Somewhere in the darkness, a bush rustles, a twig snaps. You jump at every shadow in the darkness or bird that flees from the repressive slumber of the forest. Of course, you have good reason to be edgy; you're in the Haunted Woods. It isn't a pleasant place to be at any time, but especially not now, with a storm approaching. The branches tangle above your head so that you can barely see the sky above, but every once in a while you can glimpse a dark, ominous cloud through the foliage.

After a while you slow to a stop and take stock. You thought you were following a logging path, but it seems to have vanished into the mass of black branches. Looking back, there seems to be no sign of the path in any direction. You hover uncertainly for a moment in the darkness, but a deep rumble of thunder urges you on.

A fork of lightning tears the sky in two, momentarily sending spires of light lancing through the criss-cross of tree limbs, and then the rain begins.

It starts as an innocent patter on the trees around you, and at first you think that the forest may absorb the precipitation, leaving you safe and dry. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case, and soon the rain is falling down in a torrent, seeking holes in the lattice of branches and soaking your clothes. Great, you mutter silently to yourself. This is just what I needed.

You cast around for shelter, and soon you can see a rocky hillside through the trees. A momentary flare of lightning illuminates a series of small caves dotting the steep hill. You hurry into the clearing and stumble over the slick and gritty ground to one of the caves. Thankfully, it seems dry enough, and you don't want to risk going deeper into the darkness, so you hover at the entrance, looking out at the rain lancing the stunted trees.

You sit in the cave for some time, waiting for the rain to subside, but unfortunately the downpour continues. Once or twice you hear scurrying and scratching noises behind you, but you convince yourself that it's just a rodent; perhaps a Baraga or Sklyde looking for shelter like yourself.

After a while, when the rain has still failed to disperse, you find yourself growing tired, and you decide to do some exploring to keep yourself awake (you don't want to be falling asleep in the Haunted Woods, after all).

Keeping one hand on the rocky wall of the cave, you start to edge away from the entrance. After a few steps, you're surprised that you haven't reached the back of the cave yet; from outside, it looked to be rather small. Instead, the ground below your feet seems to slope downward. You inch ahead into the darkness, and suddenly realize that it isn't as dark as it should be in such a cave. There seems to be a very faint green glow coming from deep within the cave. Every once in a while the glow would vanish and then reappear, like a reversed lightning bolt. The light grows steadily brighter as you progress.

Suddenly, you hear a scratching sound very close, and a noise that sounds like something between a growl and a whimper. There is a short scuffling noise, like two animals caught in a fight, and then the green light goes out. Your curiosity aroused, you continue towards the sound.

What do you want?

You stagger backwards. What in the world was that? The demand wasn't spoken aloud, but yet you could hear it... in your mind.

Go away, I don't want any visitors.

Er, hello? you ask quietly, wondering if you're imagining things.

There is a growl in the darkness. Don't do that again! the thought shouts.

Do what?

Ah! That! Thinking out loud! Are you daft?!

You lift an eyebrow.What- you quickly stop yourself. Speaking must really annoy this.. creature, and you don't think you want it angry. Instead, you try to project your thoughts, though it seems incredibly stupid. What do you mean?

I'd love to explain, the thought replies satirically. But I'm rather busy right now trying to keep myself from killing you.

A quick pang of fear shoots through your body, and you stagger backwards. The creature seems to sense your emotion. No, no! Please don't do that. I don't want to hurt you, but you have to stop making yourself so obvious!

You take a quick step backwards. What are you talking about? you shout with your mind.

There is a more frantic scratching noise, and the green light appears for a split second, very bright, before it is smothered again. A snarl comes from the darkness. If you- no... th-the more you panic, the harder it is to hold myself back. Please, stay calm. And for Fyora's sake, don't run away!

It seems very stupid to ask you to remain calm when you're faced with some sort of lethal creature who is obviously right in front of you, but you try to heed its advice. After all, no matter how insane the beast sounds, at least its thoughts seem normal enough. What do you propose I do, then? you ask shakily.

Just stay there... sit down, maybe. Stay as still and quiet as you can. The voice seems much more composed now. I should be okay in a minute... you just snuck up on me, that's all. I wasn't... I wasn't ready.

You slowly lower yourself to the ground and wrap your arms around your knees, trying to lower the furious beating of your heart.

