Arrow Lake behind closed doors

The woman began to answer his questions, one after the next, but as she did so it appeared as though Mesa's interest waned - he listened through a few of the responses but seemed to be distracted by something-or-other the longer he lingered in her company. The boy stalked around her to continue his inspection, seeing very little wrong with the rest of her body; he looked sort of bored by her various explanations by the time the air cleared and the calm returned.

Then he stated something that seemed obvious to him: I bet I can hunt better than you! Even though he'd never had formal training, at least he had four working limbs and the tenacity of youth to back him up. He was boastful and self-assured as any child might be, holding true to his claim even if he had no real substance to back it up. Mesa remembered watching the elk hunt with his siblings and the image of the pack working together to take down a beastly crowned creature such as that didn't jive with what he was seeing of Kazimir now.

The boy laughed - a sharp and grating sound. I am fast too! One day I'll be a hunter, and a fighter, and nobody will beat me, he goaded, all the while eyeing Kazimir's stump and thinking to himself, maybe one day I'll be stronger than the bear that did that!