Talutah

~ Written by AuraofWinter, tweaked by Crescentstar711


Talutah walked amongst the dead leaves, hearing the gentle rustle as her paws disturbed the colorful, dead bodies. This “carnage” was a more welcome sight than that which her brethren spread. She shivered as she recalled her pack’s ravenous hunger, the spilled blood, the mangled bodies that were left out to rot as a sign to others of an Infected pack’s strength. She wanted none of that lust for slaughter.

Her thoughts traveled through her dark memories until a tiny mew pulled her back to the present. Glancing back and forth with her ears pricked forwards, she followed the weak mews to a rotten log. Using her claws, she pulled back a large chunk of bark to reveal a tiny grey kitten, who was retreating to the sides of the log out of fear. It was quite scrawny and looked malnourished, which caused Talutah to pity the small creature.

“Don’t worry. I won’t eat you. You’re too scrawny the way you are anyways. Hardly a mouthful,” she joked, but her toothy smile and large size only caused the kitten to tremble in fear with its eyes widened. Talutah’s ears drooped in disappointment. Of course she would scare any creature with her looks alone, but it felt like a knife to the heart to see the fear towards her in the eyes of others.

“I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to scare you,” she began to back away from the log. Tears began to fall from her eyes, “I wish I could change myself. I don’t want to be a monster...” Sadness enveloped her as her body shuddered with despair. Firmly shutting her eyes, she imagined being a regular Canis Lupus Tundra, being amongst a loving pack that would only hunt for the purposes of hunger, being accepted by others and seeing love and trust in their eyes. Her crying began to subside after some time, and she hiccuped quietly.

When her eyes opened and the tears didn’t blur her sight, she was astounded to see the kitten sitting patiently in front of her, eyes round with wonder. Talutah didn’t know what to do – she was immobilized. If she moved, would it scare the kitten away? If she smiled, would the sight of her teeth make the kitten cower in fear as before? The thought of seeing the same terrified face as before caused her eyes to become wet again but rather than get up and run away, the kitten walked up and began to rub her body against Talutah’s paws.

Talutah never felt warmth like this from another, not even from her own parents. It caused her to catch her breath but then melt inside, like ice on a warm day. She gave a gentle smile to the kitten - no teeth just in case! The kitten purred and gave a few licks to Talutah’s pelt. Like a loving mother, Talutah gently encircled the kitten with her tail and licked her forehead. It made the kitten purr even louder.

“Well, you tiny scrap. Hmmm, Scrap sounds like a good name,” and Scrap mewed in approval. “Let’s get you some dinner. You certainly need some meat on you.” Remembering the few pieces of meat held in a pouch tied to her cape, she pulled it out and gave the pieces to the kitten. Scrap dove into the dried meat with speed, munching hungrily. “Don’t eat too fast, or you’ll get a stomachache!” scolded the Tundra, but in a warm and playful tone. Scrap tried to eat less quickly, but it was hard for it to go much slower.

Once Scrap finished the meat (for there was nothing left after it finished), the kitten gave a little yawn and buried its face into Talutah’s fur. Talutah was already laying near the kitten as it ate, so she nudged the kitten to her chest and placed her paws protectively around Scrap. Giving another tiny mewl, it began to snuggle into her fur and slept. Talutah felt such a strong bond to the kitten and decided that she would take care of it as long as she was able. Scrap was now her pup, and she promised to herself she would be its mother in the way that she always wanted a mother to be for her.

Gently laying her head near the kitten, she relaxed and closed her eyes. Talutah was still aware enough of her surroundings in case of an approaching enemy, but she was never quite at peace as she was in that moment.



Art by PhillTheFab