+35 XP [580 words written]
+10 XP [Patrol sent]
+10% Hunger each
Twistedstar wrinkled his nose as he and Dogtooth wandered through the city streets. He would likely never get used to this stench. He remembered trying to lick his fur clean of it until monsters and twolegs were all he could taste, but still the scent had clung to him wherever he went. It didn’t irritate him that much anymore, but still, it was very far from pleasant.
The hard ground under his feet was unforgiving and hot where the sun shone on it, but the two cats kept to the shadows, creeping from corner to corner when twolegs and monsters weren’t looking.
They were crossing one of the broader roads when Dogtooth suddenly slowed, his eyes narrowed and fixated on something behind Twistedstar. The leader was tempted to turn or ask the star strider what was up, but he knew how vital each second was on the roads of the city, so he just hissed at the other tom and sped up, reaching the other side with a pant. Dogtooth was a tail length behind him and joined him on the other side just heartbeats before a monster passed them with an unnatural roar, blasting their faces with its vile breath.
“What was that?” Twistedstar snarled, turning on Dogtooth after catching his breath again. The star strider flicked his ear, not looking quite guilty enough for the leader’s taste.
“Sorry,” Dogtooth meowed. “But I saw a crow on the road, and I was thinking maybe we could grab it if we’re fast enough.”
“Show me.”
Dogtooth had been right. The carcass laid in the middle of the road, and had seen better days. It seemed like its brethren had already fed on its body, but there was still enough meat on its bones to feed a cat or two.
“I’ll get it,” Dogtooth proposed. “Will you watch out for monsters for me?”
Twistedstar paused. Getting the crow would be reckless. Mosters were still speeding up and down the street, their radiant eyes fixed on the way ahead, unblinking, not caring for them or their little lives. If one of them touched Dogtooth, it would send the star strider straight to the ancestors.
And yet, Dogtooth was fast, and they hadn’t found anything edible so far. The clan depended on them bringing back prey.
“Do you think you can do it?” he asked the tom.
“Yes,” Dogtooth answered, his voice unwavering and his eyes so honest Twistedstar believed him.
“Alright. But you move only when it’s safe, and you do exactly what I tell you, understood?”
Dogtooth nodded, and Twistedstar cast a gaze up and down the road, also tentatively placing a paw on it to feel for vibrations. Right now, it was clear, but it wouldn’t be for long.
“Looks good. Run!” he hissed, his voice higher with nerves as he watched Dogtooth haul his paws over to the carcass. Agonizingly slow, he peeled it off the road, and Twistedstar flexed his claws in and out as he stood by, unable to help. He felt himself vibrate with tension and cried out for the star strider when he realized it wasn’t him that was vibrating at all, but a distant monster.
“Hurry!”
Dogtooth was now on his way back, carrying the crow by its neck, but still slowed down by its dragging wings, only narrowly avoiding stumbling over them.
Twistedstar didn’t know whether to curse or to pray as the monster rounded a corner and started running towards the struggling tom.
Not able to wait any longer, the leader surged forward to meet Dogtooth on the road, grabbing one of the wings with his teeth. Together, the two of them managed to carry the crow to the other side faster, clearing the road a few narrow heartbeats before the monster reached the spot where they had just been hurrying.
[+1 Crow Scraps, +2 FP, +2 XP]“We did it,” Dogtooth meowed, his eyes alight. Twistedstar breathed in and out deeply, allowing his heartbeat to slow again. “That was incredibly stupid of us. We could have gotten killed.”
The star strider cocked his head. “But we got the crow!”
“Speaking of the crow, what’s that?”
Twistedstar stepped closer to their prey and found an herb clutched tightly in its talons. Carefully, he sniffed it, but it was nothing he’d smelled before.
“Let’s take it with us to the Star Reader’s den. Maybe we’ll be able to figure out what it does together later.”
Dogtooth nodded and picked up the crow again after Twistedstar had carefully pried the herb out of the crow’s talons.
[+1 Boon of Fertility, +1 XP]“Let’s head back, shall we?” the leader proposed. “I don’t think we’ll find too much else here today.”
Dogtooth nodded his consent again and together the two of them headed back to the Star Yard.
Total+2 FP | +1 Boon of Fertility | +48 XP | Level 3 [264/400]
