Kali covered a fair amount of ground during her hunt. To her, it did not feel like too much yet in the grand scheme of things she had covered miles upon miles. She was grateful that Old-Cat had let her work alone and without any intervention from him, which was actually quite a relief for her. He had become a bit overbearing at times, sometimes keeping too close of an eye on her though they both knew that she was very capable of handling herself out here in the forest. After all, he was the one that taught her pretty much all she knew. Having this much time out here alone helped to clear her mind, making her current task at hand the only thing she needed to concentrate on. The hunt was most important; she didn't want to come back empty handed.
Her steps were quiet as she traversed the varying terrain, taking care to not accidentally step on anything that might give her position away to any nearby prey. Her senses were dulled in this two-legged form but to her it was a welcome challenge, to practice the skills she had learned in her younger years. Although hunting on four legs might have been easier and quicker, she was not interested in being fast this very day. She wanted to take advantage of all the time she could to be alone with her mind delved deep into tracking and hunting. The rush was like nothing else; at any point something could come out of hiding and into her sights, forcing her to think and act quickly. But that's how she wanted it; she didn't want to waste time contemplating her next move; she just wanted to see an opportunity and take it without hesitation.
As she walked, she held her bow and arrow at the ready, arrow half-drawn and set on the string as to make it faster should something stumble into her line of sight. However, so far things seemed to be quiet...but she didn't seem to mind. This was an exercise in patience; something the cat lacked at most times. Her eyes scanned the terrain with each step she took, looking for anything that might give her any type of sign; a snapped branch, some more well-trodden path, marks in the bark of trees...anything really. Even a recently torn down spider's web might have given her some kind of hint as to the path of any potential prey. Kali paused for a moment, standing still and putting a finger to the wind in order to determine its direction. Better to know the way the wind blew in case she needed to stay downwind of something.
A subtle rustle caught her attention, and her eyes darted to the right. At first she saw nothing, but she still froze where she stood. Her breath quieted, eyes focused as she tried to drown out the pounding of her heart in her head. Silence fell over the area for a moment, almost making her doubt her own ears. Maybe the rustle was a figment of her imagination, trying to make her believe she was more skilled than she was. Yet, as she continued to exercise her patience that's when she saw it; with another rustle, a small buck emerged from behind the cover of a few trees. He was young, barely had any antlers and she could have sworn she still saw some of his fawn spots dotting his hide. She was not sure if he knew she was close; he seemed to be paying a decent amount of attention to his surroundings yet if he really had known how close she was he should have already been running. Yet, he stood at attention; ears were perked attentively, his white tail up in alarm. He knew there was danger, yet he could not pinpoint it.
Kali took a deep, silent breath in and readied her bow. She drew it up, pulling the arrow back with her fingers. Her gaze focused on the buck's chest, aiming the arrow right square in the middle. Another deep breath rose and fell from her chest, exhaling slowly to calm her nerves. Keep your hand steady, shoot with both eyes open, she thought. Kali's pose hardened like ice, standing still as stone until she had the perfect chance. She was just about ready to release the arrow until...
"Kali?" the voice threw off her concentration, still letting the arrow fly but instead of hitting its target it landed straight in the middle of the tree right next to the buck. The action caused the young deer to spook, darting away back into the cover of the woods. She snarled, disgruntled that her chance at a kill had been spoiled, and considering she'd used up so much time to get this far that buck was her last chance. Now she would need to head back, ashamed and empty handed. However, she was now more angered by whoever ruined her perfect chance. Whirling around while drawing another arrow from her quiver she prepared to shoot the sonuvabitch who fucked up her concentration. "Asshole, you ruined everything!" she snarled, ready to put an arrow through the stranger's head.
Though, as she turned and saw the source of the voice she almost choked, lowering her weapon as her angered look turned into something along the lines of a deer in the headlights. It was Kyle.