Dark Moon: Tell-Tale

Chapter 13

"Got it!" Homer called over his shoulder, his claws digging into the sparrow. He grasped it in his jaws and strode off through the snow-crusted shrubbery back to his friends.
"Is that all?" Jasper muttered fiercely.
"Hey, prey is scarce during winter." Homer hissed back through a mouthful of dark feathers. "You wouldn't do any better."
"I was just saying it's not going to feed us all." Jasper muttered under his breath, sighing angrily and looking at his paws with indignation.
Homer dropped the bird at Jasper's paws, giving him a challenging glare.
"How about you try and catch something then?" Homer cocked his head to the side, smirking.
Jasper grinned back sarcastically, turning away and bounding into the trees.
"Feels good to get rid of him for a bit." Tonks smiled with relief, stretching her forepaws out in front of her and closing her eyes.
The wind picked up and blew a feather from the sparrow's wing. Monty's tail lashed excitedly, and he leapt into the air, batting at it with his paws as it drifted away in the breeze.
"How old are you?" A voice spoke up.
Monty raised his head to see Jasper had returned, a large vole at his paws. He didn't dare admit he was almost 6 months old; he knew his father was teasing him.
"Is this a big enough catch for you?" Jasper hissed to Homer as he brushed past the black and white tom. Homer huffed, smiling.
"Alright, I'll let you off." Homer bent down to take a bite from the sparrow he had caught.
The others gathered around to take their share of the prey, the midday, spring sun blazing on their fur.
"Don't play with your food boys!" Tonks warned. Monty was batting his piece of vole as if it were alive, and Marley, his adventurous spirit returning, was rolling around on the ground with his sparrow wing clasped in his claws.
After they had finished their meals, Venus headed off, leading the group to a large valley. It was impossible to make out what was inside, as the hollow was too deep to look into unless you were standing at the edge.
Venus halted as the ground began to slope down, gazing into it. It was mostly grass and flowers, with a huge rock in the centre of it.
"Should we explore?" Venus asked, looking over her shoulder at Tonks.
"I say we do." Jasper demanded immediately. He began to stride forward, but was stopped as Blizzard stepped in front of him.
"What's got you in such a rush?" He asked suspiciously.
Jasper seemed as if there was something down there he had planned, as he was hopping from paw to paw impatiently.
"I just want to see if there's any more prey down there." Jasper quickly snapped. "You never know, we might even find a new place to stay overnight."
"It's midday." Blizzard raised one eyebrow.
"That doesn't matter." Jasper weaved around Blizzard, heading down the slope.
"If you say so, boss." Homer muttered, following him with Blizzard and Venus on his tail. Tonks was unsure, staying behind for a few seconds and gazing down at her kittens, before making up her mind and trailing along.
The valley was eerily silent, apart from the quiet chirping of birds somewhere in the distance.
"Well," Venus voiced. "There doesn't seem to be anything down here-"
She was cut off as a growling sound emitted from the giant rock in the centre of the clearing. A few seconds passed as the cats stared at it with fluffed-out fur.
Three shapes stepped onto the rock.
Dogs?
One of them stepped forward, a large, grey husky with ice blue eyes and a distinctive scar across his shoulder, giving off a toothy grin.
"What do you think you kitties are doing out here?"