A dim light flickered in the corner, illuminating the wall next to it. Vague scrawlings of possible relationships between a certain cat-girl's friends were covering this portion of the cave wall, and to the untrained eye they looked completely and utterly senseless. However they were meticulously categorized and sorted into specific patterns, resembling somewhat of a library.
Pounce de Leon laid down next to this wall, purring contently as the tip of her tail twitched. She yawned, both mouths opening to reveal an olive tongue and maw along with an impressive amount of jagged, sharp teeth. Pounce flipped over onto her back, rubbing the top of her head against the gravel beneath it. She she simply laid there, all four paws in the air without a single care in the world.
A frustrated grunt was heard nearby. Pounce flipped over, her top mouth's tongue poking out to briefly lick her nose. The low crunch of gravel was heard as Nepeta rounded the corner, her face locked in an angered expression. She had a thick leather lace in her mouth that eventually connected to a pale, olive wrist guard. Nepeta plopped to the ground with a thud, her tail twitching in annoyance. She continued to loop the lace through the small holes in the top of the gauntlet, tugging every now and then on the lace to tighten the piece of armor.
One she was done with the last gauntlet, she sighed loudly in relief and stood up. Striking a pose, she looked down at her outfit that she had collaborated with Kanaya on. The outfit consisted of the two leather wrist guards that went from her wrist to her elbow, as well as the semi-see-through azure claws. She wore a thick, lion- maned hood over the blue cat hat; some strands of fluff even had lightly dyed wooden beads strung on them. The mane itself was various earthy tones, as to better blend in with the foliage that was soon to surround her. She was not wearing her olive coat as usual, instead she boasted a sleeveless (and quite furry) vest, the same colors as the mane. Her sign was carefully burned onto the fur, and the scorched symbol was carefully painted with the olive blood of some other unfortunate creature. The fur on the shirt was somewhat matted, unlike the silky pelt of her headpiece. Nepeta also had on long, black denim pants that were riddled with numerous rips and tears, but were pretty durable nevertheless. Her shoes had to be a bit larger than most trolls, simply because paws tended to take up more room that your traditional humanoid digits. The furry shoes were a bright blue, Equius's blood color precisely. This was to warn higher blood castes that messing with her came with the wrath of a highblood.
Nepeta grinned at the over all outcome of her outfit, her prominant cat-like fangs sticking out. She quickly turned her attention to Pounce, who was now sleeping soundly. Nepeta kneeled down and stuck her hand an a bowl, which was half filled with thick, burgandy blood. Once her hand was dripping, she walked over to her lusus and slathered the tip of her tail with the blood, successfully dying it the same shade of maroon. This was to better locate Pounce in the tall grass, since Nepeta was not blessed with the same fine-tuned nose as her lusus. Pounce swished her tail a bit, and Nepeta began to smile.
"Time to get up, Pawncy!" She said, picking the feline up by her under arms.
Her lusus yawned and smacked her lips, stretching her arms out so that her claws poked out of her paws. Nepeta draped the cat over her back, pulling her paws around her neck. Pounce rested her head in between Nepeta's horns and began to purr softly. After Pounce was correctly situated on her back, Nepeta walked towards the exit to her hive. She picked up a medium sized bag, one of which was filled with water bottles and fruit for snacks. Nepeta would have greatly preferred small chunks of fresh meat, but that would attract other beasts with the obvious smell. Throwing the bag over her left shoulder, she pushed open the door and locked it behind her. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, Nepeta moved out into the newfallen night.
An hour's time had passed, forty-five minutes of that hour being the walk to her favorite hunting grounds. The familiar crackle and crunch of gravel had faded into the near-silent rustle of grass. Pounce had long since jumped from Nepeta's back, and now strolled next to her. Brushing away some over hanging branches, Nepeta and her lusus continued on the trek through the woods.
Pounce froze for a split second, and that was all Nepeta saw. Her red-tipped tail disappeared into a bush, and a small struggle was heard before the terrified squawk of an avian beast rang out into the woods. Nepeta dashed towards the bush and quickly stuck her hand in, feeling around for the soft fur of her lusus. Pounce exited through the opposite side of the bush, holding a mustard blooded song bird in her lower jaw. She creature's wings twitched spazmaticly, blood welling in it's throat due to the fang stabbed through the animal's lung. Pounce chomped down harder, successfully killing the bird.
Nepeta tilted her head curiously. Upon closer examination, she shrugged Pounce's kill off before smiling.
"You can have it Pawnce, your kill, your keep!" She beamed as the feline dropped the bird before laying down before it to eat. Nepeta decided move forward a bit, leaving Pounce de Leon to enjoy her snack.
