{ in the dark } open

[Artemis]

The plains were not Artemis's favorite place to be, given how wide and open they were. It felt unsafe, as a paranoid part of her would put it. But sometimes crossing through it was unavoidable, and thus here she was on her way back to her den with a particularly large raven being pulled along beside her. She had the bird's neck clamped in her mouth and was yanking it along as she went, the glossy black wings dragging across the ground.

But it wasn't long before her good ear pricked, hearing unfamiliar voices as she went further. The source of the voices, however, was somewhat of a letdown. Three cats, all strangers, two male and one female from their scents. The female one seemed to be teaching the other two how to do the hunter's crouch, a beginner's move. Huh.

"You shouldn't use a rock to demonstrate a pounce on, you know," Artemis said mildly, her voice somewhat muffled around the raven's neck before she placed the bird down. "It doesn't make for a comfortable landing. Try using something soft instead, like moss. Or this," she added, gesturing with her tail tip to the raven.

She paused. "Ah, how rude of me," she murmured. "My name is Artemis. What are yours?"