Warriors: Descending Darkness

Chapter 9

Ravenkit panted as she struggled to follow Kitty, her muscles aching with every step. Kitty watched her, walking slowly so the kit could keep up.

Ravenkit was certain they had been walking all day, but it was only sunhigh by the time Kitty had shown her around.  The territory around the two-leg building was flat, but covered with tall grass.  To the frontside of the building was the river and a forest in the direction of sunset.

Kitty looked at Ravenkit, "When you get better, how about I teach you to hunt?"

Ravenkit nodded eagerly, her tail twitching in anticipation, "Thank you, I'll need to know how to hunt for when I leave to get back to my clan.  I'd appreciate anything you can teach me."

Kitty nodded, leading Ravenkit into the building.  Allie ran up to them the moment they entered, "How was everything?"

"Good."  Kitty answered before leaving to sit with Zoe and Tiger to eat.

"When you walk through the tall grass," Allie said, distracting Ravenkit from watching the three cats, "be sure to listen. There are snakes that like to hide in there."

Ravenkit nodded, "Kitty said the same thing."

Allie nodded twitching her tail in the direction of the other cats, "How about we eat?"
_________________
Kitty stopped suddenly, crouching down, and Ravenkit did the same, pricking her ears to listen. She heard small scuffling ahead although she didn't see anything. Kitty flicked her tail, signaling for Ravenkit to stay still.  Ravenkit did as she was told, watching Kitty intently as she took a few quiet steps forward, her eyes focusing on the plump mouse that was searching for food.  Kitty stopped, tensing before she darted forward, slamming a paw down on the mouse, gripping it with her claws.

She bit the back of its neck before looking over at Ravenkit.  "Alright, that's how you hunt mice, voles...basically anything that crawls around on the ground.  Birds are a bit trickier if they sense you, so I'll teach you how to hunt them later."

"What about hares?"  Ravenkit asked, longing for a taste of the familiar prey.  "My clan mostly hunts those, sometimes hunting birds, voles, and squirrels."

Kitty's whiskers twitched and she twitched her tail, looking away.  "I've never caught a hare.  They're too fast for me.  If you want to learn how to catch one, ask Tiger. He can also catch snakes and owls."

Ravenkit paused, knowing that owls were known to steal kits and young apprentices and snakes were dangerous to cats of all age and size. "Really?"

"Yes." Kitty replied, nodding her head, "Now, I'd like you to catch something. Remember to do what I showed you."

Ravenkit nodded, eager to try hunting for the first time.  She couldn't wait to get back to the clan to show her littermates that she could hunt.  But first she needed to learn so she could catch food during her journey.

She left Kitty to scrape earth over the piece of prey, off to find something she could catch.  She came across a squirrel, seeing its brown flecked tail twitching as it shuffled around for food.  She crouched low to the ground, carefully placing her paws on the ground with every step, quietly getting closer and closer.  When she was close enough, she tensed up before pouncing on the squirrel.  It struggled beneath her weight, managing to scratch her nose with its tiny thorn like claws.

She managed to bite its neck.  Kitty's soft footsteps came up behind her and Ravenkit could hear the amusement in her purr as she saw the scratch from the squirrel.

"Good job, Ravenkit!  Let's take this back to the others."  She meowed, heading back for the mouse she caught.

Ravenkit picked up the squirrel, her tail held high as she padded after the black she-cat.  They went back to the abandoned twoleg storage place. Allie greeted them when they arrived, immediately praising Ravenkit when she hear the young kit had caught the squirrel. Zoe came over for a brief moment before bounding off to find Tiger.

Allie and Zoe sat with Ravenkit, sharing the squirrel with her and leaving the mouse for Zoe and Tiger to share. The squirrel was delicious, but Ravenkit couldn't stop thinking about the taste of hare, her heart aching to be reunited with her clanmates.  As she settled down for the day, watching Allie and Kitty share tongues, her eyes grew heavy and soon she was sound asleep.
             _________________
A large creature stood in front of Ravenkit, its neck fur standing on end as it growled, bearing its long, white fangs at her.  Ravenkit didn't know what it was, thinking that it could be a large dog biased on what she had heard of them.  Its stench alone was enough to terrify her and she didn't dare to look away.

As she stared at the creature, it came forward slowly, more of them appering behind the first.  Ravenkit turned tail and began running, hearing the creatures following with loud, thundering steps, their breath hot on her back.  She knew that she couldn't stop running or she would die, but she couldn't keep running forever.

Suddenly, the scene around her changed.  She was still on edge, not understanding what was happening or where she was.  In the distance she could hear the wailing of cats, some of the voices she recognized as a few of her clanmates.  She ran towards them, crashing through the trees, afraid of what she would discover.

She could smell blood before she broke into a clearing.  The same creatures from before were there, slaughtering clan cats.  Most of the cats were either dead or running from the fierce creatures, no match for them in their starving, weak state.  Ravenkit's heart froze when she heard Smokekit's cry, her attention darting over in time to see Breezepelt be snatched up in one of the creature's jaws, being shaken back and fourth until it let go, sending her already lifeless body flying through the air. The now undefended Smokekit watched the creature descend upon the small, shivering kit.

Ravenkit rushed forward to try and help her friend, but a familiar light tan tabby she-cat darted past her. Ravenkit instantly recognized the she-cat as Sandfoot, Smokekit's mother. Sandfoot carried Ashkit in her jaws, abandoning Smokekit and her clanmates as she ran from battle. Ravenkit's fur grew hot with anger as she looked back towards Smokekit, seeing that the creature was now devouring her body. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she could still hear Smokekit's faint cry's as the light left her eyes and she went to join Starclan.

As more and more cats died or fled, she came across a slightly familiar body. It was another kit, but one from a different clan. Ravenkit came closer, inspecting the kit to find that it was Creamkit. Raggedpaw was nowhere in sight, probably one of the many cats who had already fled.

Ravenkit looked away, not able to understand why she would be dreaming something so terrible. Perhaps she was being terrorized by the Dark Forest cats. Perhaps the squirrel she ate had some sort of madness disease. She tried to shove the last thought to the back of her mind, but it just kept resurfacing.

'Perhaps this is a prophecy...maybe this is what Crowbreath warned me of.'