Tales of an NPC: Alexander Hamilton de Guevera I, Tori's Cat - The Hunt

“You stay here and be good.”  Mom picked him up and cuddled him in her arms before kissing the top of his head and putting him back on the bed.  “I left the balcony open and put some cushions out there so you can lay out in the sun.”

Alexander stretched out and let out a lazy meow before dramatically laying on his side. He purposely pumped up the innocence.  Mom reached down and rubbed his belly one last time before taking a bag of things and walking out the door with Sonia.

The door closed and Alexander rolled on to his legs.  He stared at the door and listened.  He heard footsteps fading.

They were gone.

He shot up and hopped off the bed, squeezing through the partially open door to the balcony.

Oof...getting a little chubby here.  Maybe I shouldn’t have had breakfast first.  He jumped on the ledge and shook his head.  No, I need the energy to kill.

He maneuvered himself by the wall and, following the uneven bricks until he was close enough to land on the ground without hurting himself.  He looked around, keeping close to the building to avoid being seen.

There were many humans around at this time.  Most seemed to be stable hands and valets preparing horses.  Alexander felt his heart quicken.  He didn’t know how much time he had, but he needed to get into a saddle bag before it was too late.  He quickened his speed and managed to get to the same barn as last time.

“Alexander!” Maple stomped her feet.  She and Sprite were already out of the pens and had their saddles and bridles on.  “They’re going to bring us out to get ready soon!  Quickly, get into the saddle bag!”  She  motioned her large head towards the saddle bag slung over Sprite.   She pinched the leather flap with her teeth and lifted her head to hold it open.

“You’re great, Maple!  When we get back to the delta, I’m going to have them bring you some more apples!”  Alexander looked from side to side of the walkway and darted across.  He jumped into the bag and felt the leather flap drape over him.  He was not 100% in the bag.  “Wait....”

“Psh!  Looks like you need to lose some weight there, Chonk-zander,” a familiar, mocking voice of a particular snow-white horse said.  “You’re hanging out.”

Alexander’s ears pulled back as he kicked his feet.  Half his body had made it into the saddle back, but from his pouch down to his tail, he was hanging out.  His back feet struggled to get a hold against the leather bag so he could squirm in.

“Whoa, there, Alexander!  You’re tickling me!” Sprite said.

“Sorry!  I just need...a little boost...!”

“Hold on,” Maple said.  “I’ll push you up.”

Alexander felt a warm head under the back of his feet, and he made a point to be careful with his claws.  He managed to get in and turned in the back.  “You just got yourself some carrots, too!”

“Hush now, Little Grey,” Uncle Blue’s low voice said from across the walkway.  “They’re coming.”

Alexander curled up in as small a ball as he could, which, admittedly, was not very small.   He was as still as possible, pretending not to be bothered by the jostling as the bag was adjusted.

“This bag’s heavy.  What do nobles put in these?” someone said.  Alexander narrowed his eyes.

Excuse me?

“Who knows, but if it’s too heavy, it’ll hold them back.”

Alexander would’ve hissed he wasn’t trying to remain unnoticed.  I’m not going to hold anyone back.  How dare you....

He remained crouched, unmoving in the saddle bag for some time until he heard familiar voices.

“....the crystal beacon goes out; I can find you.  Instructor Ignatius said my radius for searching, even without sacred geometry, is well above average, so it won’t be difficult considering the area you’re restricted to.”

Alexander tensed up and almost didn’t breathe.  That was Mom!

“We’ll be back before sunset.  Don’t worry.”  The voice was coming from awfully close to him, meaning that he was probably in Sonia’s saddle bag.

“Good luck.”  Mom wasn’t going on the hunt.  Alexander just had to wait a bit longer.  Perhaps until they were well into the forest, and it was too late to turn back.  “You are still a prince.  Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

“I won’t.”

Alexander scrunched his face.  Could Lackey Number One even hunt?

“I leave them in your hands, Sir Granger.  Sir Lloyd.”

Oh, Sir Granger and Sir Lloyd were going with them.  Those two weren’t bad.  They were attentive, yet gave him his space whenever he’d seen them.  Sir Lloyd sometimes gave him a piece of meat from his lunch.

The horse began to move, and Alexander had to stifle his excitement.  The gentle bobbing of the saddlebag helped relax him.  In fact, it was rhythmic, like when Mama and he would sit on the swing chair.

His eyes began to feel heavy.

Oh no....  He was getting sleepy!  Why did he stay up all last night exploring the room and playing with the toys the castle’s owners sent him?  Mom said they could bring them home, but no...he wanted to play with them without delay.  Alexander tried to shift in the bag to try to keep himself awake.

