This is not a nature program! I swear!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4:

Natural Selection

*-*-*-*-*

~Splish~

~Splosh~

*Roaaar*

The female brown bear was not amused.

Trying her hardest to catch fish in the stream, the bear was flailing her front paws back and forth into the water, but could only glare intensely as every time, the fish slipped away. Her cubs needed the nutrients, and she would get those nutrients! But currently, those nutrients did not want to pay a visit to her lair. The blue-colored fishes' scales sparkled in the setting sun as they mockingly jumped up in the air right in front of the bear. They would pay for doing so!

Succumbing to her anger, the brown bear stood up -as straight up as her body would let her- on her two hind legs, and then, after lifting her forelegs, she used her body's mass in hope to crush any of the lowly fishes still swimming within her reach.

It paid off.

The trees turned purple as the orange-red sun came closer to the horizon and the bear's wet, brown, fur glistered occasionally as she walked into direct sunlight that shone from between more trees.

With a fish as long as her body in between her teeth, the mother of three cubs proudly waddled towards the current cave they resided in. It was close to some of the ape tribes´ territory, but they never seemed to enter hers, so she avoided doing the same.

Because staying with her cubs was more important.

Then, she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened and turned completely black as she smelled something in the air. Blood. And it came from the direction she was walking in. The cave was in that area!

Bloodlust filled her as the thought of her cubs being hurt by somone passed by. She had to hurry!  Dropping the large fish, and without looking back, the mother ran through the forest with unrelenting steps. The ground tremored and leaves fell from the shaking trees as the bear stomped forward, forming visible footprints deep within the dirt. She didn't care about other wildlife that might hear her, they couldn't dream of hurting her when she was specifically out for blood. Possibly theirs.

The smell of blood got closer. It was right behind these trees!

Ten wolves came into sight -nine black beasts and one grey- and her growling turned louder. The smell came from them. Staring at the grey wolf that looked to be the strongest with intense eyes, she growled again, then jumped over the large heap of leaves and dirt in front of her, to charge towards a massacre.

The grey beast let out a howl and stood back. Within a second nine black wolves formed a ring around the bear and took turns to try and bite her legs or rip open her stomach. The enraged mother didn't care for her own safety and quickly swiped her left paw against the first predator with no defense in mind. The first wolf didn't even reach its target before the large paw tore its head apart from the momentum. But the others wouldn't just sit and watch as one of their brethren fell to the ground in a pile of blood.

And neither would the alpha male.

The grey wolf had taken a liking to that now headless female during the pack's search for the monkey-child.

Snarling loudly, he joined the other eight wolves' simultaneous charge. Within her bloodlust, the bear didn't notice the constant bleeding from her left flank, and simply turned to bite against the nearest wolf with deadly precision. The black beast's neck broke under the pressure of her teeth and slumped lifeless to the dirt. The one-sided massacre continued. Brocken ribs...Legs torn off...Cracked skulls... Any limb destroyed was fine as long as she could exact her revenge.

She didn't know that the scent of blood was not from her cubs, but at this point she couldn't care to find out, as the thought of her little ones being hurt overwhelmed her rationality and she once again struck with her right paw in a downward motion towards the last black wolf. The cub that was savagely trying to bite through her neck didn't make it, but didn't die without causing a bleeding wound.

It was dark by the time that all nine black wolves had been killed by her paws and teeth, and their remains still lay scattered over the field of leaves. With only one perpetrator left, the bear with a lust for blood roared loudly into the sky. Her fur had turned crimson a long time ago from the blood of her enemies as well as her own. Both her flanks were bleeding slowly, and all the seemingly minor wounds took its toll after all this time. She had lost too much blood -especially from the wound under her throat- but was not the only one. Breathing heavily, she roared again and charged towards the last, grey, beast.

*-*-*-*-*

Disengaging from the slaughter after dodging an attempt to bite his head off, the grey beast assessed his situation. His brethren had fallen one by one, and now, even the youngling had died under the bear's anger. He wanted to howl, to mourn his comrades, and to just let rage take over as his final hours drew near.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

But he had to survive.

For his brethren... His comrades! His family! All of it!

And for the youngling...

