Chp.7: Hunting together

Despite his temper, Darbi wasn't a complete fool. Once he calmed down he realized that he had no idea how to hunt and that this was the first time he had explored the outside world, which gave Haku an advantage. Unfortunately, by now it was too late to pull back, and in any case his pride wouldn't allow him to do it. However, Darbi was still confident that he could win the bet: he remembered that their mother had described the dragons as the most efficient predators in the world. Even though he'd been born a little over two weeks and this was his first time venturing into the forest, Darbi was sure that if he found small prey he could easily capture it.

Unfortunately, he was ignorant of many things about hunting. Don't make noise or hide his smell, for example. And above all, he ignored the most important lesson that Haku had been forced to learn from the first day he ventured out, meaning that hunting is rarely successful even for the most specialized predator: normally a hunt ended with the predator remaining empty-handed.

And in fact as soon as Darbi smelled an animal he simply started running in its direction. The result was that he scared all the birds in the vicinity, that he tripped over his own legs several times and that his prey fled before he could even get close. All Darbi got was a lot of dust, sweat and wheezing.

"Too much noise, absolutely absence of timing, little intelligence, no strategy" Haku commented looking amused at his brother lying on the ground. "Did you really think you could succeed with such a silly plan?"

If Darbi had followed Haku from day one, he probably would have called him a hypocrite. Haku had made his own mistakes over and over again before figuring out how to hunt effectively. But since Darbi didn't know it, Haku could afford to act as he was superior.

Darbi felt the awful taste of shame in his mouth. His wounded pride yelled at him to paw his brother's face, but he still had his dignity as a dragon, so he simply sat back and admitted: "Okay, you win. I will obey your commands during the hunt"

One thing couldn't be said of dragons: that they didn't keep their promises. When they made a deal, they respected it. Older and smarter dragons could be deceivers, usually saying one thing but meaning another, deftly conning those with whom they made deals, but they always kept to their terms however deceptive. This was the dignity of dragons, which was even more important to them than even their pride. It was a trait rooted in their blood, not taught and not passed down from their parents: every dragon, even newborn ones, would have rather died than don't respect their word.

And in fact, Haku didn't even think for a moment that Darbi could renege on his promise, nor did Darbi even consider doing so. "Very well. It will be a pleasure to hunt with you"

Haku was satisfied: he had obtained his first subordinate, potentially the first member of his 'pack of hunting little dragons'. "However at the moment you would only be in my way, so first I will have to teach you how to hunt properly. So follow me, and observe carefully how a real hunter behaves!"

Darbi reluctantly followed, snorting and mentally cursing his brother, but he didn't complain once (at least at loud voice). The idea that Haku, who was born on his own day, hour and minute, was more knowledgeable than him in something and even taught him bothered him a bit. But soon as they continued into the forest his irritation gave way to interest as he realized why his brother was good at hunting.

He was so silent!

Haku was perfectly camouflaged among the trees and ferns and moved at the same time quickly and silently. He didn't make any noise and if Darbi hadn't known where he was he wouldn't have been able to notice his presence. He also used the wind to hide his smell and calculated the distance from his prey well before setting off to attack. Watching his eyes, Darbi could see how Haku's pupils darted from one part of the forest to another, as if he was planning an assault strategy and calculating every minute variable.

It was very, very different from his hunt without strategy and based only on a vain pursuit!

Darbi realized that actually between the two of them Haku was the one who was better at hunting. And when his brother jumped on an indrik and finished it off with a quick and precise bite on the jugular, Darbi had the confirmation that staying with Haku was the best choice, at least for the moment: with his guide, hunting would have been easier and therefore Darbi would have also secured an alternative food supply for himself, which was reassuring given the difficult situation ahead. In any case, he had given his word, so he might as well use that opportunity to learn as much as possible from his brother and to obtain the greatest number of benefits.

In reality, even without Haku's help Darbi would probably have learned to hunt with his own way in less than a day, just like his brother had done; but with his bet and his apparent superiority Haku had deluded him that he needed a guide. This cemented Haku's position as the 'mastermind' between the two of them, while Darbi would have been the 'sidekick'.

"You understood well?" Haku said as he cracked the indrik's neck bones and tasted his blood dripping inside his mouth. "That's what you have to do"

"Yes, I understand"

"Good, then help me hide this. Then let's go hunt something different, together this time"

Darbi and Haku dragged the indrik to the hiding place that the latter had used in the previous days, then they walled it up with rocks and wood and camouflaged it with some leaves; after which they resumed their search for prey. This time Darbi dutifully followed Haku, imitating all his steps. Haku carefully explained to him how to use his nose, eyes and ears to locate prey, and also pointed out some of the smells and sounds he had come to know in the previous days.

As time went on, Darbi agreed that the situation wasn't so bad. Although he didn't appreciate being his brother's subordinate, he had to admit that he would have gained a lot in terms of experience and resources: not only was Haku teaching him many things that otherwise he would have had to struggle to learn, but he would also have gotten food more easily. Darbi in fact, while not reaching his brother's level, was intelligent enough to understand the benefits of hunting in pairs, and that Haku aimed to do exactly that.

