The Paths We Choose [p]

[Natalia]

@saffron

Natalia was taking another nice time, lounging about in some tree. She'd chosen a higher perch than before, when she'd come across Bael and Laelia. She was feeling like some alone time, so she'd chosen somewhere that even with her bright pelt, it'd be unlikely anyone to spot her. 

Regardless, not many cats chose to climb trees. She heard it was mostly Treeclanners that could be found in trees. She yawned, as she knew no one would hear her. She was about to nod off, when a dark pelt caught her eye. It was sometime after sun-high, so there was still clear, late Leaf-fall light filtering through the leaves. She watched the figure. They seemed... Small. Sure, they seemed like a kid, but they seemed almost too small....

No. Stop thinking about. No....

But she couldn't. Natalia sighed and stood up in her perch. She crouched down and leapt to a lower branch to get a better look. Crouching down slightly as she looked over the side of the branch, she was pretty sure the kid wasn't eating well. 

She sighed. She really was soft, wasn't she?

She called out to the kid.

"Looking hungry, aren't we?"

[Deleted]

It was a little after sun-high, and Saffron was a bit curious about the land. She had been walking through the woods, looking for creatures attempt at catching. She had had no luck so far. Finally, she had been on the trail of a mouse. She had tracked it all the way to a large tree, where it had disappeared into a hole. Once again, bad luck and horrible hunting skills. She stopped, let out an extremely mad sigh, and stared at the hole. She was about to walk away when she heard a voice from ahead.

Looking hungry, aren't we? it asked.

Saffron nearly jumped out of her skin and hissed up at the stranger. Her claws dug into the dirt and her fur stood on end. As she spotted the figure, she eased up and cocked her head. The stranger seemed nice enough, through all her scars. She certainly didn't seem as a threat.

"Who are you?' Saffron asked.

[Natalia]

Natalia settled down on the branch she was perched on, laying down on her side, appearing completely at ease. Even as she did so, her tail swung like a pendulum over the side of the branch. The kid had been badly startled by Natalia's words. Perhaps she should've been more tactful.... Oh well. Too late. The kid's claws were digging into the earth as her body language screamed alertness. She seemed to be anticipating someone hostile. Though, she seemed to calm slightly upon seeing Natalia.

"Natalia. Deathclan member." She introduced herself succinctly. 

"I might ask the same of you." She returned, an ear flicking. It seemed obvious this was yet another newcomer... A newcomer who seemed to lack in certain basic skills. It was clear that this kid either had troubles obtaining food or keeping it. Unless she had hostile enemies on her tail at all times... She was betting on the former. This kid lacked scars and was... Young. She couldn't imagine this kid having enemies already. So she was betting that the kid couldn't hunt properly.

That kind of incompetency was deadly.

[Deleted]

Saffron eyeballed the stranger up and down. The orange-red cat seemed completely at ease, staring down at the startled youngling. Saffron eased up, standing straight and tall. Through all the things she lacked, she knew how to look a bit bigger than she really was. As the cat introduced herself, Saffron examined the stranger. She was a red tabby, and had seen a few battles. Being a Deathclanner, she had learned that wasn't strange. Then, the cat asked about her name. Saffron directed her gaze at a nearby plant, so she was looking off to the left rather than up. "I'm Saffron. I'm also part of Deathclan," she said, then added half to herself, "A pretty poor one, though."

[Natalia]

'Saffron, huh.....'

Natalia narrowed her eyes at Saffron. Then she relaxed again. "Everyone has a starting point." She began. She stood back onto her paws and started leaping down the branches of the tree. Then, on a relatively low but still stable branch, she jumped onto the trunk, practically bouncing off it, and landed smoothly on the ground, stance proud.

"I believe you're only at the start. You haven't even begun to progress, by the looks of it." She began to slowly approach Saffron, gently adjusting her course to circle around the younger she-cat. "You clearly can't hunt. You're skin and bones." She pointed out her observations. 

[Deleted]

As Natalia spoke, Saffron lifted her head again to look up. She seemed to try to comfort the youngling a bit by saying Everyone was a starting point. Saffron shook her head, it was probably just a fact.

She watched as Natalia gracefully jumped down the tree to the ground, then hid her amazement. Maybe she would learn that someday. Natalia spoke. To Saffron, whenever an older cat spoke, she should listen or she would die. At this case, it was the same, but the other cat wasn't going to murder her. Saffron would die of hunger. She felt slightly hostile as the other cat pointed out that she couldn't hunt, but it was true. She, in fact, hadn't even admitted it to herself.

She sighed, letting out a long stream of air, before saying, "I can't hunt. Not at all. Every time I try, the prey just escapes."

[Natalia]

Natalia could still see the light in Saffron's eyes as she had descended the tree. Well, if Saffron couldn't hunt, she imagined she lacked any... Recreational skills. It would make sense. Saffron's reaction, no matter how subtle, was telling as well.

Natalia sighed in return, as Saffron admitted to her incompetence. "Everyone deserves a chance at life. What they do with it, is not my problem." She took a deep breath. "Wanna learn how to hunt, kid?" She asked.

She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing. This was... The second time she was reaching out a hand to help someone she barely knew. True, the first time she was with Jude, and his heart filled with kindness whenever it wasn't clouded by anger... But this time, she was alone. She was making this choice on her own. The truth was... She remember when she was scared, hurt, angry, and alone. True, she could hunt then. Her brother had taught her. But... She imagined life would have been Hell if she wasn't able to get food for herself.

