How could Spirit do this to me and Fallan ?

Two more days had passed, and we were still stuck in this barren wasteland; no scent of sight of wolves, and barely any more of prey.

She hadn't spoken to us, so me and Fallan had stuck to our own conversations, with Diamond by our sides.

"She really does like Midnight more," she'd whispered to me after the incident, and I snuck glares at the little she-cat who thought she had the power to defy me and Fallan. I regretted even speaking to her a few days ago at the small waterhole, and now had a particular dislike for the black kitten.

I mean, she had no right to stand up to us like that, being a kit and all. And Spirit had betrayed Fallan by letting her speak those words to our sister.

I'd felt bad for Fallan, and had tried to comport her. But she'd always been one to run away from pain, and not accept comfort, so she was quiet when I got sympathetic and emotional.

So, instead, I stuck to speaking quietly and out of ear-shot from the rest of the group without apologizing for their actions. They didn't deserve it anyway.

"I never even wanted her to join the group," I told her yesterday, and the cheetah had agreed.

Which was true, because Midnight hadn't seemed of any particular interest from the start. Yeah, she could hunt pretty well, but why had we invited her? Besides having no mother-cat to look after her?

Why did we invite the kits in the first place? I wondered, and knew I didn't regret bringing Diamond into the group but still couldn't guess why Spirit had wanted them to come along. Perhaps her mother-cat never condoned interesting with other species. Was that reason enough to take in some kittens on a whim? It wasn't because Spirit was motherly, she didn't act that way towards any cat.

But I couldn't come up with a reason why no matter how hard I thought, and just gave up on wondering what was so interesting about these two kits out of all the other ones at the barn.

If anything, didn't we want to bring cheetahs to Cheetah Pride, rather than cats?

Ugh, it was all so confusing... I shook out my fur, and my aching paws, too, which didn't help; it still hurt to set them down and I had to force myself to keep walking.

It was a little after daylight now, the fourth day we'd been stuck out here, and I wondered if it would go on forever. My stomach growled at the thought of prey, fat and juicy like the rabbits we'd found in the barn not so long ago.

I peered over at Storm now, who was about a tail-length away, and then towards Spirit, who was next to Midnight at the front of the group. Storm had only spoken to me once since the watering hole, and told me he was sorry for what had happened, but I'd blown him off without remorse and watched him approach Spirit not long after.

He'd come up beside her to say thank you for saving me, so I guessed she'd dragged him away from the fire outbreak and then they'd both passed out from exhaustion. Of course, Spirit had just shrugged, and moved away to be closer to Midnight and ignored him.

It had been quiet for awhile now, because everyone was tired and no doubt in a stiff mood. It was now very different from we'd gotten first gotten the kittens.

Fallan, me and Diamond. And Spirit and Midnight. It felt like two different, smaller prides in a bigger one, and Storm was just by himself, probably freaked out by all the she-cat, silent-drama stuff. My whiskers almost twitched but I forced them not to.

We walked, and walked, and ran sometimes, and walked into mid-day in complete silence (except for the occasional Diamond asking questions) until finally, the silence was broken.

Spirit had lifted her head and halted, causing all of us to do the same behind her. She appeared to be scenting the air, and parted her mouth slightly. She seemed slightly on edge, so I opened mine to do the same.

"Trees!" Fallan yowled, and Diamond looked around in wonder, peering in every direction.

"And prey," Spirit said, and I knew my eyes had brightened at the thought of something besides scrawny morsels to eat.

"And water," I meowed, practically tasting it on my parched tongue already. Most of the puddles had dried up, though it had drizzled lightly yesterday, and I yearned to have fresh, clean water in my mouth.

"Where?" Diamond meowed, pawing at my leg because you couldn't see any of it in sight.

"Open your mouth and breathe deeply," I meowed while bending down to touch noses with her. When she did so, her eyes widened.

"I can smell it!" She mewed excitedly, and began running in the slightly opposite direction of the scent.

"Let's go," Spirit meowed, and we all knew that she was planning to pick up the speed in a run so I scooped up Diamond in my mouth and began a trot with everyone else.

I looked up at the Great Paw, which was now covered by clouds, but all the same thanked the Sky-cat for such givings. I could already smell squirrel and it was causing my mouth to water; I felt adrenaline rush through my paws as a wide expanse of trees appeared in the distance, getting closer by the second, and I picked up speed.

