Early Morning
Beautiful Silence
"What the hell?" Valentina was Woken from her sleep on the tree branch. The small creek bed would be trickling down as gravity would pull it to where it pleased. The bushes underneath her ruffled a bit as the wind blew them about, But she sensed something else was near her. She pulled her bow from her back and sliped an arrow from the pouch that hung on the back of her waist out. She slowly notched the arrow the string would stretch slightly it creaked as any bow would do when pressure was forced on its string.
Valentina would ease her way up to her feet on the branch of the tree Still looking around for that disturbing force near her. She saw a movement that was not caused by the cool wind it moved quickly From left to right then back to the left. It would stop as soon as Valentina drew her bow to shoot and disappear Again within the tall grass. Valentina smirked and removed her arrow from the bow she sat down the branch and open her small bag. She drew from it her water skin and a piece of meat. She took a few sips from her water skin and set it on the branch where the tree would meet the branch. She took the meat and instead of eating it Would throw it on the ground a few ways away from the tree. She Stood quickly with haste, notched her arrow and drew it all in one motion. The shadow would move for the meat with unmatched speed but Valentina's golden eyes followed the unknown creature, Just as the creature would intercept the meat from the ground Valentina would send her arrow flying in the direction of the shadow. The arrow would pierce the air With a whistle.
The Shot would hit the shadow as it crack when entering it, Shortly after the beast would ring out with a yelp and fall to the ground fumbling forward a few feet The Sun would be rising At this point So Valentina would be able to see the creature in due time. She strapped her bow on her back once more and put her water skin into her bag She would tighten the strap on the small sack and scan the rest of the area for any signs of a threat. Not finding any after a couple minutes of observing the terrain Valentina descended the tree and jumped about a little more than half way down it. Landing she would pull a small dagger from her thigh holster and spin it into a stabbing position. The sun almost Completely up she saw what the shadow was from earlier she crept to it ever so slowly her knife still drawn. " Orange and black?" she whispered to herself. She smiled listening to the animals screeches and yelps. The sun Peered over the tall grass so the creature was fully exposed. It was a Tiger. large teeth adorned its mouth and claws the size of Valentina's hand hang from its large paws. The arrow had bludgeoned It's neck. Blood from the animal spilled out about the ground next to it and covered its fur, Valentina began to giggle a little looking at the tiger she had no remorse for anyone anything especially carnivorous animals like tigers plus Valentina was very demented in her ways blood shed was no problem for her.
She stooped down next to the suffering tiger and rested her body on its stomach, she closed her eyes for a minute listening to the animals cry's that seemed to be never ending. she rubbed the top of the tigers crown and began to sing a song. It was a song unlike any other.
"Lay your head down look above the gods smile at you, You should smile too. Many have left this world now your time has come. Hush little morsel you will die for good."
The song ended and the silence had covered the area, "Beautiful silence" she said with a smile. Valentina opened her eyes and stood to her feet. she looked upon the dead beast and pulled her dagger once more. She began to cut the tigers teeth from its bare mouth She piled them up on a small rock and afterwards went to work skinning the tiger, She was content on leaving nothing of value. She went back to the same branch she had slept on climbed on it using a rope from her back pack she would tie it around the animals neck and jump from the branch falling with the rope in her hand throwing the tiger into the air. She tied the other end of the rope to a heavy rock and began to dissect it removing its large pelt first then taking the muscle off of it and the stomach for a much larger water skin to carry. She would clean it in the creek near her and all the blood would wash its way down stream. She took the claws as well for souvenirs and maybe a new "Tiger claw dagger". A large pool of blood lay below the suspended carcass, She took some cloth from her bag and wiped the meat down. A few hours had gone by while she had been dismantling the large tiger, She was exhausted, she took a minute to load her bag full of the meat and hung the pelt over her shoulders. Blood covered her hands and extend all the way up to her elbows. Valentina washed off as much of it in the creek before heading off back to her pavilion. As she was walking in the sun she closed her eyes and hummed the song she had sung earlier. It made her think about her mother. It was her mother song She had always sung this to Valentina when she had seen something horrific to remind her that death wasn't a bad thing, Her father hated the song and said it would make Valentina think that death was a good thing Which did contribute to Valentina's attitude towards life and death.
valentina walk slowly down the beaten path feeling the weight of the tiger or what remained of it.There were no birds chirping and the grass sea was silent.
Valentina grinned and repeated what she had said earlier "Beautiful Silence".
