Hunter's Instinct
#15 of The Griffon of Paradise: The Full Account
Day 48
Welp, I went back to the ruins today with a spear and a makeshift torch and came up with a whole lotta nothing. Made my way down the stairs, spear at the ready and keeping an eye out for traps and there was nothing to write about.
There's a few empty rooms and hallways down there, but no furniture. No writings or symbols like upstairs. It's like there was nothing important down here. I mean, I'm probably missing something that the fancy archaeology eggheads would be fucking excited about, but I'm not seeing it and I'm not gonna see it. What a fucking ripoff.
Least I was still productive today. There were these holes under the arms in my shirt sleeves that started a couple days ago and are now totally blown out. Oh well, they were getting pretty crusty from the sea salt in the air, as well as from my sweat. I used my flint knife to shear them off around the broken seams. After some thought, I cut the collar out too. The shirt's more comfortable now. Even the short sleeves were chafing, and I can get air flowing through it better now.
It kinda sucks that the Vultures sigil peeled away last week. Though it doesn't suck as much as it would've awhile back. Probably because I can't remember what their music sounds like. Again, forgive me Dark Lords. Okay, that's starting to get old, even for me.
The more important thing I wanna share is how good I'm getting at hunting stuff. The slower creatures were the easy stuff, but I needed more than that. I'm bringing down birds mid-flight fairly consistently now, and I've even had some luck with some basic traps.
But that goat thing is the catch I've REALLY wanted for a long time now. It's much bigger than all the other prey I'm getting, but also a lot faster. Pretty sure it's smarter too.
I've been trying to take one down for the past couple of weeks. I didn't write about those attempts because they were straight up embarrassing. Still, I learned what I had to do.
I tried again today, once I was done at the ruins. This was a big test for myself. I had to take everything I'd learned from hunting other animals to bring this goat down. It took me over an hour to find one, and another hour to stalk it.
The way these tree branches all intertwine was to my advantage. I was able to track it from above in a crouch along the canopy. Flying was too risky. My wings are too noisy for that.
The goat followed along the animal trails all afternoon. It was starting to get dark by the time I was ready to make my move. The goat stopped to munch on some leaves, and I crept to the branch directly overhead.
This was the moment of truth. My heart was fucking pounding to the point I could hear it in my ears, and I almost felt out of breath. I was also horny, but that's become a constant background sensation for me.
I gripped my spear and angled it toward the goat's back. These fuckers are too fast for thrown weapons to connect. I'd need to stay hidden until I was practically on top of it. With one last deep breath, I slipped off the branch and dropped a good twenty feet down to the jungle floor.
It's a fucking miracle I didn't hit any branches on the way down. At this point I was less worried about getting hurt than I was about making noise. Can't let the goat know I'm coming in hot straight from above.
Just as I was about to land on the goat, the little shit look up and began to run. But this time, THIS TIME it was too late. I thrust my spear down just at the right moment, and impaled the fucker through the upper back.
I tumbled over and fell on my ass, but the goat was already too badly wounded to escape. Jumping to my feet, I ran over and grabbed the goat in my talons.
Holy shit, I was running on pure adrenaline in that moment. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart, and I could practically see red as I flipped that goat over and sank my beak into its neck to crush its windpipe and snap its neck. I tasted the warmth of its blood in my mouth, and I wanted more. Seconds later, it was over for the smug little prey that thought it could outsmart me.
And you know what? I fucking roared. I stood up over that carcass and I belted out a bigger, fiercer roar than the one I laid on that yellow pegasus back in Ponyville. Whole bunch of birds in the trees took off when I did that. And it felt fucking good.
As I hoisted the goat onto my shoulders to carry it back to my cave, I got to thinking. Us griffons are predators. We're supposed to be hunting like this. I didn't even plan to finish it off with my beak the way I did, it just came naturally. It was, what the fuck was that word? Oh yeah, exhilarating.
I should hang onto all this stuff I'm learning once I get off the island. It'll come in handy in the woods down the slope from Griffonstone. Bunch of lazy fuckers, all of them. I'll bet I could teach those guys a thing or two. And then after a hunt I could bend over and lift my tail so they can
REALLY wish I could keep my mind out of the fucking gutter while I'm writing. I mean, I really enjoy being "horny on main" with anycreature reading this, but it's seriously starting to get in the way. Anyways, I'm having goat steak for dinner tonight. Already thinking of things I could use the horn and the pelt for.
Hopefully this will be enough. I've noticed that my appetite's been getting bigger since I came here. Good thing there's a lot of tasty fruit, vegetables, fish, and wildlife to eat!
-Gilda