Fan Fiction ❯ Sun Cat ❯ Hunt ( Chapter 1 )

Written: 9/24/00

Sun Cat

Prologe

Rashel Knight is not a normal girl. She did not grow up on Earth, and she did not grow up on any of the other planets listed under the Federal Trade Pact, which ensures peace on all of the known, colonized planets.

Raschel Knight grew up on Ryu. In 2379, Ryu was discovered by 2383, it was colonized. However, it was discovered that the planet had a very hostile environment. Ryu only has one season-summer-due to the three suns that surround the planet and nearly all the planet's continents are covered by thick jungle. Due to the hostile environment, the planet's flora and fauna evolved to become very competitive and very deadly. Entire species extinction is common, and many new species arise just as rapidly. There are only a few species that have last any length of time. One of them is the Sun Cat. In 2384, a pack of Sun Cats killed the entire human population on Ryu, and the FTP decided that it was no longer open for colonization. Instead, it became a prison planet. In 2609, the population on Ryu revolted against FTP control. The prisoners won. Now, the planet exists outside of FTP control and laws, but no one can leave the planet that is already there, and no new prisoners can be brought down either. The FTP has declared the planet quarantined. Lord Jarad, who received his position by challenging and killing the previous ruler, dictates the planet. On Ryu, there is only one law that is constantly followed. That law is know as the Law of the Jungle: Only the strong survive.

Raschel Knight is not a normal girl; she is going to change everything.

Chapter 1

Step. Freeze. Step. Freeze. Step. Freeze.

Listen.

You couldn't actually hear the sound they made, but if all else was still, you could feel the slight vibrations of their high-pitched voices warn any of the others that might be near. A signal that meant they were being hunted.

Nothing.

I checked the meter that hung at my waist; the needle was thankfully way below the red area. I almost sighed in relief before I caught myself.

No noise! Blared my implant, searing through my mind. I cringed; it had been a long time since it's harsh, mechanical voice had berated me for almost messing up. Even though I hated the device, I was thankful I had it. Those that didn't have them didn't last nearly as long as those who did. It had kept me from messing up more than once on a world where messing up was fatal.

My mind returning to the task at hand, I extended my senses as far as they could reach. Increasing my vision until I could see across the sun lit plain before me, the minute hairs on my prey's back springing into focus. I heightened my hearing until I was certain there was no predator lurking in the forest behind me. I tasted the air for the musky odor the Fox Trap, which hunted in this area. A plant that was well know for spreading it's vines across well used game trails and forest clearings-such as this one-waiting for prey. When they were alerted that prey was near (using air vibrations), they would attack, going for the neck first. They knew if they broke the neck, they didn't have to chase after their prey.

I sniffed again and I thought I had the scent for a minute. Wait! There it was. The plant was smart, hiding down wind from its prey, but I still caught the slight, tangy smell of the Fox Trap as the wind briefly changed directions. I tensed; readying myself for fight or flight, knowing the attack could come from any direction.

It struck me with blinding speed; its vines had been cleverly hidden in the dense foliage above my head. I dodged, the vine just barely missing my neck, but it caught my ankle as a consolation prize, lifting me nearly three meters above the ground. Fortunately, before it could break my ankle-which would also ruin my hunt-I quickly pulled myself up and, with one deft sweep of my belt knife, I cut the vine that held me. I rolled as I hit the ground and then watched as the vine pulled out of sight, oozing black blood from its stub.

It was wounded, and would probably recover in a day or so, but it was also likely that some other predator would smell the blood. In other words, making the Fox Trap an easy mark. The Fox Trap probably wouldn't last through the night. Thus was the way of Ryu. I was just glad I hadn't gotten any of the blood on me.

After a couple of minutes, I checked my meter again. It was still way below the red area. Good, that meant that I hadn't gotten excited during that brief encounter.

Again, I sniffed the air, but now all traces of the Fox trap had vanished. It was probably holed up somewhere right now, recovering from its wound.

