It was starting to get dark. Saru noted there were fewer people in the park than when they had 
arrived a little over an hour ago. The sun was already behind the tall city buildings behind them to 
the west, and the eastern horizon before them was a beautiful reddish sky broken up by the tall 
buildings on the eastern district of Leona City. 
     'We should go.' His partner, Mira, spoke up beside him. The pair of rabbits usually enjoyed some 
time here in the afternoons, once or twice a week before the city's hunting hours began. It was a 
brisk autumn afternoon, and neither of the two were wearing jackets. Mira's pale brown fur bristled 
as she shivered slightly and pulled herself closer to Saru, hugging her dark grey furred boyfriend to 
her. 
     'Alright.' He replied, wrapping his arms around her. 'Probably won't be safe for too much longer 
anyway.' The pair let go of one another and stood, before quickly making their way towards the 
main transit line. 
     'We're being watched.' Mira whispered, glancing around nervously. She was right. Like Saru had 
noticed, there were fewer people around and many of those still here were carnivores. He noted a 
leopard, a lion and lioness couple, and a cheetah. All were keeping an eye towards Saru and Mira, 
but only the cheetah really raised his concerns. Rabbits were fast, and Saru had outrun a leopard or 
two since moving here. But a cheetah? They had a reputation for being the fastest, and he wasn't all 
that keen on putting himself to the test. 
     'Alright, let's get moving.' Saru replied, pressing his hand lightly to her back and prompting her to 
increase her pace. He did likewise as they approached the edge of the park. The pair crossed the 
street hurriedly and followed the pathway down to their left towards the transit station. A train from 
there would take them back to their home district in time to be indoors before they could be legally 
hunted. 
     A lynx in a security guard's uniform was standing near the entrance of the station as they walked 
inside. 'Are you two heading to the Third District?' 
     'Y-yes.' Saru nodded, not entirely able to hide his nerves at being this close to a carnivore at such 
a dangerous time. 
     'I'm sorry.' The guard continued. 'There was a power surge at the Second District terminal and the 
train has been delayed by about forty minutes.' 
     'That's not enough time...' Saru protested. 'We'll be on the streets after eight...' His mind began 
racing with various possible scenario, none of them good. He cursed his recklessness, these 
afternoons in the park had always been his idea.  
     'I'm sorry.' The lynx replied. 'Your only other option is to call a cab.' There was a sincere concern 
in the felid's voice, as he knew full well the implications of what this development meant for the 
rabbit pair but at the same time was powerless to help them. All the cabs would be driven by 
carnivores at these hours, and it would be easy for them to take... detours. 
     'W-what do we do?' Mira asked. 
     'We have to run.' Saru took her by the arm and led her back towards the station entrance. 'We 
need to try to keep out of sight, try to slip into the side streets before that cheetah sees us. I'm 
pretty sure we can outrun everyone else. But one of them, I'm not sure.' 
     'It's gonna be hours on foot.' Mira protested. 'Shouldn't we just look for somewhere to hide 
instead?' 
     'Someone might sniff us out, and then we'd just be trapped.' Saru shook his head. 'We have to 
start moving now or we'll have no chance.' He gestured her to wait just inside the station entrance 
and peered outside. The lion couple had moved on but the leopard and cheetah he had seen earlier 
were still out there. He waited until he was sure neither of them was looking in their direction and 
pulled Mira out after himself, leading her at a quickened pace towards the southern end of the 
station building towards the streets that headed south. 
     He didn't look back, but in his peripheral vision he saw Mira constantly glancing over her shoulder 
and almost fumbling her steps. 'She saw us!' She gasped with a panicked voice. 
     'What?' Saru slowed and turned around. Just as Mira had said, the cheetah woman was now 
looking directly at them both from the other end of the park square. There was a wry smile across 
her face but she hadn't taken a step yet, seemingly content to muse on the dire situation these 
rabbits had found themselves in. 'She's not chasing us yet, let's keep moving.' 
     He turned back and renewed his pace, pulling on Mira's wrist to prompt her to the same. His eyes 
darted ahead of them and he chose one of the smaller alleys away from the main roads into this 
district. A pair of ocelots rounded a corner nearby as the two rabbits closed in on it, watching with a 
mix of concern and curiosity as Saru ignored them and kept running. He wasn't worried about them. 
He'd outrun their kind before. 
