Survival of the Fittest

Hara coaxed the horses into his encampment, gently guiding them from the ground and pulling the carriage around to make a makeshift wall between the forest and his makeshift abode.His time alone in the forest had been a trying one, but he was a resourceful person and luckily his mother had taught him methods of surviving in nature. His first priority the night before was shelter, so Hara dug out a small hole into the wall of a dirt embankment and laid pine needles down on the floor for some mild comfort. If Father saw the state of this camp I’d probably get some lashes. he thought to himself. Still, it would have to make do for now, nightfall was coming and Hara had yet to set up a fire. His stomach growled at the thought of the food in the carriage he had stolen, and he hurried to gather tinder.

The fire crackled and popped with an alluring chaos as Hara laid his head on a rock and stared at the flames, contemplating his predicament. He bit at a rice ball absentmindedly and wondered what the village was doing with his parents' bodies right now. They lost their fight, who cares what is done with their bodies. he winced at his own thought, as cold as he was he still had a soft spot for his mother, even now he could feel the sadness turning to anger, turning into resentment and pity. He bit on the rice ball again a little more angrily this time, as if he was trying to swallow those feelings and forget about them. He couldn’t help but replay over and over the scene of his mother being cut down by those low rate savages. Tears welled in his eyes as he stared into the fire, his mind elsewhere. Eventually, all the crying in the world did not prevent his eyes from closing as he drifted off into exhausted sleep.


Hara shot up from his sleeping place still screaming, his body in cold sweats. He frantically touched his chest and head as if to confirm it was still there, it took only a couple seconds for Hara to realize it was a nightmare, and a few after that to realize the noises around him. Hara looked at the carriage serving as a makeshift wall and his eyes widened in awe.

Standing before Hara on its hind legs, staring at him cold and predatory eyes, was a monstrous grizzly bear 10 ft in height, its fur was matted with years of traveling through the woods, and its body was covered in scars from the countless battles the beast had been in before. Hara estimated that it had to be at least 800 pounds, if not more.

. The carriage's belongings were strewn everywhere and Hara cursed himself for being so tired and careless. not much time to lament your mistakes Hara thought to himself as he stared at the massive creature, and it stared back. There was a brief pause, as if all of nature stood still to see what was going to happen, before the bear roared and slammed its front paws onto the ground. Hara jumped up with surprising agility and dodged to the left as the bear charged and swiped at Hara's sleeping spot. The victory was short lived however as instead of turning to face Hara the bear simply swung its hip out to smash him against the dirt embankment. The bear roared again as it reared around to face the young ninja. Hara, coughing up blood, had barely enough time to react before a massive arm of the bear came slamming down on his shoulder, he groaned as he could feel his arm pop out of its socket.

Hara had to think fast, this bear was entirely too strong to face, he would have to withdraw for the time being, Hara cursed his own incompetence. Before he could think of an exit plan the Bear slammed its forehead into Haras, and he reeled. Seeing stars it took all of Hara's energy to maintain focus.

Hara rolled and ducked to the right as the bear came swiping down with another paw, he formed his hand into the classic Gentle Fist open palm technique and swiftly slammed it into the bear's eye. The bear roared in pain and swiped out haphazardly, missing. Hara jumped back and up onto a tree as the bear frantically rubbed its injured eye into the ground. Hara glanced at the destroyed carriage and all its goods, briefly entertaining the idea of fighting for what was his. A very loud roar from the bear and the shaking of trees as it stumbled into them changed Haras mind very quickly and he jumped from the tree into the night. He cursed himself for being so careless and searched for shelter, the bear’s roars growing fainter as Hara sprinted from his camp.

By the time Hara had found a spot to rest it was already becoming daylight, Hara got what sleep he could, but he kept being haunted by the visage of the bear. He finally arose, his body stiff and in pain. He inhaled sharply before popping his arm back into the socket. Hara gritted his teeth and put his head up against a tree, sighing and closing his eyes as he thought of what to do next. you can’t fight it one on one Hara thought to himself as he surveyed his surroundings. By his guess, he was about a mile and a half out from his old camp, the bear was most likely still there. He thought back to the old teachings of his father. Almost as if from muscle memory he spoke out loud in the same monotone voice from his childhood “The greatest advantage to have is control, control of the opponent, the battlefield, and yourself.” He chuckled to himself I don’t think you expected me to be fighting bears.. His grin dissipated quickly, as it was wont to do when remembering his father.

Hara sat in the branches of a large tree for a while, contemplating how best to get back at this bear. His stomach growled and he knew it was time to put his plan into action. He walked for some time before recognizing the landscape and taking shelter next to a tree, activating his Byakugan and scanning the old camp. The bear was laid out in his small sleeping hole, almost as a challenge to Hara. He narrowed his eyes and focused his Byakugan, scanning the path he had laid out with drops of his own blood. The trail led up to a clearing about half a mile away from the camp. Hara made sure to check on his trap to make sure nothing was amiss, he would only get one shot at this, Hara couldn’t be sure of how effective it would be and He needed to be ready to fight.

With a final nod to himself, he stood up from his hiding spot and began to walk towards the camp. “HEY BEAR.” he shouted as he kept walking closer, he could see the bear begin to awake from its slumber. Hara picked up a piece of food strewn across the ground and continued to walk closer until the bear was within site. “HEY YOU BIG UGLY PIECE OF SHIT” Hara shouted and threw the piece of food, deftly hitting the nose of the bear. It growled and roared as it rose from its spot. Hara locked eyes with the beast and picked up a small rock, the bear stood there, on its hind legs staring Hara down almost as if daring him to throw the rock. Hara gritted his teeth, whatever happened next was out of his hands, he just had to stick to the plan.

