Corrin slowly stalked a small mouse as it scurried across the grass and fallen leaves. His piercing blue eyes tracked its' every movement, from the roots of the oak tree to an isolated corner between a bramble bush and rock face. Slowly, he slipped down into the bushes he hid behind, trying to get more cover. Luckily, the winds didn't change like they had been all Greenleaf, the tom remained downwind.
Flicking his tail in irritation and impatience, Corrin watched the rodent scurry across the leaves. If he learned anything from his late mother it was that patience was key in hunting, you couldn't run into prey with your claws outstretched. The brown tuft of fur continued to search for seeds, seeming to find none. If you just stand still I can rid you of that annoyance, thought Corrin with crossed eyes and flattened ears.
Finally, after what seemed like moons, the small rodent turned around and studied the forest floor. Embracing the opportunity, the grey tabby burst from his hidden spot and landed square on the mouse. It tried to squeak out a warning cry but the cats' white paws muffled it despite cry. Swiftly, Corrin nipped its' neck and it fell still.
The tom briskly nodded as he got to his paws, mouse in his jaws. He shook out his fur and stretched to relieve the stiffness in his paws, he could never sit still for that long. Trotting over to a small bush, he dug a quick hole to bury the mouse in. Him and his companion, Errich, had been traveling since dawn had risen and hadn't stopped to hunt. Corrins' stomach growled like a monster, urging him to continue his hunt. How great it would be to never have to eat, we could be all the way to the clans by now! Thought Corrin longingly. The young toms had been journeying for over a moon now to find the Warrior Clans. The group of cats that lived in the forest as a group, hunting and living together in their respective clans. Corrin strived to make it there and join their ranks as fast as possible, his one dream and legacy that he moved forward from his mother. Cloud had talked endlessly about them, clearly wanting her kit to grow up to become something bigger and more honorable than a loner with nowhere to go.
Just thinking of it made Corrins' chest swell with excitement and his paws fill with the desire to keep walking. Sadly though, he couldn't live in his fantasies about clan life and needed to focus on his main goal of hunting. Pricking his ears and opening his mouth to taste the air, Corrin tried to detect the simplest sign of prey. The smell of a bird wafted through his senses and its soft chirping could be heard through his ears. Slipping down into an easy hunting crouch, the tom slowly paced forward, watching to make sure he didn't dare step on a leaf or brush a bracken bush with his tail. Birds were tricky prey and he took the opportunity to catch them whenever he can, Nothing but the best so the clans had no choice but to accept him.
As the grey cat continued forward, he soon caught sight of it. A good sized black bird but by the size of its ruffled feathers, it was older. The older birds were easier to catch then the younger, faster ones, he might be able to catch this one. Corrin took his time getting downwind from his prey, it's black feathers never straying from his gaze. It hopped across the grass, occasionally looking around and cleaning its' feathers. It was unaware of the cat in the bushes, ready to make it their next meal. Corrin waited for the perfect time to strike, the new technique he learned from past mistakes and failures. Birds were tricky prey, especially ravens, but if their beaks were in the ground, they couldn't fly away.
The young cat waited and waited and waited some more.
The bird seemed to be taunting him by not bothering to look for food. It would occasionally look down and search half-heartedly for food, making Corrins' heart beat excitedly, before deciding to clean its' feathers for the millionth time. Corrin resisted the urge to yowl at it to just do something already. The stupid bird was mocking him and he hated being mocked. Gritting his teeth and flicking his tail, Corrin burned holes into the bird's, back as it ideally went about its business.
Throwing all patience to the wind, Corrin jumped at the bird when it's back was turned enough for it not to see him right away. Once his claws dug into the wing, trying to strip the flight feathers, it immediately started to squawk and fly away. Cursing himself for the bird making such a loud noise, it was able to wiggle out and managed a few flaps into the air during the weak moment. Oh no, you don't! He thought, a hiss in his throat. Bunching up his back legs, he swiped a paw as he leaped into the air, bringing the bird back down to the ground. Squawking again, he struggled to get a killing bite as feathers flew and the bird's' talons scratched into his fur. Finally, he killed it after a few more bites to the wings, foot, and a final bite to the neck.
