Step by step, Gaston inched his way closer and closer to the presumed struggle between animals, taking every precaution possible to avoid getting found.
The closer Gaston got to the battlefield however, the more and more signs of a struggle he discovered in his surroundings.
There were trees that looked damaged all over the place, broken branches, fallen leaves...
Some places had a clear, fresh footprint left over, by what looked to be a wolf, judging from the footprint.
Another animal that existed on Earth as well, a fact that didn't escape him.
Gaston wouldn't make any rash conclusions however, even in spite of the fact that the evidence, the footprint and the howl were both pointing to it being a wolf.
This was an unknown world, it would be best if he kept his eyes open to a wider range of possibilities.
Aside from that, some trees had a lot of their branches either broken or cleanly cut through by something.
The bad news for Gaston was, if one of the creatures was a wolf, then that something cutting straight through tree branches like butter, he ventured to guess was not the wolf.
As he drew closer to the battle, Gaston began hearing sporadic animal sounds.
What filled him with dread, was that whenever he heard one of these animal sounds, it was always the wolf that was howling out in pain, its cries getting louder and louder each time.
This did not bode well for Gaston, who was hoping for a more even battle, as that way, the winner of the battle in the end would most likely be heavily injured, and his chances of successfully ambushing it and getting rid of the threats to his safety would be a lot higher.
If the situation was as he feared, then armed with only a knife, and with only one functioning arm, it was very likely that he had been sneaking his way towards certain death.
It was too late for regrets at this point however, and knowing this, Gaston pressed on forward, growing more and more determined to survive, as an animalistic desperation began to set in.
Eventually, he saw what he suspected he would see as soon as he heard the howl.
A lone gray wolf, nearly double the size of any wolf Gaston had seen, approaching nearly 10 feet in length, was fighting, or rather glaring threateningly at a giant pigeon-like bird that was hovering directly above it.
The appearance of the bird was very similar to any ordinary pigeon from back on Earth, but its size was gigantic in comparison.
It was nearly the same size as the wolf, which was unthinkable for a pigeon. He was looking at it with his own two eyes and he still struggled to believe it.
He figured that that was what gave it the confidence to hunt something as big as this wolf.
By now, the battle had been going on for a couple of minutes at least. It's claws had turned completely red, covered in the wolf's blood.
The only good news that Gaston could get from this, was that there were also some small cuts all over the pigeon's wings as well.
That was when he noticed the feathers sprawled all over the ground not too far away from where he currently was.
It seemed that while this oversized pigeon was clearly treating this giant wolf as its prey for the day, fighting in a tree dense area like this was posing it's own set of challenges for the pigeon.
As Gaston wracked his brain about what he was supposed to do, he began to grow a little frustrated.
'In my current condition, with the weapon I have... Even an ordinary wolf would be a life and death struggle, much le-'
"Pa!"
Gaston interrupted his complaining and gave himself a silent but firm slap.
This was life and death, and here he was, growing frustrated at the first sign of difficulty.
Had his final year or so that he spent largely away from the battlefield softened him up to this extent?
Slapping back some sense into himself, he regained his usual cold-blooded look, entering a frame of mind he thought he had already entered before.
Fully focused on the task at hand, he analyzed the situation again, and this time, a bold plan quickly emerged in his head.
As long as the massive pigeon managed to finish off the giant wolf before any other predators were attracted, maybe he would have the chance to be the last one standing.
Ambushing the 10 foot long pigeon seemed like a crazy decision, but it could work.
He figured that since the tree branches could inflict injuries to its wings, as long as he could get the jump on it, he was confident that his knife could go straight through its head.
Coming up with the plan was one thing, but executing it was another.
There were a lot of factors that had to be considered first, especially since calling what Gaston had a plan at this stage was ridiculous.
At best, what he had could be called a rough idea.
Whether the gigantic pigeon would win the battle or not was still not determined.
This was a battle between two animals after all, anything was on the table. It wouldn't be the first time that the stronger party would lose due to various circumstances.
Overconfidence, impatience, trickery...
One fatal mistake was all it would take for this seemingly one-sided affair to turn completely on its head.
Moreover, battles in the wild didn't always end with the winner standing on the loser's corpse.
As long as the massive gray wolf proved to be a sufficient enough threat to it, the pigeon could very well decide to abandon its hunt and go in search of easier prey.
While it might look like at this stage the wolf looked to be at a significant disadvantage, one exchange could completely turn the tide of battle.