[Bronze Wood] Predator or Prey? (Nya)

[Atropus]

10th Day of Summer, 509 AV (Evening)

The sun had gone down but a few hours prior and the warm summer night was in full swing. A few light clouds drifted about and the moon was not quite full as it shown down upon the Bronze Wood. Atropus, one of the newest additions to the area, had begun to stir a short time after the sun had set. Now, fully awake, he was ready for his nightly patrol. It had been weeks since he left his home in the Cyphrus. The forests of Sylira were quite different than the plains which surrounded the ruins of Castle Xy; home of Zith colony of Xy. He was finding it to be a refreshing test of his senses. Where in Cyphrus, he could rely on his astounding night vision to see his pray for quite some distance in the plains; in Sylira he was forced to use his hearing to pick out sounds beneath the canopy of trees. Though his sense of hearing was far greater than his eyesight even in the nighttime hours, the forest was alive with sound.

Atropus had already picked out a perfect hunting ground in the Kabrin Road though he had yet to hunt there as he wanted to get a better feel for the area first. Thus he resorted to feeding on the occasional rabbit or even deer while snacking on the bits of dried human meat he had saved along his journey north.

He was curious about the humans and how they seemed to adapt so fast to changing conditions. That curiosity brought him far away from his home and to a place where he had heard civilization was thriving. Indeed he had listened in on some of the travelers along the road and heard of the nearby city. Perhaps soon he would attempt to enter that place and explore but for now, it was the forest and time to continue surveying his future dining resort.

Since arriving in the Wood, Atropus had set up a small roost of sorts in one of the larger trees. It wasn't much; little more than a collection of leaves and branches roughly meshed together in the shape of a crude bed leaned against the trunk of the tree. He would have preferred something underground or even a cave but he did not want to travel too far into the mountains and away from the more well-used stretches of the Kabrin Road. With a great stretch and growling yawn, he stood up and unfolding his wings. The first flight of the evening was always the best; cool, quiet and in a way, inspiring. Turning a bit, Atropus took a great leap to a nearby branch and then to another and another higher to the top. After a half-dozen short leaps and bounds, he sprung into the air; his wings flapping gently as he caught an updraft and began to glide. The air was fresh and the sounds of the forest below were almost visible in his mind. Some part of him hoped he would find something interesting this time; something more than the typical deer or the occasional bear. His thoughts focused on the sounds and he tried to pick out something peculiar enough to warrant investigation.

[Nya Winters]

It had been early evening when Nya had gotten up from a rather lengthy sleep. She'd hid the corpse of poacher she'd taken down earlier in a tree about a mile from where she was sleeping in order to keep it safe for a midnight snack. The quickest way to her meal was off her own slumbering spot (a larger oak) and down to the road for a brief jog to where a small stream crossed the Kabrin Road. The stream was her exit point from the road, a place where she'd need to cut back into the woods a quarter of a mile to get back to the corpse. That involved scaling a rather large pine tree several lengths past where a bear could climb to retrieve what Nya considered at this point to be simply 'the meat'.

She was hungry. It required a lot of energy to shapeshift back and forth and maintain a large wild form like a Forest Cat. Truthfully, Nya missed the massive forests of Taldera. These smaller more compact trees weren't exactly her favorite - because she didn't fit into the landscape like she would have in Taldera. She enjoyed the spires that graced the northern reaches in profusion. However, this wasn't northern Mizahar, this was the middle of civilization. She'd came her for a purpose; to find a bondmate. Nothing and no one had suited so far, mainly because she hadn't looked. That wish was her parents wish, who thought she was too wild - too independent to find someone to take care of. But the truth simply was youth. Nya wasn't ready. She was ready for a lot of things: living on her own, hunting, having a nice fat juicy human meal.... but for her true calling in life? That could definitely wait.

It was causally jogging down the road in her human form that might draw someone's attention to her. She kept to the edge of the path, but there was no real way to obscure herself otherwise. Nya wasn't afraid of being spotted. She feared little besides swords, arrows, and men in great numbers.