The ground softened, and I dug in my claws as I ran to feel the soothing sensation of normal dirt in a while. Gradually, grass peeped out from the cracks in the ground and the trees came closer until we were engulfed by them.

Everyone slowed, panting, and I let Diamond down to explore some while we continued walking on. She wandered to the side to rip a leaf off of a stem around a tree and play with it; and I swept her a bit closer with my tail.

"We should hunt," Midnight said loud enough for everyone to hear but was addressing Spirit, and thankfully she didn't argue at all this time. The smell of squirrel that was washing over my nostrils was making my mouth water.

"Okay, everyone spread out but stay close. Meet back here once you've caught something or two." The cheetah's blue eyes swept over my own then, and I looked away. When I looked back up, she had turned and disappeared into the trees with Midnight.

"Storm," I meowed, and he turned to me.

"Can you watch Diamond for a minute? I'll catch you something. It'll be easier for us to hunt because you have big paws, you know, and-"

"Yes," he interrupted, then blinked as if worried he might've offended me and smiled. He seemed to be relieved that someone was finally not ignoring his existence.

"I understand," he said, and sat down. I sighed thankfully and hurried away with Fallan.

"I'm going this way," she meowed when we'd gotten out of sight of Storm, and I gave her a sideways glance. But the cheetah had already begun moving off in the other direction, so I let her go with an okay and didn't bother to yet again wonder why she always wanted to hunt by herself.

Instead, I now focused on the overwhelming scent of squirrel, and set my paws down lighter so not to crush the leaves on the ground.

It was pretty out here, I realized as the clouds moved and light came shining down in rays from between the towering treetops, dappling the leaf-littered ground.

The colors of the forest were always pretty this year around, and I felt at ease as I crouched behind a tree to stalk a squirrel.

It was a fast and easy catch, so I moved on deeper into the forest to search for more prey. It only took a few minutes to smell a rabbit, so I advanced on the small white creature when it's warm smell led me to it.

Crouching behind some undergrowth, I stalked forward a few steps. It's small fluffy tail twitched as I took a small, tentative step towards it. .

Oh no, I though just as it lifted it's head, probably because I had forgot to check the air and move down-wind. It could smell danger now.

I flattened myself to the ground and froze, but it was too late- the creature had saw me, and took off in a split second. I pounced after it as it zig-zagged between some trees, and tripped over a tree root, cursing.

Ugh! What a catch it would've been, too. We hadn't had rabbit it almost a week now! I decided I would go after it again, and started following the scent trail even farther from the pride's meeting place without worry.

It would be fine-I hadn't scented or heard any signs of danger, plus I wasn't back-tracking. Besides, this catch would be more than worth it- no doubt Storm and Diamond would thank me for such a plump rabbit.

It had traveled a ways away, plenty out of reach of danger, and the minutes dragged on as I tracked.

Eventually, though, I found the thing, and it had it's head lowered to nibble on some grass, unaware that I was just a few tail-lengths behind. Uncomfortable with how far away I was, but still determined for the meal, I ducked down and drew forwards anyways.

This time I knew I would get it. I lowered myself closer to the ground so I wouldn't be seen and stalked forward slowly. When I was close enough, I gathered my haunches under me for a precise pounce, and waggled my back legs.

One, two three, I breathed and pushed off hard with my haunches.

But astonishingly, all I hit was bare ground, and a pain shot up my leg as I landed improperly.

"Ow!" I yowled as I tried to stand, and closed my eyes in pain.

How had I messed up that catch again? I'd done everything perfectly! I'd even pounced quietly; the rabbit shouldn't have been able to move that fast.

I laid on the ground and waited for the pain to ebb, and it had turned into an ache by the time I'd opened my eyes.

What the Howler?

Right there, in front of my face- Well, above my face, was the body of a dangling rabbit's feet.

"You're slow," it mumbled, and I rolled over and got on my feet to figure out why this rabbit had been hovering above me and could mumble words. You know, a freak situation that needed an answer.

Feeling the pain in my legs fade, I stared in astonishment.

There, right in front of me, was another cheetah; a masculine-smelling one, dark tan with long tear lines and blotchy spots around the face. The amber eyes were shining back at me, and I could see my reflection in them.

