The Seeker

-the seeker-

Slowly I advanced on the quivering bush. Slowly…and pounce! I lifted off with my hind legs and felt myself flying through the air. I landed squarely on the bush, ignoring the pricks digging into my pads. A small, furry creature broke free from the cover of the bush and hared away from me. A mouse! Quickly I scrambled up and attempted to race after it. Anticipation rushed through me. Suddenly the mouse turned a corner of the sagging, old brick buildings and disappeared. I skidded around the edge and almost collided with the wall. A dead end! However, many small holes littered the wall, showing various exit points for a creature as small as a mouse. The small animal could have gotten anywhere by now. I hissed in frustration. Being a rogue cat fending for yourself in a human town is not easy. I was the only out of kittenhood, my fur still kit-soft. But my mother was pregnant, my father long gone, and I had no siblings. If I didn’t hunt, my mother and I would starve. Worse than that, there was a mysterious cat on the loose in the city, one that no rogue, wild or house cat alike had seen. If you had seen the Seeker, you wouldn’t live to tell the tale. This cat fed on souls, ripped them away and devoured them; that along with the valiant red eyes was all that was known about the menacing figure among the city cats. I realized I was in a terrible place tonight. In a nearly eradicated complex of buildings, dark and set-aside from the rest of the world, was a perfect target for the Seeker. I shuddered, and turned to take my leave of the horrid, garbage-infested area. But there was a dark figure blocking the exit. I gasped and edged backwards, only to collide with a cold metal trash container overflowing with reeking material. It stared at me menacingly. Something in the glowing red eyes paralyzed my body, momentarily blinding my senses, as if possessing my soul. “W-who are you?” I hissed, fluffing up my fur and arching my spine so I looked twice as big and menacing. “You are my victim. Your soul belongs to me.” The Seeker hissed in a scratchy, unnatural voice. It poured out of a throat hidden along with the face in a hooded cloak, lost in shadows that seemed impossibly depthless. The cat stepped forward. Moonlight illuminated its body. Its head remained concealed under the hood, showing nothing but red indicating eyes. Then I realized. “The Seeker!” I yelped in panic. It had to be. No cat could have red eyes but one… What shall I do? There were no possible exits, and my being only a kit made events worse. The Seeker advanced toward me, flowing in a liquid pattern as if it were floating, unanchored to the ground. “Cassava! Cassava, are you here!” A familiar voice sounded from around the corner, echoing and desperate. “Mother!” I yowled from my position. The Seeker spun around as if panicked and hissed. I saw long black claws sink into the moist earth, frustrated. I heard a sigh—maybe the wind, maybe my imagination—and the the dark cat vanished into thin air, only a slight residue left floating in the breeze. “Cassava!” My mother skidded around the corner and nearly collapsed on top of me. I ran up to her and pressed my nose into her shoulder, my eyes watering from the events of the night and the acrid vapors from the garbage behind us. “What have you been doing?” My mother hissed at me, backing up and looking at me as if I were a stranger. “You know I’m expecting—I’m tired, irritated, and exhausted about all of this. I thought I had lost you to the Seeker!” I gulped. “I was hunting.” My mother sighed. “Cassava, you are only a kit; my only kit. That means I keep you safe wherever we are. It is not your responsibility.” “You’re expecting a litter and can’t hunt! We’ll starve if I don’t go out,” I protested. “At this hour? No. Now come,” my mother pressed her flank against mine and we walked out of the dark alley corner. ╰╮ I awoke to a brilliant, sun-filled morning. Many seasons had passed since I had encountered the Seeker; I was an adult cat now, and my mother and I alike knew it was now my job to hunt and defend herself, my sister Jay, and me. I gave myself a quick grooming and continued out of our den, stationed under a gap in a rotten porch of a human house. My mother was still asleep, along with Jay. I’ll surprise them. I’ll catch a mouse or two, along with a starling. “Wait!” Small paws pattered behind me and I saw Jay’s small gray tabby body peeking out of the den entrance. “Let me come with you!” the kitten pleaded. I sighed in exasperation. “No, Jay, you are too small a cat to come hunting. A songbird could carry you off in a heartbeat,” I added playfully. “No, it can’t,” Jay pouted, turning her nose up. “Not fair. I’m old enough. And if you won’t let me I’ll go myself.” A surge of concern came inside me. The Seeker was still at large