Ankyra Sound straight down out of the world with my fingers

it stood to reason that like he had changed to adapt to his lifestyle on the coast, so his prey adapted too.

loko admittedly had never considered it. he marveled this newfound knowledge, overturning in his mind's widening eye.

bent over the tracks, it took loko longer than a normal seasoned hunter's to notice the staggering gait; the irregularity of hoof-falls that announced to any its author's weakened state. a sickly scent hung around the tracks that both repulsed and excited him. it be limping. he drew upright, eyes hopeful and breathless. what ails it den?

loko discovered what she did in due time, and erzulie nodded. "dat sweet scent," she muttered. "it be infection. perhaps it injured its hoof an' de inside began to rot. or perhaps its leg higher up be injured and oozin'."
they would have to proceed to find out.
the woman moved out at the rolling trot of their kind, continuing along the deerpath but allowing loko ahead of her if his energies demanded such.

an infection or rot. loko's sides shivered.

erzulie moved in a lofty trot and the boy followed suit. their pace was comfortable -- at first he was tempted to go ahead, but he realized his inexperience was a handicap and slowed. when erzulie was at his shoulder, the boy spoke.

do i go for de leg dat be hurtin'?

"yes. be careful of de hooves. dey can cut. dey can kill."
her quickening rooted the woman. he must take first charge here.
"i will distract. it will run. be ready."
the track was fresher now. she sniffed the ground and knew its truth.
erzulie drew a breath and bounded forward, routing the animal with a strangled grunt from the blackpine.

so the hooves could cut and kill. this thrilled loko, oddly enough; as if things were not fun unless his life was on the line.

the scent was heavier now, fresher. somewhere here, even. loko's gaze lifted over the blackpine, listening to the trill of birds.

erzulie grunted and suddenly the brush wobbled; a streak of rust and a shape impossibly large sprung from it.

the deer! it leapt, hobbled by its injured leg. loko felt instinct overcome him and he was after it in a flash, teeth snapping close to its hocks as erzulie distracted it.

loko's teeth flashed. erzulie bounded alongside the animal. it drove its crown at her with a desperate gesture. the obsidian dodged aside.
ahead of the three there was a small dip where the land swooped downward. she snapped for its shoulder, hoping to drive it sideways into a stumble where loko might draw blood.
erzulie's heart pounded.

when the deer threw its head at his maman, part of loko froze.

he was grieviously inexperienced -- his heart soared with fear for his maman, but she expertly danced out of the deer's great reach.

loko moved onwards, panting.

the ground shifted beneath them, giving way to a sunken road. here instinct served loko well as he matched his maman's pace, noting with certainty her agenda.

when the deer stepped in the shaded grove, loko lunged for its hocks in a show of teeth.

erzulie watched as her son matched her strides. she was intrinsically, fiercely proud of him. and when he dove for the animal's hocks, she flashed forward for its throat, shoving a rangy shoulder into its ribcage.
the scent of blood was wet in the air. she seized the failing flesh and held the animal there, tail revolving and claws skidding, so that her son might strike another fatal blow.

would it have ever occurred to loko to combine two moves at once were it not for watching his mother? the boy fought against standing still in awe as erzulie did what came natural to his kind. 

a thrust of her shoulders and she was at the deer’s throat. loko saw his opportunity and lunged again for hock, this time aiming to send the limping creature to the ground by pulling its leg out from under it. his movement lacked the practiced grace of his mother, but the blow landed — and the deer was sent sprawling for erzulie to execute while loko tugged endlessly at the leg in his mouth.

tooth-flash and harsh step; blood arcing droplets into the bright briny air.
the deer eked out its last. she lifted her reddened head to look toward loko with an amused chuff.
"good hunting, boy." her voice was rich with pride, a feeling that her son had put there.
the men of sapphique were altogether different.

this moment loko would remember forever.

he gripped the creature's skin tight, feeling at last the pulsing bound of blood ebb away. the tension within unfurled not unlike the world's most vulnerable flower -- here in a moment and then the bloom was gone forever from the deer's eye.

he stood proud, tucking away both the memory and his maman's praise. he would wait for her to eat her fill, if any -- and would then boyishly be ready to bring his kill back to his family.