grinding his teeth for the souls of the children while his tail swished back and forth. The clouds rumbled ominously with his outburst and a small breeze fluttered the banners on the shop's windows where the children passed.
"(Patience, Hibuar. We wait for the right moment…,)" the second shadow stated hoarsely, hidden underneath an awning. His black hair covered his face and neck, hiding the bullet holes from the last encounter with the guns that the humans had turned on them. It was a satisfying sound when their skulls went 'CRUNCH!', and it usually lifted the darkened mood of his leader, but Hibuar knew from his strained tone that today was not a good day to try his patience.
"(I know that, Pyralis. It's this damn waiting, and the weather- you know it's been the first in a while-,") muttered Hibuar. His tail kept twitching, as though it had a mind of its own. Pyralis held up his hand to stop the stream of words, and pointed over Hibuar's left shoulder.
"(Look, don't worry about it. Harusk is leading them toward the park and you can sate your bloodlust then)" he rasped out; the bullet that hit his neck, just under his chin, had silenced his voice for a week.
Hibuar turned to see his brother's storm clouds giving the children one last glimpse of the sun before he covered it. The sky flashed and rumbled again, signaling to the two of them that Harusk was charging up his electrical powers. Some of the children in the group noticed the darkening sky and even opened up their umbrellas when the first drops of rain began. Now all the pieces were in place, it would be time. He breathed in deeply and reached down into his core. A shudder passed through his being before the voices began to speak.
'Is it time for tearing? Tearing, ripping crunching so good. Listen heartbeats scared Predatory eat soon with you, make me wait, and wait, it is not good for either of us-'. Hibuar's inner predator had woken up from the excitement of the hunt. In the past, Hibuar would try to shove the Predator back into his mind, a crazed Adjucha in the battlefield surrounded by bleeding foes and allies was "Plan ZZZ" mind you, but the next time Predator surfaced, he would take total control and ravage anything in the vicinity. So now, Hibuar just reined him in a bit before Pyralis would give the signal. His tail slammed into the brick wall behind him, making spider-like cracks appear. He felt his bones starting to shift, and he knew if he did not release the Predator soon, he would go ballistic. The Predator tapped Hibuar's fingers in a quick staccato rhythm of no known origin. 'Calm down, he will send us off soon. Don't worry it'll happen soon? Soon, we'll hunt soon. Maybe later, yes? Well, I know-'
Although he couldn't see his face, Pyralis knew that Hibuar was speaking with his Predatory side. He had always liked that about his subordinate; Hibuar was a shark in every sense of the word. He would be docile enough until he got a whiff of blood, whether in the air or water, it did not matter, and the Predator would rear from the depths of his mind and take charge should Hibuar not control it in time. The first time that Pyralis had seen the destruction that Predator could do, he felt alive at seeing the carnage in the field that day. After a couple hundred years, he had gained the respect from the Predator in that he could always deliver the promise of at least one body torn apart in his jaws.
"(Hibuar, begin the rain)" ordered Pyralis, with the barest hint of excitement in the tone. Even after working with Hibuar for so long, he still got excited when he saw the shark like Hollow go after a soul.
Hibuar, no the Predator, flashed his leader a grin before the rain clouds suddenly let loose. The rain trapped the children, and they began to shriek as the wind picked up. For a few moments, it seemed as though they would not seek the shelter of the ludicrously colored slides of the park and try to make it to their homes. A few did, but they would not get very far with Harusk watching them from above in his clouds.
With a small grunt, the Predator stared at them. Hibuar kept a tight leash on him, never allowing a chance to play with his fellow terrorizers. Now that he had control without any fight from Hibuar, he would not let this chance pass him. With a terrifying snarl, he called on more rain plus some ice to show up. This caused the children to screech as the hail hit and now three of them moved toward the small playground. More lightning flashed and one bolt even struck close by the fleeing children. With the way they were running, they never would have noticed the towering figure that had appeared in the scorched ground as it stalked the ones that ran off.
'Like the prey that they are,' mused Pyralis as the other children that didn't try to outrun the rain followed their companions to their doom. He looked back to the Predator and noticed his strained pose, muscles and tendons tense as he waited for the signal that would release his natural instincts. Even his body seemed different to look at. Pyralis felt another wave of excitement hit his senses and the Predator finally turned to look at him. The strange childlike glee at the impending chaos that shone in the Predator's eyes made him seem so much like his brother that Pyralis merely nodded at him, and he left the shadows with a roar, his streamlined body weaving in the air toward the park. Pyralis watched the Adjucha's figure lit up by the lightning before staring at the storm clouds, the lighting jumping between clouds in a deadly show of elegance. He watched the display before his sharp hearing caught the sounds of terrified screaming and overjoyed roars. The rumble of thunder grew more frequent and the rain fell as if a waterfall had opened up, far above the eyes of any curious humans watching the sudden storm. He waited for the sounds of the hunt to calm down though; he did not want to deal with a crazed Predator as he satisfied his bloodlust, or his electrically charged brother.
