Hunting

'𝘈𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴... 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵.'

Omni cranes its lupine neck to the sky; it was still relatively early in the day, so some might still be sleeping. Or so it thought. After jumping through a few trees, it realized how loud it was. A large stone body bounding from tree to tree was sure to make noise, plenty enough to warn animals to stay out of the way. Once Omni realizes this flaw, it quickly makes amends to its form.

The golem's body shrinks a little along with its claws to better suit skulking through the forest's underbrush. With enlarged ears and a higher complexity nose, it began its hunt. About half an hour passed before peace returned to the woods, most animals coming out of their burrows and nests, cautious about making sure whatever force of nature had come was gone.

With enhanced senses and Energy Vision, the golem crawls around, avoiding detection while moving closer to signs of life.

'𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩... 𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘴?'

In a small clearing sat half a dozen rabbits, but unlike those on earth, these rabbits were large, each the size of a big dog. and missing large patches of fur, the exposed skin bearing something akin to black tribal tattoos. Hunting was simple for a being made of stone that had no smell. Including the earth magic that it was constantly casting on its feet and the ground, it could move without making any noise, allowing the still sizeable golem to hide in the bushes naught but 3 meters away from the family of rabbits.

'𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵.'

Omni waited until the rabbits huddled together to begin chanting. The sharp ears of the rabbits flicked once, but before they could even squeak, a strong current of white electrical energy surged forth from the bush Omni was hidden under, striking all six rabbits and paralyzing them.

'𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴!'

The stone wolf crawls from the bush and stands over its prize, the rabbits who had all fallen over twitching. The oversized rabbits wouldn't go down without a fight, though; a loud crack sounded as the golem was suddenly thrown upwards; one of the rabbits had landed a kick on its underbelly. Landing at the edge of the clearing, Omni shook its head clear and looked at the recovering rabbits. Their tattoos had lit up in different colors, save for one whose fur turned dark and backed up near the bushes.

The one that had kicked it away had a vibrant red light emanating from his tattoo and took a martial stance on his hind legs in front of his peers.

'... 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺.'

Omni stepped forward, its massive undamaged frame casting a long shadow across the clearing. The rabbits expressions shift from amusement to fear as they realized they were no match for the powerful golem.

Without a word, Omni charged forward, its massive jaws snapping shut on one of the rabbits. The others scattered, their elemental powers useless against the strength of the golem, unable to leave a lasting mark with only small bolts of energy. But the stone wolf was relentless, pursuing the rabbits through the forest with a fierce determination.

As the last of the rabbits fell, Omni let out a deep growl of satisfaction. Its mission was complete, and it could finally relax. It gathered the rabbits, holding them all with its teeth, deeming them enough of a trade for the malnourished goblins.

With the rabbits secured as a source of food, Omni turned its attention to the next task at hand: returning to the goblin's hill burrow to trade the food for ore. The journey back was uneventful, as the golem's powerful body easily navigated through the dense forest.

As it approached the cave, Omni could see the goblin elder waiting outside, its beady eyes fixed on the golem's approach. As Omni drew closer, the elder nodded in recognition, his mouth curling into a toothy grin.

"Ah, back!" the elder exclaimed. "And food! Very good, very good."

Omni nodded in response, its expression neutral as always. It had no interest in socializing, preferring to get straight to business.

The goblin elder led Omni into the hill burrow, which was filled with the sound of clanging metal and the smell of burning coal. Frail goblins scurried about, tending to various tasks, while others huddled around a makeshift forge, hammering away at bits of metal.

As they approached the elder's chamber, the goblin produced a small pile of ore, which it placed on a nearby table.

"Trade, as promised," the elder said, gesturing to the pile of ore. "Fair?"

The stone wolf nodded once more, its eyes fixed on the ore. It had no interest in the goblin's politics or economy, only in acquiring the ore it needed to fulfill its purpose. Placing a paw on the pile of ore, it uses Earth magic to slowly draw the metal into its body, storing it near the core. While not an expert, it can tell they are of surprising purity, though not what kind of metal they are.

"Hmm... If you have things like this, why are you having trouble with food, are you unable to trade with the nearby city?"

It was an innocent enough question from the golem, but the Elder begins to scowl after processing the question and understanding.

"Hunters kill us. You not get hunted too?" He replies, causing the golem to tilt its head.

"No, why? Why are you hunted?" Omni asks.

"Cause we take women!" The elder says with a cackle, though his attitude is short lived as it feels like the air in the room is getting colder, with the stone fur on the wolf's back crackles and gets more spiky.

"... 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞."