Trial
The small wolf girl stood in the middle of the forest, she was eager, focused, thrilled. Her ears waiting to hear the call of her people, the war horn marking the beginning of her First Hunt. Ruwa’s heart thumped as the time for the call grew closer, her eyes looking at the sun moving in the sky, marking the only universal measure of time, and so, when the sun was almost close to set, she heard it, the loud roar of her clan’s war horn, telling her to start hunting.
The red haired fur ball delved deeper into the forest looking for prey, her First Hunt was on. From very early werewolf cubs were trained to hunt, and they would often hunt with the rest of the pack. But the First Hunt was different, once they reached the age of ten, all cubs earned the right of entering the First Hunt, the first time they would hunt on their own, and prove they could provide for themselves. Every cub that completed the First Hunt was no longer a child, and would be allowed to do as they pleased with their life.
To succeed Ruwa only needed to bring enough for her, small game would do, cobalt fowl, hares, a fawn, but that was not enough for her, she had to prove her might. She was known for being too small for her age, no one expected much of her, except for one man, her father, he trained her in combat, took her to the limit, all to prepare her for the day she would stand on her own two paws before the clan, and she wanted to make him proud.
Ruwa went first for something small as warm up, she killed four small hares, they had no chance against a well trained wyfwolf like her. Her sense of smell guided her to each one of them, she quickly broke their necks with her bare claws, it was like breaking twigs, but they were just the beginning. She wanted to go on for something bigger, something dangerous, something worthy of her father’s praise, something worthy of five years of training. She tied the hares to her waist to carry them while she continued hunting, the morbid trophies hanging next to her fluffy tail.
She decided to face a greater challenge, looking for something big enough. She was motivated, not only by her own will, but by her father’s legacy. Two years prior to Ruwa’s First Hunt, she heard news of her father’s demise. He died on a mission for his Auxiliarii guild, his death was heroic, and he was posthumously lauded by many Auxiliarii guilds over the region. Ruwa was devastated, the most important man in her life was gone, but instead of drowning in sorrow and let her heart wither away, she decided she would continue where he left off, she would join an Auxiliarii guild and make the world a better place, just like her father did. To do so however, she had to complete her First Hunt, her clan would not let her leaver their territory unless she became an adult to their eyes. To follow her father’s footsteps she had to take the final step of his training, make him proud, prove she could stand on her own two paws without her parents, make her mother understand she inherited her father’s might.
Right after sunset, in the dark of the night, she found her target, a boar, not any boar, a warhog, a mighty boar with large, sharp, serrated tusks, the beast was feeding on a stag’s carcass, left behind by another predator. That creature was the perfect target, a true challenge worthy of her training, worthy of her father’s legacy. Ruwa ran straight to the warhog, preparing her claws and aiming at the swine’s neck. The beast dodged the strike, and responded with aggressive retaliation, charging headfirst, its tusks ready to kill. The young wolf maiden moved quickly, avoiding the deadly charge but failing to avoid the sharp tusks completely, and so the tusk scratched her skin. Drops of blood fell on the grass and the young maiden gritted her teeth.
The young wyfwolf prepared for a second strike, now leaping before the warhog’s charge reached her. The red haired girl twirled in the air, kicking the beast right before landing. The enraged boar tumbled and charged again, filled with rage and fear, both were fighting for their life, but only one of them would stand to see the next dawn. The war hog charged, and Ruwa responded with her same tactic, this time however the beast changed its direction right before the small cub could land another kick on its wounded ribcage. Ruwa landed on the grass, open for an attack, and the violent boar seized the opportunity, piercing through one of her legs with its tusk.
Ruwa howled in pain as the tusk stabbed through her flesh, her leg was too thin, and the tusk pierced through her so close to the bone it could tear her muscles apart with little effort. Ruwa had little time to react before the boar crippled her. Seconds turned into hours as her mind searched for a way out of the predicament, the memory of her training passed through her mind, her father’s wisdom pouring into her as she resisted the pain.
Ruwa held the tusk near its base, its serrated edges piercing through her hands, tearing her skin and staining her gray fur. Ruwa looked at her prey in the eye and yelled. “You won’t stop me! I have been training for this all my life! I will make my father proud! I will never yield!” The boar could not understand her words, but understood her action, holding the tusk to prevent it from moving, Ruwa punched its base, breaking it and pushing the hog away.
The boar’s maw filled with blood from its broken tusk, the beast was enraged, ready to kill, but Ruwa was determined to survive, the crippling wound on her leg was nothing, she resisted the pain and numbness from her damaged nerves and muscles and charged right when the boar did the same. Instead of aiming at the neck this time her hand grasped the swine’s remaining tusk, the serrated edge cut through her hand viciously, but her grip did not yield, if she was going to die there, at least she had to kill that cursed pig first.
