Four hours. Altaris had been crouching for exactly four hours. He waited and waited. His knees started to tremble, turning into rubber. He remember the first hunting lesson from his master: 'count every second'. Therefore, he counted. Ignoring both the trees and the snagging branches, who he was sure hiding his prey by now. Every…single…second.
To be a hunter, is to make sure the time for supper
He licked his mouth – Yuck. Bitter. Dirt had snuck under his tongue.
Doesn't matter. Once he caught his prey…
He glanced back to the tree stacks. Orange leaves lay in a pile on the ground, blown slowly by the sweet summer winds. On the low branch, A red-and-white beetle waving its horns with a moth stuck in between. He clicked his tongue, envious. He tried to ignore the vision, relying on his nose: only to be drowned by tree sap mixed with rich, earthy scent. No fur, no trail.
Now, before gloom started to crawl around his heart, what would his master do in this situation?
If his eyes and nose didn't work, what option did he have?
Touch?
Could he use touch?
He drawn his hand, clawing around the ground. The humus soil, sticky and dark, coiling around his finger. No trail either.
It was time to the second rule of hunt, what was it—yes.
'If you can't find the prey, watch the shadow'
There was one problem though
As he focused on the forest floor, the light of the star shone through the canopy of leaves, leaving a shade—huge, encompassing, without an inch of white. Was he supposed to watch for his prey's shadow in the middle of all this darkness? How?
Just then, something stirred—a shadow, flashing around the edge of his vision.
'Anyway thanks master'
A smirk slip past his mouth. Quick and proud. In truth, this was the first time he had done something like this: looking for a shadow among the darkness. His mother always said that he was a special child. His eyes were special, his nose was special, his existence was special. And he believed it, with all his heart.
After all, he was his mother's number one
She was right after all—His heart pounded. The shadow stirred again. Small movement slithering like snake under the tree towers. It was his pray. In cue, he checked the bush again, making sure he left nothing behind. Clear. It was time…
For the chase to begun
His ankle moved first, low, almost touching the dirt. With a tweak of shoes, the trail he left behind was gone—a technique he learned from his master. Small, but important. He twirled his body forward, slipping pass the wind and dodging the pile of leaves. One wrong step, the crack would spread into the whole jungle. He didn't want that.
Silence. The hunt required silence. But, moving also essential—the prey wouldn't just stood there.
Ten meters, twenty meters, still running forward. He dodged a bush, rising both hands to catch a branch—It rustled under his palm. But that was fine. A common thing in jungle. His prey wouldn't notice. And it hadn't.
Until he saw it—his prey.
Four slender legs, small stature with proportionate neck, and cute little face complete with a bit of bump atop its head—a deer. His first deer in his ten-years lifetime. How cool was that.
'Stay there, buddy. Nice and slow'
The murmurs vanished under his breath. He reached past his dark latex coat, taking his weapon. A stringless bow. The silver-coated limbs cold to the touch, his thumb bruised around the flower-shaped carving. And flick—the bow vanished. An artifact. A gift from his mother when he turned seven.
And this time, this present would help him hunt
Even if the string was unseen, it still touchable—tensed under his grip. He closed his eyes, pulling the tread and aim it at the deer green butt. Arrowless. He couldn't see stuff, but he was trained to do just that.
"When aiming, try not to see the target. Some creature mainly use their instinct to survive, especially the weak ones. They could see their hunter sight lock straight at them. So… closed your eyes"
His teacher declared, and he obeyed. Every time.
More, a little more. He tightened his grip, mind assaulted by a vison of deer steak. The rich fatty smell, how the meat slides around his tongue…
He took a deep breath, loosening his grip little by little. Almost—
"Altaris"
"Fu—"
He missed—by inches. With a rustle, the deer was gone—swallowed by the woods. He wanted to scream, to the one daring to startle him…
A second. His survival instinct flared, holding his tongue in place. Then—a bell rang in his head as he recalled the sound back then: sweet, feminine, and familiar.
"Continue, my dear"
The voice spoke again. As sugary as before, but with a tint of deep note. He swallowed a lump in his throat. Die. He was going to die, wasn't he?
No. Of course not. He had options. When such things happened, one solution was left. After all, as his mother number one, he knew her the best. He took a deep breath. Then, as air entered his lungs, his lips began to curl into a…
Smile. A huge smile.
His only card left
"What a lovely black dress you wore mother. And look, I almost caught a deer this time"