Pleeeeeeeeeeease Yarrow, just go. Just go...

He won't just go, right?

Of course he won't run, why would he? He is in a fat hunting ground where he feels like an apex predator, why would he ever run away?

I have a knot in my stomach for what I expect is coming.

Also still really upset that Sprig had to die...

same...

If Rask lets Yarrow escape, Hemlock and the others are going to show up and find him standing over Sprig's body. They'll blame him, and there won't be much he'll be able to say in his defense. If Yarrow is going to run, Rask is gonna have to go with him.

Oh Sprig... ;; Oh Rask.. ;;
Seeing that description that pine martens surplus kill is super cool! Exploring and researching that real world behavior... your love for this project really shines through in every page.
I love your expressions and emotion in this!!

You summed up my own feelings perfectly!

He's not listening, hate it when parent's do that...

An easy source of conflict in storytelling, because of how many variables can happen from it. Let’s see where specifically this thread goes.

lol, like the Dungeon master only "nudges" players in the right direction~

Not sure running will do Yarrow much good now. Hemlock's not one to go down easily - more likely to go into berserker mode - and I doubt Yarrow's ever encountered anything like her before.

Will he still try to help and end up being blamed? It's a good thing that this Idiot is stubborn and if he hasn't heard his son before, now he really isn't going! My theory that he would become a "Negan" in this Universe continues! He will end up being taken and arrested by Oren in that cell we saw earlier and will find his "Redemption" in the future by helping the prey.

Intense!

Oop. They're gonna make Rask Disney his own dad, to prove his loyalty.

I did think this as well.

That's a good term.

Rask isn't the dad.

Then why would Rask be saying "just prey, just meat"?

Super Vegan Powers.

I wonder if Hemlock is watching all of this and after seeing Rask reject what his Dad just did will be his saving grace. Now that she sees that Rask could not/would not eat Sprig he will be accepted into the group.

You're giving Hemlock way too much credit.

I would wager no chance of that happening. This doesn't seem like the arc where Hemlock would come to accept Rask. Too much would happen at once. In fact, this seems like it's more likely going to reinforce Hemlock's views of Rask, and further fuel her behavior towards him, and all predators.

A few things are clear from this. Yarrow is bad at reading situations, tones, and body language. He's likely never had any reason to consider a view point that is contrary to his own, so much so that the idea of a contrary view point (in this case, that prey have equalized the playing field, and, thus, are dangerous, or that it may not be a good idea to kill, and eat them, to say the least) isn't even in the same conceptual universe to the reality he's familiar with. Suggesting such things is nonsense. To him, there's no reason to even think about it to begin with, let alone give the ideas any legitimacy. In conclusion... he doesn't live through this. In a way, this is a cautionary tale for those who don't challenge their own pre-conceived notions about the way the world works, and what they take for granted as being "right", or see as being "the correct way to conduct one's self".

Okay, at this point, I don't want Yarrow to run away. I want to see what happens when Hemlock arrives.

Surplus killing doesn't work in a setting where the prey are roughly equal in numbers to the preds and don't breed fast. In fact, it's guaranteed suicide in the short rather than the long term.

The prey animals are still in larger numbers and seem to have more offspring in general. Just looking at the group Hemlock was a part of when she lost her children, she referred to it as a small group but it looked like there were at least 20 to start, and she had 2 children with her there and a 3rd that she'd already lost with the father.

If that group was small I'd imagine an average sized warren would be close to 40 or so. Predators like Martens seem to stay in smaller family groups and are much more spread out than herbavores.

The author has said that the prey do not greatly outnumber the preds, and that the prey do not breed and mature rapidly. That mean they as long as there are preds the population of both is in a death spiral. Surplus hunting will only worsen an already untenable situation.

So here's my thought (besides screaming "whyyyyyyyy?!" over killing Sprig...) -- is Rask even right that Yarrow needs to run? We have lots of evidence that Hemlock is crazy, but not so much that she is necessarily skilled. Certainly she'll have practiced, and Yarrow would vastly underestimate her to start with, but I'm not so sure it's a foregone conclusion that she would win... or that the battle (if it happens) wouldn't be close enough to push Rask into taking a side: either choose the life he hopes to find but siding against his own father with someone who hates him, or choosing to protect his family against people who have so far (mostly) only treated him with hate and fear.

All that aside, this is such a good comic and I'm truly getting invested in the characters and story (leading to the aforementioned "whyyyyyyyy?!" :P ). Thank you for creating and sharing it!

Well.... considering the pelt she wears is that from possibly a Lynx... I'd say she's at least more adept with using her spear than you're really giving her credit for. She went with this group into the forest expecting to hunt down a predator, like she has done before.

Sprig even mentioned she was one of the main ones keeping them all safe in the stone hallow, I dont think she's going to have much of a problem with Yarrow.

Hmmmmmm. Can't come up with anything to say cause it's already been said.

Poor Rask is really going through emotional turmoil here. His Dad just killed the squirrel who was giving him a chance, he's fighting against his nature, his family connection, knows that Hemlock can easily kill them both, he still wants to save his Dad but that means losing him after just meeting him. I really feel for him. The way you've divided the panels it more intense. I really am getting hit to the gut feel. Excellent work Blackteagen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🙌👍

I feel like Rask's only hope to NOT be killed by Hemlock of to kill Yarrow himself. If not, she'll paint him as having led him here to help kill all of them. Especially since it was Sprig that died, and she seemed a little bit closer to him. She's going to want to kill Rask anyway, but if he kills Yarrow, there's less ground for her to stand on against Rask.

still sad that sprig is dead now , just because Rasks Father needed to appear and kill him :/