Devourer

written by Rose Silver in 2020.

SCENE 1: The Hunter's Return

EXT. Woods

The forest is covered in a Blanket of Winter. We hear footsteps and follow a White Rabbit in the Woods. We see how thick the snow is from the way it trudges slowly through the woods in desperate search for food. It travels forlornly, frail, shivering, weak.

There is a sound. A crack of a falling branch from a dead tree. The Rabbit pauses and looks up, hearing the faintest bit of noise. The wind howls softly as it perks its ears. The Rabbit turns away but as it does, it yelps as it gets caught in a Common Animal Trap buried in the Thick Snow.

A HUNTER clad in a Large Brown scarf and clothes, steps out from behind a tree and gazes at his kill. The creature is injured but it growls at him. Calmly, the hunter pulls out an Arrow, stabbing it through the head to silence its cries.

Once he is certain that the Rabbit is dead, he unhooks the trap safely and pulls it towards the level of his eyes. He sighs.

HUNTER: Too Skinny. It's not plump enough.

In the Distance, he sees the sun is setting and huffs, attaching the Rabbit next to several unfortunate thin squirrels slung on his belt as the light fades.

He surveys his surroundings a bit more. There is nothing but empty silence. Then, he hears a Rustle of leaves and spots a BLACK SHAPE with Horns between the trees to his left. The SHAPE stands there, appearing large and sauntering through the environment. He's not sure what it is but drawing his own conclusions, he and the audience believes it to be a Boar which therefore means it's food.

The Hunter readies his bow and arrow, aiming at the Shape and just as swiftly, he fires. The creature lets out a Yelp of pain that sounds neither animalistic nor entirely human. For a split second, it turns around and sees what attacked him, glaring at the Hunter with eyes of burning Bright Orange but instead of attacking him back, it hisses and vanishes. The Hunter feels a chill run down his spine but nevertheless, walks towards the place where his arrow landed.

The BLACK SHAPE he had hit vanished entirely, not a trace of it to be seen and only his arrow remained on the snowy floor. The Hunter picks up the item feeling confused. If that wasn't a Boar, then what did he just hit with his arrow?

A Cry Pierces through the Cold Woods!

GIRL'S VOICE: Stop. Don't Come any closer!

The Hunter's attention is drawn to the familiar voice and runs towards it.

CUT TO:

EXT. Woods

The HUNTER's SISTER is cowering in the bushes and is frightened out of her mind.

HUNTER: What happened? Are you alright?

SISTER: I-- I saw a demon! It was black and had sharp teeth and it looked at me. I was so scared.

HUNTER: You...must have been imagining things. Get up.

His sister gets up reluctantly, getting her bow and arrow off the ground.

HUNTER: (grabs her) Never do this again alright. The moment you are weakened and unfocused, that's when a wild beast will surely take advantage of you.

SISTER: I'm Sorry. It just came out of nowhere and --

HUNTER: It's alright. You're still new to this and courage takes a while to build.

The Hunter stares at the setting sun again. Night is fast approaching.

HUNTER: Let's go back to the house. We're done training for today.