Chapter 6 Raccoons and a Snake

Kitty was busy sneaking up on a small group of birds when she met the next new creatures. There was a splash down below that drew her attention away from the birds, and she saw three animals. They were larger than her, but smaller than the dog. As she watched, they were digging around in the water, washing something, maybe their paws. Wondering if they had stepped in the dog's mud puddles, she pondered whether she should introduce herself, to let them know this was her area, or if she should leave them alone, in case they thought she would make a nice snack.

As this was the closest she had ever gotten to actually capturing some little birds, she decided to put the encounter off with them until later. A few moments later, as she was gliding down from the tree in the most recent failed attempt, she decided it would be good to know her neighbors. Landing in the soft grass close by, she shook herself to settle her wings close to her sides and turned in their direction.

They had grey fur, much like she did, but a black mask covered their eyes. She went to step closer to them, when they suddenly sprung into action. Her eyes widened as they raced at her, and she suddenly decided it would be a great time to know how to fly. Springing into the air, just as they dived at her, she could feel the whoosh of air as one just missed grabbing her tail.

Flapping her wings like crazy, she was staring at a branch above her head, trying to reach it with everything she had. Her fingers curled around it, and she hung there, exhausted and terrified. Turning her head, she saw the trio tumbling over each other as they raced to the tree this branch connected to. Licking her lips, she looked around, trying to find some respite from their attack. If there had just been one, she might have tried to fight it, or just run away, but because there were three of them, she was certain they were about to kill her.

Why couldn't she have waited to introduce herself???

Spying a large white figure moving this way, she got an idea. It was dangerous, but no more dangerous than the situation she currently found herself in. The raccoons were completely focused on her. So, opening her wings to catch herself, she let go of the branch and drifted slowly to the ground.

Just as she had hoped, the three stopped climbing the tree. However, instead of climbing down, they jumped, landing almost on top of her.

With a scream of terror, she dashed towards where she had seen the dog, and the three chased after her. Kitty wasn't sure what she was expecting when she dashed towards the dog, but it sure wasn't the dog yelping in fear and running away. As frustration mixed with her fear, she did the only thing she could think of, and that was to follow the dog. Maybe it had experience with these demons that were chasing her, and knew how to escape them.

A problem arose, though, after only a few moments. She was getting tired. Spying a hole just big enough for her, she dived for it. Wiggling in as far as she could, she turned to look behind her, and saw an arm reach in, trying to grab her tail. For once the offending member was behaving, staying well out of reach.

The raccoons tried for several minutes to get to her, reaching with their arms, and even digging at the ground. The hole she had chosen was nestled under a tree, and its tough roots protected the hole from the raccoons' attempts. She was just catching her breath, when there was a whine, signaling the arrival of the dog again.

Had it figured out what she had done? Was it back to get revenge on her for scaring it?

As the raccoons scampered away, and the dog chased after them, she realized it didn't like them any more than she did. Obviously for different reasons, but she didn't care at the moment. Her heart was still beating a little too fast, but she thought it was a good time to try and get away before they escaped the dog and either returned to get her.

A noise behind her stopped her in her tracks. Turning her head quickly, she spied something that stole her breath away. Two reptilian eyes stared at her out of the dark. She had never seen a snake before, but there must have been some instinct in her that knew how dangerous this thing was, because her skin began to crawl.

It would most definitely have attacked her by now, except it had been busy eating something that had already escaped to this hole to hide. The snake's mouth was full of rabbit.

Seeing her fate sealed in its eyes, she did the only thing that sprung to mind, and it wasn't run away. She jumped at it, sinking her teeth into its neck. The scales resisted for only a moment. As she bit down, the snake went crazy, whipping back and forth in the small tunnel. Letting go of it, Kitty backed away enough not to get hit. She sat and watched as it tried to tie itself into knots in the small space. This thing was huge. She was so glad she had found it when its mouth was full or she might have not survived.

Normally she would have been freaking out, trying to get away from this thing, but after her fight with the owl, Kitty had come to realize a few things. Whenever she bit anything, that thing died. It didn't matter how big it was. She had bit fish from the river, which were quite tasty, frogs, birds that came to kill her, and now a snake.

Once it was done wriggling and spasming, she grasped its head firmly with her clawed fingers, and began to drag it out of the hole. It was a difficult thing to do, and she had to stop several times to rest. But she kept at it, because she intended to eat this thing. As she finally pulled it out of the hole, the familiar whine of the dog signaled his return.

Glancing at the snake for only a moment, she dashed straight up the tree. Then, to her dismay, the dog arrived and began sniffing her meal. How was a growing girl like herself, going to make it in this world, if her food was stolen away, every time she got a big snake? Settling down on her branch in annoyance, she watched as he nosed it a couple times to make sure it was dead, then grabbed it up in his mouth and pranced off with it.

Grumbling in anger, she looked around to see all of the excitement had chased off all the other game in the area. It was probably a good thing, as she wasn't sure she was up to any more excitement. With a sigh, she decided bugs would suffice once again, and headed off with her tail waving in anticipation.