Stripes Everywhere!
Name: Nuka, the only male and the last one born.
Personality: Nuka is convinced he will be a might warrior. He will be an Escort, answerable only to his father, the Boss. He always takes every opportunity to scuffle, fight, and prove himself worthy of such a roll.
Prompt Answer: Freedom! Nuka is happy to be finally out from under the watchful eyes of the Wardens. Didn't they know he was the Boss' son?! What would dare threaten such a mighty warrior's male progeny?
With bounding leaps Nuka quickly moves away from the safe area the cubs are kept and watched. Now he could prove himself the warrior he knew himself to be. Surely they would see his prowess and make him a Guard. Nuka knew he was too young to be an Escort, but he would start getting the training once he has shown himself capable. And he would stop being lumped in with the cubs, coddled and protected. He should be out protecting them!
The air, sharp and crisp, carried the sounds of his running. Nuka didn't know anything about hunting or protecting, for all of his confidence to the contrary. As he ran, looking for a threat to vanquish, all prey was alerted to flee well before his arrival.
It was when he stopped at the edge of the cool river for a drink that Nuka realized he wasn't alone.
The dire wolf was lean and battered. It would have been clear to anyone experienced that it was an old male, driven out after it has been wounded and slowly starving on its own. But for Nuka, it was a great beast. A threat to the pride. He bristled, his lips pulling back from his teeth. A low huffing challenge calling to the canine.
The dire wolf slowly circled the cub. It might have been old and wounded, but the cub was no match for a canny hunter, one who had survived many winters. And the warm flesh of a smilodon cub left foolishly alone would fill its belly and help it survive until it healed enough to hunt some more. It would not hold off death for long, but the dire wolf was not ready to sleep the endless dream.
Nuka watched the dire wolf circle, keeping his back to the river. He had always sought out the tales of the guards, huntresses, and escorts. He knew the beast was larger than he was, that he would have to find the throat quickly, that he could not turn his back to it. But he did not know patience. And while the cunning old wolf circled, Nuka could wait no more and rushed the canine.
It was good that his huffing had alerted a nearby guard who was investigating the noise. The dire wolf easily stepped aside from Nuka's charge, it's teeth tearing into his hide as he moved past. But the cub squirmed and rolled, managing to get his claws deep into the wolf's ruff. The guard arrived to see the two locked together. The bite to Nuka's back held firm, blood seeping from where the teeth pierced flesh. And the dire wolf unable to shake the cub and break his neck because of the claws sunk into its throat.
The guard, calling a quick and deep roar to alert the pride, rushed to save the cub. The dire wolf, occupied with the cub it suddenly couldn't rid itself of, fell quickly to strong jaws on its neck.
Nuka, was pried from the bite of the wolf. His fur raised, he spit and hissed at the body his claws raking along its snout as he postured for the guard and the quickly arriving wardens. He reveled in the admiration in the eyes of the other cubs as he told of his heroic battle with the dire wolf. In his telling, he would have felled the beast without the guard's aid.
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