Dania

I could hear the sounds of the Forest as I sat there, motionless, waiting for something to happen. I didn't know whether to be in awe of this creature for tricking me so easily, pissed at him for tricking me in the first place, or pissed at myself for what I let him to do me. My emotional state of mind was in tatters. I felt as if I were being torn every which way but loose. I sat there for what seemed an eternity and stared into his jaded eyes from across the distance.

I decided that I hated him for it.

Yes, I hated him.

My vulnerability hit me like a boulder careening down the side of a mountain. As I stared into his eyes, I knew that none of the others had a clue as to my presence. They were listening intently to what he was saying. This is what I told myself anyways. For all I knew, he could be telling them about the strange and beautiful Cat he saw in the Forest. But if he were actually telling them, I think they would have been a little more excited.

I broke eye contact to scan my surroundings. I could see those who were with him clearly, but it was the ones I couldn't see that worried me. There could have been more that I wasn't aware of. I breathed a sigh of relief when I couldn't find any others.

When I looked back to him, the group was heading into the Forest to my left. The jade-eyed leader had come towards me a few steps and had an odd look on his face. It took a moment, but I recognized it as the same look I have when I'm hunting and know that I have my prey where I want it. It was a look of enjoyment. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. It made me feel weird. Weird in this situation could get me killed.

I was now sure I hated him.

Without warning, he stood and barked something to the others and headed off into the Forest directly opposite of me instead of to the left as the others had. One by one they re-emerged and proceeded to follow him in the other direction. I wasn't sure if this was some sort of misdirection and my Cat wasn't curious enough to wait around and see. Well it was, but I wasn't.

This was my chance to get back into my trees and ultimately back home. I couldn't let my pride get in the way, no matter how much I disliked the fact that he was letting me go. Make no mistake about it, he'd let me go. He knew I was there and I was clearly outnumbered. So I tucked my Cat in and headed into the trees. My feline mind wandered as I leapt from limb to limb, from tree to tree, moving like a shadow in the night. As my mind did its own thing, my Cat took over and was carrying much faster that I had ever dared to go before. Faster than I'd ever needed to. I found it comforting that I could trust my Cat.

With my Cat at the reins, I had time to think back over the course of events and about these creatures in my Forest. I had no idea of what they were or what they wanted. If they wanted anything at all. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. Yes I did. . . . . No I didn't. . . . . Maybe.

The one I'd seen initially was their leader. Of that, I was sure. He wasn't the largest by any means, but he had an air of confidence about him that oozed leader-of-the-pack. There was no doubt that in a fight, he would most assuredly win against any of the others. My Cat agreed with this.

And the other thing was that he was smart. This part of the equation troubled me the most. He knew exactly what I would do. He'd set things up almost as if I had no choice in the matter at all. Maybe I hadn't come at the exact moment he wanted, or from the precise direction. But he knew I would follow him. It was as if he knew my nature. Maybe he did.

And this brought on a whole new tirade of questions in my head. If he knew my nature, did that mean that he knew of others of my kind? Or just that he knew I was a Cat and acted upon that alone? If he knew of my kind, did he know of me personally? Did he know who I was?

When I reached the area of the mountains that you would call my home, well I guess you would call it that, I dropped to the ground near a brook to drink. I drank long, relishing the feel of the cool water sliding down my throat. My body was tired and overworked and the water helped. I sat there a moment letting everything that had happened sink in.

I wasn't alone in the Forest. I mean, there were always other creatures, but none who were intelligent. This thing definitely was. The real question was if he were friend or foe. Would he try and hunt me down? That didn't seem likely. He had deliberately called his people to go in the opposite direction of me. If they had wanted me, I would have been outnumbered. I admit that I walked into his little "trap." But it wasn't really a trap. It was more of a message that said that we knew about each other and that we would stay clear of one another.

That's what I thought it meant until I noticed the tracks around my home. Some of his people had been to my home snooping around. He'd sent them to spy on me. Their tracks were everywhere. My Cat's anger nearly overwhelmed me and I nearly lost all control. Not only had fallen for his trap, yes I was sure it was a trap now, I had also failed to see the full scope of his deception.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!"

The scream escaped my lips before I ever felt it coming on. It was primal, it was base, it encompassed all of the rage that I felt. Rage at him for his deception and at myself for allowing it. I had allowed him to do it. I should have known better to let my guard down. I had gotten careless. Carelessness could get me killed. I knew better.

I screamed again. Something about the purity of it seemed to set me at ease. A little. Okay, not very much at all. But it did feel good. It provided me an outlet for the anger. Anger that would have prevented me from thinking clearly when we met again. I would need to formulate a plan of action. One that would either keep me away from these things forever or . . . .

The world went dark.

*****

I could see myself sitting in a tree overlooking some structure I didn't recognize. It was as if I were watching through my eyes and someone else was controlling my body. I had no control over it; I was a passenger along for the ride.

The structure was completely enclosed. I could see light coming from a few windows and at least one door. Their roof was odd, they couldn't see the night sky or the Moon. The Moon was glorious tonight.

I saw a figure pass in front of the window nearest to me. I was confused at what I saw: these things wore animal skins over their fur-less bodies! They looked a lot like me, only with no fur. Their skin was tanned and sun-kissed. I wondered where they put their tails. This confused me. But my body didn't feel confused, it felt protective over these things.