A stretched paw here.  An arched back there.

“Sonia, why is your bag moving?”

He froze.  He heard the voices chattering above him and realized that the horse had stopped moving.

Fish guts, I’m caught.  Alexander pulled his ears back once more and tried to figure out if now was a good time to come out and, if so, how should he present himself?

He didn’t have time to plan his dramatic entrance.  The flap to the saddle bag flipped up and he squinted as he lifted his head.  The light filled the small compartment, and he could do nothing else. He had to come out.

Alexander jumped up and saw the familiar dark saddle of Uncle Blue.  With an elegant twist of his body, he landed on top of Uncle Blue’s saddle, just in front of a stunned Axton.  Axton jerked the reins back and Alexander moved, afraid that Axton would try to grab him and stifle his contribution to the hunt.

He darted into the brush just as he heard JP exclaim his name.

It was chaos.  People were yelling, Sonia was upset, and he heard vague words considering bringing him back to the castle.

He couldn’t go back.  He’d come too far, suffered much pain, just to get to where he was now.  Alexander tucked himself into the bushes, away from the others and tried to think of a way to convince them to let him stay.

There was only one way he could think of: he had to show them that he was an important part of the team.  He lifted his head and sniffed the air.

The forest was ripe with the smells of other animals, but he had his limitations.  Particularly, his size.  He could get rabbits and those big ground birds Dede called pheasants.   He just had to find one.

He stayed low to the ground and followed the strongest musty smell he could pick out.  He turned his head and saw the shiny black eyes of an unmoving bird frozen beneath some low hanging branches of some shrubs.

Alexander’s whiskers twitched as he lowered his body and raised his tail.  The silly bird thought it was hidden so well.  Perhaps, if he were a less experienced cat, this would be true.  In his youth, he certainly would’ve missed the bird with its patterned feathers blending it into the foliage.

However, the bird was now dealing with a cat in his prime hunting years.  Alexander had learned many lessons while practicing in the delta: the scents, the slight movement of breathing, the unblinking stare filled with fear and trepidation.  The camouflage was nothing in his sharp hunter eyes.

His claws dug into the ground, getting ready to launch himself forward.

Soon, this pheasant would also learn that life was a constant battle for survival and that even the markings that nature bestowed on it would be rendered useless when confronted by a superior predator.  The bird’s life was fragile, bleak, and, in just a few moments, fleeting.  So was the life of a ground dwelling bird.

Poor pheasant, fate has not treated you well to allow you to cross my sights.  May your next life make you nest in the trees...though I can still climb them.

Alexander’s fluffy gray body was hurled forward.  Pieces of soil and tiny bits of fallen bark flew into the air behind him as he raced across the forest floor, his eyes focused on the bird who didn’t realize they were about to die.

It was merciful to kill the prey quicky, he remembered the cats at school telling him as a kitten.  There was no need to let them suffer.  Only kittens played with their food.

There was a flurry of feathers and Alexander could almost taste the fear in the air.  He could feel a pulse against him as squawking seemed to come from all directions.  His paws tried to hold down the creature as he tightened his grip around the bird’s neck.

This was always the messiest part, but it wasn’t as if he could ram into the pheasant and kill it upon impact.  He wasn’t thatbig.  Though, if he continued to grow at his current speed, Ice Nag’s words about him getting fatter would come true.  He didn’t want to give her that satisfaction.

The life of the pheasant was fading and after a few more vain attempts to shake him off, the bird seemed to give up on life.  Alexander waited a few more moments: sometimes prey played dead and if he released them too soon, they’d run away.  That would’ve been such a waste of energy.

Not to mention embarrassing.  Everyone was watching him.  If he let his first prey of the day go, he’d shame Mom and the Guevera March.

He lifted his head, keeping the pheasant locked in his jaws.  He dragged the corpse forward, careful not to step on its feathers as they dragged.  He made his way to Sprite under the wide eyes of several humans.

Were they impressed?  They should be.

With one more shake of his head to make sure the pheasant was dead; Alexander dropped the bird in front of the horse.

“I’ve made first kill!  You’re welcome!”  He waited for someone to pick it up, but no one moved.  What was wrong with them?  Were they too lazy?  He looked up and noticed the confusion and dismay still on their faces.  Did they not understand what was happening?

Humans were stupid.

He was clearly there as part of the hunt and even dropped a pheasant at their feet, but they still didn’t understand.  Alexander let out a huff trotted back into the forest with his tail high.

