Chapter 7

After I had finished watching the she-cat wander away into the forest until she wasn't visible anymore, I set my mind back to finding Sally. She was probably already back in the den, munching on prey with the others. Or maybe the time just seemed to pass a lot slower and she was still hunting... something like that.

After sniffing around for a while, I soon found her in a clearing, crouched motionless in the grass with her tail swishing around in delight. She had her eyes focused on something, I couldn't see what it was, but I could see she was ready to pounce. I stayed still, hiding in the grass, and watched her, hoping to learn how she did it. Her green eyes widened as she purred, watching movement in the grass. She let out some sort of loud meow-purr and leaped into the air, her jaws sinking into a large jerboa. She landed and looked around, the prey's feet squirming in her mouth as she raised her paw. It let out a loud squeak, but she growled and finally killed it in her jaws. I watched her, hiding in the grass still, amazed at her skills.

She was so quick and precise with her movements that I barely saw her catching it. She let out a mrrow and trotted over to the lump of grass where I was, and soon spotted me hiding in it. Sally blinked in surprise. "Hey, bro! Wacha' doing out here?" She asked, gently dropping the jerboa on the long, soft grass as I stood up. "I wanted to catch up with you. Could you please give me some hunting lessons? I want to be helpful to you, and the others in the den. I'm not doing anything by just sitting around all day, so I thought I'd learn how to help feed you all."

"Of course," she purred, swiping a paw over her ear. "I have to catch some more prey before that, though. You can watch me. After that, when we get back to the den, I'll show you how at that big tree next to the stream." "Alright. I can carry the jerboa for you," I offered. "Go ahead." I picked up the rodent as my sister trotted off in a different direction, and I quickly followed her. "Tell me if you scent anything. And stay quiet," she whispered, carefully prowling around. I scented the air, thinking maybe I had caught a faint raven scent, but I wasn't sure.

It was either too faded or too far away. I swiped a paw over my ear, and I prowled around as well, my eyes darting around as I looked for any sign of movement. Suddenly, both of our ears pricked and our bodies jerked up in surprise as we heard a raven crow, the sound echoing through the trees. It was coming from the vines in a skinny tree a few feet away from us. "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘺," Sally whispered, slinking over to the vines.

I might as well try to find some more prey for her to catch, I thought. I scented the air again, but only smelled dirt and trees. I slowly trotted to a tree, looking up to see if there were any birds. I looked the tree up and down, but no animals in it. Oreo turned around and decided to just watch as Sally caught the raven. I watched in amazement as Sally skillfully climbed up the tree, leaped onto the branch, carefully snuck up to the raven, and with a quick pounce, caught it in her mouth.

Windy and Zach will surely be happy to see all the prey she caught. She sat on the tree branch with the raven in her mouth, her eyes sparkling with triumph as she admired the bird for a moment. She got up and crouched, lunging off the tree. While she was mid-air, her black legs splayed back because she had just used them to kick herself off the tree. The she-cat landed gracefully on the ground, shaking a leaf off her head.

She trotted towards me, the bird still squirming in her mouth. "Got it!" She meowed, her voice muffled by the bird. I smiled and nodded, admiring how skilled she was.

We soon had a small pile of prey, a crow, the raven, the jerboa, and a dove. "Should I catch one more?" Sally asked me, smiling in admiration at the pile of catches. Well, why not? If you don't, it's only a loss, I thought. I nodded, sitting next to the pile of food to guard it as she trotted off with her muzzle in the air. Both of our noses twitched at the scent of a rat. I had never eaten a rat before, but I had seen them many times in the alleyway.

Sally sprinted into a bush, returning moments later with the plump rat in her mouth. She trotted back up to me and grabbed the crow, her mouth full of prey. "Can you carry the jerboa and the dove?" She asked, her voice muffled. I struggled to pick them both up, as they were both pretty big. Once I finally did awkwardly stuff the two creatures in my mouth to carry them, we both looked at the raven, not knowing who would be able to pick it up.

𝘏𝘮𝘮𝘮... 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢. I dropped the jerboa and the dove, picking them up again, the jerboa by the tail and the dove by the wing. I then picked up the raven by its wing, the three prey hanging from my jaws. Now, there was enough room in my mouth to carry them all. Sally purred a thank-you, leading me back to the den. I carefully placed the catches down, and Sally dropped hers right next to it. "I didn't think you'd be able to carry that many," she said as she sat down at the den entrance.

