Porky the Porcupine

Cai padded quietly through the moor, nose down and sniffing as he followed the scent of one of his siblings – Geoffrey – along a trail through the heather. They were all growing fast and filling out. At half a year of age, they only had two seasons to go before they were unleashed upon the world as yearlings. He pitied the world if that meant Geoff plying his medicines on them. By this point, Cairo had managed to discern that those medicines had actually just been a mucky mess of mud, bug pieces – some still kicking – and other unmentionable things. Ylech.

His path deviated from his littermate’s trail as a fresh trace of something tasty caught his nose, and ‘medicine’ was quickly forgotten as he slowed and trailed the scent more carefully. He was lucky that he glanced up when he did, because he was just in time to miss the prickly swipe of a quill-bristling tail.

“Whoa—!” He scrambled back, dancing and dodging around the irritable porcupine’s swipes until he’d backed up far enough from the little beast – okay, maybe not so little – that it decided he was no longer too close and began trundling along again, grunting quietly.

Cairo’s head cocked in curiosity, and he followed, but was sure to keep his distance. For something that smelled as nice as this thing, this looked like something maybe Artur could match for attitude. How was one supposed to eat this thing, let alone hunt it?

After several minutes of trailing the creature, the pup’s interest waned and he slipped away, leaving the prickly meal to its journey as he fell onto a track that led back to the den. Tracking practice aside, it was time to practice his balance and defenses.