Comfortably Numb

The scenery of the forest rushed by him as he was shooting forward at his top speeds, using his powerfully muscled legs to send him across the ground at a fast pace. His quick instincts allowed him to manuever between the trees as he came to them, refusing to slow on this particular hunt. After all, it was time to feed. The lion was making a comfortable living of this spot of the forest in particular, the first places he could remember. It had all began with that great sword, the first thing he had come to see in his existence as a spirit. His memories of the human realm were lost and gone, but the blade held a compelling force that continued to call to him. And so he chose to protect the blade from the other demons of the forest, to keep its stature strong in his thoughts. What blind inspiration.

This hunt wasn't an act of protection of the great sword, but one to empower himself as he would devour another spirit. This one was a horse yokai, the lion had noted a while back, though the thing had great speed in the forest as well. However, its manuverabilies weren't as fluid as Takashou's, though, so its chances of fleeding effectively were decreasing by the moment as the lion continued to draw closer.

The trees cleared for a moment and the advantage would have been thought to the horse. The thing was growing tired, though, and unable to resume that swift pace earlier. Meanwhile, Takashou's endurance had been tested but he still had the energy to push himself forward, striking the ground forcefully as he continued to dart forward, nearing the horse with each second. Right before Takashou's eyes the transformation occured. A pair of wings that bursted forth from the horses' back, the tearing of skin and fur alike throwing both contents into the air and dropping on the ground. While the horse left it.

The lion came to a stop, looking at the thing in awe, or rather, the situation. He was a land bound creature.. the lion did not know how to sprout wings on a whim, so it would have to improvise. It casted glances about and darted from the clearing and towards the nearest tree. It pushed off of the ground and grabbed ahold of the branch with its arms. Its legs scrambled upwards, bringing it ontop of the thing before he leapt out and made it to another, then another, gaining some sort of elevation. Then the lion leapt out from the tree all together and sent him in a lunge towards the winged horse.

The distance was too far, of course, and the lion would never make it. Beneath its clawed paws, though, discs of fire suddenly erupted when it touched down into the air. Platforms. Takashou lightly growled, before suddenly darting forward, a disc of fire bursting into life in the air with each step that he took, only to fade away into nothingness just as soon as his paw was lifted from that area.

"Wait, lion! Do not--" Its neck tore open as the lion came upon the horse yokai, having picked up speed on the last minute to surprise his enemy and throw in the strike. His claw landed back onto a flame platform, driplets of blood sliding off and downward from each point. The lion then opened its mouth, thrusting its head forward as it issued a loud roar, a shout of victory, a boast of his conquest. The horse yokai flapped its wings to blow wind in the lion's direction, pushing the spirit back away from its attacker, while gagging out blood, not even certain if it would survive the current wound it had to deal with. Still, a being backed up into a corner would surely fight for their life.

All ready there was a small orb of fire that flared out into being just within the maw of the lion. It expanded a second later, and then again another second after. The fyreball was completed and it shot outwards towards the horse. It was more than the lesser spirit had expected, and it dropped to the ground, lightly smoking. The lion chuckled as he followed the other's descent, having all ready cooked the yokai with the fyreball as in preparation of the upcoming meal, the original goal of this hunt. The little trick he had picked up was a nice bonus as well.

With a full belly, the lion returned to the sword. The spirit padded across the deathly grass and took its lay in front of the weapon that was stabbed into the ground.

776 Words.
Learned Flight.
+26 Experience.

Updated