Khla

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Khla remembers his first hunt vividly, almost like it happened yesterday, but it happened many suns ago now when Khla was young. His mother, much to the surprise of the young pup, took him hunting with the pack one day. The pack already had full bellies, so this hunt was more of a training session and wasn’t essential for the survival of the pack. The hyenas set their sights on a herd of zebras, a rather small and seemingly inexperienced foal was prancing around the outskirts of the herd. It was clear to all the adult hyenas that the target should either be young, old or sick, regardless of how much of a meal it would be.

“Which one, Khla?” Asked his mother, looking down at her young pup.

Khla was beginning to second guess himself. Zebras were bigger than he thought, and he was starting to think that he was no match against them. He suppressed the fear and pointed to the foal with his muzzle. “That little one there?” He asked, sounding unsure. He swallowed the uncertainty and repeated, this time with much more confidence. “That one.”

Khla’s mother yipped a quiet command to the rest of the pack for them to get into formation. “You lead the hunting party this time, Khla.” She said, nodding approvingly at her pup.

Khla felt another stab of fear. He thought about protesting or giving up, but the fear of disappointing his mother was much too strong. “Alright.” He said, gulping deeply before beginning to crawl towards the foal on his belly.

Much to the surprise of the entire pack, Khla made it within mere metres of the foal without being spotted, likely due to his small size and light step. The pup watched the foal frolic in the long grass, not a care in the world. It was now or never.

Khla pounced on the foal, sending the rest of the herd into a panicked rush as the young foal hit the ground. Khla just needed to deliver the killing bite now and he would prove himself to the pack. One swift bite to the neck. But he stopped himself with his teeth mere centimetres away from the foal. “I’m sorry.” He whispered to the quivering, whimpering foal.

After a moment, the foal opened her eyes. “Are you going to hurt me?”

Khla breathed deeply and shook his head. “I can’t. But you have to hurry back to your herd. My mom will be after you.” He warned, keeping his voice low.

The foal nodded her head and thanked him, before rushing back to her herd.

The pack, being caught off guard, was unable to get to the foal before she got back to her herd. “Khla! What did you do?” His mother snapped, stalking towards her son.

“I…I didn’t want to hurt her.” He whimpered.

“You’re no son of mine. Get out of my pack.” She said, voice deep.

And with that, Khla left the pack, never to return.

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