THIS IS HOW IT’S GOING TO BE
I left Diveen around the same time Fathom did, but for different reasons: she ran like a coward, I vanished like a shadow. There’s nothing for me in Diveen. I’ve never been good at making friends or following orders, and I have no interest in the raising of young or tending to wounds. Hunting I enjoy, but on my own terms, and having others around me when I’m trying to focus is more a hindrance than a help. They don’t know my mind, and so often they can’t keep up, anyway. I’d rather operate alone than slow down to accommodate someone else.
The Fields spread themselves wide around me this chilly morning, the dry grasses reaching for my ashy coat as I brush past them. The lake calls to me today, my tongue craving the fish that dart below its surface; Winter is almost on us, and soon the lake will freeze so hard that even I won’t be able to get at them. The closer I get to the beach the quieter I become. How can they flee if they never hear me coming? I face the sun, so I throw no shadow over the water, and even when my paws break the surface there’s scarcely a ripple in my wake. The water sits just below my chest when I stop to wait.
It isn’t long before I spot one, the sun glinting off its side, and in an instant I’m chasing it into the shallows, toward the sandy bank. A final flurry of motion, and more noise than I care for, brings the fish into my mouth where it flails uselessly against my teeth. I emerge, dripping, from the water and tuck myself and my meal into the grass, lying down once we’re comfortably out of sight. I drop the fish and pin it lazily with one paw, licking the places where my teeth have punctured its skin while I wait for it to die. There isn’t much blood in a fish, I’ve discovered, and, generally, the odor isn’t noticeable until some time after I’ve finished eating, so I’m in no hurry.
But there’s a disturbance in my easy morning peace. I can hear him coming from some distance away – no master of stealth, this one. He passes so close that I can feel the heat coming off him, and I tense, prepared to defend my breakfast, but he misses me completely. How, I can’t say. Some folks are just stupid. I hear him move through the grass and out onto the sand, and my curiosity temporarily overpowers my hunger. I’m perfectly capable of getting another fish if necessary. I barely rise from the ground to follow him, slinking forward on sure, steady paws until I reach the edge of the grass. Just beyond the stranger has splayed himself out over the sand, warming himself in the sun.
He still doesn’t seem to notice how close I’ve gotten to him, so I decide to run an experiment of sorts. I double back, reclaim my fish, and then slowly work my way back to my place just behind him. I lower myself to the ground again and pause, motionless for a few minutes, just to be sure he isn’t going to suddenly jump up and run at me. That would be a clever trick, but I’m cleverer by far. When I’m confident that he’s not paying any attention to me, I place the fish on the ground, too. A couple yards away from the relaxing male, I finally begin my meal.
B O L E Y N
covet x fathom
one || temptation || destiny || Diveen