A few moments of horrible darkness and silence pass, and then the green glow appears again, though much more faintly. You hear a clanking noise, and then the warm glow of a lantern lights the walls of the cave around a bend.

Please, come in, a young voice calls.I apologize for my, er, awkward introduction. Don't worry, it adds after a moment.I won't hurt you now.

Using the wall as support, you lift yourself to your feet and cautiously make your way around the corner.

Standing in front of you, half-bathed in lantern light is a Neopet, a Zafara, with a homely smile on his face. However, despite his kind demeanor, you can't help staring at two things, his face and his legs. The creature's eyes are pupil-less, or appeared to be, and are instead a bright, swirling green. You assume that was where the glow was coming from earlier. Around his eyes curve two very un-Zafara-like shafts of bone, which curl out in front of his face to form two tusk-like horns.

And his legs... oh, his legs. You can excuse the fact that each of them is tipped in lethally sharp claws, and that they seem to be fairly warped from crawling through the Woods, but one thing that you can't excuse... he has four legs. Two of them are near the front of his body, while the other two reside near the middle-rear.

The Zafara obviously notes your staring, and scratches at the ground with one of his back claws nervously.I'm... sorry if my appearance frightens you, he says quietly, his eyes dimming. You can almost feel the sorrow in his words.It frightens me, too.

You try to find a response, but you can't say anything.I'd like to say I wasn't always this horrible, but I can't.. not really. I was born with... with these- he gestures angrily at his four feet with the claw holding the lantern.But the blame lies elsewhere for my other... afflictions. He growls darkly and his eyes flare momentarily.

But, oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself properly. My name is Shataur, but you can call my Taur. He holds out a gnarled claw and you take it cautiously.And you are guest, or at least, that's your screen name, isn't it? he chuckles at your response.I found that out when our minds were connected. Don't worry, I didn't look for anything deeper. Some people have secrets, I know. Taur smiles sadly and releases your hand.

So, guest, now that you're here, would you like to know more about me?

Monde Research Facility
Date: 31st Day of Collecting, Y2
Experiment: 683
Known As: Shataur
Age: 4y, 2m, 5d
Age in Study: 4y, 1m, 27d
Purpose: Advanced Hunter
Current Status: Unstable/Dangerous

Attributes:
-Defensive: Hardened horns, plates on back/tail, tail spires
-Offensive: Sharpened horns, fangs, claws, tail spires
-Advanced Eyesight: Night vision, notably increased perception/range, light source
-Stealth: Four hind claws, lithe/swift physique, advanced stealth training

I was born to a weak family. My parents were too innocent; they knew nothing of evil. They lived their lives behind a veil of ignorance and prejudice. They had one son before me, and up until my birth their lives were simple and happy.

I ruined everything.

A child born with two extra limbs was so alien to them that they thought it was a curse, or the work of some demon or Dark Faerie. In their eyes, I was evil.

Oh, no, I wasn't evil; not then. I would have been a perfectly normal Zafara, had it not been for my legs. But they feared me from the start.

The only one who trusted me was my brother. He was my only friend and confidant. I told him everything, all of my troubled feelings; how the other children taunted me; how our parents shunned me. And he always took pity on me and helped me through.

But one day, he could not help.

I felt it that morning- a sick chill that ran down my back- a premonition. My brother was gone... sent away by my mother. I called for him, but there was no one there.

And then, suddenly, They were there. They were dressed in long, white coats and wore glasses and rubber gloves. They didn't look like living creatures to me, They just looked like huge, white, heartless... things. My mother was there, I asked her what who They were, but she didn't answer me. One of Them took a large pouch from Its bag and pressed it into my mother's hands; it jingled, like there was money inside. The other one grabbed me by the scruf of my neck and hoisted me into the air. I squealed in surprise and tried to bite Its hand, but I was too young and weak, and It forced me down into a cage and latched it shut.

I was terrified; I went into a frenzy. What was happening? Mother? Mother! I threw myself against the bars of the cage. I snarled and yelled and bit at anything I could get my teeth around, including at one point, one of Their fingers. They swore loudly and shook the cage, lulling my rage.

They left the house, with my cage held in one of Their hands, and I turned and looked back. My mother was there... her eyes were hidden. She watched us go for a few seconds, and then turned and went back into our home as though nothing had happened.

