Golden blue slitted eyes looked out of the brush. Dangerous and merciless they were, for they were looking on a man that had wandered into the jungle to grab some fruits for his family. He wandered in for he was hungry and didn't know of the rumors of a bloodthirsty creature that lay in wait for stupid villagers like himself.
Saliva dripped down sharp fangs in a human like shape. The nose was more pronounced that it looked like a snout. High cheekbones lay below the odd slitted eyes, fur covering the face. A wet nearly flat tongue darted out to capture the leaking saliva and gulped it down, even if her mouth continued to water. The jungle was a mass of colors, because of the exotic flowers that bloomed there. But the main colors were green and gold. Green because of the foliage, gold because of the sunlight trying to penetrate the jungle's canopy.
A slash of sunlight was able to really penetrate fully to the bottom of the jungle. But the creature moved to the shaft of light, lighting across the thick exotic fur of the creature. The fur looked like a reddish gold as it shined. To contrast the red-golden fur, black stripes ran across it, from face to tail. But to join these stripes lay half formed spots. It was as if a tiger and leopard bred. The creature wasn't as large as a tiger, but was lean like a leopard.
Slowly, the exotic creature tracked the man as he picked fruits and ate them as he went. When the creature believed it was time, it readied itself. Its shoulder blades moved in quick recession as it readied to pounce. With a small roar, it leaped, catching the man as he turned.
His brown eyes widened in surprise and fear as he saw the creature. His arms lifted up to try to protect himself, but it was futile. Her claws were already digging painfully deep into his chest, her fangs already sinking into the vulnerable flesh of his neck. Blood spurted in her mouth and a rumble of satisfaction went through her chest. Gulping down blood, she didn't stop biting and clawing till the man was dead.
The corpse fell limply to the ground as she let it drop, nuzzling it with a cold wet black nose, blood dotted on her nose. Her sandpapery tongue lapped it up along with the blood on the body. She then began to bite and tear at it to get to the meat. Eating now, her muzzle turned red from the blood from the meat, but she was content.
Reddish pink meat hung from the side of her mouth as she chewed with her sharp teeth. A low rumble began in her chest, as she lay on the jungle's floor, eating her kill. It wasn't exactly a purr since tigers or leopards didn't exactly sound like a normal cat. This was more like a throaty low rumble.
~ back at the village He leaned forward slightly as he listened to the elderly woman speak about the bloodthirsty creature that lay in wait in the large heavy jungle. He was of average size but that was large to these quaint people. Muscles rippled beneath his uniform when he moved, showing he was a man of power. His eyes were a strange sight themselves as they gleamed. In a darker light they would appear hazel. But since the sun was shining bright today, you could see what color they really are.
They were a bright deep green. And if you looked close enough you could see a ring of orange around the pupil. Today they were shining bright with interest and excitement. They also showed countless years of tiring experiences. Experiences from the hard life in the military. It had taken its toll on him; much like it always did to young soldiers. But now, he was retired, but offered his services every once and a while. When he was bored and needed the exercise most likely. But then this rumor of this creature that looked half human and cat had reached him. intriguing him to investigate the matter.
He found that a few men are missing. A lot of them found dead. This creature roamed from village to village, so it wouldn't get caught, but left bloody trails in its wake. Even if a group of men went in the jungle to hunt it. Only one or two would come back to tell the tale. He didn't speak the village's language that he had to use a translator. He listened to both of them faintly and began to wonder how to track this thing. Smiling grimly, he caught a word that the elderly woman said. It was, Rasa Lukav. He frowned and wondered more if he'd come back alive.
He slept on the ground that night, right next to the dying fire. Since it was summer time, the air was warm and muggy, so he didn't need a blanket. In fact, he had taken off his long sleeved shirt before it got wet with sweat. Now bare-chested, he lay on his back, to watch the stars. The hunt would begin in the morning.
But what he didn't know was that the creature was watching at this very moment. Silently, its dark slitted eyes seemed to glow merrily evil from the firelight. As she watched him, she saw his pack next to him and wondered where he had come from. He smelled so different, so.... tantalizing. Licking her lips, she shook her head and continued to watch, her long fur that grew from her head moved lightly across her shoulders and back from the light breeze that she practically purred from nature's caress. As Hunter watched the stars twinkle in the night's sky, he heard a weird rumble. Brows furrowed in confusion he turned to see what it could be, but saw nothing. After staring at a mere piece of jungle where he could have swore he heard something.
Shaking his head, he grabbed his pack and reached inside. Pulling out his laptop he sat up and turned it on. Humming to life he began his research. Typing in what the elderly woman called this creature, he didn't get much. But what he did find was interesting enough. It read;
Rasa Lukav -- means blood feline in Siberian (some form of latin). It is legend in some parts of countries ranging from Africa, India, China, Asia, and even Europe. Some of these have their own legends. Most of them saying that it's female hybrid of three creatures, human, tiger and leopard. Some have tried to hunt this creature, but most do not come back. This creature they say is a blood thirsty killer. It will attack anything in its path. Scientists even tried to identify this creature. Instead of its given name in these countries, the scientists have called it Tigard. We will never really know if this creature exists. Rasa Lukav or even Tigard, we will never really know. But what is killing men and women out there in the jungles?
Blinking at all this information he researched more. But found only what that first one had stated. Some thought it was a jaguar instead of leopard, or even panther. And he thought, could there be more of them? Some sites he found, said this creature had existed for over hundreds and hundreds of years. That is why people fear tigers so. That normal tigers learned to eat man because of this creature.
Sighing, he closed his laptop, his hand running down the side of his face in weariness licking his lips; he heard the rasp of his beard stubble caused by his fingertips. He then turned back to look into the jungle, hoping to see a glimpse of this so called Rasa Lukav, or even Tigard. Briefly, he thought he saw glowing eyes, but they disappeared, before he could tell if they were real or not. Frowning, he laid back down after he stared at the jungle hard for a moment. Sighing, he fell asleep quickly, knowing the hunt would begin tomorrow. Along with the creature named Rasa watched.