As it fell limp, Corrin growled at the dead bird. Why did it have to be so hard to catch? He was supposed to be a great hunter for his age and this bird hit his pride hard. Growling still, he grabbed its tail and proudly stalked away, making as much noise as he wanted, all the prey properly hid in their burrows or the trees by now thanks to that stupid bird.
As he gathered his mouse, he heard a squawking noise in a different part of the forest. A wave of birds appeared in the sky, squawking warnings to anything that wasn't a predator. Lashing his tail and flattening his ears, he knew immediately who had done it. Errich. That clumsy tom was always scaring away prey, Corrin was better than him for it. Conveniently forgetting that he had done the same thing only seconds before, the grey tabby tom marched back to where they set up camp for the night. He wanted to claw off Errichs' ears, his patience running thin with the light-hearted loner he shared the journey with and all the antics that came with it.
The small clearing where they made camp was soon in sight and Corrin couldn't smell Errich yet. It was never much where they settled either out in the open, in trees, or holes in the ground. This time it was an old abandoned fox den with the fox-scent barely lingering anymore. For safety purposes, the two had added a thin bramble cover to protect against anything that may attack during the night. Luckily, the forest they were in didn't seem to be that populated. The prey ran decently enough because of that but not good enough to sustain more than two cats and hardly a full grown male. Lingering rogue and loner scent still clung to the foliage but besides a few bones, fur, and feathers, there was hardly any trace of them nearby.
Corrin sat down on the ground and placed his kills in front of him. He aligned them perfectly so that Errich could see how small the mouse was and how old the blackbird was in a pitiful attempt to make him feel guilty. When he heard rustling in the bushes and the scent of the other tom became more strong, Corrin prepared himself. He gave his eyes a slight glare and his ears went slightly down. No matter how much Errich messed up, he was still Corrins' closest and only friend he ever had, he didn't want Errich to think that he hated him
The bushy black and dark orange tail of Errich appeared, clearly dragging something from the grass. Curiosity filled Corrin as he looked over at whatever it was. As more of his striped body appeared, slowly and tauntful to the other cat, the more impatient that Corrin got, resisting the urge to walk over and see what it is. He held his position, trying to remind himself that he was angry through it had faded by now, and waited for whatever it was to show up.
A rabbit. Errich had caught a rabbit. And not just any rabbit, a fat one. It had plenty of meat on it, lean and strong. With a surprised gasp, Corrin felt his jaws open at the sight of it. Neither of them caught prey that good, always bringing back old or inexperienced prey back to eat. This rabbit was the best thing either of them had ever caught and Corrin couldn't help the amazement that came over him.
Errich looked over at Corrin, happiness in his eyes and his grin sheepish. The striped cat had almost never been vain, Corrin could hardly remember a time when he was. He had found Errich living in a meadow fending for himself since his parents left him to live on his own, must just be that desperate for company is what Corrin always assumed.
"Lucky catch, was half asleep when I caught it," Errich mewed quickly, he must have caught the look in Corrin's ear as he didn't make eye contact. "Still though, it's...um….pretty….er...nice." Errichs' speech became mumbly at the end as he caught look at what was at Corrins' paws. His eyes lit up when he saw the bird and Corrin remembered how much he liked them. Jumping up excitedly, the rabbit forgotten as he looked fondly at the near cold piece f prey. "Wow! That's looks really good….do you mind if I take it?"
Corrin couldn't resist the growl in his throat, the reason he was angry was now fresh in his mind again. Hunching down, she glared into his friends' deep, yellow, eyes. "You could have caught your own if you didn't scare so many off like you just did! We won't be able to hunt here anymore with as little prey as there is before you scared it all off!"
Errichs' tail dropped at what his friend said and looked embarrassed for something that didn't even matter. Corrin was proud of it through and hoped that Errich would try harder. A rabbit was good but no doubt the chase had made the other prey leave and that ruined their chances of hunting here again in the morning. How would a clan accept him if he could only catch one piece of prey while the rest fled? Corrin was about to leave it off there, certain that his friend had learned something but Errich mumbled softly under his breath, almost too quiet for Corrin to hear.
