Hunter and the Hunted

As with most mornings Shale was sleeping inside one of the many tree houses she owned throughout the forest. She had eaten a fair amount of the meat in the area and was on to another. With a silent leap her soft leather shoes grabbed the bark on a branch from one of the smaller neighboring trees below.

As if blessed by her very touch the tiny branch didn't sway when struck by her weight. Another graceful step and her feet landed on the crunchy autumn leaves without a sound. As her feet left each step left a moss footprint. She was on the run now cutting through the dew covered two foot tall dark green grass. Only traveling a short distance and she was soaked wet from the moister on the wet leaves.

Cold fog rolled through the air and not very many birds were chirping in the cloudy sky. Shale needed travel far before settling down on a rotted log, from one of the more ancient trees in her forest. She crawled inside, her nose smelling the mushrooms which she quickly located and ate, the poison quickly traveling into her bloodstream.

She decided to stop and rest inside the hollow of the log while her body processed the poison. Though it wasn't long before her eyes shot open in the darkness. It was around noon, her ears had detected movement in the forest.