In the Eye of the Wolf

Att Jaga

It was spring. The lower valleys were patchy with grasses, and the plant-eaters had started to forage and re-mark their territories. The winter had been long and difficult, more so than the last Star-Cycle, and all the creatures welcomed the warmth of the Sun. The mountains and higher valleys were still covered in snow, but the rivers and streams had started to thaw farther down the mountain range.

It was on one such afternoon that Far stood atop a snow-covered hill, at the edge of a long ridge of trees, gazing at the small herd of Roe deer in the clearing below. He sought for a sign of weakness and sickness among them, finally eyeing an old hind that had a limp in one of her back legs. Usually he wouldn't think to try and go for a deer when he was hunting by himself, but his mate Fayn was becoming grumpier and hungrier the larger her belly became. Hopefully bringing home a deer would make her mood improve.

Far started down the hill, crouched low to the ground, staying as close to the trees as possible so that he wouldn't stand out in the snow as much. He was downwind of the deer, so they couldn't smell him and weren't alerted to his presence.

The hind he was stalking wandered a bit farther away from her herd, digging her nose into the snow to try and get at the grass underneath. Now she had her back to a small group of shrubs, which Far was coming closer too.

The hind lifted her head from the snow, chewing, and looked around. She hadn't noticed Far yet, who was now only about 8 feet away from her and about 20 feet away from the rest of the herd.

Suddenly, the wind changed direction, taking Far's scent and directing it towards the hind. Her nostrils flared as she barked in alarm, causing the rest of the herd to lift their heads and start running towards the opposing treeline.

The hind Far was tracking bolted towards the rest of her herd, but as fast as she was her limp made her a bit slower than the rest. Far was running close behind her, his nose almost touching her hooves, when she jumped over a fallen tree into the forest.

Far tripped over the tree, but quickly recovered himself. The chase continued.

Soon the Roes came across a fairly wide stream cutting through the trees, and began swimming through it. Far and the hind were not very far behind, and the hind kept barking at her herd and lifting her small tail into the air as she ran.

Far put on a burst of speed, for he knew that if the hind got past the stream and regrouped with her herd then they would be more alert to danger, and he didn't have the time to keep stalking them or find new prey. It was now or never!

The hind yelped as he clamped his jaws around her leg, causing her to tumble and lose her balance. She squirmed on the ground, barking, trying to shake Far lose of her leg, but to no avail. Her herd was already past the moving water and in the trees, the only sign that they were there was the receding sound of their hooves hitting the forest floor.

Far let go of her back leg, but before she could get up and run away from him, he leaped onto her back and bit deeply into her neck. She thrashed around, releasing a sort of scream, then went limp. He released his hold on her, and stood next to her, panting. After sniffing her a bit, satisfied with his kill, he chewed off her head and began to drag her bloody corpse back to his den, and his mate.

The hind's head was left by the stream, an empty gaze in her eyes as it stared to where her herd abandoned her as they ran for their lives.

But such is the way of the wilderness.