She couldn't leave this kid to starve herself to death.

[Deleted]

Saffron had been downcast since she had told Natalia about her ability to hunt, but as the other cat offered to teach her, a different light came to her eye. She half smiled, not wanting to react like a little kit, but she was a bit excited. "You would do that for me?" she asked in a monotone voice. This was, indeed, sometime very good going to Saffron's side. This way, she could actually hunt for herself, instead of eating bugs and grass. She didn't know how to react, she wanting to sprint around, but she also wanted to act mature. If she didn't act mature, Natalia might regret offering.

Saffron sat down, and turned her full attention to the other cat. She wondered when they would start. Now, she guessed. She wanted to tell Natalia about the mouse she had just lost, but she felt that would make her look sillier than she already was.

[Natalia]

Natalia noticed the kid, Saffron, instantly seemed to perk up when she had made her offer. Admittedly, it seemed like Saffron was both excited and trying to hide her elation. Hm. Probably didn't want to seem overeager and scare Natalia away. She supposed... She did find annoying cats a bit of a turn-off. But...

Anyways, she nodded in response. "Yeah." She responded simply, the faintest ghost of a smile on the tabby's face. Then she cleared her throat. Then she turned around and looked over her shoulder, beckoning with her tail. "No time like the present, Saffron. C'mon. Best you learn as soon as feasible." She meowed. The kid looked like she was starving, best if Natalia gave her something to work with as soon as possible so maybe the kid could well... Look less like an easy meal for some predator. Or an easy target to some homicidal cat.

[Deleted]

Saffron didn't know how to react, still, when Natalia responded with a simply yeah. She hinted a small smile, and Saffron smiled back. She was glad when Natalia moved on to starting the lessons at the moment. Saffron quickly padded after Natalia, almost right on her tail. The thought of the mouse, once again, came back to Saffron. She decided she should just tell Natalia about it.

"I had been tracking a mouse before I met you, and it managed to slip out from under my paws and go under that tree, there," she nodded her nose toward the tree which Natalia had come down from. She wanted to pad over to sniff the hole, but since she wasn't alone anymore, the stayed where she was.

[Natalia]

Natalia thought the kid had a nice smile. It was... A smile of gratitude. She didn't get those sorts often. It was nice. Still. She had things to do to really earn gratitude. She hadn't really done anything with the kid right. Saffron seemed to be following nicely behind Natalia. She wondered how the kid was faring on such an empty stomach. Hm... She'd do a demonstration first probably and get the kid some food. Then teach them how to hunt for themselves.

Then Saffron spoke up about a mouse. Natalia tilted her head and stopped where she stood. She sniffed the air. Hm... "It likely isn't there anymore. Mice are very attentive and skittish. Being so small, even putting a little bit too much weight on a paw can scare them away." She explained. "It likely ran off when I came down from the tree. Come along now." She lifted her nose to the air and was walking along. After a while of walking, she stopped. "Sh.... Stop walking. Watch." They had come to a clearing.

[Deleted]

Saffron was half surprised about the knowledge Natalia knew about prey, but she guessed some other cats would know the same, as well, so that they would hunt just as skillfully. Saffron padded after Natalia for a bit, taking in the scenery. They passed a load of flowers, every one caught her eye. She tried to remember where she was, but she guessed there werent too many landmarks to remember the territory by. Finally, Natalia stopped and Saffron halted beside her. She watched as the redish cat sniffed the air.

Saffron took in the scenery, they were clearly in a clearing. If Natalia was right, and she was, then Saffron would keep quiet, in case of mice. She didn't want to scare them off. She tried to make eye contact with Natalia to show she was watching.

[Natalia]

Saffron met Natalia's eyes, so she took it as a sign that her words were heeded. She dropped into a crouch. Then she looked to the side at Saffron and gestured to herself with her tail. The crouch was extremely important. She wasn't too tense, but remained low to the ground. She was able to move forward with fluid movements as she stalked her prey, which happened to be a small bird. It was decent robin, not as fat as it could be, but also not skinny. 

She stalked it until she was close enough, then she pounced. Before it could even utter a cry, she'd snapped its neck in her jaws. She picked up her catch and dropped it at Saffron's paws. "That was your demonstration." She explained. "This is also your fuel for when I teach you how to do it yourself, in more detail."

[Deleted]

Saffron watched as Natalia stalked a robin in grace. She was indeed a good hunter, the opposite of Saffron herself. Natalia snapped its nexk easily and brought it over to Saffron. She looked at the thing, half not wanting to eat it in front of someone, but it was a good catch and she was starving. She bent over it and took a bite, almost choking on the feathers. She coughed out a few fluffs of down, before continuing trying to eat it. Was there a technique to eating birds?

Once she had eaten her fill, she looked back up at Natalia, ready to train. She wondered if they would eat everything they caught, or if they would stash it somewhere. Saffron guessed Natalia would show her how to stalk on air before they actually tried it on prey, but she could be wrong.

[Natalia]

Natalia noticed Saffron's slight difficulty with the feathers. She had an amused glint in her eyes. "Birds are nice, but the feathers can be a little difficult." She commented. Though, before long, Saffron seemed to have eaten her fill.

"Alright. You saw I crouched down to stalk the bird. Try to imitate the crouch." She suggested. She wanted to see how much Saffron had picked up. Then she could correct the mistakes and then Saffron could practice like that. Natalia figured Saffron would need to practice her hunting skills, but she'd certainly become a good hunter before long. At least, good enough to feed herself sufficiently.