ORIGIN

Yes, this would do nicely.

The tiger cub plodded into Polaris, a cruel smile on his little face. The tingling magic that danced along his skin made him feel strong, well stronger. He was already plenty strong, despite being a young little thing. His large paws spoke, however, whispering that he would one day attain a great size. He may look clumsy and adorable now, but one day he would be a Gembound to be rivaled with.

As he entered, he looked around. There! A river! That would work nicely. Now to find something to taint and throw in the river. It would be best if it were something large, but he knew he wasn't quite strong enough for that yet. So he put his nose to the ground, and began to sniff.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

It wasn't long before he picked up the scent of something. He couldn't say what it was, but it was warm, and smelled like blood and meat. Despite himself, he found his mouth watering. He'd not had a meal since Hatching, he realized with a start. He'd have to correct that soon, but not yet.

He followed his nose, trailing through some moss, before being lead to a good sized cluster of mushrooms. He lowered himself into a crouch, and began to stalk forward, eyes glinting ferally. And then, once he was near enough, he leaped, arms outstretched, claws at the ready.

Unfortunately, the hopper heard him, and took off like a bat out of hell with a shrill shrieking sound. Bahamut snarled as he landed, empty-pawed.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

However, Bahamut was quick to recover, digging in his claws to spin. He launched himself after the hopper with the fiercest roar he could muster (which was more of a weak snarl), ears flattening against his skull as his paws thudded against the ground.

He coiled his not-yet-trained muscles, before kicking off the ground, launching himself at the hopper. The hopper screeched in terror, only to be quickly silenced as Bahamut sank his teeth into the back of its head, shattering its skull between his jaws.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

Bahamut smirked as he stood, mouth stained red. He allowed the hopper to drop from his jaws, tongue flicking out to clean his lips. That was good. He liked it. He was hungry. But this hopper had a greater purpose than to serve as filling for his stomach.

He'd come to Polaris for only one reason; to spread the Plague. By listening in, he'd been able to figure out that Polaris was the most well populated place in Origin and, thus, had come straight to it.

The tiger cub leaned over to sink his teeth into the hopper, attempting to focus his magic. But there was no answering sting from his gem.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

Bahamut released the hopper, stepping back to tilt his head at it. How dare it! He was trying to give it a greater purpose! But there was little he could do, so he settled for shaking his pelt, stepping forward, and eating a chunk out of the side of the hopper, chewing noisily.

After swallowing his gulp, he stepped forward, setting his teeth where he'd torn the hopper open. Then, he focused again on his magic, smirking maliciously as he felt his gem react this time. So, that had worked?

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

Once more, the tiger cub released the hopper, instead opting to sniff at it. Yes, if he focused, and took very deep breaths, he could make out the scents of sickness and rot. Yes, his sickness would take. Perfect.

He stepped forward, stooping down to take the nape of the hopper's neck between his teeth. Then, he began to work to haul the hopper to the water, struggling as it was as big as he was. But finally, he managed it, and stood beside the river, panting.

However, he wasn't entirely certain how well the illness had set in. So he nipped at the hopper's corpse once more, releasing more of his disease into it. Then, he dragged it to a shallow part of the river, shoving a heavy rock to rest on its flank. There. Now, hopefully, as it decomposed, it would release the illness into the river.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

The tiger cub stepped back from the river with a sneer, planting his paws and shaking his pelt free of water. It was a good start, but not nearly enough. So he walked some distance from the river, and began to hunt again.

But, no matter how long he searched, he couldn't pick up the scent of hopper. He paced in circles and circles, frustratedly trying to seek out another hopper. But, it seemed, there were no more in Polaris. How was that possible? It didn't make sense! Had there been some sort of hunting competition before he'd entered?

But he refused to give up, and kept hunting.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

Bahamut growled, finally finding the scent of a Wind Hopper. He dropped into a crouch, following the scent, until finally seeing one up ahead. Infuriated, he launched himself towards it. An errent pawstep cracked a twig, and the Wind Hopper lashed out, kicking him. He jerked back as a claw opened up his nose, stumbling, being stunned long enough that the Wind Hopper got away.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'

Bahamut was beginning to see red. The young tiger's head snapped this way and that, eyes focusing in on a Wind Hopper nearby. He kicked off the ground, and raced after it. It was so startled by the cub's brazenness that he was able to slam into it, sinking his teeth into its side and savaging it before it had a chance to escape.

"I'm speaking..."
'I'm thinking...'