Tillia Vesper's Story

"There he is! Go, men!" the patrol leader called. Half of the patrol jumped but was charging alongside the leader in the next moment. Everyone leveled their sword and spears as they tried to take down the Cat.

"Fools." Tillia muttered from where she sat on the branch. She had sensed the cat a while back and had split from the group to try a sneak attack. Now they had gone and eliminated any of the stealth she'd had. Tillia kicked her head back against the tree and waited for the battle to be over. Even she had to admit that the Cat was a skilled fighter and the soldiers weren't very well trained. They were a surprisingly expendable part of the Queen's army. Unlike her she thought with a smile. She woundn't waste her energy unless she had the advantage.

Tillia cocked her head when she heard the sounds of battle stop. Tillia waited another moment and then hopped down from the tree. The battle scene was grusome but it was nothing special. Tillia stepped over a severed arm and investigated the scene. She grimaced at the messy handiwork. She would have thought he had learned to use that claw by now. At least when she murdered, there was some grace and finesse to it.

When she'd completed the Queen's report she sat and wondered what she should do next. The patrol wasn't due back for another hour and she was done with her report. Tillia kneeled down and picked up two bloody spears from the ground. She let out a faint smile. She hadn't done much hunting in her human form and the cat would certainly make for interesting prey. She examined the scene a bit more and noticed the blood trail leaving the clearing.
"Here Kitty, Kitty." she muttered as she began her hunt.

Kurai could hear someone's voice. Blaming his strong ears, he remained hidden, his eyes darting around like flies. 'Damn the Hearts. Damn the Queen.' he thought to himself and switched trees, pulling his cloak tighter around him. After landing on the third tree, he licked his claw.

Not like he was a cannibal- He just somehow enjoyed the taste of blood. Especially if the blood was from a soldier of the Hearts. Most lovely when it was the- "Dammit." he muttered lowly. He hated it when he got lost in his thoughts of blood. Absolutely hated it. He'd have to go wild.

He sensed a strong presence. 'What a presence. Kinda like......a Jabberwock or something.' he thought. 'But why would a Jabberwock be out for my blood?' He suddenly remembered where he got his claw. 'Oh. Yeah, right.' He waited in silence, for the person in his woods.

Tillia stopped when the trail of blood ended. She pushed the but of a spear into the ground and started to look around. Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of what to do now. The end of the trail probably meant that the Cat had left the ground for a tree.

Tillia closed her eyes and flicked her tongue out to try and catch a scent. She nearly recoiled with embaressment. That wasn't how human's smelled she reminded herself. Trying again she smelled and listened for anything in the woods around her.

A couple moments later the sound human speak pricked her ears. Accompanied by the scent of bloody fur and she found her target. She positioned the spear as she calculated how to throw. The spear was airborn seconds later and heading slightly left of her target.

She was aiming to miss anyway. It's only purpose was to flush him out. When the spear disapeared form her sight. She darted up another tree with the spare spear between her teeth. She waited for the cat to make a move out of the tree. As soon as he ran, she would follow and the chase could begin.

Kurai saw a spear coming....... On reflex, he caught it. 'Tch.' he stared at it for a while. 'Looks like a soldier's spear. Did the Jabberwock come with soldiers or something?' he asked himself.

Then he remembered. The Cat quickly darted out of his hiding place to another one, then to another one, and so on. 'I'm not in the mood to fight right now, but if that beast wants to, then I'm more than glad.' He dropped to the ground, threw away the spear and started to build up his tension.

He sensed the presence again. Gritting his teeth, he removed the cloak once more and revealed the claw he had gotten from the beast who was tracking him down now.

(OOC: sorry about not posting. I was adjusting to the first week of school and couldn't make time.)

Tillia listened to the Cat jump through the trees before landing a couple feet away from her. He threw down his cloak and exposed his grotesque claw. She cracked a smirk at the cat. Did he expect that to intimidate her? She wasn't going to cower like a normal soldier. She had four of those claws normally. She wasn't in her normal skin but she could still make herself very deadly with the spear.

She pushed the but of the spear into the ground. She put a hand on her hip and leaned against a nearby tree.
"Prey isn't supposed to attack the hunter." she taunted.
She locked eyes with the cat. She adjusted her grip on the spear, preparing to jab it forward if he chose to attack.

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"Will that be all queen?"
The queen looked around the room before settling her cold eyes on Chaturi. Chaturi stifled the urge to shiver beneath her gaze.
"Well I guess there is no more use for you here," She said looking away with a faint sigh. "Did you want to go?" she asked when he hadn't moved.
"Oh yes oh great queen." He said, hopping away towards the door. He purposefully stumbled on the way out the door and practically felt the queen roll her eyes at him. He nodded to the guards on the other side of the door but they ignored him. Once around the corner he threw of his act. It was annoying to act like an idiot in front of everyone but it had to be done.


About an hour later he was hopping through the undergrowth in no real direction. He'd overheard some of the queen's plans the day before and figured that Kurai would want to hear about it. Kurai didn't favor one place in his woods though and it could take much longer than he had to wait in one place. He was much better off wondering through every part of the forest as fast as he could but even then he might miss him. More than anything it was also an excuse to be out of the castle. He hated being in there. It always felt as if someone were watching him and his idiot disguise was very annoying.

Chaturi smiled at the wind and leaves rushing through his fur as he ran freely through them. Then something else caught his eye and he stopped. It was an old broken down house. It was shoddily made out of wooden planks which had a faded white paint job. Heart-shaped tiles had fallen from the roof and now formed a sort of path toward the door. Chaturi had never been down this trail before and contemplated turning around. This house seemed very eerie to him and it didn't look like strangers were meant to go inside. On the other hand some Wonderlanders were reluctant to leave their houses whether for fear of the red queen or fear of Kurai. Either way they could become a potential ally for him at least.

He cautiously hopped up to the beginning of the tile path and called inside.

"I don't remember me being the prey or you being the hunter, Jabberwock." the Cat replied, narrowing his eyes into dangerous slits. "If you want your claw back, you'll have to rip it away from me." he said, the bloody grin appearing on his face again. As the leader of the rebels, he had to maintain calmness.

He saw a dead soldier. He picked up the soldier's sword, practiced a few swings and then stared into the darkness of the woods again, trying to spot the hiding Jabberwock.