Middle Path (all welcome) « Thread Started on May 24, 2009, 8:21pm »
Hunt. Hunt. Hunt.
Her train of thought was solely on obtaining a food source. Though the area was abundant, she had taken advantage of too many carcasses or sick animals and as the populations were thriving, her skills were lessening. She treaded lightly on the hard ground, watching her prey cautiously. It was a rabbit, which was small and fairly easy to catch even without much practice. Crouching was not an option as roots were jutting out of the earth and were obstructing her path. She sighed inaudibly as she moved forward silently before she sprinted toward it and pounced.
"Shit," she cursed as she took off after it, but noticed it seemed to be limping. She must have managed to claw part of it's back leg as it moved and she landed. Pouncing again, she grabbed it and bit it's neck quickly. As much as the human side of her disliked killing, once the instinct took over, she might as well have been purely a beast. Her human thoughts disappeared and she just focused on the food. Laying herself down, she had one paw over the rabbit and one supporting it's neck underneath. Pulling off the fur, she focused on getting the meat out of it as opposed to the fur.
As she finished it, she picked up the leftovers and placed them under a bush, not wanting to just leave it out in the open. Now that her animal side was satisfied, her human mind told her to clean up after herself. Her ears flicked as she heard a crack behind her and turned to find a wolf behind her. It seemed to be pure blood but she snarled, not wanting to back down to it, regardless of it's size. It's eyes seemed to narrow and it snarled back, lunging at her, jaw grabbing the side of her head and she yelped. Raising on her hind legs, she clawed back and ripped away.
Run.
She bolted away from the wolf and took off, unable to see very well through her left eye as she managed to steer herself toward the pond. She ran straight into the water and washed herself off, both from the blood of the meal and from the wound. Stepping out, she shook herself off and took a drink of water as well. As the water settled, she gazed at her reflection. Grimacing as she saw that the fur had been pulled off some of the left side of her face, but the skin remained. There was four marks, two on the top and two on the bottom of her head from the teeth but otherwise it seemed purely superficial.
"Lovely," She muttered as she moved to sit down. The wound was sore and throbbed but she won't die. It would just leave a scar, most likely. Lying on the nearby rock, she gazed over the edge of it at her reflection. She wasn't normally in a bad mood but that had almost frightened her; if she wasn't already used to territorial animals.
A loud yelp snapped the creature sharply back to conciousness, his eyes springing open then hastily shutting again with a pained feline hiss. A shaft of sunlight had penetrated the forest canopy above, falling directly over his muzzle. Withdrawing his head into the shady safety of the root hollow of the massive tree beneath which he was concealed, he reopened his eyes to make a second attempt at surveying the situation. His right eye flicked over the scene, observing the bloodied, near devoured carcass of a rabbit not a few metres away. The left eye stared lifelessly out of its socket, seeing nothing. By now he was fully awake, the scent of rabbit blood calling out to him, hunger roaring in his belly. Dragging himself from his hiding place, he snapped the morsel up, bones and all, and swallowed it whole. It did nothing to abate his hunger, but at least now it was gone he could concentrate on other things.
Squinting, he peered about, backing further into the protective shade of the trees as he scented those who had been here moments before, who had woken him. He was day-blind, but in the deep forest he could just about cope, though his sight was still somewhat obscured by a white screen, there was still that little bit too much light. He could smell a wolf, and something more interesting also, a chimera like himself. A chimera who also smelled of fresh blood, both rabbit blood, and her own. For some reason, that was who he decided he would follow. Maybe it was that ever present hunger that controlled his actions at that moment. Nose inclined slightly toward the ground, he followed her scent-trail through the undergrowth.
The light was starting to get too bright, as he approached what he believed was a body of water. He heard a word spoken from the clearing, and if he squinted his good eye against the brightness he could just about make out a small, powerful form lying on the rock beside the water- far smaller than he, who held the proportions of a jaguar cat yet the form of a wolf. The smell of blood was fainter now, diluted, but he was sure this was the one he had heard yelp. Still, he could approach no closer. Not until nightfall, at least.
Though he was more or less hidden by shadows, the heavy chain about his neck clinked as he dropped into a lying position. He froze - though the sound was slight, in the relative silence it seemed very loud, and more likely than not she would have heard it, and would know it was something distinct from the usual background wildlife. It wasn't that he was afraid of her finding him, but rather that he would have preferred to observe unnoticed, and wait until the element of darkness was with him. Still, it was too late to take back that small noise. And now that she knew someone was there, she would surely detect the stench given off by his manky coat and the festering sores on his body. That scent alone was usually enough to raise the hackles of even the most placid of creatures.
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