Too Hungry to be Safe (Open)

Karma was up in a tree.

It wasn't that strange a place to be, the tree, that is, but it did nothing for her. She was hungry. When wasn't she hungry, nowadays?

She glanced down at Nightmare, who was lounging on the ground and twitching her tail. Bloody black cat. Karma swung up to a higher branch. For a Forest that was supposed to be forbidden, she didn't see what was so bad about it. She had seen a few centaurs on her way here, but they had given her a wide berth, and she guessed her scent as a vampire was getting stronger.

She was at least halfway up the tall oak tree now, and the ground was beginning to seem far away. She figured she couldn't be seen from the ground unless you were directly beneath her and looked straight up, as Nightmare was doing. The kitten rolled onto her back and pawed at the air. Karma wrinkled her nose at her and continued climbing.

She came upon a nest. It looked like a bird's nest, and inside of it were a few eggs. True to her thoughts a bird flew to the nest, eyeing her suspiciously and getting between her and its eggs.

Karma slid along the branch toward the bird, her eyes wide. A bird.

Her stomach rumbled.

A flash of movement, and nothing was left in the nest but the eggs.

Karma licked her lips.

She was no longer hungry.

Flora wandered into the forest, whispering softly to Mystery. "Did you see him? Are those scums starving him? Beating him?"
Suddenly Mystery gave a warning cry and flew off. Flora startled, "Hey! What's wrong? Mystery?"

Karma felt a dawning horror. She had just eaten a bird! What would happen if someone saw her like this? The bird's blood was still on her lips. She could taste it when she licked them.

Hearing the voice of the girl, Karma looked downward. From up here, it looked like a first year, but everyone would probably look like a firstie from this height. Karma prayed she wouldn't look up. She did not want to be seen like this. It could ruin everything. She had absolutely no idea what to do.

Nightmare, on the other hand, had stood up, and was arching her back at the girl and showing her teeth.

Then she began to morph.

Nightmare was suddenly longer, taller, a panther. She looked formidable, and Karma was in awe of what was happening.

Nightmare showed her teeth and growled, low in her throat, a sound that made Karma feel comforted, but was probably terrifying to anyone else.

Flora whirled around at the growling, and looking straight at her with her teeth bared was, well a fully grown panther. Even at the face of panic, Flora couldn't help but marvel at her beauty. She wanted to back away, but she thought it might just provoke her to attack. So, she met her eyes full on. But... There's something off about the animal.
'You're not really a wild one, are you? You're someone's familiar, isn't it?' she whispered, as if the panther would understand.

Nightmare lowered herself to the ground, ready to pounce. Karma wiped her arm across her mouth, trying to get the blood away, but only succeeded in getting it both on her arm and smeared across her face, not that she knew. She found herself licking her arm to clean the blood off. She looked down at her shirt. It was clean. She licked her lips to make sure the blood was gone. It was all gone. All the evidence.

She looked down as Nightmare growled again, baring her teeth and sinking down deeper. Her claws extended, and she looked quite formidable. Nightmare flattened her ears to her head and hissed. The girl had better leave. What was she doing, still being here?

Was she talking to Nightmare?

Flora changed her stance into a defensive one.
'So you're going to attack me, huh? Why though? This can't be your teritorry and you can't be hungry. Are you watching over your 'protected'? I'd leave you to it then. But you have to understand, I can't posibly turn my back on you when you are all ready to pounce. Relax and sit back, and I'll leave. But if you attack, I'll stop you. I'm pretty used to growling and pouncing, you know.'

Nightmare was confused, that much was sure. Her tail twitched. Karma started down the tree. Nightmare's ears swiveled her way before she sat up. She gave the girl a cold glare and sat ramrod straight, obviously waiting for the girl to leave.

Karma stopped on a branch just above the girl, and waited also. No doubt the girl would want to know why she needed protection from her familiar, and Karma was sure there was blood on her somewhere. She didn't know where, but she could sense she had left it somewhere. She laid along the branch, watching the girl with interest. She supposed she wouldn't run from something about to pounce, but still, the girl had spunk. Perhaps she wasn't the sharpest Claw on the Raven, for not at least trying to back away, but there was something about the way she noticed Nightmare was a Familiar. She didn't like it.

Nightmare was waiting, looking proper and prim. She had gone silent, and wasn't growling. She was waiting.

Flora straightened up as the panther did. She watched her carefully. She had gotten very good at reading expressions at the orphanage. And the panther looked marely impatient.
'Ok then, glad we could agree.' she said, backtracking carefully. 'Hope to see you later, in a less hostile situation.' Flora turned her back to a quick, yet casual walk, keeping an eye on her all the while, from the corner of her eyes. Only when she was out of her sight and posibly earshot, she released the breath she didn't know she was holding. Wow!

Karma watched the girl go and made sure she was really gone before she swung down from the branch and cautiously approached Nightmare. "Could you always do that?" She whispered. Nightmare eyed her with the air of superiority that only a cat could pull off. Karma kneeled before her and tentatively reached out a hand and felt the top of Nightmare's head, between her ears, just like she liked it. The panther purred, and slowly shrank back to the familiar size of the kitten Karma knew. She picked it up and hugged it to her chest, standing. "You're the best Familiar ever, you know?"

Nightmare answered by purring and licking the blood off her face.