The Sigil Makers

Chapter 3

Woe clawed a small patch next to one of the many brooks that circled the camp. She wanted to see what would happen if she merged two of them. 

"Hey there, kid", she flinched when she heard someone talk behind her. She twisted her head around to see the very dark-furred, relatively slim brother of the leader and also her uncle; Mammoth.

"Hey, Mammoth. How are you doing?" Oh no! Did he hear of the embarassing tussle with Bliss? Cypress has made it very clear that the sisters aren't allowed to play-fight in the den anymore. She had also made it clear that threatening opponents with sharp objects—like thorns—is cheating. But I had no choice! 

"I am doing just fine. Are you alright? Bliss didn't hurt you, did she?" there was genuine concern in the dark tom's voice. Woe eyed him suspicously; Why do you care? Isn't Mastodon the one who's supposed to care?

"I'm fine. I could have easily won anyway", Woe puffed out her chest and flexed her claws. If Eyes hadn't stopped me, would I actually have tried to hurt her? She froze at the thought of that; of course she would never hurt her sister!

"I'm sure you would have", Mammoth chuckled. "But you shouldn't have engaged in the ''battle'', it's always better to solve problems using words", he stayed silent for a moment, "No matter what Cypress tells you".

"That's exactly what Eyes said", Woe murmured, extending her claws in and out.

"Eyes is extremely wise, and it's good that you listen to her", Mammoth suddenly nodded at the rock that stood in the middle of the camp. When Woe turned her head around, she saw her father sitting on it, examining the camp with his expressionelss gaze. "Some smilodons should listen to her more than others", Mammoth leaned down to whisper to Woe. The pale ginger cub chuckled. Doesn't Mastodon listen to Eyes? Doesn't he respect her? Well, I suppose when you're the leader of a pack you don't have to respect anyone.

"Has Mastodon heard of the fight yet?" Woe asked timidly. What would her father really think if he found out that Woe had engaged in such a lousy act?

Mammoth chuckled again, "He has so many other things to worry about. I promise I won't tell him, besides, if he did find out, I don't think he would be too concerned. You're both cubs after all, and participating in play-fights is completely normal" he assured.

"But what if he thinks that we are inferior because we fought over a small and stupid thing?" Woe panicked. Everyone always says to be verbal instead of using claws and teeth! Mastodon must enforce this firmly if everyone's so rigid about it.

"I can assure you, he couldn't care less. Have you forgotten we were once your age too?" Mammoth purred. "We play-fought all the time and nobody batted an eye" 

"Really? So it's fine?"

"Yeah, well, other than the stabby part, but otherwise friendly brawls are just fine. Even the adults do it sometimes", Mammoth assured gently. At least threatening her with a thorn stopped her from attacking me again, but what if I hadn't? What if she was actually going to hurt me over a story? She wouldn't be like that, would she?

Mammoth looked at Woe with a sympathetic look on his face. He pulled the pale cub closer and mewed:

"If it really worries you that much, come with me. I can take you out hunting to clear your mind"

"What?" Woe whipped her head around, "Cypress would kill us both if you took me outside of camp! Scratch that, she'd kill us even if you took me to the other side of the camp!"

"Who said she had to find out?" Mammoth chuckled, "Besides, it's not like you can refuse". Woe looked at the dark smilodon questioningly. "I mean, I'm the closest thing to a father figure you'll ever get. Mastodon doesn't seem too intereted in either of you",

Woe gasped, "That's not true! Cypress said he cared about us!" How could Mammoth claim that Mastodon didn't love her and Bliss? 

"He cares about you just as much as he cares about the other members. He doesn't do favourites—which is a strong trait in a leader", Mammoth added quickly, as if trying to soften his claim that Mastodon was a dead-beat.

Woe looked at her paws. All of those things were true. Had she ever even heard what Mastodon sounded like? She looked up to see the muscular tom speaking with Eyes, who was now sitting beside the rock. Mammoth's right. Maybe I'll never know my father like ordinary cubs would, but I and Bliss aren't ordinary, Woe puffed out her chest, we're a part of the most powerful pack in the lands.

"Fine. Maybe practicing some hunting would be good for me anyway", Woe finally agreed. Mammoth smiled warmly. Is that a genuine smile or a I-have-successfully-manipulated-this-cub smile?

"Let's go, then", Mammoth led Woe to the entrance of the camp, shoving aside the vines covering the exit. Woe glanced back at the camp once more; If we get caught, we're done for. But maybe I can ask Mammoth about some very secret hunting tricks and make a good impression on Mastodon! And show Bliss that I'm not someone to be messed with.

Mammoth glanced back every couple of steps to make sure Woe wasn't left behind. The pale cub tried her best to stay right behind the large male, but she felt like every possible piece of undergrowth got tangled in her fur. She growled when she felt grass burrs getting stuck between her pawpads and thorns scratching her ears. Wait up! Woe wanted to shout, but she was too tired from trying to evade sharp plants she didn't know the names of and getting thistles stuck in her fur at the same time.

Mammoth suddenly halted to a stop, and Woe almost crashed into him. 

"Why did we stop?" Woe looked up, although relieved that she could get a break from tripping over invisible roots and burrs materializing into her fur.

"Shh, look over there", Mammoth whispered and crouched down. Woe noted how the larger tom's elbows pointed up and his forepaws were tucked neatly under his chest. Woe followed Mammoth's gaze and saw a dark-brown tapir grazing the ground, as if it were foraging for something.

"Are you going to catch it?" Woe narrowed her eyes; the tapir looked really big, almost as big as a full-grown smilodon.

"Yes. But I need to be careful; these are very unpredictable and won't hesitate to attack first", Mammoth explained without looking at Woe. "The wind is blowing towards us, which is a good thing. Can you tell why?" 

"Uhm", Woe thought for a moment. "The wind blows against the tapir's ears so it can't hear us?" she guessed hopefully.

Mammoth chuckled, "No, but close I suppose. The wind is carrying the scent of the tapir to us so we can track it, but the tapir won't be able to notice our scent".

"Oh. That makes more sense", Woe focused on the tapir again. It had moved a couple of steps toward the undergrowth.

"Now, stay put and don't make a sound", Mammoth began creeping toward the large mammal while Woe watched. There's no way he can kill it! Should I go get help? What if it injures him? Or alerts every other prey animal of our presence?

She focused again, hearing a noise that sounded like an alarm call of a bird. She peeked from the undergrowth and saw how Mammoth had tripped the massive animal over and was now choking it with his massive sabers. Bright red blood oozed from the tapir's wound as the life slowly drained away from it's eyes and Woe could physically see how the massive mammal took it's final, arduous breath before it fell limp. Mammoth moved away from the kill and breathed heavily. 

Wow. Someday I'll be able to hunt animals who are just as big as me! Then I'll surely make an impression on Mastodon.