Survival Of the Fittest (Hawkeye Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: First Kill (Black Widow)

Meda scouted around, her head lowered into her shoulders as she pushed forward into a stalking position. Natasha followed but she certainly wasn't as agile or stealthy as Meda. However Meda new that she would get better. Meda was a natural stalker since she was a lion.

"Where are we going," whispered Natasha as she leaned over Meda.

Meda lashed her tail to quiet Natasha as she looked around. "We're patrolling and usually when you patrol you're quiet. You're looking for things that aren't usually there. That's why patrols are done every day."

"You seem to know a lot," commented Natasha as she followed Meda on delicate feet.

Meda shrugged. "Helps to be a lion," she confessed as she suddenly heard the sound of claws on something behind her. She let out a growl to alert Natasha that she heard something. Natasha gave a firm nod and clung back a bit while Meda crept forward some more. She craned her ears forward and heard the gentle huffing of a lion. By the sound of the huffing Meda was sure it was female and not the male of Enthrear that she had been half hoping for.

"Do you got this one," asked Natasha since she knew that there was no way she could take on a lion, especially a full grown lion with a temper.

Meda licked her lips. "Yeah, I got this one," she breathed as she strode forward with each of her paws while her whiskers grazed the ground. She stayed hidden among the grasses for as long as possible.

Once she was a few paces from the lioness she leaped. She exploded with a snarl and slammed into her, thrusting her sideways. The lioness was jolted for a heartbeat but she bounced back easily. She hissed in rage and lunged for Meda, her claws raking the air. Meda stepped sideways but the lioness managed to tear a tuft of fur from her shoulder.

Anger burned inside of Meda so that a roar exploded from her throat. The lioness's eyes widened before Meda lunched forward and sunk her teeth into the front of the lioness's neck. The lioness extended her claws and tried to rake at Meda but Meda was too cunning for that. She twisted her teeth as deeply as possible until she felt the windpipe.

She threw the lioness sideways and pushed on the windpipe with all of her weight. Eventually it broke and the lioness went limp with blood soaking through the wound.

Meda took a step back, her eyes staring at what she had just done. The lioness's body was ravaged from where she had attacked and her eyes were frozen in a constant pain or terror at what was happening. Blood was still pooling from the wound but the heart wasn't pumping. Soon there would be no more blood inside her and the bleeding would stop, but that wouldn't be for a while.

"I go her," yowled Meda, feeling nothing for the lioness. She had trespassed into their territory so she deserved the punishment. However, it was still strange to see what she had done. It was her first kill and hopefully the last. However, she knew that it probably wasn't a possibility.

Natasha jogged over and seemed to be surprised to see the dead lioness. "You did that?"

Meda spiraled around and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I did do that," she spat in anger. "She was on our territory and needed to be punished."

"Couldn't a simple word maybe urged her to no longer-"

"That's not how it works in the animal kingdom," corrected Meda rather sharply despite herself. "It's either kill or be killed. That's what happened to my mother."

Natasha sighed a bit as she stretched out her fingers. Meda knew that sign and she strode forward as Natasha ran her fingers through Meda's soft fur to check for any wounds. She had just had torn fur that would eventually grow back with time. "At least warn me before you do that."