One in the Same

Chapter Seven

   Cat had lost all track of time or how long she had been in England. The jungle she had found herself in was ruthless and unforgiving. Her sunburns weren't getting any better as the days drug on but she was learning to live with them. No matter how many animals she hunted and ate. She needed human blood. She knew that. But she hadn't seen a human since the night of the storm. The plants on the island were unlike any she had ever seen. The wildlife was even stranger. Lizards that looked like rocks with fingers, birds with red tops, cats that came to her knees. There was a certain type of beauty, though. Somehow soothing in the lack of population. The quiet that was there. But with the beauty came fear as well. No civilization also meant no way of contacting her mother.
   That talk seemed so long ago now. For all she knew, her mother had heard of the ship crash. For all she knew, her tuismitheoirí believed her to be dead. For all she knew, she was.
   Cat had spent some time close to the shoreline. Maybe a week, maybe a fortnight. Long enough to find the men she had sailed with not so long again and forever ago at the same time. Their bodies, bloated to bursting. Some with missing eyes, fingers, toes ate by the creatures of the ocean no doubt. She had slept during the day as often as she could, and go back to the waters after nightfall. Fed on some of the fish, buried as many of the crew as she could.
   By now, her hair had already grown to her shoulders and became wilder than it had ever been. She fashioned a poor excuse for a bow with some of the trees she came across. Pathetic as it was, it had taken down quite a few deer and a bear or two. The spear she used for fishing when she came across small rivers and ponds. Even that was flimsy but again effective. She found empty fields where she could catch rabbits and squirrels. There was almost always something to eat no matter where she looked but only enough to keep her going. Keep her sustained until the next unlucky creature came along. Her lips cracked and bled daily. Her feet formed new blisters every time she pulled what remained of her boots off. It would soon get to a point where she would have to discard those too. In short, she was lost. And every day became more of a struggle. Green reeds grew high and thick in more than several places. If she strayed too deep in them, there was no way of getting out. And the things that lived in them? Well. This was no place for mortal men to say the least.
   I've heard tale of England being savage. But this, this is just ridiculous.

   Cat poked a bit at the fire before turning the spit she had forged over it. She didn't know why roasted venison sounded good that evening. A taste of home maybe. She had no spices to flavor it of course. But just something dead and warm in her mouth sounded delightful.
   She looked up as the last of the sun began to dip down behind the mountains surrounding her. Night would be on her soon. She added another log to the fire and watched as the flames licked hungrily at it. She reached over and tipped her finger in the wooden bowl she had carved for the blood to gather in and rubbed the substance over her lips and closed her eyes. She felt the cracks heal immediately, her lips moistening once again. She opened her eyes and looked up at the stars beginning to dot the sky and smiled softly. She always felt so sorry for the first Ri to come out at night. She had always thought he was so lonely.
   "But he's not," she whispered as she heard her own mother's words. "The others are there. You just can't see them yet." She smiled again and looked back down at the fire and turned the deer leg over. If any of you old fucks can hear me. Get me out of this hell.

