Darr' Shaw Part 4

Darr-Shaw rose to her feet and stretched. She opened her mouth wide and yawned lazily, her blood crusted muzzle reeking of decay in her breath. She closed her eyes for a split second to recapture the thrill of the earlier mornings kill.

She saw nothing. She felt nothing. All she could feel was the blood flowing and mixing in her fur, the knowledge of a perfect kill, and the heat from the doe’s carcass passing her on it’s way to the heavens.

She opened her eyes again and smiled. It was all so very poetic. The hurt and weak lying down to die, the all mighty force bearing down upon it. The force taking advantage of the weak and hurt. The death of the weaker and the survival of the superior.

She shrugged off the mornings skillful killing and walked out into the sun. She squinted at first. The light was new to her every day of her life… ever since she saw it for the first time at the age of 2.

Seeing that the clan had already split into it’s designated groups, she just turned back and tried not to be seen. Unfortunately, it is hard to stay invisible at the same time as being a reject.

One leopardess walked her way, sniffing the air, and walked back to her group. In an instant, the clan leader was walking over to Darr. Darr-Shaw had an odd respect for the leader, for without her, Darr would not be who she is now… so naturally the same respect was countered by a certain amount of hate.

The clan leader began to slowly walk her way to the killer leopardess with a sense of control and poise. Her muscular form flowing towards her most deadly creation. She knew Darr-Shaw's lonesome tendencies, but did not care. She walked up to the embodiment of evil and looked her straight into her red tinted eyes.

“Darr-Shaw” she muttered out of the side of her mouth face to face, making it a point to avoid Darr's glare.

“Teris” Darr answered in her trademark raspy growl of a voice.

Teris sniffed the air directly in-between her and Darr. It smelled of blood and flesh.

“Prey has been hard to come across of late… where per chance, did you ever  come across food?” she asked in a demanding voice. She knew the only way to receive an answer was to exert her authority.

“Dead and rotting in a field not too far from here” Darr answered in a fierce voice dripping with disinterest. “No point me telling you where… I am honestly surprised you did not smell it this morning. The blood scent was strong and sweet.” She watched Teris, who’s mouth watered with the thought of food that had become so scarce.

“Well, I hope it was worth it” Teris snapped, wiping the saliva running down her chin with the back of her paw. She added with drawn out reluctance “ How…. How did it taste?”

At this, Darr-Shaw opened her mouth and breathed out, into the muzzle of Teris. “I wouldn’t know. All I know is that the blood was honey and the flesh was weak. I did not bless myself with a real taste.”

Darr-Shaw watched Teris as her face slowly dropped, the corners of her muzzle slowly descending with her eyebrows.  Her face going from anticipation to disappointment to anger in one swift motion.

Darr could see the muscles flex in Teris’ legs before they left the ground. She anticipated this and did nothing. She stood there and braced herself with her back paws.

Teris lunged forward and dropped her head to connect with the breast of Darr-Shaw. It connected with a loud CRACK that caused the entire clan to turn to their figures. As soon as her head connected, she lifted herself onto her back paws which she used to lift Darr-Shaw up and pushing her against a rock. Quickly, before Darr-Shaw could respond, Teris threw her front paws onto the shoulders of Darr-Shaw, pinning her tightly against the wall.

She barred her teeth and spat in Darr-Shaw's face, “You KNOW we starve and yet you hunt for sport, against your clan? Against your family? Do you know how many of us have your skills in hunting? You have a gift. NEVER FORGET THAT! We need you. We cannot survive without you.”

Her eyes flashed a dark yellow with an expression Darr-Shaw has only seen from her, the burning hatred and a mix of a slow and shallow love. She held her paws against Darr-Shaw's shoulders, and did something no one has ever dared to do before. She stared directly into Darr-Shaw's crimson eyes without looking away. She looked into the depths of her pain and hatred and held her stare.

Darr-Shaw had never seen anyone who had dared to stand up against her before. She respected that in a way that she could never imagine expressing. She leaned in, stretching her neck to whisper into Teris’ ear and quietly cooed, “I will never forget”

As she said this, Teris’ eyes grew large and blank. She opened her mouth the slightest bit. As soon as she did, her eyes rolled back reveling nothing but white nothing as she collapsed into a heap. Darr-Shaw fell forwards onto all fours once again. She looked down at the writing corpse of Teris. Her underbelly torn open and soaking the ground under her. She screamed for the longest time in the silence of the forest.

Darr-Shaw licked her blood stained paw, watching the collapse of her “better half” as the clan had once called Teris. She looked at the bleeding mess before her, and shouted to the clan, “This is what you have created. This is its power,  and this is its motives. Turn on this creature before you, and prepare to be killed without mercy. Teris’ blood is on all of the elders heads. They killed her by creating me.” and with that, she turned to go back inside the cave. The events that have transpired have tired her beyond her ability to handle. She circled her dark, secluded corner of the flood and collapsed, supporting her head with her paws.

Before going to sleep, she saw the body of Teris being dragged away by two of the huntresses. The head limp, until the body passed the entrance of the cave. Slowly, the head raised and looked into the darkness. Darr-Shaw could see Teris’ eyes shine blue as the clear Autumn sky. Teris gave a look as sharp as any predators tooth or claw, that dug into Darr-Shaw. It was the sound that survived her black hole. The one object not effected by her apathetic vacuum of existence. It stirred something in her that disturbed her. She felt something never felt before in her life.

It was rumored that Teris’ eyes changed by her mood, and only once had anyone ever seen her eyes shine blue. It was with her mate, now dead and gone, as she soon would be too. The knowledge of this shook Darr-Shaw. She felt something never felt before.

And with that, Darr-Shaw surrendered to her violent dreams all the while, her mind racing back to the final look of Teris and the feeling that seemed to stir her blackened soul. Her mind ran to the one word she had only heard rumor of, but never seen proof of until moments ago. Her mind was racing of love.