Otter
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Post by Otter on Jul 8, 2010 15:42:02 GMT -5
Angle. What weird terms this tomcat used. "Keep it reasonably low at first so the rabbits don't see it. Once you start the chase, lash it whatever way you need to," she mewed with a shrug, unsure of how to explain it. It was something one felt, she knew. Something a cat had to have an instinct for. Brain would figure it out.
Not the least bit hungry, Wind settled down once more on the warm stone of Outlook Rock and tucked her forepaws beneath her chest. She gazed out across the open moor as the wind rustled the short, spiky grass and the short brown fur upon her form. Half-closing her eyes, she waited for Brain to begin his hunt.
All of a sudden, the land before her changed. No, it didn't really change--the moors were changeless. But there appeared in the distant a dozen silhouettes, running swiftly to where she and Brain sat. Normally, this act would cause Wind's fur to bristle and a snarl of warning to issue from her throat, but for some reason she was unable to work up a fear. She didn't feel defensive. In fact, she just felt a bit sleepy.
The cats did not run up to her. In fact, they acknowledged neither the existence of her nor of Brain. They split up into groups and spread out across the land, stalking rabbits and chasing them down. Some were well-practiced, as accurate as any cat Wind had ever seen. Others seemed to be about as unpracticed as Brain, having to try several times before catching their first tawny-furred piece of freshkill. An hour seemed to pass, but perhaps it had only been a second, before a small rabbit lay before each cat's paws. They picked up their prey and, together, pelts brushing and tails often intertwining, the dozen or so cats trotted back off across the moors, back to where they had come from.
Just like that, they were gone. Wind rose slowly to her paws and trotted toward a spot where a rabbit had been felled. She sniffed the ground, sniffed the grass, but smelled no scent of rabbit or cat. Nor did she see any blood or sign of struggle. She turned, tail-tip twitching in confusion, and let her gaze wander over the places she remembered seeing the cats trod. But there were no pawprints, no indents in the grass. And, more importantly, no unfamiliar scent. Just her scent. Just Brain's scent.
Brain. Had he seen these phantom cats? She turned to him with a quizzical look, tail lashing in confusion.
And then, all at once, she realized it must have been her imagination. The notion of more than two moor cats hunting together and portraying as much affection as those cats had been was completely laughable, and she twitched her whiskers in silent amusement. You seem a bit tired, Wind. It must be getting to you, she thought.
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Post by Solo on Jul 13, 2010 10:49:55 GMT -5
BRAIN _________________________________________________________________
Brain flashed a somewhat playful grin—well, an awkward baring of teeth—at the she-cat as she explained using the tail for balance. He knew instinct usually took over when it came to hunting, at least once he got the main idea down. With a final nod, he loped off toward the rabbits, licking his lips and pricking his ears as they lollopped through the grass. Hunkering down, he kept his tail out behind him. It was especially important when stalking in the forest to keep the tail low, but not low enough to brush against the leaf litter. Eventually he’d crawled up toward one of the rabbits and launched himself after it.
His paws slammed down hard against the grass, and he unsheathed his claws slightly to get a better grip on the earth under him. He felt as if he was propelling the land behind him with his feet. When the rabbit swerved, his black tail flailed behind him for balance, and he managed a slightly awkward turn. Soon, he’d caught up to the animal and leaped at it, missing it by mouse-lengths. Frustrated when he landed in the dust, he panted and shook his white coat out. Tracking the progress of the rabbit he’d just chased, he decided it would be smarter to try that one again rather than a fresh rabbit.
The process repeated. The thrill of the chase had died down as he mechanically went through the motions: start off, run, swerve, and leap. This time, he pushed his hind legs even more powerfully against the earth and managed to land on the rabbit’s shoulders, hooking his claws in. He dragged it back and ended its life with a sharp bite to the neck.
Triumphant, Brain picked up his kill and sought out Wind, wondering if she had any critique for him. However, rather than watching his progress, she was cautiously walking toward a patch of grass and sniffing it before looking up, as if in search of something. He flattened his ears in confusion as he approached, the rabbit dangling from his jaws and hitting his forelegs as he walked. She met his gaze with the same uncertain expression then looked more amused than anything.
