Hope yawned, stretching as she stepped out of her comfy moss nest. She grunted as she felt something warm and fuzzy bump into her.

"Sun!" Hope muttered in an annoyed tone to the golden she-cat who had bowled her over. She got up and tried her best to lick the dust from her pelt, smoothing it where Sun had come in contact with it and ruffled her blue-gray coat.

Sun grinned. "Good morning, Hope!" She meowed, nuzzling Hope affectionately. Hope returned the gesture. Since she didn't know her family— or even if she had any siblings— Sun was her younger sister figure. They took care of each other, played with each other, ate together.. they were as close as real family.

"Good morning to you too, lizard-brain," Hope snorted, padding the last stretch towards the entrance of the tenderfoot den. She wondered when she would become a prey-finder— that's what she and Sun were training to become. They were growing fast, and she hoped they would both get promoted soon.

The sun was bright, batting down against Hope's somewhat thick pelt, making it shimmer a beautiful blue. She hissed, looking away as she accidentally stared directly into the sun. She had to blink a few times to get her vision back to normal

"Stop being so dramatic," Sun teased, rolling her eyes. "You're acting like a raccoon!"

Hope huffed. "Whatever. Come on, we should go find Hurl and Bronze. The prey pile needs more fresh-kill."

Sun nodded eagerly and followed Hope as she strode across camp, seeking the familiar large, scarred siamese tom and quiet brown tom. She finally spotted them, bounding over.

"Hello," Hope mewed, dipping her head in greeting and respect. She could still barely believe she was training under The Rushing Fire of Dragon's Breath's lead hunter, Hurl! Bronze, on the other hand, was a strange cat. He was rarely heard speaking, and lots of the younglings feared him. As Hope had learned, though, he's quite a kind and gentle cat. He's the prey-finder that Sun was training with.

Bronze's orange-ish fur started to bristle at the sudden interruption in his and Hurl's conversation, but it quickly flattened again once he recognized the two tenderfeet.

"Greetings, Hope. Sun." Hurl dipped his head in return, his expression unreadable. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation later, Bronze. We must tend to these young cats' training."

Bronze just nodded. Hope couldn't help but wonder what in the moons they had been talking about. She didn't get the chance to ask, though, as Hurl stood up abruptly.

"Shall we go?" He muttered. The large tom's beige contrast seemed more defined out in the sun. There was something off about him, but Hope decided not to press him on it. She knew how frustrated he could get if cats talked to him when he was upset.

As she and Hurl made their way through the thin forage, dipping through the emerald-green foliage, Hope couldn't help but feel frustrated, as if she had just missed a mouse by a tail's length. She tended to pick up on things quickly, and she knew that whatever conversation her mentee had been having with Bronze must have been important. The nagging longing of wanting to know everything that was going on in the group was infinitely stuck in Hope's mind, tugging at her brain until it got all the answers she wanted. She couldn't help its nosiness was a trait she was born with.

"Hope!" Hurl hissed. "Did you hear me?"

Hope blinked as she came back to reality and shook her head in sorry at him.

Hurl huffed. "I said I saw a rabbit nearby, so let's try and catch it."

"Sorry," Hope muttered. "Okay. Let's go then."

The two tread carefully through the undergrowth, careful not to make a sound. Hope couldn't help but notice her mentee shooting glances at her every once in a while— what was that all about?

They reached the rabbit eventually, and Hope quickly darted to the other side of the forest. They had decided that Hurl would chase it towards her and she would cut it off— most likely the most common rabbit hunting method used that she knew of.

As Hurl had promised, he shot out of the bushes and leapt for the rabbit. It heard him coming and darted in the other direction— just missing Hope.

Mouse-dung! Hope thought in frustration as she leapt to her paws and started to pursue the rabbit. She got lucky with timing and was quick enough to leap up that she managed to stretch out a paw as she sprinted and dug her claws into the rabbit's back. It let out a pitiful squeal and she nipped the sensitive spot on its spine, a clean kill.

"Good work," Hurl praised, coming out of the brush behind Hope. "We'll practise climbing trees and hunting squirrels for the rest of the day."

As Hope padded into camp and set down her prey on the prey pile with Hurl, a shorter, golden figure bounded towards her, large blue eyes staring at her happily.

"I missed you!" Sun mumbled, pressing herself against Hope's side— who rolled her eyes.

"I was barely gone for a day, Sun. We had to train. Speaking of which— what did you learn?"

"I never thought you'd ask!" Sun giggled, going into a full-blown conversation about her day while she and Hope ate their food. They had taken the rabbit that Hope had caught to share.

When they were done, they both headed across camp into the tenderfoot den. They were greeted by Yarrow, who they said a quick hello to before flopping in their nests.

"Goodnight, Hope!" Sun said, her eyes already closed as she rested her muzzle on her forepaws.

"Goodnight, Sun," Hope said with a yawn. She curled up in her nest, gazing at her one white forepaw as she brought her tail to rest over it. Ever since she was a youngling, she wondered why only one of her paws were white, compared to her almost completely blue pelt.

She shrugged it off like usual, closing her eyes and letting the calming darkness take over.

That night, she dreamt of chasing a strange, large rabbit across a large stretch of grass. It was unfamiliar to her, and she saw faceless cats nearby, but paid attention only to her prey. Suddenly, the rabbit stopped, and a translucent cat paw gently placed itself on its back.

Hope looked up at the cat. Its eyes had nearly no colour, and its pelt was sparkling and starry. She gazed up at it with wide eyes.

"A broken hope is to be restored. What once was shall be a tale told by the flaming bird's own."

Then, it went black, and the rest of Hope's sleep was uneventful.