Role

Chapter 8

Dreams
Added Wed Jun 8 14:37:55 2005 at level 5:

Darkness of the dreams... suddenly broken by faded images, distant
scents, memories of the past.

The first butterflies had woken with the gentle breeze of the spring.
They fluttered around in their seemingly random dance, their movements
enticing, almost bewitching... she watched, minute after minute, the
patterns burning into her mind... something deep inside her awakened,
one of the first times. A primal calling, an urge to hunt. It was not
an urge to simply kill, more like a thirst for the thrill of the last
moment before the leap. The very last, fleeting moment between life
and death. And right now was that moment.

She struck.

The insect flapped its beautiful wings once more between her claws and
then stopped. Laughter. They laughed. Her parents. She was picked up
by gentle arms, holding her close. "Come, my little wildcat, it's time
for dinner" the voice says... oh, the voice. Their faces are long
since blurred by the years, but their scents, their voices still echo
in her head, as clear as ever. She let go of the dead insect as her
mother carried her. It fell, spiraling down through the air into the
grass, its patterned wings glimmering one last time...

...her first prey.

Darkness.

She climbed over the rough rocks with little effort, moving gracefully
and quickly. She stopped before a steep cliff face and turned to look
over the forested valley, and especially the thin trail snaking up and
out of there, eventually disappearing in the shadows of the mountains.
They said that the other side was full of danger, that this was home.
But it was not enough to stop her from dreaming of the outside world
every day, magnificent new hunting grounds... full of life. She knew
that one day, she would be there. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not the
day after that... but one day.

Darkness.

She licked her claws, a purr of satisfaction in her throat. The
trampled snow was stained a deep crimson all around her, the sweet
aroma of fresh blood hanging in the chilling air. Her blood, or the
beast's? She didn't care. The cold and the pain of her wounds were
distant, insignificant. The thrill was all that mattered. She tore
into the still warm carcass, rending the flesh, tasting it.

...her prey.

"Nrei! Where have you been... we looked all over for... but, but...
what happened to you? You're bleeding...! And where are your clothes..
Nrei?"

Their concern wasn't necessary. They didn't understand. She didn't
expect them to. They were too set in their habits, they didn't hear
or didn't listen to the bewitching call of their buried instincts.
And that was all their loss. It was a gift, not something she could
ever make them grasp.

Darkness.

As large as the valley had felt, it was nothing compared to what was
outside. Days became weeks, months... years. She learned many things,
she grew stronger and wiser. Sometimes, she returned near her old
home, watching from afar. She saw their hunters and traders, even some
of the strange people from the distant lands, and none ever saw her.
And eventually, she wanted to see for herself where they came from.

New moon. It was dark, quiet, there was a hint of autumn in the air.
Silently she crept up to the familiar cabin. Light in the window. She
looked inside, the brightness stinging her eyes. Mother, father, two
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