Firenze chases a squirrel around that's taunting her.
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A lawless town of anarchists, built on the ruins of an ancient mining city. [Lore]
Huffing, Fire plumped her backside onto the ground, her tail swishing. She glanced around from where she sat, her paws tucked neatly up next to her belly, shoulders back and head swiveling upon them. Her ears perked back and forth listening for a sound… any sound. It was so quiet she was pretty sure she could hear a mouse fart a mile away. Do mice fart? She pondered for a moment, her thoughts turning to random mush, would it be loud enough to even really hear?
The trees were almost bare, the color of the Watchtower had turned, signaling the beginning of winter. She wasn’t sure if she was excited about it or not, the snow sounded like fun but that was the only thing that appealed to her, the cold she was sure she could weather with her thick coat starting to come in, she didn’t know if that would help when she was in her human form however. Clothes thick enough to withstand the cold were going to become a priority for her soon. Maybe I’ll go get some after my hunt… I don’t know if I want to be around people with the stench of fresh death on me… it might weird people out. Thoughts tumbled around in her mind, popping up and leaving almost as swiftly as they came to her, only staying briefly.
A cold wind blew through, ruffling some of the dead leaves on the ground, the smell of winter clung to the breeze. As a leave rolled by Fire swatted at it lazily, not moving from the spot from where her hind quarters had been placed. It moved out of reach and she just watched as it kept going, not bothering to chase after it. Birds were still twittering and mice scampered around across the floor, everyone was preparing for winter. She knew she should as well but her motivation was rather lacking.
Fat and fluffy from it’s winter coat, a squirrel scampered down the side of a nearby tree, winding around the trunk as it’s bushy little tail followed the tail towards the ground. Ears perking forward she watched as the yellow, red and orange sea beneath the little animals feet crunch when it reached the bottom. Stopping for a moment it perked up, tail twitching, ears flipping back and forth, it’s little nose sniffing rapidly in search for food. It glanced toward her, it’s beady little eyes resting on hers, trying to determine if she was a threat.
Every muscle tightened, wanting her to chase after the little animal just for the fun of it, but her mind told her to refrain and let it come to her. Out maneuver it, let it think you’re not a threat, then when it’s close enough grab it! Purring with pleasure of having this thought and pleased with how smart she felt for coming up with the idea, she sat idle.
Come heeere and plaaay, she thought to herself as her eyes squinted slightly, trying to hold her body, tail and ears as still as possible. Although her ears had a mind of their own sometimes and wanted to catch all the sounds going on around her, she wondered if them tipping back and forth would keep the squirrel at bay.
Others | Firenze | Thoughts
Last edited by Firenze on August 18th, 2015, 4:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
It’s little hands came up to it’s face, moving food from one cheek to another, licking it’s little fingers and then wiping it across the soft fur. Yessss, please clean yourself for my dinner plate. Eyes almost slits, making it looks as though she were a sleeping statue, she continued to watch as it bathed itself before it started skittering across the ground. Zig-zagging around, to and fro it moved, stopping at a bare bush to check if there may be any dried berries on it’s slim twigs. Little fingers grasped at the wood, picking off dead leaves and left overs other animals hadn’t found and stuffing its mouth with the pieces.
As it came closer and closer to where she was sitting her muscles in her legs bunched, preparing her to pounce on it. A few ticks and it would be within reach, but the squirrel had other plans for the moment as it stopped. It eyed her again, sniffing the air, wondering if she indeed would be a predator or if it would be safe enough for it to keep going about it’s business. Popping one of the nuts out of its mouth it nibbled on it, turning it over and again, taking little snips out of the shell trying to get to the meat of it on the inside.
The top of the acorn popped off, flying on the ground next to the squirrel, startling it for a moment, then it continued about it’s business of cracking the hard shell. A couple of chimes passed and the urge to sigh was becoming overwhelming as she started at the squirrel, she was tired of waiting she wanted to play already! The little animal was starting to infuriate her, she wanted to pounce after it, throw it around and hold it by it’s tail and watch it squirm just for making her wait so long.
Finally, patience paying off the small animal skittered toward her quickly, trying to get passage before being caught… but she was ready. Well, she thought she was ready. The chimes that she had waited, sitting in a tensed position with muscles bunched and aching to move had taken it’s toll and when she went to jump they protested, hindering her from actually grabbing the squirrel.
As she stretched, her muscles slowly unwound the knots that she had built while waiting. A cramp in her hindquarter threatening to keep her from being able to catch her food. Putting her mind over the matter she pushed through the tightness in her muscle.
Catching glimpses of the bushy tail darting behind bushes, she kept her pace chasing after the squirrel. Breath huffing hard from her mouth, eyes darting to keep the animal in view. Dead bushes brushed along her side and the fact that none of them had leaves on them any longer helped her to see through them and keep an eye on the little body. Little tracks marked the snow, glancing down every once in a while when she lost sight she would use the little imprints in the snow to help her tell which direction it went.
