The Peace of the Wanderer

Chapter Eight: Meet Me In The Woods

After Shadow had realized the depth of her situation, she had a minor panic attack. When she finally got her fear under control, one of her core instincts came into play.

She had to hunt if she were to survive.

Shadow had never learned to hunt, though she had seen her parents do it plenty of times. Through her observations, she got a vague idea of how to catch prey. She just had to find a weaker animal than herself, stalk it, pounce, and give it a fatal bite to the neck.

Shadow wasn't a big fan of killing innocent animals that didn't have the strength to escape her claws, and she had never in her life killed another living creature.

Her father used to triumph over every kill, and he once told Shadow he respected all of his prey, and was thankful for their existence.

Shadow knew her time for procrastination had ran out. She couldn't just sit around anymore. She needed to bring out the other side of her- the side that was well-equipped for survival. Shadow had tapped into this side of her one time, and that one time resulted in an insane rampage across the farm and a lot of injuries.

Least to say, she wasn't a big fan of this different personality, who she nicknamed "Umbra." Umbra was a maniac, and Shadow never wanted to unleash her again, but the small she-cat knew she had too.

Unless...

Unless she learned to hunt on her good side.

It would definitely take more time to learn, but she'd rather keep the landscape intact than being quick to learn how to kill.

It'll take a lot in order for Umbra to come out, Shadow thought to herself. I won't let her escape.

The weird thing was, Shadow didn't think Umbra was an alter ego or a different soul altogether, but rather, she was a part of Shadow's soul. It was like Umbra came to play only when Shadow was feeling a strong negative emotion. It was "bad mood Shadow."

Shadow never really enjoyed thinking about the topic about Umbra, so she mentally shook herself and concentrated on the task at mind. She thought about how she would find her prey until coming to the conclusion that she had to sniff around, trying to find strange scents. When she found a scent, she'd have to follow it to (hopefully) food.

The she-cat lifted her head and tasted the air, attempting to catch unfamiliar smells. She sat there for a few minutes before a weird scent flooded her nostrils.

Shadow's ears perked up excitedly, as she was beginning to feel the vicious gnaw of hunger grip her. She knew the smell could be a dangerous animal, but she needed to take chances. The wild wasn't going to give her three strikes. It would kill her in one blow.

Shadow got to her paws, tired from the day's events, and began following the scent. She eventually traced it to a small pond, surrounded by reeds and shrubs. The water was like a mirror, reflecting the moon off its surface, and mist draped the area. There was also a small island in the middle of the pond, which homed a weeping willow tree.

It was an absolutely beautiful place.

She scanned the area with her blazing green eyes until she caught a flash of movement. She quickly turned her head towards the flash, which had materialized into a plump rabbit.

Shadow's mouth instantly began watering. It looked so tasty...she wanted to just bound over and take its life in one slice, then eat it. Shadow pushed the thought away. That fantasy wouldn't work right now. She was too far away from the bunny to kill it from where she stood.

Shadow slipped into what she hoped was a hunting crouch and quietly moved towards her target. She narrowed her eyes in determination as she spied the bunny by a bush on the bank of the pond.