Chapter 4 – Weakness

„Why in the world did I agree to this…“ , Runt silently complained as the hunt for ‚Eyepatch‘ has already taken up half of her day. The sun was approaching its highest point, and Runt was hungry, thirsty and tired. Her muscles were burning from many prolonged chases, while the blasted Long-Ear had seemingly infinite stamina. Compared to its kin, it indeed appeared to be exceptionally nimble and enduring, so it was no wonder why even Stalker failed to capture it.

At this point, she considered calling the hunt off and just take a nap somewhere cool, away from the sun. Sure, it would probably lead to her losing the trail of Eyepatch, but overexerting herself any further didn’t seem to be worth some questionable prize.

„What kind of reward could mother even give to me in the first place? I must look like an idiot, to think that she could gift me anything but some old carcass.“

Taking a break under the shade of a giant fly agaric, Runt contemplated the foolish decision that lead up to this situation in the first place. Back when Stalker made her offer to put Runt through a trial, she felt like she needed to prove herself – or lose the last remaining bit of love that was given to her in this merciless world.

There was no value to be found in weakness, after all.

„As long as my target lives, I still have a chance. Running for so long, even Eyepatch must be tired now – So if I follow the trail for a little longer, there will be an opportunity eventually!“, Runt assured herself, firmly believing that victory was still within reach.

To stop right before the goal would invalidate all her efforts up until now, so in her eyes the only logical way was to follow the scent trail further into the woods to which the fugitive Long-Ear escaped.

And so she did. Being impressed at her own determination, Runt went back on track with lifted spirits.

To Runt’s luck, Eyepatches’ scent led right to a small, fast-flowing river in the shade of the forest. He must have been just as thirsty as her after all that running and panting, as there was a spot right at the edge of the water where his smell was quite strong. Deciding that this was a good opportunity to rest, Runt took a few big gulps of fresh spring water. There was also a good-sized, even poisonless tree frog camouflaging in silence between the leaves. In her passing she nimbly snatched the unlucky amphibian off a mossy piece of wood, right after she was done getting some moisture down her parched throat.

That puny frog was hardly a meal, but at least it managed to take the edge off the gnawing hunger that started to make her feel dangerously light-headed. With this, she could continue the hunt for a bit longer.

Following the tracks of Eyepatch further over a fallen tree that crosses the stream and eastwards through the woods, Runt realized that this was completely foreign territory to her. Judging from the marks of other beasts all around, she must have already been a good distance away from her and Stalker’s hunting grounds. There was the characteristic smell of Agruar and Thornhogs all around, as well as the smells of many other creatures she could not categorize. The footprints and piles of dung she came across hinted at the size of some of them – some appeared to have feet the length of Runt’s body from head to rear, and others must be eating as much as a whole tree’s worth of leaves each day.

Most disconcerning however where the piles of moss-covered bones and skeletal remains scattered throughout, many of which were massive enough that her whole family could take up residence in one of the giant rib cages.

Even Gemini, whom followed Runt in secret since the beginning of the hunt, started to be wary of his surroundings. It would not have been the first time an agruar or a winglizard would try to make a meal of him.

As she continued to follow the tracks, she noticed the intensity of Eyepatches’ scent to increase again, and Runt interpreted that he must’ve been taking a break nearby. With new hope ignited, she picked up her pace while trying to come up with a plan on how to perfect her ambush and chase after the evasive Long-Ear. As the predator, she was at a disadvantage – in order to counteract any rapid turns, she needed to be faster than her prey, much faster than she already was.

But that had to wait now, because there was something approaching her from between the bushes. Runt heard the movements of a group of tall creatures, heading right for her position, so she leapt onto a crooked tree and escaped to the safety of higher ground in the blink of an eye. She was much heavier and larger than a mere housecat now, but the lush vegetation did a great job concealing her light grey body from prying eyes.

As she waited above for the threat to pass, she took a closer look at the beings walking past the spot she occupied a moment ago. Runt held her breath as she observed the hunchbacked creatures.

The procession below her consisted of five bipedal figures, each about a head shorter than a human. They covered themselves with cloaks that concealed their bodies and faces, and were carrying bundles of sharpened sticks, crude bows and stone-tipped arrows on their backs. Their pace was a slow and careful one, as to not rustle the underbrush around them too much.

The one leading the group wore a well-kept black fur cloak reminiscent of agruar pelts, and carried an unloaded, finely crafted crossbow at their side, while the one behind them donned a hooded mantle of corse Thornhog hide with many of the pale spines still attached. The three behind those two were of slightly smaller stature and wore much less fancy outfits of patched-up leather and rough fabric.

