Haku couldn't sleep that night. His mind was crowded with too many thoughts.
Unfortunately, the conversation with his mother hadn't gone as he'd hoped: he hadn't been able to discover a good way to preserve food. Therefore, now he had no choice but to resort to plan B: find a way to hunt as effectively as possible. Even if this method didn't guarantee continuity in the food supply, it was still better than standing still and waiting.
However, getting better at hunting wasn't something he could do just with his own will. He had to find a way to lessen the chances of his prey escaping. He had been impressed by the mana, but sadly according to his mother's explanation, even if one day he too could use it, he had to wait to unlock his domain. And Haku didn't have ten years of time left. Therefore, mana wasn't an actionable solution.
However, perhaps there was a different way. What worried him and kept him awake weren't the thought of the mana or the disappointment of not having gotten what he hoped for, but rather the memory of the white wolves, or rather their strength.
The white wolves were weak and inferior creatures, not at all comparable to Haku. In a one-on-one fight, even if they could use the mana in some way, the little dragon would have won for sure. And yet, together the white wolves had defeated a karkadann, a creature that Haku would have never even dared to approach.
Was a group really that strong? Could many weak creatures combined succeed where a single strong creature failed? It sounded like a joke, yet it was exactly what he had seen: a pack of white wolves, animals that weighed no more than two hundred kilos, had brought down a ten-ton karkadann, without a single member of their pack being killed or even injured.
Haku couldn't get that scene out of his head. He felt he could learn from it, even if he didn't know how. Maybe he could have imitated the wolves? Take his siblings hunting with him too? If the group was that strong, then perhaps Haku and his siblings could have followed suit and banded together to hunt large game. In that way they could have obtained enough food for a long time, even by killing only one prey a week.
But dragons weren't herd animals. Dragons were solitary. They had no coordination or sense of unity. Or better, this is what Neytiri had explained to them, and so far he and his siblings had followed their mother's philosophy. After all, all of them were sure that what their mother said must be right. But Haku was starting to have doubts about this: after all, he had discovered that getting out of the cave when Neytiri wasn't there wasn't so dangerous as she said, and indeed it was also useful. If his mother had been wrong about that, perhaps she was wrong about the social sense of dragons as well?
That thought kept him awake all night.
When the sun finally rose Neytiri brought, as usual, a large piece of meat. Haku, numb from the sleepless night, yawned and stretched slowly, but he quickly realized he had to hurry as he saw how ferociously his siblings were swarming over the meat.
There was no longer enough food for everyone. What he had imagined had come true. Now, the only the concept valid was the survival of the fittest.
The little dragons started jostling and then fighting fiercely. Each one tore off a piece and kept it for himself. The strongest ate more, the weaker were excluded. In the end two of his sisters, Tikka and Kotaru, were moved away and deprived of their share. The two little dragonesses stayed close to the meat for a few minutes, hoping to find an opening that would allow them to take a piece, but then they gave up and went to lie down dejectedly in a corner of the cave.
The other little dragons gave them a pitying look. While dragons weren't exactly social animals, they were still siblings. They were a family. They had been born together and had spent every second of their short lives together. As selfish as the little dragons might be, it was impossible not to feel sorry for their sisters. Some of them even looked dubious, as if they considered to share some of their food with them, but in the end, no one came forward to help. After all, if someone gave Tikka and Kotaru their food, they wouldn't have had enough to fill themselves. Between risking starvation and their sisters, the little dragons eventually chose to think mostly of themselves, albeit in much pain. And they too, like Haku, had noticed that food was dwindling, so they had mentally prepared themselves for that eventuality.
Haku didn't have to worry for the moment; he was still strong enough to get his meal. But his gaze still didn't detach from his two sisters who, battered and full of bruises, hugged each other trying to console themselves. He couldn't help but feel sorry for them, even though he'd known this would have happened. A little hopeful he looked up at his mother, intending to point out the problem, but with horrendous surprise he saw that Neytiri had already noticed that Tikka and Kotaru had nothing to eat, but despite this there wasn't the slightest sign of interest in her eyes, as if it didn't concern her at all.
