Feline

Chapter 1

TW: dead animals, slight panic attack

The moonlight filters through the trees, casting shadows onto the leafy ground. The dark oak trees are like black pillars sprouting from the soil. You weave in between them with practiced ease, chasing a rabbit that keeps evading you. You leap over cave openings and duck under the low-lying branches of the oaks. You break from the forest, entering what seems to be a clearing. You make a mad dash for the rabbit, hoping to outrun it in this open stretch of land.

You gain ground, blood hammering in your ears. The wind whistles past you, making you shiver ever so slightly. It was cold tonight. It tries to grab at your H/C H/L hair, causing it to whip out behind you in streams. The opposite side of the clearing comes closer into view and you start to falter, doubting whether or not you could make this catch. No, I have to keep going.

You dodge hidden rocks and uprooted roots, gaining ground yet again. The moon shone on the waving grass, making it look like a sea of silver. You leap for the rabbit, catching it and twisting its head sharply to the right and causing a sharp crack to echo through the air. Your panting, looking at it in triumph as you're happy to have caught a rabbit so large. This will feed us for a while, you think to yourself. You sling it over your shoulder, grunting from the weight of it as you make your treek back to your den.

You take more notice of your surroundings now that you weren't focused on something else. There was an old-looking cabin over to the right, rotting and falling apart. It reminded you of your house when you were young, small but cute. At least, it looks like it used to be cute before nature took its toll on it. You smile sadly.

There were little holes under the roots and rocks, signaling homes of little animals like mice, snakes, and hamsters. Your smile becomes warmer as a hamster darts out of one of the holes, stuffing seeds into its mouth, and scurrying back to its home. You wonder if it had a family to feed, or if it lived alone. You then wonder if the rabbit had a family, or babies to care for. You push the unknown feelings floating around in your head away, for if you succumb to it you wouldn't be able to care for yourself and the others.

You part the grass and walk back to the treeline, heading for the lake not too far from where you were. As you enter the treeline, you are hit with a familiar wave of cold, making goosebumps appear along your arms. As you make your trek to the lake, you wonder what the feelings you felt earlier were as you disappear into the darkness of the forest.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You enter the clearing where your den is, the dry ground trampled so there is no grass. Dust sticks to your feet and puffs up into the air as you walk towards the cats. You laugh to yourself as you see the others sitting outside waiting for you to come back, drool pooling in their mouths at the sight of the rabbit. You walk over to them and lay the rabbit down on a flat rock in the small clearing. " So, can any of you beat this? " you ask, smirking as their expressions change from drooling to determined. They grumble to each other, marching off into the trees. You smile as you tend to the dead rabbit, covering it with leaves and twigs. Sometimes they can act like such children.

Afterwards, you follow the others as you didn't want to miss out on anything major. Who knows, maybe they would find something.

After finding them, you notice them stalking prey so you quickly crouch down so as to not scare away the animal. You start to slink after them as they slowly move forward. When you reach them, you peer ahead of them and see two mice scurrying around in a small patch of grass. Your tail stills and your ears perk up, your muscles tense. You wait for the others to make their move as this was their catch. It was hard to battle your instincts screeching in your head to pounce at the mice but you did it nonetheless.