The Sheetil Hunts A few paces from the edge of the woods, Sha'a'an stoped, squatting down until her haunches rested upon her calves. She studied the ground immediately in front of her, frowning. Still hunched down, she beckoned for Newman to come to her. Her concern was plain, alarming him. What is it? Sheetil tracks, she cryptically signed back. Big, lots of teeth. Tracks maybe a day old. Not good for us. Why? They consider us food. The girl's black eyes weren't laughing, although she'd indicated levity in her signing. With a jolt, Newman realized their lives were in danger again. Think it is still around? Likely. It was prowling around here yesterday. No signs it has recently killed. If it is hungry and it catches our scent-- What are sheetil like? Crafty and tireless, once they have selected their quarry. They have been known to trail their victim for days. They like to wait until their victim is off guard and then attack. They are stealthy, blending into their surroundings while they lurk in ambush. When sheetil attack, they have surprise, speed, and power on their side. From now on, be doubly alert; or the last thing you will ever see in this life will be a sheetil charging you--if you get the chance to see it at all! ...Sha'a'an wasn't too concerned the creature would attack her, but she feared for the welfare of the outlander. Sheetil were smart enough to select the most helpless of their prey, if several choices were available. It would most likely be the outlander, who had only a knife, and was always bringing up the rear, was the most inexperienced and, therefore, was the most likely to be careless.... She picked a route through the woods that roughly paralleled the trail they'd been using. They criss-crossed the forest path, again and again, in a large zig-zag pattern in order to satisfy herself the sheetil had not circled around in front of them to wait in ambush. Neither of them saw any trace of the animal the rest of the day. In the late afternoon, they heard a savage scream far off in the forest behind them.... The sheetil was some distance behind them, but it was trailing them. Determined to get some distance between them and the beast, Sha'a'an kept directly to the trail, pressing the outlander to hurry ever faster. ****************************** Credits: Newman: DAZ M3 figure with head remorphed by me; skin texture by Jepe. Newman's hair and beard: "Fantasy beard" by Anton Kisiel. Newman's clothing: RTproductions M3/M2 Mountain Man by renapd and thip. Newman's pack: Created by me in Bryce 5.5., hatchet and atlal net freebies. Sha'a'an: DAZ V3 figure with head remorphed and textured by me. Sha'a'an's hair: DAZ California Hair. Sha'a'an's bow, arrows, and quiver: AofD's Woodland Ranger, but retextured. Waterskins: Net freebie. Foncil (ferns): Net freebie. Other vegetation: by 3D plants.com. Sheetil: Panther by DAZ original, flattened and widened a bit by me. Everything else by me. Thanks for looking! Jeremy