The First Hunt (Part 3)

She quickly drew another arrow from her quiver but before she could place it on the bow's string the lower part of her back hit a branch, causing not only pain, but her entire orientation to change from horizontal to vertical, her head leading the way as she continued to fall.

Calm down. You aren't dead yet.

She noticed a thin branch that was rapidly approaching her. She put the arrow in her left hand and caught the small branch with her right. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she swung her body towards another tree and quickly found her footing where a branch and trunk met. She turned around, her arrow at the ready. But the puma didn't cross her line of sight. She looked left and right, up and down but couldn't find it. Suddenly the world around her begun to move in slow motion. Leaves fell from above and when she looked up, she saw the puma. Jaws wide open, with front paws eager to dig those sharp claws into her. She fell back but this time she used her legs to support her and prevent her from falling off the tree. By sitting on the branch in such a way that she was able to place the back of her knees onto the branch and use her thighs and calf muscles to control her swinging motion. Her upper body was right under the puma but as they crossed the branch, she placed herself beside the animal, right near its weak spot, with a bow that was loaded.

Sorry, but I win.

She watched the wild animal pass her and when its belly was in view, she released the arrow.

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Feng and Zoraya begun to race through the forest after they heard a loud growl. They found the puma lying in a pool of blood with an arrow in its belly. In fact, there were a few arrows lying around.

"What happened here?"

"June! June!" Feng called out.

Zoraya walked towards the clearing. When she reached the edge she looked back at Feng and smiled. "Would you look at that. The girl is a tough one."

Feng rushed to her side. She pointed at a pair of footprints leading into the clearing. He felt so proud of her. He inspected the footprints closely.

"These footprints are firm. She might be injured or exhausted."

"Maybe," she replied. "Her fight with the wild animal must have scarred off the herd."

"After hearing the sound of a cat they would most likely moved to some rocky terrain. They will be able to spot danger a mile away. I wonder how she will deal with that."

Zoraya ran, following the crumbs that June had left behind. Feng tried to call her back. "Hey!"

She turned around and responded "I've already missed her first kill, am not gonna miss the next one."

Feng smiled and followed after her.