[Everstone Forest] Finding Your Feet

by **Kalina** on August 27th, 2013, 7:24 pm

64th of Summer, 513 AV

We've been travelling for long, the young ocelot had long since decided, too long.

The travelling party had stopped to rest for a while somewhere in the Everstone Wood and the youngest member of the group, and the only Kevic, had wondered off in search of something to quench her boredom. The days were all the same. Lots of walking and some food, none of which was fish. In fact, most of it was the dire vegetation Kalina had long since sworn off and now had no choice but to eat. Many arguments and train trumps later and the young Kelvic had finally worked up the courage to hunt for some game for herself. Her first few attempts were followed only by shame and disappointment, but her racial instincts didn't mean that she was ill-equipped for the task in front of her and every so often she managed to catch some prey, which was quickly devoured.

Now, though, she was simply bored witless, and wanted to explore. Out in the Wildlands there were a whole host of new scents and smells for her to follow and investigate, but there weren't nearly as many as there had been back in Ravok, nearly all of which had been man made. This meant that, no matter how far she wandered away from the rest of the travellers, she was able to follow her nose back to them, seeing as nothing was really around to distort the smell.

Ravok... Kalina would be lying if she said that she didn't miss Ravok. She missed the fish, most of all, and the comfort of knowing that she had somewhere dry and warm to return to each night. But she still had her Master with her, and that was what really mattered. The only thing that Kalina didn't miss was the uncountable amount of canals running through the city; the ocelot was thrilled to be on completely dry, solid land for the first time in her short existence. The only thing was, Kalina had quickly realised, was that in order to have fish, there must be water. The group of travellers had passed numerous streams and rivers, into which the ocelot kitten had spent inordinate amounts of time staring, in the hopes of seeing her water-bound friends. She had still to work up the courage to enter the water though.

All around the ocelot, as far as her inhuman eyes could see, upon the hill she was standing, were rocks and boulders. Standing as imposing dark grey towers against the lighter landscape, Kalina could imagine no better place to run around and play than here. Grey on grey, that was all her monochrome-viewing eyes could see, but her human side knew what she would be able to see were she to change. But she was in some unknown land, and her Master wasn't close by, so she refused to make the change.

The wind was blowing towards her and the scent of another creature hits her nose. She knew that smell, from previous excursions; it was wild, it was four legged, and it was prey. The small feline's posture changes instantly; she crouches, dropping her front legs and bending her back, as if ready to pounce. Moss green eyes scour the lower ground in front of her. She couldn't see the other animal yet, nor could she hear it, but she could smell it. And she was hungry.

by **Kalina** on September 12th, 2013, 8:56 pm

Other than the wind, which whistles as it brushes against the colossal stalagmites and rustles through the grass and foliage in between the rocks, nothing could be heard in this particular section of the Everstone Forest. Even the feline's footsteps can barely be heard, so lightly and slowly was she currently treading. Her belly practically scrapes against the ground as she tries to keep herself hidden amongst the stones and plants all around her, she still could not see her prey, and she was wary of the very real possibility that it might see her before she sees it. First and foremost, however, she didn't want the beast to hear her and scarper before Kalina was ready for the chase.

Every now and then a dried up trig would break beneath one of her wide paws. The ocelot was being very careful in trying to spread her weight evenly along the ground to avoid any harsh sounds such as breaking twigs. She was also careful to watch the ground, and to feel with the pads of her paws before resting her weight on the ground, lest she makes such noises. But every now and again her concentration would fail her; she was hardly infallible, one so young without any adult to guide her in hunting, and the inevitable crunch could be heard, echoing off the tall stalagmites all around. Relatively, to Kalina, her mistakes sound almost deafening, and each time she is sure that she was about to lose her prey. But she could still smell it and, after more chimes of stalking the apparently unaware creature, Kalina can make out its head as it pops out to the side of one of the rocks, after tearing the grass out of the ground and chewing on it.

Though the young Kelvic had no idea what the creature was, having never seen it before, she could still smell it, and she now well knew the smell of what a living meal was. Whatever it was, Kalina still had to watch it, and analyse it, in order to work out how best to catch and trap the masticating creature. From the distance Kalina was from it, which no was not much, give not the sheer amount of stalagmites hiding the pair from each other, it looked smaller than it was, but Kalina's sharp eyes was still able to make it all out.

Still keeping her body as low to the ground as possible, the Kelvic stalks further left, as if circling the other creature. Kalina wanted to keep her distance from the animal, so as not to alert it to her presence, but she wanted to see the entirety of the creature, not just its head. Though its body was about the same size as the ocelot's own, it's head was smaller, if more elongated, as were the legs; thinner and longer. Two velvet stumps also rested on top of the head, each in between its ears, and on top of those stumps appeared two short bits of wood, like twigs, all mangled and dying. A strange creature, for sure. But it smelt good.

The legs, the ocelot kitten decides, they look good for running... and they did, long as they were, but Kalina also notes that the small surface area of the hooves attached to those long legs probably didn't offer the creature much in support of agility, meaning that it would not be able to navigate its way through the stones, rocks and boulders with the same speed and efficiency as the ocelot would.

