The Red Lands

The Idiot's Guide to Trapping

By the time they bundled up and left the slums, the sun was already throwing out its last rays. The shadows were already long, and the forest was shrouded in darkness from a distance.

The path was empty as everyone had long since returned to the village. The two entered the forest, and Chu led the way to the group of trees he had seen during the day. It was during this walk that they fell into danger.

Not surprisingly, the danger came from one of those lone wolves who had developed a taste for humans.

The grey wolf was treated as a skilled hunter. Before winter, these outcasts from their packs moved alone and by instinct and animal behavior, separating their hunting zones. A cunning hunter, it stalked the areas around the lumber camp to pick off individuals venturing astray. When darkness fell, they would venture brazenly into the lumber camp area, sniffing and reclaiming their area.

As a modern-day individual, this would be a standard narrative in wildlife documentaries. Unfortunately, these memories were not at the forefront in Chu's mind.

AWOOOOO!

"Hey! What the heck was that?"

Chu grabbed Ming's shoulder and asked. The latter turned his face slowly and stiffly like gears badly in want of oil. His mouth formed an eerie forced smile.

"What do you mean, WHAT was that? Isn't it the sound a wolf makes?"

Chu felt Ming's reply was demeaning, as if he was looking down at him.

Ming on the other hand felt he could have held this idiot and bitch slapped him back into sanity.

AWOOOOO!

"Holy shit! It's getting nearer, did you hear that?"

Chu whispered.

As virgin hunters, standing in a dusk-lit forest accompanied by the howls was an exquisite experience. The only thing missing was a bladder release from them.

"Hey, think about it. We are probably the only two crazy idiots in these woods. To top it off, we are carrying a pot of blood and those fat-smelling pills you concocted. We should just put out a sign saying Eat me."

His companion looked down and gave him a philosophical speech.

If it wasn't for the blissful face as if some pressure had been lifted, or the yellow liquid puddle forming at his feet, Chu might have taken him seriously.

"Quick, let's run, we are nearly there."

They burst into a run and quickly reached the area Chu selected. It was here that another small problem surfaced.

"Hey, what gives. Why are we stopping?"

Chu urged him on in reply,

"Hurry, we need to climb. You go up first, and I will hand you the spears and bag."

"..."

"..."

"Hey Chu. I can't climb."

Ming answered with a straight face.

"..."

"..."

AWOOOOOOO!

A couple of seconds later, they were both sitting on a tree branch.

Chu had placed three pellets on the ground and scattered the blood liquid on them before shimmying up the tree. Both were on the tree, with the spears resting on a fork on some branches. They remained silent, peering into the shadows.

A short while later, a wolf stepped out from the darkness. The creature sniffed around and made its way to the tree they were on. Sniffing the blood-stained ground, it wasted no time in licking and swallowing the pellets.

The blood from hares and other creatures proved a good choice. If he had chosen the ingredients from one of those animals classified as poisonous, it might have been different.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The beast continued sniffing around until its gaze pierced the upper branches, its greedy eyes falling on the occupants. A growl escaped the throat as it lunged onto the tree, baring its fangs.

"NO! It found us. Holy crap I knew I shouldn't have listened to you. If you wanted to die, why drag me along?"

Ming was half screaming, holding onto the tree trunk for dear life.

"Hey hey, it's all part of the plan. We just need to keep it here until the poison takes effect."

Those fat pellets should be melting inside its stomach, releasing the mushroom poison. It made sense to try to keep the wolf occupied until the concoction took effect. Chu grabbed a spear and handed one over to Ming. After a couple of minutes facing the creature, he had become used to it. They had the advantage of the tree.

Chu stepped on a lower branch that gave him the opening of striking the wolf with a spear without it reaching him, even by jumping. Every so often, he would hit the trunk so as to keep the animal in a state of rage. Ming would switch with him when he became tired.

This routine went on for near half the night. Only by the moonlight could they make out their surroundings.

"Hey Chu. Did you really feed that wolf poison?"

This was the hundredth time Ming asked him that question. The wolf moved as if it had eaten steroids instead of poison.

Chu remained focused on the wolf that was starting to tire. Foam was spitting out of its mouth as he constantly baited it. Once, he even gave a yelp and pretended to fall off the branch when it had decided to turn away. This caused it to remain on the hope of their tiring out and falling.