Haku couldn't suppress a slight growl at seeing this. "Come on! They are your daughters! You should at least show some concern!" he screamed in his mind, but he didn't express these thoughts at loud voice. It was clear that anything he could say wouldn't have moved his mother, so it wasn't worth pissing her off.
Haku sighed, looking at the piece of meat he had managed to grab. Keeping it to himself and eating it would have been the best choice: after all, even if he went out to hunt, there was no guarantee that he would be able to catch a prey that day. Giving up his meal meant risking losing energy and becoming too weak. It was a bet that Haku wasn't sure he wanted to make.
And even if he gave Tikka and Kotaru his food, what would have changed? In the days that followed, surely more and more of his siblings would have been excluded from the meal. The piece of meat that Haku managed to grab was enough to feed two of his sisters, but certainly not four, five, six or more! At that point, how was he going to choose? Even hunting incessantly, he would have never found enough food for everyone! He was alone, after all!
But suddenly a thought shot through his mind like an arrow. The white wolves.
Haku stood still for a moment. By himself he would never have been able to find enough food for all of his siblings… but what if he took them hunting with him? If everyone hadn't thought only of themselves, could they have fought and defended themselves better? Could they have achieved great results, like those wolves?
"Those wolves were so coordinated and efficient… they trusted each other" Haku thought. "If I established such a close relationship of trust with my siblings, could I achieve the same result?"
Haku wasn't sure if that was possible. His mother had always told him that each dragon thought for himself, but he was starting to have serious doubts about her. Maybe if he did things right, he could really find a way to feed everyone? Could he have avoided having to choose between himself and family affection?
In the end he made a decision. It was a gamble, but it was worth a try: he didn't want to risk losing two sisters before he'd even checked every possibility. He took the large piece of meat he had obtained for himself and dragged it in front of Tikka and Kotaru.
Tikka and Kotaru were in a very bad state. They had several scratches on their snouts and numerous bruises all over their bodies. They had clearly been beaten and shoved until they were gone. Unfortunately, when there wasn't enough food for everyone, that was the end of the weak. However, just because they were in pain didn't mean they lost their pride. "What do you want?" they growled in unison, sure that Haku had come to taunt them.
But Haku dropped the piece of meat in front of them. "Take it. I'm already full" he said simply.
Tikka and Kotaru stared at him suspiciously. They probably thought he was playing a bad joke on them. "Do you want to take our dignity too?"
"When have I ever done that? Anyway, that's yours. If you decide not to eat it, give it to someone else, but you'll only hurt yourself" Haku answered, then he turned and walked away.
He didn't turn once. He didn't know if Tikka and Kotaru had eaten the meat in the end, but it was likely that they weren't stupid enough to refuse his gift. He went to his favorite corner of the cave and lay down again, lost in his thoughts.
For now, that was enough. Haku didn't know how to build trust, so he didn't want to push too hard right away and risk making a mistake. Even though Tikka and Kotaru were his sisters and they had spent their entire lives together, Haku knew their bond wasn't that strong anyway. To be able to achieve the same level of coordination as the white wolves he needed their total trust, but if he slipped up they might think he just wanted to use them. With that single gesture he had shown them that he cared about their health: it was a start.
As he lay in a corner many of his siblings looked at him strangely. From their point of view, what he had done was downright absurd: who would have ever given up his food for someone else? Only an idiot would have done that. Haku didn't care. Let them think what they wanted: he knew what he was doing. Neytiri too looked a bit dubious, and Haku was afraid for a moment that he had aroused suspicion in her, but in the end his mother turned her head and said nothing.
Haku felt a strange feeling making its way into his soul and his claws unconsciously scratched the floor of the cave leaving deep furrows in the stone. He didn't know what that emotion was, but he was pretty sure it was what his mother called anger, the same one he had seen her flaunt when the night before he mistakenly almost confessed to her that he had transgressed her command. Yes, it was certainly anger.
Haku couldn't understand his mother's indifference. How could she do nothing? If he had her strength and power, he would have immediately run out of the cave to take a whole karkadann and bring it to Tikka and Kotaru. His mother was basically invincible and could achieve anything she wanted, yet she did nothing!
Haku couldn't help but ask himself the fateful question: "Does she really care about us?"
