The Red Lands

It was late evening when they arrived at the hunting ground.

The white snow covered the ground and decorated the sparse undergrowth and high tree branches.

"Lucy, go up and check on the other rope and branch. Make sure where we chopped isn't too rotted. Dust the snow resting on the branches so we don't slip in the night."

"Ming, check your log trap on the other tree. A test run is required. I don't want you missing a target, should we have the opportunity."

"I follow, Chu, but so far none of those wolves have ever wandered into its target. Even when you bait those wolves, they don't remain long enough for me to act."

The two children scampered off while Chu crouched, setting the bait in the area with the pellets and the blood. The snow had covered and masked the scent from their previous trap. This time, Chu hoped he would be confident in keeping a wolf here. He had wrapped a stick with fat and rags dipped in blood. As a solution to Ming's problem, he planned to wave this from the tree branch, leading the creature within the target of the swinging log.

Strange enough, Chu realized that it was so much easier to bait the carnivorous animals. The scent of blood could attract them from a distance, and they were not overly cautious. He could not for the love of god remember any ways to set traps to attract and catch hares and small animals. The only trap he knew was like a cage that still needed the hunter to activate it manually.

He had never had the time and patience to actually look for those animals to discover their feeding grounds. He resolved to himself that once he made it through winter, he would have Griz recommend him as an apprentice to a reputable hunter for a couple of months. That way, he would learn some skills to at least protect himself.

"Chu, I want to test the log before it gets too dark. I'll need your help to pull it back up with the rope."

Hearing Ming calling, he scattered some of the blood on the white snow, dyeing it red.

"Chu! Something....SOMETHING is coming!"

Chu jumped up from pouring the blood. After Lucy's shout, he heard the underbrush being trampled as a huge shadow tore through it.

By the time he registered the direction of the sound and spun, the creature towered a few paces away, locking onto him with a pair of bloodshot eyes.

A deer?

No, something LIKE a deer but simply bigger and WAY more aggressive!

The creature had come bolting through a patch of thick underbrush, ripping away the interlocking branches and netted timber like paper.

A large deer equipped with two pairs of the biggest antlers he had ever seen. Pausing for merely a second, the beast opened its red, frenzied eyes to return the stare. Foaming at the mouth large enough to swallow his head, it lowered its head to highlight the wicked, dagger-like prongs. With a terrifying cry, it lunged towards him.

What the Frick!

'Why the heck are you trying to kill me?'

'I haven't done anything to you.'

'You should be happy that I am alive, who do you think has been contributing to controlling the wolf population in these here part of the woods?'

Like a last-minute slow-motion video, Chu saw the seemingly triumphant look the deer gave him. He swore it was one of scorn as it looked upon an obviously lesser being. The brief pause of the beast left no time for him to react.

So this is what it feels like to be a cockroach, he thought. Imagine in his final moments, the adrenaline didn't produce the burst of power like in a manga, but suffered the protagonist to view his death in slow motion.

Only thoughts flashed across his mind in a blaze. His body lived up to its expectations given his condition.

As he watched the shredder approach, a dark shadow swept into the corner of his eye from the left.

"EH?"

Apparently, the deer realized it too as its eyes, focused on Chu, glanced to the side. The left eye, full of ferocity, changed expression from domination to surprise.

At the same time, the swinging log slammed into its face.

Crunch!!!

A sickening sound echoed out.

The deer's head twisted to the side with the impression of a boy receiving a roundhouse from an experienced heavyweight boxer. The blow sent spittle, foam, and teeth flying.

The heavy log also broke its thick neck.

The deer crashed to the ground barely inches from him. Twisting over in spectacular wreckage, it scattered the snow in its wake.

"Chu!!! Chu, are you all right?!"

The cries from above woke him up from his daze. He was still shaken from that life-and-death experience. He felt ashamed that in a fight-or-flight moment, he could only stand frozen in fear.

"I...I am ok."

He cautiously took out his machete and grabbed a spear in his other hand. The deer awkwardly lay on the ground. Having flipped, somersaulted and rolled it ended spread-eagled on its chest with its feet spread out and its ass high up in the air. The head remained twisted unnaturally.

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Remembering the difference in strength, Chu decided to be very cautious. Using the spear, he conducted Ming's trademark spear strike.

A piercing jab up the butt convinced him the animal perished. Circling from a distance while inspecting the corpse, death seemed probable from the unexpected blow or the forced roll that broke the neck.

"Holy crap Chu I thought you were dead!"

Chu looked up at Ming, the different emotions bubbling inside him. Never in either life had someone saved him from certain death.

That deer clearly possessed the intention to skewer him and toss him away to his death.

Of course, leave it to the idiot on the tree to ruin the mood.

"Thank god for that deer, Chu! If it hadn't come along, then the log might have crushed you. I released it by accident, but who would imagine, eh? Eh Chu?"

Ming rubbed his fingers,

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lucy interrupted from the branches of the other tree,

"Chu, why would the deer be running to attack us?"

Lucy's words arrived like a wake-up slap.

Chu recalled the brief pause of the creature,

A wild face full of froth.

"Running..."

The image of the deer as it escaped out of the underbrush returned to his mind.

Escaped...

Chu muttered his thoughts,

"No fricking way!"

'Was something more terrifying chasing it behind?'

"Chu! I see....I see..... something...... big....aahhhh!!....b...e...a...r..."

Chu realized he would have no time to climb a tree to escape the incoming terror. He ran to the heavy log, dangling on the rope between the two trees. By the time he climbed up the log and began pulling himself up the rope, it appeared.

