The End of The World, I

It was only a few minuets walk to where Shuule wanted to perch and wait for something to shoot at, even in human form. Grabbing an apple-like fruit off a branch, she crunched into it, not considering that such a fruit was only starting to ripen at the end of the dry season. Soon it would be the rainy season, when the world would cool down and be replenished, but the sky would remain dark and deary, before the cold season set in. The clearing was on the edge of "their territory," as Set saw it, but still within it, and not a place she was unfamiliar with when she would hunt as her fox. Finding a tree with enough low branches that she could climb it as a human, she settled in, sitting motionless and listening to the birds around her.

Shuule also started to think about how she would be going into heat in the rainy season, rolling her eyes at the thought. Female beastmen went into season annually, usually around the colder months. Fertility was not a strong suit of the species as a whole, and they only had one window a year to conceive. Between this, and the ratio of males to females being so wildly unbalanced, it was a precarious time for the women, who were at their most vulnerable. Shuule hadn't really thought about that chapter in her life. She furrowed her brow - she guessed she was going to be having snake children at some point? The male's species was what the children ended up being, and she had no hopes, she figured, of having a girl child. So, eventually, in her future, there would be...eggs? Tiny reptiles? She was quite fond of Set, but she wasn't exactly excited about the prospect of either of those things.

The girl was deep enough into her own thoughts that she did not hear the first cracking branch behind her, but she stopped swinging her legs while daydreaming when she heard the second. Her big ears pricked up, at first assuming it was something she could shoot, but when the scent wafted to her nostrils, she froze.

It smelled like a cat.

She couldn't pick up which kind of cat, since she had very little experience with any, but she knew the scent from the prey she had cleaned when Set was bringing her predators. Silently, she picked her legs up and perched precariously on the branch, making herself as small as she could. If she could scent the cat, the cat could smell her, she was aware. Soon enough, a massive leopard padded within eyesight, and Shuule nearly exploded into her beast. It was a beastman. She was certain of it. The leopard was easily four times larger than a regular wild leopard, which also meant it was highly striped; probably at least three, like Set. The massive creature stopped, sniffing the air.

Panicked, Shuule was still frozen, not sure what to do. She could call for Set - she sensed he could probably hear her from this distance, but if she was wrong, she would give away her location. She could shift, but as a stripeless fox, and a female at that, the leopard probably outweighed her by 300lbs. Either way, she also knew from others, that she didn't scent as a wild fox - she smelled like a female. He was tracking her, and he knew she was near. Sure enough, the cat casually walked up to the trunk of the tree she was perched in, looking up and locking eyes with her, giving a low, throaty huff.

Shuule had long since put her fox ears away, hoping to at least feign normalcy. Her shaking hand gripping both her bow and an arrow, she offered a small smile at the pair of golden eyes starring up at her. Cat males were not in the habit of attacking females, she reminded herself. They were closer to the Great City than she realized, and the City's population was nearly equally leopards and tigers the last she heard. This man would probably shift and start to sweet talk her, and then Set would come and posture like he would eat him, though she knew by now he wouldn't unless the stranger raised a hand to her without permission.

But instead, seemingly without provocation, the leopard let out an angry growl, and leapt onto the tree's trunk. The big cats were expert climbers, but as swiftly as the cat started to climb, Shuule let an arrow fly, burying itself into the male's shoulder. Surprised, the leopard roared, eyes turning into slits, though he didn't stop his ascend. These arrows were not made to fell massive beasts.

The best Shuule could do was jump. With a leap, she screamed, not in fear, but to try and alert Set, though she was sure the angry roar would have reached him as well. Everything was now moving in slow motion, her instincts hitting her, cat-like herself, landing on her feet.

She heard the thud behind her too late, hobbled by her bad human ears. The darkness was overtop of her, jaws over her head, claws burying into her flesh, as she shot one more arrow off. The leopard let out another agonized and surprised howl, clearly being hit a second time, though Shuule didn't see where, her eyes blinded in red. Searing pain shot through her right shoulder, her whole body heavy and immobile.

He would come, she knew. She begged. It might be too late, but as she drifted out of consciousness, dragged by her arm by the massive cat, she smiled bitterly. A fitting end for a misfit, she figured. One blissful summer with a snake, only to be ripped in two by a rootless beast. That was the only explanation for the behavior. She still felt like she had won; she wasn't a slave to her village, and she wasn't killed because of superstition. Just the wrong place, at the wrong time, as so many others in this world has suffered before her.

There was a sudden yelp, snapping Shuule back into the waking world in a haze, her body no longer being dragged through the dirt. She knew Set had made it. There was no mercy given, the giant black serpent baring down on the leopard, striking him several times with his venomous fangs, then slamming his body down to crush the beast. The leopard was as good as dead from the first bite, but Set needed him immobile as to know that the beast wouldn't continue to fight. Without even removing himself from the leopard carcass, the snake turned to the girl, crumpled in her own blood.

"Shuule!" he hissed while turning into his half beast. He wanted to scoop her up instantly, but was afraid touching her would finally end her. His chest was heaving, eyes wide and wild.

He stared at his mate, her right arm ripped open, hemorrhaging blood. There were other puncture wounds on her battered body, but it was clearly her arm that was going to do her in. Without the weight of the leopard actively suppressing her, whimpering, Shuule tried to sit herself up with her opposite arm.

"Take me home," she whispered.

Obediently, carefully, Set lifted her, as the girl bit her own lip until that also bled, to try and stop herself from screaming.