100 Tales 70
Thunder Spots
"Let's go on a hunting patrol!" Redtail declared. The four cats that he had chosen to go with him—Greenflower, Lilypetal, Thorntail, and myself, Amberheart—raced out of the camp with him.
Once outside the camp, we went to the side of our territory that wasn't bordering any other Clans' territories. The hunting was usually pretty good there, and besides, it was overlooking a swamp (our territory was on a slight cliff above the swamp).
Since it was pretty good hunting area, I suggested, "Why don't we split up? We might be able to find more, that way."
Redtail nodded. "Good idea. Five cats is sort of an awkwardly numbered patrol group to split up evenly, but.... Thorntail, why don't you go with Amberheart, and Lilypetal and Greenflower can go together?"
The two she-cats nodded. I nodded, and Thorntail narrowed his eyes, and then nodded.
What's his problem? I wondered, flicking my ears in frustration. He teased me sometimes. I was in no mood for his taunts today, so I asked Redtail, "May I please stay here and guard?" When Redtail looked sceptical, I quickly added, "You know, those clouds seem pretty dark...." He nodded.
"Just stay out of trouble. We'll bring our prey back to you, and then we'll go back to camp," he said, narrowing his eyes at me. I nodded.
"Yes, Redtail."
"Good." And he leaped off into the bushes. I walked up to the peak of the cliff and stared at the sky.
Every so often, the cats would come back to drop off prey. Redtail and Thorntail were going together, and the two older she-cats were a pair, too. Pretty soon, they had amassed quite a big pile of prey, and Redtail and Thorntail had just come to drop off more. They turned to leave, but.... "Wait," I warned. They turned back.
"Look." I pointed my nose up at the sky. Every so often, some thunder and lightning had been flashing. "This is probably nothing serious, but...."
I watched as the sky lit up again. I briefly saw Thorntail nod. It was getting quite cloudy, and dark, and Redtail was surveying the area, but pretty soon he nodded, too.
"Amberheart is right. We can't stay any longer. Greenflower! Lilypetal!" he yowled, at the top of his lungs.
The two she-cats appeared from the bushes in an instant, with their jaws full of prey.
"What?" Greenflower complained. "We were just coming! No need to scare us—"
Redtail cut her off. "This is serious. We need to get back to camp. Look." He nodded, and Thorntail and I moved aside to show them the thunder and lightning hitting the swamp in the distance. "We can't stay any longer. I'm predicting that this could be a full-blown storm before very long; probably not, but we have no need to take any chances, either."
We each picked up some prey and headed back to camp. On the way off the cliff, I glanced back down to the swamp and saw the thunder and lightning again. It seemed to be getting closer, rumbling in my ears, and I shivered.
I wonder if this is what you could call 'thunder spots'? Thunder in no particular place? I thought, curiously. But, I shook off the thought, and I headed back to camp with the others.