[Bronze Woods] Food! (open)

[Kitty]

13th of Summer 510 AV

Kitty sat hunched down on a tree limb. His body was taut, his muscles bunched and at the ready. His ears twitched slightly as they turned toward the small sounds that were coming from below. He took deep breaths, his lungs filling as he let the scent of his prey fill him. Below was a rabbit, he had no doubt about that, but it seemed to be an awkward rabbit. It made far too much noise. It was cracking twigs beneath its feet which rabbits just didn’t do. They didn’t really have the weight for it, and unless they were in a hurry they were far more careful about it. This one just seemed to be lumbering along though. The only thing that Kitty could think of was a giant fat rabbit that couldn’t move very quickly. It was a good thought, a rabbit that fat would be a big meal and after yesterday’s fiasco in Syliras, he was looking forward to a good meal.

“HUGE!” The thought seemed to shout in his mind. Had he been in human form he may very well of yelled it out, ruining his chance at a meal. The rabbit had just hopped into view. It was the largest rabbit he had ever seen. The thing must have weighed sixty pounds. His eyes grew large and his body began to tremble with excitement. It was going to be a very good day.

His body burst out from the tree sending him hurtling toward the unsuspecting rabbit. His front claws were extended and he felt alive. The creature’s ears shot straight up and it immediately set off at a run. Kitty didn’t miss a step. He was sad his initial pounce hadn’t taken care of the creature, but he was up for a good chase. His keen eyes focused on the huge speckled brown rabbit as it dashed through the brush dodging left and right around trees. Kitty’s body felt like it was on auto pilot. His legs carried him through the woods at amazing speed. He avoided trees and other obstacles without even really seeing them. All that existed in the world was this rabbit, and he was going to catch it and devour it.

The chase was lasting longer then he had expected. He had never seen a rabbit this large and had expected it to be slow, but it was far from it. The creature seemed to have kept the rabbit’s normal quickness, but gained size, making its legs more powerful. Kitty pushed himself harder, his muscles straining to propel his body faster and faster through the woods. He ripped through the underbrush as he ran. He was almost on top of the creature.

Then it happened, the creature turned around. It was the strangest thing Kitty had ever seen. It spun and launched itself at him. The rabbit was attacking him. It was an asinine thought. He tried to dismiss it, but it couldn’t be dismissed and waved away, it was actually happening. It enraged him. This little creature dared to challenge him? His paw shot out, and slammed down on the rabbit knocking him back to the earth. The force would have been enough to break any normal rabbit’s back, but this thing was up moments after it hit the ground. It barred its teeth at him and made ready to strike again.

“Oh hell no. This rabbit is barring its teeth at me now? His lips parted as he let out a loud roar. The rabbit seemed undaunted though, and leapt at him. It irked him to no end that this damn thing was really jumping at him. Had he become less scary? He was a jaguar and this thing was a rabbit. A huge rabbit, but a rabbit all the same. Kitty’s neck snapped forward, his jaws closing on the rabbit in mid leap. He immediately jerked his head to the left, and then to the right. The jerking motions snapped the creature’s neck and he let it drop to the forest floor.

He took a couple deep breaths and then bent down, and grabbed the rabbit. He wanted to devour the thing right then and there, but his mother had taught him that if it was too much to eat at one time, take it somewhere dry and in the sun. He knew he couldn’t eat this thing all at once, and he knew all too well that if he ate before carrying it somewhere he wouldn’t bother carrying it at all. Once he had eaten his fill he would walk away and probably forget where the thing was.

So he carried it until he found a large rock that was warm from baking in the sun. He tossed the rabbit on the ground and tore at it with his claws and teeth until he got to the delicious meat within. He continued to eat until he felt like he couldn’t eat anymore. His belly full, he bent down and tossed the carcass onto the rock.

He didn’t like what he had to do next, he hated transforming into a human while in the wild, but some things required hands. A light flashed, and his body transformed into that of a human. That light flashing thing was a pain in the ass too. Anything nearby would see it, and being seen is the last thing you want out here.

