Child of Mine
Chapter 6
The Hunter and the Hunted

Sensitive ears twitched as laughter split the silence of the forbidden forest, an unblinking pair of solid gray eyes watched the children of his prey. They sat and stood amongst a patch of neatly conformed vegetation that lay behind the cave of the even greater-sized prey. A dark tail lashed sinuously from side to side, while a supple leather-skinned body crouched low in the shadows of a large tree at the forests' edge. Nothing but his tail moved as he watched patiently... waiting, planning, studying...

Soon, the very smallest of his prey looked up at the adolescent young that were tending it and staggered unsteadily to its feet. A few faltering steps were taken, aided by the brightly colored rocks... or was that food of some kind -? The small one was soon toddling more confidently between the rows of plants, past it's keepers, who seemed not to notice the youngest of their kind trying to escape their watchful eyes. Hmm, perhaps not so watchful as they should be. The young one was now beyond the reach of the elder young, and none had called it back to the safety of their circle. No cub as young as this would ever be allowed to slip past the eyes of the sentry's of HIS clan. Cubs were too valuable... they were the lifeblood of the clan, its future.

These creatures were truly prey after all... and stupid prey, at that. The Dark One chose well when he gave this hunting ground to the Rau'Mron. They could feed heartily here and soon more young would grace their dens once again. Intelligent, but stupid prey was best. Animals were fine, but did not feed the clan for long. The young of the hoof-foots had been a lovely meal... one the whole clan had savored and enjoyed for many days.

Sliding deeper into the shadow of his sheltering tree, Krr'Shar of the Mys'alk clan vanished from sight as the infant toddled unerringly into the woods beside where he hid. Krr'Shar drew in a slowly drew in a deep, quiet breath as the young one passed by him, scenting his prey so he could better track at a distance. So much... life! So much... power! Yes! This one would be an exquisite delicacy... and would not only feed, but also strengthen the clan. With this one, they would be able to have young by the budding of new leaves. Oh yes...

Slithering to the shadow of a tree further down the worn path that the cub was following, Krr'Shar watched as the life's blood of his clans future walked further and further from the protection of it's own clan. He basked in the power radiating from the little one, he could taste it on the air, and the scent filled his nostrils as the cub walked within two feet of his position, continuing deeper into the trees. Once past, Krr'Shar followed quietly ten feet behind the little one as it wove it's way happily through the underbrush. It seemed to be looking for something.

That was strange... had it been drawn here? Certainly not. As powerful as it was, it should have been warned away from the impending danger, not drawn straight into it. He'd trail it further... just to see where it was going. Curiosity was a powerful trait amongst the Rau'Mron. It was what had killed off most of the remaining clans in the old forests, curiosity about the changing of the world around them. But, this would not be his death... this young one could do nothing to him, he was harmless.

A while later the cub hesitated in his meanderings and turned around and stared back down the trail... directly at Krr'Shar. There was no way the cub could see him... he was in the shadows, invisible to the sight of his prey. He held still and waited. The cub took a step towards him and called out.

"Who's there?" it said in a high, strong voice.

Krr'Shar blinked in surprise. There was a pull from the young one. He wanted to go closer and rub himself along the body of his prey and roll at his feet... beg to be petted. Krr'Shar shook his head to clear his thoughts. What was that -?! The cub had tried to summon him-! Lights above-! The cub was powerful!

Digging his claws into the moldering, leaf-strewn ground, Krr'Shar resisted the calling with all his might. He would not leave the protection of the shadows... not yet. He quivered in reaction as every bit of his mind was slowly possessed and encouraged to go to the cub. Just when Krr'Shar was about to step out of the shadows, however, the youngling gave up and turned to amble back down the trail, still intent on it's wanderings. Panting and shaken to the core, Krr'Shar sagged against the tree amidst its welcome shadows. By the ever-changing orb... the little one had unbelievable power! His life force would definitely sustain the whole clan AND bring the females into their time of joining so there would be new cubs after the season of death and cold.

Soon the young one paused in his determined march and looked around, a bit confused. He turned around and tried to go back the way he'd just come, but the forbidden forest was living up to it's name, and the path had altered behind the cub. A few minutes later the whimpering youngling started to cry and scream out for it's "Daddy" which Krr'Shar knew would be the little ones protector, and "Moony" which he couldn't decipher, but decided might be another elder of it's clan. He then sat on the leaf-covered forest floor and cried even louder... a heartbreaking wail of a lost, deserted cub waiting to be rescued, or to die.

Krr'Shar slunk from the shadow of one towering giant to another, ever closer to the howling cub, gray eyes lighting with pleasure and anticipation as he watched, waiting patiently for the young one to wear itself down. Movement and soft footfalls alerted Krr'Shar to the presence of another. Fangs flashing a silent growl, he slipped further into the darkness and stilled his lashing tail, which had been whipping back and forth in preparation for the leap upon his prey.

A large hoof-foot came into view and was slowly, cautiously approaching his cub... his prey... his clan's future life. Anger boiled hotly within his chest, but Krr'Shar remained still. The hoof-foot was too large for him to take down alone. The cub was one thing, he was little and could be snagged easily... the hoof-foot would take the whole clan to bring down. Perhaps it was only curious and would soon desert the little one and go it's own way. After all, the cub was not a hoof-foot foal, why should it be concerned for the young of others?

