The Non-Human Society

Chapter Thirty Eight - Vim - To Prepare Is To Hunt

      "That wasn't clean, but it wasn't sloppy either," I said to the young girl.

She huffed as she stood up, leaving the knife where she had delved it.

The small deer wasn't breathing anymore. There wasn't much blood on Pelka's hands or body surprisingly, considering where she had stabbed it in the neck. Even now some blood was pooling around the blade and handle.

Pelka huffed, stepping two feet away from the animal she just killed.

"You're rather fast. You're problem, as I mentioned, will always be the power behind your blows. Luckily you're not a human, but even you're still young and our kind isn't all powerful," I said calmly, keeping a keen eye on the way her fingers opened and closed into fists.

"Is it dead?" she asked.

"It's dead," I said.

She blinked a few times, and then reached up to wipe her face. She stopped right before she touched her face with bloody hands.

Holding out a towel, I smiled as she stared at it... then looked up at me. I nodded at her, and put it closer to her.

She took it and went to wiping her face.

"Won't blood ruin the towel?" she asked.

"That's the only one I have. So your next kill better be clean," I said.

She stopped wiping her face, and her large eyes peered at me from behind the towel.

Smiling at her, I nodded; glad she realized what that meant.

Stepping towards the dead deer, I knelt down to get a closer look at the things neck.

Pushing the back of its neck, where its spine was, I felt the bones under its skin and fur.

She hadn't killed it with the stab of the knife, but the simple blow. She had decapitated it, by stabbing it as hard as she could.

"Did I miss?" she asked, sounding worried.

"No. You hit the artery. It would have bled out and died, either way," I said.

"Either way...?" she whispered, stepping towards me. She didn't need to kneel down as low to get a better look; she was short enough that all she needed to do was bend forward.

I pointed at the spot where she had broken its neck. "Give it a feel," I said.

Although her hands were no longer bloody, they were still stained as she went to touching the fawn's neck.

"The bone?" she asked.

I nodded. "You broke its neck. That's what killed it so quickly," I said.

"Oh... so I failed?" she asked with a worried look.

"No. I told you to kill it. You did."

"But... not with the knife," she said.

"It would have died from the knife wound, as well. It would have taken longer, but its death was assured," I said.

"Oh..." Pelka blinked a few times, slowly comprehending what I meant.

"This is a good thing, actually. It lets you know that you are strong. That you are capable," I said.

Pulling the knife out of the deer's neck, Pelka stepped back to avoid the splash of blood. She wasn't too skittish about such things, but my quick action had startled her all the same.

Grabbing the deer by the head, I hefted it and then considered giving it to her. It was her kill, her responsibility...

"Lead the way," I said to her.