Hidden by the Mountain

Chapter 10, Hidden by the Trees

~So I'm probably going to have a chapter for each of the first five days of training, likely more. But I still haven't completely decided what to do for the rest of the time...we'll see when we get there, huh? Enjoy the chapter :)~

Chapter 10, Hidden by the Trees

             Kamatz and his pups made it back to the den without anything else happening that would slow them down. Unfortunately, by the time they got back, it was already sundown.

             “Sorry we took so long,” Kamatz said as he was the first to enter the den, “but they insisted on lugging their catches back.

             The other pups, Salena, and Kahoko all admired the buffalo as Kawthar, Aatu, Ryker, and Keelia walked in with them.

             It wasn’t long before all of the wolves were tearing at the carcasses, only to have them scraped to nothing but bone in minutes. Kahoko snatched a rib in her jaws and broke it so she could suck out the marrow.

             “So it wasn’t enough?” Kamatz said sadly.

             Salena walked up to him before reassuring him, “Don’t worry. You have another fourteen days to catch enough to make us so full we explode.”

             “Besides,” Kahoko added, “It was more than enough to last a few days before we truly need more. Hopefully your pups are great hunters and can kill enough for us to eat.”

             “Anything happen to your groups today?” Salena asked them.

             Kamatz gulped and opened his mouth to say what they had done when Kahoko replied, “We saw Sherwin from the pack. We were using as our lesson for a bit but then he attacked us and we were forced to kill him.”

             Salena cocked her head curiously, “I wonder what he was doing alone? He usually keeps near to others and show off his speed. Well, my group found a very rare berry that can increase how well your blood clots if taken regularly once a day. We decided to save them for closer to the battle so we don’t go through them beforehand. What about you Kamatz? You look like you have something to say?”

             Kamatz smiled. He was a little nervous about explaining it to them, but he was getting anxious as they kind of…stole the conversation and turned it into some sort of gossip time.

             “Well,” he began nervously, “We may have bumped into a Moonlight Shadows hunting patrol and killed five wolves.”

             “Nice!” Kanai said.

             “How many does that leave?” Salena asked before saying, “I believe there were 37 before I left and it went down to 36. Then we lost two in that battle and against the Shattered fang pack.”

             “Down to 34,” Kahoko began to add, “Then I left, 33,”

             Kamatz quickly jumped in, “Then I killed Fravardin, Majesta, and one other wolf, 30. Then me and the pups killed those other five,” he conveniently left names out in hopes that Kahoko wouldn’t get sad and decide to leave.

             “And last but not least, my group killed Sherwin,” Kahoko finished.

             “That leaves us with only 24,” Aatu said as he jumped up to the rock ledge/shelf.

             “Ten more down and we will have this in the bag!” Borvo shouted in triumph, jumping into the air.

             They all smiled and then Kamatz said, “I do feel kind of guilty though. They were here before us and are just protecting themselves.”