Chapter three
Luna had a lot more dreams after that. They always played out exactly the same in the real world. Luna didn't tell Moss, or even Star; she was terrified they would think she was a freak. She kept them to herself, and sometimes, Luna was happy that she knew what was coming. It was fascinating to fall asleep wondering if she would dream about what would happen the next day.
Star began teaching the kittens how to hunt. On the day of their first lesson, she began by teaching them the special crouches they needed to use for different kinds of prey.
"Okay, so first, there's the crouch for hunting mice," Star meowed, looked down upon the four kits. They were crowded in a small clearing in the woods. Star didn't want any humans disturbing them.
She crouched down, and stalked forward, with practiced precision. The kittens watched with wide eyes, amazed at how good Star was at it.
"You have to remember to keep your steps light, and be as quiet as possible," Star reminded them, sitting back up. "Now you try it."
The four kittens immediately dropped into the same crouch that Star had used. Star purred as she watched them trip over their tails and land heavily on the forest floor.
"Keep your tails stretched out behind you, or else it will get in your way. Like this," Star added when Rose gave her a confused look. After she demonstrated, she looked over to see how well the others were doing.
"Great job, Luna!" she called, watching her. "You're keeping your paws very light."
Luna gave a little bounce of excitement at her mother's words. This was so easy. She'd had a dream about the lesson, so she knew what to do already. Luna giggled as she watched Leaf trip over his paws.
The dreams that Luna had made her feel important and smug. She was becoming better at everything that they did, because she usually knew what was going to happen before it happened.
Star's voice snapped her back into the present.
"Luna, help Leaf with his crouch. He needs to keep his paw steps lighter."
Happy to oblige, Luna went over to Leaf. She sat down and wrapped her tail over her paws, saying, "The trick is to keep all of your weight on your toes, so you step quieter."
Leaf turned away, curling his lip. "I can figure it out on my own, thanks."
Feeling slightly put out, Luna stepped away from her brother. "Fine, be a jerk. See if I care." She turned and stalked away, sniffing loudly.
Leaf let out a hiss of annoyance. Luna's always sucking up to Mommy. Star never notices me anymore.
As if she could read his thoughts, Rose pressed close to her brother. Purring affectionately, she licked his ear with a warm tongue.
"It's okay. You were doing it better than I was."
Leaf felt his heart swell. Rose always knew how to cheer him up. He leaned against her, feeling better than he had for the past few days.
"Thanks, Rose," he purred.
A little ways away, Luna was sitting with Moss, watching her do the crouch.
"I think Leaf's mad at me," she whispered in her friend's ear. Moss continued to try the crouch without pausing.
"Maybe you did something to annoy him."
"Yeah, but what? I don't remember doing anything..." Luna's eyes filled with tears. "Maybe he hates me."
Moss sighed, trying not to be too annoyed with Luna herself. "Stop over reacting," she meowed, controlling herself. "Leaf gets mad easily all the time."
"But this time is different…" Luna trailed off, deep in thought. She tried to remember what she had done to make Leaf so snippy with her. She shook the thoughts from her mind. It was time to get back to work.
The next morning, Luna woke with a pain in her back. It was a strong, biting pain, and Luna almost yowled aloud when she stood up. Trying to stretch without hurting herself more, she wondered where the pain was coming from. Luna was sure she hadn't hurt it during yesterday's hunting lesson…maybe she'd lain on it in her sleep.
Luna was the only one up. She looked around at her sleeping littermates, and then quickly decided not to wake Moss. Her friend would be grumpy; they were all tired out from the hunting lessons.
Carefully, she picked her way through the sleeping cats. Still feeling the ache in her back, Luna padded outside, wanting to try catching a bird. They were hovering over the ground, trying to eat some worms. That's right… Luna thought absent mindedly. It rained last night.
The ground was moist and a little bit muddy in places; Luna had to watch her step to avoid sticking a paw in a pile of gloop. Watching the birds carefully, Luna waited for one to land close by.
