Frostbound

"Who's huff stupid huff idea huff was this?" Entirely out of breath, I couldn't help but voice my question to my surroundings.

This was also ignoring the fact that I was alone and this was, in fact, my idea.

I didn't know why I thought I would be able to sneak anywhere. Every beast I came across knew exactly where I was and they didn't take my intrusion into their territory lightly.

I moved as quietly as I could, making sure not to step on any branches or sticks that would make noise. I even made sure to travel so the wind wouldn't carry my scent ahead of me.

Having no experience in trying to sneak was a factor I didn't consider when I initially made this plan. I thought that the experience of hunting with Austin would be enough to sneak by without having to fight everything I came across.

Either the beasts up here were better at detecting me or I wasn't as good as I thought I was. I had a feeling it was a bit of both, but more toward the latter. When we went hunting we were actively looking for a fight so it didn't stand out to us when our stealth failed.

Now that stealth was the goal, every time it failed, it was a fight I didn't want. Having zero stealth skills in my repertoire was another factor that I considered to be the reason.

I didn't think I was that bad at sneaking, but the beasts reacted to me well before they should have. It was like they sensed my presence from a distance and knew I was there.

It was unfair.

Bears roared and charged at me when I intruded on their territory. Wolves and big cats threw themselves at me when I passed. Even gophers popped out of burrows to attack me.

It was like I was carrying a neon sign that said attack me. Even a few fish nipped at me when I crossed a river.

Everything took their chance to hinder my trip as I passed by their territory. If I wasn't in a time crunch, I would show them why that was a bad idea, but I had to move on before more showed up.