A snarl rippled around the clearing, but nothing stirred in the makeshift dens of the camp.
Besides, the surrounding inhabitants of the dens knew it was just their furious leader.
"How could you have possible let them get away?!"
Flora bristled beside Fauna.
"Olive isn't exactly a mewling little kit," Flora said.
"And she wasn't about leave her only kit either," Fauna put in. "Falcon is all she has," she says. "Or at least in her mind," she mutters under her breath disapprovingly.
Stripes shook his head irritably. "I shouldn't have expected anything less from kin," he spat.
Flora and Fauna flattened their ears.
"We came back did we not," Flora hissed. "We could have left with her."
Fauna nodded in agreement. "Just because she's our sister doesn't mean anything."
"If you wanted it done right then you should have went after her yourself," Flora added with a sneer. "Or maybe her mate could have retrieved her himself."
Stripes immediately whipped around to glower at her, their whiskers almost touching. "Her mate doesn't do anything unless he wishes to," he growls.
"Oh yes, I forgot, because he's still back in the old territory, hunting merrily in the woods and marshlands," she shoots back.
"Not that it's much of a hunting ground," Fauna snorts.
"Silence, both of you," Stripes snarls at them. "Get out of my sight!" He adds abruptly.
Flora opens her mouth to speak, but Fauna brushes her tail over her sister's mouth in a clear message for her to remain silent.
Stripes stalked off across the clearing, towards the camp entrance.
Flora and Fauna made their way over to the den for the full grown cats.
When they settled in their respective nests, Flora didn't lower her head to her paws, like her sister. She just watched her.
"We could have gotten her," Flora hissed in a low tone.
"Yes but at what cost?" Fauna hissed back closing her eyes, trying to avoid the discussion.
"We could have still saved Falcon," she growled.
"No, we couldn't have. It was either capture Olive and lose Falcon or let her go and save Falcon. Saving Falcon was the right move. He's our kin, too." She had curled into a tighter ball before opening one eye and meeting Flora's gaze. "I know killing regular cats doesn't phase you, but would you have been fine with your own kin's blood on your hand; a kit at that?"
Flora just glared at her sister before jerking herself gaze away, turning her head.
Fauna closed her eyes then exhaled before slowly drifting off to sleep.
Flora lowered her head to her paws and shut her eyes let out a sigh of frustration. "Stupid Olive; why did you have to run?"