The hollow

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The milky dawn light seeped through the mouth of the abandoned fox den. Sparta's green eyes fluttered open at the light on her face. She stood up and walked slowly out. The sun's warmth soaked into her pelt, and she did a luxurious stretch. When she finished, she lifted her head up and smelled for prey. Nothing. She padded away, the bracken swishing on her fur. The undergrowth was thicker here, bound to have some prey. Sparta scented the area, and she caught the aroma of blackbird. As she dropped into stealth mode, she moved towards the smell. Then, she saw it, trying to pull a worm out of the ground, spreading its wings as it did so. She crept up to it slowly, careful not to trod on a twig or do too much movement of her pitch-black pelt. As she prepared to leap, the blackbird pulled the worm free and flew up. The cat jumped right at that moment, claws unsheathed, and grabbed the bird's wing. The bird shrieked, but it was cut abruptly off by a nip at the neck as she brought it down to the ground. My first bird!, Sparta thought cheerfully. As soon as she picked the body up, a mouse darted out of its hiding place. Sparta was beside it the whole time! Instinctively, she dropped the bird and slapped her paws on the mouse, as fast as striking snake. The mouse squealed as Sparta's claws started digging in its brown fur. She bent down and nipped it quickly as it starting to wriggle free. It gave one twitch of of his left hind leg, then lay motionless. As she grabbed the two pieces of prey, Minka was calling for her. She quickened her pace, and emerged in front of her black-white friend to see that she was worried. Her amber eyes were wide with worriness and fear. When she caught sight of Sparta she quickly came to her side, and whispered in her ear,:

"Rocky isn't here!"

Sparta stared at her in dismay. "Whaf?!" she said through her mouthful of prey in her jaws.

"When I woke up, I went to nudge Rocky up, but when I looked to my side where he was sleeping, he wasn't there!" Minka wailed.

Sparta scanned around, trying to catch a glimpse of a dark brown tabby pelt. Nowhere. She put her prey on the ground and said to Minka:

"He couldn't have just left us, he know the forest best then us," she reassured Minka.

Then, a holly bush was starting to quiver, and Rocky came running through. His eyes were full of excitement. He ran over and:

"Quick! I found an awesome place where we could shelter" he panted.

The two she-cats briefly cast glances at each other, then followed Rocky into the bushes. They were streaming through the forest like minnows in a river. As Sparta glanced around as she ran, she saw Minka slowing down. "Make longer strides!" Sparta advised her tired friend. Minka obeyed and stretched her legs farther within every stride and was catching up to Sparta, maybe a little bit faster than Sparta now. Then all of a sudden, Rocky skidded to a halt. Sparta slowed to a stop, Minka behind her. Rocky turned his head towards them and jerked his head to beckon them forward. As they approached, a big gray dip appeared. Around the perimeter of the dip at the bottom were four medium sized holes. They were standing at the ledge of the dip, and it was quite high. A cat could just fall from there and break their neck. Sparta shivered. But on the good side, the dip was useful. It was surrounded by a wall of thorns and ferns, making it barely visible from the outside; and it was good shelter. Before the black cat could speak, Rocky took her place.

"We could shelter here! It's...perfect", he meowed, eyeing Minka.

"I think we should make this our home," Sparta added. "It's sheltered, its surrounded by a wall that would keep us safe, and we can use one of those holes as nests; we just have to get some bedding for it". Then she eyed that circle in the middle of the sandy clearing. On the sides of the circle, rocks surrounded it, making it sort of a shallow hole." We could use that hole to put the food in", she said, nodding towards it.

"Great idea" Rocky commented. Then he casted his glance at Minka. "What do you think about it, Minka?"

She eyed the rock hollow, then the dark brown tabby tom. "It's the place we were meant to find." she answered.

Sparta scanned the lip of the hollow. "How do we get in without falling?" Sparta asked.

"Follow me," Rocky meowed.

As he brushed past them, he flicked his tail at Minka to beckon her forward. She padded up to him, and they twined tails briefly. Uh oh, Sparta thought. They can't be falling in love yet, we were together for just a couple of days! Then she thought what would have happened if Minka had kits. She never saw another cat give birth. Minka would have to work hard, stay sheltered all day with her kits..... Sparta shook her head to clear her head. This was not the time to think about the future. When she focused her gaze on Rocky, he was already slipping through a tunnel hidden by ferns. When she followed behind Minka, the tunnel was widely spaced but low, only just allowing her to stand. As she looked in front of her, a yellow circle appeared, showing the end of the tunnel. When she emerged into the clearing, she was walking on warm sand. It felt nice, walking on the warm-day sand, heated by the sun. She wanted dearly to roll around in it, but she had to find the place where she would sleep. She looked up. The hollow was so high, it felt if she was trapped in a cage. Then she felt the Minka's warm breath on her face.

"Come on, Rocky wants to show us where we should make our den." she urged. As Minka led her friend into a hole, she felt as if she found her new home.

Later on, Sparta was sleeping soundly in the den, moss and bracken surrounding her. Before the three cats decided to rest, the went out to collect moss and bracken for the lining of their nest. They found a few feathers, too. They also hunted a little, so that the next day they could go and explore their surroundings beyond the hollow. Then she heard the soft pad of two cats coming in the nest. She raised her head and saw Minka and Rocky settle themselves beside each other. Sparta felt happy for them, althought they barely know each other. She curled herself up and tucked her nose under her tail. Soon she let sleep swallow her. She felt happy. Sparta knew this was their new home.


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