Chapter 3: Direction
The Fox woke up just in time to see the 1st Sun rise in the distance through the crack above. He stretched out after waking up to make sure his body was all doing fine and that he was fully awake. Unfortunately during this period of stretching the Hunger came back.
‘Hunger, Hunt’
This Hunger is different. There was a purpose the Fox felt. The Hunger seemed to be directing him to leave, to hunt. He was confused for a short time. When did he start to feel a purpose behind his instincts to eat?
Nevertheless, he didn’t think that this was a problem. If that is what the Hunger wants, that is what he shall do.
‘Danger, Different Path’
The Fox knowing that the Wolf is likely still waiting outside of the crack he originally came from he started to look around the cavern. As he just started looking he felt his gaze being pulled to a corner of the cavern, there sat another crack, this crack was far larger than the one he used before. There was enough for him to move in and out comfortably, yet it still was too small for the Wolf to get in.
‘Danger, Gone’
The Fox recognized that this new crack lacked any source of danger and instead gave a sense of longing for leaving this cavern. Without much of a thought he followed the path of the crack and quickly came across an exit. There beyond the cold walls of the crack sat the brightly contrasting green of the forest that seemed to invite the Fox to come home to the forest.
‘Home?.... Hunt, First’
Ignoring the feeling he got from the forest the Fox once again focused his instincts on his surroundings and primarily the area around the exit. Waiting for over 10 minutes for any movement the Fox didn’t see anything.
Satisfied with these findings he happily left the cave and started his hunt. The 1st Sun was still rising so now is the time to hunt. The Fox started to sniff the air wanting to find the scent that he craves.
‘Scent, Wolf, Danger’
Not even 1 minute after he left the cave the scent of the Wolf came from the distance. The scent was weak but the presence of the Wolf can be confirmed.
‘Danger, Stay, Away’
Going in the opposite direction of the scent of the Wolf he continued his hunt in hopes of satisfying this strange hunger that never leaves. After exploring the surroundings for some time the Fox noticed a problem. The scent was very rare.
It had been hours yet he had not caught a single scent besides the Wolf that he found just outside the cave. Just as he was getting frustrated the Fox felt a sudden tug in a certain direction. Confused, he sniffed the air and caught the scent of a new Good Smell. This one was far weaker than the scent of the Wolf. The scent was even weaker than the Black Lily.
‘Hunt, Hunger, Satisfy’
Wanting to satisfy the calling of the strange Hunger, the Fox carefully started his hunt. Against his expectations the trail ended swiftly and he caught sight of another mouse similar to the one found yesterday. The only difference with this one was the presence of the Good Smell.
‘Kill, Eat’
The Hunger was yelling at him to quickly kill this mouse, to quickly devour the source of this Good Smell. Without even observing the surroundings for long the Fox impatiently pounced on this mouse just like the last.
There was one problem though. This mouse was not a normal mouse, after all it also had the Good Smell like the Wolf from before. The moment the Fox pounced towards this mouse it immediately dashed out from where the Fox was going to land.
‘Hunt, Failed?’
Looking bewildered the Fox stared at the mouse that no longer was fleeing. Looking closer he noticed something. The eyes of the mouse looked at him with hunger, with longing just as he was feeling towards the mouse.
‘Hunt, Difficult’
Seeing that the mouse did not flee but continued to stare, the Fox knew that this hunt was going to be the hardest hunt of his life. The hunt was no longer one directional between the hunter and the prey. The prey refused to flee and instead stared down the hunter.
Who was the hunter? Who was the Prey? Neither the Mouse nor the Fox knew the answer to this question now. These two stared for minutes on end as their brains tried to process this series of events.
The first to react was the Mouse. It leaped at the Fox’s face, its left front claw extended and trying to scratch out the eye of the Fox. The Fox realizing that now was not the time to think quickly leaped back wanting to avoid this claw.
Unfortunately the Fox was still too slow to fully avoid this strike. The claw of the Mouse scraped against the snout of the Fox leaving a wound that stretched all the way from just below the eye to half way down the snout. Blood slowly leaked down this scratch, while the scratch was not necessarily a deep cut, it was still a cut.
‘Claw, Danger, Hunt, Very Hard’
The Fox was greatly alarmed by the fact that the Mouse could harm him so easily. It was so small and the claw even smaller yet the scratch showed a length beyond what one would think possible.
‘Hunt, Slowly, Kill, Swiftly, Eat, Soon’
With the Fox awoken from his thoughts by this scratch from the Mouse he quickly made a move of his own. The Mouse had only just landed on the ground and rebalanced itself so that it could make another strike, when the Fox launched his own paw towards the small body of the Mouse.
The Mouse reacts swiftly unlike the Fox during the attack from the Mouse. Nevertheless there is a difference in size between these two beasts. Even with its quick reactions in dashing backwards its front leg still gets hit.
The Mouse falls back a short distance, and steadies itself quickly. The Fox immediately saw something different from the stance of the Mouse now. The Mouse was not putting any weight on the front paw that was hit.
Seeing this as a chance, the Fox strikes again in an attempt to end this battle. The strike finds its target easily as the Mouse fails to dodge in time. The claw of the Fox sinks itself into the neck of the Mouse pinning it to the ground.
Before the Mouse can continue its struggle the Fox bites its head quickly ending its life.
‘Hunt, Done, Reward, Now’
Licking his lips of the blood in satisfaction of a successful hunt the Fox prepares to eat the mouse as the Hunger so demands. As he begins to sink his teeth back into the mouse there is suddenly a howl in the distance.
‘Danger, Wolf, Run, Now’
Without even checking to see if the Wolf was really coming after him the Fox takes the mouse in its mouth and dashes back in the direction of the crack.
‘Safety, Quick’
The Fox knew that the crack was safe, the crack was where the Wolf could not harm him. Within a minute he reached the crack as he had never left far from the crack for fear of the Wolf. Diving into the crack with his fastest speed he reaches all the way to the cavern till he stops.
Through the crack he can faintly hear the angry howls coming from the Wolf. The Wolf was following him, it was only seconds behind him when he reached the crack.
‘Safe, now’
The Fox already knows that this cavern is safe from the Wolf, so he quickly relaxes. Once again tasting the blood of the mouse currently in his mouth he is reminded of his hunger. The Fox is tired and wants to sleep so he looks to where the Black Lily is.
The Black Lily still sits in the middle of the cavern, proud of its continued existence. The Fox then comes next to the Lily like last night and lays down. He feels comfortable again as he lays down. Happy with this arrangement he swiftly eats the mouse. The mouse caused the Hunger to quickly dissipate as he ate it.
Feeling content after ridding himself of the Hunger, the Fox soon felt sleep attempt to take him. He looked to the crack in the sky as saw that the 2nd Sun should rise soon so now is the time to rest. Ceasing his resistance against sleep he fell into a deep sleep.
Unknown to the Fox during this time was the roots of the Black Lily slowly enveloping the bones and leftover pieces of flesh from the mouse and dragging them back towards itself to be quickly decomposed and turned into nutrients.
