Is there anything that's worth more than peace and love on the planet earth?

Medea had not seen her brother in some time, not since the fateful slide that had reunited them, but now that she'd found him she had found herself eager to explore, to discover for herself if the stories her father had shared would prove to be true. As the turn of spring crept up upon them the princess found herself in a scene straight out of a fairytale. Blooms of pale pink surrounded her and she had found herself taken by the area, so she'd settled there for a few days.

Now the edge of hunger lingered in the back of her mind and Medea had taken to observing a herd of white tailed deer, it was a healthy herd, she'd pegged a few yearlings, two elderly members of the herd and three new fawns among the many healthy adults. She spent a few days sizing up her potential prizes, while the yearlings would make for an impressive catch she was alone and the danger possesed by a young fit deer was to great to tackle by herself, the last thing she needed was a nice kick to the head. So a fawn or elderly deer then.

Now that was a quandry... In both cases her prey likely wouldn't sustain her as long, but with an older deer there was always the risk of sickness. Their weakers bodies were more prone to illness and it would be possible she'd end up eating contaminated meat. On the other hand there likely wouldn't be an unguarded fawn, at the very least an angry protective mother would be around and worst case a buck could be guarding their young.

There was also the balance of making sure the herd wouldn't be put in danger by her picking off one of their young. As she'd followed them she'd witnessed at least two ruttings so she supposed that wasn't too big of a worry.

This morning as she tracked the herd she caught a sight that made her decision for her. Separated from the main body of the herd was an older doe, one she'd already separated as a potential target, but what really settled it for her was when the doe moved to a new grazing spot, she was visually favoring her right hind limb, occasionally fully limping. Medea knew she wouldn't get another chance like this and moved as quietly as she could around the side of the herd so that she was crouched in the space between the elderly doe and the rest of her herd.

Medea burst from the bushes, racing through that open space. The sounds of panic and startled deer came from her right, the main body of the herd and she saw the elderly doe's head shoot up. On her right the herd broke into a run, a few of the closer deer lashing out with their hooves but Medea knew she was far enough away to ignore them for now, instead her gaze locked on the injured doe. The elderly doe was just working herself into a run when Medea made a sharp turn towards her.

For a moment it was a full out race, the doe had at least a hundred feet on her but she had the advantage of being uninjured. The doe's sprint was hindered by her limp, which was more pronounced now as she raced for her life; rounding a tree sharply and Medea hissed under her breath as she dug in to try and make the same turn, skidding clumsily but managing to stay upright. The woman put on a burst of speed, trying to close the distance between them.

The deer had wobbled precariously on her turn and seemed to understand that her best chance of survival was a straight break and so Medea was sneaking up on her. She was getting close to the danger territory though, if the doe decided to lash out there was a decent chance she'd take a hoof right to the face, something that would likely prove debilitating if not fatal. With a final burst of power, Medea stretched her neck, jaw opening wide and successfully managed to grab onto the doe's injured hindleg. Growling she dug in suddenly and the doe brayed in panic, kicking with her free leg, Medea sidestepped as quickly as she could, the whoosh of the hoof just missing her head made it clear just how close she'd been.

Things weren't over yet though, the doe was still upright and Medea was behind her, out of reach of the best way to end this. She twisted her head, yanking as hard as she could as she backed up, angling herself towards her right. The doe struggled, braying again but ultimately unable to keep her footing. Instantly Medea released her hold, clambering as quickly as she could over the prone form of the doe to reach near the deer's head, jaws stretching to grab hold of the doe's throat. She bit as hard as she could, feeling the flood of blood from the carotid artery flow into her mouth, dripping from her chops and down her chin. The doe's struggles slowed until finally she stopped.

Medea finally dropped the deer's neck, licking at her lips and observing her catch.

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speech think action