Rising Anew-Chapter 5, part 1-
#19 of Rising Anew
Rising Anew Chapter 5
It had been three days... Three days since Narcenac had taken a life. It had made him cold inside at first. When he had realised what he had done, it had frightened him. But, then she had kissed him. He had never felt surer of himself than when she had breathed that new life into him. It had lasted for only a few moments, but it felt like an eternity to him. They had spent the rest of that night in each other's arms, happy to still be alive and to be with each other.
The days following had been some of the happiest he could ever remember. Narina had stayed by his side the entire time, and even now as they walked through the forest together, he held her paw in his own. Narcenac looked forward to their future now.
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"Can we stop? I am getting hungry Narcenac." Narina asked happily.
"Lets find somewhere quiet and shady to eat." Narcenac replied.
Together the two of them searched for a place to eat in peace. They continued down the road a distance and Narcenac's eyes alighted on a behemoth of a tree. The lowest branches expanded out around the base like a roof of green foliage. They cast a cool inviting shadow. Narcenac looked back at Narina with a smile and pulled her under the low branches. Sitting in the cool shade they set their packs down to rummage through them for a meal.
A look of concern crossed both of their faces as they peeked into the bags. Both of them were low on meat. Narcenac sat quietly thinking on their latest issue. They couldnt go to a town and buy more, or steal from anyone. Then an option Narcenac had hoped he wouldnt have to think about stood out clear in his mind. They could hunt... The thought of chasing down another creature and killing it, just thinking about it bothered him. He looked over at Narina, who was sorting through her remaining food. She was smiling happily despite their situation. He watched her smile and hum a song, realising what he had to do to keep her safe and healthy.
"What do you think we should do about the supplies Naree?" he asked.
"Well... I think we better learn to hunt." she said matter of factly.
Narcenac sat wide eyed. She had already made up her mind on the matter. That astonished him. She slowly stood up and looked at her paws. Curious, Narcenac looked down at his as well. He looked up a moment later to the sound of claws dragging over bark. He realised what she had been looking at and flexed his paws. The claws on each of his fingers slowly slid forwarth exactly like a cat's. They were all strong claws, and very sharp. He knew that he could take life, he had already done it once before, but this would be different. It would be to survive like that had been, but this time the other creature had never done anything to harm him. He had never hunted and this would be by hand.
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The sun was setting in the west. It was a warm evening for a September day. Narcenac was sitting in the shade at the base of a larg hill. He had taken his shirt he had worn for the past few days off and was enjoying the warmth on his stripes, which seemed to absorb more heat then the rest of his body. Narina was brushing his hair for him while she hummed a old song that Purrma had taught her. Narcenac felt that it was a great night to come. He felt relaxed and the songs words were coming to him slowly.
*In the dark before the night
Where might is right
The tiger stood his fur ashine
His mate held a babe that did not whine
The babe grew tall and strong
His tail grew straight and long
His father's sword he found one night
His wish with all his heart
To find within himself his father's might.
The night came when battle was assured.
The son following his father out of sight
Watched his father wounded in a blurr.
Taking up his father's sword he smote the evil
He had found his Father's might.*
Narcenac looked over at the empty bags. They had eaten the last of the food earlier. Suddenly determination gripped him. He would not allow her to go without. Suddenly he realized he no longer felt the stroke of the brush. He looked back to see Narina taking her clothes off.
"What are you doing!?!" he asked in suprise.
"I am going to try to hunt, and i dont want blood on my clothes." she said, the determination etched into every feature of her face.
Narcenac shook his head. Narina had always been headstrong, but now she was simply being logical. This was a suprise to him. He felt like he was failing as her protecter because while he was doubting the course of his actions, she was set in her decisions.
"Then we will do it together. Ok?" he put out.
Narina looked at him and smiled. "I want to do everything together with you."
Narcenac stood up and walked into the treeline and stopped. "How was this going to work?" he wondered.
(Use your instincts...)
Narcenac looked back at Narina who was busy folding her shirt into her bag.
(Purrma? Is that you?) he tried thinking to her. The voice had sounded like it was both in his head and close by him.
(...)
After a few minutes he gave up trying. Narina walked up beside him and smiled.
"How are we going to hunt? I dont know anything about hunting." she said, a little excitement in her voice.
"Use our instincts i guess." he said, realising that the prospect of hunting was starting to excite him too.
They walked into the forest and started searching for signs of deer or something they thought they could catch.
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It had been two hours and still no sign of anything. It was like there had never been anything there. Narina sat down on a large root in a huff. Narcenac knew she was getting impatient, as was he. He walked over and sat with her.
"Where is everything? What are we doing wrong?" she asked grumpily.
Narcenac looked down and shook his head. As sat there, he drug his foot through the leaves on the ground. Without realizing what he was doing, he wrote "Instinct" in the leaves. Looking at the word, he looked at the sky and closed his eyes. He knew what they were doing wrong.
"We are trying to do this like humans... We are not using our instincts." he stated stuntedly.
He stood up and listened with all his might. The more he focused the more he could hear. He heard a river trickling by, a nightbird feeding her chicks, and... DEER!!! He could hear the sound of several hooves trodding over dried earth. Of antlers clacking. They were closer than he thought.
Excitedly, he pulled Narina up by her paw and said, "Listen, listen to those sounds!"
With a grumpy look, Narina closed her eyes and listened. Suddenly her frown was gone and a bright smile replaced it.
"Let's Go!" She cried out.
The two Necromancers ran off in the direction of the sounds.
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The moon was shining bright on the clearing. Deer were laying here and there. Young bucks were sparring with one another for mates. Mothers were guiding their younglings here and there looking for the best grass. It was calm and quiet.
Narcenac looked at all the deer from the branch he was standing on. Something was happening to him. His breathing slowed and was only audible to him because he was doing it and could feel it. Details became clearer and his claws were fully extended. His movements were lythe and silent. As soon as they had smelled the deer they had both become very quiet and had climbed the trees to stay unnoticed.
A silent blur slipped out of the branches of the next tree. Narcenac dropped to the ground as well and joined Narina by the edge of the clearing.
"You should pick one to go after, maybe it will be easier to catch them that way." he said.
Narina nodded and pointed out a small doe sitting by the edge of the group. Narcenac scanned the group and found a target. "If i am going to do this, i am going to make it a challenge." he thought. The buck in question was a well built male of medium stature and a large set of antlers, standing near the middle of the clearing.
Narina stole away through the grass and disapeared from sight. She stayed low as she made her way for the little doe. A light rustling in the grass told her that Narcenac was on the move as well. Crawling on all fours, Narina looked through the grass and saw her prey. She gathered herself to lunge and leapt. She flashed through the grass and was just about to jump on the doe when suddenly, to her left about eight feet from a well built buck, the grass seemed to explode as Narcenac came flying out of it in a flying leap. She watched in awe as he flew towards the deer with the moonlight shimmering off of his fur, his claws glinting.