For their sake, he had to survive, and he knew rage would not help him overtake this seemingly hopeless situation. His wits and speed was all he could rely on against the brown monster that stood in a sea of blood. The bear roared, and charged towards him with heavy, limp steps, which it didn't even seem to have noticed, and if the beast already had, it showed no signs of being just as close to death as him. He took up the pace, and sprinted towards the closest tree. He knew this could be his final moments, and he wasn't going to make any mistakes.

Stopping in front of the wide tree trunk, the grey wolf unmovingly awaited the incoming heavy mass of fur. Once it was almost within reach, its pace increased. He assumed the bear had seen the tree behind him, but still stood in front of it as if time had frozen. He recognized such easily read behaviour and knew the enraged beast wouldn't stop in hope of crushing him in between. With a second to spare, he easily moved out of the way as the bear came crashing in with its front legs held high. The tree wouldn't be enough to even scratch the thick fur that rammed into it.

But the thick, broken branch that he had covered would.

With a loud crack, as the branch shattered into splinters and forcefully penetrated itself into the fur, the beast fell next to the slanted tree. It was still breathing, but its front legs could no longer carry the heavy body.

Unsure if this would be the end, the grey wolf slowly made his way to the fallen body to inspect. As he reached closer, assuming he had prevailed, his sorrow and rage finally took over. It would suffer  for the fate of his brethren! He wanted to rip every limb apart as slowly and agonizing as possible.

That, would be his mistake.

As the wolf was close enough and ready to slash at the immobile beast, the brown bear flipped around onto its back, and kicked towards the wolf. But the wolf would no longer restrain himself. Losing his right ear in the process, he bit the bears left ankle, causing the taste of blood to fill his throat as his fur on the right side of his head was dyed red. But just one leg wasn't enough for him. Jumping towards the other hind leg in a blind rage to completely cripple the bear, he missed the motion of the first one. It could still move!

Flying back from the impact on his left flank, the wolf landed on the ground. He was still alive and standing from the weakened hit, but he couldn't move an inch to finish the brown beast that had slaugthered nine of his kin.

With both monsters unable to move, the wolf glared intensely at the bear's breathing as the night grew darker. The white shining counterpart of the flaming ball in the sky stood high above him. Then, the bear's final breaths was drawn.

And so, the tired wolf howled in sorrow for his fallen, and then fell on to the leaves.

*-*-*-*-*

'Run... Hurry!'

"Come on! RUN DAMMIT!"

Panting heavily, Eriss ran away from the blood-filled area as fast as she could. Though it felt like running to her, in reality, she slowly walked through the forest with strained legs. Her arms had stopped bleeding, but the pain still lingered.

She didn't know how long it had been since the massacre, but it was too dark for her to see anything beyond five metres at this point, and she often tripped as she didn't notice the shape of a root underneath her. Tired, she wanted to just lay down and sleep, but couldn't in fear of another beast feeling specifically hungry for some human flesh, so she kept moving.

A rustle came from her right.

'Shit!'

Eriss hurriedly turned to her left to run away, but a rock in her way made her stumble and fall. The damp dirt felt nice and soft underneath her as she felt her consciousness slipping away.

'No... Can't... Not yet!'

Standing up, she glanced back to see one large eye the size of a football shining in the dark. She didn't question the strange light it emitted as she ran the other way. She had seen too much and knew well that the residents of this forest were not inviting her for tea.

The light seemed to follow her, and made a strange sound every few seconds. Glancing back to make out the shape, she tripped on another root, and this time, she didn't have the strength to get up.

Lying face down in the dirt, she gave up. Nothing could save her now, and she knew it. Hearing the heavy footsteps behind her, Eriss closed her eyes as tears dripped into the already moist ground. It was hopeless. With her first and last act of bravery, she opened her heavy eyelids to see what would be her doom.

But even that wish wouldn't be granted.

The last thing she saw was a shadow cast upon her as she fell unconscious.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading!

Next chapter will be about one of the other characters' whose story will later intertwine.

And I'm thinking of renaming the numbers of each chapter in order to not make anyone mistake another character's story as they DO hold relevance!

Tell me if I should keep it as it is (X.5 etcetc,) or change it up?