Trees of all sorts surrounded Nepeta, some poking straight up like needles, some fallen or rotting, some with gnarled roots that intertwined with the earth, and some with whip-like branches drooping all the way down the length of the tree until they touched the ground. Still hearing her lusus crunch on the small bones of the bird, she began to climb a rather short, wide tree to get a slightly better vantage point. Sticking a clawed hand into the hole in the center of the tree, she pushed herself up with a grunt. Reaching for the nearest branch with her other hand, she brought a foot up as well into the hole. Nepeta eventually hoisted herself onto the branch, perching there for a good minute to survey the woods around herself. To her left, the woods became denser and more difficult to travel. To her right, the woods thinned out drasticly until they eventually became large field. Straight ahead, there would be a small pond. Figuring that a pond and denser woods would not offer too much, Nepeta decided that she would try the field. Usually the field would turn up odd beasts, as well as other felines.
Something jumped onto Nepeta's back. She whipped around with a loud shriek, and tried to grab at whatever had latched onto her. However, Nepeta quickly calmed down when she heard the famiar, low purring of Pounce. The scream had echoed into the woods, and Nepeta flinched knowing that she had probably scared away anything nearby. She jumped from the tree, landing with a relatively quiet thud. Pounce's tail flicked slightly, and she continued to purr. Nepeta began the trip to the fields with a determined scowl, already starting to drift into her predatory drive.
On the outskirts of the meadow, she crouched onto all fours. Pounce de Leon lept from her back, eagerly running into the tall grass. Nepeta lowered her head, entering as well. Her blue claws sunk easily into the fertile soil as she moved forward, itchy grass scratching at her face. Her lusus had already moved forward without her, but not too far as she could still see a maroon tip in the grass.
Her camouflage outfit was a great advantage at this point, and blended in almost perfectly; minus the vibrantly colored wooden beads. She took a quick second to glance around herself before continuing on. There was a sudden dip in the terrain, in which Nepeta easily shifted positions to accomodate for. Rearing up a bit, she peeked over the tip of the grass. The meadow seemed to be an endless plain from this point of view. The grass swayed rhythmicly in the low breeze, setting somewhat of an eerie tone to the hunting ground. Nepeta promptly ignored the atmosphere and began moving on.
There was a sudden snap, and Nepeta froze. She glanced at the red tip of her lusus' tail, of whom had also stood completely still. A low, gutteral growl sounded from Nepeta's left. She tensed, turning her head ever so slowly to catch a glimpse of whatever beast she would soon face. Nothing was visible other than a small disturbance of the grass. Pounce had since lurked closer, pupils dialated as she took small, careful steps. Without warning, she dashed forward in the general direction of the snarl. Nepeta followed soon after, jumping back onto two feet as to move faster.
There was an obvious struggle. Pounce hissed, her tail swatting back and forth in the grass. Pounce's foe let out an earsplitting shriek, stopping Nepeta dead in her tracks. Her eyes darted from one direction to another, looking for the creature in the grass. Her lusus was suddenly flung back with shocking force; unfortunately right into Nepeta's gut. She fell flat on her rump with an embarrassing grunt, but swiftly lept up onto her two feet again. Pounce had already jumped off by this time, and went charging towards whatever animal was fleeing the scene.
Nepeta began to run after the creature, claws at the ready. Following the burgandy tip of her lusus' tail, she chased after the beast that was obviously aiming to retreat into the distant woods. It seemed to be approximately eighteen feet long, and a good four feet wide. Its back was littered with long, pale white spikes that curved downward into a lethal point, and its body was segmented like that of an insect.
A primitive growl arose in Nepeta's throat. With her eyes already locked on the creature, she was blessed with a sudden burst of speed. She veered to the right, making a slight turn towards the beast once she was nearly aligned with it. Her lusus was at the animal's left side, her energy almost depleted. Now was the time. Nepeta launched herself at the creature's back, screeching like some sort of bird as her best attempt at a roar. Once she landed with a thud onto what she assumed was the beast's back, she quickly stabbed her claw blades into it's flesh. The animal's shell was tough and flexible, but it cracked with a small 'pop' once Nepeta exerted a bit of extra force.
The beast reared up and howled in pain. It was a truly terrifying noise to hear, resembling a hideous cross between an elephant's trumpet and the roar of a gorilla. Nepeta felt the ground beneath her disappear, and for a brief second gravity seemed to reverse. She lost her grip on the animal. Cold wind whipped through her clothing with relative ease, and she met the ground with a loud thud. The beast shrieked again, most likely from Pounce striking it. Nepeta curled up into a fetal position, desperately gasping for air. Her blue tail coiled in rapid spasms as she struggled to regain breath after being slammed so hard into the earth. Much to her luck, she was able to catch her breath before eventual suffocation.
Nepeta wasted no time in catching up with her lusus and the beast, which were now nearing the other side of the woods. During the mad dash to reach the creature, she peeked at her blood soaked claws to determine the hue of the animal's flesh. Cerulean. She did not think about it any longer, she'd rather focus on chasing this beast.
((Eeeeey and that ends chapter one part one. I hope everyone has enjoyed it so far!))