It's a Prickly Situation

After a long while, the young male looked around to see where he was. This place was unrecognizable, uncharted territory for him, and definitely not home. His breathing was still ragged, but not as hard as it was moments ago. Bi-colored eyes squeezed shut for a minute as he tried to collect himself, and taking a deep breath he opened them again. "Okay...deep breath...I'm gonna be okay..." At least, that's what he told himself. As he took a few steps, his stomach would suddenly growl in the most undignified way ever! He suddenly felt famished after his run, and he wondered what he might be able to find around here. He knew how to hunt some things, mostly snakes and rabbit and fish, but he had never hunted big game. Obviously. He was too young to join in on larger hunts, so he made do with what he could practice on when he didn't want to wait around for his mother to bring them food. Glancing around, he would put his nose to the ground and begin his task of looking for a trail, something fresh he could follow and maybe eat. What was out here though? He supposed he'd find out sooner or later.

A good long while would pass, it was at least noon and he knew he had run away from home hours ago. He wasn't entirely sure how to get back though, and right now he was focused on finding some food. As he circled a tree, he stopped when he came across a very interesting scent. Something he hadn't smelled before, and he was intrigued and very much interested in what it might be. He followed it for a good bit until he came to a small stream, and when he raised his head, he saw the most bizarre creature he had ever seen! It looked like a beaver, but instead of smooth fur it had longer looking fur and a...great head of hair! Was that a mohawk on its head? Why couldn't he have gorgeous hair like that? He eyeballed the creature for a good while, watching it waddle back and forth as it foraged for food. He then remembered his hunger, and decided he would hunt this...this thing! Whatever the heck it was. Slowly and with practiced ease, the young male made his approach from behind, staying downwind. From the looks of this thing, it appeared to be slow and clumsy, so surely it would be a lot easier to catch than a rabbit.

He crouched low, rump almost in the air as he got as close as he could to it. Once he was well among the bushes and within range, he lunged out to attempt a surprise attack, jaws open as he leaped towards it. All of a sudden, the creatures hair stood on end, and before he knew it he felt stabs of pain on his nose and face, his body twisting away as the creature clicked and clacked at him. He whined, the pain of the quills coursing across his muzzle. What the hell!? Since when did animals shoot hair at stuff? He wiped his face on the ground trying to rid himself of the quills, but only a few loose ones would come off while the longer ones broke in half. Feeling defeated, he was about to slink back home with his tail between his legs until it decided to make an appearance. Where do you think you're going? That creature hurt you. It made you bleed. You're going to run back home with your tail between your legs like a common dog? Cloud froze, wincing at the shooting pain on his face. What was he supposed to do? He had no idea how to hunt that creature! But...he also didn't want to go back home like this. He wasn't a weakling. "I don't know what to do...just..." Coward. Weakling. Scaredy-cat. Yellowbelly. Chicken. Run back home to mommy then, tell her how scary the world is away from her. Tell her how you got humiliated and beaten by a rat!

The boy stopped in his tracks, shaking his head to try and clear his head from some of the pain. "I'm not a coward!" He snapped back, "There's nothing I can do to it! Look at what just happened, I got close and it, it...pricked me with it's fur-thorns!" Ha! Hahahahaha!!! Take a good long look at it, boy! Cloud did as he was told, dual toned gaze narrowed as he stifled more whines of pain. The porcupine was still on alert, scavenging around the stream. "Okay...what about it?" He questioned, not sure what he was supposed to be seeing. All he saw were...quills. And he was not keen on getting more stuck in his face. You're kidding! Take a really good look, dummy! You see its legs? Its belly? The whole underside is unprotected. The only danger from that thorny rat is from its back end, so steer clear of that and you can take this thing in no time. Cloud looked again, and sure enough, it had no spikes beneath it or on its head. But he doubted that he could get close enough to grab it by the head, so he'd have to find some way to get at its belly. "Okay...so what do I do?" He began to think about it, but all he could think of was getting close enough to try and swipe a leg. But even then he was sure he'd get stuck with more quills in his face. Maybe it was an inevitable thing? It's a porcupine. It cannot defend itself if its quills are on the wrong side, think about it.