[Atropus]

Atropus glided low, just over the tops of the taller trees while weaving around those scattered ones that were taller still. A few flaps from time to time was more than enough to keep him aloft as he sailed silently through the air. Even with the speed of flight, the forest was expansive enough that it would take quite some time over the course of many days to get any real feel for the territory. For this reason, he chose specific areas to scout during his nightly ventures. This night he decided to check out a few spots along the Kabrin Road. If he could pick up a nice meal of fresh human, his entire evening would be made however at that time of night, few traveled the road through the forest. Even so, it was worth the effort in his mind.

Slowing his pace, Atropus was soon hovering in one spot, his wings flapping quietly in the night air. He remained high enough above the trees as to not rustle the branches from flapping his wings. Closing his eyes, he blocked out all sight and focused only on the sounds. First there was the sound of his own body keeping itself in flight. He focused passed that and then came the sounds of the leaves rustling in the light breeze. Insects; their buzzing, chirping and screeching was the next to be heard and then focused away followed by the sounds of the nocturnal denizens of the forest. Nearby bats, owls, squirrels and other animals created pictures in his mind of their general location, size and movement. Allowing those sounds to filter away he then heard the footsteps of deer on the forest floor; of rabbits and other small animals. A wolf howled in the distance followed by another much further away. Then there was something else. Faint at first, it grew louder as it came closer into Atropus' range of hearing. It was like a avalanche of boulders crashing down the side of a mountain; completely out of place in a forest at night.

Focusing on the location, Atropus gave a few mighty flaps of his wings and hurried in the direction of the sound. It took but a few seconds for him to close in on it and realize that it was coming from a nearby part of the road. He slowed his pace once more and dropped into the trees where he hopped down a few branches until he was able to get a good look at what was coming. Whatever it was had not bothered to hide the fact that it was there.

He did not have to wait long as a humanoid form came jogging into view. It was female and moving just off the road. She appeared to be simply jogging; not running from anything in particular or looking around as if knowingly being followed. This was odd and thus it was also a curiosity. Something that no Zith in their right mind would ignore. Though his first instincts were to drop down, grab her and take flight, Atropus was too interested in finding out why this girl was taking a casual jog through the forest in the middle of the night; a good distance from the nearest human settlement.

Employing his moderately respectable skill of the hunt, Atropus quietly followed this strange woman by careful hops, glides and jumps through the upper limbs of the trees; relying on his hearing to guide him. He wanted to know where this girl was going and why she was there in the first place.

[Nya Winters]

She knew she was being watched. He moved through the tree-tops expertly, he wasn't really making that much noise, but her hearing was sharp. She dodged, still following her path, wondering who was actually up there in the air and who was hunting her. Was she being hunted or was it just curiosity of something she had yet to encounter? Nya was hungry... very hungry, and her kill was waiting. But she wondered if she was going to have to fight to keep it. The tree was in sight, and it didn't take her long to pause at its base. Expertly, she stripped off her boots, her belt, and peeled off the rest of her clothing, dropping them in a neat pile before scaling up the tree. She found handholds in the pine and climbed it with little trouble, seeking the top where her meal was carefully stashed over a branch then hidden by other branches bent down to conceal it. Nya preferred to eat human flesh in her forest cat form - for some reason it went down a lot smoother there.

But there was something following her, and it was better to confront it now, in case it was sentient than before she lost the use of her voice. "I hear you. What do you want? If its the kill, its mine and I don't share." She said, bravo filling her voice in a way she didn't exactly feel. Nya felt vulnerable as a human, but humans could climb the smaller Syliran forest trees far easier than a Taldera Forest Cat could. In many ways, she missed the large trees of her home - further north now than Syliras. There was something about Taldera that supported the enormous growth. Here, things were smaller, like they were before the burning times. She wasn't at home here, and sometimes she felt that she didn't belong. She'd made no friends, knew almost no one... and she missed her parents.