Just then, a smaller one looked out the window in my direction. My body hugged itself closer to the tree, clearly trying to not be seen. It wasn't afraid of this young one, again, it felt protective. Did I know these things? This family? I somehow knew what a family was and that they were one. Gah!!! What were these things?

Without my permission, my body slunk off into the night, avoiding detection by the young one. I watched as I made my way through the Forest (although this was the Forest, I didn't recognize it or any of the trees, this place was much farther away from home that I'd ever been) to a cave. Once inside the cave I made a fire and prepared some food.

The fire was something I knew of, but had never thought that it was possible to make fire myself. I thought it was something that the Lightning made when it struck the ground sometimes. And regardless of how it was made, this fire was warm and inviting. I reveled in its embracing warmth.

The food was new. It appeared to be a dried meat of some sort. I couldn't tell what kind exactly, but it was good and my body loved it. I searched my mind for what this was. The answer eluded me. Try as I might, I could not remember what this was. But my body said it liked it.

After I had finished eating, my body made itself comfortable at the mouth of the cave and looked up at the Moon as it began to fall asleep. This Moon was magnificent and full.

I watched it for awhile as it made its journey across the night sky. I attempted to tilt my head just a bit as the Moon, curiously, began to change. It was no longer full. Now it was barely more than a sliver in the night sky. And my head had tilted. I had some control over my body after all.

*****

Of course I had control over my body. Why wouldn't I? I had only been dreaming.

Wait! My surroundings were unfamiliar to me. I didn't know where I was. I knew that I had to get away. I had the distinct feeling that if I didn't, and quickly, that I never would. The thought of being captive struck an odd chord in me that I didn't know existed. I wasn't sure if it was appealing and ultimately decided that it wasn't up to me at this very instant. I had to free myself.

This was easier said than done, however. I found that my feet and hands had been bound, as well as my tail. I also had a gag in my mouth. I didn't like this at all. My Cat's fury threatened to overtake my senses at what these creatures had done to me. It would be useless to try to escape just yet. And my cat was a little curious. So I waited for something to happen.

Sometime shortly after dawn, one of my captors brought me some water and something to eat. Well I wouldn't call it something to eat, it was fruits and berries and nuts. I'm guessing this is what these things ate, so maybe they thought I ate this as well. I drank the water, but left their "food" alone. Twice more that day I was brought this food and water and twice more I only drank the water.

Sometime in the late afternoon, right before the sun went behind the mountain, he came to visit me. He said something, I have no idea what, and then he left.

It occurred to me at that moment that I did not speak their language. I knew how to speak. I was sure of that. An emptiness spread over me and I was suddenly very sad. For twelve winters now, I had not spoken to another living thing. The emptiness grew and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt small.

Curled in a ball with my tail wrapped around me, I cried myself to sleep.

The next morning he was standing over me when I woke. He had a leather strap in his hand which he placed around my neck. A much longer rope was then tied to the strap. All of my other bounds were taken away. As soon as my hands and feet were free, I immediately tried for the trees; this was my chance to get away. I got to the base of the closest one when he snatched on my leash, nearly choking me and causing me to fall on my back. I tried this a few more times and each time he'd snatch me back. He was letting me know just how far I could and could not go.

My eyes narrowed as I looked at him, the hatred coming off of me in waves that I was sure he see. He returned my gaze, but not with hatred. There was something different in his stare. Had I not been so full of anger, I might have noticed that it was pity.

I nearly starved over the course of the next week. Water would only do so much and I grew weaker and weaker from the lack of meat. Finally, he came back to me and moved me to the edge of the clearing close to some brush. Here I was able to catch a small rodent. It wasn't as good as a deer, but my body couldn't tell the different. I was still eating when I noticed him standing over me.

He motioned to himself and said, "Roth." I didn't understand. He did this several more times, apparently trying to communicate something to me. He would point to himself and say, "Roth," and then point to me and say nothing. It took some time but I finally understood that he was telling me his name and wanted to know mine.

"My name is Dania."

The puzzled look on his face told me that he didn't understand my language any more than I his. I pointed to myself and said, "Dania."

This seemed to please him as he smiled. He pointed to the rabbit carcass I had just eaten and said, "Yes," while shaking his head up and down. He then pointed to the fruits and such and said, "No," while shaking his head from side to side. And I understood what he meant. Without another word, he left and I didn't see him again for almost three days. ButI wasn't brought the fruits and nuts again.

The next time I saw Roth, he had a rather large bundle of rope with him. He replaced the shorter rope with his. He motioned to a tree and told me what it was. He then made motions as if he were climbing the tree and told me what that was.

So these things could climb trees....

What he said next caught me by surprise. "Dania climb tree," and motioned for me to do so. He was letting me climb the tree? I wasn't going to ask why, I mean I loved the trees and wouldn't pass up a chance to be in them again. I was a little wary, though. I knew that I couldn't go far and that if I did, I would be snatched back. If I were snatched out of a tree, I might not survive the fall.

Oh how I loathed this creature. The nerve of him to keep me chained up like this. But still I enjoyed the time up in the trees. All except for the rope that all but prevented me from leaping from limb to limb. On more than one occasion I was midair when I felt the rope tighten and had to rely on my reflexes to search out another limb to land on. And then all too soon, I felt Roth tug on my leash, signaling me to come back down. My shorter rope was placed back on me and I was again a prisoner on the ground.

I vowed then and there that I would get free and that I would kill Roth. I would get even. I would get him.