The Pack Gathers

A deep indigo night was slowly ending. The vast sky, with its horizon of forest canopies and mountain ranges on all sides, was glowing with hints of red and lavender, signaling the light of the sun that would undoubtedly rise as it always did at the end of each night. The moon that was disappearing cast the last of its light on a scattered outcropping of rocks. Some had smooth surfaces that glowed gently under the open sky, while other boulders were more shaded at the edges where foliage towered into the sky.

A dark shape lay atop one of the higher outcroppings, pelt undistinguished in the vague light, but the eyes that glittered out of the angular face were a haunting amber like the choked, distant light of the sun through the smoke of a burning civilization. They were narrowed in thought, yet they missed nothing in the movement of the distant grasses. The small, stocky cat's tail flicked, claws hooking absently into a mass of fur splayed across the stone. The team was returning... The day would dawn with blood, if the sounds of vicious snarling drifting on the winds of the moor could be trusted.

If Pakhet knew anything about her Nightstrikers, the day would bloom red as death.

"-ts really only a shame that we truly see the fear in her eyes..." Theron was in the middle of speaking with her scouting partner as the two stepped back into the hidden grotto, the scent of death and blood reeking from the pair. Their patrol had taken an unexpected turn to be sure when they stumbled across that lone she-cat, foolishly walking the moors by her lonesome but...She couldn't help but smile, a sickening grin. They had made short work of the young cat and while she may not have dealt the final blow, she had enjoyed the small scuffle and to see a beauty like Dae in her natural element...And to think it was just beginning!

She turned her head, scanning the clearing for the other two Nightstrikers, her glimmering yellow eyes looking for the familar pelts that would be bad touch across them. She spotted the shadowed form of Pakhet on one of the rocks, barely visible in the dying lights as she no doubt watched every movement that they were taking. Ovinnik was nowhere to be seen however, but with his dark fur and pelt of choice, she was sure he was just hiding in the shadows somewhere. She raised her tail in acknowledgement of their leader as she dipped her head, excitement gleaming in her eyes at their...Successful hunt, eager to regal the others with the story of the foolish young she-cat.

The patched tomcat crouched low to the ground, prowling the perimeter of the outcropping and slipping between the shadows of the bushes that obscured the small pack of cats. Ovinnik halted as he spied Theron and Dae returning from their short scouting trip. They were bloody - bloodier than usual - and speaking in hushed tones of exhilaration. Interest piqued, Ovinnik followed the pair into their makeshift camp with the black tail of his dog pelt dragging on the ground behind him. Patrolling the area for threats had been fruitless, and the tom was itching to sink his claws into something; prey would have been preferable, but another cat would do in a pinch. Surely Dae and Theron would be able to satiate his restlessness with stories of whatever they'd just torn to pieces.

"Empty-pawed, you two? With that much blood, I was expecting you'd have brought back a corpse. Go on, tell me what it is you've been up to." He meowed as he slipped around the pair of she-cats, a twisted smirk on his muzzle and a glint of bloodthirsty interest in his eyes as they traced the markings of battle on their coats. "What's all this about 'fear in her eyes?'"

Dae had eagerly chatted up the events moment by moment with her closest friends, Theron. "I disagree! You can really smell the fear coming off of them!" Her voice was soft, yet rich like a breeze after the snow had melted, bringing in heat yet brushing your cheek softly. The reddish pelt of the fox she wore was easily spotted entering the outcropping. She too, dipped her head to the leader in the back corners, before getting to work on removing her pelt. As she carefully slid out from the fur, slightly wincing from the tug as the blood they used as glue pulled at her fur.

"Oh, it was just glorious Ovinnik!" She exclaimed as the foxes pelt finally came off, revealing her beautiful but bloody calico pelt. "We found a child cat on the moors. Just walking alone, can you believe it? We took it to the fox den, and I sliced it open. It bled everywhere! Just when it was about to die, I gave it a good shake and slammed it across the wall. The crack of it's back breaking was music!" She stopped to laugh a cruel laugh, dragging a paw across her ears. "Poor thing tried standing up before it died. How cute! We left it's body out to be discovered of course. Putting it back on the moor, it was just a bag of bones." Her eyes gleamed, happiness radiating out of them as she relived those moments.

The she-cat's dark ears flicked once, twice, and then the Nightstrikers were striding in, chattering away with excitement like some air-brained kits. Subtlety is a lost art with these she-cats, Pakhet thought, the tip of her tail twitching ever so slightly with annoyance, but she remained silent and still and listened intently to their words. Fresh blood was wafting off of their pelts, but it was quite apparent it wasn't their own based on the vibrant energy with which they moved and the unfamiliarity of the particular copper smell on them. The badger-pelted creature looked up at Pakhet first and waved their tail in eager but respectful acknowledgement. leader let out a low, silent sigh and began to stand, rolling smoothly to her paws like a storm cloud sweeping over the horizons.

On her feet, Pakhet gazed authoritatively down at the returning hunters. Her sharp eyes almost immediately spotted the creeping form of Ovinnik, her silent, brutal shadow, as he swept in behind them. He had been creeping about the edges of their encampment, no doubt. He was cautious and calculating, and his patrol of the perimeter - though likely from restlessness and a desire to have been on the prowl himself - was of use to Pakhet. He asked questions so that the leader didn't need to.

The dark tabby she-cat began to descend from her viewpoint as Dae's chipper voice piped up. The Nightstriker began to peel away her blood-soaked russet fur the reveal the stained, dark fur beneath. Pakhet couldn't help but smile a little to hear the enthusiasm with which the she-cat told the story: a young cat had been out walking alone, and they dragged it into a den to torment it before killing it. Still, it didn't sit quite right.

Pakhet emerged from between all the uneven croppings of rocks, her amber eyes glinting in the pre-sunrise light. "It sounds like you had a perfectly pleasant outing," the she-cat rumbled, yet the edge of her voice held a cold, almost accusing tone... something dangerous. She added, "And I suppose you also gained some understanding of their fighting style before they died? Hm? Or where they came from? You did get information, and not just satisfaction?"

It didn't take long for Ovinnik to come slinking from the shadows and questioned what they had been up to. For the most part, Theron was content to stand back as Ovinnik and Dae speak, instead letting her gaze focus on where their leader was perched. She didn't care for Ovinnik's thoughts - no, she wanted to hear what Pakhet had to say. And so when she leaped from the rock and started their way, her tail couldn't help but swish in barely contained excitement as she spoke, praise leaving her maw. And then it came - a question of if they had learned anything. Ah... Her ears slicked back underneath her badger pelt, sparing a nervous glance at Dae. There was few things that could make Theron nervous...And disappointing Pakhet was very much one of them.

"Ah...I'm afraid that the small she-cat barely put up a fight against the two of us. She didn't stand a chance...I was hoping for a good brawl but she was a weakling," she added with a soft snarl, before slowly turned her gaze to their leader with a faint smile. "But...From what I have gathered from our patrols, these cats care greatly for each other. I wouldn't be surprised if they go looking for her and if we wait for the perfect moment to strike..." a soft rumble escaped from her as her eyes closed in bliss at the sweet, sweet battle that would come from it. The moor cats were idiots, it would take a single misstep to open up the perfect opportunity to strike. She had watched them hunt from the shadows - they were speedy yes, but seemed to favor small numbers. She only hoped that her plan was enough to satisfied Pakhet.