She didn't have to wait long. A bulky crow flew down just a few feet from where she was. Luna's eyes widened, with a malicious glint to them. Mama would be so proud if I caught this…
Luna took slow and careful steps forward. She dropped into the crouch they had been taught yesterday. They hadn't learned how to hunt a bird yet, so she was going to have to make do with the crouch used for mice.
The crow was oblivious to Luna's advances. It pecked lazily at the grass, most likely trying to suck up some dew. Luna wiggled her rump, preparing to spring-
And the crow spotted her. It took off with a shriek like a banshee, and Luna threw herself into the air without a moment's hesitation. She was going to catch this bird, even if it killed her.
She was seconds too late. The crow was airborne, and she dropped back down to the earth, disappointment slicing her heart open. Stupid, stupid…I should have been faster…even Rose could have caught that one… Luna snarled at herself. She was torn between being frustrated at herself and being thankful that no one had seen her miss.
I would have been the first out of all of us to catch something… Luna was so busy telling herself off that she did not see the fox. It had been watching her for some time now, merely interested in what she was doing. It grew bored, however, now that she was just standing there furiously.
The fox got to its paws, hungry for the decent meal that awaited it. The kit would make a good breakfast, and it was easy prey for the lean fox.
It stalked forward silently, watching Luna with moon-shaped eyes. Once it was close enough, it sprang.
Luna faintly heard a rush of air before the fox collided with her. She let out a shriek of pain that raked the sky.
This is it, this is the end. She thought as she tried frantically to get away. Oh, god, I'm going to die.
The fox's claws were long and unbelievably sharp. Luna let out a boiling scream as it slit open the skin on her back.
She felt her muscles freeze up with terror. The fox was just playing with her, and once it was done, it would kill her.
I'm going to die…
Star's eyes snapped open. Something was wrong. Luna was the only cat that was missing, and Star was sure that something had woken her.
She rolled over, and stood up. She had to find Luna. Star stepped carefully over the sleeping lumps of fur and quickly walked to the door. She stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. Star froze, fear suddenly gripping her bones.
No, it can't be…there can't be a fox…not here.
Even though her mind was telling her it wasn't true, Star raced out onto the front porch. If there was a fox here, it wouldn't be good.
It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the bright light. But when they did, Star wished that she did not have to see the scene in front of her.
Luna, her little kitten, was lying on the ground, soaked in blood. A fox was standing over her, baring its teeth…getting ready for the killing bite…
Star leapt forward, reacting on instinct only. She would not let this stupid fox kill her baby Luna.
The fox was completely unprepared for Star's attack. It let out a yelp as her sharp claws gored into its side, and it staggered backward from the force of the collision.
Star let out a low hiss, and crouched before the ragged animal. She stood directly over her youngest kit, protecting it with her life.
The fox got to its paws unsteadily. It pulled back its lips to reveal yellow, thorn-sharp teeth. A growl rumbled from the fox's throat, deep and menacing.
Star shot towards it without a glimmer of fear. She lifted a paw, ready to strike-
The crack of a rifle shattered Star's eardrums, stopping her short. The fox howled with pain. It staggered clumsily back into the forest, yelping, it's leg spurting crimson blood.
Star spun around to see a human standing on the front porch with a shotgun in its hands. It stepped cautiously down the steps, and then raced off into the woods. A shorter human with longer hair carefully left the house after the first. It walked quickly over to Luna, who was slowly bleeding to death on the blood-soaked grass.
Star sprinted back to Luna, and put herself between the tiny kit and the human. She bared her teeth, growling, "Don't you dare touch her!"
But the human didn't seem to understand Star's threat. It gently picked Luna up with the greatest care, and then hurried into the driveway, heading for the car. Stunned, Star did nothing. What was the human doing? This was no time for a ride!
Yowling, she sped towards the car, which was roaring to life. "Wait! Don't take her away from me!"
The car made a sharp turn, and then screamed forwards into the road. It screeched away from the house, leaving Star in the dust.
"Come back!" Star sprinted after it, her paws hitting the gravel so hard that the pads were scraped. But the car was still gathering speed, and there was no way for Star to catch up. She slowed suddenly, the horrible realization hitting her full force. Luna was gone.