Another hour passed, and the wolf's movements finally started to become sluggish. Like a drunken man, it tottered and swayed as it walked. In a crazy manner, it jumped and pawed at the tree. In the moonlight, the eyes had a dazed look.

Seeing this, Chu decided to act. If they waited any longer, the wolf might decide to leave. Together they started raining the wolf with the makeshift spears. Under the howls, two spears were accurate enough to stab the wolf in the back. With the last two remaining spears, they jumped off the tree as the wolf tried to leave.

"Hurry and kill it!"

Ming was busy beating his spear on the wolf that had tottered and fallen on the ground.

"Stab it, you fool! Stab it! It's a spear!"

"But it's a branch, who says I can't use it as a club?"

Ming replied staunchly.

"Why the heck do you think we spent half a day sharpening the point? Don't make me mad, STAB IT!!"

Chu nearly screamed at the boy. Only because of their location did he grit his teeth and stifle the shouts.

The wolf seemed to be far too poisoned to launch a retaliation. In the beginning, it snarled and lunged, but these were clumsy and unfocused. The two of them slowly took advantage of the weakened creature.

If not for the mushrooms causing it to hallucinate, it would have already killed these two idiots. Not only were they totally uncoordinated and leaving themselves open for attacks, but they apparently had zero skills in weaponry.

Which sane warrior would switch from beating to stabbing and then beating again? Worse yet, they sometimes prodded it with the blunt ends of the spears, only switching after their reasoning overcame the adrenaline rush.

Under a howl of remorse and denial that the gods allowed it to meet such characters, the wolf expired. If it could have cursed these two idiots who were still beating the carcass, the anger may have ceased.

"Ming, I may not be a doctor, but I think it's dead."

Ming continued to walk around the wolf, prodding it with his spear.

"What's a doctor? Wait, I know a way to tell if it's pretending. Get ready, Chu."

Ming moved to the back of the wolf and speared the wolf in the ass. Feeling satisfied, he smiled and gave Chu a thumbs up as if that was a normal action. Chu stepped back in a reflex action with one hand moving to cover his ass.

"Oh...OKAY, good job there, Ming."

With the mission accomplished, they gathered their spears and climbed the tree to remain until dawn. It was too risky for them to be hauling a dead animal through the forest at night.

His adrenaline rush was spent, and it took his all to climb the tree.

"Hey, Ming, if it's so easy to climb a tree, why don't hunters use bows and simply kill these wolves like we did?"

Ming looked at him with a wry grin.

"Do you really think this forest only has wolves?"

White bears come down from the north during the middle of winter. Human meat is a delicacy for them. Wildcats are frequent raiders, changing their coats to blend into the surroundings.

The forest was full of opportunity but rife with danger. It was also the source of legends and the unknown. Just last winter, there was a rumor of a supposed demon beast that stalked the slums; it was fast like a wolf and had a body strength like a bear.

Ming, recalling those tales, woke Chu up. No wonder hunters were fearful to spend nights in the forest. In a stroke of bad luck, they could easily lose their lives. Tonight was lucky, but what would happen if they encountered a bear?

By the time the poison acted, it would have climbed the tree, picked them like a fruit, and had enough time to clean its teeth in contentment after the meal.

Chu even vaguely recalled memories of humanoid tribes who clashed with hunter parties deep in the forest. Most of these tales were treated like stories meant to frighten young kids. If he decided to continue making money with this line of work, he had to be better prepared.

Taking turns, they settled uncomfortably between some branches to sleep. In the cold air and under the excitement and success of the night, it was hard to fall asleep.

Under the light of the morning sun, they viewed their surroundings before jumping down to secure the prize. Chu waited until it was near mid-morning before they hauled the carcass to the Trading post. Even though they used a makeshift stretcher, the damn beast felt like it weighed a ton.

At that time, most of the villagers would be in the forest, and the path would be empty. A dead wolf was worth much more than a rabbit. It would not do for them to be robbed, after all, who would believe two slum children killed a wolf?

Just like that, they sneaked their way to the Trading post.

Leaving the wolf behind, hidden under the watch of Ming, not too far away, Chu made his way to the collection post.