I Thought I Could Handle It...

He was bored. He didn't want to play with his siblings. With the exception of his brother Tornadic, the others were too whiny and annoyed the heck out of him. He was near the den, just kind of wandering around and sniffing randomly as he tried to get a feel for who lived in the pack. Of course, it didn't help that he didn't know who was who yet since the pups stayed in this corner of the territory, but he didn't mind too much. He just wanted something to do and had half a mind to wander towards the borders to see if he could find anything interesting there. His dad said he had an uncle that lived here, the Viceroy. But Tyto had yet to meet him...a shadow swept past him, causing the pup to look up towards the sky as he saw a huge bird circling overhead. It was big and brown, almost blocking out the sun as he heard it screech. His gaze followed it, wondering what the heck it was. He was still new to the world, sheltered within the pack. He'd yet to learn what was safe, and what was dangerous.

He didn't know that the bird circling above would be dangerous.

Shrugging it off, the boy continued. He moved towards a tree, sniffing around at its base when he heard something above his head. Peering up, he spotted a large nest in the tree, and peering out of it was a fluffy head. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at it, brows furrowing as he tried to figure out what it was. It had a beak...was that a bird? He had seen small ones flitting about recently, and this one was just a little bigger than the small sparrows he usually saw. The baby hawk chirped at him, and the boy took it as a cue to bark back. A growl rumbled in his throat before he started barking at it, the boy jumping up to place his paws on the trunk as he started jumping up and down. The chick threateningly squawked at him, its big black round eyes brimming with both curiosity and annoyance as he continued his noisy onslaught. There was no way he'd be able to reach it like this...he dropped back to all fours for a moment as he tried to figure out a way to reach it.

The moment he stepped out from the cover of the tree, he heard that screech again. The boy barely had time to look before a flurry of flapping got closer, and sooner than he could blink, he felt sharp claws catching on his back. He yelped with surprise and pain, his fur fluffing up in terror as he fled beneath the tree and huddled against the trunk. What in the world was that!? He tried to peer past the branches of the tree, but could only see the light of the sun shining through. The chick in the nest peered at him again, chirping as if it were laughing at him. He stared daggers at the baby hawk, "What're you laughing at!" He shot, wincing at the pain he felt on his back. Taking a peek at the damage, he realized it was just a single cut just behind his shoulder blades. He huffed as he stared back at the open ground, wondering if the large bird would come after him again if he tried to make a run for it. Then he realized...he was the alpha's son! He could take on that big dumb bird!

Deciding to prove he was just as tough and as strong as his dead, Tyto readied himself. He took a deep breath, a determined look in his eyes before he shot out from under the cover. He glanced up at the sky, watching the bird circle overhead a couple of times before it let out another screech and dove at him. He squared up, getting ready to try and bite it once it got close enough. The bird came closer...closer...closer...and when it extended its legs, he saw the huge talons on it. He gasped. Suddenly this wasn't such a good idea...

The hawk was nearly upon him, and once it nearly was, Tyto dodged and fell to the ground. The bird slammed the ground rather hard, and as soon as he got up, the bird got up. It hissed and screeched at him, flapping its wings at him as it slapped him around. He yelped, caught off guard by the sudden attack. He rolled and tumbled as he tried to get away from the death bird, and while he was focused on trying to stay out of reach of those wings, it took back to the air for another assault. Tyto took that cue to try and race away back to safety. He frantically searched for a safe place. He was too far from the den to make it back in time, he was sure. So his only other option was to get back under the cover of the trees. He turned on his heel, racing towards a different tree this time, and just as he was nearing the cover of its branches, the hawk swooped down and scored him one last time. He yelped out in pain as he started to cry from the searing pain in the middle of his back. Talons had slashed his back, making him bleed and tearing the skin open.

Out of reflex, he quickly turned his head and wildly tried to bite it before it took off back into the air. He managed to pull a few feathers, but nothing that really hindered let alone did damage to his assailant. Dropping the hawk's feathers on the ground, he huddled against the tree trunk, shivering with pain as he started to cry. "Daaadddyyy!" He cried out. This had been a very bad idea...but at least he had successfully escaped. Now he was just afraid to try to get back to the safety of the den...