Unbroken Echos: A Shadow in Destiny (Book 1)

~ Chapter 3 ~

Pikeflame scrambled up a nearest tree, clawing up strongly with his fore and hind legs, and then glided along to crouch on a sturdy branch. He watched a patrol of StemClan cats race past, lowering closer to the branch so they couldn't see him.

After a heartbeat or two, he sat up. Pikeflame licked his paw and swiped it over his ear. "I almost got caught again," he meowed to himself. He winced at the wound on his shoulder, reminding himself of how they caught him on their territory stealing prey and gave him a wound to drive him out a few sunsets ago.

"I should catch something soon," he slipped down the tree and then padded away, out of StemClan territory. Pikeflame kept his pace slow as he made his way around the area where none of the Clans had claimed to themselves yet.

He went into a hunter's crouch as he saw a plump rabbit with rabbit-kits that were huddling around it's mother. Pikeflame felt a pang of sadness burst into his chest, feeling bad about killing the young rabbit-kit's mother.

Pikeflame shook off the feeling, energy slowly drifting away from him. He pounced, landed on the plump rabbit, and killed it off with a killing bite at it's neck. The rabbit-kit's squeaked in horror and began to turn tail; Pikeflame quickly caught up to them, catching two of the rabbit-kit's as the others hopped away.

He killed them off instantly, pickimg them up by their scruff with his teeth, and then padded back over to where he left the first rabbit. Pikeflame snagged his claw into the mother rabbit's scruff and tossed it onto his back.

As Pikeflame padded through the mossy forest, he could pick up the scents of other Clan cats nearby, as well as birds chirping in the trees and mice scuffling in the small thickets. He made his way around a collection of rocks that were scattered among each other, making a little clearing in the middle that had a small stream flowing through it, and then slipped down into an abandoned badger sett that he had made his temporary home, until he could find a different one that wasn't near any Clan territories.

"Hi, there," came a voice inside one of the tunnels.

Pikeflame's fur brushed against the small entrance of the den, and then slipped into the main area of the den.

A golden brown and gray tortoiseshell cat padded out of the nearest tunnels, a hole in the ceiling of the den beaming sunlight onto their face. "How was hunting?" the cat asked.

"It was alright, Mothdapple," he replied through the two tiny rabbit-kit's in his jaws.

Mothdapple gave a mrrow of amusement. "The kits are fine, if you're wondering. They're playing down in the dim tunnel."

Pikeflame dipped his head as he shook the plump rabbit off his back, nudging it with his head towards Mothdapple. "Eat it."

Mothdapple gripped the rabbit at it's scruff as she disappeared into the the near tunnel again. Pikeflame glanced over the entrance of the dim tunnel and glided down, skidding at the bottom with a thud.

"Pikeflame is back!" One of Mothdapple's kits exclaimed excitedly, noticing him almost instantly.

"And he's back with tiny rabbits!" Another one mewed.

"Tiny rabbits? Again?" Groaned the other.

Pikeflame gave a little mrrow of laugher. He placed down the two tiny rabbits as he watched them scramble towards it, crouching down and then almost gulping down huge pieces of prey down their throats. "Woah, slow down there, you'll miss it when it's gone!"

Pikeflame entered through the tunnel in the back of the dim tunnel, taking in a deep breath before he laid down in a huge spot of sunlight that was beaming through a decent sized hole in the roof of the den.