shoo wop be dooooo

With a gasp Dantalian flung herself belly first into the tall grass. She hit the rock below with a solid smack that knocked the wind out of her, but even though that smarted it wasn't enough to deter her. This mighty Abraxas huntress would not abandon the chase so easily! She would have her quarry if it was the last thing she ever did! No sirree bob she was not a quitter. Nah, she was speed and stealth all rolled into one; a tiny juggernaut in the hunting world.

She sat up slowly and carefully peeked over the tops of the grass. After a moment of sizing up her quarry Dantalian sank back down to the ground. She lay with her legs coiled under her and her belly on the ground in what was more or less a grounded pushup position. Her tail flipped around behind her as she thought about the situation. It appeared as though her quarry hadn't seen her which was great because she was going for a sneak attack. Awhile ago her dad had told her that if she stayed small like her mother then her best bet in a fight would be using speed and stealth to her advantage since her opponent would likely be bigger than her. He'd said it offhandedly, but the comment had stuck with her. If he thought it would be best if she was fast and stealthy then by god, she was going to do everything in her power to be the fastest and stealthiest. And since she could only sneak up and pounce on her family members so much before she got chucked in the river or set in a timeout, she had decided to hone her skills on wildlife. Hence the current hunt.

Dantalian pushed herself up into a crouch and then scuttled sideways into a thicker patch of grass. From there she dropped to her belly and slithered through the weeds. Every time the grass would rustle she'd freeze in place. Seconds would tick by as she balanced on two or three paws and tried hard not to windmill her tail. After a reasonable amount of time passed - it was different every time - the tiny huntress would slowly get to her paws, occasionally her tiptoes if the grass was super tall, and peek over at her prey to make sure it was still blissfully ignorant of her presence. When at last she was satisfied that her blunder hadn't given her away, Dantalian would sink to her belly again and continue slithering on. Since there were three objectives to this little exercise, instead of making a beeline for the prey, Dantalian slithered circles around it. Yes, she wanted to catch and kill it - and make no mistake, she would - but she also wanted to flex her sneaky muscles. So, 1) be quiet 2) be sneaky and 3) catch the prey. Easy peasy, right? She thought so.

Because this was all about improving, if she was presented with an easy path or a hard one, Dantalian chose the hard one. She chose tiny pebbles over sand, dry leaves over clear ground and prickles over grass. Only the latter made her want to cry. Which she didn't, by the way, because she wasn't a baby. She toughed it like a true Abraxas. This girl had no time for boo boos and she would not be running home to mommy to have her splinters pulled. Nope. She used her teeth to pull them out like a boss. For effect she even spit them to the side just like she imagined a cool person would do.

One splinter took her literally forever, though. It refused to budge and she was forced to flop down in the dirt and bury her face in her paw to get it. The splinter was just so short! She could barely feel it when she licked her paw but it sent a little lightning bolt up her leg if she tried to step on it. Dantalian picked and picked at it. Her toes were starting to get pruney when she finally managed to pull it loose. She was so excited she squealed for joy before catching herself. Oh poop. Had it heard her?

Much like she had before, Dantalian slowly lifted herself up to look over the grass. To lower her profile her ears slid down to the sides giving her face the shape of a bird in flight. For a moment she couldn't see The Prey and was beginning to feel dismayed when she saw it move a foot some distance away. Whew! It was still there. If it had heard her it hadn't gone far. Good. The hunt was still on.

Tentatively she placed her paw on the ground again; this time nearly sighing in relief when no needle of pain shot through her paw. She got the whole thing out. Much as she had before, Dantalian began to slither through the grass. The ordeal with the splinter had changed things a little. Her patience had waned. Now she just wanted to be victorious. With catching the little beastie in mind, this time Dantalian slithered straight for it. She slowed when she was within pouncing distance and hidden behind nothing but a thick clump of grass. This was the moment of truth, the final countdown. 3...2...1...

With a whoop that was neither stealthy nor dignified Dantalian threw herself through the grass and onto her prey. She caught it just as it started to leap away. Its fat, slimy little body nearly squirted through her teeth but she managed to save the day by stuffing her head down between her paws, thus cutting off its escape. Then with all of the force she could muster Dantalian began to shake it. She thrashed her head around until she was dizzy and then flopped over into the dirt. With a satisfied sigh she released the lifeless body of the frog.

Thoroughly pleased with her magnificent kill, Dantalian then rolled over onto her back and held the frog aloft. She had the best hunting skills ever.

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