Niv sat quietly at the edge of the treeline with her back resting against the rough bark of a tree, her legs folded beneath her as she focused on the rabbit she was currently working her way through. Blood dripped slowly down the front of her chest that would definitely need to be cleaned later, but at the moment she did not seem particularly concerned about the mess.
The rabbit tasted very good, and she made small content noises as she tore away another piece of meat with her teeth. Even so, it was not a particularly filling meal for someone her size. Rabbits were nice, certainly, but they were more of a snack than anything truly satisfying. She would probably need to hunt something larger later if she wanted a proper meal that would last through the night.
Still, the rabbit served its purpose well enough for the moment.
While she ate, her attention kept drifting back toward the clearing where the pretty human lived. Earlier in the day the human had left in the strange loud moving thing it sometimes climbed into, carrying Niv’s gift with it. The deer leg had been wrapped in a strange blue shiny skin before being taken away.
Niv had not entirely understood what the blue shiny skin was for, but she had assumed it must be some sort of human ritual or preparation. Humans did many strange things with objects that did not always make sense to her.
The important part, as far as she could tell, was that the human had taken the gift with it instead of throwing it into the bad pile behind the den like it had done with the beautiful piece of tree skin she had offered earlier.
That had been deeply upsetting, but the meat gift had been treated differently as the human had wrapped it carefully and carried it away. That meant it probably liked it. Niv felt a small, pleased warmth spread through her chest at the thought. The human must have liked the antler prey meat!
She paused mid-bite as a slightly alarming realization settled in her mind.
She really was doing this, wasn’t she?
She had already given the gifts. Several of them, in fact. First the rock, which had been a very good rock even if it was not the best one she owned, and then the tree skin, and finally the leg from the deer she had taken in the forest. And the human had accepted them, at least the rock and the meat.
Niv’s ears twitched slightly as she considered the implications of her own actions. If the gifts had been accepted, then the next step would normally be to approach and meet properly… Which meant she would have to reveal herself.
Her stomach fluttered nervously at the thought.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea.
Extremely bad idea.
She shook her head slightly and returned her attention to the rabbit, chewing thoughtfully while she tried to calm the nervous thoughts running through her mind.
Perhaps it would be better to learn more about the human first.
Yes, that seemed much safer.
If she observed a little longer, she could make sure the human did not intend to hunt her or harm her in some way. That would be the sensible thing to do.
Just for safety.
While she was still thinking about this, the loud moving thing returned, rumbling its way back along the path toward the human’s den. Niv lifted her head immediately and watched carefully from the shadows as the human climbed out.
The blue shiny skin was gone now.
Instead, the human was carrying several pieces of the antler prey meat wrapped in a different kind of covering, one that looked thin and shiny but also see-through at the same time. Niv tilted her head slightly as she studied it.
Humans certainly had a lot of strange skins they wrapped things in.
The human walked partway toward the den before suddenly stopping.
Niv felt her body go rigid. The human turned slowly and began looking around the clearing, scanning the treeline with careful attention. Every instinct she had told her that sudden movement right now would give her away immediately, so she stayed perfectly still, barely even breathing as she watched the human’s eyes sweep across the forest.
Then, for a brief and terrifying moment, it looked like the human was staring directly at her.
Niv felt her heart begin to race wildly in her chest.
Her muscles tensed, ready to bolt deeper into the forest if the human suddenly pointed or shouted or reached for one of its strange human tools. But after a moment the human’s gaze drifted past her hiding place, continuing slowly along the treeline as if it had not actually seen her at all.
Eventually the human shrugged slightly, turned around again, and walked back toward the den.
Niv remained frozen for several long seconds before finally allowing herself to breathe again.
Her mind was racing now.
She was beginning to suspect that maybe humans were not quite as weak as the stories made them sound. Physically they might not be particularly impressive compared to her people, but they clearly possessed some form of strange sensing magic that allowed them to detect things around them.
This was not the first time the human had looked in her direction like that.
Niv was becoming increasingly certain that the human knew she was somewhere nearby.
She swallowed nervously.
If the human already suspected her presence, then hiding forever might not be possible, which meant she would eventually have to decide how to make contact. She really should not do that, but she was already behaving like a complete stupid head.
Still, she had already shared some of her kill.
The thought made her blush. When had she become so forward? Offering meat like that was practically proposing a mate-bonding.
And she had done it to a human.
Niv groaned softly and buried her face in her claws for a moment before finishing off the last of the rabbit.
Once she was done eating, she stood up and stretched before slipping quietly away from the treeline. Since the human was no longer outside, she decided it would be a good time to visit the nearby river so she could clean herself up a bit.
The river was pleasant during the warm times, even if some members of her people disliked getting their fur wet. Niv personally did not mind it so much, especially when it meant washing away blood and dirt after a hunt. Grooming was important after all.
If she was actually going to go through with this incredibly questionable plan, then she wanted to look her best when the time came.
By the time she returned to the human’s territory the sky had grown dark and night had settled over the forest. Niv preferred the night in many ways, because her eyes worked well in the dim light even if most of the colors faded into shades of grey and silver.
The darkness also made it much harder for other creatures to notice her moving through the trees.
Humans, she was fairly certain, were not very good at seeing in the dark.
Though they did have the strange ability to create little days around themselves using their odd glowing things, which she still found completely bewildering.
As she crept closer to the den, she noticed that light was shining through the clear sections in the walls.
It looked like daytime inside.
Her heart skipped a small beat when she saw the human moving around within those glowing spaces. Niv crouched lower behind a tree, watching with growing fascination. She wanted to get closer, much closer.
