Renard dangereux

CHAPTER 1:

I'd just had my feed and I was covered in blood, so naturally I went to lake to bathe. I climbed up a large rock I'd visited almost every night of my life and took my fur crop top off and my skirt. The water was cold and clear, I dived in and then came back up feeling the water run down my body. I closed my eyes and wiped the blood off my mouth, neck, chest and shoulder. It ran down my body and into the water, then suddenly I felt like I was being watched. I turned and looked back at the rock, it told me nothing. I brushed it off as my imagination. The feeling returned. I got nervous and left the water, the warm dirt greeted my feet and so did the rock. I laid down to let my body dry in the sun, this gave me a chance to relax. The bushes rustled. I prepared to fight, nothing emerged so I waited. Still nothing. It was time to leave, I got dressed and walked away.

Don't think about it, I told myself. It was nothing, I told myself. Forget it, I told myself. I returned to my home, a small house in a tree. It isn't much, but I get by. It's round like a dome shape with a small hole at the front, I climbed up using the tree. The floor was animal skin with the fur left on, I used sticks and leaves to cover the entrance. The inside isn't as cozy as it sounds though, most of the time it's just cold and wet, during the summer it's hot though. Sleep and shelter don't come easy, but eventually I fell asleep. I woke to the sunlight and the sound of birds, it was early morning still and time for breakfast.

I'm jumped out of my home and began to wander the forest in search of food. The ground beneath my feet was cold and fresh from the morning, along with the air. The birds had began to move along with many other small mammals. I saw a hare scurry through my territory, but it was too small for my liking, then a badger passed me by. He was my first meal of the day. I stalked my prey, lining him up carefully. I judged the distance between me and him. How far away is he to me? How strong is he? How fast is he? Will the kill be difficult or simple? These are all the questions I had to ask myself before deciding. I sprinted towards him, he didn't even know I was there until it was too late. I bit his neck and shook him. The warmth of his blood filled my mouth, the sound of his bones crunching against my jaw filled my ears and the sight of his lifeless body blinded me. I carried his body back to my home and ate it.

Our digestive system is different to that of a human, our bodies can effectively digest raw meat, fruit and vegetables like any scavenger. Our skeletal system is stronger and heals faster, therefore we're less prone to bone issues. Our muscular system is that of a lions and our immune system is powerful. We don't get colds, atheritise, our bones don't break easily, but we die quickly when we're old and we can get respiratory issues like asthma. As for our skin it's rough, but it doesn't burn or get rashes, instead we're less likely to get hurt and it prevents splinters. We're built for Earth, but no one can know of us.

What I am echoed through my mind as I visited the rock by the lake. And like every other day rinsed the blood of my meal off my body. There was that feeling again, I was being watched. My hair stood up, my muscles pumped themselves up, I felt my claws push them out, my teeth push themselves out and my breath increase. I was ready to kill, ready to be attacked. I ran out of the water, the wind made me cold, dirt stuck to my feet. I searched for what was watching me. I stopped at the rock and looked around. Nothing. I screamed. This was driving me insane. I sat down at the rock and breathed, I relaxed. Then I fell asleep. I woke up to the smell of the air being different than usual. It was mid day, I got dressed and went for a run.

What was watching me? How long has it been watching me? I ran past my home. Why am I being watched? How do I resolve this? I ran up a hill. What is its motive? I passed trees, rocks, creeks, animals and logs until I returned to the rock by the lake. My chest rose and fell with each breath, sweat dripped down my body, my mind was blank. I gathered some food, too tired to hunt and climbed into my home. This feeling of being watched brought me a nightmare. I was running through my forest, but it was different, unfamiliar. I was being chased, I didn't know what by and there were images of this pair of eyes and the sound of static. Everything was a misty dark blue and the sound of static grew louder as I was running. I reached the rock by the lake and fell in. I drowned. Then I woke up screaming, I calmed myself. I laid there too exhausted to move and tried to process my nightmare. I had to find out what was watching me. I left my home, but I grabbed my knife.

Each of us are given a weapon that we make with the help of our parents. Everyone from my bloodline received knives, so naturally I did too. My knife was long and thin with my families name engraved into it. The handle was made of leather and decorated with red lace, the sheath matched it. I remember practising with wooden knives everyday, until couldn't stand. I remember the bruises that sometimes bled. I remember memorising the different types and how to use them. The only thing I don't remember was when I first started practising. When I turned seven my parents helped me make the sheath and handle for my knife, at age ten we started forging the knife and finished at age twelve. At that point I learnt how to properly fight with it, but I also got into a lot of fights. Those fights are the only reason I was so good at using many types of knives and knowing their weakness. A weapon is a just tool, it has weaknesses and strengths. You just need to know how to use those weaknesses and strengths.

It was warm and sunny today, it was a good day. I tied my sheath around my waist and put my knife in its sheath, I was ready. I had to find it, I had to resolve this. I walked to the rock by the lake, like every other day, but today was different. Today I was going to find it, but after that I have no clue. I climbed up the rock and looked around, I didn't know what to do and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I decided the best start would be to search for clues, being raised in a forest teaches you that. All prey leave behind traces for themselves, whether its footprints, hair, trails of destruction or shit. It had to be the same with this thing, so following that, I searched. I searched a lot of bushes nearby and found footprints, they were human footprints, that of sneakers.