Hunter

Ironically, I am the best hunter in BloodClan. No cat can catch more prey than me, and trust me... they've tried. Even Storm, my 'I can do anything better than my siblings' older brother, can't hunt better than me. Then again, there are a lot of things Storm can't do better than us. He can't heal like Hail can, for one thing. And he can't be as annoying as Star.

I'm glad I found something that I excel at. If it wasn't for hunting, I would just be 'that other kit Shatter had'. I needed something. I'm patient. Far more patient than Storm. And I'm persistent. Patient and Persistence are the most important things involved in hunting, in my opinion. I'm also smaller than Storm. Our father once told me that as far as body shape goes, I remind him of his sister. I never knew her, unfortunately.

(***)

I carefully moved forward, silently placing one paw in front of the other as I neared my prey. The squirrel didn't notice me – it wouldn't notice me. I almost always caught what I was after. I paused for a moment, then pounced, and catch the squirrel easily between my front paws. I killed it with a quick bite.

"That was spectacular, Hunter!"

I couldn't help but flinch at the sound of the meow. A young calico tom sprang from the bushes. "Wow, Hunter. Really, that was-"

"I know," I meowed. I started covering the squirrel in dirt to retrieve on my way home. "Go away," I added under my breath.

The tom practically hopped up to me. "Can you show me how to do that, Hunter?"

"Don't you have a mentor of your own?"

The young cat glanced at the ground quickly. "Yes... but she doesn't want to teach me how to hunt. She says that I need to figure it out myself. But you... you're amazing!"

"You can watch me," I meowed after a short pause. "Watch. That means no moving and no meowing."

The tom nodded excitedly. "I'll be perfect, Hunter."

I doubted it. I turned around and stalked off, the tom followed me. He was Olive's apprentice, and for some reason he always seemed to find me. I wished Olive could keep better track of him.

Suddenly, rustling interrupted my thoughts. I froze and looked around for the source of the sound. The apprentice paused behind me. Soon I saw it, a mouse nosing through some plants. I dropped into a crouch instantly. I judged the distance and decided that I didn't need to creep closer to the mouse. I leapt upon the mouse and killed it quickly.

The tom's green eyes were wide and admiring. "Wow."

I shook my head as I buried the mouse. "Come on," I meowed. We continued walking.

(***)

"And the way you climbed up the tree and got that bird! That was so great. You just jumped up and bam, it was dead." The apprentice was talking around two mice that he was carrying, one of them he had caught himself.

I couldn't say anything. The squirrel and bird took up my whole mouth. So I was subjected to listening to the apprentice praise me. Not that I have anything against praise.

Suddenly the apprentice stopped and dropped the mice. "Um, Hunter? This is my ally."

Finally, I thought. But to the calico I just nodded.

"Could I... I mean, I know one of these mice is yours. But could I bring it home to my mother?" He asked hopefully.

Again I nodded. I didn't need it, anyway.

"Thank you! You're the best, Hunter," he picked up the mice and ran off.

I continued my way back to the ally.

(***)

"Oh, Hunter!"

I was so close to getting home with my food. I paused, regretting it instantly when I saw my sister and her friend Gem walking toward me.

"Is one of those for me?" Star meowed hopefully.

I dropped the freshkill so that I could talk to her. "What happened to BloodClan cats feeding themselves?" I teased.

"Well," Star sat down. Gem fluffed her fur a bit and sat down as well. "You see, Hunter, most BloodClan cats catch food from the twolegplace, or steal food from the twolegs. That food can be pretty tasty, but you, my wonderful brother, get freshkill from the forest. And that kind tastes the best. And you love to share with your sister, to make sure she doesn't have to suffer through eating scrawny, tasteless food."

"Your wonderful brother?'

"The best."

"Well..." I nudged the bird toward the two she-cats. "Enjoy."

(***)

It's good that I'm such a strong hunter. Most BloodClan cats hunt only for themselves, and their mates and kits. Occasionally cats hunt for my father and his Elite group, and important elders. I always hunt for myself, and Star and Gem, and I'm often feeding Hail as well. That's why I must hunt all the time, and that's why I go to the forest. We're not supposed to, but I get away with it because of who my father is. That's why I get the healthiest prey.

I was hunting yet again. It was a good thing that I loved hunting so much. I was creeping up on a chipmunk when it suddenly got startled away by movement behind me. My claws sank into the dirt in annoyance. I sat up and spun around. "Why can't you go back to Ol-" I cut myself off.

The cat, who wasn't the calico apprentice I was expecting, looked terrified. "Sorry..." she meowed quietly. "I didn't mean to." She was a white and brown tabby, and her blue eyes were wide and scared. I noticed a blue collar around her neck.

"A kittypet in the woods?" I meowed.

"I'll leave," She offered quickly. "I'll leave and I'll-"

"Wait, stop. Calm down. I don't hunt cats."

"But... but aren't you one of those clan cats?" She asked. "M-my mother warned told me that before I was born, a cat collected a bunch of kittypets and told them to tell all the kittypets that if we were caught outside of our dens we... we wouldn't be allowed to return to them in one piece. You... you're one of those cats, aren't you? Please don't hurt me."

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"But you are one of those clan cats?"

I nodded. "Name's Hunter."

"I... I'm Flora. Can I go home?" She meowed hopefully.

I knew I was scaring her, but I shook my head. I couldn't help it. She was so pretty, I couldn't let her go that easily. I'd never felt like this for any BloodClan cat. "Flora, I'd really like to get to know you more."

Her expression changed from scared to confused. "You want to get to a know a kittypet? I thought you all hated kittypets."

"My mother was once a kittypet."

"I know what you want, you know. I'm smarter than that. But you can't just... I'm not going to let y-"

"I want to become friends and see what happens," I meowed.

"You promise you're not going to hurt me or steal me and take me back to where ever it is that you cats live?"

"I promise."

"Well... all right, then," Flora agreed. "You seem pretty nice, I guess..."

(***)

She-cats love Storm, but he's never gotten really close to one before. Maybe I could beat him in that, as well as in hunting.

Persistence, that's what it's all about.