Hello everyone! :D

And here is the next chapter even though it isn't the whole chapter. Actually this chapter is way longer but I didn't want to keep you all waiting any longer so I decided to split the chapter in two parts. Soooo~ Here you have part one ;)

I hope you enjoy the chapter ;D

I also hope that there aren't too many mistakes, if so then just point them out to me :')

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are

Chapter 4_Foraging part 1

The hunter looked once again out of the big window from the corner of his eye as he listened to the sounds of the night. He could barely hear the rough coughing anymore that was some hours ago too loud and too near to their location to his liking. But now it seemed like the smoker – how the prey called this brethren of his – had walked off and was wide away from their current location.

A hardly noticable movement in his arms catched his attention and he quickly looked back at his little pup who was still sleeping peacefully in his arms and was snuggled up to him. He couldn't help himself but to smile at this before he frowned slightly.

By the looks of it his new pup slept during the night and was awake at daytime. That was a problem since he prefered it the other way around. He could hunt better during the night when no evil light threatened to hurt his eye.

But looking at the little girl he sighed deeply in defeat and decided to his own displeasure that he would have to change his sleeping mannerisms. He could hardly go hunting in the night and leaving his sleeping pup alone in the nest. He couldn't do that.

But on the bright side there would be one good thing about this. His brethren showed also more up during the night so that the possibility of meeting a lot of his brethren during daytime was unlikely. That would mean less danger for his pup when he would take her outside with him.

Looking out the window again he noticed that it was already somewhat brighter outside. It wouldn't be too long until the sun would rise and the evil light would come back. He cringed at the mere thought of light that would hurt his remaining eye.

But what wouldn't he all do for his pup?

He looked back at the little girl as she began to stir. She was waking up.

Slowly she opened her eyes before she blinked a couple of times and rubbed her eyes with one hand as a big yawn left her lips. At first she seemed to be confused about something before she gasped loudly and scooted hurriedly back from him.

Confused about the behavior of his pup the hunter whined quietly while he slowly reached for the little girl. Why was she afraid of him? He had thought that he had made it clear that he wouldn't mean any harm to her.

But the little girl whimpered out of terror as she scooted further back, away from his grip, while she helplessly shook her head.

The hunter stopped in all his movements so that his hand remained as an offer to take it outstretched in the air before he started to purr lowly. He really hoped that this would work. At least his purring had calmed her down before.

His pup froze but then she seemed to realize something as she relaxed visibly and smiled weakly whereupon she still somewhat hesitantly reached out to him and put her little hand in his much bigger one.

With a toothy grin of his own he carefully pulled the little girl to him and pressed her lightly against his chest while he still purred all the way.

"Good morning, Shark.", mumbled his pup and even though he couldn't understand the meaning of the words he replied with a soft sounding noise.

He looked down at his pup as she lifted her hand and grabbed the pendant that still dangled from his neck so she could trace the edges of the pendant with her thumb. The hunter cocked his head and hummed lowly while he at first watched the little girl closely and then regarded the pendant in her little hand. He hadn't even known that he possessed that small thing – let alone that he had worn it under his hoodie before his pup pulled it out from under his hoodie last night. But the longer he regarded the silver thing, the more familiar it looked to him.

As his little girl noticed his intent stare she looked at him, back at the pendent and then again to him before she opened her mouth to say something.

"That's a pendant or actually it's a shark. It kinda fits you, Shark. Oh, right... that's your name now by the way. Shark."

The hunter really tried to understand the words but he failed miserably at it so that he was just left confused. Fortunately his pup was a smart little girl and sensed his confusion immediately whereupon she bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brow. She was probably trying to figure out how she could communicate with him so that he would understand what she wanted to say.

After some seconds it seemed like she found a solution as she slowly lifted her right hand and pressed the appendage to her own chest.

"Chiara." She said very slowly before she lifted her hand again and pressed it against his chest this time.

