《Instinct》 Chapter 1: In medias res Hi! This is a short term project with intentionaly short chapters and frequent (at least planned) updates. It originally started in my mind as a short-story around 5k words, but if it''s well received I might continue it after I finish uploading all chapters. Please enjoy!
Instinct Chapter 1: In medias res The first feeling I have is pain. I blame my body, species, and everything I can, but the sensation of being born is horrible, I can¡¯t help but whine. My eyes are closed, yet the white light pierces my head like icicles the snow and the angry, cold air is burning my weak skin. Without better to follow, I move towards the warmth which gently accept me as I drift asleep. My stomach raises me quickly enough, I cannot endure the torture named life. In panic my eyes slide open, searching for means to ease my hunger. My nose didn¡¯t deceive me, the small, pink, beautiful nipple of my mother welcomes me as I greedily start to devour and fall asleep again.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. This process repeats itself again, I have no will or strength to question it. I barely feel as the days pass by, even that only because of the strength of the blinding sun. But I am alive. At the moment. I know that one my sibling is gone. The warmth lessened around me and I dared to open my eyes, stealing a glance. He was the smallest, he had no strength to sip of the finite amount of milk. Other times, when I awoke, mother was gone. It usually happened during the night. She has to feed herself too, but I know, she is starving just like us. Because, as we move closer and closer during the nights for a little bit more warmth, her thin rib cage obstructs us. I believe we are going to die. At least, some of us are going to. During the fourth night, rustles wake me up. Mother is not here, her scent says she went away. The problem is, she went to the opposite side of where the sound came from. Slowly, a shadow emerges. Full of wounds, bleeding heavily it is closing in towards our little home. On four thin and very agile legs, I see a creature similar to mother. The feline ears of his are moving all around, his nose is searching for danger. Apart from the dark brown fur and his greenish sleek back, his very long tail with a white end stands out in the dark. The hunger in his eyes terrify me more than my never ending starvation. We going to be eaten. Chapter 2: Devoured Chapter 2: Devoured Shaking from my whole body, I do the only thing I¡¯m capable of. I stand up on my thin, weak legs and cry as loud as I can. At first the shadow freezes for a second, only his ears turn towards me. After the very same second the realisation hits him, eyes filled with burning anger penetrate my soul silencing me instantly. Losing the little will I have, I somehow fall back showing my stomach and hiding my face, trembling uncontrollably. I¡¯m so pathetic, I can¡¯t even move a single muscle. With his open mouth drooling all over, he starts to walk towards me not interrupting our eye contact. Not only I am useless, I going to die meaninglessly too. I can only ask for the forgiveness of mother as I close my eyes in resignation. Suddenly, the sound of branches breaking come from the right, I can smell it, it is mother. She heard me, she heard my weak protest, she came back for us.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. She jumped between us and the intruder, enraged. The two slowly walking towards each other, growling and hissing. Mother is the first to attack. Although she is smaller and weaker than the male, he seems already injured and weakened. She does not forget her priorities either, her decision is calmly calculated. Jumping at the larger body, she uses her claws to try to blind the opponent, but he lunges under her, swiping at her weakness, her belly. Gashes open on her from the sharp knives, but her position is simply perfect for another attack. Using her body mass she pushes the attacker under her to the ground and bites directly at his lungs. The male losing his momentum is unable to resist so his neck open in this single attack. Blood is squirting all over the place as mother still does not let him go, fearing a suicide attack. Waiting for a short time, all struggles stop and mother let go of his neck. She calmly watches as the blood is flooding then puts her mount at the hole she created again, drinking the liquid. She must¡¯ve lost a lot of blood herself, but enduring her hunger she only drank the blood for a while. Separating herself from the dead body she limps to us slowly. Standing in front of me, she eyes me for a while, then biting my scruff I am moved next to the corpse. With a conflicted glimpse saying eat she turns away, bringing my sisters and brothers to have our first feast. For the first time in my life, I eat another. Chapter 3: Savouring life Chapter 3: Savouring life My stomach stopped growling and for the first time in this short life I sleep without fear, peacefully. Our bulging bellies provide the necessary warmth we require, but nothing it¡¯s close of the kindness of mother¡¯s. Happily I wake, filled with the strange sensation of power coursing through me. Maybe, this is how I was normally supposed to feel, but my excitement is sure to not lessen because of the sad truth. For the first time, I look at my siblings. I always felt that they were here, their scent is familiar to my nose. Big one was the first to move, he seems to be pestering mother already. Yesterday we couldn¡¯t muster the energy even to stand up, but now we are ready for the life. The hunger is coming back, even the smaller siblings know this. Just looking at mother¡¯s eyes I know, we are going to hunt. I have high expectations even if I know how hard it is going to be. We are small, slow and weak. We are only a hinderance to mother. She could leave us, but who will teach us what to do then? I don¡¯t want to starve.