I’m doing this for Mom.  I’m doing this for Mom.  Don’t pay attention to the ignorant fools who don’t understand what I’m doing or recognize my skill.

If they didn’t understand it the first time, he’d simply have to repeat the process.  Besides, he was only getting started.  Day was still young!

“Your Highness.”  One of the knights on a horse, Sir Granger, spoke up.  “Did the Countess train her cat to hunt?”

“More importantly, whatever Alexander catches counts towards our total, doesn’t it?” JP asked.  “He’s not a person and so we’re still within our six-person party limit. Nothing was said about animals.”

“It’s a loophole,” Sir Nassaun said.  Alexander almost nodded in agreement.  It was a loophole, and he was going to exploit it.  It was the Guevera way.

“Sir Granger, tie up the pheasant to bring with us,” Piers said.  “If Alexander brings us more, make sure to finish them off.”

Alexander’s tail twitched.  As expected of her mother’s number one lackey; he knew what was going on.

“Your Highness, shouldn’t we try to catch him and bring him back?” JP asked.   Alexander almost bristled and darted into the forest once more.

“No.” The lackey’s firm voice seemed to silence the others.  “Cats are natural hunters.  It would be a pity to stop him.”

Alexander made a mental note to tell Mom to praise the lackey for being so observant and understanding.  He knew that they couldn’t understand him.  It wasn’t their fault.  He’d simply have to try his best to communicate with meows, body language, and the blood of his prey.

He wandered off into the bush and lifted his head, sniffing the air to see if he could find another pheasant or a rabbit, for variation.  He felt an approaching vibration coming from the ground and lowered his head.  Those were heavy animals...more horses?

He heard the familiar sound of horses and crouched by a tree so as not to be trampled.  Being on top of a horse was fine.  Being below a horse could be a death trap.

“Piers!”

Alexander saw several people dressed as knights, as he was familiar with their uniforms, and some people his Mom’s age.  He felt his fur stand on end as he recognized the blonde girl on a horse.

Oh no, not this person again.

He turned his head away.  The humans could deal with Miss Grabby Hands.  He was going to do his job.  His train of thought disappeared when he saw something sliding through some patch of  dead leaves.  His eyes dilated.

He kept his body low and began to stalk the creature.  He’d only see a few in the delta and they weren’t fun.  Easy to hunt, like moving string, but they tried to bite, and he didn’t like that.  However, if he was fast enough, he could stun them.

Disregarding the humans behind him, Alexander pounced on the snake’s head.  The creature squired and Alexander tried his best to bite the body so it could fling it against the ground.  He managed to do so twice, and he panted a bit.

That was fun.  Different!  I haven’t killed one in a while.  When he hunted in the delta and brought a snake to the kitchen, the kitchen people weren’t happy and told him to bring it anymore, so he didn’t.  He focused on birds and rabbits.

He bit the unmoving creature and trotted it out, emerging from the forest like the skilled hunter he was.  Before he could be seen, he could feel the tension in the air.

Now that there were two hunting parties, could there be a problem?

When he was a kitten, he learned that cats fought for territory.  Was this second group trying to take the territory of his mother’s people?   Or perhaps it was worse.  What if they were trying to take the pheasant he got?

He held back a low growl.  This would not do.  The pheasant was his first kill of the day.  It was special.  But the snake....

It gutted him to have to give up prey he rightfully caught first, but between the snake and the pheasant, the choice was obvious.

Mom said that sometimes, one had to give things up in order to gain an advantage. He supposed this was one of those things.

He eyed the familiar blonde on the horse.  She was the only one he really recognized, so he jumped on her horse and put the snake on her saddle.

Alexander had no idea why everyone started screaming.

His eyes grew large and when he felt the horse beneath him start to buck, he jumped off and dashed back to where it was safe.

In the end, the second group left and took the snake with them.  They didn’t even say thank you.

Rude.  He lifted his head up and swished his tail.

“Alexander, you made a mistake.”  Mom’s Lackey didn’t sound happy.

Eh?  I did?  Should I not have given her a snake?  She didn’t seem to appreciate it.

“...don’t waste your time catching snakes.  They aren’t worth any points.  You must stick to game birds and rabbits.”

Alexander’s ears folded down.  They weren’t worth any points!?  He couldn’t believe he wasted so much effort on a worthless snake!  He let out a low growl, but looked towards the man on the horse.  “Don’t worry, Mom’s Lackey!  I will focus on game birds and rabbits!”