Hara chucked the rock at the bear and hit it in the chest, the silence after was comical and Hara found himself almost laughing as the bear silently looked down at the small rock and then back to Hara. His smile dissipated quickly however when the bear roared and began to charge.

Hara lept back to create more separation and began to run, this was a game of keeping the bear enraged enough to keep following it, and close enough to think it had a chance. He grabbed a handful of pebbles as he was running and jumped to a tree branch, the bear came stumbling through the forest and into the clearing, scanning to find Hara. Hara whistled from atop his branch and threw another pebble, hitting the bear in the ear. Hara grinned as he dropped down from the branch and ran, he was having fun now. The bear roared again and gave chase.
Hara had reached his trap now, and the dangerous part was soon to begin. He took a flat rock that he had sharpened and placed it in his palm like a discus, taking the Gentle Fist pose, Hara waited. He could feel the ground beneath his feet quiver slightly at the footsteps of the bear, the vibrations getting stronger and stronger until finally the bear burst through into the clearing, stopping at the edge. Hara shifted his stance, sliding to the left, luckily the bear felt the need to match, and began walking to the right. Hara glanced up briefly and made sure everything was aligned before locking eyes with the bear, challenging it. The bear, almost as if understanding the challenge, stood up briefly and roared before slamming back down to the ground and charging forward.

Hara had one shot at this, he took a large breath, calming himself. Time seemed to dilate, and he could see the individual dirt particles being kicked up by the charging bear, he could feel the slight breeze and noticed the shifting of every individual leaf as Hara became hyper focused on the task at hand. And then, something surprising happened, Hara could feel a force. A strange and old force that Hara had never known about, even in that moment he could feel the chakra of nature around him as this hyper focused state let him feel the ever present and intangible flowing energy.He could feel the chakra flow through and out of his body, and he felt power surge through his muscles. He would have to look into that more later however, as Hara was snapped back to the moment, the bear reaching its mark, it was time.

Hara, holding the flat rock as a discus, gave a spin and deftly threw the rock to his left, hitting a tree that had been precariously fallen and leaning against another. The back of the tree had scratch marks made where Hara had painstakingly weakened the trunk with a rock for hours the night before. The tree groaned and then a resounding snap echoed across the forest as the large tree began to fall. Hara looked at the bear as it was charging and prepared himself in case the plan didn't work. The bear roared one last time and began to swipe at Hara who was now only a couple feet away.The tree landed onto the bears back with a resounding thud and the bear let out a whimpering groan before shaking the tree off its shoulders and groggily stumbling to the edge of the clearing.

Hara hesitated, had the bear really just taken the hit of that tree? That seemed impossible and yet here it stood, shaking its head as if only receiving a small hit. The bear lazily turned towards Hara, it gave a half hearted roar before charging but even Hara could see the bear was injured. Hara gave a half step back as the bear came tumbling forward and fell, its head sliding to rest at Hara's feet.

Hara did not know why, but in this moment he felt immense pity for this noble and powerful creature. He sighed and looked at the bear, struggling to get back up from the ground after falling. “Even now, you struggle to fight, even now after so much loss and pain you rage against your enemies.” Hara bowed his head in respect to the bear. He grabbed a sharp rock he had made the night before and proceeded to finish the bear with 3 deft strikes. Hara made a point of extracting as many of the teeth from the bear as possible, an enemy such as this deserved a trophy. Hara smiled to himself, content with his conquest. Still in survival mode, and with winter fast approaching, Hara decided to skin the bear. It was laborious, and Hara was only able to get through it due to the nature chakra coursing through him. How long would this effect last? He had no idea but he relished the feeling it gave him, a feeling of serenity and focus. Finally, with the bear skinned, a great silence fell on Hara and the clearing.

Only now that the silence had come did Hara collapse to the ground. He could feel the strange energy of nature as it left his body, what was that? Hara attempted to scan his memories of any lessons his father might have given him but came up blank. Then a memory hit like salt on a wound as he remembered his mother telling him a bedtime story about an old man and his powerful chakra. “The old man didn’t have much chakra of his own, but he asked nature for it, and it fed him the most wonderful pure chakra anyone could hope for! And with that Nature Chakra, the old man was able to save-” Hara cut the memory off, the rest was unimportant to him. “Nature Chakra” Hara said out loud to himself almost as if getting used to the way the words tumbled around. Hara would have to research this further.

Hara spent a small amount of time cleaning up the camp, but his body did not permit him to do too much. Now that the thrill of battle had come and gone, Hara felt drained in every way. Even picking up a bolt of cloth felt like agony, and he could feel his body screaming at him to rest. Hara had learned his lesson this time though, and pushed himself to set up a camp a little further down wind from his original camp. Suddenly, as if scolding him, a memory came to light of him and his mother camping.

“Remember Hara, you never sleep where you eat, or the big bad bear will get you!” Hara's mother acted out a bear, extending her arms and giving a fake exaggerated growl as Hara giggled and ran around the camp, he began to yearn for that life again, and tears welled in his eyes once more-

Enough Hara painfully thought, the time for remembrance was nowhere near. First, vengeance.For now, he had a bear to skin, and a camp to clean.




Exit.

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