The monstrous crocodile looked to the sky and opened its mouth wide before issuing a loud roar. The roar echoed for a straight minute and as if on command, the dispersed juveniles all swam from upstream and downstream to flank the crocodile, turning to face his direction. The strangest thing happened next for he could've sworn the lizard grinned at him once the juveniles had rallied. It dipped below the surface for a split-second before springing into the air. It struck the water again nose-first, sending a wave of water rushing over the bank towards his position. He wound the rope tightly around the tree he'd previously climbed and held on for dear life. The wave towered over him on the way past, the force of it almost loosening his grip. The water slowly receded to his torso as it flowed back towards the river, bringing with it loose artifacts from his previous path. The damaged skin the crocodile had shed also floated towards the river, stopping when it got stuck, winding around a trunk a few steps from him. The crocodile turned and sent another wave his way with a swat of its tail before facing him again. Calf made his way up the tree in response and held onto the rope tightly to avoid being swept by the coming wave. He was too preoccupied to notice the crocodile move to the elevated side behind the trees.

In a godly display of foresight and strategy the crocodile growled, informing Calf of its presence behind him. Calf dove into the water driven by instinct to avoid another whipping tail shot and as he fell, he heard the commanding roar of the crocodile and knew he had been tricked into action. As soon as he hit the water, he put all he had into swimming, turning to plant his feet before facing the river's direction. He braced for the juveniles he knew had been spurred on by the crocodile's commanding roar and sure enough the first snapping jaw was upon him in the next few seconds. Having anticipated this, he bent at the knees to avoid the lunge and watched as the juvenile struck the trunk. He struck it through its throat and drove the spear’s point all the way to its brain, ending the lizard in seconds. Drawing the spear out of the juvenile's body was quite the challenge in water, so much so that the next juvenile was upon him before he could prepare. He braced his back on the trunk and held onto the spear, point-forward. The juvenile impaled itself in its attempt to chomp at his torso, struggling briefly before stilling.

Calf knew he couldn't resist the approaching swarm in combat and decided to turn to wit instead, repeatedly impaling the juvenile until the water in front of him formed a bloody veil between him and the live juveniles approaching his position. His head broke the surface as he pulled his last kill with him in his retreat, taking quick gulps of air before going back under. Breath held, he went below the juvenile and stabbed it through the throat before drawing it towards him, draping it over himself while he lay on his belly. The live juveniles swam around his hiding spot occasionally brushing against the dead juvenile above him. Though none tried to dislodge his cover, he was fast approaching his limits and would soon drown if the water didn't subside fast enough.

Most of the juveniles followed the retreating water level and entered the river again. After what seemed like ages to him which in reality had only been 2 minutes, the water went down enough for him to push off the ground slightly and take a breath. This had been ill-advised though as the sharp intake informed a lingering juvenile of his presence. The juvenile pulled his cover off by the tail, dislodging the spear handle from his grip. Jolted from cover he grabbed the spear by the area just below the haft and yanked it upward and making for the tree in one swift motion. He'd barely begun his ascent when the juvenile chomped where he'd stood seconds before. He made to climb higher but abruptly switched his focus back to the juvenile hounding him which was now mid-leap in his direction with jaws wide open. He struck the juvenile through its head as it surged up, only having the presence of mind to register the blur about to smash into him before numbness struck him and his vision faded to black.

Calf had switched to a two-handed grip just before the attack connected and this coincidence is what had guaranteed him a fighting chance in the next confrontation. He was battered from all sides as his body rolled mid-air driven by the momentum of the huge crocodile's attack. It had waited till he was preoccupied with fending off the last banked juvenile before sweeping the trees with its tail again. This time the lashing tail had found its target and though dampened by the trees between them, it still carried enough force to propel Calf towards the center of the bank. He'd blacked out for but a couple of seconds and when he opened his eyes and saw where he was standing, fear threatened to cripple him. He tempered it with thoughts of his ultimate goal, remembering that the river and its challenges were but an obstacle and he couldn't give in here.

