I wonder what she's thinking, I thought as I made my way through the valley of this mountain with all the other cold and wet bodies around me.

Spirit walked stiffly in front of me, setting all of her paws down as if she was walking on a rock-ledge. Without her speaking it, I knew the cheetah's paws were rubbed sore from all of the walking on stone- she now carried Midnight's curled up form on her back as we trekked through the light drizzle of the afternoon.

With a flick of her tail, Spirit instructed all of us to head right on the up-coming blockage of stone. To the way she was leading us, there was a small expanse of flat ground and a few shards of grass to let our paws walk easy for a bit.

I noticed Spirit's shoulder's sag, and her belly swaying as she moved. The she-cat had ears that shaped her head and muzzle in a kind of pretty way; though the cat had a grim expression on her face.

I'd always thought that cheetah's were a weird species of cat, and I'd never really associated or been around them until the wolves. The same was true with house-cats, who I had never met or seen up close before until traveling with this pride.

What made her want to take all these cats in?

Spirit's associations made my brain whirl.

Like, how she would talk privately with Midnight, even leaving Aspen out of their enclosed conversations. Or how she had went off on her own that one night, and I'd woken up and seen both her and Blaze missing.

Of course the question had arose. Had they been together, or did Spirit even know that Blaze had left during the night after her?

Why did I even care so much? Why do I want to know more about her?

I shook my head, trying to dispel all the pestering thoughts. Me and Spirit seemed the most alike out of everyone else, though I hadn't gotten close to Hannah because she'd drifted away from me to Blaze.

It didn't bother me, but I couldn't tell if I exactly liked Blaze or not; I'd seen him trying to sit closer or lean into Spirit's personal space, or even just bothering her by his presence. The blotted cheetah watched her, just like I admittedly did sometimes.

For the reason, I didn't know on my side or his. My pelt would prick when Spirit was obviously uncomfortable and the cheetah pretended not to notice.

Fallan talked to me occasionally, but of course we weren't eagerly friendly with each other. Fallan just used me as a way to get her bordem out, while Midnight was a lot more open and comfortable with me.

Aspen was friendly and thought I knew a few good moves with both hunting and fighting- he had wanted me to cut him in immediately- and of course I'd shown him the simpler things about fighting first.

Sometimes, when Aspen and Midnight and Spirit were sharing a conversation, so would Hannah and Blaze as they walked. That left Diamond meowing for attention and Fallan the only one who I had to talk to, unless I forced myself into a conversation with the three cats I was most comfortable with.

It made me feel lonely sometimes, but the only thing I could feel of it was a hollowness in my heart. It didn't ache or hurt; it was just a temporary empty feeling.

Often, just like right now, I'd simply push the feeling out of my thoughts.

Ahead of me, Midnight and Spirit exchanged a few words before turning around to face the rest of the pride.

"I've decided this is the best place to stop and hunt," Spirit said, her voice rising above the rain.

"What's the point? All the prey will be in their holes!" Hannah said loudly from somewhere behind me. I simply twitched an ear, because interfering did nothing to help the sister's tension.

Spirit had made a good choice trying to hunt here, where prey would likely be attracted to; and if Hannah couldn't see that it was on her. Already I could faintly smell rabbit on the air, mixed with the scent of water and a bit of fresh grass.

The small safe-place was a bit sheltered from rain, and Diamond ran over to it on clumbsy white paws, while everyone else looked on from the tension in the air.

"There's a hole over here, and the rabbit is in it!" Midnight whispered fiercely to Spirit, which I overheard with a small buzz of excitement. Catching a rabbit was just what we needed right now, and might bring up everyone's spirits regardless of the pale sky and drizzling rain.

Spirit's eyes flashed as she bent down to sniff the hole in the ground, which was hidden by some ferns. As I padded closer, the scent of rabbit grew stronger, and she lifted her head with whiskers dripping rain-drops.

"The hole is much too small for us to fit through," the cheetah said to me.

"But me and Aspen could fit," said Midnight.

I stepped forward, not to interfere with the hunt but to offer a word of advice until Spirit stepped forward and said it before me.

"Rabbit's almost always have another way out, as an escape route." Midnight looked thoughtful as Aspen and I both turned with our noses hovering above the ground, trying to find it.

Spirit had been right; soon Aspen located an even smaller hole, one that a cat could have difficulty trying to squeeze through. It was hidden right under an outcrop of rock next to a straggly bush, and Midnight praised her friend for finding it.

"You've got a good nose, Aspen!" she said enthusiastically as she returned to the other hole and squeezed inside.

