Bacchus had heard intriguing rumors regarding Lacerta's unique fauna, and he had come here initially to investigate its flora as well. Where there was unique creatures there was likely to be unique plants as well, was the leopard's conclusion.

Yet, he had found himself distracted from his original course of action. Shortly after arriving, he had witnessed one of the strange lessers hunting prey. And they appeared to have a venom of some kind, of properties that he could not quite discern. It was, to put it simply, very fascinating.

The creature had been about his height, and he had come up with an idea. It had many steps along the way, but he had backup plans in case one of those steps failed.

So now he was looking for one of the strange blue beasts, one that had a visible stone.

His first attempt was a failure, though, unfortunately.

Perhaps, Bacchus decided after his first attempt came to futile results, he was looking in the incorrect environment.

That being the case, he headed past the shores where he had first glimpsed the odd creature into the beginnings of the jungle, keeping a wary eye out all the while. There were plenty of larger fauna about, from what he had heard. Creatures that could defeat him if it came to combat.

In addition to dangers, he continued to keep an eye out for one of those blue critters with a stone.

Maybe he was not deep enough into the jungle yet, he decided, when his search once again was fruitless.

So deeper into the jungle Bacchus went. His steps were light and cautious, his gaze keen. He was the kind of predator that could be patient, and so patient the leopard would be.

And his patience paid off.

Nearby was one of the beings, with a visible stone. It was taller than the one he had seen before, standing at around three feet. It was taller than he was at the shoulders.

Though he did not know it, this being was on the taller range for this lesser species, similar to how Bacchus was at the taller range of the leopard sizing. Not that he had ever met another leopard.

Yet, he did not move to attack. This stage of the plan had a different intention in mind.

Though Bacchus kept his distance physically, his mind reached out to the lesser.

Visibly, the creature recoiled away as it sensed his mental touch. Perhaps it could tell his intentions from his mind, though he had been trying to shield his plans. Clearly, he had failed.

The skrungler, though he did not know it was called such, recovered more quickly from its taste of his thoughts than Bacchus had expected.

It rushed at him, at speeds that were notably impressive.

He would have been more inclined to admire it, however, if he was not facing an imminent attack. He grimaced, backing up somewhat, but whether or not he was fast enough was yet to been seen.

Bacchus attempted to throw himself out of the way.

With the speeds of the lesser, however, he barely managed to do so in time.

Yet, he had a plan even for this outcome. He settled his gaze on the lesser and lifted his mouth into a vicious snarl. The leopard would not go down that easily.

It was in his best interest to end this fight as quickly as possible.

That being the case, it was his full intention to go for the neck of this creature. With the thin neck it had, faced with his jaws, it would be simply enough to crush it between his teeth.

His charge at the creature, however, completely missed.

And now he was in range of the fellow predator once again.

The fellow predator darted towards Bacchus, intending to get a bite on him instead.

And this time, the bite hit, the leopard's dodge unsuccessful. The Skrungler backed off after the hit, keeping an eye on him, but the fight was clearly not over.

It seemed Bacchus had found out what the venom did, judging by the sights that had not been present prior that now seeped into his vision. Hallucinations.

How useful. Unfortunate that it had been used against him, however.

And though hallucinations were beginning to creep into his vision, Bacchus was determined nevertheless.

He threw himself towards the lesser. It was not elegant. But fighting was not meant to be elegant. It was meant to kill. And so Bacchus fully intended to bite down on the neck of this being and once and for all end this fight.

But he hit the ground, and he realized he had hunted a hallucination of the lesser instead of the actual lesser. This being the case, the Skrungler was capable of getting in another bite. It seemed determined to take him down one bite at a time.

It might even succeed.

Bacchus tried to figure out what senses he could rely upon at the moment, and then use those sense to attack the Skrungler. He was bleeding, he was hallucinating, but he was also determined.

He did not have enough time to register what senses were working and which were not before another bite came from a direction. It struck, and now he was bleeding from three wounds.

One bite at a time, until he bled out, seemed to be the plan.

Despite it being clear what the plan was, Bacchus's mind tried to push past the hallucinations. Remember which remember the attack had come from, and then attack using what remained of his senses.

A fourth bite came in before he could figure it out. But as the creature bit him, it occurred to Bacchus that he could bite back.

And so aiming for where he presumed the neck to be, he crunched down. And at last, it was dead. But Bacchus was unsteady on his feet.

Rest. He needed to rest. He was wise enough to drag the body of his prey with him as he went to hide, but it was hard to hide when he did not know what was hallucination and what was not.