They threw me in the back of a van filled with lots of strange, whirring equipment and started to close the doors. I heard voices, a young voice, and my brother appeared in the doorway between Them. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of me, and he began to shout and tried to push the door open wider. They kicked him out of the way and slammed the back doors. All light vanished.

A moment later, the engine roared to life, and the body of the van beneath my cage began to quiver. It shifted a little as the vehicle began to move, and I heard a banging noise. My brother was beating on the doors. I heard my father's voice reprimanding him, and the banging stopped, though I could still hear his voice. I remember the last thing he yelled... "Don't let them hurt you."

A moment later, all that I could hear was the purr of the van, the rumble of its tires, and, soon, the whimper of a frightened outcast.

This was the beginning of my hardships, and it would not be the last. I was brought to the Monde Research Facility, a gigantic grey building hidden from prying eyes deep within the Haunted Woods. Of course, I didn't know how large it was at first. The van stopped, the doors opened, they pulled my cage out into the light and the fresh air. Though it wasn't much lighter, because it was night and the trees blocked the moon, and the air wasn't much fresher, because this place had no life, and plenty of death. I was scared. I had never been in such a dark, oppressive place.

One of Them held my cage, and the other lifted a heavy metal briefcase out of the back of the van, checked something off on a clipboard, and shut the doors. I tried to gather my bearings as They carried me to the facility, but all I could see were black trees, brown grass and the grey, grey wall of the facility that loomed out of sight into the darkness.

One of Them used a key card to open the doors, and They entered. There was another one of Them at a reception desk, but though She seemed to be female, She was just as lifeless as They were. She lifted Her eyes from Her papers, caught sight of me, lifted an eyebrow. One of Them shook Its head, and She shrugged. She pushed a button, spoke quietly to someone on the other side of the receiver, and waved us on. They stepped into an elevator, and I waited, shivering, frightened and confused, as it began to lower into the depths of the monster. Because, though Monde was large above ground, almost all of its laboratories and testing areas were located in subterranean chambers. I watched the numbers tick down, down, down...

We reached one of the lowest floors, and the doors slid open. I was surprised that this hall wasn't as bare grey as the rest of the building- it instead seemed to be tunnels built into the rock, almost like a mine. I would learn later that this was one of the most secret of Monde's levels; where the controversy happens.

They marched me into a shadowy room with lots of computer screens, and opened my cage, dumping me into a larger inclosure.

I don't have to tell you what they did to me in that lab. I'm sure you can imagine. I was like any experimental creature: They tied me with wires to measure my parametres and vital signs, tested me with poisons, antidotes and elixirs, shocked me, cut me, altered me. I would have died.

I should have died.

But one phrase rang in my ears through all the horror and the suffering. One thing kept me sane, kept me from giving up, from submitting to their will. One thing kept me from turning as evil as they were. And that was the voice of my brother. "Don't let them hurt you." I had to stay strong for my brother.

And I did stay strong, and I grew stronger. I suffered Their tests, and I was rewarded. I became what I am now, though I was still not a monster.

They were frusterated. All of the physical tests had worked perfectly, but the mental tests had almost all failed. They were trying to break me, and I would not be broken.

They plugged more wires into my head, trying to see what was keeping me strong. And though I tried to hold back, eventually They found, while I was suffering through the most painful torture They could adhere, that I thought of my brother.

A few days later, a new creature arrived in the room. I had been there for so long, that I had almost tuned out my sense of sight, but I could feel something different in the air that day.

I opened my eyes, and saw, for the first time since the van doors closed me into darkness years before, my brother. I gasped in joy and pulled myself to my feet, leaving the darkness of my cage to stand in the light that slanted between the bars.

He looked up and caught sight of me. And in that instant, I was broken. For in his eyes, there was not the joy of reunion... There was fear. He was afraid. The one person who ever cared for me was afraid of me. He backed away, with a look of disgust on his face, and turned to Them. "What is this, some kind of joke?" he asked. "You brought me all the way down here just to see some stupid monster? I thought you had something useful to show me."

I could feel my heart breaking.

They apologized profusely, and asked my brother if he had ever seen me before. "Are you kidding me?" he replied nastily. "I don't associate myself with experiments. And I don't appreciate you asking me such a vulgar question!"

I could feel my will fading.

