First her mom dies. Things only go downhill from there. Alongside raising her new siblings, Junco must navigate the now dangerous waters of life as a Wanderer. Death and feelings are the worst kind of problems.
Oriole was always very cheerful, and...
Though Llano and Estacado had left about four moons ago, Junco still missed them occasionally. They had been good friends and a real help raising the kits, who she had named after them, the yellow kit Llano and the gray and white one Estacado.
She didn't miss her father, who had disappeared in the night after they had finished burying Amber. The foxheart had said nothing and simply vanished. She asked every cat if they knew anything about it, but none of them had talked to him about it.
She was laying in her nest with the two kits, Oriole was in a nest next to her. They had left the place they had buried Amber as soon as Llano and Estacado moved on. It was the longest they had ever really stayed in one place. The new area was more wooded and lush than the hard, red rocks of the mountain they had been in. Their nests were under a large bush with big leaves, protecting them from the elements. Newleaf was in full swing and pollen dusted every surface as new flowers bloomed.
Leafbare had not been particularly harsh this year and they were all thankful. A tough leadbare would have been a bad start for the kits. It had snowed once, and that was only very little. Llano and Estacado had loved the powdery flakes coming down from the sky.
Morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the bush. Junco stood up and stretched, her thick tail bushed out. Shaking the sleep off, she roused the kits.
"Junco! Just a little longer!" Llano complained, rolling over to shield his eyes from the sun.
"No, the sun's been up for a while now." She poked Oriole with her paw, "Oriole and I need to go hunt."
Estacado climbed out of the nest and sat down just outside the bush, with his tail curled over his paws. He had always been quieter than his brother, Llano, who was very rambunctious. The gray kit was growing to be very large, he was already almost as big as Junco and he towered over Llano, who was much smaller.
Oriole buried her face in her nest, "Listen to the kit! I'm still sleepy."
"Not you too!" Junco sighed, "Well, come on Estacado. We'll let these lazy cats waste the day."
The two cats padded off through the woods, Junco opened her jaws to taste the air. "Ok, there is a mouse in the brush over there and a sparrow on that stump," she whispered, "You get the mouse."
Nodding, Estacado crouched down and began stalking towards the mouse, while Junco turned to face the stump. Stepping carefully to not disturb the bird, she approached the stump. The wind was in her favor and the sparrow continued pecking at some sort of nut or seed. Keeping her tail raised just above the ground, she arranged her feet and pounced!
Catching the bird midair as it started to try to fly away, she slammed it into the ground and broke its neck with a killing bite. Turning towards Estacado, she watched as he trapped the mouse under his paw and killed it. He's a great hunter for his age! Ever patient so the prey doesn't notice him.
"Good catch!" she mewed, "Bury the mouse here and take the sparrow to Snapdragon. I'll keep hunting."
Estacado waved his tail in goodbye and headed back towards the camp. It's nice how little he talks, peaceful. Junco stalked through the woods, scenting for any other prey. She could sense some rodent a ways away and began walking through the pine forest to get there.
"You smell something?"
Junco turned to see Oriole's black and ginger pelt approach her, "Hey! Let me focus!"
Oriole stifled a laugh and fell silent, stalking the rodent, it was clearly a large squirrel at this point, alongside her. She whispered, "You go around, I think I can get it but if not, be prepared to run."
The other cat nodded and moved to the side. Sneaking towards the squirrel, she got very close. It's like this squirrel wants to be caught!
Pouncing, she easily caught the ignorant rodent, and the commotion caused a different squirrel to break cover and run, heading for a tree! Oriole noticed and charged at it, chasing it up the tree and hooking it with her claws on the lowest branch.
"I didn't even notice that other squirrel. Nice!"
Oriole beamed at her through a mouthful of squirrel. Jumping back down from the tree, the pretty she-cat dropped her squirrel next to the other one.
"I didn't notice it either! That was exhilarating!" pausing for a second, she then mewed, "I love hunting with you Junco."
Junco felt her pelt grow hot. I love hunting with you too...
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