     He took Mira into the alley and darted between the large dumpster bins belonging to whichever 
businesses occupied the buildings on either side of them. At the far end, they stopped briefly to 
catch their breath and carefully investigate the situation at the other end of the alley. 
     A group of stoats and polecats was making their way along the main street towards the station. 
They were a potential threat, but they were also in danger of being hunted themselves by larger 
felids. With any luck, they'd keep the felids further back occupied if they weren't yet aware that the 
trains were running late. In other circumstances, he might have been tempted to warn them, but not 
when his own and Mira's lives were at stake. 
     'We've got fifteen minutes.' Mira warned, looking up from her phone. 
     'It's alright.' Saru replied, watching as the group of mustelids disappeared from sight up one of 
the streets parallel to the alley. He could see other felids on the streets ahead, but none of them he 
wasn't confident in being able to outrun. He was certain the two of them would have the stamina to 
reach their home district. They just needed to stay ahead of the hunters. 'Let's go.' 
     They crossed the next block with haste, not sprinting but keeping up the expert footwork that 
their kind were known for to weave between the slow traffic that was still on the roads. Some of the 
felids spared them an intrigued glance, but nobody gave chase. Active hunting would not be legal 
until eight, and as they reached another large intersection, he checked his phone. Less than ten 
minutes. 
     Mira gripped his arm tighter and he looked ahead. A lynx was eying them off, but after a moment 
his expression turned to resignation as he looked at something behind them. Saru turned and felt his 
heart sink at the sight of the same cheetah they had seen earlier at the end of the street two blocks 
back. 
     'She must have been following us. Shit...' Saru cursed. 'We have to start running now. Maybe we 
can... hide our trail in some side streets or something...' 
     'You don't sound very hopeful?' Mira noted as the pair began running again. 
     'What choice do we have?' Saru shrugged. The pair gave the lynx a wide berth as they passed, he 
may not have been willing to compete for rabbit prey with a cheetah, but that was no reason to get 
complacent. Getting too close could still give him a chance to ambush one of them. 
     The felid noticed this and gave a wry smile. 'Good luck.' He called, before turning to explore his 
options elsewhere and heading back the way they'd come. The cheetah behind them had broken 
into a run at the same time as them, and despite their best efforts, she was slowly closing the gap. 
     'Here!' Saru pulled Mira off to the left as they cleared the next street. They ran for a short 
distance up this road before darting across between a few clusters of leonine sized cars. There was a 
grate across an alleyway a bit further up the street, with gaps they could fit through that might slow 
their pursuer down.
     Mira glanced backwards and shrieked moments before a shadow passed over them. A split 
second later, the cheetah's towering form landed in front of them, skidding to a halt just as Saru's 
eyes met the striking blue of hers. 
     The felid's mouth curled into a tooth filled grin as she loomed closer, her gaze panning between 
the two rabbits as she looked on hungrily. 
     'You can't do this!' Saru protested defiantly. 'It's not eight o'clock yet, you can't hunt for another 
five minutes!' 
     'I'm just... saying hi.' The cheetah retorted. Her voice was gentle and she backed off her grin a 
little to seem less intense. She stopped moving towards them and stood to her full height, nearly 
four times that of Saru's own. 'I was looking for conversation. Like you said, it's too early for dinner.' 
     'Yea right.' Saru shook his head. 'We're leaving, and you can't stop us.' 
     'I guess not.' She replied. 'But I can follow you. And in... four minutes, we'll be able to have that 
conversation.' 
     Mira gripped Saru's arm tightly and shook fearfully. 'You just wanna eat us!' 
     'No, no...' The cheetah replied. 'I want... to eat just one of you. Two adult rabbits would be too 
much for me. Especially since I know you can put up a fight.' 
     Saru felt Mira's grip tighten and heard her breathing become more rapid. He turned back to the 
cheetah and simply shook his head. 'I'm not entertaining this. We're leaving. Get out of the way.' 
     The cheetah simply smiled and nodded, before stepping to one side and waving them past. Saru 
pulled Mira ahead of himself and pushed her back to prompt her to start running. He fell into place 
behind her, getting just close enough to be able to talk. 
     'No matter what happens...' He panted. 'Keep running. You get yourself home, alright?' 
     She glanced backwards, tears clouding her widened green eyes. 'What about you?' 
     'I'm gonna...' His mind raced faster than his heartbeat as he tried to come up with an answer. 'I'm 
gonna try to keep her distracted as long as I can.' 