The only bad thing about the tracks in the snow was the fact that the squirrel was not heavy and the prints weren’t always there, sometimes there were none, other times only one. She tried to not rely on looking for the small footprints as she was not a skilled tracker by any means. The only reason she was able to follow them was due to the somewhat fresh snow. There weren’t many tracks in it and the marks that were were obviously made by a lot larger animals. Such as herself.
A few chimes after setting chase to the squirrel she found that although she could cover more ground, it could hide in places that she couldn’t exactly get to. She came to a stop, snow kicked into the air and fluttered around her catching the sun and shimmering as it flew. It had cut a sharp right and darted under a particularly angry looking thorn bush. The leaves having been shed now exposed the inch long thorns spattered along the branches, poking out in all directions, threatening those who came too close.
Crouched, she slinked along the ground slowly. One foot in front of the other she got as close as she dared to the bush. She noticed that not only were there long curved thorns but there was an abundance of tiny little prickly barbs that ran the entire length of each curving branch that wound its way from the center of the plant, giving it a feel of tendrils reaching out from the ground. This was definitely not worth trying in, to get her meal.
Her hindquarters plunked down, her head lying on her paws, eyes darted back and forth as they scanned the thick roots. The end of the tail swished a little as the squirrel tried to hide among the dead thicket. Patience was going to be a virtue, but Firenze was determined.
Lying on the cold ground, her fur protected her from losing her body heat. Large blazing orbs kept focus on the squirrel, studying movement. A swish and the tail moved, it looked right. Another swish, tail moved, it looked left. Little fingers and hands rubbed together in almost a nervous motion as though stressed. It’s little ears tipped back and forth listening to the sounds around it.
Probably wondering where I went aren’t you? Fire grinned internally.
Ears forward, all of her attention on the little animal. She wondered for a moment if it could hear her breathing and she tried to slow her rapid breath. Heart still pounding hard from the short chase in her chest, thudding against her ribs like a prisoner in a cage. Sucking in air through her nostrils, she parted her lips just slightly and let it run out of her mouth slowly. The rhythm of her heart and breathing not matching pace, blood roared through her but she focused on her breathing trying to see if it would help calm her.
In through her nose, back out through her mouth, she continued to breathe, it didn’t feel like it was working. A few chimes passed and finally she felt the pounding start to calm, the rush began to recede. Almost as though she were pulling everything back within herself and recentering. Lids slitted as she noticed the behavior in the squirrel change. Was it letting its guard down?
Slowly it began to move, she stayed. One little foot in front of the other, nose twitching it could probably still smell her and that gave refrain from leaving the shelter of the sticker bush. Peaking out from behind a rather thick root, its beady eyes spotted her and they stared at each other for a moment.
Fire tried to stay as still as possible, not even looking away hoping that it would think it was safe to leave. A few ticks passed and neither moved, both barely breathing assessing the situation and trying to determine who would leave first in the showdown.
Slowly the squirrel made it’s way toward the edge of the bottom of the bush, still hidden behind a few of the prickly branches. It’s nimble little body working it’s way through the nasty looking thorns. Golden eyes followed the movement, a slight twitch of the tip of Fire’s tail moved back and forth in anticipation. The urge to reach a paw in clawed at her, pushing her to ignore the spines and thorns, just to go in for the kill. It was so close that all she had to do was reach out and grab it, sinking her claws in and end the torture of the wait. Not wanting to try to nurse the cuts and possible infections gave her strength to give pause.
A small white clouded started forming in front of her nostrils and she glance up briefly through the tree branches to see the sun was starting to descend. She wanted to hurry up so she could get back to the shack and get a fire started before night fell. It felt as though she’d been playing cat and mouse with the little animal for quite awhile. Fire hadn’t intended on even hunting, but when food presented itself she couldn’t afford to pass it up. Her eyes moved back to the other animal and tried to will him to come out.
A few chimes passed, patience waned. This time the squirrel began to move after finally deciding to take the risk to get back to it’s nest. As soon as it bounded out from under the branches, Firenze pounced. A fat paw landing on the tip of the bushy tail she sank her claws and frustration into keeping the little animal in place. It struggled against her weight, it’s squeal of fear piercing the air.
Thanking the Gods for the food, she lifted her other paw and brought it down pulling the squirrel toward her and sank her teeth in.
Lores Philosophy: Asking the big, important questions Philosophy: Do mice fart? Tactics: Out-manoeuvring prey Stealth: Keeping every muscle still Hunting: To kill a Squirrel Hunting: Thwarted by stiff muscles Tracking: Squirrels leave few prints in snow Hunting: Patience is a virtue Stealth: Holding one's breath to maintain silence
Other Just FYI: You've missed the timestamp on the first post here. It's easily done, but might be worth adding it in just to ensure your threads don't lose their time setting
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