"You just have to be creative about it, I guess." I sighed, licking my chest fur. "Guess so. That should last us all day," she said, looking at the pile of food. I looked down at the pile as well, my gaze fixing on the jerboa. I licked my lips, excited to maybe eat it later. They were pretty cool creatures. I liked how they had the tail of a mouse but they had a little fluffy thing at the end of it.

But their tails were a lot longer than a mouse's. And, they had long back legs they could stand on, like a human. I got lost daydreaming, and I jumped a bit when I heard Sally speak. "So, didn't you say you wanted hunting lessons?" I nodded. She got up and whisked past me, beckoning her tail for me to follow her.

I sat there, feeling the grass on my paws as she explained.. air? It was quite confusing. She was using Windy as a demonstration, and she said to pretend Windy was a pika. "Ok, Oreo, so first you need to smell the air. And once you smell something, make sure that whichever way the wind is blowing, it isn't blowing in the direction that you smell the prey. If it is, then it will scent you and run away. I watched her attentively.

Maybe it was boring, but at least I will be able to hunt by the end of the day. 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? "Now that you smell your prey, creep towards it in a crouching position like this." Sally crouched, slowly stepping forward with her tail low and her paws quiet on the grass. "Make sure not to make any noise, either. Noise will scare it off." Sally slinked towards Windy, who I'm guessing she was using to pretend to be the prey. "Once your prey is in sight, get close to it. But not too close.

Get as close as you can manage without it seeing you. "Then, leap into the air and pounce on the prey like this!" She leaped, landing next to Windy, the air from Sally's jump. "Eh... just pretend I jumped on her. You grab it and dig your claws into its sides and bite its neck if it's big prey," she said, digging her claws into the earth. "If it's small prey just grab it by the neck and bite really hard. You have to be fast about it, because your prey is going to be fast with trying to get away." "Got it," I meowed, trying to remember everything she had said. 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘰, 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬.

Seems easy enough, right? But what if I messed up? I got up, focusing on committing the instructions to memory. "Now, you go try," my sister instructed, sitting down on the grass. Now I had to put my new knowledge into action and hunt like a real cat.

I closed my eyes, scenting the air carefully.

A rabbit scurried around nearby, next to some lily flowers. It carefully gnawed on a dandelion stem, its small white poofy tail twitching. Its big ears flopped to the back of its head, carefully holding the stem as it ate it. Oreo opened his eyes. I knew the rabbit was downwind, as the wind blew in his face as I scented the rabbit's direction. I crouched forward, blinking slowly as I felt a sense of calmness.

I was determined to get it, and prove to my sister that I could be helpful. The grass felt like air on my paws as I prowled the exact way Sally did. I opened my mouth to reassure myself that the rabbit was still there, and it was, still chewing on the dandelion. Behind a large thistle, I saw the rabbit eating about ten feet away. I slowly crept closer, my eyes glued on the rabbit as I lowered my tail. As I got close enough to it, I carefully hunkered down, readying my paws to jump. I suddenly sprang up, pushing down with my back legs with all my might.

I lunged towards the rabbit... the delicious, juicy rabbit.. As I was about to land, I opened my mouth as wide as I could, unsheathing my claws as I dug them into the rabbit's side. I yowled and snapped down on the rabbit's neck just as it was about to spring away. I fell on my head and rolled onto my side, not loosening my grip on the rabbit's neck as it squirmed desperately.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵! 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩!

I bit down as hard as I could as I rolled on my side, the taste of blood filling my mouth. Slowly, the rabbit dropped its head, and gradually stopped squirming and kicking. I dropped it, gasping for air as I smiled widely. I looked at my sister, who blinked at me in surprise, along with Windy. "Yes!" I shouted, feeling the blood on my chin and chest, but I didn't care. I finally caught something! I finally got us food! "Great job, Oreo! You've impressed me quite a bit!"

She yelled over to me from where she was before. "That was impressive!" Windy yelled as well, "Whoohoo!" I yawped, feeling the excitement rush through my veins as I panted, my heart pounding. "Okay, can we all go eat now? I'm starving!" Windy meowed, her tail shaking. "Alright, fine, let's all go inside," said Sally as they both trotted towards the den. I was so happy.

