If I kill it, will eat kill me?

It was growing progressively harder to find normal prey.  Chade peered down into the lake and shivered as he even saw a dead fish floating in the water with its gills blocked by crystal growths.  Not that he cared about fish living or dying but it seemed a nasty way to go.  What if his throat were to be blocked up by some crystal?  What even caused the crystals to grow on things?

Chade sighed as it seemed their choices were to risk dying from eating plants they didn’t know about, eating diseased prey, or just not eating.  Sure, not all the wildlife was sick but a large enough percentage when you’re a wolf pup limited on choices.  The sick ones were sometimes easier to kill than the healthy ones.

Chade imagined him and Ricin eating a bunch of diseased animals and growing up into some mutated scary-looking creatures with plants and rocks growing all over them.  Shuddering he went back to his hunt for food.  It wasn’t long before the boy found what might be the luckiest find ever if it didn’t kill them.  A fawn was standing there looking as lost as he had the day mom had abandoned them. Chade stood still watching a meal that would be a paradise for him and Ricin.

Had its mom ditched him, or more likely died in all of this?   He watched as the fawn looked in one direction and then another before letting out a soft bleat sound, its ears twitching hopefully.  There was a mushroom sticking out of a nostril and out out of an ear.  Chade had never felt pity for prey before but he understood the confusion and helplessness it felt.  Well, he’d make sure its pain stopped soon.  The pup didn’t know if Ricin or he would get sick from eating a sick animal but at least it would fill their bellies.

Of course, he still had to catch it.  It was a fawn, alone and sick but it was still big game for the young boy.  Chade was slowly learning how hunting worked, mostly by his failures sadly.  The pup walked slowly through the tall grass, crouched low to not stand up overly high.  Chade and his brother had both grown in the month or so while alone.  It had given them some hope they might actually survive since they had made it this long.

Getting to the end of a tall patch of grass the fawn still would likely be a chase.  Chade paused to center himself then moved forward, leaving his cover, and stared at the fawn as he moved at a slow walk towards it.  Noticing it didn’t flee right away but instead, it tried to call for help again.

Poor thing.  The suffering will end soon.

Chade got closer and the fawn backed up trying to maintain distance without running.  Maybe it thought its mom would come back if it just stayed in place.  It still took off running before he was close enough to bite.  Chade gave chase and had to acknowledge young as it was it could still move fast.  It would be pretty lame if he lost to a fawn.  Pushing himself he caught up to the little fawn and got a bite into its leg, the fawn lept and cried out and Cade lost his grip.

Even as Chade continued the chase the little deer stumbled, the leg injured slowing it down.  Chade caught up easily and for good measure bit the leg again and this time braced himself.  The fawn tried to leap away but Chade wasn’t letting go, he skid a ways then got his balance better.  The fawn tried again but fell down.  Chade’s eyes lit up in the excitement and ran up on it.  Chade bit the fawn’s neck as it attempted to get up.  It was still a fight, the fawn struggling to get up as Chade bit the neck multiple times to get better grips, to try and find the right spot to get a good final kill on it.

Eventually, the deer died, questionably from fear as much as damage done to it.  Chade stood over his corpse, panting as he looked at where the mushrooms were growing on it.  He leaned towards one of the mushrooms, sniffing just above it and then pulling his head back in disgust.  Bad enough they were going to eat an infected animal but he wasn’t going to touch the mushroom itself.  Chade walked around it and finally determined the mushrooms were only growing from the ears and nose.  He had at first thought it was just the one ear but the truth is there was a small one in the opposite.

He thought of taking the corpse right back to Ricin but instead took a bite of the corpse himself, then a few more bites.  As much as he was hungry it wasn’t about that, though admittedly it made it easier to eat food that was questionable.  Chade just had to know there was a chance it was safe for Ricin to eat.  Maybe they’d both die after a few days of eating it but at least it would keep them alive that long.  

After a few bites, he grabbed a leg and started to drag it back to where he and Ricin had holed up for the day.  Eventually, he’d get it back to Ricin, hopefully, he was still asleep and not worrying about him.  If Chade hadn’t died by the time he got home and hadn’t started sprouting mushrooms then Ricin and he would have a full belly.

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