Ravencrest Shorts and Stories

Hunt

My paws hit the ground as lightly as I could make them while still forcing myself to speed up.

I panted lightly keeping my ears angled back to check for my pursuers. I trampled the grass before me ducking and occasionally leaping over rocks in my way. The forest blurred by me as I wove around the trees.

My attacker made a dive at me and I instantly put on the back pedals reversing and tearing off towards the right. I heard a crash and smirked to myself when an indignant squawk sounded.

Hawks were great attackers when their prey wasn't capable of complex planning. Still, it wouldn't hold him long. I swerved off of the larger trail and made for the thinner one. It would make it harder for me to run a straight course but now the trees were too thin for the hawk to make any real turns.

I slipped my way under a long into a small niche. She kept herself quiet for several moments as the hawk flew up and landed upon a branch. I watched on grinning when it screeched in annoyance.

I stuck my head out of the log and gave a playful and triumphant yip only to yelp and retreat. I whimpered from the stinging sensation that burned my ear but otherwise didn't react. That had been completely my fault.

The hawk could still see me through a gap in the log so I paced a little. I settled down and opened my mouth with a yawn before beginning to bite at my nails in an attempt to remove the dirt from them.

I lapped lazily at my paws before fixing the hawk with my smuggest fox expression.

'I can wait here all day.' I tried to convey.

The hawk narrowed its eyes and flowered at me. Despite this, I saw the nervous way it ruffled it's feathers. This hawk was stubborn and had been chasing me for hours. By now, it was probably starving and extremely impatient. If I truly chose to wait him out, it'd have to go home hungry and admit it'd chosen the wrong prey.

It finally decided upon staring at me resolutely and settling on the branch. From the sharp and alert expression it gave me, it was banking on the hopes that I would get hungry and leave my shelter. Which, admittedly was a great plan for literally every other small hunter in the forest. Most of my prey would've been scared off by the noise we'd made when the hawk had chased me through the woods.

Except that I have good forethought and stored berries and small corpses everywhere throughout the woods just in case.

When I'd seen the log, I'd recognized it as a place where I could hide that the hawk couldn't reach but also as somewhere I had food stored. I shook my pelt knocking some of the dust off before pulling up my leg to scratch at the collar around my neck.

The tags jangled a little and frankly, if I had been hunting I would have scared off everything around me. Thankfully Marcus take a them off when I'm at home.

I scratched at the dirt before me and dug up some berries and a rabbit I had buried a couple days before. I ate the berries quickly before sniffing the rabbit cautiously. Upon smelling no maggots, I tore into my food. I saw the ravenous look the hawk directed at me and ignored it while I ate.

Marcus had taken me home a few days after he and the other man talked to me. Once there, I had shifted into my fox form curious to see how it would work. Marcus had instantly placed the collar around my neck. I had scratched, bit and pulled it to begin with but by now I mostly ignore it.

It doesn't affect me. Not really.

I glanced up at the hawk who was steadily falling sleep. I felt a little bad he'd missed his meal. I sniffed through my sanctuary before digging up another rabbit. I dragged it to the opening holding it in my mouth. Quickly I forced the thing out there and retreated back inside my log of sanctuary.

The hawk descended upon the meal instantly and nodded gratefully. I cautiously stepped out of the log eyeing the larger predator with concern. It seemed not to care about me so finished my sprint out of the woods and started trotting home.
----

"Where have you been!"

I crouched and flattened my ears as Marcus raged over me. I shook a little and avoided looking fearfully at him. My tail was curled into me and I whined quietly. I'd left without telling him but only because I'd been hungry and he'd been experimenting on something. He'd forgotten to feed me again so I sighed and moved on with my food and had trekked off to the woods. I hadn't realized he'd noticed my disappearance.

But no, he'd been waiting with the most thunderous expression on his face and if I hadn't known he was human, I would've assumed he was some sort of wolf hybrid with how intimidating his growling was. I shrank away when his hand flashed out and grabbed my scruff. He hauled me away angrily with such force I actually felt my scruff bruise. He opened a small cage and practically flung me in. I thumped on the floor with a huff as I landed on my stomach and all the air was knocked from me. My vision blurred for a second and I glanced up miserably at Marcus trying to silently communicate how sorry I was.

He put a blanket over the cage and I heard his footsteps receding as he left me there.

I put my head on my paws and whimpered trying to regain his attention. I was still really hungry as the hawk had chased off any reasonable game when it had spotted me. I whined louder and tried crying before jumping. He smacked the cage (which startled me) before giving a sharp "Hush up!" then he left once more. I stayed silent for several long minutes before trying again. This time I was punished with him outright shaking the cage. I braced myself on the floor to keep from sliding into the cage walls.

I didn't try again.

----

I was in there for what seemed like forever.

My belly growled its displeasure at not being fed again but I wasn't sure what I could do about that. Mostly I just spent the time moping with my head on my paws feeling very sorry for myself. I yawned and blinked blearily when the blanket was removed from the crate. I glanced up at a much calmer looking Marcus who now bore a gentle expression. I thumped my tail lightly on the floor of the cage and gave to quiet yips to test the waters. He smiled a little and went to unlatch the crate. I thumped my tail harder with excitement and barked happily. He finally opened the door and I sprung out excitedly.

I ran around his feet very pleased that he seemed to forgive me. He picked me up gently scratching my ears with a chuckle. I wagged my tail happily and he carried me off to the kitchen and placed me on the floor. Instantly I ran in and hopped onto the stool before transferring to the table panting excitedly. He frowned at me but didn't object simply putting bacon in my bowl before starting on real food. I polished off the bacon in seconds and began sniffing his food. He pushed my muzzle away from his ingredients and I huffed resigning myself to waiting him out.

"I didn't realize you were so hungry..." he trailed off and studied me. "Is that why you wandered off? Did I forget to feed you today too?"

I yapped my confirmation and stared impatiently at the food insisting on taking moons to cook. Marcus winced guiltily and finished off my food first before adding more to my bowl as a wordless apology. My tail wagged as I ate. I licked his hand after a second thought to reassure him that it was alright. He may forget to feed me a lot and he might lock me in crates for hours but he was still better than the one originally assigned for my health outside of lab testing.

Even if it took him a while to remember, he did eventually feed me and didn't keep it away from me as a punishment. I preferred the evil crate to having my food taken. When we finished eating, he plucked me from the table and carried me to the bathroom. My mood soured a little but regardless I let him run the water and scrub my fur. I grumbled the entire time occasionally barking and nipping just to let him know how I felt about this. He was unphased and simply sprayed me down cleaning my fur of any mud and toweled my fur.

He opened the bathroom door and walked to the living room. I scampered to the bedroom and grabbed my brush before trotting after him. He sat on the couch and I leapt up into his lap, I shuffled and dropped the brush. He picked it up and began calmly brushing through my fur and I relaxed. Marcus wasn't always the nicest, but he was nice enough.

There were many worse places I could be.