The Hunter That Can't Hunt

by **Tove** on July 16th, 2018, 12:08 am

17th Day of Summer, 518av

The cool air of the night entered the small apartment the Kelvic called home. It was a lovely night. The neighbors hadn’t started arguing, nobody had taken a beating just outside her room, and the cool air of the night had kept her apartment from being too humid to bear. Tove would love it if not for the grimy intruder that had entered the room a bell before.

Tove had been stalking her prey for about five chimes. It was hardly a beast amongst men but she felt as though there was to be a battle to the death. The malicious rat pattered its way right into her room, a crime that called for death. She watched as it ran behind her bed and trunk, the menace had even had the audacity to climb up on her bed (onto her bed!) and relieve itself right on her pillow. The Kelvic would have none of it.

She had been in her sister-form when she noticed the fiend which would come in handy during her hunt. Her chest slinked close to the ground, her tail waving from one side to the other as her eyes narrowed onto the rat. It would die at her hand…or paw to be specific.

It ran about the small apartment, Tove’s eyes never once straying from its small body. She had it cornered and she didn’t plan on showing it any mercy. Sharp claws unsheathe from their cover, digging into the hardwood beneath her slender form.

It stood still, standing there oh-so-comfortably. Tove would have smirked if she had the facial muscles to do so. The rat was so close she could almost taste it, and yet too far to actually crush its body between her teeth. One last step would have to be taken before she could lunge like the hunting machines she was descended from.

Her back arches, claws ready to kill, the hair on her back sticking upward. She would have the foul creature in her grasps…that is if she hadn’t tumbled straight into the wall. A small growl had given away her frustration, her heart racing as she jumped back into her hunting stance. Soft pattering taunted her as her eyes hunted for her prey. Her eyes cut to the area beneath her bed only to find the rat looking at her stupidly.

‘You got lucky that time you petching monster!” She thought as she lunged towards the bed, her sharp nails hoping to pin the rat down against the floor. Sadly, for her the rat was shifty. It jumped up, scampering around the frame of the bed. Her claw caught on to the sheet that she had previously pushed under the bed. As she tried to pull away but the fabric followed, sending her into a frenzy as she tugged at the fabric.

A chime later she had managed to free her claw from the fabric. Her escape had left many tears in her sheet, but the important part was that she could now kill the little terror that scurried around her room like it owned the place.

‘Where did that little shyke go?’ she wondered, hoping it hadn’t left the room before she had a chance to avenge her property it had so carelessly destroyed.

WC546 Words

by **Tove** on July 16th, 2018, 1:42 am

The Kelvic listened closely: the pattering had ceased for several chimes. Tove feared the worst. Then she heard it, that horrible squeaking accompanied by a soft chewing. Tove’s rations were now in the stomach of the rat. She dashed towards her pack, the beast hidden within. Tove stalked forward ready to kill, then the beast stuck its small head out from within her pack still chewing HER stale rations.

The rat had shared the same white coat of the Kelvic; their coats fur being white with small yellow patches. Its beady eyes stared up at Tove, who had since allowed herself to relax a bit. The ‘fiend' chewed on a small piece of stale bread as it looked up at the Kelvic. Tove stared at the little beast, her eyes no longer dilated.

‘It’s cute,” she winced at the thought. The beady-eyed rat had left her feeling sad. How could she kill such a cute little creature? Then the rat ruined it. All her compassion was demolished by the threatening hiss that had escaped the rat's bread filled mouth. It hissed and ran at her; the hunter had become the hunted. She started but the rat was quick. Its teeth clenched down on the back of her tail which resulted in a shrill hiss that escaped Tove's throat.

Tove twisted her body, the beast drawing blood. She had to swipe at the beast two times before it would let go. It fell back, but Tove knew it hadn’t given up yet. It wanted blood. Whilst the rat was down, she jumped up on her dresser. Her back paw slipped, half her body dangling off the edge of the dresser with the rat trailing close behind. The situation panicked Tove, her claws scratched at the wood to provide her with enough space to successfully pull herself up.

