Better than revenge

Tola Dara · 02-24-2012, 10:27 PM

[html]

Word Count → 578 :: Fore-dated to 2/25/12, evening. Big Grin

They'd stopped at the base of the mountain shortly after dusk, building their camp around a circle of rocks that blocked them from the wind and from an easy view. Tola felt better that evening, beginning to come back to herself as the sun went down and the moon rose again. It was fuller than it had been before, and she felt more...normal than she had a few days prior. More energetic. She paced around the fire, stretching her limbs and working out excess energy. It was no good, though, and she growled to herself, petting the daggers on her hips as she stalked around the fire. Aljan watched from his bed on Chantrea's back, his head ducked down and his ears pressed back with an intent look on his face. Usually when she got worked up--at least for no good reason--Aljan would attack, and they would tumble a bit. But she was too tense now; if he leapt, she'd probably kill him. So Aljan pressed down tighter in his basket, and watched her closely, waiting for the hunter-male to come back and calm her down.

Tola, for her part, didn't feel the Coon's eyes on her; she was too busy watching the dancing light, walking around the fire as though stalking it. She might have leaped into the flames, chasing an unknown shadow, if a rock didn't hit her in the back of the head just then; not hard enough to injure her, but enough to hurt. She spun around with a little growl, looking up the slope with a sharp glint in her eyes. She couldn't see the attacker, though, no matter how hard she looked. The light didn't rise up the slope enough, and it had already grown too dark. She could only just make out shadows behind rocks, but there were too many of them to tell which was Aleksei.

She turned back to the fire, rubbing her head a bit, and then nearly fell as another rock hit her. With a rumbling bark, she dashed up the mountain, bending in half to catch her hands on the rocks and pull herself up faster as she went. She was just hurtling around a boulder when the club hit her, and she went down with a yelp. She didn't stay down, though; he didn't hit her hard enough for that. They were simply expending energy, and as she slipped a dagger out of its holster and aimed for his ribs, Aleksei danced back and hit her again, leaving a bruise along her stomach. She slashed the dagger along his leg, barely drawing blood thanks to his quick step, but when he hit her again, this time on the knee, she had to concede the victory. She lay on the hard ground, and was left wheezing softly as he took his time tucking both the slingshot and the bat back into his belt. Then he bent, lifting a cougar onto his shoulder, and left her there, walking down to the camp to lay it beside the fire and begin skinning their dinner before they ate.

That was alright; it was perfect. If he'd tried to help her up, she'd have started fighting again, because she didn't want him touching her right now. Still, she took a long moment to catch her breath, and quietly contemplate revenge, staring up into the darkened sky and narrowing her eyes at the billions of tiny stars.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?