[Skill: Adversary; 5/10

Dominance; 62/100

Pack Tactics; 4/10]

My first thought was frustration that I hadn’t gained any Stats through these hunts. I’d killed so many, destroyed the majority of a huge pack of wolfstags, and subjugated the survivors. Was this not in keeping with the way of the Keel? Was the distaste that I felt towards massacre something that disqualified me from benefiting from it?

[The Administrator wishes to calm you with this; the benefits from this hunt will be seen soon, at the final growth spurt. She promises that you will see great changes in the final growth cycle.]

After tamping down my immediate frustrations, I accepted that answer. Although I had briefly doubted the Administrator’s plans for me, the jarring change brought on by my evolution had been enough that I did wonder what I would have done were I even more affected by my evolution, and that, even earlier. I looked up, the light sprinkling of rain feeling cool and comfortable on my face as I squinted and held there before focusing on the rest of my [Status].

I was mostly just happy to see the changes in my [Status], but I was surprised to see [Adversary] progress so much. The massive elite was the only one I could think of that I’d killed that definitely had a greater… what had the evolutionary requirements said? [Defeat a foe with a greater Stat total than yourself, without substantial support from any other creature.] Maybe there was another one of the wolfstags that I’d taken by surprise or something, but that still didn’t get to the increase of three… Maybe subduing Arwa had counted as her “defeat”. I couldn’t bring myself to worry, though, since progress was positive. Especially if my continuing progress didn’t explicitly need to be an unmitigated genocide, which would be preferable so as to not make myself an absolute enemy of everything living.

Before I led the portion of the pack carrying the pups back to our den, I approached Took. “You guide the rest to bring back our prey. Those of Shalla’s pack can take two wolfstags each for their cooperation and sacrifice, bring the rest back to our den. If you cannot bring them all in one trip, bring half and leave the rest of the prey all together with those not needed to guard the prey. We will not allow anything to steal what we have earned.”

Took flared her frills and immediately set to work. I would have told Sybil to do it, but I wanted her to stay close to the wolfstags for now, since she and I were the only ones that could control them at all. As I looked at Sybil, she very carefully held one of the pups while Shemira looked over Sybil's shoulder to observe the fuzzy thing. I couldn't help but laugh looking at the two taciturn females as they tried to figure out how to carry and care for the little thing.

Our walk back to our den went quickly, and Arwa, though tired, thin, and laden with milk, constantly moved between the keelish carrying her children. She sniffed at each one, though over time, all pups fell asleep and didn’t respond to her presence. When she came close to me for the third time, Arwa whined and looked in my face with some sort of desire in her eyes. I looked back at her, completely confused.

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“What? We’re going to the den. Your new home.”

Arwa continued to quietly whine, her face looking up to me, somehow pitiful. As I looked down at her, still unsure as to what it could be that she wanted, Foire approached from behind us. He dragged with him another Martanimis Python, this one slightly smaller than the last. As he approached, Arwa lunged towards him to take the food, and Foire startled backward, dropping the serpent.

“Stop!” I commanded Arwa, drawing a faint thread of magic from my sonilphon to set my voice to booming, and though I knew she didn’t understand the word, she could understand the mandate present in my tone. She halted where she stood, hunched over the body she’d been about to eat which the pup in my arms began to fuss, startled at my voice. He squalled and whined as I stepped closer to Arwa and the food. Once there, I passed the pup over to Foire, who held his new, fuzzy charge awkwardly.

I picked up the snake and sliced about a one foot section from it before holding it in front of Arwa’s face. She, trying to understand what was happening, stood still and watched as I dangled the food before her. I could see strings of drool beginning to fall from the corner of her mouth, but still she waited, and after another pause, I said, “Eat” as I tossed the meat to her. Arwa hesitated no longer, and snapped the morsel of meat from the air, hardly chewing before swallowing it down and begging for more. “No. Follow.” Again, I said as much with the influence of my magic, and though she continued to whine and beg for more, I motioned for the pack–Foire confusedly carrying the pup I’d passed to him–to continue moving forward without giving in to Arwa. She did follow behind me, nearly close enough to snap at the food I dragged behind me, but not quite.

After she’d followed me close enough to my liking for about a minute, I turned to her, cut off another foot-long section of the snake, and offered it to her. “Good job!” Again, I laced my words with magic, somehow shifting their intent to something like but not quite [Innervating Address], and Arwa seemed to begin to understand that she needed to do as I requested to receive the treats.

The rest of our journey to the den passed in much the same way, with me giving occasional simple commands to Arwa like “Follow”, “Stop”, and, eventually, “Sit”, and by the time the snake was gone in its entirety, she looked at me continuously, hoping for more snacks. Fortunately for me, that was the time that we arrived at our den, and instead of providing more food for her, we descended to our den. While we descended, I walked in the front, making sure to keep an eye out on any approaching keelish. I wanted to be sure I could settle our newest members before having to try to explain myself to any of the other, unrelated keelish.

Fortunately for me, we didn’t encounter any other keelish in our descent to our den, and once there, I showed Arwa a place she could rest, where she immediately collapsed into a heap once we’d laid her pups near enough she could touch them all. Before she fell asleep, though, she flashed with electricity, one, two, three times, and I saw the moisture soaking her begin to steam from her fur. Impressed, I looked to Sybil and Shemira.

“You two, keep an eye on Arwa and the pups. Let me know if anything happens. If someone comes to see what is happening here, tell them I’ll be back soon.”

Shemira cocked her head, curious, while Sybil flared her frills in assent. “With you and the rest, I think that a singular trip should be possible.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.” I replied, before jogging out of the claustrophobic den and allowing myself to enjoy the overcast but wide open skies. Yes, I would need to spend more time out here. Then, thinking all would be well, I continued trotting out of the clearing where our den’s entrance was and towards the fields of slaughter where the results of my hunt awaited.