"Shark." He was still somewhat confused as he cocked his head whereupon his pup sighed loudly, shook her head and repeated the motions and the words a couple of times more.

The hunter wracked his brains for an answer to give the motions and the words any sense as he finally thought he got it. It was like someone turned a switch in his head and suddenly it was all clear to him.

So his pup's name was Chiara and she seemed to have decided to call him Shark. Shark wasn't such a bad name, in fact he kinda liked the sound of the name.

"Chrrrraaa... Shaaarrrr..." Shark tried to say the names but all what left his lips were some slurred growling noises. But he didn't care, instead he lowered his head and nuzzled his pup lovingly while he purred happily.

It looked like his little girl understood his slurred attempts regardless as she smiled proudly and petted him on the head. He still didn't understand why Chiara petted him all the time, but he wouldn't do anything against it. She seemed to like doing it and he had to admit that it felt kinda nice to be petted.

The lovely moment was interrupted as suddenly a growl sounded in the room that didn't come from the hunter. Shark quickly realized that the noise came from his pup or to be more specific from her stomach. She was hungry – just like Shark who felt like he was starving and had felt that way for days.

So it was time for hunting.

Shark quickly jumped with Chiara in his arms from the bed before he slung only one arm around the little girl and propped himself up with his other arm, so he could still crawl out of the bedroom and in the living room with the open kitchen – even though it looked somewhat awkward. In the living room he stopped again and put his pup down whereupon he grabbed her hood and pulled the blue material over her head.

"Hey!", protested his little girl loudly as she pulled her hood from her head again and shook her head stubbornly.

Growling Shark grabbed the hood a second time and pulled it back over her head. But this time he didn't let go of the hood and didn't budge as his pup tried to rip the hood out of his grip and from her head.

"Cut it out, Shark!", demanded Chiara with a big pout but Shark stayed unwavering. He wouldn't let her have her will this time. He just backed off last night because there had been no evil light. But now it was daytime and so she had to wear the hood. Besides she wouldn't stand out that much with the hood on. With the hood on she nearly looked like his dead beloved pup – like a real hunter pup – even to him.

Shark waited some long seconds – during this time Chiara didn't stop to struggle and stubbornly tried to free her hood out of his grip – before he had enough of this. With a loud warning growl he tugged roughly at the hood and bared his bloody teeth whereupon the little girl flinched out of surprise and slight fright. She trembled lightly as she looked from under her hood up at the hunter who slowly let go of her hood and stared with his one eye warningly at her.

It seemed like his pup finally got the message as she stood still and didn't try to pull the hood off her head again. Slowly Shark dipped his head and nuzzled the head of his pup while he purred lowly – a small apology for his fierce behavior not some seconds ago. To his relief his little pup forgave him as she petted him once again on the head with a weak smile on her lips.

Satisfied Shark pulled away so he could turn the little girl around and could bite down on the material of the hoodie of the neck area. He lifted his pup from the ground with ease before he crawled over to the window in the living room. Without hesitation he jumped on the windowsill and quickly climbed up on the rooftop where he looked around and sniffed the air. The only thing he could smell was the scent of death and gore that lingered always and everywhere in the air.

He wouldn't find any prey anywhere near their location so that he crouched down and leaped to another rooftop. He couldn't help the amused cackling that escaped him as his pup spread her arms and squealed gleefully, just like she did last night. He was happy that Chiara was happy and that was all that mattered to him.

While he jumped from rooftop to rooftop he didn't stop to sniff the air and to look briefly around. He doubted that they would find any survivors and the stupid ones just tasted awful. He had eaten one of them before out of sheer desperation but had regretted it right afterwards. Even though it was a last resort he tried to avoid it for as long as possible.

A faint scent of something living catched his attention and he instantly changed the direction until he stopped on a rooftop of a house – a small one compared to the other buildings around. A large forest extended just in front of them that didn't seem to have an end to it.

