My Currently Unamed Story

[|The March Hare|]

I've been working on a story on and off for a couple of months. Meaning I'll write a few paragraphs then stop writing, then write some more and yeah, you get it. I'm not really the best at writing stories but whatever, I figured I'd post some of it and see what you guys think. Who knows? Maybe I'll end up finishing it too.

If you have any comments feel free to post them~

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Setting:
The main characters of the story are domestic cat-like creatures that have mutated into large creatures like saber-tooths a few thousand years after the world has been pretty much destroyed by nuclear war. Most of Earth's creatures have been mutated in some way, most extreme are the felines and canines. There are many buildings still standing in the world though most have been overtaken by vines, anyway, without further ado...

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Chapter 1:[/i]

Pavement warm from the sun felt nice on my paws. Such a change was different from the usual coolness that always seemed to permeate from the lack of sunshine. Normally the days were dull and dreary, cool yet not uncomfortable. Or maybe I’m just too used to the coolness.

The scents that bombarded my nose spoke of a combined group smell, a smell that offered security to some but only suffering to me. Mother always told me to travel either alone or with someone I trust entirely. Since there is no one that I trust I choose the lonely road.

I sped up my trot to hurry me out of their territory which seemed to be growing day-by-day. I could feel my lips lifting up to expose more of my saber fangs. Fangs that had more than once been plunged into the flesh of my own kind after they’d tried to force me to join their group. In my opinion, felines should stay solitary or stay in small clans not stay in a large pack like a group of slobbering canines.

The sound of claws clicking against pavement came. I sped up my pace, not wanting to meet the felines on their own turf. When they invaded my territory they wouldn’t afford sending a lot of reinforcements but since I was in their turf things would be different. Besides, I would be damned before I’d let them see their territory extension was interfering with my hunting.

A rundown old building with blue squiggles on the side signaled the end of the feline-group’s territory. Normally I would have heaved a sigh of relief to be out of their territory but they were getting bolder and would probably follow me a fair distance away. With a growl I took off at a gallop, wanting to put as much ground between me and the followers as I could.

At first the clicking that I heard earlier sped up but then it ended as if the owner of said claws didn’t feel like pursuing. I could understand why, as much territory as his group was starting to take over it wouldn’t be long before every feline in the large city would belong to them or had fled.

It made me sick! Life isn’t supposed to be this way… Felines have never been in such large groups before. At least that’s what my mother told me, even when our breed was much smaller. To keep from being swept into the large uprising I have even thought of leaving my home. I did it once when a pack of large canines swooped into my birth-home, killed my family, and laid claim to the small territory we occupied. I could still see my younger sister’s terror-filled amber eyes. Life was never fair in this dangerous world.

---

My tired paws stretched out before me and my belly rumbled a slight protest, signaling that it would need to be filled again soon. A growl that turned into a defeated sigh came out of my mouth. Things couldn’t go this way for much longer, I couldn’t live on a minimal amount of food that was growing smaller each day. The pressure of having an ever-present group nearby was pushing the prey away. I would either have to move or join the group. Neither option appealed to me since I considered this place mine. The tiny building with a broken roof but many rooms and an appealing soft bed on iron sticks made it desirable. I had laid down my scent, warning all those who would want to steal my home to stay away as this was mine or there would be blood.

Blood? Oh yes, I could smell it. Strange, were my imaginings becoming so vivid that they could bring with it the scent? No. That was the actual scent and accompanying it was the patter of claws on wood. The blood was covering the actual smell of what I knew was a feline like me. I knew why it was here. The group had smelled the desperation in my scent when I hunted on their land… They knew that their constant territory expansion was driving me to starvation since I’d never hunted on their territory before. Ever.