Somehow, suddenly, she wanted to take that rage out on the thing in the trees... the thing hiding. Do you want to fight? Do you want to take whats mine? All those thoughts crossed her mind as she stood up to her full human height on the branch. She couldn't change here, not in the tops of the tree, not in the small tree anyhow. Too small... too out of place...

Nya roared in her human voice at the thing in the sky.

[Atropus]

Atropus, pausing high up in the trees with a relatively clear view, watched as the woman stopped at a nearby tree and began removing her clothing. Such an odd thing for a human to do in the middle of the forest at night. He thought as he continued to watch her finish shedding her cloths before she took to climbing the tree. He admitted to himself that she was fit and attractive for a human but he still couldn't understand the actions he was observing. She seemed intent on climbing the tree as if she were seeking something. What happened next caused Atropus to immediately go still, hold his breath and go on the defensive; the human spoke and if he wasn't mistaken, she was speaking to him. He sniffed the air following her words and caught the scent of not-so-fresh human death and a hint of something else living; human but not human. Could she really be referring to a human corpse as her 'kill'? Then, of all things, she roared as if she were an animal claiming a kill for itself.

This was too much to pass up. Atropus' curiosity would not be denied and it seemed the only way to learn more was to at least respond to the woman somehow.

He wasn't very far from her yet far enough to be out of any sort of danger the human may pose. In a deep, rich voice that rumbled softly as he spoke, Atropus said, "Strange, odd-smelling human, I don't want your dead meat; it doesn't smell good and it isn't much fun to eat. Why are you naked, in a tree, in the middle of the forest at night?" Concluding that the strange woman was of little threat to him, Atropus emerged slightly from his perch so that Nya could see more of his outline in the moonlight though details were difficult due to the heavy shadows and his own natural coloring. His wings were folded over the front of his body and he was hunched slightly from the lack of head room in the branches.

[Nya Winters]

Nya shifted on a few branches, and settled down next to the corpse. It lacked a head, most of its clothing, and two limbs were missing. She'd already snacked on it when she'd brought it down, but she was hungry again. Truthfully she'd had to lighten the meat to drag it into the tree in her human form. The trees of the Cobalts, while large, still didn't easily support her weight shifted. So she'd fed, dragged it up into the tree, and left it there while she went about her business. Now the flying thing wanted it. She was certain of it.

She watched the creature... what in the world was it?... as it moved closer. Nya wasn't stupid. Anything that flew in the night was most likely a predator, and by insulting her perfectly good meat it could be trying to trick her or at least cause her to loose her concentration. "It is perfectly good meat. I brought it down this morning. And its been cool all day, so it is still fresh. Do not be so insulting. You are probably just mad you did not get it first." She said, reaching over and digging her fingers into the spot where its arm used to attach. She pulled forth a section of shoulder muscle and began nibbling on it. Muscle was her favorite. No fat, no grease.

"And as for why I am naked, why would I not be? I do not want blood on my clothing." Well, the truth was she had smelled him and didn't want her clothing to prevent her from changing her shape. Nya had a lax attitude about attire, and to her way of thinking the longer one went without clothing, the better off they were. In winter, that philosophy changed slightly but then she had the option to wear her furred form, and usually did. "As for why I am here, I live here. And that is true for in the night or in the day." She called back, almost taunting him. "Why are you here, perched in a tee, harassing me if you do not want my meat?" She asked, equally bold.

It was then that she concentrated, listening for a breeze. Sure enough, one was close and she sent her awareness out to it. The breeze danced around her momentarily, then darted towards Atrophus. It circled him, grabbing onto his scent more fully, and fetched it back to Nya. She broadcast her gratitude to the wind creature and used the scent in her nostrils to more closely identify the creature. It was nothing she'd ever seen, though she remembered reading about a winged people. They were crude, if she remembered right, and completely not human. Nya's curiosity rose but she was cautious. She knew they kept slaves too. Human and otherwise.

