Post by ShadowTheCat on Aug 20, 2007 17:14:33 GMT -8
Shadowfire by ShadowCat
A figure emerged from a stand of trees and came out into long flat grasslands with the occasional tree and rock outcrop. She stopped and crouched down to look closely at a pair of tracks on the ground. With a grin she thought to herself that this was going to be the easiest payday she had ever had. Her prey was no hunter; his tracks were very easy to follow. She was getting close, the tracks were still fresh. Yet one thing puzzled her: they were erratic, as if the quarry was looking for a particular place and didn’t quite know what he was looking for. Shadow straightened up, unslung the rifle from her back and started moving forward while keeping a sharp eye on the terrain ahead.
After half an hour Shadow caught sight of him, a short man, slightly overweight. Shadow found a good position for the shot. A cold smile crossed her face as she lay down and aimed the rifle. It was going to be a long shot but Shadow wasn’t worried as she never missed.
It all happened so quickly. Shadow lined up the shot and was just about to pull the trigger, when her quarry turned around and seemed to look straight at her. A bright flash of light, and then her quarry disappeared. One minute he was in her sights the next he wasn’t. She started to panic, “What was this? Was it witchcraft? Surely not, after all it was 2007 and everyone knew there was no such thing as magic.” After a minute or 2 Shadow said to herself “Pull yourself together girl, he must be here somewhere, it’s just a trick, people just don’t disappear like that.” She slowly rose up and walked to where her quarry had been. Methodically she searched the area but couldn’t find anything. His tracks just stopped, there were no trap doors or anywhere he could have gone. Shadow stood perplexed. Now what was she to do, she didn’t want to go back home with the job not completed but she had lost her quarry.
Sunset was coming and Shadow climbed up into a nearby tree to rest and to watch the area. She could go for days without sleep if need be and this would be no hardship. After she had made herself comfortable she reached into her pack and pulled out a piece of dried meat. She ate it without really tasting it. The meat was tasteless, dry and withered, and she chewed it almost mechanically. Her mind swirled with the complications of the hunt. The man simply vanished, and this contract was the most important one to date. To pay for freedom after so many years of slavery, she couldn't fail now. It was almost 20 years since she had been home: the screams, the death...blank faces of people lost in a battle they couldn’t win. Shadow washed down the meat with some water from her water bottle, and then settled down to keep a watch over the area.
A flash of light brought Shadow out of her reverie. Shadow wasn’t sure that she had seen anything at all when another bright flash of light from where her quarry had disappeared caught her eye. The flashes came in sharp bursts, something like mirror flashes. Shadow kept watch on the area all night but nothing else happened.
Next morning after taking a mental note of where she had seen the flashes Shadow scouted the whole area just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything but after 2 hours of not finding anything of interest she went back to where she had seen the flashes. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary but when she approached the spot there was yet another bright flash. Shadow couldn’t see and she felt intense pain. The thought to herself “How could she have been so stupid, it was obviously a trap.” Then she felt nothing.
Shadow slowly opened her eyes past the aching pain of unconsciousness. To her horror she found that the sun blazed down upon her with a bluish light, and upon this realization, fear and panic swirled about her gut. She gathered herself for a moment, then shook out her head to make certain there was no permanent damage done to her eyes, yet the whole world was bathed in a bluish light most unnatural. Shocked, she scrambled to her feet and felt a sharp, screaming pain run up her spine that made her eyes water. “What? No no this can't be happening... This can't be happening” she half whispered at the height of panic. Breath came sharp and sudden as she looked down to find of all things- a tail, and thick black fur covering her body..... “I must be asleep and dreaming.” Shadow was scared. “This can’t be happening it’s impossible.” Shadow felt her face with her hands, it also was covered in fur and she felt a shortish snout and she had catlike ears. Shadow freaked and thought “What the hell is happening to me.”
There was a small lake nearby so she ran over and looked at her reflection. She was still human looking mostly except for the fur and her head looked like a black cats head. . “No, no, no, this can’t be happening” sobbed Shadow. She stalked away from the lake but turned back and looked at her reflection again. “That is really me” she said. She checked her clothes. She was still wearing the black pants and black leather jacket but she noticed that her pack was missing along with her rifle, pistol and knife.
