Chapter 3:
"Alright," started Father. "Let's work on learning how to hunt. Now all of you follow my example." Flower, Petal, and Smokey looked at their father eagerly. "Crouch down like this," instructed Father.
We all tried our best to follow his example. Father padded around us and corrected the position of our paws. Once he was satisfied, he nodded in approval. "That move that you all just did is called the hunting crouch. It's very important for hunting small prey like mice and voles. Birds, on the other hand, are different. I'll teach you the move to hunt birds later," Father said.
"Now get back to that position again, but this time, hold your tail above the ground, like this." Father then demonstrated, his tail just above the ground, still.
Again, we all did as we were told, our father looking at our positions and correcting them if need be. Then, a few moments later, he nodded in approval once more. "Very good. You did excellent. Now, time to put that move to the test. Who wants to go and try and catch something first?" asked Father.
"ME! ME! ME!" shouted Flower. Father nodded, "Okay, come on, Flower." "I'll show you how it's done, Smokey," teased Flower as she padded by him, following Father.
Smokey clenched his teeth in anger. With a huff, Smokey sat down and listened to all of the sounds of the forest.
A little while later, Flower came back with four mice in her mouth, a proud gleam in her eyes. Petal went next, a determined look in her eyes. Great, I'm stuck with Ms. Perfect, Smokey thought bitterly.
Shortly after, Petal returned with only two mice in her jaws. Now it was Smokey's turn. He got up to his paws and walked with his father to a clearing. Father said, "Try and catch some prey with the technique that I showed you earlier." Smokey nodded and watched as Father walked off and left Smokey by himself, alone in the clearing.
Then, Smokey caught a faint scent of a mouse. Smokey followed it into a grassy area. He saw a dash of brown just up ahead and quickly, he got into the hunting crouch. He suddenly remembered that his tail needed to be up just a bit, so he did just that.
When Smokey thought that he was within pouncing distance, he leapt, but the mouse had already heard him and ran off. Gritting his teeth, he ran after it.
He kept running after it until he felt a tremendous amount of pain. The whole world was spinning around him and he stopped, collapsing to the ground.
He woke up to feel that Father was prodding him in the side. "Are you alright?" he asked, concered. Smokey nodded and shakily got up to his paws. He was still feeling a little bit dizzy, but other than that, he was fine.
We walked back to the others. Smokey's vision finally focused and he could see straight again. When Flower saw that Smokey had no prey, she teased, "We're all one step closer to starving because of you."
Smokey couldn't hold back his anger anymore so he ran and leapt on top of Flower. She gave a gasp of shock and surprise. Smokey then pinned her down and bared his teeth. He spat at her in anger. "It isn't my..." He couldn't finish what he wanted to say because Father had dragged him off. "Enough!" Father said angrily. "It was his first try, Flower. Let's get back," Father added wearily.
A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed this little chapter. Also, sorry it's short, it was a filler in some parts. Anyway, review please!
~Moonwing