They apologized again, and stepped aside to let my brother stalk away, back to his life of comfort, simplicity, and ignorance. One of Them made Its way to the computer screen and glanced at something. When It looked up, it was with a look of sadistic triumph on Its face.

The unbreakable had been broken.

And I was Theirs.

In all fairness, it was not my brother's fault that he had been so cruel to me. He had grown up in the safety of a home, surrounded by those who loved and cared for him. He had been raised the way they had been raised: to hate and scorn that which was different.

But in a way, that made it all the more worse...

With no will to survive remaining, the floodgates of my mind were open for Them to enter. And they wasted no time in polluting its depths. With no one to guide me any more, I let Them steer my ship, and They drove it onto the rocks and splintered it to bits. They crushed my mind and buried my conscience, and They rebuilt it with Their own dark designs. I became Their pawn.

I can remember very little from that time of darkness. My mind was so shrouded with hate and evil that hardly any conscious thought could surface in my mind. And that which I can remember... well... I am not at liberty to tell you many of those things. I will tell you the basics... but I will spare you the details of my life as the Hunter.

My body was built to be extremely powerful, yet extremely lithe. My four legs, though they may look ungainly, were actually capable of incredibly agile movement. In the laboratory, I remember, they once clocked my running speed at 80 miles an hour. I could have gone faster.

My eyes had been altered so they were able to see in the dead of night, and distinguish the slightest movement and heat patterns from whatever I was hunting.

My teeth and claws were so sharp, I could rend through tree branches with single swipes. I was so strong, if I had the motive to, I could crack an oak straight through its trunk.

I became a bounty hunter, with no bounty.

I became Their personal assassin.

They sent me out after many of Their enemies, and I was more than happy to meet them in the dark of the woods where no one could hear their screams...

I don't know how long this continued... whether it was for a month, a year, or a century. Day after day, I was sent out on their orders, and day after day, I returned; my fangs and claws stained red.

It could have continued for many more years. I could have lived out my life, killing endlessly for Them.

But one day, it all ended.

I was sleeping at the time, deep within the pit of the facility, behind bars, as always. Something woke me with a start, but whether it was a noise, or some premonition, I wasn't sure. The first thing I noticed was that there were none of Them in the room. It usually seemed like They were there 24/7, poring over computer screens and adjusting wires. But now it was silent.

I strained my ears, and heard, somewhere in the distance, a low thud. A few moments later, there was another, and another. Each strange noise was louder than the last. Suddenly, there was a high pitched ringing, and I doubled over with my claws clamped over my ears. In front of me, the computer screens went red, and then burst outward in a shower of glass and circuitry. The wires attached to my body grew hot and then painful; I ripped them from my fur with savage ferocity. Thankfully, none of the computers caught fire; if they had, I would have been roasted alive, trapped in my cage.

After the initial chaos, everything went quiet again. I could hear an alarm ringing far above me, and muted thuds and crashes that must have been coming all the way from the main floors. A loud speaker cracked to life and shouted something, but I couldn't hear it, because it was also high above me; there were no com systems on the lowest areas of the facility.

I waited for a few minutes, trying to understand what was going on. Something strange had happened when the computers short circuited, it was like I was a puppet whose strings had been cut. My conscious thought was slowly returning, but my body was rejecting it because it was so alien. I paced around my cage, snarling at myself. I wished I could get out to find out what was going on.

Every once in a while, I could hear footsteps running by outside my room, but no one ever entered the room, or looked for me. Something strange was happening... I was very valuable to Them; They wouldn't just leave me. Maybe They realized that I would be able to think for myself again once Their computers lost their hold on me.

The periodic crashes echoed on a while longer, and then there was quite a different sound. Before I even heard it, the earth below me began to quiver; lab equipment clattered on the desks; one of the shattered monitors tottered on its stand and crashed to the ground. A moment later there was an enormous BOOM, followed immediately by a heavy shriek of metal and what sounded like an avalanche. I cowered away from the horrific sound as it grew louder and louder. Every second or two there was another shockwave and another sound of crunching metal as the building fell down upon itself, collapsing into the earth.

An earthquake hit the subterranean floor where I was housed; I felt for sure that the world was splitting in two. Bottles shattered to the floor and the lights flickered and went out. My eyes quickly adjusted, but as they flared bright green to accomodate to the darkness, I was reminded of the countless times I went hunting, and a feral bloodlust rose in my chest.

