fiammetta
by fire be purged
Fiammetta lay sunbathing beside the entrance to her temporary den, single eye shut in blissful ignorance of her surroundings. It was a magnificent day indeed, the sun's rays soothing on her healing pelt and the light breeze tickling her so that she rolled onto her right side with sigh, letting the bare rock upon which she reclined warm her naked skin. Every now and then her ear would twitch, picking up the slightest of sounds but, for the most part, she was still and peaceful.
Her mind, however, was far from quiet. It echoed with reams of thoughts like silken filigrees, spanning the void of her subconscious so that not a corner of her mind remained untouched. She lingered on her recent failure on the battlefield, as well as her previous run in with Tobias and her resulting capture. Behind her eyelid galloped Atlas also, his handsome muzzle filled with concern for her as he licked the infection from her weeping eye socket. She longed to move with him, to fight and hunt beside him and take him as her mate, but the fire held her back. She was further than she had ever been from her goal of ridding Moladion of evil, how could she even consider settling down? It was a selfish desire, and one she squelched like a fly beneath her paw, its thorax cracking satisfyingly under her weight. She thought of Singe, the pup she had met in Asteraia, and how kind and clever he was – nothing like his miserable sire and far more than his mother could ever hope to be, at least with what little Fiam knew of her. When he had launched into the air to snag the incandescent butterfly and then paraded it proudly before her, a maternal instinct she did not know she possessed had risen up within her, and she had desired to take him by the scruff and flee, raising him as her own. However, Fiammetta was not stupid and such a slight would have her hunted down and killed. No, she would have to gain his attentions another way.
While she ruminated on this new turn of events, a scent reached her nostrils, sweet and tantalising, and she reluctantly opened her eye and rolled onto her belly, casting about for its source. Eventually, she pinpointed a small rock rabbit nibbling beside its burrow which, by some stroke of fortune, happened to be situated directly beneath her rocky perch. Ever so quietly, she shifted into a squatting position before launching herself onto the creature. Its death came swiftly at her jaws and she hummed beneath her breath as she seized the carcass and leaped back upon her throne before tearing in to its lightly muscled haunch, the blood hot as it coated her paws and muzzle. It truly was a glorious day.
No Home - No Family - 6YO - 22 in, 32 lbs