The mother's struggle: Part 3


Eittans mothers are extremely attached to their children, but know when to give up the search. She has started walking in the plains, still covered in snow, alongside her remaining babies.

The next forest should be near, because she recognize the area. Plains are generally safe locations, because predators have an harder time hiding from the good eyes of the many herbivores inhabiting the region.

This, however, did not mean that the situation was clear: smaller predators could hide in some spots, and attack the young of the mother. She has no intention to leave the rest of the children unprotected, so she's extremely vigilant.

Along the way, she's greeted by the presence of a huge herd of Dniproverts, ungulate herbivores who inhabits the plains of the First Planet.

They are way smaller than the Eittan, reaching an height of two meters and a half and a length of four.

They have a short, bobby tail and a robust body. Their legs are long and hoofed, allowing them to run in the plains. They have a short, thick neck with a crest made of fur on the back of it. They have long ears and big eyes. Their head has a square-like structure, with a small mouth and horns which form an U shape.

In a world of giants, their speed is their best advantage. They feed on the emerging grasses thanks to their strong molar teeth, something that the Eittans lacks. Because of the fundamental difference in feeding structure, the Eittans and the Dniproverts can coexist in peace, benefiting from one another.

Eittans can use their excellent eyesight to see danger and warn the group, while also using their sizes to scare them away. The Dniproverts, on the other hand, uses their senses of hearing and smell to sense other dangers that the Eittans couldn't see.

The mother, as such, has decided to follow the herd. She knew that they would not mind, and the children even get close to them, inspecting them.

Gnev played around an old male by charging at him multiple times. He, like most of the times, was not afraid and, as such, he got closer to the old male, who was unintended to spend too much energies chasing him around.

Strakh fearfully got closer to a female and her cub. The female Dniproverts wasn't afraid of the small Eittan, and even smelled him a few times. Her baby got out to do a fake charge at him. Both of them started chasing each others around. Strakh has finally found a playmate.

Ahida got closer to a solitary cub who got away from her mother for a while. He would be able to recognize her even in the huge herd. The playful Dniproverts jumped around the female Eittan and, for no reason whatsoever, he even licked her.

The young female, in pure disgust, charged at the baby, causing him to run away.

The march continued, as the herd munched everything they could find in their path. They sometimes found solitary trees, perfect food source for the mother Eittan.

While the herd is too busy eating, however, shadows observe. They hid in the high grass, observing the herd, looking for an opportunity to strike.

It is not one, but four of them, all looking and planning the next move. One wrong movement, and their position could be revealed, causing the Dniproverts to go on a stampede. Once they would start to run, they would be impossible to reach unless they get close enough.

They move silently, with their bellies in contact with the ground and their legs curved down.

One of them, probably the leader, looks around to see how the rest of the group is moving.

The mother Eittan is suspicious: she has noticed some movements in a large patch of high grass. She goes there to investigate.

The hunters realize they are being observed, but do not move. They coloration will allow them to blend in the environment.

In the meantime, the giant herd continues to move around and eat. Because of the female Eittan, they probably are letting their guard down. Something that they can't afford.

The mother Eittan moves away, distracted by the cries of Strakh. She decides to reach the pup, who was charged by a grumpy Dniproverts.

The hunters are at striking distance to the herd, but stay still in order to maximize the element of surprise. One of them moves its tail a bit, getting the attention of the female Eittan.

All of a sudden, the leader of the pride goes on the attack, sprinting at the direction of the herd. The Dniproverts panicky ran away, falling to the hunters trap: a single male appears right in front of their eyes, jumping into the herd and grabbing one of them.

He grabs the neck with its arms, pinning it to the ground. By using its powerful jaws, he bites the neck of the victim, in an attempt to suffocate it.

The Dniproverts tries to fight back the hunter, by trying to hit it with its horns and hoofs. Soon, however, the rest of the pride arrives to pin down the prey.

The mother Eittan watches from afar, with her babies hiding behind her legs and feet.

The pride starts to consume the victim. After one of them emitted a call, two cubs arrived to join the feast.

These fearsome group hunters are Onetigr, small compared to other hunters in this world, but still maintaining a big position thanks to their ability to hunt in packs.

The biggest male has a length of seven meters, tail included, and a height of two and a half.

They have a long, furry tail and a robust body. Although not short, their legs weren't long either: they were well adapted for small pursuits, only to grab their victims with their four fingers armed with retractable claws. Their neck was short and strong, supporting a large head with short ears and large eyes. Their jaws were short, but powerful, equipped with sharp canines.

The whole pride shared their prize with the younglings, which have barely started eating meat. Three days ago, they were still drinking milk.

Hunters such as the Onetigr are not extremely successful alone because of their short sizes and their inability to run for long periods of time. By hunting in packs, the chances of getting a meal are increased by 60%. When hunting fast preys, they can have multiple pride members surrounding the victim before it can run away.

When hunting large preys, instead, they can inflict more damage than a single Onetigr. It's a good deal.