Finally calming herself down Shadow said to her reflection “This isn’t too bad, I could get used to this.” She walked back to where she had arrived. Shadow realized that she had arrived here somehow, but where was here. She approached the spot with trepidation and stepped onto it. Nothing happened. She stepped back then stepped back onto the spot. Still nothing happened. “Looks like I’m not going home so I’ll have to find my quarry and get him to tell me how to get home before I kill him” said Shadow to herself. Shadow started looking for tracks, after all her quarry must have come here and she still had a job to do and she intended to complete it and then find a way back home. After casting about for awhile Shadow found her quarry’s tracks. She thought to herself “You won’t get away that easily.”
Shadow followed the tracks down the mountainside. There was really only one way to go anyway. She kept a wary eye on her surroundings as it was all unfamiliar territory. After a couple of hours she came to a tall tree and under it she noticed a long straight branch that was as tall as she was. It would make a great staff she thought.
Still following the tracks Shadow noticed a small town ahead. Not quite knowing what to do about it she finally decided that she needed to find out where she was so she entered town. It was odd though. Where were the people? The town didn’t look abandoned but there was no-one to be seen. Shadow did feel that she was being watched though.
Alert for any trouble Shadow finally found someone in the middle of town. He growled then said “Well, well, well what have we here.”
Shadow didn’t like this guy. It didn’t help that he looked a lot like a rottweiller.
Shadow said “I’m only passing through. Have you seen anyone come through here?”
“Get her boy’s” the dog growled to his friends.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught site of 2 more dogs behind her.
Shadow decided that the quickest way to answers was to defeat these guys so she held her staff like a weapon and started to swing it in a circle. The first dog drew his sword. Shadow dodged when one dog attacked her and brought her staff down on the top of his head with a sickening thud. The dog went down and didn’t move. The other 2 just circled her looking for an opening. Shadow lunged at the leader but he dodged and almost cut Shadows arm. Shadow spun around and managed to clip the 3rd dogs head. Now she had the 2 of them in front of her so she hit out again with her staff and managed to break the arm of the leader. Then with a swift move Shadow swung the staff which hit the leader in the throat and killed him. The other dog was scared now and tried to escape but Shadow jumped on him and pinned him to the ground. “Where is this place” she said.
He didn’t say anything he just whimpered. Then Shadow noticed a lot of figures coming out of the buildings so she jumped to her feet ready to fight again. Shadow was surprised to see that they were all cats like herself. The one that seemed to be the leader spoke. “We must thank you for getting rid of Drago and his men. I am Skella. You are most welcome here.”
“What is this place” said Shadow.
A couple of the townspeople grabbed the dog and took him off to what looked to be a jail.
“Let us eat first, then we will answer any questions you may have.” said Skella. He gestured towards a house. Shadow stepped towards the fallen Drago, stooped over and retrieved the sword and unbuckled the belt with the scabbard on it. Shadow was pleased to see a rather nice looking hunting knife attached too. Buckling the scabbard on and sheathing the sword she then picked up her staff and then walked into the house indicated. Shadow was feeling more at ease now that she was armed again. She sat at the table and then a woman approached with a plate of cooked meat and some vegetables and placed it on the middle of the table. The food looked normal and Shadow was surprised at how hungry she was.
Skella and 2 others sat at the table with her but Shadow could see faces peering in at her from the doorway and the windows. Skella introduced the other 2 as Tren and Soren. “We are the elders of this village” he said. Then he pointed to the woman serving them and said “This is my mate Charla.” Charla nodded her head but didn’t say anything. She just put 4 plates and 4 mugs full of water on the table then went into the next room.
Shadow was beginning to feel that something odd was going on. The only being who had spoken was Skella. Shadow asked “Where am I, what is this place?”
Skella placed some meat and vegetables on a plate and handed it to Shadow. Tren and Soren then helped themselves to some food as did Skella.
Skella said “This is Meowten village.”
“Has there been someone else who has been through here recently?” asked Shadow. “He is a, err, he is a friend and I need to catch up with him.”
Shadow took a long drink from the mug then started eating.
“There has been no other strangers been through here in many years” answered Skella.
Shadow paused in her eating. Why would Skella lie? She had followed the tracks into town. Suddenly Shadow couldn’t move and she felt her consciousness slipping away. The last thought Shadow had before she blacked out was “Drugged. I am going to” then she fell to the floor unconscious.
