Solo Sleep Tight

[Kalina]

*

81st Day of Fall, 514AV

Curled in between the large roots of an even larger tree was a cat, silent and unmoving, with her tail wrapped tightly around her small body, and paws tucked into her frame, keeping ay warmth locked in tightly. Grey and brown in shade, her dull colouring blended in with the autumn ground and bark from the trees, and the small rings and spots of fur further helped her to blend in to the ground.

To a passer-by who only gave her a quick glance, they might not even see her. Where other creatures might find comfort in a dark, enclosed space, the ocelot found solace among the fallen leaves. The small ocelot liked to be at height; the vantage point left her to be fully aware of her surroundings… but for sleeping, the ground was perfect, where she could nestle and her warmth would stay.

Amidst the rustle of leaves, as the winds blew in from the east, a small growl emanated from the ocelot, and her front paw stirred suddenly before settling again. The sound was subconscious, instinctual, a sound that could have been a result of the dreams she was currently experiencing. But, to the waking world, it came across as a threat, a warning to any who might risk waking her up.

Around her, insects crawled about, over the fallen leaves and branches. Others flew around her, buzzing near her ears and causing her to twitch her nose in irritation. But, for the most part, she dozed peacefully, undisturbed on the outskirts of the bustling city of Riverfall.

It was early afternoon when a creature no bigger than a field mouse, which shared the scent of a rodent, scurried past, a trail of broken leaves left behind it. In her sleepy state, she might have missed the rodent, but the mouse’s movements along the dry ground were like a claxton in the ocelot’s ears, and her furry, grey lids opened to reveal moss green, chatoyant eyes, which followed the movements of the rodent.

Other than that small movement, the small feline did not move, and the rodent remained unaware of the hungry predator, which was mere feet away. Eventually, however, the field mouse disappeared from the dwarf-leopard’s line of sight, and the sound of the rustling leaves under the small creature’s foot began to quieten, the almost fully matured ocelot yawned and stretched, extending her claws and digging into a section of the tree’s roots before she pushed herself up in a single, fluid movement.
*

[Kalina]

*

Kalina’s pace was slow, and as silent as the night, yet the sun beat down its gentle warmth to light the way. The small field mouse was still not in sight, yet the scurry could still be heard, so Kalina followed that. Whilst the sound of rustling leaves made it seem like the mouse was fleeing, the feline predator followed behind at an almost lazy pace. She was hungry, yes, but she was not hunting out of necessity; there would be food for her when she returned to the city. No, the creature was hunting for sport, to refine her techniques and movements.

Despite the relative weight differences between the ocelot and the mouse, the amount of sound that both made could be inversely compared. Kalina was markedly more silent than her prey, her movements slow. It was most likely due to her large paws, which were big even for her small body – they managed to displace her weight well, leaving her with the ability to traverse the autumn grounds without alerting her prey to her presence.

On occasion she slowed and took the time to mark her pace, ensuring that she was moving slowly, frustrated at the fact that, despite her biological advantages, she was not able to move completely silently. Her light footfalls slowed, and her intent on her prey was lost, more interested was she that she managed to correct her predatorial movements. Right now, when she knew that there was the promise of food waiting for her, she was not desperate for her food. Nor did she find it particularly taxing to find, track and kill a small rodent – they were weak and, more importantly, stupid. But once day she had promised herself that she would take down a buck, and she had no chance if she could not master control of her own body.

Every now and then a dried up trig would break beneath one of her wide paws. The ocelot was doing her utmost to be 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, without a guardian there to guide her in her younger days when she had been released from the Kelvic Research Institute, and the inevitable crunch could be heard, echoing off the rocks all around. Relatively, to Kalina, her mistakes each sounded almost deafening, and each time she was sure that she was about to lose her prey.

Though the young Kelvic had no sight of the little field mouse anymore, she could still smell it, and she now well knew the smell of what a living meal was. Even though she had had much experience in rodents, Kalina still had to watch it, and analyse it, in order to work out how best to catch and trap the masticating creature. Similar to other rodents, the little ocelot imagined that it would be no different trying to catch this mouse. Now unmoving, her pupils were dilated, almost entirely hiding the green irises, as she watched the quick, furtive movements of the mouse. It was still unaware of her presence.
*