[Atropus]

The human spoke without fear. Considering how and wear the two of them currently found themselves, Atropus' curiosity only deepened. The human spoke in a manner similar to a Zith in the way she referred to and tended to her kill. Atropus had to admit that he had never seen a human eating another human before. Even as slaves, they tended to shy from such a thing no matter if they were forced to or not. Indeed, this human was becoming more interesting with each passing second. Also, her naked form was not all that unappealing. Atropus was enjoying the idea of an attractive, naked human female stalking the night for another human in which to kill and eat. The way she responded to the question of nudity made sense in Atropus' mind. While he did not wear cloths mainly due to the discomfort of doing so as well as the difficulty of finding any that would fit right, for a human to not wear them out of fear of getting them bloody was more than acceptable reasoning.

She questioned him back. How amusing. "As I said before, I prefer to eat my meals while they still live. Their struggles make it more enjoyable. I do not want your kill. I am merely interested in you. It is not common to see a naked human female running around the woods at night, alone, much less seeing one climbing a tree in order to feast upon another human that she killed earlier in the day. So I say again, you are a curiosity and of interest to me. You also don't smell right which makes things even more interesting. Noting her protective stance over the corpse, Atropus could see that the girl was acting much like an animal would. Because of that he did not want to take any threatening moves toward her else spoil this unique situation.

Instead of stepping closer, Atropus slowly moved to the side while allowing himself to step out from behind the branches that partially concealed him. He changed positions so as to allow the light of the moon and stars to slightly illuminate his features. He was sure to keep the moon behind him as his training had taught him. When confronting prey or other predators, keep the majority of the light to your back as it helped to prevent the other from fully focusing on you. This granted an advantage to the hunter in case the other chose to strike out.

Through his curiosity, Atropus couldn't help but cater to a few erotic as well as violent thoughts in regard to himself and the girl though he couldn't help but want to know more about her and what exactly she was. This want to know helped to keep the other thoughts to a minimum as he watched her and wondered what she may say or do next to further excite his interest.

[Nya Winters]

He preferred to eat his meals while they were still alive? How barbaric. "That is disgusting. Food is food, and it should be properly brought down and killed before eating it. To do anything else is a cruel. I even break the necks of mice before I swallow them. You can taste the fear and pain in something if you hunt it too long or wound it too badly before you eat it. And, its a sign of a bad hunter. Are you a bad hunter?" She called out boldly, before breaking off another morsel and slowly beginning to chew it. It was as close to an insult as Nya had ever flung at someone. And as she said it he moved.

Even though he moved, she never took her eyes off him, despite the fact that she was eating. Had it been daylight, the move would have been really smart and Nya would have been half blind. But because the moon was out and the night dark, it only partially served to obscure the details of his face. She wasn't worried, but did wonder if that was the reason why he moved. When Nya got hungry, there wasn't much that would distract her if she somehow got to food. So while she ate, she took the time to study him. He was obviously male because he lacked clothing as well. And while he looked human enough, the fur and wings threw her for a loop. If he was kelvic, he'd either be fully animal or fully human, not some cross between trapped with half shapes of each. In fact, he looked a lot like a bat. Nya had caught bats before, mainly in play, but they were small creatures and only a bite or two large. She hadn't liked the taste nor all the membranes they had.

He was just lucky she'd already killed earlier. Otherwise she might well consider a new hunt. But the corpse in the tree would keep her well in food for days. As for his other thoughts, she was completely oblivious. To her violence had a place, and that was only for eating. She had no concept of sex and entertained no erotic thoughts of her own. Mating was reserved for heats, and thus far she'd only had one of them... the rest having been suppressed by herbs her mother had given her. The first one had been bad enough that she habitually denied having anything to do with it or having even experienced it. He was simply dangerous... watchful, and it was starting to annoy her.

She tore off another piece of meat, ever the patient cat, and waited to see if he'd do anything. Nya had no need to move, no desire to drag her kill elsewhere, and besides, she was hungry.

"What are you anyhow? You are about the uglist thing I have ever seen. You look like a cross between a bat, a man, and a very hairy rodent." The girl taunted, her lips now stained red from the meat she was quietly feasting on. Other than speaking, she showed no signs of being inclined to do anything but eat her kill.

