Scanning the cat beast in front of him, Icarth noted down important points in his head. It was truly foolhardy to rush in without any prior information about the enemy.
The cat beast was black in color, perfectly blending into the environment around it. Well, almost that is. Icarth could still see it with his enhanced eyes and the innate sense of danger it was emitting. Although that sense was dulled to an extent as the beast for waiting for prey to pass by.
Staying stock still it didn't even move its eyes. One would even think it was dead if not for the subtle expansion and contraction of its ribs.
'It's about the size of me...If not a little bigger..'
'Its claws are strong enough to hold its weight and grip into the tree.....they must be sharp too.." Icarth glanced at his claws with a hint of disappointment before returning to his analysis.
'The eyes are only half open....'
'It should have a good kinetic vision if its eyes aren't moving currently.'
'It seems decently strong as well,' Icarth concluded after eyeing its muscles. But in reality, this beast wasn't even close to being one of the mid-level predators of the forest. Due to its lacking strength, it had to resort to such methods of hunting. Icarth concluded this as well and prepared himself for the battle.
Lifting himself onto a branch above him, he positioned himself perfectly on it. All this was done slowly and without any excess noise. Moving with the cover of the rustling of the leaves, Icarth concealed himself as best he could, hiding his intentions in his mind as well. Icarth was satisfied with his positioning as his nose picked up the beast's scent from the wind blowing from the beast towards him.
Now directly above the beast, Icarth prepared to pounce on it. Crouching slowly, before he could get into the perfect position, the beast below him moved abruptly.
Retracting its claws, it leaped from the tree and landed soundlessly on the ground. And in a flash, it was gone into the underbrush.
Stunned for a second, Icarth growled slightly. He was not letting it get away.
Bounding after the beast, Icarth ran at full speed, also soundlessly. At night in the forest, it was a death sentence to make a lot of noise.
It was a dead giveaway to the other stronger beasts where you were. Both the beast and Icarth knew that very well. Keeping the noise to a minimum, the chase continued with the duo passing by a couple of weaker animals who fled at the sight of them.
Gaining distance, Icarth gave a beastly smile right before he was surprised again. The beast took a sharp uturn by using a tree in front of it as a pad. Claws forward, the beast landed on top of Icarth. While Icarth was caught by surprise, he wasn't totally unprepared. He had covered his vitals with his hands and had braced for the impact of hitting the ground.
Feeling the sharp claws of the beast sink into his hands, Icarth grunted in pain and grappled with the beast.
On top of him, the beast snapped at Icarth's face, trying to bite it off. Dodging to the best of his ability, Icarth mustered up his strength and reversed their position. Now being the one on the top, Icarth dodged one paw and sunk his claws into the beast's shoulder.
In return, Icarth felt a burning sensation in his sides where the other paw had embedded itself. Gritting his teeth, Icarth stopped himself from screaming in pain. Glaring at the flailing beast beneath he prepared to land the finishing blow. Feeling a lapse in his concentration, Icarth refocused his thoughts by biting his tongue.
Raising his bloody hand in the air, Icarth brought it down as hard as he could....and struck the cold hard ground. The beast was nowhere to be seen. Wounds still burning, Icarth leaped to his feet, alerted by what had transpired.
'Where is it?' Icarth thought wildly.
'Where did it go?'
'Did a greater predator do something?'
'No, I didn't sense anything.....'
Before Icarth could start panicking, his sharp nose caught a particular scent. It was the blood of the beast he had been fighting with. It seemed lady luck was on his side today as the scent led him to the exact position of the beast.
Icarth found the beast crawling slowly, bleeding heavily. Interestingly, Icarth found that he couldn't keep track of it with his eyes. If it wasn't for the faint smell of blood being swept into his nose, Icarth would have missed the beast entirely.
'It must be its gift...' Icarth thought with a shiver. Being able to hide your presence almost entirely was a very scary gift if used in the right environment and with the right circumstances.
Discarding unnecessary thoughts, Icarth leaped onto the beast. This time it was the beast's turn to be surprised. Not expecting Icarth to locate it, it was completely caught off guard.
Icarth raised his claws and stabbed them into its throat preventing it from growling or howling in pain. All beasts were smart enough to follow this strategy. If they were on the verge of dying, they would always try to make as much noise as to put their predator in danger as well.
Icarth gazed with cold eyes, into the bulging eyes of the beast. Watching the light fade out from them, Icarth stayed in that position for some time to make sure that the beast was truly dead.
Previously he had a bad experience with assuming that he had killed his prey when it was still on its dying breath. With its last strength, it had made so much noise that brought many different predators from all over the place. He had barely survived that day.
From then on, Icarth had made sure to always go for the neck.
Slumping to the ground, Icarth didn't lower his guard. While the fight may be over, it was still unknown if any other beast had stumbled upon the two fighting.
As if on cue, a snake-like creature slithered out from behind a bush, its tongue flicking in and out of its mouth, tasting the scent of blood in the air.
Instead of getting scared, Icarth prepared for another fight, the sense of danger emanating from the snake was manageable for him at this stage. His previous fights' wounds had almost healed with his insane rejuvenation.
Red eyes glowing in the dark, Icarth leaped into the next fight.
It was going to be a long night once more.