Runt was frozen like a statue at the sight of their uncanny, two-legged gait. Her claws clenched ever tighter around the branch.

Her breathing nearly stopped, as the disturbing visions she saw few seasons ago returned to her memory from the back of her mind. Being too scared to make a move, Runt had no choice but to observe further.

The three were carrying the fresh spoils of a successful hunt over their shoulders – a dozen of Long-Ears (from which the scent of Eyepatch did not emanate), as well as a bloodied juvenile Thornhog bound to a branch and carried between the two at the tail end of the line. As they walked past, those three appeared to wear fur clothing underneath the cloaks – or rather, their stocky arms were covered in a short, ginger fuzz all around, and the tips of their broad fingers ended in pointed, black nails. As the group started moving away from Runt, she could’ve sworn that the feet she spotted under the cloaks were just as hairy, and weirdly elongated.

Somehow, this sight managed to wash away the terror Runt has felt just a moment ago.

„These are not the creatures from my nightmares… but still, what were they?“, She couldn’t help but ponder the identity of these beings. They were simply inhabitants of these woods, just like her and all other beasts, were they not?

It took a few minutes for the pack of hunters to move out of sight. Believing herself to be out of danger for now, Runt descended from the tree back onto the narrow forest path. The carcasses carried by the hunters have left droplets of blood on the forest soil and meddled with the scent trail, but she was soon back on track.

…

It did not take long before Runt was close to her target once again. Having to wait out the passing of the hunting party proved to be only a minor setback, but the thing that Runt came to worry about more, were other predators.

Even considering the abnormal evasiveness of her prey, Eyepatch was still on the run for almost a whole day – Any well-rested hunter could now have a real chance of catching the long-ear. She, too, would prefer to set her eyes on weakened targets, after all.

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The sun was already descending towards the horizon at this point, and Runt felt the onset of sleep deprivation gnawing at her concentration. Some sections of the way she would walk in a trance with closed eyes, only relying on her ears to warn her from danger.

Even though she longed to take a just a short nap, she did not want to risk oversleeping and to see her prey stolen, so she pushed through. Her instinct to pursue further helped her stave off the exhaustion, keeping her focused on the task at hand as she was passing over jagged rock paths and through dense shrubbery.

„At least this is more exciting than just striking into a river all day“, she thought, to try and encourage herself.

IAAAAAAooooooowwwww

Runt stopped dead in her tracks at the scream coming from the distance. It was the characteristic yell of the Agruar, the other kind of feline predator inhabiting these woods. Soon it was followed by another, similar call from the same direction – Runt has heard these calls many times, every other night since she left the birth nest.

It was a hunting signal, and it came from the direction towards which the scent trail of her prey was heading.

…

Forgetting all her exhaustion as fresh energy was rushing through her, Runt was sprinting through the rows of trees from which the hunting song of the agruar hailed. She did not think of abandoning the hunt – Yet she was not driven by any feeling of duty to accomplish the task given by Stalker, either.

No, it was her predator’s instinct screaming at her not to lose her prey to another hunter. She was in a furious haze that drove her like a storm, which only subsided upon being hit by a pungent scent that stung her nose.

She slowed her pace as she returned to her senses, trying to analyse the air. Indeed, this smell was a warning, sprayed all over the trees around her. „Agruar piss. This must be their territory.“

Feeling not so bold anymore, Runt started evaluating her options. To stay here and continue the search could lead into serious trouble, and she did indeed learn a lot from this day – Mostly to not accept some kind of dubious offer from a fellow cat. However, surprise struck her right as she was about to head back home.

Only by chance did she notice the white long-ear sitting on a patch of grass in the middle of a clearing through a tangle of dead branches. The scent of Eyepatch emanated from the clearing, Runt was sure of it, and she caught a glimpse of the brown marking around its eye.

What she also caught a glimpse of was a large, black cat hiding between tufts of grass, and it was about twice her own size. Above the vegetation she spotted the curve of its elongated back, which moved closer and closer to the long-ear without making a single sound. Even the rustling of the grass was surpressed under the steady step of the feline predator.

If that beast were to snatch away her prey, Runt would have made a major fool of herself – Especially Gemini would add this failure of hers to the already long list of ridicule that she had to endure from him.

"Watch out!"

Runt yelled in reflex towards Eyepatch, right as the Agruar was pouncing towards him. The long-ear startled and escaped once again with ease as the large hunter took multiple rapid swipes at the dust clouds he left behind.

