[o] Feeling a Pang of Loneliness

[` Laverna !]

` L A V E R N A !

` A feline shape had her eyes pinned on the land that stretched out before her. The opening of the canyon was a painful reminder of the land that she had once roamed for a year of her life before she was thrown away into the like of a Forgotten before the eyes of every soul in the Tribe and even before the gods. She missed the feeling of belonging, she missed the feeling of thinking that one day she might have kits, even when she knew that was never possible; not for her. She was a she-cat and a she-cat that dreamed of love and sharing a life with a tom. That's why she looked up to Erosate and put all her faith in him, even now when she was nothing more than another soul cast aside by the Tribe merely because she was a chimera; a creature the gods created to make it easier for the Tribe to see what she-cats were meant to be sterile. Even these days, she still disobeyed the law of a loner to run back in the Tribal lands when she needed reassurance to go to her patron god's sacred land, a place where she felt she belonged before she was driven out again. Erosate, will there ever be hope for me? What are you scheming up there in the heavens for me? Is there a happily-ever-after for a soul like mine, or is three to be nothing but loneliness for the rest of my days? The thoughts circled in her head as her gaze looked down at the lands below and she shook her head, looking away from the canyon in the distance, to the sky above her head.

` Birds circled in the air and as she watched the birds she knew to be those of hunters, her dark shaded eyes gazed more closely at them, using the sight that her eagle eyes gaze her to see them more closely. They were hawks and she could tell by the way they were circling that they were out on the hunt. Seeing them and hearing their calls, she felt her wings ruffle beside her and she stood up on her paws, her claws digging in into the ground. She itched to join them in flight, to at least spend some time with perhaps not the exact animal that shared her appearance, but something that shared some of her other naturally instincts. The winds blew and she let a soft purr rumble through her throat as she felt the feathers along her spine and among her wings ruffle in delight at the soft breeze that flowed around her. Okay perhaps, my life isn't as miserable as I sometimes take it to be. Smiling at the thought, she flapped her wings and allowed the breeze to get an under current on her wings so they could lift her high into the sky. She knew this aspect of flight did not come as an easy price. Her bones were hollow like an eagle's to allow her such a flight which made fighting with another feline on the ground, a hard aspect to her at times. Fighting, was not something she enjoyed though, so it was a fair trade in her opinion. Sometimes she wondered what a bird shifter felt when they shifted to experience such a delight, but not many felines could experience this while in their feline form as well. The wind blowing her fur at this height, it made the purr that had started earlier, sound louder and she watched as the hawks whirled away from her to continue their hunt further from such a feline.

` Wheeling herself around in a circle, her eyes trained into the ground below. Her stomach rumbled deeply with the feeling of hunger that she felt often. To keep her body functioning, she had to eat quite a bit more than the average cat and that kept her hunting most of the time when she wasn't admiring the land around her or speaking to another creature out here in the unclaimed lands. The barren land below though was deprived of prey and her hungry eyes searched long and hard in vain. Shaking her head, she sighed as she whirled around once more to take one last look around at the barren land. That was when something moved and caught her eyes. Got you, she thought with delight. She let out a blood curtailing screech that seemed half feline and half eagle - a tribute to her form - and she dived down from the skies to land upon the small creature. Without thinking, she bit into the prey's neck and waited till she felt its body limp and lifeless before relaxing and laying on the ground, a mouse between her paws. A mouse, way out here. Can't say that I expected that, but oh well. Food is food, after all. She folded her wings beside her and started to eat the mouse, till nothing remained. Smiling, she buried what was left of the carcass and let out a yawn. An ear flicking, she laid her head on her paws and let her eyes close. Although she rested, her ears where still on alter in case something of a threat was nearby.