When Worlds Collide

She silently crept through the tall grass to stay upwind of her prey. She had to rely on stealth and camouflage to catch the hare, since her ability to sprint was especially hampered lately. She lacked the same speed and stamina she possessed at the previous full moon. The hunger in her belly kept her eyes transfixed on her prey, the scent filling her nostrils. Every muscles tensed with perfect balance, she moved one paw at a time ever so slowly, her whiskers seeking out the best path through the grass. She was almost within pouncing range when the hare alerted to her; she sensed it's fear and knew it was about to dart off. Not willing to miss the opportunity, she sprang from her hiding place, and missed. She gave a short chase but the hare was too swift and nimble for her now. Several moons prior the hare would have been hers. Several moons prior she would have been stalking deer. Several moons prior the wolves would not have driven her from her last kill. Tired and hungry, she rested under the shade of a tree, hearing her heart beat slowing as she panted, sensing the lives growing within her, and knowing it would not be past another full moon before it was time. That was, of course, unless starvation killed her first. Weakness and fatigue were setting in; she had traveled too far to the edge of her territory. She hauled up her lumbering frame feeling the weight of her expanding belly, and under the setting sun she headed for the safety of her den.

Birds alerted her presence on her short journey through the woods. She continued on unperturbed by them, since she was too exhausted to hunt, despite the pit in her belly. Her eyes caught sight of her home- a hidden cavern under a small rocky outcrop near a clearing- well-camouflaged by the trees and moss growing in the sparse soil above it. As she approached her senses tingled; something was different. In a flash her brain dissected the scents: one was relatively unfamiliar. The other was unmistakable; the tang of deer blood flooded her nostrils. Hunger compelled her to investigate. She crept to the edge of the clearing and through the dusk she noted two things: first, the strange wooden den that was dark for so long was now brightly lit. Secondly, a freshly killed deer was lying alone in the back of one of those shiny beasts the bipeds commanded. She realized the other scent must have been the bipeds. She had observed bipeds a few times from a distance; they were curious creatures. Unpredictable.

Right now, however, she saw no bipeds and the shiny beast seemed to be slumbering. Almost drooling from the scent of the deer, desperation drove her forward. She lowered her frame as low as her belly allowed and crept close to the shiny beast. She sensed no heat coming from it. Encouraged, she approached the deer- a young doe- put her paws on the back of the shiny beast, sunk her teeth into the doe's neck and pulled. It thudded to the ground. She released it to get a better grip and began to drag it off. It felt so much heavier to her weakened body than the last deer. She did not get far before she heard a noise; it was a biped. No- two bipeds- a male and a female. They had been in the wooden den, but were now standing almost within pouncing distance. She froze momentarily as their eyes locked on her. The male was holding one of those shiny sticks that made loud noises over his shoulder. They appeared to be vocalizing to each other. She sensed anger in the male but the female, who had no anger or fear, made sounds to him and pointed at her. He seemed to peer harder at her. Suddenly, a light shined bright in her eyes for a moment; she felt panic and let out a low warning growl. The light went out. She refocused on the bipeds and realized the male was no longer angry. They backed away and went into the wooden den which quickly went dark inside. Relieved and exhausted, she dragged her stolen prey back to the woods and filled her belly.

She headed out at first light two suns later to refill her belly. She needed nourishment for what she sensed coming soon. As she studied the clearing from the safety of the woods she caught a curious sight; another freshly killed deer slightly more than pouncing distance from the wooden den. Being upwind, she did not smell it. She did not see or sense the bipeds, and the shiny beast was now sleeping in the front of the den. Wary, but knowing a hunt would be strenuous, she crept closer to investigate. She could smell the faint scent of the male biped on the carcass. She snatched the deer and froze in place, waiting for confrontation for stealing his kill. Nothing but the sounds of birds filled the air. More confident, she gripped the deer and as she was about to drag it off her eye caught sight of both bipeds peering at her from inside the den. They seemed to be locked in a strange coupling with their upper limbs around each other, and they were watching her. She sensed no anger in them, only a strange contentment. They watched as she carried her carcass into the woods.

The curious encounters with the bipeds continued for several suns, with them venturing closer to her each time but always staying out of pouncing distance. At one point while she was investigating in the woods she saw them a short distance from her den and almost panicked, but they only pointed and vocalized quietly to each other, then retreated. She sensed no threat but kept a wary eye anyway, needing to protect to lives she was about to bring into this world. Her belly had grown heavy. It was time. She gave birth to three cubs: one was not moving. She cleaned him and tried to groom life into him but he was lifeless. She finally had to give up and give her attention to the other two. Several suns after constant suckling of the cubs, she felt the need to hunt. She wrestled with the instinct of not leaving her cubs with the need to feed herself to sustain them. Finally, she ventured out. She got to the edge of the clearing and noticed the female biped at the wooden den had spotted her. She faintly heard her call out to the male, who soon appeared with a strange object. The faint scent of blood filled her nose; he held a carcass and was slowly walking in her direction. She laid low, unsure of his intent. She sensed no threat or fear. He came within several pounces of the clearing, stopped, dropped the feral pig and slowly backed away. She waited until he was almost to the wooden den before carefully slinking out to grab it. These bipeds are curious indeed. Certainly the wolves would never offer her anything.

The bipeds continued to leave carcasses nearby and she accepted them. She kept a safe distance but now knew they were not a threat to her. When they were old enough to join her, she allowed the cubs to investigate the carcasses, and even to play and wrestle in the clearing. They were curious about the bipeds and ventured close several times. She always called them back, but their presence seemed to delight the bipeds. As the cubs got a little older, the carcasses stopped appearing but the bipeds continued to observe from a safe distance. Occasionally a live feral pig would appear in the clearing and she taught the cubs to hunt. As they got a little older, she introduced them to deer prey.

While venturing in the woods one day, stalking a deer from a distance, she sensed danger but could not pinpoint it. Within a few heartbeats she heard a loud noise, like from the shiny sticks of the bipeds, and felt a searing pain rip through her body. She tried to flee back toward her den in panic but quickly lost strength and breath, and collapsed. The cubs, terrified, hid in nearby bushes. She laid there a short time and heard an angry male biped running fast through the woods from behind her, and toward her. It was the male from the wooden den, followed by the female. The male looked at her, rage in his eyes, then ran off toward the direction the loud noise came from. The female stared at her and slowly approached. Water dripped from her eyes. She sat on the ground next to her. The male returned and vocalized angry words to the female. Then his voice lowered and water fell from his eyes. He slowly approached, sat on the ground and touched her fur. She wanted to flee in panic but it was getting dark and she had no strength, her body going cold and numb. He stroked the fur on her head and she allowed it. With what little strength she had left she called to her cubs who cautiously came out of hiding and approached the biped female. The female biped let them smell her and she stroked their heads. The male stayed by her side, comforting her. He made soft vocal sounds to her she did not understand, but they were soothing. The female biped scooped up the cubs in her limbs and vocalized softly to them, water dripping from her eyes. She knew her cubs were safe. She felt drops fall on the fur of her face as the world went dark.