I finally did it! The air I breathed in seemed so fresh and clean, now that my muzzle wasn't buried in the rabbit's fur. I got up, stretching before grabbing the rabbit by the scruff and trotting to the den as well. I was so proud of myself. I knew Windy and Sally were proud of me too, and I couldn't wait to finally eat something.

I sat down in the den, watching as Sally picked up the dove and munched on it hungrily. I felt the hard, dry texture of the den floor on my paw pads. I would just share my catch with Zach. However, he went trying to find a den for himself and Windy. For now, maybe I could ask Windy if she wanted any. I blinked, looking in her direction. As she was about to pick up the rat, I inquired, "Hey, Windy?" "Hmm?" She blinked, still crouched in the position that she was about to pick the rat up in with her head turned to me. "Do you want to eat this with me?

Sally isn't, and neither is Zach. I don't think I can eat this all by myself. "Uh, I think I deserve some after your sister scared me half to death when I thought she was gonna pounce on me. Sure!" I laughed, gently placing down the rabbit. I took a bite, and Windy soon did the same. It was the best rabbit I had ever tasted. The flavor of it was like.. just really savory.

I'm not sure how to explain it more. I took another bite, my tail swishing in joy at the wonderful taste. When we were done eating, carefully started licking the blood off my chest. I was a bit sad that I had gotten my white fur stained with the color of bright red, but hopefully, I could clean it off. If I couldn't, I'd just have to clean myself off in the stream.

As I swiftly groomed myself, I started to daydream again. I really wanted to try to put it behind me, but the memory of my mom came up. Not just when she was fighting the monster and all that portal stuff, but the times before that. We lived in a carved-out tree, and the forest was somehow even prettier than the one I and Sally live in. Every day, she would show me new things, like what other cats looked like, and animals I still haven't seen yet in the alleyway or the forest, like the... I think it was called a 'Zebra'?

It was like a horse, but smaller, and it had black and white stripes with a mane pointing straight up. I looked up. Windy looked at me strangely, confused. "Are you daydreaming? You're like- staring at the floor." "Oh! Uh-yeah.." I meowed quickly, shaking myself off from my thoughts." "Alright then," she yawned, padding off to her section of the den. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, I thought, groaning.

...I should just forget about it and focus on my vision for now...

I have way too many things to daydream about.

Momma is...

probably dead.

And I just need to accept it. I sighed, my heart sinking. 𝘍𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮.

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘢. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘴. I slowly replayed the dream in my mind again. How far away did she live, if she really was in the dream, that sandstorms occurred? The closest thing we ever had to a sandstorm was a dusty and windy day.

I had to find out more about Sphynxia to understand the vision and move forward. I had to find out what happened to her and why she was in my dream. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳.I was so deep in thought, I didn't notice that Sally and Windy were staring at me like I was crazy. In a state of nervousness, I gazed upward. How long had I been there? It wasn't too long, was it? I didn't look like an idiot, did I?? Even Zach was staring, standing next to a bush.

He must've gotten back from searching. After looking around for a moment, I saw that even Sphynxia was there, looking at me in curiosity while the others just stared in confusion. I thought that maybe she had gone out of the forest by now. "Uh... can I help you?" I asked the three cats, curling my tail next to my thigh cautiously. They all exchanged looks before Sphynxia stepped forward. "Huh. So you're a daydreamer too?" I tilted my head, the tip of my tail randomly jittering back and forth as I stood up and stopped crouching cautiously.

Sphynxia looked around, making eye contact with my other denmates.

"Uh... whatever these random cats are doing here, could it wait?"

Looking at the beautiful she-cat in awe, I muttered,

"Anything can wait for you..."

I don't think she heard me. Nonetheless, she's marvelous... "Uh... anyways, follow me, if you want. I won't stare at you like you have three ears," she sighed, glancing at all the staring cats, beginning to walk off and almost disappearing behind a bush. This was my chance to talk to her! Not only that, but about the vision! "C-Coming!" I yelped, stumbling after her as all three of my denmates stared at me and Sphynxia in confusion.

She quickly glanced at me and smiled a bit, and I could feel my denmates eyes burning into my back as we walked away. I smiled, looking ahead at where we were heading, but just a bunch of trees and greenery, so far. I looked at her, feeling my heart beat faster. I breathed in her earthy pinewood scent again, closing my eyes, and took a deep breath again, savoring her unique scent. I had no idea where she was going to lead me, but I was excited nonetheless to find out.