My Mother's Promise.

Walk | Talk | Think

A little wriggle, a slight shift, of the cat's resting body caused a sudden sense of falling, and with her amber eyes snapping open, her heart jumping within her chest, Laila's entire body tensed and her claws gripped the large, steady branch supporting her. The tree did not move, did not sway, and realizing she was safe, safer even than when she had fallen asleep, she eased her claws out of the wood and rested her head again on the rough bark with a sigh of relief. That was right. She had stumbled upon a rogue wolf, one who was in no way willing to consider that the cat would walk away without causing any harm, and had ended up treed by him. He had been persistent, barking and snapping at the base for so long that Laila had resigned to being stuck there, and eventually he must have quieted enough for her to sleep if it was day already.

Stupid, paranoid wolf, she thought as her rounded ears tucked and her strong jaws opened in a wide, teeth-baring yawn. At least it seemed like he was gone now, which meant she could go back about her business without getting herself into trouble again. Not for the first time since the challenge, she wished things could have been different. She had had an agreement with Erani to stay in the Gorge and watch the border, to play nice with her canine neighbors, but when she had noticed the lot of them leaving she had done the same, striking out on her own while they retained a few small groups amongst themselves. Now, after meeting her "friend" last night, she was beginning to wonder if she should not have tagged along with any of them instead.

There was nothing to be done about it now. They had all split up, and finding them was no doubt going to be tricky enough without dodging distrusting wolves along the way. Laila rose in a languid stretch, her dark-tipped tail waving behind her, and then, as her amber eyes caught movement below, dropped quickly back against the branch. A wolf! The one from last night? No. This one looked a bit smaller, and his color was different. Not the dangerous rogue she had seen the night before but that did not necessarily mean he was any more tolerant of her than the other had been. She had decided to wait until he had passed before thinking of going down, at least until his scent wafted up her way and struck a chord with her memory. Valhalla. He was already getting away, continuing on past her tree, and carefully the cougar scrambled down the trunk with a couple careful leaps to stop at its base and stare after him, her bright eyes watchful and her tail flicking intriguingly behind her. "You're Valhallan, aren't you?" Laila asked, correcting herself after a second, "Or, I mean, were?"