Chapter 11 - "The Hunt - Part Two"
Alpha Date Year(002): 315,848 Day: 287/365
Day: 29
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I FINALLY DID IT AFTER SO LONG! It took me forever, and I risked my life several times, but I did it! I was so busy these last nine days that I forgot to write in my journal. I had never worked that hard for that long, but here I was, standing with my prize in my hands, shining blue, and it was larger than my hand. Where should I even begin? After a week, I finally mapped out everything about the Mountain Hounds and the common trails they use to get around the woods quickly with their large bodies. During that week, I only felt more and more nervous, as these beasts were now actively hunting me after five days straight of studying them. Theked up my scent, and I had to cover myself in a thick layer of muddy grass and wash myself with certain leaves to help hide the location of my camp and observe them hunting.
I only survived by hiding for over a week while my pit traps were being scanned and guarded by the Mountain Hounds almost every day. However, I was lucky to see how their hunting groups were formed, and I learned that they were organized based on who was stronger. During those five days I spent watching them, I saw how that huge beast called the Alpha Mountain Hound, which seemingly dominates these parts of the woods, orders the beast to do large hunts every other day, where these small groups of hounds gather in groups of three or four and do a wide search of the woods, looking for whatever they can to bring back or eat for themselves. It was terrifying to see four or five groups of these giant hounds come out and walk through the woods and down their usual hunting spots, but it let me know just what these hounds do every single day, and that's gather, kill, eat, and then sleep. That is everything I saw by the fifth day, but by the sixth, I was left in shock, something even more dangerous than the Mountain Hounds. On the sixth day, I woke up like usual at first light, washed myself, and reapplied my scent to cover up my normal smell from the predators. I then headed to my pit traps, this time being extra careful because there were many times that the hounds noticed me, but I prepared myself by tying ropes to the trees to help me climb quickly when in their hunting grounds, which now covered the majority of the rabbits' grazing grounds. I had to redraw my map, and it seemed like the space I had to myself was shrinking more and more every day because of those hounds.
On this day, I needed to go further into the woods where their cave was because I still needed more information on their weaknesses. So far, the only weaknesses I found were that they can't climb or run down hills quickly. But that wasn't enough; I needed weaknesses that could harm them quickly and that I could use without needing to prepare another trap. More problems arose as time went on, and the hounds were taking more and more of the black rabbits from the area. They were hunting so many rabbits that I was only able to take about four this week after using my snare and figuring out that if I caught them down a hill, I could kill them with my knife. However, I only did this once because it took way too much energy to run the black rabbit up and around a hill, and because the rabbit's hide had to be fixed after I used my knife to plunge into it and stab through it.
I knew I could catch at least one or maybe even two a day; it was just hard because the Mountain Hounds would be nearby whenever I hunted. If they heard me, they would run and track me, often catching up to me, which forced me to climb the trees using the rope I had placed earlier to escape their reach. Another problem was that while I could run from these monsters using the hills and trees, I still wasn't strong enough to climb the trees as quickly as I needed to. Even though I was trying to get stronger by going up and down trees, I still wasn't fast enough; after all that practice up and down a tall tree, I still stumbled and got stuck at times. However, on the occasions when I did make it up the tree quickly, I still wasn't nearly as fast as when I used a rope. I wanted to be fast up and down the trees, and I used the hills like the rabbits did until I finally got faster going downhill. But going from the ground to the trees was so difficult, and I only managed to jump from the ground to the trees a few times over the week, and the many times I failed ended with me either hitting my head on the tree or hitting the ground.
I wanted to just get up there, but it was always just out of reach. I needed to learn how to do this; maybe Uncle could help me learn how I could get up the tree, but I doubt he would do it without me paying him…and I wanted to save up and buy that coat for the winter. It will soon be fall, and I can feel the weather changing. I needed to get that jacket before winter came. But today, I realized something I could do to not only run away but also hunt the monsters. If I could get up the tree, then maybe I could hunt the hounds above while they are stuck on the ground, like how I used the sticks I sharpened to stop the Mountain Hounds from jumping up and snapping at me. So, I started to sharpen some larger branches from some trees in my area. After I had sharpened three larger branches, I began practicing going up the trees, using the branches to push myself up and towards the canopy of the trees. This made it so much easier to jump as high as I needed to get up the trees, and now I could have a weapon to defend myself once I got up the trees.
