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Human Origins Chapter 4: Hunt

Hello Fellow furries and humans, here is the revised fourth installment of Human Origins. This section starts out in Syreth's view then switches to Luxikam's view.

(Syreth's view)

I couldn't believe it, after all this time I was finally going to get out of this cursed forest, and only because of a wolfen. Sure, my previous father had told me a lot about how they couldn't be trusted, and their hatred for humans, but Luxikam seems different from what I would expect. When I asked my dad where he heard it from, he never had an answer, so I expected it was simply rumors. I am still a bit afraid and intimidated by such a large creature as Luxikam, but I'm not dead yet, so that's a good sign.

"Hey Syreth, speed up your cleanup! I'm not going to sit here all day!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm almost done."

I really wasn't sure what the next few hours would entail, but as I collapsed my blue tent, and ate the last bit of nuts that I had in my supply pouch, I felt pretty confident that I wouldn't be needing to lay myself out on the cold, hard ground for another Lunis. (Lunis are what we call nights here, since the moon never moves in the sky, to show the sun. Lunai is the term for day here.) With my tent neatly folded several times, till it was pocket-sized, I stuffed it inside my pants and looked around, only to see that Luxikam had disappeared!

"Luxikam, I'm finished! Where are you?!"

"Don't yell so loud! I'm right here..."

That sound came from behind the log we were sitting on earlier. When I went around it, there was a large feral wolf, with his head being about equal in height to my abdomen. He smiled at me, with his glistening white teeth and fur, and rather amused by my startled appearance, begin to snicker.

"*laughs* "What's so interesting about me?"

Suddenly Luxikam leaps at me growling, and not knowing how to react, I put my hands up in poor defense. He easily knocks me over. Maybe I was wrong to trust him so quickly...

I almost begin to cry again, but he just remains on top of me, and then unexpectedly, licks my face!

"Mmmm.... I've never tasted a human before, they do taste rather pleasant... *licks*"

My fear heightened by his rather strange comment, I start to shiver in anxiety for my safety. This only seems to amuse Luxikam further.

"*laughs* I'll never understand why you humans scare so easily! I guess you guys really are easy prey."

Luxikam gets off me, and I think about running, but I realize that he was really only playing with me, it's not like he took a nibble off of me and he's already had more than enough chances to kill me as it is. I won't run from him, besides there's another reason I don't want him to leave me yet...

"Uhm, Syreth? You're doing it again."

"Huh?"

"You're staring at me with those attentive eyes of yours."

"Oh... " I begin to blush profusely. "Sorry, uhm I was just wondering, how do you make yourself feral?"

"Hmm, 'make', a good word to use, my friend. You see, once I reach 18, I attend a special school."

"School?"

"Yes, a school for mental and physical training, simply named 'The Sealed Mind'."

"And what do you go there for?"

"To receive a special marking, a seal so to speak that progressively unlocks itself with the host's abilities. You see, there are seals to the mind and based on the recipients fur color, decides what seals they will receive. There are three sets, one for gray and black fur, one for white fur, and one for red fur. "

"Red fur? Is that even possible?"

"Noone has seen a red-furred wolf in 40 years. They are very rare and usually kept under close supervision."

"Why?"

"They unlock their seals very quickly, usually when they aren't able to control the power their seals possess. The last 2 red wolves, had to be executed, because they were simply too aggressive to be released into our society."

"*gasp* Wow..."

"Yeah, but back on subject.

When we are given our seals, we're never told what they are. The names of the seals announce themselves in our minds. Then in order to use the seals, we simply yell the name of the seal out in our mind. The seals are written in the form of a symbol, on the forehead. Red, gray, and black wolves have 5 seals, while white ones have 7, like me. Only red wolves unlock their seals quickly, gray, black, and white wolves unlock theirs at a moderate pace.

I have only unlocked 2 of my seals so far.

The first and the easiest to unlock, The Seal of Nature, is what allows me to change into a feral wolf. It allows me to concentrate all my mental properties on my true nature, that of a wolf, which in turn makes me capable of modifying my body parts to that of a feral wolf, while retaining my ability to speak. Does that make sense?"

"*scratches head* I guess.."

"Good enough, I suppose.

The second seal I have unlocked so far, is the seal of Strength. It makes my body ideal for strength training, by increasing my oxygen capacity, thus improving my overall endurance, as well as improving my metabolism, so my breakdown of food is more efficient. There's several other things that this seal does for me, but I won't bore you with all the details.

Now, I've picked up a scent of 3 fawn close by, so shall we depart?"

"Of course, and thanks for the explanation." *Wow, now I sound all dignified and stuff, Luxikam knows how to rub off on people!*

"*chuckles* You're welcome."

(Luxikam's view)

I really like this human, Syreth, he seems to be a good listener and actually interested in what I have to say. I think he's rather impressed by me too, or at least I hope he is. After being exiled, I really haven't felt too much self-pride or happiness. It feels good to have someone that I can talk to, that seems sincere in his interest of me. I mean can you doubt that, with those adorable brown eyes staring at me every few minutes? Sure, I'm keeping my eyes forward to track down these deer, and he thinks I haven't noticed, but thanks to my peripheral vision I can see his intentional staring.

