Primal Hunt

                                  by Longshot
                                (f/f, mud, bd)


Ranza  frowned  to  herself.  It  had  been the third time today she'd lost the
scent.  She  kicked  herself  for  it. Experienced hunters like her didn't lose
trails.  Not  like  this. She'd been trailing the fugitive for some time now. A
priestess of a rogue god, and her god must be giving her every advantage in the
book.  Ranza's  ears  perked up, her feline senses were far better than that of
her  quarry.  Most  felonians  far  outclassed  the  other  races, and hers was
especially  adept  at  it.  Most  lynxes  were the smallest of all the cats and
arguably  the  smartest. Their natural weaponry and heightened senses made them
some  of  the  best hunters around. It was a part of their natural lives. Ranza
had just decided to put her natural talents to use, it had only taken her a few
years  to  learn  to  use  the  two-handed sword she kept strapped to her back,
though  she  often  preferred  the smaller short sword or the hand crossbow she
carried.

Ranza  looked  in  the  direction  of  the sounds she heard, her yellowish eyes
scanning  the  forest. Dusk was growing near, and she knew she'd have even more
of  an  advantage  as  it  became dark. With her natural night vision she could
bound  through  the forest while her prey stumbled about like a lost child. She
saw  a form taking off towards the east. She didn't waste time taking off after
her  prey.  Getting  down on all fours and running like her feline cousins, she
knew  that  she  could  quickly  overtake the fleeing human. However, the sight
before  her  made  her freeze in her tracks and her claws dug into the earth as
she  stopped  herself.  The  fool priestess had run into the famed Swamp of the
Shifting  Sands. Its namesake was obvious, and few were rumored to have made it
through the swamp alive.

Thelona  smiled  to herself as she ran. 'No way that fool cat will follow me in
here,'  she  thought  to  herself.  She'd also heard the legend of the infamous
swamp,  though  she knew her lord Ungalos wouldn't let her die in this infernal
swamp.  He  had  plans  for  her.  It  was  why  he'd allowed her to escape the
notorious  bounty  hunter in the first place. The boots he had granted her gave
her  speed which could match the cat's even at a full run, and despite being of
a  soft,  comfortable feeling leather they would protect her feet from even the
sharpest  of  thorns.  Her blue and gray robes shifted a bit with the wind. The
tunic  she  wore  portrayed  the colors of the god of storms, and with the gray
stockings  made  from the softest of silks, and the blue and gray leather boots
she wore, comprised of her ceremonial garb.

She  walked  carefully  now  through  the  swamp and began to really wish she'd
brought  another  pair  of  boots.  Not that there had been time to gather them
anyway,  that  infernal  cat  had interrupted her sacred ceremony. She owed the
village,  they  had  spurned  her  God, refusing to believe in the power of the
storm. She had planned on conjuring a powerful storm, to show the villagers the
folly of their ways. However the fur ball had jumped her from behind and almost
killed  her. It had taken most of her magic to perform the curative spells that
had  saved her life. And the one that had allowed her to evade the cat's senses
for so long.

She thought about the last two of the spells she possessed. One that would make
the  plants  come to life and attack her enemies. And one that would change the
softest  of  earth  to  the hardest of rock. Neither were spells she was overly
familiar  with. Usually they were magic of the more earth-oriented priestesses.
She  was  used  to spells of wind control and flight. The earthly druidic magic
was  foreign  to her and seemed harder to cast, but she was sure her lord had a
purpose  in  granting  them to her. She cursed softly as her boots got stuck in
the  soft earth of the swamp for perhaps the fifteenth time now. She wished she
had  the  spell  she'd used to hide from the cat now. But such was life, if she
hadn't  used  it then she would have never made it here. She made a soft prayer
of  forgiveness  as she slipped her feet out of the boots. Much to her surprise
the  boots sank into a small pool of bubbling mud. Unsure if this was a omen or
a  blessing  in  disguise  or  perhaps a trap meant for her, Thelona tugged her
stocking feet free of the soft earth and broke into a run through the swamp.

