Chapter 4: Chapter 3

I was jolted awake, once again, though this time was by a piercing pain on my front paws. They were unlike any other paw I've ever seen before, with all the movable thin and long wiggly things with the tips covered with a hard thing, like a claw, though not quite. 

One of my front paws was bleeding from a deep gash. A flying one had landed on the branch I was sleeping on, and had driven his long, hard, and sharp mouth into me. 

"Cawww! Caw!" He screamed at me. I hurriedly began climbing back down, all the while, he was flying in circles around me, driving his mouth everywhere, and with my furless two-leg form, it hurt. A lot. And it bled a lot. But, it healed quickly. 

I hopped down the remaining distance, and landed wrong. My paw landed on a rock, and rolled sideways painfully. I fell over, the flying one continuing to bite me. I shifted to my quick furred form and ran away, one of my back legs pulsing painfully. The flying one didn't gave chase, and instead screamed a mighty "Caw!" once, then flew back up the tree.

Whimpering, I limped back to my territory. 

The big furred one! I suddenly remembered. I glanced down at my injured leg, still painful, but pulsing with slightly less intensity than before. The wounds from the flying one had stopped bleeding. I hesitated.

Should I go see what happened? 

I decided to go and see. 

Loping there with an awkward hop, I saw the big furry's fallen tree den emerging slowly. 

There were two tough ones' cold forms, their blood splattered everywhere. One was already stripped clean except some scraps of sinew that hung stubbornly to the bone. The other tough one was covered in slash marks, some of the meat had been slashed deep enough that the inside meat actually flipped outwards, revealing the pale bone underneath. The teeth on this one had been shattered, as if it had been biting down on a rock.

The scent of blood hung heavily around the fallen tree den. I listened for sounds of movement within the den.

There were sounds of heavy breathing coming within, and a sickly sweet smell of rot. 

Hesitantly, I moved forwards quietly, my injuries forgotten. 

I poked my snout in, and then my whole face. My eyes adjusted instantly, and I saw the slumbering form of the big furry one. He was bleeding from multiple places, his long tail was a bloody mess, his furry ears, hanging limply, had multiple new nicks and scratches in them. His hulking form was collapsed onto the ground, his legs bruised, his side full of holes. His stomach was torn open, his entrails peeking out from the thick fur.

His breaths went in slowly, and came out it multiple small huffs. His long fur was matted with blood, leaves, and dirt.

He was weak.

I crouched down and stalked forwards, walking slower and slower towards his neck. He didn't stir.

I quickly lunged forwards and bit into one of the wounds in his neck. I felt his muscles tensing, his breath stuttering once, and then his eyes fluttered open. His pupils dilated into slits, and he tried to swat me away.

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But he was too weak. His wounds re-opened, and new blood spilled out. He yowled, then laid back. I tried to bite down more, but his neck was too thick for my jaw to do anything. His eyes were focused on me this whole time, waiting for a chance.

I was out of options. But, I was hungry. He... I can eat.

This time. I bit down on his meatiest place; his forearms. 

I teared away the fur, and began eating. My hope was to make him lose blood even faster, so that he could go cold quicker.

Then I'll take this den, and remark my territory.

I don't have enough strength to defend all of the big furry one's territory, so I'll only use the long slimy's territory, my own small territory, the den, and the stretch of land in between. I'll have more trees, more bushes, and more prey animals.

Concentrating on my task, yet not letting my guard down, I ate him alive. His breaths came in fast, and out quickly. His eyes were looking at me with hate and pain. Mostly pain. I felt a hint of something from making him hurt. He had made me hurt multiple times. He had teared me up again and again. Now I can to the same to him. I grinned at his face, and continued to dig into his flesh. 

Slowly, his whole forearm had been stripped of most of its meat, and at that point, he had finally gone cold.

I knew I wouldn't be able to finish him off, so I dug a hole, and buried him in it. I did the same with the remaining tough one that still had meat on it. 

Then I remarked my territory, showing all the other ones that this was now mine, and mine alone.

The great cold quickly came, and covered the trees, bushes, and ground with white cold particles. This was the season when an unanimous truce was called from throughout the area around my own territory. It was already hard enough to survive through the cold, much less competing for land.

After, came the dry cold. That was when the nights and days were so cold, it was dry. It made my nose freeze, made all the branches frozen. It was beautiful, and very deadly. That was when with just one gust of wind, the chill would invade my whole body, piercing straight down to my bones and flesh. the chill that stayed no matter what.

I had saved many berries, and hunted then buried multiple prey, form the great cold. All the prey ones had hidden, the big furry ones, long slimy ones, and others, are stuck in their dens, sleeping. But other ones, like the quick furry ones, were out hunting for tough ones and the few and sparse prey ones still out. 

The streams had been frozen into sparkling streams of ice. The ponds had been covered in freezing snow, the trees' branches heavy with ice and icicles. The sun shines brightly in the sky, with not a single cloud in sight. It was also when that happens, that it was the coldest.

I stayed shivering within my new den, taking small bites of my frozen prey and berries. I had to make sure it lasted, or else I would go cold, just like the scenery outside.

After the long nights and sparse days of the great cold, the great cold had finished, and the small warmth had come.

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