Twilight in the forest meant near-total darkness. Sjenos didn't mind that at all, for it meant he would be all-but invisible to his prey as he hunted. The taiga was his natural habitat, even though he had not been born there, and he felt as much at home there as he did anywhere. More, in many ways, because the constant dim light made it very easy for him to blend in with the shadows, which offered him a kind of reassurance he couldn't easily find when he ventured into the snowy tundra or the open steppe. He also liked that there was almost always easy prey in the forested land.A predatory grin bared the tips of his sharp teeth as he set out from the den he'd been occupying for several days. Almost at once his nose caught the scent of a deer's recent passing, but he ignored that obvious trail. He wasn't that hungry, and killing more than he could eat all at once would invite scavengers and other predators to investigate. He would rather not deal with them if it could be avoided.
Sjenos was enjoying this peaceful respite from his recent encounters with strange 'leopards, all of whom had been male recently. Those encounters, though none were violent, were always harrowing, and he wanted more than anything to have some solitude. Not that the gods often listened to what he wanted, but since he never asked them for things anyway, that seemed fair to him.
Not-too-old spoor from a Eurasian beaver near the stream seemed like a good place to start hunting. And better still, beavers were never difficult to find or kill, so long as they could be prevented from fleeing into their dams. He followed the trail along the water, trying to remember if he had noticed a dam anywhere nearby.