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When he told them that he would focus on hunting, he didn’t mean that they should depend on him entirely, yet that was how today’s hunt was turning out.  Alexander didn’t expect them to be master hunters.  They obviously lacked claws. Even Sonia and JP were not as good as him when it came to stalking prey.

However, he expected them to contribute something!  Since they started, he’d been doing all the work.  The pheasants and rabbits hanging off the saddles were thanks to him.

“Master Alexander is amazing,” Sir Lloyd said.  Alexander could hear a hint of envy in his voice and Alexander’s upright tail swayed.  “To think, he caught this much.”

“He’s just slaughtering his way through the forest, isn’t he?” JP said from atop his horse as Alexander dragged his latest success towards them.

I have to do all the work!  Wait until Mom hears about this!  You’re pathetic hunters!  How do you eat?  He dropped the exhausted, wheezing rabbit in front of the knights who seemed to be in charge of tying up the prey to bring it back.

“Good job, Alexander.  You got a rabbit this time,” Mom’s lackey praised him once more.  At first, Alexander enjoyed it, but now it sounded worn.  Rather than praise him, should they not do their part? “A rabbit is three points.  We have fifteen points so far.”

Alexander sat down and cleaned his paws.  His fur was a bit ruffled from his last kill and he didn’t want blood to dry on him.  Dried blood was a pain to remove and if he went back and Mom saw him, she’d put him through water torture as punishment.  His ears flattened as he thought about it.

“Your Highness, it’s almost lunch.  Should we take a break to eat?” Sir Granger sighed as Sir Lloyd picked up the dying rabbit and took out a dagger to take it out of its misery.

“Yes.  Alexander has worked hard.  I’m sure he is hungry.  The sandwich has some chicken breast.  Everyone take out a piece to give to him.”

Alexander lifted his head and scrunched his face as he watched the humans get off their horses.  He’d seen this back in the delta; they were stopping to rest.

Rest from what?  All you have been doing is sitting on the horse!  I’vebeen doing all the work! He let out a cry of annoyance, but stopped as he heard the familiar crinkling of paper.  It was a specific sound and his eyes widened as he saw the small brown packages, he knew contained food.

Sir Nassaun carefully folded a piece and put it on the ground.  Alexander stood up and took a hesitant step forward.  Why was it empty?

Just as he thought it, a piece of chicken was placed on the paper.  Then another.  And another.  Alexander watched everyone gather and put a little bit of meat on the paper.  When Sir Lloyd placed the last piece on it, the paper was moved closer to Alexander.

“Eat up, Master Alexander,” Sir Lloyd said in a quiet voice.  “You deserve it.”

Alexander almost sneered.  Of course, he did.  He trotted towards the food and began to eat.  This was Mom’s cooking; he could tell.  Above him he could hear the voices of his would-be teammates chatting.  He ignored them. He’d used up a lot of energy hunting and making up for the inability of his hunting party.

He needed to fill up and get ready.  The day was still young.

As he finished about half his offering of chicken, another pungent smell assaulted his nostrils. He stopped eating and his head snapped up.  His body lowered as he turned towards the direction of the scent and sniffed the air again.

The creature wasn’t too far away.  It was still and almost covered by the low foliage, but Alexander saw its eyes fixed on him.  His ears lowered once more, and he let out a low growl.

“What are you looking at?” he asked the red-orange thing.  It wasn’t another cat...it kind of looked like one of the village dogs, but it was not.

The red-orange dog-thing sniffed the air and took a step forward. “So that smell belongs to you?”

“Smell?” Alexander remained frozen in place, trying to assess the creature.

The dog-thing seemed to sneer at him.  “This is my forest, and I could smell a disgusting odor all over.”

“Disgusting!?” Alexander forgot about the offering of chicken that had been presented to him.  “Mom calls it ‘freesia mist’ and says I smell nice like flowers!”

The dog-thing hissed. “You’ve left your scent l over my forest!”

“Yours?  You don’t own this place!”

“You certainly don’t!  You came with humans!  I know what you are.”

“What?  Say it!” Alexander goaded.

The dog-thing’s ears pulled back.  “A pet.”

“A pe...pet...what is that?” Alexander growled once more.

“You belong to humans!”

“You’re so stupid,” Alexander sneered back. “I don’t belong to humans.  They belong to me.”

The dog-thing let out a wheeze that almost sounded like a laugh.  “It doesn’t look like it.  Look, they had to feed you.  Only pets are fed by humans.”

“This is an offering!”

“Because you’re incompetent.  What kind of hunter are you that can’t even eat their own kills.”  The dog-thing looked towards the massive horse grazing in the distance before letting out another laugh. “Look at you...exchanging real meat for...whatever that is.  How pathetic.”