It seemed whoever was visiting him didn't really want to give him all the answers. So the youth was forced to think about it. He watched the creature, legs nearly waddling. He watched as it scratched its ear, watched the way its quills stuck up, watched the way it occasionally watched him..."I...have to flip it over...right?" Bingo! Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner! So that was it...but how would he get close enough without getting poked again? He thought for a moment, and decided that it might happen anyway. So with narrowed eyes and renewed determination, along with a throbbing muzzle, he set course back towards the porcupine creature thing.

He crouched low again, keeping his paws beneath him so he could hop away at a moments notice. The porcupine noticed him, and it too was ready to take another whack at him. Cloud circled it, going one way, and then the other. Finally, he decided to move slowly to the left, and then he quickly feinted right, one paw striking out towards the porcupines back leg. He had made contact! The animal stumbled for a second before it turned on him, clicking and clacking at him in anger. He figured out what to do, now he just needed to do it. Once again, he put his tactic into play again, and when he was in position, he did the same thing several times the same way. The last time, however, he would do it again, but the opposite, and it succeeded in confusing his prey! Instead of going left, he went right, and then feinted left. His paw struck out at the porcupines hind leg again, this time dragging it towards him more than the last times and he lunged forward as quickly as he could. Teeth barely managed to snap on the porcupines foot, but at a cost to him.

He felt more pain across his muzzle and his right foreleg that was closest to the porcupines quills, and he fought the urge to cry and let go. He would not be beat by a prickly rat! This one wasn't very big, but it still had spunk and it still hurt! He dragged the leg back, shaking with as much force as he could while at the same time attempting to dislodge any loose quills as well as to keep any incoming quills from sticking too well. He would turn around, dragging it by the foot into the water in the hopes that it would become less mobile if it had to focus on keeping its head up and out of the water. Angry now with new pain coursing through him, Cloud flailed his head back and forth until he heard a crack between his teeth, and realized he just broke its leg. He was almost appalled for a moment, but the voices in his head told him to keep going. He dropped the leg, not letting a moment pass before he lunged for the other one, more stabbing pain as more quills embedded into his ears this time. He did the same thing he had just done to the other leg, only this time he didn't let go. Instead, he dragged the porcupine in deeper, his own head above the water while the porcupine struggled to keep its head up.

Finally when he was in deep enough, he let go of the leg and dipped his head under. Eyes narrowed, the young male dove just under his prey and then shot up, head bashing its belly in an attempt to drive the wind out, and make it flip. He did this until they got close to the bank, and with a final smash, he sent the porcupine flying a few feet into the shallow, the creature landing on its back with a squeal. It struggled to right itself, but with two broken back legs made it slow and hard. He took no time in waiting, and instead jumped into action. He had worked far too hard for this, and wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away! He jumped towards it, jaws gaping as teeth sliced into the porcupines belly. Sure, he got a few more quills in his legs from the close quarters, but the taste of blood soaking his tongue and the pitch of terror from his prey made it all worthwhile. At least...that's what the more predatory side of him thought.

It had been a few minutes since the squealing had stopped, the male still tearing into its body. Quills and a torn carcass were strewn across the ground, the youth in a haze as he feasted. Well done...you're a natural born killer. The voice laughed as it faded, and that's when he stopped. Cloud's eyes looked predatory, though after hearing the voice he suddenly came to his senses. He looked down, seeing what he had done to the carcass and the blood pooled on the ground. Had...he even eaten any of it? Brows furrowed as he looked from the spot where he had killed it, to the spot he had dragged it to. There was some insides strewn on the blood trail, but as far as he could tell, he had only managed to tear it apart during his bloodthirsty haze. "What..." He flinched, the pain in his muzzle and legs suddenly flaring up again now that he was present and not in some strange hazy state. He sat down, bi-colored eyes looking himself over. Slowly, he began to pluck a couple quills from his forelegs, but the action only made his muzzle hurt more with the quills stuck in his tender flesh. He whined, body sore and hurting. How would he make it back home? Did he even want to go back home looking like this? everyone would laugh at him!

He sighed, a miserable look on his face as he sat there. He wasn't keen on moving, but he knew he couldn't stay there all day and night either...