Something snared in the trap.

It heard the sound of struggling. It knew that sound well, a creature was in the snare. It hadn't expected that trap to be effective, It hadn't even put bait in the thing. It carefully got up, Its noise nullification making It practically silent when It tried to be. It looked towards the trap, but It had difficulty seeing with the sun clearly having been gone for hours.

It carefully approached, making out the upside-down figure in the trap as It approached. The prey seemed to be a human, which was as fortunate as unfortunate. Humans were better when they could run and scheme, they weren't as good when the hunt started with them caught. Regardless, It walked up to inspect Its prey.

As It came close to the prey, they suddenly lashed out, nearly missing a scratch upon Its helmed face. It then realized It had rested with the armor on, yet this felt completely normal. That was a problem for later. It kept Its distance, trying to get a good look at the prey in the snare.

The prey was not human, It had been wrong. The prey seemed to be close to a human though, more human than not. The prey had reflective, slitted eyes, reminding It of the reptiles It may run into on occasion. In addition, they seemed to have scales on some parts of their body, and their fingers ended in claws.

As It considered what It had caught, the prey spoke. "Are you the one who did this?" The prey sounded angry, their breathing quick and forceful. It was happy at this, the prey's human resemblance made It convinced that like humans, they would be most entertaining when angry.

It considered if It should respond for awhile, letting the silence simmer. It eventually settled on speaking, "What does it matter? I am the one who is here." Its voice was deep, and didn't sound whole. Almost like a whisper was being echoed and made louder.

The prey flinched at Its voice. They seemed to calm themselves down, much to Its displeasure. "What do you want?" They prey asked, seemingly much less sure of themselves. It wondered if Its voice had intimidated the prey.

It decided to speak the truth, "Prey."

The prey shuddered; the response seemed to scare them. "I-I can hunt something for you, if that is what you would like."

It let out a slight growl, "You request to take the fun part? And speak of it as if it were a favor?"

The prey seemed to panic, "N-No, of course not! I apologize, I misunderstood what you wanted." The prey seemed to be watching to see if that appeased It. When It made no response, they spoke again, "W-What is it you would like to hunt? I could perhaps help you find it and then leave the rest to you?"

It pondered this proposal, if they brought It to better prey, It would have a better time than just killing trapped prey. "Tell me, what is the best to hunt?"

The prey seemed more confident, "Well, that depends on why you want to hunt. The deer are of course a classic, but there are bears as well!"

It grumbled, It had been hoping for something more magical. It wondered what unicorn flesh tasted like. "Nothing better? I want a challenge, the bears back home were only good before. I am better now, I will hunt better now."

The prey was scared again, "O-of course, of course! I have heard that there is a dungeon, just down the path, I suppose that could count. Otherwise, there is a mountain to the east that I have heard has some more exotic creatures!" They prey was becoming ****, which gave the air a lovely taste.

It decided to humor the prey, "If I let you down to bring me to this mountain, will you try and run?"

The prey seemed caught off-guard, "I-I wouldn't, you have my word!"

It groaned, "Lying just makes it annoying. They always say they won't run, but they always do. You can just be honest about it, I will have my fun either way."

The prey's eyes went wide, "Wh-who are 'they'?" Their voice was shaking.

It saw no reason to lie in response, after all, it was talking down to people who were lying. "Those who were my prey before. They always lie, so I have come to expect it from the humans. You're the first non-human... human, so I wonder if you will still be a liar?"

They prey shook their head rapidly, "I promise you; I shall not run."

It gave a shrug, It had nothing to lose. If the prey ran, It got a hunt. If the prey didn't, they would lead It to a hunt. Either way, It got to hunt. It carefully walked, near enough to the trap to strike while far enough not to be struck. It swiftly cut the makeshift rope that held the trap up, waiting as the prey fell to the ground.