The Cat and The Fish (Fisher)

Enjoying the breeze ruffling her fur, Regan let out a soft sigh. Right now she was at peace. Things weren’t perfect, but things weren’t too bad either. The outdoors just made her heart feel lighter and she didn’t feel all the pressures of the world and the constant fear of the people of the city. It was just quiet and calm up in her tree, alone in the woods.

…..

Well she was alone up until now anyways. Regan’s ears perked up as she heard the crunching of snow underfoot and her emerald eyes quickly darted in the direction that it was coming from. She spotted a male figure in the snow and he was heading directly for her tree.

Feeling a slight twinge of panic flutter through her chest, Regan remained motionless on her perch in the tree. She watched the male closely as he came forth and pulled out a knife to start carving into her tree. She wasn’t very happy about that, but she supposed that she didn’t really own the tree, she just really liked it.

It was long until he finished his carving and she curiously leaned forward a little trying to get a better look. The male then picked up a stick and started to whittle the end of it into a point. She squeezed her clawed hands around the branch she was perched on and dug her claws in slightly, she was now starting to worry that if he spotted her, he might just try and use that stick as a weapon, and that would end very badly for the unknowing male below her. But now she was stuck in this tree, if she tried to make an escape, he would easily see her and her mutation.

Green eyes stayed ever locked onto the male below as he worked away on his little wood spear. Suddenly the knife in his hand slipped and nicked his finger, the scent of his blood filled the air and the inner saber tooth forced a small growl to escape Regan’s lips unintentionally. She gasped and clasped a clawed hand over her mouth. So much for being inconspicuous!

She remained motionless on her perch and hopped that the male below hadn’t heard her, or at least didn’t realize where it had come from directly. She stared down at him, waiting to see what his reaction would be and she hoped that she wouldn’t scare the living daylights out of him if he did spot her. If so she would use the trees to make her escape back to the mansion and avoid any serious confrontation.

The male below had heard her it seemed since he was now staring right at her. Dammit! Why did she have to be an animal, and of all animals, a predator on top of that, it wasn’t fair. She slinked back in the tree to try and pull herself away from his view and to make a flying leap to the next tree when he acted relieved. Obviously this guy was either a mutant himself or one of the humans that didn’t fear them.

Still poised and ready to make a run for it, Regan stopped and looked back down at him, slightly curious, but still very cautious, it could be a trick after all. She didn’t say a word, just stared at him with frightened eyes. Then he asked if she knew Butterfly and it made her tilt her feline head to the side, a flicker of curiosity in her emerald eyes. She nodded slowly but didn’t speak to him. She wondered how he knew that Butterfly was her friend and how he knew about Butterfly.

Regan edged closer to the end of the branch so she could see the male better. He said he was Butterfly’s brother and that she had told him about her. She was kind of mad about that. Butterfly knew how much Regan hated being seen by people, and now she was telling other people about her? She hoped that it was only because Ty was her brother that she spilled the beans about her feline friend. She would let it slide for now, but she hoped that the news of existence wouldn’t keep spreading. Finally piping up, Regan responded in a small voice. “I’m Regan.”

So this was the guy that put Butterfly up in a condemned building in the middle of winter? She was not thrilled about that but she was not going to be rude and say that out loud to him. He claimed he was a mutant as well, she wondered what he was capable of doing, but she wasn’t about to ask. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone in the woods and of all the people to stumble across, he stumbled across her. It sure was a small world. “I was not expecting to run into anyone myself. Not many people hang out in the woods so it’s a safe place for me to get out and about.” she said in reply, her voice held a soft Irish accent as she spoke.

She wondered what he was getting away from, but he seemed pretty relaxed to be standing below a tigress. She wasn’t exhibiting any hostility, but she was still being careful, she wasn’t just going to trust this stranger right off the bat, he did have a knife and that little stake still, and for all she knew, the second she was in range, he might use it.

Regan watched as Ty put away his knife and toss the stick he was working on over his shoulder and she relaxed slightly. She sat down on the branch in a straddled position and lowered her upper body to lie down on the branch so she could look down at Ty easily. Her long tail trailed down past her feet and curled at the end. She gave him a curious look as he made his statement. “It’s nice to meet you too, but I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Have you not had many quiet conversations lately?”

“I love the woods.” Regan replied with a small smile. “I come out here a lot when I have free time, I like being outside. I spent most of my life locked up indoors so I take advantage of getting out and about when I can, and I sure do like climbing trees.” She said with a little giggle as she hung her head over the branch a little more which caused her vibrant red hair to hang around her feline face.

Regan’s head tilted to the side as Ty spoke about his current adventures and she was thankful that her life was looking pretty decent and calm compared to his. “Well that’s unfortunate to hear, seems your luck has not been all that great Ty.” She offered a sympathetic smile, “I hope it gets better for you soon, it’s never good to live a completely crazy life, you need to have some sort of peaceful escape.”

“The woods are a nice place to escape to, but living in a city does make that a little hard to do at times. I don’t go into the city myself,” she said with a slight frown, “I’m not exactly a welcomed sight to behold walking down the street.”