I refocused my mind on my prey; I could not risk my thoughts straying from the task at hand during the crucial moment. My inattention could decide whether I lived or died. I took two deep breaths, in which time I collected myself.

Now focused, I checked for the warning vibrations of my own prey, for the slight pressure against my skin, which signified my prey's warning cry.

Thankfully, there was still nothing. The only thing I felt was the sun's warm rays beating down on me through the holes in the foliage above.

Finally, with the utmost caution, I moved on, slipping silently towards my prey and out into the open.

Step. Freeze. No sound. Step. Freeze. Almost there . . . Step. Freeze.

I was close enough to reach out and touch the silken, sun golden fur of the beast in front of me. It was a prospect that-if tested-would likely find me pulling back a bloody nub for a hand.

The Sun Cat. The most dangerous predator in existence on Ryu-and likely anywhere else in the known universe. I had never seen a Sun Cat this close before. Not a live one anyway. The Sun Cat's beauty and gracefulness was unparalleled in any other species found here. Their shiny golden coat was rumored to actually be able to catch and hold rays from the sun-thus its name. Their beauty was not for mating purposes, as was first thought by the original colonists of Ryu, but had a mysterious lure that was used to entrance their prey long enough for them to get the upper hand. They could also hear up to 100 kilometers way, giving meaning to the huge, lynx-like ears that would have looked goofy on any other animal. On them, they just looked majestic. As they listen for their prey, they sneak up on them oh-so-slowly. Their huge paws making no sound, creating an uncanny silence, until they are within 100 meters of their prey. Then, their speed takes over as they race in a blur of golden fur towards their prey, striking with four inch claws that could cut though most types of metal. They were a breathtaking mix of strength and speed.

Many are unimpressed with the Sun Cat's perfection, saying they must have some sort of fatal flaw. Smelling, perhaps? Those who thought that way are no longer alive to tell their tale. The Sun Cat's sense of smell is excellent, able to smell the very fear of their prey over a hundred meters away. It's said they can smell the pheromones given off by any hunter whose adrenalin gets too high. Sun Cats are quick to turn the tables on those hunters who do not learn to control the level of their adrenalin while on the hunt. With the Cat alerted, the hunter would then become the hunted, strategically stalking them before they come in for the kill. Because of this, there are many that think that the Sun Cats are intelligent. Consequently, there were few people who had ever hunted the Sun Cat successfully. Those who failed . . . well, they were never seen again.

Only the most seasoned hunters went after the Sun Cat, which probably meant it was foolish of me to even attempt it. I don't think it mattered that I was the best at every fighting technique taught to me. I was still only 21 and even that was a very young age for me to be taking my First Test.

As I watched the beautiful sleeping beast, I felt-as most of the hunters did who never returned-my excitement rise at the prospect of the kill. Unfortunately, so did the needle of my pheromone meter as well. It was quickly in the red.

I vainly tried to keep my emotions under control, but it was to no avail. The implant in my head blared warnings at me as it measured the rise of adrenalin in my blood stream. Shouting commands in my head, trying to tell me how to lower my adrenalin level via biofeedback. It was no use though. I was too caught up in the moment; I truly couldn't care less that in another minute, I would be dead.

What brought me back to reality though, was not the persistent yelling of my implant, but the sight of the Sun Cat's nose twitching daintily, as if smelling something-as if smelling me-and the sight of one eye opening to stare right at me.

There was no hesitation from either of us, the cat snapping fully awake at once. There was only instinct as our bodies raced to do several things at once. In less than a second, I had my saber drawn, just in time to block the lightening quick claws of the Sun Cat from detaching my head from the rest of my body. In the next second, I had my throwing knives loosened from their wrist sheaths, and launched one.

It struck where the Sun Cat had once stood.

