Liffeni got here in time.
She knew her senses were right. It’s there. 

The body, the wounds, and the footprints. 

"I knew something was suspicious here." 

As a tracking expert and one of servants of king Shaad, She was sent to observe because of the elephant screams everyone heard not long ago. She heard about Kaal and also being told to eye on him. Being a bright minded jungle cat, she guessed that this happening was somehow related to Kaal, since he’s also nowhere to be found at that time being. 

Liffeni arrived by the river near the Great Growl Jungle, where the incident took place. The sunny sky started to become cloudy, visuals darkened, windy, all which could anyhow make the ‚investigation‛ harder. 

"Okay. Let’s see how it goes."

Immediately she found out the footprints on near the riverbank… It’s a tiger’s paw unmistakably. Foot-marks of a smaller elephant was also found on the other side of the river bank. The trace of the tiger’s footprints lead towards the river. But that’s it, no more traces after that. 

Liffeni could picture the entire hunting was happened solely at the middle of the river. She could clearly see the elephant body right from the river bank, even it’s a dark and cloudy day. 

There’s a deep bite mark on the neck proven that it’s done by a strong predator. This, along with the tiger’s footprints as ‘crime-scene evidences’, clearly signifiesthat a strong tiger might have done this.

"Wow…" Liffeni was very impressed: A clean bite on the neck, not to mention the prey was a full-grown elephant! 

Could it be Kaal? The jungle cat could not testify this. As there’re a few more tigers around, so it could be the others. 

By logic, the suspect must have left from the river, leaving no scent on where he would be going. The problem is: where could it be? The river could lead to many branches.

Is it upstream, or downstream? 

As for scent, Liffeni couldn’t find any except the elephant body. The river did not leave any scent as it’ll be washed away completely. 

The leading was so close, yet it lacked only by the scent. Liffeni was at a loss as she failed to track the suspect. She had no choice but to return to her king… 

In the distant field of dried leaves, a leopard was wandering about. He was … well… a bit peculiar unlike any other sort of predators–he was sniffing around the ground like a dog. 

What was he doing? What was he looking for? 

Suddenly, one big toad jumped out of the blue. And the silly leopard hopped over and caught it. 

Quack! Quack!
It’s wiggling between his two paws. 
The frog was about to become an afternoon snack. 

"Long time no see, Chee-Ya. Playing with your food?"

GULP! 

Chee-Ya was totally distracted by the unexpected greeting, and the toad escaped. 

The leopard looked up and saw– in front of him stood Kaal the fearsome tiger. First of all, Chee-Ya thought it was some mean tiger wanted to fight him over this territory. But then he recognized a very familiar scent on him. He moved back a few steps to have a clear look at this beast. Soon, Chee-Ya cried out happily. 

"Oh Kaal my buddy! I’m so happy to see you. My my, look at how big you’re grown!" 

"It’s terrific to see you as well, my friend. What are you doing here?" 

"Well, nothing. Just chilling around and looking for some ‘desserts’, that’s all. In the meantime, I expect some zebras come knocking me down for a ‘main course’, hehehe–"

Chee-Ya’s bubbly personality shone naturally. 

Usually Kaal would have a laugh from Chee-Ya’s jokes. But Chee-Ya didn’t seemed to tickle his funny bones now, as Kaal only responded with an emotionless stare. 

Kaal and Chee-Ya were best friends back in the days when they’re cubs. As Chee-Ya always like to hang around with Kaal for fun and adventures. Now he’s living outside the jungle, and has came to accompany some fellow meat-eaters out there. 

Truth to be told: he had done ‘crime’ by the law of the jungle. 

 
Rule #2: Do not steal from brothers & sisters. 

Chee-Ya had broken the 2nd golden rule by having an uncontrollable habit of stealing food from his neighbors, he did too many times before getting caught and banished from returning to the jungle. But being one of the fastest predators around, Chee-Ya seemed doing fine without worries. 

"Say, What brings you here, my long-time buddy?" Chee-Ya asked. 

"I’ll like you to come with me, buddy. We’re going to do something great~" 

It’s been a long time since they ever done something together, and that excited Chee-Ya. 

"So what is it, Kaal? Are you going to show me something awesome? Like that bird skeletons you show me, or something you made?"

"It’s a secret. You’ll see… Just come with me." 

"Wow, I can’t wait!" Chee-Ya was jumping with joy. 

The tiger and the leopard talked and walked to a distant direction. Chee-Ya was totally occupied and talk about how things had gone between them. But Kaal just shut off any conversation with the leopard, his face was expression-less and his eyes stayed focus at the far horizon. That somehow baffled Chee-Ya: Something felt off about his buddy tiger, who was more tensed and moody than before. 

The clouds slowly drifted away, and the sky returned bright again. 

Just as Liffeni was about to turn back and returned to Shaad, she glanced at the dead mother elephant one more time… 

 
Halt it!
Something looks odd about the elephant’s back! Due to the sunlight, some redness revealed on the top of the elephant’s spine. She couldn’t see it clearly from that angle due to her height,being a little jungle cat and all… Nevertheless, she never missed out any possibilities for evidence. 

