It didn't take Rainbowheart and Streak long to find some prey. Both had stumbled upon a good sized squirrel, which wasn't surprising, considering that it was still green-leaf.
Quickly, it became clear to Rainbowheart that Streak had little experience with hunting live prey. As soon as both got into position, she noticed how sloppy Streak's hunting crouch was. And as soon as the black cat had moved forward the squirrel had heard her and ran up a nearby tree.
"Rats!" hissed Streak. The cat gazed up at the tree, tail flicking in irritation before stalking off to search around for more prey.
Left behind, Rainbowheart pondered about the cat. She had expected her companion to be a bit novice at hunting, but not like this. Then again, Rainbowheart was already decent at hunting and had probably expected more from Streak. From what she could see, Streak and her kin had been eating, but that could have been a good few days ago, and they may have been getting handouts from twolegs.
Of course now they wouldn't be able to get any food from twolegs, being out in the forest. It was then that Rainbowheart decided to make it a priority to teach these cats how to fend for themselves in the wild.
"Hey, Rainbowheart."
Rainbowheart looked up to see Streak, who had just realized her companion had come back.
"Come on, I found a flock of birds up here."
Streak turned to head in the direction she had come from, but Rainbowheart had called out to stop her. "Hold up Streak."
They didn't have enough time to do a real training exercise, since there were other hungry mouths to feed back at the burrow. So Rainbowheart gave Streak a basic hunting move to try out. Once she had memorized it, both headed to where Streak had said she found the birds.
It was a decent flock of birds, probably about eight or ten in all. Both cats got into position. Rainbowheart ordered Streak to stay, while she went all the way around to the opposite side. This was hunting technique that Rainbowheart had learned on her fifth day with ThunderClan, when a large flock of blackbirds had stupidly decided to eat in the clearing.
As soon as Rainbowheart was in position, she signaled to Streak with her tail. She could see the she-cat nod at her that she was ready. Within seconds, both cats launched themselves at the birds, which started to scatter in alarm. They didn't know what hit them. The hunters had come from different directions, ensuring that there would be casualties.
A couple of swipes later, there were three juicy looking sparrows in a nice pile. Streak swiped her tongue over her jaws, eyeing the food like a starving fox.
Rainbowheart poked her with a paw, getting her attention. "We can eat after we're done. Let's bury these somewhere close by for now."
Streak looked a little sad at the fact that she would have to wait to eat, but complied, realizing that it would be better to eat with everyone. She picked up a bird and followed Rainbowheart, who had the other two.
After burying the fresh-kill, they went on to scout around for more food. Looking around, they were finally able to come across another squirrel. It looked good; plump and juicy. The little rodent was nibbling on an acorn, unaware that it was being stalked.
Rainbowheart nudged Streak, who turned to look at her. Using her tail, she pointed to the tree nearest to the squirrel. Understanding, Streak quietly stalked over toward the tree and crouched down in position.
Once Streak moved, Rainbowheart began to creep forward some more, careful of her footing. She froze when the squirrel stopped chewing on its acorn. Knowing it would run, she jumped from the cover of the bushes, chasing it to where Streak was hiding.
Before it could run up the tree, Streak was on top of the prey. She quickly bit its neck, causing it to be still.
Rainbowheart walked up to Streak proudly, touching the other cat's shoulder with her tail. "You're a quick learner. Where I come from, you'd be a warrior in no time."
"Warrior?" Streak perked her ears up at the comment.
There was no answer to the simple question, Rainbowheart just shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's go get the rest of the fresh-kill." Rainbowheart walked off leaving Streak to pick up the squirrel and drown in her curiosity.
Both cats had located where they had buried their prey in no time, and were now padding back to their burrow-den. Streak had her jaws clamped down on her bird and squirrel, while Rainbowheart was carrying the other two birds. This would be enough for all of them hopefully.
"Did you see that?"
"It wasn't anything special. All they did was kill small game."
"The funny looking one looks like she knows what she's doing. Maybe..." A pair of amber eyes belonging to a large cat, blinked, gazing after Rainbowheart and Streak. "Just maybe..."
"Maybe we should get back to the others," stated the less-impressed of the chatting cats.
"No, we'll keep following them. Come on you two." The large cat took off, with its two companions trailing behind.
The pair of she-cats dropped their prey to the side when they got to the hidden entrance of the den, and began to dismember the camouflage.
"This really worked; how did you ever think of it?" Streak asked, curious, as she picked up her prey again, and headed inside.
"Oh, you know… I've been around." That was all Rainbowheart could really say, or wanted to say at least. Really, she would love to share her tales of living with the clans, or her extensive travels to get there, but she didn't know if anyone would really want to listen.
As both she-cats reached the end of the small tunnel, squeals could be heard. Rainbowheart could already see Topaz and Sparrow play fighting inside of the burrow. When both kits heard who had come back, they immediately stopped and ran straight for Rainbowheart and Streak.
"Yum food," squeaked Sparrow, who was sniffing at the squirrel that was in Streak's mouth.
"Wow you got a squirrel. How'd you catch one," Topaz asked wide eyed. "You must be an awesome hunter to get one."
Placing the birds down, Rainbowheart leaned in towards the tiny tom, "Actually Streak caught it; I just ran it toward her."
Topaz looked at Streak now, excited that his kin had caught a squirrel. "Wow, really Streak? That's so cool."