Ranza took to the trees as was natural for her kind. She sat in the branches of
a tall cypress, watching the swamp for signs of her quarry. Her fur was on end,
and  her  huge black furred ears listened for any sounds. The felonians were an
unusual  race,  the only known non-lycanthrope cross between animal and man. No
one  really knew how the race had been created, only that they were the last of
the races to appear. Ranza was one of the lynxes. Small and nimble and smart as
a  whip,  they were the smallest race of felonians. While most towered over the
humans at seven feet tall, her race stood only fout to five feet tall, and most
barely  weighed  over 110 pounds while the other cats weighed usually in excess
of  300. She wore only a simple bikini-type top and a short loincloth, claiming
anything  else  would  slow her down as she tried to run on all fours. She also
wore  a  leather harness which held the giant sword on her back. Leather straps
wrapped  tightly  over  her  shoulders and around her waist. It was rumored she
dressed  so  scantily  in  her attempts to attract male felonians. Those taunts
were  usually met with a crossbow bolt into the chest and promise of another if
they lived through it. Ranza scanned the swamps watching for the priestess, and
waiting  for  dark. She lay down in the tree, her ears ever alert to the sounds
of  crashing  through the forest, as she decided to take a short nap to rebuild
her energy for the struggle to come.

Thelona slogged slowly though the calf deep mud. She'd been running for a while
and  hadn't  gotten  far.  Night  had  fallen  like  a  stone,  and now she was
hopelessly  lost.  The  ground  was  soft and wet under her stocking feet and a
shiver  ran  up  her  spine.  She  seemed to choose this moment to remember the
stories surrounding this swamp. How so many travelers had wandered in and never
been  seen again, the legend told of several reasons why the most common theory
being  that  there  was  a  beast  composed  entirely of mud that stalked those
foolish  enough  to enter the swamp. Others spoke of places in the ground which
giant  mouths  would  open  and  swallow  travelers whole, saying they were the
mouths  of  giants who lived beneath the swamp. Thelona gulped hard as she tore
her  feet from the sucking mud again. She now knew the truth, and the truth was
far  scarier  than  any  legend.  This  swamp was well named as the sands /did/
shift.  In  the  form  of  what  she  had  once  heard called quicksand. As she
struggled  to  pull  away  from the mire again she became worried that her only
chance  might  be  to  surrender to the hunter. She shook her head. She mustn't
surrender! Her god would frown upon such, and he would provide for her.

Ranza  yawned  and  stretched,  she smiled as she could see the moon was coming
out, casting its pale shadows on the surrounding swamp. Yet she could see as if
it  was  day. She sniffed the air and smiled, a toothy grin exposing her fanged
teeth.  She  could  smell  the  fear of the human, the musty smell of the swamp
around  her.  Yes,  this was the time the advantage was hers. She stretched and
yawned,  digging  her claws into the tree limb, then began leaping from tree to
tree,  walking  along  the  branches  and following the scent of the human. She
smirked  to herself as she thought about it. 'Humans smell so foul when they're
scared.  You'd  think  they  use  some of that magic they abuse so much to make
themselves  smell  better.'  She chuckled softly. It was a joke that members of
her  race  often  shared,  at  least the lynxes. The felonian races didn't talk
much.  Of course the fact that her race was superior to those stupid overweight
freaks  didn't help much. She shook her head, it wasn't the time to worry about
her race's politics, now was the time of the hunt.

Thelona  gasped  as she struggled against the mire. It had gotten knee deep and
seemed to have a stronger grip on her legs. She struggled against the mire, but
it seemed to have some sort of taffy like consistency, and each time she pulled
at  it  she  only seemed to sink deeper into it's grip. She was thigh deep when
she  heard  the branches overhead rustling. She couldn't see anything at first,
then  she  saw  the  pale yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. She screamed and
began  struggling  again,  the sticky mire claiming her waist, and her priestly
robes  beginning  to disappear beneath the mire, where it had previously fanned
out.  Thelona  got a grip on herself and began to think quickly. Her spells, of
course!  She  could  trap the cat in the mire and perhaps force it to save them
both. If she disappeared into the quicksand then she was no use to her.

