Shikaku and the Raven of the Midnight Void

Trust and Focus

A week had gone by. Shikaku and Okonai had gotten very accustomed to doing this pattern of following, eating, and sleeping. Okonai led Shikaku, and when he needed it, Shikaku would feed Okonai. And when it all felt too long, then he would promptly faint with exhaustion in the middle of a step. Shikaku wondered why he kept fainting- cats didn't normally do this. On the other hand, the poor guy could've just stayed up for days. She would set up the tent and put Okonai in. Sometimes Shikaku would also join him and begin to rest, but mostly she started hunting for animals to give to Okonai. She practiced and practiced with her bow and arrow, trying to think of being focused and calm. She mostly missed, but sometimes she could do it.

It was nightfall. Okonai was still walking, and Shikaku was surprised to see that he was doing it with a lot of energy. Like he was excited....

Then, Shikaku saw why. There was a fresh herd of deer roaming around in a big group. Shikaku and Okonai hid in a bush. Shikaku could sense how eager Okonai was, but he mostly stared with dagger eyes at the deer.

Shikaku readied her bow, waiting for the perfect moment.

Ah, yes! Now's the time- no wait, the deer is looking...no, now it's not! Wait, but that's very inconvenient if I want to shoot them, then get them all with my dagger.... Oh, jeez, all of them are looking right now, don't do anything...

Shikaku and Okonai waited for a very long time. She got a little bit impatient, and when she saw that most of them were in a perfect position, she nocked her arrow. She felt her fingers loosening, then she looked at Okonai.

Why wasn't he moving?

The deer were facing the other direction, and they were all bunched up together. It was a perfect opportunity to strike, but...

Okonai stared at the deer intently, still not moving a muscle. Shikaku kept her arrow ready, still waiting for Okonai to attack.

Jeez... this perfect position is almost gone... why isn't-

Shikaku paused. She realized why Okonai wasn't leaping onto the deer- there was one straggler that was very close to the bush, and was smelling it. Shikaku stared at the deer close to her, and wondered why it was there.

It looks so beautiful, Shikaku thought randomly. It's a nice, brown-

"MEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRROWWWWWW!"

This time, Okonai leaped out and ran at the deer. It was chaos- the deer were scrambling, Okonai slashing and hissing.

Shikaku was caught unawares. "GAAAH!!"

She jumped and fumbled for her bow and arrow, panic flowing through her head. She clumsily raised her bow and hastily tried to shoot one of them, and.... miss.

The arrow flew into the woods.

The deer ran off. Only one of them was injured and quickly died after Shikaku stabbed it with her dagger. Despite this small victory, Shikaku felt sheepish. Okonai glared at Shikaku, as if she messed up the whole thing.

Focus, Shikaku....

Why did you forget again?! You need to focus... you messed up...

While Okonai started chewing bits and pieces off the dead deer, Shikaku sat on a rock, thinking of what she did wrong. She DID focus on the deer... but she didn't realize that there was another one close by... and because of this, she wasn't prepared to shoot all the deer down...

Shikaku cursed as Okonai started choking on one of the deer's bones.

"Jeez, you clumsy guy," she sighed as she started pulling at his mouth, "it's not MY fault that you can't even- GaAAAAAH!"