Streak couldn't really talk, so she nodded and began to pad toward Jade who was still resting in her nest. The white cat had opened her eyes and smiled upon seeing her sister. "Wow, you actually caught something. I never thought I'd see the day," Jade chuckled jokingly. She still looked the same as when they had left; tired.
Streak looked at her worriedly, but still managed a smile. "Well you don't have to be that surprised." She licked her sister's head lovingly, and padded to put the prey in a pile, in the center of their den.
Rainbowheart turned to the kits. "Would you two put these birds in the pile with Streak's, while I check on your mother? Don't start eating until we're done, ok?"
Both kits nodded and, each grabbing a bird went to sit by their aunt.
"How are you doing; any better since we left?" Rainbowheart directed the question towards Jade as she moved towards her. She used what was left of her herbs, rubbing a poultice on both of Jade's wounds again.
"I do feel somewhat better, but I still feel a bit exhausted." Jade lifted her head up some, letting Rainbowheart get the gash on her chest.
Rainbowheart got a good look at the wound. It didn't look infected, most likely due to the treatment. "Well it's probably the fact that you haven't eaten in a while. We brought back plenty of prey. Eat that, and you'll be right as rain."
"Thank you, um… I'm sorry; I never caught your name before."
"Well I can see how that could have slipped past you." Rainbowheart was now placing the last of the cobwebs on Jade's wounds. "My name is Rainbowheart."
Jade looked at her curiously, "Rainbowheart… that's quite a weird name." She suddenly looked at Rainbowheart with an apologetic expression, "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean anything by it."
"No harm done. It's just a name," the black-and-white cat put a paw on Jade's shoulder. "Come, let's eat with the others." She saw Jade look over to where Streak and the kits were waiting. "You're going to have to move around if you want to get better," she told her patient seriously, but with a less hard gaze.
Jade looked back at Rainbowheart, and then at the others. Breathing in, and then out, calmly, she began to stand up. Her legs wobbled from disuse, and would have given out on her first try. She found that there was a black-and-white pelt pressing up against her, supporting her. Grateful for the help, she began padding over with Rainbowheart, to the prey pile.
Rainbowheart had heard Streak telling the kits a story, during the time it took to get Jade over to them. Though she hadn't been paying attention before, she was able to catch the last part about how Rainbowheart planned out how to catch the birds and squirrel.
Both kits were sitting, appearing amazed at the tale. Topaz spoke up, "That's so cool. I wish I could learn how to do that." Both kits then noticed that Rainbowheart and Jade had made it over to them.
"Rainbowheart could you teach me how to hunt?" Sparrow asked zealously.
"No, I want her to teach me," argued Topaz.
"I asked first," Sparrow jumped on Topaz, wrestling him to the ground. Jade was about to say something when Rainbowheart interrupted their little tussle.
"Now now, don't fight. I am capable of teaching the both of you, but you have to behave if you want to learn." Both kits stopped, looked at each other, and then looked back at Rainbowheart.
"Ok we'll be good," said Topaz.
"Yeah we won't fight," said Sparrow, then after some thought, "Except when it's playtime."
Rainbowheart nodded, a small purr escaping her, "Alright, but you have to ask your mother first."
They all turned to Jade, who nodded after a little thought. Better her kits learn to fend for themselves now while the opportunity was here. "As long as you two don't give Rainbowheart trouble, then it's ok."
Both kits squealed in joy.
Rainbowheart chuckled, "How about we eat now? I'm sure we're all starving."
As they ate, Rainbowheart could sense that Streak had something on her mind. She wanted to ask what it was, but decided to let the black cat mull whatever was on her mind over a bit, and she continued eating. The warrior hadn't had squirrel in a while, so she intended to enjoy it.
After they had all finished their meal, both Streak, and Rainbowheart took the scraps of the meal outside and buried them.
Finally, as soon as they got back inside, Streak voiced what was on her mind. "Hey, Rainbowheart," both sat down and watched the kits wrestling with each other. Jade was in her nest once again, but was just sitting, on orders of Rainbowheart.
"Yes?" Rainbowheart questioned, taking her eyes off of the battling kits.
Streak hesitated for a bit, "Well, I was wondering… about what you said today. Something about where you came from and being a warrior, and your name is… quite odd."
Rainbowheart twitched her ear at the question but didn't answer immediately; she just stared at the kits that were now playing with a bird feather.
"Yes it is, isn't it," Rainbowheart thought out loud.
"I'm just curious," Streak explained, dragging a paw through the dirt. "You just seem to know a lot for yourself." The black cat tilted her head, "What's your story?"
"Well I cannot tell you my whole life's story, but I can share a small portion of it. I mean, if you really want to know?" Rainbowheart turned to see what Streak's reaction would be.
Streak gave her a curious gaze, before answering. "Well, from where I stand, we've got nothing else to do. It'll help pass the time."
Rainbowheart touched her tail to Streak's side. "It would be nice to fill the gap while we relax for a bit."
"Alright kits, how about a story while we digest our food," Streak announced, and the kits stopped tumbling and rolling about.
"Yay a story! What kind of story is it?" Topaz was looking excitedly at Streak, who directed her attention to Rainbowheart.
"It's not a long story, but I think that you'll like it." Rainbowheart padded over to sit across from Jade. The kits and Streak had followed, deciding to sit next to Jade. The white she-cat enveloped her kits in her tail, calming them down.
All eyes and ears were now on Rainbowheart, anxious to hear what she would tell them. She took a moment to quietly decide on how to start the story. Rainbowheart then cleared her throat before she spoke. "Where I come from..."