"What was that?" He hissed, despite assuming what it was.
Errich sighed and looked at Corrin with eyes sharp with confidence.
"Not like we'll stay, we're always moving and we never stop, EVER.", he replied looking cross as he lay on the ground, pulling the rabbit closer with a paw.
Corrin sighed, loudly enough so Errrich could hear him. The tom twitched an ear but didn't make eye contact. The grey cat rolled his eyes, Errich would always do this at least every other spot the two stopped at. Corrin had begun to notice this and purposefully picked places with less prey and shelter to encourage his friend forward. This was always where Corrin had to take charge of his mind. A little bit of explaining and the two would be off again. When he opened his mouth to speak, Errich raised his tail in the air, to silence him. Corrin was surprised when he closed his mouth like he was taking an order. That made his fur prickle uncomfortably as his mind stumbled in confusion from his actions.
"Don't bother," Errich silenced, shifting his yellow eyes to met Corrins' blue ones. "I heard you repeat yourself enough this past moon." He shifted his ears back, an unusual look on his face Corrin put down as anger. He hadn't even seen it so much cross the happy, go-lucky toms' eyes once while they traveled. "We'll be there soon! Don't worry, that loner told us it was just over here! Stop being so pouty, the clans are worth it." Errich mocked, waving a paw in the air as he did.
Errich had been digging his left front claws into the ground, deeper and deeper with each word, putting more emphasis on how he felt. Corrin felt embarrassed as the other cat spoke, his words hitting deeper and deeper into his well thought out plan. The plan was supposed to be simple, walk to the clans before leaf-bare so they would let them join. He had tried to get all the help he wanted from other rogues and loners they pasted. It wasn't his fault the clans were forced to leave because Nofurs destroyed their past home!
Corrin looked behind them, taking in the falling sun. Were the days becoming shorter? Was that the distant chill of leaf-bare going through the air? Shuffling his paws, he winced as he heard the sound of leaves underneath his paws, their green color fading and fading to a dull brown. This wasn't good, they had to pick up the pace! Hurry until the clans wouldn't accept them since they were just another mouth to feed! The need to run, put on more distance. The ache in Corrin's legs through pleaded for him to rest, trying in vain to get to his mind.
Another wind bringing more chill ruffled his fur as more failure filled Corrin's heart. It all suddenly felt, hopeless. They were never going to really make it, where they? His tail dropping, Corrin set his eyes on the ground, instead of the horizon like he had for so many moons. Thoughts and wishes and dreams had clouded his mind too much and he forgot about everything around him. Stupid! There was probably at least one more Nofur city to go through and countless Thunderpaths. They were doomed from the second they stepped paw onto the path.
Errich noticed his friends' despair and even through satisfaction was on his face, sadness was seen faintly in his yellow eyes. A muffled sigh and Corrin could feel the other tom's gaze on his pelt. Despite the shame that had recently been anger and pride, Corrin glanced over to meet his friends' gaze.
"It just, gets tiring," He mumbled softly, clearly still not in the mood to make peace. "All the moving around and never settling. I want to spend time with you Corrin, the only and last time we did that was when we met which was over two moons ago. Can't we please just met up with the clans when newleaf comes with rich prey?"
Corrin had to admit that Errich had a point but he still wanted to cling to the plan he had his whole life. His life had been just this. Walking to the so-called clans. First, it was him and his mother, endless walking since he learned how. When she got on the wrong side of a monster, it was just him for a while until he stumbled upon Errich and it had been that ever since. That was all he knew and never really had a home.
"I'm sorry," Corrin mumbled, the words tasting sour and sounding wrong to his ears. "If you want to leave just leave."
Errich growled and Corrin flinched, expecting the tom to lash out and go off on his own, he clearly could make it. Slowly, the growl turned into a purr, then a chuckle, then full of laughter. Corrin lifted his head, confused at the other tom.
