A hunt

By the second week of their journey, nothing interesting had happened. They had just passed the village hidden in the grass. Now they were in a large forest just at the border with the Earth country. The bandits they were warned about were operating in this forest, but they hadn't been bothered by them yet. Mitasa hadn't sensed anything. Just an animal every now and again.

Asher loved being there. He felt at peace in the forest. He could let his animal side run free. He listened to the sounds of the animals. Sometimes he would answer back, but then one of the others would scold him for being so loud. Every time they made camp, animals would come to the perimeter and just sit there. Even if Asher beckoned to them, they would never budge.

One night they set up camp in a small clearing. Asher collected the firewood and set the fire. Taza freaked out when he saw the fireball shoot from his mouth, without using any hand signs. Aria built the tents from two balls of metal. Asher thought it was strange he never noticed her doing that before. Minasa stood at the edge of camp, searching for enemies. Only Zazu and Taza did absolutely nothing, though Asher would sometimes play pranks on them. Like lighting them on fire or making an animal piss on them. He would also sneak up behind them and scare the shit out of them with a roar. Aria and him kept having fits of laughter after a prank, but Minasa just scoffed.

As the sun set, the forest really came to life. The predators calling into the the night. Asher sat in a tree and listened. He loved these sounds. He could spend ours listening to nature. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a branch snapping. Snarling, he turned towards the sound. What he found was a pack of wolves standing at the edge of the camp. Asher leaped from the tree and landed next to Aria.

The largest wolf, which was obviously the alpha male, howled. This startled the others, but only made Asher smile.

"What are they saying?" asks Aria.

"They're inviting me to hunt with them," he says before howling himself, "I've just accepted. For now, they'll wait till I'm ready to go."

"What if you take too long getting ready?" Mitasa asks smirking, "Will they run off without ya."

"No. They can sense my strength and can tell that if I join the hunt, then the chance of it's success will increase dramatically. Also they see me as the alpha male now and none of them will dispute that."

With that he removed his shirt and dropped down on all fours. Howling again, he took of like a flash. The wolves follow him and begin barking. Asher barks orders to them, getting their formation perfect. When everything was ready, he sniffed the air and immediately picked up the scent of a deer. Again he howls and the wolves answer excitedly with their own. They tracked the scent to a large cluster of thorn bushes about half a kilometer from the camp.

The pack spreads out on Asher's orders and zeroed in on the target. Asher slowly crept towards the deer. Every muscle in his body yearning for the kill. Extending his fangs, he let out a low growl and sent the first wolf in. The deer ran, frightened, towards the location of a second wolf, who jumped out when told. Each of the wolves jumped out when the deer came close until only Asher was left hiding. As it came close to him, he jumped from the bush and landed on the animal. Immediately, he sank his fangs in and twisted. The deer was killed as it's neck was broken. The wolves surrounded the carcass and waited for Asher to begin eating. Instead he barked at them, telling them to dig in. They were wary at first, but eventually began eating. Asher stood up and headed back to camp, leaving them to the kill.

When he got back to camp, he saw that everyone had gone to sleep. Asher looked at the tent and cringed. He always hated sleeping in one while on a mission. Instead, he climbed a tree. Lying on a large branch, he fell asleep.