A creak told me that the feline had pushed its way past the door that led to the room with the soft bed. I turned myself over and stared at the newcomer without even bothering to get up. The face was one I knew well as it was my old travelling companion who now went with the group. She’d tried to get me to join with them before but my opinion of bowing to a leader just for a bit of extra security wasn’t very high. So, she’d left me for them…

Her fur was cream with darker brown points at her paws, tail, and face; her eyes were ice-blue and filled with sympathy that I didn’t want. Her fangs were shorter than mine and barely poked out her mouth which carried a large rat. Despite me not wanting it to my mouth started to salivate, I had to run my tongue around my maw to keep from drooling on my bed.

“Friend, I see you are hungry. Is the hunting not so well this season?” Her light voice was filled with what seemed to be genuine concern but I knew the real reason behind her “caring”.

My eyes narrowed and I lifted up onto my haunches, I could feel the thick ruff on the back of my neck bristling in hostility.

“Ice-in-Eyes, no friend of mine would leave me alone for the easy life of a group cat.” My own voice was creaky from disuse. “And hunting would be easy for me if your lot would stop scaring everything away.”

I could see that her eyes held only a spark of hurt that instantly vanished, perhaps she’d found new friends where she lived and cared only a minimal amount about what I said. I nearly sneered at the fact that her reasoning for visiting me wad probably only because her leader had told her to.

“Fine, Silent Walker,” Her voice held a small trace of a sneer and I had to grip the bed with my claws to keep from leaping on her. This was not the place for a fight; I wasn’t nearly large enough to take on Ice-in-Eyes. Not because I was naturally small either but because with my unsuccessful hunts my weight and strength was starting to lag. “But it would be beneficial to you to join us. I can smell your hunger and I bring you a gift-“

“From your clan leader? To make me come to you all? I’d rather find a new home than go against my instincts to live alone!” I spat to the side for emphasis on my words.

Finally Ice-in-Eyes showed signs of defeat and the prey fell from her mouth as she sighed.

“Fine, have it your way, Silent Walker, but times are changing. We can’t continue to live as our ancestors did nor can we completely rely on our instincts. The strongest species must learn to adapt and use their brains along with their instincts to survive. Now, I leave you… my friend…”

Before I could say anything more she disappeared the way she had come. Her words rattled around in my brain and no matter how I tried they wouldn’t leave me. What if she and the clan were right? What if the best way to survive was by joining with others for protection and food?

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[Mad hatter !?]

It seems super interesting! Cannot wait for more! I love the names. (:

[|The March Hare|]

Yay! Thanks for the comment, Hatta' :3 and yeah, I wanted something a little different for the cats' names.

And here's chapter 2, I'd had over half of it typed up and marinating on my computer before I have just finally decided to complete it.

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Chapter 2:

The next day found me nestled on a branch overlooking a small pond. The water was undrinkable due to some strange chemical left by the stronger species before us, or so I had been told. For fresh water you had to wait for rain or find a spot with flowing water.

Caw. Caw. I glanced at my neighbor on the next branch over, a black raven with a green sheen to his feathers and four eyes instead of two. I had tried to catch him when I’d first migrated to my home but he had proven too elusive for me. So finally I had accepted his presence as a creature that was a little more than prey but a little less than a companion. Although at certain times when I was feeling lonely or stressed I would talk but I’m not really sure if the creature understands or really cares about my words.

“Good-morning, Green Shine, how’s the hunting?” Okay, maybe I talk to him more than I like to admit.

Caw.

“That’s good. Although I can’t say the same for myself, things have been a bit difficult lately. The clan has been encroaching on my territory and there is nothing I can do about it except leave or join. I cannot ignore them anymore... What do you think I should do?”

The raven tilted his head to the side as if considering my words before he blinked and opened his beak. Caw. Caw.

I nodded my head as if he had just said something immensely important and for all I know he could have. A twinge in the back of my mind reminded me that this bird could be prey and that I hadn’t eaten the rat back at my nest; I had too much pride for that. However, I chose to ignore this instinct for eating the bird and the rat; if I could ignore that instinct then what about the one for living in a group?

