Freefall
Chapter Three
WRAITH
Wraith flattened himself to the ground, stalking forward. His black fur blended into the darkness.
Ahead, a group of Skwovet were munching on the acorns beneath the oak tree the Umbreon was creeping up on.
Hunting was…discouraged, at best, and outright illegal at worst, since the prey was as intelligent as the predator, making it basically murder.
But…well, Wraith was already exiled, so breaking laws didn't really matter…especially since where he lived now, there were no laws, and he only followed them because he had a conscience.
However, hunting was mostly his only way of getting food. Berries were rare out here, and Wraith couldn't live off actual berries, fruits and nuts.
Besides, Umbreons were carnivores. Wraith had discovered that he was actually stronger and healthier than city ‘mon because of his diet of meat. Well, okay, healthy was a strong word. If he was living in better conditions, he'd probably be healthier than average.
Pushing his thoughts to the back of his head, Wraith leaped, pouncing on one of the Skwovet. His rings, which were a yellow so dark it was almost unnoticeable against his fur when unlit, flashed brightly. The other Skwovet fled, screaming. Some of them shouted curses at him.
Wraith was used to this. He'd been hunting for a long time. The officials only encourage it by giving all the predators high ranks while sending the prey creatures off to live in the wilderness, Wraith told himself.
Umbreon were predator and prey. Wraith flinched at the memory of the incident that had happened a few weeks ago. A pack of Houndoom had attacked him and his parents. Wraith had survived, but his parents were slaughtered.
He has been trying to prevent himself from getting too attached to them. Wraith had been very young when his parents were exiled, taking him with them. Seeing another exile get murdered when he was a kit taught him that the weakest were the most likely to be hunted. He has been raised out here, eating a meat diet, so he was stronger than his parents…and more likely to survive.
He dug into the Skwovet, trying not to think that he was doing the exact same thing that the Houndoom had done to him.
The Skwovet also had a few berries stashed in it's tail. Wraith pulled them out, to save for later. He used Psychic to hold them, then turned to hunt something else. He has made a deal with the Houndoom pack; if he left prey out for them once a week, they'd let him live. They weren't exactly happy with the Caterpies he'd offered, and said he had to give them real prey.
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Wraith considered leaving the berries for them, but decided against it. He'd catch something real for them. He'd give them a few real pieces of prey, then, once winter came, if he was unable to scrounge up something for them, even with his backup plan, he'd say that his parents should count for two weeks.
As he walked back toward his cave, he noticed something lying on the floor. A dead Espeon.
He shuddered, hating what he was about to do, but quickly stashed away his berries, then picked up the Espeon’s body with Psychic and began dragging it to the place where he met with the Houndoom. Today was the day he'd meet with them.
They were already waiting when he showed up.
“I hope you've brought something real this time”, said the leader of the pack, a scarred female Houndoom with a pelt filled with large bones, too big to come from small prey creatures.
Wraith nodded, presenting them the dead Espeon.
The pack leader flicked her tail. “Impressive”, she said.
“I didn't kill it, if you're thinking that”, Wraith said. “Though I'm not above it. I just found its corpse and figured you'd eat it, since you found my parents appetizing.”
The pack leader continued to stare at him. “Hmm…you are more determined to survive than I thought”, she said. “And it'd be a shame to throw that determination away. You're clever, too, and willing to do…cruel things.”
One of the Houndooms, one who has a similar amount and size of bones to the leader, turned to stare at her. “Alpha, you're not actually considering…”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures”, Alpha said. “Umbreon, would you like to join our pack?”
Wraith stared at her, surprised and unsure of how to answer. Could really join his parent’s murderers? But…weren't they doing the exact same thing as him; killing to survive?
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Excellent”, Alpha said. “What is your name?”
“Wraith. And I hope you don't expect me to eat the corpses of other Eeveelutions. I'll eat small prey creatures and berries, but not other predators.”
“Fine”, Alpha said. “That leaves more prey for us.”
Alpha then introduced him to the rest of the pack. It was fairly small, with only five other members. There was Beta, who was Alpha’s second-in- command, and the one who had been questioning Alpha’s decision. Then, there was Darkstorm, who was Alpha’s sister, Darkstorm’s two pups, Twilight and Phantom, and finally Omega. Omega was smaller then the others, with only tiny teeth coming from prey creatures. Apparently the Omega was the lowest-ranked member of the pack.
Wraith noticed that the pack was made up entirely of females, which made Wraith wonder a, who was the father of Darkstorm’s pups and b, if Alpha accepted him because they needed males in their pack.
“So…am I going to be the Omega?” Wraith asked.
Alpha shook her head. “Omega can't see very well, and so she can't hunt. Well, if she really wanted to learn, she probably could, but she won't. She stays home and watches over the pups. That's Omega's main job. We don't trust you with the pups yet, and we need hunters. You will join a regular member.”
Beta didn't seem to be happy with this decision, but didn't protest.
“What are we doing tonight?” Wraith asked.
“We eat”, Alpha said. Your ca-find will be today’s meal. You already hunted, and already ate. Tomorrow we will hunt again. Expect the smallest share, until you have proven your worth.”
Wraith nodded.
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Okay, I think I've discovered who my favorite POV character is. Wraith is very fun to write.
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