The only question is, what's the intention? I wish I was better at reading humans' body language. Regardless, I doubt he could or would hurt me, seeing as how I easily overpowered him back there. Back when I pounced on him and licked his face, his eyes seemed to be directed elsewhere, other than my face. I couldn't tell if he was looking at my body or somewhere behind me. Oh well, I still gave him a good fright.

"Hmmm... *sniff sniff* they're really close now... Syreth, stay here and remain still and quiet. I'm going to scope out the area."

"Ok, be careful Luxikam..."

I flashed my white teeth at Syreth, then disappeared out of his sight. Prey was on my sight now.

There was one fawn by the lake, another a good 30 yards away in the grass laying down, and the third was nowhere to be found. No matter, one fawn will be enough for me, Syreth and his family can have the other. It seemed that these fawns were bigger than usual, not in height, but in weight, something I was already drooling over.

Now strategy was important, since they are in such close proximity, one can easily startle the other into hiding. I decided to go after the fawn already lying down first, since even though the one by the water was vulnerable, it was drinking from the lake, and there was no way I could attack the fawn without her dropping into the water which would undoubtedly startle the other.

My approach was as silent as could be, my claws sinking slowly into the slightly damp grass, as my white silhouette closed in on the poor creature. I would make sure it's death will be quick, I was never one to see animals suffer. The moon blessed me, since the fawn was asleep and the other seemed totally distracted lapping up the water in it's mouth. I'm surprised there were no males around to protect these so very vulnerable females. I slid my jaw into place around the fawn's neck and opened up as wide as I could...

And with one sickening *CRACK!* one fawn's life was over.

I just left it there to bleed out, setting my sights on the other fawn, who seemed unaware that her companion had just experienced the jaws of death. I snuck up on her as well, and considered my options. I can't go for her neck where she's standing so I should try a good pounce. I initiated my plan and it yielded success, the fawn startled by my body weight fell over into the slightly shallow lake, and hit it's head hard on the lakebed. Her legs bent unnaturally, probably broken by the unexpected fall, which gave me even more of a advantage.

I stared into the eyes of the fawn, the emotions of shock, fear, and confusion portrayed in them. I looked solemnly back into them, as if telling her what was about to happen without words, and she closed her eyes. I bent down my neck and had my teeth locked in place.

*CRACK!*

This fawn's bleeding out would be accelerated since it was already in the lake. She was easily cleaned out by the clear water flowing into her, and the gash made by a rock peircing through her underside, which the water flowed out of, turned a potent red.

"Alright, Syreth. Come here, your food is ready."

Syreth comes and seems rather surprised by me tearing apart the fawn in the grass with my claws, eating the meat within. Hey at least I don't eat the excess blood of the creature!

"Your food is over there in the water, Syreth. This is my spoil, you can leave now if you want."

I added that last part to my sentence, to see if he wanted me to stay with him or not. I want to see if that will reveal whether or not he has further intentions for me. Honestly, I do not want him to leave. I'd prefer to stay with... a friend like him. From what I gather earlier, he doesn't like to be alone, and neither do I, and I don't have anywhere else to go. Hopefully he at least views me as a friend, and not a monster.

"Uhm, have you ever tried cooked meat Luxikam?"

"No, I haven't."

Some of the wolfen in my kingdom brought back spoils from their human conquests. One of those was cooked meat, but I was never willing to try it since it looked black and dry.

After Syreth managed to start a fire, 10 minutes later he cooked some of my meat with a sharp branch.

*Seal of Nature!*

I didn't need to be in feral form anymore, since he could cut the meat with a sharp knife and not my claws, something I wish he told me he had. He noticed my eyes focusing on his knife , and he looks at me innocently.

"Hey, I may have one weapon, but you got me food, trust me, I'm not going to hurt you, just as long as you don't hurt me."

He hands me the stick, and smiles warmly at me, waiting for me to try it. I sniff the meat.. *smells good* and it doesn't look dry, or black. It does look hot and juicy.

"Just eat the meat."

I carefully pulled the piece off with my teeth and began to chew, my eyes growing large as I loved how good it tasted.

Cooked meat, definitely, definitively had a different taste, a delicious taste that I wish I had tried earlier. The next hour or so was spent on cutting meat, putting it over the fire and eating. I was so full afterwards that my stomach actually was swollen and bloated.

"Hey Luxikam, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it, Syreth?"

"Uhm.... I... could use some help carrying this other meat home, I can't carry this all by myself, would you mind accompanying me to my house? I'll make it worth your while!"

I thought about it, was it really worth it? If I was found in human territory, that would be considered an act of treason, and I'd be executed, but why should I care about that when I'm an exiled prince? Then there are humans that would love to see me dead, and probably think I want to eat them, but if some are as nice as Syreth, it can't be all bad, can it?

"I don't know...."

"Oh please Luxikam, I'm scared to go through the forest all alone... Please? For me? I'll pay you or whatever you want."

Seeing those eyes stare at me again... I just couldn't say no. A companion was the most valuable thing I could get out of this, and that's what I desire. Syreth so far has accepted me for who I am, so...

"Alright, I'll go with you Syreth."