Stinkin' To High, High Heaven

Gossamer slunk through the grass as she practiced her hunting. She didn't really have a planned strategy. She sort of assumed that something worth hunting would show up and then she'd give chase and because she was awesome she'd catch and kill it. So far she wasn't having much luck. She'd startled a few birds and sent them soaring to the skies but they moved a bit to quick for her. It was times like these she wished she'd gotten cat claws and not saber fangs. With a sigh she continued on her way. She didn't really have much else to do. Ásta was off doing fox things and she had finished with her lessons for ha day. Gossy supposed she could go bug her siblings but she wasn't really feeling social anyway so she just sought to ease her boredom solo.

The weather was gorgeous, sunny and clear. The sun heated the earth and made for a warm fall day and a last hurrah for summer. No doubt the weather would dive back down again and perhaps that's why she wanted to try her paw at hunting. She could always work on herbs and things near the den, plus much of the crafting they did involved a fire and that was a great way to stay warm. With hunting it was just her and the elements. She heard movement down low and crouched. When she pounced a startled quail shot up. She lunged but just missed it as it sailed off through the sky. Man, hunting was harder than she thought it was. Frogs and bugs seemed super easy compared to birds and mice. Maybe she should sniff around and see if she could find anything that was already injured. She lowered her head to the ground and began to sniff.

There were all kinds of smells in the tall grass plains and as she sorted through them she caught something that smelt rather bad, though she couldn't quite place it. Curiosity pulled her forward as she looked for the source of the smell. Maybe it was some crazy kind of rodent. She soon found the source and realized it was a skunk! The odd little black and white creature was digging in the dirt and she wondered if it was trying to dig a den or something. She took a few cautious steps forward. She didn't smell the scents of any pack mates that she could recognize so she wasn't sure that the creature was someone's companion. Her ears flicked back. She didn't like that it was digging so close to the den site but she wasn't quite sure what to do about.

Gossamer eyed the creature for a moment then puffed up her chest. She was a princess and a warrior, maybe she could frighten it off. She was too young to remember that skunks were the creature's that shot bad smelling stuff out of their butts so she took a few more steps forward and barked at the skunk. She thought she was sounding fierce and commanding instead of the high pitched yipping the skunk heard. It whipped around and glared at the pup, its tail flipping up as it eyed her. Gossamer's ears flicked back and she continued to glare at the skunk. "Hey, you're digging to close to our dens, beat it!"

Her ears flicked forward as she waited for the skunk to react but it didn't do anything interesting. It paused for a moment and turned to look at her. She thought for a moment it might speak but it just hissed at her, moved a little bit to the side and started digging again. Clearly it wasn't bothered by the presence of the young pup. Maybe she wasn't being loud and aggressive enough. A low growl rumbled from her throat. "Hey, I'm talking to you, ugly!” Yea, surely an insult would get a reaction out of the skunk and it would say something.

However, the skunk didn't seem to understand and as it started to turn around she bounded forward and nipped the skunks side. It hissed and tried to bite her. She backed up and swatted it in the face when suddenly it started standing on its front legs. She shuffled back, flustered by the maneuver. What was it doing? She circled the creature and it circled to follow her. Gossamer hesitated. Initially it seemed like a silly maneuver as the skunk's wait was now balanced on two legs rather than four so it would be easier to knock over and pin to the ground so why had it done that? The skunk had claws and sharp teeth but nothing worse than a wolf and there was nothing particularly dangerous looking about its butt that she could tell. What it trying to make itself look bigger with its tail?

Well she wasn't scared! She'd fight wolves bigger than her. Gossamer swiftly set her defenses then pounced on the skunk. The fight immediately devolved into chaos. She struck with such force that she knocked the skunk over, her large fangs cutting deep into the smaller creatures body and delivering serious puncture wounds. However, the moment Gossamer struck the skunk it let loose a spray of the worst smelling substance to ever hit the air. While it didn't hit Gossamer directly it was enough for her to let go of the skunk and back away gasping for air. Oh it was awful! Her eyes started to tear up and she pawed at her nose and whined.

The skunk quickly limped away and Gossamer immediately went running to look for Ásta. The smell was burnt in her nose and she was afraid that some of the mist had gotten into her fur. If anyone would know what to do it would be the fox. Next time she'd just leave the skunk alone. Or maybe she could find a way to make a weapon where you could attack from a distance and not get skunks stuff sprayed everywhere.