He wiggled his fingers for a second, and then moved over to the rabbit carcass. Slowly and deliberately he dug his sharp nails into it shredding off thin pieces of meat. Each piece he cut off, he then laid out on the rock to bake in the sun. He hated doing this. It was smart, drying out the meat and having food for another day, but he hated it all the same. The work was tedious, and that was something he was very bad at. But he kept at it until he had peeled what was left of the rabbit’s meat and had it all lain out.

Finished with his work he climbed into a nearby tree overlooking the rock. He had to wait here for a long time for this stuff to dry, so he sat and began to lick his hands to clean the blood off of them. He wanted to change back into a jaguar, but the flash of light would probably bring curious animals. He would have enough difficulty keeping animals away that smelled the meat. So he cleaned himself, and watched his meat, waiting. He hated waiting.

[Kita]

It had been a while since Kita had been off on her own. Most of the time she was with Lookos. She really enjoyed the human's company but still, she could not help but pine for the wild life from time to time. She was a fox, and she needed to be one sometimes. That was what brought her to go off hunting alone. She was in her fox form so she could hunt better. Kita was good at hunting in her human form but of course, human hunting could never compare to the natural talent of a fox. The cool dirt felt good between Kita's toes. She never liked wearing shoes. They were so binding and uncomfortable. She raised her little black nose in the air and sniffed. She was not alone in the forest. There was a cat in the forest with her. Kita did not know what she thought about cats. They seemed a little too mysterious for her. They always looked like they were angry. Kita pondered whether she should hunt elsewhere or if she should attempt to share the hunting grounds with the feline. Kita sighed and sniffed around for prey. There was no sense giving up a good chance to hunt just because a cat was sniffing around. With her nose pressed to the ground Kita continued her pursuit of prey. All she was smelling was the stale scents of chipmunks and minks though. Nothing big enough to bring back to camp. She had to help feed two wolves, a dog, a human, and herself. A chipmunk was barely enough to even fill her own stomach. She kept sniffing until she caught the scent of a rabbit. A rabbit would be a good amount of food to bring back. She raced off in pursuit of the lupine creature but she soon found that the cat had found it first. Although, this was much more than a cat, it was a leopard. This rabbit was much larger than she had expected and it was giving quite the fight to the large cat. Kita was unsure whether to help the big feline so she stayed in the shadows watching the fight ensue. It was quite the spectacle to witness. Never in all her two years of life did she see a rabbit fight back against a leopard. Kita was not surprised to see that the cat got the upper hand and killed the over grown rabbit though. Prey was never supposed to hunt the predator. Kita watched as the leopard skulked away and Kita followed. There was something different about this cat. It's scent was proof enough for that. It smelled somewhat... human. If that was truly the case then she had come across one of her kind. Kita followed the leopard to a clearing. She watched full of interest as the large cat ate his fill and then turned into a human. She was right! He was kelvic. Kita's tail wagged in happiness. She had not met another Kelvic since she was in Avanthal. She wanted to come out and say hello. She knew that she would have to be careful. Cats were always so jumpy. Kita bolted away and raced through the forest. She had to find her bag. She did not like being naked around others. She knew that most Kelvics did not mind but she did not like it. Finally she found her small green bag. She focused on her human form and in a flash of light she was human. She bent down and pulled her dress on. It was green and flowy, perfect for the forest. Once she was dressed she raced off through the forest to where the jaguar kelvic was. she looked around but could not find him. He heart sank a little. She had really wanted to meet another kelvic. She was about to turn around and return to the camp when she remembered something about jaguars, they liked to lounge in trees. Kita looked up and to her surprise the man was there in the tree. He was naked but still, he was there. Kita smiled and waved at him "Hello mister jaguar, I am Kita. I was hunting and I saw you fighting that rabbit. Never in my life did I think I would ever see a rabbit fight a jaguar!" She was not sure how he would react to her but she knew that if she needed to she could fight. She was not helpless. She knew a thing for two about fighting.

