LYSSA

Two

A/N: Thank you guys for reading this story! I am writing this for fun, so updates are random. This photo is of Bandit! I hope you enjoy Chapter Two!

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Alistar woke up with a yowling in the distance. The sun was set now, and Sombra was nowhere to be seen. Alistar rushed to his feet, ignoring the dry grass and bristles of twigs stuck to his flank. He charged out of the hedges and straight for the clearing, nearly running into a large, buff orange tomcat. It was Dewey. "Woah there!" Dewey meowed loudly, putting a paw up in defense. Alistar whipped around to see him, his eyes wide. "Are you okay?" Dewey mewed, his tail wagging.

The black tom cat looked around the clearing, nothing was going on. Everyone was here. A few cats were seen still eating their dinner, a couple of them now sharing tongues and talking about their day. Alistar calmed down the fur on his back, drawing in a deep breath. "I'm sorry Dewey. I-I thought I heard someone yelling." he mewed, shuffling his paws to himself in embarrassment.

Dewey relaxed as well and gave a reassuring lick on Alistar's forehead, right between the ears. "Oh Alistar, a nightmare perhaps? Would you like to come to eat dinner with Milo, One-Toe, and me?" he offered, pointing his tail tip to the pair just to his right. The orange tom and the brown tabby she-cat sat under the largest oak tree in the forest, licking each other's faces. Alistar turned back to Dewey and shook his head, his ears facing back. Dewey purred. "Let me know if you need to talk, just us." he padded towards the pair in the distance, joining in on their sharing tongues.

Alistar huffed to himself and padded over to the fresh kill pile to retrieve a fat crow. He intended to share it with Sombra, granted if she still hadn't eaten yet. He spotted her out in the clearing talking with Bandit. They were sitting across from each other, their paws tucked beneath them. They noticed him coming and gave him a greeting with a head nod. "You're finally awake!" Sombra chirped in excitement. "Even though the sun went down not long ago," she added, her tail wagging.

The sleek black tom sat between them, dropping the fat bird in the center. "I thought someone was in trouble, so I came rushing out here." he mewed while getting himself comfortable. "I brought this for us," he added, nudging the deceased corpse.

Bandit and Sombra looked at each other with a glimmer in their eyes. "Thank you, We ate already, but we can still share if you like." Bandit meowed, already tearing into the wing of the bird.

Alistar glared at Bnadit but didn't say a word. He smelt, off. He still smelt like Bandit, but he also smelt something else. Maybe they ran into something while out hunting tonight. Sombra just purred as she watched Bandit tear into the bird, Alistar letting him have it at that point. "I can go get another one." Sombra mewed gleefully. She bounded off to the fresh-kill pile across the way.

Alistar stared at Bandit as he ate. He couldn't get over how much he smelt. He just smelt so bad. Rancid. "What happened tonight during hunting duty?" Alistar asked, hoping not to act so suspiciously.

Bandit gulped down a few mouthfuls of crow before answering back. "Sprout and I caught these crows in the plains, you know, where you like to lounge now and again." he mewed with confidence. His tail wagged back and forth as he retold how he had Sprout be the one to chase the birds towards him as he was able to jump up and catch a few with his paws. Alistar listened intently as he tried to imagine this, but for some reason, he wasn't buying it. He believes he killed the crow, just not where he says he did.

Before Alistar could remark, Sombra was bounding back over with a plump vole. She placed it in front of Alistar before curling back up beside him. "Here, I don't want to eat anymore." she mewed, nudging the vole.

Alistar and Bandit ate their prey in peace. Alistar couldn't help but keep glancing over at Sprout, who was relaxing in front of the hedges with his mother and older sister; Corona and Ares. Sprout was being groomed by Corona as Ares continued to bathe herself. Alistar knew something was different. Sprout had a fresh wound on his flank. Corona was cleaning it up, and patching it up with some cobwebs. Alister finished eating his vole quickly. "What happened to Sprout? He has a wound?" Alistar poked the silence in the air around the trio.