The scent of the living thing came definitely from out of the forest and yet Shark hesitated to follow that scent. That forest wasn't part of his hunting grounds anymore and another scent that lingered in the air made him more than just uncomfortable. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his gut off as he placed the scent to a face.

Scarface. It was really faint but he could still smell it around here. That was Scarface's scent without any doubt. This left just the question if they would met the bigger hunter when they entered and roamed the forest?

"What's wrong?", the questioning voice of his pup pulled Shark out of his musings and reminded him of his actually task at hand. He mustn't be scared. He had to feed his pup no matter what.

With an uneasy growl he finally jumped from the roof and landed safely on the ground whereupon he approached the first trees with caution. He had to be very heedful in case that something or rather someone dangerous waited for them in the forest. He wouldn't let any harm come to his little pup.

"Shark? What do you want in a forest?" The tender voice of his little girl startled him so that he froze in all his movements and squinted down at her – even though he could just see the back of her head. Besides his new name he hadn't understood a word. But it was bad to talk right now, they had to be as quiet as possible.

Shark snarled softly and scowled before he raised one of his hands and pressed his index finger against Chiara's lips to signal her to be quiet. Fortunately his little girl seemed to understand as she nodded slightly and pressed her lips together – even though she tried to look back at him to probably give him a questioning look.

Nodding to himself the hunter paid his pup no more attention and instead concentrated on the hunt and their surroundings. Sniffing the air again he jumped up on a thick branch of a tree before he leaped from branch to branch and followed the scent of the living thing.

To his displeasure he noticed rather quickly that not just the scent of the living thing was getting stronger but Scarface's as well. This wasn't good. He just hoped that the bigger hunter only went through this forest recently and wasn't here in person anymore.

Shark jumped to the ground as he heard a small noise and could pinpoint the location of the prey through its scent. It was really close. Silently he bent down and released the material of the blue hood from his teeth as Chiara's feet touched the ground.

The little girl immediately spun around to him and looked up to him. He could practically see the big question mark over her head as she gave him a confused look. As he saw how his pup opened her mouth to say something he quickly pressed his hand over her mouth and shook his head with a scowl plastered on his face.

All that left Chiara's mouth was some angry unknowable mumbling before a muffled sigh left her lips and she nodded while she crossed her arms over her chest.

Satisfied Shark pulled his hand away from her mouth before he gently grabbed Chiara's shoulders and pushed her to some near bushes where he forced her to sit down. She just had to keep a low profile, then hopefully no one would find her until he came back with the prey.

With a low growl he turned around and took some steps before he heard some rustling behind him. Sighing out of frustration he turned to his pup again who was no more sitting on the ground but was standing in front of the bushes. With a fierce short growl he grabbed her shoulders once again and pushed her forcibly back on the ground between the many branches of the bushes whereupon the little girl whimpered quietly and bit her bottom lip hard which had started to tremble slightly.

Shark hurriedly bent down and started to purr lowly while he licked the little girl's cheek lovingly – a promise that he would come back. He didn't want his little girl to cry. Sniffing Chiara looked still somewhat confused up to him but didn't try to stand up again.

The hunter gave his pup a last toothy grin before he finally turned around and jumped in the direction of the living's scent.

It wasn't hard to track his prey by following its scent. It wasn't long until he spotted his prey on a small clearing whereupon he crouched down til his stomach touched the ground below him so that he couldn't be detected immediately.

If he remembered correctly then this hairy creature was called a deer, even though it was a small one of its kind. Nearly without any sound he sneaked up to his prey until he was near enough. With a loud shriek he pounced on the animal that went down with a little struggle to none. It hadn't had a chance against a hunter in the first place.

To finish the hunt Shark pierced the flesh of its throat with his sharp teeth before he tore a good portion out of it and started to chew hungrily on it whereupon a delightful moan left his lips. Even though it wasn't some flesh of survivors the flesh of the deer tasted like heaven to his starving stomach. Sure, nothing could top the taste of living survivors but fresh flesh of some animals didn't taste that bad either.