among the feline community in the city, though it seemed the dark cat was lying low, waiting to pounce, as if hunting. I didn’t want Jay out there, vulnerable, like I was the night I had met the Seeker itself. “No, you can’t,” I mewed abruptly, with force, though out of concern rather than rudeness. I gently nosed the small cat back into the den. “Another day. When you’re older.” Without another word, I turned and stalked off, aware of Jay’s pitiful wailing behind me. I gracefully leaped onto the dilapidated wooden fence. It shook slightly with my weight. This row of houses still had humans residing inside, but the houses were falling apart, the yard overgrown with weeds and undergrowth. That was one reason my mother had settled here—along with the lack of human activity, the plants and wilderness gave her an element of life that she had always dreamed of: to be free and wild like the feral cats in the forest that everyone knew about. They were strong and worthy, as big as a lion and as brave as a tiger. They fought with all of their might against their opponents but fiercely protected loved ones. And just across an expanse of churned dirt and gravel began this mystical new world—the wilderness. I gazed upon it every day I wondered what life would be like so free but vulnerable, the safety of the trees but the harshness of the creatures within. Mother had never told me why we couldn’t actually live among the woods—she most likely never would—except that we needed time. I suspected she was not emotionally prepared for an unknown reason, but I had never prompted her, just hoped that some day she would make up her mind. Either that or I would leave her and Jay to make my own life among the trees. But I can’t do that yet—Mother is too old and Jay is not old enough to support both herself and our mother. My thoughts churning, I finally reached the end of the fence and jumped down. A copse of trees lay here, surrounded by bushes and layered thickly with soft grass. Not only was it alive with prey, but was calming and the only haven apart from my sightseeing of the forest. I parted my jaws and tasted the air. Many tempting scents came to me in all directions, but I pinpointed one—a water vole—and dropped into a crouch. I crept until I could see the form of the small creature, nibbling on roots under a small bush. The wind blew toward me so my scent was washed away. The vole was completely unsuspecting. I pounced and swiftly killed the vole with a bite to the neck. Throwing it in the beginnings of a pile, I turned to see if I could find any other food to bring home. I remembered my plan about hunting. Voles in this season were hard to catch, and Jay had never tasted vole. Now she will. I dug a shallow hole in the soft earth and scratched earth over my prey to come and collect it later during the day. Hunting can wait for now. I decided to explore around the area a bit and enjoy the grassy glade. The sun beat down on my back, but the shadows were thickest under the trees. It was pitch black where the sun could not warm the ground. As I turned around, an earsplitting screech cut through the air. It sounded as if the cat were truly in pain. Even worse, I would recognize that voice anywhere. “Cassava, help!” What? How? I turned and raced toward where I thought the source of the voice was. Sure enough, as I peeked around the corner of the decomposing fence, a cat stood with its back arched and hackles raised, though I could smell its fear scent from where I stood. A dark shadow loomed over it, with a cloak masked over its body. They were positioned under the darkest part of the town, where the house nearly met the forest. Jay. Kicking up dirt and grit in my wake, I scrambled up and directly toward my sister, not fearing for my life or the fact that I knew who I was dealing with. The little cat gazed at me with huge frightened eyes. I ran at the pair and leaped on top of the Seeker, digging my claws into its back. Instead I swiped at nothing but air and fell through. The dark cat reared up and looked at me with startled eyes, then disappeared. The same way that it did with me, so long ago. “Jay! Oh, are you safe?” I murmured, pressing close to my sister. “Y-yes,” she murmured. “I’m fine.” I noticed her teeth chattering and gently nosed her into the sunlight. “How did you get here? I thought I told you to stay inside the den!” My concern slowly changed to anger. “This is why I don’t let immature kits like you out of Mother’s sight. Ugh, this is all my fault. Oh dear, what will Mother say?” Jay shrunk in hurt. “I’m not immature!” she protested weakly. “It’s just not fair that—” “Life isn’t fair, Jay. But it’s my responsibility to care for you and make sure you’re safe. Now come, let’s return home.” I found myself repeating exactly what I had been told by Mother when I was a kit.