Believe - Chapter 7: Hunter Trap

When Imya woke up she felt her stomach growl again. Even though she had been without food for two nights before it was not nice and hunger would come back the second night and it was the same here. She still felt strong and full of energy because of the big meal she had two nights before but Imya knew she had to find something to eat. To satisfy the growling stomach for now she started by eating a bit of the snow and then she crawled out of her emergency den.

The star was waiting for her already. Bright and with the beautiful tail it was there and guided her. She directly followed the star and ignored the moon that made a bow over the start as if it wanted to get her attention. Step after Step Imya followed the star and only every now and then she looked around to maybe get lucky on something to eat. She had never listened much to the hunter lessons of her father and at this moment she started to regret this. Imya started to understand what her father wanted to tell her all along about listening to his teachings and that she would need them in her life. The moon aside, she should have listened to his other lessons. The hunting, the way finding, the tracking. How to find a warm den when you were outside. Imya was not sure if he had talked about it, because she was nightdreaming very often but if he had, it would have come in pawy in her current situation. Even though the star was guiding her she was sure that she had to find food and a den before the morning for herself.

When the moon already started to hide behind a mountain to her right, she reached another forest and she could see the star only now and then through the treetops. It was reassuring for her that the star did not change the direction like the moon. It was there and showed her the way. Imya noticed that two nights in a row without food while playing or laying around might have been okay but now she felt how her energy depleted. Running all night took much more energy and her stomach could not be satisfied with just snow anymore. her steps began to get weaker and she stumbled a few times but she kept her eyes on the star every time the treetops opened and let her have a peek.

Imya smelled something. It smelled like blood. Maybe a wounded prey. Her stomach was urging her to follow the scent and her legs obeyed. Her eyes were only half open because she got very tired in the last hour. She could barely see the ground before her and just followed the smell of the expected dinner. The scent got closer and between some trees she saw a piece of meat. Carefully she closed in and looked around. She was suspicious about the meat lying around in the open with no predator around. She listened to the noises around but she could hear no other animal. Maybe who ever caught this had been disturbed in the middle of the meal and left?

There was no sign of the predator anywhere and over the meat there was a bit of snow which told Imya that the tracks of whoever left the meat there was erased by the snowfall. Imya still felt danger. She slowly advanced towards the meat. She had to learn the hard way with her brothers and sisters that taking meat that someone else wanted was not a good idea if you did not want to fight them. The hunger won the fight inside her and she closed in the last steps. She sniffed at the meat and then she opened her muzzle and ate it. It was juicy and tasted good even though it was very cold and had been there for a while, as far as Imya could say.

SNAP! Imya just wanted to leave the place when she felt a pain at her right foreleg. Her paw had hit something on the ground when she turned and where the meat had been, were iron claws now that gripped her leg, right under her shoulder. The big teeth of the predator missed her leg but she was stuck between the flat sides of it. She had been happy to only have her let trapped. If she would have stepped on this before she took the meet her head might have been in this predator's maw. Imya struggled and tried to pull free but it only hurt more and the predator held her in the merciless grasp. Imya cried loud for help and found out that her voice healed enough to send echoes through the silent forest. It was not a real howl yet but the whimper of a pup but if any wolfs were nearby they would hear. Imya could not think. Her head began to hurt as well because she hit it at the iron yaw when she tried to break free. Her leg hurt the most and the white fur showed a bit of red from blood. Imya fought against it for her life. She knew that this thing was a great danger and would eat her when she stopped fighting but with every minute that passed she got more and more tired. This creature, that ever it was, had much more endurance than she had. It never loosened its grip. Also, every time she tried to break free it snarled in frightening way.

Finally, Imya lost consciousness from the exhaustion and the pain of fighting against this strange creature. She saw the sky getting brighter with the start of the day and then the world around her got dark again. The last thing she felt was the pain in her leg and then she drifted into dreamless sleep with the uncertainty if she would ever wake up again.