The Hunt....A short story, excuse the bad grammer

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Shounen-Recycled
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The Hunt....A short story, excuse the bad grammer

Post by Shounen-Recycled » 11 Jul 2020, 14:05

The Hunt
Chapter One
An Unkindness of ravens flew over head, their collective name perfectly describing the cold harsh landscape that she looked over. She lived in the Big Taiga, the largest and most unforgiving forest of this world. It was her home and it was all she knew. Her breath frosted the morning air, adding to to the already misty haze that hung like a frozen window on a cold decembers day. It seemed like it was always winter here. Most of the animals of the forest hibernated to escape the freezing temperatures, but she was a wolf, and she was hungry.

To look upon her that morning you wouldnt know the desperation she was in. Stood high upon a rocky ridge to survey her surroundings , the first rays of dull sunlight sillouheted her body against the white glistening snow. Her fur, damp from the morning dew, clung to her muscles to show a wolf mother in her prime. She was the alpha of her pack, the matriach, the queen, but also the provider and the decision maker. This meant life or death, and in the Big Taiga death came quickly.
She needed her pack. Her life partner, the alpha male was close by. They were never far apart. Happy memories of playing and tumbling in the snow kept them forever entwined, as well as the five young hungry wolf cubs they birthed this past summer. The cubs were safe at the den, watched over by two of the weaker females. Only the Alphas could breed. This was their right as the strongest pair. This also meant they had to feed and protect the weak and old. A service for the privilege to continue her blood line, a blood line that was threatened to end if they did not make a kill soon.

It was time to hunt. She arched her head back and emptied her lungs into the frozen air. A howl that carried through the trees and hills and unsetteled the landscape to its deepest core. The call to arms woke the pack. Snow covered mounds broke open like fragile white shards of broken glass. One by one wolves stood and shook off the nights icy slumber. Each wolf joined her chorus of the hunt, creating a haunting symphony that warned all the creatures of the forest that death was coming. Predator and prey were now alert and ready. Her partner joined her on the ridge. Muzzle to muzzle they conveyed their feelings to each other. Live or die they must find meat.
She turned to face her pack. Four large strong males and two leaner but faster females stood in front of her, she trusted them completely. Each wolf was experienced in the hunt, each had its role to play. The females, quick and agile would try to seperate their chosen prey from the herd. She would lead this as the quickest of the three. Once they had isolated their target the males would go in for the kill.

A cornered Caribou is a dangerous creature, the adult bulls weighing almost three times as much as she. They were often injured during a hunt. Her partner still covered in scars from the last kill was gored by an adult male, hoofs and antlers piercing flesh and fur as they snatched a young calf to feed their own young. They must be careful, they must be quick, they must be ruthless.
She looked each wolf in the eye. Ascerting her dominance and relaying her instructions. We move now, they understood. The scent of the Caribou hung strong in the air and beckoned them deep into the Big Taiga. Paws dug deep into snow drifts as they began their march towards this battle of blood. She lead the pack, each step draining energy as the snow resisted their charge. The white purity of the powder seemed to call out a prayer of peace, no death today please, no red on white but she charged on ignoring the pleas of the snow. Yelps and whimpers eminated from the pack, nerves were on edge and souls were worried. It was not uncommon to lose a brother or sister on the hunt, but what choice did they have? They were wolves, it was in their nature. She growled at her pack, not in an anger but to build morale and remind them of their bloodlust, remind them of the taste of the flesh and the life and energy it gives. 

Chapter Two
The Caribou were grazing. Digging hooves into frozen ground to find shoots of grass to nourish their bodies. The herd consisted of a thousand members, the weak and young in the middle protected by the stronger and healthier bulls on the edge of the group. They had stopped in a rare clearing of the Big Taiga. Eyes scanned the high ground and the trees for any sign of movement. They were in danger here but they had to eat. Like the wolves desperation drove them to take risks. Hunger clouds judgement, an empty belly can dominate all thoughts. It was this desperation that brought predator and prey together in this dance of life or death. 

