Stars reflected in the night sky of indigo and silver on a pool of rainwater that had yet to dissipate into the air. Slight night breezes whispered about and the rustles of leaves and branches filled the air.
Cloud followed his father under the ferns and beneath the huge, rusted monsters, cars his father called them. Large metal cars that ate humans, and spit them back out after a long, rumbling ride, so said his father. Cloud passed underneath one, shrinking down in fear of it's immense size. The striding grey shape of his father continued on confidently, giving Cloud a reassurance without realizing.
Casey paused, waiting for Cloud to catch up, and slunk out from beneath the large, suspended car. Starlight and moonlight glinted off the shiny edges of the bulky form, reflecting into Casey's yellow eyes as he stood waiting for Cloud.
Cloud and his father were quiet, both of them hesitant to break the silence of night with words unhindered by the light of the sun. Shadows warped and shifted menacingly around them, and the rustle and whisper of leaves rushed and receded when the wind dropped off. Cloud kept to the quiet because his father did, and because he understood in his young mind why this quiet should be kept. Cloud was like his father in the same shade of fur and set of his shoulders and chin, and Cloud was like his father in the stubborn clench of his jaw or narrowed glance of his eyes.
Cloud could hear his mothers voice whispering to him when he lay in his nest of moss and warmth, 'You're so like your father. Casey is proud of you, you are so like him.'
Ingrid loved Cloud and his brother, Puzzle with a deep tenderness only a mother can behold. She was immensely proud of the two, and was not shy about it. She could often be heard praising them to the neighborhood alley cats, the loners who slunk around on occasion, or the kitty pets who took more to conversation.
Cloud tumbled after his father in the gloom of night, recalling with a glow of favor how his mother had cooed and exclaimed over his first catch of prey only a few sunrises before. He had caught a sparrow, quite by accident in Caseys yard. It had been hopping around in the early afternoon, and the humans were no where to be seen. They had left in their roaring clamoring cars in the morning, and Casey had been taking Cloud around and introducing him to the two kitty pets who lived nearby.
After meeting Gizmo, an old and frail she cat with bright blue eyes and long fur, Cloud had investigating the patch of ferns behind the old yellow car next to Caseys home. There the sparrow sat, hopping for walking and plucking at the ground for a meal. The air felt stifling with excitement as Cloud dropped into a crouch he had learned by instinct, perfected by Casey and Ingrids long instruction. He crept forward on slow paws, and just as the bird caught sight of him- he leapt, white paws clapping together on the bird and pulling it down to the floor of the yard.
His claws unsheathed as he tried to keep hold of the sparrow, flapping and squawking under them, pinned to the leafy ferns. Cloud lunged without knowing what he intended to do, and his teeth snapped over the birds neck. The sparrow struggling, and Clouds teeth clamped tightly down as the prey began to still.
So it was that Cloud experienced his first kill.
.
