Once he was free to move on his own, he covered a good deal of ground very quickly. He paused periodically, spotting numerous game trails and spoor signs, but ignoring them. They were too small. Not worth the effort. At one point he became aware that he was being stalked. Whatever it was, it was good. He almost hadn't detected it until it was within fifteen meters, and even then he couldn't quite place it's exact location. He readied himself, and for ten tense minutes there was only an eerie silence. Whatever it was must have decided to go find an easier kill.<br/><br/>Zay turned and doubled his pace to make up the lost time. His ears caught what he needed. A splash of water, and a startled deathcry cut abruptly short. It was a giant snake of some sort. Bony spikes ran along it's back, and it's jaw opened sideways but it was a snake nonetheless. He was no veterinary expert, but the fact that it was constricting the creature it had caught sipping at the algae-ridden pond told Zay it was non-poisonous.<br/><br/>Offhand, Zay wasn't sure how to describe the thing it was crushing to death. A strange mix of cat, and lizard? It had a feline body structure, but it was covered in thick armored scales. It was about the size of a young Jaguar. It bleated pitifully as it's life was slowly crushed from it. The serpent had a considerable weight advantage on it. That made it the prey of choice for Zay. That made this the cat-thing's lucky day. With one flash of his monoblade, and a startled hiss the Serpent's head flew from it's now slack body. The cat creature lunged to freedom and darted off into the wilderness. Zay was gratified to learn the snake had more meat than bone. He hung the carcass from a low lying tree branch to let the excess blood drain away.<br/><br/>While he waited, he became aware of a pair of eyes watching him. He turned to meet them, and realized it was the cat creature he had saved earlier. Perhaps he was anthropomorphizing, but he could swear there was a strange sense of gratitude in it's eyes. "Don't get any ideas. If you'd been ten pounds bigger, i'd have gone for your head instead."<br/><br/>Still, he couldn't help but smile a bit. Once the carcass was drained, he quickly set to work butchering it into peices he could more easily wrap up and store away into his backpack. By the time he was done, the cat creature was gone. He left a few chunks of the snake behind, in case it came back.Then he set off to rejoin the others.<br/><br/><br/>