This changed my strategy entirely because now I can harm the Mountain Hounds on the ground, in the trees, and with the traps I set up before. This gave me something I had read about, which I thought was impossible for me to have: 'Confidence.' This word made me confused at first because the dictionary said that it means 'the state of feeling certain about the truth of something,' and the thought of being certain about hunting a Mountain Hound was honestly impossible, even after all this time. But now… I have the 'confidence' to hunt these hounds after discovering more than a single way to harm them. And just like how I hunted that one Black rabbit by chasing it with multiple ways to capture it, I can hunt the Mountain Hounds with multiple ways to harm them.
The next three days, I spent writing on the ground using my map to plan out the steps, practicing getting up the trees, using both my arms and my stick, and prepping my traps for the day I began to hunt a Mountain Hound. But by the third day, on this very day, I finally started my hunt early in the morning with a feeling of fear, but I was as committed to going forward, just like when I first hunted the black rabbit successfully. I prepped everything that I needed for the hunt, from the three sticks, rope, lighter clothing than usual, and lastly, the confidence to finally hunt these monsters who had hunted me. I made my way to where I knew exactly where they would be, since today was the day that the Mountain Hounds would make their rounds and begin their hunt of the Black Rabbits near their usual hunting grounds. I walked with a nervous stride through the woods, where the bustling winds made the trees and bushes feel more alive than before. I was stuck in my head, trying to remember everything around me like it was the last time: the common mildew smell, the fresh and cool feeling of the dirt, and lastly, the most intimidating feeling that the woods always pressed upon me every day. Everything I was walking into, I wanted to remember… since it could be my last.
I then came across it…the single Mountain Hound separated from his group. It seemed like they split apart from their group to cover more ground, not sensing any kind of danger from their surroundings. I covered my scent like usual, which made it easy to sneak up on it from behind the bushes. I remembered the time I forgot to properly apply the grass and leaves, which led to me being chased by two Mountain Hounds the day before yesterday…never again. I made my way through the bushes to an opening and picked up a small rock, but noticing how small it was, I decided to pick up a bigger and heavier rock. I decided that if I was going to do this, then I needed to make sure that everything in the plan worked. Also, if I were going to hit those monsters, then I was going to make sure I hit them hard. I readied my arm, aimed over the bushes, following the wind as it blew, and just when the wind calmed down, I threw the rock straight at the Mountain Hound full force. I was 'lucky' since when I threw the rock, I saw it roll and hit the side of the Mountain Hound's head. The impact of the rock made the Hound yelp and growl in pain. I almost laughed out loud, but as I gasped for breath, I saw the Mountain Hound turn its head straight to me, which scared the laughter straight out of me. I then turned my whole body away, and using one of the sticks I had on my left, I used it in my right hand to push myself out of the bushes in one motion, and was now running for my life…like usual. The Mountain Hound pushed through the bushes and stumbled a bit, but didn't care as its only thought was finding what did that to him and killing me.
The chase was on, and I needed to head straight to where I knew I needed to be, the usual tree I used to hide from the Mountain Hounds, but this time, I needed to get up the tree without a rope and just use my stick to get up the tree, while also having two sticks on my side. I ran toward the tree, using the hills to speed up and save my energy when sprinting. I was gaining a lot of distance, but then just when I made it to flat ground, the distance between me and the Mountain Hound shortened so quickly that it shook me. Where before it stumbled through the bushes, it was now jumping straight over them, and gaining speed like its life depended on it. I made it to the clearing with the tree, and I readied my stick. Just when the Mountain Hound jumped over the bushes and ran into the clearing, I jumped and pushed myself over the stick and into the canopy and grabbed the top branches with everything I could give in my arms. I was able to swing my feet over the canopy to climb onto the top of the tree; that was safe.
