Solo The Hunt

[Katerzyna Pholidare]

1st of Autumn, 512 AV

The Kelvic peeked out from among the dense foliage along the borders of Syliras, slanted wolf-like eyes swiveling from side to side. The muscles underneath her gray coat of fur were tensed up, ready to spring at any instant.

She was hungry. Very hungry. Katerzyna had been rationing the little food that she had for quite awhile, forcing herself to only eat a meager proportion of food that she was supposed to have. Yes, she did feel quite frustrated at her state. She was a Kelvic, and a wolf one at that. She should have been able to catch fresh food for herself, but she couldn't. Or perhaps a more accurate explanation would be that she didn't have the ability too.

To put it simply, Katerzyna was not a good hunter. The other wolf instincts were strong in her. She had the natural protection instincts to make sure nobody stole her possessions. She had the increased smelling and eyesight abilities. The only thing she did not have that she should have was her hunting instincts. She had tried to hunt before, but it hadn't turned out well. The old memory of her last unsuccessful hunt was still fresh in her mind, and Ukara could clearly remember the humiliation that she'd felt when she'd missed the darn rabbit.

That wasn't going to happen again.

Or at least, she hoped not.

Because now, she was on the edges of the Syliras territory, away from the city area. She had intentionally went farther out to avoid being seen by others, and to increase the amount of small prey animals there would be to hunt.

Katerzyna started snaking her way through the surroundings, keeping a keen eye out for any movement or scent that would indicate prey. For the first few moments, nothing. Then the scent of rabbit suddenly hit her clear in the face. The Kelvic's eyes immediately hardened with determination. Determination to get it right, determination to finally be able to catch the piece of prey. Her pace quickened as she moved towards the scent of the rabbit. And then she saw it. It was very inconveniently nestled between a tree and a shrub. From the way it stood, Katerzyna could already tell that it had noticed that something was wrong. The rabbit's ears were erect and it was scanning the area, nose quivering ever so slightly. Any moment now, it would notice her and shoot off into safety. Then her chance would be gone.

She gave a quick assessment of her situation, noting the position the rabbit was in. She'd learned from previous failures to always pay attention to her surroundings and whether or not the prey had noticed her. According to her hurried assessment results, the chances of her catching the prey were not good. The rabbit could immediately run into the safety of the bush, or dart off somewhere else into the undergrowth.

But it didn't matter. Katerzyna pounced right then in a rather impetuous manner, unwilling to allow it any chance to escape. As she landed, she could feel herself touching the tail-tip of the rabbit before it darted away at the very last minute, leaving her empty-handed.

When Katerzyna sat up again, she turned furiously towards the direction the prey had disappeared off in, letting a growl of frustration rip through her throat. Life was so unfair.

[Katerzyna Pholidare]

The sun was beginning to set, and she was starting to run out of time. Katerzyna had left her belongings carefully hidden away in Syliras in the hopes of forcing herself to learn how to hunt, which also meant that she would have to make her own shelter that night.

She sat back on her haunches in that wolf form of hers, debating whether or not she should go and find a place for shelter or attempt at another hunt. A low rumble from her stomach decided the answer for her, so she immediately started off again, searching for prey. It wasn't long until she picked up on another scent, this one of a mouse. Ew. She didn't like mouse. It was small, tasted stringy, and by no means satisfied her hunger. But with her hungry state now, it wasn't the time to be complaining and being all selective about what she could eat. The week's ration of food that she'd obtained from a street vendor back in Syliras was slowly diminishing. She could no longer rely on it.

It only took a few small steps this time before Katerzyna came in sight of her target. The look of her prey made her feel all the more hopeless. The mouse seemed exceptionally skinny. She obviously wouldn't be getting much out of that even if she did catch it.

But the Kelvic pushed negative thoughts out of her mind and leapt forward again, springing up into the air and landing exactly... on the mouse. It was absolutely satisfying, feeling the creature being crushed underneath her. She remained in her landing position for several moments longer than what was considered "normal" before sitting up again.

A wave of satisfaction swept towards her as she picked the mouse up carefully in her mouth before setting off to eat it. Finally, her work had ended up with a result.