Ranza  looked  down  at  the  priest struggling in the mire and shook her head.
"Fool  girl,"  she  hissed softly. She doubted the priestess could hear her, as
she  was a good fifty feet above her. She pulled her crossbow from her belt and
loaded  the  grapple.  She  would  have  to  go  down  and rescue the damn fool
priestess.  She  chuckled  softly as she watched her struggling. 'Stupid girl,'
she  thought  to  herself, she was only going to drown that way. She started to
take  careful  aim with her grapple bolt when suddenly what felt like a log hit
her  in  the  back.  "Umph!" she cried out as she dropped her crossbow and fell
from  her  perch. She twisted around quickly, catching herself by a clawed paw.
She  glared  down  at the priestess, wondering what magic she was using, though
she  didn't  have time to consider it. The tree suddenly began shaking the limb
that  Ranza  was  hanging by. Ranza growled and tried to maintain her grip, but
with a final violent lurch the tree shook the lynx loose from its branch. Ranza
fell a few feet and landed in something soft. She cursed in her native language
as  the  mire  quickly  swallowed  her legs. She glared at the priestess, claws
extended, and hissed, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you mad?"

Thelona blinked. "You're the one trying to kill me!" she said defensively.

Ranza  narrowed  her  eyes, and growled "You'll be lucky if I don't, girl." She
knew  it  was  an  empty  threat,  she needed the woman alive, and she wasn't a
killer,  except  when  she  needed to eat or her life threatened. She shook her
head.  "You  cost  me my crossbow, which I was using to get you out. If I can't
take  a body back I can't get anything for you." She glared at the woman again,
hoping that she was looking as intimidating as she was angry.

Thelona shook her head. "I-I didn't know," she started. "I thought ..."

Ranza  cut  her  off. "That'ss the problem with you humanss. You think you know
everrything, when you know nothing."

Thelona  looked  down  at  the  mire  slowly claiming her. It was almost to her
breasts,  her  spell casting had seen to that and Ranza didn't fare much better
as  she  was  squirming  about for some reason with a strange look on her face.
Then  again  she'd never really seen a normal look on a felonian's face, so she
dismissed  it.  "What's  your name?" She looked at Ranza desperately, as if she
perhaps needed something, anything, as she faced her fate.

Ranza  shook  her  head,  confused,  but didn't see why she shouldn't tell her.
"Ranza, Ranza Steelclaw."

Thelona  paled. She knew this hunter. She was well known as one who rarely lost
her  prey,  because  once  she caught them they never got away. "Y-You mean ...
They ... sent /you?/"

Ranza  looked up from trying to unattach her sword. "Yes, I was hired, you were
only  trying  to  destroy  a village. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to lose
this sword before it drags me under."

Thelona  nodded  slowly, her mind racing. Then she remembered "My /spell!/" she
cried out.

Ranza  fumbled  with the latch on her shoulder. "What? More spells? It was your
damn spells that got us here in the first place!"

Thelona  frowned.  "Look,  I'm up to my armpits and you aren't much better off,
Miss Kitty. I /might/ be able to save us, but we could just die here, if that's
what you prefer!"

Ranza  growled. She felt the mire crawling over her shoulders, and she knew she
didn't  have  a  choice. Her sword and pack were weighing her down and dragging
her into the mire. "Jusst do it!" she choked.

Thelona  nodded  and  began to mumble the mystic incantations for the spell. It
was  a  hard  spell, very powerful and usually not available to her. She felt a
surge of magic as she began to channel it, nothing like she'd ever felt before.
It was almost overwhelming. She spoke the final words of the spell and felt the
power  leave  her.  Exhausted she slumped forward, surrendering her arms to the
mire.

Ranza  yowled  in  surprise  as  the ground behind her became solid, rock hard,
almost  instantly.  She  didn't  waste  time clawing her way onto the slab. She
sighed  as  she  looked at herself, dripping with mud, but now wasn't a time to
worry about grooming. She pulled a pair of gloves off her belt and slipped them
on.  The gloves seemed to melt with her hands and take on the furry appearance.
She then reached into her pack and grabbed a rope. She tossed the rope out into
the  mire  near  Thelona,  and  oddly the rope snaked towards the priestess and
began wrapping itself around her. "I'm not without my own magic, girlie. And if
you  ever  call  me  'Misss  Kitty' again I'm going to rrip yourr thrroat out,"
Ranza sneered.

