First Hunt (Part 4)

Taru dragged his feet back to the campsite. He had spent the entire afternoon trying to catch some fish but had nothing to show for his efforts.

I hope the kid had more luck than I did.

The wind changed its direction and he caught the scent of roasted meat. This caused him to straighten up and move his feet faster. The fire pit was in the center of the camp site. Wooden spikes with meat attached were held above it by his party members.

"Hey uncle Taru. Where's the fish?" June teased.

"Things didn't go as planned on my end."

"Well, luckily for you, I managed to catch something." She spoke with a proud tone in her voice.

"Yeah, something inedible. If Zoraya and I hadn't helped you, we would have all starved."

Taru forgot all about his embarrassing trip to the river and laughed loudly. When he regained his composure he asked, "and what kind of inedible creature did the rookie kill?"

"A Pygmy Puma," replied Zoraya on June's behalf. She looked like a proud mother.

Taru's eyes widened in amazement and disbelief. "P...P…Puma? No, no way!" Both ladies had a smug look on their face and even Feng looked like he was enjoying this. Taru rarely found himself in a situation where he couldn't say a word.

"Its true. You can find it behind that tree over there. Aunty Zoraya said she would skin it and make a winter blanket for me."

"You snuck up on it didn't you?"

"Actually, it snuck up on me when I was in a tree."

"Then what?"

June saw no problem in retelling her story. If anything, she was happy to tell anyone who wasn't her mother. She went on to tell Taru about how Zoraya and her dad helped her to separate a yak from the rest of the herd and chase it into a pit trap. She could barely contain her excitement about the events of her first hunt. When she was done Feng asked Taru to inspect her right shoulder after their meal which he did. It was injured but nothing too serious. After a couple of days her shoulder felt fine.

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Feng begun to train his daughter. In six months' time, he intended to make her an official bounty hunter. He and his friends taught her everything she needed to know to survive in the business but little did they know, that she would one day become the greatest bounty hunter of all time.