[Atropus]

Atropus scowled at the gall of the woman to question his ability as a hunter. He almost snapped and struck out at her but halted immediately. She was trying to bait him; to get him to give up his calm and thus give her an advantage in the exchange. Clever girl this one was and thus all that more interesting.

"Nice try. Anyway, I do not relish the fear of simple animals. I kill and eat and continue the hunt. Humans however create more of a sport and the hunt is all about causing them fear and pain. It flavors the meat and reveals to them that they are not the superior hunter."

While Nya was obviously keeping her attention on her meal, Atropus could see that she was also not turning much focus from him either. To him this provided a continued advantage if the situation were to degrade. He was however caught a little off guard by her taunting question. Other than for some of the trading he engaged in during his life in Xy, Atropus had not spent long talking with other non-Zith humanoids other than slaves. It was from them that he learned to speak the common humanoid tongue and they who taught him how to interact with humans; at least on some level. This one that he found before him though was most unlike any of the slaves and quite different from any humanoid he had claimed for a meal.

Her taunt, while being recognized as something akin to one by Atropus, lost its affect on him as he regarded her question as a desire to start up some more conversation. This would allow Atropus to hopefully learn more about the strange smelling woman as well.

"What am I? In the human tongue I would be known as a Zith. As for being ugly, I am what I need to be. My appearance aids in driving fear and uncertainty into my prey so as to keep them unfocused and vulnerable. You on the other hand are quite attractive which I imagine allows you to draw your prey closer. Since you seem to be in the mood for a bit of dinner talk, might I ask what you are? You are not human. You smell different. Why?" Atropus slowed in his movement and stopped. Would she ignore him or would she respond? Would she strike at him? How was she in a fight? Was she even a threat to him to begin with? This felt something like a hunt but at the same time so much different.

[Nya Winters]

So.. he hunted for sport. And he hunted humans. Nya hunted but it was never for sport. It was to satisfy hunger, plain and simple. She'd fight to defend her territory, but that was never personal and more on an instinctual level than anything else. The creature, whatever it was.... wanted to talk. Was talking a precursor to fighitng? Nya wasn't certain. But as she bit off another hunk of muscle and kept chewing, she considered his question, even as he answered her own.

He was a Zith. She'd heard of them, but not much. Zilvia had included them in her lessons to Nya as a child, but since they had no pictures, Nya had quickly forgotten what the description of one equated too. She'd liked the name though, and thought it somewhat fancy. But this creature wasn't fancy, not at all, it had a cruel gaze and though it was curious, what it said disturbed her. While kelvics weren't exactly human, not really, they were highly protective of the species when it wasn't doing something like pleasure killing, as Nya had caught the one she was eating doing.

"I'm a kelvic. We serve humanity. My people are shapeshifters. " Okay, that was close enough right? "Thank you for the compliment, but beauty has no purpose, and certainly not to lure prey closer. I have a wilder form for that... and that form is a good hunter." But Nya paused, and wondered. She'd never seen an ugly kelvic. By and large, the shifter race was beautiful - Atrophus was right. Were they designed so that the humans wanted to be near them? Couldn't resist them or be afraid? Odd, she'd never thought about that. But the Forest Cat within her nodded its big head and agreed with teh Zith. Everything about them was designed to fit into the society and merge with it, even though they weren't part of it. Nya wanted to roar a moment. It couldn't be true? "Besides, what does appearance have to do with luring anything closer. I can see how your appearance aids you in hunting, but beauty would not have that effect at all." She called back, clueless to what the creature was implying.

"And you prey on them right? How? Do you just use them for food?" Nya was curious, and wanted to keep the creature occupied for as long as possible with questions so she could fill her stomach. She was starving ... always starving... ready to go into yet another growth spurt. Hopefully this one would be the last. Nya was tired of endless new clothing because the old ones wouldn't fit. And now that she was growing things like breasts and an over abundance of long hair, she doubly wanted the growth to stop.