“You dare mock me?” Alexander’s growl grew deeper.  “You dare?”  He’d never faced such disrespect, not counting from Ice Nag.  “I am a Guevera!  I am from a warrior family!”

The dog-thing looked at him as if he were crazy and bared its teeth.  “What’s a Guevera-aaahh!!”

Alexander didn’t let him finish that sentence.  He darted from his spot, claws digging into the ground and dirt and leaves kicked up behind him.  He didn’t pay attention to the shouts coming behind him.  He had one goal and one goal only at that moment.

“I will kill you for your dishonor!”  He lifted his arms and brought them down on the creature’s disrespectful head.  As soon as it seemed stunned, Alexander went for his neck.

His mouth was filled with fur, and he could make out unholy screaming over the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.  His claws dug into the fur and flesh of his enemy as the dog-thing twisted its body.

Alexander slammed on the ground, dirt and broken leaves getting stuck in his luxurious gray fur as the enemy wrestled around in a vain attempt to get rid of him.   It wasn’t going to happen.  There could be only one winner in this battle, and it was going to be him.

“Let me go!  Let me go!”

“We do not yield!”  Although he was getting tired.  This creature seemed smaller from further away, but now that he was clinging to him, the dog-thing was actually larger.  If he let go now, the creature could turn on him.

The only thing he could do was try to hold him down and let it tire itself out with the struggle, like the pheasants and rabbits he caught.

“Alexander, stop moving so I can shoot it!”

That was Sonia!”  Through the chaos, Alexander’s ears perked up. He tightened his grip on the animal’s neck and could taste a little blood in his mouth.  He planted his body as securely as possible in an attempt to anchor the twisting, squirming thing.  He wasn’t sure it was doing anything to stop the enemy.

The strange, guttural screaming continued.  The muscles twisted.

There was a thud, and the scent of blood filled his senses.  Alexander didn’t let go as the creature let out a high whimper and continued to twist.  However, the strength and franticness of the movements slowed greatly.

The screaming and rustling on the forest floor died down and Alexander could hear his own growling. He didn’t even realize he had been.

“You got it....” Someone spoke up and Alexander realized that there was something long and thin stick embedded in the orange-red dog thing.

“Get the fox and bring Alexander here!”  Mom’s Lackey’s voice filled the area and one of the lackey’s knights came to retrieve the ‘fox’.  The creature wasn’t moving and as soon as the knight got a hold of it, Alexander let go.

He began to gasp for breath, his little heart still racing in his chest.

He opened his mouth, panting after his fight.  He needed to award Sonia after this.  He could’ve killed that fox by himself, but her teamwork was appreciated.  As Mom said “teamwork makes the dream work.”

JP appeared beside him and the next thing he knew, JP was manhandling him.  He felt JP pressing against him and Alexander tried to kick him away.

“Stay still...are you hurt?  Did you get hurt?”  JP picked him up and continued to press against him.

“Hurt?  Who do you think I am?” Alexander managed to squeeze out of his arms and launched himself off JP’s chest before landing out of arm's length.  He lifted his tail proudly.  He marched back to his chicken.

He’d wasted even more energy subduing that fox-creature and now he was hungrier than before.  He continued to ignore the people around him as he finished off the chicken.  It seemed as if the others weren’t done with their meals yet.  Alexander blamed that fox.

If it didn’t show up, they could’ve eaten in peace.

Licking his mouth, Alexander turned around and climbed up a tree to relax while he waited for the others.

“Are we going to return after this?” Maple asked.  She was beneath the tree with some of the other horses.

“It’s a bit soon, isn’t it?  There is still light out.  We can still hunt,” Sprite replied.

“His Highness is in charge.  If he wants to go back, we will go back,” Uncle Blue told them in a calm voice.

“Do we have enough to win?” Alexander asked as he stretched out.  “Does the fox give us points?”

“Yes, but it depends on what the other groups catch.  If they catch more than us, then we will not win,” Uncle Blue replied.

Their victory was not yet certain, and this didn’t sit well with the gray cat.  He wanted to win for the honor and glory of his family.  It was what he promised Mom.  He looked up at the sky.  Sprite was right: there was still plenty of light out.

He could hunt in the day and night, but humans could not and had to return to their homes when it got dark.  He had to be magnanimous to the disadvantaged and could only keep them out while it was light out.