The Agruar just sat their in bewilderment, only now turning its rounded ears around to check for the location of the intruder. With this, all Runt had to do now was to sit out in silence, make her escape and return to hunt the long-ear another day. She stood low, waiting for the Agruar to stop scanning its environment. Only a few minutes, and she could try to sneak away.

What Runt did not notice however, was the second predator that has been setting up to ambush her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the face of the much larger beast bursting out of the bushes, leaping at her from an arm's length away. Her legs reacted before she realized what was happening, but it was too late as the hunter’s claws were already closing off her escape route.

A sharp pain hit her left hind leg as she was caught by the agruar’s swiping paws, making Runt lose her footing and instead tumble forward against a rock. Right as she regained her senses, she could only see the jet-black feline slowly approach her position, ready to land the killing blow.

Runt’s head was empty, dominated only by a primal fear. The flow of time halted to a slow crawl as her life experiences were rushing by before her vision, one by one.

„This won’t help me at all“, She thought to herself as she relived the pitiful struggles of her days in the nest.

„Ah… I can’t even say I had a good run – Maybe I will be happier once I leave this life, just like Gemini said…

No… One thing before I go.

...Gemini.

This infuriating piece of shit must be enjoying himself a lot right now…“

Thinking about giving the smug raven what he wanted all this time? It drove her to the edge of madness.

„I WILL find out what all of this is supposed to mean! I will make him eat his words!

Her body felt like it was struck by lightning.

It reflexively propelled itself forward with an uncontrollable, explosive force, sending Runt into a spinning flight. The forest floor was racing away under her, until she made brutal impact on a broad tree many meters further away. Although her vision was still spinning, she felt not the pain of the rough landing and regained her footing immediately.

„HE will be the weak one when I am done with him!“

Her body was rushing with power, her muscles pulsating and her vision sharp like never before. White, glowing markings have appeared all over her, shaped like the savage stripes of a fearsome monster.

The two agruar were now sprinting towards her at full speed, but to Runt it seemed as if they were approaching her in a crawl. She was not afraid anymore - Instead, both her instincts and her claws were itching to turn the chase around.

„I will pluck him like a chicken! Rip his wings out!… But before that...“

Firmly planting her feet on the ground, she once again performed a lightning leap - This time passing by the left agruar of the hunting pair like a low-flying bird of prey.

When Runt came to a skittering halt, the tips of her pale claws were dipped in red.

The faint smell of iron rose to Runt’s head, only further increasing the frequency of her ecstatic heartbeat.

„To live without fear for once… without weakness…

I never knew life could be this exciting“

Noticing the wound only now, the agruar yelped and hissed in surprise, seeing that its left side bore four clean, long cuts from which a steady dribble of blood stained the grass.

Although the wounds on her victim appeared large, the bleeding was light and did not seem to impede its movement as the two experienced predators turned around, now more cautiously.

"Too shallow! But just one more strike, and they…"

Runt's train of thought came to an abrupt halt as the pulsating power she felt a second ago vanished from her body like the air out of a burst balloon. The color was drained from her vision as she fell to the ground, her limbs feeling as if pricked by thousand cold needles. She noticed that the glowing marks on her body had lost all their shine – and were now deep black, like strokes of ink.

She desperately fought the sudden bout of exhaustion, struggling to raise herself onto numb and shaking feet. She felt like she was being buried under a pile of heavy rocks.

The two agruar were slowly approaching, throwing furious gazes towards Runt. They were itching to avenge their ruined hunt and painful injuries.

„So this is how it ends… looks like I just wasn’t cut out for this kind of life. Farewell, Gemini… I hope they eat you next.“

Closing her eyes one last time, Runt accepted her fate in surprising indifference. As she has killed many other beings to prolong her existence, she was now about to die to sustain another’s life. The cycle was complete.

...

„Not on my watch!“

As the wounded one was ready to pounce, Gemini swooped down with a dreadful screech, putting himself between Runt and the agruar. The beast jumped back in surprise, exchanging bewildered gazes with Gemini. With the two predators being unsure on how to proceed, the raven took the opportunity to take in a large breath and gather his strength.

"I command thee!",

he bellowed at the two large predators. Both of the agruar reflexively cowered close to the ground, and Runt felt as if his voice was making violent shockwaves through her body.

"… Halt your foolish pursuit and vanish from my sight!"

Gemini ordered them in a loud, deep voice, more befitting of a proud king than a mischievous raven. After a long moment of the agruar giving him bewildered gazes, they slowly backed off and left for the woodwork.

"Good grief" he thought to himself as he was inspecting the blackened stripes covering Runt's body.

Runt had already fallen unconscious by then, her mind again being consumed by puzzling visions.