Spectral Woods Master of the House

His father's warning didn't register as deeply as it should have. He was so focused; so near to the edge of success and failure that he didn't stop. The prince spotted the ravine ahead; reasoned that he could handle it, and dove after his prey anyway. He might have underestimated the danger of twisting a leg and taken a tumble anyway, but at least his gamble had been worth it. As he shook the rabbit by its leg the lake King materialized beside him. His excitement was so visible that the boy began to feel it. He would have yipped back had he been able. Cernan paused his thrashing to squint up at his mentor between futile kicks. That's right! He had to kill it now, and Papa was telling him the way. Holding onto it was no problem; the little critter's leg bone was lodged firmly between his canines and already beginning to bleed into his mouth; though not profusely. The lad just wanted the struggle to be over; for the threat of escape to be gone at last and his accomplishment secured.

Sunshine pools darted down again; wincing shut as the quarry writhed and kicked out some more. It was as if it knew what was coming already. If he let go it would just scurry away – maybe if... He stamped his oversized paws down onto the critter's side and back; stifling its racket only a few decibels. The chubby youth's ears buried themselves in his tawny fur as eyed the rabbit's neck. He'd seen them kill like this before, but it was a whole other ordeal to do it himself. Cernan took a breath and reached down, feeling her struggle beneath his juvenile weight. He couldn't hold her for too much longer – this needed to end. His teeth edged in behind her whipping head; gently at first and then harder until he had a solid grip. It's shrill wails only got louder despite the way he was crushing its ribs. The skin on his muzzle twitched and his mouth shifted; looking for what Vespertio had mentioned. The pulse. It was absolutely racing.

Cernan had felt his own heart pounding away in fear before, but never anywhere near this fast. The thing had to be horrified beyond what the prince could imagine. It gave him pause for only a second before he remembered his father standing right there beside him. He would do it fast. The juvenile's eyes pinched shut and he snapped his jaws together as hard as he possibly could. Cernan had broken small bones before; sometimes even rabbit bones. It was almost the same. His teeth went right through the soft skin and muscle, coating his mouth in metallic blood and cutting off the rodent mid-shriek. The spine crunched with satisfying ease, and she went limp. Golden eyes flew open, and glanced at his teacher. The lake child slowly separated his jaws from one another and began to pull his head up at last. Clumsy puppy paws stepped off of the now carcass and he just stared at it; licking his muzzle. He wasn't sure what to feel at first as he looked at the bloody wound, but in the next moment the boy's head veered with surprising speed toward the older man.

His tail came alive before the rest of him and a broad grin parted his dirtied maw. "I did it!" He yipped, practically bouncing a little with the sound. He might have felt sort of funny but it didn't stop him from being excited – not one bit. He'd caught his first rabbit! He was a real hunter now!

(This post was last modified: Feb 23, 2016, 08:10 AM by Cernan.)

If the king of the lake thought he was proud and ecstatic before, that was nothing in comparison to the emotions that flooded his veins once Cernan had delivered the fatal bite to the rabbit's neck. A faint echo of a crunch followed by a cut off shriek all the tawny Great Plains brute needed to know his son had made his first successful kill. A wide grin nestled its way onto his creamy facial features when the golden hued gaze of his settled upon the sunshine toned of his son, the charcoal dusted tail at his rump officially waving side to side like a flag blasted with the harshest of hurricane winds.

"You did it, Cernan!" He cheered in congratulations in the wake of his child's accomplishments, adorning the butterball pup with a gentle nudge to a mousy hued cheek before adorning the top of his skull with an affectionate lick to smooth some of the fur that had become tousled in the fray with the formerly writhing quarry. "Go ahead and enjoy your hard earned catch. You can bring back the pelt afterwards to show mama what you've done." The grin now permanently etched upon his creamy mask faltering slightly as a coal black nose twitched and picked up on the intertwined scent of lynx and deer blood near by. Perhaps it would be wiser to take their prize home to avoid crossing paths with the feasting feline should the deer be deemed unsuitable for the cat. "Actually, let's take it home." No way was he going to let a damn lynx rain on his son's hard earned parade.

His front paws slammed down in a play bow as Papa shared fully in the celebration. He even returned the touches in full puppy fashion, ducking his head beneath his father's chin and coating it in a few gleeful licks. Cernan then practically bounced backward, still wagging. The older man spoke again, and his golden pools fell down toward the mutilated rabbit once more. His excitement ebbed away as that strange hollow feeling crept in again. He had killed it. Still, the promise of being able to show his mother the prize prevented any sadness or conflict from surfacing. 

He could just picture her face now, how she would congratulate him! Neha and Al would surely be impressed as well. He was about to bite into his catch when he noticed how on edge his sire had become. Cernan's jaws paused, still parted slightly above the kill, until the man verbally changed his mind about staying. The boy had not noticed the foreign scent in all the commotion, but when he stood back up it drifted in ominously. Timid as ever about other predators, the child was quick to scoop up the food and lope after the Alpha. Nothing but rabble-rousers, the lot of them. He didn't want to fight over his first rabbit either. He had to get it home to show everyone else after all! How could they believe him if he had no proof?  

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