ORIGIN

The wolf prowled.

Up ahead of her, the Cave Deer was wholly unaware. Carelessly, it grazed, pulling up tufts of grass that hadn't yet been consumed by her kin.

Stupid, it must have been. Or young. Why else would it have ignored the strong scents of her family? Layered heavily, fresh enough to be sickening to a prey animal? Thick with the scent of blood, old and new?

Or maybe it couldn't smell? Maybe its nose was defective, and so it couldn't smell her family, or her as she approached? It wasn't deaf, she could tell, as its ears twitched with each clitter-clatter and pitter-patter of Lessers. But it was wholly anaware of her, for the time being.

"She speaks." 'She thinks.' She does.

Jay stood tall, sticking to the shadows. Her ears twitched, as did her tail. Her nostrils flared as she took in the cent of the Cave Deer. There was a faint scent of blood, old enough to have scabbed over, but fresh enough to draw her.

Saliva flooded her mouth at the scent, and her eyes locked onto the Cave Deer's throat. There, there was its arterial vein, throbbing in its throat, ready to be torn open by her fangs.

As though suddenly aware, the Deer lifted its head. It tilted its head this way and that, leaff-like ears twitching this way and that, before seeming to deem it safe, and lowering it back down again to eat once more.

"She speaks." 'She thinks.' She does.

The she-wolf bared her teeth, the mantle on the back of her neck bristling. She didn't make a sound as she licked her lips, shifting her paws and readying to chase.

The deer stepped forward, stretching her neck to reach another clump of grass. Jay dropped into a stalk, and mimicked the single step, careful not to step on anything that might crunch or make a noise.

"She speaks." 'She thinks.' She does.

Most Greaters, perhaps, would have struck silently, taken down their prey while it was distracted so that the kill would be easy and swift.

Well, Jay had never been most Gembounds.

So, as she began to race forward, she gave a baying howl. The deer's head snapped up, and it looked at her with horror, freezing. And then suddenly it whirled, and began to run, and the race was on.

"She speaks." 'She thinks.' She does.

The deer strained, running as fast as it could. Its hooves sought sturdy footholds, clattering loudly as it ran.

Jay, meanwhile, was almost silent. Her legs pumped, propelling her as she ran. The wolf's heart thrummed in her ears, blood rushing in her veins. Saliva pooled in her mouth, already anticipating the taste of fresh meat.

"She speaks." 'She thinks.' She does.