Kiela paced in frustration. Lono was taking forever! She flexed her claws and dug them into the dirt.

"He says he needs to get one thing and it ends up taking him the entire afternoon!" She growled softly to herself.

The tent flaps of the teepee beside her rustled and Lono emerged. As soon as he was clear of the leather he shifted and dove down in front of her. He gave her a pert bow and then began to laugh. Kiela's muscled bunched under her silver coat and she dug her claws into the ground, preparing to spring. That would teach the little bird a thing or two.

Lono continued to laugh but backed up a few hasty steps.

"Patience or you'll never catch anything." He told her.

"Patience? You kept me waiting for thirty five minutes!" She barked indignantly. "What did you need to get anyways?"

"Huh?" he asked, momentarily confused by her change of subject. "Oh, this." He shifted and pulled some green powder out from a pouch at his waist. "It's powdered cedar leaves. It will help mask our scent."

"But we don't need to," she responded. "It'll be only me on the ground and I know to stay downwind."

"Well," He said nervously. Kiela noticed that he was shifting from side to side as if uncomfortable. "I was thinking that since you don't know any of the other shifters here, I invited Connix and Tori."

"Who's Tori?" she asked. Connix was the boy who's ceremony she had witnessed.

"Oh she's a mountain lion. She's great." He replied, sounding happy that she hadn't protested.

"Sure, let's go with them. Where did you want to go?"

"By the first glade in the forest, the one with that huge white rock."

"Let's go then. They've probably been waiting." She turned around and broke off into a run. Lono shifted and soared above her.

When they reached the glade, Tori and Connix were already waiting. Tori was a huge tawny mountain lion, almost as big as Kiela herself. She regarded the rest of the group with her amber glare. Connix was a relatively small red fox, his fur gleaned in the sunlight. Both of them were lazing on top of the rock when Kiela and Lono arrived.

Tori jumped down in front of them.

"Took you long enough," She growled at Lono. then at Kiela, she said. "I'm Tori. The annoying little fox over there is Connix. He grinned, needle teeth shining although he barked and said.

"Little fox? You wouldn't want this little fox to tear off your ear."

"Oh yeah, little fox. You couldn't do so much as scratch me."

"Okay!" Lono interjected. "Where are we going to hunt?"

Tori swiped her young over a paw. "I know a good place, it's over the far hill." She replied.

"Great! Kiela said. I'm starving!" She wanted to head out before Connix acted on his threat.

"Ah ah ah!" Lono said. He shifted. He pulled out the pouch of powder at his waist. "Put this on first." he demonstrated, rubbing the powder on his arms and legs so that it coated him.

Tori shifted and so did Connix. She grabbed the powder and coated herself with it. He did the same. Kiela, meanwhile, was trying to get out of wolf form. She fought hard, thinking of determination and finally stood in her human shape, exhausted. She noticed that the powder allowed her to smell everything around her, but it made it impossible for anything to smell her. "This stuff is great!" She gushed.

"It's less great later." Lono warned. "Wear it for too long and you get a stomach ache. Your skin absorbs it so we better head out." They all shifted back. The bands of light from their tattoos lit up the clearing.

"Let's go!" Tori cried and they leaped forward into a brisk run, Lono flying ahead, looking for prey.

Kiela was exhilarated. She never felt as happy as when she was hunting. At that time she was on the very bridge between life and death; life for her meant death for something else, be it a tiny plant on the ground or living meat like a deer.

They ran through the forest, light filtering through the leaves threw dappled shadows on the ground. Tori, running at the head of the group slowed the pace and after a few minutes Kiela noticed why; the forest floor tilted upwards slightly. They were climbing the hill that she had only seen from a distance. Lono flapped twice and then dove down to land on the ground in front of Tori.

"Do you see anything?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "It's very strange. Tori frowned and turned to face Kiela.

"Smell anything?"

Now that Kiela focused on it, she didn't. "I smell nothing." She said. "Other then small game of course." Tori nodded and then spoke.

"We'll keep going." She set off at a brisk trot and they followed.

As time passed the sun climbed in the sky and the temperature climbed with it. Kiel's paws were sore. She had picked up a thorn in the pad of her foot. Although she pulled it out, the wound still bled excessively and pained her a great deal. When is Tori going to call this off?

She noticed that the trees had shifted from a mix of deciduous and different varieties of pine to all pine trees. Tori had slowed the pace yet again, she didn't want anyone to get scraped by the sharp needles.

Suddenly, Lono dove from the sky and landed in front of them, almost causing Tori to run him over. He paid her no mind. "I saw something!' He crowed. "Some huge brown animal!" Kiela sniffed the air and noticed that it was tinged with the smell of game.