[Selene Ichiran]

The young female moved silently through the trees. Her black trench coat hugged her body, showing off her slim curves. Her black hair with silver streaks fell down her back, the silver streaks sometimes catching the suns rays and reflecting it back. Her black knee length high boots silently thudded on the forest floor beneathe her. Slowly she reached up a hand to push back her hair out of her sapphire eyes to glance about her surroundings.

She bit down upon her bottom lip as she lifted her face upwards and sniffed a little. Blood was near and she could smell it was only fresh, but that also meant that there were others near by and her body seem to tensed, her muscles locking up into place ready for an attack.

None came and she decided to moved forward slowly and cautiously towards the smell of the rich scent of blood. Her coat swirled silently around her body as with each cautious step led her closer to the blood she could so obviously smell so close.

She paused just as she was about to step through the blood was so close but what if... Her dry throat told her against otherwise and pushed her througth those last few trees.

As the female burst through the line of trees her gaze quickly swept the area her muscles automatically freezing up as she saw the dead rabbit upon the rock. Her eyes followed the path of the spilt blood and she couldn't decide whether there was danger around.

A soft frown creased her face as she took in the situation, the rabbit had obviously been sliced open with something and automatically her eyes began to look for the threat that she could sense was there.

[Kitty]

OOC: Selene I know that Kovac sent you a pm about getting started. I do not mind if you join this thread, but you need to create a character sheet first. Once you have your sheet finished you are more than welcome to join back in with us.

Kitty smelled the creature coming towards him before he saw it. It was a strange smell, and a bit difficult to smell due to the drying rabbit. Yet he could still tell where it was coming from, even if he didn’t quiet grasp what it was. It was as if a fox and a human were coming towards him. He couldn’t imagine a fox traveling with a human though. In the end it didn’t really matter though, his food might be in danger, so he tensed and waited.

He saw a girl step out from the tree line. She looked to be about the same age as him. There was possibly a difference of a month or two, but no more difference than that. Once again he wondered at the smell. He didn’t see a fox, but there was definitely the scent of fox on the girl. For a moment his tense muscled relaxed as curiosity seemed to take over. But when her eyes looked up and focused on him he tensed once more. He had food to protect.

Before he had a chance to jump down, she spoke. “How did she know he was a jaguar?” It took a few more moments for him to make out the rest of what she had said. “She saw me fighting the rabbit?” If Kitty knew what embarrassment was, he probably would have been slightly embarrassed. But he didn’t know what that emotion was, so instead it just irritated him that someone had seen a rabbit standing up to him. More important than that, he had let this human come up on him while he was busy with the rabbit. He hadn’t even noticed her. Out here, that could be death.

He dropped down from the tree and stood before her. He was a few feet away from her, out of reach. He stood completely naked; it didn’t bother him at all. Had he not been to town yesterday, he wouldn’t have remembered that people cared about such things.

He stared at her as he tried to piece together her smell. “Where is the fox? I smell it all over you.” His voice came out gruffer then he had intended. He still wasn’t used to talking. He was curious as to what was going on here. He still couldn’t imagine how a girl had followed him. He was slightly apprehensive due to his experience with people yesterday, but yesterday was gone. He didn’t really care about yesterday, and this girl hadn’t been there. One couldn’t hold hatred for an entire race simply because you had a bad experience with some of them. At least that was what he had been told.