Greedily he tore out more of the bloody flesh and swallowed it hungrily before his feeding session was suddenly violently interrupted.

A choked cry left his lips as he was yanked off from over the dead deer by a heavy force. He landed painfully on his side on the ground some meters away. With a groan he tried to roll over on his stomach but he soon realized that something prevented him from doing so by forcibly holding him down.

A loud angry snarl left his lips as he looked up at the culprit but he fell quickly silent as he got a good look at the other one.

His fears became true. Scarface really had been in this forest all along. This wasn't good, it was a nightmare!

He glared hatefully while Scarface just gave him a sadistic grin before he bent down and lapped the still fresh blood from Shark's lips and chin whereupon a very low purr sounded from the bigger hunter.

Outraged about such an intimate action he snapped at the bigger one with his bloody teeth but all he got to bite down on was empty air. His angry snarl was quickly drowned out by Scarface's furious growl who slashed at him and left four bleeding scratches on his right cheek. It seemed like the other hunter didn't like and didn't want any resistance from his side.

A quiet whimper left Shark's lips as he felt the sting of the wound but he quickly forced himself to bear the pain – it wasn't even a bad injury, it would heal pretty fast, so there was no reason for whining about it. Instead he began to struggle wildly while he bit and scratched everything that he could reach – even though that wasn't much considering his position that didn't provide much freedom of movement.

A row of sharp teeth that suddenly pierced lightly his throat stopped him in all his movements. He could feel how his own blood trickled down his throat as a panicked whimper escaped him and his whole body tensed up.

Why went Scarface always for the throat first? He hated it to be at the mercy of his former alpha. But he also knew that this situation would end in his death when he wouldn't show some submissive behavior soon. Oh, how the bigger hunter loved it to dominate others and to have the control.

Shark had to force himself to go limp in Scarface's grip and to let a loud submissive whimper pass his lips. Some long tense seconds went by before the bigger hunter finally released Shark's throat but faltered as he was about to pull back.

Shark was confused as Scarface suddenly began to smell him. The bigger one pressed his nose into the smaller one's curve of the neck before he sniffed his clothed chest while Shark squirmed slightly out of discomfort. What was Scarface doing or rather why was he doing that?

Some seconds passed until the realization hit Shark like a brick wall. The other hunter could smell Chiara on him! Shit, that wasn't good at all.

Before Scarface had the chance to make any sense of the scent Shark lashed out violently. To his luck he catched the other hunter by surprise so that he established it to buck the other one off of him. Hurriedly he rolled on his stomach and jumped up on all fours to face the bigger one.

He wouldn't let Scarface hurt his pup. Not again, never again! He wouldn't loose another pup through Scarface's hands.

Shark snarled out of fury as he pounced on the other hunter and started to claw at him. But before he could have gotten a good swipe at the other one Scarface threw him off of him with a furious snarl of his own.

Growling Shark looked briefly around – searching for a good escape route. Even though he wanted to rip the bigger hunter apart he knew that he didn't possess the necessary strength to do it. Scarface was way stronger than he was but fortunately he was much faster than Scarface. That meant that he could outrun him.

The smaller hunter saw the attack coming as Scarface tensed up. He quickly dodged the pounce with a roll to the side before he jumped on a thick branch of a nearby tree and screeched tauntingly at the bigger hunter.

Scarface shaked with rage as he also jumped up on one of the branches to follow him – just like Shark had predicted. Scarface barely landed on the same branch as Shark as the smaller one swiftly leaped to the next branch and then to another one whereupon Scarface instantly started the chase with an outraged shriek.

Shark looked briefly back over his shoulder as he leaped from tree to tree to make sure that Scarface was indeed following him. And that was just what he was doing. Good. With that knowledge he looked back at the way ahead of him. He had made sure to run off in the opposite direction from Chiara's location. Now he just had to loose Scarface somehow.

Cliffhanger!

Yeah, I know, I'm mean X'D