A Chance to Live

Chapter 3: Embracing the World

     With a lash from my tail I sent one flying into a tree, but the other one latched on and held with a ferocity. As I quickly threw it off and made short work of it with my jaws, I hadn't noticed four more of the things run in to assist. I was being overwhelmed, and I knew I wouldn't stand a chance for much longer if I didn't think of something fast.

    Dodging the other leapers, I was chased in circles as they snapped at my tail, and I realize that they were trying to scare me because they wanted my kill. I wouldn't let that happen; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let them beat me and steal my only source of food.

     The only thing that stopped me was an explosion of pain in my side. It traveled through my body, frying my nerves so bad I was sure that I was being electrocuted, before I fell limp to the ground. The speed I was running at made my body tumble down a hill, before striking a rock at the bottom. I was in so much pain, and I couldn't move as I was stunned. I laid there, crippled, until another sharp pain erupted in my side, and I saw one of the small furry creatures nibbling on me.

     I shot upwards, before falling back down again. I was exhausted and in extreme pain, but I needed a food supply. When the furry thing came back, I roared at him to scare him off, but he just leaped at me. I kicked him with my death talon, instantly impaling him and taking his life.

     After a moment, I forced myself up, a fire reignited within me. On all fours, I ran back up the hill and jumped out at the remaining creatures, which I later named wolves. They were eating my kill! How dare they! I snapped at them, trying to catch one.

     They all looked at me, terrified, and started scrambling away. They probably thought I was dead, that their other member had finished the job. Screeching, I chased them for a moment, before they were out of sight. I went back to my meal, and ate more.

     After about what seemed like fifteen minutes, I knew I was done. I had learned before that I could never truly feel anything that made me know that I was full. I also had known the entire time that in a bush nearby those wolves were still there.

     After staring at them for a moment, I took a couple chunks of meat and headed back to my cave. I looked behind me to see the wolves cautiously approaching the carcass, before digging in. I left them to it; it was either them or the scavengers I had seen around.

     As I walked through the forest, I noticed that sun ball in the sky had moved positions, and now casted it's warm rays at another angle, hitting my flank. The forest itself seemed alive and teeming with life. I could not find them, but I could hear it.

     The birds were chirping, calling to one another from the treetops. Bugs whirred up in pitches, making all to familiar creaking sounds. The trees swayed to the flow of the moving air. It felt peaceful, and the air seemed tranquil.

     After a few moments walk I came across the entrance to the cave, and I crept inside. Musty air replaced the honeysuckle, reminding me of my cage, and in some odd way, I enjoyed that thought and hated it too. No matter how much I hated it, I was raised in a human world, and I had some sort of attachment to that style. The part of me that longed for a human structure was unhappy, which made me unhappy.

     After dealing with my mental turmoil, I moved over to a crack in the wall of the stony cave, and stuffed the dripping flesh into it. I knew I would need that as a place to store food, or else I might die if hunting becomes bad.

     I crawled to my corner and began tending to my wounds, licking them to help the blood clot. I picked up that trick early in my life, and I'm glad that I did. Recently I had gotten used to the pain; it was always there, a constant reminder of my past. I had only been out here for a day and a half, but everything else seemed like it was years back. The past was in the past, and I was here.