As soon as the rat jumped up to bite her again, she managed to pull her body up onto the dresser. Blood dripped from the end of her tail, two relatively deep bite marks causing the wound to throb.

‘I was outwitted by the cuteness of the beast,’ she growled, glaring down at the rat she had seen not only as prey but also now an enemy. She began to walk, pacing back and forth, as she contemplated how she would outwit the beast. It had made its way back into the bag, its loud chewing taunting her once more.

‘Maybe I can jump atop of it whilst it feeds.” The bag sat on the floor at the end of her bed, which had been out of reach for the Kelvic. If she attempted to jump, she would surely make a ruckus. No. She wouldn’t risk gaining the rat’s attention once again.

The Kelvic scanned the area; the windowsill could be used as somewhat of a bridge to the nightstand but it was a bit on the thinner side. If she just so happened to fall, it would put her at risk of gaining another bite mark.

‘Steady Tove. You’re a cat... this is easy. Don't worry!” Tove tried to calm herself as she stepped off the dresser and onto the windowsill. Her legs shook with each step but she kept her cool. Her balance was centered, her eyes locked onto the side table as she walked. One leg in front of the other, four steps would be all she needed to reach the bedside table.

Once she reached the end, she was faced with another problem, the distance. She would need to jump from the windowsill to the table, which would be easy enough if she wasn’t ten times more stressed than what would be considered healthy and if she had more than two inches of the windowsill to stand on.

Her body lowered, eyes locked on the end table, she began to check her balance, wiggling her lower body as she prepared to leap. This action lasted a solid chime before she jumped, her legs curling beneath her torso as she sailed through the air. There was no going back now.

The Kelvic felt her claws gripping into the wood, her heart calming as she scanned the area around her.

‘Thank the Gods..!" her voice cheered within her head. She had made it. The next step was simple; jump onto the bed and then kill the bloodthirsty intruder. This would be an easy task. The bed was so close that she could extend her front paw and touch it. She jumped once more, the hard mattress squeaking quietly as she landed. This shouldn’t be enough to attract the attention of her enemy...hopefully. The Kelvic stalked forward, eyes narrowing on the bag.

“Got ya.”

WC767

by **Tove** on July 16th, 2018, 3:08 am

The scratchy fabric of her blanket rubbed against her curly and matted fur, her claws gripping into it as she waited for her prey to move once again. By doing this, she would know exactly where to pounce, which would be important for an obvious reason. She waited and waited and then she waited some more. Finally, there was a sign of movement, the thick fabric of her bag slightly lifting at the bottom.

‘Perfect,’ she lowered her body the same way she had done when she first pounced on the rat; her eyes focusing in on the beast, the lower half of her body swaying as she checked her balance. She would need to be quick and precise. She would taste the blood of her enemy on this night.

There was another shift in movement within the bag. The same place as before. This was her chance to pounce on her unsuspecting prey. Her claws revealed themselves once more as she landed on the bag, digging deep within. The rat squealed as it attempted to escape but Tove overpowered it; her claws digging into the bag and flesh. She felt a warm fluid flood beneath her claws, the rat squealing even louder than before. It fought back. Biting one of her nails that had sunk into the bag.

Tove felt a tug, but her adrenaline kept her limbs numb. Her own blood soaked the bag but she wouldn’t let up until the rat tired itself out. It’s small body continuously ramming into the fabric walls of the bag as it attempted to regain its freedom. Tove had its only exit sealed by putting more than half her weight down on the opening of the bag. She waited as she enjoyed the scared squeals of her enemy escaped the bag she was set upon. She had injured the rat, that much she knew for a fact, as she pulled her claws out of the fabric. Blood that was not her own covered her sharp bone's. She took the time to clean it off as she waited on the rat to lose its energy.

The nail, which had been bitten by the beast, was torn from the flesh and was barely hanging on to its original place at the end of her claw. The sight caused her to wince, but the wound itself was still numb due to the many chemicals that had rushed throughout her body.

