The forest was very dark.
Wail moved above the trees. He had tried hunting from the ground, but the excess of leaves covering it made it too difficult because thanks to it he made too much noise, so he decided to jump from branch to branch, as he remembered certain ninjas doing in a certain manga.
Of course, he had to be careful, because even from that height, his prey would always notice him and flee.
At first, Wail tried to hunt using his claws and strength, but after several failed attempts, he realized that the creatures of this forest were more than adapted to survive a small one-year-old wolf.
So he decided to spend the first few days exploring, then studying the surrounding creatures, creating a map. He experimented with his sense of smell, his sight, his touch. He created routes in his head and explored the forest as much as he could.
One day he started setting traps, nothing too elaborate, just ropes on the ground with certain berries he'd noticed the pig-rabbits he'd seen before liked. Although he failed the first few times, after several trial and error attempts he achieved his goal of capturing prey.
Cooking the pig-rabbit wouldn't be easy; Wail had never cooked what he'd hunted himself, so he decided not to overthink it and take it to his mother.
Lass stared at him as soon as he appeared with the animal still alive and writhing in his hands. Lass's expressionless face masked her surprise. She knew it would happen sooner or later since he was the son of a hunter, but she'd never heard of a cub under two years old killing a Libiro. Much less catching one alive. The animal must be faster and stronger than the cub, and yet, there it was, in front of her, her first cub defying everything it had been taught to her.
Lass watched him for a few moments. "How do you prepare it?" her little Wail announced. "Kill him," she replied. She needed to know if the little one had what it took to be a hunter, and she had heard that some young hunters tended to hesitate when it came to killing or, in other cases, didn't know how, but just as she expected, Wail didn't hesitate.
Crack
He broke the animal's neck without thinking. Lass closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them, and walked over to him and picked up the already dead animal by its hind legs. She carried it to the table and began to prepare it, all while Wail watched her intently. When she was finished, she placed the animal in a box buried in the ground and put it away.
Wail watched her do this. He looked at Lass for a moment, then at the box, and without a second thought, he ran off into the woods. Lass couldn't understand what Wail was thinking; she just watched him go and continued with her chores.
Wail now knew how to prepare the prey. His mother had been quick, but Wail had no doubt that if it were him, bleeding and skinning such an animal wouldn't turn out so well. However, that didn't discourage him; he went out to look for new prey.
As the days passed, Wail stopped starving. His brothers continued to fight over food as usual, while Wail foraged in the forest.
Lighting a fire was easy. The forest had more than enough dry branches.
His mother had placed her hands in boiling water before touching the meat. This got Wail wondering—how could a society advanced enough to understand the concept of hygiene be so underdeveloped? It must be the sense of smell— thought Wail.
The first thing was to bleed the prey. That was easy. Wail simply cut off its head and left the body hanging upside down. A few minutes later, the skin was removed. Lass had made it look so easy, but Wail couldn't do it in one motion like her and ended up ruining the skin. Finally, and what Wail decided to be more careful with, was removing the entrails. Like all the other steps, her mother did it in one swift motion, but Wail planned not to copy her mother. He knew from his past life that if gastric juices touch the meat, they'll ruin it. So he took his time and did it carefully.
A while later, Wail had hunted and prepared his first kill. What followed was quite simple: he chose a good spot by the river and lit a fire. He took the carcass of his kill and roasted it. The whole process took longer than he had imagined, so he resolved to improve.
When Wail returned home, he carried another prey on his shoulder. He carried it to her mother and placed it in front of her. Lass stared at him. "A gift" Wail said awkwardly, and left. Lass saw the creature, still alive. It was large, twice the size of the boy (which wasn't much considering Wail was quite small) which was quite impressive for him. Lass couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt inside her—if only you were a little bigger— she thought. Lass longed for the power to change Wail's fate.
Drog, his father, learned from Lass that Wail was already hunting. This took him by surprise. Even Drag, the best hunter in the village, didn't hunt until he was four, and Drat, the great lord of the gray wolves, until three. But Wail wasn't even two years old; such a feat was difficult to explain. However, Drog didn't have time to investigate Wail to find out how he did it; many things were happening on the other side of the great wall, so seeing that Wail brought his prey home properly, he decided to ignore it for the time being. Wail's destiny had been set in stone since he was born, and his father had done everything he could for him when he gave him his name. "Perhaps with that name, they won't make him a sacrifice," he thought at that moment. Even being a servant or exile would be a better fate. But Drog didn't have much hope, only a little faith. Faith that his position and that of his family would save Wail from a fate worse than death.
