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Post by niftyshark on Mar 26, 2019 13:02:52 GMT -6
Nori stared as the she-cat spoke, and he slowly remembered more and more. Charlotte... he barely understood what came out of her mouth, but he picked up on her name. He didn’t know what else to do but nod, not realizing she might not have seen it. Nori tried to piece together his thoughts and the fact that he was with someone. The last time he had been, it was his parents. His trepidation drained away slowly as he looked around the dirt walls. Dirt was packed above them, but he couldn’t make much else out in the low light. Were they under the earth? He stole one glance at Charlotte, then walked up the slight incline in front of him towards the opening where light filtered in. He poked his head out, immediately squinting against the intense sunlight. A chilly breeze kicked up and he shrank back, leaving only his eyes and ears to poke out of the den. Grass and patches of snow were right at his eye level, and he marveled at the fact that he was underground.
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Post by gingerluna on Mar 26, 2019 13:40:15 GMT -6
Charlotte could hear Nori shifting around, and she knew she wasn't going to get much more sleep. She screwed her eyes shut with a groan, letting herself lie still for a moment longer before stumbling to her paws and stretching. She began to groom herself sleepily, looking over at the kit again. "Alright, alright, we'll go outside," she murmured, stepping towards the entrance. "I'm starving, anyways." She was taken aback by the marveled expression on his face, and let out a low chuff. "What's your name, anyways, kid?"
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Post by niftyshark on Mar 26, 2019 13:59:16 GMT -6
He jumped when Charlotte spoke again, unaware that she had been watching him. He moved away from the entrance when she approached and he watched her warily, pausing mentally at her question. His name? He hadn’t heard or even really thought about it in a moon. “N-nori,” he mumbled, turning his eyes away to look at something other than the she-cat. The sound of his name made emotions he didn’t like churn in his stomach, reminded him of little moments that still filled him with despair. He looked back towards her once more, then quickly scurried past until he was out of the den. Nori drew in himself against the breeze, then pawed at his forehead, attempting to make the thoughts disperse.
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Post by gingerluna on Mar 26, 2019 14:05:18 GMT -6
"That's a nice name," Charlotte said warmly, following him out of the den. "So. Hunting." She looked down at the kit, ignoring his worrisome pawing at his own head. "Get down in a crouch like this." She got low to the ground and took a step forward. "Make sure you don't step on anything noisy, like a stick. It's so hard when all the leaves are on the ground." She stood up and looked over at him. "Try it, okay? Then you can watch me when I go hunting."
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Post by niftyshark on Mar 26, 2019 14:25:14 GMT -6
Nori looked over a moment too late and missed how Charlotte positioned herself to get into the crouch. She moved forward silently, and he watched with rapt attention as she seemed to glide over the ground. He looked down at his own paws. Could he do that? He didn’t know how she got into position, but he tried lowering himself to the ground anyway. He moved one paw, then another, but it didn’t seem any quieter than how he normally walked. The grass still rustled and the leaves were almost impossible to avoid. He looked at Charlotte with a frown, then tried it again. It wasn’t easy, but there was a sort of naturalness to it, the more and more he did it.
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Post by gingerluna on Mar 26, 2019 17:03:37 GMT -6
Charlotte sighed as she watched him, dismayed at the progress, but trying not to show it. She'd have to hunt for both of them if she kept him around. "Well, you'll improve with practice," she said, straightening herself up. "Follow me, we'll see what we can smell." She stepped up and began to walk out into the trees, looking back at Nori routinely. "If we can scent it, then we can sneak up on it easier." She lifted her own nose to the air to sniff it and demonstrate, catching a whiff of a bird.
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Post by niftyshark on Apr 6, 2019 11:29:48 GMT -6
Nori grew more and more comfortable with the movements, but Charlotte's comment made his brows furrow, and he stopped. Wordlessly, he followed close behind her, eyes searching around. The air smelled of snow and damp soil, and he struggled to pick anything out but those two scents. His stomach twisted, and it reminded him that all he had was half a mouse in the last several days. But if the she-cat could catch prey, then didn't it make sense to stay with her? He nodded to himself slowly. He didn't like being alone. "How do you... pick out prey scents?" he asked softly, speaking for the first time since he'd mentioned his name.
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Post by gingerluna on Apr 6, 2019 13:59:50 GMT -6
"It takes practice to figure out what's a different scent," Charlotte replied quietly. "Sometimes you can smell prey on the wind. Get used to the smells of grass, dirt, trees, and snow. Eventually you'll be able to tune them out, and anything different will stand out to you." At least, that'd been how her mother'd described it. She looked up at the trees and spotted the bird on a branch. "How about we follow that bird until it lands?" she murmured, flashing Nori a kind smile.
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Post by niftyshark on Apr 13, 2019 17:40:02 GMT -6
Nori didn't understand her explanation at all, but he nodded regardless. "Follow it..." he whispered, craning his neck to see a black-feathered bird perched up on a branch. His eyes widened. How would they follow it in the sky? He didn't have wings or anything else that would help him with that. He stared as it stretched its wings before it took off, coasting in the direction away from them. He quickly realized he didn't need wings, and he started to walk after it, picking up his pace when it did. It was hard to keep an eye on when he was moving, and eventually it ducked past a thick branch and he didn't see it at all. He stopped and looked back at Charlotte. "Where'd it go?" he asked worriedly as he bit his lip.
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Post by gingerluna on Apr 14, 2019 11:51:27 GMT -6
"It has to land eventually. Birds eat things that are on the ground," Charlotte whispered, walking alongside Nori. As the bird landed, she fell into a hunting crouch, not answering the kit's question. Food was more important than the lesson. She caught sight of the bird pecking at the snow, and she carefully worked her way beneath a bush, falling still whenever the bird looked in her direction. Thankful for her pelt, which blended in with the dense, dark branches of the leafless bush, Charlotte worked her way within a taillength of the bird, and then pounced. She pinned a wing beneath her paw, and the bird shrieked, flapping its wings desperately as it tried to get free. Carefully holding the bird to the ground with her claws, Charlotte looked back at Nori. "We've got it now," she assured, flashing him a warm expression. "Watch how I kill it." After the kit stepped closer, Charlotte delivered a killing bite, and the struggles stopped.
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Post by niftyshark on Apr 20, 2019 20:15:03 GMT -6
Nori watched, breathless, as Charlotte moved past him and towards a direction that seemed random to him. He slowed his pace as the she-cat fell into a crouch, and she moved faster than he ever saw a cat go. She disappeared from view, and he had to follow the sounds of a struggle before he saw her again. When he stretched up to peer over a mound of snow, he saw the bird struggling under her claws. She was saying something, but his attention was glued to the bird. She bit it behind its head and red liquid stained the snow beneath it. Its scent wafted towards him tantalizingly, and he moved closer, stomach rumbling. Any thoughts of learning a lesson were gone from his mind, replaced by the immediate thought of filling his belly.
(Fin?)
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Post by gingerluna on Apr 23, 2019 11:11:07 GMT -6
(fin)
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