Aspen fit in nervously behind her, flattening his ears with a glance back at us before both of the cat's tails had disappeared from sight.

"I don't blame him for being nervous, going down there." I said across the gap of ground to Spirit, who had crouched next to the other opening, claws out and ready.

"Neither do I," she said, eyes focused on the blackness in front of her as the rain steady dripped down onto our pelts, letting up a bit now.

"It's cold!" Diamond meowed loudly, letting out a shrill wail of discomfort and pushing her pelt into Fallan's in an effort to stay warm. I watched the little kit curl up into a ball, then sit up again only to scrabble at Fallan's belly as if warmth could be found there.

Spirit was looking at the ground in front of her paws now, clearly lost in thought and hadn't noticed Diamond's protests. With Blaze and Hannah off hunting for once, and everyone else distracted, it left me being the only one available to warm the kit up.

"Diamond," I meowed tentatively, and the kit came scurrying over to me. As soon as her paws reached the ground in front of me, the kit tripped over one and rolled into my side, which I only noticed because of her chilled fur.

Diamond curled up against my legs just as a loud, muffled caterwaul could be heard from below ground. Me and Spirit shot each other a look, and she stood up to investigate just as Chris popped his head out of the hole, dirt clinging to his whiskers.

While the cat was climbing out, he turned around to grab something and heaved the rabbit out of it's hole.

"Did you catch that?" I asked, simply because I wanted to know. Aspen's muzzle was stained with blood, telling me what I already knew.

"We both did," Aspen mewed as he pulled himself out of the hole, the bell around his neck tinkling lightly. Diamond scrambled toward the young rabbit, leaning forward to take a bite. Midnight and Aspen gave a surprised glace her way, but said nothing.

I twitched my whiskers with amusement as Blaze and Hannah stepped into the clearing, her hackles lifting a little as she saw Diamond bent over the rabbit, taking small but rapid bites.

"Diamond, do you want a bite of this shrew, dear?" Hannah's gaze flashed with distrust, surprising me. Why had the look been flashed towards me? I'd done nothing wrong.

Midnight stepped forward to examine the remains of the rabbit as Diamond scurried off, her flanks bulging from the meal. Blood stained the stone under-paw and glinted from the Great Paw up above. I sat to give myself a small grooming as everyone ate. When Aspen and Midnight stepped back from their fill, I noticed there was a few bites left but kept my eyes fixed on a burr caught in-between my claws.

"You guys want the rest of this?" My belly growled loudly as if saying yes, and I stepped forward without realizing Spirit had as well.

Flattening an ear, I turned away to let her eat the rest of the rabbit, catching Midnight's eye as I did so. The look in her gaze seemed one mixed with sympathy as well as amusement.

"You can have the rest," mewed Spirit as she licked the blood from her lips, her golden pelt gliding over lithe muscles as she moved.

Bending my head down, I finished off the bit of prey that was left from between the rabbit's rib-cage, to see Spirit swishing her tail in a signal for us to head out again. It twicthed feebly as she did, as if stiff and painful.

"At least now that we're in the mountains, it's unlikely the wolves are going to be able to track us."

"How many times have the wolves found you before?" Aspen asked in response to Midnight's statement. I wondered if this was considered eaves-dropping, but decided against it.

"Well, since I have been here, only once," Midnight said, then added shyly, "you'd have to ask Spirit about anything else."

Aspen only glanced up at Spirit, who trudged on with her head down, looking a bit remorse. I wondered what troubled the cheetah, who liked to keep her head high and eyes ahead.

Without any thought or control, my paws pulled me ahead of Aspen and Midnight next to the down cheetah. I pelt my pelt prickle with uncertainty, but let the words slip out anyways.

"Are you okay?" Spirit had already lifted her head my way; now her gaze was full of surprise.

I flattened an ear with worry of what the outcome might be. Spirit had never thanked me for acting concerned or intervening before- why should she appreciate it now?

But I felt the tension in my legs release as the cheetah turned her blue gaze on me, and gave a small nod. Her gaze wasn't even hard- in fact, it showed a small hint of great-fullness.

"I'm okay," she mewed. In a few seconds the cheetah's gaze grew somber again, and she lowered her head. I was at least glad to see she had lifted her paws a bit more to pick up the pace.

"That was kind of you," Midnight mewed in a small voice from behind me. I hadn't even realized she was there, until now."

"She doesn't often let things get to her," Aspen mewed in a small voice too low for Spirit to have overheard. I watched the golden cat as she trudged on ahead.