   The sun had completely set now. A large, pale moon rose over the mountains. She watched as it came. I'm starting to hate you, you know. She thought, glaring at the sphere. Her skin crawled as the jungle came to life with it. Noises that kept her as alert as she could be started all over again. Wild things that one day she would have loved to meet. But she knew she couldn't. No. Not in this state. Not at this time. Maybe once after she had a human's blood in her again. But not now. Her eyes flicked up again as the moon lit up her surroundings a bit more. I really do hate you. Cat looked back at the meet once again. The fire was finally hot enough to actually began cooking. The grease that dripped out hissed as it fell to the flames beneath. The smell was starting to get intoxicating. Her mouth was beginning to water. She knew the smell would attract a shaggy-dog eventually. Or one of the wild cats that roamed so near. She didn't care. Let them come. Maybe tonight will be the night I'm no longer here anymore. She turned the spit again. As she did, a twig in the distance snapped. In a flash, Cat had the bow in her hands, the arrow knocked and ready to fly, and on her feet. She aimed in the darkness. A new smell filled her senses. How had she been lost in her own thoughts? How had she not known this thing was here? The smell was wild, yes but...different. Animal but...human?
   It took her a moment to realize she was looking into the eyes of an animal. From where they were she first thought it was a bear, but the colour was wrong. And from the ones she had seen already, this pair was much too high. They blinked and something snapped again. It was moving closer. She could hear the growl now. Low and warning. She tightened the bowstring, pulling closer to her ear. The thing blinked again and this time the eyes weren't reflecting the light. She could see the black of the pupil. The rage and attack that laid there. But she could see the colour. Not the reflective holographicness of the reflection of the fire behind her. Those eyes...were the purest gold she had ever seen. Another step forward. She wasn't looking down at these eyes. They were even with hers. What animal stands at five foot five?
   Cat could tell this beast wasn't scared of her bow, so she decided it was time to show her other weapon. Slowly she raised her top lip. As she did, her fangs slid out of her gums until the were fully tract. A mixture of a growl and cat-like hiss rose from her chest, up her throat and out of her mouth as her fangs glistened in the light.
   The beast's smell seemed to change again. The eyes glared at her. The hiss died in her throat as the animal lifted it's top lip and growled in return. Its mouth was easily the size of her head. The canines, well, every tooth in the mouth was razor-sharp and dagger length. If Cat had a heart, that sight alone would have stopped it. But instead, she had a different reaction. Is féidir leis smaoineamh. Immediately, Cat began pushing out for its mind. The beast narrowed its eyes even more at her and growled deeper. Cat lowered her lip and closed her eyes and yanked them back open. It felt as if she had run headfirst into a stone wall that didn't give way to her. The world felt like it was going to heave her sideways much as the ship had. A pain seared through her head. Ní féidir liom é seo a throid. She slowly moved her bowstring back to relaxed and used her pointer finger to lower the arrow. At a human rate, she lowered her body to the ground. The eyes never left her. She laid her bow on the ground and held both of her palms up. A sign of surrender.
   "An bhfuil ocras ort?" She asked in her native tongue. The eyes blinked. Confusion. "Are you hungry?" She repeated in English. The eyes blinked again. She looked over at the meet on the fire then back into the eyes of the beast. It blinked, looked at the meet then back to her. Slowly again, she stood still keeping her palms exposed. Using her foot, she lifted the spit from the brace and kicked it over to the beast just within the light of the circle.
   The eyes blinked and lowered. She could hear the nose sniffing. Cat narrowed her eyes. She was much too week to see even the shape of what she was dealing with. She closed her eyes again and opened them. She didn't know what she was expecting to change. She hadn't been able to see well in the dark for so long.
   And then it moved. And her eyes widened.
   The paw the size of a full-grown cat stepped into the light. The claws the length of one of her short blades. The fur, a little mud patched at the base, was the deepest darkest black she had ever seen. The next paw was just as large. But the head the bowed between them to the leg was the size of her chest.
   Cat fell back on the ground, her legs were no longer willing to support her. Her whole body was shaking, trembling even. She wasn't proud of it, but if she had a working bladder, she would have been sitting in a puddle.
   The wolf looked up at her with its eyes. Golden disk lost in a black obese. Ní mac tíre é seo. Seo bás. She thought to herself as she trembled. Rocks, pebbles, and stones dug deep into her palms as they laid out behind her keeping her up. She didn't even know they were there. The beast made a sound deep in its chest. If she didn't know any better it was laughing at her. It lifted its head and took a step back into the shadows. Her eyes narrowed. Is it playing with me? The eyes moved back to where her head would have been if she was standing again. But it didn't stop. The eyes continued to raise. Cat's eyes widened again and her mouth fell open. The eyes stopped just a foot above her hight. Slowly the paw came back into the light. Then the other paw in front of it. Then the head. Cat flattened her back on the ground as it kept coming. The head looked down at her. The nose was probably the size of her head. She closed her own eyes and turned her head away as it...her eyes shot open again. The beast was sniffing her. Her hair, her face, neck, chest, stomach. It stopped at her sex. She slightly tilted her head towards it. What is it doing? She wondered. The ears wear easily the length of her forearm and wider than her hand. It sniffed furiously at the spot between her legs then turned away from her. She lifted her head from the ground. It grabbed the whole leg in its mouth then curled up the way a dog would at a hearth or the feet of its master. The beast snapped the leg bone into pieces as it ate. All the while watching her.
   "Ya can have the rest, long as ya don't eat me." She said out loud. It stopped and blinked.
   Cat looked over at the rest of the deer she hadn't prepared yet. It followed her look, then returned to her and huffed. Cat moved slowly into a sitting position again and watched it. After a moment of staring each other down, the beast lowered its head and finished the leg. The tongue that came out of its mouth was easily the size of her thigh. It cleaned its paw then looked back at her and blinked. Cat tilted her head studying the creature. It was easily twice the size of a horse. The fur was surprisingly clean and unmatted. She wondered if it was soft or course. She knew she didn't have the balls to go and find out. She pulled the makeshift hood she had fashioned out of the skirt of her dress tight over her head. "So what now?" She asked. "Ya wait for me to sleep? Attack when I'm weak-well, weaker than ah already am?"
   It blinked in response.
   She nodded and looked back at the fire rubbing her hands together. She sighed and looked up at the moon, which was well on the other side of the sky by now. "I's a nice night, at least." The beast looked up at the moon with her and seemed to whimper. She immediately looked back at the beast. It blinked then looked back at her. They stared each other down again for a time. After a while, the beast's eyes started to close. It would immediately open them again, growl and reposition. But no matter what it did it was always the same result. Cat looked at her legs then looked back up, held her palms out then moved into a laying position so it could still see her. Slowly but surely the beast drifted into a sleep. Cat watched it for a while longer. She tried reaching out to its mind again. The beast growled low in its chest. This time, she felt like she was going to puke along with the pain in her head. Then she closed her eyes, and a deep sleep took over her.