But the Hound didn't stop; instead, it clawed and snapped up towards the tree where I was, trying to get at me, and I was able to see why I was so angry because now one side of its face was dripping blood, and getting into its eye, turning it red. However, I could only look for a short time before it started to bark and call out to others, and this reminded me that I still had to do something before I got out of this tree, so I prepped a large stick and stabbed at the hound when it was jumping and biting towards me, and I stabbed it on its side a few times. Just when I was going for a fourth, it used its jaws to grab the stick and bite off the sharp end while trying to pull me down. I stumbled a bit and was in range for the hound to jump up and bite me. As soon as the hound saw this, it lunged for me and pushed itself using its front and back legs to get as high as possible, and was about to bite my arm off. I was so scared that I didn't even think and just brought out the third stick before I had time to think…the most dangerous weapon I had. Just as the hound planted its front paws on the tree to push off after biting down on my side, I stabbed straight through the hound's paw with the third stick once again, this time deep enough to make the hound give up on trying to bite.
How did this stick manage to cut through the Mountain Hounds' tough hide? Well, it wasn't a stick but a weapon I learned to make from 'Crafting Tools and Weaponry,' which was called a 'spear.' I made this weapon by taking apart what was left of my survival knife and attaching it to a large and strong enough branch. It was the best idea because now I could hurt the Hounds from a longer distance and deal more damage using my knife more safely. I was surprised that I hadn't thought of this before, but again, I forgot what Uncle had taught me. 'Use Everything'…and he meant everything, even if it means taking apart the things you use all the time. Now, with this spear, I surprised the Mountain Hound and hurt it exactly where I needed to hurt it…on its paw. I know how hard it is to hurt your feet badly. I remember getting a large cut on my foot when I was with Uncle, and I couldn't walk for the day. The cut I made on the hound is much deeper, so it has to be in serious pain right now. This brings me to the next part of my plan, which starts with me getting down from the tree. I used the bushes to cover me as I slipped and dropped down the tree, and saw that the hound was wailing once again in serious pain as the blood poured from its wound. But it still stared at me with what I could only describe as 'pure rage.'
It still wanted nothing more than to rip me apart, and here I was, standing face to face, holding my spear towards it for protection. But just as my back faced the sun, I turned my body away once again and started running to where I needed to be. I then felt how close the Mountain Hound could chase me, even with the wound on its paw, which was pierced straight through by my spear. It was fast, but while using the terrain to my advantage, I could run away quickly. I was hunting it, so I needed it to still follow me. So I made it follow me straight to the clearing where it needed to be, and just when I made it to the clearing between two orange and yellow trees, and I could feel the Hound almost biting at my back, I used my spear and jumped over the dirt path, and this slowed me down enough to be in the range of the Mountain Hound, but it was too late. The Mountain Hound felt the ground beneath him pull under him and realized he was being hunted. I had lured him into the new pit, which I had made deeper and with even more harmful spikes at the bottom. As the Hound fell and hit the bottom of the pit, I heard horrid sounds of growling and yelping, almost as if it was screaming while gasping for air. I looked down the hole and saw just how many sticks were now stuck in the back and left side of the hound. It didn't die quickly. Instead, it flailed in pain for about four minutes until its teeth began to grind, its legs gave out, and finally, it stopped moving completely.
I couldn't believe my eyes…I read everything about the Mountain Hounds in the 'Basic Monster Survival Guide' and the 'Traps and Entanglements Vol. 1' books. The books said that the Mountain Hounds had a weakness to the plant called 'dog's bane,' which I just so happened to use for fine thread, but the sticks I had left over could be sharpened into poisonous spikes that could kill the Mountain Hounds. I prepped the trap yesterday with as many poisonous sticks as I could harden and sharpen at the bottom of the pit. The beast that was just a few minutes ago about to rip me apart…was now not moving even a little bit.