Making History—
She hissed softly to herself, glaring fiercely at the man. Who was he? Was he human? He certainly looked so. But… how did he get here? Was that blue box some sort of ship...?
Multitudes of questions whirled around her head like the annoying cave gnats that sometimes spawned in the darkness.
She shook her head to clear it of all those annoying thoughts, and immediately wished she hadn't. Whispers of the "Ultimate Source", and the "Life-Giver" echoed lightly around the cave, and the girl rolled her eyes. Really? There was prey right in front of them, and they were focused on a fairy tale?
No matter, she thought to herself, clenching her pale hands into fists. I can just do this myself. Maybe they'll actually be grateful for once.
But, as she prepared herself to move towards him the next time he blinked, he backed back into his little blue box, slamming the doors closed.
No! The girl screamed, punching the hard stone wall, leaving a spider web of cracks behind. Her fists shook violently, and her chest heaved as she took in huge, furious gulps of breath. She had just let him go! Her first prey in millennia, and she had let him go!
Now it seemed that the toll taken on her from lack of that precious, nourishing time energy was even stronger than before, sucking at her life source like a parasite.
Just as she reared back to give the wall another nice punch, the doors opened again. The huntress didn't hesitate a split second before darting down the slope of the cave and pressing herself up against a side of the box. Now was her chance. And she would, by no means, let her prey get away this time.
"Hello?" The man stuck his head out of the doors, turning it this way and that. She could feel her flesh turn to stone as his gaze fell on her, but it didn't linger—she was swathed in shadow like a deadly assassin.
Which she was.
He didn't seem to notice her, and his stare swept back over to the other side of the cave. The young woman felt her skin turn back to normal, regaining what little heat it had before, and she took a deep breath, slowly raising her index finger—the part that harnessed her power.
She peeked out from behind the box, and saw that the stranger was facing directly away from her. She grinned evilly.
The girl rushed out of her hiding place, her feet pattering rapidly against the sharp stones that carpeted the floor at lightning speed. She spread her wings, ready to slice his neck with their razor-sharp edges if he caused too much trouble and would be better off dead.
She was almost there, her finger millimeters away from his head, and the world seemed to move in slow motion as she darted to what would be sure to feed her and the rest of her people for a century more, give or take. Her heart pounded, and it seemed to be the only thing moving for a second.
The second that, in one fluid motion, he whirled around with a huge grin on his face and shot her hand with a strange-looking ray gun.
The young hunter was blasted back, nothing more than a stony statue now, and crashed into the rocky wall behind her, turning back to flesh and blood just before she hit, so she didn't shatter. He had turned away and was preparing to close the doors. The girl looked around to see the rest of her people begin to crowd the box, staying a safe distance from it at first, scared that they would be shot back as well, or worse.
The man reached over, beginning to close the doors.
That was it.
Her chance was gone.
Or maybe not.
The huntress narrowed her eyes.
"Not today."
She leapt up, tucking in her wings and pushing herself off the wall, heading straight for the opening of the half-closed door.
She would do this.
She would do this.
The girl burst though the doors, a few feathers scraping off her wings as she slid through, tumbling to a stop on the far side of a huge room. She only had time for one thought as the box began to wheeze, just as before, and her family and friends were left once more in an empty cave.
It's bigger on the inside.