Nope
03-13-2022, 06:39 AM
I'm Tired of Looking for Answers
Birna eyed the clouds as they moved in across the sky. A haze of gray blocked out the sun and she was initially grateful for this. She had had enough of the warm summer of the south and looked to head northward where she'd be more comfortable. True, autumn had arrived but she didn't really notice much of a temperature change, certainly not what she would consider comfortable. So it was off to the north to enjoy the best of a true autumn's cool weather.
A rumble in the sky caused her to pause. This was the problem with the cloudy sky. There was still the potential for storms and Birna was not interested in getting totally soaked by a sudden downpour. Hopefully the rumble was from a storm still far away and would give her time to find shelter. If she was really lucky maybe the storm would move away from her altogether. Either way she didn't feel like gambling on the weather and picked up her pace heading north. She was crossing through a gulley when the scent of blood caught her attention. That was deer blood and the smell seemed fresh. Birna glanced up at the sky and hesitated for a moment. Did she dare try to sneak a bite before the weather changed? Her stomach rumbled as if to answer and she shifted course to the source of the blood.
She arrived upon a freshly deceased deer. Ravens and crows were already gathered upon it and as far as she could tell it had died of some disease or perhaps even old age. Either way she saw other sizeable predators in the area and that was good for her. She bounded forward, swiping and swatting at the carrion birds to make room for herself. They scattered into the sky for only a moment with disgruntled squawks and croaking. A few pulled at the hairs on her tail in annoyance but she ignored them. Birna was focused on eating as much as she could as quickly as she could before the weather turned on her or another predator found the kill. Eat bite spilled more and more blood and it was only a matter of time before another predator found the kill. Autumn, she was learning, was a time for bears to fatten up for winter hibernation and she had no doubt she'd run into one sooner or later. Alone it would be difficult for her to defend herself. However, it was not a bear that found her. No, in her opinion it was something worse. A tiger.
The large striped cat wandered out of the brush, sauntering over to the kill as if it owned the whole gulley. Well… it probably did. Most predators that size didn't need to worry about being picked off by anything. Birna may have been a large cat but she was not tiger sized. The tiger got closer and spied her, locking it's golden eyes on her form and growling. Birna hissed, her fur standing up on end as she stared back defiantly. All the while she was trying to assess the situation. At this new arrival the crows and ravens took off into the sky and scattered up into the trees. They watched, peering down as if they might get two meals out of this confrontation.
Birna was aware of the significant disadvantage between herself and the tiger. She'd gotten several good bites of food, was it really worth going up against a tiger for a few more morsels? A roll of thunder echoed across the sky. Nope, it was definitely not worth it. Between the tiger and the rain she was pretty sure the universe was giving her strong signals to keep on moving. Birna started to back away slowly, taking steps back but not turning her back on the tiger. Her ears flicked back as the tiger's did. She knew better than to turn around and run without putting some distance between herself and the tiger. A single spring right now would be the end of her. However, backing up slowly was no guarantee. She hoped the tiger would be far more interested in the kill to bother her. She was sending all the signs that the kill was his and she had no intention of fighting but the tiger needed more convincing.
The tiger sprang for her with a growl, she hissed and ducked just narrowly avoiding the tiger as she struck out at him, her paw striking his right front leg. The electrocytes in her paw jolted the tiger and he yowled, backing up and staring at her in shock. Clearly he had no idea what had just jolted him but it wasn't enough to scare the large cat. If anything it just pissed him off. Birna saw the signs and turned tail, using her powerful limbs to leap up the wall of the gulley. The tiger followed, leaping after her. Oh for fucks sake! He had his meal. Typical tiger, they thought they ruled the whole dang land and they weren't happy until they pushed that point. Granted lion's, particularly male lions, were much worse, but Birna wasn't going to mince her feelings in this case. She just wanted to get the heck out of dodge without getting teeth in her ass.
She was barely out of the gulley when another loud boom caught her attention. It rolled and rocked the sky, crashing through the clouds and causing them to release their rain. Well shit! When it rains it pours. Why would she expect any less? She flinched as she felt the tiger strike her tail. It threw her balance for a split moment but didn't knock her off her path. She kept racing along the land and soon the tiger fell back. It stopped giving chase but that didn't stop Birna running. Tiger or not she still had a storm to contend with and she made a beeline for the nearest shelter she could find.
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