Flashback Survival in Human Form (Animal)

[Kemlo]

Timestamp: last days of Sommer 513 A.V.

Waking up at first light on the early morning of the third day after his escape from the gypsies Animal shivered sightly. It was damp and colder than the days before. Wearing nothing but a cruel spiked choke collar around his neck and lying in a half way comfortable crutch high up in one of the few trees around it was no surprise the young but very muscular Kelvic boy's bare skin showed some goosebumps. The many scars all over the boy's body didn't help at all.
Animal was a strange name for a child but it was the only name he remembered. His parents once gave him another name but during his captivity he had just been called Animal and just couldn't remember his real name anymore. The boy didn't mind because he saw the humor in a Kelvic being called animal instead of the humiliation intended for him to feel by it.

Staying still with only moving his eyes and head slowly around the boy took a look around in case any predators came close. At the same time his other senses tried to detect any dangers around him too. Animal didn't see further or sharper than normal humans but in the night or low light he saw better thanks to the tiger like eyes of his animal form. His smell and hearing worked better than those of a normal human too. But as far as Animal was concerned the best advantage his beast from gave his human form was quite some resistance to the cold. The muscular boy's beast form was a Talderian tiger. An animal that lived and thrived in the frozen areas of Taldera. Animal's human form felt the cold but it didn't hurt him unless it got extremely cold.

There was no immediate danger around as far as the boy detected and he sighed with relieve. Still he stayed at his place and thought about his situation. For the last two days he just ran from his captors to get as far away as possible. He allowed his animalistic instincts to take over and wasn't sure about the direction he took. Not that he knew where he was before he fled so it made little difference for the little Kelvic. He just knew the direction the gypsies came from and the direction they went to. His instincts just told him to run away from both places.
The only thing Animal knew for sure was that he was still in the See of Grass and that was good news as far as he was concerned. Animal grew up in the See of Grass and lived here for nearly all of his short life. His Kelvic parents taught him as much as they could about survival and the dangers that awaited him. Had he not been caught and sold he should have mostly finished that training by now. Despite the countless dangers that lurked in the See of Grass Animal knew he would be able to survive on his own under normal circumstances.
The angry growl coming from his stomach reminded Animal of his one very big problem. The spiked choke collar he wore was build in a way that it fit his human as well as his much bigger tiger neck. But a special locking device prevented it from opening wider than to fit his human neck. It still pulled together and the blunt short spikes pressed painfully into his throat if somebody pulled at it's end but any try to change forms would crush his neck as a tiger and kill him painfully.
Before he was captured Animal already roamed and hunted in the See of Grass on his own but mostly he did so in his tiger form. The tiger half of his being was well prepared to hunt and fight. Despite the strong muscles he developed under hard labor during his captivity Animals human half was much less prepared to hunt. Until now Animal relied on his tiger form to hunt. Even not fully grown the boy was already a lot bigger than as a human and many predators preferred not both such a formidable beast. Without weapons or tools it would be very difficult to survive and to avoid becoming prey himself.

In the time Animal tried to figure out his problems the sun rose and the light got better. Again he looked around and tried to figure out how to get the much needed food. In the direction he came from he saw at least a few trees which provided a rather safe sleeping place but the way he went until now he saw only the long grass swaying in the wind. He was aware that it would be luck to find tree there but he couldn't turn back without the risk of being caught again.
A movement to his left caught the boy's attention. A group of three glassbeaks moved along the flank of a hill some distance away. Animal didn't dare to move a muscle. The predators might not see him and go on their way but if they detected unusual movement in the tree they might decide to investigate. He was aware about the fact that he couldn't outrun or win against them, especially not forced to stay in his human form. Luckily the quickly move farther towards his left until he lost sight of them.
With that direction out of the question Animal turned his attention more towards his right. Maybe it was luck or some sort of sign that he detected a reflection there between two smaller hills. The boy knew only of one reasonable source of such a reflection, water. He surely needed water later that day and there was the promise of prey animals or even fish at a source of water. His only problem was water meant a greater risk of predators too.