The more Kalina thinks about that, the cockier she gets, and a low, feral growl reverberates from the back of her throat mere moments before she begins to run in for the kill. The noise finally alerts the buck to the ocelot's presence and the chase begins.

Kalina was marginally quicker, just because, as she had correctly calculated, she was more agile, but she had severely underestimated the distance between herself and the buck, which left her at a disadvantage. The chase doesn't last longer than half a chime before the buck manages to dart out of view behind a group of stalagmites and Kalina slows to a stop. Had she been wild and desperate to catch her prey as her only source of food, she might have continued the hunt. But Kalina had a human form, and was fed reasonably well, even if she hated half of what was put in front of her.

The wind blowing various smells her way tells her that the buck had led her closer to her Master and the other travellers, but she wasn't ready to head back just yet. The buck had left a trail after himself, one Kalina could try to follow, so, nose to the ground, she heads off in the same direction the creature had gone.

by **Kalina** on September 18th, 2013, 5:19 pm

There was no rain today, as there had been on a few previous days when Kalina had headed out into the wilderness that made up the lands of Sylira. The young ocelot was still learning about hunting, but it is in this moment that she's realises what a big difference rain, or the lack of it, made on her ability to follow the trail of the buck she had lost. Rainwater did not mask the smell that her prey would leave behind, but, if there was enough of it, it would wash away the scent, possibly even lead her in the wrong direction. Now though, the trail along the ground was still strong, even though Kalina appeared to be in no rush to find the creature.

The sun was beginning to leave the sky, though it did not affect the ocelot in the slightest; her infallible vision was just as good, if not better in the night, where it felt more natural for her to be awake. Instinct also told her that she might have a better chance as catching prey; she knew that, from what Amelia told her when they first met, human's eyes were not nearly as good as hers, so it made sense that some other animals might also have worse eyesight than her.

Idly, with her nose touching the ground every few paces to make sure that she was on the right track, the Kelvic begins to wonder what it would be like to hunt from a tree. She was agile, more agile than most, and felt at home in trees, being light enough to climb up to some of the thinnest branches available to her. Suffice to say, she loved trees and climbing, though there weren't really any available right now for her to climb. But the idea of hunting in trees feels rather foreign to her. It is possible that she might be able to catch a bird in a tree, but she had never tried a bird. She was also having enough trouble hunting her prey on the ground, and found it hard to imagine that it would be any easier were she to attempt hunting from branches. Possibly the only thing she might gain would be a vantage point; she knew already that she would be able to move silently in a tree, and leave said tree just as quietly.

A few chimes pass and the three season old Kelvic finally realises that she was no longer following the same scent she had originally been intent on following. She thinks back, trying to pin point the moment that some other creature had crossed the path of the deer, when she had veered off course, but she cannot remember. The ocelot pauses for a moment. Kalina knew that this creature, or creatures, it seemed, were smaller than the buck, much smaller, but once again she wasn't yet able to work out what she was following, other than the inherent knowledge that it was food.

Attempting to be much more careful this time, she continues to follow the trail, raising her head every so often to ensure she couldn't yet see it. Eventually, she hears a rustle and a high pitched sound resembling a squeak, which is apparently answered by another. Keeping her body low to the ground, she stalks forward, wary of the mistake she made last time and not wishing for a repeat of losing her prey; she was ravenous now.

Eyes narrow as she spots movement from her prey; a small family of rats. She didn't know how many there were, but it didn't matter to her, all she needed was one of them. Her pace is slow and carefully, instinct telling her that these creatures might not be fast, but they were flighty, and their home might be close, which would likely be too small for her to be any kind of a threat for them.

Half a chime or so passes before she decides she is close enough and, preparing herself, she releases another snarl as she leaps. Images flash past her eyes, and she counts one, two, four, six of the little rodents before making the snap decision to go for the largest, the one she was already on course for. The rat hears her and begins to run, but she is already on them and it gets mere feet before Kalina snaps it up in her jaw. She clamps down and feels the creature go limp in her jaw as blood begins to ooze into her mouth. Dropping her successful capture on the ground, she raises her head one final time to ensure that nothing else was around that might try to take her well-deserved meal away from her. Once satisfied that she was alone, she makes short work of devouring the rat almost in its entirety.

Turning away from the inedible remainder of the carcass, Kalina's gaze flickers over to where she had found her prey. All of the smaller rats had long since flown, save one. A cautious beginning approach has Kalina realising that one of the other rats was also dead. An accident on her part, as she had probably caught the creature in her claws as she went for the mother, but a welcome accident. The grey ocelot was still hungry, but her mind wanders over to her Master, who was waiting for her to return. The predator disappears, and the kitten returns, with her now almost desperate desire to please the man who had given her a home. Picking the smaller rat up in her jaw, she is careful not to pierce it anymore than it already had been, and she returns the way she had come, the relatively short walk back to her owner and his companions, where she could present him with a gift.

by **Vanari** on November 13th, 2013, 9:04 pm

Kalina

Observation	+1 XP
Concentration	+1 XP
Tracking	+1 XP
Unarmed Combat	+1 XP
Stealth	+2 XP

Lores :

Loot :

Notes :

Solo [Everstone Forest] Finding Your Feet