Black Arms 101

Chapter 1

It was a quiet day as the birds tweeted happily up high in the tree-tops and the tree's leaves swayed in the gentle breeze. Deep within the tropical rain forest, high up in one of the largest jungle trees, rested a powerful creature - the top predator in that particular ecosystem.

The creature was almost dragon-like in appearance, with a long snake-like tail with cobalt blue scales shining in the morning sunlight. It had sharp, long hooked talons on the ends of his paws with razor-sharp quills in a row from the top of its head all the way down its muscular back.

Glowing emerald eyes slowly blinked open when the sun shone on them, waking the beast and with a wide yawn, a set of flesh-tearing teeth could be seen along with a purple forked tongue. This deadly animal was known on this far away planet as a Black Arms Submissive and it was time for him to go hunting for his breakfast. This particular Submissive was known as Sonic-- known for his speed and agility more than his ferocity, although, he wasn't some lap dog either.

Sonic's speed meant that he could get away from predators (other Black Arms that were trying to get ahold of his territory) and hunters before they had the chance to get a proper look at him, and his agility meant that if he did get into deep water, he could get out of it without so much as a scratch or a loose quill.

And speaking of water, the large azure male was as fast underwater as he was on land, and twice as deadly.

With yet another yawn and with a cat-like stretch, the Submissive stood from his newly made nest and with the grace and agility of a panther, he easily hopped from branch to branch to the ground that was very far below. And when he ran out of branches, he just sunk his talons into the tree's trunk and easily slid down, sharpening his claws on the way down.

Once at another branch strong enough to hold his weight, the blue Submissive effortlessly leapt the remaining ten feet down to the ground where he gracefully landed on his feet.

Then, the territory's top predator quietly snuck off into the thick foliage of the jungle around him.

Almost as soon as the hunter set off, the forest went dead silent-- the scene having an eerie feel to it the longer the forest went on and the denser the forest became. The branches seemed to turn into spindly arms, their hands reaching out to grab any passers-by and never let go.

Not that this scared the lord of the land that is-- no, it just amused him as to how the mind would play such silly little tricks on itself and turn something so natural and so... so ordinary into something so evil and terrifying. And a smirk grew on his face as he knew that, without a doubt, the forest had grown quiet because of him.

Because he was out for a fresh kill...

Suddenly, a sharp rustle of leaves caught his immediate attention and he quickly spun round and crouched low. He smirked when his favorite meal walked out of the bush--a deer-like creature that was various shades of violet and dark blue markings, having a single horn protruding from the tip of its nose that grew longer and longer the older the deer was.

Thankfully, this was a wayward female, and it would be enough to feed himself for at least two days. Licking his chops in hunger, he crouched lower to the ground as waited for her to come closer-- his scales along his back easily camouflaging him from view.

The creature kept walking closer and closer to Sonic, sniffing the different foliage to find the best, and yet not noticing the cat-like green eyes that watched its every move. As soon as she took just two more steps closer, Sonic lunged for her. The deer-like creature gave a bleat of pain and shock when she was suddenly pounced on, the large predator managing to sink it's talons into her side and its teeth into her back.

Scrambling and kicking, the creature managed to quickly squirm out of the Black Arm's grip before she took off into the woods, with a bloodthirsty Submissive hot on her tail.

Sonic didn't let the creature leave his sights as he chased after her, swerving round trees and bushes to try and get closer. As the doe leapt over a fallen log, Sonic used that to his advantage and in one powerful jump, he pounced on her and sunk his claws and teeth into her hide as he brought the deer down to the ground.

The poor creature gave a pained groan and Sonic put it out of its misery with a sharp twist of her neck - snapping it and thus ending its life.

Sonic, although tired from the chase, started to drag his prize back towards his nest after checking to make sure there was no intruding Black Arms or hunters around that would try to injure him to steal his breakfast or try to capture him. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he took a good grip on his food and began to drag it back home...
Ears perking in all directions, Sonic safely made his way back to his tree before starting to climb up it, the doe still in his clutches. Once high in the safety and comfort of his nest, the azure male rested for a moment from both the hunt and the climb and once rested enough, he began to eat his fill of his well-earned catch.

But even as he ate, he still kept on high-alert. His kind were, with being hard to find, capture and kill, one of the most sought after beasts. They were often hunted for their pelt for decoration, their bones for medicine or they were hunted to be bred and their offspring sold as exotic pets.

Sonic, being young, hadn't had offspring of his own just yet and as he rested with a now full gut, he let his mind wander to thoughts of the future. A future with a nest full of eggs and a loving mate to help him care for them.

His thoughts were then suddenly broken by the roar of another Black Arms in his territory. Frowning, he slowly stood and returned the roar with a roar of his own, telling the trespasser that this territory was taken and to back off.

He then flinched and blinked in shock when his roar was answered by way more than one Black Arms.

His gut filling with worry, he hesitantly left his nest and decided to go investigate. It didn't take long for him to find the source of the many roars, as he soon came across a large a pack of Black Arms moving through his territory, only a few casting glances at the blue Submissive before turning their gaze back to the untold path ahead of them.

Totally confused as to what was going on and having never seen to many Black Arms all in one area together-- Dominants, Submissives and Females who usually stayed away from each other-- Sonic eventually decided to follow to see where everyone was going. Not one word was said as they travelled, the only sounds being the many paws on the ground, the birds tweeting up high in the sky and the wind blowing through the trees.

As they walked, Sonic looked around all the others in curiosity. There was no disguisable leader at the front of the herd, so that was out of the question. Everyone just seemed to be heading to the same place after all. And he was even more surprised when Submissives and Females walked side by side, and large Dominants played with one another as if they were pups all over again.

It was quite an unusual thing to see...

Wherever they were going, they didn't reach their destination at the end of the day. As the sun began to set, everyone just seemed to decide at once to find a good spot to rest. Coming upon an open field, the Black Arms dispersed to various parts of the large terrain to stake a spot of ground or a nearby tree for their own for the night. Once that was taken care of, many went off to go hunt while Sonic, after having an inner battle with himself, decided against helping the others in their hunting spree, so he found a place in the sea of bodies and curled up into a tight ball. Giving a large yawn that showed off his really large fangs, he tucked his head beneath his tail that was curled around him and slowly let his eyes slip closed.