We entered the forest, and it was a strange mix of alien and familiar to me. I had spent a large portion of my previous life in a forest not too different from this one, but then, just like now, I didn't go out at night much. That which hunts at night does so because it has some sort of advantage in the dark. Humans... just don't.

Oncli, like always, led the way, but had to adjust himself slightly, as the trails he would usually follow were cold. He turned back and forth briefly, then settled on one path, and we followed.

...

It was a long, cold hour that we spent following leads that led nowhere. Oncli was visibly (and audibly) downcast, but no matter what he did, we couldn't find any frogs, and, while we had seen some wolfstag tracks, we were nowhere near ready to follow those. Frankly, none of us could have done anything to help, and we knew that. However, we needed to eat, and the hunger was getting to all of us. Treel started to snap a bit at Oncli, but she was quickly cowed by Took snapping right back at her, defending her long time companion. The tension among all of us was obvious, and I could hear a couple of stomachs growl. The pickings recently had been slim, and we were all getting tired.

At that point, we gathered together, and waited for Oncli to find another trail to follow. We sat back on our haunches, beginning to tire, while Oncli ranged out, looking for a trail. That's why we weren't close enough to react in time to the sudden attack.

I should have thought about it a bit more, considering I had specifically thought about what a danger they would pose to us, but I simply hadn't in my caged frustration. At the last second, I realized there was a shape of a slightly different hue swooping towards the isolated Oncli, and I began to rush forward, yelling "Oncli, DODGE!" I felt the pack fall in behind me as I rushed forward to assist.

It was too late for him to do anything but begin to react. The terrorbird's claws latched onto his body and began to try to carry him off as it put its beak to work, tearing at his neck. Oncli squealed in pain as he began to thrash, trying to escape.

I was quick enough to pull at the tail feathers of the huge bird, which slowed it enough for Took, who was right behind me, to get her teeth into flesh. The terrorbird shrieked its rebuttal, and released Oncli with one talon to swipe at Took, in the effort of dislodging her. The bird, however, did not understand how doggedly determined Took was to kill anything, much less something attempting to haul off a packmate, and she simply absorbed the strike, and her blood began to fall.

Again, we were lucky enough to slow the terrorbird enough for Treel to get there, who, after a moment's indecision, latched onto Took's tail in an effort to further weigh down the powerful bird. She did slow it enough for Foire, who had agilely climbed a nearby tree, to jump directly onto the bird's back. The bird rolled over in the sky, dumping Foire back onto the ground, but exposing its neck to the surprisingly agile Brutus, who jumped nearly 2m into the air, and latched onto the bird's head.

The terrorbird fell.

On the ground, it was much weaker than in the sky, and the pack showed no mercy. While the three brutes occupied its beak and talons, Foire and I mounted its back and went for the kill. I hardly noticed the flashing notification of [Bloodlust skill activated] over the shockingly bright colors of the terrorbird's blood in my thermal vision. We two ripped and tore the bird's nape to shreds, and, upon finding its spine, finished it off.

We'd managed to kill a terrorbird! A 2m apex predator with a cruel beak and massive talons. I began to give myself to the feeling of glory and [Bloodlust] as I looked down to my saved comrade, Oncli.

He was laying, unmoving, near the corpse of the terrorbird. I could see his lifeblood pouring down to pool under him--in the terrorbird's initial attack, it had punctured deep into his abdomen with several of its massive talons, but that wasn't the worst of it. In the brief window of opportunity, it had struck with its curved beak, and had taken a 5cm chunk out of Oncli's neck, completely removing his nape.

He didn't cough, struggle, or move, but I barely heard his quiet whisper.

"Boss."

I, still under the influence of [Bloodlust] due to the blood covering my face, attempted to shake off the insanity of battle. It stuck, and I internally roaring, was able to force the skill to shut off. Finally, ignoring the flashing [System] notifications, I came close, and noticed a concerned Took pressing in at the same time, while the rest looked to me. Looking at the severity of the wound, he wasn't going to make it long, and there was nothing any of us could do.

"Hey..."

"Boss, I shoulda been beta."

"... This is serious. You want this to be how you go out?"

"Nah. Look." He tried to look me in the eye, but couldn't move so I lowered myself so he could look me in the eye. "I want you and Took to eat me."

I was taken aback, and I think he could see it. "Let me support you two from now on. To victory... by fang... and... blood..." He went quiet.

After a moment of disbelief, I quickly pulled up my [Status] and, disregarding anything else, looked at the bottom entry. I slowly took in the change while Took began to keen, quietly at first, but building to a crescendo.

[-Young Bloodletter Alpha. Prerequisites: Young Bloodletter. Requirements: acquire 10 followers. Progress: 6/10]