The man moved silently through the forest, his giggle nearly inaudible. He leapt rapidly from shadow to shadow, carefully examining the trail for signs of larger beasts. There were usually no powerful predators on this path, but there were always variables in his cycles.

The moonlight caressed his face, and the man gazed upon it. Nearly a half moon. Too slow. He needed to get there before it woke up.

The man quickened his pace. And than suddenly stopped. In a motion, he ducked into a nearby bush. He was lucky enough to find one with actual leaves nearby, though they looked more like arrowheads than leaves. Grey, hard, and sharp, they would have cut his skin if it weren't for his makeshift armor.

From the cover of the bush, he readied his spear. Soft thumps echoed nearby. They were so quiet that, had the forest not been dead silent, he couldn't have possibly heard them. The man tensed as the beasts came into view: a dozen horned rabbits spread across the area.

These creatures were always quite a sight. While most creatures of the forest dressed in dark tones to blend with the shadows, this species was as white as snow to camouflage against the trees.

A pang of annoyance hit the man. Way too slow. These creatures were the inhabitants of the oasis and they likely tracked him down after he ransacked their territory. If he had been faster, they wouldn't have been able to catch up to him. He had spent too much time in the oasis.

Individually, these critters weren't strong. They were only the size of a small dog, and neither their bite nor their horn could penetrate his armor. However, with numbers, they could swarm and get past his defenses. They may not be able to kill him, but a simple bleeding wound could be a death sentence for him in his current state.

The man had no choice. If he heard them they surely heard him. They were already scouring the area and it was only a matter of time before they found him. The quicker he acted, the better.

One of the creatures was slowly approaching his position, eagerly sniffing one of the leaves. Unfortunately for it, the particular leaf it was examining was, in fact, not a leaf, but something far deadlier. By the time it realized its error, it had turned fatal.

The man had drawn first blood. He quickly retracted his spear from his victim and moved on to the next one. There were three behind him and six in front, and he would have to take as many of them out while they were still spread out, making the group behind him the most vulnerable.

The rabbits were quick on the uptake. They had grown in an environment of eat or be eaten, after all. Even his first target was able to react, desperately squaring to intercept the weapon with his horn. The attempt was futile; the weapon punched right through the meager defense. The second target leaped at him, trying to take advantage of the moment bought by its comrade, but it was not fast enough. The man managed to kick his attacker to the ground, feeling some resistance as his foot intercepted the deceivingly heavy beast. He was glad he had his weapon; trying to pummel the creature would have likely been a bad idea.

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With no time to waste, he finished off the downed creature. So far, so good, but this was where his surprise attack would wear off. The last monster of the group was now fully aware of him, and its companions were quickly rushing to support. He had to deal with it quickly, but this creature wasn't focused on attacking like its fallen brethren. Instead, it kept dodging as best it could. This one had a red streak across its face and the man recognized it as a nimbler variant of its species. It knew how to stall, but the man was faster. He eventually got it where he wanted, but just as he was about to claim his victory, a sudden pain erupted from his back. He heard two cracks, one from the monster's horn and another from his own bones. The force of the impact nearly threw him to his knees.

The backup had arrived and the red-streaked creature was not about to let it's opportunity slip away. It lunged at the man's exposed neck with all its might, knowing they had underestimated him and three of its followers were already lifeless. It had to take the man down. But even as it briefly felt its horn rip through skin, it knew it had failed. The man had managed to roll out of the way, a streak of red running down his neck.

A flesh wound and a broken rib. Darn it. This was far from ideal. The only consolation was that the rabbit that had slammed into him lay unconscious, thoroughly out of the fight. But still, it was a six-on-one. He had hoped to kill half of them to scare the others away, but now that was nearly impossible. The beasts no longer blindly rushed him; instead, they circled him, looking for vulnerabilities and likely waiting for orders from their boss. The man got to his feet and adjusted his stance. He glanced at the red streak. If he managed to slay that one, the others would disperse.

The red streak growled menacingly, but the man was not born yesterday. He thrust the butt of his spear into his blind spot where one of the horned rabbits was silently attacking. The rabbit yelped in surprise as it was caught mid-air and sent flying into one of the nearby trees. That one was likely out of the fight too. If he continued like this, he would be able to eventually whittle down his opponents. But the minute blood was spilled, he was on a timer. He also needed some of the bunnies alive if he was to escape this predicament. Considering this, the man made a sudden change of plans. Instead of defending, he now threw himself at the leader of the pack.

The bunny leader had not expected the man's attack, his reaction time was too slow. A large gash appeared on his side where he just barely managed to avoid death. However, this was only the beginning of the end for him. His remaining subordinates tried their best to stop the man's relentless advance, but to no avail. The man had thrown caution to the wind and was willingly trading blow for blow. Red streak had done everything in its power to avoid the man's strikes in the hopes that others could eventually bring him down, but as the seconds passed, its wounds accumulated and it got slower and slower. Eventually, it collapsed and the jagged spear fell upon him shortly after.

Finally, victory. The man grabbed the fallen leader and roared, shattering the resolve of the last survivors as they quickly scattered.

Blood was dripping from the man's hands. The cost was steep. There were numerous shallow cuts on the unprotected areas of his body. The man heard rustling and grimaced, knowing the hunters were here. He could only hope that the remaining rabbits would serve as enough prey. Yet with his own blood gushing out, he held no hope for an easy road ahead.

He took what remained of red streak and retreated into the shadows. The road ahead had just become that much more treacherous.