She approached carefully across the shallow stream and climbed onto the body, and took a closer look. 

There’s a series of wound around the back of the neck, it looked like being done by a claw.
It’s actually a written message: 

NEXT: HUMAN 
-KAAL 

These words totally shocked Liffeni so much she tripped into the river. But she was skillful enough to swim back to the shore. As fast as a Lynx can, she ran back to the jungle to warn Shaad about this. 

"WHAT?!" The lion angrily stomped. 

Back in the Great Growl Jungle, Liffeni told Shaad the lion everything about Kaal’s intention to hunt the humans. 

"Kaal you fool! What were you thinking? How dare you defy my rules!"

"We have to stop him now, my king." 

"Yes, Liffeni. We have to get there, right away!" 

As fast as they could, Shaad and Liffeni dashed out of the jungle. 

"Now we know what Kaal was targeting, we can guess where he would be going."

"I’m absolutely sure he’s after the villagers nearby, my king." 

"Well, let’s not waste any time then–Full onward!" 

It’s being quite a while had Liffeni seen Shaad the king so worked up, running full speed like he’s still young, regardless of his aging joints. She couldn’t be more admired of her king’s dedication. Just by watching the way her king react, Liffeni could comprehend the seriousness of this situation. Not only to Kaal, but also to the lives of their inhabitants were at stake. 

"Liffeni my loyal servant, do you know why I made that 3rd rule?" 

"Yes, my king. It’s for the peace between us and the humans."

"Indeed." 

Rule #3: Do not attack humans. 

This was Shaad’s last golden rule. The most important rule of all rules. Shaad had learn it from by years of experience with those "creatures": 

Humans are physically weak, but they are highly advanced creatures with unbelievable technology. Shaad himself had witnessed his fellows overpowered and killed by those powerful two-legged beings with their advanced weapons. 

They are also highly vengeful. If provoke, they would not just kill the one responsible, Poaching would start; or worse: a full-scale extermination of fellow meat-eaters and also the Great Growl Jungle. 

So, in order to keep the jungle and his fellow inhabitants safe, Shaad had to make this restriction. Because it’s for the peace and survival of the jungle. 

Not too long had they went over 12 miles of distance, they came across a couple of footprints on the dampened dirt floor. 

"What are those footprints?" Shaad asked. 

"…From the look of it, These are tiger and leopard footprints. And they lead to the nearby village, which is about 30 miles away…. I’m afraid that’s where Kaal will go. Sorry my king, for I failed to find out more quickly…" 

"No, the blame’s on me. I am the reason for his actions and I’m greatly responsible… Forgive me Kaal, for not guiding you to the right path. Let’s hope it’s not too late–"

From where the jungle cat saw, her king looked like a worried father. 

The village is one of the nearest and is about 40 miles away from the jungle. The two beast friends had arrived at the outskirts of the village, where it’s on a hill looking down the village. At here, they could see people interacting on the streets. 

Kaal was high in anticipation, but Chee-Ya was quite reluctant. 

"Kaal, I can’t believe I’ve been talked into this—" 

"You promised me, Chee-Ya. You’ll assist me no matter what." 

"B-But– They’re HUMANS! They’re dangerous, and it’s against the law–" 

"We’re going to hunt a few of them. And besides, we’re already broke the law, aren’t we? So shut up and follow me!"

The tone changed into somewhat unfriendly. 

"But that’s…that’s so unlike you Kaal.. What’d got into you? Tell me what happened, pal?" 

At this instant, Kaal shove his face against Chee-Ya’s. His entire fur stood up, making him look ever more fierce than ever. 

"You either go home empty-handed, or you’ll have your shares. What’s it going to be, my friend? Are you with me or not?"

"Okay-okay! I’ll come with you! Jeez Kaal, you’re really scaring me."

Kaal was dead serious. Chee-Ya could sense the killing urge within his best friend,he also feel threatened and manipulated in a way. But his timid characteristic kept that to himself. 

Not a moment to soon, a village folk walked out of the village. 

"Here comes our first prey."

The two big cats crawled and crouched inside the bush near the pathway. Once the man reached close enough, Kaal unleashed his invincible pounce. 
 

SWOOPS! 

The man went down like a bug squashed by a finger, not even a scream was made, it was an instant kill. Kaal pawed on his prey, looked at the torn flesh & fractured bones, and then he let out an uncanny giggling. Something had snapped inside him.

"Great balls of fury Kaal! I can’t believe you can kill a human so easily! Such strength!" 

"Chee-Ya, I have a change of plan."

"Huh?"

"I’m going to hunt all of them."

"What? But but–you say–"

"One more word, and you’ll feel my wrath, Chee-Ya."

… …

Chee-Ya couldn’t say more, even though he found out his best tiger friend had gone to the dark side. He followed Kaal into the village, where followed by screams, shouts and runaways. 

To Kaal, it’s like a game of ‘hide-and-seek’. It’s his playtime. 

"Let the ‘hunting’ begin!"