     Mira slowed, turning around to face him. 'No... no, no. Stay with me, we can escape together!' 
     He shook his head and urged her to keep running. 'I don't think we can. She's gonna come after 
one of us, and it'll be easier to keep her distracted if I only have to worry about myself. So run as fast 
as you can. I'll wait here and try to run her in circles. If I can find a place to hide, I will.' 
     Mira blinked back tears and nodded. She turned and kept running, while Saru turned back just as 
his phone beeped. It was eight o'clock... 
     He turned back, readying himself to run. The cheetah was slowly approaching him with a small 
smirk on her face. 'Catch me if you can.' He challenged. 
     'Oh?' She grinned. 'Maybe. Why don't we see if you... can catch me?' 
     'What?' Saru's head tilted involuntarily in confusion. 
     'Ready or not!' The felid laughed, breaking into a run and then leaping clear over his head, 
continuing on in pursuit of Mira rather than him. 
     'What?! No! NO!' He broke into a sprint after her, but now that she was hunting in earnest, her 
speed had become something unfathomable in his mind. He was at his top speed, his legs pumping 
relentlessly like pistons in a furious steam engine, but it was for nothing against her own determined 
pursuit. He lost her for a moment around a corner, trying vainly to increase his pace when he heard 
Mira screaming in terror. 
     As he rounded the corner he saw them, halfway up the next block. The cheetah was sitting cross 
legged on the ground facing the direction he was coming from, and she held the squirming form of 
Mira immobile in her lap. Another lone polecat and a young looking lynx were also further along this 
street at different points, but neither seemed willing to interfere with the game the larger carnivore 
was playing. 
     'Let her go!' Saru shouted, sprinting towards his girlfriend and the hunter that had her grasped 
between powerful clawed hands. They both saw him coming, a terrified glance from Mira and an 
amused stare from the large felid that held her captive. 
      'Too slow!' The cheetah called as Saru rapidly approached. She slipped into an alley that Mira had 
failed to reach and slumped herself against the wall just as Saru rounded the same corner. He could 
see that she was breathing heavily with the effort she had expended to catch Mira, clutching the 
poor girl close to her chest as it rose and fell rapidly against her. 
     'Let her go!' Saru repeated. The cheetah was exhausted, but still very strong and very dangerous. 
If he could help Mira slip free, they could run again and it looked as though the felid would struggle 
to catch either of them a second time. She may have been faster, but rabbits outclassed cheetahs on 
stamina. 
     She lifted a foot and slammed it into his chest as he tried to dart forward. The impact knocked the 
breath from his lungs and he was hurled backwards, landing on his rear with a heavy thud. 'I admire 
your commitment to your girlfriend, but I haven't eaten all day, and I haven't hunted for over a 
week.' 
     Saru struggled to his feet, feeling tears well in his eyes as the sound of Mira's whimpering was 
met with the realization that he had almost zero chance of overpowering or even inconveniencing 
her in any meaningful way. Still, he had to do something. He stepped closer, expecting to be kicked 
again but this time she just watched him in amusement. 
     He climbed onto one of her legs and reached up to where both her arms were wrapped around 
Mira's form in a tight and secure embrace. Despite the obvious futility, he tried to prise one of her 
arms loose enough for Mira to wriggle free. Mira herself pushed outward as much as she could, but 
even between the two of them they simply weren't strong enough. The cheetah wasn't just fast and 
acrobatic, she was strong and athletic too. 
     'Wow...' The large felid remarked, beginning to steady her breathing as she remained otherwise 
unmoving. 'I've never seen a rabbit so committed to saving his girlfriend. Usually? They just keep 
running. I sure hope you appreciated him while you could, Miss.' She gave Mira's ear a playful lick 
and nibble, causing the rabbit to tremble and her eyes fill once again with fresh tears. 
     'Stop it!' Saru lashed out in anger, blindly throwing a punch as hard as he could towards the 
cheetah's nose. She blinked in surprise as the fist impacted, both of them pausing for the moment, 
each as shocked as the other at what he had just done. 
     'Oh, now I'm really impressed.' The cheetah grinned, leaning forward and causing Saru to be 
slightly unbalanced where he still stood on her thigh. 'Not at what you did, but that you'd try.' He 
shifted her grip, holding Mira tight with only her left hand and arm. Her right hand reached out in a 
flash and snared Saru's left wrist. 