Firenze talked soothingly to the hysterical child, slowly inching forward, holding his hand out to Harry, trying desperately to coax him into a calmer mood. He didn't want to attract the attention of some of the nastier creatures that lived in the forest. Finally, Firenze resorted to his tribe's usually method of calming the young... he knelt down in the leaves and started singing quietly to the boy.

Bit by bit, the tears and crying slowed, and then stopped. The boys' breathing eased and returned to normal as he watched the odd... four-legged man? His voice wasn't Daddy's... but it was nice, and the song was pretty. After he had calmed down, curiosity got the better of him and he started crawling towards the singing 'man'.

Firenze smiled slightly; comforted by the fact Harry had finally fallen silent, and was actually opening himself up to him. He stopped singing and opened his arms, "Come with me, Harry, I'll take you back home."

"To Daddy?" Harry's voice quavered, but the hopefulness in his tone was evident.

"Your father?" Firenze repeated confused. James Potter was dead... Did this child... Could Harry have regressed mentally as well as physically? Of course, he wouldn't have screamed if he hadn't. So his memories were... not all there. "No, not to your father, Harry, your father is dead. I'm going to take you back to Dumbledore. He'll-"

Harry's eyes widened in horror and the tears started brimming up, "DADDY'S NOT DEAD!" and the heart-wrenching wail erupted once again, as loud as before... if not louder.

Firenze berated himself silently. "I'll take you back, don't worry! Harry, please calm down! It's not safe here! I'll take you to daddy!" he finally said, giving in to the inevitable. Though he detested lying, that was the only way he could calm Harry, he was sure of it. "Now, let me hold you so I can take you home to Hogwarts."

Harry sniffled to a stop and looked up at him suspiciously, "Promise?"

"Yes, I do." Firenze told the child solemnly.

"But, what about the kitty?" Harry asked, looking over at the base of a tree, five feet away and smiled at what he saw there.

"Kitty? What kitty? No normal cat could survive the forest, Harry. Aside from Mrs. Norris and Hermione's cat, Crookshanks." he explained to the confused child as he glanced at the tree the boy was looking at. Firenze extended his senses outward to explore the immediate area. An unsettling sensation filled him as he did so. Something wasn't right. With that, he plucked Harry up unceremoniously and surged to his hooves in one swift motion. "We must leave, Harry, come."

"B-but KITTY!!!" Harry reached out beseechingly in the direction of the tree and a chill ran through Firenze as he realized Harry was using his natural powers to call forth what Firenze could not see. He felt the ripple of energy flow through him to... something else.

Krr'Shar was unprepared for such a call so soon after the last one and unconsciously slithered out of the deep shadows that hid him, and into the sunlight that dappled the forest floor. He knew this wasnt what he wanted, he had wanted to summon the clan to take out the cub and the large hoof-foot, but instead, some kind of power was forcing him to come forth to this cub. This... damn cub... was going to be the death of him yet! He should have left after he'd escaped the first summoning, but no... That damned Rau'Mron curiosity and the possibility of new cubs, had led him on to this!

Firenze gripped Harry tightly in a protective embrace as a large cat, the general size and shape of a tiger, slinked out into view. It had no fur, only mottled gray and black leather skin and solid gray eyes it seemed almost insubstantial, blending piecemeal with sun and shade, as if it were a shadow itself. It crouched warily, blinking in the sunlight, a slight snarl curling its lips, exposing three inch fangs.

"See?! KITTY!" the child cried out joyfully, clapping his hands.

Oh, he saw it all right... This had to be the thing, or one of the things, that was killing creatures all over the forest, for he had never before seen anything of its like. Firenze couldn't fight the creature AND protect Harry while alone... So, he did the only thing he could... He fled.

"Nooo!!! Kitty!!!" wailed Harry in despair, as they left his new found pet behind.

"BAD KITTY!" Firenze insisted, bellowing over his pounding hooves, not slowing down to explain any further to a child who was beyond understanding the true danger of the situation.

Krr'Shar shook his feline head as the power drawing him forward stopped - that cub had WANTED him near, and had not been afraid of him! That was NOT how it was supposed to be. He couldn't understand what was happening to him whenever he got near this particular cub, and didn't have time to work the puzzle out. Reluctantly giving in to the inevitable. He knew he had to summon the others before his prey escaped; But, he wished he had more time to investigate just what this cub was trying to get him to do... it was almost as if one of his own had called out to him...

Immediately, he mentally called to his clan warriors to join in the hunt. In moments, they were there beside him, pacing out of the shadows from the surrounding trees. Eight young and strong Rau'Mron hunters were ready and eager to follow their leader to the kill.

~To the hunt my kin, the prey we hunt now will bring cubs in the season of new leaves. ~

Krr'Shar informed them in their ancient language. He stepped into the shadow of the giant tree before him and vanished, followed closely by his kin as they blended with the obscuring darkness and shadow walked deep into the forest to stalk and hunt their prey.

A/N: Hi, this is the 'Other' author of this here fic. The Creature is mine and I had some things to work out with it, and the whole concept of this chapter eluded me for quite awhile as I worked out the details. It all finally came together and I finished the part we needed.