Long ago, when the baby dragons were still discovering the world, Neytiri had told them that she had a 'maternal instinct', a sort of force that required her to take care of her children, and that once it faded Haku and his siblings should have gone away. According to Neytiri, that was the 'natural course of things'. Haku remembered that lesson and knew that one day he and his siblings would have to separate from their mother; after all, he didn't like the idea of always remaining under her protection either. However, he had imagined that their bond was something stronger than the so-called 'maternal instinct', and even if it played an important role, Neytiri would have always continued to love them, even after it faded. However, he wasn't so sure now. If his mother cared so little for his sisters, then was there really love for them in her heart, or was she simply nurturing them to satisfy that so-called 'maternal instinct'?
Haku decided that for the moment it was better not to dwell on certain things, or he would have gone crazy. He had to focus on the main problem first: the food. When his mother left the cave again, Haku immediately came out and headed back to the forest. As soon as he had descended the cliff he ran to the spot where he had hidden the indrik's corpse and brought the body to light. Even if there was no guarantee for the future, at least for that day Haku still had an alternative to the meal his mother brought.
The indrik was still quite fresh, having been dead for only a couple of days, so he could eat it safely. That would have been his breakfast for that day: he devoured it completely by tearing off large bites and swallowing everything, including the bones. This would have filled him up for a while and given him energy to hunt.
"As I imagined, you were hiding something"
Haku whirled around as soon as he heard that voice, but he calmed down when he saw that it was Darbi. Apparently after all this time he had found the courage to follow him. He quickly swallowed the last of the indrik. "I don't like depending on mom. I want to get my own food"
"And why did you give your part of the meat to Tikka and Kotaru?"
"That's my problem. Rather, what do you want?"
Darbi wagged his tail. "Well, before I was convinced that going out was dangerous, but since it's not like that, I'll start hunting too"
Haku knew Darbi wasn't stupid. Like him, his siblings had probably noticed that food became scarcer day by day, or rather that the older they got, the less they could share food. And after what had happened that morning, it was now clear to everyone that the situation was going to get worse and worse in the future. It was therefore natural that Darbi also had the same idea as Haku, that is to get food by himself.
Haku knew it was only a matter of time before someone would have started imitating him. Still, even though he wouldn't have cared about it before, he wasn't willing to let go of the hunting monopoly so easily. If everyone went hunting on their own, he would have lost the chance to create an effective pack like the white wolves. Hunting was a very difficult thing: there was no guarantee of success. If all of his siblings went hunting too, if they didn't unite, the principle of survival of the fittest would have been back in vogue. His weaker siblings wouldn't have been able to forage enough food or avoid predators, and only the strongest would have survived.
Haku didn't want to recreate the difficult situation that existed in the cave: he wanted to find a way to give food to everyone. Therefore, if he let Darbi start hunting on his own, he would have lost that opportunity. Even if he had managed to convince all his other siblings to follow him, the others knowing that Darbi was managing on his own would have said: 'Then why are we trying to cooperate? It's better to imitate him, so we won't have to divide the loot'. They would have splitted again. So he had to eliminate this possibility now. He couldn't stop Darbi from hunting… but he could mislead him. "Oh, come on. You? You wouldn't be able to catch even a mouse"
Darbi bristled. If there was one thing dragons hated, it was being taunted. And Darbi, in his youth, was easily irritated. Furthermore, Darbi was known among his siblings for having a strong temper. "What are you saying? Do you think you're a better hunter than me?"
"Absolutely yes. Trust me, you won't catch nothing. Do you want to bet?"
"Of course I do! I'll make you eat those words!"
Darbi, like all young people, was naive. If he had been more shrewd he would have realized that Haku was more experienced than him when it came to hunting and therefore could easily cheat him. But the little dragon was too blinded by pride.
"Good, then that's the deal" Haku said. "You will have to hunt a prey, just one prey. You can choose what you want, but you will have only one attempt. If you fail to take it then I have won, and in that case you will obey me from now on in any decision concerning hunting"
"And if you lose, you'll have to obey me instead!"
"That's fine with me. So, do you accept?"
"Of course. I'll get to work right now! You'll see how I'll shame you!"
Haku wanted to laugh at him. His brother had taken the bait.