     'What are you...?!' Saru's confusion and shock were halted and then magnified significantly as the 
cheetah pulled his hand into her mouth. His hand rested on her tongue and he felt her teeth on his 
forearm. It was hot, instantly wet and pungent as she exhaled in the bliss of his flavour on her 
tastebuds. 'G-get off me!' He tried to recoil but moved nowhere, twitching in panic as she slurped on 
his arm like the relative noodle it was. Her teeth and lips were around his shoulder now and his hand 
was at the base of her tongue, squeezed momentarily by the tight flex of her throat muscles. 
     Saru slammed his free hand against her chin and cheeks, trying desperately to pull himself free. 
He felt her hand on his back right between his shoulders. He looked up, just briefly enough to see 
them narrow as her lips spread into a grin. In the next moment they parted and her mouth opened 
before him. In the same instant he pulled his drool covered arm free he felt his face pushed towards 
it. 
     He winced as another wave of hot, stale smelling breath washed over his face moments before 
his chin and cheeks were met with the rough barbs of her tongue. Despite his frantic efforts to pull, 
push or squirm his way free, his vision remained filled with the dark and slimy flesh arch of her 
throat and the humid stench of her deliberately slow exhale. 
     He could feel tears welling in his own eyes, his heart racing and his breathing becoming rapid 
despite the increasingly unbearable stench. 'No no noo!' His fear finally got the better of him and he 
cried out in mortal terror. 
     The next moment it all stopped. Her hand pressing him inwards released and he fell backwards 
onto the pavement beside her. His heart felt like it would explode out of his chest as he blinked his 
eyes back into focus. Mira was still clutched under the cheetah's left arm and still squirming vainly to 
free herself. Saru looked back at his left arm, seeing his fur matted flat and glistening with the 
coating of cheetah drool still clinging to it. 
     'Scared huh?' The cheetah smirked. 'Not so willing to put yourself out there for your girl now, are 
you? Or am I wrong?'
     'W-what...?' Saru shuddered, his mind still in shock but beginning to piece together what the 
felid's cruel plan was. 
     'Come on.' The cheetah teased before licking her lips. 'I'll let her go if you take her place. Now 
come on up, be a good protective boyfriend and put yourself back in my mouth, hmm?' She shifted 
her hold on Mira just enough to allow the pair to look into each other's eyes. 
     Saru felt his heart sink into the depths of terror at the thought of being that close to her mouth 
again, let alone back inside. 'I-I... Mira, I...' 
     The cheetah laughed. 'Aww well, I guess that decision's been made. Sorry girlie, tonight's your 
last.' 
     'Don't do this!' Saru begged, watching in despair as Mira turned her gaze from his and squeezed 
her eyes shut. He struggled back to his feet and staggered a step and a half forward. 
     'Oh shush.' The felid replied. 'I don't wanna be playing this game all night. Like I said, I haven't 
eaten and I am hungry. Your little tease of flavour made me really feel it. Had to stop myself from 
chomping down right away.' She adjusted her grip on Mira and used her free hand to rake her claws 
through Mira's top, pulling the shirt free and following up with running a single claw through the 
strap that held Mira's bra in place. 
     It was too much, and Mira let out a fearful shout and started crying. The cheetah ignored the 
feeble sounds with practised ease before hooking her fingers onto Mira's belt. In moments, another 
swift and expertly executed move rendered the rabbit girl completely naked and exposed to the 
chilly night air. 
     'Don't worry, you'll be warm again soon.' The felid laughed. 'So, do you wanna go feet first or 
head first? I'll be nice and swallow you in one piece.' 
     'W-why?!' Mira managed to say, all but hyperventilating as the cheetah lifted her, holding one 
hand beneath the girl's rump and the other wrapped around her neck. 'Why not just... get it over 
with?' 
     'Don't tell me how to eat.' The cheetah grinned, bringing Mira's face close and slowly licking her 
cheek. 'I look forward to live meals. It's a rare treat and I like to make the most of them. So, what's 
your decision bun-bun?' 
     Mira shook her head and awkwardly shrugged, her lips moving but unable to form words through 
the unstoppable waves of fear that coursed through her. The cheetah's own expression shifted 
slowly from an almost kind looking patience to a resigned acceptance that she was not going to get 
the answer she asked for. 
