It's very short, but I want to keep track of it, so I'm posting it here. No remarks on how short it is, please.
I've written it about five times, so I'm just going to post it and be done with it. Here goes!
Allegiances
Tribe - Healer Rockreader- small white tom with startling sapphire eyes
Apprentice Song of Crickets Chirping (Song)- pale orange she-cat
Prey - Hunters
Tree in Forest Glade (Tree)- brown and black dappled she-cat
Hawk With Seeing eyes (Hawk)- mottled brown tom
Leaf That Dapples Ground (Leaf)-Brown and white dappled she-cat, Tree's sister
Rain on Jagged Rocks (Rain)- black she-cat
Cave-Guards
Shadow of Boulders (Shadow)- strong, muscular gray tom
Squirrel That Climbs Trees (Squirrel)- wiry, light brown she-cat
Wind Where Birds Fly (Wind)- dark gray tom cat
Kit-Mothers
Dawn of Gentle Breeze (Dawn)- light reddish color, tinted with orange
Feather of Gentle Dove (Feather)- white with deep blue eyes
To- Bes
River Where Otters Play (River)- dark brown tom (prey hunter)
Thunder in the Storm (Thunder)- gray tom (prey hunter)
Snow of Winter Storm (Snow)- white like her mother, Feather (cave guard)
Prologue
The sound of screeching cats filled the air, mingling with the sound of the waterfall outside the cave. Rain was only a kit of three moons old, and already her mother, Feather, was fighting the outsiders. Her mother’s friend, Dawn, was taking care of her and the rest of the kits. The screeching faded, and she could hear the victorious caterwauls of the returning cats. Her mother came limping into the cave, her injured leg barely touching the ground. With a big sigh, she flopped down on the dusty cave floor just inside the entrance. She began licking her wounded leg, with the help of the mist from the waterfall. Rain's father, Wind, was nowhere to be seen.
"Your father will be here soon," Dawn said, gently drawing Rain closer to her with her tail.
Rockreader, the Tribe's leader and healer, was busy tending to the returning cat's wounds, as was his apprentice, Song. Feather rose to her paws and limped over to say something to Rockreader. There was a pained cry as Wind staggered into the cave, bleeding heavily.
"The outsiders have agreed to the boundaries, we-" He trailed off as he collapsed to the floor, and did not rise.
"Song, take care of Feather!" Rockreader ordered before snatching his herbs up and racing to Wind. He reached Wind, clutching his bundle of herbs. Nosing Wind onto his side, he exposed a long, deep scratch running across his belly. 'Hmm. This looks nasty. Wait a minute! He's got a piece of claw stuck in here! Tree, could you hold Wind still while I pull this free?" He tugged on the fragment of claw. As it came out, Wind groaned, but did not fully awaken.
Chapter 1
Rain paused on the rough stone that sloped down to become the grassy riverbank. She could scent vole and rabbit, but she let the to-be’s on the patrol with her to show off their skills.
“I smell vole!” River the, youngest of the patrol, piped up. “Rabbit, and eagle too.”
“Can you scent anything else?” Rain asked. “Like that mouse you just scared away?”
"Oops! Sorry!"
Rain sighed, wishing she had Thunder, instead of River. River tried hard, but he just could not be quiet! The patrol moved on, and River actually managed to stay quiet, until he stepped on a sharp rock.
"Oww! It hurts!"
"I know it hurts, now be quiet!" Hawk, the other member of the patrol snapped. "You're going to scare away all the prey!"
Rain stood stock still, waiting. There! The hawk swooped lower, closing in on the vole. With a screech, the mottled bird fell to Rain's claws.
"Wow! Can you teach me to do that?" River asked, awed.
"That's what I'm here for! When you see a vole, rabbit, or mouse, wait. An eagle will come down to catch it, and that's when you strike. Now, when the eagle died, all the prey in this area did too. Let's find a different spot."
As they trekked upriver, They passed the area where The Great Battle had taken place. Rain's father, Wind had nearly died fighting the outsiders. Now, the outsiders had moved away from the boundaries. Rain sighed, and pushed on.
The three cats came to a rocky area where eagles liked to roost.
"There's a rabbit over there, why don't you try to catch it?" Rain encouraged River.
River nodded, for once keeping quiet. He started prowling forward until Hawk hissed at him. An eagle screeched overhead, then plunged down for the kill. At the same time that it killed the rabbit, River killed it.
"Nicely done!"
Even Hawk acknowledged his catch with a nod.
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