The days turned into weeks, the weeks into months. His mother finally served more food, but Wail ate less and less. Not only that, but he hardly spent any time at home anymore.
That irritated Growl. He didn't know how, but he was sure that Wail was getting stronger every day, while Growl barely grew, so he decided to follow him.
Following closely behind him was Grul. Grul was clumsy, because of that Growl didn't like being followed by him, but today they were entering the dark forest, so Growl didn't complain. Growl had never strayed so far from home, and although he wouldn't admit it, he felt insecure. They were following Wail's scent; they had to catch him. That way, they would find out how he was getting so strong.
"Waaa!" Grul shouted, which made Growl stop in his tracks. Growl looked around and realized his younger brother was tired. How far had they traveled while following Wail's trail? He couldn't tell. How much time had passed? He also couldn't tell. It was then that they heard it.
Bang! Crack!
Growl ducked and Grul stood behind him. They were both scared, though Growl would never admit it. Growl braced his claws, ready to attack whatever appeared in front of them, and then...
Boom!
A boink fell from a tree, it was tied up.
Huge horns protruded from its neck. Grul had heard of this animal before. He had eaten it; his mother prepared it from time to time. "It's a boink. They're fierce and territorial. They feed on roots that they dig with their fangs. The fangs also serve as defense," Grul told Growl. But Growl wasn't paying attention. His gaze was fixed on the treetops, on a branch above them, to be exact. On it, Wail was standing, watching them. Wail looked more feral than ever, his eyes cold and his body covered in dried blood. Anyone who saw him would say he'd just come from a battle. "So you finally decided to leave home? Bad day to do it," Wail announced, in his clumsy body language. He looked tired. Growl and Grul looked at him but didn't know what to say. They saw the prey their older brother had caught and were unable to believe it. No, it hadn't even crossed their minds to go out and get food so they wouldn't go hungry. But now that they saw Wail, it seemed like the most logical thing in the world.
Buss!
Something was in the bushes. Growl felt a threatening presence and a thirst for blood that paralyzed him. Grul hid behind him, trembling. A moment later, a huge feline leaped at the two cubs at terrifying speed. Paralyzed by fear, Growl fought with his body to move —"No! Move! Move! Move!"— He mentally screamed to his body, but it was too late; the enormous cat was already in front of him, its claws about to tear him to pieces.
Boom!
Suddenly, Wail fell on the feline's back.
Riding the enormous cat, Wail slashed at it with his claws, and the cat tried to shake him off using his claws.
Growl and Grul couldn't remember ever seeing Wail use his claws. Strike after strike, blood began to flow from the back of the enormous cat's neck. Then the enormous feline used its claws to get away from Wail and throw him away to once again focus on Growl and Grul—it's going for the weakest!—Growl thought, unable to move, and just as he was about to be reached by his attacker's claws, a huge rock hit his side. Growl saw Wail run towards the feline with his claws open and grazing the ground. The feline ran towards Wail, also ready to attack, and when they were a few steps from each other, Wail threw a bunch of leaves into the air, blocking the feline's view long enough to sneak under it and less than a second later, hit it with both palms, his claws pointing at the enormous feline's chest and sending it flying, just like in a certain pirate manga Wail remembered.
The enormous cat flew away. Wail was breathing heavily, he was also bleeding from where the enormous cat had hit him. —HOW LONG ARE YOU GUYS PLANNING TO STAY THERE?! "GET UP IN THE TREES NOW!"— Wail shouted, using the forest language his father used. This caused Growl to wake from his stupor, and grabbing Grul by the collar, he jumped as high as he could. Landing on one of the highest branches, Wail leaped into the bushes where the enormous cat fell and disappeared among them.
A few moments later, Growl and Grul heard the enormous cat let out a roar; sounds of branches breaking and rocks falling could be heard through the bushes. Suddenly, a figure jumped and landed in front of them. It was clearly injured, bleeding from different parts of its body.
It was the cat.
Growl looked the predator in the eyes, fear dominating him. In his short life, he couldn't remember the last time he was so afraid. Then, "No" he thought, "It's not the same" he said in his mind "They're different." The feline's eyes were different from those of that person. In the feline's eyes, Growl saw himself reflected; he was alive. There was fury and warmth. In the eyes that were watching him right now, he was alive. "That person's eyes are even scarier," thought Growl, who had already entered his furious state. "These are the eyes of a beast, that's all," thought Growl. He had already stopped trembling and was in a charging position. "His eyes were cold," thought Growl, as he let out a growl that surprised the enormous feline. "Eyes that reflect nothing, the eyes of death," thought Growl.
