"They say you are what you eat." Hunts started off slowly, almost thoughtfully, and she gave a chuckle as she continued to eat a piece of unidentifiable meat before she continued her tale. She was sitting with a group of other kin around in a shaft of moonlight, scant though it was, and they were telling one another stories. Some to scare, some to amuse, others to teach. Hers, she hoped would fall in the first category."They say that, because over time it's been said a kin starts to act like what they prefer to eat the most. You'll find some that only eat berries and plants and are generally the quietest, sweetest things ever. Others they prefer to eat meat..." she paused again as she took another bite of her food chewing it slowly and methodically, before she picked up the tale she was weaving for the others.
"....well those ones probably aren't as sweet, are we?" she gave a low laugh. She ate both but did have a preference for meat and she was proving that point. "And sometimes, well...you'll find out soon. See, once there was a buck. He was young and foolish, and he liked to hunt and stalk caiman, because for whatever reason he thought they had the best meat. His methods were unusual though. Like me, he liked to hunt in the water.... from beneath the water. Like the prey he was tracking. It was a foolish, risky behavior, but he proved successful, or seriously lucky time and again."
Hunts From the Depths looked around at the others slowly before she continued. "It was said maybe he was protected by the MotherFather. Others said cursed, because it seemed to them that the more he hunted and ate the caiman, the more he began to act like them. Snappish, angry, violent, lashing out. Others swore he was looking like them, though that's not possible... right?" she watched as some shifted around uneasily, casting wary eyes around wondering if it was possible. It couldn't be, right?
"Anyhow, one day he went out to hunt and this time the waters were empty, no caiman around where he usually hunted and there were whispers that maybe he'd hunted them all to extinction from that spot. After all he was there often to get his fix of caiman meat. Others said maybe they just left to a different water source for their own safety. No one knew for certain but he grew unreasonably angry, and refused to come out of the water sure one would come, and he could kill it and eat it. One by one the others left the shore, letting the foolish buck stay alone in the water, and it was as the last one was leaving they heard a strange noise and turned."
Hunts paused again, finishing her food, chewing slowly, prolonging the outcome of her story and watching the others squirm in curiosity. It was only when a few asked her what had happened that she began to speak again. "The buck was sputtering and struggling as something began to tug him under the water with the intent of making him its meal. The kin on the shore didn't know what to do, and before they could make up their mind he was tugged under, and all that surfaced after several long moments were air bubbles. The caiman hunter was never seen again. Though, I've heard that particular watering hole is cursed now. That his spirit lingers and pulls under other kin to help him forever hunt caiman. No one who's gone in has ever come out alive, and no one knows what pulled him under to this day."
Hunts turned her head and looked towards a nearby watering hole they'd all stopped by for the night. "I think that's it right there. I'd think twice before swimming. You never know if you might not end up being hunted yourself."
