ONE
Night had already fallen on the small forest of trees, turning the forest ground black. The brilliant colors the sunset liked to splash across the sky have since moved away from eye's view and left behind a gloomy atmosphere with very little stars to shine. The moon was a tiny crescent, barely large enough to give off any sufficient light. A black and white Manx cat crouched through the forest silently, paying no mind to the dwindling light. He stopped every so often to make sure he wasn't detected by his prey: a rabbit.
His determination, the smell of food, and the sight of its veins pumping wildly under its nervous skin was almost too much for him to handle. He hadn't eaten for a few days and he was terribly hungry, though he needed to make sure that he didn't take any meat from this rodent's bones. This kill wasn't going to be for him to enjoy, unfortunately, but with this kill he was hoping to be able to get something a little more satisfying than a full stomach.
The rabbit was dark brown in color, with creamy white cheeks, inner ears, tail, and toes. It silently searched for food, twitching his nose and flicking his ears about apprehensively. He was a large one, probably male, but the sex of it didn't matter to the hunter as much as the size of him did. If the cat was able to make this a successful kill, he may be able to get his request granted.
Feeling that the moment was right, the black cat pounced forward after moving a couple inches without making a sound. He twisted his body in the air to make sure his claws and fangs landed around the creature's neck, giving him quick and easy access to its large vein leading straight to its frightened heart. The rabbit didn't even have the chance to move; the cat was on him and bit down into his throat as far as he could go. Blood ran around the cat's muzzle and he felt the rodent jerk its huge hind feet as he struggled to get free, and then the violent shakes of the life leaving its body.
Though he hadn't made a sound, the cat was quick to get his kill out from the open. Other cats were always lurking about, looking to steal prey from a smaller cat. Not only that, but he had accidentally crossed into a clan's territory. Damn it. Who has to know?
He carried his prey by the throat and hurried as quickly as he could to where he had come from: his gang's headquarters for the night. His gang was a travelling one, and didn't waste time setting up and marking boundaries of their territories. They chose to be travelers for many reasons: they would be able to always be on alert, they were able to go wherever they pleased, and they wouldn't have to waste time with the things warrior clans wasted time with—territories being one of those things.
His gang was lounging together in a small clearing. There were nine of them, but the only cats he was interested in right then were Trick and Temperance, the mated pair of leaders. Temperance was a pretty, peach-colored cat who was completely devoted to Trick. She rolled around on the ground pawed flirtatiously over to Trick with her claws out. Trick, however, was more interested in circling around the other cats and padding over to the one with pretty in his jaws.
"Fell," he greeted him as he made his way over to the edge of the forest where the black cat stood. Trick was large, black tabby tom and when he held his head and tail higher, he seemed to be even bigger. The cat with the rabbit, Fell, dropped his kill to the ground and lowered his head to his leader.
"Trick," he began. "I have a favor to ask of you."
The dark tabby looked at Fell for a moment, then leaned down to tear open the rabbit and take a small sample of the meat. He smiled, clearly satisfied, then took the rabbit in his jaws, and cocked his head behind him to let Fell know that he wanted him to follow him.
Fell let out a small sigh of relief, and padded after Trick. The tabby brought the rabbit over to Temperance then walked passed her, brushing his tail against her face as he went, which she lightly bit.
Trick stopped far from the rest of the cats on top of a small hill. He was able to keep an eye on his small gang and also listen to what Fell had to say. They sat down in front of each other, Trick laying his tail over his paws patiently.
"Well, Skunk, what is it?" Skunk wasn't Fell's name, but Trick liked to call him as such because of his markings. Fell was a black cat and had a thick stripe of white going from his head to his tail, making him look a lot like a skunk. At first, Fell hated this, but he quickly realized that the more he expressed his hatred for it, the more Trick used the name.
Fell inhaled a deep breath, ready to say what he had rehearsed a few times in his head while he was out hunting for the rabbit. "I want to ask you to add another cat to the hit list."
Trick narrowed his eyes at this. The leaders of their gang, Karmasei, were always the only ones allowed to put anyone on the hit list—the list of cats to assassinate. Fell had quite the bravery to even think he could put someone on it himself. Trick wanted to tell him flat-out "no" but he was curious about whom Fell wanted killed. His dark tail started to twitch wildly in anticipation. "So who's the guy?"
Fell paused for a dramatic affect and his eyes seemed to glaze over with hate. "My brother, Octavius."
The gang's leader immediately had a smile smeared across his features. Octavius was part of the Artesia clan, the first clan to rise after the original four had fallen. They're a strong group of cats, but that's pretty much it. How fun it would be to wreck havoc on their peaceful turf.
Though Karmasei was mostly built out of cats that specialized in spying and assassinations, it wasn't unheard of for them to all attack as a group. Even their group battle strategies were as complex and deadly as they were when they killed alone.
"Very well," Trick answered as he stood up to walk back to the other cats. "You can kill him yourself."
Fell's eyes brightened up in pleasure at hearing this. He turned to face Trick who was still walking away from him, his tail held high. "When can I go?"
"After the other cats have been killed," Trick chuckled to himself lightly, knowing that this would make Fell angry. There were two cats currently on the hit list, Elias and Lucy, who were the leaders of the clan Brema. That clan existed only to eliminate Karmasei. Though that clan posed quite the hindrance and was an annoying to deal with, it gave the cats something to do: make those cats' lives a living hell whenever possible. Those two cats were at the top of Trick's priority list because without them, there would be no other clan to hinder then. Octavius' assassination would just have to wait.
Fell thought of arguing with the tabby, but decided it was no use. Everything goes by Trick's word. On the bright side, his brother's name was added to the hit list, which made the black cat feel very proud of himself that he was able to achieve such a feat. He followed the dark tabby back to the other cats, trying to wipe off the smirk on his face.
