With the loss of the stag, Rei was feeling tense. She wanted to eat, drink, and then sleep again - or rather, those were her instincts. The human part of her, the part that diminished a little more as her sanity gradually surrendered, wanted to eat and then return to town, find a tavern to get drunk in, spend her night terrifying the humans that had driven her away that very day with their savage traditions and practices. But the image of that hideous rug, the complete futility that she had convinced herself she saw in the glass eyes of his head, the meaningless death that had no place in nature - it scared her. And Rei hadn't been scared of anything, not as long as she could remember. Surprised by things, yes, Rei was surprised on a regular basis, and always by humans, but never afraid. Bad things didn't happen to Rei Voro, no sir. Bad things happened to other people and creatures and that was fine by her. Delusional? Well, perhaps. Still, that was how she had always felt, until the skin of what could have been a distant cousin was ripped from his body and lain on the floor for humans to walk over and admire. She couldn't go back there. She would never go back there, not if her life depended on it, not if she wanted a mug of something potently alcoholic so badly she wanted to curl up and die. Someday, she thought, an olive skinned hand caressing the bark of a gnarled oak tree, someday Rei will get so strong she can eat up the whole town. Vengeance... Rei had never thought of vengeance before. It was another one of those things that happened to everyone else. She didn't know the lion in question - in fact, she had never met another big-cat 'shifter before - but that didn't matter, somehow. She also thought him a stupid lion indeed to get caught as he had, to get killed as he had, to get humiliated as he had, but that had no significance either.
What was important was that the streets would run red someday, when she was capable of tearing out the throats of the hunters and collectors and gawking, awed spectators. This completely contradicted her previous intense will to avoid Ketra for the rest of her life, of course, but that was Rei. Being consistent? That also happened to other people. After some time, her hands roaming over the trunk of the tree as if searching for some treasure hidden inside it, she stumbled back, trying to breathe slower, trying to be calm. She didn't dwell on things, even if they were tragic and unsettling. The only reason she could imagine for being so affected by the day's events was that she was in her halfway form, and that screwed with her head after a short while. Steadying herself on her feet, she ran her hands over her arms, as if to ensure that they were still there, and took a deep breath. She was going to finish 'shifting and then keep hunting; her stomach was veritably growling and she couldn't let the image of the stag slip from her mind. Edging forward without meaning to, she began taking a surprisingly clumsy path through the wooded glade, too lost in her fantasy of the chase to concentrate on shapeshifting. She recounted the scene in her mind, trying to catch the stag's scent again, determined not to let it slip away, thinking of the hot blood and sinewy meat... it was so tantalizing that she could almost smell it.
Wait.
She could smell it.
Her mind all but fractured with confusion, forcing her to bite down on her lip, noticing neither the trickle of copper crimson nor the pain. How? Who? Where? Why? She would have heard it if it had been fighting something. Hands clung to her fiery mane of hair, tugging at the roots to try and restore some serenity to her brain. This was why she loathed being confused. Starting forward, she veered on in the direction the stag had gone, dodging trees and their hanging branches, following the scent of cooling blood carried to her on the breeze. No longer was her step awkward and clumsy; without her express intent, she had slipped back into the cheetah form, veritably gliding over the ground, the whole world a cacophany of smells and shades and subtle pressures. She was a blurred streak of dark gold, blotted with darkness, blazing with curiosity and frustration. If she sated her curiosity, she would solve her confusion, and then her world would be back to normal, back to the way she liked it.
The sensitive whiskers and hairs on her face sensed the approaching clearing, feeling the air changing and the trees receding. The stench of blood and torn flesh was stronger than ever, and her sharp eyes picked out the carcass even before she had entered the clearing. Immediately, she stopped, her front paws thudding down simultaneously, hindfeet following a second later. She could stop in a single stride from a flat-out run with ease; it came naturally to her. Now, prowling stealthily around the perimeter of the clearing, she was using every sense and advantage she had to assess what the hell was going on. Scents mixed in the air; the stag's odour and the musk of another animal, a larger one. A predator. For a moment, she stilled, eyes fixed questioningly on the carcass. She wasn't going to scavenge, of course - no cheetah would conceive of eating carrion - but the sight riveted her. Not much had been eaten, and it resembled one of her typical kills almost exactly. She ate only enough to get rid of the hunger - she didn't gorge like some insane demon.
Unnerved, she turned, muzzle raising to check the scents of the air as her eyes darted around suspiciously. She could track the predator by the smell of the stag's blood. Immediately she took off again, nerves jangling, instincts clamouring for her to take more time, to be more cautious, but the confusion and disarray inside her mind drove her on like a woman - well, cheetah - possessed. Before long she skidded to another abrupt halt, hearing a sound she hadn't heard before. Running water in the vicinity. Of course. What would she be doing if she had just fed? Drinking from the nearest body of water she could find. Finally, her instincts won the battle of caution, and she carefully 'shifted back into her human form. It was irritating, but it would stop the predator (correctly) assuming she was hunting in its territory. Cautiously, hands curling into fists, she sank to ground level, creeping forward on her hands and knees. She was certain to be spotted this way, but she would rather take her chances as an intimidating human than a fellow hunter and instant enemy.
Her head aligned almost perfectly to the ground, she narrowed her eyes, peering through the barricade of plants. The first movement she saw was tumbling water, and it matched the dull roaring in her ears to form a complete image. Waterfall. But where was the predator? Where was the thing that had killed her designated prey, and killed it so easily, so familiarly? She couldn't see. Her eyesight was excellant, but she wasn't really made for nocturnal hunting. She preferred dusk and dawn and the thick darkness wasn't helping her hunt this hunter. In fact, she-
She realized, with a shock that seemed to stop her heart beating, that there were a pair of eyes looking at her. They hadn't appeared; they had been looking at her the entire time, surrounded by nothing but darkness. Leaves flickered gently as she stared at them, numbly, the sudden feral scent springing on her. Male, she thought, her human mind trying to establish some kind of order. Cat. Big cat. Black, blends in. Some feeling was surging through her, carrying adrenaline and excitement with it. A panther. She had rarely seen panthers before, and was more acquainted with the more common leopards, but once the idea was in her head, she couldn't remove it. And here was this wonderful, golden opportunity to fight a cat like her.
Leaping to her feet in a burst of frenzied energy, remembering at last to breathe, she crashed noisily and quite madly through the underbrush, flinging nature's obstacles out of her way, trying to find the most direct path to the pool. She burst out, now breathing fast with excitement, and waved madly at the animal. Not many human women did that, and the thought made her laugh wildly, inexplicably. The panther must think her insane, if it thought at all, and perhaps it didn't. What did it matter?
"Rei is so HAPPY!" She cried, hands clinging to her tunic in a sort of ecstasy. "She'll be a cheetah, and she'll fight you! She's never been able to fight a panther! Are you ready? Are you excited?"
Despite her words of... well, madness, she did look happy. Exhilarated at the prospect of fighting an animal so close to her favourite form, when she'd never had the chance before. Excited that perhaps, afterward (when she won, as she never entertained the idea she might not), she could sit in the company of another feline for a little while. Just a while.
She would like that.
||ooc|| Thanks, Cat-san ^^; And your post wasn't bad at all, I loved it! And I'm nineteen, twenty come February ><;
Ooh, and sorry about this post. It's a bit... disjointed and random. I've had sugar >>;; ||