     'Alright then.' She shrugged. 'I choose feet first. Feel free to squirm. It feels amazing.' 
     Saru and Mira both let out a whimper as the cheetah lifted her prey up. Her grip around Mira's 
neck tightened and the hand under the rabbit's rear moved to hold her ankles together. In her next 
movement, most of Mira's legs vanished between the cheetah's jaws and lips with a horrifying wet 
slurping sound. 
     'Saru...' Mira cried softly, doing her best to twist her upper half towards him. 
     A loud, wet gulp interrupted whatever she was trying to say and she was in the cheetah's mouth 
up to her naked breasts. She winced in pain at the bending of her spine the powerful and merciless 
throat was forcing her to endure, and only now was there a slightly noticeable bulge in the 
carnivore's neck. 
     'Mira!' Saru choked out one final desperate call to the woman he loved before a third gulp took 
her from his sight. A flash of the cheetah's tongue and teeth enveloped her head, before the lips 
closed and the writhing bulge slowly swelled in the cheetah's neck. It lasted only a few more 
moments and was punctuated by a heavy sigh from the contented felid. 
     The sated carnivore rested a hand on the front of her own neck, then slid it down her chest 
before letting it rest on her slightly distended belly. Saru was amazed at how a fully grown rabbit still 
made so little difference to the figure of a grown cheetah. 
     'Ooh, come here.' She called to him. 'Wanna feel her moving in there? Maybe try to get in that 
goodbye you were both struggling to get into words there?' She smiled and looked as though she 
was about to say something else, but it was interrupted by a small hiccup-like burp, followed by a 
brief giggle. 
     'Stop it...' Saru sobbed, crawling only slightly closer as tears of despair ran down his cheeks. 'Just 
leave me alone... She was everything to me and you took her.' 
     The cheetah sighed. 'I get it. You lost someone close to you.' She pushed herself against the wall 
and used her hands to walk herself upright. Now the shape of her belly was more noticeable, as 
were the small but frantic impressions and motions caused by the doomed occupant. 'I guess it was 
harder because you watched it happen huh? Didn't just see it recorded in the network next morning. 
Speaking of which...' 
     Saru was at a loss for words as he watched the cheetah pick up Mira's discarded clothes and rife 
through them until she found the small rabbit sized wallet in the pants pocket. After opening it, she 
took out Mira's identification card and stashed it in her own pocket. 
     'Why didn't you just take me...?' Saru asked, grief stricken and growing number by the second as 
the pain and the cold night air grew stronger. 
     He felt her hand wrap around the collar of his shirt before he was lifted and rested against her 
chest. His abdomen pressed against hers while his face was almost cupped by her modest but still 
comparatively large breasts. Her smiling face took up most of his vision, a terrifying sight normally 
but in his grief the threat seemed... frivolous. 
     'I gave YOU that choice.' She replied. 'But it had to be a choice, you see. And I made sure you 
understood what you were in for first. You were too afraid to put yourself back in my mouth after 
you'd been so close, but if you had? Well, at least we'd all know the decision was genuine, huh?' 
With every word she spoke, her warm and stale breath carried to his face, reminding him of his brief 
but terrifying moments there only minutes ago. 
     He cursed his own cowardice, his failure to protect her. Had he really even loved Mira if he wasn't 
willing to die for her like this? One of the worst fates one of his kind could know, but he had often 
felt that he would be willing to endure it for her, to lay down his life so hers could continue. And in a 
split moment, this cheetah... no. He, he had proved himself wrong. 
     He felt the cheetah's belly twitch and writhe for a moment against his own. Fresh tears filled his 
eyes as the cheetah lifted her head and began walking with him still clutched to her body. He didn't 
bother asking where she was going. It... didn't seem to matter anymore. He let his eyes drift closed, 
finding an odd sense of peace in her soft and warm, potentially deadly embrace. Another soft 
movement from the cheetah's stomach and the horrifying implications of it running through his 
mind kept him from the peace of sleep, despite how much he wished he could escape this waking 
nightmare. 
     'You must live in the Third District, right?' The felid asked after a while of walking briskly through 
the night. 'Mind giving me your address? I guess I could make sure you get home safe.' 
     'Why...?' Saru asked, beginning to feel the effects of his growing exhaustion. 
     'I'm a carnivore.' She replied. 'That doesn't mean I have to be a monster. Everything ended for 
her tonight. But you still get to see tomorrow.'