The pride is leaded by a large male, who uses its sizes to show who is in charge. The rest of the pride is composed by females, submitted males and the alpha children.

Despite the fact they hunt in packs, they are still low in the food chain, so they often cruise the area to make sure there are no "surprises" behind the corner. Despite the fact they can hunt in packs, four preys out of five manages to slip away their grasp.

They do not have the intention to let go of the fifth.

The mother Eittan walks away, following the same general direction as the Dniproverts were going. Its children follow her, a bit tired but still capable to march for a while.

While the family was marching, Radost and Pechal walk aimlessly along a river. The water is able to flow, despite the freezing temperatures.

After hours of walking, the two sisters reach a large lake. They can easily spot some small islands in them, but they aren't interested in traversing the body of water.

Tired after walking for hours, the two are thirsty. They intend to drink from the cold waters of the lake, but a large herd of herbivores arrives.

They are Zublyas, medium sized herbivores who walk in the plains looking for anything to eat.

They have a length of seven meters and a height of three.

Their tail is long and thick, and their body has the shape of a barrel. Their posterior limbs are long and muscular, equipped with three hoofed fingers, while the anterior are equipped with five fingers, with the "thumb" armed with a long spike. Their neck is short, supporting a small horse-like head with a beak, small eyes and large nostrils.

The herd and the two sisters realize, however, that the lake is big enough to have the both of them to drink.

The Zublyas are the first to satisfy their thirst, while also keeping an eye out for danger. Rivers are a good hiding spot for predators.

And one of the most dangerous one in these waters has spot the herd.

The hunter wakes up from its sleep to descend into the waters of the lake.

For this Vralatil, the waters are the perfect hiding spot for hunting.

This eight meters long, a meter and a half meters high swimmer rules the lake with its powerful jaws.

The hunter has a long, slim tail, with spikes on the back. Its body is nearly flat, and it has too spikes on the back. Its limbs are on the side of the body, they are long and equipped with three fingers with sharp claws. On the back, it also has two wings, with a wingspan of one meter. The wings have the function of fins to aid the carnivore to swim upright and downright, kind of a submarine. Its neck is extremely short but powerful, supporting a large triangular head armed with powerful jaws. Four teeth, from each side of the mouth, came out; its eyes were large, alongside its nostrils.

When this animal hunts, only the back of the head is visible, just where the eyes and the nostrils are. This allows the hunter to not being noticed by its victims.

The hunter swam from its sandbank to the spot where the herbivores are drinking. Some Zublyas went a bit further than their companions, and they did not notice the presence of the hunter.

Suddenly, a large shadows emerges from the water, grabbing the posterior of one Zublya who was just a little too near the water.

Before he can realize what just happened, the Vralatil throws him in the water while still holding him.

The herbivore is losing some blood, attracting the attention of other Vralatil in the area. Soon, a whole gang of these aquatic predators swarm the poor Zublya, who doesn't know what to do.

Against the thick hide of the Vralatils, his thumb is pointless. By using the water as a dodging point, the hunters bite and scratch the poor prey, ripping pieces of meat from the still alive Zublya.

One of the Vralatils tries to bite the back of the head of the Zublya, but he manages to free himself from the attack. However, other attacks cause the herbivore to become weaker and weaker over time. Soon, the Zublya dies from a combination of blood loss, shock and drowning.

Once the victim is dead, however, the "collaboration" between the various Vralatils turned into a ferocious fight over the prey.

The hunters all try to bite and scratch the opponent, while also trying to get the best bits of the carcass. They roll in the water in order to rip flesh from the victim, while also playing games of tug in order to have similar results.

Not a single piece of flesh is going to remain on the dead Zublya. Soon, a large portion of the lake was covered in blood.

The biggest of the bunch even lifted the prey out of the water, shaking it around like a ragdoll. One male, however, manages to bite the head of the victim, decapitating it and swallowing it whole.

Another male takes a large chunk of meat for himself, walking into dry land in order to enjoy the meal. However, other members of its specie have followed him to steal his meal. However, before one male can get close enough to it, he swallows it with its powerful jaws.

The rest of the herd, alongside Pechal and Radost, watches from afar, before venturing away.

The two Eittans have decided to follow the Zublyas, believing that more eyes equals more safety. The herd doesn't seem to care, let alone mind.

On the other side of the lake there was a large forest where the Zublyas indented to go, in search of food. The two sisters are more than happy the reach the place: they too are hungry and Pechal conditions are not in good shape.

The forest is not that far, and the herd manages to reach it with no issues. Once there, the herd starts to gorge itself with ferns and other kind of plants. After they start to eat a bit, Pechal conditions even start to become better and better.

Strange movements, however, attracts the attention of the two sisters. Something is moving in the woods. Radost is ready to charge: after all that has happened, she's way more aggressive in order to protect both Pechal and herself. This little "adventure" made her stronger up to now.

