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The sun was setting and the night was cool with a slight breeze washing over the swamp, interrupting the stillness of sleep. That is, there was still light in the sky, but it was quickly dimming as the globe of fire ran towards the horizon, casting long shadows on the ground as it passed over. Not long now til darkness.... Midnight's Shadow thought to himself. Not long at all... He smirked to himself, silent laughter erupting inside of his own mind.

At his feet, he had cornered a rat, fat and boisterous, it snapped at his shins and chattered horribly, trying to fend him off. But it had no where to go, stuck between two ink-black hooves and a wall of this prickle bushes, it knew it was a goner long before it became dinner. With one swift dip of the neck, the black buck plucked the rat and began chewing. The death was quick, as it's neck had snapped when he picked it up. He had shown that much mercy, at least. Before death, he had chased it until it knew it was hopeless, but there was no need to inflict physical pain, Midnight's Shadow, thought, and so after that merciful snap, soft crunches could be heard until it was devoured completely. His tongue snaked out of his mouth and ran over his lips, taking in each morsel of the meat he had caught for himself.

Satisfied, the black buck turned away from the prickle bushes and began weaving his way through the swamp, heading towards the dark heart of MotherFather, in hopes of finding new prey to play with.

He wove right and left, hugging the trees whenever he could, trying to stay as invisible as possible - which, in truth, was almost impossible not to do. He was a shadow, just like all the others around him that were cast by the trees and their branches up above. He blended in like algae in the water, this was where he belonged - in the dark.

He prowled along and only slowed when he heard something else rustling through the swamp. His hooves delicately picked the soft spots of mud and he slowed his breathing, becoming almost completely silent. He eagerly crawled forward, having caught a glimpse of whatever it was that was up ahead. From here, he could see that it glowed softly, and was moving along much like a kimeti, but this one was definitely different. He decided to move closer to investigate before revealing himself.

Instead, when he got closer, he kept his head down, hiding behind some bushes so that the red of his eyes would not give him away, and he softly growled, which gradually turned into laughter. This, he hoped, would startle and perhaps even stall the stranger so that he could observe them for a moment longer before presenting himself to them. He wanted to know why this kimeti had looked so strange from far away.

Ahhh, there it was. Fear, shivers and running. His lips parted in an evil grin, deliciously tasting the air that was full of this scared doe's scent. He had by that point of course realised it was definitely a doe, that she merely looked different due to some malformation of genetics. This, he could understand, as he was such a kimeti also. He knew only of his sister that looked like him - perhaps more correctly, didn't look like much at all - and could only imagine that their parents had to have been inklings, just like them. But this doe proved to keep his interest, and so unfortunately for her, he kept following.

He stalked along, dashing to her left, to whisper "Why run, my little fox?" and then running around behind her, to trot along aside her on the right, to add in "Don't run so fast! Play! Stay here... to play with me..." As he whispered that last request, he slowed his pace to keep with hers, and lifted his lips to grin, revealing his gleaming white fangs.

Who could resist such a smile?

To her outburst of 'no' he could only laugh, and it was one that was cold and sinister, if a non-being could be those things. He kept pace with her easily, legs barely needing to tense for his gangly limbs to stay by her side. He kept to the right for now, but as he tore his eyes away from her for a moment, he glanced up ahead and instantly recognised where they were.

Looking back at the glowing mass of fur and hair that was so desperately trying to run away from him, he opened his mouth again, this time not to laugh, but to speak. "Careful now, dear... I know what lies up ahead, but do you?" And with that, he slowed just the tiniest bit, and sank back into the shadows behind her.

He knew that up ahead were thick trees on either side, practically un-passable to anything bigger than a lynx, and up ahead wove a path full of knobbly roots that stuck out here but not there, followed by angry thorn bushes that eventually led to a cemetery of trees, fallen over one another in a place that was dark and smelt burnt. So the doe had two choices, keep going and face the dangers, or turn back around and face the demon with a smile of a thousand teeth.

As the doe took a rather ungraceful dive, Midnight easily quickened his pace just enough so that when she tumbled, he launched himself into a neat, high jump to land on top of the pile of trees that she had fallen over. From his perch up there, he bent his legs enough so that when he stretched his neck out he could easily sniff at the doe lying on the ground.

She seemed to have managed to knock herself out cold! How strange!

The inkling though, nosed at her hair, curious what it would feel like and suddenly found his nose, closely followed by his muzzle and then his entire cheek, greeted by a warm softness. It was like nothing he had ever felt before! And this led to him letting his guard down and closing his eyes to enjoy the doe's inviting mane of hair.

He nuzzles her, and then before he knows it he starts purring... like a cat... something he has never done before.

He does not notice that she has awoken, and in this hazy state of mind, he probably won't until she stirs or speaks. But as it stands, he is perched on that fallen tree, rump in the air, tail lazily swishing back and forth, while his head is nuzzling his fallen prey. How strange is that?

He wasn't sure what was causing him to do this, though if he were to stop and think about it, he would probably have said that she must have intoxicated him with her scent.

When she sneezes everything becomes suddenly very clear, as if he had managed to rinse something horrid out of his eyes and could see once more. He shakes his head once, and by then she had scrambled to her feet and was addressing him.

Still crouched awkwardly on that log, he looks down at his front hooves and hoists himself up onto his back legs to bring the front ones back up onto the log. From there, the tall, shady buck tilts his head to one side and looks the beautiful doe over once more. To her question, he replies gruffly, "Midnight's Shadow." His eyes glow a fierce red as he takes in every little detail of the doe, and he adds softly, as his muzzle dips down closer to her head level, "And you.... are beautiful."

As she recoils he cracks a grin, teeth gleaming in the contrasting shadows. A light breeze ruffles his scruffy mane, and his tail swishes back and forth easily as he tilts his head to the other side.

But when she repeats his last word, and in a confused tone, his ears perk up and brow furrows if only for a moment. He gives her one nod, affirming the statement and then proceeds to add, "Certainly. A creature of celestial coat... of long flowing mane... Have you really never heard such a word? Never heard anyone call you that?"

His head snakes forward a bit, and he lightly jumps down from the log.