15 Now What?

It had been a couple of days since the battle against the elk and Callum was struggling back to his cave after filling his bag with frozen blocks of clay. He'd had to agonizingly chop each chunk out with his hatchet.

It had been a long and arduous process that had him questioning his own sanity on a frequent basis. He thought he was a genius when it first occurred to him. Now though, he wasn't so sure of his intellectual prowess.

His plan was to set all the clay he gathered near the fire in order to thaw out. And soon he'd have some cups, pots, and plates. And he could also slather it on the branches he'd wedged on the inside of the snow wall of his cave.

So caught up in his own thoughts, Callum didn't notice the Dire Wolf standing in his path until he was 20 ft (6m) from him. He quickly shifted his newest spear into a ready position as he beheld the beast.

It had a limp rabbit in its maw. And it was simply standing there in his path. The wolf made eye contact with Callum before it suddenly dropped the rabbit at its feet. Once it did that, the wolf suddenly bounded away.

Callum was stunned in shock at what he'd just witnessed. The Dire Wolf dropping a dead rabbit in his path was just about the last thing Callum expected.

"Did that wolf just give me a rabbit?"

Callum carefully walked up to the body of the rabbit. After his lapse in attention, he was extra cautious. Especially as the wolf had been within a quick dash of him. He was still confused at the wolf's antics and wondered if it was a ploy.

Callum cautiously stooped to pick up the carcass when he froze up once again. The rabbit was clearly tangled up in the remains of one of Callum's traps. It wasn't just any trap either. It had been Callum's sole (Common) trap!

"You mangy mutt, you're the thief who keeps destroying my traps! Do you know how many hours I worked until I got that one!"

_________

The Dire Wolf heard the strange being shout some more of its mouth sounds as it sped away. It was enjoying a slow run about before it'd return to the elk carcass. Clearly though, the strange one was praising it.

How could it not, it was a strong Dire Wolf just entering into the prime of its life. The wolf knew that it would be a strong asset to any pack it joined. And a lesser being like the strange one probably recognized its greatness.

Despite the wolf's hubris, on some level it recognized that it likely owed its life to Callum. Animals couldn't read notifications and it had been unconscious while being tended to. But it was an intelligent beast.

And it had smelled Callum's scent all over the bandages, catgut, and its wounds. It didn't understand what those items were, but it could sense that they had helped it. And it also knew it'd been defenseless and had been left unharmed.

And so the wolf was intrigued about this curious being who had not obeyed the law of the wild and showed it mercy.

As for why it dropped that rabbit off, it had already eaten a couple in some wooden things it still didn't understand. The scent of the strange one was all around them. It thought it'd let it have one of them.

_________

A day passed and Callum was just outside his cave enjoying a comparatively warm day. He was working on creating more traps when he heard a faint howl. The howl sounded far away, so he ignored it as he set about working on his next trap.

"Aaaaaaooooohhhh!"

He was hoping he'd get lucky with another (Common) trap. On average, he had to try to build 16 traps before he successfully produced one trap. And with 99% of the resulting trap being (Trash) quality, he had a ton of trap making ahead of him.

As he worked, he heard a couple of more howls that got progressively closer. This started to worry him as he failed in creating yet another trap. Finally, a howl echoed from right down the hill.

Callum gathered a couple of spears and headed to the head of the trail leading down the hill. He set most of them at an angle into the snow in a semi circular layout facing outward. He kept two spears with him as he crouched down.

"Alright, let's dance wolfie!"

Callum saw a shape streaking up the trail. As he readied to throw one spear, a second shape appeared at the foot of the hill. He didn't let that distract him though as he drew his arm back in preparation.

He did get distracted when he realized that a deer was bounding up the hill with the wolf slightly behind it. He quickly threw one spear at the deer and got the other ready for action. Unfortunately, the spear sailed wide and ended up in some bushes.

Callum kind of expected this. The downside of his quest meant that he couldn't develop any skills that were crucial for his survival. And in this case, that meant both his throwing and spear skills were nonexistent.

The second spear he reserved for stabbing. The deer had spotted him by now. But deep snow banks, thick bushes, and trees served to hem the deer in on the trail. It had a choice of the Dire Wolf behind it or Callum on its front.

The deer chose Callum. A mighty leap took it clear of the weak defenses the planted spears afforded. Unfortunately for the deer, Callum was able to get in one good <Stab> on the deer as it passed.

The deer started limping due to its leg wound, but continued running. Callum let it pass as he turned his focus back to the trail. The empty trail. Some fresh tracks in a snowbank hinted at where the wolf had gone.

Callum frowned when he realized the wolf was hidden from him. He anxiously began scanning the forest for any signs of the animal. He did not like the fact that the Dire Wolf had vanished and it was making him paranoid.

The deer had quickly cut across the clearing to take another trail down the hill. With every passage, Callum had partially cleared various trails up and down the small hill. And the deer took advantage of the easier path.

_________

Unfortunately for the deer, the Dire Wolf's predatory instincts had allowed it to guess the deer's actions. He crashed through the snow and brush in an attempt to cut off the deer's escape.

He grinned wolfishly as he managed to reach the other trail ahead of the deer. The wolf had sacrificed stealth for speed and it once again had the deer trapped. The deer had heard his approach and had stopped short.

The deer quickly fled back up the hill. This time though, the wolf had the speed advantage due to the deer's injury. The wolf could sense the hunt drawing to a close and it joyously announced this to the world.

"Aaaaoooohhhh!"

The wolf was right behind the deer. It timed his attack carefully before a <Swipe> landed on the deer's left rear leg. The attack unbalanced the deer and caused it to tumble out in the clearing. Right towards the strange one.

The wolf watched as the strange being quickly attacked the downed creature. It licked its chops as it idly watched the deer's life drain away. It felt very smug with itself, its plan to use the strange one in its hunt had worked.

Barring a stealth attack, a deer could usually outrun a Dire Wolf. Especially as it could easily leap over deep snow banks a wolf would have to plow straight through. So, Dire Wolves used pack tactics when possible.

And if that wasn't possible, a Dire Wolf simply settled in for a long chase. It could run for longer than a deer. And there was always the possibility that the prey could slip up.

But the wolf decided to drive the deer towards the strange one's hill and see if that could shorten the hunt. Instead of wasting many hours hunting its prey, it got the strange one to wound it!

_________

Callum was stumped, this Dire Wolf was not acting as he had expected. He'd intentionally not attacked the wolf as he didn't want to pick a fight he couldn't win. And so the two of them stood on opposite sides of a dead deer.

"Well, now what wolf?"

The Dire Wolf just stared at him.