"Meat!" she howled. "I smell meat!" She frowned. "I have never smelled this type of animal before."

"No matter," Tori broke in. "Which way is it?"

"That way." Lono gestured with an outspread wing. "About a league." They all set off, this time moving silently through the wood. They reached a small clearing in which there was a pond. Wading in this was a huge brown creature with a large rack of horned on its head. It sloshed through the water, occasionally pulling up some pond weed which it ate. Protected by a low rise, the group huddled together.

"Okay. Connix, you try to distract it while Kiela and I attack from the flanks." Tori organized the group quickly and efficiently. "Lets go on my signal."

Kiela circled the pond so that she was about even with the creature's side. This would allow her to flank it easily. Tori unsheathed her claws and scored the bark of the tree beside her. At the signal, Connix moved his way infront of the moose, keeping out of range carefully. Kiela shot from behind the trees like a silver arrow. She raced through the water an leaped onto the animal's side.

"Kiela! No!" Lono shrieked, flying into the animal's face but it was too late. With a toss of it's antlers, it sent Kiela sprawling. It charged after her and reared up. Kiela could only lie where it had tossed her in paralyzed horror, imagining those sharp hooves crushing her small body.

Tori lept into the creature, fore claws tearing at it's flesh while she snarled and snapped. The creature bucked, trying to get her off it. Kiela scrambled up and charged, attempting to sink her teeth into the life giving artery at the throat. She saw Connix fix his teeth in it's leg, not letting go as it tried to gore him with its antlers. Kiela saw the sharp fore hoof comming towards her and she backed off. She saw Lono screaming and flapping around its head. She saw him pecking at the eyes. Connix was thrown off by another toss of the antlers and the creature floundered towards the shore. Once there it rolled, crushing Tori against the ground. She shrieked in pain and let go. Lono uttered a hoarse cry and dove after her. Kiela limped away from the animal which had returned to the pond. She dragged herself to the shore and lay on the pebbly beach, gasping. She turned just to see the creature charge Connix who hot tailed it for the shore. Dragging herself to Tori, Kiela found that her friend was remarkably uninjured.

"Thank the Gods!" Lono cried. "I saw that thing crush you an I was sure that you were gone!"

"I'm fine," Tori said. "I managed to spare my head most of the blow."

"What was that thing?" Kiela asked.

"I have no idea," Lono replied. Connix shook his ears in agreement.

"It's a moose." Tori explained. We used to have a couple shifters like that. Not anymore though. It can gore you wish its horns, crush you with its hooves. Before you charge you must always see which way it is facing so you are not crushed. Stay away from the front and the back or it will crush you."

"As I learned today." Kiela testified.

"Can you walk Tori?" Lono asked. "We should probably head back."

"Head back?" Tori asked in disbelief. But we almost have it. Let me tell you my plan."

-

Kiela stared down at the pond far below her. Her gaze shifted to Connix who was a little ways away, and over a divide. They sat high above a path leading to the pond, a crevice in between them. She heard Tori snarl in the distance and quickly returned her attention to the pond.
Tori was snarling and approaching the moose from in the water. It turned to face her, and as it did that she sprung onto its back, just like before. I lumbered towards the shore again, it probably thought that rolling again would get the predator off of it. It was about to do so when Tori kicked the knee joint of the opposite side that it would roll towards. This caused it to sink to its knees instead of rolling. Confused, it tried to roll again but Tori duplicated the measure. It attempted to return to the pond, but Tori scratched and bit at it an Lono flew into its face whenever it turned around.
The moose picked up speed and Tori sprang off it, driving it towards the path between the two cliffs where Keila and Connix perched.
The Moose approached. Kiela felt her heartbeat race. She sprang off the cliff at exactly the right moment, landing just as the moose raced under them. She heard a muffled thump as Connix landed beside her. The moose tried to skid to a stop as it saw the predators in front of it, but it was going too fast. Keila sprang for the throat and her teeth connected. The moose slowly sank to the ground. It shuddered and the light faded from its eyes. The life-blood painted the ground red.

~

"I think that Tori should be able to have this one." Kiela said, nosing at the tibia of the moose. She admired Tori her intelligence. She seriously doubted her own capability to make a successful plan.
"I agree!" Lono added. A look of pride crossed Tori's face. She thanked both of them and dragged the tibia away from the rest of the carcass.
"Thank you," She said. I couldn't have done it without you. Kiela noticed that Connix had said nothing.

Please remember to vote and or comment, they really help and I welcome feedback. For new people to Wattpad, you can vote for every chapter, not just every book. Thanks! Chapter title and graphic are odd on this chapter as the edited version is quite different.