all by myself

Today was the day, Azure was ready to go out in the world and make his first kill all by himself. It felt odd to not have Asla around,  but he had faith in himself that he was capable of tracking and taking down a prey animal without her. He'd gotten special permission from his mother to do it off pack lands so he could get the full, real experience. What he didn't know was that his mother's toucan was following quietly behind him.

He wandered along the river for a while, contemplating what he should hunt and where he was most likely to find it. His nose stayed low to the ground, taking in every scent and trying to find one that was new and exciting enough to be worthy of his first solo kill. Rabbits, squirrels, they were all too easy and he'd already killed them before. He could scent a herd of deer not too far off, but even the brazen pup knew that it was much too difficult of a task to chase down a whole grown deer.

He travelled far west, towards the deserts he was told Ashen used to claim. It was before he was born and he was glad for it, as the plentiful plains that made their home was much more interesting than the boring rocks and sand. As he walked, a new scent reached him. Azure slowed quickly, sinking into a hunter's crouch. The wind was blowing against his back and he knew that was not ideal, and so the pup turned perpendicular to move north around it. Once he was downwind, he crouched forward to try and lay eyes upon the creature that smelled so delicious.

Before him at the oasis was a beast he'd never seen before. It looked almost like a deer in shape, though it had huge curling horns that looked quite dangerous and frightening. Azure's toes flexed and his long curved claws dug deep into the sand as he contemplated his next move. There was no foliage to hide behind to creep closer, and the distance between him and his prey would be a solid sprint. The large pup waited quietly, observing his surroundings as he'd been taught.

The sun was going down, and perhaps that would be in Azure's favor. His dark coat would not blend in in the daylight against the sand, though perhaps under the cover of night he could get close enough to attack. The creature was finishing it's drink, and Azure had resigned himself to stalking it wherever it might go until it got dark enough to strike.

He followed it through what felt like the whole desert - staying a far distance away just in case it might catch sight of him. Eventually, he saw the thing curl up as the sun set to sleep beneath a lone tree. Azure waited longer, to ensure it was resting. After an hour he moved in closer, slinking low against the sand until he was in range. He knew once he got closer the creature would hear him or smell him, and so instead he jolted forward in a sprint.

The young sheep stood quickly, but Azure was on his back in an instant. Snarling he bit down hard upon it's spine, grasping his wide paws on either side of it for traction as the sheep bucked and kicked in rage. He couldn't quite master the death bite, and while he tried a few places to sink his fangs it didn't drop as quickly as he expected to. After a few bucks he was thrown off, and the ram began to flee.

Azure chased it, huffing hard with the exertion. It was faster then he was, though he had strength it did not. He tried to lengthen his strides, to use his powerful forelimbs to throw himself forward just until he was close enough to strike once more. The sheep turned back to look at him, slowing slightly and Azure took his shot.

It kicked at him with it's rear legs but Azure threw his paw out to catch the thigh as it retreated. He pulled hard, and the sheep was brought to the ground by the firm yank. Azure dove onto it snarling, enclosing his jaws around it's face in the exact way he knew he was not supposed to. A clean kill was at the throat, but he wanted it to feel pain. He squeezed hard with his jaws, feeling his teeth puncture through to the skull. The sheep screamed loudly, and Azure placed a bear paw upon it's neck to steady it as he crunched upon its face.

The creature took a long time to die and Azure held on longer just in case. Once he was sure it was dead, he released it and stepped back to admire his kill. It was bloody and gruesome, it's face nearly unrecognizable in the mauling. The one thing he was glad for was that the horns were still intact.

He thought hard about how he was going to take the horns home for a trophy, but knew his paws were not suited to the delicate task. Instead, Azure simply placed one heavy paw upon the creature's shoulders and enclosed his jaw around the curved horns and pulled as hard as he could.

The head did not detach, and Azure sighed. He'd try it another way. This time he slid his claws roughly down the neck and throat, not caring about the cleanliness of it and just aiming to remove the damned head. Then he placed his paw back upon the shoulder, his jaw around the neck above his cut and yanked once more. It took a lot off effort, but with enough maneuvering the head was finally torn off.

The boy grasped it again around the horns and lifted his trophy high. He admired the dismembered corpse for a moment, then turned and headed back towards home and left the body to the scavengers. Wait until dad and Asla saw what he'd accomplished.

WORD COUNT: 1011.