Regardless, there was still plenty of time to perhaps catch a few more pheasants or rabbits.  He sat up and sniffed the air.  He heard something and his ear turned towards that direction.  He’d heard it before and felt his heart skip a beat remembering how excited Dede got when that sound was heard.

It’s deer.  Alexander tried to contain his excitement.  If he remembered, they were also hunting for deer.  It was just that Alexander was too small to kill one, so he didn’t consider looking for them.  He could stalk them and maybe climb on top of one, but killing it?

“If we can get some deer, then we’ll get more points, won’t we?” Maple asked aloud.

Alexander’s ears perked up once more.  He looked down at the rest of the hunting party that were starting to go towards the horses.  He narrowed his eyes.

“Then, I’ll give them one more chance.”  He climbed down the tree, making sure he was well seen before darting into the forest.

“Are you kidding me?” Sir Nassaun sounded annoyed.  “Piers, do something about Tori’s cat.”

“I don’t control her cat.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Follow him.  He will come to us when it starts to get dark.  Alexander doesn’t sleep outside.”

Alexander would’ve snorted if he wasn’t so concentrated on hunting.  First of all, he could sleep outside if he wanted, he just didn’t.  He slept on a warm bed with Mom.  The lackey would be blessed if he had such an opportunity.

Alexander remained low to the ground, following the sounds he heard.  The musky scent of deer was in the air, and it didn’t take long for Alexander to spot the herd.  He remained crouched in place, looking in the direction of the herd in the distance.

“Fallow deer,” he heard someone say behind him.  “He led us to deer.”

Why do you sound surprised?  I know what I’m doing.

“Okay, I’m convinced,” another man said.  “The cat does understand us.”

I’m also judging you....

“Good job, Alexander,” Sonia said.  “You stay here.  JP and I will take care of the rest.  I’ll make sure you get some venison.”

Sonia, you are a worthy friend of Mom.  He flicked his tail in agreement.

He didn’t move as the horses galloped forward on either side of him.  His job was done.  All he had to do now was watch them bring in prey.  Several deer fell and Alexander could almost taste the venison he was promised.

After some time, the hunting party was scattered around, killing the injured deer, or bleeding them to prepare to bring them back.  He heard that their accumulated points were higher than expected and that another group likely wouldn’t get as many deer as they did.

That meant that there was a good chance that victory was there.

His mom would be so proud.

As the hunting party finished securing the hunted prey on the horses and mounted, Alexander jumped up and got on top of Sprite.  He laid across the saddle in front Sonia.

“You did very well today; I am pleased.  You may pet me.”  Alexander looked up at her and let out a cute meow.

Sonia chuckled and gently pet him.  “Tori’s still going to be mad when she finds out you ran away.”

“I did not run away!  I joined the hunting party!”  Alexander tilted his head to the side and meowed once more.

They started in the direction back to the Granite Tower.  Alexander allowed himself to relax.  He was much more at ease riding back than he was in the morning, when he sneaked out.

He even closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle bobbing of the horse as they went along.

“Isn’t that Lord Duarte?” Sir Nassaun asked aloud and Alexander lazily opened his eyes.  The stranger looked tired and worried.  It was clear that something was wrong, and as expected of Mom’s friends, they stopped to try to help.

It was then that Alexander heard the word ‘boar’.  He paid a bit more attention, having heard that getting such a big animal would get them the most points.  He didn’t know what a boar was.  Uncle Blue said it was like a large, ugly wild pig.  He still hadn’t seen one and he didn’t know how they smelled, but if they could find one, then their victory in the hunt would be secured.

It was a shame that it sounded as if they were going to spend the last moments of daylight trying to help Lord Duarte look for his lost party members.

“You brought a cat?” The woman riding behind Lord Duarte looked over and Alexander didn’t bother to look her way, his thoughts still on how a boar looked.

“He stowed away, my lady,” JP replied.  “Alexander is Countess Guevera’s cat.”

“He caught the fox, too,” Sonia said.  Alexander let out a lazy meow.  It was nothing to him.

“He’s a smart cat.  If I had known we could bring a pet, I would’ve brought my hound. He’s a purebred,” Lord Duarte said.  Alexander froze.  His ear twitched.  Did he hear what he thought he heard?  “I’m sure Aaron would’ve been able to track down my boys.  Dogs are excellent trackers, you know.”

His tail was stiff.  Did this old man say that a dog was better than him?  Nature’s perfect killer, as Mom called him.

He let out a low growl and jumped off Sonia’s saddle.  “Alexander!” she cried out, but he didn’t stop.

Today was just filled with insults.  First that fox thing and now this old man.  Could his precious hound be of as much success as him?

