A Fantastic Chase or A New Ancient Greek Myth

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With her speech finished the crowd erupted into cheers as every man and a handful of women slapped each other on the backs and spoke words of good fortune towards each other. After Yolanda sat down, the archon stood up and announced that Callista would be set loose into the polis at noon, and once the challenge had begun, Yolanda would stay secluded in the temple of the gods until her favor had been retrieved by whomever was successful. With that the crowd dispersed and plans were made by those who wished to win the great beauty.

One such person was a hunter from a foreign land. His name was Burge, and as was his custom, he wore the skins and pelts of his kills in place of more traditional raiment. He was a large man, broad of chest as well as belly, and covered in thick, coarse hair that obscured much of his sun-tanned skin. He wore his hair cropped short, but also sported a long and unruly beard. As noon approached he saw and heard several of the polis' inhabitants making plans which he, due to his experience hunting feral beasts, knew were doomed to failure. Rather than chase after the wily creature which held his prize, the hunter decided to set up traps baited with savory bits of fish and fowl since he knew that cats loved those meats above others. He even ground up some herbs from his native land that were effective on the lions he hunted and sprinkled it upon the food. This herb would drive any feline from their senses, and they would roll it through their fur making them docile and easy to capture.

After Burge set his traps throughout the city, he waited. As he roamed the polis he would often catch sight of Callista running through the streets with a horde of toga-clad men chasing after her. He knew best that the cat wouldn't be caught that way, and that she would be hounded too relentlessly for her to have time to inspect his traps so Burge retreated to his dwelling for the night.

As the days went on, many men tried and failed to catch the black and white beast. Burge would check his traps daily, but after a week it was clear that a passive approach wasn't going to gain him the prize he sought. Therefore he took to watching the feline as she ran through the streets. He spent another full week memorizing her patterns and trails before finally deciding the best course of action. That morning he donned his animal skins like normal and then he began to wait. As the sun rose, he knew that the time was soon at hand. He readied his net as he hid behind the stone wall, and as soon as he spotted a pink nose and the glimmer of whiskers he cast his net.

Callista, however, was smarter than Burge had thought, and her nose was more keen than that of the average house cat. She knew that the hunter was waiting behind the wall because she could smell his skins. The pelts gave off an odor that was wild and feral and had no place in her city. As the net descended upon her she cartwheeled backwards and caught the edge of the net with her hind legs. Her momentum carried the far edge over her back and when her paws touched stone again the net was sitting, empty, underneath her tail. She looked the wild man in the face before giving him a tiny smile and then darting off as the usual stampede of suitors picked up her trail.

Burge fell to his knees, bewildered at the cat's movement and then her expression afterwards. He then decided that she must be no cat at all, but rather a scion of one of this land's many gods. He resigned himself not to meddle with these gods, and as such relented from the challenge for Yolanda's hand.

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After several weeks went by Callista sat sunbathing on one of polis' many rooftops. She stretched her right hind leg out and began grooming herself. As she did so she thought about the wild man who had come so close to capturing her those weeks prior. She smiled to herself as her tongue rasped through her fur. 'It was a valiant effort,' she thought, 'but it will take more than traps and pretty smelling perfumes to catch me and claim my favor.' She marveled at her leg. It was her favorite one since the white fur from her foot came further up this leg than any of her others. After satisfying herself with a job well done Callist curled up and let the sun's warmth soak into her dark fur, and she was soon asleep.