Don't mess with mom's, regardless species

Kotori had found a small cluster of does with their fawns milling about, a perfect setup! The brownish wolf watched the lot of them. The brilliant bright shining moon made it seem like their backs were more of a vibrant tannish-orange whereas the underbelly and legs were darker, the body blocking off some of the moon's light.

Three of the four does were clearly sick while another one appeared to be in perfect shape. The three had duller eyes that seemed to have lost interest in life. Those three lived simply because they weren’t dead yet, and perhaps some determination for the sake of their fawns? Kotori easily decided to not go for the healthiest but that left him to consider the other adults and their fawns. Interestingly none of the fawns were injured. So, healthy baby or sick adult?
Put them all out of their misery

Kotori shook off the thought that didn’t belong to him. Wasn’t it obvious? He didn’t want to touch sick things so a healthy fawn was obvious. Strategically it was a good choice but so was a sick one. This just made things easier to pick. Looking between the few fawns he watched to get an idea of which most likely belonged to the healthy deer and took that one off his options list. Far better to get a foal whose mom couldn’t protect it as well.

The fawn Kotori finally chose was farther behind the closer deer. Kotori kept low but slowly made a wide circle around the cluster. Blue ooze trickled down the nose and mouth, it stained the inside of his ears. Kotori took plenty of time in the water but the ooze always came back, and it couldn’t even be a color easy to ignore. The stupid bright blue clashed against his dark fur. Thankfully he didn’t need to look good to hunt.

A firefly caught his attention and after a few minutes, Kotori realized at some point he had just started to stare at the moon. He’d lost concentration again. If a large predator ever charged him while the horned wolf was in this condition he’d be screwed. Hopefully, he could at least handle a fawn.
You failed last time.
Big deal. Last time wasn’t this time. Kotori found a good spot for a straight trajectory to the fawn that would chase it away from the other adults. Hopefully, its mom would just flee, too sick to protect its kid. That was the hope at least. Kotori waited a minute, letting his mind drift for a moment, it was bound to be soon and maybe if he quit focusing for a moment he’d do better for the hunt. The moon again easily attracted his attention and sure enough, time passed before he blinked his eyes and his mind started turning again.

The deer had moved but not far and the fawn he wanted to take down was still in the right overall position. This time Kotori had just got lucky. Kotori crept forward through the grass, through a trickling of water, and paused next to a large fallen branch. Close as he could get remaining hidden Kotori burst from his hiding spot and headed straight towards his target.

Sure enough, the deer did indeed spook, scattering. The healthy one and its fawn were gone fast. They had no intention to wait on the sickly ones. The more sickly ones were slower and seemed confused, that was fine. All he needed was for them not to get in his way. Kotori ran behind the fawn, finally thinking he’d catch some food for the pack. Kotori was so intent staring at the fawn’s spotted rump he didn’t pay enough attention to his balance or the terrain. A rock, slick with moss and water offered no grip as one leg pressed onto it. Kotori found himself stumbling and taking a few strides to regain his balance. The fawn wasn’t that far yet though and he gave chase. Kotori stared again at the fawn, hope once more forming. He was blind to a new problem. Truly, the sick deer might have given up on their own lives but not on their kids. A doe leaped up daringly to the wolf and slammed her head into Kotori’s side. Kotori found himself knocked down into water and mud then scrambling to his feet to avoid the deer’s hooves.
What the hell!?

Kotori leaped up and turned to bite at the doe but she had already turned to run off. Her fawn was already hidden though Kotori assumed it was in the same direction as the doe who was fleeing. Damn, he’d been struck by a deer. Lost a fight to a damned deer. Kotori thought of giving chase but then turned to head home. That doe had been bold enough to face him to protect her kid. Today the doe would live. Tomorrow he’d try again and the respect he gave it now would be gone.

"Kotori Fatalis"