Wow, this time I have nothing to say up here. Um..uh... writing is harder than it looks? :/
I was struggling to come up with stuff cause I don't want stuff to happen too fast. It would be weird if Razor dies a day into meeting Firestar- that just derails the whole subplot? Hopefully once I get past the Razor and Japanese cats stuff, I'll have an easier time writing the next chapters.
For some reason I'm still expecting this to get to 50 chapters. haha no probably not i'm good but not that good ;-;
Reviews are super appreciated!
Firestar wriggled out from under the bush, unable to stave off the feeling of needing to stretch his wings any longer. While the bush was certainly big, it would be bigger if he didn't have to share with two other cats. Even without them there wasn't much room. Not to mention that he still had a bad feeling that he was continuing to grow bigger.
He spread them out, stretching them to their full wingspan. It felt nice feeling all the bones and muscles pop after having them forced tightly to his sides for a long period of time. Just because he didn't like having them didn't mean he liked forcing them to his sides at all times. It would be like constantly keeping his tail inbetween his legs.
A rumble from his stomach broke him out of his thoughts. He paused in his stretching, wondering when was the last time he ate. He supposed he would have to find and catch a lot of prey, or get lucky and find a hawk or something.
"Where are you going?" Hanako asked, popping her head out from underneath the bush.
"Hunting. I'd imagine you're hungry after eating nothing for over a day," he said. He drew his tongue over his chest fur, avoiding the stone, embarrassed that he had almost went off hunting without informing Hanako first. He was so used to hunting on his own, because his clan was uncomfortable around him- and then he had found himself outside the clan, alone.
Hanako's ear tips were red in embarrassment as her hunger made itself known, her stomach rumbling out for his ears to pick up perfectly. With her needing to find enough food for herself and Hisako, as well as giving Razor a good offering and running away from him, she hadn't had the time to get something proper to eat. She was starving, but was good at making it look like she was fine.
"Ah, I suppose it's been a while since I've had a proper meal," she mumbled. "Are you going to hunt alone? I'd prefer if Hisako and I weren't alone. You never know if Razor's Gang decides to come looking for me during the time you're gone."
She had a good point; what if those rogues came back while he was gone? "I suppose you could come, if you can keep up with me that is," he meowed.
"Oh you'll find that we certainly can. You didn't survive Razor by being a weak hunter," she commented. She turned to the bush, "Hisako-chan, come along, we're going hunting," she called. The kit excitedly rushed out from the bush.
"We're going hunting?! Are you finally going to let me catch something?" Firestar purred, remembering Squirrelflight being like that when she was a kit. He never had the heart to tell her that she wasn't old enough to be hunting. That was Sandstorm's job of course. This kit wasn't old enough either, but that was up for Hanako to decide.
Hanako sighed. "If you're good, maybe I'll let you try and catch something." Hisako gasped excitedly. Firestar flicked his tail, signaling for the two to follow. He led the two away from the Twolegplace, not wanting to chance running into Razor's Gang, and because it was a prey-poor place anyway.
Hisako was happily taking in the sights, while her mother was trying to scent any prey to hunt. The scent of mouse hit him, and without thinking, he lashed his tail out at a nearby bush, scaring the hiding mouse out of its cover. He swiftly pounced on it as soon as it emerged.
"Whoa, that was so cool!" Hisako squealed. Hanako was staring at the mouse hungrily, and he tossed it over to her.
"You can have it. You need it more than I do."
"I- I am perfectly capable of hunting myself?" she meowed, flustered.
He shrugged. "I know you can, but you and Hisako are hungry, and that mouse wouldn't have filled me up anyway."
Hisako tilted her head, confused. "But it's a big mouse! Why wouldn't it fill you up?"
"This body needs more food to fuel..." he mumbled. His eyes trailed upwards, spotting a hawk circling around, trying to find its own prey. It looked so tantalizing to him, but there was a part of him that really didn't want to use his wings in front of these cats.
"Maybe we should go somewhere else, just in case it comes after us," Hanako said softly, shifting closer to Hisako as she eyed the hawk. Of course he didn't want a repeat of what happened to Snowkit- but he could prevent that from happening again couldn't he? He sighed and spread his wings, kicking off the ground and shooting off towards the hawk. It felt like he didn't need to do much, his body moving on its own as he swiftly killed the hawk in mere heartbeats. He glided back down to the ground, the hawk dangling from his jaws. Hanako and Hisako watched him in awe.
"That was ever cooler!" Hisako crowed. "Why don't you do that more often?" He averted his gaze awkwardly, not wanting to tell them how much he hated his body. The stone pulsed, and all his loathing melted away. His head twitched, his head being filled with foreign thought once again. Why hate what he had become when he could protect his mate and hatchlings much better like this? He just needed to go back to get them...
"Firestar?" his eyes trailed over to Hanako. "You were doing that thing again, where you got lost in your thoughts?" He looked down, embarrassed.
"He avoided my question, Kaa-san," Hisako stated with kit-like innocence.
"Hisako, that's rude. He doesn't need to answer if he doesn't want to," she chided.
Firestar put the hawk down. "No, no, it's fine. I just... don't like being reminded of the thing that drove me away from my clan."
"But why wouldn't cats think how cool it is to have wings?" Hisako asked innocently. He gave a sad purr.
"Well, I suppose some cats thought it was." His treasures were never scared of him. At worst, they were wary of him, but never scared.
"If those cats thought nothing different of you, then what do other cat's opinions matter then? Shouldn't the ones that care about you be the only ones that should matter?" Hanako questioned. She was right; only the thoughts of his treasures really mattered. But what she didn't understand was that none of them wanted to leave the clan- and the majority of them didn't think highly of his new form. He didn't want to think about it; he didn't want go under the stone's influence again. So he said nothing. Hanako nodded, understanding that he didn't want to talk about it and didn't press further.
"So can I finally hunt something now?" Hisako asked.
"Well... I suppose you should learn just in case you need to find food," Hanako conceded.
Hisako bounced on her paws excitedly. "Hey, hey, you can help too!" she said to Firestar.
"You want me to teach you?" he purred amused. She looked up at him with the most innocent eyes, and his resolve melted. He was resigned to his fate. The kit was using the special power that only kits had, and he wasn't a match for it. "Alright, the first thing we need to work on is your hunting crouch..."
Hanako and Hisako get Firestar to open up a tiny bit. But they respect his boundaries; if he doesn't want to talk, then he doesn't want to talk. Thinking negative thoughts only gives an opening for the stone to influence again, which he's aware of. So he's trying not to think about the heavy bits.
Just hit me, I should really be writing another Brambleclaw chapter. Juussstt to show how the clans are doing... maybe?
Tell me how I did.