A Passing of Time - chapter 1
A Passing of Time
Chapter one:
As a drop falls from the tree it traces down Katrina's nose, trickling down then dropping to the floor. Katrina wipes her nose with a paw.
"Darn rain" as she looks up another drops falls and splashes this time, then another and another... as the rain gets faster Katrina gets onto all fours and runs as fast as she can to the nearest covering.
Looking through the trees Katrina wipes her face dry then rubs behind her ears - "guess it will keep me clean" she says to herself.
After a few moments the rain stops and a fresh crisp smell fills the air... purring softly she moves forward letting her nose move into the opening, checking if it has stopped raining completely then curiously she moves out further. Sniffing the air and enjoying the fresh crisp smell she stands out completely in the open then walks back to the area she was before the rain.
Katrina is a pure velvet black cat, she can walk as an anthro in an upright position but if she is in a hurry like when the rain started she can go on all fours to give her better speed. She prefers to be nekkid as she feels cloths are restricting but with her fur so soft and velvety it can look like she is wearing some form of clothing. She is two years old and is old enough to have kittens of her own however due to being abandoned at birth and having being alone all her life she has grown shy and is inexperienced in the ways of the world. However her circumstances have given her a helping hand when it comes to survival.
A she reaches her favorite spot in the trees she looks around, sniffing at the autumn leaves and crunching them as she walks... looking down she sees a puddle and begins to lap up water. Then when she has had enough to drink Katrina walks around splashing from puddle to puddle - upon hearing a strange noise she stops and turns and there before her stands a red fox.
"Hey Mickey" she grins "how you been doing?"
"Not bad - I've been hunting" he replies.
"You catch anything then"
"Only enough to eat, you know me I'm a softy at heart!"
"Yer to bloody soft for your own good" she says as she rubs his head with her knuckles.
"Ger off!!!!!!" Mickey ducks down and backs away from her before pouncing upon the black cat in front of him. But before he has time to grip her down Katrina roles over and pins him to the ground...
"Why you always have to win? You always have to prove summut!" he complains
"your just too easy, I'll show you one day how to win, I'll let you win or something if it will shut you up" Katrina gets up, as she does she licks his face.
Katrina has known Mickey for about six months now; they bumped into each other when she first came to this wood. Mickey as I said earlier is a red fox, now he has had a different lifestyle all together; he has grown up in this wood with his pack. He is the youngest of his family and is a pure mama's cub but he can hunt as good as the rest of them so he gets by. Considering they are so different they get on like two peas in a pod and are the best of friends... love has never entered their minds.
"Well I have to go now, Ma is giving birth to some more of us... you'd think eight would be enough wouldn't you?"
"Yeah one of you is enough for me" she runs his head again. "Bye then."
Mickey turns and walks away leaving Katrina alone again. Sniffing the air and hearing her tummy rumble she looks for something to eat but with the autumn leaves and braches on the ground mice are getting harder to find. With that she spots one licking her lips shes lowely looks at it, then stalks it, getting closer she stops as the mouse twitches its whiskers... pouncing she grabs the mouse...
After eating Katrina walks over to a nearby stream and drinks some of the fresh water, stretching and yawns... a nap after a meal is the best thing she knows. She looks up as if to see if it is safe for her to nap here or if the clouds are getting ready to break - could she risk it or would she be best going back to her enclosure?
"Bugger it- I'm staying here" she says to herself before lying down and yawning again. "Yes bugger it".
As Katrina slept the hours passed, nothing really happened- nothing ever did. However just as she was starting to awake a strange noise startled her. Her ears flicked to where the noise came from and she turned to look at what it was... Crack, Crunch - again she heard the noise this time it was louder.
"Mickey that you?" she looked through the trees but she couldn't see anything. Crack. "Mickey- I'm not playing - is that you?" her voice sharpened this time. Still not being able to see him she sniffs the air to see if she could smell him... no the smell she picked up was a musky smell which made her cough.
Crack, the noise went again, turning around behind she hears the sounds of twigs breaking and so with this she sprints to the nearest clump of trees and hides behind them, still looking through she spots what made the noise. It is then she sees a human walking towards her holding what looks like a long black stick. The human points the stick in her direction and with that a loud noise rings the air BANG. Running as fast as she can she hear the noise again BANG.
"Mickey" she cries as she runs "Mickey" as she gets closer Mickey comes out of his den and almost bumps into her...
"What's up Kat? What's happened?"
"I saw ... I... " she stops to take a breath " a ... human ... " she pants vigorously "he pointed a stick at me and it made such a noise it hurt my ears" she cried.
"What sort of noise?" he asked.
"It was like ... like thunder but louder if you know what I mean"
"It wasn't a stick then Kat- it was what the humans call a gun. They come after us lot with them; they can really hurt if they hit you. You was real lucky to get away." Mickey looks hurt and worried as he tells her this.
"A gun, wow. Guess I'll know next time" Katrina finally sits and regains her breathing pattern. She looks at Mickey "hey - your Ma was giving birth today right?"
"Yer she has already, got fours boys and one girl that makes thirteen now!"
"What you gonna do?
"What you mean?" Mickey looks at Katrina puzzled.
"I mean is there room for you all in that little den of yours?"
"Yes, but I'm gonna start looking for somewhere of my own, cant stay with mama all my life, I have to move on."
"Why don't we do it then? Katrina asks him.
"Do what?"
"Go - now, anywhere - explore this big green place."
"Where"
"Anywhere lets travel. Let's leave and find somewhere else where the humans don't go. No more guns or what ever they was."
Mickey looks at Katrina to see if was being serious, as he does he can see she wasn't joking at all, she meant every word. Then he sighs - as if it was a judge decision he whispers "sure why not? Don't think I could put up with those lot for long." He point back into the den and smiles. "My room is already too small."