Eventually, the beast ceased to move, scared squeaks quietly reaching Tove’s ears. She cared little.

“That beast took a shyke on your pillow, Tove, then stole your rations and bit you when you were thinking about allowing it to live; it deserves death. Plus, all this running around had made you a tad bit peckish, no?”

She jumped off her bag. Standing completely still as if to not startle the small rodent. It took a chime or so before it stuck its cute little bloodthirsty head out from the bag. Tove’s claws sinking into the little creature. The pain didn’t last long as Tove had already played with the thing. Her head lowered until she was close enough to sink her teeth into the creatures back, biting down just hard enough to break its back as it squealed.

The taste of blood filled her mouth, the rat just big enough to sedate her hunger. Her teeth tugged on its flesh, ripping the skin from muscle and muscle from bone. The taste of victory running down her throat. She had won. The predator had beaten her prey. It’s not as though she didn’t respect the beast, it put up a fight like no other. In fact, she most likely wouldn’t have devoured its flesh and meat if she hadn’t respected it. That’s the difference in Kelvics and humans. Humans kill their prey with little to no respect for its purpose. Those with the heart of an animal do, and the rat had served its natural purpose.

After her dinner, Tove switched forms. Her body aching due to the hunting fiasco that had occurred. Her lower back ached, the wound a bit deeper than she had thought it to be. Her nail still attached to a small amount of her skin. It would be hell to recover from, but the meal had been worth it, as well as the chase. It had been too long since she had hunted something that could outsmart her.

Now, to deal with the mess. Small holes littered the bottom of her bag, and the rat’s present was still atop her pillow. Luckily it was easy enough to clean, only a small stain remained due to the amount of time it had sat, but the pillow was clean of the actual poop itself.

Tove cleaned what was left of the mess, before trying to clean her wounds. She dipped some cloth into her water bucket, focused more so on the bite wound than her damaged finger. To say touching the wound stung would be an understatement and she had little to no medical experience. All she really knew was to clean it, then wrap it. It was a difficult place to reach but she managed to clean it and bandage it without falling over in the process.

Next, her fingernail. It dangled from her skin, which only meant one thing. She would need to pull it off. She pinched the part of the nail that had dethatched from the skin, wincing as the wound felt the presence of her finger. The Kelvic took a deep breath as she looked down at her bloodied finger.

‘Don’t hesitate; just pull it in three, two, one...’

Her hand jerked, the nail had been torn from the flesh, taking some skin higher up on her finger with it. Tears run down Tove’s cheeks as the pain spread across her shaking hand.
‘Good girl, now clean it and bandage it.’

She repeated what she had done with her back though somehow the finger managed to hurt more. She cleaned it with her cloth, then wrapped it up. She knew she had several bruises and superficial scratches, but other than that she had managed to tend to her wounds.

After that the Kelvic cleaned herself up, throwing on an overshirt just in case someone decided to barge into her room before she could dress. That hadn’t happened yet but it was one of the many fears Tove carried around with her for as long as she could remember.

The girl rearranged her things, placing her back atop her dresser in case any more tiny monsters managed to make their way into her apartment. A smile cut her features in half as she remembered being chided for dropping dead animals on Lucille’s bed. Never once had she felt pride after a hunt, never had she had to fight, not until that night.

The girl hopped onto her bed and reached over to blow out her candles. A sense of pride filled her, there would be no more scampering around her room. There would be no deceivingly cute fiends. She had won, there was no question about it. Everything was still once more..that is until she heard it.

A quiet scampering reached her ears, the same sound that had haunted her just a bell ago. Then a squeak echoed off the walls of the apartment. Tove clenched her teeth, and closed her eyes,

'Get some rest, this one won't shyke on your pillow, not tonight at least.'

And so she drifted off, the memory of her kill bouncing around her dreams.

Wordcount1255 Words. Total=2549