On The Hunt {Open}

Oliver and several other people from the company were on a bear hunting trip. But this was no normal hunting trip as nobody seemed to be carrying a  hunting weapon. The only humanoids in the group carried water and pistols. One of them carried a backpack covered in flexible solar pannels and Oliver in a papoose.

The humans wore camouflage pants and jackets with orange hats. Large backpacks full of water were on their backs and a .45 caliber pistol on their hip. Except for the one carrying Oliver. He wore the backpack with the aerials on his back and Oliver on the front. He still had the gun on his hip though.

Oliver was having fun hanging out in the tie-dyed papoose. A cable ran from the backpack to goggles on his face and another ran from the backpack to the little control panel. It could control movement of the drone or camera. It had a button to fire with and a switch to determine which mode it was in.

The rest of the hunters were wolves of various sorts and had every intention of taking down their bears as such. They wanted to indulge in the savagery of going at it with tooth and claw. They had brought along the caddies and Oliver as a back up plan.

The caddies made sure that they stayed hydrated and Oliver was tracking bears in other ways. If they got into a fight that they could not handle he would also be the one to even the odds. While they hunted by scent, Oliver left nothing to chance. He scanned the area from on high via drone in both visible light and infrared to pick up heat.

He had seen Callum's whole chase and takedown from on high. He thought it was just a normal occurrence and did not think it worth mentioning. The others picked up the scent trail and went running after it. They might not have found a bear, but treeing a lynx could be fun too.

Oliver and the caddies followed at a reasonable and measured pace. They would get where they were going and Oliver had them in his sights. He could quiet things down if they got in too much trouble. For now though, the wolves approached the area where Callum was eating his kill.

Above them, in the sky, was a large blimp like drone. Its underside was white and had a turret for the cameras and a turret for some sort of wave guide. The top was clear giving the solar panels inside full access to the light of the sun and had a mirror on the bottom of the inside to concentrate it. It could stay up for days or months watching if it wanted. It was the advantage of using top of the line military technology for hunting. Its electronic eyes watched and broadcast the images back to Oliver on the ground.

Callum School

The wolves arrived first and sniffed about. The kill was obvious and was sitting there for the taking. It should have been a simple matter of them digging in and getting their fill. But these were not wild wolves. They were shifters and sadistic ones at that. Dead bodies were useless. They wanted live victims to play with.

They honestly reminded Oliver of the people who used to bully him. They took joy in the torment. It was why they wanted to take down the bear without guns and why they were searching out the lynx instead of the easy meal. They had no interest in killing it. It would just be fun to chase.

They picked up the scent and continued to follow it to where the lynx had gotten off to. They fanned out a bit figuring that it could not have gotten far. The kill was reasonably fresh and not entirely eaten. I was likely that the lynx had not gone far. Even if it had the fresh kill would attract other game to hunt. All together it was a boon to their little trip.

The caddies and Oliver took another route. Oliver could see where it was and signaled his handler to go off in another direction than the wolves. They seemed safe enough and he could intervene if needed. They moved to flank and surround the lynx. The wolves coming up the middle and the humans going around to get behind it. Oliver figured that the wolves would not mind too much if they funneled t lynx in their direction. There would still be room to chase it and it would not realize that they were working in concert. They were just two separate threats in what was likely shaping up to be a rather bad day for the lynx.

Oliver gently guided his handler by leaning and they followed knowing exactly what he was and that he had information they did not. They wore the scent blockers and other things that you would except of hunters, contributing to the lynx's difficulty in picking them up. Oliver kept moving them and checking everyone's positioning. He might not be able to discuss it lest he tip off the wolves' prey, but he kept his watch none the less.


Callum School,