Lana Sierkorsky had learned a lot since her conversion. And it wasn't just her growing grasp of English. For some unknown reason, the Animalia virus gives a significant boost to the brain's language center. It was mainly surmised that this boost is related to how uplifted animals learn to speak human languages instantly. For converted humans, it greatly improves their language-learning capabilities. Those who struggled with learning foreign languages before conversion were now able to progress with greater ease. Still, Ukrainian and English are very different languages and Lana and Hunni Bunni still struggled with more complex sentences in each other's languages. But at least Lana's English had improved to the point of making simple conversation.
But that wasn't all Lana had learned. Becoming a puma Animalian meant learning about pumas. Pumas aren't truly big cats, but the largest member of the small cat family that grew into the niche that big cats in other environments had. That explained why Lana was able to purr now. But more importantly, Lana had to learn how to curb her new hunting instinct. She had a little problem with it at first because her rightful anger at the Russian soldiers kept triggering it. Eventually, she learned to keep her anger and her hunger separate.
That was going to be more of a challenge today as Lana was accompanying Clara and Richard on their annual hunting trip. While she knew that Animalians helped deal with the feral pig population, particularly Dinotopians, the cougars were going after bigger game. Elks to be precise. "Moose too hard for beginners," said Clara, "Start with easy prey." She wasn't talking down to Lana, which would be ironic as Lana was a head taller, but Lana's grasp of English was still a little shaky. Christopher Spike wasn't with them on this hunting trip. He had other obligations and he'd just get in the way of their hunting.
"Are moose bad?" asked Lana.
"Moose anger worse," said Rick, "Thicker bones."
"But we are three," said Lana, "Better for hunting big game."
"You are too big for sneaking," said Clara, "Give game away too soon." While Lana's more muscular figure didn't make her clumsy, she didn't quite have the finesse that Clara has. If she could get the drop on a moose, it would work in her favor. But a moose would probably hear her coming first.
Lana nodded in understanding. Being big and muscular did have its disadvantages. But someday, she hoped to be able to move as stealthily as Clara. She would just have to keep practicing.
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Horace Trifelter was waiting to greet them as they arrived at his cabin. "Kinda surprised you didn't bring back those hyenas," said Horace.
"We didn't want to overhunt your land," said Rick, "Besides, I think they may prefer hunting in the grasslands."
"Whatever suits them," said Horace before turning to Clara, "Hey, Clara, how are your cubs?"
"They're doing just fine," said Clara, "How are yours?"
"Tierra's taking care of them right now," said Horace proudly, "Cutest kittens you'll ever see."
It was too easy to argue that her own cubs were cuter, but Clara let it slide. "Horace, this is Lana. Lana, Horace," she said as Lana climbed out of the car.
"Hello, Horace," said Lana.
"Where did you say she's from?" asked Horace, looking Lana up and down.
"Ukraine," said Clara, "She's still learning English. So she won't be able to talk with you very much."
"I think I'll do enough talking for all of us," said Horace jokingly.
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Lana did enjoy her stay at the log cabin. Horace and Tierra seemed like very nice bobcats. And their kittens were very cute. It made Lana ache a little to know if her own sons were still alive and if they were safe. She knew there was little she could do to contact them now. She could at least take some comfort in that the Ukrainians were regaining ground. She just hoped that meant her sons were on the winning side.
The hunt went pretty well. Elks were a bit more common in this area than moose so it wasn't too hard for the cougars to find a herd of elks. And thankfully none of them showed any signs of chronic wasting disease. Still, the hunt had to go down strategically. Clara and Rick would charge in first in order to scatter the herd. They would drive one elk towards Lana who would be lying in wait. The two pumas ended up sending a bull elk towards Lana. Lana was careful not to take the stag head on and risk getting impaled on the antlers. She did hit the elk in the middle and was a bit surprised how easy it was to knock over. She was able to pin the large deer, grabbing at the legs to make sure it didn't kick. Clara and Rick were soon able to choke the beast to death in a relatively bloodless manner.
While it wasn't quite as big as a moose, the bull elk did have quite a bit of meat on it. A little part of Lana wondered how it would taste raw. But she wasn't going to give into her base instincts like that. It would taste better once it was prepared and cooked. In whole, she enjoyed her first hunt and was looking forward to the next one.