The beginning

Chapter eleven

The sun shone brilliantly through the leafy canopy, golden patterns dappling on the forest floor.
Rich scents of fresh prey hung temptingly in the warm air, the aromas tickling mistkits appetite. The small cat was placing each paw tentatively, loathe to make any noise, but she was unsure why silence felt so important.
"I've never hunted before... But I should now or il starve. It can't be too difficult... Oh starclan! I wish my parents were here... Or dear owl paw" she mewed to herself, another stab of pain piercing her heart.
It had pained her too much to leave camp, she had felt dreadful to desert all she had known, to desert her home clan but she knew it could never be reborn. She had left with her eyes closed.
Even as she thought about this, she could not prevent a lump rise in her throat and her sight swam with tears. Shaking her head she padded on resolutely.
A sudden rustling made her prick her ears as she caught sight of a small patch of grass moving, indicating that there as a mouse hiding there.
She dropped into a crouch, her tail high up to prevent the mistake of making leaves rustle. Her eyes fixed on the rustling patch, she crept forward slowly and hesitantly. Avoiding leaves or twigs she got to a tail length away from the prey when she pounced, her eyes filled with concentration.
"Aah! Cat here... Run!" She slammed into a tree, her focus broken by a shrill cry that shocked her entirely. As pain shot up her leg she gasped aloud, feeling her heart quicken in shock and she winced at the ache throbbing through her bones.
"Cat here! Cat no kill me, kill me!" The shrill voice hurt mistkits head as she got up wavering on unbalanced feet. Shaking her head to clear the stars that danced before her eyes she noticed the blurry form of her earlier prey.
"D- did you say something?" She asked, gazing at the mouse in slight surprise. "I thought mice can't talk in our language"
The mouse looked sceptical as it replied slightly peevishly. "Me no speak cat tongue, cat tongue. Not know how but I never see thing like it, like it. You talk mouse tongue and is very strange, very strange"
Mistkit blinked, shaking her head in bewilderment as confusion clouded her eyes. "I'm speaking mouse?" She acknowledged faintly. It was too much to believe.
"Ye ye. You speak mouse tongue good, very good. I know what you say, is strange no?" The mouse began to wash its ears, rubbing them furtively with its tiny paws.
Mistkit lashed her tail as she continued to shake her head, feeling totally unrealistic.
"It true you talk to mouse you know, you know" squeaked the mouse as if reading her thoughts.
"The cat that talks in tongues. I've found my talent" Mistkit mewed. "That's what I can do"