Creeping towards the Deer, I was now firmly downwind from the Herd. My only problem now was my bulk and my easy to spot fur… silver white… Silver White… SILVER WHITE!! Who thinks that’s a good colour type for something that will live in brown and green covered terrain!! That was probably my biggest disadvantage!! Even bigger than my size! How was I meant to blend in?

Well that’s a problem I can’t fix now. Actually no I won’t fix it now, because around me and under me was some tasty looking mud that would hide my fur colour reaal well. I personally, as a man of luscious hair in both lives, know the pain of getting muck out of hair. It just never came out, simple as that. 

Not due to lack of trying, you would just randomly find a pebble in there and you haven’t done anything outdoors for a few weeks. It was a pain but you learn to instinctively keep your hair clean, those same instincts are telling me to “LEAVE THE MUD ALONE!!”.

A being of sound mind like myself (I was crazy once they loc-) stop background thoughts you aren’t needed. Decided to do the smart thing to gain cover by going on all fours and crouching down. Ok that sounded weird, as a human all fours was basically the lowest you could go without being on your stomach. For me? An intermediary. I went from standing, to stooped over, to all fours, to crouching / bending my knees, to on my stomach. 

A lot of steps but I was still like 4 feet tall at my tallest, and my shaggy coat wanted to touch the floor. Barely 3 inches of the ground, but I was ready now.

Crawling in a natural, somehow not comfortable way, I approached the Herd only bearly blocked by bushes and trees. 

Stalking ever closer I was observing and analysing their behaviour. I hadn’t been spotted, the sentry looked to be facing the entire opposite direction to me. 

Closer. The Herd was grazing peacefully, having their fill of grass, ferns and bushes. Closer. I could now see with ease which Doe was pregnant, which was injured, and who among them was old.

Closer. The fluttering of ears and the slowing of chews signalled that they were alert.

Stop. I waited. I had time. I had the patience. I had a target.

Closer. They resumed their meal, this time however they were moving. Ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. 

I was close enough. Maybe 30 feet away. Blocked by a large bush and tree. I could reach them. I would have my meal soon.

Now! While the sentry (Buck) was facing away from me and the Does were focused with their meals. I pounced.

Power, Strength,  Brutality.

That is all I felt as time seemed to freeze, my optimised body calling for the full release of every single muscle to reach MY PREY.

Lurching forward, I started the beginning of a ground shaking gallop. Still on all fours. My body is a weapon and I plan on using ALL of it.  After all this hunt needed Perfection. Nothing less, and I was going to have it.

Trembling, the earth gave me away. The Deer felt me coming before they saw me. A shimmering mass of silver fur and muscle. I covered tens of feet in a second. 

My threat now apparent, some froze, others bolted. But they all felt fear, I could smell it. Pure panic. It smelled almost sweet.

Bounding across the forest, wind at my heels I had reached the Herd. The ones that had frozen realised their folly and fled with the rest. Wanting, craving, fighting for the right to survive.

It didn’t matter. I had already got what I wanted. I had already won the battle.

There in the revolving chaos was a lone Doe, old and aged; she stayed at the edge of the Herd to be used as a meat shield to block the Young and Pregnant Doe from predators and dangers. 

Like me.

I could have chosen another Deer, maybe a pregnant Doe or Young one with more meat, even the Buck if I wanted to. But I didn’t need to risk it, who knows what importance they had for local rangers.

I however made the easiest and wisest choice. Everything and everyone was expecting the Doe to die. She had the least chance of having a tracker or importance to local rangers and scientists. She would probably die this year, could be due to a predator or of natural causes.

What marked her specific downfall out of all the other Elderly Does. She didn’t have a tag. She couldn’t have calves. She had no value left. Nothing would look for her after her death. No backlash from humans. No loss in the Herd.

Free Hunting.

The Doe could do nothing as I bulldozed toward her. My approaching visage shook her little mind as the earth quaked under my paws. Dirt carved out from the forest floor by my deadly claws.

She was dead already, and she knew it.

She tried to flee, tried to go with the Herd, tried to survive another day. 

But she was old, she couldn’t eat like she used to. She couldn’t hear or smell like she used to. She couldn’t taste like she used to. She couldn’t run like she used to.

On feeble old legs she ran in a futile attempt to get away. But I was faster.

Faster than the Pregnant Does, faster than the Young Does, faster than the Young Buck. Faster than Her.

She was lagging behind her troop desperately trying to keep up with the others to be safe. There was no safety. I was coming.

I could have done it quickly and gotten her in a matter of seconds. However there was one small problem… I enjoyed the Hunt. The thrill of control over life, the joy of knowing that I could at any time end this game and have my prize. But I was patient. I would have my fun.

Realising she couldn’t escape me she broke off from the Herd, maybe in an act of self sacrifice. She was taking the danger away from the Herd, saving the others with a brighter future than herself. Saving her daughters and grandkids. A noble sacrifice indeed.

Still I chased. I weaved and meandered through trees, keeping a steady distance between us. Always watching my surroundings. Always remembering where I came from. How to get home efficiently and as fast as possible after I end my charade.

‘What’s that?’

I saw something I forgot to pay attention to. It would bring the end of my game. The Doe was getting tired anyway, it wasn’t fun anymore.

With a flurry of paws I sped up reaching the Doe with a few bounds. I could see horror in those simple eyes. They screamed for the will to live. Live she would not.

Running beside her I realised how small she was. I towered over her 5 ish foot frame with my hulking 7 foot frame when on fours. 

‘This would be easy’ I thought.

Opening my maw, I exposed my sharp piercing teeth ready to clamp around the Does neck. I couldn’t see her face but I knew those eyes would present acceptance. She knew she would die when I picked her for my meal. She just wished fate would be wrong.

With a resounding wet bony “CRUNTTCH!!!” her life was over. A long good life. Ultimately she would always be at the bottom of my food chain, as would everything in this forest.

Holding a bit longer onto her neck and letting the death spasms end. My mouth was now covered in blood and viscera that stained my silver hair temporarily. Dropping the Does corpse I knew my hunt was over and it was a success. Even the system agreed, a message popping up saying I cleared the second objective. I however had bigger fish to fry.

There in the middle of the forest was a path. Not an animal path. No this was man made. Fences along the hill edge, way mark signs on the corner of the fork road. This all screamed of a park trail. It also jogged my memory of something that slipped by me earlier.

“Fuck!! Task number 4! I knew there was a fourth!! I’m so stupid to forget about such a simple one!!”

I was bashing my head, feeling like an idiot. How could I remember a dream over something so simply simple that a toddler could remember it. If I knew my memory was this bad I would have tried all those memory games and techniques that supposedly improve your IQ. 

Why couldn’t I have been like all those protagonists with photographic memories or perfect recall, whatever they called that bullshit. How come others main characters can never make mistakes unless they’re massive mistakes that affect countries or the world. 

I feel incompetent. Why, you ask? Because… Drum Roll Please.

Task 4: figure out how close my cave is to humans.