And in fact it was precisely this that happened as soon as they identified a possible prey. This time it was a large herbivore with horns and an elongated snout, similar to a bull, with a snake-like tail culminating in a poisonous sting. It was an ophiotaurus, and while it wasn't gigantic like a karkadann, it was still at least twice as heavy as a baby dragon.

Haku decided that it was good prey. Although he had never hunted such a big prey before, it was a good opportunity to test the efficiency of a hunt in pairs. However, he had to be careful: even if it wasn't as big as a karkadann, the ophiotaurus could still seriously injure him or Darbi.

His brother shared that concern. "Are you sure you want to kick this out, Haku?" he whispered to him.

"It's worth a try" Haku replied. "I have a plan, but you have to follow it perfectly, okay? Here's what you have to do..."

Darbi wasn't sure about it, but he had promised Haku that he would have obeyed any of his commands regarding hunting and he couldn't break his promise. So, following his brother's instructions, he went around and moved to the other side of the ophiotaurus.

When Haku gave him the signal, Darbi emerged from the fronds and roared. The ophiotaurus bellowed in surprise and fright, but it recovered quickly; it lowered its head showing its enormous horns and wagged its tail forward exposing the sting, in a clear sign of intimidation. Its nostrils blew hard in warning, so hard that dirt rose off the ground in little clouds of dust. Its sting also began to sizzle with a strange energy that Haku recognized as mana.

But in doing so the ophiotaurus had trapped itself. Haku in turn emerged from his hiding place and with a sudden jumped on the animal that now had its back to him, and so it didn't notice his presence until it was too late; with one bite he snapped at its tail and ripped out the lethal sting. The ophiotaurus bellowed in pain and spun around, but in doing so it made itself vulnerable to Darbi, who attacked back and bit it in the neck; the bull tried to free itself, but Haku also bit it in the same spot. The ophiotaurus tried to escape that deadly trap, but the two little dragons were too heavy for it to shake off, and without the sting it was defenseless as the horns couldn't reach its neck. Haku and Darbi intensified the bite and used their claws to tear large flaps of skin; under such an attack, the ophiotaurus' flesh ripped open and the neck bones snapped cleanly. The bull let out a strangled bellow, and then it collapsed to the ground dead.

"Ha ha! It's done!" Darbi laighed seeing their prey fall.

Haku was beaming too. He had been right: hunting in groups was a winning choice! Together, he and his brother had brought down a prey that he alone would not have been able to defeat, or at least not without a great deal of effort and many wounds. Hunting in packs was really the winning strategy! If he had formed a larger herd, of four, five, even ten individuals, then they could easily defeat any creature in the forest! Even a karkadann would have been within their reach! "Good. Come on, let's hide this too"

The two dragons returned to the base of the cliff and placed the body of the ophiotaurus together in that indrik's place; after which they tore the deer in half and devoured a piece each, sharing the food like good brothers. "This was our meal for today" Haku said. "From now on, we will give our share of food to those who cannot get it themselves"

"I understand what you want to do" Darbi said. "You want to take our siblings hunting with us, don't you?"

As Haku had imagined, Darbi hadn't taken too long to understand. "Exactly. Do you have any objections?"

"You're the boss, not me" Darbi answered, noting his position in the hierarchy. "And in any case I'm not against it. If it was so easy for two of us, for many it would be like drinking a pool of water!"

"I'm glad you understand that"

"So that's why you gave your share of the meal to Tikka and Kotaru, mh? Why didn't we take them directly with us?"

"That would have been silly. Our sisters are currently too weak from the severe beating they received today. We need to give them time to get back in strength, so we need to feed them well. And then, if I recruit them now that they're weak, they might think I just want to use them, and not that I care about them. If I ask them to come with us when they're strong again, they'll trust me more"

"All clear. So that's why we have to give them our food?"

"Exactly. We have this, after all. A real hunter feeds only on what they get with their own strength, remember that"

Darbi looked satisfied. Indeed, it almost seemed that he was smiling. "If we do things right, then all our siblings will be able to eat every day!" he exclaimed happily. "We're lucky to have you in the family, Haku. I wonder why mom didn't have this idea..."

Haku's eyes hardened. He wasn't sure he wanted to answer Darbi, much less that his brother wanted to hear his answer. "Anyway, from now on you will give your part of the meal to our sisters. And if they ask you to bring them with us, make sure they understand that it is better to not do it for now. If they will persist, tell them I'm the boss, and they have to argue with me; I can invent more convincing arguments than yours"

"Even I know how to argue well!"

"No, you don't know. When you grow up you will notice it too"

"Are you calling me immature? We're the same age!"

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm forty-eight seconds older than you"

"Bullshit!"

The two little dragons clambered back up the cliff, bickering furiously with each other. Just like two good brothers, in short.