He didn’t want to be around this man anyway.  Alexander lifted his head and sniffed the air.  The sooner he found that old man’s offspring, the sooner they could be rid of them.  He could smell an unnatural scent in the air.  Mom called such scents that didn’t belong to the environment at the moment ‘fragrances’.  He had a fragrance, too.  It was put on with his cat soap: freesia mist.

“Maybe he can find your sons,” one of the lackey’s knights said.  “He is very smart.”

“A smart cat, but I doubt he’ll be able to find them so easily.”

You know what, old man, I don’t have to help you.  I can let you go around in circles and leave your spawn here to die.  You’re lucky Mom says to help people.... Alexander held back a growl and continued to follow the fragrance.

As he continued, he began to smell another scent.  It was very musky, much more so than the deer.  He didn’t recognize it, but it got stronger.  He quickened his speed, only occasionally looking back to make sure they were following him.  Satisfied that they weren’t left behind, Alexander ran forward, towards two confused-looking humans.

“That’s them!” Someone cried out behind him.  Alexander didn’t pay attention to the reunion happening as he bypassed the two humans.  The musky scent was strong.  Whatever it was, it was close.

“Axton, bring him back.  We should go.  The sun will start setting soon,” Mom’s lackey ordered.

Alexander had to find out what that smell belonged to.  He darted forward, away from the grasp of Sir Nassaun.

“Alexander, if you can understand me, come back.  We’re going back to Tori,” Sir Nassaun said.  Alexander ignored him.  Something told him that whatever owned that scent was important and he wasn’t going to ignore his intuition and leave.

Uncle Kasey said that intuition was especially important to members of their family.  That was even more a reason to continue going forward.

“Alexander, if you don’t come here right now, we’ll leave without you.”

“You have to catch me first!”  Alexander meowed back, but never looked back.

“Are you kidding me?” JP said.  “Alexander Hamilton de Guevera the First, come here!”

Alexander only moved further away.  He ignored the ruckus behind him and began to run.  His heart began to quicken; it was close.

He tore through the foliage and ran around some large boulders wedged by some thick trees.  The foreign scent assaulted his nose now and he skidded to a stop.  His eyes were wide.

A massive, hairy creature was digging at the base of a fallen tree, snorting.  If Alexander squinted, it resembled an ugly pig.  Was this-

“It’s a boar!”

Alexander’s tail shot up and thought to himself.  Mom, tonight, we return in victory.

┍————·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙☆*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙☆*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙————┑

The venison did not taste as good as he thought it would.  The flavor wasn’t bad.  It was delicious, actually.  It was just that the trauma of being ‘bathed’ was too fresh in his mind.

“I’m going to commission a vest for him,” Mom was talking to Sonia as she stood over him, watching him eat as if he’d try to escape once more.  “And then get a leash.  I can’t trust him.”

“That may be so, but because of him, you won your bet,” Sonia said from where she was laying across the other bed, reading a book.

“Alexander getting injured is not worth two imperial carriages,” Mom replied in a firm voice.

“JP and I will keep a close eye on him when we go back.  Don’t worry,” Sonia told her.

“Alexander,” Mom said as she knelt beside him.  “You will go back with JP and Sonia and stay at the village.  If I come back and you ran off and got into trouble, there will be no more chicken for a month.”

Alexander almost choked.  He looked up with large eyes.  After all his hard work?  He let out a meow of protest.  “Mom, how could you say such a thing?”

He saw her serious look and his ears flattened a bit.  “Alexander. You will stay at the delta and be good, all right?”

“Fine.”  He turned his head and continued to eat.

He agreed.  In order to make his mom feel better, he didn’t sneak out at night.  He obediently remained in the room, acting as cute and cuddly as possible to try to soften her heart.  Still, the next day, he was strapped into a confining cloth thing around his body and to his humiliation, found a leash on him.

As if he were a dog.

He buried his face in his mom’s arms, hoping that no one else would recognize him.

“What’s this?” he heard a mocking voice ask.  “Someone got in trouble and now must be tied up?”

“Shut up, Ice Nag!”  Alexander lifted his head and looked over his mom’s shoulders with big, wet eyes.  “Mom is just worried about my safety!”

The white horse snorted and turned her head away.  “Whatever you say, fatty.”

“I am not fat, this is fur!”

“Alexander.”  Mom picked him up and put him inside a carriage.  “Remember to stay with Sonia at all times.  I will see you soon.”  She bent down and kissed the top of his head.  “I love you.”

