Bandle is hungry. 

Its hulking footsteps reverberated throughout the dense wooded forest as he stomped along. Critters and creatures of all sizes, large or small, skittered away from his menacing, almost lethal presence.

Bandle wants FOOD! The beast bellowed a sonorous howl and shook the earth to its core. Pressure caused cracks to form from below his feet, and trees creaked and croaked in pain. From this point, all life had fled from the forest in fear of their lives. 

Suddenly, Bandle caught notice. Sniff. JOLT! A tantalizing scent wafted by his muzzle. Drooling profusely, Bandle jolted up and began following the scent. It was the scent of meat. Dead, fresh meat. 

He barreled past (and through) trees, trampled through logs like melted butter, and quaked the earth with every footstep. His speed blinding, his strength building, and his hunger ever-growing, Bandle raced towards his soon to be prize. After some time, Bandle reached a  clearing.

Before him lay his reward: a whole cow carcass, plump and perfectly skinned with no meat wasted. Despite this obvious trap, Bandle pounced at the opportunity and began tearing away at the dead cow. 

Food for Bandle! Food for little Bandlets! Food for us!

He continued to devour. Entrails and strips of tendons and muscles flew from his wake, yet seemingly calculated and predicted, as if he was saving the food for his offspring. His ravenous feasting, however, distracted him from noticing a small, slight figure approaching from behind him. 

It snuck up and grabbed Bandle’s tail. “Boo!”

Bandle yelped and roared loudly, quickly wrestling away and pivoting to face the figure. A small, slight little girl with silver hair met his gaze, smiling gently and almost smugly.

Human… HUMAN! SLAUGHTER! EVIL! Bandle almost instantly snarled and swiped at the girl. He thrashed about and thrusted his horns wildly around the air. The carcass all but tossed to the side, Bandle lashed out at the young girl, blind with rage.

The girl, however, remained still. Still maintaining her calm and kind demeanor, she began to reach into her bag.

Reacting instantly, Bandle rushed to prevent the girl from reaching into her bag. NO! HUMAN EVIL! WILL HURT! PROTECT BANDLETS! He rushed to bite her.

Just as Bandle’s mouth nearly enveloped her small, frail body, the girl finally revealed an apple. She smiled at Bandle with full confidence.

Bandle’s ears tingled. He sensed her intentions. Her pureness of heart, and her innocent intentions. It was unlike any human he had ever met before.

Evil…? No, NO! EVIL! HUMAN ALWAYS EVIL! HUMANS ALWAYS TORTURE BANDLE! Snarling in frustration, Bandle recoiled, and darted away quickly with as much meat as he could stuff in his face. His footsteps echoed into the night, leaving nothing but dust in his wake. The girl stared blankly towards where Bandle retreated, still clutching the apple in her hand. Still wearing the same kind smile.