WOLF FELT SOMETHING SHAKING HER THE next morning. She groaned and turned over, but it didn't stop the prodding on her side. "Wolf, we have training," Leaf's voice mewed. Wolf let out another groan before she slowly stood up. She let out a yawn as she stretched, opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry. She blinked a few times, then lifted a paw to rub at her eyes. Once the blurriness was gone from her vision, she watched as Leaf and Moon repeated the process.
She started grooming her fur, pulling out a feather or two before she was satisfied with her work. Song quickly sat up, glancing at her sister before grooming her own silver fur. Moon shoved Wolf with her paw.
"C'mon, let's go," She meowed sleepily. Wolf nodded before Moon led the way out of the den, Leaf padding beside her. She could feel Song's eyes following her as she left. Dawn, Stone, and Night were waiting patiently by the entrance to the cave. The three she-cats bounded towards the three waiting Prey-Hunters. They stood up once the To-Bes reached them.
"Moon, Wolf, are you ready for your first training fighting session?" Night asked. Moon and Wolf nodded and glanced at Leaf, who mouthed 'See? I told you' to her peers.
"Good. We just have to wait for Water, Flower, and Hiss," Dawn meowed. Wolf nodded as her tail flicked impatiently from side to side. At the first sight of the two Cave Guards and To-Be, the three Prey-Hunters stood up. The Cave Guards surrounded the Prey-Hunters as they left the cave.
Wolf set in beside Leaf and Moon. The smaller cat had a bit harder time dragging her paws through the snow, but she was still able to keep up pretty well. Water glanced back at the gray she-cat before looking back at the white expanse in front of him.
Stone led the way down the mountain, the snow becoming thinner under Wolf's paws until she was stepping on gray stone. They padded towards a ledge with dark green grass covering it. As soon as they stepped onto it, Wolf tried to get used to the new feeling under her paws. The grass was much softer than the stone she was used to. She looked down at the small, green plants, sniffing it. It smelled much different from stone and snow.
"Hunting on grass is a bit different from hunting in the snow and on stone," Dawn explained. "Smaller animals hide in the grass more often than everywhere else on the mountain, so it's a good place to find larger birds hunting."
"It's also harder to blend in, so you have to be more careful," Night added. Wolf nodded. Stone turned his amber eyes to the sky. His tail flicked.
"The wolves have been hunting…" he meowed.
"What do you mean?" Moon asked. He turned his head to look at her.
"There's usually enough prey for the Sin Tribes, but now that the wolves have come to the mountain, we've been finding less and less." Moon, Leaf, and Wolf nodded. Wolf scented the air, but she couldn't smell anything past the cats and the grass. She had to rely on her eyes.
Before she could find anything, Dawn went into a hunting crouch. Wolf looked towards where Dawn's eyes were fixed. She saw a dark gray shape hiding in the grass, making it shake as it moved. She crept forward slowly, leaping forward to catch the animal. She gave it a quick bite to the neck and padded back to the group, the rabbit clamped in her jaws.
Night nodded towards her. "Nice catch." Dawn bowed her head to the black she-cat. Stone led the way through the grass to go further down the mountain. Wolf spotted a hawk closer to the top, but they were too far away to catch it. The cats padded across the stone in silence.
All of the cats froze, except for Wolf, froze at the sound of a wolf's howl. It sounded much closer than the other howls that she had heard. The Cave Guards pushed the Prey-Hunters together, surrounding them. Their eyes flicked around them, watching for any signs of movement. Wolf looked at Moon.
"What are they doing?" she hissed quietly at the silver she-cat. Moon looked at her, her blue eyes filled with panic.
"Protecting us from the wolves," she hissed back quickly. Wolf nodded, but she still didn't understand all the other cats fear. As soon as the howl ended, the Cave Guards started herding the Prey-Hunters back towards the cave. None of the cats argued, despite the fact that they only had a rabbit to show for their day out.