The tall loner dropped the fresh-kill and tipped his head to the side. “Is something wrong?”
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Otter
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Post by Otter on Jul 15, 2010 20:58:22 GMT -5
Lying was not something Wind did whenever she could help it. Though she would have preferred to blow her vision off and tell Brain nothing was wrong, the very idea disgusted her. Lie? No. Not likely.
"I thought I saw other moor cats out here," she replied quietly, unable to keep her gaze from flitting back to where the cats had vanished. "I saw them catch rabbits, but I cannot smell them or the rabbits here. I guess I was daydreaming." She shook her head roughly and turned fully to face Brain. A rabbit lay at his feet, and Wind's eyes lighted up a little bit at the sight. So, he was getting it! Clearly he had the makings of a real moor cat. Maybe he would stay. "Good catch. Sorry, I didn't see," she admitted, tail-tip twitching slightly. Was it some kind of important thing, seeing his first kill? Maybe, but he wouldn't think of it that way.
"It's ridiculous, anyway," she mewed after a moment, her mind drifting back to the cats. "There were too many of them to be a family, but they were acting like one. Moor cats don't do that. My father and I are one of the few exceptions." She shook her head again and turned away, hoping Brain didn't decide she was crazy.
Still....Wind found herself trotting briskly to the top of Outlook Rock. From this vantage point, she could see everything. If the cats really had come...but no, as she gazed in the direction they had left, she saw nothing but open land and the occasional rabbit.
Tail lashing in disappointment, Wind frowned and sat down upon the warm rock with a thump. She stared, willing the cats to reappear. Why? Well, it was intriguing, that's why. When had any cat ever seen more than a small family being so touchy and friendly? Never, at least not in her own lifetime. So...who were they?
"So...you didn't see anything?"
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Post by Solo on Jul 19, 2010 11:34:25 GMT -5
BRAIN _________________________________________________________________ Wind explained what she had seen, and he followed her gaze to the empty moorlands. She praised him lightly for his rabbit, and he dipped his head to acknowledge her. Brain was excited about his first catch and couldn’t help but hope it tasted as good as he felt. He wondered if she was still hungry; his own stomach was far from empty, but he didn’t know what to do with the prey otherwise. On their journey toward the flatlands, he’d seen a few hawks patrolling from the sky. It would be a waste if one of the predatory birds snatched up his kill. He was about to ask what to do with it when she continued.
From the way that she was talking, the brown cat seemed determined to convince herself that what she saw wasn’t real. His yellow eyes trained on her face as she spoke. He said nothing to reassure her but instead absorbed this information, attempting to make sense of it. Cats rarely stopped to help one another out; he was an exception only if it didn’t hurt. Perhaps their own relatively friendly meeting was an exception too, though Brain would never dare to compare them to a family.
The long-legged tomcat followed her at a distance when she leaped onto the rock and stared around, perhaps to find traces of the mysterious cats. He sat down beside her and shook his head at her query. “If there were any cats, I was absorbed in hunting and wouldn’t have seen them anyway,” he meowed, not wanting to destroy the possibility.
At the same time, though, Brain had to remain cynical. “If there’s no rabbit blood, then I’d assume it was a hallucination. Once I went a few days without sleep, and I was seeing things everywhere.”
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Otter
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Post by Otter on Jul 28, 2010 20:13:06 GMT -5
"Yeah...you're right, of course," she mumbled quietly, ears flicking backwards in annoyance as she swept her gaze one more time over the empty moorlands. Nothing. Nothing but swaying grass, tawny rabbits, and the occasional wildflower. Of course not!
But what would possibly induce her to imagine such an impossible scene? Never before had she seen anything like it, and she knew she never would. So why imagine it? I'm not hungry. I'm not tired. This is ridiuclous, she thought, tail lashing in irritation. What was wrong with her?
"Well, don't you want to try your first rabbit catch?" she asked far more cheerfully than was natural for her. She glanced back at Brain with pathetically false cheerfulness, but she couldn't help it; they ought to get off of this subject before he decided she was insane.
((I apologize for the short reply and the fact that I haven't been on--this place has kept me very busy!))
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