Cat Tales

[mrieder79]

Cat Tales: The Orc by the Stream

Gendel the cat sat upon a long on the bank of a small brook. The cat's customary bored expression belied his deep interest in the small fish darting about in the calm water near the brook's edge. His eyes, though, gave him away. They darted to and fro, following the minnows with intense concentration. Such was his preoccupation that he did not hear the footsteps of the stranger until they were quite close. A twig snapped, a leaf rustled. The stranger froze, but too late. A pair of yellow eyes turned to focus on him and the black slitted pupils narrowed as the cat regarded the ugly creature.

The creature stood well over six feet and had matted black hair covering its head. Warts covered its face and flattened nose. Yellow tusks protruded at odd angles from its mouth and its bloodshot eyes leered hungrily at the small cat. It licked its fleshy lips and took another step closer, its teeth showing in a hungry grin at the prospect of a midmorning meal of catflesh. It chuckled as it advanced.

"It come to me... cat, cat, cat... it come to me." The ugly beast chuckled again. "Water behind, Gundur front... no run to place, cat, cat, cat..."

Gendel regarded the creature with characteristic disintrest, and flicked his spotted tail back and forth as if in annoyance at such an inconvenient interruption. The cat mewed lowly and the sound ended in a growl as the orc took another step closer. His feline eyes locked the bloodshot eyes of the Orc and his head began to sway as if to charm or hypnotize the ugly beast. The orc stopped and scratched its head with the rough club it carried in its right hand.

"What this cat? You not run? You not scare?" The orc shrugged. "It fine... easy to catch.... stupid cat, cat, cat." The orc lunged and then yelped in surprise as suddenly, he was lunging toward empty space. Where there had been a yellow cat only seconds before, there was nothing but slippery, wet, log. Gunder made a high-pitched squealing sound and wheeled his arms as he slipped on the mossy old log. His club flew from his hand and landed many yards from the creek. After a moment of leaning, and scrambling, and assuming positions that made him appear as a rather disturbed and ugly performer in a travelling show, the orc finally caught its balance. Snarling, it looked around. "Where you go, cat, cat, cat? Where you now?" Gunder froze suddenly as a loud chittering sounded behind him. His eyes widened and his snarl turned into a grimace. Turning slowly, eyes held out to his side to keep his balance, he wheeled to face eight massive glittering eyes. The huge spider screeched and reached out with its pinching mandibles. Terrified, Gunder squealed and completely lost his balanced. His feet flew out from under him and he landed fully on his back. A solid thud sounded as he landed, then he slowly rolled into the stream and was borne away by the current. The spider watched but did not pursue. It watched as the orc stirred, brought back to its senses by the cold waters. It looked back and seeing the great spider still watching, yelped again and fled into the dense underbrush.

Laughter followed the orc's retreat as a dark skinned figure with slight features and pointed ears emerged from the tall grass beside the spider. The elf patted the spider on its hairy abdomen and spoke a single word. The spider's form shimmered and shrunk. Eight legs melded into four, the bulbous abdomen shrank and lengthened into a tail and the hard carapace softened into yellow fur with black spots.

Gendel looked up at Varlock and mewed proudly.

"Yes, that was very clever Gendel. It is very difficult to outwit an orc." The elf smiled patronizingly at the cat.

Gendel's nose went into the air and his tail twitched at the elf's condescention. It turned and picked its way through the grass and back to the log where it sat, tail twitching.

"Come now, Gendel, there is no need to sulk."

Twitch... twitch...

A bemused expression on his face and a gleam in his eye, the elf reached beneath his travelling cloak and produced a small wooden mouse. He whispered to it and it came to life, bounding about in excitedly among the rocks and grass on the bank of the brook. Faster than the eye coud perceive, Gendel leapt and turned in the air, bounded once then twice, and landed atop the mouse. It squeaked and ran... equally nimble. The elf watched and laughed as the Gendel gleefully chased the enchanted mouse around, over, and through the gentle brook. He only once stopped to mutter some soft, unintelligible words and a pair of nearby orcs scratched their heads and wondered what a fire giant was doing sitting at the edge of a brook, watching a small cat chase a mouse.