Place on the food chain

Hunting what pre-heaven stone him considered prey was, as before mentioned, not considered hunting anymore. But what about hunting what he had considered as his equals in the food chain, or better yet, what he considered predator.

The predator was upwind. Him, downwind so it could not sniff him out before he made his move. He was still. Unmoving. Something that intrigued him seeing as he had been in the same position for minutes. Observing. When the predator moved, he too moved, not on two legs but on four like a four legs would, trying to prevent sounds but most of all keep himself away from view beneath the overgrown weeds.

It was a beast he was familiar with. One that gave him nightmares. One that if he saw on a certain area he would make sure to never pass there again if he could help it. What he was doing was reckless yes, foolish, very, but he was not one to let go of old friends simply because of some power he acquired. Caution was forever by his side. It pestered him, pointed out his arrogance and stupidity, queried why he had not set traps or something of the sort. Pointed out a thousand different better, safer tactics than this. Literally yesterday he would have ran from that thing, today he was hunting it. HUNTING IT! It knew his plans. It knew he wanted to pit himself squarely against what he would have once avoided. It knew this was a man, no a boy, who wanted for at least once in his life not to be the prey it once was. To escape that fragility. The boy it knew, always wanted to explore. You could tell by how intently he gazed at the stars. Be awed at it for hours. You could tell by how he would climb cliffs, ravines and mountains, stand at its peak or at a considerable height and stare at the unexplored expanse of forest that stretched beneath his feet. He would stare, sniff the air, and stare once more. It knew there was arrogance in him, a pride, a want of power that he had held back otherwise it would have quickly spelt his death.

This was his release. This was him testing if he had qualifications to act on his pride, to prod the want of power. He had changed. But he felt there would be more. For now he must know his place on the food chain.