A second later, there was an ear-splitting explosion, and one side of the room blew inward, splitting the stone wall into boulders that came crashing to the ground. I threw up my claws to block my face from the debris, but the thrill of the hunt was building inside me, and I felt no pain from whatever hit me.

When the dust cleared, I realized that, thankfully, the room had only been partially destroyed. For now, the destruction of the building had ended. A good chunk of the ceiling and the wall on one side of my cage had caved in, but the rest seemed to be supported for the time being. Some of the cage bars had been crushed and broken by the impact, and I was pleased to see that there was an opening big enough for me to squeeze through. I scrambled on top of the fallen rocks and pushed myself through the hole, landing neatly on my four paws on the other side; free.

I hurried from the room and out into the pitch black hall. My eyes grew brighter, and I felt the hunger to hunt growing stronger and stronger. I tuned my ears, listening closely for sounds of life, and heard whispering not fall away. I slipped noiselessly down the hall and came to an open door. Inside, there was a meeting room, and huddled in the far corner were two of Them. They looked up and saw the green of my eyes, but before They could yell out, I silenced Them both. Revenge ran sweet through my veins as I let Their lab-coated bodies fall from my claws. I hurried on, and found pockets of Them hiding in the darkness. They were all frightened; it pleased me to see Them without control for once- to see Them as the puppets, and me as the puppeteer. With each one of Them I killed, I grew more confident, more powerful. I cleared the entire floor of Their unworthy lives. It was only when I could no longer find any more of Them that the rage subsided, and for the first time I could think clearly.

I was horrified. My claws were stained thick with blood, and no matter how much I washed them in the broken geizer of a sink in one of the ruined bathrooms, I could never seem to clear them. I cowered for hours, terrified by my own strength. I had become what I had strove to prevent myself from becoming for so long. I was a monster.

I stayed in seclusion, washing my paws and trying to hide my glowing eyes, until at last, I heard a noise again. I grew terrified again as a voice floated up through one of the pipes of the sinks. There were more of Them. Immediately, the bloodlust returned. I tried desperately to hold it back, but the urge was too strong, and my body outpowered my mind. I found a staircase and hurried down to the next undestroyed floor. And I sought sweet revenge, again and again.

Not only was I a monster, but I was an unstoppable monster.

So unstoppable... that not even I could stop myself.

After I was freed from Their oppression, I became two souls trapped inside one body. One soul was hungry for revenge; it wanted to kill and destroy, to seek out life and smother it in darkness, to make others suffer the pain that it suffered.

The other soul was small, and weak. It could not overthrow the stronger soul, but neither would it roll over and die. It knew that too much blood was already shed under my claws, and no more should follow.

The two souls raged within me; making me sporatic, dangerous, unpredictable. I decided to keep myself underground, in the wreckage of the facility. A few times, I found hidden routes out of the subterranean labs and into the outside world, but the scent of life was so strong, I knew I would go on a killing frenzy if I remained there. So, I was forced to remain in the darkness, where I could... control myself.

I never found out what happened to the facility, or Them. I assume They were destroyed by one of Their many enemies, eventually... But sometimes, in the darkness, I like to imagine that it was something different... I like to think that there was someone who cared about me... Someone who destroyed Them to save me from torture and a life of evil...

Of course, that isn't true; the only people who knew about me back then were either Them... or dead.

But it's comforting to think that maybe... maybe things aren't all random. Maybe some things happen for a reason...

Over time, I made my slow recovery. It was painful, but I forced myself to resist the urges of my violent half. I know now that I'll never be normal; I'll never be able to walk the streets, hand in hand with the one I love. I will never be able to make friends... I will never find my family. If I tried any of these things, I know for sure that my evil traits would emerge again. I am cursed.

But, in my solitude, I can think, and study, and learn. And sometimes I do meet travelers, when the storms that so often wrack this forest blow through and force them to my caves. And sometimes, though I am not a scholar, I can teach what I have learned to those who are kind enough to listen.

Perhaps it is not so terrible a curse...

Some travelers who have visited Taur have left gifts behind for him. He greatly appreciates them all, and wishes he could thank their creators in person.

To see the images in their full size, drag them up to the URL bar.

Thank you, Moon.

Thank you, Daika.

Thank you, Myth.