16 First kill

When Leo woke, Iris was already cooking breakfast. He quickly dressed while her back was turned, and then she turned to him and said,

"Morning, we're gonna skip morning training so that you can head out earlier. Natalie will be the only one with you, I'll stay here, and prepare for the offering tonight." Hearing her words, Leo felt nervous and nodded. He then asked,

"On the off chance, what if I don't get something?" Iris smiled bitterly and said,

"Today's not the only chance you'll have to hunt. Even if you're not a good hunter, you'll still be useful as a scout or cleaner. Remember, it doesn't matter what you get; as long as it's an honorable kill." Leo nodded remembering that while Artemis was pretty much a living incarnation of "law of the jungle", there were some things she would not tolerate; such as the killing of a mother or child. As they finished eating, Iris suddenly said,

"I have something for you." And she pulled out a newer set of leather clothes. Leo new that after this set, any he would have would be made from his own kills. Iris turned around again as he changed again, into them. When he was done, she came and checked to make sure everything was right. At that moment Jack flung open the door, with Natalie right behind him. Leo and Iris both jumped, Iris quickly backed away from leo. Leo couldn't help feeling like they were caught doing something they weren't supposed to, especially when Jack gave him a wide grin.

"Getting distracted on the day of your first big hunt huh? If you were in the Warriors I never would've allowed it!" Natalie then promptly slapped the back of his head, before turning to Leo and Iris.

"Iris, I'll leave the preparations for the offering tonight to you. Leo, I'll be following you; but all the work on this hunt belongs to you. The tracking, the shot, the cleaning. And remember, if you shoot and wound an animal; its up to you to put it out of its misery. Any questions?" Leo could only reply "no ma'am" and they were on their way. Once on the platform, he watched the other hunters spread out again. But he figured that after cleaning his kill Natalie would call them like usual to pack it in.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, and then rushed forward to the next branch. Unlike the first time he tried it, he didn't overshoot it. He landed with confidence, before launching himself to the next one. Like this he moved through the forest for the next few hours, before finally stopping. Natalie who had been silently following, thought he needed a breather. But saw that instead, not only was he not breathing hard like his first time out; he was listening.

Over the last two weeks Leo had been training his senses as well as his stamina. His sight, his hearing, and his sense of smell. He had long since accepted that they were stronger than a normal humans. And he decided that he would make use of it. He learned to recognize the different animals who's kills he helped clean. When he saw them walking the forest floor, he learned to recognize the way they moved and the way they sounded as they walked. Though he had yet to make a kill. Leo could already be considered an apex predator of the forest.

And so, when he thought he heard something moving through the forest a ways away, he stopped to listen to determine its identity. He heard sharp thumping sound whenever the animal stepped. This told him that the animal had hooves and was extremely heavy. As he continued to listen, he heard sharp grunts occasionally and was eventually greeted by a smell he did not recognize. He turned to Natalie and described what he had heard and she looked at him In surprise.

"From what you described, it should be a maned boar. They're usually about thirteen feet tall at the peak, and have a noticeable mane going down their back. It's because of this they're so hard to hunt. The mane dulls most attacks, especially arrows. When you take into consideration the tough skin they have as well; it would require either a massive amount of chi to penetrate the skin, or a direct shot to the brain through the eye. Both are beyond the skills of a beginner." She had emphasized the word beginner, because he had warned him that if he wounded something he would have to kill it. Therefore she wanted him to focus on something easier to kill.

Leo however was thinking. One thing he had noticed was that he was exceptionally powerful when it came to chi. When he learned that chi was related to physical capabilities, he thought it might be related to how much stronger he seemed to be. And with his enhanced senses, his accuracy in The bow had gone beyond the levels of a mere beginner. While he wasn't able to maintain accuracy at first, he was able to quickly adapt and became an exceptional shot. He had even started learning how to control the arrow as Natalie had done, though he wasn't so good at it yet. Therefore with his superior base capabilities, along with his powerful chi; he couldn't help thinking 'is it possible?'

"I'm gonna go for it, while I could go the safer route and find something else; I don't want to betray the efforts everyone had put into training me." Natalie had looked at him in disappointment when she heard his first words, but sighed in defeat when she heard the rest of his sentence. She had to admit though, even she was curious as to the extent of his abilities. Therefore he nodded her head and gestured for him to lead on.

Leo then maneuvered around the source of the noise, and crept closer with more subtle movements to avoid startling the boar. When it finally came into view, Leo couldn't help his surprise. The thing was even bigger than Natalie said, at fifteen feet tall at least. Leo couldn't help but wonder why all the creatures in this world were so exaggerated when it came to size; haven't they heard size isn't everything? The boar had two tusks that came out from the sides of the mouth and curved up until they were pointed at the sky. Each one was roughly two-three feet long, and the points looked as if they Jed even punch a hole in the side of a tank if they wanted to.

One blessing though, was that they were facing the broadside of the boar. Leo was able to get a clean shot at the eye, readying his arrow he took aim. Using his superior vision Leo could see the beady little eye, and he started pouring chi into the arrow. Natalie watched from the side and became impressed in the amount of chi he was using, after all the traveling they did. After about twenty seconds of pouring chi into the arrow, Leo let it fly. Natalie saw the grass behind the boar move from where the arrow hit it. She sighed and shook her head, but when she turned to Leo he had a big grin on his face.

Natalie realizing something wasn't right, looked again. And when her third eye looked as well, she could see a small red hole. Not in the eye like thought, but behind the ear. And as the gargantuan boar fell with a crash, she realized what happened. The arrow had been powered far more than usual, and had gone completely through the board head. She hesitated before placing the whistle in her mouth and summoning the nearby hunters to help pack the meat in. She breathed to regain control of herself and smiled while looking at Leo's grinning face before saying,

"Good job. I don't think anyone's ever killed a maned boar for their first kill before. Now, you get to clean it before we pack it in!" The massive grin on Leo's face disappeared in a flash.

***

Back at the village there was great bonfire roaring, and people were sitting all around feasting after the manes boar was brought back. After cleaning off all the blood he got on him, Leo also joined in the celebration. Iris even came and gave him a kiss on the cheek in congratulations, which earned lots of calling as people tried and succeededto embarrass the two. Then the moment everyone was waiting for, the moon started coming up. Leo was waiting by a table that had the heart on it as everyone watched the moon rise. When the moon was completely risen he would take the heart, and grow it into the bonfire as an offering to Artemis.

He watched as the moon rose, but the moment the entire moon cleared the mountain it was behind,

THUMP!!

Leo suddenly, felt a pain in his chest.

THUMP!!!!

He collapsed to his knees, closing his eyes and groaning at the sudden pain as everyone looked worried.

THUMP!!!!!!

He opened his eyes, which had turned from brown to a very bright orange.