Erupting Flames

Chapter 1

Sunset woke to the sound of Bear, the colony leader, and her uncle, calling for everyone to wake up and gather. She slowly drug herself out of her sleeping spot under the tree root and took a moment to enjoy the sun's warmth before stretching. She cast a glance at the prey pile and frowned as it seemed to be smaller than usual. It was starting to become leaf-bare, and the prey was starting to hide in their burrows to get away from the cold. She made a mental note to go hunting after the meeting. 

She quickly trotted to the area where Bear wanted everyone to gather. She spotted her mother laying down, looking very tired, and heaving herself up to go to the meeting. Sunset sat down and waited for her mother to sit beside her.

"Dove! Come on!" Bear impatiently yelled. Dove looked at him, all of the tiredness in her eyes now replaced with fear. She quickened up and sat next to Sunset.

"How did you sleep, mom?" Sunset asked though she guessed the answer was not going to be that she slept great, judging by how tired she looked. Dove yawned before answering.

"I barely even slept, Bear made me hunt almost all night." She answered.

"Doesn't he know your expecting kits? You shouldn't be out hunting all night, you should be resting."

"I didn't tell him yet. I'm scared that he'll think I'm just trying to get out of working."

"Did he think that when you were having me and Hawk?" Sunset asked warily. Dove began to tear up as she thought about what Bear did to her.

"He shouted at me, accusing me of being lazy and useless, and he made me hunt and fight until I literally couldn't get up because you were about to come. He made me work harder than anyone else." Dove whispered, repeatedly glancing back at Bear to check if he was listening. Sunset waited as everyone else settled down and Bear began the meeting.

"Leaf-bare is coming, so we need to work harder to bring prey back, or else we will all starve. Is that clear?" Bear announced. 

Bear almost never let anyone else eat before him. He was always full, while everyone else's ribs were showing. Even if someone happened to not find a lot of prey during their hunting trip, he wouldn't let them eat until the next day. Sunset's friend, Coyote, never really was the best hunter, so he often went to bed hungry. Sunset even sometimes snuck him some food by sharing her small share of the prey-pile with him. 

"Sunset?" Sunset heard someone say her name behind her. She turned around and saw that it was Coyote. 

"Coyote! What's up?" Sunset asked.

"Can you hunt with me? Your really good at hunting, and I don't want Bear to not let me eat again." Coyote pleaded. Sunset nodded and they quickly went away from their camp-spot, searching for any prey. 

It was still very light outside despite the cold, and the sunlight that was filtering through the trees shined on Coyote's light tan pelt. It was very cold out and Sunset's long thick fur helped her stay warm, but Coyote's fur was pretty thin, and he shivered frequently. They finally spotted a squirrel, and they both crouched down to stalk it. Sunset motioned for Coyote to go to the other side of the squirrel so she could scare it and make it go toward him. He nodded and silently trotted to the other side of the squirrel. Apparently, it heard him and it lifted its head up to look around. Coyote froze, then Sunset leaped after the squirrel, she missed, but the squirrel ran right into Coyote and he caught it before it could get away. "Nice job Coyote! We make a good team." Sunset purred.

Coyote shrugged. "It was you that made it go toward me." He said, burying the squirrel in the dirt to grab on their way back. 

Sunset and Coyote hunted until evening, and they brought back all the prey they had hunted. Sunset hoped that Bear said it was enough and that they were allowed to eat. 

They showed Bear all the prey and he took a moment to inspect it before allowing them to pick something to eat. Sunset picked a bird and Coyote picked a rabbit. They settled down next to each other to eat. "I'm starving! We were hunting all day!" Coyote said, digging into his rabbit. 

"I know right? I'm just glad Bear let us eat, we didn't find much." Sunset agreed. They both enjoyed their food and trotted back to the sleeping area for a well-earned rest.