Thelona  stared  at  Ranza wide eyed. "How can you? I know these ropes, they're
cursed!" she cried out.

Ranza  snickered. "Only for you. I can contrrol them." Thelona could do nothing
to  resist  as  the rope twined itself around her body, pinning her arms to her
sides. Ranza smiled and reeled the priestess in like a fish and up to the slab.
"There'll  be  no  more  tricks  from  you  girl." Ranza taunted the priestess.
Thelona could only sigh and nod, she was sure her god had abandoned her.

Ranza  looked  around  and  seeing  a tree trunk close dragged her captive over
towards  it.  "C'mon you. I'm not ssleeping in thiss messs." She began to climb
up  the tree towing Thelona, who complained every time she was whacked into the
tree  or  the  bark  scraped her skin. Ranza tied the rope off to the tree. "Ya
arren't  going nowhere, misssy, so don't worrry about that. You dragged me into
thiss  sswamp,  and  I'm  none to thrrilled about that ssince I'm all muddy now
'cuz of you. But to your crredit we'll be the firrssst to walk out alive."

Thelona  tried  to  smile  weakly at that, but she couldn't. She felt betrayed,
deserted.  She  felt  alone  in  the  world,  but she knew it was the price for
worshiping  the  God of storms. He expected only mightiness from his followers,
and the weak were left behind. She was the weak, pitiful girl who'd let herself
get captured by a cat.

Morning  came,  and  Ranza stretched and yawned. She looked over at Thelona who
seemed  to  be sleeping, though not very comfortably, at least not for a human.
She began grooming herself, getting as much of the dried mud out of her fur.

Thelona woke to Ranza cleaning herself and blinked. "I don't suppose I can take
a bath?" she mumbled.

Ranza  looked  at her a moment, confused. "Well, I'm ssure as hell not going to
lick you." She sounded a hint disgusted at the prospect of cleaning a human.

Thelona  stuck out her tongue. "/Yuck!/ No, you stupid cat! I don't want you to
lick me. I want to take a bath, in the lake."

Ranza  narrowed  her eyes at the stupid cat comment. "If you don't behave, I'll
thrrow  you  into  a lake." Thelona nodded, quickly reconsidering her position.
Ranza did have the sword and the freedom of movement, that and Ranza wasn't the
one who was tied up.

Ranza looked at her captive and frowned. Thelona looked at her. "What?"

Ranza  shook her head. "I'm trying to decide how to get you back to the forest.
You  aren't  gonna  be  jumping  from tree to tree, tied up or not. And I can't
carry you while doing that."

Thelona looked thoughtful a moment. "How far is it to the edge?"

The reply came quickly. "About a mile."

Thelona nodded. "Then I think we get to walk through the swamp."

Ranza frowned and nodded. "I wasss afrraid of that."

Thelona looked at Ranza again, she actually wasn't that bad of a girl, even for
a  felonian.  She  blinked  as Ranza suddenly leapt at something on the ground,
pinning it, then killing it. As Ranza approached she saw that she had a rabbit,
which  she began to tear into strips. Ranza turned to her. "Open yourrr mouth."
Thelona  blinked  and shook her head. Ranza frowned. "Ya want to eat don't you?
Ya  saw  me  catch it, I didn't do nothing to it." Thelona blinked she'd always
heard  bounty hunters were cruel to their captives, wanting only money. She had
heard  how  the captives came into town, beaten and bloody, if they were lucky,
alive.  The living ones were usually half starved, yet this one was sharing her
food,  which  barely  looked  like  enough for her alone. Not only that she was
feeding  her. Thelona pondered this as she slowly chewed the tender, though raw
rabbit meat.

As  they  wandered  through  the calf deep mire, trudging along, Thelona had to
ask, "Why?" she asked softly.

Ranza  didn't  look  back  as she led her captive, it irritated her that it was
taking  so  long,  but  she  had to skirt around 3 areas of the soft mire. "Why
what?" she grumbled back.