However, the two realizes that there is nothing to fear, as the noise was provoked by another herbivore who inhabits these lands, especially forests. It's a Belopoveritsa, one of the largest forest inhabitants of this world.

She's over six meters long and four meters high, and she's accompanied with a calf.

She has a short, stubby tail with spikes on the back. The body, where the largest spikes could be found, had a barrel shape, and was supported by four muscular legs. Its hind limbs were the strongest, equipped with three hoofed fingers, while the frontal limbs were more slim and had, alongside its three hoofed fingers other two small fingers who didn't even touch the ground. Its neck was short and muscular, supporting a large head. On the back of it there was a shield structure, with large spikes. It had a parrot-like beak, small eyes, large nostrils and a horn near the nose.

The baby had a similar structure, but had larger eyes, a shorter head and a shorter nasal horn. While the mother feeds herself with ferns and other plants, the baby runs around, inspecting the forest all around him.

Forests, however, are no place to play. Because out there, there are some good hide and seek players.

The young Belopoveritsa, as a matter of fact, ventures far from his mother protection, who distracted herself to feed. The baby knows where she is, but doesn't know the dangers he can encounter.

Hidden behind bushes, a small hunter stalk the young. With his coloration, he can blend in the environment, and by moving slowly but steadily, he gets closer and closer to the calf.

The baby keeps playing around and feeding on vegetation, before noticing movement in a nearby bush.

Before he realizes the danger he is in, a fearsome hunter comes out to bite the young Belopoveritsa by the plate structure behind the head. The young doesn't know what to do, but tries to shake off the opponent, while calling for his mum.

The mother hear the cries, but is too late to intervene: before she could scare off the hunter, it managed to rip off a large chucks of meat from the calf, and was on the verge on eating it alive.

The mother, however, arrives, and almost run over the small hunter, who fled to the forest. The mother then inspects the calf, who now is dead by a combination of blood loss and shock.

After mourning the death of her cub for a while, she moves on, in order to unite with the herd. Even this large hunter can be the victim of other hunters in the region, hunters far larger than the one who killed her calf.

Once the danger was over, the small hunter came out of the shadows to feast on the dead calf. It's another successful hunt for the jackal of this world: the Sorkodil.

This six meters long, two meters high carnivore is one of the most opportunistic hunters in the First Planet, feeding on basically anything he can find, even bones.

It had a long, whip like tail with the back covered in osteoderms and spikes, just like its barrel like body. Its legs were long and muscular, equipped with five fingers: the three on the centre were close together, while the ones on the side were separated one from the other. Its frontal limbs were less muscular and had five clawed fingers. Its neck is short and muscular, supporting a large head with big eyes, small nostrils and powerful jaws with sharp teeth.

He fed on the carcass with no mercy, by ripping apart the ventral area as it was nothing. He ripped off the limbs in order to eat the flesh in the junctures, and even consumed a few bones. Soon, there would be nothing left.

However, such game was not left unnoticed: another carnivore appeared in the battlefield. On top of a large rock on the side of the kill, another small hunter made its way to feed on the carcass. The competitor was an Azodve.

With a length of five meters and a height of two if you counted the sail on the back, it was the main competitor for food for the Sorkodil.

It had a long muscular tail and a slim body, with a large sail on its back. Its limbs were short, with the strongest ones being its posterior ones, equipped with five fingers. Its frontal limbs were more slim, and had only four fingers. Its neck was short, supporting a large head with huge eyes, small nostrils and powerful jaws.

Although its body structure is similar to the Dimetropardus, he was far from the glorious hunter that terrorized the First Planet millions of years before. He didn't even have the infamous canines: all of its teeth were identical.

On top of the rock, the hunter roared to intimidate the Sorkodil, to which he replied with another roar. The Azodve jumped down, looking its opponent right in the eyes, showing the sail in order to appear more menacing.

Then, before the Sorkodil could react, he jumped to bite the back of the neck of the opponent, with no success because of the osteoderms. He tried to bite the back too, but to no avail.

Te Sorkodil then bit one of the frontal limbs of the Azodve, causing him to let go and scream in pain. The Sorkodil then let go and retreated a bit, only to roar again. The Azodve responded to the provocation and charged at the opponent, who bit him by the throat.

He then proceeded to throw him at the same rock where he came from. Injured and hurt, the Azodve realized that fighting was now pointless, with the far stronger Sorkodil roaring at him, intimidating him to run away.

The Azodve took the opportunity to flee from the Sorkodil, who resumed the feeding. With such injuries, it's hard to know if the Azodve will survive until the next winter: food is still relatively scarce for hunters nowadays.

After a while spent on eating, the Zublya herd, alongside Pechal and Radost, and even the large Belopoveritsa female moved from their current spot, as vegetation there was no longer present. The herbivores ate all of it.

As the herd marches, however, new dangers will come, in the form of even larger, faster, smarter hunters.


I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review so I can learn your opinion. I'm willing to accept suggestions, so stay tuned. Also remember to like and follow. See you on the next chapter.