Redstars Broken Trust

Chapter 6

The last few moons for Red had been tough, but she gradually recovered from the death of her mother. Hunting on their own was a chore, let alone finding water sources and a safe haven. Afraid of being caught by predators, Red had began to train herself whenever she was alone. She didn't know why, but something told her that she would be misplaced yet again along her sisters after being accused of knowing more when she found her dead mother.
The days normal routine went on, Talon hunting while Frost made makeshift nests. Red would keep watch, scanning the area around them. Not until now did she notice the flat format of the expanding moor. Only one hill, which her and her sisters were perched on, beneath a low growing oak tree. She looked more closely at each individual tree, and transfixed onto the gaps between them and the dark shadows engulfing the deeper parts of the forest. The sun was now South, with the shadows slanting longways to North. How Red could tell is that she had learned by Mischief that the sun rises at North everyday. The highest the sun will go is directly above them, which is sunhigh. Then when the sun settles at South, it is night. Red thought about it for a bit, an inaudible yawn escaping from her mouth. She blinked, then noticing that she hadn't ate all day. As she thought about her, she felt her stomach pinching her inside as it let out a loud growl. Finally, with someone breaking the silence between the three sisters, she asked,

"When is Talon coming back?"
The voice of Frost replied, "I don't know."
"It's felt like moons sense shes arrived, and I can't wait any longer!" Red sighed, letting a puff of breath out. Then she mumbled to herself, "I wonder where she is."

Red had waited long enough and her behind was aching, itching for the urge to remove itself from the ground. As she was fighting every instinct, every nerve, she had, Talon had finally appeared from her climb up the steep hill. She carried a large hare between her jaws with a thrush tucked under her chin. Dropping the prey and watching it roll, Red watched with a yearning to chomp it up, she resisted and broke her gaze of the prey.

"There's more, I need you both to help."
Red and Frost nodded together and the three of them sped down the side of the hill, the slope gaining their speed. Darting across the moor, they sprayed up clumps of grass behind them as their paws slammed down into the ground. They reached the forest, darting around the trees that seemed to close in on them, threatening to take their sunlight away as they went deeper.
Red heard Frost gasp, "You came in this deep?"
Talons voice responded, "Why not."
The way she said it was more of a command that the conversation was over, that Talon didn't have time for questions. Talon halted abruptly and started to sniff the ground. Frost crashed into the ground while Red braced herself, sliding forward and jolting to a stop.
"Here it is!" Talon churned her claws at the earth as a hole began to form, Red dodging the flying pieces of dirt as she spectated from behind. It didn't take long until Talon pulled out another Hare, settling it on the ground. She repeated it with a squirrel and two mice. Without speaking, Red tucked one of the mice beneath her chin, while sinking her teeth into the body of the hare. Frost had a mouse and Talon had a squirrel. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Frost! You look like your trying to throw up your entire meal!"

"Talon you look no better yourself. You look as if you just fell down the hill and your neck braced your fall!"

"Red, you look like a fox who tried putting plants into their diet!"

The comments continued on until they finally gained self control, picking up their piece of prey and lugging themselves back to the hill. Red felt more tired than ever, her stomach growling and twisting up in all sorts of directions. As soon as they reached their nests, Red devoured a mouse and wolfed down the squirrel without thinking. Talon was chomping on her rabbit while Frost finished her mouse and began to chew on the hare. Red came over and tore it apart, digging into it and yanking large chunks of flesh from its body. Frost finished her share and sat back, closing her eyes and quickly falling asleep. As they finished eating, they all settled down to sleep while Talon kept watch.

Sleep folded over her quickly, and she dived into blackness with her mind. A beam of light came from ahead, as if there was a shaft in the wall. Red blinked and without thinking, began to pace towards it slowly. After what seemed like ages, she finally reached the light and squinted, screwing up her face as whiteness expanded into nothing. She backed away into the shadows, but the light seemed to be spilling into the room. A flash occurred, bright and quickly, then Red felt solid ground beneath her. She was standing in the forest, but something felt strange. The smell of rot and decay hit her flaring nostrils and she wheezed, looking down as she caught her breath again. Eyes popping from her head, she saw her paws washed in blood, and yet again felt a warm liquid trickling down the side of her mouth. The same feeling of something squeezing her neck made her feel intimidated by her dream, or more likely a nightmare. What made it worse was what she had seen. What was lying at her paws. The rotting scent came from the cat that laid dead right beneath her. Before she could make out the details of the cat, her dream dazed and faded out, and her senses from the real world came back to her. Talons voice was what woke her, and listened as she whispered something to Frost. Obeying, she got up and took her seat on the hill, in the spot where Talon had kept watch. Red yawned and settled her head on her paws, looking out, beyond the moor, beyond the trees, beyond the horizon that lit up in multicolor at the first trace of dawn, of the rising sun.