The Wolves stopped at the edge of the clearing, hidden by a cluster of rocks. They were down wind of their prey. The musk and odour of the caribou filled the noses of the pack exciting and invigorating their hunger. Mouths salivated and fur stood on end. Sheckles rose on backs and eyes gleamed with excitement. Blood would be spilt and bellies would be filled. Adreniline washed over the pack. Stay calm she notioned to her brothers and sisters, any mistake now would cost them their meal. She left the pack to study the terrain. The forest opened on a slope revealing a shallow valley with a rocky out crop that formed a bottlle neck into the forest on the other side of the treeless bowl. Perfect she thought. The snow was deep, deep enough to hinder an adult Caribou's movent in the snow but making it impossible for a calf to move at any pace at all. She had a plan.

The three females would charge the herd. One on each side with her rushing in from the back. The Caribou would instinctively flee for the bottle neck. With a Wolf flanking each side the herd would split in two leaving the bottom half nowhere to escape. She would charge the cornered half with the four males hopefully isolating a young calf or eldery weak adult. Amist the panic and confusion they could begin chase of their chosen target. It was not uncommon for a Wolf to chase their prey for miles but this terrain gifted the opportunity of a quick and sterile kill. She returned to her warriors of tail and teeth and told them her plan. Nips of skin and nose in fur communicated her plan for the pack. Each Wolf showed their obedience with a bow of the head. They loved and trusted their Queen, her orders they would follow till death.

The two females left the hungry group to take their position. Stealthily and silent they made their way to their destination, fearfull of alerting the herd they moved with no sound. Her partner came to her side, giving a reasuring paw to her face. They locked eyes, the stare saying more than words ever could, this was for the pack and for their cubs. Together they could provide for their family, together they would hunt and remain forever faithful to each other. Anticipation filled every nerve of the pack while they waited for the two females to reach their positions. Like an army ready to attack fear and excitement gave them a new surge of energy. The forest would feel the power and ferocity of the wolf, feel the will and deterimnation of a life trying to surive. The forest would watch as echoes of death filled every nuance of its being.

Chapter Three
A thousand breaths filled the air in this new valley of death. Heat and mist rose from the herd of Caribou creating an aura that the wolves could not only see but feel. The two females reached their position on either side of the bowl. She turned to the males and bared her teeth, do not let me down. They acknowleged and obeyed. The hunt began.
A male Caribou let out an almighty cry, instilling fear and panic amongst the herd. Five wolves were charging from the rear. He turned to the left only to see another Wolf cascacading down the valley. The path to the right was blocked as the Caribou herd tried to escape the exposed canines of a female Wolf full of hunger. There was only one path available but the road was blocked by Five hundred Caribou desperate to live another day in the Big Taiga. The Herd split into two, exactly as she planned. Slowed by the snow the target of their blood lust became exposed, she could see the young. 

Running at full speed with the males behind her they spilt the herd once again. The two females, doubling back towards the pack pushed one of the smaller groups away from the safety of the herd making them smaller and more vunerable. But it wasnt going to be that easy. The adult bulls with antlers ready instinctively surrounded the young, creating a living wall of bone and flesh which became the final challenge for the hungry Wolves. She looked at her partner then looked at the tree lined slope at the back of the bowl. Charge the herd onto the hill, ths would tire and slow the Caribou with the trees making it difficult for the adults to crate a barrier, blocking them from their meal.