“If I can’t kill you, I will never be worthy of my father’s legacy. I must do this! I must make my dreams come true, even if that kills me!” Ruwa held the tusk in a tight grip and punched the beast on the face with her other hand, puling out the tusk and fracturing the boar’s snout. The beast was confused and in pain, but its violent rage coerced it to charge again, this time pushing all its weight in order to crush the small wolf maiden. Ruwa took on the charge, and instead of resisting it, moved with it’s flow, holding the boar with one of her claws and biting on its neck. The beast thrashed trying to get the tiny fur ball off, but it was to no avail, the cub initiated her final move, using the boar’s tusks as a weapon, she stabbed the beast’s neck, and then as the beast slowed down, she pulled the tusk out and used it to pierce the swow’s skull through its eye.
The dead boar fell on Ruwa, she pushed it aside with little effort in comparison to the whole fight. She tied the boar to her waist and limped back to the village, leaving behind a bloody trail. Many predators would be tempted to ambush her considering her vulnerable state and the amount of food she carried with her, but there was no hunter within the forest oblivious of her clan’s might, and they learned after centuries of survival that it was better to avoid an injured werewolf, lest it responded with fiery determination to survive.
The maiden looked at the beasts, which followed her hoping she would let go some of her prey or fell dead on the ground. Every wild cat and wolf within the forest flinched in fear when their eyes crossed with hers, she may be small, but was as much of a brutal monster as her peers, an apex huntress, there was no mercy in her heart at the moment, only an unyielding desire to hold her prey before the village. She limped her way back to the village undisturbed, walking the path many others walked, becoming a harbinger of death, another cub to complete the First Hunt, another man beast the forest had to fear.
…
The villagers grew worried, she had taken longer than expected to complete the First Hunt, at dawn they would deem her trial a failure and send a search party to look for her, or what would be left of her. If she died she would not longer be worthy of being part of her clan. Ruwa’s mother looked at the sky, fearing the worst, begging her late husband to not let Ruwa join him so soon. And then one of the villagers yelled in a mix of surprise and horror.
“Look! Over there! She’s coming… What the hell is that!”
Ruwa walked into the village with a wide smile, waving at her mother, ignoring her wounds as her excitement grew. “Look! I brought a whole banquet! Just like dad and you did!”
Ahra’j ran to her daughter, embracing her with tears in her eyes. “My dear, you had us worried. Look at yourself! What happened there? What is that on your leg?”
The young wyfwolf pulled the tusk out of her leg, bleeding profusely and wounding herself even further, then held both tusks in front of her mother. “I brought trophies too, look!” Ahra’j looked at the wound with concern. “Don’t worry, the healers will leave it as good as new. If they were able to heal Rauhrr’s hand after that pig bit off his fingers, this will be easy.” the red haired fur ball stated with a smile.
The elder approached Ruwa and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Ruwa the red. You have proven you can stand on your own two paws. You are a cub no more, from now on you are a woman of the Smooth Pelt Clan. You have earned the right to make your own choices in life. Use it wisely.” The elder looked at Ruwa’s wound and continued. “Bring the healers! Well done little one, well done.” The elder smiled at the new adult in the clan.
…
Ruwa woke up after the celebration of her First Hunt, her leg had not healed completely, but it would be back to normal in a few days, it would be as if it was never injuried. Her mother walked into her bedroom with new clothes to replace the blood stained rags she wore last night. “These are for you, I hope you like it, I heard they are popular among girls your age, in the city I mean.”
Ruwa looked at her new clothes, a sleeveless pullover shirt and short denim shorts, they were sturdier, and more fitting to her style, than her, now blood stained, peach colored cotton dress. “Thanks mom, I guess it’s time I stop wearing those cotton dresses, I like these a lot more.”
“What are you going to do now. I mean, now that you are a woman.”
“I already told you. I will continue where dad left off. I will join a guild and make the world a better place.”
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Ahra’j looked at her daughter, her eyes held back tears, she feared the idea of losing Ruwa the same way she lost her husband.
“I will be fine. I won’t make the same mistake dad made. I will live to tell my story, and someday I will have cubs of my own.” Ruwua embraced her mother, holding her as tightly as she could. The young wolf maiden whispered in her mother’s ear, “This was just the beginning.”
— — — -
Ruwa the Red, the heroine of this story, is featured in Journey to Avlaan and Steel and Flame
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CH4898Z
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KDZDR4P
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