With much effort, he managed an indifferent look on his face as he slowly made his way down the building to the ground floor. Pyralis strolled toward the park, the rain evaporating inches before it hit his body. The screams had stopped as he crossed the empty sidewalk to go see how his subordinates had done. A toothy smirk threatened to appear but he hid it under indifference as he crossed the destroyed and bloodied park.
The rain had calmed down to a drizzle, now that the hunt ended. The churned up sand underneath the swings had large gouges in it. In addition, a section looked as though someone had slapped it in a moment of frustration. One of the various slides in the park had a bite mark on it and Pyralis kicked it out of his way. When he finally found his underlings, hidden away in a grove of overturned trees, mirth-filled chuckles escaped as he leaned against a tree to watch Hibuar and Harusk somewhat clean each other of the blood that had splattered onto their bodies.
Hibuar had started to surface as Predator had finally quenched his bloodlust and sleepily handed over control. Much of the blood covered his face and tail as he wiped it off. Harusk had even managed to catch the pair of runners. He then threw them into the chaos of Predator. He had laughed wildly when he saw one of the vermin thrown into the air before it got apart by the teeth of both brothers.
They were arguing over who would eat the last living human child as they finished the remains of a left leg and upper torso, respectively. A pile of bloody clumps showed the only evidence of what used to be the human children's clothes. The Child's body lay off to the side, underneath Hibuar's tail.
"(I should eat it, you got the first ones-,)" Hibuar stated calmly. His hands had small tremors rippling through but he managed to calm them down, lest the Predator show up again.
"(NO! Brother eats many more! Harusk should eat it!)" Harusk interrupted with a shout, while flailing his gorilla-like arms around. As he brought them back down, a lightning bolt sparked from his fingers, showing that he still had an electrical charge inside.
With a loud, 'ahem!' the feuding brothers turned toward Pyralis, who had finally moved closer to them after watching their little spat. Harusk then got a goofy grin on his face before bounding over. His lion-shaped tail wagged much like a dog's would.
"(Leader-man, tell Brother that child Mine!)" Harusk pointed at Hibuar, who leaned his body to the side. A small bolt sparked from his finger and crashed into the tree behind his brother. Hibuar scoffed before wrapping his tail around the Child. Nobody but the BOSS tells Pyralis what he should do. Harusk was a bit slower than the other Adjuchas in their group but his naive nature did make their prey more trusting of him. Pyralis stared at the child.
"(Bring it closer.)" He ordered. Hibuar complied, with the tiniest bit of reluctance. The child blubbered pathetically when Pyralis moved in for a closer look. 'A girl…' he thought with a grin full of malice. The girl began to sob wildly, tears and snot dribbling down her face.
"(So what Leader-man says?)" Wondered Harusk as he moved his head closer toward Pyralis. His tail flicked back and forth, showing just how excited he was and the poor survivor was shaking. Pyralis absentmindedly petted the part of Harusk's face that he could reach and Harusk stopped wagging his tail.
"(We're going to let it live,)" Pyralis answered after a pause, (so you should let it go, Hibuar.)"
The brothers were surprised at his decision. Pyralis never wanted a targeted human alive and he never showed mercy. Harusk just looked sad at not eating another human soul, while Hibuar wondered what caused this act of mercy. "(Uhh, if I may ask-)" began Hibuar.
"(It's simple, Hibuar.)" Interrupted Pyralis, (we do these things and the humans think that this is the work of one of their own. If we leave a survivor, it'll spread the word about us and the humans will feel fear for us…and perhaps, we'll be able to get the attention of those shinigami.)" The disgust was clear in his tone and both brothers stayed silent as he spoke. 'It did made sense…'
Hibuar seemed satisfied with the answer and dropped the child. "(It's your lucky day. You get to live for our noble purpose.)" He sneered at her as he moved his sinuous body away. Harusk stared hungrily at her when she curled into a fetal position.
"(Come now, my fellow Adjuchas. We have much more fear to spread)" Pyralis said as he opened up a portal into an inky void. "(The mothers will eventually worry and go looking for them or at least what's left…)"
The brothers went through the portal first, with Harusk waving at the little girl as if they were friends. Hibuar sighed at his brother, while Pyralis just chuckled again. The portal closed, leaving the young girl all by herself on the bloodstained ground.
To the new, a round of applause to making it to the end.
To the old:
Yes, the rouge triad needed a refresher from the terrible way I tried to make other chapters for this story. I changed the one word in here and left it as is, minus the crossover part.