A figure emerged from a stand of trees and came out into long flat grasslands with the occasional tree and rock outcrop. She stopped and crouched down to look closely at a pair of tracks on the ground. With a grin she thought to herself that this was going to be the easiest payday she had ever had. Her prey was no hunter; his tracks were very easy to follow. She was getting close, the tracks were still fresh. Yet one thing puzzled her: they were erratic, as if the quarry was looking for a particular place and didn’t quite know what he was looking for. Shadow straightened up, unslung the rifle from her back and started moving forward while keeping a sharp eye on the terrain ahead.
After half an hour Shadow caught sight of him, a short man, slightly overweight. Shadow found a good position for the shot. A cold smile crossed her face as she lay down and aimed the rifle. It was going to be a long shot but Shadow wasn’t worried as she never missed.
It all happened so quickly. Shadow lined up the shot and was just about to pull the trigger, when her quarry turned around and seemed to look straight at her. A bright flash of light, and then her quarry disappeared. One minute he was in her sights the next he wasn’t. She started to panic, “What was this? Was it witchcraft? Surely not, after all it was 2007 and everyone knew there was no such thing as magic.” After a minute or 2 Shadow said to herself “Pull yourself together girl, he must be here somewhere, it’s just a trick, people just don’t disappear like that.” She slowly rose up and walked to where her quarry had been. Methodically she searched the area but couldn’t find anything. His tracks just stopped, there were no trap doors or anywhere he could have gone. Shadow stood perplexed. Now what was she to do, she didn’t want to go back home with the job not completed but she had lost her quarry.
Sunset was coming and Shadow climbed up into a nearby tree to rest and to watch the area. She could go for days without sleep if need be and this would be no hardship. After she had made herself comfortable she reached into her pack and pulled out a piece of dried meat. She ate it without really tasting it. The meat was tasteless, dry and withered, and she chewed it almost mechanically. Her mind swirled with the complications of the hunt. The man simply vanished, and this contract was the most important one to date. To pay for freedom after so many years of slavery, she couldn't fail now. It was almost 20 years since she had been home: the screams, the death...blank faces of people lost in a battle they couldn’t win. Shadow washed down the meat with some water from her water bottle, and then settled down to keep a watch over the area.
A flash of light brought Shadow out of her reverie. Shadow wasn’t sure that she had seen anything at all when another bright flash of light from where her quarry had disappeared caught her eye. The flashes came in sharp bursts, something like mirror flashes. Shadow kept watch on the area all night but nothing else happened.
Next morning after taking a mental note of where she had seen the flashes Shadow scouted the whole area just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything but after 2 hours of not finding anything of interest she went back to where she had seen the flashes. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary but when she approached the spot there was yet another bright flash. Shadow couldn’t see and she felt intense pain. The thought to herself “How could she have been so stupid, it was obviously a trap.” Then she felt nothing.
Shadow slowly opened her eyes past the aching pain of unconsciousness. To her horror she found that the sun blazed down upon her with a bluish light, and upon this realization, fear and panic swirled about her gut. She gathered herself for a moment, then shook out her head to make certain there was no permanent damage done to her eyes, yet the whole world was bathed in a bluish light most unnatural. Shocked, she scrambled to her feet and felt a sharp, screaming pain run up her spine that made her eyes water. “What? No no this can't be happening... This can't be happening” she half whispered at the height of panic. Breath came sharp and sudden as she looked down to find of all things- a tail, and thick black fur covering her body..... “I must be asleep and dreaming.” Shadow was scared. “This can’t be happening it’s impossible.” Shadow felt her face with her hands, it also was covered in fur and she felt a shortish snout and she had catlike ears. Shadow freaked and thought “What the hell is happening to me.”
There was a small lake nearby so she ran over and looked at her reflection. She was still human looking mostly except for the fur and her head looked like a black cats head. . “No, no, no, this can’t be happening” sobbed Shadow. She stalked away from the lake but turned back and looked at her reflection again. “That is really me” she said. She checked her clothes. She was still wearing the black pants and black leather jacket but she noticed that her pack was missing along with her rifle, pistol and knife.
