Maea
And I only needed one more touch
Another taste of devouring rush
Another taste of devouring rush
Ashes marked the spot where she lingered, an ever widening circle of charred soil like a dark halo around her paws. She turned her head to watch Edmund approach when movement registered as a shift in pressure against sensitive whiskers, and her greeting was the slow blink of one who did not fear losing sight of the male before her. Not so much out of trust, but rather a solemn confidence in her ability to meet any threat blow for blow - if it came to that.
But there was enough game in the Outer Brambles to sate both of them, and with her companion in place the tigress rose and led the way down the hill, off into the dusk that lingered beneath tangled boughs. For such large creatures their paws did not make much noise, though the season had dried out the underbrush to the point where the slightest misstep would set off cracks and snaps no matter how skilled a prowler one might be. And while that might be good for rustling up birds or startle rabbits, Maea had a feeling that her usual morsels would not be good enough for the other Ancient. Her own blood lust was little more than a simmer at the back of the throat, a slow burn like whiskey after the glass had been drained - and she preferred it like that. Preferred to keep her head, to approach this hunt with a clinical efficiency that excluded emotions she had yet to come to terms with.
Death may be part of life, and the hunt may be essential for the predator... but it didn't come natural for her to enjoy the taking of a life. Not even to sate her own hunger.
Scenting the air and ground both in the hopes of encountering deer or even wild horses, Maea kept the pace even; wildfires were natural at this time of year, but she preferred to choose where and when they were started, so as not to make this more difficult than it had to be.
But there was enough game in the Outer Brambles to sate both of them, and with her companion in place the tigress rose and led the way down the hill, off into the dusk that lingered beneath tangled boughs. For such large creatures their paws did not make much noise, though the season had dried out the underbrush to the point where the slightest misstep would set off cracks and snaps no matter how skilled a prowler one might be. And while that might be good for rustling up birds or startle rabbits, Maea had a feeling that her usual morsels would not be good enough for the other Ancient. Her own blood lust was little more than a simmer at the back of the throat, a slow burn like whiskey after the glass had been drained - and she preferred it like that. Preferred to keep her head, to approach this hunt with a clinical efficiency that excluded emotions she had yet to come to terms with.
Death may be part of life, and the hunt may be essential for the predator... but it didn't come natural for her to enjoy the taking of a life. Not even to sate her own hunger.
Scenting the air and ground both in the hopes of encountering deer or even wild horses, Maea kept the pace even; wildfires were natural at this time of year, but she preferred to choose where and when they were started, so as not to make this more difficult than it had to be.
But the room was so quiet
Whose side am I on?
Whose side am I on?
