[CENTER][h3][color=lightseagreen]S A I T O[/color]
Forest[/h3]
[i][b]The First Hunt[/b][/i][/CENTER]
[hr]
As Saito found the trail of berries, he took note of their size, shape, color, and the texture he felt when he picked them up. He tucked a handful away, alongside his rock in his loincloth. Probably not entirely sanitary to have things rubbing his unmentionables in there, but it was his own body and he hadn't been rolling in dirt like some of the others. He could test the berries for poison later, but for now he wanted whatever creature had been gathering them.

He saw the creature from behind, and almost mistook it for a stone at first. Its dull, brown plated hide could even pass for tree bark, but he could hear it whuffling as it enjoyed its meal.

[i]A hard shell. The tail seems to be sectioned too--are the plates bony? Can the spines on its tail be used as a weapon?[/i]

As Saito crouched in the brush, he didn't want to spend too long analyzing the opponent. If it finished eating, he had no doubt it would pick up on his presence. For now it was enough to know this: It was a rodent, so it had claws and fangs. It had armor, and possibly a spiny tail. It was smaller than him, but its forelimbs looked powerful, and its hindlimbs looked fast.

His strategy would be thus: Cut off the escape, and negate the defense. How to do that in the most effecient manner? Without even realizing, his hands had imperceptibly shifted on the staff he held. His right hand, the stronger hand, closed upon the rod down a third of its length. His left hand palmed the butt end, and as his grip tightened the heel of his wrist and his pinky were braced against the bottom while the rest of his fingers wrapped hard around the shaft. His forward hand was held a little looser, to enable a sort of sliding action, but while his palm was supple his fingers were rigid so he wouldn't lose his hold.

Saito's breathing was not shallow, only slow. His muscles relaxed. He felt a shift in his core, as the ball of his back foot built up pressure against the ground.

[i]"All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this." I must not rush, yet I must not delay.[/i]

A breeze picked up. A leaf fluttered on the air. The Scaled Shrew shook berry juice from its nose, and he could tell from the movement of its head that it refocused on the food in its paws.

In the moment it committed to its next action--finishing its berries--in the instant the leaf fell between them, in the space between "decision" and "action." Saito's body moved without input from his mind.

He lunged, he thrust with both hands. All momentum traveling forward. The staff's tip came in low. Shoulders and hips drove power down its length.

Saito plunged the staff up [i]under[/i] the Scaled Shrew, between its belly and its back legs. At the instant the creature realized his presence he had already planted his feet. As his thighs and core tightened, he pushed down through his knees and his arms leveraged the staff. His back hand pushed down, his right hand pulled up. Now the muscles in his scrawny body stood taut as he released air from his diaphragm--

"Seiiii--!"

He wanted to sweep the creature [i]up[/i]. He hoped his staff would block its legs as it tried to run. Most predators would be bigger than this creature and attack it from above--hence why its armor was along its back. It would have less on its underside.

If he was successful in hoisting the creature upon his staff, either flipping it over or slamming it down, Saito's next move would be simple: Pin it under his foot, and strike without mercy until its breath ceased.

His face had distorted into an expression of utter fury, eyes blazing with Murderous Intent. [i]Sakki! Messatsu![/i] His staff, still fresh with sap, thrummed.

"--yaAAAAAH!"

The battlecry startled birds from the branches. It carried a malice entirely unique to nature's own dance of predator and prey. Even some of the other goblins, back at the cave, might be able to hear it and [i]feel[/i] the power and focus behind it.