Aspenbreeze went on ahead of Coalstep. It was past sunhigh, on the second moon and she and Coalstep's paws were practically falling off.
They were hungry, though there weren't anymore trees and no undergrowth. A river came in sight. "I'm not going hungry tonight!" Aspenbreeze told Coalstep.
He shook his head. "We can't catch fish." He narrowed his eyes. The river goggled with speed and swished past.
Aspenbreeze rolled her eyes. "We can try," she meowed. She stood at the riverbank. She crouched and waited for a fish to appear.
A large fish bubbled below the surface. Aspenbreeze lifted her paw, but as the fish saw her shadow, it scampered away. Aspenbreeze looked down, confused.
"Why did it go away? Can it look up?" She meowed, puzzled. Coalstep shrugged.
"Let me try," he suggested. He crouched beside Aspenbreeze and soon saw another smaller fish.
He lifted his paw quicker, leaned over the river, and flashed it into the water. But the fish already swam away with speed.
Confusion darkened Coalstep's eyes.
"You aren't doing it right." Aspenbreeze stiffened when she heard a cool voice sounding behind them. She pinned her ears back and whipped around.
A pretty light brown tabby she-cat with a white underbelly was on her paws. Aspenbreeze tensed, unsheathing her claws. Coalstep hissed and snarled.
"Get away, unless you want clawed ears," he growled. Aspenbreeze narrowed her eyes, but the she-cat pushed past them.
"You can't tell me what to do on my land," the she-cat snapped. She crouched lower than Coalstep and Aspenbreeze did on the riverbank.
"You aren't supposed to have your shadow on the water," she retorted. Aspenbreeze spotted a big fish, but before she could warn the she-cat, she grabbed the fish with her claws, brought it to the land, and sunk her teeth into it's spine.
She pushed the fish to Coalstep and Aspenbreeze. "Eat," she ordered.
Coalstep was reluctant, but Aspenbreeze took a small bite from it. "Thanks," she meowed. "I'm Aspenbreeze and this is Coalstep."
She pointed her tail to Coalstep, who crouched next to Aspenbreeze and took a bite. "I'm Alane," the tabby replied.
Aspenbreeze felt something soft and furry touch her tongue when she took another bite. She scrunched up her nose and spit the bite out.
Coalstep instantly got up. "You poisoned her!" He yowled to Alane. Alane hissed in defense, but Aspenbreeze was on her paws too.
She narrowed her eyes. A little bunch of light brown fur was on the fish bite. She backed up; her ears were pinned down and her fur stood on end.
"What is it?" Coalstep demanded, with a glare at Alane. "Dog hair!" Aspenbreeze gasped.
Coalstep peered closer and gasped. "No wonder that fish smelled bad." Alane remained quiet. Her gaze was thoughtful. "It makes sense," she finally meowed.
"I mean, there are a lot of dogs on the hills." She pawed the grass. "The only prey we find here is in the lake. We eat fish, it's delicious."
Aspenbreeze nodded slowly. "Okay... Thanks. But we need to get going. This dog hair can mean something, and I don't wanna miss it!"
She dashed across the open moor, desperate to find trees. But instead, she slid on rock and was falling in hole.
"Aspenbreeze!" Coalstep shrieked.