The males ran at the adult bulls, close enough to scare but far enough away to escape the wrath of antlers. The females flanked the herd, driving and pushing them up the slope. The Caribou, desperate to live rushed through the trees searching for solace and safety in numbers but finding only fear and isolation as the Wolves slowy pulled them from the protection of each other. Her lungs pumped oxygen to every cell of her body as the cry of the pack pushed her on to make her kill. She saw her prey, a young calf had become seperated from its mother. Vunerable and scared it cried for its paternal protection, unaware that it had been chosen as a sacrifice to the forest.
The male Wolves nipped and harrased what was left of the herd. Keeping antler and hoof away from one of their precious young. Cries of woe and sadness rattled from tree to tree as the Caribou knew what was coming. Normally the male Wolf would make the kill. but she wanted this Calf, it was her right as a mother. Snow clung to the matted fur of the unsteady calf heeding any chance of escape. Where was his mother? Where was his protection? Where was the warmth and love he had grown so fond of. He was scared and the Wolves could see it. The herd looked on as the brutal beauty of the Big Taiga showed its true colours.....red on white, teeth on bone.

Chapter Four
She rushed the Calf. The anticpation of making the kill deafening her senses to anything else. No sound in her ears, no feeling in her paws, no taste in her mouth, no sense in her mind. The primevel instinct to kill clouding any judgement and blocking out everything else. She didnt notice her pack stop in its tracks, ears up with fear in their eyes. She didnt notice the Caribou herd bolt away from the calf they were trying to protect and scatter with panic through the forest. She didnt notice the thuder like crack boom through the trees disturbing every living being with its unnatural mechanical sound. She didnt notice the bullet hit her side and rip through her body spilling the first blood of the day, blood she was supposed to spill first. She didnt notice when she hit snow unable to move, unable to make her kill. 

The pack surrounded her, confused they looked at their queen. Only a moment ago so strong and daring, but now creating wings of blood either side of her body, wings like a raven, wings of unkindness. With life draining fast she growled at her pack. Make the kill, feed our people and protect our young. The males rushed the calf and spilled blood for the second time that day, too fearful to savour the kill they gifted the young a clean and quick death. A female, close to the queen cleaned her wound. No tooth or claw did this, it was unatural and sterlie. Not from the forest, not from the Big Taiga. This was more than animal, this was human.
She knew what was coming, the pack in a state of alert desperately tried to raise their queen from the snow but she refused. She must stay, or they will all die. Take this kill that the forest has given us. Feed our cubs so that my bloodline can continue, save yourselves so you can hunt this forest again. Live on so that my sacrifice will not be in vain. You are my pack and i will always run with you. This message resonated through the wolves, whimpers and cries disturbed branch and twig as the pack reluctantly pulled their kill to safety.

The den would be without a queen but they would live on. She watched as her partner gave her one last look, it was a look of love and a look of thanks. He would never forget his Queen.
Alone in the snow with her life fading she could hear the laughter of men, trespassers in this forest. This was not their home, but they came anyway. They took from the forest and gave nothing back except the smell of gunsmoke and death. They didnt kill for hunger but for sport, the worst kind of kill. The crunch of boots stopped near her head and as the blade sank into her neck, she died happy....Knowing that her pack, her family would eat well today.








 
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Tanya
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The Hunt....A short story, excuse the bad grammer

Post by Tanya » 30 Jul 2020, 21:33

One of the things I'll suggest, is to break up the paragraphs with a double return since you can't indent them.

Like this, would be the start of a new paragraph. Makes it easier to read and comprehend. Right now it's a large wall of letters. As for the chapters you can just do a triple return or something like that after each chapter ends.

I'll add overall comments after I finish reading it.
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Shounen-Recycled
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The Hunt....A short story, excuse the bad grammer

Post by Shounen-Recycled » 02 Aug 2020, 19:41

hahah yeah i understand. Im not sure what happened when i copied and pasted it on here. My original copy has spaces between the paragraphs so i am sorry about that. Im not very good with computers. I look forward to the rest of your input!
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PharaohAtem
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The Hunt....A short story, excuse the bad grammer

Post by PharaohAtem » 03 Aug 2020, 22:49

I've had that happen myself I think word wrap should take care of that issue. At least I think it does I'll have to experiment.
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The Hunt....A short story, excuse the bad grammer

Post by Shounen-Recycled » 04 Aug 2020, 14:10

PharaohAtem, Nice one,any direction on how to fix would be really helpful. Thank you!!
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