~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.”

             Salena licked his muzzle and rubbed her head against his before replying, “I lived with them since the day I was born and…you know how everyone always thinks their families are perfect. Then came the day when Bardolf proposed to me. I finally saw that all they wanted was power and more pups to strengthen them.”

             “Besides,” Kahoko added, “Survival of the fittest. If we can manage to drive them away, we deserve this, and they deserve this.”

             The two she-wolves tried to comfort him and all fourteen wolves settled down for the night.

~

             Kamatz awoke even earlier the next morning. He yawned, baring his sharp teeth, and then stretched to get himself ready for the long day of training. He woke only his group because he figured the others should be more independent for the upcoming battle.

             They soon left the cave and clambered down the mountain. At some point, Kawthar slipped on a loose rock and rolled down the mountain several yards.

             “You okay!?” Ryker said as he and Aatu raced after him. Keelia snorted with laughter as she followed, and Kamatz kept a straight face.

             Kawthar clumsily rose to his paws and shook the dirt and dust from his fur before replying, “I’m fine, it just startled me.”

             “Well C’mon, we have a fun way of hunting today,” Kamatz said as he led the way across the valley into the forest.

             Aatu, seemingly the pup that loved hunting most in the group so far, widened his eyes in excitement before asking, “What is it!? Is it the best one ever! I bet it’s something awesome!!!”

             “Calm down!” Kamatz said as they entered the forest, “You’ll have to wait and see.”

             “I smell a herd of buffalo that passed by a few hours ago headed east!” Aatu jumped excitedly as he ran a few paces in the direction of the smell.

             Kamatz smiled slightly before replying, “four buffalo that passed by a single hour ago headed…well, in the direction you said, east.”

             The other three pups glared at him, knowing he had stolen their opportunities to impress their father. Fortunately, Aatu wasn’t as great at actually killing the prey, so they would have plenty of time to impress him.

             They trotted along the scent trail for a little over an hour before they saw them, two very old males, one very old female, and a somewhat young male. Kamatz thought about which of his favorite techniques they would use today. He quickly decided on one that would get all of them for plenty of food.

             Kamatz turned to the four pups and said, “Aatu, I want you to go over to the opposite side of the field and very slowly scare them this way, while the rest of us will try to hunt from the trees. Look for my signal, Aatu.”

             The wolves seemed interested and the smallest ran off to the other side. Then Kamatz turned to Kawthar, hoping he would be the best because of his amazing leg strength.

             “What you do,” Kamatz began as he clutched the bark of a tree, “Is cling to the tree with your front claws and hop up with your hind legs. Then cling with your hind legs and push yourself up. Repeat this until you reach the lowest branch. From there, you just leap up to the next and the next until you’re at the point you want to be. But for now, we’ll just try the first branch. Kawthar, do you want to try on the tree next to mine?”

             He puffed out his chest and wrapped his paws around the tree. Then he hopped up a few inches and stuck his hind claws in the bark. From there he jumped up and dangled from a few feet higher by a single paw. Kawthar quickly recovered and clung on with all of his claws. He took one last leap and snagged a branch in his two front paws. He skillfully climbed up from there and sat on the branch with pride.

             “Keelia, do you want to try the other tree next to me?” Kamatz asked her with a slight smile, he was proud of his son.

             She nodded and looked at the tree with a determined look. Keelia looked at the lowest branch that was only about five feet off of the ground. She circled the tree for a moment before returning to her original position and looking it over one more time.

             What is she doing? Kamatz asked himself as he started to impatiently watch her every move.

             Suddenly, she leaped into the tree and, using momentum, bounced onto the middle of the lowest branch. She knew that she was only expected to go up to the first branch, but she kept going, bouncing from branch to branch and spiraling up the tree to one of the highest branches. But she stayed decently low to make sure the branches wouldn’t snap under her weight.

             When she was sure that they had seen, she quickly spiraled back down to the first branch, amazingly gracefully. Ryker looked very sad as he gazed up at the three wolves.

             Kamatz, seeing his distress, suggested, “If you’re worried about it, climb up my tree. I can help you the rest of the way if you can just get halfway up.”

             Ryker seemed a bit happier after that. He looked up and down the tree before crouching low to the ground. The pup gritted his teeth, his muscles strained. Then he leaped into the tree and sunk his claws into the bark of the branch Kamatz was on. From there Kamatz hoisted him up and leaped onto a new branch, Leaving Ryker to the easier job.

             Kamatz looked and saw Aatu staring at them, his pelt hardly visible in the tall, thick grass. He then looked at his other pups that were well-hidden in the leaves of the trees and explained, “When Aatu scares a buffalo under your tree, try to land squarely on its shoulders and kill it as fast you possibly can so it can’t buck you off and, basically, get you injured.”

             They all nodded, and Kamatz flicked his ears, signaling Aatu to get the buffalo to go that way. Luckily, because of his intelligence, Aatu was able to lead the healthiest and strongest buffalo under Kamatz, and the old ones under the other three. The creatures seemed to be a little spooked, but near thought to look up for more hunters.

             As soon as the buffalo went under the trees, Kamatz, Keelia, Ryker, and Kawthar jumped onto the creatures. Aatu helped Keelia, who seemed to be struggling most with her catch which was the largest of them all.

             Kamatz was the first to kill his target and he immediately helped Ryker dispatch his kill. As soon as they turned around, the other two buffalo were on the ground.

             It took the rest of their training time to drag the carcasses back to the den, where Salena was already waiting with her group.

             “Where is Kahoko?” Kamatz asked as he dropped his buffalo at the very back of the cave where it was always coolest.

             “She’s just finishing up training how to battle on a mountainside,” Salena answered and pointed with her muzzle as Aden jumped from behind a boulder and attacked Luna, then Senka jumped in and tackled Aden.

             Before long, Kahoko told them to wrap it up and they made their way back to the den. She gasped when she went towards the back of the cave and saw all of the food they had gathered.

             They all ate the carcasses, two of which were gone before all of the wolves were stuffed to the point of bursting. Then they discussed what had transpired during the day, and settled down to sleep.