The last juvenile's carcass had landed a few steps away from him, spear still jutting out the back of its head. Forgetting about a potential threat from the river he faced his back to it, retrieved the spear and braced for the attack he knew would come, and come it did, sooner rather than later. The hulking crocodile waddled into view, staring him down as it approached him. He felt the field of their confrontation shrink as the beast came closer, stopping a few steps from him. Calf stood behind the carcass, it's mutilated body between them as he waited for the crocodile to attack. The cracking of a twig heralded its lunge as it went straight for him and the carcass with jaws wide open. There was no way he'd be able to run fast enough to avoid the lunging crocodile, so he decided to bet everything on an untested maneuver, digging into the bank with his spear head before bending it to its limits. The rebound from releasing the pressure propelled him forward, narrowly escaping the closing jaws of the crocodile. Though he'd cleared the jaws with his body it had managed to catch the spear-point in its clamping motion, jolting him mid-flight. He screamed in pain as his left shoulder popped out of its socket, the result of two opposing forces, the momentum of his body and the spear’s sudden arrest at the jaws of the crocodile.

Ignoring the pain he yanked on the spear handle with his right hand, cutting teeth and removing a large chunk of flesh on the way out. As the crocodile roared in pain, he stabbed it in the area just after the jaw before running the gash from jaw to tail. The crocodile swatted Calf away, spear in hand. As it roared, it grew like the last time it had sustained serious damage, only this time it wasn't limited to its head. It rotated for a few turns on the bank before stopping. It then shrunk before shrugging out of the damaged hide, revealing an all-white slimy body with red sections where wounds had stood seconds ago. As it dove into the water Calf ran back to the trees with the hide the crocodile had shed in tow.

It did not take long for him to spot his shield at the base of a trunk. He retrieved it before cutting off and shaving a few branches to similar lengths. He stuffed the shavings into the limbs of the empty hide, adding twigs and off-cuts to make up for the space. He then used the branches as props to support the hide from the inside with a bed of hollow horizontal lengths tied together and extending out on both sides of the crocodile's belly. He mirrored the inside bed with similar hollow lengths on the outside before making multiple cuts around each end and tying it shut with some rope. He placed a long branch in the center facing the direction of the crocodile's head and tied to it all the props that were connected to the limbs. Finished with the addition of supports for the hide, he cut off a patch along the lower section of its belly and tied off the tail at the base. He tied the shield to the center of the inner bed and pushed the propped hide to the bank's edge.

He waited for the crocodile’s roll to slow to a halt and as it did Calf paid close attention to the waters waiting for his chance. He hoped he could avoid being swept back onto the bank by coasting below the waves, but that consideration proved meaningless a few seconds later. Unlike last time, the crocodile did not issue a call to arms like he expected, and this deviation filled him with terror as he’d hoped to blend into the sea of juveniles when making his escape. The crocodile exited the waters alone and he only managed to escape notice by timing his slide into the water with the crocodile's lunge onto the bank. He stuck his upper body through the hole he'd made on the propped hide's underbelly and coasted to the opposite bank. He propelled the makeshift raft forward by pushing and pulling the center prop, which had the effect of flapping the stuffed limbs forward and backwards. He also assisted the propulsion with occasional kicks towards the tail, the crook at its base hiding the sound of his efforts. The hollowed shoots tied at their ends made for buoyancy whilst the hide would reduce suspicion, or so he thought.

When he was halfway across the river the huge crocodile dove into the water with a heavy splash, arriving beside him within the second. Calf stopped his propulsive actions and coasted on the built-up momentum as the crocodile inspected him. The inspection was nerve-wrecking and Calf wasn't sure he'd get out this unscathed, if at all. The crocodile suddenly dove before rising again with Calf and his raft now firmly supported on its back. The slender spear was too far for him to reach so he went for the broadhead instead, lifting it up for a strike. As he was about to bring it down a booming voice froze him mid-motion.

"Let's end it there! It wouldn't do for a prince to strike a King now, would it?"