"Come on, Hail, walk faster!" Timber purred, practically bouncing out of the camp. "Why are you suddenly so excited to hunt?" Hail meowed with amusement. Timber shrugged. He was just relieved that he could tear his mind away from everything that had happened and be with his brother. Hail suddenly perked up, sniffing the air. "Rabbit!" he said, looking at Timber excitedly. Timber laughed, following Hail as he started to move slowly across the dirt.
The rabbit came into view, scuffling around wildly. Timber was about to try scaring the prey toward Hail, but it suddenly moved to look at the two cats. All three creatures froze, the cats wondering how they had forgotten to make sure the prey didn't notice them. The rabbit simply looked curious, as if it wasn't afraid of strange animals four times larger than it. Hail glanced over at Timber and leaped toward the rabbit, setting a paw on its neck to trap it.
The rabbit's expression didn't change. It still looked up with wonder, making Timber very confused. He stepped forward to join Hail. "Doesn't prey normally try to escape from predators...?" Hail said, examining the unmoving rabbit. The rabbit suddenly wriggled away from Hail's paws and slowly hopped away. Timber felt like the world was upside down. "Maybe it was a very old rabbit...?" he said hesitantly, not believing it. Hail shook his head. "It looked young and strong." Timber glanced around, wondering if anything else was unusual. Unexpectedly, he felt pounding in his head. He stiffened, wondering if he had caught Sky's horrible illness. Thinking only made his head hurt more, so he stared at the ground.
As quickly as it had come, the pain left Timber. He felt different, but he couldn't figure out how. Hail was looking at his littermate in alarm. "Wh-what happened? Are you alright?" he asked with worry. "Yes," Timber whispered. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw Hail shiver. "Yes, I'm fine. Now, let's go hunt," Timber continued. Hail looked at him skeptically but started on another scent trail.
...
Sky woke to find herself covered in leaves. Existing felt painful. Slowly, she lifted her head to look at Angeni. She was still trying to cure Sky and help Asura. Angeni noticed that Sky was awake. "Sky. How are you feeling?" she asked. Her tone sounded positive, but something clouded her eyes. Sky let out a small sigh. "Painful. And why are there leaves all over me?" she asked, hearing herself as if from far away.
Whatever was revealing the worry in Angeni's eyes grew stronger. "You...you started bleeding. Did you have any dreams while you were asleep?" The Healer suddenly sounded weak. Sky's heart leapt with anxiety when she heard the word "bleeding". She thought hard, but she couldn't recall a dream. "No, it was dreamless," she answered. "Hmm," said Angeni. Sky laid her head down again, starting to fall asleep again.
She was about to fall asleep when she heard the sound of many cats exclaiming. Asura pulled himself to his paws and limped out of the Healer's den. Angeni rushed out to see what was happening. Sky slowly walked out of the den, trying to ignore her sickness. Every cat in the Tribe of Burning Clouds was staring at Timber and Hail, who had just come back from hunting. Hail was holding two mice in his jaws. A third was being carried on his back. Timber had a rabbit and a large bird Sky didn't recognize.
"Prey!" breathed Angeni. The Tribe hadn't been well-fed in many, many moons. It was a miracle to see this much food in one place. Sky looked at Timber happily, then realized he didn't look excited like the rest of the Tribe. Was something bothering him? Sky decided that once she was a bit more rested, she would find out. She staggered back to Angeni's den and fell asleep, waiting for the healing that would surely come.
...
Hawk breathed deeply. She vaguely noticed that her feelings of anxiety were growing immensely. She peered into the surrounding darkness, watching. Waiting. She couldn't figure out what it was she was waiting for. She just knew she was waiting. Hawk looked around again, her eyes suddenly meeting the eyes of another cat. They glowed bright red. Hawk shivered with fear.