The Shooting Star That Fell [UNFINISHED]

ghost

The dumpster was a putrid pit containing rotten human food and the carcasses of prey, and Night could never get used to it no matter how many times he returned to it.

"You'll get used to it," Ember would always proclaim loudly as he nosed through some foul-smelling human garbage without batting an eyelash. "It's a great place. Shelter from the wind, the rain, and lots of food from the humans..."

Night wrinkled his nose. Food was food. But not real food. He missed the taste of the barn prey, even if they were always stiff and scrawny. He sighed. If he had to eat another can of pet cat food...

This wasn't the way to live, he thought to himself as he padded through the dark, damp alleyways, puddles gathered from last night's storm splashing underneath his paws. Cats were meant to roam free in the mountains, run through grass and feel the wind in their fur...

The first time he'd experienced what the true open plains were like was on the second day of placement examinations. Each season's Learners were tested in three different exams over three different days. It was so they could prove their worth to the colony and be sorted accordingly into ranks based on their results. Hawk had been running on this system for years, even though the exams were thought by many to be the worst sort of evil that could come about in the colony.

The second exam was a maddening prey scavenger hunt. Each of the Learners were to present their proctor with exactly one rabbit, one squirrel, one robin, one mouse, one blackbird, one fish, one frog, and a hawk feather as a symbol of their initiation. It sounded simple enough--everyone was given an entire day, from sunrise to sundown, to complete this task. However, none of the prey on the list existed in Hawk territory. The human town had no forests or rivers or grasses to feed the prey. To pass, the Learners must cross the border, into enemy territory. In theory, only the stealthiest, swiftest, most efficient hunters could come out alive... But naturally half of the Learners dropped out due to sheer terror at the thought of being captured by Cliffside cats after crossing into their territory.

That left a pawful of Learners crazy and courageous enough to set paw into the mountains. Night was one of them. Surprisingly, he felt no fear when he woke up at dawn and tore across the plains, watching the roofs of the human houses disappear, being surrounded by sweet winds and soft earth under his paws instead of cracked stone. Only excitement. It was flooding through his veins and his heart was pounding. He was happier than he'd ever been. He was rolling in the dirt like a fool, letting his sharp claws dig up tufts of grass and letting the scent of prey, water, and sky wash over him. It was addictive, so much so that he almost forgot to keep a watch out for Cliffside patrols.

Night swore to himself that one day he'd be free. He turned the corner and got to the main dumpster. He was going to go to the mountains again. He was going to make it happen.

The dumpster was where Hawk liked to hold their meetings, and it'd been that way since the beginning of time. Night wasn't actually too opposed to the idea of traveling to the dumpster for occasional colony meetings, but ever since the barn was burned down by those wretched Cliffside soldiers, it'd become the colony's sleeping place too.

He hated it. He hated it all. He longed for the beauty of the endless sky outside of the human town. But for now, he was stuck here, hating it.

"Hey, isn't it the big-shot!" But out of all the things Night hated, he probably couldn't stand his teammates the most at that moment. After he'd officially reached six moons old, Oak had placed him at the head of his own training squad. It'd been less than a moon since his missions began, but he was already desperately wishing they'd end.

A large silver tabby tom appeared from the other side of the corner, followed by two more cats, their ragged fur trailing on the black cobblestones.