A small part of her briefly wondered if she should have brought another gift. Perhaps a fish from the river or another nice rock? But that could wait until later, for now she only wanted to peek a little just to see what the inside of the strange human den looked like.
Niv waited carefully in the shadows of the treeline, crouched low among the bushes and ferns while she watched the glowing den and the moving figure inside it. She stayed very still, only allowing her head to tilt slightly now and then as she tracked the human’s movements through the clear sections in the wall. It was important to be patient. The Mother had always said that patience kept hunters alive, and Niv was determined not to make any foolish mistakes now that she had come this close. Well, more foolish mistakes than courting a human of all things!
After several long moments of watching, she finally decided that the human was not looking toward the clearing.
That was her chance.
Moving quickly but as quietly as she possibly could, Niv slipped out of the safety of the trees and began crossing the wide open space between the forest and the strange square den. The clearing suddenly felt enormous now that she was in it, far too open and exposed for her liking. There were no bushes, no fallen logs, and no tall grass thick enough to hide behind if the human suddenly stepped outside and spotted her.
If that happened she would have nowhere to go except back across the open ground.
Because of that, she moved quickly, her long limbs carrying her across the clearing in a low, cautious run that barely disturbed the grass beneath her feet.
Her heart pounded nervously in her chest the entire time.
Finally she reached the side of the den and pressed herself against the wall, letting out a slow breath of relief now that she was out of the open.
This was the closest she had ever been to the human’s den, and she immediately began examining it with curious fascination. Up close, the strange structure was even more confusing than it had appeared from the forest.
She reached out and touched the wall carefully with her fingers.
The surface felt like it had once been part of a dead tree, which made sense because it smelled faintly like wood, but it was far smoother than any tree she had ever encountered in the forest. Her claws slid gently across the surface without catching on rough bark or splinters.
“How did they make the trees like this?” she murmured quietly to herself.
She moved along the side of the den, continuing to touch and examine the strange materials as she went.
At one point she stepped onto the rough rocky ground near where the big metal thing the human drove was parked. The surface was made from lots of small sharp rocks pressed together, and one of them jabbed painfully into the soft skin of her foot.
Niv nearly yelped in surprise, but she managed to clamp her mouth shut at the last second.
She did not like the rocky ground at all.
After that she made sure to keep her steps mostly on the grass or the strange smooth stone slabs scattered around the clearing. Those stones fascinated her almost as much as the walls of the den.
She stepped on one, then stepped off it again.
Then she stepped back onto it.
“How do humans make rock so big?” she whispered in amazement.
The stone was wide and flat and incredibly smooth, nothing like the rocks she was used to finding in the forest or even the smoothie ones along the riverbanks. She kept stepping on and off the surface in disbelief, gently tapping it with her toes as if expecting it to suddenly break apart.
Eventually she forced herself to stop playing with the strange stone and continued creeping along the side of the den.
That was when her nose caught something interesting.
Niv paused immediately and sniffed the air.
There were many different scents drifting around this part of the den, some familiar and others completely new. Her ears twitched as she tried to sort through them all, focusing on the most interesting one.
Food.
There was definitely food nearby.
Following the scent trail, she crept around the side of the building until she found a strange container sitting near the wall. She had no idea what it was supposed to be, but when she nudged it experimentally with her fingers she discovered that it moved slightly.
Curious, she began poking and prodding at it.
After a bit of experimentation she managed to lift the lid.
The moment it opened, a whole wave of interesting smells rushed out to greet her nose.
Niv’s eyes widened with excitement.
Inside the container were many strange objects wrapped in delicate black skins. The skins looked thin and fragile, and when she poked one with her claw it tore open easily with a soft ripping sound.
She began rummaging through the contents eagerly, pulling things out one by one and sniffing them with growing fascination.
There was so much food in here.
“Why does the human keep it all in this box?” she wondered quietly.
Maybe this was how humans stored their food.
Then again, the Mother had once said that humans could somehow make hot cold and cold hot using their strange magicks. Niv knew from her many warm times that food lasted much longer during the cold times, so perhaps this human simply did not know how to make the cold properly.
That seemed like a possible explanation.
While digging through the container she eventually found something that caught her attention immediately.
It looked interesting.
The object did not resemble any plant she recognized, but it also did not smell entirely like meat either. There was a little bit of meat scent in the middle, but it was surrounded by other smells that reminded her more of plants.
“Oh,” she said softly as she sniffed it more carefully. “There are plants in it too.”
Her ears tilted in confusion. Did humans eat both meat and plants? That seemed strange, as far as Niv knew, only birds ate that way.
She squinted suspiciously at the object in her hands.
“Are humans wingless birds?” she wondered aloud.
That theory did not seem entirely correct either.
Humans did not look like birds at all.
Still puzzling over that question, she lifted the food to her nose and inhaled deeply.
It smelled amazing. She pulled the plants out and then without hesitating any further, she took a large bite.
Her face lit up immediately.
“Oh!”
The flavor was incredible. There were so many strange tastes all mixed together that she could hardly keep track of them. Some parts were salty, others were sweet, and there were little hints of spices she had never encountered before in her life.
Every bite brought a new and exciting flavor.
Niv happily continued eating the strange human food, completely absorbed in the experience.
About halfway through devouring the delicious discovery, she suddenly felt something shift in the air behind her.
Her ears twitched.
Slowly, she turned her head.
Standing just around the corner of the den was the human.
Two forward-facing eyes were staring directly at her.
They remained locked in stunned silence for a moment.
Then the human blinked and spoke.
“What the fuck.”