rabbit supposedly tastes like chicken

He had been following the trail of this rabbit for what felt like hours. Patient and careful steps as he wandered the meandering corridors, stopping to pause and sniff at the ground every now and then to make sure he was still on the right path. It might have been easier to just rush ahead and hope to catch up through chase, but Kaizen was intent on putting the lessons his sire had given him to good use, that a good hunter mastered the art of tracking long before they started acting rashly. It of course was tempting to satiate that desire for immediate gratification, he wasn't even that hungry, but he wanted to learn. A colony of rabbits had always called the maze their home, as far as he could tell anyway. He wanted to work out their habits, where they liked to eat and at what time of day they were most active. To start small and then expand his field of knowledge to more sizeable prey, creatures he would need to call on help to bring down. Kaizen was of course excited for that day and it couldn't come soon enough, but for now rabbits would do.

And this rabbit in particular was a clever one. It didn't seem to be certain that it was being followed, maybe this was the usual route it took, winding and meandering, skirting through different passageways when it caught scent of Kaizen's clan mates. Kaizen could imagine it now, ears always perked, nose twitching and steps light as it wandered. He paused, sniffing the ground again as he spotted a patch of lightly nibbled grass. Surely it thought it was safe enough, or else it wouldn't have ran the risk to stop and feed. The breeze that rattled the bamboo stalks was blowing the rabbits scent towards him, pushing his own behind it in the perfect hunting conditions.

And thus he pressed on.

He couldn't say he was overly familiar with this part of the maze, though only being one territory it felt vast despite its twisting and compact nature. Even the corridors themselves had spaces in-between, packed with grass and shorter, growing shoots of bamboo. Perfect places for storage, little slipways prey could pass through without being seen. Kaizen wasn't concerned about getting lost and in actuality that was part of this practice, not just the hunting but finding his way back after all was said and done. After all, if he couldn't follow his own scent trails, what hope was there of him keeping track of prey out in the wilderness? Beyond the walls of his home.

A rustling ahead made him freeze on the spot, eyes snapping wide as he hunkered down to the side, hoping to blend into the shadows. It seemed as though the rabbit had stopped for longer than he'd expected, allowing him to close the distance between himself and the critter more than he'd anticipated. This wasn't according to the plan but what hunter couldn't think fast and adapt on their paws? Even Jiro would have been able to work out what to do, so Kaizen had no excuse.

Sucking in a breath, he as quietly as possible squeezed himself through the bamboo- wincing as it rustled with his movement. The sound not too dissimilar from the usual swaying of the trees, he hoped. As he waited in hiding, it seemed as though the rabbit had doubled back on itself, maybe wandered into a dead end? Kaizen sucked in his breath as he noticed the rabbit pause to scent the air, little nostrils twitching as it obviously realised there had been a wolf nearby, not even a few moments ago.  

So then why didn't it run for cover? Did it assume he had passed by in another direction? The rabbits who lived here were used to wolves' scents, obviously, so perhaps it did not take the smell as an outright cause for alarm? Kaizen could only hope.

Tensing his muscles as he remained in his little hiding spot, he exhaled slowly. Though things hadn't gone according to plan this was an opportunity he couldn't miss. As if the small creature had wandered into a trap, one Kaizen hadn't intended to spring but wasn't foolish enough to let this chance go to waste.

With a burst of speed he erupted out of his hiding spot, kicked off the ground as hard as he could as he barrelled towards the rabbit. It turned to skitter away to safety, it would have succeeded too if Kaizen hadn't managed to get so close. But with a snap of his jaws he grabbed at the creature, clenching down as he shook his head violently. It kicked and struggled briefly, blood upon his tongue as he stood up a little straighter, but soon it fell still. His first catch and kill of his hunter career.


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