And he understood that this animal, this feline, saw it too. "You understand, right?" asked Growl in his head. "Those terrifying eyes that reflect only death," thought Growl, preparing to receive his enemy, who had already jumped towards him.
In that brief moment, Growl tried to remember if he'd ever felt the same way under someone else's gaze, but he couldn't. Not even his father's imposing gaze had made him feel that way. No, only that day, while he was being beaten, had him done so—absolute terror, he remembered. In Growl's mind, his brother had positioned himself as the most terrifying figure to ever exist, so a huge cat running away from him wouldn't defeat him. And just as the huge cat was about to fall on Growl—where do you think you're going?—his older brother sprang out from under the huge cat, intercepted it in midair, and collided with it, impacting with enough force that bones could be heard breaking.
Bam!
Wail and the huge cat fell. Growl watched as his brother punched the animal a dozen times in the air and then used the cat's body to cushion the fall. The cat slashed at Wail, who dodged and launched a counterattack. The exchange lasted an instant. It seemed like Wail would lose. As soon as Wail left an opening, the enormous cat launched its jaws at his neck. Wail dodged at the last second and with a swift movement, grabbed the enormous cat by the waist. Growl recognized the movement and knew what was coming next. Wail, using all his strength, slammed the enormous cat against the rocks. The enormous cat writhed in pain but managed to get up. He looked at Wail and a moment later ran off towards the forest.
----------
Lass was sweeping the entrance when Growl and Grul returned carrying Wail. His body was in critical condition, having lost much of its blood. Growl had never seen his mother show so much emotion as she did that day.
---going back in time---
A month before the encounter with the enormous cat, Wail had been hunting successfully in the forest. Primarily with traps, although lately he had tried to stalk and hunt small prey with success.
One day, while checking one of the traps near the river, he found it destroyed, and from the blood around it, he deduced that his prey had been stolen. This was the first time this had happened, and Wail was confused, so he decided to ask the only person he knew who could help him.
Lass watched Wail closely. Her eldest son had greatly improved his communication skills, but he was still clumsy, made too many useless movements, and most of the time didn't say anything coherent. Even so, Lass tried earnestly to understand what he was saying. "Claw marks? By the river? Four?" "Big ones?" Lass tried to understand what Wail was saying and give an acceptable answer, but if what the little one was saying was what she understood, it was best to warn him. "That's a linkz. It's dangerous for you. Stay away from it. Don't return to the same place. You're too small to face it. Rest for a few days until it leaves," Lass announced. Her eldest son nodded and went back into the forest. "How much of what I'm saying does he really understand?" Lass thought, but didn't stop him. That same night, she planned to warn her husband, who would send a hunting party to kill the linkz. While the animal was dangerous, it never attacked people in the village. It didn't occur to Lass that it could be something else, another kind of beast; they were inside the wall, after all.
Wail continued hunting more carefully now. He rarely came down from the trees and stopped setting traps around where his kill was stolen, but he knew it was only a matter of time before it happened again; he had that feeling.
The day the Linkz attacked, Wail knew it'd been following him. He already killed and devoured some prey that day, so he was covered in blood. He'd decided to go to retrieve a kill from a trap. Then the Linkz attacked. At first, Wail was able to successfully protect his kill, fleeing over the trees, though he never thought that besides the Linkz, Growl and Grul would also be there.
Wail was confident he could flee if necessary, so when he saw his younger brothers emerging from the bushes right in front of the Linkz, his skin prickled. He had to decide whether to flee or help them. Logically, he wasn't going to run away and leave Growl and Grul to die, so he threw his prey to the ground, hoping the Linkz would take it and leave. "So you finally decided to leave the house? Bad day to do it"
---Back to the present ‐--
It took him several weeks to recover. Apparently, his father believed that Growl and Grul saved him from the enormous cat, which turned out not to be a Linkz. According to his father, the feline's name is Milon, and it slipped through the great wall, something that, of course, Wail didn't understand.
After recovering, Wail had to sneak away from his mother, who wouldn't let him go into the forest, saying he wasn't recovered yet. Wail, of course, felt fine, so one day he just escaped.
Behind him were Growl and Grul. Wail was sure that the real feast was beginning now.