Drunk as a Cat

The young girl was outwardly enthusiastic about getting to tour more and more of the orchard. All the trees were so pretty and there were so many cool scents and smells for her to go off of. When her father told her to duck under him, she did as she was told. It was hard being a loner wolf, he had told her. He had warned her about the many predators and foes she might face. He told her how it was good to be brave, but that even sometimes you had to save yourself at the end of the day. Pride was worth nothing if you lost your life, he said.

She cowered beneath him, eyes wide as she looked around for whatever her dad was seeing. She tried to make her breath steady like he told her to do when she was scared but it felt impossible. Her heart hammered in her little chest as she crouched beneath her father. Finally, he spotted it. It was a BIG CAT He told her she could get some fight practice in. Against this big cat? She was a little nervous, but Tyr and Talon and Alarr would all be SO JEALOUS if they knew she could already fight against big cats like this one.

Ash told Sparrow to wait and so she did. She watched as he let himself get chased around by the big cat, a smirk on his face the whole time. She watched how he bravely maneuvered and avoided the claws. Her dad had been in a lot of fights, and it showed at least in her eyes. He eventually pinned it and turned to her and shouted that she should go to the shoulder. She assumed he meant the shoulder facing her and she kicked off, closing the distance between her and the cat. She gave it her biggest, best bite with a growl and when she latched on she shook her head as viciously as she could. After getting a few seconds of attack in, her father told her it was time to back off, so she did.

She then watched again as her father let the cat have it. Sparrow couldn't even count the amount of attacks he was getting in! After a while of watching, she realized that her dad wasn't even trying to kill it. She found herself feeling disappointed and wondering as to why he wouldn't kill the funny smelling cat. She eventually reasoned that it meant they were chasing it off. Yes! They were gonna show that big fat cat who was boss around here. Spoiler, it was them and not the cat!

Her dad continued to dodge swings and get in little nips and bites. Sparrow watched like a hawk, trying to see how he did everything he did. How did his tail move when he turned all sharp and how did his feet seem to sink into the ground just before he attacked. He seemed so solid and so springy at the same time while Sparrow felt like everything she did was hefty and clumsy. He somehow kept his frame loose and his attacks rigid. He had started to teach her her defenses and Sparrow tried to list them as she saw them. He had his knees bent... but he was running, so they were always bending and unbending. Then his hackles were up, that's why he looked so poofy. And also he had been using his tail when he turned for balance, but mostly he kept it up like he was having fun. His ears were sharp and alert but when he went to attack, he pulled them back so that the big mean kitty cat couldn't claw at them. What else? He always dug his toes and nails into the ground when running, making dirt fly up in all directions when he was running around. He kept himself a moving target rather than waiting on the cat to attack. And... even for a big wolf, he kept his body pretty low to the ground. Especially when he was running. Sparrow lost count midway through and settled for just watching her father.

Eventually her father pinned the big cat and again turned to her and told her to attack as much as she possibly could. Sparrow used this time to emulate her father as she made several attacks on the cat. It was only a little, but she could taste it's blood. She tried to keep attacking. She wanted to remember the taste of blood. Ash had said that if you taste it once, you never forget it and Sparrow wanted to make sure she didn't forget. Her dad told her that it was time for one more attack and then to back off. Sparrow did her best grab and shake she could, savoring the blood she was able to acquire.

As soon as she was ready, she sprung backwards and skirted away as her father kicked off and chased the cat away. Sparrow was elated. Ash told her that SHE had helped chase a cat away from the pack lands her family lived in. Then he asked if she wanted to continue the tour and Sparrow nodded enthusiastically. Of course she did!