[Kita]

The jaguar did not seem to take kindly to Kita's friendly conversation. He merely just sat there in the tree looking at her like she was a crazy person. Kita bit her lip as she looked up at him. Maybe this had been a bad idea. It seemed like an eternity as she looked up at his cat-like eyes. As he jumped down from the tree she felt her heart racing. She was a very timid girl. Almost anything could send a shiver down her spine. As she saw the kelvic man looking at her all she wanted to do was run away. Before she had the chance to try to run the man asked where the fox was. Kita gripped her dress tightly and took a deep breath. "The fox is..., I'm..., I am the fox." She could not help but stutter. She was genuinely scared out of her wits. "I am a kelvic fox." She did not want to look scared to the jaguar man but she knew that she was terrible at hiding her fear. "I can prove it if you see fit." She gripped her sleeve. She really did not want to change again so quickly. It was tiring and she knew that a jaguar could surely take down a fox with one swipe if it's mighty paw. The truth was, she was not extremely strong. Yes, she was quite handy with a bow but in her fox form she was not that good at fighting. Her brothers had tried very hard to teach her when she was younger but she did not want to learn. Her brothers were bigger than her and they often got to rowdy. She did not blame them, they were a wolf and a wolverine. Their nature was to play hard. She on the other hand disliked violence. She knew it was the law of the land to fight to survive but she hated the thought of her claws or arrows were hurting someone. To her, her archery was an art not a weapon. Kita was not sure whether to run or turn into her fox form to prove to him that she was in fact who she said she was. "What is your name jaguar?" She was not sure how to address him. The only other kelvics she had talked to were her brothers and she knew their names. She was not sure what was proper etiquette when speaking to someone she did not know. This lack of knowledge had almost gotten her killed a couple times. She was learning though. She never stopped learning.

[Kitty]

Kitty continued to stare at her as she spoke. He could smell the fear on her. It was something he hadn't expected, but now that he thought about it, he didn't know why. She walked up to him, knowing what he was. Knowing that he was larger, stronger, and in all likelihood faster. Had it been a foolish girl rushing forward without thought? Or had she known the danger and come anyway. Both were possible, and both would tell much about her character, but he couldn't guess which it was. He did his best to make himself seem friendlier. He couldn't tell if he succeeded or not. He didn't have any practice at it.

When he heard her say Kelvic his head twitched, turning sideways. He knew that word. He hadn't heard it in a very long time. After a moment it came to him, he was a Kelvic. That was his kind. This was his first time meeting one such as himself, and he hadn't any idea how to act. Civility wasn't something he had practiced in a year, two thirds of his life had passed since then.

Her next question caught him off guard. A name. He had never had a name. Not really anyway. His mother had never named him. She had explained it to him once. The name she wanted to give him was the name of his father. But she wouldn't do it, she understood him well enough to know that it would mean nothing to him. She couldn't stand the thought of it being tossed aside without a care, so she held it from him. Thus he had remained nameless.

He reigned his thoughts in as best he could. "I have no name." His words came out slowly, and deliberately as he thought hard about the question and which words to use. "A child yesterday called me Kitty. Today, you call me Jaguar. Tomorrow my name may be different." He took a deep breath, he had to think as a human yesterday, doing it again today was making his head hurt. "There is only us, why do we need names? If you speak, it is to me." He meant that last bit as a question but he didn't think he added the connotation correctly. Getting the correct words was difficult enough, adding emotions to those words was a little beyond him at the moment.

He wasn't sure what to do now. He thought that maybe asking her name was correct as far as social interaction went, but he really didn't see the reason for names. More then that, he had just said they didn't matter. He wasn't sure what to do next, but he doubted he had made the girl any less nervous. So he made the only gesture that really made sense to him. He lifted his left hand tentatively and held it out to his side gesturing to his left. "Would you like food?"

