STONE

Peace and Fire

The next morning, Tripp grumbled as his eyes twitched from the sunlight hitting them. Slowly opening his eyes, he took a deep breath and glanced around the forest around him.
Sunlight peered through the trees, waking up the rest of the forest. Birds were filling the silence with melodic songs. He closed his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep, but now that he was aware of the birds chirping in the trees above him, he couldn't relax.
'Pile of feathers, can't they see I'm trying to sleep..'

Sighing deeply, he raised his massive head and yawned, exposing his long, saber teeth to the world then lightly shook his head, tossing his mane back and forth.
After licking his lips a few times, he laid his head away from his paws and down onto the ground. Being a in this form felt so natural, yet so unnatural. Maybe it was the four legs, instead of just two.
He hadn't realized just how long his saber teeth were until they jabbed into the dirt under his chin.
He wondered if he ever accidentally stabbed himself with them. They were a bit more blunt than his other teeth, but he could easily crush a skull with them. The thought surprised him as he thought it pleasing, mostly because his stomach had just grumbled.
Time to hunt.

Tripp slowly stood up on all fours and stretched. His fur was damp with the dew of the moss under him. After a good shaking of his mane, he looked towards the little shelter he stood guard over during the night.
There laid Seslie, still fast asleep.
Tripp smiled inwardly as he stretched once more before walking away.
As long as she was asleep and his scent was in the area, no creature should bother her.

He stalked through the forest not too far from camp, careful and quiet as to where his paws landed when he stepped. The streaking glow of the sun through the canopy of trees was perfect camouflage for him to blend in against his amber gold fur.
At least I am efficient in hunting. That came in handy on Rago-X.
After walking a short distance away, he bent his neck down to sniff the ground. The forest floor had been disturbed here. He then raised his head to sniff the air. It was a mixture of sweet yet musty moisture. His nostrils caught a familiar scent, causing him to immediately start walking again.
Not too far from where he had stopped, he slowly crept up to a hill and peered over the edge of it. There, midway bottom of the hill, was a herd of forest stags grazing on the forest floor.
His mouth watered as he watched them. Long, thin legs, but a powerful torso and thick neck. The head was small but on top was it's weapon, which were bone-like antlers. They reminded him of his saber teeth. Not sharp, but a powerful and deadly weapon when strength was used behind it.
He twitched his nose as he thought of a plan how to hunt them. He only needed one. Seslie only needed a few strips and he can easily finish the rest. The difference in theory stomach size was no joke, but he found it amusing.
He concentrated and kept his tail still and raised just above the ground so as not to disturb the leaves and cause noise.

Step after step, he snuck closer to them, using the sunlight to his advantage, keeping his amber eyes narrowed to hinder any light shining off them. Whenever the stags would raise their heads to inspect the surrounding area, Tripp would lower himself gently to hide and kept perfectly still.
He picked out the perfect one. It was muscular yet plump, perfect in his opinion.
It amazed him that even with a foggy memory, he remembered how to hunt in this form, as it was a bit different than in his humanoid form. He assumed that if one was hungry enough, one can be good at anything.

Tripp finally stopped, just a few paces away and hid behind a fallen tree and waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, when the stags all turned their backs towards him, he pounced.
It only took a split second for the stags to realize that they were under attack and they sprinted off to flee.
But Tripp was faster.
Claws digging into the dirt, Tripp ran with as much strength and power he could force his muscles to do as he gave way to the chase. The stag he chose tried it's best to run, leap, bound, whatever it could to get away, but it wasn't enough.
With a powerful leap, Tripp lunged over the stag, and swipe the back of the neck with his claws, killing it with one blow.