Chapter 3
Areon slapped his face as if to return his energy levels back to their initial peak.
"Okay, this isn't so bad. I forgot the rules sure, but I can't give up now. if I just get the birds really fast then it won't matter because I still got them. Right mister Puff Puff?"
The wolf energetically barked at Areon's plan.
"I'm glad you realize my stroke of genius! Now, what I need to do is get my first bird. How do we do that?"
The wolf barked again this time, sounding befuddled.
"Ah right, I guess you wouldn't know. Then it's trial and error then!"
Areon spent the next couple of hours, finding pheasants and trying various ways to kill them, since no bird would come to him alive. His favorite method became throwing his blade into a large gathering of them, hoping to catch one when they tried to escape, since it was the method that landed him closest to success.
Though for a long while he still didn't catch anything, until he accidentally, caught a flock of birds off their guard.
Fwip!
"Yay! I did it!"
The sound of the blade pinning a bird to the back of a tree was the most satisfying noise Areon had heard in a while.
Most of the pheasants escaped the unlikely attack but Areon, by sheer luck managed to catch one by the wing. He jumped out of the bush and cheered as he celebrated with mister Puff Puff.
Then soon, with a swift motion, Areon grabbed the bird by the neck pulled out the blade and decapitated the pheasant.
The gruesome scene was a little more than what he was prepared for, as he almost puked out his lunch from seeing the bird's insides.
"This is a little more gross than I imagined but at least I did it."
The wolf barked again, to show that he was proud of the eight-year-olds accomplishment.
"Now I need to figure out how to do this again but on purpose this time. I can't just win this challenge by blind luck right?"
Areon scratched the top of his head while he tried to think.
"I think the reason I caught this bird was because they weren't ready, if I keep sneaking up on them I might have a shot to get the other two."
He looked at the mister Puff Puff for validation of his theory but the wolf tilted his head, he had no clue what he was talking about.
"...I really wish pops were here."
Though, unknown to him, from the distance there was someone cloaked in the shadows and hiding in the bushes, watching Areon's every move. He waited in the bushes with his eyes peeled open, barely blinking. He fumed with rage as he watched the eight-year-old return to hunting with the wolf. His green hands gripping the bush's brunches turned into a fist and began crushing the innocent plant.
"Just what the hell does he think he's doing?"
Later on Areon continued to practice catching the pheasants by surprise and being discrete. Though it was difficult, he found that he made massive amounts progress in a short amount of time. Soon, when it was just about to hit sundown, he caught his next two birds.
Areon thew the dagger into a group of pheasants and successfully managed to pin one to the ground and the other was barely managing to escape due to an injured leg.
Exhausted, he ran towards the birds with his shirt drenched in sweat and legs tired from running so much.
However, even though he felt pain in this moment Areon couldn't be happier.
"I did it! I figured it out! Once I memorized their blind spots, it made it harder for them to dodge my attacks because they didn't see it coming! It took me a while but I get it now! I can finally go hunting with pops!"
Mister Puff Puff effortlessly followed him and went to go pick up the bird that was slowly getting away, barking eagerly.
"No mister Puff Puff! If I'm not the one to catch it, than I don't deserve to go hunting with Pops...please!"
Areon barely got his sentiment out in-between his gasps for breath.
Understanding the sentiment of his friend, mister Puff Puff backed away and allowed Areon to pick up the wounded bird for himself. This caught the boy off guard.
"I know that I've been talking to him like he's anyone else, but he's been so obedient that I'm starting to wonder if he actually understands me."
First, Areon focused on the bird Infront of him.
"The other one's injured, I don't have to worry about it going anywhere."
He grabbed the pinned bird by the head and decapitated it with his blade just like before.
Then he walked towards the other pheasant who was still trying to make their futile escape.
"Heh, heh at this rate I think we can catch a couple more birds before going back, mister Puff Puff. It feels too easy to just stop at three, we might need five."
Areon playfully said as he was still panting.
Though as he was about to grab the wounded bird, he saw a pair of green hands come out from a bush and snatch the bird before him by the neck before vanishing into the back into the bushes.
"... What was that?"
Areon instinctually backed away as he continued to see the bush shake. Though before long he saw who was hiding themselves in that bush and his jaw was wide agape.
The orc who was bullying Areon the other day emerged from the bush holding the bird by the neck. Chuckling to himself as he looked at Areon's confused face.
Then more of the orcs came out from the surrounding bushes.
"You should see the look on your ugly mug, fleshbag!"
"Just who do you think you are hunting on our territory, huh? You think you're better than is or something?"
"Aren't you happy to see us, loser?"
They continued to make their insulting comments as Areon's thoughts raced through his head.
"Why now…"
The lead orc giggled at the thought of causing Areon a hard time and then spoke.
"Looking for this bird, eh? It looks almost as ugly as you. I can see why you'd wanna be friends."
The rest of the children giggled before the orc thrust the bird to the ground with such force that it was killed on impact.
"Aww~ Did I kill your wittle fwiend~"
He continued to mock.
"Damn it you stole my kill!" Areon unintentionally blurted out loud.
"Shut up! You're lucky we don't kill you! And don't get any ideas now that you got the wolf friend with ya, you still can't beat us!"
"...But weren't you running away from this wolf?"
This comment made the orc's face lit up red with embracement.
"N-no! We were just retreating to get our weapons because we thought that ugly wolf was stronger than it was! But since it's tied it itself to the likes of you, we know we underestimated it."
Mister Puff Puff began to growl, glaring at the group. While watching the wolf's fury some of the orcs hid behind their ring leader.
"Cowards. Just leave me alone already! I wish I was strong enough to take care of these guys. Everything was fine before they showed up!"
Then Areon remembered Krieus' words. He wasn't supposed to mess around with other monsters.
"Shoot! I can't break the rules, I better make this quick!"
He hid his blade behind his back and tried to phrase his next words as kindly as he possibly could.
"Can you nasty vermin please return my bird, I want it back."
It didn't come out quite as he has planned. Then the insults came relentlessly at Areon.
"What did you just say to me! Looks like you got a big head but your brain is still the same size!"
"You must be confused fleshbag, it's not that we want the bird. It's that we don't want you to have the bird."
"We'll pummel you and your annoying little friend into a oblivion if you keep talking to us that way!"
Then the realization dawned on Areon that he was not getting his bird back.
"I guess I'll just try to get another one. Damn it! Being weak sucks."
As he and mister Puff Puff turned to walked away, Areon heard a multitude of nonsensical insults and threats being hurled his way. Though only one caught his attention.
"And if it weren't for your stinking, nasty dragon of a dad you would be dead by now!"
"..."
"I'm sorry pops, but I'm about to break the rules just this one time!"
Without missing a beat, Areon pulled out his blade and ran towards the ringleader orc, shocking the ensemble of bullies.
Before any of the surrounding orcs could realize, Areon had slashed his blade in a downward motion, cutting a wound so deep into the leader's chest. Blood began spraying out and painting the ground.
"You can say whatever you want about me… But I won't let you disrespect pops, ever."
The orc fell to the ground as the surrounding orcs tried to attack Areon. He grabbed the third dead bird as fast as he could, seconds away from being barraged by the group. But mister Puff Puff ran into the fray just in time to grab him by the collar of his shirt and swoop Areon up, carrying him away from the raging mob. They ran off into the forest with the rest of the orcs chasing him, going as fast as they could to ensure his escape.