He tilted his head up and nudged her head with his.  “I love you, too, Mom!”  He hopped on the seat and waited for Sonia to climb into the carriage with him.  It didn’t take him long to fall asleep on a spot that had the sun coming in from the window.

When he woke up, they reached the same inn where he’d slept in the stables.  This time, he was carried into a room and given proper food.  If it weren’t for the fact that Sonia was watching him and he was tied up, he’d go look for the rats that ate his dried fish the first time they came and get his revenge.

It was that night when he came to the realization that Mom wasn’t just riding in a different carriage; she wasn’t coming with them.  He didn’t know where she was and spent the night pacing the room, meowing.

Last time they were there, he at least knew she was in the area.  Now where was she?  Was she safe?  Did she eat?  Where was she going to sleep?

She scolded him for so long for running away and then she did the same thing.  When he found her, he’d give her a firm talking to.

It wasn’t until a few days later, after an anxious few days in the village with only children to keep him company, his mom returned.  Before he could scold her about running off, she had picked him up and held him close.

He felt a tense air around her.  Like fear...but Mom rarely felt fear.  Lots of worry, but rarely fear.  It made him worry.  Alexander snuggled close to her and rubbed her head with his, purring in an effort to calm her.

He didn’t know why she was so upset. As soon as she fell asleep, he slipped out and rushed to the stables to try to find out what happened.

“Why did Mom say she didn’t want to go back to Horizon?” Alexander said as he sat on one of the beams above the pens.  “What happened?”

“From what I heard, your mom thought she saw a ghost,” one of the horses said.  “She was very upset with the prince.”

“Lackey Number One....”  Alexander’s ears flattened.  “Did he give her a ghost?”

The horses looked at him strangely.  “Do you know what a ghost is?”

He didn’t want to admit it, but his silence gave him away.  Eventually, one of the older horses explained it to him.

“So...energy from someone who died, but it’s bad energy?” Alexander asked.  It sounded strange.  “Is it dangerous?”

“I think so.  Humans wouldn’t be so scared of them if they weren’t,” one horse told him.

“Humans are so strange...,” another horse said.  “I heard that they get frightened by these ghosts because they can barely see them.”

“What do you mean?  How do they look like?” Alexander asked.  If he knew, then he could keep them away.

“Sometimes, they see them in the dark.  They kind of take a human shape or they’re shadows about human sized?  They float and are almost transparent.  Too many and it becomes haunted.  I heard that’s bad.”

Alexander’s tail flopped down.  “Float...and are almost transparent shadows.  And...they’re energy?”

“I think so....”

Alexander whirled around and jumped off the beam.  “I have to go!”  He scrambled out of the stables.

Mom didn’t want to go back to Horizon.  Or rather, she didn’t want to go back to that place she said was haunted.  He didn’t understand when she was rambling earlier, but now he did.

He crossed the main street to get to the encampment, ignoring the people who called out to him as he darted past.  All he knew was that Mom didn’t like being haunted and what made her haunted were floating, shadows.  He slipped back into their tent, and he ran to the back chamber.

Mom was still sleeping, and he jumped on the bed.

He didn’t know for sure if the shadowy energy he saw every now and then were ghosts that he was told about, if they were, he’d keep them away.  Sure, they were everywhere, and he didn’t mind them before.  They always steered past him when he got too close, anyway.  But now, it was different.

“Alexander?” His mom’s hands reached over and ran over his back gently.

“Don’t worry, Mom.  I’m good at keeping those shadows away.  They won’t bother you as long as I’m here.”  He nuzzled her head as she curled up around him, upset.

Alexander was also upset, but at lackey one and two, who had failed to take care of Mom.  He’d left her in their care when he returned to the delta, and this was how she was returned?

The audacity.

He had to do everything himself.  Hunt.  Protect Mom.  If he had to deal with them again any time soon, he’d teach them a lesson!

Unfortunately, the chance came sooner rather than later.

One night, he was gathered in his mom’s arms, and she broke the horrible news.

“Alexander, Mom has to talk to you,” Mom said as she stroked his back.  “We have to go back to Horizon tomorrow, but you can’t stay with me.”

┍————·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙☆*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙☆*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙————┑

Author's Note:
For those who don’t remember, Alexander has been identified as being so large because he is likely part Declyan Temple Cat, which in myth, serve the purpose of assisting the god of death.  They are considered holy cats and tend to the god of death’s temples in Declya and abroad. 

Hope you enjoyed this random chapter of the hunt from the cat's POV.  He's disappointed with his teammates, and honestly, it's like the "only person who did work on a group project" feeling.  

Merry Christmas!! :)