[Kita]

It was very apparent that this Kelvic was one of the more feral kelvics around. Kita knew that she was going to run into one someday she just didn't think she would so soon. She was a bit embarrassed in front of the jaguar. She had been trying to blend in with the humans for so long that she had lost her animosity. It some ways a person would find that a good thing. Kita had spent so much time disliking humans that she was surprised that she had become so much like one. She even felt uncomfortable about walking around naked. She had never heard of a Kelvic who was uncomfortable with that. Kelvics by nature were naked. In all ways they were supposed to be naked yet, she disliked not having clothing on. She looked at the naked man and saw that she was truly becoming domestic. She thought that this escape to the Cobalt Mountains would have of set that but here she was acting like the pampered little vixen that she truly was. When the Jaguar said that he did not have a name Kita was confused. What was she supposed to call him? She had never heard of a person not having a name, even a kelvic. Her brothers had names and they were both Kelvic. This man was really opening Kita's eyes. He asked why they needed names. The answer seemed to rudimentary to her that she almost yelled it out. "So we can call each other. I would not know if someone was talking to me if they did not say Kita. They could be talking to someone else for all I know. Without a name how can we have an identity? As kelvic's we should know that all we really keep in our lives is our identity. Everything else is better left behind." The words seemed bittersweet coming from her lips. So many things were left behind. So many people and places that she barely knew who she was at times. Still, when she was at her worst Kita still heard her brothers' voices in her head. Just different snapshot memories. "Kita, I'm going to teach you to shoot arrows today." or "Kita, don't worry, as long as the three of us stick together you will never be alone again." Kita felt herself getting emotional and forced down the tears. Now was not the time for sadness. To her surprise the Jaguar offered her food. She had never been offered food before. Was it proper to accept it? She felt her stomach growling. It had been a while since she ate. Most likely a day or so. She decided to take him up on his offer though. No harm in taking food where food is offered. She happily took some of the rabbit and ate it. She felt a little bad about taking the mans food though. "So where are you from mister kitty?" She adressed him in the only way she could think of. He would not give her a name. "I am from Avanthal but I haven't been there in years." She missed Avanthal. She didn't like the warmth of Syliras even if it did seem to be safer.

[Kitty]

Kitty was honestly surprised by her response. He hadn’t expected another Kelvic to be so attached to something like a name. She spoke about it with something close to fervor. In fact, his response about not having a name seemed to have disarmed her more than the prospect of food. He didn’t know if she had noticed it or not, but the fear seemed to leave her. “Moments before she was afraid, now I half expect her to strike me.”

The one thing that struck him as truly strange though was her question about identity. That one made absolutely no sense to him. He was nowhere near a philosophical person, he wasn’t going to try and ask whether she would still be herself if she had been named differently. Her name was a part of her, not the other way around, no matter what you left behind. As for who you are, well you are you, you can’t be anything else. He tried to come up with words that would seem less derisive toward the idea of names. He really didn’t wish to anger her; he just found the idea as useless. He decided to go with a piece of truth, that based on the way she was asking might shock her a bit. “Until yesterday, I had never been around more than one human at a time, not where they were aware of me anyway. I never needed to address someone by a name; if I was speaking it had to be to them.” He paused, and found himself feeling, almost silly for doing it but he did it anyway, “I will try to call you by name.” He looked directly into her eyes as he said, “Kita.”

He followed her over to the large rock where the rabbit meat was drying. He looked away as she ate, he had no idea how others did it, but he never felt comfortable eating when he was watched. He always felt like he was being watched because something wanted to steal his food. So he waited, his eyes scanning the area, making sure that nothing was nearby. He hadn’t spoken in so very long out in the wild, he didn’t know if anything would be attracted to the voices.

He let his eyes fall back down to her when he heard her question. “Mr. Kitty? From?” He considered the question as she continued to speak, explaining where she had come from. He had never heard of Avanthal, he hadn’t known where Syliras was until yesterday and he had lived near it his entire life. “Kita, I am from here.” He made sure to use her name, and then gestured at the surroundings. “Kita, all of this is my home. I have traveled little beyond these woods. Though, I do not know where I was born.”

He considered what to say next, he felt like he had let her ask all of the questions. There had to be something he wanted to know. She was the first Kelvic he had ever met. He had to gain some kind of knowledge out of this encounter. Finally he settled on one that he geniuenly was curious about, even if it was a rather minor thing. "Kita, why do you wear false fur?"