Book 2 - Warriors: The Servant's Promise

Chapter Seventeen

 "Can you see anything?" asked Rain, giving a warm smile as he felt the summer breeze upon him. The small golden she-cat pouted, her eyes narrowed as she looked ahead.

"No! I already told you that." Honey stated as she gazed around the rocky plain of the hill. "All I can see is boring green grass and a few stones. Why is this so important anyway?" Rain chuckled slightly, his light blue gaze resting on the trainee.

"You'll see in a moment." Rain promised. "Now, can you smell anything?" Honey sighed.

"Of course not! The breeze is going away from us, so all of the scents are drifting away." Honey answered with a slight grumble to her voice. "And I still don't see the point." Rain continued to smile before he went on.

"Okay then." he said. "If the breeze is heading away from you in one direction, what must you do to change that?" Honey paused, looking at him with a puzzled expression. She then narrowed her eyes in concentration before flicking her ear left and turning that way she was standing oppositely. Rain then did the same.

"But we came from this way." Honey told him. "We've scared off all the prey, so what could possibly be there?" Rain just went on smiling.

"Prey was created mouse-brained for a reason." Rain explained. "Every tiny bug is more mouse-brained than the roaring river, the trickling stream, or the temporary puddle. And yet the frog and water vole is smarter than that river, stream, or puddle. Both can swim, and so both can retrieve that bug from the river, stream, or puddle. The water vole and frog, however, are more mouse-brained than us, and so we can catch them as prey. The eagles are sometimes smarter though, as is the fox or dog. Twolegs are smart as well, but they tend to keep to themselves." Honey narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"And your point is...?" Honey asked.

"Just because we scared them off, doesn't mean they'll come right back." Rain answered. "Now, can you see or smell anything?" Honey sighed before sniffing the air and quickly looking around the grassy plain. Her expression suddenly turned into a scowl.

"No." she replied.

"No?" asked Rain, acting surprised. "Well then, let's try a different approach. Close your eyes." Honey looked at him as if he were a ghost. Rain stared right back. "It will work, trust me." Honey shrugged after that before doing as told.

"Now, listen to the sounds around you." Rain ordered her. He was quiet, waiting to hear her response.

Good job, Rainy, came Jactur's amused voice. How'd you learn all this stuff? I know you know it, but not after losing your memory.

I think it comes naturally, whether I remember learning it or not. Rain replied.

"Wow!" Honey exclaimed, her eyes opening quickly. "I can hear so much, and even though it's far away, I know where it all is and what it all is!" Rain looked at her more closely.

"What is it that you hear, Honey?" asked Rain, hoping that she'd gotten it.

"There's a crow just four fox-lengths that way, a few mice if we go that way for a bit, and a vole if we go straight!" Honey looked as excited as she did when she was allowed to train, making Rain look better than he felt he did.

"Alright then." Rain said. "You choose the easiest piece of prey, and I'll watch you from the shadows. Remember what I taught you earlier this moon—eyes straight forward, and tail down." Honey nodded eagerly before bounding off through the tall grass.

Rain turned around, running toward the sighting hide-outs. He'd been in them quite a lot since his time as a Sighter, even though it had only been one moon and he hadn't sighted a Volan since that declaration. The Cat's of the Storms deemed that he was good-luck after that. He believed it was simply a warning.