Unlike the deer that jumped and bolted through the undergrowth, this beast simply lumbered through, stomping and flattening it like a tank.

Strolling out, this beast had an aura of death reeking from it. Large like a pickup truck, this snow-white bear would garner the top position as the star attraction in a zoo. Out in the wild, however, with no bars and protective barriers, this horror functioned as a cold-blooded killing machine.

The bear halted while raising its enormous head and sniffing in the air. Under the fading light, its killing eyes focused on the climbing boy, seemingly half suspended in the air. With a growl, it ambled the tank-like body forwards.

Chu hadn't planned on waiting for this deadly adversary. He continued scrambling for dear life when the beast arrived and raised itself onto its hind legs. With the paws swatting away below, he wormed his way up, hoping the beast would not grab the rope in its drooling jaws and tug both him and the branch down.

Luckily for him, the vicious claws of the bulging forearm swiped across the rope, snapping it like a knife through butter.

The effect sent the log to the ground, and him, swaying higher. Grabbing on for dear life, he pulled his body upward.

Chu wasted not a drop of adrenaline, pulling up on the rope like a coconut climber. If the bear-like creature decided to snap and pull the end of the rope, he would die. His only option lay in reaching the branch.

ROOAAARRRR!

The beast circled below, roaring in frustration. Chu climbed up and held on for dear life. He was thankful the bear didn't have the intelligence to bite the rope and tug it as yet. If that happened, both he and the branch would be falling.

As sure as a light bulb getting hot when on, he was that close to pissing himself.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two wooden spears rained down from above, one striking the top of the beast's head.

With a thunk, it bounced like a tennis ball falling on a court.

While silently shocked at the bear's defense, Chu still called out.

"Lucy, stop!"

Chu hoped the bear would grow tired of them and leave with the deer carcass. Unfortunately, Lucy's heroics aggravated it at the wrong time.

This carnivore could not be compared to the ones he knew on Earth. In front of this animal, a polar bear appeared like a cub.

Like a tank, it had no fear on the battlefield.

Finding the source of the attacks, it walked over and hefted its bulky body to the trunk. Sharp claws dug and gripped into the wood as it pulled itself effortlessly up the tree. What scared Chu was that its solid frame crept upward much faster than he could climb.

Hugging the tree trunk, it trundled at a constant pace, the muscles bulging out and flexing from the limbs.

Lucy did not remain idle but began climbing toward the tree top after she attracted its attention. The trees in the forest were tall, and the one that was chosen was over sixty feet in height. Lucy had already reached over fifty feet in height when she slowly got onto a thick branch. She hugged it and crawled across until she reached close to the edge.

"Come and get me, you beast!"

She goaded.

The bear eventually made its way up and, without a second thought, climbed onto the branch and crawled towards her. It didn't have to crawl out very far to slap her down the tree.

Snap!

Who would think that when the bear balanced all its weight onto the branch, that stout, thick branch would break off?

The branch and bear proved the laws of gravity existed in this world.

As for Lucy, she was left hanging onto a rope tied to the higher branch of the tree Ming occupied.

As the bear crashed down, it experienced the same slow-motion thoughts like Chu had before.

'How come that thick branch broke? That never happened before, branches were supposed to bend and be supple!

Why did that girl suddenly start floating in the air? Was she a big bird?

And why are there no branches beneath that one to break my fall? What kind of tree grows like this?

Oh....look the deer, haa seems like he was suckered also by these little bastards...why does that next tree reek of piss?'

Thud!

With the fall to the ground, the bear suffered the consequences of a fall. With broken bones puncturing its vital organs, it moaned and whimpered until its last breath.

A powerhouse capable of rampaging across a village and being near-unstoppable met its death.

Even a small fall would not cause it major damage. As a beast experienced in climbing while hunting in a forest, it could easily break its fall by grabbing onto the lower branches.

This time proved different.

Not only was the solid-looking branch deceptively weak due to the cuts made by Lucy before, but even all close branches under it were removed to prevent any cushioning from a fall. This trap was set by Chu if they encountered climbing creatures. He never expected it to work this well, and for Lucy to execute the plan despite the frightful ordeal so brilliantly.

A bear this size also had one weakness. Its size and weight from a fall that high would work against it. No matter the protective fur and steel-like muscles, the shock from the fall had to do some damage.

An hour after the last moans were uttered, three children descended unto the ground. With the forest in darkness, only the rising moon provided a light source.

In tactical understanding, the three rushed away and hid where they could see the bear. If it only grunted, they would not hesitate to run toward the slums. Night or no night, and given what they saw of its skill in climbing, they knew better.

"What do we do? Is it alive?"

"Can we still kill it even if it's injured? That thing is like a suit of armor. Our spears are like matchsticks in front of that."

"Holy hell, Lucy, that was amazing, you were sooo cool!"

"Lucy, that was the bravest thing in the world. Ming why do you smell like piss?"

Even though they had trimmed the branches below and made the trap branch. It took courage to act as the bait in the face of such an enormous and fierce foe. Chu knew that he could never have done what Lucy did. This valuable experience nearly cost him his life.

And it was not one time staring death, BUT twice!

The branch had been carefully weakened by cutting below. There was also a cut at the top. This was for the branch to completely break off from the tree than for it to simply swing back into the tree. Breaking completely off meant no chance of a falling creature reaching the trunk to slow the descent. With all the branches underneath cut away, there was nothing to prevent a free fall to the ground.

"Do you guys think we can drag that deer?"

Chu broke the silence between them.