Post by pine on Jun 14, 2009 8:44:41 GMT -5
A young cat crept along the tundra, belly low to the ground and ears flat against her skull. She was almost a full fourseason old, and done growing, which was good because she was about the size many toms hoped to obtain. Her long blue-grey fur was spotted with white flakes, and the beige fur on her belly and legs was soaked with melted snow. Her sharp green eyes flicked back and forth constantly, on the lookout for something. Anything. At the moment, Mintaka felt she had plenty to be afraid of - wolves, bears, birds of prey, and the rouges that roamed these parts - namely a huge, bloodstained brown tabby.
This was the first time in her life Mintaka had left the forest. She had been born in a taiga and traveled through a deciduous forest to get here, their new home when flooding and thawing permafrost had left it uninhabitable. Without the trees over head, she felt like anything could just swoop down and grab her, or see her from foxlengths away.
Most of all Mintaka missed her family. Well, maybe not so much her parents - they had kicked her and her brother and sister out anyway, and she was more than old enough to get on without them. Her siblings, though, Alnitak and Anilam - she didn't even know if they were alive. She had managed to escape when the tabby had trapped them against a tree, but they might not have been so lucky. She hadn't seen them in more than a season, but maybe it was for the best, because they'd probably be mad at her for leaving them.
As kits, she and her siblings had done everything together. They had learned to hunt and fight, and gone off into the woods to pretend they were the warriors of old killing everything in their paths. . .and sure, they had let her take the blame for a few things she hadn't done, but they were her family. She sighed, then jumped out of her skin as a bird call echoed across the empty land. She hadn't been paying attention, anycat could have gotten close enough to attack her! She glanced around frantically and drew in a breath of air. All she could smell was tundra plants and caribou. The caribou especially.
This was the first time in her life Mintaka had left the forest. She had been born in a taiga and traveled through a deciduous forest to get here, their new home when flooding and thawing permafrost had left it uninhabitable. Without the trees over head, she felt like anything could just swoop down and grab her, or see her from foxlengths away.
Most of all Mintaka missed her family. Well, maybe not so much her parents - they had kicked her and her brother and sister out anyway, and she was more than old enough to get on without them. Her siblings, though, Alnitak and Anilam - she didn't even know if they were alive. She had managed to escape when the tabby had trapped them against a tree, but they might not have been so lucky. She hadn't seen them in more than a season, but maybe it was for the best, because they'd probably be mad at her for leaving them.
As kits, she and her siblings had done everything together. They had learned to hunt and fight, and gone off into the woods to pretend they were the warriors of old killing everything in their paths. . .and sure, they had let her take the blame for a few things she hadn't done, but they were her family. She sighed, then jumped out of her skin as a bird call echoed across the empty land. She hadn't been paying attention, anycat could have gotten close enough to attack her! She glanced around frantically and drew in a breath of air. All she could smell was tundra plants and caribou. The caribou especially.