Maybe I should go to the clan leader and ask for admittance. The tip of my tail started to twitch at the thought. No. I couldn’t just throw myself at the feet of the clan leader. It wasn’t in my blood to throw myself at another cat’s feet and ask for help, not if there was another way around it and there was… leaving to find another territory.

Leaving my home had its own set of dangers, first and foremost on my mind was the fact that I could end up being prey for any hunting animal larger than me. There were strange creatures in this messed up world and us felines are not the largest or most formidable. The canine that had done for my family proved so…

Still, the benefits of a successful migration generally outweighed the consequences. My first move from my old home had proven this, until the integration of the clan, of course. My eyes hardened with resolve as I finally knew what I must do.

“I’m glad we had this talk, Green Shine, I must say you are a very smart bird.” I’m not sure because his eyes may just naturally be bright but I’m almost sure there was a twinkling of pride in those beady black depths.

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My hunting had been unsuccessful later on that day. There hadn’t even been a sniff of mouse and I wouldn’t even test my luck with the insects. More often than not you could end up poisoning yourself with a deadly mutated bug; I’d seen it happen before to a desperate hunter.
My mind wandered back to the rat that Ice-in-Eyes had left me, my mouth started to water at the thought of it. I would need strength to leave and that rat would provide it for me…

But no! What was I thinking? That rat was from the loins of my very enemy and I would not eat it! It would be a severe blow to my pride. When I returned home the rat would be picked up disdainfully by the tail and dropped on the patch where I made my dirt like the garbage it was.

A glance towards the horizon told me that the moon was just starting to jump from the ground into the sky. The night-hunting canines came out when the moon was at the pinnacle of its jump and I wanted to be back in my nest before then. So, a few hours were all I had for the remainder of my hunt. Time to get to work.

Again I set out through my territory, occasionally testing the air with a gaping mouth to taste for any signs of prey. I wandered through all of the abandoned buildings, through the woods, even near the clan’s territory. There was nothing.

A hoot overhead made me raise my eyes to the trees of the woods. A brown owl with four wings and two large blue eyes stared down at me; a squirrel was clutched haughtily in its talons. Another hoot sounded as the bird of prey began to eat right in front of me. In a fit of bad temper I hissed and spat at it, though it paid no more attention to me than I would a hummingbird.

With a sigh I walked over to a small flowing river, the only one on my territory. I lowered my head to take a few drinks before I stopped and peered at the reflective surface. Golden eyes set in a night-black face stared back, the face looked gaunt. A painful twinge raced through my belly that wasn’t just from hunger. I had always been lithe but never skinny; there was always enough food to keep me going…

“But not anymore…” My small voice disturbed the silence of the forest but my paws did not as I carried myself back towards my home, plumed tailed dragging the ground.

Perhaps the rat would not be so bad. I had been a little hasty with declining it earlier but now I was a changed cat. Food from my enemy was better than no food at all. Besides, I could just pretend that it was from some other source. Yes. That was what I would do. Such a splendid idea!

I was actually purring at the thought of eating the rat when the scent hit me; the scent of a clan cat. A growl pulsed in my throat and my hackles rose as I gaped to better analyze the smell. Well, it wasn’t quite the scent of a clan cat but fairly close as if the fellow, for it was indeed male, had recently left the clan for a solitary life. However, clan cat or not he was still trespassing and it was my duty to protect my home.

With the growl rising in my throat I was rushed forward, crossing over the ground at a rapid speed and very soon my home was within sight. I could smell blood coming from the old dwelling. This infuriated me. How dare some stranger come onto my land and kill when I myself had found nothing? As I reached the entrance to my nest I didn’t stop but rushed in with the powerful scent of the stranger in my nose.

I allowed my claws to come out of their sheaths and I gave a full-throated roar that showed every inch of my sabers when I saw the ginger pelt of the intruder in my home, the rat clutched in his mouth and green eyes gleaming. That’s when I threw myself at him, slashing with my claws as hard as I could.