Red-stained Blossom knew it was very unprofessional to keep staring at a client's pet instead of the client when she was on tribe business, but she just couldn't help it. This was the very first time she'd been captivated by something that wasn't, in one way or another, somewhat dog-like – and you couldn't get much further from dog-like than an insect. She'd seen a lot of insects since coming to the Swamp – there were no end to insects in the Swamp – but never before had she been captivated like this...she couldn't look away. Luckily, the pink-and-white doe she was liaising with didn't seem to mind."Oooh, what's it doing now?" she whispered, eyes wide as the creature raised its scything limbs, swaying to-and-fro. The radiant wings fluttered and blinked.
"Hmm? It – oh, uh. You'll see," the doe said, sounding somewhat sheepish.
A gleaming lizard scuttled across the ground; stillness – strike. The mantis pounced: sharp edge sliced open the yielding flesh. Without looking, Rouge could tell the doe had looked away; not her – she was in bliss.
*******
Kisses whined a little – these serrated blades were not quite as conducive to pets and cuddles as a mammalian muzzle, no – but So Soft did not complain. To the wolf, a hunter was a hunter in any form. Neither did Ribcage protest, when she unfurled her wings and flitted atop his back, and it was Ribcage she commanded, steering by the tap of a chitinous limb this way and that. This time, he merely padded along – they all did; there was no sense in hurrying.
When they reached the glade, lush and wet with dew, she fluttered her wings, and the others scattered. She flitted off the pale red back, and Ribcage, too, followed his brethen - she was to be left alone today. The grass was tall, rippling gently in the breeze. Leisurely, she picked her way across, one long leg before the other, to the perfect patch. She leaned into the wind – she raised her praying arms; she swayed. To-and-fro, to-and-fro, a radiant flower in the grass, with her own slender blades, to-and-fro.
She danced.
The first to catch her eye was a juicy beetle, making its slow, meandering way. This, she considered, but eventually let pass – she was after bigger prey today. To the flitting damselfly, she hardly paid heed. The frog, though...the frog that splashed from puddle to puddle, slick and inviting. It hopped nearer – nearer still. She swayed with the grass and waited, dancing...
Strike. She sprang upon it, wings flaring, flowing into the leap like a grand jeté, snatching it up with relentless blades, slicing free gashes into the plump meat - it struggled, bleating desperate croaks; it stood no chance.
By sundown, she was content, ready to return. Fluttering, she ascended a thorny shrub on the outskirts of the glade and leapt – she took off into the night. In the dark, she beat her wings, each pair in turn, cutting through the air like a rustle of leaves. Every now and then, she would pause, perching for a moment upon some bush or branch, taking in a thought – then off again she went. She was not far from home when she heard it, the click-chirp call of the seeking bat. She winged on her way, paying no mind – but then it resounded, and sounded again. It sought her, she thought, and for a while she contemplated taking it on.
But the force of the chirp sounded to her like one of the Zikwa's cave bats, larger than the usual ones she knew that hung from trees, with great leathery wings. There would be other fights. The chirping call rang closer, again, again, again – it sought her. She clicked her mandibles in something very much like a laugh and rolled midair – she dove.
She was only a little way away, and this she covered on ground. She was sated now, from hunt and flight. It had been a good day, and tomorrow would be another. For now, she would rest, although so close to the sweetest prey, it was hard not to raise her jagged blades and –
*******
As a matter of fact, Rouge was awoken by Watch Me's terrified screaming, though whether that was from horror at her new form or the sudden wounds on his soft underbelly was really up for debate. Not that the latter were really that bad – after all, he was a whole Kiokote, and a winged Mantis, albeit somewhat large for an insect, was still only about the size of an average sand dog.
END