trouble with feathers [Pyralis]

The cacophony of sounds arising from the mating birds overhead was deafening. It was during this time of year that she had found herself in her first hunt, many years back. Charged with the task of taking down a bird, whichever came to her first. That was how the feathers entwined in her breast came to be there. Just as with her mother, the ceremony had gone smoothly. She remembered the simplicity of the times back then, when all she had to do was be young and free. Age was rearing its ugly head upon her life, and now she wondered how things could have gone so awry.

The island was warm, overly so. The thick pelt she still wore was suffocating. Perhaps a swim was in order, already. Only halfway through her exploration of the island, she turned around to the sea. Long strides turned into bounding leaps as she crossed the sand. Giddy as a pup, she leapt into the ocean. The water wasn't even that cool, but it was nonetheless refreshing. Coal cloaked paws swept and kicked through the water.