They had been on the road to New Talisia for two weeks. The journey had not been as bad as it could have been now that the worst of the winter weather had begun to withdraw. It was still miserable and cold but the perfect hunting season for Tiddles. Many of the Wild Ones started to emerge after the snowfall ceased from the caves and hideaways they used during the harsh months. It also meant that the herds would soon begin to work their way back North again after their annual migratory trek south.
Sniffer and Elizabeth had just finished cooking and were clearing up before they would settle in the truck for the evening. Rosie and Pouncer were arguing as expected, and Tiddles had decided that he needed to take them out hunting.
He walked to the back of the cage and growled. “What is it, boy?” Sniffer asked, walking around to him. Tiddles placed his paw towards the cage latch. “Ok, I will let them out, but don’t go far and don’t be long. The light will start to fade soon.” He said, unlatching the cage door.
“Come on, get moving,” Tiddles said to the cubs.
“But I am comfy,” Sneezy responded from under the blanket he had buried himself in.
Rosie bit him on the end of his tail, which was protruding from the blanket.
“Ouch.” Sneezy wailed, snarling and turning towards his sister.
“You heard dad move.” She said.
The cub's speech had improved tremendously in the last couple of months, and Tiddles could have everyday conversations with them.
“What’s going on?” Pouncer asked.
“We are going hunting,” Tiddles responded, turning and walking towards the woodlands across from the building they had stopped nearby.
“Yes.” Shouted Pouncer excitedly, springing down from the back of the truck and trotting to catch up with Tiddles.
“Do we have to?” Sneezy responded.
“Move it,” Rosie said. She was nipping at his rear.
“OK, OK, " he replied, jumping down and running to catch up. Rosie followed him.
Sniffer watched as they moved off to the woodland, ‘Those cubs were really going to be a handful in another few months when they get bigger,’ he thought.
Tiddles led the cubs into the woods. His senses were heightened, and since the System upgrade and his initial discovery of Arcane Knowledge, he had spent time considering what to spend his points on before eventually selecting his skills.
He had started with 57 points and spent five initially before working through everything available. He had eventually selected further skills and noticed the immediate effects of a couple. Considering his brawling ability, he had wanted to open up his Combat Skills tree but had decided it was too expensive for just one or two boosts. The one thing that Tiddles had started to do was gain experience; for every kill, he had begun to earn points. It was nothing major, but it had started to add up slowly when he had been hunting for food for the cubs and himself.
His total had now reached 12430 of 50000. The most significant increase he had received was from a large Elbou he had killed for their dinner two nights previous. It had been one of the largest Tiddles had seen before and had earned 630 experience points. He knew he should try and work on gaining more but was in no rush, even though there was the countdown timer and challenges mentioned that he still had no idea about.
Tiddles had been taking the cubs out hunting, but today was going to give them a challenge. He led the cubs into the woods for about 10 minutes before he picked up the scent of what he was looking for. Jatbears were smallish bear-shaped creatures that were omnivorous. They would attack Spylore cubs if they thought they could get away with it, and Tiddles thought it a good chance for them to practice their improving skills, considering that there were three of them. They had done well against the small Elbou, but this would really test them.
Tiddles knew he could virtually eat a Jatbear in one mouthful, so he had no concerns for their safety if they followed his instructions, as he would be watching.
He stopped the cubs and briefed them on what he needed them to do. Sneezy was the best tracker of the three, Pouncer was the best brawler, and Rosie was the most balanced. She was the brighter of the cubs, seemed to be their natural leader, and kept her brothers in line most of the time.
“So Sneezy, you are to play bait as you are the fastest. When the Jatbear senses you, it is likely to attack. When it does, you turn and return to where Pouncer and Rosie will be waiting, where they can ambush it," Tiddles said.
“Why do I have to be bait.” Sneezy moaned.
“I have already told you you are the fastest; you have had too much practice running from Pouncer,” Tiddles added.
Rosie and Pouncer laughed at Sneezy, who dropped his head and grumbled.
“Ok. Where are they?” he asked.
“About 300 metres over there”, Tiddles indicated, turning his head.
“Where are you going to be?” he asked, looking at Tiddles nervously.
“Do not worry, I will be close by.” He said.
“Can you smell that faint, musty scent? Like damp leaves but with a sort of spice to it?” Tiddles asked.
“Yeah,” Sneezy replied.
“That is a Jatbear,” Tiddles stated.
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Sneezy took some deep breaths, tasting the scent in the air. He could sense precisely what Tiddles had described and knew the direction he needed to head in.
“Ok. I have it.” He said.
“Alright, we will all go together for the first part, then I will split off, and you guys need to work on taking it out," he said.
The group began stalking toward the source of the Jatbear’s scent. Tiddles remained with the cubs for a couple hundred metres, then broke off, urging them forward.
The three cubs were glancing at each other nervously once Tiddles disappeared, and he really had disappeared. None of them could sense where he was or even pick up his scent. This freaked Pouncer out slightly.
“Where has Dad gone?” he whispered to Rosie.
“No idea. I cannot smell him anywhere.” She whispered back.
“Shh, you two,” Sneezy whispered.
Sneezy stopped and sniffed, then indicated that the Jatbear was just up ahead.
Rosie and Pouncer moved off to either side of the small trail they had been creating.
Sneezy took a quick look back and then continued forward. He eventually came to the edge of a small clearing in the woods. The strangest-looking creature Sneezy had ever seen sat on its rear legs, holding what looked like a fish or similar in its paws.
It was about twice his size, and his nerves were on edge as he approached it. He took another step forward and did not notice the twig underneath his paw, which snapped loudly as he put his weight down.
They had been approaching from downwind, so their scent was hidden from the Jatbear, but on hearing the twig snap, its head shot up and looked directly towards where Sneezy had frozen at the edge of the clearing.
