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Nathan couldn't remember the last time he'd camped alone. With Bella gone and his friends scattered to the four winds, he found himself with time on his hands and thoughts to himself. It was strange and not all that comfortable for him. He was used to Arien's mindless chatter, or even Kate's occasional outburst. And Bella's missing shadow beside him made him long for her presence even more so.

It was growing late, however. The sun setting on the horizon turned the sky a variety of colors, and the warmth of the fire in front of him as he roasted his supper of fish was gratifying. The tent he had pitched was fit only for his tall, lanky frame, although he wasn't tired yet.

At last, his supper was finished and he moved it off the fire, casting one more look around him at the shadows. With no Bella to warn of danger he felt oddly exposed. And his bow and quiver of arrows was within arm's reach at all times. Bitter reality had taught him otherwise that to be without a weapon was to court death. He began to eat, listening to the crickets chirp and locusts buzz around him, punctuated every so often by the call of an owl.

Yanamari was crouched down in the tall bushes, watching a deer walk past without noticing the black panther.She crept forward slowly and stopped when the deer looked her way.As soon as the deer looked back down to eat the grass, Yanamari pounced but missed since the deer bolted out of the way. Yanamari growled and ran after it only to give up when she saw the entire herd up ahead. Yanamari's ears flattened against her head as she threw her head back and roared. The herd ran away,leaving the sleek black panther alone in the moonlight.

The snap, crackle, pop of the fire masked the sounds of deer, but he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Oh what he wouldn't give to have Bella near to hand. She would know whether to be on alert or not.

Nathan set aside some of the fish he hadn't eaten to pick up his bow and flex the string a little--warming it up just in case. He searched the darkness around him, but saw nothing.

"Easy, Nathan," he told himself, "it's just the nightlife. You used to camp all the time alone." He took a deep breath and settled, releasing his grip on the bow.

Yanamari growled and walked away.She had not been able to catch anything for days but somehow she wasn't hungry like normal.She morphed into a black regular sized cat as she walked, her paws making no sound. She had to find a new master soon or she would be deemed a feral werecat. She closed her blue eyes as she walked and opened them when she heard fire crackling.She followed the sounds and saw Nathan sitting by the fire. She stopped at the edge of the bushes, not wanting to give herself away.

He relaxed some as the critters began to settle down around him, though it was clear he was never truly lost in thought. His gaze flickered still to the shadows, but it was no longer due to fear.

He eyed the rest of his fish, trying to decide if he should eat it now or save it for later. Tossing it into the woods would only be asking for trouble and besides, the fire was starting to die down. He really should be calling it a night soon.

With a sigh he began to wrap up the remaining fish. He'd save it for breakfast--he wasn't one to waste food. Though he couldn't help but feel like something was watching him.

Yanamari tilted her head as she watched Nathan,still not coming out of her hiding spot. A gust of wind blew the trees above the clearing, the moonlight coming through to make Yanamari's blue eyes glow.She looked up, her ears flattening against her head.There was enough moonlight to reveal Yanamari to Nathan and she didn't like that.She was really hating her luck these days.

At the rustling of the bushes, Nathan flinched and turned to look around him. With the dying fire, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness of shadows and then with the moonlight sifting down from the treetops, he made out a figure in the bushes.

A glint of eyes. He was already lunging for his bow and quiver before he realized it was too small to be a wolf, and not yellow enough to be paralysis-inducing. His heart still jack-hammered in his chest though, but he hadn't nocked an arrow to his bow just yet.

He squinted to see what was lurking, before noting the long tail. "A...cat? What's a cat doing out here?"

Yanamari looked to see Nathan staring at her. Her blue eyes widened as she saw the bow in his hand. Yanamari back up a few steps, scared to come closer. Unlike most other werecats, she didn't wear a collar and she never spoke in any of her forms except her human form or if she trusted the person. Her fur in her back was standing up as she waited for him to do something.

Seeing that he had startled the cat, he lowered his bow. "Sorry, cat. You startled me is all." He spoke softly, his voice just barely reaching the distance. It was obvious he was used to speaking with animals since he made sure to limit his movements.

He turned back to the burning coals of his fire and stirred them up again. "I've got some fish if you'd like..." he hadn't gotten a very good look at how thin the cat was, but if it was feral, chances were it hadn't been eating as good as it should. He found the fish and tossed half of it towards the cat--a bit to the side so it didn't think that he was throwing something at it.

Yanamari sniffed the fish the man had thrown at her.She started to eat it,her tail moving like it was wagging.She quickly finished and looked at the man,her head tilting as if asking why was he being so nice.

Nathan smiled as he watched the cat eat. "Yeah, see? I'm alright. I've got more if you'd like." He held out his next offering, curious if the cat would take it from his hand.

"I wonder what you're doing so far out here," he murmured, more to himself than to the cat, as obviously it couldn't reply back. "The nearest town is two days' walk from here. Unless there's a hermit out here." He stirred up the fire a little, adding a piece of wood onto the coals. "Either way, you must be half-starved."

Yanamari walked closer.It was obvious she wasn't a normal cat. Her eyes were a light blue, her fur wasn't matted like a feral cat usually were and she seemed to understand what Nathan was saying.She came closer and sniffed Nathan's hand before taking the fish gently from his hand with her paw.She bent her head down and started to eat.

If he hadn't been so focused on not frightening the cat, he would have snatched his hand back once it had put its paw out to grab the fish. He did snatch his hand back once the fish was being consumed and he eyed the cat warily.

"You're far too social to be feral." He wasn't sure where he was going with this, as his eyes scouted the darkness. "You have a family around here?" He glanced back at the cat, unnerved by its blue eyes. A black cat like that should not have blue eyes--although there was a lot he didn't know about cats.

Yanamari shook her head. She sat down in front of Nathan and watched him. Her tail was slowly moving back and forth.

"Uhh huh." He didn't particularly care to be stared down by a cat. He didn't particularly care to be stared down by anything. "Um, so, I was just about to call it a night. I suppose though if trouble arises, you'll let me know?"

He figured that the cat would at least hang around until it either tired of his morsels or it decided to keep on being a cat.

"You should be glad my friend Arien is not travelling with me," Nathan said as he stretched and banked the fire. "He'd've probably tried to feed you something spicy."

Yanamari's ears flattened against her head as if saying she wouldn't have liked that. She decided she would stick around Nathan since he had been nice to her.

He chuckled when the cat's ears went flat. "Yep, you and Arien would have been at each other's necks by now."

He headed for his tent and then peered back at the cat. "Uh, so long as you don't bite or scratch, you're welcome to share my tent." It didn't look like it was going to storm, but one never knew what the forecast held.

He unzipped the tent flap and wiggled in, rearranging some of the blankets and clothing items spread out to give him extra padding against the ground.

Yanamari watched Nathan for a few moments then walked over to the place where he had made the fire. She flopped onto her her side without moving leaves or sifting dirt like most cats did before they lied down.

Nathan glanced back at the cat and shrugged. It was acting strangely but then, what cat acted normal?

"Suit yourself." He yawned and reaching back out to collect his bow and quiver, laid them next to the tent. "G'night."

He lay awake for a bit listening to the sounds around him before finally falling asleep.

Yanamari fell asleep as well, only to wake up from a cricket chirping right next to her ear. She stood up and caught the cricket, silencing it. Since she didn't want to kill it, she placed it on her head and walked over to the edge of the clearing, placing it on a bush. Then she walked back to the place she was sleeping but didn't flop back down, just sat down.