A/N: Here we go! The next chapter! Enjoy!
Panther woke up next to Take and Keep. She shook her fur out groggily, and glanced around the grimy building that she was now used to and was calling home. The sun shone faintly in the dirty windows, making streaks of light on the floor dance.
It had been two days since she had killed the rogue, and since then she had learned to hunt. The mice seemed to escape her claws easily, running under piles of garbage in fright. She had only caught one prey, and it was a crippled pigeon. The poor animal had broken its left wing previously, making it an easy kill for the kit. She had begun to feel disheartened as she had only caught one piece of prey, while Rust was beginning to bring in three per day.
Determined to best her foster brother, Panther squirmed carefully out of Cream's long tail. She hadn't waken either the mother or the kits, and made her way slowly to the hole in the building. If she was ever to get better at hunting, she had better start out now.
The darkness of dawn shrouded Panther from watching eyes, for her pelt blended into the darkness well. It was quiet, and the sun was barely over the horizon. Small prey animals scuffled in the alley unafraid, for they knew that no cat hunted at this time.
"This'll be easy," Panther hissed, getting into the crouch Dawn had taught her. Just thinking of her foster family made Panther shiver with glee. Her foster moms were the best, except for Time. Dawn was best at hunting, Cream at fighting, and Mahogany the best at tracking. With all of her teachers, she was sure to be a great cat.
She crawled forward, intent on a small mouse nibbling a piece of bread. His fur was illuminated by the rising sun behind him, and he looked on unawares. Her tail tip twitched, brushing against the stack of boxes next to her. It wobbled uncertainly, sending the ones on top falling. With a loud yowl, Panther scrambled away from the trapping boxes, scaring the mouse and every other creature away.
She licked her chest fur twice, trying to quell the rush of embarrassment that came to her. How could she ever be a good hunter? What had she done to make the mouse flee, and the boxes fall?
Panther sprinted forward, trying to catch some prey for Cream to be proud of. A pigeon cooed softly from a rooftop above, calling out to her. She wanted to leap after it, but mice seemed better to catch.
Finally, after a few blocks, the sounds of scuffling prey became prominent again. The sun rose still higher, and it was an hour after dawn. She hadn't much time before the others woke, and she wanted to surprise them with at least one mouse.
She stalked forward, focused on a much larger black mouse. Its whiskers twitched, scenting the air, but scenting nothing. She crept closer, and leapt. The sound of its bones crunching was satisfying, and as she bit into the neck, the blood flowed freely. Panther backed away, and observed her kill. This was something that Cream would be proud of!
"And what do we have here?" A cruel voice asked, emerging from within a hole in the ground. The tom shook his long white fur out and blinked twice, trying to clear out the sleep from his eyes.
Panther's eyes widened in fear and her hackles rose. She had killed once before, but she wasn't sure if she could do it now. Just being with her foster family gave her courage, and the lack of them made her feel as weak as a mouse.
"I have many slaves," the tom meowed. "I do have to admit, however, you'd be the best one. The others wouldn't mind taking care of you, because when you're old enough, they'd be left alone, and you'd be my most used she-cat."
As the kit tried to wrap her mind around the idea, the tom stepped forward and pulled her into the mouth of the hole. "What do you mean?" she squeaked, trying to avoid going down into the hole. It reeked of crowfood, and the scent of many cats, all she-cats, emanated from it.
The white cat laughed. "It's really not that hard, kit. I have a bunch of slaves that I choose. They pleasure me, and give me kits to sell if they're she-cats, or teach if they're toms. I am the leader of a very successful band of cats of toms, because she-cats aren't that much use other than kits and pleasuring anyway."
Panther hissed, and doubled her efforts. If that cat even thought about using her! She scratched the tom down his side, but his long fur stopped his claws short of drawing blood.
"Let me go!" she seethed. "I am Panther, daughter of Time and Ghost, and I demand that you let me go!"
He laughed even harder. "You'll be even better than! Perfect kits we'll have!" Suddenly his laughing mood vanished, and he looked in anger over her head. "What do you want, Cream?" he snarled, dropping Panther.
The dark brown tabby kit scuttled to Cream's side, mewling in terror. "I have parental control over this kit, Blizzard, and you are not allowed to touch her."
The way Cream spoke made Blizzard dip his head. "I was just going to have a little fun…" he muttered. He backed into the hole, and a few soft mews greeted him.
As the threat passed, Cream turned to Panther with anger in her eyes. "Why did you do that?" she hissed, picking the tabby kit up sharply by the scruff. "When I woke up, I found you were gone, and I thought you were killed! Then I go off, following your scent, to see you had wandered off. You do know that Blizzard is one of the worst cats in this city to talk to if you're a she-cat? Down in his hole he has over ten she-cats chained to the walls! What if I hadn't woken up in time, what if I hadn't saved you?"
The tabby kit said nothing, and allowed Cream to continue yelling at her. Her mother figure was right. She had been stupid to go run off like that. She stopped at a street, and placed Panther down. "Just because I saved you doesn't mean that there aren't any consequences. I shall give your punishment to you once I talk with Mahogany and Dawn."
Panther was jolted again as Cream picked her up. The cream she-cat dashed across the street, barely making it before a car zoomed down the road. The abandoned building was right there, and Panther smelled the scents she had become familiar with.
Cream squeezed through the entrance, and placed Panther in the center of the floor before going to join the other two queens on the large chair. As she heard them conversing, Panther looked around for her sisters and brother. They were underneath the chair, listening in quietly. Rust looked at her with guarded eyes, but she could read the emotion coming off of him in scent. He was sad that she had gotten in trouble, but agreed with his mother. Rust and the others had quite a fright, thinking their new sister was dead.
Cream turned to Panther, who had stayed in the same place this whole time. "We have decided. You should have a harsh punishment, because you wholeheartedly disobeyed us, and to teach you not to do it again. Dawn wanted you not to see the fight between the Elites. I think that is too harsh, as Blizzard gave you some of your punishment today." The she-cat looked pointedly at a long gash in Panther's side, which had begun to bleed again.
"We have decided that you aren't going on the next two hunting trips, one of which is now. You are to remain here, and then if you leave, you are not allowed to watch the Elites. Do you understand?" Cream asked, glaring at her foster kit.
Panther nodded glumly. With that, Cream and the others gathered the kits from underneath the chair, and headed out. None of them said a word to Panther, making the kit feel even sadder about her misdoing.
They all left, and the dark brown tabby left her spot on the floor and jumped into the chair that the queens had recently occupied. She lay down with her head on her paws and sighed. "How am I ever going to be a good hunter now?"