Now and Then

Natha watched the potential prey with rapt attention, searching for any flaw or weakness she could exploit.  Golden eyes shifted from one creature to another until they finally rested on a young squirrel.  Her nostrils flared and her eyes watched it intently.  She could not explain what it was about the creature that had caught her attention but she knew there was something wrong with it.  It was more lethargic than it's kin, slower to move and a slight rasping sound could be heard in its breathing.  Had it caught some sort of respiratory disease?  She was wary of diseases she could catch but the little creature didn't seem to have anything she thought was transmissible.  Natha began her quiet climb up.  She would rest in trees but she did not often hunt in them.  There were so many variables, chief among them being that if she failed to calculate which branches would support her weight she would crash to the earth.  She was a fairly large feline after all.

Natha moved slowly, a lesson in patience.  She wanted to move as closely as she could… just one more step…. the squealing of a rabbit echoed through the forest and caused the animals to scatter including her prey.  With a violent swear she sprang forward, leaping up several branches as her panicked quarry instead chose to scatter down the tree.  No!  She turned as sharply as she could, sending leaves scattering as she darted down the tree.  For a moment she feared the squirrel would scurry down to the finer end of a limb where she could not follow but fate was on her side as it dived into a hollow in the tree.  Her long limbs aided her as she shoved her right foreleg into the hole, massive paws and razor claws pinning the creature.  She continued to snarl in frustration as she trie to pull the wiggling creature out of the tree.  It weakened quickly and when she pulled it out she quickly bit into it's head with a crunch to still it.  

Securing her jaws around the squirrel she looked about to see what had caused the ruckus in the first place and nearly spoiled her hunt.  Hurried barks made her flinch.  Ugh… wolf.  This place was simply crawling with them and as she peered down she spied a weird looking male standing over a rabbit.  He was a massive wolf and the feline decided she was perfectly happy to stay up in the tree.  Her gaze fell on the strange blue color of his flesh and she wrinkled her nose.  Disease.  He had to be sick with something.  How else could one account for the color.  She set to work on the squirrel, crunching delightfully into its flesh as she watched the wolf below, hoping for a show.