"You really think I would you leave you furball?", he laughed getting to his paws. He made his way over to Corrin and prodded him in the chest with a paw. "You can barely think straight half the time!"
Corrin restricted the need to growl at the slight humiliation and instead let himself take the gentle teasing of the other tom. Relaxing, he was unaware of how tight his muscles were during it all and the soreness of them was surprising.
"It's just, can we please not march all the way to the clan like monsters? Can we maybe just, spend the time somewhere and, prepare?" Errich asked the questions calmly with a small hint of teasing. Corrin sighed and wrapped his tail around his hind leg, not completely sure what to do. He knew one thing for sure, the clans were key. That was their goal, that was where they needed to go. But, it wouldn't hurt to stop for leaf-bare. The two were barely six moons old and despite them being strong from all the walking, they hardly knew how to fight off anything. If an angry fox, cat, dog, or forbid a badger crossed their path, the two would run to the nearest tree and climb or simply run as fast as they could and hide. They needed to learn better moves besides the ones that their parents taught them when they were kits. If they could also find impressive ways to hunt, then they could be even more valuable. Corrin was impressed with how much sense it made and it made him wonder why he didn't think of it. Errich had some pretty good ideas sometimes.
"Okay.", Corrin mewed nodding sternly. Errich happily jumped a little on his paws, a purr almost escaping his throat before Corrin interrupted him. "Only if we continued walking until we find a place that is suitable for leaf-bare OR the clans. Whichever comes first. Okay?"
Errich softly sighed but still seemed proud. He didn't want to fight anymore it seemed like and nodded. Corrin sighed, glad their skirmish was over.
"Well, there is prey to be eaten…" Errich mumbled, a grin on his face.
Corrin rolled his eyes playfully and place his kills, their fresh warmth now long gone, next to the rabbit. Errich lunged for the blackbird, and Corrin remembered they were his favorite type to eat. The grey cat laid down, adjusting himself, then grabbed the mouse and began to devour it in a few mouthfuls. The two ate in silence, their hunger greater than anything they needed to say.
After they both finished their single meals, Errich brought the rabbit between them and eagerly took the first bite. Corrin followed suit, a little suspicious since he never tasted rabbit before. It was stringier than he would like and the fur tickled his nose unconfrontable. Even though the rabbit was on the plumper side, it still wasn't filling to Corrin. Errich began on the story about this leaf that he had found today. He continued on the story about how it led him to an abandoned badger den that had a tunnel system, which he logically went into. Corrin purred as he ate his fill of the rabbit, his tail going back and forth behind him lazily.
"And that's how I found you!", Errich finished. Corrin remembered the other tom suddenly appearing when he was in a wide clearing that day. The tom had appeared randomly, looking a little stunned but grinning happily. Corrin purred lightly before getting to his paws. Turning behind him, he saw the sun was only bigger than a sliver in the sky, it was almost night and the chill confirmed it. He looked at Errich who had just finished the rabbit and began to clean his paws. One thing that Corrin could always count on was Errich's appetite and his friend could devour anything in a matter of seconds. Corrin discarding the leftover food in a nearby rabbit burrow, covering it was dirt before rejoining his friend. He gave his Errich a friendly nudge before slipping into their hastily made den. Just an abandoned badger den that they each threw some moss into for nest.
Corrin grunted, it wasn't the most comfortable nest in the world but good enough for the night. As he buried himself deeper into it, Errich wanting to stay in one place made sense. At least then they would have nest that could qualify as one.
As he drifted off to sleep, he numbly heard Errich enter the den and flop into the nest next to him. He was about to say goodnight but was soon he was taken to sleep. Corrin felt his muscles relax before formally letting himself drift away from the waking world.
Bam, rewriting time. I've got everything written out so I know how this story ends. That's important, knowing how it ends I guess. Fingers crossed I'll be able to finsih this since it's been a very long time in production. Ha ha ha...Hope you all enjoy this story more that it might turn out better and chapter two may come out next week if I has the time so be on the look out! Thanks for reading.