Murciel was on the move, leaving his fellow junior-initiate Druids still in awe at the fading stampede of great tapir's and hunted stragglers in the dust.
His mission came in the form of three massive fanged beasts barreling ahead. They moved like nothing he'd ever seen. Both insanely fast and heavy. Not like the cats of his home region. They smashed through bushes and tore up the dirt, roaring at one another as they bumped bulbous shoulders and clicked fangs hard enough to spark.
Small fires bloomed in their wake, burning up poisonous flowers and leaving explosive rainbow colored smoke in their wake.
Eventually, they were close enough to see with human eyes. Or Vampire eyes. Murciel caught the flash of their fur as he climbed the snaking body of a tree he didn't know the species of. It's bark was shingled and smooth, making the climb difficult.
Difficult was subjective.
He reached the thin branches in a second and looked down at the massive brutes from his vantage point.
They were brown furred with black stripes and had purple slitted eyes. The leading male had a dreaded black mane that only made the beast seem more imposing. More powerful.
Murciel's stomach lurched. Reminding him of how hungry he was.
He waited as they neared.
Muscles tense.
Heart on fire.
Mind replaying the memories of his mothers words as another deeper portion saw her alone in the dark technological hell of Low-Earth. All while he neared the opposite ends. Worlds away. The least he could do was return stronger.
He descended. Unable to hide the predatory urges rising within. His gums itched as his fangs extended out of his raw gums. A thin sheen of fur spread down his back and arms. He landed as something more akin to the beasts. Still human. But wilder. Able to hold on with fang and claw as the maned saber-cat roared and twisted to shake him off.
They tumbled like debris in the dirt. The big cat swung and snarled, knocking aside its own packmates as Murciel twisted and bit wherever the blood flowed loudest.
His world became a light show of jungle brilliance and red oceans. The wind left his lungs multiple times from being slammed by the big cat, but he wasn't only supplied by wind.
The cats blood was pungent and hot as it slid down his throat.
He didn't drink enough to activate his newest Cultivation Technique, (Crimson Mimicry), forcing him to hang on and dive in for more.
The maned cat had other ideas as it rolled and slammed into a tree.
The sudden stop in motion left him flying off its back and rolling through a crop of flaming bushes.
When his ears stopped ringing and his vision stopped spinning, he was brought back to the sounds of rumbling. On one side, not even a full mile away, his Druids prepared their kills, making fires and setting camp while the silverhenge hunters guarded, he could hear Olivander asking about Murciel and someone else. On the other, his saber-cat opponents were up and moving, now joined by the entrance of others left to rip through the burning jungle.
He jumped to his feet, "Yes. Bring more."
Murciel trailed off as he realized he was on fire.
But it was too late.
The cats exploded from the thicker brush ahead, now standing side by side with their kin, snarling and hissing at eachother, communicating something fierce as they kept their feline eyes on the young Vampire.
He ignored the burn on his back and shoulder, knowing it would heal the second he got some blood. Instead, he focused on Rooting. Priming his body with Ambient-Mana absorption through his f—
Cats weren't fellow junior initiates. And they could feel the energy warble in the air.
Six pounced at once.
He jumped back reflexively. Unfortunately they were too fast.
Fortunately, Sandmaw was faster.
The High-Earth born canine jumped over Murciel and slammed into the maned cat covered in bite marks and claw marks.
The sheer size of them caused the twisting beasts to knock down the other five in the air.
Murciel stopped sliding in the dirt as a hand touched his back, seemingly unbothered by the fire.
"Wait…"
Murciel turned and found Logan standing beside him, holding a spinning ball of fire in hand. It spun so violently it generated hot winds that pulled in the rest of the rainbow flames until it looked like he was holding the sun.
Murciel was no longer burning alive.
"So you're hiding your true form, is that it?"
"Not right now." Murciel replied, surprised at the depth of his own voice.
"Good, because these cats are stronger than Foul-Beasts." Logan replied.
"So are we." Murciel flicked his head to the side.
Logan lengthened the ball of fire into a flaming crescent moon. He held it up like a bow and pulled from the base, pulling with his other hand as a flaming arrow lengthened into existence, already racked on a bowstring made of twisted sunlight spilling from above.
He looked at Murciel, "What are you doing? Be the beast you are and go help Sandmaw."
Murciel took off, unsheathing his weapons as he rolled back onto his feet.
A cat sensed his approach from behind and spun around, waving a massive paw at his face. Heat at the back of his neck made him sweat.
He jumped over the cat. It jumped after him only for an arrow of fire to whistle through the beast and leave it falling to the ground as ash.
Murciel landed on the maned cat that had just taken topmount over Sandmaw instead. That wasn't in the plans but it was the better outcome.
He wouldn't allow the jungle monsters to harm his High-Earth brethren.
A feline snarl spun from his throat as he bit down on the back of the cats neck and ran his blades through its ribs, ignoring the foul smell of his mane— ignoring the crunch and noxious taste of the small bugs inside. He crunched his way to its spine and held on until blood flowed.
Sandmaw kicked the drained beast away.
Murciel and the creature fell in a spot of burned bushes. He lost the hold of his weapons. They weren't going anywhere other than deeper into its massive organs. It twisted and fought. Murciel knew not to let it's powerful legs get near his stomach and to stay concious of the trees. Instead of clawing aimlessly at the massive creature, he reached upward and ripped out its eyes.
Before it could truly suffer, he went for the throat, muscles expanding already as he successfully pulled off his Crimson Mimicry Technique.
New power flooded his limbs. He ripped out the alpha cats throat with ease. Hand wet with stringy vocal chords, flesh muscle and blood.
Of the thin sheen of fur covering him, black stripes marred the surface. His fangs extended to the point of being unable to stay hidden. His jaws thickened as anorher set rose from his bottom teeth. His claws curled.
He found Logan staring with his bow aimed straight at him.
His mothers words echoed.
"They're not ready for you, Mercy."
Logan fired.
The arrow of fire spun, growing larger and more powerful as it tore through the winds.
His ear burned as it sailed right past him and sunk into the face of the pouncing cat behind him.
Logan regarded him angrily.
"Focus, catboy! Or did I come here to watch you die?"