The Throne of the Tigress

The hunt

It was a night of cool air, and stars like pure crystals glistened overhead in the gap above the trees in the forest. Shadows of clouds floated past the moon that hung like a silver dish in the sky. It was silent, but something, somewhere, was not.

Mingling with the ever-shifting patterns of light and shade thrown by the half- moon, the hunter seemed to blend into the fabric of the night, matching the rhythm of the trees and cloud shadows as they moved with the wind. Her keen ears caught the sound of the deer munching on grass and the amplitude of the noise delighted her. It was a baby deer. Alone. An easy kill.

Paws treading lightly on the dense undergrowth of the forest, her pelt rippling unobtrusively between the trees, seeming to be just one more moving shadow, she neared the prey, sat still-and waited.

She did not have to wait long, for she had a good mother to teach her the skills needed of a successful hunter. Patience, she reminded herself as the young deer moved closer and closer, while she willed herself to wait until the right moment to pounce. One more step.....the tigress pounced, her razor sharp claws digging into the fawn's meat, holding fast to the fawn so as to make sure it does not escape. The fawn's cry of alarm had rattled the entire part of the forest, the hunter would not be making another kill here for awhile yet.

The dead fawn clasped between her jaws, she made her way out of the clearing.She had done her job and was now on her way back to give the gift to her mother, as a sign that she was ready to be an independent tigress, as well as to show her mother that she was worthy of taking over the throne of the Ramta Forest when she was old enough. She, Teroo, and not her sister Tala. She curled her lip in a tigress grin.