Its jaw was elongated, and its snout was pointy, but its teeth looked razor sharp, and the claws on its paws seemed to look like they were hooked and big enough to do severe damage to Sneezy. It paused with its mouth open, and the fish remained half-bitten. Sneezy gulped, not moving.
The Jatbear then sniffed the air deeply, staring directly at Sneezy's hiding spot. It began to charge across the small clearing at him in a flash.
Sneezy ran! He ran like his life depended on it, which it probably did; if that evil monster chasing him caught him, it would eat him, he was sure. He sprinted back the way he had come and hurtled straight past where Rosie and Pouncer were hiding without slowing down. The Jatbear had been snarling and chasing him, trying to catch him, but Sneezy had not even glanced backwards once.
They heard Sneezy coming at the speed he flew past their hiding spots, startling them both. He went by so quickly. They could hear the Jatbear following him, and after a few moments, the beast appeared out of the bushes, following Sneezy’s trail.
They both pounced. Pouncer hit first, landing on the right side of the Jatbear, and Rosie hit next, landing on its left. The Jatbear uttered a surprised cry as it was not expecting anything to attack it. Pouncer opened his jaws, extending his teeth, and clamped down on its side. Rosie was trying to bite it on the other side but was being bounced around by its now thrashing movements as it attempted to release the hold of the two Spylore cubs clinging on for dear life.
Pouncer had only ever tasted fresh rat blood before, apart from the kills that Tiddles had been getting, but they were not the same as fresh pumping blood, and the fresh taste in his mouth triggered something profound inside him as though a feral animal was released. He began to claw and scratch at the Jatbear's side, pushing his claws deep into its flesh through its thick fur.
Rosie at last managed to sink her fangs into its other side, and again, the taste of the adrenaline-flooded blood was like a trigger to her. The Jatbear rolled onto its right side where Pouncer was clinging, and the wind was knocked out of him, making him release his bite and grip as it stood back upright.
Rosie was still clinging on and had pulled herself slightly higher onto its back. She again bit down on it as it now tried to roll to the left to dislodge her. She was no longer on its side entirely, so she could maintain her grip even though it rolled on her rear legs, making her yelp slightly.
It stood again and bucked, trying to throw her off. This was when Sneezy returned; he eventually realised that the Jatbear had stopped following him and turned, running back towards his siblings. He got back to find Pouncer lying on his back, gasping for breath, covered in blood, while Rosie was clinging to its back.
Sneezy saw red, believing that the blood on Pouncer was his, and bolted at the Jatbear. He launched at its face with pure anger running through his veins, opened his mouth, and fired his fangs out before clamping onto its snout. His claws reached forward for its eyes. His left paw struck true, his claws embedding themselves into the Jatbear's right eye. It wailed in response to the attack and spun frantically to get Sneezy from its face. He was not letting go and dug in deeper, drawing his claws along its face and scratching at it with his rear claws.
Rosie had recovered again and repositioned herself before bringing her jaws back down across the top of the neck of the Jatbear; she felt her fangs sink in deep and felt the resistance of bone; she bit as hard as she could and felt her teeth penetrate through the skeletal structure.
The Jatbear suddenly stopped, shrieking loudly as the rear of its body no longer did what it wanted it to do, its rear legs collapsing to the floor. Sneezy released his grip from its face and looked over, seeing Pouncer return to his feet.
Pouncer launched at the beast, sinking his teeth directly into the side of its throat. The Jatbear howled in agony at the pain from the Spylore's combined attack, but it could not combat the three of them and their relentlessness. It slowly succumbed due to blood loss and being paralysed across its back.
Tiddles walked out from the bushes a few feet from the scene and watched as the Jatbear took its last breath. He felt pride in the achievement of the cubs; they had worked together and brought down a beast at least twice their size between them. This was a large Jatbear by all accounts, and Tiddles was glad he had not had to intervene, though he had been a little worried from where he had been watching the fight unfold when it first appeared.
“Well done.” He said to the three cubs.
All three of them were sat looking at each other in bewilderment and panting due to their exertion.
“That was scary,” Sneezy said, looking over at Tiddles.
“Yes. But you have now proven you can work together against an enemy larger than yourselves, and through your teamwork, you now have a decent meal tonight.” He said in response, smiling at them.
“We can’t carry that back?” Rosie said in disbelief.
“I will take it back for you,” Tiddles said. He bent forward and picked the Jatbear up easily in his massive jaws. He then turned and started heading back to the truck.
The three cubs followed him, still in shock at what they had just accomplished. “I thought you were dead,” Sneezy said to Pouncer.
“So did I. I thought I was a goner when that thing rolled on me. You were unbelievable, Rosie. I have no idea how you managed to hold on.” He added.
“I managed to climb higher on its back; that is the only reason.” She said, turning to look at her brother.
“Yeah, but that bite through its neck; I even heard the bones break.” He said.
Rosie smiled at him.
It did not take long for them to return to the truck, and Tiddles dropped their kill at the rear cage door for them. The cubs tucked in, not realising how hungry they were until they had had their fill.
“You are back early,” Sniffer said, looking out the truck's rear window where he and Elizabeth had made their bed. He saw Tiddles carry the Jatbear over to the truck. Tiddles just let out a low growl and turned, looking at the cubs.
Sniffer was sure he could see pride in his look by the way Tiddles's eyes glinted. It did not take long for the cubs to finish devouring the Jatbear, and once they had, Tiddles ushered them back into the cage before he growled at Sniffer. Sniffer climbed out and applied the latch. "Night cubs," he said, returning to the truck.
"Can we try again tomorrow, Dad?" Pouncer asked Tiddles as he settled with his siblings in the blankets in their crate.
"We will see," Tiddles replied, smiling at his proteges.