Thelona  sighed.  "Why  are  you treating me so well, after what I did? And the
stories I've heard ..."

Ranza  snapped.  "The  storries arre wrrong," and she almost seemed offended by
the question.

Thelona nodded. "I see," she said softly. "How much are you getting for me?"

Ranza  laughed  a  little.  "Three hundred gold. A light bounty, but good for a
first timer like you."

Thelona nodded again. "Thank you," she whispered.

Ranza looked at her oddly. "For what?"

Thelona looked at her, tearful. "Not ... treating me like you want to."

Ranza shook her head and mumbled something about humans being weird.

They broke the edge of the swamp later that afternoon, and Ranza stopped by the
lake  to  rest and bathe herself. She slipped on her gloves a moment and pulled
the  rope  of  Thelona. "Don't get no ssstupid ideass or trry to take off. I'll
jump  into that lake afterr you, and I'm a betterr sswimmerr than I look to be.
But if I have to come in afterr ya, I'm gonna be mad. Now go bathe."

Thelona  blinked,  she couldn't believe it. She was even half-tempted to try to
run  away,  but  decided she didn't want to see if Ranza's kindness had limits.
She  didn't  bother  taking her clothes off, they looked as bad as her, and she
dived  into  the  cool waters of the lake. She could feel the dried mud flaking
off  her,  and  she giggled as she looked at the cloud of brownish water behind
her.  The  cool water felt wonderful, even through her clothes. She climbed out
of the water, her robes plastered to her body. Her stockings were tattered, and
she  began  pulling them off. She looked up suddenly to see Ranza standing over
her, and she paled, frightened for a moment.

Ranza  dropped  a  gray  cotton  dress  and similarly colored boots in front of
Thelona. "They aren't much, but it's the best I could do on short notice."

Thelona  blinked.  "I  ..."  She  was  confused,  first  food, then a bath, now
clothing.  "Thank  you," was all she could manage in a soft whisper. Ranza said
nothing as she left the girl to change.

They  started  the  journey again, and Thelona was surprised to find that Ranza
used  a short length of rope to only bind her wrists instead of the cursed rope
from  before.  She  walked  along in front of Ranza, the dress was surprisingly
soft  and the boots comfortable. They weren't expensive, but it was better than
anything  she  expected  as  a captive. She sighed, feeling terrible all of the
sudden,  like  she didn't deserve the treatment she was getting. "Stop it!" she
finally cried. "Please ... stop, I can't take this." She started to cry.

Ranza looked at her oddly. "What'sss wrrrong with you now?"

Thelona  shook  her head. "I don't understand! How can you be so nice to me? So
kind?"

Ranza  cocked her head at the girl. "What arrre you talking about? Ya think I'd
look rrright coming into town with a half dead priessstesss?"

Thelona looked at her. "Then it's because I'm a priestess?"

Ranza  shook  her  head.  "Of  courrse  not!  What  do  you think I am girrl? A
monssterrr?"

Thelona looked at Ranza a long moment. "No, if anyone is the monster here, it's
me."

Ranza shook her head. "I think you werrre just confusssed."

Thelona thought on this for a moment and murmured, "Maybe I was."

The rest of the trip back to town was uneventful. The two women walked along to
the  gates  of town, when Ranza jerked Thelona into the shadows. Ranza raised a
clawed  hand  into  the  air  as  if  planning to slash the priestess's throat.
Thelona  closed  her eyes. She knew this was it. This was when she was going to
die.  She  felt  her  body  spun around, then the ropes holding her wrists fell
away.

Ranza's voice whispered, "You neverrr sssaw me, Thelona."

She  turned  to  thank Ranza but she was gone. She saw a small pouch, which she
quickly  picked  up,  which contained fifty gold coins, and had the symbol of a
God  on it. Alyana, the goddess of second chances and forgiveness. Thelona knew
immediately what she had to do.

A  few  months later Ranza visited the temple of her Goddess Alyana, and smiled
to  herself  as she saw Thelona there. She decided to slip out quietly, knowing
she had done her duty and brought another of the wayward souls into the care of
her  Goddess.  It  was her duty as a bounty hunter after all, to track down the
redeemable souls and convert them to the way.