We backed off into the open field, wary of each other, until we were approximately five two meters apart. Our eyes were locked together as we tried to anticipate the other's next move. I could almost imagine respect shinning from the depths of those bottomless eyes. Respect for my lightening quick speed, almost up to par with the Sun Cats' themselves. Almost.

It made the first move, coming at me with a blinding set of attacks, pressing for an opening. I was barely able to hold them off and I finally had to face facts: I knew I was good, but the Sun Cat was superior to me in every way and I slowly lost ground to its methodical attacks.

Then finally, something gave. A high leap from the Cat, my hasty parry with my sword. There were sparks when the cats claws were finally able to cut through the tough metal of my blade. A metal I'd purposely chosen for its known resistance to the Sun Cat's razor sharp claws.

Then there was blinding pain as the claws followed their arch downward, onward and through my skin and bone like a knife through warm butter. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with a cut that went through my shoulder and down my side, ending at my waist. Pain lanced down my side like acid.

The Sun Cat was on top of me now. Its claws were digging into my shoulders quite painfully, in an unnecessary attempt to hold me down.

If I'd had time to reflect, I would definitely regret whatever reasoning I'd used to talk myself into hunting the Sun Cat. Fortunately, that was not the thing that was running through my mind as I looked up into the Jaws of Death. All I was able to think about in these last moments was, this was not the way I wanted to die-as a mid-day snack to one of the native wild life on this cursed planet.

So, as the Sun Cat took an arrogant moment to breath in the heady fear I was giving off, I used it to my advantage. Raising my arm in a quick-yet unbelievably painful-jerk, I buried my remaining throwing knife, hilt deep, into the skull of the beast above me.

The cat shuddered once, arching its back and reflexively digging its claws even deeper into my shoulders-if that was possible. My shriek of pain echoed that of the high-pitched Sun Cat's for long minutes until we finally fell silent. It shuddered one last time, then died, its 500 pound body fell on top of me in a heap of blood soaked, golden, fur that glistened as the mid-day sun bounced off us and chased away the nearby shadows.

* * *

I should have been happy, I thought to myself in agony. I was the youngest person to ever kill a Sun Cat to date. Of course, I nearly got myself killed . . . Hell, lets face it, I could still die, I reasoned with myself, although death didn't seem like a half bad idea since the pain in my side was going off the charts.

I don't know how long I laid there, babbling incoherently to myself, unable to do anything but try to hold in the blood that keep seeping out of my side. Though it took awhile, I was able to work some sense into my head, and worked up the energy to call Base for medical. I knew I really would die if I lost any more blood. If not from the blood loss itself, then from the other predators nearby that would smell it. Fortunately the scent of the Sun Cat still on top of me would make any would-be predators wary for a while.

Finally, I forced myself to raise an arm to my mouth. I tried to talk into the Com that was fastened to my wrist, but it took a minute to find my voice.

"Paxis . . ." I called out in a hoarse whisper, " Paxis . . . this is Knight . . . . Number 9, 2 . . . 7 . . . 3, 8 . . . . 1, 1, 0 ,6 . . . send medical . . . transmitting location . . . ."

"Rashel! This is Paxis. God, you have the whole camp worried sick, and breathing down my neck for sending you out there . . . I've just received your location. I'm on my way with med help. ETA is five minutes. Just hold on!"

I didn't bother to reply. I'd already replaced my hand on my side to vainly try to stop the blood that stubbornly refused to clot.

Those five minutes were the longest of my life. It hurt to move, it hurt to breath, and it hurt to even think. I don't think I've felt so relieved in all my life as I did when I heard the med groundcar (hopefully stocked full of pain killers) pull up beside me.

Under different circumstances, I would have been pleased to hear the astonished whispers of the meds as they saw the dead Sun Cat at my side. Right now, though, I was just glad to see the face of my teacher, Paxis, hovering above me. The only thing I could think was: I did it! I've completed my First Test and I've done it by being the youngest to ever hunt and kill a Sun Cat!