Hunting time

The hunger grew unexpectedly, so Stratus postponed going to the city. Pike had mad the forest his domain, so there had be some humans nearby for him to eat. It didn’t take too long to find it. Traveling east for a mile or two he found a road and a small wooden building with several cars and motorcycles parked outside. The roof of the building had a sign, but most of it had worn off. The only thing worth seeing was a neon sign of a girl with two beer mugs wearing a main outfit. A bar sitting in the middle of nowhere seemed odd, but probably less restricted then those within the city limits. He watched the road for several minutes first, it was practically empty. The bar didn’t have a proper parking lot, it was merely gravel and sand, people parked any such way. A single street lamp hung over the parking lot, barely lighting half area. Stratus circled around the back staying just within the tree line to avoid detection. He could hear the shouts, hoots, and laughing from inside the building. Plenty of people, but the problem was how was he going to get to them. If he were to just burst in he’d cause a panic, and could bring shinigami. He wasn’t completely sure how shinigami hunted hollows, it was a shame he didn’t ask Pike before killing him. He would have to wait for a human to come out and then attack. His patience had worn quite thin before a man stumbled out the front of the bar and made his way around the back.
“Stupid toilet’s been backed up for days. Rudy needs to fix it.” He slurred as he positioned himself before a tree and unzipped his pants. Stratus detached himself from the shadows of the trees and crept up beside the man. Suddenly the man looked over his shoulder right at him. Stratus froze like a dear in the headlight; the man might scream and alert the others. If he runs he could more than likely catch him, but if he made it to his vehicle it would be troublesome. He maneuvered himself between the man and the way to the cars. He stretched his arms out to either side and spread his claws wide. But the man just turned back around and continued urinating. What was that? Was the man so drunk he perceived him as only a figment of his imagination? The man finished his business and walked right at the hollow. Right as he’s about to slash the poor man with his claws, he bumps into Stratus’ body and falls over. Stratus lowers his claws. The man shakes his head and stands up. He bumps into Stratus again. “It’s as if he can’t see me.” Stratus thinks to himself. He jumps back, the human stands and walks forward only to bump into him again. “This is very interesting indeed.” He grabs the man by the back of his collar and lifts him off the ground. The man struggles, unsure what’s happening. Suddenly the hunger overwhelms him, but he realizes he must not do it where others might see. With a mighty leap, he jumps and heads deep into the forest. The man’s scream is muffled in the wind. Stratus shields the man from the branches as they descend on their last jump, an empty gesture Stratus thinks a second later. The man is screaming more, but only the animals hear him, and they run in fear of Stratus. His final words are but a gurgle as Stratus begins consuming him. Satisfied somewhat with his meal; Stratus delights in his new discovery. It was no fluke, that man could not see him. But perhaps it was a fluke? The animals avoided him readily enough, could it only be animal instinct? He would have to test it further. He made his way back to the bar, and this time stood in front by the street lamp. Little by little people filtered out, but none screamed or ran from the creature positioned right under light. He even went as far as tripping one man as he passed. He man cursed, but nothing more came of it. Now he looked forward to the city even more. Was this invisibility unique only to him? If so he need not fear shinigami, but hollows could apparently see him. Or was this a trait of all hollows? His regret for killing Pike grew somewhat. He sighed, and made way for the city once more.

After dawn most the cars had left the bar, by chance he overheard the people as they walked out. “Mike’s car is still here, was he in the john?” Even in sunlight no one seemed to notice Stratus standing in the parking lot. Not even passing the people in passing vehicles had shown any reaction. He waited until no one was around and lifted the indicated car and disposed of it deep in the woods. As always the animals scattered upon his approach as he leap from the tree tops. Having the humans not see him was fine, but the animals sensing him bothered him somewhat. Such a thing made him feel imperfect, like he was doing something wrong. He decided to spend the day trying to sneak up on animals.

His first attempt was simply moving around slowly. After standing at the bar he had gotten used to sensing humans. They gave off a vibe similar to when he had tracked Pike down. They didn’t smell like food, but rather inspired the same reaction certain foods give; fresh baked bread, a steak off the grill, a bowl of ice cream, etc. Animals had the same smell/sense to them, but quite weaker. He wondered if Pike hunted them to supplement his human food. After tracking a larger animal, he tried to slowly approach it. He failed the beast darted off in the opposite direction. He could have chased and caught it, but that wasn’t the point of this exercise. Next he tried to keep himself down wind of another animal; he saw a deer in the distance and crept closer. But once more the animal bolted. It raised it head, and looked in his general direction before it took flight. While he got better at tracking the creatures, he failed to move closer with most of them. Finally he hit upon an idea; why not go to a place where animals couldn’t run. But as he thought about it, he would have to build some kind of enclosure to do that. He leapt from branch to branch as he pondered how he could pull it off, when he came upon a small lake in the forest. “That’s it!” he exclaimed. He jumped to the edge of the lake. It took him but seconds to sense the many fish inside the waters. They were so weak he nearly couldn’t sense them at all. The fish would run if he made too much movement, but if he stayed still enough they would eventually move closer. He slowly waded out into the waters until he in the middle. His feet touched the bottom, the water barely reaching up to his shoulders. He stood motionless, but none of the fish would approach him. Could it be some kind of chemical from his body? No. If so then the animals wouldn’t have ran from him while downwind and quiet. It wasn’t a smell or chemical. He sensed the fish swimming around; they gave him a wide berth. Then it hit him; he could sense the fish so perhaps they could sense him. Animal instinct was what it could be. Could he reduce his vibe? He tried relaxing first. No reaction, the fish still didn’t approach. Then he tried to focus and it seemed they moved further back. “Well that must be close, but need to reverse it.” He said to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to focus again, but at the same time visualized himself shrinking. He stood there for several minutes, when suddenly something touched his leg. His eyes pop open and he sees a fish swim by him, but then it darts away. His masked face cracks into a grin. He tries once more, this time with his eyes open. He feels something different this time, but slowly notices the fishes moving closer to him. After what seems like hours, the fish are swimming about him like he’s part of the lake itself. He must have suppressed his vibe enough. With a leap he clears it’s waters and lands on the shore, scattering fish in the process. The sun sits high in the sky; he’s been at it for awhile. As he shields his eyes, he notes a green slimy substance on his hand. “Yuck.” He sighs, “Must have come from the lake.” The goo drips from his hand to the ground, but some stays on his hand. He shakes his claw, but it remains. Finally he wipes the remainder of it on a nearby tree. He turns his attention to the forest and tries to track and animal, and leaps towards it. He’s already downwind, so now he just tries to suppress himself again. He lands as quietly as possible many yards from his target, he creeps forward slowly. The dears keep eating uninterrupted; Stratus is barely 20 feet away. The forest is darker here, so he’s certain to not be seen, his gray body making him nearly invisible. Less than 10 feet away and he springs forth and tackles one. The rest of the herd scatter, he makes short work of the animal and devours it. Not as tasty as a human, but just as satisfying. The feeling of time well spent, he returns back his original plan; onwards to the city.

OOC: Something trivial; Stratus’ doesn’t need to open his mouth to speak due to the small triangle (on the bottom). When he eats the hidden crease opens to reveal his mouth of fangs. I actually toyed with the fact his mouth would completely vertical directly below his mask. Making is impossible for him to look at his food directly when he ate.