He spat out the rabbit, and I took a step back in suprise.

This was so weird- who was this cheetah? And why was a cheetah living out here, of all places?

"Hi," he spoke again, and I took another step back, raising my hackles slightly because Spirit had always said not to trust any other predator creatures, and I would listen to her words even now.

"No, don't be like that," he said, and I felt slightly drawn into the voice, which was more high-pitched than Storm's but more mellow and light.

"My name is Blaze, what's yours?"

I lowered my hackles now, and stepped forward. The cheetah was only slightly taller than me, which made me a bit self-conscious that if he attacked I would probably lose because of my probably-sprained leg.

"I'm Hannah," I said warily, and he simply peered at me with interest.

"Weird name. What's it mean?" Suddenly I felt embarased that my name resembled no words or meaning, for the first time.

"Not sure," I meowed uncertainly, and studied him. His gaze was friendly; and he smiled a bit every time he opened his mouth. There bad been no scent markers, a clear indication that this was no cat's territory.

"Why are you here?" I meowed, just as curious as he seemed to be about me.

"Just passing through," he meowed, and sat down to scratch behind his ear.

"Looking for a new territory, you know," he meowed and then winked, for a reason I didn't know.

"You're alone?" I asked, and he nodded. So weird. I'd never talked to a male cheetah (besides Storm) this much before, and wondered how he was being so confident and cool right now. Perhaps he had seen loads of other cheetah.

But then he cocked his head at me, and looked me up and down, and stepped forward to take a tentative sniff at me.

"Not from around here, and you smell of other cats- Do you have a territory far from here with your mate?"

"No," I meowed too-quickly, and cleared my voice.

"No, I mean, I'm traveling with my pride right now. We don't have a territory."

I then wondered how much information I should give away, and guessed that this cheetah didn't pose a threat. But what was I supposed to do now?

"Well... I need to try to catch something else for my Pride."

He stepped in front of me as I turned, and I had to force my fur to lie flat.

"You don't have to!"

Bewildered, I lifted a paw to show I could defend myself. He frowned, looked away, and then seen humorous when I didn't move. What did this cheetah want?

"I mean, you can have this rabbit. It was yours in the first place."

"Here." he picked it up and dropped it at my feet, then started speaking again, less confidently now.

"Umm... If you want, you could travel with me. To, you know, uh..." He scratched the ground with a claw absently, and avoided my gaze.

"Find a new territory together or something. Only if you wanted," he added, and I was left to wonder why he'd asked such a thing.

Obviously I would choose not to travel with this outsider; I barely knew him, plus I already had a pride. But it seemed rude and I knew by the way he was acting that he would have an ego blow if I said a straight no.

So I thought, why not invite him to meet the pride? He seemed like he could be an asset; sure, he was kind of skinny and tall, but he could hunt, and had claws just as well as Midnight or Diamond did.

"Umm... I need to stick with my pride." His face fell.

"But you can come with me to meet them if you want. And maybe become a part of our group," I added without really thinking, and a smile lit up the tom's face.

"Okay, sounds good! So, is your pride all female cheetah's, or...?"

I wondered why he'd asked such a thing, then figured it was just out of pure curiousity. After all, he did ask a lot of questions.

"All but one, and there's six of us all together now." I didn't bother to point out that two of them were human-cats. He'd find out soon enough.

"Well, Sky-cat," he said, and I almost laughed, then wondered why it would've been funny.

As we walked, I looked sideways at his body. He was skinny, but still had muscle, and long legs like mine that looked good for speed. He did beat me to that rabbit, and I was so shocked I didn't realize at first.

His pelt was no-doubt the most off thing about him; it had a dark, red-tinted tan. But he didn't have spots like we did-he had blotches of black all along his flank, and a straight black line went from his neck, down his back to his tail. I wondered why it was like this.

"You're a cheetah, right?" I meowed, because I just wasn't sure.

"Yes," he meowed, with a sideways grin at me. He then rolled his muscles and flank, as if showing off his pelt. His body looked the same as ours, and not build differently like Storm's.

"They call me a king cheetah, and there isn't much difference between a regular one like yourself," he said, again, with a wink.

"Except for good looks."