Things had been peaceful, almost blissful, since Natalia had joined the nomadic lifestyle, yet something tugged at the back of her mind. She wondered about what else was out there, and if it would come to threaten the only true family she ever had. It was times like these that she found her solace in the hunt. She pondered these questions often though, leaving her hunting most of the day for succor rather than for need, though food was always appreciated. She watched the movement of the rabbits, careful and calculating as she started down each one. They were hopping about, not grasping her scent because she was downwind from them.
They were naïve to not look at where they were going, given the obvious presence of the tribe in the area. With her casual slicked back cerulean and shadowy fur, the tigress would shoot out from the undergrowth where she had hidden, quickly chasing down the now darting rabbits. She would quickly catch up, putting all her strength and energy into her large hunter’s gait, and she would overtake them, pinning them down with her paws so she could deliver the final kill, the bite from her jaws. When she finished, she fell into habit, reciting the prayer her mother had taught her on her first life. “Спасибо за вашу жизнь на службу спасения других от мира голода. Вы не будете идти впустую.” The Russian incantation was like muscle memory, an instinct that would never leave her. It was one of the few pieces of her heritage that she still clung to.
She would pick up the limp creature in her jaws as she headed towards the makeshift resting area she had made for herself. Her emerald orbs were focused on where she was going rather than where she had been. She fought back memories that she had long since buried. She plopped herself down beside a giant oak tree and begin her breakfast, watching the sun rise in the west, allowing her mind to drop her worries and her pains away if only for a few seconds to enjoy the serene setting. She would occasionally look down towards the rabbit and her blood-stained blue and black paws, reminding herself that she was alive. She couldn’t help but feel a nagging, like something bad was about to happen.
No, she needed to stop worrying, because Karpov, Cadoc, and Akilina would never find her, not even if they tried, because she had changed since then, and she wasn’t Natalia Tsar, but instead Caecia Natalia Diamáchi. She had escaped her demons and she was confident they would not find her, so why was she worried? She remained silent through her internal war, simply staring at the sun and occasionally taking bites of her meal.
