Hunter sniffed.
Warm, night air filtered into his nose, revealing the presence of many creatures both recently passed and hours gone. One interesting scent near the drinking pool tantalized him with its familiar taste and its unrecognizable appearance. Temptation tried to pull him after the scent, but a doe's scent a closer distance away commanded his attention to fill an empty stomach. With one last look at the strange prints where the scent originated, he followed the doe into the brush.
The trail took him to the edge of his territory, a high ridge and into an unfamiliar territory, the range of a female unfriendly to his neighborly advances. Her claw marks ripped the side of small tree in the pass and her sprayed scent overpowered his nose. Cautiously he approached the marks, inspecting both them and the smell carefully. The combination revealed that this desperate female recently bore cubs and she has had a difficult time hunting.
Her anger at losing potential food would be immeasurable, and it would be vented on his hide, if she could catch him. Still, little prey of such size dwelt in his own range. If he caught the doe, her meat would feed him for a week or more, so the risk failed to outweigh the value. He loped after the doe, to make up the time he lost deciding to continue the hunt.
A short distance of running brought him to a wide river, deep in the territory of the huntress. His prey had the advantage of time, but hunter found he lessened that advantage with every running pace he took. The trail turned to travel up river, crossing it and stopping at the edge of the river. Then, as he rounded a sharp bend in the river, he saw the doe walking slowly upstream. Slowly, he returned to the cover of the forest, increasing the amount of trees between him and his prey. Hunter paralleled her journey upstream, staying hidden behind the protective cover of the forest brush and tree trunks. She stopped after a few minutes and studied the tree line, then back across the river. The doe searched for the huntress who owned this forest, not hunter, that would be the downfall of the doe.
Elation willed up from every piece of his body, even the tip of his tail. Hunter approached the edge of the trees, to the shadow of a bush hiding him from the doe's view. Slowly, with much caution she lowered her head to drink from a pool of water cut off from the flow of the river. That moment, hunter flicked his tail once, its lightening movement striking a leaf.
The doe froze above the pool, her sensitive ears having picked up the noise. Hunter instantly froze as well, his tail resting against the leaf it had struck. For a many moments both remained frozen, each hoping the other would make the first move. Hunter won the contest of wills as the doe bent down to actually take her drink. The urge to flick his tail came again, but it was suppressed by the need to take this doe. Finally, he burst from under the bushes in a charge to take the doe.
Fear registered in the eyes of his prey a split second before she instinctively fled. Her hesitation granted hunter the second that he needed to capitalized on the kill by sinking his front claws into her far shoulder and front left leg. The impact of his great weight bore her down to the rocky riverbed. Also, he brought his rear claws to bear against the doe's side raking it aggressively. With the doe on the ground, hunter crushed the windpipe of the doe with his great maw, then jerked it once to snap the neck of his prey.
Exhaustion creeped into now aching muscles that sought to relieve the tension of the hunt. Force and power of will enabled him to bite deep into the flesh of the doe and rip out a mouthful of meat and skin. He feasted on the meal for only a few minutes before a deep rumble grabbed his attention. The huntress stood before him, the fresh blood dripping from his mouth embarrassed him. Hunter quickly retreated from the vicinity of the carcass to study an angry face whose presence required the quick retreat.
Still, he hovered over the scene after moving away from the carcass. His continued presence angered the already furious huntress who lashed out with her front right claw at his nose. Quick reflexes saved hunter the injury, but the hunger was satisfied for the moment.
However his hunger for curiosity pulled him to stay and watch the huntress. She roared into the forest, its echo bouncing off the trees. Two young pups tumbled out from the trees and bounded up to their mother enthusiastically. The smaller possessed an unusual dark-brown skin with the customary black stripes. His older sister displayed the usual orange with black stripes. Both dove at the carcass intending to rip into the meat with their tiny, sharp teeth. However, they impeded each other with rushing paws and flickering tails. The smaller quickly fell behind, but he snipped at his sister's tail when it landed on his whiskers. His surprise was greater than his sister's when he realized the tail was in his mouth.
The two merged into a flurry of growling fur that rolled several paces before coming to a stop. Huntress watched helplessly as the two cubs attempted to separate themselves in vain twice. These good tries only resulted in the two cubs resuming their play. Mother picked up the smaller by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out of the tussle. Sister patted at Bother's retreating paws, but a stern look from Mother ended the play. With mother's help Brother made it to the doe first and ripped into the meat. Sister soon followed, muscling her smaller sibling away from the meat. It did not take long for the two to finish their meal and resume their play.
Hunter watched Mother eat her fill of the doe, leaving perhaps half the remains. The powerful jaws of Mother picked up the neck of the dead beast, and her shoulders bunched as she pulled the beast back into the trees. A hole in a small clearing became the home of the carcass. The wind began to change, making Hunter upwind and his presence obvious to the family.
Brother picked up the scent first and followed it carefully, entranced by its familiar taste. Hunter allowed the young cub to find his hiding place behind a bush. The two studied the scents of each other until Mother's loud roar broke them out of their curiosity. After a look back, Brother first sprinted, then bounded back to be in sight of his mother. Once again in the safe, Brother stole a glance at Hunter, but Hunter had disappeared into the foliage.
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