Feathers

Chapter 3

Feathers looked Pheasant. "Alright. Last day of training for a while, let's see what you can do. Go at me, remember, claws sheathed, no biting and ripping fur. Go."

Pheasant lunged at Feathers but the smaller cat dove out of the way quickly before sliding under him with a smile. "Oh come on!" Pheasant exclaimed before starting to move with more haste. He tried to bite Feather's long tail but Feathers swished it away and rolled under him again.

"Remember. For smaller, swift, and more trained cats, think of getting ahold of them, biting their feet and legs to slow them down and then they are without much defense." Feathers informed Pheasant before hopping from paw to paw. "Alright! Go at me!" He exclaimed.

The oddly-colored cat thought for a split second before sprinting at Feathers, jumping over him, and then blocking his exit where he was going to run. He barreled into him and bit one of his paws softly so it didn't hurt him before then getting on top of him and glaring down while smiling. "Like that?" He asked.

"Exactly like that! Tetra, now see if there is anything that needs fixed oh his other attacks! I'm gonna go check on Finch and Silver now!" Feathers chirped with a smile as he trotted off.

As he walked he was really excited as he was just thinking to himself. *This is going to be so great, we're off to an amazing start! I wonder what other cats we're going to find next! We're definitely going to win this battle!*

After a small while he made it to a pond where he heard Silver talking to Finch. "If the wound gets dirt in it, find any source of clean or somewhat clean water to get the stuff out of it. Then find cloth or another strip of something and wrap it around the injury if it's deep. Make sure that they can walk a bit until they find me and I'll take care of the rest."

Finch nodded to what Silver had told her. "Cool, alright, I guess that makes sense, but what if the cat can't walk?" She asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"Then you will have to find another cat to help you transport them," Silver replied, smiling at Finch before her eyes wandered to a stone overlooking the pond where Feathers was sitting, licking his paws.

"Hey, Feathers!" Finch greeted him.

"I was wondering if you'd ever notice me," Feathers purred playfully before jumping down and walking over to her and Silver. "How's it going?" He asked them casually.

"Oh it's going great! I've learned so much and I can't wait to heal cats that need my help!" Finch exclaimed as a response. Her light brown ears pricked up in excitement. "I'm gonna be the best, I'm gonna be even better than Silver, I swear to you, I will!" She chirped.

Silver gave Finch a slightly annoyed glance and a roll of her eyes, Feathers assumed she probably heard this kind of thing.... A lot. "She's been doing well. I'm teaching her so that she can help cats enough to get them all the way to me." Silver told Feathers with a small smirk. "When we leave tomorrow I'm pretty sure we'll be ready, or at least have a good start."

The tabby nodded, "And if you can remember, we still need to teach the other cats how to battle and during that time you and Finch can talk more, and maybe at that point in time you'll find another cat to assist you." Feathers then swished his tail a few times before deciding, "We'll leave at dawn."

Silver nodded before going back to teaching Finch. Feathers went to go find something to eat. He stalked off following the tracks of a chipmunk.

After a while Feathers could see a small brown rodent with a white and black stripe nibbling on a seed. He got into a hunting position and narrowed his eyes as he got ready to pounce, his mouth was already watering. The chipmunk took no notice of him so a moment later, he leaped onto the small animal and crushed its spine, quickly killing it.

"Alright, now I just have to get a few more to feed the rest of my group." The gray-blue tabby hissed to himself with a satisfied smile as he opened his mouth to try and pick up a scent trail. "What is this scent?" He asked, not expecting an answer as his nostrils flared, trying to put the scent with what animal it came from. "Muskrat." He finally decided before grabbing his chipmunk and following the trail.

Feathers came up on a lake and saw a large rodent swimming around. He waited for a while before it then laid down on the shore and started to fall asleep. The feline took his time getting down near it before lunging at the aquatic rodent's neck. He knew that he wouldn't be able to kill it as easily due to his small size compared to it. The muskrat woke up and bit him on the shoulder. Feathers growled angrily and started to claw it. The muskrat quickly started to slide back into the water but he grabbed its tail and dragged it out before snapping its neck. As it died, the tom cat took a few quick breaths before wincing in pain, realizing the bite. "Alright. I'm done hunting." He mumbled in between breaths before walking back, dragging a muskrat and chipmunk behind him.

After he got back to where the rest of the cats where, he laid down while licking where the muskrat bit him. Pheasant, Finch, and Silver's eyes widened at the food that he caught.

"Woah! Look at this!" Finch exclaimed her jaw dropping at the huge muskrat. She looked like she'd never seen anything like it.

"Did you catch this?" Silver asked, tilting her head to the side, she couldn't believe it.

Tetra walked in from where he was sleeping in a bush. "Feathers. What the heck?" He asked, looking at him with pure confusion.

Pheasant didn't say anything and just blinked at the large rodent.

"Well, I told you I was gonna teach the cats how to hunt well when we get to the city," Feathers replied to all of them, smiling slightly. "So... Are you hungry?" He asked with a purr. He started to dig in and laughed in between nibbles as the others did the same and ate really quickly as if it was going to run away.

"I'm very proud of you Feathers. This is a great catch, you remind me of myself." Tetra joked around, shoving him to the side with a playful smile.

"Hey!" Feathers exclaimed before nipping his ear. They all started to get into a small playful fight as the others rolled their eyes and continued to fill their bellies.

Later that night, all of the cats were lying together on their backs, gazing up at the stars quietly.

"Well. We leave tomorrow which may be the last time we ever see this place. Tonight may be the last night the world will let us sleep peacefully." Feathers told his group of cats dramatically. Deep inside, he was definitely nervous about the entire move. *What if something went completely wrong? Worrying is only making the pain worse. Maybe instead I should think about why I'm doing this. Is it worth it to get revenge for two dead cats and to save street cats that I don't know and that I've never even really met before? Yes.* He decided with a confident smile.