Climbing down the tree Animal looked for insects or any other little morsel of possible food. Back on the ground he searched around the roots of the tree too. About a hand full of maggots was his reward and the boy didn't hesitate to eat them. The last two days he concentrated mostly on getting away from his captors and had to do with the few eatables he stumble onto. In his difficult situation the boy's animal instincts told him that even the smallest morsel might be important.
With most of his thinking done Animal felt that his animalistic instincts grew stronger. The last two days they severed him well and he allowed them to take the upper hand of his being as he set out to the detected source of water. A human looking boy that reacted more like an animal than a sentient being.

[Kemlo]

The first warming rays of the slowly rising sun felt good on Animal's cold skin as he began his walk towards the source of water he saw from the tree. Despite being exposed to the cold air all night without protection these temperatures wouldn't hurt him at all. According to his Keldric parents he had been gifted with the cold resistance of his animal form, the Talderian tiger, even if he was in human form. He felt the cold in his human form and it caused goosebumps but didn't hurt him unless he was outside unprotected in extremely cold weather. The Kelvic boy didn't like to be cold but learned to endure it if necessary. Being a Kelvic child that relied at least as much on his instincts as it did on it's conscious human mind the definition of 'necessary' was quite flexible.

The boy's animal senses and instincts carefully scanned the area around him as he moved forward. Even in his very muscular human form his movements looked graceful and he moved as silently as he could. In this situation it might easily be a matter of life and death that he detected other predators before they sensed him.
For a few minutes he went on as his instincts suddenly caught something unusual. Instantly Animal stopped, crouched down and had his fingers touching the ground. His muscles tensed and ready to throw him forward in an explosion of strength his head turned halfway to the right into the direction his ears detected a slight irregularity in the rustling of the long grass. A minimal disturbance in the sounds around him warned him about a possible danger or prey. Without the senses and instincts of his tiger form he would have gone on and caught the attention of prey or predator.

Barely breathing Animal didn't move at all as his senses tried to assess the source of the disturbance. The boy took the time he needed and finally came up with a satisfying conclusion. It had to be a deer or similar creature and not too big. Even better, it came into Animal's direction.
Being in human form Animal stayed in his crouched position as he began to sneak forward towards the position the deer had to cross his own path. His instincts wanted to run and attack but now a more cunning intellect was needed to overcome the shortcomings of his human body if it came to a hunt. He used his hands to feel the grass before slowly pressing it towards the ground. Only then he set his foot on the created position and repeated the same with his other hand and foot. It was very slow movement and tiring but it looked like it worked. The boy was in luck the the wind blew towards him but he registered this only slightly. His instincts would have warned him if it was necessary.