Finally calming herself down Shadow said to her reflection “This isn’t too bad, I could get used to this.” She walked back to where she had arrived. Shadow realized that she had arrived here somehow, but where was here. She approached the spot with trepidation and stepped onto it. Nothing happened. She stepped back then stepped back onto the spot. Still nothing happened. “Looks like I’m not going home so I’ll have to find my quarry and get him to tell me how to get home before I kill him” said Shadow to herself. Shadow started looking for tracks, after all her quarry must have come here and she still had a job to do and she intended to complete it and then find a way back home. After casting about for awhile Shadow found her quarry’s tracks. She thought to herself “You won’t get away that easily.”
Shadow followed the tracks down the mountainside. There was really only one way to go anyway. She kept a wary eye on her surroundings as it was all unfamiliar territory. After a couple of hours she came to a tall tree and under it she noticed a long straight branch that was as tall as she was. It would make a great staff she thought.
Still following the tracks Shadow noticed a small town ahead. Not quite knowing what to do about it she finally decided that she needed to find out where she was so she entered town. It was odd though. Where were the people? The town didn’t look abandoned but there was no-one to be seen. Shadow did feel that she was being watched though.
Alert for any trouble Shadow finally found someone in the middle of town. He growled then said “Well, well, well what have we here.”
Shadow didn’t like this guy. It didn’t help that he looked a lot like a rottweiller.
Shadow said “I’m only passing through. Have you seen anyone come through here?”
“Get her boy’s” the dog growled to his friends.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught site of 2 more dogs behind her.
Shadow decided that the quickest way to answers was to defeat these guys so she held her staff like a weapon and started to swing it in a circle. The first dog drew his sword. Shadow dodged when one dog attacked her and brought her staff down on the top of his head with a sickening thud. The dog went down and didn’t move. The other 2 just circled her looking for an opening. Shadow lunged at the leader but he dodged and almost cut Shadows arm. Shadow spun around and managed to clip the 3rd dogs head. Now she had the 2 of them in front of her so she hit out again with her staff and managed to break the arm of the leader. Then with a swift move Shadow swung the staff which hit the leader in the throat and killed him. The other dog was scared now and tried to escape but Shadow jumped on him and pinned him to the ground. “Where is this place” she said.
He didn’t say anything he just whimpered. Then Shadow noticed a lot of figures coming out of the buildings so she jumped to her feet ready to fight again. Shadow was surprised to see that they were all cats like herself. The one that seemed to be the leader spoke. “We must thank you for getting rid of Drago and his men. I am Skella. You are most welcome here.”
“What is this place” said Shadow.
A couple of the townspeople grabbed the dog and took him off to what looked to be a jail.
“Let us eat first, then we will answer any questions you may have.” said Skella. He gestured towards a house. Shadow stepped towards the fallen Drago, stooped over and retrieved the sword and unbuckled the belt with the scabbard on it. Shadow was pleased to see a rather nice looking hunting knife attached too. Buckling the scabbard on and sheathing the sword she then picked up her staff and then walked into the house indicated. Shadow was feeling more at ease now that she was armed again. She sat at the table and then a woman approached with a plate of cooked meat and some vegetables and placed it on the middle of the table. The food looked normal and Shadow was surprised at how hungry she was.
Skella and 2 others sat at the table with her but Shadow could see faces peering in at her from the doorway and the windows. Skella introduced the other 2 as Tren and Soren. “We are the elders of this village” he said. Then he pointed to the woman serving them and said “This is my mate Charla.” Charla nodded her head but didn’t say anything. She just put 4 plates and 4 mugs full of water on the table then went into the next room.
Shadow was beginning to feel that something odd was going on. The only being who had spoken was Skella. Shadow asked “Where am I, what is this place?”
Skella placed some meat and vegetables on a plate and handed it to Shadow. Tren and Soren then helped themselves to some food as did Skella.
Skella said “This is Meowten village.”
“Has there been someone else who has been through here recently?” asked Shadow. “He is a, err, he is a friend and I need to catch up with him.”
Shadow took a long drink from the mug then started eating.
“There has been no other strangers been through here in many years” answered Skella.
Shadow paused in her eating. Why would Skella lie? She had followed the tracks into town. Suddenly Shadow couldn’t move and she felt her consciousness slipping away. The last thought Shadow had before she blacked out was “Drugged. I am going to” then she fell to the floor unconscious.