Vargos looked down at the brown cat triumphantly. Soul, a Beta, had been out to scout the area when he came across one of the cats hanging over a cliff. He was nearing it when the other one came out from nowhere and attacked him.
"First it hung on bad, but I roll around and it let's go! It watched other cat leave, and then I grab it. It squirmed before it died in my jaws." The gray male had told the rest of the pack.
Now that the oldest cat was out of the way, the little one would be easy. And as soon as that one was gone too, he could just lie down and relax the rest of the stay. He glanced back as Spiritus came running over, pushing his way through to get a better look.
"That the cat?" Vargos asked the Omega. Spiritus nods eagerly, waving his tail in excitement.
“That the cat! That the cat!” he barked. He bent forwards for a quick sniff, but was snapped at by one of the Betas and retreated to watch. Vargos stepped forwards and grabbed the cat by the scruff and carried it to the base of a large rock in the center of camp. A small ray of sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling the cat’s fur.
Vargos admired it for a moment; wishing wolves also could have so distinct patterns. This cat had a ruddy brown base color, with black tabby stripes. The neck and chest was all black, like a hood. The tail was long and a little paler than the rest, the legs too. Vargos bent down studying the face. Sharp white teeth showed in the slightly open mouth, and the eyes were a dazzling dark blue.
The wolf leader stood up and leaped onto of the boulder. The pack came a little closer and watched, waiting. Even though the night had yet to come Vargos didn’t want to wait with celebrating. Raising his muzzle to the sun he paused for a moment, staring up at the golden sun. Far above them a falcon flew across the sky, shortly followed by a hawk. Some bracken waved in the slight breeze and a raven cawed from somewhere in a tree. Slowly he started the howl, in a low voice at first but gradually picking up sound until the combined howl of the pack spread out over the whole Meadow.
As the sound died away the pack grew silent. Together they gazed up at the sky, as if praying. Then Vargos snapped his head around at the warning yip of Denali. He looked down at the cat. Did it twitch? He leaped down from the rock and came closer. Did the eyelids flutter for a moment? It was such a small movement he couldn’t be sure. He started to back off again and turn away when more movement caught his eye. Twisting around he just glimpsed the cat they all thought were dead flee out of camp.
Vargos knew he had to act quick, and growled, almost roared at the pack to run after it. Denali lead a group to run straight after the cat, and Soul took another group to follow from one side. After they had left Vargos took the rest out to search closer to camp, in case it took a different route than expected.
We WILL find that cat again!” he snarled as everybody sped off in chase.
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Falconblaze ran faster than he had ever run in his life. Behind him, luckily far away, he could hear the barks and howls of the wolf pack he had just escaped from. Terrified that they would catch up he managed to push on even faster, racing past bushes and trees that he could have used for safety. Right now, his mind wouldn't think rationally. The only thing he could think of was finding Hawkpaw and making sure he was OK.
He was surprised to find how quick he reached the now-familiar pools of water close to his nest. The sound of the wolves slowly faded in the background, and changed to frustrated yips. Falconblaze sighed with relief and slowed down to a trot.