Just as he came close enough that the animal should become visible through the moving mass of grass it happened. Animal put a little too much pressure on his hand and one of the blades of grass broke and made a bit of sound. To a human it would have been barely audible but for a prey animal that lived inside this ocean of grass it was like a thunderclap announcing the presence of danger.
The moment the sound reached Animal's ears his instincts took over again. With all his strength the boy threw himself forward and upward to get to his feet and gain momentum towards his prey. He didn't feel the blades of the grass cutting into his unprotected skin as he sprinted forward. There it was, a young not fully grown deer that stared in surprise at the young human looking boy for the blink of an eye. Then the deer threw himself around to run.
A normal unarmed human wouldn't stand a chance but Animal was no normal boy. He was stronger, in serious need of food and the instincts of a Talderian tiger drove him forward towards his prey. Rarely the boy hunted as a human before and never an animal of this size. He had no experience to rely on and driven by his instincts he attacked the deer just like he would have done in his tiger form.
There had been less than a second in which he was close enough to attack before the deer got away but he used it. He jumped for the deer's neck and his strong fingers grabbed into it's fur as he sunk his teeth into the animal's throat. The Kelvic boy's human form had rather long pointy teeth and elongated canines that looked more like the teeth of a predator than a human. He felt the fur in his mouth and blood as the teeth broke through the skin but they had been too short to cause serious injury to the deer.
Without the necessary claws to dig into the deer's flesh Animal's fingers began to slip as he held onto his prey that dragged him forward in his flight. Suddenly the deer stumbled and as it tried to regain his footing the boy caught a hard kick into his ribs that drove the air from his lungs and hurt like some of them might be broken. Unable to keep his grip he fell and hit the ground hard. After a couple of painful tumbles Animal ended up on his back with the superficial cuts from the grass, abrasions and a heavily bruised chest.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW....." the boy screamed at full force in frustration a few seconds later after he got some air back into his lungs. Despite the additional pain this caused he kept this scream up as long as he could and it sounded more like the roar of a frustrated predator than a human boy.
Only then the still hungry boy began to feel his ribs and to assess his other injuries. It looked like he had been lucky because the ribs didn't feel broken. At least not as far as the boy way able to tell. The cuts and the bruises hurt but didn't look too bad. Animal endured much worse as his many scars told everybody who cared to take a look but they had been treated. Treated like the wounds of some beast but they healed. At least the boy remembered that the wounds had to be cleaned.
With the water still a good distance away Animal considered licking them like he would do in tiger form but with his bruised ribs that was mostly out of the question. Most of it needed to wait until he got to the water. Careful not to hurt his chest more than necessary the boy stood up and began to walk as soon as possible. As soon as he stepped forward he began to lick the dirt from the wounds on his arms and shoulder as far as he was able to reach them.

[Kemlo]

Coming closer to the place of the reflections a while later Animal slowed down and used his senses even more thoroughly. He smelled the water immediately and that meant a greater chance to find prey or predators waiting for that prey too. It was dangerous for the boy in his current human for but he had little choice because he needed food and water too.

The boy was lucky that the wind blew from the water towards him. There was no scent of possible prey or predators in the air but despite that Animal sneaked slowly and on hands and feet closer to the water to stay as well hidden as he could.
Carefully parting the long grass in front of him the boy caught the sight of a small creek with muddy banks on both sides. Making again sure there was no signs of danger the boy moved silently towards the water still remaining on all fours. Thirsty as he was he just leaned down to the water with his head and drank directly from the water. Three times he stopped for another careful look around before he had his fill of water. During this time the boy looked more like the animals he usually hunted that the predator he normally was.

With his thirst quenched Animal looked around for possible food. Stone might have provided bugs below them but with only the muddy banks inside all the grass it would be difficult to find a reasonable amount of such bugs.
Some movement at the water caught Animal's attention. The water moved slowly through the area and the creek was not very deep. Then he saw the fish in the middle of the creek. Small fish but to the hungry child they looked like a feast. He only had to catch them.
Watching closer animal saw a number of these fish swimming up and down the creek whih would be his chance. Before his capture Animal learned from his parents how to fish within such flat waters without any tools and now was the time to put it to use. Very slowly Animals moved inside the creek on his hands and feet. He had to move extremely slow or he would drive the fish away. It took quite a while until the boy was in position looking downriver. He was bent over and held his hands with the palms upward just above the ground without touching that.

Now he had to wait for the best chance and rely on his agility and speed. It took a long time in this uncomfortable position before the first fish went into the trap. One of them swam directly above his left hand.
Using his abilities Animal pulled that hand up and to the right as fast as he could. The fish tried to escape but Animal was faster. He threw the fish out of the water and into the bank to his right using the force of his arm. The boy was lucky the fish landed on flat ground and died there. Instead of going directly after the fish the boy resumed his position to catch more.
It was well into forenoon before Animal gave up because the remaining fish finally swam away. The gain for his hurting back and cold feet had been seven of the small fish and the boy quickly devoured them raw because he had no way to cook them. The didn't fill him up but they took the worst hunger away.