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Using my newfound strength, I yawn and walk to mother. There are only two of us, Big and me and the smell of food. Mother turns around bending her neck then quickly throws the carcass of a rat between us. I first try to question when did she have the time to catch it, but I let the thought go. It¡¯s clear that she wants us to compete for the meal. It¡¯s no strange, we are both almost newborn. Only a few days old. The problem is, Big is obviously bigger than me. A situation similar to how mother killed that male yesterday, but worse. We are both in normal condition, the difference is strength. I¡¯m going to lose, the difficulty is too large. It¡¯s simply not worth it. What if I can get it? I¡¯ll suffer from wounds and be unable to hunt afterwards. Then, maybe I just die. Mother might save me, but getting injured for no reason is even worse. I give up to live for another day. I back off to which mother disapprovingly hisses, but does not stop me. I watch as Big devours the rodent quickly. Letting out a deep meow, she gathers the rest of the litter to follow her closely. As we depart, I spare a glimpse to the furry leather remains of the icy yesterday night and the frigid body of my smallest kin next to it. Spoiler : random easter egg Chapter 4: Life lessons Chapter 4: Life lessons All my life until now, the memories are etched into my soul with deep scars. I believe I will never forget the lessons life is teaching me. As long as I breathe I will crawl forward is what I promise myself. We follow mother under the greenish weed towering well above us, occasionally passing thick roots of a bush or a solid trunk of a tree. Walking in a line I¡¯m the fourth, mother and two of my brothers are in the front. I don¡¯t mind, I don¡¯t want to fight to be the top of a meaningless pecking order. I only watch as mother¡¯s graceful walk bypasses everything in the way quickly without a hinderance and try to imitate it. Our strange line of furballs stop abruptly at the command of the only adult. Standing next to a medium sized tree, she quickly rushes to it and climbs to the second branch from the ground. It¡¯s obvious she could go higher if she wanted, but that¡¯s not why we are here. After a subtle meow of a command, we follow her as we can. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I would like to say I am the first one to climb, but my childish dreams are not true. I already noticed myself somewhat more intelligent that most of the others. For what reason, I don¡¯t know. I can understand and learn things quicker, but that is all. The first one sitting on the branch is a smaller male. A few others follow him shortly, I only manage to pull myself up as the fifth. Even if I know how to do it, my body is too weak. I have to work harder. Much harder. Mother yaws tired waiting for use, then starts to walk across the thin branches. All we do is quietly follow her trail doing our best not falling off. We are getting higher and higher, until the point we are almost at the peak of the middle level trees. At first I had problems looking down as I feared the height but I got used to it. The moon is high up in the sky, and the evening is still cold. Our stomachs are begging for food as we follow mother on the slippery path. I suddenly smell something nice, something warm. Mother have found a nest and took us here. I lick my teeth in anticipation but catch the twig-roost with my eyes and it¡¯s lack of fullness. Five small eggs rest peacefully there while mother simply stands out of our way. Her beautiful jade-like eyes only looking at the chilly dirt below us as if the world stopped existing. Chapter 5: Play bite My mind blanks out for a second as I rush forward, claws digging into the wood. I¡¯m not the first to have this reaction for all the others react the same. I feel the wind throwing me off so I jump to a neighboring branch, just in time before a brother of mine dashes through my previous spot. He is so quick that I have to watch as he outruns everyone else, arriving there first. One of the eggs is already being eaten, while I am still far away. Despite all this, I am still among the luckier ones. As the Biggest cat jumps, catching up with the swift one. Selfishly caring only about the food, he shoves everyone out of the way. One fell. The screeching cry reverberate trough my ears. I face away, trying to ignore it. Yet my lonesome pleas are answered with the sound of a crunch, silencing the source of those horrid wales alongside my hopes, forever more. The moment I return my gaze towards the nest, to confirm my aim, I halt my steps. The quick one has made an escape with an egg And I with some terrified ones are left out of the brawl. Seven of them are engaged in a fight. Not simple play biting as they normally do, no. In their lack of killing potential they are efficiently trying to push off each other. I turn my head to look for mother in the hope of saving them, but she is gone. She left us to do our own bidding.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I climb up a few branches to be out of the fray and watch them with a deep sense of horror. Without mother to tell them what to do the situation is going out of hand. Fortunately, most of my brothers back off, keeping their lives intact. Copying Quick, two of them succeed in stealing an egg for themselves before disappearing. As the last one standing, Big claims the remaining eggs. Which were small, eaten quickly and with ease. Just as all of them finish their meals. Mother appears out of nowhere, ready to escort us. The night is long and we are hungry still. I believe I underestimated mother, the trace of blood in her smell is an obvious indication the she has caught and finished something off. Even so, it was most likely just a small rodent or we wouldn''t have to be starving. At her command the siblings become obedient, lining up to her in seconds. Naturally, I do the same. Resuming our wandering which in no means could be called hunting, we follow mother like the loyal offsprings we are. I only see a few smaller animals through the whole night but the noise we make frightens them away. Only mother can walk silently, our large group is easily noticeable from quite adistance. It''s morning as we return to the den, tired. We all pass outwithout mother¡¯s side to warm us. Tonight three did not return home.