Waking up after a long sleep, the Fox didn’t even get a chance to stretch before the insatiable Hunger complained. Turns out that Black Rose didn’t actually do much for curing his Hunger.

 

‘Hungry, Hunt’

 

The Fox could be considered to be unsatisfied with the current situation, yet he was also getting used to it. The Hunger can be demanding, yet it isn’t unreasonable enough to force him to hunt when he can’t.

 

Unfortunately this is not one of those times when the Hunger believes hunting is impossible. The demand to hunt rang loud and clear today. Not really thinking much into why, the Fox just did what it knows can fix this, hunt.

 

‘Safe?.... Safe’

 

Having learned his lesson the hard way not too long ago, the Fox has been getting better about remembering to check for danger before he leaves the safety of the crack. Once again the signs were clear with the scent of the Wolf nowhere to be found.

 

Happily walking, actually limping, out of the crack, the Fox started his hunt with the 1st Sun just rising. His goal for the hunt to find the “Good Smell” and actually succeed at his hunt.

 

The hunt for the 1st sun’s time was rather unsuccessful, nothing was found. There wasn’t even a hint of a mouse or something that had the “Good Smell”. Returning before the 2nd sun rises and starts to burn the land hand in hand with the 1st sun. 

 

Napping during the times of unbearable heat was the Foxes favorite, and only, passtime for the rapid weather changes that happen like the heat of the 2 suns. 

 

Waking back up after the fall of the 1st sun, the Fox started his hunt once again. Having slept during the 2 suns period, the Fox decided to continue his hunt into the beginning of the night.

 

With what little luck the Fox has after his near death experience, he managed to find another plant similar to the Black Rose from earlier. This time the plant was in the form of a four-leaf clover. Not wasting any time the Fox ate the clover right then and there, and continued his hunt.

 

Returning once again due to the start of the 3 moon period the Fox started to nap once again, basking in the warmth of the sun. Waking up after this time, the Fox noticed his senses seemed to have become stronger after his nap. In addition to his senses being enhanced his hind leg now is usable, though not fully healed.

 

With the beginning of his hunt that would stretch into the morning of the next day, the Fox found that detecting and following the “Good Smell” was far easier now. In no time he caught the scent of a “Good Smell”.

 

With the notice of this “Good Smell” the Fox went straight into his hunting mode. Following the scent deeper into the forest that he had dared to venture, he started to become nervous.

 

‘Danger, Safety, Far’

 

He recognised that if he kept venturing deeper into the forest he would get too far from the cavern. With the farther he gets the less likely he is to reach safety in the event of the Wolf appearing.

 

Despite his worries the Hunger was demanding as always and gave no room for negotiation on his need to follow this scent. Finally reaching the source of the scent, now much further from his cavern than he would like, the Fox spotted the source. 

 

This time the source of the “Good Smell” was a rabbit, the rabbit seems eerily similar to the one he failed to catch in his past hunt. Determined to get his revenge for his failure, whether it is the same rabbit or not, he became very serious in his prowl. 

 

‘Hunt, Careful’

 

With the heightened senses he has recently acquired, his ability to sneak up on the rabbit was now enhanced making the hunt easier. Within a short time the Fox was once again in position behind the rabbit.

 

Waiting for a time while slowly moving his body into position to pounce he watched the rabbit closely, ready to make an improvised pounce if he was found early. After getting fully prepared the Fox made his sudden pounce towards the rabbit.

 

‘Kill, Quick’

 

Knowing that he must kill the rabbit quickly so as to prevent it from escaping, he went straight for the throat of the rabbit with his jaws. Both of his front paws were also positioned to knock the rabbit down and get a grip on its flesh.

 

Before the rabbit could even react to his much more coordinated and successful pounce, the Fox’s front paws did their job and pinned the rabbit down. The claws of his front paws sunk into the flesh of the front and back legs, giving the rabbit a shock making it do a jump in its panic.

 

With its sudden attempt to jump it only caused his claws to rip more flesh and dig in deeper. With the attempt to flee thwarted the Fox promptly bite down on the neck of the rabbit quickly ending its life.

 

‘Hunt, Good’

 

Happy that he completed his hunt and his revenge against the rabbit species, the Fox picked up the body of the rabbit in his mouth. The Hunger surprisingly didn’t require him to eat the rabbit right there and then as he had already eaten at least something today.

 

‘Food, Store’

 

The Fox habitually being one to store food so he could laze about for a longer time period, was more than happy to store the food in his new den, also known as the cavern.

 

After arriving back at the cavern he went to just the left of the crack that he used as an entrance and exit and promptly dug a small hole in the ground against the wall. This hole would serve as his food storage space, he would have rathered to have there be a space in the wall, but stone isn’t something he can really cut.

 

Finishing his storage, the Fox proceeded to start his hunt again. The rest of the hunt was rather unsuccessful so he returned rather disappointed. 

 

‘Rest, Now’

 

Seeing the 2 suns in the sky through the crack in the ceiling the Fox lay in his fox shaped imprint that he now considers his “spot”, there are many like this spot but this spot is his.

 

For the next 4 days these calm days of hunting continued. The Fox spent 2 times a day hunting, during the times that the heat or cold were bearable. As is demanded by the Hunger he always ate something after his 2 suns nap, then stored the rest in his food storage.

 

During these 4 days the Fox collected quite the number of successful hunts. There seemed to also be an increase in the number of targets in the last 2 days of hunting. In the end his spoils included:

 

Spoils:

• 6 - 1 Star Mouse (1 Eaten)
• 1 - 1 Star Dandelion (Eaten)
• 2 - 1 Star Rabbit (1 Eaten)
• 1 - 1 Star Daisy

 

Most of the mice had been found during the last two days of hunt which seems somewhat odd at their sudden increase. Nevertheless the Fox isn’t one to think about why there is a lot of food, only that there is a lot of food!

 

Additionally the condition of the Fox had become the best it's ever been after the second day of hunting, he never felt healthier. Any kind of pain from moving around, be it from the ribs, the tail, or the hind leg none bothered him anymore.

 

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end at some point with the next morning marking the start of the 8th day since the Wolf left the Fox alone.

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Author Note: Personally I think I let the quality of this chapter slip away from me this time, I don't know maybe tell me what you think in the comments. I think it just came down to me getting a headache from my current system to keep track of the characters and trying to do a time skip. That may have taken longer than the actual writing of the chapter.

Either way I hope that you all still are enjoying the story, I know the writing may seems sub par at times but I will work on making the chapters better as we go and I fix my systems.

Oh also, I wanted to mention one hole in my Evolution of Spirit Beasts that I didn't mention in the Side Story. When it comes to evolving to the next stage, a beast requires a trigger of a food source that has power equivalent to themselves or higher.

Additionally in this next chapter I am making there is a possibility of becoming confused about how it works so I'll be asking about if you want another Side Story after Chapter 7 even though its so soon after the last one.