Predator

1

She sniffed the cool autumn air again; "nothing, not even a rotting rodent". It was a chilly but sunny mid autumn day. There were a few clouds in the sky but the breeze was herding them lazily across the sky. She crouched silently to the dry leafy forest floor, wearily casting her tired nose to the chill wind trying to pick up the scent of anything that might even remotely be edible. Her coat was dull, coarse and saggy emphasizing her too skinny frame, showing she had not been eating well for some time. She was far from the proud queen she had once been. Her stomach growled it's emptiness.  Her tail twitched in frustration.

SNAP! Her ears and head shot up at the sound of a twig snapping in the distance. The cold wind brought a strange scent to her eagerly sniffing nose. The scent was nothing she had smelled before, but she should investigate, "Just in case it can be eaten" she thought to herself as she got back up her paws protesting but her stomach insisting that it might be food.

She had been wandering for months, looking for food and territory. Wild fire had driven her from her home. Fire that had been set by a creature she had never seen before. She hadn't had time to really look at the creature before having to run for her life from flames. Each time she thought she found a home she was chased off by someone who had already claimed it. She was living off mice, birds, and the occasional rotting carcass. It wasn't as much living as barely surviving. She was weary, weak and ever so hungry. Far from the mountains where she had called home.

It didn't take long to locate and catch up with the creature. It was walking noisily, clomping really, on a well used path. Crunching leaves and snapping twigs. Not walking carefully like most prey. "Must be a stupid creature as it doesn't look around or seem very alert to its surroundings" she thought as she observed. The creature walked upright on two legs and its fur was not like normal fur; it made an odd swooshing sound as the creature moved. It looked similar to the one that had caused her to lose her home. She was too hungry to be picky, and this thing looked like it could be food.

She morphed into stalking mode moving silently despite the crunchy leaves and dry twigs. Eyes only for her prey. Her weariness melted away into hungry eagerness. This was an easy stalk as the prey just followed the path. It seemed deaf too as it didn't even flinch at the songbirds or squirrels warning calls. The forest fell silent in fear and anticipation. She quickly positioned herself behind the prey. Her heart pumping faster as she prepared to pounce with a little wiggle of her hind end and a slight positioning of her large front paws.

The prey suddenly stopped its noisy walk and bent forward and started fiddling with its feet. She froze a split second to re calculate then leapt into a full on sprint towards her clueless prey. She was on top of it in seconds, claws digging into its shoulders while her teeth sunk into its neck snapping the spine with her strong jaws. The prey let out a startled gurgle and went limp. She didn't even have to reposition to finish it off; it was dead already. She looked around. It was too open. She picked up her prize and dragged it off the path. She found a brushy copse not too far away and settled down to finally fill her growling belly.

She was finally full. Finally able to satisfy the demanding growl of her stomach. Pleased and proud with herself she lounged and rested and groomed herself. She would have to stash the rest of the carcass. She had gorged herself. Her kill wouldn't fully feed her again but it would be nice to snack on. She pulled herself onto her feet and covered her kill with leaves. Leaving the corpse she sniffed around. With prey this easy to get this territory must be claimed. She would stay until she was chased off. Now she would explore nearby and feed on her stash.

Not far away she found a wider harder stone path. It had odd looking wooden caves along it. She could see more prey walking along the wide path. Tiny canines ran around in some of the little meadows behind the wooden caves. A large herd of this strange and stupid creature lived here. A good supply of food. Decent shelter in the woods. She turned back into the forest and found a place to sleep.